A Final Farewell...

Hello family & friends,

As we are currently sitting in our room looking at blank walls with suitcases in the middle waiting to travel back to the states, our emotions don't know which way to go. We had the best last night we could have ever asked for. We went to the Mexican restaurant in Tubingen with all 11 of us, the Becker's and the Brixner's. It was a large group which made it so much fun. We stayed for a really long time and enjoyed every single minute of it. Then, after that, we parted with The Brixner's and Becker's and said our final farewells to them (other than Herr Becker) and got some European gelato for the last time. It was to die for...we're REALLY going to miss that.

We took the train back to Reutlingen for the last time and reminisced about every ones quirks and the best times we've shared here. We walked through downtown Reutlingen in a light mist laughing and enjoying each moment. We were all expecting tonight to be sad, but with all the humor in our group, it's hard to think about tomorrow when we're still laughing about today. It still hasn't hit us that today and life as we know it is coming to an end. It is hard to remember what life in the States is like. Who needs a cell phone anyways?! We would have never found ourselves saying that 4 months ago...but being here has really helped us to grasp our independence and live in the NOW. What a wonderful lesson to learn.

We ended our night at the Irish Pub. It was pretty much empty, so we enjoyed the entire place to ourselves and danced the night away with the amazing RT-83 group. It couldn't have been any better. Some people need a full bar of people to have a good time,but for tonight it was just perfect. The owners were there (who have come to know each Valpo group so well) and celebrated our last night with us.

We all walked home together and was the best ending to a perfect night. We are so sad it is coming to an end, but also in disbelief at how fast time flies. We have learned to treasure every minute and never take anything for granted. We never thought we would learn so much in such a short time, but we have all taken away so many experiences that have changed who we are and made us who we've become.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as we've enjoyed writing it. We will always look back on this and smile at how we were able to share our experiences with each one of you. See you in less than 24 hours (those who will be at the airport), otherwise I'm sure we will be contacting you via cellphone (if we know how to use it still...). Have a wonderful last day without us in the States. RT-83 will be in the US and ready to conquer tomorrow :)

Forever Remember,

Lauren, Anna & the girls <3

Happy Mother's Day... RT Style :)

I'd like to start this post off by saying Happy Mother's Day to all of our mom's back home!  We really wish we could be there celebrating with you... but just know that we love you all 4and appreciate everything you've done for us thus far in our lives.  I think we've all turned out great... and a HUGE part of that is because of you :) LOVE YOU, MOM!

Last night, our entire group went to the Bier and Wein Academie.  LO and I received our Bier Diplom's while Suz and Andrea acquired their Wein Diplom's.  This consisted of drinking 10 different types of German Bier and Wein.  We started at 7pm and were out until about 2am.  It was quite an exciting night.  Everyone in our group had a great time and it was just a fun experience for all of us.

The first half of today consisted of major packing and organizing all of our goodies.  It was somewhat stressful and sad... but within about 5 hours, everything in our rooms and closets is in a suitcase or box.  Sitting here now, it's so hard to believe the time is coming where we have to leave this great life we've made over the past 4 months.  Once packing was summed up, our group met to climb the "mountain" that marks the highest point in Reutlingen.  It is called the Achalm.  We were all in our hiking gear and sweated our way to the top.  It was a great hike and we made it up so many hills, past so many sheep and enjoyed tons of green scenery :)  It was a great day and the weather was just perfect.

Afterwards, we split up and some went to this cute restaurant, Piatto and others ate at a sport's bar, Billy Bob's.  We all love discussions and enjoying each other's company during the long dinners here.  I think we're all starting to realize that we are leaving here so soon.  I know we are all ready to see everyone back home, but there will definitely be many tears shed from all of us once we get on that plane.  We've all talked about how we're going to miss this simple lifestyle and just the free and easy time we have.  We have all grown in so many ways, it is crazy to think we've learned so much in such a short time.  But, we've definitely been shaped for the best :)  These people here have really become part of our family.  I don't think any of us know anyone better right now than the 11 people we are here with.  We know each other in and out and I am so thankful to have gotten this experience.  I really don't know if I am ready to leave just yet...

Tonight will be another group movie night and we're also going to watch a slideshow of pictures from our entire time abroad.  We miss you all and will be home before you know it.  

With Warm Hearts,

Anna & the Germany Chicks!

Farewell Dinner :(

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday! We all slept in yesterday for the first time after a long night of singing karaoke and then went downtown to get lunch and do some last minute shopping!

