End of tour - July 2004

June 22, 2004

I did quite a bit of travelling on the Eastern Block last week. We had an ‘end year’ seminar in Berlin on Tuesday, so another American and I decided to visit Prague the few days before, since we would have to be in the East that week anyways.

On Sunday we took a plane from Köln/Bonn to Prague. Upon arriving in Prague we set out to find our hotel. We actually did get to it until a lot later, because we tried to meet up with some other members of our program on Charles Bridge, but that didn’t work out. After we dropped our luggage off, we set out into the city and enjoyed the lit-up city. The next day, we went into the city to find the ‘Dancing House,’ an office building designed by the world famous architect Frank Gehry. After snapping a few pictures, since we weren’t allowed inside, we crossed the city and climbed up to the Prague Castle. From there we had a great view of the city…

At the train station we ran into the other two Americans we were supposed to meet up with on the first day. The train ride was about 5 hours to Berlin and one other American from our program actually joined us when he got on the train in Dresden. We had a few meeting when we actually arrived at our hotel. We then tried to watch the big Germany vs. Holland game at the Sony Center downtown, but it was already packed, so we ended up watching the rest at the hotel.

We didn’t do a whole lot on Wednesday. We had a city tour for most of the day.

Thursday brought a bunch of boring meetings, but after them we were able to go see an exhibit of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Basically the 200 most famous from the MOMA in NYC. It was pretty cool, but we weren’t able to stay as long as we wanted because we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the group and go to a variety show that evening, which turned out to be really cool.

Friday was pretty busy. We had to wake up super early so we could go wait in security lines at the German congress. We watched the congress debate a few things, which I partially slept through and then we were escorted to a different room. There the American ambassador and the committee responsible for keeping my program going spoke to us. Towards the end, the President of the Bundestag (Germany’s Congress) came in and also spoke to us. Afterwards, we filed out and were taken, with buses, to the ambassador’s house, where he hosted a party for us. It was a strange experience, mostly because we were thrown into so much American culture at once. Even the cops were American. The soda even had ice!

Saturday morning was the end of it. We had one last meeting and everyone packed up and said goodbye. A few of us wanted to stay an extra day, so we found a hotel and dropped our stuff off there. They were having problems with their card machine so we couldn’t pay off the bat. I told the receptionist I would have to get the money to her later. So we headed on our way into the city. We wanted to see the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind, who is currently designing the new WTC building(s). We got inside, which is through another building and then an underground tunnel. This building is awesome and completely turns you around inside. Of course we got separated from one another and we ended up spending about 4 hours there in total. We couldn’t find one of the girls, even after searching the entire museum and having security look after her. She had lost her camera earlier that day, so we thought she left early to go find it. We waited a long time, but finally decided to leave. We walked to one American participant’s place in Berlin, but her bike got stolen right before we arrived, so we ended going out to eat with a different participant. After dinner we decided to crash since we all had to leave early.

To those of you who I don't hear from often, this will probably be the last (russell in germany) update you get. Over the next month I won’t have a lot of time, much less the desire, to write another update. I get back on the 17th and I’ll tell anybody who wants to listen about what I did with my last month in Europe.

Love ya all, tschö.

Most of you don't even know what I have been doing for the last little bit, so I thought I would write a little something to let you know I AM still alive.

I am still working at Ingenieurbüro Beck, but have now really received some major responsibilites. I started working on one of their projects just drawing the technical plans for the housing facilities of a canal system. The draftsman above me is gone for the next couple of weeks, so I am THE draftsman for this project now. This means, I go to all the meetings, present concept ideas, figure out what goes where, etc. It is quite cool and has really pushed me. I always working under pressure. Not stress, pressure. I seem to learn so much more.

Last weekend I headed up to Hamburg to go camping on an island in the North Sea. We headed up on Friday and spent the night in Hamburg. Saturday morning we got on a train to Cuxhaven where we put all our luggage on some horse wagens to take to the island. Then we headed out on foot, because the tide was low and we could wade to the island. It took about 2 hours and I was sunburned, but only on the left side my face and my left arm. I guess it looked quite funny. We did regular camp stuff, but this was nothing compared to Boy Scout summer camps. It was next to a building in a little fenced area with several other campers. It was funny though, because they knew I was an Eagle Scout, so they asked me how to do everything. It is times like these that I realise how much I did learn in Boy Scouts. The funniest part was when one of the fellow campers, who was a little...um...plastered, came into our tent at about 2 in the morning. She looked around confused and asked if this was the right tent. After we said no, she still looked around confused and started going through our things. She asked again and again said she had the wrong tent. She then proceeded to try and climb out of the tent through a hole she left open in the zipper. It was quite entertaining. The weather was great the entire time we were there and it only rained once as we arrived back at Cuxhaven.

I'll be leaving for Prague in 2 weeks and will go directly to our end seminar in Berlin. After that is just a week of work and then 2-3 weeks of vacation, which my parents will be here for part of. Then home...

I miss you all,

Russ

I really don't have much to say. Work is keeping me pretty busy for most of the time and I am finding I have less and less free nights, because I am doing more and more stuff. A few of us might go camping next weekend somewhere on the Rhein, south of Bonn. I am going again to Duisburg today to meet Jess, the friend of Landon. We are going to watch a movie.

Russ

Mom,

The last couple of days were spent at work were we had a motivational meeting. My head is so full of German. I sat today through 8 hours of speeches. wow. Anyways, I don't know if the problem with my camera is with the camera or the memory stick. I have to trouble shoot it when I have time and the resources. I have to try it out at work. I don't know how much longer I will get to work on my personal website. We are looking for a project I can work on, I guess something that will benifit the company a little more.

I found out today that I will have to live with another host-family for the after June 1st. The Barluschke's are just trying to get everything ready for when the baby comes. They need to move one of their kids into my room and I guess it is also psychological too. Maybe you can relate to being 8 months pregnant? and feeling unattractive and stuff? It is really ok with me, but we have already found another family for me who live in the same ward.

On Wednesday I met another American who is actually friends with Landon. She is in my same program but the one for high school students. Landon was talking to us both and then just gave each on of us the other's e-mail address. We have been talking for the last few months and decided to meet this week. She was way cool and it was really cool to hang with someone close to my age. It was nice to be a teenager again. I don't get to do that much here. We are going to do something again on Saturday morning. Don't know what but we'll probably hop on a train to somewhere.

