New Hampshire!

We've made it out of Maine alive! And finished the hardest mile of the trail to boot... which took us two hours (but it takes most Nobos that long too!). We blue-blazed to Monson though... we were very hungry, but did a nice 5 Miles in the morning (before breakfast!). So much has happened, and I have about 3 minutes left to write this blog post so I would recommend reading Cat's. I got a bee sting on my hand just as we were about to start the Mahoosuc Notch (the hardest mile) and it swelled up, so we could (its and lot of climbing over boulders where you need to use your hands). And we ended up going in to Bethel and seeing Harry Potter! I might actually write and long post when we get to hanover, but this is it for now. And...

I'M ALIVE! (That's for you mom)

:)

Sun, sky, lake, and no walking!

So we are currently enjoying our wonderful short vacation from hiking in Rangeley, ME. The Murphy's are kindly letting us stay at their camp here on the lake, and it is absolutely amazing! Today we've been spending getting the necessary stuff done, like laundry, and groceries. And I get to see my family! Molly, Anthony, and Mom all drove up and are taking care of us. These last two weeks have been really nice.

After a while, the days start to blend together, but we did have a few fun things happen! One day, we stopped for a hour and picked Raspberries that were just growing along the trail, and then made raspberry pancakes in the morning. And we took a zero on Moxie Pond (camping under powerlines, some wilderness, haha) and just went swimming all day. We went to Tim Harrison's Pierce Pond Camp for breakfast one morning for the hiker special of 12 "patriotic" pancakes, with blueberries, raspberries, and apples (red,white, and blue!). We met a section hiker named Retread and talked to him for a while. When he left breakfast, Tim informed us that he had paid for ours as well! - And left us 10 pancakes to take on the trail!

In Caratunk we got some nice trail magic, 6 snickers bars, and a jar of peanut butter! We've been hiking for most of this time with our old friend Pepster, who is almost done with the trail. He's been section hiking since 1998 and is doing his last section, finishing in just a few days. We've also been hiking with our news friends René (a german!), and Mr. Z.

We leave again on Monday, and in a little more than a week will have made our way all the way back to New Hampshire!

The Lakeshore House

So we've been at the Lakeshore House for a day now. For us, we're basically living the life here. Yesterday evening we went to the General store to restock, (and had delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup we made here!) and then just chilled in the common room all evening with a bunch of other hikers. Mom, sorry I haven't called yet, I'm charging the phone, because the first time we charged it on the solar charger, it turned itself on in the pack after it was charged, and used the entire battery.

Today we got up and had an all you can eat breakfast at Shaw's, the other Hostel/Bunkhouse in Monson. It was delicious. When you go there, you order in numbers, like a 2, 3, or 4, etc. That means of whatever number you pick, say 3, you get 3 blueberry pancakes, 3 eggs, 3 servings of homefries, 3 sausages, and 3 bacon (but we skipped out on the meat part. Then we can back here and started our work for stay.

The first thing we did for work for stay was last night, and definitely a first for the place. It was searching her house part of the building for her daughter's hamster. (It escaped, all the hikers have decided it is an escape artist, and her daughter was very distraught.) I found it after about 15 minutes in the back of a closet, and Cat and I coaxed it out with some treats. But, it escaped again this morning, and even after searching the entire house, we could not find it. Then we did some cleaning and organzing for a few more hours, nothing strenuous.

We're trying to lose some weight from our packs, and sent a whole box of stuff home too. It's pretty awesome here, there's a fridge with food other people left, or want to share. I'm currently eating toast with fresh goat cheese made yesterday that someone gave one of the boys. It's delicious.

This place is amazing! Its right on the lake, with a dock in the back. They have kayaks and a floating trampoline and other big floaty things. There's a big common room with a couch, TV, table, toaster, microwave, etc. Compared to the lean-tos in the woods, this is like a penthouse suite. There's a bunch of other hikers too. I ended up sort of giving one of the army guys his trail name, because he keeps wanting to watch Canadian Bacon. (We've watched it 3 times so far?) So I suggested that be his trail name, but he said he didn't want his name to have anything Canadian in it (he has a small prejudice due to childhood experiences). So someone else changed it to American Bacon, and it stuck.

