Seriously Missing the 4th

I'm getting a little down in dumps because I won't be home for the 4th of July this year.  It is the first 4th that I will not be spending at home... and not only will I not be home, but will not be in the U.S., so celebrating it will be minimal.  It's a little upsetting because after speaking with my mother about her fabulous dishes she has planned for weekend... I could really use some of  this...

and this...

and definitely this...

...this weekend

But, I will have to do some of my own celebrating... as I am the only American I know in Bremerhaven... and can imagine not too many people know it's coming just this weekend...

I want to wish everyone in the U.S. a wonderful holiday weekend, and I want you all to have a fabulous 4th... so I am supplying you with a nice and easy recipe to get the weekend started...

Melon Bowl

Serves about 4 glasses

200 ml Apple Tea

1/8 l Watermelon

1/4 Honey Melon

2 Tablespoons honey

200 ml of juice (use what you think would be best, but I suggest something along the lines of banana or pineapple)

400ml Sparkling Wine

Prepare the apple tea and let sit to cool.  Cube the water and honey melon.  Mix together the tea, melons, honey and juice.  Let sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Before serving add the sparkling wine.

This can be really fun served in summer wine glasses, or martini glasses... and such a great, refreshing 4th of July pre-barbecue concoction to get the festivities rolling.

*This recipe can be done with all different types of melons, and fruit!  Pick your favorite combinations and mix and match!  Also, note that sparkling wine in not necessary for those under the age and/or not into drinking alcohol.  Just use sparkling water instead... the refreshing bubbles will give the same effect.

Sunrise... Sunset

Okay summer... you have finally arrived in Germany.  The weather is gorgeous, and all I want to do is be outside.

Lucky for me I end my work days a little past noon.  I have the whole day ahead of me! ...Kind of.  The great thing about summer in Europe is that the amount of sunlight in one day is ridiculous.  When I arrive to work at 4am, the morning light is starting to shine through... seriously!  You know the total darkness that only happens in the middle of the night?  Well, I'm pretty sure that this total darkness does not exist in the summer time in Germany, because by the time the sun no longer lights the sky it's past 10pm and its only just a few more hours before the sun starts to rise again.  I love it.  I can't get enough of it....

So then what's the problem?  I get to enjoy the daylight in the morning, but I have to then fall asleep at night with FULL SUN! I know I've said before I have this amazing ability to fall asleep whenever I want (which bodes well for me now with all my time schedule changes)... but it's still a bit depressing to have to go to bed when I know the sun will still be up for a few more hours.

Now after all that talk about summer starting for real, it looks as though my summer will be pretty calm.  I don't have any crazy travels planned (however I do have one at the start of Fall!), nor does it seem to be any huge events happening.  Oh wait... I guess my birthday would  be considered an event... 23 here I come!  Ugh... 23 seems like such a lame age, doesn't it?  I guess I will have to live up the year my own way in order to make 23 better than all the others!

And so now, I will leave you all with this great picture of the Bremerhaven countryside in the summer (note the stormy skies...)

Photo Credit: Roi

Ireland

Ireland was a smashing success!  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but since it's right there with the U.K., I thought maybe it would be similar to England.  NOT.  Yes, there are similar qualities, but Dublin is not London.  Let's put it this way, Dublin is a bit more rugged than London... but in a good way, of course.  I really liked the city and the rest of the country that I saw.  I recommend it to everyone. (Put this on your check-off list immediately)... Let's face it, any place that you can get  Guinness on tap at every restaurant and pub is a good thing... and with two six of them a day... it's an even better thing.

I can honestly say that I have not been to a more beautiful and interesting country, and I've been lucky enough to visit quite a few places.  If you've heard the Irish have a lot of stories, it's true.  Whether they're true or not doesn't really matter.  It's just the fact that they are interesting and create traditions in the community that make the country as a whole come together.  For a place that's been tried to have been controlled by so many other people, it's nice to see how they hold on to the what makes Ireland, Ireland.

The landscape of the country is something else entirely... I want to warn you that NONE of my pictures give Ireland the justice that is deserves.

