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.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
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!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Schule
Well, today I experienced my first day of school in Germany. All I can say is that I really REALLY need to learn German.
The building in genuinely Hogwarts. It has the spires, the many stories in height as well as the endless stairways and corridors. The only difference is that these ones don't move. Origionally, I was meant to be put in 10th grade, which I was a bit uneasy about as kids in that year level are a good 3 years younger than me. However, a very close family friend who is my age goes to the same school is in 11th grade, and after some convincing the school allowed me to tag along with her. We had two classes today. Two. History and French.
History was...nicht gut. I think if I could understand the language I could actually do the schoolwork, but because of my somewhat mountanous language barrier, I spent the lesson on Alina's translater, typing in words off her worksheet that I didn't recognise to find the meaning. In a way, I suppose this is good for me to do because while admittedly I am not doing the school work given, (I couldn't even tell you what the schoolwork IS) I AM learning the language slowly which is the aim of this whole exchange.
French, however is an entirely different story. I honestly spent two hours sitting in a class of students all speaking fluent french. I can't even speack GERMAN, let alone french. While the History teacher tolerated me, the French teacher did not as such. The only thing I understood the whole lesson was when Alina was told off by the teacher for ME drinking in class. She then went onto a rant about how nobody is allowed to eat or drink in her classroom, while everyone argued back (most keep their drinkbottles on the desk next to them, which was what gave me the impression it was acceptable to do so.) The teacher also told Alina that she doesn't want me in her classroom as I can't speak French - not complaining there. We are going to try and get it organised so that when Alina has French, I go to the library and do German work and learn the primary language I'm supposed to pick up on this exchange. School finished at around 12. And tomorrow I have one class. ONE. I'm finished for the day by 9.35. Not bad, eh? We also have a language course organised for me that I am starting in February. It is twice a week, and in March I am picking up yet another course as well that is attached to the other class - I end up doing about 3 hours of German each lesson instead of 1.5 hours. I don't mind the length or anything at the moment - I am just desperate to learn the language. However, I might not be so enthusiastic about the classes once they begin, we will see!
My body clock has still not reset itself. At 3 in the afternoon (3am NZ time), I am exhausted and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, and at 4am I am bouncing around the room and unable to close my eyes - not useful on your first day of school. At all.
However my four in the morning antics are slowly taking their toll on me, especially after our hour long walk through the country this afternoon with the dogs. The landscape is beautiful, almost rugged in a way and completely covered in a blanket of snow. You can see tracks along the field made by deeer, and we even managed to spot 3 of them off in the distance. And did I mention it was NEGATIVE 12 DEGREES TODAY. In New Zealand we were in Summer - getting up to 30 degrees even. It's going to take a while to adjust I think!
But it's dinner time soon, and then I m going to have to fight with myelf to stay awake until an appropriate time. Ah well, I'll get there!
Nuhnight!
The building in genuinely Hogwarts. It has the spires, the many stories in height as well as the endless stairways and corridors. The only difference is that these ones don't move. Origionally, I was meant to be put in 10th grade, which I was a bit uneasy about as kids in that year level are a good 3 years younger than me. However, a very close family friend who is my age goes to the same school is in 11th grade, and after some convincing the school allowed me to tag along with her. We had two classes today. Two. History and French.
History was...nicht gut. I think if I could understand the language I could actually do the schoolwork, but because of my somewhat mountanous language barrier, I spent the lesson on Alina's translater, typing in words off her worksheet that I didn't recognise to find the meaning. In a way, I suppose this is good for me to do because while admittedly I am not doing the school work given, (I couldn't even tell you what the schoolwork IS) I AM learning the language slowly which is the aim of this whole exchange.
French, however is an entirely different story. I honestly spent two hours sitting in a class of students all speaking fluent french. I can't even speack GERMAN, let alone french. While the History teacher tolerated me, the French teacher did not as such. The only thing I understood the whole lesson was when Alina was told off by the teacher for ME drinking in class. She then went onto a rant about how nobody is allowed to eat or drink in her classroom, while everyone argued back (most keep their drinkbottles on the desk next to them, which was what gave me the impression it was acceptable to do so.) The teacher also told Alina that she doesn't want me in her classroom as I can't speak French - not complaining there. We are going to try and get it organised so that when Alina has French, I go to the library and do German work and learn the primary language I'm supposed to pick up on this exchange. School finished at around 12. And tomorrow I have one class. ONE. I'm finished for the day by 9.35. Not bad, eh? We also have a language course organised for me that I am starting in February. It is twice a week, and in March I am picking up yet another course as well that is attached to the other class - I end up doing about 3 hours of German each lesson instead of 1.5 hours. I don't mind the length or anything at the moment - I am just desperate to learn the language. However, I might not be so enthusiastic about the classes once they begin, we will see!
