Sorry that I have been so slack writing recently - as you will pick up soon, I have been a very busy wee kiwi. To begin with, from the 19th-23rd June, I was in Amsterdam and Belgium with my best friend from New Zealand, Miss Cassidy Sykes and her angel of a mum, Adrienne.
When I first received Adrienne's email inviting me to come and visit them, I instantly thought that there was no chance in hell of getting permission. Rotary in Germany made it very clear on our first weekend that we were not permitted to travel out of the district, let alone the COUNTRY without Rotary permission, and that we are only permitted to leave the country with host family. And here am I, wanting to travel by myself, out of the country and, might I add, missing out on school not to meet family, but a friend. When I asked, and received the daunting white form, I thought all hope was lost - not only did I require signed (in BLUE INK) permission from my Mum in NZ, I also needed signed permission from my Rotary Club in Christchurch, my District in New Zealand, my host family, my Club in Luneburg and my Germany district, and I have heard too many times to not even bother asking the district - they always say no. But for some unknown reason, everyone gave me the green thumbs up to go (I had to promise to not tell any exchange students I had gained permission, and keep the whole thing on the downlow...so of course, I am sharing this around the internet.)
I arrived in Amsterdam Airport at 4.30, and had to catch a taxi to the hotel where we were staying that night as Cass and Adrienne's Europatour didn't finish until later that evening. I showered, ate and watched telly until Adrienne came upstairs and exclaimed "What are you doing here in your pyjamas, hurry up, everyone's waiting to meet you!" and dragged me in pjs downstairs to meet the whole tour group. When I saw Cass, I burst into tears, as did she. Everyone else seemed rather relieved I was there, and it was a little "so YOU'RE Emma, we've heard SO MUCH about you, Cassidy has told us EVERYTHING!" - we had a hot chocolate at the café and went to bed (I say 'bed' - Cass and I had a little bit of catching up to do however!)
The next day we woke up at 6.15 to go and say goodbye to the rest of the tour bus, and have our breakfast buffet - muesli, bacon, croissants, cake, hash browns. Emma was more than content! We then left our bags at reception and caught a taxi into town. We walked through the famous flower market and Adrienne bought us each a Belgium Chocolate as well as a beautiful top for me and a dress for Cass. Then, we met up with Adrienne's friend Evelyn, who Adrienne and Cass had come to visit and stay with in Amsterdam in the first place. We had lunch - I ordered the pancake with apple pieces baked into it - yum! We then wandered around more shops, and Cass and I ate heaven - Reeces Peanut Butter Cups Ben and Jerry's icecream. Ughhh. We then met up with Ev's partner Joost, and did even MORE shopping, and they took us through the Red Light District - it was certainly...interesting!! We then went and had dinner - Cass and I ordered Ravioli and Fries (everyone said we had to try them!) and also shared a brownie. We then drove with Ev and Joost to our hotel to collect our bags, and then to another hotel near Ev's house where we stayed the night.
The hotel was not...fab, so we woke up early and left rather eagerly and briskly the next morning. Ev was not yet awake, and as we were to have breakfast at her house we had no choice but to wander around in search of a café that we could sit in to pass the time away - sadly, we couldn't find any, but we DID find a supermarket, so we had plenty of things to look at and keep ourselves occupied with. It is here I tried a new love of mine - Chocomel. It is a chocolate milk drink unlike no others, and my life is now empty without it, as it cannot be bought in Germany. Or Austria. Or France.
Eventually it became an acceptable enough hour to go over to Ev's, where Joost made mini pancakes for us (a Holland specialty) in a little muffin tray looking dish that sat over the element. They were delicious. We then walked around for a while and met up with some friends of Ev's. For lunch we found a rustic café that made fresh sandwiches on homemade dark brown bread - Cass and I had chicken and avocado and tomato sandwiches and hot chocolates. Then, it was time to drive to Belgium (just casually, as you do!). We arrived at the home that Adrienne and Ev's friend Els had organised for us - it was beautiful. The whole house was wooden and warm (important - considering it was supposedly summer, it was bloody freezing!), and Cass and I slept in the Attic. We then went to El's for dinner, where she had made cauliflower soup, meat kebabs, potato, cooked capsicum and a delicious dessert with meringue/marshmellow, berries and yoghurt. Needless to say we slept stuffed and happy that night (after Cass and I 'caught up' some more!)
Els bought breakfast to us the next morning - fresh bread, Chocomel (in Belgium called Cecemel), spreads for bread including an amazing chicken curry spread and boiled eggs. We drove to a village called Durby, and walked around the very typical French boutique shops. We had crepes for lunch, followed by the darkest chocolate icecream I have ever eaten. We walked around some more, before driving to two more other villages. We went out for dinner again that night, after driving around for hours in search of a restaurant that wasn't full. Eventually we found one, and I ate the first steak I've had in six months. We also had chocolate fondants for dessert, but they weren't as amazing as we thought they'd be, and Adrienne said she would make them for us when I get back home, the sweetheart. Cass and I were also shocked at the cows in Belgium - they were round and muscled like bulls, but with no hip bones and actually rounded buttocks - Adrienne told us that they were genetically made that way, and that they were so unnatural that all births must be caesareans as the mother cannot push the giant calf out, and normally doesn't survive.
I had been dreading the day that I was going to have to leave, and sadly, it came too fast.
Els supplied us generously with breakfast again - this time pancakes as well as the incredible array from the day before. We packed up and headed on our way back to Amsterdam. Evs bought us a Holland classic ' gherkin flavoured potato chips that were actually delicious. On the way we stopped at The Hague, where we walked around for a bit before heading to Amsterdam Airport. There, I cracked. The whole day I had been keeping my emotions under control, but as soon as Adrienne asked the dreaded question: "You alright, hun?" I cracked. Then, it turned out that my flight was booked for the 23rd JULY, not JUNE, and then I really lost it. Adrienne, the angel that she is paid for a ticket for me, and then the waterworks turned into a monsoon. Not only was I a blubbery mess, but so was Cass and we got everyone started. Reluctantly, I dragged myself away and headed to my terminal to fly home. Before I got on the plane I bought myself one last Chocomel, but sadly, just like my perfect trip away, it was finished too soon.
I will never forget these days with those two angels, and everything they did for me. I truly needed those few days away, back with very dear friends of mine. These perfects days spent with the Sykes was the start of the turnaround of my exchange - when I returned it was school holidays, and a new family. But that is for the next update, until then, (which is very soon), goodnight!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
The Best Two Weeks of My Life
Well, as may of you will know I have recently returned from my Europe tour. Sixteen days, seven countries, thirteen cities and about fifty South Americans all crammed into a pig sty of a tour bus. And here, I will attempt to write down everything that happened, bu bare with me I am still to collect all of my thought from this trip, and it is going to be very difficult to try and sum up everything that happened in those 16 days - every day was an adventure. And no amount of words or photos can truly express just how incredible it was.
To begin with, here is a bit of background information: my Rotary District (1800) had their Europatour about a month ago, and didn't actually inform us newbies about the Europatour so when we arrived in January all places were full. This therefore meant that we had to try and go with another district which ended up being Bremen district. Also, it turns out the reason that Bremen had free places was that they divided their group into two - the English speakers and the Spanish speakers - meaning that Grace (Australian), Adam (American) and I (New Zealand) were thrown into a bus of around fifty South Americans coming from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile and other Spanish speaking places. However, while at first we thought we were doomed, this turned out to only be a problem some of the time - everyone was so warm, welcoming and loving as South Americans are, and boy do they know how to have a good time...and make a mess. Within minutes on the bus the music was on full volume, and M&Ms were flying around our heads.
DAY ONE: LEAVING, SPEYER, STRASBOURG On that first day, I had to make it from Bienenbuttel, my village to Bremen. This meant waking up at 4.30 am to drive to Luneburg and catch my train from Luneburg to Hannover and then another train from Hannover to Bremen to meet and board the bus at 8. What a sleepless way to start a sleepless trip! Grace and I are really close as we are the only ones who truly understand Kiwi/Aussie life, so we were thrilled to have each other to cling to as we boarded the 'Party Bus'. We set off on our way (stopping at a few other places to pick up others on the way.) The drive to France was very long. We made several 'Pit Stops' along the way - petrol stations/cafe/corner shops with chips, icecream and chocolate bars, which we began to eagerly look forward to. We decided to take a detour along the way at a German city near the border called Speyer - a city famous for its huge Cathedral. We stopped there for an hour, where Grace and I paraded around wearing our National flags as capes, and bought chocolate milkshakes. Then, it was back on the road and to France. When we arrived in Strasbourg, it was around 6pm. We were given our rooms - Grace and I were together with the poor only English speaker from Bremen district on our trip, Sarah, and headed back downstairs for dinner. It turned out, that dinner was actually about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Along the way, we spotted by the river a mystery animal - it was about the size and shape of a beaver, and was right by the waters edge, however it had more of an otter tail but was far too fat to be an otter. Ideas anyone? But yes, we got to the restaurant where we were served Onion tart - 'Perfect!' we thought, as it was just something light and tasty after a day of junk food. However, then the SECOND course came out (Mum's Casserole, I SWEAR, and mashed potato) followed by the THIRD course, layered icecream. Its safe to say we were pretty stuffed that night.
DAY TWO: STRASBOURG The next morning we had an amazing breakfast - a buffet of bread, croissants, muesli and a selection of meats and cheeses. I had muesli, that you could add things such as dried fruits yourself, as well as a croissant (however I passed on the nutella that came in a 5kg jar and was served using a ladle). Then, we had free time until 3. Grace, Sarah and I head off, first going into a few shops before meeting up with some others from the group that sort of announced that we were coming with them but they didn't know where to. We wandered around the gorgeous cobbled streets for a while, before stumbling across a beautiful scene in front of the river with old houses lining the street and a bridge in the background. It was a beautiful day with warm sun and not a breath of wind, and the river was like glass. Slowly, the group drifted apart and it was just Sarah, Grace and I again. We went into chocolate stores and other shops before heading to the world famous Cathedral - and god it was stunning. It was so big I couldn't fit the whole thing into my camera frame, and with the sun where it was it was very hard to take photos. However, we did get some, and then decided to enjoy the sun by sitting down outside a restaurant in front of the Cathedral, in the sun and order banana and Nutella crepes - and they were to die for. It was at this point where I realised how blissfully happy I was there. I loved it. Sadly, the crepe didn't hang around for long and we were on our way again, wandering in and out of souvenir stores before settling down at another restaurant with one thing on our minds - snails. I, Emma Ferner, can honestly say I have eaten not one but THREE snails. AND I have photographic and digital evidence to prove it. They weren't amazing - just very oily and garlicy, however I think it was mostly the thought of what I was eating that made me stop at three. To finish off our meal we then went to a gelato trailer and bought Stratacella Gelato - vanilla with chocolate pieces through it: Simple yet very satisfying! We then slowly headed back to the hotel, only stopping to buy a macaroon each: chocolate, of course and gosh it was not what I was expecting! I always thought macaroons were like two pieces of meringue biscuit glued together with icing, but inside the biscuit is actually soft and fluffy and moussy - it was divine! We then all met back at the hotel before heading off for the boat tour. When they had first said boat tour, I had images of being our on the choppy sea with a cold sea breeze and salt spray blowing everywhere, but boy was I wrong. The tour was in big, long boats that sailed along the river through the city. It was good, but I found the boat too crowded, and wished that the boat had been open roofed instead of glass. I felt like I was in a green house, and there was no way to take nice photos. After the tour we had more free time until 7.30 when we were meeting at the restaurant again, so Grace and I set off on a mission to find H&M, the clothes store as while my city Luneburg has one, her city does not and she had never been. We eventually found it in a shopping centre, and was immensely disappointed with their selection - nothing like Germany at all. We then headed back to the main shopping streets in search of 'afternoon tea' (we wanted baguettes as we were in France, but had to settle for chocolate croissants) and I managed to find dark chocolate peanut M&Ms at a small french supermarket. I repeat, dark chocolate peanut M&Ms. Then, we had dinner at the restaurant again. However, we had learnt from our lesson and knew not to eat all of the first course as there would still be more courses to come - surprisingly easy it turned out, as the first course was raw mince pressed into flat round disks and grated carrot covered in a really unsavoury dressing. the main course was half of a chicken each, yes, half of a chicken sitting on sourkraut (also not to my taste!) and dessert was a delicious cake filled with cream cheese, cream, fruit and other delicious things. That evening, we were pooped and went to bed 'early' - I think at around 1 or 2...
DAY THREE: LUZERN The next day we left to go to Luzern, Switzerland. On the way, we stopped at a modern architecture museum and had a tour. While I didn't understand a lot of what the woman was saying (it was in German), I did understand and appreciate what we were being shown thanks to studying modern architecture in Art History for half a year. The day was gorgeous and we had lunch at the cafe there, sitting outside in the sun. We made it to Luzern at around 2pm, and had 3 hours to wander around the city. Words cannot describe how truly beautiful this city is - mountains in the background, with a glass smooth lake laid in front of them with a stunning clear blue sky above. It was scorching, and I got sunburnt (as only I would.) We wandered around the 'shopping street' for a bit, but as we did not have the correct currency and everything is VERY overpriced, we chose to appreciate the view and landscape instead. We walked along the waterside where we witnessed a swan steal a biscuit from a toddler's hand and then proceed to take full ownership of the toddler's mother's bag chasing anyone who came near it away, before settling down in a park in front of the water for a bit. We then headed the other way, Grace and I still parading around in our national flags. We met up with the rest of the group and drove to the youth hostel we were staying in that night. Shockingly, the youth hostel was excellent. Very modern, very clean, and even more stylish than the hotel in France. And the food was great - for dinner there was a salad buffet, Italian pizza and icecream and fresh fruit salad. As it was a youth hostel, you could also make noise thankfully (the South Americans struggled to match the Strasbourg Hotel's volume rules and the hotel had complained to Rotary). The only problem with the youth hostel was that there was one shower to twelve people per section - not useful. However, we worked it all out and we all got our showers (after which I was doused in after sun gel.) That night as we could make as much noise as possible we all stayed up until about 4am, and Grace and I demolished a packet of Timtams.
