Sam White, Mönchengladbach, Germany

AandJWheeler
sentimentalexpressions@ymail.com

Posted Jul 20, 2010, 8:06 pm
Sam is leaving us today and headed for Scotland. We will miss him very much, but know that he is going to have a lot of fun on his world adventures!

~Bye for now Sam,
Johnny & Abbi
moragp


Posted Jul 28, 2010, 12:32 pm
Hello! I've just arrived in Scotland after a week's journey from Ohio. Boy, am I glad to be out in the fresh air again after being stuck in that bag and thrown about all over the place from aeroplanes to trucks to vans.

It's the school holidays at the moment and there are three very excited children here who are keen to play with me and take me lots of different places so I can see what life is like in Scotland.
moragp


Posted Jul 28, 2010, 12:49 pm
This is me with the children who are excited about me being here. Rory is 7 and a bit and has a wobbly tooth right at the front. Iona is almost 5 and will be starting school in a couple of weeks. Euan is 2 and loves fire engines.
moragp


Posted Aug 7, 2010, 5:03 pm
What an exciting day! We have had a lovely day out at the Falkirk Wheel which is about 40 minutes' drive from where I'm staying.

http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/

It is a massive wheel built to link up two canals, one at the top of the hill and one at the bottom. Boats go into either the top of the wheel or the bottom, and then it revolves through 180 degrees to lift or lower the boats. It's the only wheel of its kind in the whole world so it's a pretty special place to be able to see. While on the boat we watched a film about the history of the canals and how the huge wheel was built. After our boat trip we all needed a rest and some ice cream! We also played for a while in the playarea and after that watched some birds of prey flying - one of the hawks flew right over Iona's head and she got quite a fright!!

I have heard my hosts talking about a special trip on Tuesday... maybe I'll get to tick off something on my missions list?
moragp


Posted Aug 9, 2010, 7:52 am
I have met another Travelling Toy!! My hosts' children have decided that it's been such great fun having me to stay that they will send their own toy out there in the big world. Here's a photo of me and baaarnaby together.

This is going to be a busy week. It's the last week before the children go back to school, so we will be doing lots of exciting stuff and I promise to update often.
moragp


Posted Aug 9, 2010, 3:46 pm
Today's weather is just shocking. Really wet and dreich - there's a good Scottish word for you. It means wet, miserable and horrible. We get a lot of days like that.....  So because it wasn't nice enough to get out and about we decided to bake instead.

You can see us propping up the recipe book, we were a great help. Then the raw batter before it went into the oven, and finally the baked muffins. YUM!
moragp


Posted Aug 10, 2010, 1:28 pm
Today I completed the first of my life missions - I saw the sea!!!  :D

We went to visit a castle which is about 20 minutes away from where I am staying. It is right on the banks of the Firth of Clyde so I was able to get close enough to smell the sea. It stopped raining for a short while so we watched the boats and sea birds diving for fish. I liked it a lot. Inside the castle there were a lot of very twisty and tight spiral staircases, but we made it up to the roof and got some wonderful views.
moragp


Posted Aug 23, 2010, 11:49 am
What an exciting day I had yesterday! We went on a day out to Stirling Castle. It is a very old castle built on a massive rock in the middle of the city. There has been some sort of fort there for 1,200 years so it is very ancient. We went on a tour and the guide pointed out all the important places in the castle like the Royal Chapel and the Palace where the Scottish kings and queens lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. The best part of the visit was the Great Hall as there was a lady dressed up in historical costume who told us all about her life in the Castle. We also saw the gardens, castle kitchens and the prison cells.

Having a lovely trip!
moragp


Posted Aug 25, 2010, 11:12 am
Today I have been a very helpful little bear. The daughter of the family I am staying with is 5 today and this afternoon she is having a party for some of her friends. It's a mermaid / under the sea theme. I have been REALLY busy inspecting the party bags, blowing up balloons and making sure the birthday cake is just as it should be.

It will be very noisy and busy here this afternoon with lots of little girls running about and playing games, but it will be very exciting too!

moragp


Posted Aug 30, 2010, 2:35 pm
It has been such a beautiful sunny day today! It was quite cold when I woke up this morning but by lunchtime the skies were bright blue and the sun was shining. The kids are at school today, except for the little one, so I had a lot of fun playing with him in the garden. I went down the slide so many times, then played in the little playhouse, made some castles in the sandpit and went up and down and round and round on the see saw until I was dizzy! It was fantastic.
moragp


Posted Sep 7, 2010, 4:28 pm
It's definitely feeling more autumnal now, even though last week was gloriously sunny and warm. Days are getting shorter and the air is much more chilly.

We have been very busy harvesting fruit. My hosts moved into this house 3 years ago, and 2 years ago planted a little apple tree. It's only 4 feet tall and last year didn't produce any fruit at all. Even though this year's crop is small, it's a start and they are delighted to have any fruit at all. I think making apple pies is definitely on the agenda for later in the week.

We also went into the fields at the back of the house to pick brambles. In England they call them "blackberries", but here they're definitely brambles. We filled bags and bags with them to put in the freezer and use through the year. We also made several jars of jam which is absolutely delicious!
moragp


Posted Sep 14, 2010, 7:56 am
Well this is my last update from Scotland as today I'm moving on to my next host in Germany. Not as long a trip as last time when I travelled here all the way from the US.

The weather is starting to turn very autumnal and it's starting to get chilly. Looking forward to seeing Germany very much. I wonder if there'll be prezels and wurst?

I have been practising my German. My current host has friends in Germany and has been a few times, so she has taught me to say "Ich verstehe nicht" which means I don't understand and some really important words like "shokolade" for chocolate and "kaffee und kuchen" for coffee and cake. Should be absolutely fine with that extensive vocabulary!!

