Wolfenbüttel

This amazing array of "fachwerk" (half- timbered) houses is completely in tact, in a town called Wolfenbüttel just about 25 minutes from Braunschweig. WOW! What a great place to hang out and relax with the teams...

Beck's "name sake" beer is brewed in Bremen, about 1 and 1/2 hours from here. And what German city tour would be complete without a visit to a castle or palace!? This one did not disappoint... complete with impressive gate, and scary weaponry, which they let us TRY OUT!!

exchange week....

Here are some more photos of our June exchange with the Tennesse and Oklahoma students -- from Monday and Tuesday... the group above is at the main Mensa (cafeteria). At 2 locations each day on campus we handed out cookies & invitations to the week's events.

We've had quite the full calendar the last few weeks! This coffee shop is an amazing BLESSED addition to our city, which I haven't tried out yet (believe it or not!) -- put in the new Castle (Schloss) which is a mall with plenty of clothing, music and knick-knack stores... as well as a grocery store.

Cultural Exchange in full swing

Thankfully, generous volunteers from my church, such as Steffen on the left pictured with Rob from Tennessee, helped to bake cookies to greet students from our Info. Tables. I brought chocolate chips and the recipe to the church ahead of time.

We met new students on Monday through Wednesday at our Info/contact tables in 4 locations: 2 main cafeterias of the Technical University, the art/design school, & the University of Applied Sciences.

That Monday was my birthday and we threw a beach party in my apartment.

The Amis Arrive...

If you compare the above photo to the one in the "blog" below this, you can see how the group kept growing-- first Oklahoma arrived and then 10 from Tennessee!

In Germany a term for Americans is "Amis" (it can be used derogatorily, but is also just a shorter way to say it!). In the last 2 weeks we had 15 "new friends" from the States arrive for a German- American cultural exchange (including for a few of them, a true summer internship). It's been super busy & intensive, but very blessed and fun! Here are a few photos of the beginning of our time... including getting to know the city.

Eating in the Mensa (university cafeteria) w/ Tina (front left) who helped a ton with the groups! ... doing a "city rally" (scavenger hunt) to find the "Old Scales & Weights building" alongside a cool man- made stream ...

Finding a bathroom in the city center (you put in coins and then open the door).
Where to find good ice cream... :-) Yummy!

... where to meet interesting people -- such as the lady who is having a bachelorette party, and the wedding couple here doing a puzzle in front of the Rathaus "city hall".

Summer Friends

Whew! It's been a "wild and crazy ride" the last few weeks ... now I'm finally finding some time to share photos from June! Here is the Oklahoma University student group which has come to support our Connexxion group for the summer and do a cultural exchange! They're in front of the Rizzi house in town. On the far left is Anja, my good friend who's doing a "practicum" (internship) with us this summer.

In front of the old Rathaus (city hall) the group had to find someone in the square and ask them for advice about where to eat! (I'm in pink on the right, and Ulrike, a student who helped design this scavenger hunt, is 2nd from the left).