My body clock has still not reset itself. At 3 in the afternoon (3am NZ time), I am exhausted and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, and at 4am I am bouncing around the room and unable to close my eyes - not useful on your first day of school. At all.
However my four in the morning antics are slowly taking their toll on me, especially after our hour long walk through the country this afternoon with the dogs. The landscape is beautiful, almost rugged in a way and completely covered in a blanket of snow. You can see tracks along the field made by deeer, and we even managed to spot 3 of them off in the distance. And did I mention it was NEGATIVE 12 DEGREES TODAY. In New Zealand we were in Summer - getting up to 30 degrees even. It's going to take a while to adjust I think!
But it's dinner time soon, and then I m going to have to fight with myelf to stay awake until an appropriate time. Ah well, I'll get there!
Nuhnight!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Update on my Adventure - I Have Arrived!
So much has happend these past few days, and I am exhausted.
Disneyland on my first day of LA was incredible. I love it. I wish I coud live there. The rides were amazing, the shogping was amazing (not sure if good thing or not!) and the food was also amazing. I ended up buying a Disneyland Hoodie (they didn't have a Lion King one or an Eyore one) and I left wishing I had another 3 days to see and do everything. Universal the next day was a bit of a let down after such an amazing day at Disneyland, but the few rides that it did have were super good even though I had no interest in the movies they were themed on. That afternoon, after going to Universal we went to Hollywood Boulevard - definitely an experience. Iam glad to be able to say that I have been there, but that is about it. I found the number of people that would come up to you trying to scam you into giving them money quite terrifying and because of the amount of beggars, the whole place had a rather..dodgy atmosphere to it. However, I did get to see the stars and got at least 50 photos of different Celebritie's mark of fame!
The next day we left for London after making it through the thing I was so scared about - LA customs. However, I manged to get my way through there alive, so I was safe. The last day in LA, Jess, Brenna and I were craving healthy fruit so much that we actually went over to the supermarket and bought nectarines, peaches and raspberries for breakfast. We just needed something healthy!!
I got no sleep on the 10 hour flight. None at all, thanks to a screaming baby.
Flying over London, we could see that it was snowing. However, it wasn't until we found out that some flights had been cancelled did we realise how badly. However, while everyone elses flight that had been cancelled had been booked onto another flight for that day, as only my travelling luck would have it the next flight going to Hamburg was for the next day meaning that Iwould have to spend the night alone, in a hotel. Fortunately another girl ended up sharing the room with me, meaning I was not the only one having to spend the night there. The airport ended up booking me into a 4 star hotel with a standard room costing $500NZD a night, with complimentary dinner and breakfast as well as vouchers providing shuttle transport to and from the airport. The weather looked promising this morning, and I made it onto my flight. I am in love with London - everyone there is ridiculously friendly and I just love their accents! My flight to Hamburg was an hour long, and surprisingly exhausting. I hit yet another wall when I got to customs and they asked to see my visa - something I had been informed that I did not need. They told em that I couldn't stay in germany without it, making my heart stop. Turns out though, that I have 3 months to apply for one and that Rotary will organise it for me - something else I really didn't want to have to overcome when exahausted and wanting to get home!
Eventually I made it through the doors to the arrival lounge, where Liane was waiting for me with a Welcome balloon. Germany is Cold. VERY VERY COLD. After an hour drive we made in to Lueneburg, and to our little village. Their house is beautiful, and their dog is scared of me. The family are so welcoming and I feel so comfortable here, although I desperately miss my uggboots and need to buy a coat! I have also been informed that I start school on Wednesday, and I am likely to be put in a class of year 10's - yaaay! :P Did I mention that everyone speaks German here? My host family can speak english as well, but they ALL SPEAK GERMAN. But I need to go to dinner now, and then off to bed.
Nuhnight!
Disneyland on my first day of LA was incredible. I love it. I wish I coud live there. The rides were amazing, the shogping was amazing (not sure if good thing or not!) and the food was also amazing. I ended up buying a Disneyland Hoodie (they didn't have a Lion King one or an Eyore one) and I left wishing I had another 3 days to see and do everything. Universal the next day was a bit of a let down after such an amazing day at Disneyland, but the few rides that it did have were super good even though I had no interest in the movies they were themed on. That afternoon, after going to Universal we went to Hollywood Boulevard - definitely an experience. Iam glad to be able to say that I have been there, but that is about it. I found the number of people that would come up to you trying to scam you into giving them money quite terrifying and because of the amount of beggars, the whole place had a rather..dodgy atmosphere to it. However, I did get to see the stars and got at least 50 photos of different Celebritie's mark of fame!
