After we said good-bye to our German partners and went through security, we had about 45 minutes before our flight. Some bought $5.50 Coca-colas and others munched on food from home.


Then Alyssa gave Taylor a picture she had sketched of him in Lederhosen. Taylor had said all along that he wanted a pair of Lederhosen, but when we were in Bavaria they had simply cost too much ($150). He thanked her, but then Molly pulled a pair of real Lederhosen out of a bag and presented him with them. He started screaming, we all started clapping and laughing. There were 5 of them (Alyssa, Molly, Bailey, Kevin and Max) who found the Lederhosen at a thrift store in Berlin for $55 and chipped in together to buy them for Taylor. They all got a group hug and then Taylor ran to the bathroom to put them on. He wore them home on the plane and was the first to jump out of the bus when we got to OKC.

what a great group of kids!

We made it back yesterday after 24 hours in transit. Lufthansa ground crews and caterers have been having warning strikes for the past week and we got caught in one yesterday in Frankfurt a.M. Our flight was delayed almost 4 hours, but eventually we got off ok, and then everything went just like clockwork. We finally got back to OKC at 9:30 p.m., were met by family and friends. I got home and unpacked a little, told some stories, showered (we were all feeling a little gritty after the 24 hours) and then slept all night til 6:15 this morning.

The GAPP went real well this year. No visits to doctors or hospitals, no one had to be sent home, most practiced their German, all could understand spoken German pretty well by the end. This was definitely an "ice cream" GAPP - they had to have their fix every day. We even got a group photo on the last day with ice cream cones.

looking forward to relaxing at home with Fred and Baby. She was sooo excited last night when I got home - all wiggles and squeaks. She's been carrying around her toy I brought her all morning, too. Obviously, she is following me from room to room and laying down right next to my feet. Fred had to go to work today, but will be off for the 4th.

y'all take care,
Nancy

Well, the 4 weeks have flown by - wie immer. Everything has gone really well (so far). Tonight is their last night in Berlin and we meet at the airport at 5:30 a.m. Berlin time. It will then be about 20 hours before we get back to OKC.

After I have rested a bit, I'll write up my impressions.

bis dann...

It's amazing how fast the last week goes. WEDNESDAY (when we got back) was a regular school day and then that night Germany played Turkey in the semi-final of the European Cup. I think even the non-soccer fans among the Amis finally understood just how seriously everyone takes the sport here. And how much they love to celebrate a win. I know where I live, the honking horns and singing went on for at least 2 hours after the game. Ole ole ole ole...

THURSDAY one of the fathers of a GAPPster (Mr. Römer - Johannes' dad) came to school and we had a dance hour from 8:30 - 9:30. It was a lot of fun, but very strenuous and we all were sweating when it was done. (The windows don't open in the Little Gymnasium where we were.) An hour of that once a week would do a lot in losing weight! Then I took the Americans to a Villa where Picasso had lived and worked right across the street from one of the queens palaces. Not all of them, ok maybe only 5-6 of them, appreciated seeing 2 floors full of original Pablo Picasso paintings and one floor of those of Paul Klee, but at least they can say they were there.

We tried to go to the Art Nouveau museum next door, but the woman at the desk was being very German and didn't want to let the group in because I had not called to register first. The museum was totally empty, but Rules are Rules... If I had had a cell phone, I would have called here right then and "registered." Ah well... walked around the palace, took pictures, walked back to the train station, found a really nice "antique" store where some bought some really cheap CDs and other stuff.

After getting our ice cream fix of the day, we met the Germans at the Natural History Museum. One group got a German guide and one a guide in English. Good parts of the tour: our guide told us the history of the museum and its acquisitions. Bad part: it was a BIG museum and she wanted to show us only a few things in each room so she could cover the entire museum in one hour. The kids wanted to stop and see everything as we went along, but I had to keep hurrying them from place to place. Christine has decided to call me a German Shepherd nipping at their heels to keep them moving. They had another hour to see whatever they liked after the tour, but most were too tired and just left (probably to get more ice cream).

FRIDAY we went to the 1936 Olympic Stadium - again 2 tours as all the Germans were with us. One tour guide spoke English, was lively, told anecdotes and was cool. My group's guide refused to speak English and did not want to pause long enough for me to translate. She gave lots of facts, numbers - many of the Americans zoned out. We were going to the Pergammon Museum of Antiquities afterwards, but were told that groups were not allowed in because of a new exhibit that opened. 12 went with me anyway and the others went with their partners to the Zoo. As it turned out, any student with an ID 16 or under got in free (but had to wait in line with the regular customers); Taylor, Zeb and Tristan had to pay 6 Euro (but I supplemented with the money I still had for the group so it wasn't really that much). Frau Roberts and I did not want to pay 12 Euro each ($18 each) so went went to a cafe and had lunch (it was 1:30 by then). that was very relaxing for us.

