Days

In my quest to find things to do all day, I found the 1972 Olympic Kayak/ Canoe course on the bike! The 2010 World Cup is happening this weekend so I have been watching them practice on the course. It is quite something. It is manmade in a canal but there is a strong current and boulders, turns, rapids, etc. I rode Rod today, took him for a walk in the woods. It is hot now! Probably 80 degrees. Tonight Dom's parents will go to an Opera so I am holding down the fort...

Fussball Public Viewing

Dominic towering over the crowd.
The TV! I think around 12 feet high. "Only" 5,000 tickets were available and they were sold out 3 hours after becoming available on Thursday.

Today I slept until about 10am and then was incredibly lazy! Dominic rode Rod and I free lunged Ali. Tomorrow morning he leaves for Italy for a week so I will be looking after the horses (today I taught Dom's mom the difference between looking at, looking for and looking after!). Germany played England at 4pm and we went to a public viewing in Augsburg. It was crazy and unlike anything I've seen in America! Almost everyone had some sort of Red, Black or Yellow "decoration" and they were handing out body paint at the entrance. I was glad Germany won, mainly because I can't imagine what all these people would have done if they lost! There was very loud singing and cheering, and just when I thought that was the end of the festivities I realized that every car leaving honked their horn (and not just a little). There were cars decorated with the German colors and people hanging out with flags and screaming and causing a ruckus. Police were everywhere, and one had elongated his sideburns with black, red and yellow face paint. To say the least these people love their Fussball. My assignment tomorrow is to be in the city at 7 to get tickets for the public viewing of next Saturday's game...

Fun Day!

Dinner... Schweinshaxn (pig hip/ thigh) and beer. I ate the pretzel and went thirsty.
Alpine Slide! Even the dog went.
Me making muscles in front of scenery on the drive home.
Chris and Cabana Boy... plus a beautiful show grounds!
I hiked up to get this photo of the show.

I'm tired and I'm watching USA play fussball, but here are some pics from today! It was super. We went to the show in Austria, (STUNNING), Chris was 7th with Cabana and Ulla won the Grand Prix. We drove home through the mountains and stopped several times to do an alpine slide, eat, etc. The only bad part was I felt very carsick on the way home :)

I'll write more tomorrow... good night/ Go USA!

MAXed

Dominic getting into "party mode"... wrestling his mom and painting her with German flag face paint. This led to fighting with broken whips and boot pulls.



Here are a few pictures from the party last night... The whole street is closed down and there are people everywhere. I had to pay 30 cents to use the toilet... that was a first! We wandered around until about 1 and then went to a disco. The music was completely horrible at the beginning... they were playing "Hit the Road Jack (don't you get back, no more no more...) as a dance song! It wasn't even a remix! Then some Beach Boys and "The Twist"! I was surprised and music like that doesn't help my already amazing dance skills. After a while it got better and I was dancing a lot. We got home at 3am and the funny part was Dominic waking up to go to school this morning! It is 10:40am now and I just woke up, on my way to the barn. I think tomorrow we are driving to Austria to watch a huge horse show. I'm so excited!

Dinner

Dinner last night... meat and veggies in jello and some horrifying alcohol. :(

Rode both horses today, they were good! Dom is being evaluated for the military. I am home alone now. There is a big party in Augsburg Thursday- Sunday which sounds really fun!

Show update

Awards ceremony
Ulla and her dog, Powela, with Cabana's winnings.
Love this shot, German colors
Frank and Amalon
The Carnival!

A bit more rested now, although I didn't have to work too hard at the show! We drove 7 hours in a huge horse van the size of a bus. We got to the show around 7pm and unpacked and I went to sleep. I am tired of horse show food because I ate it the whole 3 days. After the rides were done everyone left so I had to entertain myself. I went for a walk and found a carnival and had some food there too... it was great for my German because now I can get pretty much anything I need (ok mind you I am super at charades). My major miscommunication was getting cotton candy when I wanted a caramel apple! The horses were all well behaved and things went smoothly. Frank's 2 horses Don Dior and Amalon, both finished with decent scores. Cabana Boy was awesome and won both days (a PSG and I1) so that was exciting, the only Americans at the show! At lunch there were crazy demonstrations in the main arena, like a Native American reenactment complete with guns and fire. 3 Hand gliders also landed there and they hired a trick airplane. It was a pretty big show but the facility was... not pristine. The riders were not happy with the footing and the stabling was set up so the horses could put their heads out their windows and into the jumping warm-up. They ran out of hay Saturday night... hmm what else? Oh an antique car show blocked the path to the warm-up arena on Sunday. Well I'm going back bed for a little while and then riding Dom's horses. He has 2 really huge tests this week so he needs to study a lot!

