Everything since Last Wednesday
Thursday, August 23

When I said "don't expect daily updates" I think what I meant was "don't expect me to remember that I even have a blog."

So, here we are. I know you've all been waiting anxiously for this moment! Let's just hit the highlights from the beginning, otherwise known as The Day That Matt Got Back (which will, in fact, be printed on all calendars next year as a national holiday). Last Wednesday Russell, Shanna, and I drove to the Memphis airport to pick up Matt and Dennis. (The highlight of the trip was the fact that the thermometer hit 109° on the way there.) There was much rejoicing and gift-giving when we got back to Martin, and my presents were a deck of German cards, a pressed 2¢ Euro (who knew? penny presses in Germany!), and a shirt from Berlin which was, sadly, too short. Matt proceeded to inform me that all the girls in Germany wear their shirts several inches above their shorts, but I think that I would just as soon...not.

I happened to have the day off from chemistry Thursday and Matt had already decided not to go to work, so we spent the day doing particularly fun things like washing laundry and going to Walmart. And making sushi, I believe, after much begging on my part. Friday I had the day off again, and went to take my piano placement test in the afternoon. And honestly, if I had known he was going to make it that easy, I could have tested out of all four classes. Alas, I tested out of the first two classes, just as I planned, and must now suffer though two semesters of Dr. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

On Saturday we went out to the house for Blair's unbirthday party (his birthday was really last Wednesday, but Shanna does not like to admit that). Before long we became immersed in something or another on the National Geographic channel about very dangerous and venemous animals in Australia. They were highlighting the area in which each progressively horrific animal could be found as they went along — and just as we thought the west coast was safe they started talking about the most venemous snake in the world, and highlighted the entire country. So, according Matt, Australia is out of our travel plans.

On Sunday night we had a Gaither musical of sorts, like the one we did last year. This year involved a good deal of...sing alongs. Blair, Rachel, Matt and I sang one song as a quartet, and were labeled in the program as the "Russell Cook Family Quartet". We had to explain to several questioning people afterwards how the four of us are (or are soon to be) related, that Matt was the only actual Cook in the quartet at the moment, and that we really had no idea why Brother David had decided to call us the Russell Cook Family Quartet, since Russell was not singing in the quartet at all. And then we went to Taco Bell.

Nothing particularly exciting has gone on this week. I got an email from my SI supervisor saying that we might not get the funds for foreign language this semester, which means I'm out of a job. However, I've been offered a paid staff position as graphic designer for The Pacer, so all is not lost. I was looking forward to doing SI for Spanish 115 this fall (another class that I didn't take). Funny how I keep ending up teaching these classes that I've never had myself...

Yesterday was move-in mania up here, where droves of freshmen and their parents storm the campus with boxes and bags of belongings that are never going to fit into those tiny Y-hall dorms. I have three new roommates this year: two sophomores and a freshman. Lauren and Amanda, the sophomores, were roommates last year. I've only seen Lauren perhaps once and talked to her less than five minutes, but Matt and I talked with Amanda and her boyfriend for at least an hour the other day, and they seem really nice. Sigrid, who Matt went to high school with, has mostly been busy with all the freshman activities, so I haven't seen too much of her either.

Matt was at the Pacer a good deal of last night, so I decided to take that opportunity to make sushi! Again! It takes forever, but it really is fun. Even though there was lack of normal fillings, the sushi I made last night was particularly amazing because I finally mastered the art of rolling. Turns out that my cookbook is kind of retarded when it comes to those details...it told me to use only half a sheet of nori for one roll, which leaves no room for the edges to overlap, hence my sushi that would never stay together. Last night I used the entire sheet, which allows for much more nori for the rice to stick to, and about and inch wide edge which you wet to seal the roll in place. We also inherited a nice sharp knife from my old roommates, and it was perfect for cutting the rolls into pieces. And thus, I attained the rank of Sushi Master. Or something like that.

- Karen

The Last Letter from Matt
Tuesday, August 14

I decided to go ahead and write this on my computer in case we have the chance to go to Regina’s (Dennis’ aunt) house again and send an email or whatever. I will put it on my flash drive and hopefully save a bit of time that way…since I know how to use this keyboard!

Anyway, I hope things are good with you; I miss (terribly) reading how things are going. To my defense, when we got back from Regina’s the other day, I got on my laptop and started checking for any wireless networks around. There was one but it was password protected (as seemingly all wireless networks are in Germany…) and after a few attempts to guess the network key and password I gave up. I suppose it’s for the better anyway…the signal was weak and I haven’t seen the network again though I occasionally try. It would have just gotten my hopes up, I keep telling myself.

We have something like 38 hours to go till we see each other; hopefully the length of the last three weeks will make these fly by in comparison. I’m hoping that if I can send you this email I can also update my Web site. I’ve been writing about our adventures since I last left off, Monday a week ago, but as you can imagine that is a looot to write about. I keep stopping every few paragraphs to take a break. I started it about this time yesterday and so far I have three pages. We’ve only just arrived in Briedel at that point.

This afternoon we are going to see a real castle somewhere near Briedel. We have to take a train, and even to get to the nearest train we have to have Regina drive us to another city. She graciously volunteered just like her husband volunteered to take us to Hahn (formerly Air Force Base, now civilian airport owned by Frankfurt Airport) where we will catch a two hour bus to Frankfort Airport. It’s going to be an early morning. I think we are leaving here around 7 a.m. or something to get to Hahn, then have the two hour bus ride and get to Frankfurt at 9 something and then get everything in order to fly out a little before 12. Fun fun.

That’s about all I can think of at the moment. I will talk to you very, very soon. Say a little prayer for us around 5 a.m. (your time) on Wednesday if you’re up!

