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Princess of the Netherlands - Princess Mable

On Sunday, I left with Ms. Magowan to attend The Hague International Model United Nations conference in the Netherlands. We followed the bus that carried the 19 Baumholder students.

Den Hague is truly a global city; there are people from all over the world, Thailand, Iraq, Egypt, and American International schools. The opening assembly was absolutely packed and was in the room where the actual UN members meet. The room holds an incredible aura, one of great purpose. It is hard to explain unless you’ve been in it. The key note speaker was the Princess of the Netherlands and the Mayer of Den Hague. Never in my life did I believe I would be able to see and do what I am doing here. The students have prepared so well and although I’ve only known them for a few weeks I am so proud of them! The student who is ahead of the Finland delegation got to meet the Ambassador of Finland to the Netherlands and our group is invited to the Finnish embassy!!

My hotel is a little place by the North Sea, yes, the North Sea!!! It is run by a little lady and her husband. The first night I was the only guest because they bring in a majority of their profit in the summer season. They really watch out for me and when I got lost yesterday morning on the tram, my teacher called the hotel. The lady was so worried about me! The people here are so sincere!!

We’re going to Amsterdam tomorrow afternoon and I’m going to go see the palace sometime this week!! I am truly blessed.


We went to Worms on Saturday! There is so much Jewish history there dating back to the mid 1000’s. It also has the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe!! Rashi studied there and wrote a lot of what is now in the Talmud. The synagogue was destroyed during the Crusades and the Middle Ages, and burnt completely in 1938 by the Nazis.

Trier

Sunset in Luxembourg.

Liz and I being goofballs in Trier, Germany. It is the oldest city in Germany. We also went to Luxembourg, Luxembourg and Heidelberg. It was a three day weekend so we had a lot of travel time. We drove all over in a rented car and we really saw a lot of things.

Last night, we got a discouraging email from our supervisor and although not everything was false, it was disappointing because everything was negative and I've been trying very hard. So I suppose I'll try harder and hope that we don't receive another similar email. =(

Heidelberg

I took the Praxis in Heidelberg this morning! We had rented a Mercedes and drove everywhere, but I'm pooped and going to bed. So I'll write soon!

Flowers!

I sent Katie flowers before I left Muncie in December and she got them today!! I'm so excited!

Anxiety

On the bus on the first day of school!! (This is for my mom, who never failed to take a picture on the first day!! I love you.) I hope you notice how dark it still is outside!

When we got to school, after a treacherously dumpy ride, I met the principal and my main teacher, Mrs. Rudd. Her short salt and pepper hair suits her sassy sense of humor. I will be teaching AP US History with her during 6th block. The students do not do lessons in this class. They write, write, and write some more in preperation for their AP tests that will be at the start of May.

I will met Mrs. (Dr.) Magowan, who currently teaches the Model United Nations class. After a few weeks and finals, I will teach psychology with her. I am quite lucky though because I get to go the The Hague with the M.U.N. class for the huge annual conference that holds over 3,000 students for the week. We booked my hotel room today!

Mr. Hollenbeck, who coaches girl's basketball and football, is the most laid back. I will complete my LAMP project under his supervision as well as teach two of his World History classes. They began the Industrial Revoltion today and won't start the next unit until next semester.

All three of my teachers are located in different buildings. The cafeteria is in a fourth building. I do not think I would mind the short distances much, but it has rained everyday I've been here but one as well as today. The forecast calls for rain until Wednesday. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to the walks outside between periods.

There was a lot to take in today and it was hard to stomach everything I will be doing, but I think every start of a semester is a little overwhelming! My shoes were killing my feet and I'm wearing my Crocs tomorrow.

Despite my hurting feet, headache, and blatant exhaustion; I'm looking forward to teaching. It'll be a great challenge and I'm ready to get my feet wet, as long as I'm not wearing heels.

Mainz

Check out that awesome scarf!! I made it last night!

Mainz is home of Gutenberg and the infamous printing press! The Rhine was beautiful on the first sunny day of my stay! There was a beautiful cathedral dating back to 925.

We were suppose to go to Trier today, but I read the schedule wrong. The buses don't run on Sundays, so ended up taking a train two hours later. Everything worked out for the best though!

School starts tomorrow and I'm a little nervous, but also excited!!

Idar Oberstein

Today we went to Idar Oberstein. It was about 15 minutes, by train, away from our home. There are two little castles, a church built into the rock, and a gem mine there! There was also a yarn store!!! FINALLY!! I was having withdraws. Really, the yarn is cheaper here. Especially the wool that is from Italy. So that might have been the highlight of my day!!

