"shopping spree"

The title of this post is a really pathetic pun. Yesterday I went canoeing/kayaking on the spree and today I went shopping. So. Shopping Spree it is.

I spent the past 2 hours watching a really amazing movie (Last of the Mohicans) so I won't be putting any pictures up with this post tonight. I did take some excellent ones which I am very excited to share with you all when I return from Berlin.

Tuesday I went to school and then after school joined the AYUSA students for a trip through Berlin to this bizarre little river town. The train rides to get there, not considering what it took to get back, took approximately two hours. Once there we split up into groups of two and canoed through this forest. It was amazing. UNFORTUNATELY our boat broke. After the steering device broke we quickly realized that having both of us paddle/steer was going to be completely useless so I, sitting in the back, took over the steering and rowing.

I must say at this point I was and am extremely grateful that I have strong shoulders.

After about two and a half hours of that we went back to the dock and then we began our journey home. The really grand thing about it was that about one third of the way back to Berlin the train in front of ours broke. It didn't function at all. We stopped approximately 6 times for about 10 minutes each and by the time we reached the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin we were exactly 77 minutes late.

After we arrived in the Hauptbahnhof at about 10:00 pm I promptly got myself lost. Evidently the train that I needed to take wasn't at the train station so I spent a good half an hour trying to find the right train to take. A 6 (or so) story train station is a really troublesome place to get lost at night.Luckily I managed to run into some AYUSA kids who had had the same issue as I did and lived in the same direction so we went back together. Walking home from the train station in the dark was also really fun. : )

It was a really nifty experience. When I got home I immediately got ready for bed and as soon as I was about to go to sleep I was struck by a wave of homesickness overwhelming in its ferocity and wretchedness. When that was over I went to bed.


Today I awakened and went to school as I always do. I no longer sit next to the strange lady! I don't mind one bit. After school I went shopping with the AYUSA kids. I bought some really fun stuff! Including 2 new chap-sticks. I'm really excited. One of them is "soft rose" and the other is something like "sparkle of daisies". I made the last one up. I can't remember what it is.

After I came home I chatted with some peeps then ate a really delicious egg and potato dinner. It was amaaaazing. I also talked to Host Mama quite a bit in German. It makes me feel wonderful when I can successfully communicate. It's really challenging.

When I had finished dinner I showered and then came to my room and watched the movie. It's really fantastic. I could give a review but I somehow feel that that is not what you are reading this blog for.

In any case - I hope all is well in SLC. It's all fantastic in Berlin.