DAY FOUR: CAVES AND RAPALLO The next day we were up early, around 7 am. The breakfast was even better than Strasbourg - Swiss Bircher Muesli (two types!!) and I was a wee piggy and ate lots of both. For some reason I am rather obsessed with muesli now - I even buy it instead of icecream at the supermarket. I love it! We then set off to go to the Holloch caves - a series of caves that go over 3km deep into the ground. We first drove to the small village there which was stunning and nestled in the mountains, before being geared up in helmets. The cave was really interesting - pitch black, very cold but even in the summer remaining a constant 3 degrees. We had a moment where our guide made us sit down, turn off our headlights and be dead silent. There was nothingness. No light, no sound, nothing. No matter how long we were given for our eyes to adjust, there was simply nothing for them to adjust to - no light source whatsoever. To then finish off our cave experience, we had lunch in the cave in a small 'room' lit with Gothic looking candles - interesting to say the least! We then set off for Italy and Rapallo. We made our first pit stop in Italy. It was raining, cold and very not what I was expecting. We went to the bathrooms only to find that none were usable - all of them were not flushed, very full and there was even urine and feces on the floor - it was shocking. We then went and bought some food, only to be introduced to something we would soon become very used to and aware of - Italy doesn't do small portions. I bought a 'piece' of foccaccia bread that was honestly the size of an A4 piece of paper, and Grace bought a piece of pizza that was even bigger - needless to say we did not finish our purchases. Driving through this area of Italy was not what I had been expecting at all, and along with the bad weather and bathroom experience, my view on Italy was rather tainted. Everything was very run down, but not in a beautiful way as you see on movies. More in a very poor, almost ghetto way with weeds sprouting everywhere and a constant smell of rotting. We arrived in our town Rapallo, which was by the sea much to every ones delight - however it was still cold and raining. We then went to our hotel and rooms and came back down for dinner - lasagna, followed by pork, butter fried potato and gravy, followed by chocolate gelatin puddings (the puddings weren't nice at all actually). Then, as the South Americans are rather stubborn and had their heart set on going to the beach, we went to the beach. It was cold, dark and salty but they were happy, even though Emma was freezing! Only one of them swam that night. We were home by 11, and asleep by 2.
DAY FIVE: GENEVA This day was meant to be our beach day, so naturally it was raining. Instead, we all caught a train to the city of Geneva where we could do a bit of shopping. First, we took some photos but got so soaked that we desperately sought out shelter in McDonalds (I feel I should point out that I was a good girl and did NOT order McDonalds, however this was purely because I was still full from the bag of Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms I ate about an hour earlier). Grace and I were terrified and paranoid the whole time - people kept drilling into us how common pick-pocketing is in Italy - every person brushing past was a threat, every person approaching was too. Grace and I desperately wanted to go to H&M (many grumbles from the boys). However, once we got there, we ended up spending a staggering three hours in the BOYS changing room, as all of them decided to do a bit of shopping. One boy in particular was a true 'diva', asking for my help to find him shorts with buttons on the back pockets, as he only liked shorts with buttons on the back pockets even though we had already told him his ass looked fine in the shorts he was wearing. So yes, three hours later and we emerged from H&M, the boys heavily laiden with purchases - pants, shirts, underwear, everything. Grace and I found it hilarious! We then returned to Rapallo and went and bought gelato before dinner (our parents would be shocked, I know!). Dinner was: Spaghetti with a creamy garlicy sauce, Deep fried onion rings, prawns and chips followed by even more gelato. My gosh do the Italians like to eat. We then all went down to the beach again (in the rain, yes) where we hung out for about an hour before heading back to the hotel in time for curfew (in Italy it is actually illegal for teenagers to be out after 12am). That night was another early night, with Grace and I sleeping at around 2.
DAY SIX: PISA AND FLORENCE We headed off for Pisa early the following day. It was cloudy and not particularly warm - whoever said Italy was a gorgeous sunny paradise lied. My first impression of Pisa was shock and horror. I never knew that Italy had so many illegal black immigrants before going to Pisa. As our bus was not allowed in the city, there was a carpark just for the tour buses to park in while waiting for their passengers to return. This carpark was seething with black immigrants all laiden with illegal products such as sunglasses, feaux handbags and bracelets, and as soon as our bus stopped moving, they surrounded the bus. It was terrifying. I refused to speak to these men no matter how many of them shouted "Just look here Miss, won't you even LOOK?" and kept my head down and walked on. The only problem is that the men simply follow you, calling out to you or simply walking alongside you until you get so unnerved that you buy something. The only implication with THAT technique is that buying off these men can actually get you arrested as they are illegal immigrants. Note to future travellers to Pisa: Don't buy things off the scary black men. So my first impression on Pisa was yet again tainted with not so nice memories. However, once we reached the citadel all of that went away. The buildings were stunning, and the sun came out for a brief 5 minutes simply for me to take some great photos. And the tower really is leaning quite badly! Grace and I took the typical Pisa tourist photos before wandering off to buy souvenirs, pins and gelato (of course). We then ran into the boys that were desperately seeking two more people so that they had the right numbers to hire one of those 4-6 person tandem bike cart things. Of course we went along with them, but once seated in the middle of the cart between two South American boys with two more seated in the front with BOTH in charge of steering and all FOUR in charge of the speed, I think Grace and I were both having second thoughts. And I think its fair to say that was an experience we will never forget. The man in charge of the bikes obviously could read the boys like an open book, clearly stating that they were NOT to race one another in the carts. Needless to say, as we got around the corner from the man, the race broke out with boys leaping out from the bike here and there to run alongside the bikes, pushing them and making them go even faster. Pisa went by in a blur, and all I can really remember from the rest of that ride was driving on the wrong side of the road, driving in the bus lane (and having a bus drive up behind us) and getting lost. Very very lost. However, we made it back in one piece thankfully, and had only picked up one extra boy along the way who was clinging to the back of our bike. We then made our way back through the closing in sea of black men and into the safety of our bus. Before realising we desperately needed to go to the bathroom, dragging one of the boys along with us to act as our body guard. Sounds silly, but it wasn't. We then set off for Florence. Once we finally arrived (after a well deserved and needed nap on the bus), we went up to our rooms. Grace, Sarah and I decided to eagerly take advantage of the laundry facilities and put a load on. Gosh it felt good to get some clean clothes. Dinner that night was Pasta (surprise surprise), meat with chips and fruit salad. That evening, Grace and I demolished a packet of Tim Tams dipped in Nutella.
DAY SEVEN: FLORENCE Florence honestly served the worst breakfast. (Honestly, I should become a breakfast critic or something, it's all I seem to take note of.) All that was there was cornflakes, Cocopops or hard croissants. (I was very disappointed with all of Europe, especially France as I have yet to anywhere eat a croissant better than the ones Mum cooks at home herself, and Mum isn't even French. All of them were hard, dry and stale, where Mum's are so fresh and delicious that you can't even put a fingertip of pressure on them without the pastry flaking away, and cutting them in half is impossible as they collapse in a delicious crumbly, buttery, flaky mess everywhere... my mouth is watering just thinking about it!) Also, the Orange juice tasted revolting, as did the Pineapple juice. Ever since being in Germany, I have gone from the girl that didn't eat breakfast in NZ to the girl that goes to bed every night looking forward to waking up so she can eat breakfast, so I was thoroughly disappointed with this turnout. Anyway, after the shocking breakfast we set off into the city. Rotary had booked for us a 'Hop on, Hop Off' bus tour around Florence, and it was perfect. You paid 20 euros for the day, and as long as you had your ticket, could get on and off the tour bus whenever you liked, as many times as you wanted. The bus drove in a large circle around all of the main tourist attractions, before returning to the train station. We stayed on the bus until we reached Michelangelo's Point, where we stayed for about an hour taking beautiful photos of the stunning view across Florence and looking at the souvenirs. We then got back on the bus on it's next circuit, and got off in the middle of the city, quite frankly in the middle of nowhere. We wandered down a maze of backstreets before naturally, the boys stopped for gelato. After a while we returned to the bus and went back to the trainstation. We wandered down the main street before stopping at an Italian place for lunch. The only problem with going to Italian Restaurants to eat is that it is incredibly rude to not finish your plate. And the Italians are very generous hosts. Grace and I cleverly ordered a small pizza for us to share, and only ate a quarter each. The rest we fed to the eagerly awaiting boys who then went and ordered two more pizzas AS WELL AS THEIR OWN MEALS to eat amongst themselves. We then set off to go and see the statue of David - we couldn't find the front entrance, so unfortunately only got to see him through the bars of the back of the museum - thankfully he was facing our way, or else all we would have seen was his bottom. We then got very very lost and stumbled across the Great Cathedral with Brunelleschi's Dome, (something I studied in Art History last year) and made our way into the Cathedral. At the door I was stopped by security and refused entrance as I had 'exposed shoulders'. Once I had made myself 'decent', I was allowed entry. The Cathedral was huge and crowded. I spotter on the wall another subject of mine in Art History, St. John Hawkwood (painting) and was still impressed that I could not all of the aspects of the painting. It really is amazing seeing something you have studied in so much detail, that has so much history behind it standing right in front of you. After the Cathedral, we got horribly lost again. And my feet hurt. And it was very hot. The boys had the map and were determined they knew where we were going - they didn't. Eventually we made our way back onto our magical Hop on bus, and as we had some time to kill, sat on it for a full two hours as it drove around the city, sitting in the open roof section with the boys entertaining themselves by throwing gummy bears at things as we drove past. Eventually we made it back to the hotel in time for dinner - this time it was pasta, half a chicken with chips and gelato. Once again, Grace and I fed the eagerly awaiting, always hungry boys. That night we didn't catch the bus into town, but wandered around the nearby streets. It was cold and quite frankly not enjoyable.
DAY EIGHT: JESOLO Most of the next day was spent driving - once again it was cold and cloudy and rainy. Eventually we made it to the town of Jesolo. I love this town. It reminds me a little of Akaroa - not appearance wise, but because it is a nice wee safe town on the beach with every second shop being an icecream shop, and every other shop being somewhere you can buy togs and beach toys. It was the first place in Italy we truly felt safe - no rotting smell, nice buildings not falling apart, no homeless people or black immigrants, just a really nice beach town. We were all 'greeted' by the hotel owner and her whole family, that read out the list of Rotary rules and then once we were assigned our rooms, proceeded to patrol the corridors. Within the first hour they had charged Rotary 150 Euros because some girls jumped onto a bed as there was a mouse in their room. We were delighted to see that the hotel had also put a copy of the Rotary rules in both our bedroom and bathroom, just in case we ever forgot them. Grace and I then walked through the town, buying a Frisbee and a Vortex for us to play with on the beach and knowing that as none of the boys had known what a Vortex was, that it was going to be a big hit...and probably not last an hour. We then bought some gelato before returning to the hotel and heading to the beach. It was cold, grey and drizzly, so naturally we swam. And then raced inside (much to the hotel woman's disgust) and had hot showers. Dinner was once again pasta, meat and potatoes and gelato - Grace and I politely declined the last two courses, so the whole group was abruptly told they could go out and buy their own dinner the next night (I don't think the hotel was very pleased with us). That night we went down onto the beach of course, and were too noisy coming back inside and upset the hotel.
DAY NINE: VENICE Breakfast was good - muesli. Emma was satisfied.
We set off for Venice quite early - as many people don't know, you actually have to catch a ferry to get there. The day was gorgeous, and sitting in the open top ferry reminded me so much of the days at Akaroa sitting in Ollie and Matt's boat. We arrived in Venice to find the place teeming with people. There were stalls everywhere, and the sight was truly stunning. We all headed off towards the Cathedral, as Rotary had organised a tour for us. However, once the tour began Grace and I realised that it was all in German, and that the tour guide didn't speak very good Deutsch, so we wandered off after about five minutes. We strolled around the souvenir shops before deciding that we needed lunch - and what better place to go than the internationally famous Hard Rock Cafe. The place was mental and packed full of people, but eventually Grace and I were seated. We both just ordered the famous burger and chips, and boy were they good. What better Hard Rock Cafe to come to than one of the most exclusive that you have to catch a FERRY to get to! We then walked around the souvenir shops some more, before deciding that we wanted to go on a Gondola. When we inquired how much it would be for the two of us, we were told 80 Euros everywhere we tried - a little pricey for us. However, we eventually ran into some of the boys who were also wanting to go on the Gondolas, and as the gondolier could also speak Spanish, he told us that he would give us an hour tour at a discounted price. It was perfect. As was the tour itself. You cannot truly experience Venice until you have been on the gondola. It is here where you get to run your hands through the water, sail under the bridges and explore the heart of the city. You don't truly appreciate the wonders of this place until you have had the places where both Mozart and Beethoven stay, and Casanova's chambers pointed out to you. Our gondolier told us about his life: You cannot be a gondolier unless you are a true Venetian, born and raised in the city, and you are selected to join the Academy at a young age. Only men are gondoliers. He also told us that people who are born in Venice cannot live on the mainland - it is simply too different of a lifestyle for them, and they cannot adjust. After our incredible tour we returned to the Ferry and back to our hotel in Jesolo, only to find that room service had dumped all of our belongings in Grace's suitcase, and that the owner had let herself into the rooms and searched our things, finding the boy's Swiss Army Knives they had bought in Switzerland and confiscating them as they were 'weapons'. Grace and I then went for another walk around the town and once again bought gelato (as we had a huge lunch, this was our dinner.) We then watched the boys demolish half a HUGE pizza each as well as a plate of fries and chicken nuggets each. This evening was possibly the most entertaining of all. Some of the boys decided that they needed haircuts. And that they were going to do it themselves. They had bought an electric razor, and by the time Grace and I found them, they were all crowded in a bathroom with one boy already having his hair cut like Wolverine (only temporarily of course, they decided to do each others hair roughly and jokingly before cutting it nicely). This was fantastic and hilarious until one boy dropped the razor while half way through the first cut of another boy's hair - straight down the middle of his head. The razor broke. Then things went from hilarious to side splitting. Here we had four boys, all cut looking like savages with tufts of hair everywhere, and a broken razor. They were not happy. So, they decided to pack the razor back up into the box and try and walk down to the shop and tell the shop owner that the razor didn't work and that it was faulty when they bought it. Shockingly, the shop keeper did not fall for this very convincing act by the four tufty, patchy haired boys still scattered with freshly cut hairs, and refused to give them another one. Back at the hotel, they eventually got some life back into the razor, but only about 5 seconds worth at a time before it cut out again. Needless to say it was a very long night, and we had a very grumpy hotel lady the next morning to come in and find thick black hair strewn all through one bedroom and bathroom and all through the beds.