We met this really nice ladies at our grocery store and they have a lot of helpful tips! They're adorable!! I love talking to them when we go to the Commissary. We're going to relax tonight and have a little drink, but it won't be close to as good as Grandpa and Mom's cosmos!! Tomorrow we're going to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, there was Roman ruins there. We're also planning where the rest of our weekends are going to take us! Koln, Giverny, Versailles, Berlin, Prague, Rome, and Florence are all on the list!!

Little Castle

Today we went to Ramstein to go shopping! It was quite enjoyable. Things were not that cheap though. For example, an iPod was $179 instead of $199 and you could buy three Victoria Secret items for $15. So a little cheaper, but not great deals.

Afterwards, we drove to this little castle called Burg Lichtenberg. It's really little compared to some other things and more ruins really. Nonetheless, it was very exciting to see the area. Tomorrow we're going to Idar Oberstein to see a castle that is built into the wall of a mountain!

All the other student teachers are awesome and we get along great! It's an awesome mix of people and we all bring something special to our van rides!

My room!

My big chair and closet! There is a lot of storage!!

This is my bed! I'll eventually get a twin instead of a full! I put pictures that Josh sent my on my lamp!

The pictures on my desk are of Nelly and family!! The little table will be removed!! I love it! It's soooo homey!

Frankfurt (Before the army post)

This is Frankfurt's town square (old one).

This is the river that goes through Frankfurt!!! Mom's camera is good at night as long as it is held really still, so I propped it on a railing!!

The city is much older than I had expected!! Dad and I took a walk that night, it was quite lovely.

Now that I'm on base we finally got our ID cards after two days!! We got to finally check our mail, so thank you to everyone who sent me things already!! (Mom, Katie, Rick, and Josh!!) It is much appreciated!! It felt like Christmas all over again!! Gene, our supervisor, calls me "Missing" because I'm always running ahead to see what's going to happen next, or I go off exploring!! Or she calls me "Ondrea" instead of Andrea!!! It's a little annoying, but now it's a tease with our group!!

Tomorrow we're going to Ramstein, the Air Force Base, tomorrow to go to the BX (which is much bigger than the PX on our post!!) I'm excited to see it!! I'm all settled in here and everything looks great, I have to have a huge dresser removed from my room because we have so much furniture! When I get my camera, I'll take a picture!

The first day of school is Monday! I'm really looking forward to it! I'll let you know how my teacher's are. I'm teaching AP US history, sociology, and world history. This is much more than I had expected but it will be a great challenge!!

Love and miss everyone!! Write to me!!

Andrea Wiese

CMR 405 Box 1777

APO, AE 09034

On the base!

We all made it to the base!! We're just waiting and waiting for ID cards and registration! We got into our rooms though. I'll post pictures soon, I have to get a digital camera first though. We spent the night at Mrs. Moore's house, it was fun, but everyone is exhausted because they just arrived!! Love and miss everyone!!

Paris and Brussels

I was quite ignorant. Of course I wanted to see the sights in Paris, but once I actually saw them, I was in awe. Pictures hardly do the city justice. The Arc de Triomphe is so detailed. Napoleon would have been proud if it was only finished before he died.

Having visited the Art Institute hundreds of times in my life I expected to be an expert at the Louvre, but I was quite mistaken. The museum is never ending. It’s not just the art work on the walls though; it’s the ceilings and architecture. Even the bathroom I used (go figure) had a butt of a statue in the window. I wish I had taken the camera in with me.

The hot chocolate in Europe is much better than home. I’m fairly sure that it’s because they put loads of cream in everything. Haha. The Eiffel Tour was also much more magnificent in person. Every facet (I think that’s a word my dad would use) of the tour is beautiful. There are twirls and shapes. It’s actually a light brown color. From pictures I always thought it was black. The line to go up so ridiculously long. We walked across the Seine River and when we looked back the lights were on. Paris is a beautiful city, but like many people have said, it is a little dirty and smelly.

This morning we left for Notre Dame before 8 am in the rain. Dad was of course afraid we would miss our train to Brussels. The cathedral isn’t so big as it is old and high. The ceilings keep going up and up. The stained glass windows aren’t original. It’s very dark inside, no one could read when it was originally built, but when people started to read, they knocked out all the stained glass and put in clear glass. Still the stain glass is beautiful. I wish I knew more about the Catholic saints because there are pictures and statues everywhere. But with my good Jewish upbringing, we didn’t learn about the saints.