Things are going very well here though. I love it here, Mom. I grow closer to Germany everyday and I know I will really miss it when I leave and won't want to leave when the time comes. I think it will be good to be able to talk with this other American that I met back in Utah. We can really relate to one another then since Germany will be such a large part of us and not a lot of our friends will be able to relate 100%. I love you and hope everything is going ok. I'm glad Grandma is doing a little better. Hope you survive with your jobs.

Russ

Mom,

.......Well, things are pretty good right now. I'm just recuperating from this last weekend in Saarbrücken. In the next 2 or 3 weeks I might go camping with some of the other participants in the area. Around the 20th of May I might go up to Hamburg for the weekend and check that out. After that is about 3 weeks of work and then the end seminar in Berlin. Mere and I will actually spend a couple of days in Prague before heading there, so that should be fun. After the seminar is approximately a week and half more of work and then you guys will be here and the whole thing will be over. It has gone by so fast. I know I will miss it so bad when I get back. I feel the time going by really fast and I am growing more attached to the people, the culture and the scenery as time goes by. I will really miss it. Hopefully I will come back here on my mission. Well, love you Mom.

Russ

To all those people who want to really know what I have been up to lately...

Last Friday, I took a train to Aalen, a small town close to Stuttgart, where I was met by my brother Murray, his wife Dusty, his son Daven, and his close german friend Jackson. We drove back to Jackson's house, where Dusty's sister Kasey had stayed behind. We mostly caught up that evening and just went to a club for a couple of hours.

The next day we Murray, Jackson and I drove to Stuttgart to watch a soccer match between Stuttgart and Frankfurt. Normal tickets were no longer available, so we had to sit with the Frankfurt fans. It was great all the same. German soccer fans are the best. Some them brought huge flags, some close to 20' across. There was even a man that sat on the fence to the field with a megaphone, screaming and leading all the fans in chants. Of course there was also the other fans, who spilled beer on their comrades, passed out in their own laps or just plain screamed at their team to play better. We got a Wurst, which is the german equivalent of a hot dog, and some cokes and enjoyed a great game of soccer.

Sunday we drove up to Wuppertal and ate a delicious meal with my host family. It was already pretty late by this time, so Murray and his family turned in. The next morning we drove to the Müngstener Brücke, the largest railway bridge in Germany. It was built at the same time as the Eiffel Tower and is 107 meters tall and 500 meters long. It was a pretty day, though a little cold, and we wandered around under the bridge for a while. We then drove about 30 minutes to Schloßburg, a large and old castle. It is built on a small hill, which we ended up hiking to the top of. Everything was closed at the bottom, so we feared the castle would be closed also, but luckily it wasn't. We toured the entire castle and took tons of pictures. It was really cool to see some of this really old stuff and actually see how it was, to be right next to a two handed sword, larger than yourself, which is hundreds of years old. After several hours at the caslte we headed back to Wuppertal and had ourselves a Kebab Döner, which resembles a Gyro.

I then took them on the Schwebebahn through Wuppertal, because, as the motto says, Ein Mal ins Leben, schweben, Once in your life, hover. Schwebebahn literally translated is the Hover Train. Kind of amusing. After we had traveled back to the car and said our goodbyes, Murray and his family went on their way to Frankfurt to fly home and I went home.

I will be taking a train to Saarbrücken, the first city I lived in in Germany, this weekend, so I might have something to tell you about that. Thanks to all those people who have supported me over here.

Russ

Mom and Dad,

I would like to travel to Italy this fall while I have the opportunity to do so. It would also be great to be at my friend's wedding this fall. I would probably stay till December and be back in time for Christmas and start directly thereafter to get everything together for my mission. Yes, I do miss my family, but I would love more than anything to have this experience in Italy. I don't know when I would be able to do something like this again.

This are going actually very well right now. I am enjoying my work more and more as I am keeping myself busy and learning a lot about AutoCAD at the moment. I have been spending a lot of time with my family and feel closer to them than ever before. I took the youngest swimming last Saturday. That was enjoyable experience. I plan on taking each of the kids to do something they would enjoy. I have only 3 months here and I am getting anxious with the time that I have left here. It just doesn't seem like enough. Well, I do look forward to being home again and to be in Utah, but I can wait 3 more months.

Russ

Hello meine liebe Eltern,

Sorry, I know I haven't written for a while. Things have been crazy. I really haven't been to keen on talking with anyone from home, don't know why. I have been working every weekday and spending a lot of time with my host family. We went to a small theme park last Saturday and we might be going to another called Movie World over Easter weekend. A few weeks ago a few of the us (Americans) went on a road trip to Luxemburg. It was cool, but we still had a ton of time, so we headed to Paris on a whim and spent a day there. It was cool.

.............

My laptop is officially dead, and they can only do service on it in the states, so I will ask Murray to take it back with him and I will wait until July to use it again. So, probably no new pictures for a while.

Love you guys and look forward to seeing you in July.

Russ

The sage begins...

I don't think I have ever heard the same songs so many times. Last week was Carnival, here in the region around the Rein River. Carnival is basically a mix between Mardi Graw and Halloween. So, everyone gets to dress up and get drunk. They also have these parades and floats throw bunches of candy and other goodies out (I don't know how many violations of public safety laws would have been broken in the US). It actually lasts several weeks with different activities throughout, but we actually celebrated this last Monday by heading to Köln. I wanted to go as a pirate, but me being me, I didn't have any of the stuff ready in time and ended up borrowing a friends costume (which turned out great; see attached pic!) Back to the music. The germans have these songs, which they love to sing, over and over and over. It is pretty cool to hear the first few times, and you are thinking, "Cool, culture," but after that it just is annoying. But the Germans are still singing them like there is no tomorrow. To give you an idea what they are like, imagine the duck song that they played at every school and church dance. You know the one with the hand actions and everything? Well, every one of these carnival songs uses the same instruments and such and are just as annoying. Anyways...it was fun nevertheless.

So, with my time ticking down that I have here, I am trying to see stuff before I leave. My brother Murray will be coming sometime in April and I will be able to see some stuff than, just like when my mom comes over in July too. Right after my mom goes back to the USA I will check out Italy for a few days before I hop on my return plane in Frankfurt. I am also trying to get to East Germany in the meantime, where I will also visit Prague. A few of us are trying to plan a weekend trip to Hamburg, just to check it out. And lastly, our program has organized a trip for us to Berlin as our year-end seminar. That should be pretty cool. So all in all, I hope to see lots of things and still experience lots of culture.