See you soon!
eurydike


Posted Sep 21, 2010, 9:21 pm
Hallo my dear Family in the USA ... i arrived in Germany. Tomorrow picture will follow.
I met a new friend called Kurt. He is a donkey.
I really enjoy my new home and everybody is really nice to me.
Sleep well ... we have to sleep now :)
Greetings and kisses
Sam
eurydike


Posted Sep 25, 2010, 9:38 am
Hello my dear family :)

I enjoyed my first day in Germany and I ll show you some nice pictures. This week the weather should be the last summer before starting the autumn. I was in the garden and it was really great. I also met a new friend. He is called Kurt and he is really friendly. I like him and I hope we´ll have a great time here. The photo of us will follow... he is shy. :)
The host mom had to work a lot ... and I tried to help her. :)
More about my german trip later :)
eurydike


Posted Sep 25, 2010, 9:42 am
WOWWWW , I was on an geocaching event in Kaldenkirchen. It was so much fun. And my host mom let me drink a little bit beer. Wow... but dont be angry about it. I just tried a little bit and it taste not good. :) Now I know a little bit of this hobby. I like all this geocoins and travelbugs. They are also travelling like me. But take a look, i hosted all this treasures for the evening.
eurydike


Posted Oct 2, 2010, 2:53 pm
Hey family
I had a great day with my new friends. Now arrived Cilly. It´s also a bear. I was going to the scouts with Cilly. The children were really nice. We got coke and chips and we made popcorn.
Take a look and greetings from Germany :)
eurydike


Posted Oct 6, 2010, 7:19 pm
Yes, I was in the capital of northrhine westphalia
wow...
My host mum was going to her study school and I was going with her and I learned a lot about teaching children.
It was really funny to look out of the window of the 5 th floor. But the windows weren´t clean :(
AND NOW... the holidays can start.. juchuuuuuuu
eurydike


Posted Oct 11, 2010, 8:14 pm
I´m sorry that I didn´t write so long but I got a new friend and I was doing geocaching.. but hey... I ll say to my host, that she should update my photos soon ... :)
for now kisses to you
sam
eurydike


Posted Oct 13, 2010, 8:47 am
Yes, we were on a trip. We did geocaching. It was really great and Cilly, my friend, and me found a few boxes :)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1173.jpg
It was a good ride in a car. I was looking how fast the trip was going :)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1168.jpg
And I enjoyed this great day in the wood :) It was a sunny but cold weather ... the best weather for me :)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1172.jpg
I was hungry but I just could see the final.. and... we didnt stop
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1180.jpg
So the trip was really amazing. It was so cool to search all this boxes and then to find them JUCHUUUUUUUUU
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1175.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1174.jpg
I was better than Cilly ... but don´t say it to Cilly  B) Do you see the geocache??? ;)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1181.jpg
And we could enjoy a bit the weather. One cache we were sitting on a brigde and said to the host we need to take a break and the host should search for the geocache  :p
She didn´t find.
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1185.jpg
The best geocache we found was in a bunker. It was dark and we couldnt see anything. I was a bit afraid, but don´t tell this anybody  :stare:
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1186.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1190.jpg
But we found it :)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1192.jpg
After this pretty trip I said to my host that I´m so hungry, I´ll eat her, if she won´t stop on a restaurant for me.
She was driving a little bit too fast I think  ;)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1193.jpg
eurydike


Posted Oct 18, 2010, 6:53 pm
Oh I had a wonderful day.
We (Cilly, BeePooh and me) gone into the city.
I didnt know that I like shopping.. but I think I do ;)
First of all we visited "Toris 44" , the jewellery. It is the shop of the aunt and uncle of my host.
Mommy ... what do you like ??? ;)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1200.jpg
After that expression we went to a big swedish furniture center. Do you know that????
I love it and I knew that my host bought something.. But she said she won´t :D
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1203.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1206.jpg
It was a special day and I was a little bit afraid to see all the big animals ... Mönchengladbach seems to be a dangerous town. Now I know where all the extincted animals are... they aren´t extincted they are still alive...
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1156.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1159.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1154.jpg
I really was afraid to sit on all these animals but my host said.. "come on, it´s for your family"  ;)
We also visited the library
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/CIMG1153.jpg
At least we had a diner in the garden. The sun was shining and I felt good
:D
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010124.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010126.jpg
emo_kid
natashafiebig@yahoo.com.au

Posted Dec 16, 2010, 12:58 am
Hi Mum,

I have arrived in sunny Australia :) Oh my, it is so hot down here... a very nice lady picked me up from the post office this morning and let me breathe in some of this gorgeous queensland air, before retreating back to her office... P10 was there to greet me, and he said we'll meet the others very soon - they're playing hide and seek... :)
Well emo_kid promised to help me upload photo's while im here and said we're going to have an awesome xmas...
So, photo's to come soon...

Love and hugs Sam White xox
eurydike


Posted Dec 16, 2010, 5:14 pm
The last few pictures of my Germany vacation :)
We celebrated Halloween but I was too afraid because there were too much people and it was too loud for me. But you can see me before the party with my bag for this evening.
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010403.jpg
I found a new friend and he is a toy-cow. One day we met real cows and I also wanted to get a picture with them.
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010369.jpg
I loved being in the nature
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010361.jpg
and a good break was always welcome
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010296.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010295.jpg
I also met the three guinea pigs called Kolja, Toffifee and Mürfel.
Really cute
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010271.jpg
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/eurydike1/P1010268.jpg
Take care

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