July 27
So I made it. On the flight to Dusseldorf I sat next to this woman who only spoke German, she talked to me a lot and I could understand some, which made me feel better about my German skills. My host mother, brother, and sister went to the sea to go surfing, but I wasn't feeling well so I stayed at the house with my host father. My host father and I talked and I can express my thoughts pretty well in Germlish (or Engan). We went on a bike ride and I saw the village, there aren't any stores here, only houses! and lots of sheep! "In Blumenthal haben wir wie viel Schafen wie Leute" ("In Blumenthal we have as many sheep as people"), my host father told me that on our bike ride. Did you know that the sound a person makes when mimicking a sheepsounds EXACTLY like a real sheep?!?!?! And Hailey Hester, if you read this: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Baaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

July 29
Yesterday we drove to Paderborn, my host mother's hometown. There are a lot of churches there, people call it the second Rome. We went visited the biggest Church. There is a festival going on in Paderborn called Libori, and everyday they thank God for a different group of people. My host mother's father passed away 2 months ago and they had a service for him yesterday. After the service we went to the festival. It covers the whole town! Everybody in Ulrike, my host mother's, family tries to speak English to me, but when they do my host father, brother, or sister tells them my German is "super"! Thank you Herr Skinner! My German is better than I thought! They eat a lot of bread here! We went to a cafe tonight that had ice in its drinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best cafe in Europe :)

July 30
We drove back from Paderborn today. Apparently north Germany is called the "land of horizons" because its so flat and you can see the sun rise over the Baltic Sea and set over the North Sea, but I dont think it can compare to the sunrises and sunsets in Texas :)