I am still working for Ingenieurbüro Beck in Ronsdorf. I had a presentation to the boss of what I have been doing for the last few weeks and it went pretty well. He took a look and decided that I wouldn't have to translate the big essays and such, because they were irrevelant, much to my relieve. I am now finishing up the translating, touching up little things on the website and creating a new webpage, for both English and Germans sites, for the interns that have worked here, or are currently.

Until I get around to writing you again...

Russ (that person in Germany that won't stop writing e-mails)

Getting ready for "Carnival"

To all those people in my address book,

So on February 2nd I started my new job. As we all know my last job wasn't the best, so I was hoping for something better. I got it. The first thing my boss said to me was,"What do you want to do?" I have total freedom here! It is great. I get to listen to music the whole day while I work, and the guy I share my office with is totally funny. Yes, you read the correctly. I have an office, with a desk and computer and the whole nine yards. Right now I am translating their website from German to English [click http://www.ibbeck.de for the website - still in German]. It is pain-stakingly slow, but it helps my German and keep me entertained. That is pretty much all the news that I have right now. Sorry it isn't more, but can't you just tell how excited I am about my new job?

Russ

My new workplace - Engineering Office of Reinhard Beck

All,

Last week was spent in the city of Köln. Arriving Sunday night I was greated by the other Americans that I learned German together in Saarbrücken. Over the next week, we visited museums and pretty much hung out. We traveled to the neighboring city of Bonn (which was Germany`s old capital before it was reunited) and visited Haus der Geschischte (a history of Germany from WWII on) and the Deutsche Welle (Germany`s TV and Radio station). We also visited a strip mining facility, no one knows why. Of course we also toured the Dom, Köln's massive cathedral. Most of you have already seen pictures of it, but it is ridiculously(sp?) big.

During the whole week we stayed in a youth hostil. If any of you can imagine what they are like, it is similar to a really dirty college dorm. We had 6 guys in our room...and they always came home about 5 in the morning.

Around Thursday some of decided to go to Amsterdam, considering it was only another 2.5 hours by train. We bought the tickets and on Friday we were on our way, right after the seminar had ended. Since most of didn't know we were going to go out of the country some of didn't have our passports...we were just hoping for the best. We arrived and spent the first our trying to find a hotel while fending off hundreds of guys wanting us to come to their hotel...kind of scary at times. Nevertheless...Russell spent a good deal of his time wandering around the city, while the others visited parts of the city that would shock one as I. I ended crashing in the Hotel around 2AM and the others came and got me shortly before our train left at 6.30AM. We pretty much slept the whole way back, and had only one close encounter with the police checking for passports...close.

Well, there you have it. Another amazing adventure from Germany. Not so detailed as the last e-mail but I just want to get home right now...and sleep. Thank you all for you support.

Russ

Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven't been active in my communication as of late. Sunday we were busy catching up with all the other Americans and when I finally got a chance to call you (at 2:00AM) I couldn't find a phone. Things have been a blast this week last week, but hopefully I can go back to Wuppertal and finish out my last week sanely. A few of us are talking about going to Amsterdam this weekend, so we will see if that pans out or not. Also, this Thursday we are going to see Jekyll and Hyde, cool or what? As to Kathrin, we haven't made any final decisions at this point, but are still seeing each other and allowing our relationship to grow. My clothes are slowly wearing out so I think I will have some more room in my suitcase when I come home for other things, if not I might have to buy one bigger suitcase. I bought my running shoes and will hopefully be able to start running next week when I get back to Wuppertal and get back into a normal schedule. Mom, if you come to Germany how long will you stay? If you do come I would like to go through the Tempel with you and take out my endowements and stuff. I think it would be a great experience. Things are good, life is good, love you guys so much.

Russ

Hello All,

I finally have some time to sit down and tell you all my latest adventure...finally. I really don't remember who or what I have told so sorry to those that are going to hear it all again.

I was able to spend Christmas with my host-family here. They actually celebrate, and by celebrate I mean open presents, Christmas on the 24th. Russell's present's from Mom and Dad hadn't arrived by then, and still havn't (Yes, you are supposed to feel sorry for me), but luckily my host-family is awesome and I received a number of things from them. It was really nice. The next 2 days are the actual days of Christmas here and we spent them eating here and there with relatives of my host-fam.

New Year's Eve was pretty cool. I traveled with a few of the other church members here down to Frankfurt. The Frankfurt ward hosted a pretty big party there and it was fun to dance and such. The coolest part was the fire works. I am not kidding, I felt like I was on a battle field. People were throwing fireworks left and right with wreckless abandon. It was ridiculous. I now know what the end of the world will be like.

The fine folks that I had traveled with were nice enough to drop me off at the Frankfurt airport where I would continue my travels to Finland. My plane didn't leave for another 7 or so hours so I made myself comfortable on an airport bench. Now this was a nice bench, not like the shoddy ones in the USA that you can't lay down on...yes, I am relating to the time I had sleep in the DC Airport. Well, I got a few hours of sleep until someone's kid was nice enough to scream for a good 30 minutes. No more sleeping for me, so I decided to wait it out until I could check in and head to my terminal. The time was ticking down and I thinking I might actually get a good spot in line when they came. That's right, the Chinese Tourists. Those of you that have traveled know what I am talking about. Not the typical ones in the movies that I have the ridiculously big camera. No, I am talking about roughly 60 Chinese people coming down the terminal and every single one of them is trailed by one rolling suitcase. The wheels...the wheels...make the noise stop.

After a short flight, which I slept through...a first, I arrived in Helsinki, Finland. I took a short bus ride to the railway-station, and then I was on my way to Oulu, a roughly 7 hour train ride. I arrived and my friend Jaakko picked me up. It was already pretty late, so we hit the sack. The next day we went to a local spa and I got to experience a real Finnish Sonna. It was over 80 degrees celcius in there. I could feel my eyes drying up and my breath felt like it was burning my skin. I don't think any other culture could have such extremes like that. The next day we went to a Finish hockey game, but the home team got slaughtered. His Dad even had us over for dinner later where I was able to enjoy a typical Finnish dinner of Reindeer meet and potatoes, followed up by ice cream with cloudberries (which I have never heard of before). That night we drove up to his home town of Kemi and then to Sweden. We bought some Dr. Pepper there, which I can't find at all in Germany, and then headed back to his Mom's. We woke up bright and early and headed to Rovani Emi, the closes city to the Arctic Circle. The sun rose a little before 11 and we got there at 1 or so. Took some pictures and then headed home. On the way home the temperature was the coldest I had seen so far, -21 degrees celsius. For those of you that can't remember the simple formula from school, that is roughly 7 degrees fahrenheit. It was a fun and eventful trip but I had to go home, by that I mean Germany. I left Oulu at 7:00AM and finally arrived in Wuppertal around 9:00PM absolutely exhausted.

