Mom and Dad, Noone has written me in a couple of days, so I fugure I had better write a few words to you all! Today I assisted on my first horse castration. It was fun, and I learned alot. The operation is realtively easy, and there is no use of stitches at all. The only precautions are; that the intestines do not fall through (the whole operation takes place while the horse is standing, under a mild sedative, and a local anasthetic, ok, alot of local anasthetic.), and that the peri testiculatis is exterpirated in the process. The testicles are cut with a big pair of pliers, which at the same time squeeze the feeding arteries closed. No clamps, or sutures involved. The hardest part is the vien catheter insertion, which must take alot of practice, phew! I like the larger animals, and the desert rats! They all look like alice. Sunday I finished a book, and rode much of the afternoon. Mr. Steinbeck is pretty descriptive, and I liked the simpleness of the text too. The library only has a few books, as compared to the million volume ones I am used to, they have things to read though. My February payment I am sending tomorrow, please let me know whether or not you will help me with the dentist bill, so I know how much to send extra soon. I had a run in with a elk Friday eveing, when I went night trekking. He scared me silly, and I could tell he was no more than 25 feet away or so, but couldnīt see him. Luckily the mating season ends in September or so, so I won the stand off. I saw an owl too, the first one since coming here, he flew away very quietly. Although the winter is lonely, it is also very pretty. I only wish there was someone who would want to go hiking with me, but is seems that people who know their way around the woods keep to themselves. Night sledding on the logging roads is the favrote pasttime of alot of the young people here. I have to try it. Daangeeeeroouus, but fun! (just donīt let the tree coming at you at 25 MPH ruin your night!) I have to go, so write me, please. And forward something from Susan, please, so that i have her address again. Thank you, Michael Mom and Dad, Thank you for the stamps, I really like them alot. I will add them to my two new albums sometime soon. I sure would have liked to have been at the show with you all, especially at the cival war reenactment. It would have been fun. Andrew would have liked it as well. I have been learning lots, and then some. There sure are alot of fish here, trout, some that were even brought over from there... teh rainbow trout is the game fish here, but was imported in the late eighteenhundreds because of its high adaptability, as well as super fast growth rate. There are two other trout species, the stream and the lake trout, both of which are fairly common all over here. If you spend any time in the woods, you stumble on homemade trout ponds, where the small rivulets that come off of the mountains are used for breeding. Saturday was pratical training and fish guttung, it was fun. I did well with the fly rod and reel, so you can send me a fly reel or some **FLOATING** (yellow) fly line for my birthday if you want to. ( I wanted a compound bow, but have to have something to do later on too.) At about 3400 feet on the Kramer I ran across two pairs of female wild Alp-antilope. They were not very skittisch; and I (and the others I told about it) am still trying to figure out why I was able to come so close without scaring them away. I smelled them about five minutes before I saw them, so they probably knew I was there for even longer than I. I wore my shorts Sunday a week ago, it was 65 or so outside, it was warm to me. The ride up to Oberammergau is four miles up the mountain. It was not all that difficult. The really fun part was the return trip back down. I could have passed the cars, but they probably would have run me over. I looks alot different from when I was there four years ago. (Actually it hasnīt changes a bit.) This time I was able to see more, and enjoy it better. It felt strange coming full circle there. There is a cave there that was really neat; but I was there for the Ammer, the stream that runs through the mittel of the village. I should have been a milk tester. Mmmmmm... Three quarts a day with Tunafish! Mmmm... Sometimes a batch or two is overheated, so I buy the same kind all the time, provided it has not been all bought up. My freind Piritta, she is from Finnland, has given me some stamps too. She works in an old folks home, and we have movie night on Sundays. Kristina works at the Vet, and is in school in Munich. She goes there one day a week for classes. She is beautiful. The train ride takes about an hour. Innsbruck, a city of about 100 thousand is only twenty miles away, but in Austria. The border is not controlled here, so you can freely go back and forth. They have a famous alpine zoo, which I would like to visit in the spring time. I thought about seeing what type of jobs they have there, seeing as how I took it upon myself to learn about zoo animal keeping. The Doktor mentioned suggestively that I should go to the universiy there, but I would rather go to south Africa or Botswana or Tanzania. The vet is fun, but I need a diversity too, and want to wash some dishes or cook or help out in a kitchen. There is a new Porsche place being built, but I donīt have a driverīs liscence or tools. To my knowlege there is no coutry airport with this county, which is strange, but I am still looking around too. I live smack dab on the Loisach, one of two streams that flow through the town here. I the back yard I built a little fire pit out of the river rocks, and cook lamb filets everyother week or so. Mmmmmmm.. It has a really good taste. I have 24 of the 40 SS-Credits I need for life. Thank you for the statement. I will write more later on. Love, Michael Please forward a copy to Dad too. Mom and Dad, Thank you for talking to Dad about the bicycle, I would appreciate it very much of you would send it. If he is not riding it, then send it over, because I will need it for the summer. I have learned quite a bit here working with the doctor, but am ready go explore some more, and see other things in the summer. I met some of the bavarian wildlife ministers, and they where impressed me. I was invited to go to some of their fuctions, but probably will not, simply because I do not agree with most of them. The project I have been working on is on spongiform ecephalopathy, but mostly I have been studying reptiles, small animals, and thier diseases. I know why Andrew sees me the way he does, because I was so negative to him, and you as well. The doctors wife has left him becasue of his behavior, and I am the only one who has stuck by him, and not taken advantage of the situation, namely to steal from him. The three other ladies who where working for him have left because of various reasons... like foul language in front of young children and patients owners. I guess he summed it up when he laughed at me at asked me if I wanted to wash dishes my whole life. Well here he is, no wife, who he hit, no children, because they where taken away, and little ol me, who wants to learn, and stays, even thought I should have gone to wash some dishes a while ago. I hope the man gets back on his feet, and I know how it is, when no one wants to talk to you, or believes you, even if you do work hard. I am trying my best to be subjective at work, and do so, but my experience is not at the level where I can simply take over. He is drunk in the next room, and has done nothing but complain, even after I rode a half hour in the rain to bring him his translation he needs for Friday