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Just a final blog entry to say goodbye. It has been an amazing journey and adventu
re where I have made many new friends, have seen hundreds of incredible sights, have tasted tons of delicious food, and have retained a countless number of memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. My Tempe Sister Cities sponsored trip to Germany was the best thing I have ever done in my life. If you have never traveled abroad, I encourage and challenge you to do so. If you travel with an open mind, it WILL change your outlook on life! Thanks to everyone who made this journey WITH me, reading and commenting on my blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have had writing it. Until my next travels... With love from Germany,J
I had hoped to sleep in a little longer on my first day home, but NO... 5:30 a.m. and I am stinking WIDE AWAKE! But I awoke to a beautiful sunrise, and thought to myself, "It's good to be home." I d
rove to McDonalds to have a much missed iced coffee (I only drank 3 while in Germany... it's kind of hard to have an iced coffee, when they have no ice!!) Aaah, gut! Then reality hit... I had to unpack (took ALL day!), do 4 loads of laundry, go through 4 weeks of mail, pay bills, start a new grocery list, decide if I want to replace all my dead flowers or leave the pots empty, had to make my own lunch and dinner AND do the dishes, realized that house cleaning will be left for Monday, etc., etc., etc... It's a good thing that Alexis talked me in to going with her to lay out at the pool for a couple of hours, because that was just the ticket! The cloudless sky, the warm sun (only 107), and the cool pool really helped me cope. Then home for a nap and up again to do a bit more. While the jobs and responsibilities of an adult are sometimes a bit overwhelming, you still have to look for all the amazingly wonderful things that go with those tasks... again, it's good to be home. (Oh ya, I only gained 3 pounds, but they are ALL FAT!!!)
After a tearful goodbye at the Nowotny house, we left with Michael for th
e airport. Francisco and I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to check in, and quickly got into line to do so. The bag I checked in was of the perfect weight, so they whisked it away. Francisco put his on the scale and it was 3 kilos OVERWEIGHT! He asked how much to pay for the extra weight, and they said $150!!! So Francisco spent the next 5 minutes (to the grumblings of the other passengers waiting to check in... AND the disgruntled airline lady) taking things out and trying to make weight! I took his dress shoes, he gave 25 aprons that we were bringing back for the Oktoberfest to Michael, and a few more this and thats, and he finally made it. Drama in the morning! lol. Said more tearful goodbyes to Michael and Hariett, and got in a long line for security check. While waiting for o
ur plane, I purchased a sandwich and my last German beer... Finally loaded the plane for our long ride home. We had a couple of funny things happen along the way... of COURSE Francisco and I were the most fun people on the flight, and we were laughing and having a good time, which immediately endeared us to one of the flight attendants. She spoke with us often about where we were from, and what we were doing in Germany. One time by, as she was getting something for us, she asked how long I had been traveling with Francisco, and when I replied "4 weeks" she just said... "Oh my!" and laughed. Later, as they were serving our lunch, the lady across the aisle from us ordered a glass of wine, and her flight attendant accidently knocked over the white wine carton, which knocked over the red wine carton, and proceeded to thoroughly SOAK this poor lady with wine! Francisco and I were having a hard time not laughing out loud. Poor lady! To pass the time (10 1/2 hours), I watched the movie Sherlock Holmes (loved it!), read a 400 page book, watched part of Francisco's movies (Alice In Wonderland, It's Complicated, and Leap Year), TRIED to sleep, but no luck (Francisco slept at least twice, lucky dog!), watched the in flight airplane screen which showed exactly where and what we were flying over, and just sat there looking out the window at the beautiful green country, or white clouds. Landed in Atlanta with no problems (thank you God! :)) and proceeded to pull up to our gate... which would not open! We started out being over 15 minutes early when we landed, and ended up sitting on the plane for clo
se to 40 minutes while they tried to fix the door, or taxi us to another entrance or something. They finally figured it out, and we were free! We had to take a tram to go pick up our luggage, and transfer it to another location for the next flight. Then through customs... pretty easy ordeal actually! Since we had the delay, we only had to wait about 30 minutes before we loaded our on to our next plane for Phoenix. Here is a picture of Francisco and I WAITING patiently at the Atlanta airport. No problems whatsoever on this flight, and we landed 15 minutes early. Walked out, and there was David waiting to pick us up. I ran and jumped in his arms for a nice welcome home hug and kiss! When David and I were done hugging, he looked at me, and then Francisco, and said, "He does NOT get th
e same welcome!" lol. Picked up our luggage, dropped Francisco off at home, and then drove home. Dead dog tired... oh my. It was 3:30 a.m. Germany time when I arrived home and having no sleep (and only 4 hours on Friday night, anyway) yes, I was pooped. Alexis was there at home, with flowers, goodies, and a welcome home mom sign. I grabbed her for a couple of long hugs and pecks on the cheek. Yes, I missed my family. I handed out the gifts I had purchased for them, and we tried some German chocolates. Mmmmm. Then off to Taco Bell for a chalupa supreme and a pepsi... oh, that hit the spot! Got home, and since it was 9 p.m., hit the sack! Good night, gut nacht!