SATURDAY was family day and now it's SUNDAY. This evening is the Farewell Dinner from 4-7 p.m. and then the Final Game for the European Championship at 8 p.m. We will have a big screen and projector in the basement of the school for those who want to watch it there. Mr. Blach, the principal, has agreed to let the Germans accompany the Amis tomorrow to the Fan Mile to "welcome the team home."

maybe more tomorrow evening (our last) or maybe not. we'll see how it goes.

be home soon.

rather than a blow-by-blow of the next days, just some of the highlights.

We hiked through the gorge in the mountains - very beautiful. Then we were climbing out (very steep) and I fell behind with 2 students. By the time we got up to the fork in the road, the group had gone to the right (back into the gorge) instead of the left (into the valley down to the town). So, the easy 1-1/2 hour hike turned into a grueling 2-1/2 hours up and down major mountains. But, we all made it and were sprawled on the small paved path eating, drinking water and congratulating each other when a car came rushing up! We scattered like quail and then just stood there until Taylor yelled "Buddy!" like I do when i want to be sure all are there. We all laughed a lot.

The trip up to the top of Germany, the Zugspitze, went without problems, though David enjoyed standing in the tram and showing us exactly how steep the incline was. No, the pix did not do it justice. We had fun playing in the snow and ice and some of the braver ones actually climbed the last way to the very top. (I have pix of them from my "safe" spot on the viewing platform.) It was a beautiful, warm, clear day and we could see all the way to Italy (almost).

All were enchanted with the clear water of the Eib See (lake in the Alps). the water was really cold, but so clear no one could resist - well, no one but me and Elana. We both stretched out in the shade - she napped and I took pictures. I am going to do a collage of all the places where Elana took naps during our travels.

that's the highlights. fun, interesting, totally different...

Saturday was another beautiful, warm summer day. We had our own small charter bus to drive us around.

first was Linderhof, King Ludwig II's "hunting lodge" - not a castle, but close enough for Americans. The tour was long enough, but not too long. They got to see enough Roccoco-Baroque to finally understand what it meant = gold-silber & glitz & extravaganze. Then we hiked up to the man-made grotto and toured there (in English) seeing where Ludwig had the first electric generator in Europe installed to run the lights and waterfall for his own private performances of Wagner's opera TANNHAEUSER. Then they had 1-1-2 hours to just wander the 100 acre grounds and see the other buildings. I got some good pix of them 'frolicing'in the meadows.

Next was Oberammergau - very small town but won hands down the contest for best ice cream so far! The flavors were exquiste and so was the size of the cones. That only took about 1 hour to see (did I mention small town?)

Then we went to Ettal to see the Cloister, best example of Southern German Baroque. Unfortunately, there was a wedding going on in the church, but they got to go in quietly in small groups and stand in the back (with the other tourists) and see part of it. The church souvenir shop was nice, too.

After dinner we went into town to the Kur Park and listened to the Oompah Band in Lederhosen and danced and danced. (You'll see the pix later)On the way back we met a GAPP group from Texas and compared stories.

back in the YH some went to bed and others watched the soccer game.

that was day 2.

wow. 5 days is a lot to summarize at once, but here goes. (pictures will come later after I have downloaded them to my flash drive.)

Overall impression: this group's favorite food is ice cream. Everyday and sometimes 4x a day for some, they HAD to have ice cream!

The overnight train was long (10+3-4 hours)and cold (for the students--takes quite a lot to make me cold these days). But everything worked wonderfully well and the kids followed directions well and no on squabbled. The Youth Hostel had lunch pakets for us, which the kids devoured instantly.

