as i said before, not sure bout the quality of my internet for the next while, as proven by my lack of it for the last couple days. just got it back when we got into a hotel in Hamburg, which is a rather awesome city, by the way.

but first, St. Peter Ording, the village/city we were in before Hamburg. great little city. first day, we arrived to a large house in which we hotelled for two nights. i'm surprised more people aren't doing this, but this was actually someone's house that we were staying in. as a hotel. i could see that being very lucrative...maybe someday.
but that first day, we walked on the beach of the North Sea, loving the sea air and the general atmosphere of the area. we walked 7.8 km (i am assuming that was found with a GPS but i'm not sure...Bjorn's dad told me). it was pretty awesome until it started raining. the weather was crap both days. cloudy, gray, rainy. disappointing but manageable.

day two. we walked again, though not as far. we walked on the beach with a guide who showed us about the beach and what lives on it. in rubber boots. i had forgotten why i stopped wearing rubber boots. it wasn't because they are ugly or bunch up my pants. it was how bad they are for distance walking. we walked a rather long way in rubber boots. i hate to complain but that's not too nice on the feet. we saw some pretty cool stuff on the beach though, and we learned about tides and the beach animals (worms).

after this, we went to a swimming pool. has anyone ever been to a nude sauna before? yeah. me neither. but they're here (no, i did not use it). also, coed changerooms. i didn't see that coming...i mean, they have way more cubicles to change in within the changerooms, and only old dudes change outside them, but still. what little girl needs to be scarred by that image? wow...awesome.but yeah, the pool was pretty cool. not only do they have a hot tub, but they have cold tubs as well, filled with basically ice water without the ice. we sat in this iceless ice water for a while, then jumped into the regular pool (which felt, no exaggeration, hotter than the hot tub) with our completely numb bodies. it felt...exquisite.

i have finished my books. including the ones i bought here in Germany. if i keep buying books, i'll have to send them home in a package instead of bringing them on the plane...i was right on limit before...should be fun. i need more books.

Hamburg. we walked around the city, seeing a church within which we climbed the tower (476 steps from top to street!). we went on a boat ride where we were briefly pelted by small yet persistent hail. twas annoying as all hell.

tonight, we (me and Bjorn's mother) went to a rather awesome model train yard while Bjorn's soccer team beat his father's. The train yard was awesome, but the wavering light and overabundance of people resulted in few actual usable pictures. i took alot though, a couple videos as well. they'll be on the blog after i get back to Kathus.

aaaaand back to the hotel, to this moment. not much else to say right now, except that i am contemplating much at the moment and i invite my readers to join me in contemplation.

not to pick on religion (and if you are offended by negative mention of religion, stop reading now...) but i have been thinking of it recently.

Christianity. the entire New Testament is subject to controversy because of the following. Jesus was born in the year 6-4 Before Christ, and died at the age of 33 (according to tales from 2000+ years ago). this means he died in the year 27-29 Anno Domini, this should not be open to discussion as simple math. but the Bible was written (estimated) between the years 40 and 90 Anno Domini. I am seeing a time gap of approximately 12 years between the 'events' and them being recorded in the Bible. i see around me people who cannot remember a story for two weeks, let alone 12 years. so basically, the Bible, the basis for the entire religion, is based on a giant game of telephone spanning 12 years?? furthermore, how do we know of Mary's truthfulness? i mean, she said she was a virgin, but we'll just take her word for it? and base our religion and much adoration upon her...upon her word? besides, in that time, an unmarried pregnant woman was a wh*** and was to be stoned and killed. like hell if she was going to tell them if she wasn't a virgin!
to sum it up: a religion based on a game of telephone and a shaky primary character with no motive to tell what may have been the beginning incident in this religion. i see a problem here. in my experience, the message in telephone it distorted. stories get exaggerated. i see no way that this religion is possibly true, however it is present everywhere in the world and has it's fingers in the cakes of most governments and organisations, and has a portion of the control of pretty much everything worth controlling. awesome.
again, no hate here, these are just my thoughts about religion. if anyone cares to clear up this situation, leave a comment or contact me on facebook to debate privately.i welcome your input. do not, however, leave comments pestering me for questioning religion.

this greatly annoys me about society. we can debate evolution. we can debate politics. we can debate sports. but we cannot openly debate religion. i can go tell anyone 'your soccer team is going to lose.' i can tell anyone (though i wouldn't) 'evolution isn't real, it's all crap.' people do this. but as soon as you tell someone 'your faith is wrong and you are lost...' all hell breaks loose. i have a right to free speech and a right to my opinion. as long as the opinions of religious people are allowed to be waved in my face, i will not waive my rights or allow them to be taken from me by anyone. i will discuss this, and frankly, if you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to open this page, and if you are offended, know it is not my intention and i apologize, but this is necessary. thank you.

and now my rant is over. i had a great last couple days, really enjoying Germany. glad to be here is an understatement. but i find myself thinking more and more of home and what i plan to change about my life when i get there. most of these things i cannot change about myself here (backstory needed).
In Canada, i am mostly independent. I get up every morning at 6:16. Saturdays as well, sleeping in kills my sleep schedule. i make my own breakfast and a large lunch on school days, and get myself out the door for my bus all be myself. if i miss breakfast, i stop at the Mcdonalds at the transit station. if i forget lunch, i buy food after school. i spend most of my time entertaining myself in my room, locking out the world.
but in Germany, i am completely dependent. i still get up by myself, and make my own toast, but my lunch is made for me and i receive reminders about time. there is no Mcdonalds or transit station. after school, my rooms is potentially host to any number of people, which never (ever) happens i Canada. i don't share my room well.  but here in Germany, it's public territory. it's taking some time, but i;m getting used to it (Host family, if you are reading this, don't change, i'm adapting to you). it's...different.
but may hours of thought have gone to 'what will i do differently in Canada? how will i change things when i get back home?' i basically have an objective, outsider view of my lifestyle, something i never had before. now i see many of my faults, i see my shortcomings now. i know where i'm going wrong, i know what i need to fix, but not how to fix it. still working on that. how can i go back now, knowing how wrong it is? (no worries, just alot to change when i get back. i'll need some time and my space, but i'll eventually get my crap together...)

so. another couple days past.
and again, hopefully i'll post again tomorrow, but no guarantees. the internet may be out, it may be faster that the beached, bloated, half dead manatee it is now. i don't know and neither does anyone else, so
bis dann.
Nacht!