Home!

They arrived late in the evening, tired and hungry. And while they missed their new friends, they were glad to be home. Thanks to everyone for another great exchange!

Fun on Thursday!

We had so much fun canoeing to Lake Constance. It was cold and wet but it was worth our efforts, even though some of us were wetter than others!

Pictures from Munich

This is the famous glockenspiel

The Train Ride to Munich!

The train ride was long, but with friends it was fun.

FOF Youth Exchange 2006

FOF Youth Exchange 2006
Yesterday I went to Tettnang and then to the a-capella concert too. The members of the group are from Ailingen, the 'burb of Friedrichshafen that i am in. Tettnang is where the best hops in the world are grown and i got to sample some of the beers from these hops. I was in the Swabian Alps the day before and saw a recently discovered cave of stalamites, and 'tites with embedded bear bones. Afterwards we saw the Hohenzollern Castle - unbelievable. I saw Brandon Lulay but he was too quick for a pic. But here are a couple of mine. Group at Affenberg - belate happy birthday Mark!!!
Bones at Bärenhöhle and then Hohenzollern!

Pictures from the Welcome Party, A Concert in Langenargen and the Rotenfest in Ravensburg

Our Days Off from Group Activities

We are in our final days of free time from the group activities. I have seen many of the students coming and going about the local areas because there are so many things happening! Langenargen had their town summer festival over this last week-end and many of the students took advantage of the food stands and the festivities. Also, Friedrichshafen is in the middle of their annual "Kulture-fest" or culture festival. There are huge tents with different shows going on inside. My host family and I saw a show last night from a local group of singers called F.I.T.A. They sing completely without instruments and they are very popular among the young and the old here. I was amazed that most of the songs that they sang were classic American hits from the 60´s and the 70´s. Songs like "In the Jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight..." and "Blue Moon".
Tomorrow we will travel by train to see Munich. I will see everyone together then and hopefully will be able to post some more pictures with some expert help. I am going to try to post some pictures from the welcome party, from a concert at the church in Langenargen and at the Rotenfest in Ravensburg.
Kelly Crawford-Jones

Boat Trip to Constance

We took a boot ride across Lake Constance, "The Bodensee" yesterday and despite the rain we had a good time. In fact, the rain has brought us some relief from the hot summer sun. We took advantage of the good shopping in Constance. The girls bought the most! Three hous in a shopping mall is a "teen dream"!
I was amazed to find an Aldi's in the basement of the mall with the same design as the American Aldi's but with different products, ofcourse. It was fun to compare! The arrangement of the store was exactly the same.
On the way home we took a bus and rode right on to a ferry; which carried us to Meersburg; where we drove off the ferry! Wild!
Everyone is fine. Today, Kate is one day post-op and pushing to get out of the hospital. She wants to get up but must wait until monday when the physical therapist will fit her for crutches. She is planning on watching Zoolander on Mark's computer tomorrow. Bye for now!
Kelly

FOF Youth Exchange 2006

FOF Youth Exchange 2006
Finally time and technology have come together and I can update!
At the halfway point now and there is not going to be enough time to see everything, visit and get to know everyone, send all the postcards to the family and friends, and figure out how I can get twice as much stuff home as what i came with!



This is a pic from the Ravesnburg trip for the Rutenfest, like a city history parade with mostly kids. Nick drew the favors from the wine makers - gets to taste their wine and keep the glass!

Wednesday we took a bus to Unteruhldingen and saw the Pfahlbauten aka houses on pillars. The exhibit covered hundreds of years and included were reproduced tools from the "ice man" found in the Alps a few years ago and some great tips if you find yourself remotely stranded.
Then we went to Affenberg or monkey mountain as it is translated, near Salem. That was just plain fun! Sun, storks, monkeys, and cooler weather! Oh, Happy Birthday to Holly! We missed you!
So enough chatter....here are some more pics!


Kate and the hunky guide at the Zeppelin Museum 8-27

Lee shopping at the museum.

Caught shopping, in the candy isle. Uh oh, oreo!

More exchange photos

Willi Huster, president of Friedrichshafen's Peoria Club, also maintains that organization's website. He has posted many additional photos of the exchange, which everyone can find at http://www.peoria-club.de/html/austausch_2006.html. It looks like they're having lots of fun!

The Welcome Party

The welcome party was so much fun and the food was fabulous! Our German hosts are just wonderful. We each introduced ourselves and talked about our visits so far; the best and the worst. I was so proud of the teens! Many of them spoke beautiful German. It is very obvious that everyone is having a good time. We cooled off with a great water balloon fight.
Even Kate is in good spirits. I visited her in the hospital yesterday and she said,"Leave it up to me to break my leg to get air conditioning!" It has been unusually hot here with no air conditioning, so this was a very funny remark. We are awaiting the arrival of Kate's father.
Today we visited a wonderful old town; Ravensburg. We took the train and were greeted by very nice hosts with breakfast (Brochen and huge soft pretzels) and we watched a parade, two hours long with children in fabulous costumes and marching bands. It was a wonderful festival! We have been very busy so far. I will post more later as time permits. I have not been able to post pictures but the students are doing a good job of getting everyone in. Also Willi, one of the German Friends of Peoria, is documenting most of our activities by photo and posting so I don't feel obligated. So far, we haven't had anybody homesick. It is hard to believe that we have been here one week! Auf Wiedershen! Kelly Crawford-Jones

Jenny´s Photos

Hey everyone! I´ve been keeping a site with my photos on it because I don´t know to use this site to post pictures. If you would like to see these, feel free to visit my site, http://jskarvan.livejournal.com. I´m trying to keep it updated, but it takes awhile to upload all the pictures. Hope all is well in Peoria!