The famous Post Office, where the revolution began

Kilkenny Castle

Glendalough and the Wiklow Mountains

The city of Galway and the Claddagh Ring

Apparently, JFK was well liked in Ireland

The Cliffs of Moher

Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb (dating back to 4200 B.C.)

I really never knew that Ireland was made up of so much limestone

This is not just some random picture... it's a Fairy Fort.  See how the sides are rounded up to form a large circle?  Apparently, the Fairies built these to live in and moved in and out from May 1st to October 31st (hence the date of Halloween).  But, these aren't your typical Tinkerbell Faries, we were told they are dark creatures, and it is extremely bad luck to walk inside a Fairy Fort.

Dublin Castle

Lemon Meringue at this wonderful pastry shop in Dublin

Christ Church Cathedral (Dublin)

Last but not least, here is our musical pub crawl:

Back in Germany!

Back in Germany, and back to work!

Can't wait to share about my Ireland experience!

Great week and then.... Dublin!

Despite being sick this week, I had a fantastic week at work... and am flying off to Dublin tomorrow morning.

Things are looking great right about now!

Why such a great week at work?  Yesterday, I was able to make the Torte (layered cakes) for just about the whole day.  I've only been about to do this a few times, because I'm only in my first year, and we're not "supposed" to be able to make these until the 2nd or 3rd year.  This is something I really enjoy doing, and I love our current Torte list.

Here is a look into the Engelbrecht Torte that I helped create yesterday.

Himbeer-Traum

Raspberry-Dream

Lubecker-Nuss

Lubecker-Nut

Maracuja-Sonne

Passion Fruit Sun

Orange-Wolke

Orange-Cloud

Schoko-Traum

Choco-Dream

Erdbeere-Himmel

Strawberry-Heaven

Schwarzwaelder-Kirsch

Black Forest- Cherry

Zitronen-Baiser

Lemon-Meringue

Don't these look absolutely amazing?! My favorite would have to be the Lemon-Meringue, because we toast the meringue and garnish it with pistachios.  Second favorite?  Strawberry-Heaven... need I explain why?

Under The Weather

Feeling a little under the weather, and can't breathe through my nose...

I apologize for the delay in posts, but I'm not sure too many people would like to read about the number of times I've blown my nose today...

Is Dried Fruit Interesting?

This block of school just isn't doing it for me.  I love learning new things, especially in my field, but dried fruit just doesn't cut it.


This block we're learning all about dried fruit and candied fruit, and products created with the two.  Unfortunately, I don't find dried fruit particularly tasty, and I for sure don't find Früchtebrot (Fruit Bread) very tasty either.

Photo Credit

See what I mean???

In case you were wondering my lack excitement in posting on what we're learning in school.  This would be the reason!


Since this is our last block in the first school year (I can soon say I'm a 2nd year apprentice!) we get our final grades.  Uh oh!  
To no surprise whatsoever, my Politik and Deutsch grades aren't up to par.  Let's face it, what do I know about Politik?  I don't know any German Unions and I certainly don't know anything about working under the age of 18 in Germany, and nor will I ever need to acquire that information considering I'm 22.  Therefor, I don't have a lot of input on either topic.  Since half of our grade is mündlich (participation, verbally), this is a problem.  How can I be graded so harshly on something that physically isn't yet possible for me?  You know what his response to my lack of speaking in class was?  
"Just one word."  
Seriously?  You want me to raise my hand and say one word?  What good will that do?  One word does nothing but make me look like an idiot.  Next time, I'll raise my hand and say "Ja," or "Nein" but not say anything else to back it up.  It just isn't plausible. 


As usual, I never got the chance to politely say this to the teacher because I was on the verge of tears and if I opened my mouth tears would have come spilling out.  Plus the fact that I can't really translate that gracefully... it would have been a disaster... 


On the up side! I got grades back from math, cooking and half of my business grade.  I got 1s in all of them!  (BTW a 1 is considered an A in Germany).  How I managed that is a mystery to me... I couldn't even do that in college in the English language.  As corny as it may sounds, if you work hard at something you're passionate about, you really can achieve the impossible.  Don't forget that...