1/13/14 & 1/20/13 New area Wuppertal (and Schwebebahn--elevated train) + tubed mustard

      As for my new area, Wuppertal actually strikes me as really similar to San Francisco as far as geography, climate, and general feel go. 

New address: 

Elder Mark Standring

Sportstrasse 1 

42107 Wuppertal

Germany

      Tal means valley, and the Wupper is a river, so the city of about 300,000 people goes almost in a straight line that follows the river through the valley about 30-40 minutes across by Schwebebahn. 
      The Schwebebahn, even though I can't imagine it being super efficient to have the heavy load hang from a single track, instead of resting on train tracks, in all other respects is a great form of transportation (as long as you get up stairs okay to the platform. if not there's an elevator). There's no cross traffic with cars, bikes, pedestrians, or other trains like with normal the Strassenbahn, and it just goes over the river so the path is relatively straight as well. [There's stairs and an elevator to get to it. It's only about as high as our own house's second story, so it's the same as going up the stairs in our house. Maybe a little more, but it's about that.]
      I haven't really taken any pictures of anything since arriving yet, but I'll see if I can't take some today of the Schwebebahn and get on a computer to send them. 

     And my new companion is Elder Moore, from Canfield, Ohio. He's actually almost done with his mission, so that's a big change from every other companion I've had after my trainer. They've all either been completely new or more under 6 months on the mission, so I'm excited to see what I can learn from Elder Moore. After this first transfer, he'll be leaving after that next transfer. It's kind of like the best two years a bit: he almost has less transfers left than I have years. He's also a really good cook, so that helps too.#

Yep, I finally got a package, I think it was day 8, in Frankfurt Hauptbahnhol [Haupt-bahn-hof = main-train-station]
during transfers. I really enjoyed everything in it, and thanks especially for the Brown Sugar and the reese's. I've seen Reese's around once or twice, but the brown sugar here is completely different and ruins cookies, so you have to make your own with normal white sugar and molasses. So the Brown Sugar is actually a really really good gift, thanks! I don't think I ever mentioned that though, how'd you find out about that? 

And yea, I'm glad Dad likes the Düsseldorfer Mustard. It's not expensive, haha. And you can get mustard in jars, but almost all the mustards that missionaries have in apartments are in toothpaste tubes, haha. I remember being so confused about that too the first time I saw one during our Germany Choir tour at my Host Family's house for dinner.

I'll see if I can find a crate or something of the mustard and either take it home in my luggage or send it home earlier. :)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ~Elder Mark Standring