Home from Show

Home from show, very tired! It was really great. Will write about it tomorrow, off to bed. Here is the first batch of photos.

Work or Play

Packing for the show! Today I went to work and came back for lunch, (hot dogs and pretzels, although they call them by more sophisticated names!) then rode Ali. He is very different to ride than what I am used to! I went shoe shopping with Dom's mom because I only have one pair of sneakers for the barn. I bought some other barn shoes but saw a lot of cool everyday shoes! Now I am getting ready and feeling hungry. I work tomorrow and then leave around 11 to go to Ulla's. I will be sleeping in the horse trailer! I am probably bringing my computer but I doubt there will be wireless on the show grounds!!... so no blog until Monday night. I am very excited! I have been messing around with the photos on my computer so here are 2 experiments and a photo of Dom's dog Bubbles. Have a good weekend!!! I am bringing my camera so don't worry...

Quick

Quick tonight because I'm tired and it's late, just went to work today and took a nap. Frank (Ulla's assistant) needs a groom for a show this weekend and I get to do it!!! I will be gone Thursday until Sunday to East Germany, about a 7 hour drive. He has 2 horses, one in PSG/ I1 and a Grand Prix horse! It's a big show and Chris will be there with Douglas and Cabana. I'm really excited! OK Night night...

No Alps :(

No Alps today because it was raining a lot :( I was very sad, but got to sleep in and take the horses out for a hack. Then we went to Schloss Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II's castle. It was very beautiful and I wished it was sunny so my pictures were better! I played with the color on my computer to make them less white and boring. We had a tour in English of the inside, but I decided to be a good person and not sneak pictures (no photography allowed). Feeling better but tired. Watching Germany play Australia in soccer and then bed. Dom and I will have dinner witg Chris and Richard tomorrow!

Saturday... Disaster Dinner

Today I slept until about 11. It was great! Still sick. We cleaned a little bit and then went shopping because needed ingredients for my "American" dinner. Needless to say, it was not anything like what we eat. I tried to do burgers and corn on the cob, but they don't have either of those things here (I figured out when we were shopping...) The burgers were frozen "American Burgers" and the corn was... well... lets just say freeze-dried astronaut cow corn. Dominic was amazed when I told him we actually get corn fresh and peel it. The corn was fed to the bird ;) and the hamburgers were all eaten. I just have to make pancakes soon, I think they have more similar ingredients! Alps tomorrow! Lazing around now, drinking tea.

P.S. Read yesterdays blog it has the Munich pictures. It should be under this entry.

Munich Trip

The house of the King of Bavaria, back in the day
A street in Munich, we sat at these tables and ate strawberries
The group from school, with Herta Muller on he poster in background
SOOO pretty!!!!!! Love the color...
Arch going into Munich
Inside of a church in Munich
Watching the first World Cup game (Mex vs. RSA) at a Beer Garden
We found someone taller and skinnier than Dominic!
Munich street
Pretty buildings

Yesterday after work I met Dom and his friend Anne- Katrine in Augsburg so we could take a train to Munich. They were going to an exhibit of last year's Nobel Prize winner Herta Muller. Unfortunately none of the exhibit was in English when we got there! No one in the group was blown away and especially not me. I had a headset and was pretending to understand what they were talking about. After we were done, we had coffee at a "high society" cafe.... I found this out when I ordered water and got a VERY small bottle with no refills and paid 2.70 euros, which is probably a little over 3 dollars. Dom, AK and I stayed in the city and walked to the English Gardens to see the Game. AK is really into "football"! We got there and couldn't find seats for a while. We thought we found great seats but when we sat down there was a huge tree right in the way of the screen. I guess these public viewings are big here (I am watching USA vs. England now!). After the game we walked around the city some more, got ice cream, and headed back to Augsburg. What a pretty city, so old with intricate designs and a lot of detail. No shining buildings like the US. I like it! When we got back to Augsburg we went to a Mexican restaurant and watched the next game. Mexican food is pretty much the same as in the USA but there are no free chips and salsa. Both games ended in ties. I am still pretty sick but feeling good enough to do everything.

