To Fill You In...

Hey! So I wasn't planning on blogging for this trip, but after being here and doing so much, I want to make sure I write things down to remember and be able to share with others, since it's not so easy to keep in touch otherwise. In case you're wondering, I am here in Germany with Camp Adventure (same program that sent me to Korea) but this program is much different. First off, I am living and working on a U.S. army base in Vilseck, Germany (30 minutes from the Czech border) and working with all ages of children. I arrived on Dec. 16 or so and will be here until January 19, so it's a much shorter program, but I still get some college credits and an amazing experience! There are 7 counselors here at Vilseck and 4 at Grafenwoer (our sister base about 15 min. away). Base itself is like a small American town...we've got Subway, a movie theater, bowling alley...and well, that's about it. We are living at an on-base hotel which is really nice, there are 2 of us to a room, and each room has a tv/dvd player, 2 phones, nice bathroom (with a heated towel rack!!), etc. and breakfast is free each morning =) I can't complain about the maid service either =) Work usually consists of an 8-hour day with a 1-hour break in the middle. For me, a typical day means working in the Child Development Center in the mornings with infants-kindergarten kids, depending on the day. The afternoons are spent in a different center for school-aged kids. They are incredibly challenging to work with but a ton of fun too! Working with kids on an army base is completely different from what I've been used to...90% of the kids have at least one parent deployed to Iraq. Many kids have major emotional/behavioral problems and some have lost a parent to the war. I think the group deployed from this base has taken a pretty big hit, and has lost over 20 soldiers so far. Pretty sad and a difficult environment to be around, but at the same time I know that we can do a lot for these families just by being here. One of our main goals for being here is to help relieve the staff at the youth centers, since 75% of the staff have spouses in Iraq now...so as you can imagine there are many stressed-out people, in need of some extra breaks and time away from work! Our schedules have been somewhat varied, but we always have 2 consecutive days off each week...which means travel time! This weekend our group went on a day trip to Nuremberg, a 45-minute train ride away. Nuremberg has a world-famous Christmas market, and it was beautiful! Basically it is where the city square becomes filled with musicians, wonderful food, tons of people, and booths full of interesting ornaments and Christmas items. Nuremberg is also famous for it's role in the Nazi era, and is the location where the Nuremberg war trials were held. We visited the documentation center, similar to the Roman Coliseum, which is the worlds largest former Nazi grounds still standing. It was used for large rallies and meetings, but is currently an interactive museum about the Nazi regime and the role of Nuremberg in it all...very interesting!! We had actually planned on going to the trials courthouse, but after talking to our awesome taxi driver (who was more like a tour guide!) we were encouraged to head to the museum instead...which I'm sure was much better =) The next day we went on a tour with the Outdoor Rec program from base to 2 castles near the Austrian border. We left at 4 a.m. and drove 5 hours each way, but wow was it worth it! The tour was not expensive, and was great, we got to see some of the prettiest areas ever! We toured 2 castles, including Neuschwanstein, the famous castle Walt Disney used for the movies! Both castles are nestled up in the Bavarian Alps and located near a beautiful lake. At the bottom is a small village that was adorable! And the whole area was covered in snow. Horse-drawn carriages take people up to the castles, or you can hike. We hiked. It was exhausting. But it was amazing! We then worked on Christmas Eve, but today (Christmas) we had off. This morning we attended Christmas mass in nearby Amberg. A few of our friends who work as child behavior specialists with us both have cars and were able to drive our entire group around. Mass was in a cathedral, and included a full choir and orchestra...amazing! Everything was in German and Latin, but it was still cool to see. Afterwards, we all went to a coffee shop to hang out and talk for awhile. And then, we went to the home of one of our bosses here. She is American, but her husband is German. We had a full Christmas dinner consisting of goose, potato dumplings, ham, gluwein (hot wine), and Christmas punch...pretty much amazing! They were so welcoming and it definitely felt like Christmas time =) The remainder of today was spent watching Christmas movies. Sorry this is sooooo long! Love, Kelly