Day 6 in Durham

My friend Andy invited me to come to a film festival with him today.  It was a horror movie film festival so I was worried that I would be a little scared, but it wasn't too scary.  Before the film festival I got to explore a little bit of Durham.  Their town mascot is bull.  They even have a baseball team named the Durham Bulls.  There was a movie made about them a long time ago, but it's probably still a pretty good movie.

Then I got to have a really tasty popsicle from a place called Locopops.  There are not a lot of chain restaurants in Durham, so most of the stores that they have here are locally owned.  That means that people in the town start businesses nearby.  Locopops is owned by a family in Durham who started making popsicles in fun flavors.  Now they have a bunch of stores in the area.  I had a strawberries and cream Locopop and it was really good.

I waited for Andy in front of the theater and saw that there were some signs for zombie crossings in the area.  I got a little scared that there were real zombies around, but I think it might have just been people dressed up in costumes.  Either way, I think it might be a good idea for me to head home tomorrow.  I don't know if I want to stick around while the zombies are here.

Day 5 in Durham

Today I went back to UNC.

First we picked up my new friend Susanne for lunch.  She sprained her ankle and can't walk very well, so we drove her to the restaurant we went to.  It was fun and tasty.

Then we went back to UNC and I got to wander around the campus a little bit.  I sat in on a class. Everybody gets their own desk and chair.  It was pretty cool.  They have a really neat statues in some of the buildings.  I went to the building where they learn about ancient Greece and took my picture in front of the statue of Athena.

Then we went to the old well on campus.  Every new student at UNC drinks from the fountain for good luck, so I did too!!  Then we went to the art museum and took pictures in front of gargoyle, and with some of the outdoor art.  When we were done, we headed back to the car and drove back to Durham.

Durham is only about 10 miles away from Chapel Hill, so it's super easy to get between the two.  In Durham I got ready to watch some more of the Olympics.  Tomorrow I'm going to see a film festival.  It's supposed to be horror movies so hopefully I don't get too scared.

Day 4 in Durham, NC

Today we went to visit the Duke University.  Duke isn't as old as UNC and it's not as big as UNC, but it's a very good school and has lots of cool buildings too.  The university started out as a women's college and then was expanded to be a bigger university.  They have a huge chapel on campus, and I took pictures in front of it.  They also have a big garden and just like UNC they have a very good basketball team.

After we went to Duke, we had lunch at a coffee shop nearby for lunch.  I wanted to read a book, so I my friend gave me a book that I could read.  It was fun.

We watched the olympics at night and tomorrow we are going to see the art museum at UNC.  Yea!!

Day 3 in Durham, NC

Today I went to the oldest state university in the US.  UNC (University of North Carolina) is in Chapel Hill, which is a little smaller than Durham, but very nice.  The university has over 30,000 students and it is really big.  They have all sorts of sports teams and basketball is very popular.

They have lots of really cool buildings.  They even have a planetarium where you can see all of the stars and constellations.

We went to UNC to visit people and drink some hot chocolate.  It was a little cold, so the hot chocolate was especially good.  I got to see the building where they teach Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and a bunch of other languages.  And I met some new friends: Alex, Matt, and Kai.

After we went to UNC, we came home and watched the Olympics.  Tomorrow we are going to visit the Duke - the university in Durham.

Day 2 in Durham, NC

Today I got to explore a little bit around Durham and the house where I'm staying.  Plus it was Valentine's Day, so I put together valentines to send to my friends back in California.  It's a good thing that I picked up some gummi-hearts in Germany.  They go perfect with valentines!!

I met some friends here too.  My favorite is a garden gnome from UNC.  I told him how fun the basketball game was.  I also saw that they have a lot of books here.  It's good because I like reading, and since these books are in English I can read them by myself, and don't have to have anyone read them to me.

In the evening I watched some of the Olympics and went to bed. 

Tomorrow we're going to visit people at UNC.

Flat Stanley

Day 1 in Durham, NC

It was a long day trying to get here.  I took a long nap and we went to lunch.

That night, we had tickets to a basketball game.  Basketball is a really big deal around here.  We went to see the University of North Carolina play North Carolina State University.  Michael Jordan used to play for UNC and last year, UNC had the best team in the United States.  UNC won the game.  It was a lot of fun.  Here are some photos.