DAY TEN: JESOLO We pissed the hotel off. So they refused to restock the breakfast. Frustratingly the muesli was all gone, so I had to have a bread roll with ham. We were given the option of either going back to Venice or staying in Jesolo for the day. We all chose to stay in Jesolo as it was cold and raining and we wanted a beach day. We spent the morning playing with the Vortex on the beach, and the others all swam. Then, Grace and I went to McDonalds to try 'Italian' McDonalds. I ordered what looked really nice - a Foccaccia burger bun with salami and cheese in it. Unfortunately the picture looked much better than the product, and the actual burger wasn't very nice at all. We then went back to the hotel and decided to walk down to the laundromat and do a load of washing. While we were waiting, we decided to go to a cafe and order a hot chocolate - big mistake. Think of chocolate self saucing pudding sauce/syrup, and put that in a mug. The longer we left it, the more solid and gel like it became. It plopped and slid off the spoon on one gelatenous mass. We didn't drink it. We couldn't. We must have looked so dodgy sneakily pouring a clear fluid (water) into our mugs and stirring it, tasting it and sneakily pouring in more and more. We must have looked like alcoholics. Once our washing was done we returned to the Hotel where the boys noticed our clean washing and requested that we take them down to the laundromat to help them. Our first drama was when one boy out in a 20 Euro note into the change machine, not expecting to get tokens, NOT euro coins in return. Twenty euros worth. We then stood there instructing the boys what went where - why the new tshirt had to go in the colours, and why the stripey tshirt couldn't go in the white wash.. They then realised that it was dinner time (Grace and I weren't hungry) so we stayed at the laundromat while they went back and got dinner (Grace and I went and bought nutella and banana crepes while we were waiting). We then had to explain why the clothes had to have another spin dry, and why they couldn't just take them when they were damp, and how it would make all of their other clothes damp in their suitcase and smelly if they were to take them now. That night we went onto the beach again, and it was cold and it rained. Also, room service chose not to come into our room that day - only our room though. When we went downstairs to ask for more towels, sheets and toilet paper the woman insisted on coming upstairs to inspect our room. She then pointed to our stripped sheets on the floor, demanding to know what they were - we explained that there was sand in them and that we stripped the beds to make it easier for room service. She then demanded to know if we had taken the towels onto the beach - we hadn't, they were wet from our showers the night before. She then told us that room service only comes once a day, not twice (we tried to explain room service didn't come AT ALL), and she told us that she would bring us clean towels and toilet paper but not clean sheets (everyone elses had been changed). She then slammed our door before opening it again, and saying in English "I'm Italian, NOT stupid." and slamming it again. That night we went to bed very late, and the hotel threatened to call the police as one girl wasn't wearing shoes inside.
DAY ELEVEN: JESOLO AND VIENNA As the hotel refused to restock the breakfast, we had half a container of cornflakes and some breadrolls to squabble over for breakfast, before setting sail for Vienna. We made many Pit Stops that day. I am ashamed to say that I did not in any way eat healthily that day. I bought again the foccaccia bread toasted sandwich with cheese and ham that I had bought previously, and gosh it was delicious. There isn't a lot to tell from this day, as we drove for over 8 hours. Once we arrived in Vienna, we went straight to the Youth Hostel (once again, flawless and clean and a really really nice place.) Dinner was a help yourself buffet with delicious salads (pasta etc) and pieces of schnitzel and potato salad and rolls and Emma approved. After dinner, as the mature and grown up adults we are, we went to a Gamezone. Grace and I went on the Motorbikes ride game and played the Basketball one. We then wandered around the area, through the mall before getting Gelato (one of the boys owed us because Grace and I won a bet.) We eventually made it back to the hostel, where we met the two Europe record holders for Rubix Cubes. One boy was 15 and specialised in 'small cubes' and one was 17 and specialised in 'big cubes' - both were incredible. We watched one of them complete a normal rubix cube in 3.6 seconds.
DAY TWELVE: VIENNA Hostels do gooood breakfast, Once again, I was faced with the option of TWO forms of bircher muesli to choose from - naturally, I chose both. Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day and all. We then set off in our trusty bus to a castle that was lived in by the King of France and his wife and children. The castle was very very grand and impressive - especially the gardens. However, I didn't fancy the colour - bright yellow/orange... Then, we were driven into town and given free rein until 6pm. Grace and I walked through a massive market that supposedly had 'every international food you could dream of' - we did NOT find: Cadbury, meat pies or sausage rolls, the three things we are foaming at the mouth for. We then went to the Trainstation to meet an exchange friend of mine - Jess, who is from Blenheim and living in Linz, near Vienna for the year. We came over on the plane together, and became very close friends especially in LA where we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Grace and I made our way through a rather scary marijuana protest before making it to the station and getting McDonalds while waiting for Jess. It was so nice to see a familiar Kiwi face and to hear that ridiculous accent again. It was also comforting to see that I wasn't the only one 'enjoying their exchange' and quite frankly, piling on the pounds! Jess took us to the main street of Vienna where we saw the Cathedral and souvenir shops, and had a look at some other shops as well. She then took us to the Australian Bar, where Grace was disgusted at the fact that there was fried grasshoppers and kangaroo steak on the menu - apparently they do Not eat that.. who knew? Grace was also disappointed to find out that the people that worked there aren't actually Australian, however she cheered up when she got to write her name on the wall. Personally, I enjoyed the fact that Vegemite on Toast was on the menu. We then went and got Starbucks, as Jess and I were shocked that Grace had never tried it. We also then discovered that Vienna is a very big place and that it is very easy to get lost, even when you have a map. Thankfully, we eventually found our way back to the bus in time. We had organised that Jess was going to come back and stay at the Hostel with us, and it was great introducing her to everyone. That night the Rotex decided that we were going clubbing. We took the S-Bahn (street train, like a tram) to the area of the 'club', and it was raining. We walked down some stairs to a very dodgy looking area by the river, that Jess informed us was one of the most dangerous places in Vienna. The three of us wanted out of there, but everyone insisted that we would be fine. We made it through the groups of stoned people and into the 'club' that reminded me of a basement. Or a dungeon. It was dark, cold and damp. The music was absolutely dreadful and there wasn't a single song to sing along to. And, as the icing on the cake, standing around the 'dance floor' were at least 7 middle aged men, staring at us and drinking. Grace, Jess and I wanted more than just to get out of there.And to make things worse, the longer we stayed there, more middle aged men kept arriving and just watching us. At one point one of the boys from our group told us to go with him and he took us to the other side of the club, as he had been listening to two men talking about us and did not like what he was hearing. The time to leave could not come slow enough, but eventually it was time to go. It was at this point where the group somehow got split in two - we were in a group of about 13 people (and the only sober ones) and the rest of the group was with the Rotex who actually knew how we were getting home. Our group made our way to the S-Bahn hoping to catch it back to where we came from, only to find out that they don't operate at 1 in the morning. No buses were operating either, and to make matters worse, people kept wandering off without telling anyone. It was cold, raining and terrifying. Eventually we decided to take taxis, but even they turned out to be dodgy - splitting up and taking different routes down dark side streets. Even the boys were getting uncomfortable. Finally we made it back to the hostel. We were all very tired and short tempered and went to bed shortly after that.
DAY THIRTEEN: PRAGUE We left Jess that morning at the hostel after my amazing breakfast of double bircher muesli again. Within two hours we were in the Czech Republic, and pulling up to our next activity - Jungle Park. This was, in all honesty Adrenaline Forest by Spencer Park, but in the Czech Republic. You had a harness with two Carabinas attached, as well as your own personal flying fox that you hooked onto the wire you were wanting to travel across. Of course we also had helmets, as we were doing obstacles about 4 metres in the air amongst the trees. However, where I have always struggled a bit with the challenges at Adrenaline Forest, I found Jungle Park very easy - in fact, I might even say I was one of the better ones at it. Once we finally completed the obstacle course, we had lunch there - hot dogs and currywurst, with complimentary beer from Rotary (I wasn't too pleased about this, as some of you may not know but I despise beer.) We then lay on the grass for a while before setting on our way again towards Prague. We arrived just in time for dinner to Emma's delight. However, the dinner wasn't too flash, so I made up for it with dessert (also not too flash, but hey, it was dessert!) We were then told after our exhausting day that we were once again going clubbing. To the biggest club in Europe. Four stories tall, each with a different theme and music style and one floor made completely of ice - even the glasses you drank from were made of ice. We thought we would spend most of our time in the 'Dance' storey, but it turned out that we actually preferred the 'Oldies' floor -- it played music such as Greece Medley, YMCA, "Material Girls" and "I Want to Dance with Somebody" - much better music to sing and dance to! We got home very late that night, and were absolutely exhausted.
DAY FOURTEEN: PRAGUE This day, it was raining. And while the hotel DID have muesli, it wasn't as nice as other places I had tried. We went into town in our bus, and met up with two tour guides. We were split into two groups, and told that we were going to be doing a four hour tour of Prague, on foot in the rain. Needless to say there were more mumbles and groans than cheers of joy. We set off, clad in rain jackets and wielding umbrellas and froze our arses off. Unfortunately we couldn't appreciate what our lovely tour guide was showing us as we were all so miserable. We went to many churches and down the main streets, but yet again Grace and I had difficulties as the tour was all in German. Eventually, the tour was over and we had four hours to kill before dinner. Grace and I went straight to McDonalds to use the bathroom, use their free wifi and eat a sundae. Then, as I had gotten Grace addicted to Starbucks, we went to Starbucks and used their Internet as well. We then walked around many souvenir shops as well as many clothes stores like H&M before yet again returning to McDonalds to take refuge in the warmth. That day Grace and I bought dark fake tan, as it was payback time for Mauricio, our friend who had over the duration of the tour managed to paint our hair green and draw on us with permanent markers. On our faces. While we were asleep. We were so exhausted that. while we were given 'free time' and a curfew of 12am, all of us went straight back to the hotel after dinner (around 7.30pm) and to bed. Before this, however, Grace, Mauricio and I had some Czech coins that we needed to use up, meaning that we all treated ourselves to a luxurious ten or so minutes on the massage chairs! While we went to sleep at about 9, Grace and I had our alarm set for 3am. It was revenge time. Let's just say that the next day, Mauricio looked like he had maybe seen a bit too much sun and that he truly fit in with the South Americans and their skin colour.
DAY FIFTEEN: DRESDEN Spirits were low this day, as it was our last full day together. We drove from Prague to Germany, and arrived in Dresden at around 12pm. Grace and I had our hearts set on Subway for lunch, and walked 45 minutes down a very long main road until we found it. Dresden was beautiful - the view of the city from the bridge was stunning - churches and spires everywhere. Once we finally found Subway and had eaten, it ws time to head back to the main part of the city where the group was meeting to watch a documentary about the famous 'Frauenkirche' or 'Women's Church'. After that, we actually had a tour of the church. It was gorgeous. We then had more free time, and as it was raining Grace and I headed to a cafe, before doing some souvenir shopping. Then, it was time for dinner - not so impressive this time, even though it was catered by the hostel. Dinner was meat cooked in casserole sauce, glutenous potato balls (I don't know what they're called, but its like potato but mashed and sticky and with gelatin and rolled into large balls) and sauerkraut. Not Emma's favourite! That night as it was our last night, we sat in a bedroom talking for hours before heading off to McDonalds at 3am.
DAY SIXTEEN: HOME. Everyone was grim. Grace and I were even more so, as we found out that the bus was not, in fact stopping in Hannover as had been stated on the original form, but stopping at Bremen or Oldenburg. Thus meaning that we had to take two hours worth of trains home, at 5pm after a week with a total of around 12 hours sleep. We were driving for the whole day, and people were barely talking - just sitting there, trying to absorb what had just happened in the past 2 weeks and wishing that it didn't have to end. We arrived at Bremen at 5pm, and tears began to be shed. Everywhere you turned someone was wanting a hug, and it was incredible to believe that I was crying over saying goodbye to people I had met a mere 16 days ago - before that we were complete strangers. I arrived home at 7pm tired, sick and downhearted at the thought that in a day, my life would return to normal...Emma would have to go back to school.
I have kept in very close touch with everyone from Bremen since then, hence partly why this post has taken so long to write. For the past three weeks following Europatour, Grace and I have travelled to Bremen to visit everyone, and we were even invited to their District Rotex weekend in Esens last weekend, where we got to meet the other half of the district (English speakers!) and even after that one weekend, I have come out with some more good friends. All of our friends are going home in a month, so Grace and I are going to Bremen at least once, maybe even twice more to say our farewells. We still don't know what to say or how to say it. These people because our family within two weeks, where before we were strangers. The thought now, of them not being here is not a nice one. Everyone was just so incredible to us - welcoming us into their district with wide open arms and making us part of their amazing family.
I will never forget these two weeks, or the amazing people I had the chance to experience it with.
To begin with, here is a bit of background information: my Rotary District (1800) had their Europatour about a month ago, and didn't actually inform us newbies about the Europatour so when we arrived in January all places were full. This therefore meant that we had to try and go with another district which ended up being Bremen district. Also, it turns out the reason that Bremen had free places was that they divided their group into two - the English speakers and the Spanish speakers - meaning that Grace (Australian), Adam (American) and I (New Zealand) were thrown into a bus of around fifty South Americans coming from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile and other Spanish speaking places. However, while at first we thought we were doomed, this turned out to only be a problem some of the time - everyone was so warm, welcoming and loving as South Americans are, and boy do they know how to have a good time...and make a mess. Within minutes on the bus the music was on full volume, and M&Ms were flying around our heads.
