May 28

This morning I got up at seven thirty, put in my contacts, and pulled on some clothes just in time to be picked up by Bjorn Taba. He drove me to his house where I met the rest of the people I would be canoeing with. I went with Bjorn, Sebastian, Sven, and Jasmin Taba, their Canadian cousins Becky, Jenny, and Nicki Nitz, and Adina Csokor. We ate a fantastic breakfast and then headed for the river. The drive took a little over an hour, and then we parked and took the train. By doing this, the cars were parked near where we had to leave the canoes. The canoe trip was fantastic, better than I can describe with words. All of the Germans and of course the Canadians know English. I was so thankful for this group. I felt like I was immediately accepted as family. We laughed and joked and sang our way down the river. As we were paddling, Bjorn was telling us about his experiences in Australia. Down there, they often have water restrictions. So Bjorn and his roommates had contests over who could shower the fastest. Their record was 4 minutes and a few seconds, from the moment they entered the bathroom, until they exited dry and with clothes on. Nicki said that she could do it in that time. Bjorn disagreed and so he bet her a frappe that she couldn’t do it in less than five and a half minutes. When I got home, I tried my hand at it. I only managed in five minutes and twenty five seconds. I’ll be interested to see if I can do it in less at home. I don’t understand how you could go much faster than three and a half minutes. On the drive home, we were running late for church. At one point we were driving nearly 200 kph, which is about 124 mph. I loved it. As soon as they dropped me off, I showered and got dressed for church. Within a few minutes of me walking outside, they arrived to take me to church. At church, we sang for about an hour. The singing was absolutely fabulous. Then we headed to our respective houses and had a late dinner. I was pretty tired, and so I went to bed right afterward. All in all, it was a terrific day.