My first four days in Hamburg have been fantastic. I have loved every minute of it. First and foremost it is fantastic to be with family again. It's funny how even though I've only met Karin and Horst for a grand total of four weeks out of my entire life, I can still feel so at home with them. More so at home than with my host families even though I've spent four months with them. I guess that is the wonder of family and boy am I happy to be a part of this one. I have been up to something each day and have seen a lot of the city of Hamburg now and what a magnificent city it is. With the extravagant brick buildings trimmed in white, canals winding through many parts, grand church towers seen in the distance, and the stunning harbor with the great ships and sailboats, it really is a sight to be seen. It is the beginnings of spring here too so each day it seems everything gets a bit greener. I think by the time I leave there will be leaves on the trees.

So what have I been up to these past four days? Well the first night, when I arrived, it was quite late but we stayed up until midnight to celebrate Horst's (my uncle) birthday which was the following day. So when the clock struck twelve we bellowed out a happy b-day tune in both German and English and then dived into the homemade cake. Mareike (Karin and Horst's daughter) and Mili (Mareike's daughter) were staying here as well as it was Easter Break for Mili. So it was really nice to have a chance to get to know them a little more. Mili is twelve and a very sweet little girl with astonishing English skills. She told me lots of stories and one day went with me to the centre of the city to show me some shops. We shared ice cream and curry wurst (German sausage with a sweet and sour sauce sprinkled with curry) which were both delightful. On Friday they had to return to Berlin but I will see them (and Toni, Mili's big brother) again in just over a week when we go to Berlin. One day I went shopping with Zoe, a grand-daughter of one of Karin's friends which was really fun. We toured all of the centre of Hamburg and she showed me the 'hip' shops in the city and the hot shopping spots. We went to Starbucks for coffee (which I haven't had for over seven months now so I was very appreciative) and explored all kinds of places. I've been for a couple of walks with Karin as well, showing me around the neighborhood. There is a beautiful park with a creek flowing through it just behind the house and a busy little street with a few shops just ten minutes away by foot. All of it is very nice! And I now know how to take the underground into the city. The transportation is pretty spectacular here with the Underground having three levels I think and a fourth one under construction and buses running everywhere. You virtually don't have to drive anywhere. Today we went with Jannes (a VERY cute little boy of 3) to the centre and went up the tower of the St. Michel Lutheran Church. And once you got up there you could see pretty much all of Hamburg I think on a clear day. It was really cool and I took some pictures of course. Then we took a double decker tour bus around town which was really nice especially considering it was quite cold here today!

I am looking forward to Tuesday when we will go by car to Denmark which is only a couple of hours away by car. We will stay there one night and then perhaps even take a little boat over to Sweden for the day! So I can't wait for this trip and I think it should be really good! AND Karin and Horst will take me to the sea too! Which will be really nice! So those are things you can look forward too!

LOVE like always!

p