Ich LEIBE diese Familie

I am completely overwhelmed. I don't mean that lightly either. Katie's host family in Germany has made me feel more at home here in less than a day then I have ever come close to feeling with my family in France. Before I tell you how much I already love her family though, I will start with Monday. Anne took me to the doctors, which was very kind of her, I really appreciated her coming along with me to help translate. Doctors offices here are really odd. We walked into a waiting room, no receptionist desk or anything, and just sat there with some magazines. There were two doors, each with a different doctor's name on them. Then whenever they were done with a patient, they would walk them out to the waiting room and call the next person back. No nurses, no secretaries, just the doctor. We finally got called back and the door led straight into this big office. It has two chairs facing a big desk and the doctor just sat behind it. It was like a business meeting. It was odd because he didn't take any notes or weigh me or take my height or ask previous medical history or anything really that US doctors always make sure to do every time. So I just told him about my foot (thank you google translate and my jank note I wrote describing my symptoms) and then he took me back through a door where it looked like a regular doctor's room. He then took a brief look at it, made me walk back and forth, and then we went back to the office. No idea what he said or anything, but I'm assuming I just strained or twisted it etc. What I thought was funny though was to write my prescription, he pulled out a piece of computer paper, wrote down crutches and two different kinds of drugs, stamped the paper and handed it to me. I'm telling you what, anyone could have extensive access to all drugs with that one stamp he used. So that was my interesting experience at the doctors.

I left for Berlin early Tuesday morning. Longest walk of my life to the tram stop with my crutches and bag. Anne was up but she didn't bother to say goodbye or safe travels or anything, not like I expected it but just making a note. I got to the bus to take me to the airport and arrived at my gate about an hour before my flight. I was one of 3 people there haha the rest of the flight showed up about ten minutes to boarding. Oh man. Sat next to a cutie lady who was going to NYC with her family for a week. She was the only one out of all five of them who could speak English, so she was excited to practice before they got there. Getting through the Paris airport was kind of horrible, not going to lie. I regretted packing so much as a one strap bag digs into your shoulder after a while, especially since it took me a pretty long time to get everywhere. But all the flight attendants and workers spoke English and were very nice in offering me help, I was just too cheap to accept it. :) Got to my gait with plenty of time to spare and listened in on a conversation some Americans were having behind me (it was nice to hear that's all). I had the pleasure of sitting in the very last seat in the last row of the plane, but I did sit next to a really nice guy named Christian. He is from Germany and is studying geography. It was cool because we talked the whole flight and I asked him questions about German/Germany and he asked me about English/America. I just love seeing the differences between cultures and meeting new people. Oh! And AirFrance serves cappuccinos and the best little cookies! So delicious. Finding Katie and her host dad, Werner, was so easy. I just walked right off the plane and the baggage area was right there (I think it's a much better system than having to go to an area to find everything) and Katie was standing just on the other side of a glass wall. All in all, traveling could not have gone better and I was so blessed with flights and finding everything alright.

But now I must talk about this family. I am staying with Katie's host mom and dad, Sabine and Werner, and their son, Connie. They have three other kids but they don't live in the house. Werner offered to come pick me up at the airport after he learned I was on crutches. He is the most darling man I have ever met. I have forgotten a lot of the German I have learned, but the whole ride back to his house he would talk slowly to me and when I didn't know a word, he would tell me in English and then I would say it back to him in German. He and Katie were fun to watch interact as well. They were joking and laughing together and it was just great. Then he offered to take us sightseeing on Saturday because I probably wouldn't make it through the walking tour we had planned. AHH he is so great. We had dinner right away when we got back. The mom introduced herself to me and then left to play cards, so it was Werner, Connie, Katie and I eating a delicious dinner of some sort of pork and potatoes covered in sauce, and cheesy broccoli. Then for dessert we had a vanilla and red berries pudding-ish thing. It was all fantastic. Werner is a great cook. Then we sat around the table talking and such. After being ignored at dinner for the past two months, it was refreshing to have interest taken in me. I had to speak in German and so much came back to me so quickly and everyone was so great about helping say what I wanted to say. Katie and I are planning to cook for them tomorrow night, and since they are housing and feeding me for free, I want to make them something awesome. Katie and I hung out and talked the rest of the night. She put together a welcome display on her desk for me which consisted of peanut butter (yumm), Finding Nemo (auf Deutsch of course), a coffee mug, two books, a magazine about Berlin, a German dictionary, a cold compress for my foot, and coupons to a chocolate store in town. I do not deserve a friend like her. Thanks to everything set out for me I have definitely not been lacking in things to do today. I am trying to brush up on my German because this family makes me want to learn so I can speak to them. Plus I remember how much I actually love the language. I also have been doing French homework (my brain is not handling switching back and forth from languages very well). Katie gets back tonight around 7:30 and we'll have dinner around then. Werner came and talked to me about what he's going to make tonight. I couldn't understand at all, but I'm sure it will be wonderful. I might go out and do my homework at the kitchen table. Sounds nice to me. I have already been blessed beyond belief with meeting everyone here. This came at the perfect time and it's so refreshing to know that some families aren't hosting for the money. Thank you Jesus for hospitality and generosity.