My morning began at 9am when I woke up to make my host family breakfast! I walked downstairs to find the American style bread and eggs already set out, and my host mother ready to learn how to make French toast. In my family, French toast is a typical weekend breakfast food, so I’m so glad I got the chance to make it for my host family. It was a little harder than normal to cook because we don’t have the same cooking utensils, but we made it work with a little oil to keep everything from sticking. 😊 My French toast was a big hit with everyone, including Leoni’s friend,who had spent the night with us the night before. (Leoni is my exchange partner’s sister.) Before breakfast was even finished, Mareike’s sheep came out to play and eat their breakfast! They were so cute I just had to feed and play with them, even when I was still in my pajamas! After breakfast, we didn’t have anything to do, and it was too early to call my parents to say hello, so I took a nap. Throughout this trip, naps are the most needed part of my day.
Around 12 I woke up again, and Mareike and I walked from her house in Oberursel to the train station. There we had a little struggle trying to buy a train ticket, but it all worked out in the end. Once on the train, we met Mareike’s (and now my) friend Neele, who came with us to the mall in Frankfurt. The Frankfurt skyline was filled with skyscrapers and big oddly-shaped buildings. Once exiting the train at the Frankfurt am Main Messe station, we walked to the Skyline Plaza mall and shopped. There were so many stores! Mareike, a lover of shoes, wanted to go into every shoe store we passed. And Neele, who will be traveling to Cuba in a few weeks, wanted to make sure her wardrobe was all set. After searching 3 floors, we found Neele a new pair of shorts and a jean jacket. Sadly, no shoes for Mareike. Then we walked up four flights of stairs to reach the Skyline Garden, where we could see all of Frankfurt from high above. Main Tower was the name of the highest skyscraper in all of Frankfurt and had a super cool triangle coming out of it. There were also multiple playgrounds for little kids, with lots of grass and areas to climb. A fun fact is that another name the locals use for Frankfurt is Main-Hattan, because it is on the river Main and the skyscrapers remind them of the US and Manhattan!
After the Skyline Plaza we went back to the train station and rode the train to the Hauptwache area of Frankfurt. There we went into another shopping center where I was able to find gifts for my family. Walking around the Hauptwache, Neele advised me to make sure I could view all of my stuff and that no one was trying to steal it. I was also told not to talk to anyone on the street who approached me because they could be trying to pickpocket or scam me. Although this was very scary for me since I hadn’t been in many big city areas like this before where criminals try to take advantage of the tourists, Mareike and Neele kept me safe and all was good. Frankfurt was an interesting city. One second you could be listening to beautiful professional piano music and smelling perfume, and the next you’re being bombarded by both the smell and smoke of many cigarettes. It was easy to focus on the perfume and pretty music because I was having a great time with my new friends.
After our second shopping excursion, we walked down the street to the riverfront to see a big iron bridge built in 1912 (the Eiserner Steg). Here every possible square inch of space was covered with locks to represent the love between the 2 people that put the locks there. It was such a sweet sentiment, so I can understand why it was so popular. We also walked past a souvenir shop where I got to see a bunch of traditional cups the Germans use to hold alcohol. One is solely for Apfelwein and another was used to drink beer out of. It was so cool to see these because they looked very similar to what I associate with old Germany from what I’ve seen in the Germany pavilion in Disney World. 😊 On our way to a late lunch, we passed Obinna and his exchange student Emre. I had lots of fun helping Obinna look for gifts for his family. Then we went next door and enjoyed one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. The names of the burgers were in English, but the toppings were listed with German names, but I could thankfully understand it all. With my burger I had some really yummy sweet potato fries and a Fanta. If you ever get the chance to try German Fanta, do it! Fanta is my favorite drink in the US, but German Fanta is somehow ever better.
Once we all finished eating (the Germans eat really fast!) we were all extremely tired, so we walked back to the train station and went home. Neele continued on to her house in another town. Right as we got to Oberursel, it started to rain, and sadly, Mareike’s mother was unable to pick us up. As a result, we walked the 15 minutes home in a record 7 minutes. After arriving home around 6:30pm, both Mareike and I were very drained, or in German, kaputt. Shortly after arriving home, dinner preparations began. We had a smoked pork from the grill, and the traditional NC BBQ sauce I brought from home was well liked. I also tried white asparagus with hollandaise sauce for the first time and had salad and baked potatoes. The most interesting part was the way the asparagus was cooked. Mareike’s family has this really cool machine that gives you directions for a bunch of recipes and has a scale to tell you how much of each ingredient to add. Then it steams your food, and in several minutes, dinner is ready! I wish we had one of these at my house. 😊 After enjoying our supper and talking about our days, Mareike’s 10 and 13-year-old cousins came out to play on their trampoline (they live next door). When Mareike’s father dared me to go jump on the trampoline with them, I didn’t think twice and just ran over and started jumping. It was so much fun to just play and act like a kid again.
To wind down our day, we ate a bunch of different candy and played a traditional card game called Skipbo. We started eating our delicious candy outside, but then it started to rain, so we ran inside just in time before the bottom dropped out. The card game was really complicated, and I could not win no matter how many times we played. Vanessa (Mareike’s 13-year-old cousin) came and played with us and won like 4 times.
Overall, it was a great day with my super sweet host family here in Germany. I know we all miss our parents at home, but please be assured that we are having a great time!
Gute Nacht! ~Katie G.