Then we went on a city scavenger hunt in teams of 5. It was all in German and in order to find the answers to some of the questions, they had to talk with the locals. It was immediate apparent to all that we were in a small town in the South. The locals were friendly and wanted to talk with them. One lady even came down from her upstairs balcony and walked around with one group helping them find answers. Another gentlemen heard my group speaking English and came up and offered to tell us the story of the chapel we were standing in front of. The winning team got 4" plush mountain goats (mascot of the youth hostel) and the 2nd place team got 2" mtn goat key chains.

that evening we went on a hike up the small mountain behind the youth hostel to the fortress ruins. The man at the desk said it was a 30 minute hike up, then he looked at me (and I could 'hear' him thinking "Americans") and then he said, maybe 45. So off we went on this "well-Marked trail" that turned out to be neither well-marked nor even clear where it began. but we made it anyway. had lots of fun climbing around the ruins and finding our way back down. Most had showers and went to bed, but some watched the soccer game in the special viewing room with a huge wall screen.

It was NOT cold and on the contrary was warm enough that we were all sweating during the hike. Some of us pooled our money and washed the jeans when we got back so they would make another day.

ok. that was Day 1. more later.

so today we talked about the visit to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. Most agreed that it has been so sanitized, cleaned up, modernized that it no longer has much of an emotional impact. MK expressed it best when she said that there was no feeling of the inhumanity of what had been done there. I've talked to some Germans who have been to the camp in the past (like me) and they agree. don't know. may have to look for another alternative but not sure what. luckily, some of the teachers in Käthe Kollwitz school are now excited and interested in the GAPP and maybe they will help Kerstin for the next one.

Today after school, after a LONG walk around the neighborhood we played a couple of games of soccer. The first game was Germans vs Americans. They had real soccer players and we had 4 girls who had played soccer for our team. (it takes 11 to make a team). Tristan did well as goalie and Kevin was agressive in going for the ball. Kathryne even made a goal - unfortunately it was for the other team. She hadn't paid attention when we chnged sides. Anyway, they won 5 - 0. Then we made up mixed teams of Gers and Amis - girls against girls and boys with boys. I watched mainly the girls. They were pretty funny. When one kicked the ball and it hit another, she rushed over and apologized, 'did I hurt you?' still, it was fun for all. Kevin has organized a frisbee team, too.

tomorrow night we leave for the Alps. looking forward to the cooler weather. it is amazing how hot 75 is in a city where NO ONE opens the windows.

y'all take care now, y'hear.

Well, the weather has been just wonderful so far (except for those first 5 days when it was hot). Since then, it's been in the 70s and only rained on 2 days. gotta love that global warming! The long range forecast is for rain on Friday, the day we arrive in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but then back to sunny and in the 70s.

Yesterday we went to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. They keep adding more 'interactive' exhibits and cleaning it up and sanitizing it until it's not really as powerful as it used to be. But I think the kids still get something out of it even if not the emotional impact.

Afterwards, everyone went there one way and Erin wanted to go to Potsdamer Platz, but when we got there and come above ground, she looked around and said, "Where's the Gedächtnis Kirche?" So went got back on the underground and went to Zoologischer Garten Bhf. Walked around there a bit, then trained to Schönhauser Allee and walked a bit looking for a DVD Secondhand Laden and then trained and street-car-ed to Alexander Platz. Had some ice cream; walked around a huge Secondhand store and then to Saturn where I found Shrek 1 and Over the Hedge for my classroom. lots of walking, but we had time.

today the kids play soccer, Germs vs Amis. Last time the game was tied and the Germans won in the 11 m shorts at the end. We'll see how it goes today.

tomorrow (Thursday) evening we leave for Garmisch-Partenkirchen (in the south of Germany) and I probably won't be online again until we get back late Tuesday.

hope all is going well there.

Hi all,
we're back in Berlin, another day at school, more walking and touring afterwards, then cake and coffee (ok, a coffee substitute for me made of grain). tonight it's Germany vs Austria in soccer. I really need more sleep. yes, I know, sleep when you get home...

We did make the Reeperbahn in Hamburg Saturday night - it reminded me of Mardi Gras in New orleans except this is every weekend in Hamburg. It is noticably not as crowded in Hamburg as in Berlin. People talk slower, too. We did not make the Fish Market Sunday morning, but did find a really beautiful park. thought about going to bed early last night, but the soccer game was too exciting and then Turkey won and the neighborhood exploded with noise.

Today in school, one of the history-politics teachers showed us a film about the building and tearing down of the Berlin Wall from the German point of view. We talked a little bit about the fact that he was a West Berliner and Kerstin is an East Berliner - different views of same events. then we toured the city and saw pieces of the Wall that are still standing. He told us more about the neighborhoods which were divided. It was all very interesting and I hope that it made some impression on the students - to see it live is different than a picture in a book.

tomorrow we go to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen.

more then,