Now I'm back to the usual grind of work and school, but luckily that is only going to last for another couple of weeks. Then it is one to bigger and better things, a full-time job.

Till I find time again to write you all,

Russ

at the Arctic Circle in Finland

Mom and Dad,

............................

I have been completely busy these past couple of weeks, so I am sorry I really haven't written a good e-mail home. The Barluschkes loved the presents Mom and you did an excellent job of picking the sizes out. Olaf loves the CD and put it in immediately after opening it and we listened to it constantly for the next couple of days. We opened everything on the 24th, and the 25th and 26th were spent eating with relatives. It was fun, but a little awkward for me. Well, tomorrow I leave for Frankfurt for New Years, and then the next fly to Finland. It sounds like my friend as a lot planned for us today, so I can't wait.

I love you guys, have fun if you ever get to Washington,

Russ

Mom or Dad,

.........................

I will be leaving for Finland on the 1st of January and returning on the 6th. Immediately the next day I will go back to school and work until the end of January. I will be spending all of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with the Barluschke Family. They celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and then the next 2 days are the 2 days of Christmas. We will be spending a lot of time with relatives, but I think it is really cool that they have invitied me along.

It is funny, on the way over to this internet-cafe I was thinking of what I should write you and it all came out in German...I guess it is slowly coming.

Have a great Christmas, I love you and appreciate all that you guys do for me, thanks.

Russ

Where I work (as a surveyor)

Berufschule am Haspelm (my School)

All,

These last couple weeks have been totally crazy. I spent last Friday at a ward hosted dance. I was there till about 4 in the morning, because the host was the one giving me a ride one, and she had to clean, etc. Saturday, I hung out with some members in the ward. We just did nothing, ate leftovers from the party and such. Sunday, I was invited, along with 4 missionaries and my host-family, to a second Thanksgiving dinner, hosted by an American family in the ward. It was cool, and the food was awesome. One cool thing was everyone at the 'adult' table spoke both English and German, so the conversation would randomly switch from one language to the other like it nothing. Today, I left school a little early to go bowling with the missionaries. It was a total blast, but then I had to say goodbye to some of them, because tomorrow is transfers. I then went and hung out with one of the members. We did a puzzle and ate some french fries, it was fun. I know to some of you this doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun, but compared to the previous weeks it almost compares to playing Battleworld (to those of you who don't know what that is, you should).

Only one week till Lord of the Rings; Return of the King in Frankfurt, and two weeks till my winter vacation. I am so stoked. Things are great, but I have to go to bed now, because I have work in the morning.

Viel Grüß,

Russ

P.S. replys are always welcome...

Mom,

At least there is some news about Tom's car. Things have been crazy this weekend. I had a dance party at the church on Friday, then I hung out with a couple of the young woman in the ward on Saturday, and today I had my 2nd Thanksgiving dinner with the other American family in the ward. It was really nice, almost as good as your cooking. wink-wink. My host family and 4 of the missionaries in the ward were also invited. The adult table was really funny since everyone there spoke both English and German. The conversation kept slipping in and out of the 2 languages. I have 2 more weeks of school and work until Christmas Vacation, and on the 16th I am going to Frankfurt to watch The Lord of the Rings with some friends there. These 2 things are really my goal at the end of the light right now. I received dad's package, but will let you know when I receive the others.

Love you guys so much,

Russ

Momma and Papa,

Sounds like things are just a little frantic at home. Things are all right here. Last night I had almost 9 hours of sleep, so I am ready to tackle just about anything. My english teacher is sick, so I didn't have to be to school so early. I am so depressed I wasn't able to learn more english...haha. Went to the dentist today. They filled a cavity I had, but the amazing thing is it was so fast. I was there for maybe 50 minutes at most. They just came in and said what can we do for you, they did it, and that was that.

This current internship will last till the end of January, along with my schooling. I will then begin my official internship, which will last till the end of June. Luckily, I have winter vacation and I mid-year seminar, so I really don't have too much left with this job and school.

Mom, don't worry about me traveling, I can get around here just fine. But if it does make you feel better, I am going to e doing almost all my traveling with other people. But I still have to get to them, don`t I?

The weather is cold, but no Utah winter. I wear a light jacket most days, but when I am working outside the whole day I wear a sweater, my light jacket, and my winter coat. So I am usually pretty warm. I have a radiator heater in my room, but don't usually use it, and it doesn't hiss to let off steam.

Gotta go,

Russ

All,

I had some time to kill, so I thought I would give you guys a little update. Last weekend I was able to go to a little Thankgiving get together hosted by InWEnt, the German side of the program that I am in. It was pretty cool, but my cornbread didn't turn out great, in fact I didn't think it turned out at all. Other then that it was pretty cool. I got to see some of the American friends that I made Saarbrücken during the first 2 months of this program. Another cool thing is that I will have another Thankgiving dinner next week, or the week after, with an American family here in the LDS ward.

Still just trudging through the routine of school, work, etc. School is pretty boring. Not only have a learned a lot of this stuff before, but it is really hard to understand all the new technical words. At least I get to work on a computer on Tuesdays, which is always good. Work is just work. I usually am outside all the whole day, either digging holes, hauling equipment around, or holding on of those prisma rods. Good thing is I have only 3 more weeks till Winter vacation. I will most likely travel around Germany. I was planning on going to Finland for a while, but my friend there has not been replied to my last e-mail for quite some time.

The family is good. Real nice, but that is also turned into a routine. I come and go as I please. I do have to say the boys have gotten really annoying though. O well, can't complain about free food and a room.

Tschüß, Russ

Sorry to say I don't have a much to tell you, because I have just been going to school and work. Hopefully I will have some interesting things to say after Christmas.