DAY ONE: LEAVING, SPEYER, STRASBOURG On that first day, I had to make it from Bienenbuttel, my village to Bremen. This meant waking up at 4.30 am to drive to Luneburg and catch my train from Luneburg to Hannover and then another train from Hannover to Bremen to meet and board the bus at 8. What a sleepless way to start a sleepless trip! Grace and I are really close as we are the only ones who truly understand Kiwi/Aussie life, so we were thrilled to have each other to cling to as we boarded the 'Party Bus'. We set off on our way (stopping at a few other places to pick up others on the way.) The drive to France was very long. We made several 'Pit Stops' along the way - petrol stations/cafe/corner shops with chips, icecream and chocolate bars, which we began to eagerly look forward to. We decided to take a detour along the way at a German city near the border called Speyer - a city famous for its huge Cathedral. We stopped there for an hour, where Grace and I paraded around wearing our National flags as capes, and bought chocolate milkshakes. Then, it was back on the road and to France. When we arrived in Strasbourg, it was around 6pm. We were given our rooms - Grace and I were together with the poor only English speaker from Bremen district on our trip, Sarah, and headed back downstairs for dinner. It turned out, that dinner was actually about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Along the way, we spotted by the river a mystery animal - it was about the size and shape of a beaver, and was right by the waters edge, however it had more of an otter tail but was far too fat to be an otter. Ideas anyone? But yes, we got to the restaurant where we were served Onion tart - 'Perfect!' we thought, as it was just something light and tasty after a day of junk food. However, then the SECOND course came out (Mum's Casserole, I SWEAR, and mashed potato) followed by the THIRD course, layered icecream. Its safe to say we were pretty stuffed that night.
DAY TWO: STRASBOURG The next morning we had an amazing breakfast - a buffet of bread, croissants, muesli and a selection of meats and cheeses. I had muesli, that you could add things such as dried fruits yourself, as well as a croissant (however I passed on the nutella that came in a 5kg jar and was served using a ladle). Then, we had free time until 3. Grace, Sarah and I head off, first going into a few shops before meeting up with some others from the group that sort of announced that we were coming with them but they didn't know where to. We wandered around the gorgeous cobbled streets for a while, before stumbling across a beautiful scene in front of the river with old houses lining the street and a bridge in the background. It was a beautiful day with warm sun and not a breath of wind, and the river was like glass. Slowly, the group drifted apart and it was just Sarah, Grace and I again. We went into chocolate stores and other shops before heading to the world famous Cathedral - and god it was stunning. It was so big I couldn't fit the whole thing into my camera frame, and with the sun where it was it was very hard to take photos. However, we did get some, and then decided to enjoy the sun by sitting down outside a restaurant in front of the Cathedral, in the sun and order banana and Nutella crepes - and they were to die for. It was at this point where I realised how blissfully happy I was there. I loved it. Sadly, the crepe didn't hang around for long and we were on our way again, wandering in and out of souvenir stores before settling down at another restaurant with one thing on our minds - snails. I, Emma Ferner, can honestly say I have eaten not one but THREE snails. AND I have photographic and digital evidence to prove it. They weren't amazing - just very oily and garlicy, however I think it was mostly the thought of what I was eating that made me stop at three. To finish off our meal we then went to a gelato trailer and bought Stratacella Gelato - vanilla with chocolate pieces through it: Simple yet very satisfying! We then slowly headed back to the hotel, only stopping to buy a macaroon each: chocolate, of course and gosh it was not what I was expecting! I always thought macaroons were like two pieces of meringue biscuit glued together with icing, but inside the biscuit is actually soft and fluffy and moussy - it was divine! We then all met back at the hotel before heading off for the boat tour. When they had first said boat tour, I had images of being our on the choppy sea with a cold sea breeze and salt spray blowing everywhere, but boy was I wrong. The tour was in big, long boats that sailed along the river through the city. It was good, but I found the boat too crowded, and wished that the boat had been open roofed instead of glass. I felt like I was in a green house, and there was no way to take nice photos. After the tour we had more free time until 7.30 when we were meeting at the restaurant again, so Grace and I set off on a mission to find H&M, the clothes store as while my city Luneburg has one, her city does not and she had never been. We eventually found it in a shopping centre, and was immensely disappointed with their selection - nothing like Germany at all. We then headed back to the main shopping streets in search of 'afternoon tea' (we wanted baguettes as we were in France, but had to settle for chocolate croissants) and I managed to find dark chocolate peanut M&Ms at a small french supermarket. I repeat, dark chocolate peanut M&Ms. Then, we had dinner at the restaurant again. However, we had learnt from our lesson and knew not to eat all of the first course as there would still be more courses to come - surprisingly easy it turned out, as the first course was raw mince pressed into flat round disks and grated carrot covered in a really unsavoury dressing. the main course was half of a chicken each, yes, half of a chicken sitting on sourkraut (also not to my taste!) and dessert was a delicious cake filled with cream cheese, cream, fruit and other delicious things. That evening, we were pooped and went to bed 'early' - I think at around 1 or 2...
DAY THREE: LUZERN The next day we left to go to Luzern, Switzerland. On the way, we stopped at a modern architecture museum and had a tour. While I didn't understand a lot of what the woman was saying (it was in German), I did understand and appreciate what we were being shown thanks to studying modern architecture in Art History for half a year. The day was gorgeous and we had lunch at the cafe there, sitting outside in the sun. We made it to Luzern at around 2pm, and had 3 hours to wander around the city. Words cannot describe how truly beautiful this city is - mountains in the background, with a glass smooth lake laid in front of them with a stunning clear blue sky above. It was scorching, and I got sunburnt (as only I would.) We wandered around the 'shopping street' for a bit, but as we did not have the correct currency and everything is VERY overpriced, we chose to appreciate the view and landscape instead. We walked along the waterside where we witnessed a swan steal a biscuit from a toddler's hand and then proceed to take full ownership of the toddler's mother's bag chasing anyone who came near it away, before settling down in a park in front of the water for a bit. We then headed the other way, Grace and I still parading around in our national flags. We met up with the rest of the group and drove to the youth hostel we were staying in that night. Shockingly, the youth hostel was excellent. Very modern, very clean, and even more stylish than the hotel in France. And the food was great - for dinner there was a salad buffet, Italian pizza and icecream and fresh fruit salad. As it was a youth hostel, you could also make noise thankfully (the South Americans struggled to match the Strasbourg Hotel's volume rules and the hotel had complained to Rotary). The only problem with the youth hostel was that there was one shower to twelve people per section - not useful. However, we worked it all out and we all got our showers (after which I was doused in after sun gel.) That night as we could make as much noise as possible we all stayed up until about 4am, and Grace and I demolished a packet of Timtams.
DAY FOUR: CAVES AND RAPALLO The next day we were up early, around 7 am. The breakfast was even better than Strasbourg - Swiss Bircher Muesli (two types!!) and I was a wee piggy and ate lots of both. For some reason I am rather obsessed with muesli now - I even buy it instead of icecream at the supermarket. I love it! We then set off to go to the Holloch caves - a series of caves that go over 3km deep into the ground. We first drove to the small village there which was stunning and nestled in the mountains, before being geared up in helmets. The cave was really interesting - pitch black, very cold but even in the summer remaining a constant 3 degrees. We had a moment where our guide made us sit down, turn off our headlights and be dead silent. There was nothingness. No light, no sound, nothing. No matter how long we were given for our eyes to adjust, there was simply nothing for them to adjust to - no light source whatsoever. To then finish off our cave experience, we had lunch in the cave in a small 'room' lit with Gothic looking candles - interesting to say the least! We then set off for Italy and Rapallo. We made our first pit stop in Italy. It was raining, cold and very not what I was expecting. We went to the bathrooms only to find that none were usable - all of them were not flushed, very full and there was even urine and feces on the floor - it was shocking. We then went and bought some food, only to be introduced to something we would soon become very used to and aware of - Italy doesn't do small portions. I bought a 'piece' of foccaccia bread that was honestly the size of an A4 piece of paper, and Grace bought a piece of pizza that was even bigger - needless to say we did not finish our purchases. Driving through this area of Italy was not what I had been expecting at all, and along with the bad weather and bathroom experience, my view on Italy was rather tainted. Everything was very run down, but not in a beautiful way as you see on movies. More in a very poor, almost ghetto way with weeds sprouting everywhere and a constant smell of rotting. We arrived in our town Rapallo, which was by the sea much to every ones delight - however it was still cold and raining. We then went to our hotel and rooms and came back down for dinner - lasagna, followed by pork, butter fried potato and gravy, followed by chocolate gelatin puddings (the puddings weren't nice at all actually). Then, as the South Americans are rather stubborn and had their heart set on going to the beach, we went to the beach. It was cold, dark and salty but they were happy, even though Emma was freezing! Only one of them swam that night. We were home by 11, and asleep by 2.
DAY FIVE: GENEVA This day was meant to be our beach day, so naturally it was raining. Instead, we all caught a train to the city of Geneva where we could do a bit of shopping. First, we took some photos but got so soaked that we desperately sought out shelter in McDonalds (I feel I should point out that I was a good girl and did NOT order McDonalds, however this was purely because I was still full from the bag of Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms I ate about an hour earlier). Grace and I were terrified and paranoid the whole time - people kept drilling into us how common pick-pocketing is in Italy - every person brushing past was a threat, every person approaching was too. Grace and I desperately wanted to go to H&M (many grumbles from the boys). However, once we got there, we ended up spending a staggering three hours in the BOYS changing room, as all of them decided to do a bit of shopping. One boy in particular was a true 'diva', asking for my help to find him shorts with buttons on the back pockets, as he only liked shorts with buttons on the back pockets even though we had already told him his ass looked fine in the shorts he was wearing. So yes, three hours later and we emerged from H&M, the boys heavily laiden with purchases - pants, shirts, underwear, everything. Grace and I found it hilarious! We then returned to Rapallo and went and bought gelato before dinner (our parents would be shocked, I know!). Dinner was: Spaghetti with a creamy garlicy sauce, Deep fried onion rings, prawns and chips followed by even more gelato. My gosh do the Italians like to eat. We then all went down to the beach again (in the rain, yes) where we hung out for about an hour before heading back to the hotel in time for curfew (in Italy it is actually illegal for teenagers to be out after 12am). That night was another early night, with Grace and I sleeping at around 2.
DAY SIX: PISA AND FLORENCE We headed off for Pisa early the following day. It was cloudy and not particularly warm - whoever said Italy was a gorgeous sunny paradise lied. My first impression of Pisa was shock and horror. I never knew that Italy had so many illegal black immigrants before going to Pisa. As our bus was not allowed in the city, there was a carpark just for the tour buses to park in while waiting for their passengers to return. This carpark was seething with black immigrants all laiden with illegal products such as sunglasses, feaux handbags and bracelets, and as soon as our bus stopped moving, they surrounded the bus. It was terrifying. I refused to speak to these men no matter how many of them shouted "Just look here Miss, won't you even LOOK?" and kept my head down and walked on. The only problem is that the men simply follow you, calling out to you or simply walking alongside you until you get so unnerved that you buy something. The only implication with THAT technique is that buying off these men can actually get you arrested as they are illegal immigrants. Note to future travellers to Pisa: Don't buy things off the scary black men. So my first impression on Pisa was yet again tainted with not so nice memories. However, once we reached the citadel all of that went away. The buildings were stunning, and the sun came out for a brief 5 minutes simply for me to take some great photos. And the tower really is leaning quite badly! Grace and I took the typical Pisa tourist photos before wandering off to buy souvenirs, pins and gelato (of course). We then ran into the boys that were desperately seeking two more people so that they had the right numbers to hire one of those 4-6 person tandem bike cart things. Of course we went along with them, but once seated in the middle of the cart between two South American boys with two more seated in the front with BOTH in charge of steering and all FOUR in charge of the speed, I think Grace and I were both having second thoughts. And I think its fair to say that was an experience we will never forget. The man in charge of the bikes obviously could read the boys like an open book, clearly stating that they were NOT to race one another in the carts. Needless to say, as we got around the corner from the man, the race broke out with boys leaping out from the bike here and there to run alongside the bikes, pushing them and making them go even faster. Pisa went by in a blur, and all I can really remember from the rest of that ride was driving on the wrong side of the road, driving in the bus lane (and having a bus drive up behind us) and getting lost. Very very lost. However, we made it back in one piece thankfully, and had only picked up one extra boy along the way who was clinging to the back of our bike. We then made our way back through the closing in sea of black men and into the safety of our bus. Before realising we desperately needed to go to the bathroom, dragging one of the boys along with us to act as our body guard. Sounds silly, but it wasn't. We then set off for Florence. Once we finally arrived (after a well deserved and needed nap on the bus), we went up to our rooms. Grace, Sarah and I decided to eagerly take advantage of the laundry facilities and put a load on. Gosh it felt good to get some clean clothes. Dinner that night was Pasta (surprise surprise), meat with chips and fruit salad. That evening, Grace and I demolished a packet of Tim Tams dipped in Nutella.
DAY SEVEN: FLORENCE Florence honestly served the worst breakfast. (Honestly, I should become a breakfast critic or something, it's all I seem to take note of.) All that was there was cornflakes, Cocopops or hard croissants. (I was very disappointed with all of Europe, especially France as I have yet to anywhere eat a croissant better than the ones Mum cooks at home herself, and Mum isn't even French. All of them were hard, dry and stale, where Mum's are so fresh and delicious that you can't even put a fingertip of pressure on them without the pastry flaking away, and cutting them in half is impossible as they collapse in a delicious crumbly, buttery, flaky mess everywhere... my mouth is watering just thinking about it!) Also, the Orange juice tasted revolting, as did the Pineapple juice. Ever since being in Germany, I have gone from the girl that didn't eat breakfast in NZ to the girl that goes to bed every night looking forward to waking up so she can eat breakfast, so I was thoroughly disappointed with this turnout. Anyway, after the shocking breakfast we set off into the city. Rotary had booked for us a 'Hop on, Hop Off' bus tour around Florence, and it was perfect. You paid 20 euros for the day, and as long as you had your ticket, could get on and off the tour bus whenever you liked, as many times as you wanted. The bus drove in a large circle around all of the main tourist attractions, before returning to the train station. We stayed on the bus until we reached Michelangelo's Point, where we stayed for about an hour taking beautiful photos of the stunning view across Florence and looking at the souvenirs. We then got back on the bus on it's next circuit, and got off in the middle of the city, quite frankly in the middle of nowhere. We wandered down a maze of backstreets before naturally, the boys stopped for gelato. After a while we returned to the bus and went back to the trainstation. We wandered down the main street before stopping at an Italian place for lunch. The only problem with going to Italian Restaurants to eat is that it is incredibly rude to not finish your plate. And the Italians are very generous hosts. Grace and I cleverly ordered a small pizza for us to share, and only ate a quarter each. The rest we fed to the eagerly awaiting boys who then went and ordered two more pizzas AS WELL AS THEIR OWN MEALS to eat amongst themselves. We then set off to go and see the statue of David - we couldn't find the front entrance, so unfortunately only got to see him through the bars of the back of the museum - thankfully he was facing our way, or else all we would have seen was his bottom. We then got very very lost and stumbled across the Great Cathedral with Brunelleschi's Dome, (something I studied in Art History last year) and made our way into the Cathedral. At the door I was stopped by security and refused entrance as I had 'exposed shoulders'. Once I had made myself 'decent', I was allowed entry. The Cathedral was huge and crowded. I spotter on the wall another subject of mine in Art History, St. John Hawkwood (painting) and was still impressed that I could not all of the aspects of the painting. It really is amazing seeing something you have studied in so much detail, that has so much history behind it standing right in front of you. After the Cathedral, we got horribly lost again. And my feet hurt. And it was very hot. The boys had the map and were determined they knew where we were going - they didn't. Eventually we made our way back onto our magical Hop on bus, and as we had some time to kill, sat on it for a full two hours as it drove around the city, sitting in the open roof section with the boys entertaining themselves by throwing gummy bears at things as we drove past. Eventually we made it back to the hotel in time for dinner - this time it was pasta, half a chicken with chips and gelato. Once again, Grace and I fed the eagerly awaiting, always hungry boys. That night we didn't catch the bus into town, but wandered around the nearby streets. It was cold and quite frankly not enjoyable.
