Osnabrueck

Ich liebe Osnabrueck. Es ist sehr schoen. (I love Osnabrueck. It is very beautiful.)
Our first day was rough. Who would know that the train system was so complex. I have never been on a train or even seen a real train (besides for cargo) before coming here. It is quite amazing that a country is so dependent on something that we live without. The best part of the first day was that we were able to take a train besides the Rhine. It was incredible. The river had so many boats, both cargo and for people, and on the other side of the river was castles and grape "farms". The people here are so inviting and very nice. I have managed to speak with quite a few Germans in German. It's hard, but exciting. Our second day we had tours around the Universitaet Osnabrueck and the city of Osnabrueck along with two courses. The tours were really interesting. The Universitaet has a main building where a bishop used to live. Our two courses were on the history of the city and a German language course. The history lecture was interesting. I had never heard of Osnabrueck before hearing of this course but it has some amazing history involving the Treaty of Westphalia and World War II. Our German class was great. They believe in learning a second language THROUGH the second language since you learn your first language through your first language. I enjoyed in thoroughly and hope to learn new things in the classes to come. On to today. Our service project went great. We were able to come together as a group and work together. IMMER ZUSAMMEN. I was with the wall painting group in the morning and it turned out so much better than expected. The other group did a great job on the barefoot path and benches as well. In the afternoon, we all worked on clearing out the pond. It was intense! But we were able to make it happpen. There were a few Balus from the program there to help and it really made the difference. We definitely worked hard today and I know I feel wonderful to know I help a group as important and caring as Balu und Du. I can not wait to see what Osnabrueck has in store for us all tomorrow. Tschuss!
Pictures soon to come!