Thursday

Today I went to work in the morning and then came back to the house and slept instead of cooking hamburgers for Dom's family. Work was good and uneventful again. Dom came home from school round 1 and we rode both horses, then went back for his Spanish class. I guess his Spanish class is a joke now that their final exam is done, so only 3 people showed up and we got to leave. I am still feeling sick, but better, so I fell asleep on the couch until... about 8 ;) Now we are watching Germany's Next Top Model finale! Tomorrow we will go to Munich to see an exhibition of last year's Nobel Prize winner. Will post pics soon, it's dark now so can't take any!

Job

Today was the first day on the job! Last night I felt like complete shit, (sore throat, feaverish) and so I went to the barn to learn what to do and then cam back and crashed. I had a lot of vitamin C and slept like a rock. I felt better this morning but I'm taking a nap soon. The first day went well, the job is pretty much idiot proof. Hours are 7am-noon and I feed breakfast and lunch and do about 15 stalls. No turnout, water, bells or whistles... NOTHING fancy. I feed about 40 horses. Had a few people try to talk to me in German, but other than that I just keep to myself. I need some sleep so I get better. Hopefully Sunday we are going to the Alps! Very exciting!

Monday

Back to school and work for everyone but me! I got a house key, bus ticket, bike and instructions and was on my own! I slept until 9 and then went to the barn and cleaned the stalls and rode Rod and hand walked Ali. They were both good boys, still on a mini vacation from showing a lot the past weekends. I got a job at the barn! The Russian man who usually does chores mon-fri broke his arm, so they need help. Dom's Dad thought it was not a good job for me, but it is only feeding breakfast and lunch and doing 15 stalls. It might only be for a few weeks if he goes to the doctor and gets a different prognosis. Hey, it's a start and money! I start Wed. After showering (haha) I took the bus into Augsburg to meet Dom and his friends for lunch. I had a few small issues with the bus (like how to open the door) but I made it with no problems. We ate chicken and fries. I ordered all by myself in German! The lady was laughing at me but I got what I wanted. It was so funny! I got to go back to school and see English class. I got asked questions for maybe 10 min... good thing I'm not shy! The teacher kept talking to me infront of the whole class wondering about school, politics, anything really. Next I went to Spanish with Dom's friend Ann-Katrin. She is my favorite of his friends. After school we went home and running. I am a fat cow after not running since I arrived here :(

I made 3 posts yesterday, my mom missed 2 of them so I was making sure everybody realized they are there. Pics from the show and a bike ride!

Happy B-day AS! I know you are reading this so.... I have a postcard but it isn't written yet ;) Have a great day and I'll be thinking of you! But please don't expect a statue of a dancer in the mail.

Drive to show.

I couldn't manage to get a good photo of the Alps, which we drove pretty close to! They are so pretty and I can't wait to go visit them!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know when we are going, Dom goes back to school and his parents start work tomorrow. I am going to the barn in the morning to do something with the horses and then I am meeting Dom in the city for lunch and do go to his English class.

We went to the Disco last night! I know I am going to be killed for no pictures but I will try next time, it was really dark. It is a huge disco with 3 rooms for different types of music, a gaming room, and about 5 bars. We got there around 11pm and home at 4:15am... I am completely dead and grumpy today. We had to be at the barn around 9 to paint stalls and clean. I wore the wrong shoes and can't walk today. They played some older American music but the dancing was very funny with strobe lighting and a decent DJ. It was pretty much how I imagined it to be. I just woke up from a nap and should show my face so they know I'm alive. Still having fun! Can't believe I slept for 4 hours last night! That is a first. Hope all is well in America!

OK, wierd. Pics from the show loaded fine! This was Saturday. Rod was nervous and Ali was tired. McDonalds is everywhere! I had to walk Ali because Dom only had 6 horses between his rides. Here they do it alphabetically by the name of the horse, no ride times like dressage in America. Beautiful location, about a 2 hour drive with the trailer.