Montagmorgens Abfahrt nach Hamburg. Beinahe Gratisflug nach Dubai und zurück- ein Jahr gültig!(-> Unser Flugzeug war überbucht) Dann doch nicht ;-) Abschied von Luciiiieee..:-( (und nils nicht zu vergessen) Flug--gut. 3 Gänge Menü, eigener Touch-screen Monitor mit 50 Filme-Videothek nette Stewardessen ..(also unsere waren jedenfalls nett; Tanja & Moritz hatten eher Pech) weniger schlaf, eher beschäftigung mit unserem touch screen, wo wir ausser filme zu gucken auch noch multisession-wissens-duelle mit ben und liz autrugen, die sich ja auch irgednwo im flugzeug befinden haben müssen. leider fanden wir nie heraus, wer sich hinter den namen verbirgt^^ nach 8 stunden dann endlich landung [View Full Entry]

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Hello!!! Russell and I are leaving for Holland tomorrow!!!! HURRAH!!! We are both sick and tired of Hmaburg. There is little to do, its ugly, its expensive. It rained all day today so we didnt do anything. Instead I just slept (Han) and Russel walked around waiting for me to wake up. Alas, im ashamed to sax excitement is not in this part of Europe. Our Irish comrads woke us up last night, but bless em they had the drink in them. Regards, me. [View Full Entry]

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Yeah so about the whole blogging thing . . . silly hostel charges 2€ every 20 minutes for the use! As soon as a more agreeable fee is arranged much more will follow! Until then just imagine what you will and be appropriately jealous! :) [View Full Entry]

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As cheesy as it sounds, it seems like only yesterday that we all met at Hanhoopsfeld School on a bright and sunny afternoon for the welcome dinner. Now, three short weeks later, we met at Anne-Catrine's house on a showery cool evening for the farewell dinner. We all slept in the day after returning from our overnight adventure that provided very little or no sleep at all. The longest that I heard of from the kids was 8pm to 10am, a solid 14 hours. The mood was festive at the start with the students hanging out upstairs. The flash of cameras [View Full Entry]

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I think that filling everyone in on today's events would be prudent as I am without any doubt that there will be plenty to share from our impending trip to Lübeck. So, here goes... Today was the las day of school for the students of Hanhoopsfeld. As such, the students were a bit excited and ready to get out of there. This being said, they were engaged and interested as our brilliant students presented their PowerPoint presentations. Presentations on American sports and Halloween were amazing! From there, Heidi and I took our kids to our favorite local Gellateria for some eis. [View Full Entry]

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Today was Heide-Park.... and it was pretty darn sweet! We met at the school at 8 and departed on a very nice charter bus for the 45 minute trip south to the park. The weather was pretty good really, overcast and around 70 with no real rain. The park itself was much bigger and more elaborate than I had imagined. You can view the park web site here : . Just click on the Union Jack on the right for an English version. The park features several very impressive rollercoasters including the "Colossos" which has the steepest drop of any wooden [View Full Entry]

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10 July: AFTER THE SECOND NIGHT at the guesthouse I again get lucky. A small ground floor bedroom -- the only one with internet plug-in -- becomes available. I move... in a hurry. I now can post these scribbles with snapshots again, even in the middle of the night, if I wish. When my mother was pregnant with me after the war, she was warned about high infant mortality statistics at the hospital in Bergedorf where she lived, so off she went to deliver her baby just outside the boundaries of Hamburg. Today I am checking out Reinbek, this small town [View Full Entry]

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(Depending on your browser and connection, the video may or may not play. Please let me know if you have any trouble! Either send me a message, post a comment or email me directly.) This particular video will play sideways as that is how it was shot and I don't have access to any video editing programs here. Our students were quite busy Wednesday evening. A solid group went for a tour of Hamburg SV stadium (the local pro soccer club), and others were packed with other plans. Poor Jeff though was without anything to do. I had received an offer [View Full Entry]

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Here in Hamburg, they have a special name for their special weather. Schmuttelvetter. Even if you know no German, it works as an onomatopoeia to tell you what it´s like; grey, cool, air full of drifting drizzle that slowly soaks you without you knowing it. We arrived here night before last, after a late night short haul from Berlin, where we were supposed to stay. Since the only train we could catch was an Inter City Express (ICE TRAIN!), it was going to be really expensive, so we decided to use a day of travel on our rail pass. So we [View Full Entry]

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Today we took a great trip to the nearby town of Bergedorf. While there, we toured a castle, walked through the woods, stopped to play a bit, smapled the fare at a local street market, and thew kids shopped to their hearts content. We left in a sort of Seattle rain, more of a mist really. By the time we stepped off of the train in Bergedorf, it had stopped. We first stopped at a very old church for a look around at the old architecture and painting inside. After that, when we popped up to the castle, it was already [View Full Entry]

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