Guten Morgen!

When I was 13, my friend Katie and I went off to summer camp for two weeks in Minnesota. This wasn't your average summer camp though. Oh no. We ate rolls with Nutella for breakfast because the Müsli tasted like icky grown up food. We sang songs about... well, I don't really know since they were all in German. One was about an elephant in a spider's web though. I do remember We went and visited the neighboring Norwegian summer camp, and we attempted playing poker with gummy bears as chips with our cabin mates. Yes, we went to German language summer camp! We learned words and phrases like "Veranstaltungstunde" and "Ich möchte fünf Mark, bitte" (I'd like 5 German Marks ($) please). With this DM5 everyday, I could purchase delectable ice cream, gummy bears, or whatever German junk food cuisine my little heart was set on. The counselors speak nothing but German, so it's kind of like a language immersion deal, except that the other few hundred kids around you are speaking English. So, you know. We also tried our hand at yodeling. Now that I'm in Germany, I wish I had put more effort into the yodeling seminar. I think that's something that could come in handy. Then if I ever get into trouble here, I could yodel for help!

So life here isn't really like German summer camp was. I mean, I can totally go get fresh rolls everyday, and I could buy a jar of Nutella except for that I'd eat the whole thing and then the fact that I don't have the metabolism of a 13 year old anymore would surface in a way that I don't want to see. I seem to have plenty of Freizeit (free time) but there are no choices that someone else has arranged on behalf of my happiness... like a canoeing trip (ok there were leaches like WOAH in that lake, so I didn't canoe anyway), pottery hour, or hide and go seek at night oh GOSH that was so fun. At least as Europe slowly slips into recession, my exchange rate is getting a little better.

This is turning into quite the ramble of a post. I guess I'm just celebrating my new found internet access! Let's all cheers to that real fast. Now, I'm going to continue with my free time and sip my freshly pressed coffee out of my oversized Mainzel Männchen mug and appreciate the fact that today I woke up on my own accord and not to camp counselors giggling, singing, and yelling into the cabin window... "GUTEN MORGEN HAUS LINZ!!!" And then proceeding to sing Britney Spears songs until our entire cabin was awake. No no, this morning I am choosing to listen to German radio, which for me as a non-native speaker (and I use the term speaker lightly here) is really kind of a lot like a morning greeting of the same manner, actually. Ich möchte... genau was ich habe.

Guten Morgen, Welt!