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.