DAY EIGHT: JESOLO Most of the next day was spent driving - once again it was cold and cloudy and rainy. Eventually we made it to the town of Jesolo. I love this town. It reminds me a little of Akaroa - not appearance wise, but because it is a nice wee safe town on the beach with every second shop being an icecream shop, and every other shop being somewhere you can buy togs and beach toys. It was the first place in Italy we truly felt safe - no rotting smell, nice buildings not falling apart, no homeless people or black immigrants, just a really nice beach town. We were all 'greeted' by the hotel owner and her whole family, that read out the list of Rotary rules and then once we were assigned our rooms, proceeded to patrol the corridors. Within the first hour they had charged Rotary 150 Euros because some girls jumped onto a bed as there was a mouse in their room. We were delighted to see that the hotel had also put a copy of the Rotary rules in both our bedroom and bathroom, just in case we ever forgot them. Grace and I then walked through the town, buying a Frisbee and a Vortex for us to play with on the beach and knowing that as none of the boys had known what a Vortex was, that it was going to be a big hit...and probably not last an hour. We then bought some gelato before returning to the hotel and heading to the beach. It was cold, grey and drizzly, so naturally we swam. And then raced inside (much to the hotel woman's disgust) and had hot showers. Dinner was once again pasta, meat and potatoes and gelato - Grace and I politely declined the last two courses, so the whole group was abruptly told they could go out and buy their own dinner the next night (I don't think the hotel was very pleased with us). That night we went down onto the beach of course, and were too noisy coming back inside and upset the hotel.
DAY NINE: VENICE Breakfast was good - muesli. Emma was satisfied.
We set off for Venice quite early - as many people don't know, you actually have to catch a ferry to get there. The day was gorgeous, and sitting in the open top ferry reminded me so much of the days at Akaroa sitting in Ollie and Matt's boat. We arrived in Venice to find the place teeming with people. There were stalls everywhere, and the sight was truly stunning. We all headed off towards the Cathedral, as Rotary had organised a tour for us. However, once the tour began Grace and I realised that it was all in German, and that the tour guide didn't speak very good Deutsch, so we wandered off after about five minutes. We strolled around the souvenir shops before deciding that we needed lunch - and what better place to go than the internationally famous Hard Rock Cafe. The place was mental and packed full of people, but eventually Grace and I were seated. We both just ordered the famous burger and chips, and boy were they good. What better Hard Rock Cafe to come to than one of the most exclusive that you have to catch a FERRY to get to! We then walked around the souvenir shops some more, before deciding that we wanted to go on a Gondola. When we inquired how much it would be for the two of us, we were told 80 Euros everywhere we tried - a little pricey for us. However, we eventually ran into some of the boys who were also wanting to go on the Gondolas, and as the gondolier could also speak Spanish, he told us that he would give us an hour tour at a discounted price. It was perfect. As was the tour itself. You cannot truly experience Venice until you have been on the gondola. It is here where you get to run your hands through the water, sail under the bridges and explore the heart of the city. You don't truly appreciate the wonders of this place until you have had the places where both Mozart and Beethoven stay, and Casanova's chambers pointed out to you. Our gondolier told us about his life: You cannot be a gondolier unless you are a true Venetian, born and raised in the city, and you are selected to join the Academy at a young age. Only men are gondoliers. He also told us that people who are born in Venice cannot live on the mainland - it is simply too different of a lifestyle for them, and they cannot adjust. After our incredible tour we returned to the Ferry and back to our hotel in Jesolo, only to find that room service had dumped all of our belongings in Grace's suitcase, and that the owner had let herself into the rooms and searched our things, finding the boy's Swiss Army Knives they had bought in Switzerland and confiscating them as they were 'weapons'. Grace and I then went for another walk around the town and once again bought gelato (as we had a huge lunch, this was our dinner.) We then watched the boys demolish half a HUGE pizza each as well as a plate of fries and chicken nuggets each. This evening was possibly the most entertaining of all. Some of the boys decided that they needed haircuts. And that they were going to do it themselves. They had bought an electric razor, and by the time Grace and I found them, they were all crowded in a bathroom with one boy already having his hair cut like Wolverine (only temporarily of course, they decided to do each others hair roughly and jokingly before cutting it nicely). This was fantastic and hilarious until one boy dropped the razor while half way through the first cut of another boy's hair - straight down the middle of his head. The razor broke. Then things went from hilarious to side splitting. Here we had four boys, all cut looking like savages with tufts of hair everywhere, and a broken razor. They were not happy. So, they decided to pack the razor back up into the box and try and walk down to the shop and tell the shop owner that the razor didn't work and that it was faulty when they bought it. Shockingly, the shop keeper did not fall for this very convincing act by the four tufty, patchy haired boys still scattered with freshly cut hairs, and refused to give them another one. Back at the hotel, they eventually got some life back into the razor, but only about 5 seconds worth at a time before it cut out again. Needless to say it was a very long night, and we had a very grumpy hotel lady the next morning to come in and find thick black hair strewn all through one bedroom and bathroom and all through the beds.
DAY TEN: JESOLO We pissed the hotel off. So they refused to restock the breakfast. Frustratingly the muesli was all gone, so I had to have a bread roll with ham. We were given the option of either going back to Venice or staying in Jesolo for the day. We all chose to stay in Jesolo as it was cold and raining and we wanted a beach day. We spent the morning playing with the Vortex on the beach, and the others all swam. Then, Grace and I went to McDonalds to try 'Italian' McDonalds. I ordered what looked really nice - a Foccaccia burger bun with salami and cheese in it. Unfortunately the picture looked much better than the product, and the actual burger wasn't very nice at all. We then went back to the hotel and decided to walk down to the laundromat and do a load of washing. While we were waiting, we decided to go to a cafe and order a hot chocolate - big mistake. Think of chocolate self saucing pudding sauce/syrup, and put that in a mug. The longer we left it, the more solid and gel like it became. It plopped and slid off the spoon on one gelatenous mass. We didn't drink it. We couldn't. We must have looked so dodgy sneakily pouring a clear fluid (water) into our mugs and stirring it, tasting it and sneakily pouring in more and more. We must have looked like alcoholics. Once our washing was done we returned to the Hotel where the boys noticed our clean washing and requested that we take them down to the laundromat to help them. Our first drama was when one boy out in a 20 Euro note into the change machine, not expecting to get tokens, NOT euro coins in return. Twenty euros worth. We then stood there instructing the boys what went where - why the new tshirt had to go in the colours, and why the stripey tshirt couldn't go in the white wash.. They then realised that it was dinner time (Grace and I weren't hungry) so we stayed at the laundromat while they went back and got dinner (Grace and I went and bought nutella and banana crepes while we were waiting). We then had to explain why the clothes had to have another spin dry, and why they couldn't just take them when they were damp, and how it would make all of their other clothes damp in their suitcase and smelly if they were to take them now. That night we went onto the beach again, and it was cold and it rained. Also, room service chose not to come into our room that day - only our room though. When we went downstairs to ask for more towels, sheets and toilet paper the woman insisted on coming upstairs to inspect our room. She then pointed to our stripped sheets on the floor, demanding to know what they were - we explained that there was sand in them and that we stripped the beds to make it easier for room service. She then demanded to know if we had taken the towels onto the beach - we hadn't, they were wet from our showers the night before. She then told us that room service only comes once a day, not twice (we tried to explain room service didn't come AT ALL), and she told us that she would bring us clean towels and toilet paper but not clean sheets (everyone elses had been changed). She then slammed our door before opening it again, and saying in English "I'm Italian, NOT stupid." and slamming it again. That night we went to bed very late, and the hotel threatened to call the police as one girl wasn't wearing shoes inside.
DAY ELEVEN: JESOLO AND VIENNA As the hotel refused to restock the breakfast, we had half a container of cornflakes and some breadrolls to squabble over for breakfast, before setting sail for Vienna. We made many Pit Stops that day. I am ashamed to say that I did not in any way eat healthily that day. I bought again the foccaccia bread toasted sandwich with cheese and ham that I had bought previously, and gosh it was delicious. There isn't a lot to tell from this day, as we drove for over 8 hours. Once we arrived in Vienna, we went straight to the Youth Hostel (once again, flawless and clean and a really really nice place.) Dinner was a help yourself buffet with delicious salads (pasta etc) and pieces of schnitzel and potato salad and rolls and Emma approved. After dinner, as the mature and grown up adults we are, we went to a Gamezone. Grace and I went on the Motorbikes ride game and played the Basketball one. We then wandered around the area, through the mall before getting Gelato (one of the boys owed us because Grace and I won a bet.) We eventually made it back to the hostel, where we met the two Europe record holders for Rubix Cubes. One boy was 15 and specialised in 'small cubes' and one was 17 and specialised in 'big cubes' - both were incredible. We watched one of them complete a normal rubix cube in 3.6 seconds.
DAY TWELVE: VIENNA Hostels do gooood breakfast, Once again, I was faced with the option of TWO forms of bircher muesli to choose from - naturally, I chose both. Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day and all. We then set off in our trusty bus to a castle that was lived in by the King of France and his wife and children. The castle was very very grand and impressive - especially the gardens. However, I didn't fancy the colour - bright yellow/orange... Then, we were driven into town and given free rein until 6pm. Grace and I walked through a massive market that supposedly had 'every international food you could dream of' - we did NOT find: Cadbury, meat pies or sausage rolls, the three things we are foaming at the mouth for. We then went to the Trainstation to meet an exchange friend of mine - Jess, who is from Blenheim and living in Linz, near Vienna for the year. We came over on the plane together, and became very close friends especially in LA where we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Grace and I made our way through a rather scary marijuana protest before making it to the station and getting McDonalds while waiting for Jess. It was so nice to see a familiar Kiwi face and to hear that ridiculous accent again. It was also comforting to see that I wasn't the only one 'enjoying their exchange' and quite frankly, piling on the pounds! Jess took us to the main street of Vienna where we saw the Cathedral and souvenir shops, and had a look at some other shops as well. She then took us to the Australian Bar, where Grace was disgusted at the fact that there was fried grasshoppers and kangaroo steak on the menu - apparently they do Not eat that.. who knew? Grace was also disappointed to find out that the people that worked there aren't actually Australian, however she cheered up when she got to write her name on the wall. Personally, I enjoyed the fact that Vegemite on Toast was on the menu. We then went and got Starbucks, as Jess and I were shocked that Grace had never tried it. We also then discovered that Vienna is a very big place and that it is very easy to get lost, even when you have a map. Thankfully, we eventually found our way back to the bus in time. We had organised that Jess was going to come back and stay at the Hostel with us, and it was great introducing her to everyone. That night the Rotex decided that we were going clubbing. We took the S-Bahn (street train, like a tram) to the area of the 'club', and it was raining. We walked down some stairs to a very dodgy looking area by the river, that Jess informed us was one of the most dangerous places in Vienna. The three of us wanted out of there, but everyone insisted that we would be fine. We made it through the groups of stoned people and into the 'club' that reminded me of a basement. Or a dungeon. It was dark, cold and damp. The music was absolutely dreadful and there wasn't a single song to sing along to. And, as the icing on the cake, standing around the 'dance floor' were at least 7 middle aged men, staring at us and drinking. Grace, Jess and I wanted more than just to get out of there.And to make things worse, the longer we stayed there, more middle aged men kept arriving and just watching us. At one point one of the boys from our group told us to go with him and he took us to the other side of the club, as he had been listening to two men talking about us and did not like what he was hearing. The time to leave could not come slow enough, but eventually it was time to go. It was at this point where the group somehow got split in two - we were in a group of about 13 people (and the only sober ones) and the rest of the group was with the Rotex who actually knew how we were getting home. Our group made our way to the S-Bahn hoping to catch it back to where we came from, only to find out that they don't operate at 1 in the morning. No buses were operating either, and to make matters worse, people kept wandering off without telling anyone. It was cold, raining and terrifying. Eventually we decided to take taxis, but even they turned out to be dodgy - splitting up and taking different routes down dark side streets. Even the boys were getting uncomfortable. Finally we made it back to the hostel. We were all very tired and short tempered and went to bed shortly after that.
DAY THIRTEEN: PRAGUE We left Jess that morning at the hostel after my amazing breakfast of double bircher muesli again. Within two hours we were in the Czech Republic, and pulling up to our next activity - Jungle Park. This was, in all honesty Adrenaline Forest by Spencer Park, but in the Czech Republic. You had a harness with two Carabinas attached, as well as your own personal flying fox that you hooked onto the wire you were wanting to travel across. Of course we also had helmets, as we were doing obstacles about 4 metres in the air amongst the trees. However, where I have always struggled a bit with the challenges at Adrenaline Forest, I found Jungle Park very easy - in fact, I might even say I was one of the better ones at it. Once we finally completed the obstacle course, we had lunch there - hot dogs and currywurst, with complimentary beer from Rotary (I wasn't too pleased about this, as some of you may not know but I despise beer.) We then lay on the grass for a while before setting on our way again towards Prague. We arrived just in time for dinner to Emma's delight. However, the dinner wasn't too flash, so I made up for it with dessert (also not too flash, but hey, it was dessert!) We were then told after our exhausting day that we were once again going clubbing. To the biggest club in Europe. Four stories tall, each with a different theme and music style and one floor made completely of ice - even the glasses you drank from were made of ice. We thought we would spend most of our time in the 'Dance' storey, but it turned out that we actually preferred the 'Oldies' floor -- it played music such as Greece Medley, YMCA, "Material Girls" and "I Want to Dance with Somebody" - much better music to sing and dance to! We got home very late that night, and were absolutely exhausted.
