Schnitzel and swimming

JUL. 4

I woke up at 4:30am and happened to see the beautiful sunrise over Linz, so I snagged some pictures. The next time I woke up, Peter was sayin

g, "Emma, Emma. You want to wake up now? Because the boys are going to over to my father's in half an hour and you come with?" It was 11am. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I assured him I was getting up and I would be coming.

The meal Peter's father cooked was delicious. It's striking, the impression these Linz people make; I can't remember his name, but Peter's father is the most congenial man. He greeted me smiling and said, hello, my name you will hear a lot of times again. Or something like that. He was wearing a button up dress tshirt, a shef's apron, and a speedo. That's another thing- people here are always much more formally dressed than we are (well I mean except the speedo, because it was hot out and evidently he'd been tanning or swimming).

For lunch we had schnitzel. In this case, that was pork patties fried in batter, kind of like fried chicken or something but much better and less greasy. We also had seasoned lettuce salad with vinegar, corn, and seeds of some kind. And little round, oiled and seasoned potatoes. YUM. Wondervall, as I told him.

I was too full to finish. But, a little while later, when he asked if I wanted ice cream, I couldn't refuse. And I'm glad I didn't- chocolate ice cream cake sort of thing with strawberry ice cream and lots of strawberries. I only wish I'd taken a picture.

Peter's father and mother (his mother spoke only German. Luckily I can say "ya" and "danke, danke schün") had to go somewhere, leaving Konstantine, me, and Manuel to lounge around and eventually go swimming in the pool. Haha of course we only swam for about 5-10 minutes and layed in the sun the rest of the time. Ahhhhh. But then a storm came out of nowhere and it began to rain, so we went home. The storm blew through. Meanwhile, Konstantine and I watched Wimbledon/Monsters Inc. and the storm went away.

I think we are having dinner in a while, and I don't know what we're doing after that. But the storm has cleared and again it's beautiful. In the distance, behind the city, you can see the beginning of the Alps.

LATER...

Güten abent/ gütenacht. If you are good at math, you will realize that it is 2:14am here. I know I ought to be sleeping, but the heat is more than at home, and it is really morning in our time, so I just can't sleep. The computer is right across the hall and will not disturb anyone, so I thought I'd pass the time until I feel more tired.

This evening, I sat in the yard and read my required college reading. I also listened to the neighbours and passer-bys speaking. It's easy to love these people, laughing and enjoying the weather.

After Peter and Konstantine returned from driving practice (Konstantine has his final driving practice, sort of like behind-the-wheel, tomorrow), we had cheddarwurst for dinner. Then, Christa and Konstantine and I watched a movie in the family's home theater that Peter built himself. Konstantine made me choose the movie (even though I had no idea what to choose, and really didn't care); I picked "Wall-E." I guess it is one of his favorite movies, so I chose well. Then we were off to bed, because they still have school here and tomorrow Konstantine has to go by eight. Christa doesn't have to go until 5:30 pm, when they are beginning an end-of-school overnight party with the children and she is chaperoning.

That is all I can think of, for now. Tchüß.