Monson is a sweet, quaint town. We went to the general store and everyone was very nice. We got a milkshake (cookie dough/mint chip) there and signed the hiker register. Later we'll probably go swimming or kayaking, and that's it for now.

Oh! We did laundry, which is drying on the line, and might currently be my favourite part of the experience. Besides trail magic, of course. That's basically when hikers get awesome things for free. Like one day when we were in the middle of the 100 Mile Wilderness, a couple day hikers who came in on a side trail gave us a fresh veggie wrap...it was amazing. or when the strap on my nalgene broke, we found one left in one of the shelters. And of course, the hiker boxes. Its where hikers leave all the stuff they don't want, and we found some good stuff (food, sparklers for tonight, and some other random stuff). That's it for now.

http://thelakeshorehouse.com
Cat's Blog: dinoflagellatesrock.blogsp​ot.com
:D

Two weeks down. 115 Miles down. Its definitely been exciting. Right now I'm sitting in the Lakeshore House in Monson, ME. We're doing a work for stay here, so 3 1/2 hours of housework tomorrow, and we get to stay here! Its on a lake, and we went swimming. Hiking Katahdin took us 12 hours. Yeah. We've gotten a bit faster though. Lots and lots of hiking, meeting lots of new people. One crazy thing was the thunder/lightning/rain/hail-storm we got one afternoon, with like quarter sized balls of hail. At the moment, I can't think of any other good things to say, but maybe I'll update later. Oh, and I have a trail name, Toast.

The Trail.

So. On June 21st I'm leaving for my next big adventure, perhaps more perilous than the last. I will be hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT for short), which runs from Mt. Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mt. in Georgia. This year the mileage is set at 2,181 miles, but it changes every year. Nobody is sure exactly how long the AT is. Most people who thru-hike (the term for hiking the entire trail all at once) it go from Georgia to Maine, but I will be one of few "Southbounders", the name for people who hike from Maine to Georgia. I will be hiking with my wonderful girl, Catherine Joyner. We will hike somewhere between 20-10 miles each day (approximately), summiting many peaks, as the trail goes through the entire Appalachian Mountain range, just walking up one mountain, down it, and then up the next. Not to mention we have to carry everything on our backs, which will equal a pack probably somewhere around 40lbs in weight.

We have all our gear set (some of it may have been a tad bit expensive). I'm going for the what-the-hell-is-she-wearing color scheme. I have a gray/black/navy blue pack (which is rather normal. I have a bright orange sleeping bag, along with a pair of shorts the same color. My raincoat is bright green, and my fleece is a pastel blue. I have one fire-truck red and one neon yellow shirts. I have a long underwear teal shirt, and an army green one. My long underwear pants are purple with blue stars and a black pair. The pants are sadly rather normal, one black, and the other kind of khaki-ish/off-white-ish. To top it all off a purple bandana or a blue wave hat. I think the best word to describe it all might be: clash. I'm excited. (Also, I am not bringing any more clothing than this (except I have undergarments as well) so it will all have to last me six months.)

My mom will drive us up on June 21st, and we'll spend the first night at the base, summit Katahdin the next day, spend one more night there, and continue on our way. The first part of the trail is the "100 Mile Wilderness", which is exactly that, 100 miles without anything. So we'll have to carry enough food with us to make it through those days. Its one of the reasons most people start in Georgia, but we can handle it.

Only 25% of Thru-hikers make it all the way. We aim to be part of that 25%. There is no stopping us, count on it.

Poetry

Sonnet V

Repetition. Up. Down. Up. Down. Again.
Apathetic, these feet unconsciously
Beat a rough pattern, as into the glen
I travel. This body monotonously
Treks over the hardened earth. But my mind
Is elsewhere occupied, racing across
Universes, contemplating mankind.
My thoughts flit in and out, some stay, some lost.
Musings fueled by this never ending
Pace, the motion, the generator of
Bold spirit for my brain's fervent spending.
In tune with these steps, my dreams drift above.
The allure of nature envelops me,
Shapes me, captures me; and so, I am free.

Updates.

