I know for a fact that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country.

Well the good news is, you now have to click the words "older posts" if you want to read all of my blog posts, meaning I have officially blogged enough times to make that possible.

Meaning I've been in Germany for quite some time now.

I'm just about to the middle of my stay here so I thought this might be a good time to go over the highlights so far. Kind of like in high school when mid-way through basketball season they have a big pep rally where they play the adrenaline-pumped slide show trying to convince everyone that the outcome of the next big game will play a defining role in who you will become as a person, what kind of mortgage you will have and whether or not you will end up buying that same pink Mary-kay lipstick that your mother has been wearing for years. When, in reality, if you accidentally stay home that night and play Yatzee with your pink-lipped mother, chances are your life is going to turn out just fine.

What i'm trying to say is, just like high school, this blog post probably won't contribute to your secular knowledge or your moral welfare in any way, but it sure will be fun.

Highlight #1: After a good week of practicing my German I decided it was time. I worked up my courage and ordered at Burger King, all by myself.

I ordered: A Whopper without onions.

I got: Fries, a large Coke, and a Whopper. With onions.

They got me. They got me good.

Highlight #2: This is a picture of a day that started out really sunny, so we bought some food and went to the park for lunch. Then it got really windy (thus the scarf on my head to hold back my mane-of-a-hairstyle) and also there were a lot of bugs which I am in the process of...kicking. (It sounds a lot dumber when I actually type those words. And it already sounded pretty dumb.) Anyways, the funny part happened right after this picture when one of the Bosnian gypsy women who are everywhere here came up to me and asked me for some money. I have not had the best of experiences with these women and I happen to know that they are fairly well taken-care of by the German government so I told her I didn't. She persisted until she saw our food and then she started pestering me for it.

Me: "Uh...I just bought that for lunch."

Gypsy: "pleeeaassseee...for my children." (nowhere to be found)

Me: "I'm sorry!"

Gypsy: "Pleasseee. Just one little piece."

Me: "Um. Okay fine. You can have my bread."

Gypsy: (looks at the bread for a while) "...your tomato would be better."

Beggars can't be choosers Mrs. Bosnian gypsy. I know, my mom told me.

Highlight #3: Dinner.

Turns out Germans don't believe in microwaves. Something about saving the environment or something weird like that. Anyways, my host family also has a faulty oven. A fact I had yet to discover until I purchased a frozen baguette made for the microwave and/or oven. I went with the stove top. A little soggy on the inside and somewhat charred on the outside, but when you're hungry enough...


Highlight #4: Buying fifty bars of German chocolate at one time from the Ritter Sport chocolate store in Berlin. Sure it was actually for some research project that Nick was conducting, and sure I wasn't actually the purchaser of these chocolates, but it was so nice to feel, even if just for one tiny, fleeting moment, like one of the rich girls who gets to buy fifty chocolate bars at one time from the Ritter Sport chocolate store in Berlin. Dreams do come true.

Highlight #5: This is just a really great picture. If there's one thing BYU students love it's a good "Ha! We're not really in jail!" picture. Always gets a good laugh. "Whoo. That was a close one guys...jokes!"

So there it is. 50% done. 50% to go. That equals 100% the best summer ever.

As if you couldn't already tell.

This concludes my Berlin pep rally. You are all excused now to go to 4th period.

See you at the big game.

Love, Katie