Brussels is a quaint little place. There is chocolate, waffles, and French fries EVERYWHERE! Some people may say that it’s heaven. There are castles and the king is home. I didn’t get to meet him though. L We bought mom chocolate from a man who has a shop across from our hotel. He was so nice and gave us free pieces. This city is much more than I had ever expected.

London and Normandy!

Freezin' my tush off on Omaha Beach!

Leaving home was quite emotional, I assumed it would be and it deserves to be. I don't like to cry, but the people I'm leaving deserve more than just tears, they mean the world to be and it'll be difficult to be with out them for the next few months.





Dad and I ran all over London. It was somewhat ridiculous really, but we got to see a lot. After the $100 cab ride, we checked into the hotel. It was a tiny room with squeaky beds and a narrow toilet. Facebook has the pictures! The London Eye was much better than I had expected and dad fully appreciated it for his Christmas present! Dad had such an awesome time seeing everything. I think he really wants to go back, but not as much as he wants to go back to Normandy!





Catching trains to Paris and then Caen was quite a hassle! I could not have gotten my suitcase by myself and I'm so grateful Dad was there to help me! We traveled first class on the trains which will probably be my first and last time of doing that, but getting breakfast, tea, and hot towels is all still fun.





Caen is a quint little town, that is presently decorated beautifully for the holidays! No one in France eats until after 7, at least you can't get dinner out until after seven. It's a weird thing to get used to. There are many parts of the trip so far that I wish other people could be with me, but today, there is no one I would rather share Normandy with than my dad! The day was freezing, absolutely cold and foggy. Despite the weather, it was a terrific learning experience. I was very moved and it's extraordinary to see the cliffs that they had to scale. Omaha lost 3,000 men, while 6,000 were lost on D-day. Half of the casualties were there and all American. It's a difficult place to describe because walking through a cemetery is never a joyful experience, maybe grateful is a good word for it.





I bought a cord for mom's camera to upload the pictures because my camera is pretty dead, we'll see if the PX has a cheap one! Tomorrow we're going back to Paris and then to Brussels the day after.

Christmas picture at the beach and my adorable mom!!

Christmas Eve at Rick and Katie's!

Christmas Eve was so much fun. Everyone was up at Rick's little apartment, but it didn't seen that crowded! Jackie, Tom, Alex, Cindy, Grandpa, Jack, and Anita were all there from Rick's family and my grandma, aunt and uncle were there too! It was just a little stressful during gift opening time, but very fun overall! I even cried when Rick got my this little device that will allow my to talk to my parents over the internet! It was a great gift.


Katie's nephew, Alex!! Adorable.......


Off to Europe in 7 hours!! Ah!

Haha!

Don't ask...just laugh. =)

Freaking out. A little.

Alright, I'm excited, but I'm getting a little worried. I can't wait to go and be in Europe, but packing is a huge job and I'm going to miss my family. Yet, I'll make a new family in Germany, I know, but it won't be quite the same. It's going to be the time of my life...at least until I get to Istanbul!

We're doing Christmas Eve at Rick's and Christmas Day at home, then we'll be on our way to London!!!!!

I went to Nashville for an orietation about Istanbul and I got to meet a lot of the other scholars. They're really going to some incredible places like Chile, Hungary, Moscow, Singapore, Ireland, France, etc. I'm not jealous but I get to go to my own place, but it's still awesome to think about all the experiences that people will have!

19 days...

My dad are leaving for London on Christmas day! Then going to Normandy on the 27th, followed by Paris, Brussels, and Waterloo. By January 2nd, we'll be in Frankfurt to meet the rest of the student teachers. We're going to Spain for a weekend in early February, and Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. Spring break will cover Italy and the open weekends will include Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, and Auschwitz.

Before that, I have two papers and three finals. Not too bad, but a big hurdle nonetheless!! (And of course, a LOT of packing!)

Sexual Content

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8SY3AxmmLI

I think this is interesting because although it was made as a joke, it's really not.

The Myth: Humpty Dumpty was a giant egg.

The Facts: Humpty Dumpty was actually the nickname for a large cannon on the wall of St. Mary’s Church in Colchester, England. During the English Civil War (1642–1649), a shot from an enemy cannon damaged the church wall, causing Humpty Dumpty to fall to the ground. Royal sympathizers (“all the king’s men”) tried to perch Humpty Dumpty on another part of the wall. But since the cannon was so heavy, “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” couldn’t get Humpty back atop the wall.