So, with all the excitement and boredom of life I forgot about my blog. So minor updates, well, I'm almost graduating, two weeks. I'm going to thru-hike the appalachian trail, but I'll get into that in another post. And, I'm attending Smith College after deferring, so Class of 2016.

Anyways, here is a picture of my birthday cake, which was AMAZING. Also, I turned 18, which is a feat in itself.
And then another picture, with it cut into... surprise!

Naja.

So.
Life.
Yeah.

Currently my life is consumed by: College Applications. College Essays. Homework: AP English, AP Calculus, & Physics. Cleaning. Practicing for All-State. Maybe some work & skype too.
Can't wait for things to slow down a bit.
What I want to be in my life more: Swimming. Hanging out with friends. Reading. Creative Time. Chill Time.
Soon. Hopefully soon.

Ciao.
Em.

Mrrow.

The world is good to me,
And so I thank the world,
For giving me, the things I need
The sun, and the rain, and the apple seeds
The world is good to me!

<3

Du machst mich glücklich.
(:

Autumn (:

The crunchy leaves entice me
Laying on the sidewalk clear
The buzzing little bee
Sees me running far and near

Squish me, squish me, squish me
The leaves sweetly say
for is there any more glee
than a leaf-stomping fall day?

Himmel Rouge

On a whim the setting suns turns the sky ablaze.

Free Willy.

You make me smile.

(:

Haiku

Blue as the soft sea
Barefoot footprints in the sand
Then I disappear

Life...?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell.

I can see I haven't updated this in foreverrr.
But, in my defense, there are like 5 different posts started on here that i never just finished. And are now irrelevant.
So. Life. It goes on, right?

No more Germany. Miss it like crazy. Sometimes. Other times its not that bad anymore. The US is cool too. Camp is awesome, when I'm there. (Not meaning it's not awesome when I'm not there, I just mean I'm not there all the time.) Met and made friends with some of the coolest people on the planet this summer. :D

There's so much to say, but I'm not really sure how to say it. So maybe I'll just start keeping my blog again, and we'll just have a gap for the few months i forgot. I think I probably only really blog when I'm bored though. Or when there's no drama at least. Which makes this less exciting. Oh well.

So now, home from camp, in Bar Harbor. Oh the ocean! How dearly I've missed your salty shores! I'm not sure if anyone else has this feeling, but i just can't fathom not being able to get to the ocean within a day if I needed to. A knapp hour and a half drive from my house. But in Germany, oh, i just can't stand the feeling I can't get there. And I longed for the ocean. So much. Even though normally I don't go that often, even though it's soo close.

Emily <3 Ocean

(I almost wrote Coda, cause I still think of myself in third person like that. Niice.)

Welll that's all for now folks.

love,
em
<3

Skypen =D

Sarah ist ja cool! xD
Ich mag voll viel skypen.
Ist doch viel besser als allein sein und weinen wenn mir jetzt traurig ist dass ich heim gehen müss.
Ich will euch alle nicht verlassen.

:D

Bonjour Monsieur! Oú est H&M?

Soooo... since I last updated my blog I have done a couple of things. I was in Paris, and did the normal touristy stuff there. I was with Sabine, Reinhard, Niki, Eva & Svenja (a friend of Evas from school). It was basically really funny the whole time, and we had so much fun! And then on the way home I was in Straßburg, where we went in the EU (European Union), and got a tour and were able to sit inside as the actual EU was in session! We got to speak to Frau Grässle, who is the representative there from our region of Germany.

Other news; when I speak to native english speakers that don't know I'm from America, they don't think I'm from America. I can't even say how cool it was to be in Paris, and not be taken for an American tourist. There were three encounters with English speaking people (two groups of Americans, one of Brits), during which we spoke english. Apparently I have a bit of a German accent in english. The coolest one I would have to say was when we were on our way down from the Eiffel Tower and had to wait for the elevator: I was fooling around with Niki, sorta doing the thing 'if your hand is bigger than your face you could get cancer' and then hitting them in the face, which ended up being us just trying to smack the other ones hands into their face. So in front of us in the line there were two Americans, a teenager and her mom. Her mom said, Oh you guys are very entertaining. So then i said quickly in english, Oh Niki you're just so little. And then Niki said something in broken english, which I forget. So then I said to the people, Niki's english isn't so good. So what did they say? Oh, you must have had many more years of english than him. I laughed. I'm an American, I said. They said, What? Really? Well, you've picked up a German accent then. So the we had a conversation about exchanges and everything. :D

