A birthday party; visiting friends; Das Klimahaus in Bremerhaven; and more!

Me and the Luebben family

     This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip away from Sievershausen (not that it's boring here, but... alright, it doesn't change much, so it's a bit monotonous).  Deike, Hendrik's sister (she is far right in the photo, he is the tall guy in the back), was turning 25, and had a huge party to celebrate.  I was one of the lucky 80 people who received an invitation, so I was more than happy to go.
      On Friday when I got there, they weren't doing anything, just starting to set up for the party.  Some neighbors came over, and we talked the evening away.  Saturday morning breakfast was at the farm.  (I slept at Hendrik & Maren's house)  And, since the party didn't mean that all farmwork was put on pause, Hendrik had to go out to his fields as soon as we were finished to collect round bales.  This is the first year that he's tried round baling the grass silage instead of putting it into the bunker silos.  He's curious to see if it helps milk production, or if it has no effect whatsoever.

The tractor with the attachment to pick up round bales

     In the morning, I rode around with him, and we chatted about how everything is at home (in the US), how things are at home (in Sievershausen), and how things are in general (school, Germany, etc....).  We both enjoyed it; Hendrik had someone to talk to while working, so it went faster, and I got to practice my German listening and speaking.  And it's just always nice to see each other after so long, of course!  There were about 200 bales to pick up, so it took a while.  By the time I left on Sunday, they still weren't done.  In the two hours that I rode around with him, we managed to bring about 30 bales to the farm.

     In the afternoon I helped Deike finish setting up for the party.  We put some decorations on the tables, put up some balloons so people would notice where the party was, and then had to get the bathroom wagon all oriented and set up.  It's funny; instead of port-a-johns, they have little wagons with a mens' and womens' bathroom in it.
     By the time we were finished, the tent had gone from an empty room to a nice, welcoming setting, and I began to anticipate what the evening would bring.  There were still about 2 hours before people would begin arriving, so I read the paper for a bit.  Then I went outside and just enjoyed living on a farm again for a bit.  The little calves were really rambunctious!!  And the cows are just as shy as they ever were =)  I guess I didn't really notice how much I miss the farm.  And even the farmwork.  Here I don't really have any physical work to do.  Which is why I was so set on finding some sport club to join.

     On that note, I read an article in the paper about a man in the Netherlands who is selling perfume that smells like farm fresh air: either cow or pig variation!  I got a laugh out of that when I saw it.  It reminded me of all the little kids who come to Weiss Farm and then say something to the tune of "What smells so bad?!" or "Ugh!!!  It stinks!!"  Well, that aroma that Mom so lovingly called "the smell of money" is now actually going to be used to make money!  Too bad we didn't catch onto that earlier...!
     Anyways.... The party was nice.  Not quite what I had imagined, though.  I couldn't understand too well what all the conversations were about.  It was loud, and with 60+ guests, there were way more than a few discussions going on at once.  For me, it was a bit more than a brain overload, that's for sure.  I ended up leaving about midnight, and I had such a headache from trying to concentrate on one conversation.
     On Sunday Hendrik and I went to Bremerhaven.  We went to the Klimahaus, a museum that recently opened (alright, maybe two or three years ago, but that's recent!  For museums, that is).  It was definately not what I had expected.  I had heard that it was a museum about all the different climates on one line of longitude on the Earth.  And it was.  But it had a twist; all the places you went to were places where a man from Bremerhaven actually was.  He followed the 8. 34' degree east line of longitude around the Earth, meeting people and climates all the way.  And his experiences are shown in this museum.  It was awesome!  Every room was heated/cooled and humidified/dehumidified so that you got the feeling that you were actually in the climate.  For instance, in Niger it was really hot and dry.  In Camaroon, it was hot and humid.  In Antarctica, it was cold, dry, and there was a wind coming from somewhere or other (and there was ice all over!).  Not what I had expected, but way better than I had thought.
     And then I left in the afternoon, got on the train, and headed back here to Sievershausen.  But it was a nice break from the normal day-to-day life I've settled into here.

Niger in the Klimahaus

     Today it's been two months since I left my family and said farewell!  Strange thought...  I'm not gonna get into that now, though.  It's 11 p.m. and I've got school tomorrow.  I probably should've cut this whole entry shorter, anyhow.