Hey everyone! Well my time here in Bürstadt is almost up, only another 2 weeks and i'll be moving up to Oberüsel which is close to Frankfurt, time sure has gone quickly. I have been lucky to have a nice family, but I think i'm ready for a change. Well a few weeks ago (15-17th July) I went to the stake YSA conference in Darmstadt (Elder Uctdorf's home town), it was fantastic and I met lots of new people. We all stayed in a hostel (this was a nice hostel) in downtown Darmstadt and I shared a room with Cara who is just here for the summer visiting her parents, she studies archaeology at BYU, and Naidia who is from Brazil...she came to Germany only speaking portugese and while being here has learnt spanish and english but not german. Naidia will be starting at BYU in september too. On the Friday night we played team games...somehow my team ended up being called the aussies, but it wasn't my idea. On saturday we had four fantastic speakers and then had free time in the afternoon. Some of us went to an artisan colony that survived WWII bombings, but it was a bit on the boring side so we didn't stay long. Cara and I then headed downtown and had a look at the shops...I bought the 6th Harry Potter book for €15 (about $25AUD), they only had english copies which was fine by me! That night we had a fireside which was awesome and afterwards we had "root-beer floats"...this was my first root-beer float experience, and Tara (the stake rep) found out...so she announced loudly to the room that it was my first one, so everyone stared in stunned silence as I took a sip! Root-beer isn't my cup of tea. But I got my revenge...I brought out the vegemite later and told everyone that its really yummy (which I think it is anyway) and tastes like nutella. I don't think there is anything funnier for an Australian than to see foreginers eat vegemite...its one part of our culture I really enjoy sharing! That night we brought out the playing cards and had a game of spoons, and afterwards I beat three guys in a game of hearts. One of those guys is Paul Clites who recently returned from the Brisbane mission. He knows some friends of mine serving in Brisbane at the moment and also knows some good friend's of the family. So we spent alot of time reminiscing about Australia, and just when I thought I was getting over missing home he reminds me of things I had forgotten I missed! But I made him mission sick so we're even. Two weeks ago I went down to Stuttgart with Klaus' parents and the kids while Su and Klaus rode their bikes from Bürstadt to Stuttgart...crazy I know. But while I was there I learned to make Schwarzwälderkirchetüte...which translates as black forest cake, which is native to that area. That was all well and good, however I also experienced sauerkraut and Bludwurst (blood sausage), and all I can say is that it would be a hard decision between dog poo and eating that again...I just can't fathom that people actually like eating these things! Last Saturday night we had a ward activity which was the four castle lighting near Heidelberg. I've seen castles but i've never seen 4 at once so it was pretty cool. When it got dark (which isn't until 10pm) the castles were lit up in red and then the fireworks started...the fireworks were good, not like we have at new years or anything, but it was cool because of the echo (we were in a narrow valley) so it sounded like cannons firing. I was also talking to a family there who want me to be their au pair next year in conneticuit, they have a boy and a girl and twins on the way, but we'll see. If anyone back home is interested let me know. I have time off from when I leave this family until september, so i've booked a 13 day tour of eastern europe which should be fun. The tour starts in Berlin and goes to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow and Warsaw, then back to Berlin. So i'll be sure to tell you all about that. This weekend i'm off to Münich with Paul...so i'll put up another postcard when I get back. Miss and love you all. TTFN Sarah.