If you look at my blog titel you'll be able to see my extent of the french language. Well, that's about it. The most important stuff right? Plus: Oú est Niki? Niki est la. Niki est ici. Oder, Tu es bête. Das wars. Oh, and another important phrase: Warum haut dein Vater immer ab?! Er ist wie Chau Yi wenn sie betrunken ist! Or: Alle. Alle. Alle. Alle alle alle. Eine Straße, viele Bäume, ja das ist eine Alle. :D

Then last weekend (or Sunday to Monday), Mirko and I went in the mountains, and tenting. We really wanted to climb the highest mountain in Deutschland, but because of train complications, we went on a spontaneous whim to Füssen instead. And we camped on a lake, and it was pretty.

In other news, we're reading Das Parfum in German class, and it's actually a really good book, though a bit challenging for me. (What they read in school for german class, like what we read in school for english class.) I recommend it very highly, I only have about 50 pages left (yahooo!). In english it's called Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

And right now we have two weeks of vacation! A little bit of chill time is nice, especially since after vacation basically every second is already planned. I think my first really free weekend after this one is after I get back from camp. Wow. :D

And only 1 1/2 ish months in left in germany... wow... That's something right there. I'm not even sure how I feel about that..

lovee,
em

Love.

I can tell you the exact moment I fell in love with Germany. Really in love. Like when I knew that I have to come back here again at some point in time.

It was a Sunday. On Sunday in Germany everything is closed, the stores, everything except cafés and restaurants, and they aren't open as long as usual. On this Sunday, maybe about a month ago, I was visiting Nürnberg. It was pouring rain, but a bit of sunshine was shining through. We went up to the castle, and into the gardens, where despite the rain, the flowers were as bright as on a sunny day. As I walked along the castle wall, seeing the flowers and Germany down below, it hit me. I've fallen in Love with Germany. And I can tell you, there are a few places I love, but not a humongous number of them. There are still a few places I love more than Germany, like Farnsworth, but I can tell you, Germany will remain in my heart forever.

Regentanz ;)

sooooo... eigentlich wollte ich eine post vor ein paar wochen schreiben.. woops.
anywho...

The weekend before last weekend was my birthday party. And I'll just leave it at that it was absolutely amazing. The Sunday after that I went to Nürnberg with Mirko, which was fun, even though it rained the whole time and since it was a Sunday everything was closed. But it was really pretty :D





Then school & I was sick and stayed home on Tuesday. I had bronchitis actually (I went to the doctors). We had our monthly exchange student meeting in Ulm. Basically I just didn't catch up on sleep (and I haven't yet). Otherwise it was a pretty normal week.

This weekend we went to Salzburg. It was sooo pretty! :D We had like a six hour train ride to get there (which was pretty funny), and sung a lot there, and in Salzburg. We went to Mozarts House and the house he was born in. And up to the castle. And we walked around the old city. Just sooo pretty.



Then we went to Berchtesgaden, where we spent the night (the youth hostels in Salzburg were already booked). We went for a long walk there and it was soo pretty. We played Uno and just hung out really. When I woke up I could see out our window as the sun came up and the mountains and it was just amazingly beautiful. I wanted to take a picture, but I was still too tired to get up, so a slept a little more, and when I woke up there was a bit of fog, so you couldn't see the beautiful part from earlier, but at least I got to see it. I talked to a guy from England at the youth hostel, who was doing hiking. He said I had a bit of a german accent. I guess it must be true then.



Then we went to Munich for the FC Bayern soccer team party. :D (aka, my favorite german soccer team; I now have a nice scarf from them.) It was a big party. And they gave out 10,000 liters free beer too. (:D) Then home a long train ride home.

