Monday, September 7, 2009

Sam Explores Germany & Switzerland Pt 4

Mon Aug 31/09

-GUTEN MORGEN-
Slept until 9:3am. I had brekkie with Nina, Dave and her parents. It consisted of buns, cheese, meats, jam, sweet buns and French nougats. We also drank (kaffee) coffee, orange juice and water. Breakfast was delicious and I especially liked the French nougats, as the ones I’ve had previously have been hard to chew and not that tasty.

-FAREWELL COTTAGE-
We headed back to the cottage to collect my luggage and clean up. Nina kept telling me to sit down and relax, because I kept offering to help clean up things. Haha too bad I’m not like that at home hehehe. I LOVE YOU, MOM! While we were there Harry, Nina and I went to feed the horses more apples. I took some video of them and Nina took a picture of me with Anna. We returned to the cottage and Dave was in the yard reading the Globe & Mail section I had brought from the plane.

When we got back to the house, we unpacked the stuff and they told me that we'd be staying overnight with Nina's parents again. I was happy to hear it as I felt comfortable there. Nina and Dave opened their wedding gifts wich were very interesting and creative. Harry also gave me a Berlin book and a bag of the French nougats that I really enjoyed. It was a nice surprise!

-WHEN IS A PEPPERONI A PEPPERONI?-
Harry, (Nina's father) and I walked downtown to see if we could order Chinese food. As we walked down, he pointed things of interest to me. Unfortunately, it was closed, so when we got back to the house, they ordered pizza and Turkish kebabs in a pita wrap. While we ate, Dave explained to me that they called green peppers "pepperoni" and hot peppers "chilli". I found that really interesting. We relaxed as they finished opening their presents and then headed over to Dave's parents.

-DINNER WITH THE RAHENBROCKS-
Dave and Nina dropped by a neighbour's house to thank him for his wedding gift and then when we got to Dave's parent's place, they had another neighbour to see. I gave Dave's parents an Ontario wine jelly and some Laura Secord lollipops. I wish I had more to give them. They were really nice to me.

Dave's mother invited me to their back yard to talk and sit in the sun. I must confess the sun was hot that day and I found myself sweating, so I asked her if I could sit in the shaded part. We talked about many things including travelling and the teaching profession. I enjoyed the nice talk and we were soon joined by Dave's father and their closest friends (Tobi's parents). We talked about Canadian and German politics and other topics as well.

When Dave and Nina returned we had various sandwiches, sundried tomatoes, olives, crackers, cheese and drinks. I sampled different beers, including Dave's favourite, Kostriker and another one called Jever. We had champagne and enjoyed the night. It was very relaxing and their yard is very nice. Soon we had to leave, so I said goodbye to them and we went back to Nina's parents' house. They were still awake. I said goodbye to her mom, since she had to work and I would not see her. Harry told me that he wasn't working tomorrow and that he, Dave and I would have breakfast together. Nina had to get her hair done early, so she would already be gone when we would be eating. I tried to work on my journals before I fell asleep...but as you know I can be quite longwinded in these...mostly because I want to remember every detail.

By the way, another reason why Dave and Nina are awesome, is because they always turn around and translate for me. They are so considerate. I already told them that I appreciate them translating, but I also like just listening to people speak German even though I can't understand. I find it is easier for me to look at the word than hear it. When they sang the wedding hymns in German, I just listened and looked at the words to see how they pronounced it. I am starting to have an interest in learning it.

Tomorrow I leave for Berlin!! Hope you made it to the end!

-Sam ^__^

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