Flat Stanley

Day 5 - Traveling Home - Germany to Durham, NC

We got up really early in the morning and walked about 5 minutes to the bus stop so that we could go to the airport.  It was only an hour to the airport so we relaxed with our bags and enjoyed the snow.  It has been snowing here for the last 2 days.  It snowed all day yesterday and it looks like it's going to snow all day today.  It's pretty, but I'm glad we're leaving the snow.

When we got to the airport we found out that we had to take a different plane home, so we got to fly through Paris instead of straight to Atlanta.  When we were in Paris, I took a couple of pictures, and ate a baguette with cheese and ham.  It was very good.  

From Paris we flew to New York.  On that flight I made friends with the flight attendants and was careful to read and follow all of the safety instructions.  The flight was long, but the food was actually pretty tasty.  We had ravioli and other snacks.  

There was a problem with our flight in New York, so instead we drove from New York to Durham.  It was a little bit long, but it gave us a chance to stop off in Washington DC so that I could see the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument.  

By the time we got home, I was tired, but it was an exciting and busy day.

Flat Stanley

PS.  For Photos of my adventure, click here.

Day 4 in Germany (Part 2)

After I took a nap, we started making our going away dinner.  This would be the last time I saw my new friends, so we wanted to have dinner together before leaving.  My friend Beth, who I am staying with, is also from California and since they don't have very good Mexican food in Germany, we decided to have taco/burrito night so that we could introduce our friends to one of our favorite foods.

First we made guacamole.  I helped make that.  We also made refried beans, since it is a little difficult to get those here.  Then we made salsas and prepared the other things for when everyone arrived.  I helped set the table too.  Vera and Idil made Salad and Eduarda made fruit for dessert.\\

Everyone enjoyed the food and we had a nice time listening to music and eating tasty food.  I had a nice time meeting all of my new friends.  They're all so nice and from everyone around the world.  I went to bed to prepare for our trip back to the United States the next day.  I can't believe I get to fly inside the plane instead of in an envelope this time.  I can't wait!!!

Day 4 in Germany (Part 1)

On my last full day in Germany, I woke up to the sound of kids outside.  When we opened the window, we saw that there were a bunch of kids dressed up in costumes for a parade.  It was basically the German version of what they call Mardi Gras in Louisiana and Carnival in South America.  In Germany it is called Fasching.  What happens is that in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, there are a lot of parades throughout Germany.  The people dress up in costumes as witches, jesters, and other crazy characters.  They sing and dance and throw candy out to the crowd, and it all ends on Ash Wednesday leading up to Lent. For a long time they didn't really celebrate Halloween in Germany, because Fasching was kind of the German time to dress up and get candy.  Anyway, it was really cool to see it.

After the parade we went shopping to make our going away dinner.  But before we got all of the groceries for dinner, I made snow angels in the snow and saw the big church in the middle of town.  The church is over 500 years old and even though it is under construction it's still very impressive.  Then we went to see the City Hall which is also very old.  You can kind of see the city maypole behind me.  On May 1 they will have May Day Celebrations in Germany and dance around the may pole.

From there we decided to go to the gummi bear shop.  They have a whole shop here just for gummi candies.  They have them in all sorts of flavors and shapes (not just bears).  It was really cool.  We also went to the bakery and bought pretzels.  Pretzels are really popular here.  They even make sandwiches out of them.  They make rolls out of the same stuff that the pretzels are made of so that the sandwiches are easier.  It was so tasty.

Even though it was snowing we walked around a little more and headed down to the river that runs through Tübingen.  The houses right along the river are very colorful and the yellow one in the background is very special because a famous German writer lived there.  On the island in the middle of the river, I saw the biggest bird house I have ever seen!!!

Finally we stopped into the tourist information center before going home for a nap.  I got a map of the city to share with everyone, and a little treat too.

Day 4 in Germany - Photo Update

There is so much to tell about today, but since we are leaving very early tomorrow I will just link to the photos for now, and update you more when I get to the United States tomorrow.

I'm so excited that I get to fly in a plane!!!

Day 3 in Germany

It snowed today!!!!  It was so cool.  When I woke up in the morning it was snowing.  It was also a little cold this morning so I had to wear a scarf out to keep me warm.  I tried to take a video of the snow falling.  I think you can see it better there.