DAY FOURTEEN: PRAGUE This day, it was raining. And while the hotel DID have muesli, it wasn't as nice as other places I had tried. We went into town in our bus, and met up with two tour guides. We were split into two groups, and told that we were going to be doing a four hour tour of Prague, on foot in the rain. Needless to say there were more mumbles and groans than cheers of joy. We set off, clad in rain jackets and wielding umbrellas and froze our arses off. Unfortunately we couldn't appreciate what our lovely tour guide was showing us as we were all so miserable. We went to many churches and down the main streets, but yet again Grace and I had difficulties as the tour was all in German. Eventually, the tour was over and we had four hours to kill before dinner. Grace and I went straight to McDonalds to use the bathroom, use their free wifi and eat a sundae. Then, as I had gotten Grace addicted to Starbucks, we went to Starbucks and used their Internet as well. We then walked around many souvenir shops as well as many clothes stores like H&M before yet again returning to McDonalds to take refuge in the warmth. That day Grace and I bought dark fake tan, as it was payback time for Mauricio, our friend who had over the duration of the tour managed to paint our hair green and draw on us with permanent markers. On our faces. While we were asleep. We were so exhausted that. while we were given 'free time' and a curfew of 12am, all of us went straight back to the hotel after dinner (around 7.30pm) and to bed. Before this, however, Grace, Mauricio and I had some Czech coins that we needed to use up, meaning that we all treated ourselves to a luxurious ten or so minutes on the massage chairs! While we went to sleep at about 9, Grace and I had our alarm set for 3am. It was revenge time. Let's just say that the next day, Mauricio looked like he had maybe seen a bit too much sun and that he truly fit in with the South Americans and their skin colour.
DAY FIFTEEN: DRESDEN Spirits were low this day, as it was our last full day together. We drove from Prague to Germany, and arrived in Dresden at around 12pm. Grace and I had our hearts set on Subway for lunch, and walked 45 minutes down a very long main road until we found it. Dresden was beautiful - the view of the city from the bridge was stunning - churches and spires everywhere. Once we finally found Subway and had eaten, it ws time to head back to the main part of the city where the group was meeting to watch a documentary about the famous 'Frauenkirche' or 'Women's Church'. After that, we actually had a tour of the church. It was gorgeous. We then had more free time, and as it was raining Grace and I headed to a cafe, before doing some souvenir shopping. Then, it was time for dinner - not so impressive this time, even though it was catered by the hostel. Dinner was meat cooked in casserole sauce, glutenous potato balls (I don't know what they're called, but its like potato but mashed and sticky and with gelatin and rolled into large balls) and sauerkraut. Not Emma's favourite! That night as it was our last night, we sat in a bedroom talking for hours before heading off to McDonalds at 3am.
DAY SIXTEEN: HOME. Everyone was grim. Grace and I were even more so, as we found out that the bus was not, in fact stopping in Hannover as had been stated on the original form, but stopping at Bremen or Oldenburg. Thus meaning that we had to take two hours worth of trains home, at 5pm after a week with a total of around 12 hours sleep. We were driving for the whole day, and people were barely talking - just sitting there, trying to absorb what had just happened in the past 2 weeks and wishing that it didn't have to end. We arrived at Bremen at 5pm, and tears began to be shed. Everywhere you turned someone was wanting a hug, and it was incredible to believe that I was crying over saying goodbye to people I had met a mere 16 days ago - before that we were complete strangers. I arrived home at 7pm tired, sick and downhearted at the thought that in a day, my life would return to normal...Emma would have to go back to school.
I have kept in very close touch with everyone from Bremen since then, hence partly why this post has taken so long to write. For the past three weeks following Europatour, Grace and I have travelled to Bremen to visit everyone, and we were even invited to their District Rotex weekend in Esens last weekend, where we got to meet the other half of the district (English speakers!) and even after that one weekend, I have come out with some more good friends. All of our friends are going home in a month, so Grace and I are going to Bremen at least once, maybe even twice more to say our farewells. We still don't know what to say or how to say it. These people because our family within two weeks, where before we were strangers. The thought now, of them not being here is not a nice one. Everyone was just so incredible to us - welcoming us into their district with wide open arms and making us part of their amazing family.
I will never forget these two weeks, or the amazing people I had the chance to experience it with.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Summer.
Yes, I said it, We have Summer. Well, 'technically' Spring, but as I try telling people, I don't believe in Spring or Autumn - if it's cold, it's Winter, if it's hot, it's Summer.
Life is starting to warm up. I have spent the past week after school strolling through the beautiful city buying a ridiculously long list if things I need for Europatour which is on Tuesday. We are going to France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Prague and at this time if year it is very possible I could face all climates from a blizzard to a 30 degree day, and when you're only allowed to "Pack the bare essentials" this becomes very stressful - everything is essential!! All I can say is that we'd better have hot weather in Italy, so I can wear the many summer dresses I have oacked and fulfil my vision of me strolling around Italy looking gorgeous and summery like they do in the movies. Apparently we go out for dinner every night, and the icecream is to die for and me being the food obsessed exchange student that I am, I cannot wait! Even if my train on Tuesday to get to the meeting point leaves at 5.30am...
I have joined a new choir, that some girls from scool as well as my counsellor are in. It's really great, and a lot more official and organised than my other choir as this one is more for adults, and the particular three biys fromt he other choir that I wanted to hit a lot as they refused to listen, talked loudly all the time and spoke back to the conductor are blissfully not present. We sing German songs, as well as songs like Monday, Monday and Mamma Mia!
Easter was a bit of a low point for me, as I couldn't stop thinking about my incredible Easters Mum and I have with Susie P and Margie and Liv and Nick in Hanmer - it truly is one of my favourite times of the year and one of my few blissful, relaxing getaways and I loved waking up early and climbing into Mum's bed (yes, at the age if 17) and stealing all of Mum's space/blankets/pillows as well as eating her Marmite crumpets. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this, but every year since as long as I can remember the 'Easter Bunny' has given me a Cadbury Great Bunny with the waistcoat and Purple Magic Wishing Egg. Even last year, when I'm supposedly 'grown up' the Easter Bunny came. However, this year I was forced to accept that there would be no Bunny. I was wrong. Mum, my amazing, incredible mum sent me all the way from New Zealand my Great Bunny. His box got a little squashed along the way, but he was in perfect condition. Infact, he still is. That is because I cannot bring myself to eat him. He sits at my bedside and is the first thing I see in the morning, reminding me just how much Mum loves me that just so I don't get sad at having my first year with no Great Bunny, she sends him to me to show me just how much she loves me. I just can't eat him. Nope, no way.
I had my last A2 German Coursee lesson on Thursday, and was thrilled when the teacher got me up infront if the whole ckass and told me she was astounded at how quickly I had learnt the language and how it was incredible that at the beginning the first thing I said was "Entschuldigung (sorry), I can't speak German" and now they can;t get me to shut up (in german!!) and everyone was nodding and agreeing with what the teacher said and it clapping for me - it was really encouraging and made me feel rather chuffed!
And I do believe that is all for now, gotta go have some breakfast and continue cramming things into my rather tight suitcase - EVERYTHING IS ESSENTIAL!!
Life is starting to warm up. I have spent the past week after school strolling through the beautiful city buying a ridiculously long list if things I need for Europatour which is on Tuesday. We are going to France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Prague and at this time if year it is very possible I could face all climates from a blizzard to a 30 degree day, and when you're only allowed to "Pack the bare essentials" this becomes very stressful - everything is essential!! All I can say is that we'd better have hot weather in Italy, so I can wear the many summer dresses I have oacked and fulfil my vision of me strolling around Italy looking gorgeous and summery like they do in the movies. Apparently we go out for dinner every night, and the icecream is to die for and me being the food obsessed exchange student that I am, I cannot wait! Even if my train on Tuesday to get to the meeting point leaves at 5.30am...
I have joined a new choir, that some girls from scool as well as my counsellor are in. It's really great, and a lot more official and organised than my other choir as this one is more for adults, and the particular three biys fromt he other choir that I wanted to hit a lot as they refused to listen, talked loudly all the time and spoke back to the conductor are blissfully not present. We sing German songs, as well as songs like Monday, Monday and Mamma Mia!
Easter was a bit of a low point for me, as I couldn't stop thinking about my incredible Easters Mum and I have with Susie P and Margie and Liv and Nick in Hanmer - it truly is one of my favourite times of the year and one of my few blissful, relaxing getaways and I loved waking up early and climbing into Mum's bed (yes, at the age if 17) and stealing all of Mum's space/blankets/pillows as well as eating her Marmite crumpets. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this, but every year since as long as I can remember the 'Easter Bunny' has given me a Cadbury Great Bunny with the waistcoat and Purple Magic Wishing Egg. Even last year, when I'm supposedly 'grown up' the Easter Bunny came. However, this year I was forced to accept that there would be no Bunny. I was wrong. Mum, my amazing, incredible mum sent me all the way from New Zealand my Great Bunny. His box got a little squashed along the way, but he was in perfect condition. Infact, he still is. That is because I cannot bring myself to eat him. He sits at my bedside and is the first thing I see in the morning, reminding me just how much Mum loves me that just so I don't get sad at having my first year with no Great Bunny, she sends him to me to show me just how much she loves me. I just can't eat him. Nope, no way.
I had my last A2 German Coursee lesson on Thursday, and was thrilled when the teacher got me up infront if the whole ckass and told me she was astounded at how quickly I had learnt the language and how it was incredible that at the beginning the first thing I said was "Entschuldigung (sorry), I can't speak German" and now they can;t get me to shut up (in german!!) and everyone was nodding and agreeing with what the teacher said and it clapping for me - it was really encouraging and made me feel rather chuffed!
And I do believe that is all for now, gotta go have some breakfast and continue cramming things into my rather tight suitcase - EVERYTHING IS ESSENTIAL!!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Munich, the land of Wurst and Beer.
Well, sorry that it has taken such a long time to update you all, but there really wasn't much to say! But never fear, now I have plenty to say, and all of it about my incredible four days in Munich with my host father's Aunt, Katrin.
Katrin lived in New Zelaand for 18 years, and was eager to meet me. She loves New Zelanders and has no children of her own, and so was very keen for me to come and stay with her at the complete other end of the country from me, in Munich. Bavaria. The place where everyone gets the impression that girls run around in dirndls and boys run around in lederhosen, and everyone drinks beer and eats Wursts. The thing is, that in Bavaria they do exactly that.
I arrived in Munich at 2pm after a 6 hour train ride. I met Katrin - a tiny, bouncy, energetic woman and we set off to the city for a drive. We drove down some of the main streets, going past the parliament buildings and courts and museums. We then stopped and went to the Englischer Gardens where she showed me a section of the park where people come and surf. Yes, surf. In the middle of Munich city, in the middle of a park. In winter. Sure enough, there were about 5 guys all wrapped up in full body wetsuits surfing the current from the river bursting through a large drain. It was insane! And very cold! We then drove on further and went to the Olympia Park - we went to the top of the Olympia Tower where I could see all of Munich. Then, we went for a walk through the park - it was beautiful! After that we went home and I discovered something amazing. Katrin is an incredible cook. And I mean INCREDIBLE. We had salmon and noodles with veges and cream sauce for dinner, and I ate well..far too much! That evening we showed each other photos of friends and family and New Zeland and shared stories and it was lovely.
The next morning, we had an amazing breakfast of mashed banana topped with porridge, with apple and pear compote on top of that, with fresh fruit on top of that, and then slivered almonds and seeds to finsh it off. We also shared a giant Pretzel with butter on it. So delicious!!! We then head off into the depths of Bavaria and into the stunning countryside. Bavaria is so different to north Germany. For a starter, they speak Bavarian, not German. The houses are adorable and quirky - they have huge wooden verrandahs on the front, often two storeys of them and the houses are quite squat and flattened compared to the high angled rooves in northern Germany. We drove for about an hour until we reached a village called Bad Toelz, where we walked down a stunning main street with little stalls down the middle of the street that looked like wooden cabins selling meant, cheese and wood carvings. The buildings all had large awnings, and most had renaissance-style paintings on them. The village is on a hill, and the main street sloped giving it even more character - it really was as if I were in the mountains. It was here where I also had my first ever wurst!! We ate it cold, and to be honest it just tasted like saveloy! We then drove on to another village, where Katrin took me to an absolutely stunning church. It was magnificent and built in the 1500's. We then had problems finding somewhere for lunch, as where in Northern Germany all shops are closed on a Sunday, in Bavaria all shops are closed on a Monday. Eventually we found a restaurant and I chose a very Bavarian meal - chopped up pancakes covered in icing sugar and sultanas and served with a massive bowl of cooked apple - it was absolutely delicious. At the tavern we also met a 90 year old woman who had never left the tiny village. She seemed lovely, but I understood very little of what she said.
The weather was really rather miserable, so then we headed off back to Munich but on the way we took a detour to a huge supermarket in persuit of three things: Peanut butter, Marmite and Cadbury. Unfortunately, we found none of these delicacies.
The next day, Katrin and I caught a tram into town. We walked around and saw plenty of churches, town halls and museums, and even visited the very spot that Hitler gave his first public speech. We went into many shops, and then headed off to the market where I tried a 'white wurst', something people in Bavaria often eat with a giant Pretzel, so alas, another delicious pretzel for Emma! The wurst is served with a sweet mustard - I didn't really like the mustard, however without the mustard the wurst tasted like nothing. We then walked around the market some more - I love markets! So many smells and sights and I find it fascinating to see what people will come up with next. We then went and got a coffee, and my hot chocolate was served IN A BOWL. Not a large mug, not a regular mug like Katrin's coffee, but a bowl. We worked out that we could fit 3 of Katrin's coffee into my bowl. Then, we went and bought some ingredients for dinner - I had mentioned to Katrin that Thai is one of my favourite types of food, so she had decided that we were going to cook Thai from scratch - and we did!! We made a Thai Green Curry and it was absolutely divine. I am still struggling to comprehend that we managed to make something from scratch that tasted exactly like the curry we get at the amazing Thai Restaurant down the road.
