April

The flat landscape of the area I live in is ideal for windmills. Along with the more modern white wind mills that generate electricity, there are also a few older wind mills that were used back in the day to mill grain. My host family saw in the newspaper that every first Saturday of the month, one of these old windmills is open for tours. We traveled about ten minutes away for a tour. 

Over the span of an hour, we got to explore the various levels of the mill and learn more about its history. 

Although the propellers were unable to rotate, we could still walk on the grassy area on top of the roof. 

Right after the windmill tour, we headed to the local laser tag arena to play with about ten other people from school. I unwisely chose to wear jeans and a sweatshirt, which got really hot in the dark room. Despite the fact that I came in last place in almost all of the games, I still had fun. 

To get into the Easter mode, Svenja and Marit and I painted blown-out eggs and then hung them on the little Easter tree. Of course I had to paint German and American themed eggs. I even attempted to paint all 50 stars on the American flag themed egg. I'm definitely the least artistic of us three, that's for sure! The girls got crafty and painted hatching chickens, bumblebees, and a Kinder Überraschung-Ei.

The main event of April was a visit from my family. You can check out more about the kickoff of our European vacation here.

Our first stop was Germany's neighbor to the northwest. For a more detailed account of our time in the Netherlands click here.  

I had the privilege of visiting one of Germany's "fairytale towns" during our road trip. Interested in seeing more pictures of Rothenburg ob der Tauber? Click here!

All good things have to come to an end, and Austria is where our trip ended. The final leg of our trip is chronicled here.

After April, I am 3/4 of the way through my time as an exchange student here in Germany. I have gotten to experience so many exciting things since the very beginning, but my time here is far from over! I've still got at least three more big events ahead of me that I'm looking forward to!