A tour of Werne!

Today is Wednesday, November 19th so this blog will be a collaboration of the first few days this week! Yesterday we had the honor of sitting down with the mayor of Werne. He was a very nice man and extremely welcoming of the student teachers from Kentucky visiting his city! There reception that was held in his office in the city.  When we walked in we were greeted with a smiling handshake and Coca-Colas on the table! He asked us a lot of questions about our travels to Germany, what we hope to get out of our time here, and what we thought about his city. I speak for the whole group when I say we had a wonderful time and are thankful for the opportunity to be here! Three newspapers came to record information and take pictures during the reception. Here is the picture that was printed in the newspapers the next day.

After the mayors reception the group decided that we wanted to explore the city, and have lunch together! Our first stop was at the local grocery store. Some of the girls needed to purchase a few items they forgot; the only thing I was after was chocolate! Milka Chocolate!! If you haven’t experienced this yet, I encourage you to hunt some down and reward yourself with this heavenly deliciousness from God! I’m sure I will bring some home and if you’re lucky! (Good thing you don’t like sweets Brian, so I don’t have to share!! haha)

Once we were finished shopping a bit, we all met at a little pizzeria in the middle of the town. I found it very amusing that we were a bunch of Americans, in Germany, eating Italian food! This was the first experience I had out in public without a translator! The owners of the restaurant didn’t speak any English and the whole menu was in German! Needless to say the only way to communicate was to smile and point at what we wanted. (Even if we had no idea exactly what we were ordering) Even with all the hurdles, the group had a great time, ate well, and left extremely stuffed!!  (Best Pizza I’ve ever had!! Be jealous Brian!! )

Following our intake of enough carbs to last us a lifetime, we walked around the city some more! We found a lovely little chocolate shop that filled the air with yummy chocolaty goodness smells!! We didn’t stop to buy anything this time! Only because we were so stuffed from pizza!

One thing about this city that really amazed me is that, here it is the middle of November, and there are people selling fresh flowers on the street! I mean flowers that you see for sale in the SPRING in America. Being the sucker for fresh flowers that I am, I had to refrain from buying some to take home! So I took a picture instead!! My host mom said that these fresh flowers come from Holland where they are grown in huge greenhouses!

You can imagine just how amusing it was for the locals to see a bunch of American girls roaming their city! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be on this journey in Germany with some of my best friends! There is never a dull moment! There is something so rewarding about spending time with people who are just as passionate about teaching as I am! Tonight all the host families and student teachers are getting together to go bowling. This should be fun!! This weekend Heike takes us to Berlin! I’m sure I’ll have a few blogs up in between! Until then, Gute Naute or Goodnight!!