Mom,

I actually had a pretty fun Thanksgiving. My cornbread didn't turn out so great, but o well. At least I got to visit with some of the other participants that I was able to bond with in Saarbrücken. All in all, it was pretty fun.
............
I am really starting to get a grasp on the language, things seem to be coming more and more, and I don't always have a headache after I am done speaking. Don't get me wrong, I am still a long shot from fluency, but I am getting there. I even had some really weird dream last night, where I spoke in German with Murray and another person, but the rest of the dream doesn't even make sense.

Love you,

Russ

All,

It has been a while, so I thought I would give you all a quick update. As usual everything as been extremely busy, so I decided to take a long weekend before I got too stressed out. Monday I called in 'sick,' and actually was able to enjoy a day to myself. I have been able to talk to my Landesteller (person here who helps with everything) and we have figured out the next couple of months. I will continue to work with this surveying firm and going to school, work 3 days a week and school 2 days. Luckily I have about 2 and a half weeks off for Christmas, and hopefully I will be able to make it up to Finland to visit a friend. Starting in February I will be working full-time at a engineering firm. I will continue to work there till the end of June.

I am glad though that I have been so productive. I would hate to look back on this experience and know that I just wasted my time. I only have a year here, so I am going to make the most of it.

Day by day, German continues to get better and my english continues to get worse. The language classes are a huge help, but I need to learn a lot of vocab on my own. I can understand a lot now, but obviously can't speak as much. I am only a third of the way through the program, so hopefully all will work out in the end.

Viel Gruss aus Deutschland,

Russ

To all,

In case you wanted to know what the answer was to the pigeon droppings stalagtites delehma is, because I certainly did, here it is. The stalagtites that I talked about in my mass email--thats exactly what they are--stalagtites. Sometimes with old structures small stalagtites will begin to form as water drains off the building (or bridge in your case). The bridge is probably made up of some limestone and these stalagtites have formed as the deposites came off with the rain water, dew, you name it. They are made pretty much the same way as cave stalagtites are made--the only difference is that these building stalagtites are not "alive" so even if you touch it, the stalagtite can still grow since the water flow is external. They can be found just about anywhere there is an old building made of limestone--they're in Utah too, you just never noticed. So yeah, there's the answer. One of my friends actually knew what they were.

Russ

Hello all,

I have been finally able to set aside some time to write you all another wonderful e-mail. As of now, I am going to a Applied school 2 times a week and working the other days, but in addition to that I have been going to a language tutor every Monday and Wednesday.

Last Saturday one of my host-brothers was baptized. It was an incredible experience. The greatest thing is even though I didn`t understand a lot of the words that were spoken, everybody there felt the same spirit. It was a powerful experience for everyone. The Barluschke family have pretty much adopted me. They even wanted me in their family's photo at the baptism. I don`t think I could have been givin a better family.

Onto the ever-constant issue of language. It is slowly but surely coming. Everyday brings new wonders and breakthoughs. One of the strangest things about learning another language is that it isn`t direct translation. Sentence structure is different, word structure is different, everything is different. Maybe that is why it is another language? By the way, is 'givin' spelled and used correctly in the last paragraph? Studying another language totally messes up your English, or as I like to call is now, Denglish. In regards to my question, Mom you should answer, because your are an English teacher, and I don`t want 20 e-mails that all say the same thing.

The two pictures attached are of my home here and of Wuppertal`s Monorail. There is an pretty old bridge in it too. When I am riding on the monorail past it, I can see they white icycle looking things hanging down from the stone work. It isn`t frozen though...so I think it might be pigeon droppings forming icycles from time and the amount of pigeons that could perch on the bridge. Murray, do you know what they are?

The Return of the King comes out sometime in Decemeber, so there are a few of us Americans that are going to get together and see it in English. Hopefully, that will be fun.

Tschüß,

Russell

Barluschke's House - where I live

The Wuppertal monorail - I ride it to school

Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven't written as often as I have been. I have been busy with my new prakticum and language classes. Mondays and Wednesdays are typically jammed packed with no time for anything else. I work till 4:30 and have just enough time to run home and eat before I jump on the complex system of buses and trains, to go to my language class. I usually get home around 10:00PM from my language class.

My family is great. I have found this to be a great blessing in disguise. I know I wouldn't have the oppurtunity to be so active in the church, along with preparing for my mission, if I didn't live with this family. I had the oppurtunity to participate in one of their children's baptism. No, I didn't baptize him, but they really have invited me into their family, and even wanted me in the family's baptism photo. A baptism is so much of a bigger thing over here. It is a lot more rare and the whole ward is invited and lasts for several hours longer. School starts again tomorrow, after 2 weeks of Farien, which is Autumn vacation.

What book did you send? Was it the one I brought with me? I really don't know what to get them. I was thinking you might know something a married couple could appreciate, along with typical things children appreciate too. I think they wouldn't mind some church photos, but I don't know. I have asked them what they wanted, but they haven't said yet.

Ich liebe euch,

Russ

Mom and Dad,

I know the last few have been a little discouraging, but it really isn't that bad. I have been pretty busy this last week, but it has been better then the usual 2 days a week of school. With keeping myself busy with everything it forces me to be with locals all the time, so my Deutsch is actual getting much better, then it was. And like you said, I do know when to buckle down and get the work done, but that is usually after a period of laziness, which I believe I have just had. Things have been great the last 2 weeks, improving tremendously. I have really starting studying the language and keeping myself busy. It is a wonder that life seems so much better when you are accomplishing stuff everyday, even if it is a job or something simple. Best of luck. I love you both.

Russ

All,

Things are incredibly busy right now. The lovely people at InWEnt decided not only to chew me out for not understanding German and participated more in class, but have given me enough to do that I can't enjoy anything else. Right now is, for the schools, Autumn Holidays. Two weeks with no school, I was looking forward to it, even though I had just arrived in Wuppertal. But luckily they found a two week Practicum for me. It is with a surveying firm. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is those guys that stand outside on cold winter days and look through little telescopes on tripods at other little mirrors on tripods, so they can determine where little lines on the ground should be. I spend most of the day either holding poles with one of those mirrors on it, or if I'm lucky I get to stay at the office and trace. Enough of the sarcasm. It is a pretty boring job, but the easiest I have ever had, maybe that is why I don't get paid for it. I have spent four of the last five days outside, in pretty cold weather, holding poles or wading through mud or plants. I did spend one day inside 'tracing.' Basically I was learning the basics of Architecture plans and lettering. I already learned this and more in college, but I just didn't have the heart to tell them that. Maybe it was because they were kind of enough to spend their time teaching me or I actually couldn't tell them, because my German is that bad. All in all, surveying is pretty important stuff though and the first step for any type of construction or architecture.