It is Saturday, June 26th at 6 a.m. and I am finishing getting ready. Michael will be by between 6:15 and 6:30 to take Francisco and me to the airport an hour or more away in Munich. Our flight leaves at 9:50 a.m. Then we have about 10 1/2 hours to Atlanta, then almost 4 more hours home. We have a 2 hour layover in Atlanta, so we don't get home until 5:30 p.m. Arizona time (that's about 2:30 a.m. Germany time...) It's gonna be a looooonnnngg day! I hope I can sleep on the plane... here's to a safe flight, and I will finish this up on Sunday when I wake up from my jet lagged sleep! Auf Weidersehen!! xoxoJ
* Uli has her own garden, and makes her own jams, jellies, syrup, and yogurt?* Walter is
a wonderful cook! My favorite thing was the white spargel (asparagus) wrapped in ham, and baked in a cheese sauce... mmmmm!* Miriam bought Max (her horse) for ONE EURO?? Long story...* Almost EVERY song you hear on the radio is American pop rock? Like 96.9... * Germany is 9 hours later than Arizona time?* You have to PAY to use the most public bathrooms? 
* Simon Nowotny is coming to Arizona in August? (Is he nuts!?!?) * I didn't know how to flush the toilet in my bathroom, and had to ask Miriam to show me? (They have this silver rectangle on the wall, and mine wasn't behind the toilet, but on the left! So I didn't even consider it! I was so embarrased!)* David Nowotny reminds me a WHOLE lot of my son Aaron!! :) * I have tried over 10 different apertif or digestives? (The alcohol you drink before or after dinner) Cognac, Sherry, Prosecco (a champagne), Coconut Kiss (Caribbean), Rotweinheffe (this one could put HAIR on your chest, as my daddy used to say!!) (Germany), Campari, Ouzo (Greece), Lemonis (Italy), Caipirinha de Brazil, Grappa, and a couple of more that I forgot to write down! * While visiting the Jewish Museum in Berlin, I used the MENS bathroom... and YES, there was a man in there! oh my...* Michael would love to come to Arizona and be a professor at ASU!* Grappa should be sipped, not chugged (Francisco...)
* Hariet has an absolutely BEAUTIFUL voice, and she used to be a dancer?* Francisc
o has been the best travel partner I could have imagined, and we have become excellent friends through our adventures! Can we go again?* The Nowotny family was the most hospitable family that I could ever have asked for.... they took care of me, fed, me, put up with me, and loved me like one of their own... I could not have felt more like family had I been born into it... thank you for all of your love and making me feel like this was my home... I love you all!! and will miss you sooooo much!