This week was pretty normal, and yesterday I did a presentation in Politics/Civics on how in America the government is more in the states and how in Germany its more in the federal government. Tomorrow and Friday we don't have school because of some holiday or another. But we have like Rehersal/Practice weekend for band. And then on Sunday we're going to Paris! And the Straßburg and the EU.

I still haven't gotten to the point that I wanted to write about when I wanted to write a few weeks ago... which I forgot after I wrote all that, maybe I'll write another post soon, when I have time.

love,
em
<3

Meinem Geburtstag =]

Also. Ahhh, ich will auf deutsch schreiben! (Ahhh, I want to write in geramn!) So yesterday, as many of you who are reading probably well know, was my birthday. All I can say was it was the best birthday I've ever spent in school! (You know, seeing how I've only been to school one other time on my birthday (8th grade) and while that was good too, I just felt yesterday was different.)

So it started out in the morning when I came downstairs and Sabine says, "hey, Geburtstagskind!" and everyone gives me a hug and wishes me "Alles Gute zum Geburstag" (Happy Birthday). I got to open my present before breakfast, and from my parents I got a Spätzle maker (German/Schwabisch pasta like things that I loveeeee!), and a small "vierfruchte" bottle of schnapps. Eva, Niki, and Christoph gave me a school sweatshirt, but they haven't come in yet.

We walk to the train station, and Anja and Carol wish me happy birthday on the way. The train to school, walk to school, blah, blah, blah, normal. So I walk in and go to my place like normal and then it starts with Annika wishing me happy birthday, and then I'm suddenly ambushed by everyone already there. All the girls give me hugs, and the boys a firm handshake. Lara, Sarah, and Sophia get there, and wish me a happy birthday too. Lara gave me a picture frame with a photo of us four in it that someone took on their cell phone way back in September or October. Annika gets their and she and Kimberly wish me a happy birthday and gave me their present (Lip gloss and jelly beans). Then Tami brought in a cake lit with sparklers! I was so suprised and happy! I got a couple of little present from a couple of people, and the day went about as normal, but I was in such a good mood it was amazing!

My teachers even wished me happy birthday (well except for my history & english teachers, who I don't I like anyways). First was my math teacher (math is my second class, after history), who gave me a handshake. Then my History teacher came over to my desk and picked up my flowers (roses from Verena :D) and said (in english), "flowers. beautiful flowers." I know, he's weird. So then we had gym and in the middle of warming up (running) she jumps in front of me and says "stopp!" and then wishes me a happy birthday. And in french (and I have noooo idea how she even knew it was my birthday) she suddenly starts speaking to me in french and I get this confused-what-am-I-supposed-to-do face, and Sarah translates for me: "french, french, french" "she says happy birthday" "thank you" "french french french" "how old are you now?" "seventeen" "french french french" "oh you speak german" "yes" "french french french". Exactly.

Then I go home, and play the harmonica badly for a little bit. And then I skype Elyse (:D), which was nice. Then people start showing up for coffee and cake (aka my whole big host family). That last until late. All in all it was a really good day.

Other news? I can now play You Are my Sunshine from memory on the harmonica.

loveeee,

em
<3

Mundharmonika!

Also, erstens - Meine Geburstag ist in ZWEI Tage!! :D

Zweitens - Ich hab heute ein Mundharmonika bekommen, und es ist voll geil! Jetzt liebe ich Mundharmonikas. Eva hat heute irgendwas von Reli erklart, und eine Name von einer Babylonische Gott war echt cool, und ich hab schon entschieden das so wird mein Mundharmonika heißen, ich kann nur diese Name mich nicht erinnern weil ich nicht so gut aufgepasst habe.

Drittens - Ich habe dieses Post auf Deutsch angefangen (eigentlich wollte ich es auf englisch schreiben, aber... irgendwie ist es auf deutsch geschrieben. woops) und dann musste es weiter auf deutsch schreiben, ich kann nicht in die Mitte Sprache wechseln, das geht nicht. Also vielleicht mal irgendwann werde ich es auf englisch schreiben, vielleicht doch nicht. Es ist gar nicht wichtig, und ich glaube ein übersetzer geht schon gut für so ein einfaches Text.

Bis den nächsten mal!

lovee,
em
<3