Last evening was the Student/Faculty Farewell Dinner! We all got dressed up and went to a really great German 

restaurant (probably our last German meal for a long long time) called Uhlandhohe. It was such a nice dinner. All our professors came and brought their families. It was really neat to meet their wives and children! We started off the dinner with all the Professors getting up and talking about the semester. Gifts were given and Jeremy and I got sang to for our birthdays! A couple of the Professors got choked up giving their speech which was so touching to know that we have touched their lives just as much as they have ours. Then we ate our meal, and enjoyed our time together. We talked about the amazing adventure this has been and how much we have changed for the better as people while being over here. It is crazy to think back to the first weeks of being here and knowing how much we have progressed as adults and in our relationship as a group. We also performed some living paintings for the last time and gave the Professors a quiz about our group to see if they could guess who each statement was about. They REALLY enjoyed that one.

After dinner, Jeremy had put together a 20 minute slide show of the entire semester. We all added 30 photos of our choice and he compiled an amazing video which he is making us a copy of so you all can see :) We laughed and laughed at the pictures just reminiscing about our amazing experiences we've had together as a group and family.

The night ended, and we said good-bye to our professors. The Brixner's might actually come with us to Mexican Monday in Tubingen on Monday night before we leave! haha. So that might have not been our final farewell to them. We had a great evening and it was so great to have this last memory together with everyone in one room.

Today we are playing sports all afternoon (volleyball and soccer) then having a BBQ with the whole gang. Then we're going out with a everyone to get our Bier Diplom's and one last Hoorah at the Beer and Wine Academy. It should be an amazing Birthday and night! :)

See you all in 3 days...wow...

Love you,

Lauren & the Germany Girl's 09

DONE!

HELLO SUMMER!!

Today was our last day of finals, and we could not be happier!! After having 4 finals within 30 hours was pretty intense, but we really can't complain. Compared to finals back at Valpo, these were a piece of cake! As nursing majors we have never written so many essays for finals so going back to good old scantrons will be a nice change!
After we finished with our Econ final today we all went out to celebrate with a few games of beach volleyball. It was so nice not to have a care in the world and we all had such a great time together. We then got chicken man for our last and final time here in Germany:( We all told him that we were leaving and Lauren wished she knew how to say I miss you in German to him, haha. We had another group dinner with everyone in Sam's kitchen and talked about all the things that we are going to say tomorrow at our faculty dinner. We are all really sad about having to say our goodbyes soon but we tried not to get too sappy and just enjoy our last few days together. Tonight we are going to the Irish Pub for our last karoake night. We will all be sure to have a couple of performances on stage so we leave with a bang!

We are really missing you all from home and can't wait to see you in only 5 more days!!!

LOVE Suzanne and the girls <3

Pictures: Bottom: Some of us girls in front of the building where we attend class

Top: Some of our group at our last visit to the Chicken MAN :(

HAULT!! Polizi!!

