The Ultimate Friend Day

Here I am, writing to you on a Monday afternoon, not being in school.  Why?  Well, I have Monday and Tuesday off from school–again.  May is an awesome month to go to school in Germany because there are so many days off!  Thursday two weeks ago, last Monday and Tuesday, this Monday and Tuesday, and next Thursday and Friday!  Yeah, it's pretty awesome. :)  This week we don't have school because of a holiday called what sounds like Finxen.  I have no idea how to spell it. :)

But my post isn't about all the days of school I have off, it's about the awesome day I had yesterday!  I commence:


I had been invited to go swimming with Lisa and Nadine.  Nadine was going to take the bus, and Lisa and I were going to join her on the bus when it got to our stop.  Sounds simple.  But when I called to confirm times with Lisa, she asked if we could bike instead because, for the first time in my trip, it was shorts weather.  Wooo!  Wooo! ;) So the plan was changed.  Unfortunately, Nadine didn't see the text from Lisa informing her of the change of plans.  She had texted Lisa that she was on the bus.  So while I was expecting the two girls biking down to my house, they were walking because Nadine now didn't have a bike.

Luckily, my grandparents have lots of bikes, and they found one that fit Nadine.

On the way there I chatted with Lisa and Nadine about the Eurovision Song Contest. :) They also liked Denmark (but not as much as I did) and Sweden and Malta.  We also talked about other things, such as life in Park City vs. Leverkusen.  The yellow school bus seems to be a symbol of American life here. :)

Then we spent four hours swimming at the awesome-est pool called CaLevornia (It's like California except for instead of 'lif' it's 'Lev' for Leverkusen).  Since I usually dedicate one blog post to this pool every year, I really don't feel like describing every detail of it again, and those who have read my blogs in previous years probably don't feel like reading about every detail of it again.  Let's just say it's awesome and leave it at that. :)

I had a blast swimming with Lisa and Nadine.  We talked, swam and goofed off in the pool, and I feel like I became much better friends with both of them. :) You know you're becoming good friends with someone when you feel comfortable enough to be weird around them. :) We all had a great time.

After the pool we biked diagonally across the street to McDonald's.  I haven't been to McDonald's in years.  This one was really modern and surprisingly nice inside.  I really wasn't expecting that.  We all stuffed ourselves with burgers and chocolate cake and talked and laughed some more.  I also developed my first inside joke with Nadine and Lisa.  That's always a good sign. :)

Then we decided to bike to Neuland Park.  Neuland Park is a huge, awesome park with super fun playgrounds and beautiful gardens.  We pretty much just sat in the grass and talked for an hour.  Oh, and we also went on the zipline. :)

Happy but exhausted, we biked home (my grandparents' street is on a big hill, and we always have to go up it on the way home).  I was pooped, but really excited about  becoming good friends with Lisa and Nadine.

I think you can tell from the numerous smiley faces that it was a good day. :)

German word of the day: Schwimmen.  Pronounced SHVIM-in.  It means swimming.

The Sunflower Project: Lots o' progress!  I think the day of sun yesterday and then the rain all night did them some good.  Before I show the pictures I think I just need to clear one thing up: I have two different types of sunflowers.  Four pots hold bigger sunflowers, and I planted them first.  There are also three pots that have smaller seeds, but there are three in each pot.