Today my friend Beth had to go to classes, so I came with her.  I got to visit with all of the other students and even met some other people from California.  I also learned a little bit of German in class today.  There are actually a lot of words in German that are similar to English.

In one of her classes they were talking about the environment and recycling in Germany.  They do a lot of recycling in Germany.  They separate paper from cans and bottles, and they even recycle a lot of food so that it can be used as compost in gardens.

On our way back from class today we stopped to have a snowball fight in the park.  It was so much fun, but it was really cold.  I think I need to get a pair of mittens or gloves.  To warm up wen went to dinner with Idil, Vera, and Eduarda.  We went to a Turkish restaurant.  I had what they call a Döner - it's similar to a Greek Gyro and it was very tasty. Idil even ordered our food in Turkish.

From there we went to a sort of birthday party for my friend Elvira. Today was the feast day for her name.  She called it a "name day."  I think it has to do with the feast day for saints.  In Hungary and a lot of other countries, it is like a second birthday.  You get presents and have a party just like on your birthday.  It was a lot of fun, but now I'm tired and need to go to bed.

Tomorrow we're going to have a going away party and Beth and I will make dinner for everyone.  We are leaving on Friday to come back to the United States, and I will get to fly in a plane and visit with people in North Carolina.  I'm so excited.

Talk to you later!!

Flat Stanley

Day 2 in Germany (Part 2)

Tonight after we had dinner, we played games and read a book.

They have a lot of the same board games that we have in the United States.  We played Monopoly.  My new friend Beth explained that the rules are the exact same but the board is just different.  All of the places on the board were in German.  We had so much fun!!

Then when it was time to go to bed, I got to look at a book in German too.  We bought a Bob the Builder book on our way home today and Beth read me the story in the book.  I can't believe that they have Bob the Builder here too.

I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.

Flat Stanley

Day 2 in Germany (Part 1)

Did you know that there is a 9 hour time difference between California and Germany.  That means when it is time to go to bed here at 7 at night, it is only 10 in the morning in Upland.

Anyway, today was a lot of fun and I have taken a lot of photos.  For breakfast I had cereal just like at home.  The food here in Germany is not a lot different from the food in the United States.  While my new friend Beth did some homework, I listened to music in her room and wrote my friend Patrick a postcard.

Then we went meet some of her friends for lunch.  A lot of Beth's friends are from other places in Europe.  I met people from Spain, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Turkey.  They all speak German though.

A lot of college students in Germany eat lunch at the Cafeteria.  In German it's called the Mensa.  Today they had something called Maultaschen, which is a special food made in this part of Germany.  It was really tasty.  They also had potato salad, a green salad, and zucchini soup.

Beth let me get a Coke with lunch, but it was a Diet Coke and here in Germany it's called Coca-Cola light.  It also came in a glass bottle.  Beth explained that they reuse the bottles, so you have to return them.  If you return them then you get money back.  She let me return the bottle so I could see how the machine worked.

After that we went to get warm drinks and dessert.  A lot of people here like to have coffee and cake in the afternoon.  I drank some hot chocolate and ate half of a muffin, but I was too full so I shared with my new friends.  Then we played some games.

I needed to mail my postcard to Patrick, so we started walking back to Beth's apartment.  She has a post office right across the street.  On the way, we walked through a big park.  I got to play in the snow and climb a tree.  Then we went to the post office so I could mail the postcard.

I got to look inside the toy store that you can see from Beth's window.  It's really big and has a lot of the same toys we have at home.  There was a really cool dragon in the window.

That's all for now, but I'll write more later!!

Flat Stanley

PS.  I took pictures of everything today, so please take a look.

Day 1 in Germany

I arrived in Germany today.  It was a long trip, but I made it just fine.  I'm staying in a town named Tübingen with a friend who is studying at the university.  Tübingen is a really old city and the university is over 600 years old.

It's pretty cold here in Germany, so my friend is also going to make me some nice winter clothes.  Coming from Upland I wasn't used to such cold weather.  Today the temperature was cold enough for water to freeze into ice.  Brrrrrr.

Today I got settled in and saw the sights from the window of my friend's room.  She lives in a dorm in the old part of town and tomorrow we're going to go traveling around the city.  

Here is a link to the photos of my trip.  Talk to you tomorrow!!

Flat Stanley