Dusseldorf and Essen

On Thursday, our Wohnebene hat a weekly administrative meeting followed by steaks and bratwursts and potatoe salad. That was a good time because we were all together. Everybody has their own schedule here and its rare to eat communally.

On Saturday morning, I took the train to Dusseldorf where I met Nathanael at the ticket office. Until then, my only knowledge of Dusseldorf had been from Wikipedia and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory whose chocolate-addicted boy came from there!

Nathanael and I did our usual....walking around with no destination or purpose just to take pictures and check out a new town. Once again we decided to not buy a map; its too fun to turn a corner and run into something cool and/or beautiful. It was a cold day, but the streets were nevertheless full of upper-class people at sit-down cafes or stand-up (Alt) beer bars. Dirk later said that this is a well-known characteristic of Dusseldorf residents.

Nathanael had brought a lunch from his host family, but since they were three different kinds of rolls, we each took and traded the top or bottom with cheese.

We wanted to keep walking, so we bought two jugs of milk, some cheese, and some poppyseed cake....stuff that didn't need utensils. As we continued our walk, we found a dog snacks bakery/bar/buffett. Two couples were in there with their dogs as they selected various dog biscuits, exotically flavored with fruits and meats. She was explaining the flavors as Nathanael bought some to give to his host family when the lady took a banana biscuit and shoved it into our face! "Here, you can try this one!" We were so alarmed, that we both actually each ate the dog biscuit." Looking back we joked, "Man, we were so full from lunch that the last thing we wanted to do was eat, and we ended up eating dog food of all things!"

On our way to the train station, we passed a store called "Food from Home," where we bought some Dr. Pepper to give to the guest family, as I haven't seen that or root beer in Europe. The little things!

We had about an hour trip via tram and bus to Velbert. We shopped a little bit for cheap, quality clothes and then we had to rush back to his guest family because they had a party for their tennis club.

On Sunday, we woke up early to take the public transpo back to Dusseldorf. However, Dirk offered to take us there by car, for which we were really thankful!

The half marathon was a one lap course through the city park/nature-protection area. It rained lightly off and on, providing a nice mud carpet to run through... That sure beats pavement, and makes rounding sharp corners interesting!

It only began to pour as we were sipping hot tea at the finish line, so we sprinted in to take showers in a packed changing room and shower....It reminded me of the days of football, except now only my legs hurt, not my entire body!

Monika, Dirk, and Adrian were stuck in traffic, so we waited for the certificates as we savored waffles, coffee, and milk. We ate some delicious leftovers from his birthday party on Friday, and then went to Essen with the guest parents. Like every year, the city puts on a light art theme...this year it was Norway and was quite impressive.

Dirk treated us to various festive delicacies: "Krapfen," "Flannkuchen," and "Stutenuerl." We concluded by going to a cafe (and because we weren't from Dusseldorf, providentially, sat inside!) where we talked before we set our goodbyes and I took the late train back to Hamburg.

That couple has been so nice to me. They signed up to have a exchange student, Nathanael, and somehow got me too! They have been so generous, and I am always so surprised when they actually looked excited to see me. I figured they'd be so bitter!

Nathanael's German is pretty much now at the point where he corrects me, but I don't care. I'm here to learn! I still think its unbelievable that I have been given this opportunity to see so many German cities and meet such genuinely nice people.