The next day was home day. We got up early, and I made breakfast as Katrin said I should practise if I am to make it in New Zealand. We then went for a walk and she insisted on buying me a cake for my train ride home - I chose Apple Strudel. Gosh I love them. And whoever deciede to try cooking apple. Unfortunately, then it was time to head off to the train station for me to catch my 6 hour train ride home.
Katrin says that I am to call her my 'German Grandma'. She really is incredible - she did nothing but spoil me the whole time, and I love her so much. She is coming to Hannover in July, and said that if possible she will bring me back to Munich with her for another few days. Either way, I am not going to lose contact with her. She made this trip absolutely amazing and she really was like a mother to me - so warm, caring, loving and generous. I will never forget this. Thank you.
Katrin lived in New Zelaand for 18 years, and was eager to meet me. She loves New Zelanders and has no children of her own, and so was very keen for me to come and stay with her at the complete other end of the country from me, in Munich. Bavaria. The place where everyone gets the impression that girls run around in dirndls and boys run around in lederhosen, and everyone drinks beer and eats Wursts. The thing is, that in Bavaria they do exactly that.
I arrived in Munich at 2pm after a 6 hour train ride. I met Katrin - a tiny, bouncy, energetic woman and we set off to the city for a drive. We drove down some of the main streets, going past the parliament buildings and courts and museums. We then stopped and went to the Englischer Gardens where she showed me a section of the park where people come and surf. Yes, surf. In the middle of Munich city, in the middle of a park. In winter. Sure enough, there were about 5 guys all wrapped up in full body wetsuits surfing the current from the river bursting through a large drain. It was insane! And very cold! We then drove on further and went to the Olympia Park - we went to the top of the Olympia Tower where I could see all of Munich. Then, we went for a walk through the park - it was beautiful! After that we went home and I discovered something amazing. Katrin is an incredible cook. And I mean INCREDIBLE. We had salmon and noodles with veges and cream sauce for dinner, and I ate well..far too much! That evening we showed each other photos of friends and family and New Zeland and shared stories and it was lovely.
The next morning, we had an amazing breakfast of mashed banana topped with porridge, with apple and pear compote on top of that, with fresh fruit on top of that, and then slivered almonds and seeds to finsh it off. We also shared a giant Pretzel with butter on it. So delicious!!! We then head off into the depths of Bavaria and into the stunning countryside. Bavaria is so different to north Germany. For a starter, they speak Bavarian, not German. The houses are adorable and quirky - they have huge wooden verrandahs on the front, often two storeys of them and the houses are quite squat and flattened compared to the high angled rooves in northern Germany. We drove for about an hour until we reached a village called Bad Toelz, where we walked down a stunning main street with little stalls down the middle of the street that looked like wooden cabins selling meant, cheese and wood carvings. The buildings all had large awnings, and most had renaissance-style paintings on them. The village is on a hill, and the main street sloped giving it even more character - it really was as if I were in the mountains. It was here where I also had my first ever wurst!! We ate it cold, and to be honest it just tasted like saveloy! We then drove on to another village, where Katrin took me to an absolutely stunning church. It was magnificent and built in the 1500's. We then had problems finding somewhere for lunch, as where in Northern Germany all shops are closed on a Sunday, in Bavaria all shops are closed on a Monday. Eventually we found a restaurant and I chose a very Bavarian meal - chopped up pancakes covered in icing sugar and sultanas and served with a massive bowl of cooked apple - it was absolutely delicious. At the tavern we also met a 90 year old woman who had never left the tiny village. She seemed lovely, but I understood very little of what she said.
The weather was really rather miserable, so then we headed off back to Munich but on the way we took a detour to a huge supermarket in persuit of three things: Peanut butter, Marmite and Cadbury. Unfortunately, we found none of these delicacies.
The next day, Katrin and I caught a tram into town. We walked around and saw plenty of churches, town halls and museums, and even visited the very spot that Hitler gave his first public speech. We went into many shops, and then headed off to the market where I tried a 'white wurst', something people in Bavaria often eat with a giant Pretzel, so alas, another delicious pretzel for Emma! The wurst is served with a sweet mustard - I didn't really like the mustard, however without the mustard the wurst tasted like nothing. We then walked around the market some more - I love markets! So many smells and sights and I find it fascinating to see what people will come up with next. We then went and got a coffee, and my hot chocolate was served IN A BOWL. Not a large mug, not a regular mug like Katrin's coffee, but a bowl. We worked out that we could fit 3 of Katrin's coffee into my bowl. Then, we went and bought some ingredients for dinner - I had mentioned to Katrin that Thai is one of my favourite types of food, so she had decided that we were going to cook Thai from scratch - and we did!! We made a Thai Green Curry and it was absolutely divine. I am still struggling to comprehend that we managed to make something from scratch that tasted exactly like the curry we get at the amazing Thai Restaurant down the road.
The next day was home day. We got up early, and I made breakfast as Katrin said I should practise if I am to make it in New Zealand. We then went for a walk and she insisted on buying me a cake for my train ride home - I chose Apple Strudel. Gosh I love them. And whoever deciede to try cooking apple. Unfortunately, then it was time to head off to the train station for me to catch my 6 hour train ride home.
Katrin says that I am to call her my 'German Grandma'. She really is incredible - she did nothing but spoil me the whole time, and I love her so much. She is coming to Hannover in July, and said that if possible she will bring me back to Munich with her for another few days. Either way, I am not going to lose contact with her. She made this trip absolutely amazing and she really was like a mother to me - so warm, caring, loving and generous. I will never forget this. Thank you.
Friday, March 1, 2013
A Saw the Light... It was Purple.
Yesterday, my life changed. My year away changed. I walked into a store, that has been said to stock international foods. I walked straight to the aisle, and I saw it. Purple. A deep, rich Purple. A purple all New Zealanders associate with one thing - the colour is copyrighted by that one thing infact. Cadbury.
I have been craving this heaven for over a month. And there it was. Goodness, I've even asked for some Caramello to be bought to the airport when I arrive. Thinking ahead to the maximum, that is how much I miss my Caramello chocolate. And there it was.
Okay, it's the British stuff - the caramel is harder, more toffee like and not the gooey, stringy decadent caramel that melts in your mouth in pure heaveness, but the taste is still there.
The only problem is that I found this store yesterday afternoon, the smallest size they sell is the 200g block, and by yesterday evening the block was gone. And Emma didn't share.
Good bye healthy eating and diet.
Don't worry guys when I take ages coming through the arrival gate at the airport - it takes some time to manouver the forklift onto the airplane.
I have been craving this heaven for over a month. And there it was. Goodness, I've even asked for some Caramello to be bought to the airport when I arrive. Thinking ahead to the maximum, that is how much I miss my Caramello chocolate. And there it was.
Okay, it's the British stuff - the caramel is harder, more toffee like and not the gooey, stringy decadent caramel that melts in your mouth in pure heaveness, but the taste is still there.
The only problem is that I found this store yesterday afternoon, the smallest size they sell is the 200g block, and by yesterday evening the block was gone. And Emma didn't share.
Good bye healthy eating and diet.
Don't worry guys when I take ages coming through the arrival gate at the airport - it takes some time to manouver the forklift onto the airplane.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
You Only Turn 18 Once....
Well, it sure has been a while since I wrote last. And now I have so much to say. Well, lets begin shall we!
I am now back in the 'Can-speak-some-German-Oh-wait-actually-I-am-fluent' class. After my second lesson of "Ein...Zwei...Drei...Who knows what comes next?? amd then getting to the top of the class by being able to count above ten, I decided that if I were to have any brain cells left, I should move up a class before I pulverise them against a table somewhere. So yes, back in the fluent class, although I am not fluent. Ah well, I'll get there eventually. I understand what is happeinig in the class, I just can't speak very well at all.
Last weekend I had my first. My first Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough icecream. It was pure heaven. And people gave me the oddest looks as I sat outside the trainstation in -6 degrees, eating a pottle of icecream with a popsicle stick. However, I then got on the train to my first ever Rotex Weekend in Hundisburg, about 4 hours by fast train from my city. I walked into a room full of 70+ inbounds, all knowing each other and 85% of them being rather rowdy South Americans and just KNEW that no sleep was going to be had! The first night, they took us on a 'scary walk' around the castle grounds that we were staying at. However, while I was expecting Zombie or something to jump out at us, nothing happened UNTIL the very end where I loudly announced that I was expecting something to jump out at me and that I didn't know what the huge hype was about, just as three people leapt out at me. I then screamed, lost my balance in the snow and slid straight onto my ass much to everyone's delight.
That night the music was on full volume until way past 2am, vibrating the entire building. The next morning, we were woken up bright and early by some charming Rotex's armed with pots and wooden spoons. I then discovered I had no voice. And when I mean no voice, I mean not even a sqeak. I spend 3/4 of my day whispering. That day, we went to a village named Hotensleben, where part of the Berlin wall still remains. We also did a tour of what I think of as 'deadly customs', where people had to go to be allowed to cross the border into west /east Germany. I was horrified to learn how many people were killed at these palces, and it really hit me how dark Germany's history is, and that I was standing on ground that people had died on. Even looking into the surrounding woods I could imagine people running, being shot down and just the whole place being a warzone. That day any ;andscape I saw I could picture soldiers, bodies and war. I was reminded of what country I was in. However, while I found the entire day all very interesting, I was very sick, very cold and very wet (the whole tour was outside in the rain and over 5 hours long) and I just found myslef longing to get back on the bus. Is it bad that my favourite part of my entire weekend was getting back onto the bus?
That night we had a costume party, and I was a nerd - suspenders and all. And Iwas a party pooper, going to bed at 12 because by then, sickness had really sunk in- my ears were so swollen and sore my earplugs wouldn't even fit into them. Not fun. The music stopped sometime after 4 that night, and yet again we were woken by the pots.
The next morning we were taken to the train station two hours before our train, to a trainstation with no building for us to take shelter in and 5 layers later, (two of which were wool) I was still cold, shaking and miserable, and sounding like a pack-a-day smoker. Eventually our train arrived and I eagerly went home and straight to bed. I speak of this weekend like it was horrilbe, but that is just because I was miserable and sick and wanting some peace and quiet and sleep - it really was a great weekend where I met so many amazing people and learnt so much.
My health somehow managed to get even worse, with a pounding headache from the continuous coughing, sore throat, stomach pain, aching ears and eyes, fever and the chills. This lasted from sunday through to Friday. And yes, for those that know me well enoguh, that means it covered my birthday.
I woke on my birthday feeling rotten. The first thing I did was skype Mum, who sang her usual whiney, sqeaky and tuneless happy birthday song whcih tugged at a few heartstrings. I then opened the cards I had been sent from her, Gran and Sarah. We spoke for a while, and then I skyped Mason. After the skype sessions were over, I came downstairs to the mos wonderful surprise - on the table was laid out: A signed German flag from my host family, some gifts, some milka chocolate and a beautiful homemade cake. My host mum was also making some cupcakes at the time, so I helped her tidy up by doing the dishes - never has that bowl been so well licked I believe. I was amazed - I didn't know what I expected from my birthday, but I figured I would just let it slip past like any other day. It's weird - until that day it didn't really feel like my birthday at all. It's like my life in NZ has stopped and is on pause. Birthdays don't happen, no holidays or anything. It feels like i'ts just..frozen until I get back, and that I am in a new life in Germany until I get back and my life continues.
After a breakfast of fresh rolls and nutella, I retired to bed for the afternoon until Alina and her mum, my amazing counsellor and Dalton came over. We sat and ate cake and cupcakes and then I skyped Lou. Dalton stayed for tea, and I think if he hadn't come over, it wouldn't have felt much like a birthday at all - for me, my birthday is about spending time with my family and friends, and Iam glad to say that I saw some of my friends on my birthday or else it would have been very sad indeed! I was also touched at how many people said happy birthday to me on facebook - it sounds silly, but it did mean a lot to me to know I wasn't COMPLETELY forgotten in New Zealand!
On Fraiday I helped Dalton cook a traditional Brazilian meal - beans and rice. Yep... that's it. They eat this twice a day, every day. I made myself useful yet again by helping with the dishes - this time, two condensed milk cans left over from the desert that I DID like.
On Saturday I was asked to help out at a Rotary Charity Dinner that was Spanish themed - everyone was dressed to the nines, and there I stood in Rotary blazer and Chuck Taylor shoes... We were given a four mean course, suposedly Spanish themed - who knew Beef Wellington and roast veges were Spanish! And the deserts were all made by the Rotary Wives - yet again, I wasn't really feeling the Spansih vibe, but the food tasted fantastic nonetheless of it's country of origin. That night, selling raffle tickets we raised 13000 Euros for children. It was a fantastic night, and I sat next to the lovliest old man who was a solider in the German army when he was 16, and rode in the cavalry for a year until the war ended. His job now is to travel around schools, speaking to children about what life was like to live in a Dictatorship and to make sure something like that never happens again. He was the sweetest man who enjoyed talking A LOT and his wife was 96!
And that is all I have to say for now! Having a fantastic time, and very very tired so am off to sleep now,
Goodnight!
I am now back in the 'Can-speak-some-German-Oh-wait-actually-I-am-fluent' class. After my second lesson of "Ein...Zwei...Drei...Who knows what comes next?? amd then getting to the top of the class by being able to count above ten, I decided that if I were to have any brain cells left, I should move up a class before I pulverise them against a table somewhere. So yes, back in the fluent class, although I am not fluent. Ah well, I'll get there eventually. I understand what is happeinig in the class, I just can't speak very well at all.
Last weekend I had my first. My first Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough icecream. It was pure heaven. And people gave me the oddest looks as I sat outside the trainstation in -6 degrees, eating a pottle of icecream with a popsicle stick. However, I then got on the train to my first ever Rotex Weekend in Hundisburg, about 4 hours by fast train from my city. I walked into a room full of 70+ inbounds, all knowing each other and 85% of them being rather rowdy South Americans and just KNEW that no sleep was going to be had! The first night, they took us on a 'scary walk' around the castle grounds that we were staying at. However, while I was expecting Zombie or something to jump out at us, nothing happened UNTIL the very end where I loudly announced that I was expecting something to jump out at me and that I didn't know what the huge hype was about, just as three people leapt out at me. I then screamed, lost my balance in the snow and slid straight onto my ass much to everyone's delight.
