Goodbye Potsdam

So I guess it was a week ago now that I said goodbye to Potsdam, and the friends I had made there. Since I was lucky enough to have a rather sweet aparment, I took advantage of my space and threw myself a going away party. My second going away party in two months... Since it was thrown together rather quickly I even ended up using the same music from my 80s party. Although my laptop didn't provide the same sound quality as an iBoom, which I'm not sure if that's really saying much. Anyway, the best parts about the party was that: 1) my 12-year-old host sister helped me pay for the beer for my party. (Don't worry I didn't let her drink any.) 2) A bunch of New Zealanders showed up. 3) Hearing the conversation switching between German and English. Overall it wasn't a particularly crazy party, but hey, it was just good that people came out.

Sunday was mostly filled with packing and procrastinating on packing. Sunday night was my last meal with the kids. I do miss them, and they miss me. Its kind of a weird position to be in, because my old family hasn't found a new Au Pair yet since they are being so picky. So the kids want me to email them and write them letters and stuff. Which is really nice, and I don't mind at all, its just akward since the parents didn't want me to stay.

Monday was saying goodbye to the parents, and then scrambling to make it out to Sanssousi. Sanssousi is Potsdams most famous park/tourist attraction, and I hadn't made it out there yet. So I took my bike and my camera and spent my last few hours in Potsdam there. After that was just taking the Taxi to the train station. Luckily people took pity on me when they saw me trying to lug my huge suitcase around and helped me getting on and off trains. Otherwise I'd probably still be stuck on the stairs at the Wansee train station.

Now, here's some random musings:
Asparagus is to Germany, as cherry blossoms are to Japan. Everyone here gets really excited about the spring aparagus. Yesterday I ate aparagus and potatoes for lunch. Then I went to dinner at my Aunt's house and had asparagus soup, and then more aparagus and potatoes. Tasty, but I just never knew asparagus could be such a big deal. Also, there's a lot of guys that look kind of like Bob Saget here. Lastly, I miss college basketball. There. I said it. I know I didn't pay that close attention to it, but still I miss it somehow.

Anyone who wants my new address just email me!

In Hamburg I have two families

So, I spent this past weekend in Hamburg getting to know two families in Hamburg. One family is my new host family, and the other family I'm actually related to. My new host family seems pretty cool. The mother is a doctor, and the father is a lawyer for Exxon. (I'll just have to keep my mouth shut on my thoughts on oil companies.) They live in the Ependorf area of Hamburg, which is a very nice area, close to the city center. There is a park that comes right up to the back yard. Also, I'm lucky enough to have a whole apartment again, which is pretty rare I think. I'll be caring for one 12-year-old girl. Basically I just have to hang out with her, and help her with her English. At least they make it sound easy, but I guess I'll find out.

My other family consists of my Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Volker, and my cousins Madeleine, Heinrich, and Cecilia. Marilyn also ran off to Germany when she was 22 and never managed to come back. Now she spends most of the time running after the kids. Look how cute!



This is Heinrich, age 4. We played a game that translates as being called "Zing Zang Chicken Poop".



This is my Aunt Marilyn and Cecilia "Sissy". At first Sissy was scared to touch me, but then it became a game, where I was something new and interesting to touch.



And this is Madeleine, age 8 (which honestly, I don't know how to spell her name). I think here she's conquering the Elbe River.

Even though this was only the second time I had met my Aunt and Uncle, I suppose family always still is family no matter how long you've been away. Moving to Hamburg will pose difficulties for me in starting all over again, but its nice that they'll be close by.