Today was an amazing day! We were able to take a study break from these dreaded finals and go to the police station downtown. We all went and had a great time. We started talking to the police man in charge of public relations and he gave us a ton of statistics and facts about the area. He gave a very informational presentation and then led us around the station. He told us that the major problems are theft, property damage and public intoxication. They are not very dangerous and that makes the area very safe. From the presentation we went to have a look around. We all were able to go into a jail cell and check it out. There was a hole for a toilet and a bed that was watched at all times with a video camera. There are no removable items so nothing can be destroyed. A stay over night will cost you 120 Euros. He said we could stay the night but we would have to pay and he would not recommend it. Another crazy fact was that when inmates are served food they can only use a spoon to eat. This is so they cannot swallow their utensils. Apparently you cannot swallow a spoon but forks and knives... Who knew!?! If they would then the inmates have to be sent to the hospital for them to be fished out.
From there we went downstairs to the training section. We met with an officer and trainer, Peter, and he showed us the works. We got to hold and look at a 9mm pistol, a MP5 gun and a large gun. They were fairly heavy. We had a good time messing around with them. We also were able to try on his belt with everything on it. He had a whole table set up with things. Other items were handcuffs, a wand, shield, pepper spray, helmet, ammunition and the guns. We also were able to use the training system the cops use. They have a screen on the back wall with a computer set up where they have still and moving targets. We were able to shoot a laser gun and hit the targets. Anna and I had a fun time with personal lessons on how to handcuff and speedcuff someone. We had each other pinned up on the wall and cuffed pretty quick. We learned some tricky moves.
From there we went outside to meet with the men in charge of the drug dogs. This part was very cool to watch. Each police man had his own dog that he owns and he takes care of. It is one master to one dog and they are trained very well. They know to sit, stay, lay and attack. Each dog has a different specialty. Some search for explosives others drugs. The dogs were a German Shepard-- Ben, Belgian Shepard-- Bear and a dog from the Netherlands--Bucher. They go through strict training starting at the age of 10 months to one year. They need to be in top physical condition down to the proper hip placement. It costs 15,000- 20,000 Euros to train each dog. They can preform until they are retired. The dogs use the smell and are trained that it is a game to find the explosive or drug. They are to find it and then they get a reward. The police need to make sure that the dog's do not become addicted to it or take it out of control. If the dog eats the item then they are immediatly given medicine to throw it up. The dog's think it is fun and a challenging game to find the item. The only time that the dog is allowed to bite is when he has a large leather collar on. This ritual tells him that he is allowed to bite the victim. A bite has 8,000 Kilos of pressure per one centimeter. You would NOT want to be bitten. They are also not allowed to bite unless the person moves. If they stand still then the dog will do nothing. We had a few demonstrations. One was hidden drugs in the garage. The dog found it very quickly and laid down as soon as he found it in the exact spot. The others took place out in the lawn. We saw Bear in training with following orders very exactly. Then Ben came out and showed us the biting chase. One of the police put on a large padded arm covering and went out in the field. Ben stayed very close to his master but you could tell he was very excited. They walked up slowly, Ben did not flinch until he was commanded to. He was great. The dogs were so smart. Dogs have a 200,000,000 times better sense of smell than humans. You could tell the dogs loved their owner and the owners loved them. Dogs are truly man's best friend. At the end of the day the dogs go home with their owners and it is no longer work. They know exactly when it is time to work or play. You can definitely see the loyalty and trust between the dogs and owners.
As you can see we had a great time and found it very interesting! It was a good study break too! Well only 4 more finals to go! and 7 more days until we come home!
Love you and Miss you all!!
Love, Andrea and the girls! <3

Finals Week.

Welp, the time for finals is here... we are figuring out the STUDY part of study abroad.  We conquered our Art exam today with flying colors (hahaha...) and have spent the rest of the night preparing our study guides for Herr Becker's 2 courses: German Studies and Theology.  Although we don't have any tests tomorrow, we are just getting ahead of the game :)

We are headed to our last German class tomorrow.  It's going to be sad to say goodbye to Frau Brixner... I know I really am going to miss her daily pep; not many people are quite as happy as she is.  Also, we have a tour at the Reutlingen Police Department.  We will get to shoot guns, learn self- defense, watch the drug dogs and see the cells.  It will be a very interesting day. Luckily none of us students have been there yet ;)

I better get back to the books, but just wanted to give another update... 8 more days <3

Tschus!

Anna & the Germany girls

Beer Olympics!

Hi everyone!!

The days have just been flying by SO fast...it's crazy. Yesterday, we competed in the first annual Beer Olympics. Ha ha. Yes, you heard right, we all split into teams and had a fun day of playing games and competing against each other. Anna and I were on one team (team Bach) and Andrea and Suzanne were on the other (team Luther). We all chose these names because of the course we're taking on Luther and Bach. :) clever, huh? So we had a beautiful day and were able to be outside in the sun all afternoon. We all had such a great time and definitely will never forget it!

These past couple of days all 11 of us have been getting into sand volleyball. It's so fun because it is a great break from studying and being in our rooms. We all meet up and walk to the volleyball courts which are only about 10 minutes away. We have the best time just playing and rotating teams and laughing constantly! I'm so glad we discovered such a fun thing to do and the Valpo program has all these balls and fun items to play all types of sports with. We've been using our resources A LOT! Yesterday, we played a ton of volleyball so I woke up (along with everyone else) with sore muscles that I forgot I had! haha

Other than that, we have all been preparing for finals, watching movies and enjoying the last days in the RT!

We only have 10 days left. It is really winding down and I can honestly say (and speak for everyone else too) that this is going to be the most bitter sweet whirl-wind time for our emotions. We are all so excited to get home and see everyone we love, but we have become so accustomed to this life that it is going to be so hard to say good-bye to it.

We will keep you posted as to how our first final goes on Monday (ART). Tonight is movie night with the whole group! Not sure what we're watching, but we're all excited :)

Can't wait to see you all in no time at all...WOW... I never thought I'd be saying that.

Love you all!

Lauren & the Germany Girls :)

Pictures: Top picture: The 4 of us... complete rivals :)

Middle picture: The courts that we play on and some of us playing :)

Bottom picture: Team Luther and Team Bach before the games began!