My German sister, Andrea, is "back home" visiting us for two weeks! Wunderbar! She lived with my family in 1994 & 1995 as an exchange student. We met in September of 1994 when we were on the high school volleyball team together. She originally lived with another family. One evening in November, I was giving her a ride home from practice. I was asking her how she was enjoying America and living with the family she was with. She told me she was loving her experience, but she felt very sad because she was going to have to live with a different family because the other family was having some problems. After I dropped her off, I went home and begged my parents to let her come live with us. I kept asking, "Can we get her?" They agreed, and our entire family has come to love her as one of our own. We love her dearly.
Andrea has just completed her studies to become a lawyer. In Germany, their schooling takes a very long time. It's not uncommon to be in law school for six or more years. She is very relieved to have passed her exams. She starts her new job in September and will be working in Real Estate Law. I'm so happy for her.
My group of friends from high school and I had a lot of fun with Andrea. We had her teach us how to say silly and sometimes naughty things in German. In our huddles during our volleyball games, we would shout, "Ich liebe dich!" (I love you!) or "Ich habe grate ge furtz" (I have to fart). Mature - no. Hysterically funny - yes. Who knows what our opposing teams and the spectators thought. We would also take her through drive-thrus at fast food restaurants and make her order her food in German. Once we took her through the drive-thru at Steak-n-Shake and we told her to order a chocolate shake in German. When she finally agreed and placed her order, there was silence on the other end for a while. A teen-aged boy finally replied, "Um. No comprende." Andrea was kind of shy, but we always talked her into doing crazy things just so we could get a laugh. She was such a good sport.
This is Alivia. She is such a smiley baby. Her mom and dad, Andrea & Josh S., are friends from high school. Andrea S. was part of our group of friends from high school that did silly things with Andrea (kind of confusing I know, but the Andrea's are pronounced differently). Andrea S. and Alivia came to visit with Andrea at a little party we had for her.
Ellie, Katie, and Jason also came to visit. Ellie is getting so big! She turns one at the end of the month.