The next day we left for London after making it through the thing I was so scared about - LA customs. However, I manged to get my way through there alive, so I was safe. The last day in LA, Jess, Brenna and I were craving healthy fruit so much that we actually went over to the supermarket and bought nectarines, peaches and raspberries for breakfast. We just needed something healthy!!
I got no sleep on the 10 hour flight. None at all, thanks to a screaming baby.
Flying over London, we could see that it was snowing. However, it wasn't until we found out that some flights had been cancelled did we realise how badly. However, while everyone elses flight that had been cancelled had been booked onto another flight for that day, as only my travelling luck would have it the next flight going to Hamburg was for the next day meaning that Iwould have to spend the night alone, in a hotel. Fortunately another girl ended up sharing the room with me, meaning I was not the only one having to spend the night there. The airport ended up booking me into a 4 star hotel with a standard room costing $500NZD a night, with complimentary dinner and breakfast as well as vouchers providing shuttle transport to and from the airport. The weather looked promising this morning, and I made it onto my flight. I am in love with London - everyone there is ridiculously friendly and I just love their accents! My flight to Hamburg was an hour long, and surprisingly exhausting. I hit yet another wall when I got to customs and they asked to see my visa - something I had been informed that I did not need. They told em that I couldn't stay in germany without it, making my heart stop. Turns out though, that I have 3 months to apply for one and that Rotary will organise it for me - something else I really didn't want to have to overcome when exahausted and wanting to get home!
Eventually I made it through the doors to the arrival lounge, where Liane was waiting for me with a Welcome balloon. Germany is Cold. VERY VERY COLD. After an hour drive we made in to Lueneburg, and to our little village. Their house is beautiful, and their dog is scared of me. The family are so welcoming and I feel so comfortable here, although I desperately miss my uggboots and need to buy a coat! I have also been informed that I start school on Wednesday, and I am likely to be put in a class of year 10's - yaaay! :P Did I mention that everyone speaks German here? My host family can speak english as well, but they ALL SPEAK GERMAN. But I need to go to dinner now, and then off to bed.
Nuhnight!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
My Adventure Begins...
Well, who would have believed it. I, Emma Ferner have arrived in one piece in Las Angeles. The girl that, until yesterday had not left little New Zealand has ventured out into the big wide world.
There were only a few dilemmas that happened on the way - needless to say I do not think I am fit for travel. First, the woman at baggage check in refused to let me check in as I didn't have a physical address on me of where I am staying in the States. After my heart stopping for a second and Harrie informing me that my address was likely to be in my itinerary (thankfully it was), I was allowed to check in. However, then as I am walking away from the desk I realise that the woman never returned my passport to me. After another panicked moment my passport was back in my posession ( NOT MY FAULT SHE DIDN'T GIVE IT BACK). After some very-close-to-tears goodbyes, (I couldn't look Mum or Mason in the eye. If I had, I would have lost it), I proceeded through domestic customs. Going through, alas I set off the metal detectors and after realising my phone was in my pocket, I am sent back to go through again. After recieveing the all clear, I went off and had a wander about before realising that I, Emma Ferner, had left my phone at security. Just as I realise, there is a loud speaker announcement to the whole airport about it *sigh*. Might I point out, I have not even left Christchurch at this point.
Thankfully, the rest of my airport experience went surprisingly well considering my previous track record. On my first big plane ever I was seated between two complete adult strangers who didn't appreciate the fact that I got up lots during the flight. As I was wedged between two strangers, sleeping was a bit of an uncomfortable mission as I did not fancy the idea of waking up facing either of them. I managed to steal about three hours of sleep in the end. They fed us Korma Curry for dinner followed by Kapiti Icecream, and fruit salad and really yummy cereal for breakfast.
Las Angeles is massive. I mean ginormous. HUGE. Bigger than the canterbury plains, and filled with residential buildings, motorways and skyscrapers. The city goes on for miles, out of eyesight.
Customs at USA was terrifying after watching far too much border patrol. I was surprised that they didn't even guddle through my bag or anything. However, they DID take my fingerprints and take photos of me like I was some criminal.
When we finally arived at the hotel, we went to our rooms and got changed to go to Venice Beach. On the way, our lovely chaperone Lisa informed us of 'Medical Marijuana' that is legal in the US. Needless to say, when we arrived, the stores that lined the beach were filled to the brim with things to smoke marijuana from, 'docotr consultations' and just weed. Lots and lots of weed. T-shirts with pictures, hats, hoodies, everything. The place was also filled with homeless people. Almost half of the people on the strip were homeless, all holding signs or trying to sell things. One sign I particulalry remember was "Not gonna lie, need $$ for beer". As much as I thought the beach at sunset was beautiful, and admired the many palm trees as seen in movies, I could never live here. Ever. Too intimidating, too..dodgy. However, for a holiday it was truly an experience!
