Friday, January 8, 2010

Hoo-ray Beethoven, Hoo-ray!

What does the title have to do with anything besides the musical, Charlie Brown? Well, I AM living in Beethoven's birthplace... and we'll get there.

This morning I met Mike off the Hauptbahnhof u-bahn stop to see the city of Bonn. It was not until I was there that I realized I HAD indeed been through a portion of downtown Bonn already, and thought it had been Badgodesberg. Oopla! It was fine though, cause Mike took me by some new places and we were able to talk about his favorite places, etc. It was nice to see even more of the city and being back there was really good for me because I could get myself re-oriented in a way, and be more comfortable for when I venture down there by myself or with those who visit. Which, by the way, I think some more of your should do. I mean, when else are you going to have your own personal European tour guide free of charge, and a place to stay… Give it a few months and I’ll be riding the coat-tails of the language as well. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Haha!

Anyway, after a good 45 minutes-hour of walking around the area and seeing the sight of Bonn (Including Beethoven’s house… I’ll get to that!) we decided to warm up and grab a hot cocoa from the beloved Starbucks – his suggestion! Don’t harp on the American institution of awesomeness… Haha! It gave us a chance to sit and talk for about two and half hours about life, beliefs, likes & dislikes, family, etc. He and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, which is always nice. It was good! It’s really nice to have a friend here in Bonn for the time being… as he is heading home at the end of the month. He made the call last night, and unfortunately I (one) don’t know him enough to sway him from his decision, and (two) would never do that if someone feels it’s right to do something. Haha! Thus, I have a few weeks more with my new friend and then will have to force my way into someone else’s social circle. Haha!

After I realized the time, we headed to the metro station and parted ways. I headed to pick up the boys and started another adventure… Haha! I’m loving the “these are adventures” outlook because it keeps me positive. Not that I’m a negative person, but nonetheless… haha!

Anyway, I got both of the boys geared and up by 3:10ish and was quite proud of how quickly I was pulling them today. I must say, biking really, REALLY works those thighs… I’m gonna have awesome legs when I come home… watch out. Haha! So, we met Koko halfway through the park near our house and then headed over the river and through the woods (literally) to Nico’s violin lesson. I must say, I’m glad Koko went with me and didn’t just give me directions… I would have been LOST. We got there, I kept Finni busy with a puzzle and fruit to eat while the lesson was going on, and then we headed back over the river to home… and can I say, I was freezing?! I do NOT know how Koko and Patrick come home on bikes so late. During the day, it’s cold enough, but when the sun goes down it is piercing cold. I have no desire to go outside right now… If I want to be doing physical activity, I’ll head upstairs to their workout machine. You could not get me to set a toe out there at night right now… Haha! MAYBE I’ll go do stuff on the weekend evenings even when it’s cold, but we’ll see if I make friends that fast. Perhaps it will be more like March before I start venturing out in the evenings with people I meet. Perhaps, I won’t venture out much at all… and I’m prepared for that if it’s the case.

Koko suggested joining an acting group, but I’m not sure if I will have the time. I would actually LOVE that because there are troops that do some British and American pieces – in English – and I could meet people that way and ACT! We’ll see if it’s actually plausible as this job continues, but my bet is, NO. I just don’t see how it could be done when schedules are subject to change and I’m in charge of children. We’ll see though… maybe we can get the boys involved once spring rolls around! I think that Nico would LOVE it. I have been playing the Charlie Brown musical soundtrack for them while we play in the afternoon and Nico is already singing half of the words. He adores it, and thinks it is so funny! If I could find a copy of the script, I’d love to see if we could do a mini-version and do some of the scenes. We’ll see!

Sidenote: Mom, if you read this, the boys want to know the story of Peter Rabbit and I can only remember parts of it. Could you bring that book with you when you come to England? For all others, I am meeting my mom in London for two days in February!!! Happy Valentine’s Day to ME! Haha… I get to show her, Derek, and Cami around my second home, and go to Bath/Stonehenge with them = Heaven.

Oh, and relating back to Charlie Brown: The Musical… Nico loves the “Beethoven Day” song, which I find funny as Beethoven was born here in Bonn. There’s a part where Schroder says, “I don’t want to see Beethoven’s birthday commercialized… The next thing you know, they'll be wearing Beethoven sweatshirts!" Nico sings/says this part all the time and I say that obviously Charlie Brown and his friends are NOT from Bonn... where this already takes place on a regular basis. Haha! Nico and Finn have both taken a great liking to the song “Suppertime” too – a personal favorite of mine. They have sung, “Bring on the hamburger! Bring on the bun!,” before each dinner the last three nights. Haha! I love influencing young minds to love good theater and music – bravo, Linze! Haha…

Life here in Bonn, Germany is pretty good. Tomorrow is my mostly off day, and I just plan on hanging with the kids some and helping Koko with laundry a bit… and reading/watching some “Glee” re-runs – haha! It’s going to change with time… I’m sure I’ll find others to play in the cities with, but for now… I’m just gonna chill. If anyone wants to skype a bit, I’ll be around and weekends are the BEST time to catch me – maybe. I don’t know – I think it’s all about getting lucky with the time difference or scheduling a time. Eh!

Sidenote: I WILL post pictures of the boys ASAP, but my camera has to get fixed first. Sorry friends, family, and many/few admirers.

*muah*

Song of the Day: Carrie Underwood’s song, Quitter. It’s a daily ritual for me to listen to it right now – Enjoy!


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