That night the music was on full volume until way past 2am, vibrating the entire building. The next morning, we were woken up bright and early by some charming Rotex's armed with pots and wooden spoons. I then discovered I had no voice. And when I mean no voice, I mean not even a sqeak. I spend 3/4 of my day whispering. That day, we went to a village named Hotensleben, where part of the Berlin wall still remains. We also did a tour of what I think of as 'deadly customs', where people had to go to be allowed to cross the border into west /east Germany. I was horrified to learn how many people were killed at these palces, and it really hit me how dark Germany's history is, and that I was standing on ground that people had died on. Even looking into the surrounding woods I could imagine people running, being shot down and just the whole place being a warzone. That day any ;andscape I saw I could picture soldiers, bodies and war. I was reminded of what country I was in. However, while I found the entire day all very interesting, I was very sick, very cold and very wet (the whole tour was outside in the rain and over 5 hours long) and I just found myslef longing to get back on the bus. Is it bad that my favourite part of my entire weekend was getting back onto the bus?
That night we had a costume party, and I was a nerd - suspenders and all. And Iwas a party pooper, going to bed at 12 because by then, sickness had really sunk in- my ears were so swollen and sore my earplugs wouldn't even fit into them. Not fun. The music stopped sometime after 4 that night, and yet again we were woken by the pots.
The next morning we were taken to the train station two hours before our train, to a trainstation with no building for us to take shelter in and 5 layers later, (two of which were wool) I was still cold, shaking and miserable, and sounding like a pack-a-day smoker. Eventually our train arrived and I eagerly went home and straight to bed. I speak of this weekend like it was horrilbe, but that is just because I was miserable and sick and wanting some peace and quiet and sleep - it really was a great weekend where I met so many amazing people and learnt so much.
My health somehow managed to get even worse, with a pounding headache from the continuous coughing, sore throat, stomach pain, aching ears and eyes, fever and the chills. This lasted from sunday through to Friday. And yes, for those that know me well enoguh, that means it covered my birthday.
I woke on my birthday feeling rotten. The first thing I did was skype Mum, who sang her usual whiney, sqeaky and tuneless happy birthday song whcih tugged at a few heartstrings. I then opened the cards I had been sent from her, Gran and Sarah. We spoke for a while, and then I skyped Mason. After the skype sessions were over, I came downstairs to the mos wonderful surprise - on the table was laid out: A signed German flag from my host family, some gifts, some milka chocolate and a beautiful homemade cake. My host mum was also making some cupcakes at the time, so I helped her tidy up by doing the dishes - never has that bowl been so well licked I believe. I was amazed - I didn't know what I expected from my birthday, but I figured I would just let it slip past like any other day. It's weird - until that day it didn't really feel like my birthday at all. It's like my life in NZ has stopped and is on pause. Birthdays don't happen, no holidays or anything. It feels like i'ts just..frozen until I get back, and that I am in a new life in Germany until I get back and my life continues.
After a breakfast of fresh rolls and nutella, I retired to bed for the afternoon until Alina and her mum, my amazing counsellor and Dalton came over. We sat and ate cake and cupcakes and then I skyped Lou. Dalton stayed for tea, and I think if he hadn't come over, it wouldn't have felt much like a birthday at all - for me, my birthday is about spending time with my family and friends, and Iam glad to say that I saw some of my friends on my birthday or else it would have been very sad indeed! I was also touched at how many people said happy birthday to me on facebook - it sounds silly, but it did mean a lot to me to know I wasn't COMPLETELY forgotten in New Zealand!
On Fraiday I helped Dalton cook a traditional Brazilian meal - beans and rice. Yep... that's it. They eat this twice a day, every day. I made myself useful yet again by helping with the dishes - this time, two condensed milk cans left over from the desert that I DID like.
On Saturday I was asked to help out at a Rotary Charity Dinner that was Spanish themed - everyone was dressed to the nines, and there I stood in Rotary blazer and Chuck Taylor shoes... We were given a four mean course, suposedly Spanish themed - who knew Beef Wellington and roast veges were Spanish! And the deserts were all made by the Rotary Wives - yet again, I wasn't really feeling the Spansih vibe, but the food tasted fantastic nonetheless of it's country of origin. That night, selling raffle tickets we raised 13000 Euros for children. It was a fantastic night, and I sat next to the lovliest old man who was a solider in the German army when he was 16, and rode in the cavalry for a year until the war ended. His job now is to travel around schools, speaking to children about what life was like to live in a Dictatorship and to make sure something like that never happens again. He was the sweetest man who enjoyed talking A LOT and his wife was 96!
And that is all I have to say for now! Having a fantastic time, and very very tired so am off to sleep now,
Goodnight!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Life...
Well, it has come to the point where I have lost track on how long I have been here. Jetlag is all gone, and I have slipped into the daily routine of everyday life.
My alarm goes off at 6.15 every morning. EVERY. MORNING. I then get dressed and head down to breakfast. Leaving the house at 7, I bike to my friends house and then through the village until we reach the train station, to catch our 7.15 train. Then, after an 8 minute train ride we are in Lueneburg. We then get on our OTHER bikes, and bike to school ready to begin school at 8am. Twice a week I finish school at 3.15, the other 3 days I finish at 1.15.
Classes are going...varyingly. History and Geography, I have no clue what we are doing. None at all. Whatsoever. Nilch, zero, nil. Biology, I have some idea - it's kind of transportation over a cell membrane, active transport using Na+ and K+ pumps etc - stff I learnt in Year 11 thankfully. German, I have a little bit of an idea. A little. And Philosophy I have had only one class of and I can keep up (barely and very briefly) if I pay verry close attention. Maths...Maths. Ahhhm. Well, I think we can all agree I was never any form of mathematician in New Zealand, and unfortunately that is no different here. Whilst I can understand the numbers obviously, I have no clue how to work things out or anything - its all calculus and functions and eugh. And English. Well, I seem to have some form of gift for English. Due to my French teacher requesting I leave her class, I am now in two English classes - one in which I enjoy and have made some good friends, and one in which I tolerate.
After school, there is always the mad rush to the Train station to catch the train that leaves at 32 minutes past the hour - if you miss it, you have to wait another hour. My afternoons are slowly filling up - on Monday and Wednesday I have my verrry basic verrry beginners course in German. Origionally I was in a course for 'Knows some German words" on a Tuesday and Wednesday - this course, I soon learnt 5 minutes into my first class that it was a "Can speak fluent German and have fluent German converesations and oh look that girl there looks rather lost and confused and LETS TEACH HER HOW TO SPEAK GERMAN IN GERMAN". After that night of horror, I went home and spoke to my host mother asking if I could please change classes. The problem wasn't that I had no idea what people were saying - it seems I am quite good at understanding some things, it's just I don't know how to structure my own sentences and form my own responses - I don't know the rules and guidelines and when to use the small tricky words like mir or aus or how to say their or theirs or ours etc. Things I need to be taught, that I won't be able to learn just by listening, and the more advanced class has learnt aall of this. However, my beginners class is the complete opposite. When they say beginners, they REALLY mean beginners. My first lesson consisted of 45 minutes of introducing oursleves, back and forard around the room - "Hallo, Ich heisse Emma, wie heisst du?" and the other half consisted of "Gut-en ab-end", "Gut-en Mor-gen" - never have I felt the urge to bash my head repeatedly against a table more than that session! However, I must stick to it. This is the class that will hopefully cover what I need to learn, where the other class has already passed that.
Starting in March I will aslo have a Grammar course on Thursday nights.
Friday evenings are now filled with Choir, in the beautiful St Johannes Church in Lueneburg. There are around 20 singers, and myself and another girl are the oldest by two years, but I still enjoy it, and singing hymns and religious songs in German is definitely an experience!
Weekends are starting to get very full also. This weekend alone, I went clubbing with the two other exchange students in Lueneburg (after choir on Friday), stayed the night at one of their houses, got up at noon, was invited to go out with school friends but had to decline due to exhaustion and then spent today with one of my good friends at his house in another village, and met his horse, Lucky. Next weeknd is the Rotex weekend in Hundisburg, and the following is filled with a Rotary dinner and potentially some form of birthday celebrations (yet to be decided). The following weekend is a choir weekend away in Uelzen. Very busy!!
I have made some really great friends here, and most of them are German! They are definitely helping me embrace the German life - some even insisted that I join them for a tradition in germany, where the night before they get their school reports they go out to a club for most of the night, and then straight to school with no sleep. I joined them for some time, however was picked up by my lovely Host brother at 1am as I had no way of getting to my school in the morning and to be honest, 1am was definitely enough for me! The club was smoky, hot and incredibly crowded and I was surrounded by a lot of drunk, smoking people - not really my scene at all! My friends also aren't too impressed with my 'No drinking' rule, but I have proven to them that one can have fun without the help of gross beer!
I also seem to be losing a bit of weight - I think it is due to the small amount of mean consumed here as opposed to New Zealand. Whereas in Nz we have meat with almost every meal, and we have a large quantity of it, here meat is used more to give flavour or texture to a sauce or something, rather than a vital component of a meal. And yes, I am confirming the sterotypical German diet - bread. Bread for lunch, sometimes dinner, and fresh rolls for breakfast in the weekend. Mmmm covered in nutella - I absolutely love it!
Theres not much else to say - its still bloody cold here, and will be for another two weeks at least. More smow is expected tomorrow, which I am surprisingly not looking forward to - biking in snow storms is horrible! But hey, all part of my new life!
But I am exhausted now, and am off to sleep.
Nuhnight!
My alarm goes off at 6.15 every morning. EVERY. MORNING. I then get dressed and head down to breakfast. Leaving the house at 7, I bike to my friends house and then through the village until we reach the train station, to catch our 7.15 train. Then, after an 8 minute train ride we are in Lueneburg. We then get on our OTHER bikes, and bike to school ready to begin school at 8am. Twice a week I finish school at 3.15, the other 3 days I finish at 1.15.
Classes are going...varyingly. History and Geography, I have no clue what we are doing. None at all. Whatsoever. Nilch, zero, nil. Biology, I have some idea - it's kind of transportation over a cell membrane, active transport using Na+ and K+ pumps etc - stff I learnt in Year 11 thankfully. German, I have a little bit of an idea. A little. And Philosophy I have had only one class of and I can keep up (barely and very briefly) if I pay verry close attention. Maths...Maths. Ahhhm. Well, I think we can all agree I was never any form of mathematician in New Zealand, and unfortunately that is no different here. Whilst I can understand the numbers obviously, I have no clue how to work things out or anything - its all calculus and functions and eugh. And English. Well, I seem to have some form of gift for English. Due to my French teacher requesting I leave her class, I am now in two English classes - one in which I enjoy and have made some good friends, and one in which I tolerate.
After school, there is always the mad rush to the Train station to catch the train that leaves at 32 minutes past the hour - if you miss it, you have to wait another hour. My afternoons are slowly filling up - on Monday and Wednesday I have my verrry basic verrry beginners course in German. Origionally I was in a course for 'Knows some German words" on a Tuesday and Wednesday - this course, I soon learnt 5 minutes into my first class that it was a "Can speak fluent German and have fluent German converesations and oh look that girl there looks rather lost and confused and LETS TEACH HER HOW TO SPEAK GERMAN IN GERMAN". After that night of horror, I went home and spoke to my host mother asking if I could please change classes. The problem wasn't that I had no idea what people were saying - it seems I am quite good at understanding some things, it's just I don't know how to structure my own sentences and form my own responses - I don't know the rules and guidelines and when to use the small tricky words like mir or aus or how to say their or theirs or ours etc. Things I need to be taught, that I won't be able to learn just by listening, and the more advanced class has learnt aall of this. However, my beginners class is the complete opposite. When they say beginners, they REALLY mean beginners. My first lesson consisted of 45 minutes of introducing oursleves, back and forard around the room - "Hallo, Ich heisse Emma, wie heisst du?" and the other half consisted of "Gut-en ab-end", "Gut-en Mor-gen" - never have I felt the urge to bash my head repeatedly against a table more than that session! However, I must stick to it. This is the class that will hopefully cover what I need to learn, where the other class has already passed that.
Starting in March I will aslo have a Grammar course on Thursday nights.
Friday evenings are now filled with Choir, in the beautiful St Johannes Church in Lueneburg. There are around 20 singers, and myself and another girl are the oldest by two years, but I still enjoy it, and singing hymns and religious songs in German is definitely an experience!
Weekends are starting to get very full also. This weekend alone, I went clubbing with the two other exchange students in Lueneburg (after choir on Friday), stayed the night at one of their houses, got up at noon, was invited to go out with school friends but had to decline due to exhaustion and then spent today with one of my good friends at his house in another village, and met his horse, Lucky. Next weeknd is the Rotex weekend in Hundisburg, and the following is filled with a Rotary dinner and potentially some form of birthday celebrations (yet to be decided). The following weekend is a choir weekend away in Uelzen. Very busy!!
I have made some really great friends here, and most of them are German! They are definitely helping me embrace the German life - some even insisted that I join them for a tradition in germany, where the night before they get their school reports they go out to a club for most of the night, and then straight to school with no sleep. I joined them for some time, however was picked up by my lovely Host brother at 1am as I had no way of getting to my school in the morning and to be honest, 1am was definitely enough for me! The club was smoky, hot and incredibly crowded and I was surrounded by a lot of drunk, smoking people - not really my scene at all! My friends also aren't too impressed with my 'No drinking' rule, but I have proven to them that one can have fun without the help of gross beer!
I also seem to be losing a bit of weight - I think it is due to the small amount of mean consumed here as opposed to New Zealand. Whereas in Nz we have meat with almost every meal, and we have a large quantity of it, here meat is used more to give flavour or texture to a sauce or something, rather than a vital component of a meal. And yes, I am confirming the sterotypical German diet - bread. Bread for lunch, sometimes dinner, and fresh rolls for breakfast in the weekend. Mmmm covered in nutella - I absolutely love it!
Theres not much else to say - its still bloody cold here, and will be for another two weeks at least. More smow is expected tomorrow, which I am surprisingly not looking forward to - biking in snow storms is horrible! But hey, all part of my new life!
But I am exhausted now, and am off to sleep.
Nuhnight!
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