Day One
June 21st, 2005

We are leaving today! First we met in the AHS parking lot to make sure everyone was there and to take group pictures. Then we left for Kansas City to fly to Chicago. We checked in at the airport, ate lunch, and said good bye to our families. We boarded the flight after a short wait in the lobby and I have to admit I was a little scared, it being my first flight and all. Our first plane was a small one and I sat by Frau. Scott was across the aisle and he kept whispering “are you scared yet?” I kept telling him “no” but I kind of was since I am terrified of heights. When we started to move I got butterflies, but once we lifted off it wasn’t that bad and I soon figured out that flying wasn’t too terribly bad. We landed in Chicago about an hour later so that was a good warm up for me for the next 9 hour flight to Munich. On that flight I did get a little dizzy, but it was nothing that my good ol’ Dramamine couldn’t handle.

Michenzie M.

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Day Two
June 22nd, 2005

The plane rides were very long and I was very tired when I got here. I met Maik at Kevelear’s school and his mom took my stuff home. Then I met their principal, Dr. “Welcome,” and then we went back to Maik's house in Wetten. He lives in a small village outside of Kevelear. We had pasta for lunch and it was good. His friend George came over and we went to the swimming pool. The water was freezing and then we rode our bikes back to Maik’s house. I feel asleep on the couch and woke up and had supper. We had some bread and meat which was a very light supper. Then we went to a pub and hung out with lots of people, most people from our group were there too. Then we came home and slept.

AJ K.

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Day Three
June 23rd, 2005

Today was our first day of German School. I guess if I understood German better it wouldn’t have been as boring as it was. I attended History, Biology, and Sport (PE). The teachers are very straight forward and don’t try to make it fun. I guess a student can either pay attention, or fail. Obviously this society believes that if an individual makes a mistake it is no ones fault but their own. Even though this is shown through the way the teachers teach I would still rather have fun like I did with Mrs. Heintz or Mr. Roth. Germany does not have “hands on” education. All of the information is given in lecture format.

Day Four
June 24th, 2005

Today was our first full day in Germany. It started at 7:50 AM as the train left the Kevelaer station. After switching trains twice we arrived in Bonn.
In Bonn, we strolled through the university and marketplace and stopped at Beethoven’s birthplace and the House of History. Looking through Beethoven’s home turned museum, we saw many instruments, compositions, and the room in which Beethoven was born. In the House of History, a tour guide led us through the reconstruction of Germany after World War II and the Cold War condensed into an hour.
Leaving Bonn by boat, we saw the countryside of Germany until we reached Cologne. The Cologne Cathedral immediately dominated our interest with its two gigantic towers reaching to the sky. Everyone was impressed with the cathedrals beautiful gothic architecture, both interior and exterior.
Then by two trains, we made it home. Once home, my host brother David and I rode bikes to a party. His PE class was having an end of the year party. We had already missed most of the party since our trip to Bonn and Cologne kept us away until dusk. Around 11:00 we rode home to get rested for another busy day.

Amos C.

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Day Five
June 25th, 2005

Well today was our last day with our host families. I guess I have gotten closer to Eva. We have one thing in common and that is dancing. Last night we went to the Disko until five o’clock in the morning. It was a whole different experience. I think dancing is the one thing we are both never self-conscious about. It is too much fun to worry about what people think. Eva is a hard person to describe, she is nice, but just has a certain snobby ness about her. I guess she is spoiled and selfish, but she is not egotistic. I wonder what she thinks of me?
Anyways we went out to lunch after I finally woke up at 11:30. It was an Italian restaurant. I had macaroni and cheese, but it was nothing like home. Then we went to Anika’s house. We rode bikes and my butt is still sore. I think the seats are different. When we arrived I mostly spoke with Jessica R. She had to spend the last two nights with a different host because her hosts had some family thing. She also told me that Jenny’s hosts were being very mean and leaving her at home. This evening they wouldn’t even let her come to the pub. After that party at the pub was over we went to the pub. I talked with Ellen for a while; I haven’t really got to know her so that was good. I also had fun with the rest of the group that was there.

Jessica W.

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Day Six
June 26th, 2005

Lara, Jessica R., and I are going shopping in Köln! Unfortunately, we had to get up pretty early to catch the 10:00 train. While on the train I noticed how the Europeans are not quite as friendly as us Americans. They just give you a blank stare as you walk by, and they don't go out of the way to smile back at you. Living in a small town in the US, I'm pretty use to having stranger greet and smile at me! While I noticed this several times throughout the trip, I learned to appreciate living in the US!!!

