Update Zwei

About the photos... I've put them on a different computer, one which doesn't have internet, but will soon be getting hooked up. So it will be potentially two weeks before anything besides my kitty is on that photo site linked on the right side of this page.

After posting yesterday we had lunch, then Geli, Frank, and I played ping-pong and Mario Kart until about 6. The family then went to a beer garden down by the Neckar, the river that branches off the Rhein and runs through Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. It was a nice atmosphere, we had some drinks (I had a mixture of lemonade and beer, and Marina informed me that Germans love to mix drinks of beer, lemonade, cola, whatever), and we, mostly Mannfred and I, talked at length about German politics, the school system and standardized testing, and which classes I would be taking. Jenna has said that everything's a breeze for her except Calculus, and since I've had that I should be fine.
One thing I like a lot about Germany is the walking. The beer garden was maybe a half mile if not more from the house, and we walked both ways. Also, going into the Marktplatz we walked, and we also later walked through the vast gardens of the largest palace in town.
After getting home, we watched the movie Hairspray (auf Englisch), which was the basis of the play, and which I didn't like as much largely due to the fact that it didn't have the same music as on Broadway, though it did include a few really funny scenes that I would've loved to see in the play.
This morning I was awakened around 7:30 by loud construction noises from next door. The Reinhardts live in an old duplex; when they moved in, they completely rennovated their half, and now that the old lady that lived next door has died, the other half is getting completely redone. Very loudly, I might add.
We had the normal German breakfast of rolls with jellies, jams, or Nutella, a sort of chocolate spread, then Mannfred, Geli and I went down to the Tennisklub to play. It was certainly interesting and different - the Germans play on sand, which is largely textured like clay, with a little bit of loose sand-pebble on top. Think hard-packed baseball diamond and you're close. I got a few pictures, so I'll get those up ASAP.
Today we'll be going into Stuttgart, half an hour to an hour drive, to meet Jenna and Franzi, her host student. I'm looking forward to meeting her.

Now for the comments:
There are a few different ways to say "hello" in German, just like in English. Probably the easiest is Hallo, said just like it looks. There's also Guten Tag (GOOT-en TAHG) meaning literally "good day," or Wie geht's? (VEE GATES), meaning "how's it going?" So actually, Laurie, you're right on.
Tim - when you say that our presentation went as expected, is that, what C- material? lol. Have fun at Grad Blast. Same goes for all graduating seniors.
About the CBS thing. We were on at 7 and 7:30 CST, but he only acknowledged us at the later one, and all he did was grab Hawaii's trophy and say "These guys won the National Economics Challenge!" So we may be falsely attributed with victory by association. Not that I have anything wrong with that ;)