InWEnt as also signed me up for another language course starting next week. I will no longer have any time. I do need it though, as Murray can attest to from our one minute phone conversation. The language is coming slowly. Some days I feel that I am doing great and it isn't that bad, but then some local decides to open their mouth and speak some other language to me. I will come.

I have now lived for three weeks with the Barluschke Family, my new host family in Wuppertal. I no longer envy Will, Joe, or even Murray. Yea, sometimes being the oldest is great, but most of the time it isn't. The kids ARE adorable, but they just don't know when to shut up. I now know what every older brother goes through and wanted to thank my older brothers for putting up with an annoying little brother for so many years.

The weather as turned a quite cold here, and even snowed today, though I do not think it will stay. I guess I don't miss Utah all that much anymore. Things are all well here, and I thank all you for your support. Happy Halloween.

Russ

Dad.
..............
The classes that I am taking were pretty much pre-arranged. I have 2 or 3 architecture classes, a politics class, a computer class, and luckily enough, an english class. I think I will do quite well on the latter two. I am slowly starting to understand the instructor's better, but still not enough for me to hold a participating conversation in the class. The stupid thing is, it got back to one of the directors of this program, that I wasn't 'participating' enough in class, but I don't know what I am supposed to do, it IS in another language. Oh well, it will all come along in the end.

It has started to get really cold here, about 10 degrees celcius...i think. I think I am going to call tonight, but will probably call Joe's, since all the boys will be there. I want to talk to them, since the only one I have talked to was Murray and that was at the beginning of the program. I will call around 5 or 6 your time.

Russell

It is that time for another of my e-mails. I know it has been longer than my usual, but with moving to my new city and all. It has been quite a hay-day here. The new family is great. They attend to my every need and feed me so much. They have 4 little boys, so for the first time I am the 'older brother.' They are really nice and this is forcing me to use my Deutch.

The weather here is bad though. It has rained everyday I have been here, and only yesterdays did I finally see the sun for the first time in Wuppertal. They do have a pretty cool bahn here, a bahn is similar to the trax in Salt Lake City, but the cool thing is it is a monorail. Wuppertal is a very long city, following a valley and it's river, and the monorail hangs above the river most of the way. It is like going on an amusement ride everyday, I don't think I can ride a normal train again.

I had my first day of school this week and did my head hurt after that. I actually fell asleep in my first class, because after about 2 hours of trying to understand Deutch you zone it out. This school is an applied school and seems really lax. We have watched a movie the last 2 days and they have 30 minute breaks between classes.

When I was in Saarbrücken, all the Americans joked at how the program would actual start once we moved to our own cities. How true that was. We had our own 'Little America' there, and now that we are isolated now, the program has really started. We are now completely immersed in the German culture. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying yourselves in the USA.

Tschüß,

Russ

Dad,

The 3 hour test, actually turned out to be about a 2 hour test, but all the same it was hard. I found out a couple days ago that I got 85 points out of 100 on it though. The school I had been attending was a private corporation that taught German to foreign students.

The school I am in now is a applied school, with kids from about 18-21. I don't know exactly what I am studying yet, because the last few class days have been weird. But I know I am taking a couple different architectual classes, a politics class, and even a english class. I think I might do pretty well in the later one.

Now that I am the 'oldest brother' I don't envy Joe or Will. You have to be extremely patient and always think about their needs. I know I wouldn't be the same person I am todays, if I didn't have my older brothers to learn from. The father and mother are Olaf and Christiana, respectively, and the 4 boys are David, Julian, Tim, and Jonas. Their great and have been extremely nice.

I think it is harder to learn the language now, since no one is over my shoulder telling me what to learn or giving me certain things each day. I have started reading the Book of Mormon in Deutch, but it is a slow process and I am still in the first chapter of 1 Nephi. I have taken to writing down words I hear during the day that I don't understand and words I want to know, so I can look up later that night. I find it a pretty good system.

Russ

Dad,

Only the Mom and Dad can speak English, and the Mom only a little. So I speak all German with the kids, but when I can't getting something across to the father in German, we talk in English. All in all, I'm learning pretty quickly here.
........
Until later,

Russ

Mom,

I will be attending church in German and school starts on Tuesday. Yes, they will be both challenging experiences, but very rewarding.
.........
Thanks for everything, I love you.

Russ

I am writting to both of you again to save myself repeating the same stuff. I arrived here on Wednesday with hopes of a great family and I have not been dissappointed. They are awesome and the spirit is really strong here. They read scriptures every morning and say family prayers everynight. They have been so generous too. I have been fed so much, a drastic change from the last 2 months. This Saturday, they wanted to show me more stuff, but I had to say no...they have already spent too much money on me.

For Dad, I don't think I want to sell the 3 wheeler. It is just one of those fun things to have for the grandchildren. Thank you so much for working on my car. The language is coming and I feel pretty confident today. I wasn't yesterday, I was feeling pretty lost with everyone speaking so quickly. But I think that the more that I am emersed in it, the more my brain will think in Deutsch.

Mom, I think I would like either a mp3 player or a new adapter for my camera with a power adapter for the european power (I fried my last one and have been using batteries.) I have been thinking of those nice warm wool slippers also. I think this is all for now, I love you a lot and miss you very much.

Mit viel liebe,

Russ

Mom and Dad,

I thought I would write one e-mail and answer all your questions together. I will definately check our more on Finland as it comes closer to December, when I actually would go. Nothing is set in stone yet. As to my appearance Mom, I am already ahead of you. I am sure that you will get a picture in the future that shows my new cleanly shaved face and wonderfully short hair. It was really cool when I found out that they might be my family. I talked to the father on the phone and he said that he would talk about it with his family and pray with them also. But I had no worries, there could be no possible better family, so I knew God would answer their prayers. It was great that feeling of knowing/contempness I had over the situation. This really will be a great oppurtunity with this family and I also plan to seek out the missionaries out, so I can do stuff with them. Maybe even go on some splitts. Thanks for the e-mails, both of you. I love you so much.

Russell

Hi all,

Here is another one of my weekly e-mails. I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat, just bursting with anticipation. Not only are my e-mails entertaining, they are full of fun facts and have great pictures. Ok, ok. I know they're not that great, but at least I enjoy telling you all how much fun I am having here.