As soon as we got off the train and our feet hit the pavement, we dashed straight for the clothing stores. While shopping, I noticed how...well lets say...unique the Germans dress. They just throw stuff together! In a way it was kind of cool how they were not afraid to express themselves, and have the guts to wear what they wore. Yet, some styles were too crazy for me! Another thing I noticed while shopping was a lot of clothing had the American flag, USA, or American known sayings printed on it. This really surprised me, because you rarely ever see a German flag or German saying on clothing here in America. I never realized how much the US influenced Germany and other countries, not only in clothing but the entire culture.

After shopping and taking in some more German culture, we headed back home to Kevelaer by train. When we got back it was time to head to our going away party. During the party we ate and listened to Dr. Mason's band.

We had a great time!!!

Jordan W.

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Day Seven
June 27th, 2005

Today was our last day/morning/time in Kevelaer and I packed all my things and we the group, met at the train station. The group left and we rode for 3 hours to Rothenburg. We are staying at a pension and we went and ate at a garden place. I had chicken and fries. Later we decided to go on this night watchman’s tour for 3 Euros. It was informative, but the number of people who went on it was just too many. Then it was cool that the whole group and Frau stayed up and talked until 12:30.

AJ K.

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Day Eight
June 28th, 2005

The day started at 8 am with a very nice and big breakfast. Then we toured the town on our own until about 2, but before that though, we went to the bank and I exchanged all my travelers’ checks and some cash. We went to do laundry at the laundry mat, and they had some really cheap cola there that I should have bought more of because who knows when you can get them this cheap again. Amos bought some toy knight figurines from one of the medieval weapon and armor stores, while Scott bought a really nice watch…too bad it had a scratch in it. He took it back to have the face replaced, and then ended up scratching it again later today on a rock. Supper we had Doener and then we walked around the wall while managing to lose Jenny and Jordan in a store. We took a picture on the wall and went back to the Pension to mess around and rest.

AJ K

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Day Nine
June 29th, 2005

Wow, today was a very interesting day.  It started off like any other day.  We were leaving for Berlin to meet up with our tour group.  I got up early, had everything packed, and we left Rothenburg by 8 am.  It was then that things started taking a turn for the worst.  First Jessica R.'s bag broke again and then the strap on mine broke.  Little did we know that that was an omen for how the rest of the day would go.  Just before we got onto the last train to Berlin, Amos realized that he had left his bag with all of his money and his passport on the previous train.  Luckily the train hadn't left yet, so he was able to retrieve his belongings.  Him and Mrs. Meneley made it back with only 3 minutes left until the train left for Berlin.  Not only did all of that happen but the construction on the railroad delayed our arrival time by almost 2 hours.  When we finally found the hotel we were all ecstatic about being able to rest.  We ate at a buffet that was located inside of the hotel.  It was mostly composed of fish, bread, and potatoes.  After dinner we went on a short tour to the capitol building in Berlin, since Berlin is the capital of Germany.  Following the tour we walked to a Jewish memorial museum.  We came back to the hotel, changed into our pajamas, and settled into our very fluffy beds for a good, but short nights rest.

Ellen G.

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Day Ten
June 30th, 2005

Our first full day on the ACIS tour started with a 6:45 AM wake-up call, just as Darrell had promised. After breakfast at the hotel, we left on our city tour of Berlin. On the tour, we saw the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Soviet Cemetery, Government Buildings, the Church of Remembrance, and the Pergamon museum. We spent one hour inside the Pergamon Museum viewing ruins of the temple at Pergamon displaying a battle between Greek gods and titans, Hellenistic and Roman architecture, and the entryway of the gods into a Babylonian Palace decorated with blue bricks and beautiful lions, dragons, and bulls.

After lunch, we traveled to Potsdam to visit the setting of the Warsaw Pact signing, which divided post WWII Germany into four sectors, and Sans Souci, meaning without a care providing Frederick the Great with a getaway like France’s Versailles. Following historic tourism we stopped in Potsdam’s center to stroll the streets.

Following dinner back in Berlin, Darrell took some people from the tour group to the Church of Remembrance, but all of the Abilene crew stayed “home” to recover from the day.

Amos C.

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Day Eleven
July 1st, 2005

It was another bus day. This time to Munich, our longest bus ride yet. Seemed to take forever, but it was a good chance to sleep, which I did. We ate at, what we would call, a truck stop, and the food was eh… and fairly expensive. The whole day we spent in the bus and my knees hurt after sitting for so long. When we got there we unpacked and then headed to the famous Hofbrauhaus where most tourists go. Lets just say… that place was something I have never experienced with all the singing, dancing, and drinking. I bought a Hard Rock Café shirt across the street and we walked back to the hotel and slept.

AJ K.