- Matt

Excerpt from a Letter from Matt
Sunday, August 12

Haha, we are alive! We have email, like Dennis said, only we have to go to his Aunt's to use the Internet. Yesterday we went to Trier and we luckly just happened to be there on the same day as a Roman festival. It was a fantastic day and I took many many photos, which I unfortunately dont have time to put up. (Gah, I hate these German keyboards!) But I will show you them all. I, also unfortunately, don't have just a long long time to send you an email, for we must go back to Oma's house soon. Just a couple highlights for you: this morning we got up and hiked the mountain/hill behind Briedel and it was fantastic, except I accidentally ran my hand through some stinging nettles... so that was/is fun. Then we ate a huge lunch, our last with Eric and Tracy, and then they left. That's about all I've got time for now, everyone is behind me commenting on how I'm writing a book! But...now that I know I can send an email here from time to time I may go ahead and write it on my laptop and then send you more, but it may be tomorrow. Oh, I don't have time to email Mom and Dad, so can you email or call them and let them know that I have survived the Autobahn? Danke...

- Matt

Back in Martin
Friday, August 10

How quickly the old trend of updating only once a week continues...

I've been back in Martin since Sunday, so things are mostly back to normal, except that Matt's still in Germany. But he gets back next Wednesday, so I'm excited! As usual, not much has been going on around here, just working. I got lucky and didn't have to spend yesterday in the company of chemicals, because they were cleaning and waxing the floor in the stockroom I'm working in. Maintenence crew scores bonus points.

When I was in Jackson I ran into Chris, another vocal music major, who told me that our piano teacher was not coming back this fall. Class piano is required for every music major, but I haven't taken any yet because I've been planning on testing out of a couple of them. I've been trying to get in touch with the piano teacher since the end of last semester to take my placement test, but she was nowhere to be found — I guess this is why. Chris had heard that Dr. Spano (who is a favorite) was going to be taking over class piano. I thought that was brilliant news and e-mailed him as soon as I got back to Martin to see whether or not this was too good to be true. He replied saying that he would indeed be teaching 101...and that Dr. Roberts would be teaching everything else. My worst fears coming to life! In case you forgot, this just so happens to be the most despised professor in the entire music department, to put it nicely. See this entry if you need reminding. So instead of having Dr. Perfection for one class every semester for the rest of my college career (which I am dreading enough as it is) I will now have him for two. And you know he thinks he is the Greatest Organist of All Time. At least I don't have to go to him for the placement test next week; Spano is doing that for me. And letting me borrow his piano book. And being amazingly helpful, as always. A certain Dr. Someone could learn a thing or two from him.

The only other exciting event of the week was what I had for dinner Tuesday night. When I was in Jackson I bought this sushi kit of sorts (after discovering that their Wal-mart has a much more extensive Asian section than ours) and I decided to try it Tuesday. I was quite impressed; the only dissapointing factor was the rice, which was not nearly as good as homemade. But, it also only took about 2 minutes as opposed to an hour. So I guess that evens things out. Pictures of my sushi, which actually looks like sushi this time, can be seen here.

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 16
Thursday, August 3

You will be surprised to know that this morning we went to a museum because I wanted to — the National Music Museum, located on the campus of the University of South Dakota. It is home to countless musical instruments, several of which are one of a kind, and very interesting! It wasn't anywhere near as big as the infamous Buffalo Bill museum, so I'm sure the rest of my family was happy...

Other than that, we've been driving the whole day. We planned on getting back to Jackson today, but we're spending the night in a hotel outside St. Louis. So, we should be back sometime midway through tomorrow. And then...well, don't expect daily updates! I suppose my life will be much less interesting when I'm not on the road.

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 15
Wednesday, August 2

Today wasn't particularly exciting; just traveling, mostly. The only place we stopped was Mitchell, South Dakota for lunch, a Walmart run, and a visit to the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace was the only thing remotely photo-worthy, althought I haven't had a chance to see if any of the ones I took are good enough to put on flickr.

We got to our hotel fairly early and ended up playing games and watching the breaking news about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I got excited when I realized that we had switched time zones and, thinking that it was only 11:30 in Germany, called Matt on skype. I was surprised when my call was refused and he typed me a message instead, telling me that it was really 12:30 and I had woken him up...

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 14
Tuesday, August 1

Today was mostly a day filled with giant carvings in the sides of mountains.

We set off for Mount Rushmore again this morning after a delay due to a slight shower fiasco — ours would only put out scorching hot water. It turns out there are a lot of interesting things to look at around Mount Rushmore, such as the sculptor's studio and a small (thank goodness) museum. They also had a very nice place where we ate lunch and a gift shop with no less than four penny presses. If your name is Matt, you can expect a nice addition to your collection if you ever show back up again.

When we left Mount Rushmore we started for Crazy Horse, which isn't too far away. Unlike the previous, this one is nowhere near finished, mainly due to the fact that it's primarily a family project and has no government funding. It turned out to be quite nice as well, and there was even more to do there than at Mount Rushmore! I also found out that this is going to be the biggest thing...ever. Dwarfing Mount Rushmore, taller than the Washington Monument, much larger than the largest of the pyramids...you know. When it gets finished. Sometime.

After that we did quite a bit of driving until we finally ended up at the famous (all though I had never heard of it...) Wall Drug Store. I don't know about everyone else, but it seemed to me that it was basically the biggest tourist trap in the west. The redeeming factor? It had a penny press.

We finally escaped from the giant jackalope and roaring dinosaur and went on our way. I don't really know where we are at the moment...but we're here. And they have wireless internet, so that's good enough for me.

- Karen