Celle (pronounced sell-uh)

the big building is the ducal castle. the rest of the town is quiet and quaint. the museum had some cool stuff including bridal costumes from way back when.

Church-day

That is what Adele calls going to church. Today she not only got to go to church, but she also got to ride there on the "train" (read: metro/tram). What could be better?

Apparently we've been slacking in our friends communications because it appears that some of you didn't know we were heading overseas, or why.

Allison decided she needed an advanced degree in comparative literature, as well as some sweet outfits for her spring attire, and the only real way of learning a fourth language and to be at the cutting edge of fashion is to go to Europe, so we picked Germany, put on our chacos, loaded up our kids and are seeing the world.

Just kidding. Ben's MBA program at Purdue University has a kind of satellite program in Hannover, Germany. There is an option to have one "module" there (8 week term), so we took it. We left March 15, we will be home May 11, with some side trips planned. We are living in a dorm, eating off our two burners, and loving it (If you figure out how to cook a meat, a side, and a vegetable at the same time on two burners without a microwave, please let me know). Neither of us know a lick of German (until now, that is), so we're having fun playing the foreigners and looking foolish all the time. Today the Bishop asked me something, and I'm sure the blank look on my face had "stupid" written all over it, but all I could really say was that I don't speak German (in German). But the talks were great (thanks translators!) and they had an awesome lunch after ward conference that was appreciated by all.

So, we don't know the language. But we're not alone because there are two other families here with us from Indiana (both LDS) and a single guy that are in pretty much the same situation. We had the single guy over for dinner tonight, Randall, and he ate with us in Adele's room with what we were informed was a 3.2 ounce Russian shot glass. Apparently our Indian friends that we're exchanging with don't believe in cups, or forks. Lucky we brought cups and bowls for the kids, because we're all eating out of them now. But we've found that metros, money, and smiling are the universal languages, and we're all getting along swimmingly. I haven't done any laundry yet, but no worries. And don't worry that we don't have a shower curtain, oven, microwave, freezer, and towels for all of us, because we can get nutella by the gallon and chocolate by the ton (helllllooooooo Easter candy!). Life is so good.

P.S. if you want to know more about the program, or are thinking about getting an MBA or equivalent and are interested in going foreign, look up GISMA online. Especially Nicki and the Sorensons (did Scott ever serve in Hannover?)

Guten Morgen Freunde

~Leider ist es so lange gedauert zu schreiben!

We're here. It was a long trip, we left Chicago at 7pm on Tuesday March 16 and arrived in Frankfurt after a layover in London at 1:30 pm on Wednesday March 17. Then we drove 2-3hrs north of Frankfurt in our nice little diesel minivan, to Hannover. All of which was quite the experience. I had to stop once to sleep because I was so exhausted, otherwise the autobahn was quite nice traveling.
We've made our little apartment into a nice home (200 sqft or so). You'll see some pictures below. It's quite snug! The weather has been spectacular 10-12 C, which must be close to 50 F. The trees have buds, and the grass is starting to grow, I don't think there could be a better time to be here. This is the kitchen, about 5' x 5', the toaster and what you see is almost everything we have. There is a small sink attached to two electric irons, with a 2' fridge below it.
























Here's Alex's and Adele's bed, and you'll be surprised to note that our bed isn't any bigger, and there's only two of them. One for the kids and one for us:)























Thursday we took advantage of our last day with the rental car and drove out to Hameln. The city best known for "The Pied Piper of Hamelin". Only a few miles out of Hannover was the same beautiful farmland we'd seen on the way from Frankfurt to Hannover. The communities are all very tight and close together. No urban sprawl! They are beautiful, quaint little towns with small 3-5 story, narrow and tall homes. Hameln was great, we took some of the pictures below that show the old buildings.


























































There are so many great little bakeries, and oh the bread is tasty, so are the hotdogs or bratwurst / krakenkauer.

































Notice the left wall of the McDonald's building, it's certainly not straight, and the building is probably from the 1500's. You can see Allison in the bottom right hand corner of the picture.
















































































The kids found these formation in the street to be a perfect playground.

















Yesterday we met up with Scott and Elly Fryer at there place near downtown Hannover, it's a nice little apt. on the 4th floor of a typical older area of town. After ward we all went to the messe station and had dinner. For me it was a nice big Krakenkauer. It is incredibly busy at the main train station. The streets and subways are busy with 10's of thousands of people, all in pursuit of happiness:)

We love you all!

ben