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Day Twelve
July 2nd, 2005

Around 7:30ish we got up for some breakfast and then prepared for a long day in Munich. We, as a group, walked and bussed around town. A town tour guide explained and told us many things about Munich. Then, we were let off to go tour the downtown area for a long time. Frau took us into a bookstore and the 9 people from Abilene choose a book that they liked. Frau could not use anything but cash, so she spent all of her money that she had. It was OK. Amos helped her out. We ate in the Marktplatz and shopped/toured around the town. After that at 1:45, we started on the bus to go to Dachau. For the rest of the afternoon, the others and I walked around the camp and learned/explored it. The pictures were disgusting and the environment made you somewhat queasy. That night the J’s and Scott, Amos, and I, went to the Olympic Stadium. We ate at the Ratskeller before that and had some sausage and Sauerkraut. Then we packed and got ready for another long day of traveling.

AJ K.

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Day Thirteen
July 3rd, 2005

Today was a big day of driving and that bus is not all that comfortable, especially when you have an annoying tour guide singing “Downtown” through the speakers. We were driving to Strasbourg, France today, but made a short stop in Stuttgart (our last German city of the trip). When we arrived in Stutgart Jessica W. and I decided to sit on a bench to rest and observe people. We weren’t really in a mood to explore. After that we kept going to Strasbourg. We got into Strasbourg and checked into our hotel and got our roommates, mine was Jenny! Then after settling we went out to dinner and then took a stroll around the city.

Michenzie M.

Welcome to France

Today we left Munich for Strasbourg. On the way we stopped in Stuttgart for an hour. Michenzie and I sat on a bench by a gorgeous fountain and listened to the Christian Conzert nearby. It was very comforting since today is Sunday. When we arrived in France it already had a different atmosphere. It is dirty and the people are rude. Luckily we had plenty of free time so the majority of us hung out in the boys’ room and watched TV. Then we walked around town. Dinner was delicious. It was similar to pizza but much thinner. Plus the waiters kept on bringing more so I left completely full. I can’t believe the trip is almost over. It all seems surreal. Well I need to sleep.

Jessica W.

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Day Fourteen
July 4th, 2005

Happy Independence Day! Sadly I celebrated it in the French streets. I would probably get mauled. We visited the Maginot line today. It was interesting, but cold and pointless. The evening was fun though. After dinner all of us went to a market and bought stuff to celebrate the 4th. We got soda, cookies, chips, and candles. When we got back to the Hotel we all hung out on the Boy’s balcony, talked, and played charades. When it got dark we invited Frau to come join us to celebrate with the candles. We stuck the candles on top of the cookies and sang the star spangled banner. Then we toasted to the forth of July. Strangely it was of the funniest Forth of July’s I’ve ever had.

Jessica W.

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Day Fifteen
July 5th, 2005

Today, again, was another long day of driving, this time it was not as bad because we stopped and looked at some quite interesting sites. Verdun is a French burial, memorial for their dead soldiers during fights of World War I. The tunnel was nice and bright colored orange, and had a memorial of the names of the soldiers who died on the walls. Then outside was a beautiful French flag flying over thousand of graves with crosses and flowers on them. The scene was very satisfying and it was a perfect day, very quaint weather. Then we went back into the bus to finish the ride to Paris, the capital of France.

AJ K.

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Day Sixteen
July 6th, 2005

Scott and I got up early at around 6:45 and left Amos to sleep. We went to breakfast, which was average. We went back to our room and Amos was torqued. We then slept till it was time to go. Our tour was the best of the trip, a funny British guide lead it. She had plenty of information about Paris, their buildings, and all the expensive stores. We saw a very nice church, a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, Des Champs Elysess, and Notre Dame. Her part ended at the Opera House and we as a group got out going to the Louvre. At the Louvre, Amos, Scott, and I saw the winged victory, of course the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo. After we saw the main things, we saw the Louis the XIV’s crown jewels and the largest painting in the Louvre. While we were waiting for everyone for like 30 minutes, we decided to go up and out where we finally found everyone. After the Louvre, everyone decided to go souvenir shopping. Frau finally got her Crepe. Then we went back to the hotel for a nap. We ate at the same place as yesterday and had some blue cheese stuff, which was nasty. The main dish of roast beef was very good, and the dessert, a brownie milky choclately thing, it was good too. We then went on the subway to the Tour Eiffel. Where a mishap happened, our tickets were checked. Next up we went on a very soothing boat ride where we saw the Eiffel tower, Notre dame, the oldest “New Bridge,” and met some interesting Israelis. I finally finished all of my pictures and we took the subway back to the hotel Mercure. Some of our group had a late night pop crawving and walked around where we found a nice Doener place with cheap pop. Then we slept.

AJ K.

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Day Seventeen
June 7th, 2005

It's time to go home! Although everyone is ready to get home and to see his or her families and friends, we will all miss Europe. My trip to Germany and France was truly a once in a lifetime experience. This trip is filled with great memories and friendships. I still can't believe I had the chance to see the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Arc de Triumph, Concentration Camp Dachau, The Köln Cathedral, Nymphenburg Palace, and the all the other wonderful sites.

Well ready or not, Kansas here we come!

Jordan W.

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