Hello. It's me....
I was wondering if after all this time,
You'd like to read...
(Oh, the cheese is too much)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I could be the next Weird Al Yankovic (and probably get sued by Adele), but until that happens, I will continue to immerse myself on this European adventure! It's been a while since my last post, but this past week has overwhelmed me with numerous awesome experiences.
In addition to witnessing the majesty of palaces like Versailles, Cathedrals older than the the discovery of North America, and the vast, mountainous, lush green landscape of Germany, I've been changed by even the small things: the incidents that only a tourist in a foreign land would notice.
For example, I learned the hard way to order a "Diet Coca-Cola" from a French café. After the annoyed mademoiselle pointed at almost every drink EXCEPT for the Diet and my flustered "no"'s in response, another student finally informed her that I wanted a "Cola Léger" (add a French accent to that). These are the kind of experiences that make me regret taking Spanish as my foreign language.
I also learned from my German hostess, Larissa, how to say the elegant phrase "Ich bin ein einhorn" or, in English, "I am a unicorn". I'm sure it will come in handy during some point in my life, especially since it's in German. Thus, with this new knowledge of the German language, I can communicate with others too... and say that they are unicorns! "Du bist ein einhorn". If I say it enough, I'll probably receive "assistance" one way or the other (Although, I don't know how good the bratwurst is at mental asylums).
While such experiences have made me a slightly more cultured human being, definitely the most important thing that I've learned is, as Mr. Teague often says, that "we all are more similar than we are different". My hosts (and the hosts of my peers) are all wonderful, and I'm constantly seeing similarities between them and my family. Their spirit, humor, and nurturing nature have made me feel extremely comfortable and really fortunate to have followed through with this trip. Amusement parks, cheering for the Deutschland fussbol team, coffee-drinking, grilling out near a fire, having a mutual love for the best chocolate ever- it's all been a blast.
We've already played our concert band and jazz band concerts in very welcoming venues. I'm ecstatic about sharing the stage with our German friends tomorrow to express yet another passion with one another- our common love for music.
See you soon,
Emily Dwyer
P.S. (I've taken pictures galore, and I actually wanted to create a compilation video with music for our France part of the tour. Unfortunately, the audio isn't working, so that hasn't been posted yet. Expect it soon though!)
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