Germany Pics

Paris Pics

Marseille Pics

Etude Score

Generous Germans

We're staying with Bryan's friend Hendrick and his family in Essen Germany. It's been a very nice experience staying with a family again. There's something to be said about both traveling independently as well as staying with a host. Of course you really get a better apreciation for the culture when staying with a resident.

The family with which we're staying is extremly generous. Giving us food, international phone time, internet, paying for bus tickets, concert tickets doing our laundry for us and the list goes on. Great people. I don't know if they're Christians or not. I hope we can get into a spiritual convo before we leave.

People in Europe seem to eat so much! At least they eat for a long period of time. I don't really like it because it seems like we could be getting a lot more done in the day if we'd just eat and get on with the day. But Europe's greater emphasis on family could be attributed to how long they spend with each other around the table.

Sorry for not posting more or sharing more thoughts but I just don't have time for doing much of anything on my own.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad. Sorry I can't be there to celebrate. Thanks for all you do.

Forgot to Mention

My bag arrived safely. Thank goodness.

Sick in Paris

Pretty much every day we've had activities with very little down time. As a result I haven't updated my blog and I'm a little sick. This is our last day in Paris. I've had to stay back at the hotel and rest while Sean and Bryan go to a modern art museum. It feels so nice to rest for awhile.

For the most part we're having a great time. I think I kind of hyped this trip up in my mind before I left, admittedly. I'm realizing that life is full of the same excitments and disappontments no matter where you are.

Yesterday, among other things, we visited Arc De Triomphe. It's that famous arch with a massive round about around it. It was an amazing scene! For some reason the traffic really fascinated me. Supposedly on average there's an accident every three minutes! Although we didn't see any.

If I'm feeling better we're going to try and eat at a nice resteraunt around the Eifle Tower. I really want normal food like a pizza or hamburger!

The guys just showed up. Gotta run.

Ciao!

Wifi on the plane??

shut up

...unfortunately I can't get it to work on my pod... shame

Connecting Flight

Frankfurt, Germany:

I couldn't figure out if my checked bag would automatically/magically end up in Marseille or if I had to claim it, take it through customs and drop it off again. The first guy I asked said I was supposed to have a reciept to claim it and recheck it. In a state of confusion and panic I looked through my papers to no avail. I asked two others who said they would go to Marseille automatically. OK! So here I am about to board hoping the last two people were right. But they lady who took it initially in KC said I would have to claim and recheck the bag. So now the chances my bag ends up in Marseille is 50-50?

Side note it's kinda cool

Waking up before breakfast

I slept very poorly last night in anticipation of my travels today. Just about died getting up at 4:15 to get on the road. But I did enjoy
leaving in the dark to head east to watch the sunrise. All while listening to Eric Whiticre. wow

The check-in counter ladies were pretty friendly. They explained that they can route my checked bag all the way to my destination. Except going through customs in Frankfurt. "Just make sure you don't follow the crowd on out of security." It didn't sound like all signs would be in English. Should be interesting!

Oh I forgot. Very cool clouds/lightning in the distance on the drive.
Went with Whiticre quite well.

STOKED!

So I've decided to start this thing up again. It may not last long but I think it'll be a cool way to remember this trip. As well as keep loved ones informed. As far as I know I'll mainly be updating this using my little iPod Touch keyboard. Kind of hard to write too much on.

I'm SO anxious to get going on this trip. All week I've been thinking about different things I need to prepare for. But I kind of wish I would have had a little more going on so I wouldn't have had so much time to think about things that I couldn't do until Saturday.

Bummer: Sean and Bryan won't be coming into Marseilles overnight Sunday night like we had planned. Instead they won't be there till Monday night. So I'll be with the Smiths all day Monday. Trying to stay awake. A little disappointing but as my Dad reminded me, my schedule and this trip is in God's hands. I pray I'll remember that if/when things go differently than planned on this trip.

Check one two...

...three four