Monday we have our final test in our language class. I hope I don't fail, because they send you home if you do...just kidding. I really don't know what is going to be on it so it will be an interesting 3 hour test.

Tuesday I am going to the city of Mainz. I had an extra day and it was a free train ticket, so I am going to check out the city where two of the other participants are going to live.

Wednesday, I finally get to met my new host family. They are picking me up at the train station. I called them yesterday, and they sound like great people. The Frau, the Mrs. for the German 'uneducated,' said her kids could not wait to meet me. I think it will be a lot of fun. I finally get to be the older brother...and not the other way around.

I don't know what I am exactly doing for Christmas yet. If I am not doing anything with my new host family, then I will probably go up to Finland and hang with one of my old friends. I met him while going to SLCC and working at the Copy Center.

Attached is one foto. It is a advertisement that I saw here, they seem to have a lot of weird advertisements here...strange. Anyways, for those of you don't speak German, I'll translate. The first line says, "Let us live," and the second, "People, don't eat us." I thought it was humorous, because it is so over the top.

Until later,

Russ

Let us live!

People, don't eat us!

All,

Deutschland gets more exciting by the second. Not only is the language getting far enough along that I can communicate with the locals (without them laughing), but I have traveled a bit more and seen some great stuff.

First of all is Trier. Trier is the oldest city in Germany and only 1 hour away by train. It has tons of roman ruins there from the Roman Empire. We went there as a class and checked out 'Porta Nigra.' It was once the entrance to the city and is still standing. There is also bathhouses (see pic) and tons of other ruins...you can't tell what they are because they are just that, ruins. We also visited 3 churches there. One supposedly has a robe that Jesus wore, but I'll leave that up to each of you to decide individually. In the same church is some really awesome carving and one part of the ceiling is hundreds of statues carved out of marble...really cool. After wards we went to a vineyard and did wine tasting...ya, that was fun for me. I just sat there. Fun day altogether.

This last Saturday I went to Dusseldorf and Koln (Cologne for the non German). After close to 6 hours of train, I meet my Landesteller (tutor, if you will). She took me to an international dinner at the InWEnt center in Dusseldorf. I meet some of the other participants that went to language school in Koln. It was pretty fun, but the best part is she told me who my most likely host fam is going to be. They have 4 boys between the age of 3 and 14, and they are LDS. What a great coincidence, that that they set us up together, but that a LDS participant and a LDS host family would both be participating the same year. The father is actual the bishop of the ward in Wuppertal, the city I'm going to.

That night I stayed in a youth hostel in Koln. In the morning I walked downtown and checked out The Dom, the tallest cathedral in the world. This thing is massive and dominates everything else in the sky. It is Gothic and has so many spires, spikes, etc. Very dark. I was so amazed when I came around a corner and it was looming there above everything. I just stood there with my mouth open. I took a few pictures then went inside and checked it out. I climbed one of the towers for 1 euro. It has about 635 steps, I think. It was a workout though, but an awesome few. I just chilled around for a while, and read and stuff. It was just cool to chill by this cathedral. I got on my train at 1 and spent the most of the next 5 hours sleeping.

For those of you that can't look at the pictures for some reason or another my father posts them on our family website,

Check it out, it also has all the e-mails I have sent.

Well, that is pretty much it. Until next week...

Russ

Kevin & I at Roman bathhouse ruin (Trier)

The Dom Cathedral (Koln)

Hallo All,

The weather is starting to turn cold here. It is weird how in less then a month it goes from the hottest weather Germany has ever recorded to cold weather that requires jackets and hats. I guess it is good that I am over my sickness now.

Next weekend I will be going up to Dusseldorf to check out the facilities there when I move to Wuppertal next month. Hopefully I will meet my next host family. There will be an international dinner with lots of music and food. oh boy. I will be traveling with 2 fellow participants from here in Saarbrucken and meeting up with 7 more that are coming from the other language school in Koln.

I am starting to really enjoy myself here, I have been hanging out with some people of my own mentality. They are a lot funner and actually act their age, which I can't say about some of my other participants.

I have only 2 more weeks of language school here in Saarbrucken, then they kick us straight into the German culture. It will be scary because we won't have the comfort of our own little America with all the other Americans. But it is good, we will learn the language quicker this way and will be forced to really experience the culture. Not that we haven't already.

The two attached pictures are, the first the view from my apartment looking out over downtown Saarbrucken and the second is of Christina, a fellow participant from Georgia, and I at a birthday party.

Well I am going to go catch the bus and go sleep for a little bit. I am going to a birthday party tonight for one of the participant's host father.

Russ

Peaches and Utah

View from my apartment

Mom,

Don't worry about the not knowing 'too' in German, because I don't even know it. The language is coming ever so slowly. We just learned nominative, akkusitive, and dative. Also we are learning present perfect and the like. Fun, Fun. The funny thing is by the end of this I will know more about the German language then I do about the English language.

I am pretty much over the sickness now, and the experience here is getting better. I was kind of depressed for a little bit, but now I am hanging out with my kind of people that actual act there age and don't talk about drinking and sex constantly.

These first two months InWEnt here has given us 255 euros to live off. Last month I spent the $280 I brought with me and will probably dip into some of the money this month. When I move to my next city I will have a family that provides meals so my expenses will be cheaper and I won't be hanging out with the Americans. They will only give us 50 euros then, so it will cost probably about $250 a month to live...I am pretty fruegel when I need to be.

I love you, Russ

Hallo all,

I have to say this last week as kind of sucked. I have been sick and missed a lot of my language classes. I have been to the doctor 2 times and got different medications and even an inhaler (Murray, these things are great!). I'm slowly getting over it and will be fully prepared for classes starting on Monday.

The language is starting to click a little finally. Probably because I am talking with the locals more and more. Last night I was talking with some girls...it was great to actually talk to them more than the regular, hallo, what's your name, etc. But at the same time last night we had our first encounter with foreign hostilities. My fellow American, Kevin, and I were talking with those girls last night, and next to us was a table with probably 6 guys and 1 girl. My back was to them, but the entire night they kept looking at my friend and looking at me when I wasn't fully turned around. They also kept harrasing on of the girls we were with. When we finally were leaving they said some some in Deutche we didn't understand and were trying to talk to my friend, but we kept walking out. One of the bigger ones followed us out, but finally turned off to the bathroom. But one of them came out with us and stopped my friend. He said the stupidest thing,' I'm looking for my friend and I hate Americans.' My friend said I'm an American what are you going to do, and then they argued for about 10 seconds about the he was from Afganistan(sp?), and it was really lame but could have turned worse. I know some of you are saying that wasn't scary enough to call hostility, but you weren't there, it could have gotten ugly real fast.

