Cafe Victoria

Yahoo! Another graduate course finished! Thanks again to Matthias, all the faculty I worked with, the staff at the Student Health Center, and college police and my boss Oscar for all your support. My counseling issues and practice course helped me develop new skills in the area of crisis and college mental heath. Cool beans, now I can offically celebrate turning 30.

This coming week, I turn 30. My birthday is on Friday, January 26. I am excited. But most of all, I am looking forward to enjoy all I have been working towards. I never was the kind of person who lived by “must do before I turn 30”. However, there is something about coming on to the 30 and feeling that I can now slow down, look back and be proud. Its funny, I thought that when you turn 30 you might be thinking about all the stuff you didn’t do. Instead, you start to think about all you achieved and how much the next ten years are all yours to do what ever you want. Sweet!

I love working on a college campus. I love that I get to experience the first day of school twice a year. Remember what it was like on the first day of school? You got to wear a new out fit or got the chance to see your friends again. What about meeting a new teacher or buying text books?

This week was the first week of Spring Semester classes. Part of my job is to coordinate the information tables. At the tables, campus volunteers give out campus maps, coffee and doughnuts. It is such a joy to help a student find their way to class. It’s also a great way to make a student feel welcome and connected to the campus. To take a college class is truly a choice. For some, it might feel like there is nothing else to do, or parents expect it or you have to do it for your job. But in the end, you make the choice to get out of bed and come to class.

This week, I also got the chance to present my mental health workshop assignment for my Counseling Issues and Practice course. I did not have to present my workshop but there was something inside me that encouraged me to present at Flex Day. I did and it felt so great to share all the knowledge I have been learning in this graduate program with staff and faculty at the college. For the first time, I really felt like an expert in the field. Yahoo! All this work is paying off!

Everyone knows that old saying…where are you mostly likely to catch a cold? On an airplane! I pretty much can guess that I caught my latest head cold from a girl in her early 20’s one row away from me on the plane coming home from Germany. She looked miserable with a running nose. Today makes it official; I have caught a head cold about every 2 months since last summer. The benefits of being a grad school student working full time. In the end, what can you do? I have been taking Vitamin C tablets every day, going to the gym at least three times a week, drinking water all day and since we got back from Germany, sleeping. No dice. I still got sick. At least it came before the new semester started.

As soon as I feel more like my normal self, I will share the great news that happened over the holidays. Until then, non-stop CNN…I am telling you..It can suck you in. I hate to say it, but after the Saturday Night Live skit of Nancy Grace, I now like watching her for real.

Hello! Wie geht es ihnen? How goes it? It is Monday night in Essen, Germany. Happy New Year! Life is good. Matthias and I are having a great time.
Here a few pictures from our trip.

First day in Germany. It is a tradition now to go to Nordsee first. It is a fast food fish place that Matthias loves. He he… lets just say it is nothing like fish and chips in Bodega Bay but is worth the cultural experience.

Here are a few shots of Matthias’ hometown of Burgaltendorf, Essen, Germany I took while taking a walk today.

Here is Matthias’ mom Alice and I enjoying tea and coffee last Friday afternoon at Adelas Cafe in the city of Hattingen. The town is about 15 minutes away from Matthias’ parents’ place. So far it has been my favorite place.
The town has a great Old Germany feeling to it.

Here is a picture of me with “Kniffel” or as we say in America “Yahtze”. This past weekend Matthias’ family and I drove 2 hours to see his brother Guido and his girlfriend Sarah who live in a small town in north Germany.
The 6 of us played 5 rounds of Kniffel. It was a lot of fun. You can also see Matthias’ reaction when he got a Kniffel too.

Here is us on New Year’s Eve watching the amazing fireworks being shot off from everywhere. For the evening we went to his friend’s Andreas and Tanja’s apartment to ring in the new year. They live on the 3rd floor in an apartment complex.
Most places in Essen are three stories tall. From their deck we were able to catch the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen. It made the many days of jetlag worth it. Cheers to Germany!

Auf Wiedersehen! By for now.