I apologize for my recent lack of activity. I can't believe it's been more than a month since I've written a blog post. The reason I haven't written is not that I haven't had anything to write about, but rather that I've been doing so much that I haven't had an acceptable amount of time to sit down at my computer and write about all of the amazing experiences I've had in the last few weeks. If you were in my shoes you would understand!
The last couple weeks in February and the first couple in March were normal school weeks. Even though school isn't the most exciting thing, my German benefits greatly from the lectures and activities. This may sound cliché, but every day my German becomes a little bit better. No blog post was needed during this period because nothing noteworthy happened.
March 16th brought along with it the beginning of our Easter/Spring break. As I've become accustomed to, the breaks are almost always two weeks, twice as long as the one week breaks back in the United States. I had every intention to use these weeks to to their fullest potential.
The first adventure planned was a trip to Djerba, Tunisia. Tunisia, the island Djerba specifically, I've learned in one of several locations on the Mediterranean Sea that serves as the European equivalent of the Caribbean. And by that I don't mean that Tunisia is in Europe, it's quite clearly in Africa, but people like us here in Germany, sick of the cold, go to these places to soak up some sun, just like Americans go to the Caribbean during the colder months.
The five of us left on March 18th from Hannover, and after surviving an 11 hour delay finally arrived at around 4am at our resort in the first Islamic country I have ever visited. Once we had made up for the sleep we had lost on the day of travel, my family and I had a great time on the beach playing volleyball, swimming in the pool, getting a little bit of a tan, and eating way too much of the all-inclusive food offerings. We spent the entire week on the resort without exploring the rest of the island. I'm a born explorer, but unfortunately Djerba, outside of the resorts, is not the nicest place to go out alone and sightsee. But honestly I don't think I would've wanted to anyway because I was in complete beach bum relaxation mode. Overall, I think we all had a very good time in the warmth of Northern Africa.
For most people one trip would've been enough, but not for me! After a day of rest I boarded yet another plane, but this time it was headed north to Norway. In Norway I spent several days visiting Jan Gunnar (or JG for those you can't pronounce it correctly), my friend in his hometown of Rakkestad, his university's city of Fredrikstad, and of course the capital of Norway, Oslo. We spent the days with his friends, sightseeing, and having an overall good time. I am so thankful that the weather cooperated. Who would have thought that the weather up north in Norway would be nicer than Celle, Germany?!
After visiting with Jan Gunnar, my next stop was Kristianstad, Sweden to visit Johanna, another friend. Again, like the time I spent with JG in Norway, we had a great time together. It's always good to see friends again. When I was invited to dinner by Johanna's parents I was expecting something typically Swedish like fish or meatballs, but instead we had the very traditional (can you detect the sarcasm?) Swedish dish of tacos. You never know what to expect.
So that's it. The next event on my radar is an Imagine Dragons concert in Köln (Cologne) in a couple of weeks. I'll be sure to report on that!
The last couple weeks in February and the first couple in March were normal school weeks. Even though school isn't the most exciting thing, my German benefits greatly from the lectures and activities. This may sound cliché, but every day my German becomes a little bit better. No blog post was needed during this period because nothing noteworthy happened.
March 16th brought along with it the beginning of our Easter/Spring break. As I've become accustomed to, the breaks are almost always two weeks, twice as long as the one week breaks back in the United States. I had every intention to use these weeks to to their fullest potential.
The first adventure planned was a trip to Djerba, Tunisia. Tunisia, the island Djerba specifically, I've learned in one of several locations on the Mediterranean Sea that serves as the European equivalent of the Caribbean. And by that I don't mean that Tunisia is in Europe, it's quite clearly in Africa, but people like us here in Germany, sick of the cold, go to these places to soak up some sun, just like Americans go to the Caribbean during the colder months.
The five of us left on March 18th from Hannover, and after surviving an 11 hour delay finally arrived at around 4am at our resort in the first Islamic country I have ever visited. Once we had made up for the sleep we had lost on the day of travel, my family and I had a great time on the beach playing volleyball, swimming in the pool, getting a little bit of a tan, and eating way too much of the all-inclusive food offerings. We spent the entire week on the resort without exploring the rest of the island. I'm a born explorer, but unfortunately Djerba, outside of the resorts, is not the nicest place to go out alone and sightsee. But honestly I don't think I would've wanted to anyway because I was in complete beach bum relaxation mode. Overall, I think we all had a very good time in the warmth of Northern Africa.
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| Fiesta Beach Club in Djerba |
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| Near Akershus Fortress in Oslo |
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| Posing with a member of the Norwegian Royal Guard in front of the Royal Palace |
After visiting with Jan Gunnar, my next stop was Kristianstad, Sweden to visit Johanna, another friend. Again, like the time I spent with JG in Norway, we had a great time together. It's always good to see friends again. When I was invited to dinner by Johanna's parents I was expecting something typically Swedish like fish or meatballs, but instead we had the very traditional (can you detect the sarcasm?) Swedish dish of tacos. You never know what to expect.
So that's it. The next event on my radar is an Imagine Dragons concert in Köln (Cologne) in a couple of weeks. I'll be sure to report on that!