And on to lighter things, In two weeks I go up to Düseldorf to talk with the Bündesland and check out the city I will stay in, Wuppertal. That will be fun and a nice break from Saarbrücken. I am sorry nothing else has happened this week to talk about, but being sick and lying in bed doesn't create exciting stories. Thanks for reading my ramblings of Germany and I look forward to your replies.

Tschüß

Russ

Hello

I finally figured out how to send all of you some pictures. I am not supposed to do it this way, but I am willing to make exceptions. I am at the building where I learn German every day, and I disconnected one of their computers and am using the LAN cable to connect to the internet.

Last Friday we all watched Braveheart at one of the participant's house. It was great, except that over the last two weeks I have been developing a nasty cough. So naturally everyone started calling me Longshanks by the end of the movie, since I was coughing as much as he was.

Other than that I don't have anything new to tell you, so I hope you enjoy the photos.

Russ

My apartment building

Me - drinking ???

Hallo all,

And now for my weekly saga...

Last Friday we had an international night with everyone from our language school. There were people from all over the world. America, Afrika, Lao, Vietnam, India, just to name a few. Every country had some time to present their country. I actually enjoyed it alot. As Americans we didn't know what we were going to present, Almost everyone already knows a lot about America, so we did some cheesy stuff. We wrote a song to 'Yankee Doodle Dandy,' each region of the country writing a verse for explaining themselves a little. But we also decided at the last minute to sing 'We are the World.' I know a lot of you are thinking lame. We did too, but did it anyway to just be cute. It totally went smoothly, everyone was singing the song. Most knew the words better than us. It was amazing to see how much it affected the people there. The rest of the night we had people coming up and thanking us and telling us how much that meant to them. It was quite an touching and eye opening experience.

The language is coming, ever so slowly. Last night I had the opportunity to talk with a local all night. It was very challenging, but a very good experience.

I am really starting to how different American culture is from the rest of the world and how different Utah culture is from the rest of the world. In America we have so many conveniences that we never think about. In Utah, at least I, life is a little more sheltered. All the other American participants are huge partiers and love going to the diskos. And I am starting to see that that is not what I am into, I think that is why I enjoyed talking with that local last night. I was still out with all the other Ami's, but I got to do something I liked.

Well, I am going to go home now and study a little and hopefully go to bed at a decent hour.

Tchuss,
Russell

Dad,

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment on the 5th floor, quite a hike! I have my own room and InWEnt takes care of the rent, so I don't know how much it costs. I will try and send pictures ASAP, but the biggest problem is getting them to the computer. All the computers that have internet access are so protected I can't even open up explorer and I don't have a floppy from my laptop.

Russ

Hallo all,

I cannot believe that I have been gone for 3 weeks now, and the weirdest thing is that life there in the states just goes on. Do any of you ever get that feeling. Anyways enough of the sentimental weird crap.

Language school is great, we spend a few hours a day learning German. Amazing, I didn't think it was going to be like this at all. All the Americans have been getting together and playing hack, and not to be braggin or anything I am getting quite good. Afterwards we usually all head to the internet cafe, where I write and read e-mails. That is my basic day.

Last Saturday, I went to my first soccer game. It was FC Keiserslautern vs. Bremen (Murray don't correct me on the spelling.) It was pretty intense and a lot of fun, especially with all the crazy fans.

Other than that I don't do a whole lot, except watch my fellow Americans get drunk. Fun huh?

Anyways, I'm gotta go, but I miss you all and look forward to your e-mails.

Russ

All,

If it wouldn't be too much I would like some photos. Please attach them if possible. I'm so terrible lonely...

Just kidding, but I would like some photos of all you gorgeous people.

Thanks,

Russ

Hello,

Greating from beautiful Deutschland, where Russell spends his days in the lovely town of Saarbrücken. With it's gorgeous fountains, cobblestone streets and historic buildings, it is by far a great place to spend 2 months...

Oh yeah did I mention that it was over 100 degrees today? And that there is no ICE or AC? It isn't that bad, and I don't want it to seem like I'm complaining a lot, because this is a great oppurtunity and an awesome experience. But I am going through shirts faster then...just really fast. I never thought I could soak a shirt completely through with sweat, yes it is possible.

We finally started language school and I can tell you right now, that is going to be incredibly hard, but rewarding.

Last night we went to the 'Irish Pub' again. It was karaoke night and some of us 'Ami's' got up there and sang, quite a sight. Don't worry Mom, I didn't have any alcohol. Everybody here knows I am LDS, and they respect that, though this is for some of them their first encounter with a 'Mormom.'

I'm a long way from home, but I'm starting to get somewhat of a rythem down, which helps. But please write me, I love hearing from you guys, it really brightens up my day.

Tchuss,

Russ

Hello all,

I'm e-mailing you from my new yahoo e-mail, so add it to your address books. It is just past 7:00AM here at Georgetown University, and I'm tired, hungry and sore.

To start out the wonderful day my flight was canceled in Salt Lake. After waiting in line for another 1.5 hours and moving 5 ft, I was put on the 1:30 flight to Phoenix, leaving me with about 20 min to catch my connecting flight before it took off. Fun.

It was a pretty good flight to Washington and arrived about 11:00PM EST. But it gets better. Because my original flight was canceled my baggage was not put on the flight I was next assigned to, so guess what, no baggage for Russell in DC. After calling home and telling Mom I was taking a 'cab' to the 'hotel,' I walked 50 ft down the terminal and slept in one of the uncomfortable leather chairs that for some reason has arm rests that don't move, so you can not lay down to sleep.

I'm now just waisting time until I can check in the CDS @ 4:00PM. I think I'm going to go to sleep on the comfortable sofas, not 20ft from me here.

Matt flies in here on Tuesday, so I might go meet him and say goodbye...sniff...I'm sick of that stuff.

My address book was a little outdated, so if you notice I don't have someone's new address, or it is just wrong please let me know. And if your not important enough to be on the mailing list, let me know and I'll make sure to forget you entirely.

Toodaloo,

Russ