Heute ist Fr
eitag, my last day in Germany. Where did the time go? Francisco and I were scheduled to go to visit a kindergarten class in Thalmassing. The German kindergarten actually consists of students aged 3-6. It does not have the rigorous academic expectations of our American kindergarten, and it is not mandatory. But it was an absolutely delightful place. Located in an quaint, old 3 st
ory home, it was surrounded with a huge lot with green trees, bushes, and wonderful play areas with sand, water, swings and toys. None of the traditional playground equipment, and the kids were having the times of their lives. We watched their morning meeting, and some free play time. The students were practicing for an upcoming festival, so there were groups dancing, and singing. We stayed for about 2 hours, and the kids, who were very enthralled with us, were sad to see us go. Next, home for lunch and final packing wrap up. At 12:30 Miriam and I left to pick up Francisco, and on to Uli's school. One
of the teachers there, Linda (the one who hosted that great BBQ sometime back...) was going to be doing some very special canine therapy, and we were invited to watch. First of all, we hadn't been to Uli's school in a couple of weeks, and her students were SOOOOOOOO excited to see us. Jacob just about hugged the stuffing out of me! He is such a doll, and I am his personal favorite, and after hugs he quickly grabbed me by the hand, and was literally running down the hall towards Uli's room. lol! When all the students were situated in a semi-circle of chairs, Linda 
went over all the rules and procedures about how to act with a dog. Then she brought her dog in. The students were positively beaming! She let the all feed her one treat, and then she got to work. Each of the students got to come up and work with the dog, using sign language to make her sit, lay, and follow. They were so incredble with the dog, and Lady (a yellow lab) was wonderful with the kids. When that ended, we said our goodbyes to the class and the principal and headed home. I took a cat nap (the weather is so beautiful here today, you would love it! Maybe 80's, but now there is a cool breeze coming through all of the open windows in my bedroom... who knows? I may have to wear a sweater tonight...) then worked on some of my final blog entries. I have over 1000 pictures of my time here, and Miriam (or Walter) is going to download all of them to a DVD for me. Then I can share them when I return... We are going to a biergarten tonight with Uli's family, Michael, Hariett, and Francisco. My last biergarten... we went to the biergarten Spit
al (it used to be a hospital...) and had everyone there and a wonderful dinner. Sat there for quite a while while we watched Spain and Chile play soccer. Then we went walking around at the Ostengassen Fest in downtown Regensburg, which was a compilation of people and booths and food, and a good time. We walked around for a couple of hours, trying food, talking to people, and taking in the sights. We were very entertained. We left the festival and went back to Uli's home to have an after dinner drink... your choice of Ouzo, Coconut Kiss, Grappa, Scotch Whisky, or something else... lol. We toasted to our last night, to good friends, and to wonderful memories... then off to bed after 1 p.m. good night!!
Today Francisco a
nd I accompanied Uli to a private Catholic School named Bischop Manfred Müller to observe a first grade classroom in action. The school is only 10 years old, and is very big, and beautiful. I con't know where to begin to tell you about this class. It was quite possibly the best class I have EVER seen! The teacher was amazing... so organized, professional, caring, prepared, and thoroughly engaged her students using the pedigological "whole child" teaching philosophy. We watched in wonder for almost 4 hours as this teacher did stations, taught music, and reading, had a´"choice" and snack time. I have a video that I want to download showing about a minute and a half of these kids working in absolute silence! Even when they were messing a
round (which was almost NEVER, they did it sooo quietly!) Quite utterly astonishing! After we left the school, Uli took us to lunch at the Charlie Chaplin biergarten. Miriam was available, and joined us as well. We had a delicious lunch, Francisco with goulash, and me with some type of fried cheese and berry sauce. Yummy!! Then home for a quick shower, and off to a presentation at Michael's school about the Tempe Sister Cities Teacher Exchange program. It was well presented, and well received. Didn't get done there until almost 6, then home again
to freshen up for our official Farewell Dinner graciously hosted by Traudl Lacher-Jödicke and her husband. It was attended by a couple of principals, the treasurer of TSC-Regensburg, Uli, Miriam, Simon, me, Francisco, and Michael. We had good food, good conversation, and a good time! Believe it or not, my day is not over! Off now to catch the end of a birthday party for a family friend of the Nowotnys. Sat around a fire pit and talked for about an hour, then I was so tired that Miriam and I walked the length of town to go home. Too tired to blog last night, I poured myself into bed around midnight... Güt nacht!
re where I have made many new friends, have seen hundreds of incredible sights, have tasted tons of delicious food, and have retained a countless number of memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. My Tempe Sister Cities sponsored trip to Germany was the best thing I have ever done in my life. If you have never traveled abroad, I encourage and challenge you to do so. If you travel with an open mind, it WILL change your outlook on life! Thanks to everyone who made this journey WITH me, reading and commenting on my blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have had writing it. Until my next travels... 
