Hello E V E R Y B O D Y !

So the last two weeks have been somewhat crazy! I know it has been 15 days since my last blog entry but it has been hard to find the time to sit down and give my blog some lovin' - literature styles.

So Easter day was INCREDIBLE. I had the very best time with the Reiffenrath family. We painted eggs (See my sunset egg in the photo above), had an easter egg hunt, and the Easter bunny brought me a 30 pack of Toffifee and a Bayern Munich cap! We had a truly amazing meal at lunchtime and went to a traditional Catholic Easter service in the local church at 10 'o' clock that morning. It was a really unique and enjoyable way to spend the rest of my time in the Albtal (Hilly/Country region behind Karlsruhe).

I then headed back into the city and was reluctantly handed back into the care of Charly, my host dad who lives in the city centre! I had a really relaxing rest of the holidays. One day I went busking with my host brother Moritz, and we managed to earn about 23 euros in an hour and a half (Not great but we had the most POOR spot in town). We have since then practiced like crazy and we are sounding really great together! On Wednesday I met up with Isa and we went for a drink and then back to Durlach briefly, only to realize that she had left her cellphone at the cafe! Was für eine Schlavina! So we headed straight back and fortunately managed to retrieve it from the cafe we were at earlier. I put on my charm and lured the bartender into giving it back instantly. I know right. Its a talent.

That weekend was my first really tough one since I arrived in Germany. I was feeling quite homesick and I had a nervous mood going on. I tried to run it off twice, clocking up 2 hours of running and an hours walk in the Schlossgarten on Saturday evening before I started to just enjoy the sunshine and realize how truly lucky I am to be here in Karlsruhe, in such an incredible school and with a truly awesome bunch of friends. Homesickness is all part of being on exchange I guess and I figured that out for myself in that last weekend.

The weekend ended with a real bang. We barbequed for the entire day. A four course gourmet BBQ meal - cooked while listening to a nationwide radio broadcast of two chefs cooking the same hunger buster as US! We started off with an amazing Caipirinha chicken and potato salad, followed by an oriental fish with asparagus and turnip salad, then a truly amazing malt beer marinaded steak with pumpkin mash and a yummy salsa. We ended with a creme brulee. MADE ON THE BARBEQUE. My host father even used an industrial sized blowtorch from his work to create the crispy sweet topping that is typical of a REAL creme brulee. I don't think I will ever enjoy such an incredible feed off the BBQ ever again in my life! And the weather was SUPERB to top it all off!

Last week was a totally normal school week. Monday and Tuesday were pretty tough, long days. I had a three hour Choir practice on Tuesday in preparation for the big 40th anniversary celebration of music at Helmholtz Gymnasium which was to be held that weekend. I then had a two hour Jazz Band practice the next day and another two hour choir practice plus the standard 1 hour 30 minute Jazz Band practice on Thursday. By friday I was feeling pretty dayum musical. Saturday was an ENORMOUS day. I awoke late after partying with my brother Leo Zebhauser on Friday night, and immediately went for a run to wake myself up. It was an amazingly warm day - got up to 28 degrees - and the sun was shining like nothing else. I then returned home, showered, made myself respectable and headed off to the Christus Church in central Karlsruhe for the wedding of Moritz's cousin Stephanie Price. It was a relatively short but really beautiful wedding, and Moritz and I had been asked to play guitar and sing as the newlyweds walked out the door of the church in the first steps of their life together as man and wife. We played our rendition of "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, and had some beautiful harmonies running. We then jammed out 5 more pieces we had rehearsed, grabbed a slice of bread and a kebab stick each and bolted off to the 40th anniversary celebration of music in Helmholtz Gymnasium at the Tollhaus complex. This place is huge, sports three fully equipped theatres and a huge bar. I sung in the Philharmonic Choir and played in the 2nd Jazz Band, and by the end of my contribution to the festival I was totally destroyed. I had a sat down and listened to the harmonius sounds of the Helmholtz Kammerchor, and had a really great chat to Matthias and the rest of the Kind family - this was the first time I had seen them since the whole family got back from Christchurch!

I then enjoyed the truly skillful sounds of the 1st Orchestra and was simply BLOWN AWAY by the sheer talent and inspiring teamwork of the Helmholtz Premier Jazz Ensemble. These guys had just returned from a tour of the USA and the group was packed with friends of mine such as Niko, Lukas, Carmen, Georg... The list goes on! They played the best Jazz music I have ever heard live in my life. I was inspired by the sheer talent of these kids - many of whom could also sing beautifully or play another instrument at a near professional level. It was a truly eye-opening evening for me. I then enjoyed a beer and a german meal at the local restaurant with the Jazz Ensemble and a bunch of other friends, plus a whole load of very lively teachers! My french teacher - Herr Aufenanger - was even there!

Sunday was another late riser and then a very important date singing at the Helmholtz Orchestra Gala Concert in the Badische Staatstheater - a huge theatre complex which serves the entire Baden-Wuettemberg region! It was another really long singing day, which was topped off with a truly amazing dinner with the Kind family! We ate pizza and spaghetti ice cream (ITS ULTRA YUM) and mucked around in the playground next to the cafe. What a lovely family for spontaneously inviting me to dinner after the Gala Concert. When I arrived home I had a very very important date.

With my pillow.

It was LEGEN... wait for it...

DARY.

I guess that is about all folks! Check back here in a week or so and ill give you the rest of the goss here in K-Town!

<3 and miss you all! Especially my MUM on her birthday/mothers day! I hope you had an incredible time mum and I think about you all the time!

And everyone else: I MISS YOU GUYS LIKE CRAZY.

Much love,

Eberhardt (A girl in my school decided that was my new German name today. Cute right?)

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