We then went out for a good ole traditional meal - Pizza and deep fried chicken! Admittedly, what I did eat was really good, however my waistline may not agree... I also tried Pink Lemonade which surprisingly didn't taste like lemonade at all and wasn't fizzy either - very different!
After our grand dinnner, we returned to the hotel before proceeding to the supermarket and one thing I have to say: SO. MUCH. FANCY. ICECREAM. SOOOO MUCH. I should have bought some, but I decided to save my money for better things. Like Disneyland tomorrow - AHHH I CAN'T WAIT! They also had an impressive chip section of the supermarket, and lots of products with peanut butter - PB stuffed pretzels, M&M's, Icecream and even pre-mixed Peanut butter and Jam. It was amazing. Also, people kept laughing at our amazement and sheer wonder at everything in the supermarket, and we were even asked if we were Australian. IT HAS BEGUN.
Well, Its getting late now and while I don't FEEL Tired, I feel like I am sitting on a boat. My head rocks and gets dizzy every time I turn it. I think this is a sign to go and try to navigate the terrifying shower that appears to have some secret to make it work, and crawl off to bed.
Nuhnight!
There were only a few dilemmas that happened on the way - needless to say I do not think I am fit for travel. First, the woman at baggage check in refused to let me check in as I didn't have a physical address on me of where I am staying in the States. After my heart stopping for a second and Harrie informing me that my address was likely to be in my itinerary (thankfully it was), I was allowed to check in. However, then as I am walking away from the desk I realise that the woman never returned my passport to me. After another panicked moment my passport was back in my posession ( NOT MY FAULT SHE DIDN'T GIVE IT BACK). After some very-close-to-tears goodbyes, (I couldn't look Mum or Mason in the eye. If I had, I would have lost it), I proceeded through domestic customs. Going through, alas I set off the metal detectors and after realising my phone was in my pocket, I am sent back to go through again. After recieveing the all clear, I went off and had a wander about before realising that I, Emma Ferner, had left my phone at security. Just as I realise, there is a loud speaker announcement to the whole airport about it *sigh*. Might I point out, I have not even left Christchurch at this point.
Thankfully, the rest of my airport experience went surprisingly well considering my previous track record. On my first big plane ever I was seated between two complete adult strangers who didn't appreciate the fact that I got up lots during the flight. As I was wedged between two strangers, sleeping was a bit of an uncomfortable mission as I did not fancy the idea of waking up facing either of them. I managed to steal about three hours of sleep in the end. They fed us Korma Curry for dinner followed by Kapiti Icecream, and fruit salad and really yummy cereal for breakfast.
Las Angeles is massive. I mean ginormous. HUGE. Bigger than the canterbury plains, and filled with residential buildings, motorways and skyscrapers. The city goes on for miles, out of eyesight.
Customs at USA was terrifying after watching far too much border patrol. I was surprised that they didn't even guddle through my bag or anything. However, they DID take my fingerprints and take photos of me like I was some criminal.
When we finally arived at the hotel, we went to our rooms and got changed to go to Venice Beach. On the way, our lovely chaperone Lisa informed us of 'Medical Marijuana' that is legal in the US. Needless to say, when we arrived, the stores that lined the beach were filled to the brim with things to smoke marijuana from, 'docotr consultations' and just weed. Lots and lots of weed. T-shirts with pictures, hats, hoodies, everything. The place was also filled with homeless people. Almost half of the people on the strip were homeless, all holding signs or trying to sell things. One sign I particulalry remember was "Not gonna lie, need $$ for beer". As much as I thought the beach at sunset was beautiful, and admired the many palm trees as seen in movies, I could never live here. Ever. Too intimidating, too..dodgy. However, for a holiday it was truly an experience!
We then went out for a good ole traditional meal - Pizza and deep fried chicken! Admittedly, what I did eat was really good, however my waistline may not agree... I also tried Pink Lemonade which surprisingly didn't taste like lemonade at all and wasn't fizzy either - very different!
After our grand dinnner, we returned to the hotel before proceeding to the supermarket and one thing I have to say: SO. MUCH. FANCY. ICECREAM. SOOOO MUCH. I should have bought some, but I decided to save my money for better things. Like Disneyland tomorrow - AHHH I CAN'T WAIT! They also had an impressive chip section of the supermarket, and lots of products with peanut butter - PB stuffed pretzels, M&M's, Icecream and even pre-mixed Peanut butter and Jam. It was amazing. Also, people kept laughing at our amazement and sheer wonder at everything in the supermarket, and we were even asked if we were Australian. IT HAS BEGUN.
Well, Its getting late now and while I don't FEEL Tired, I feel like I am sitting on a boat. My head rocks and gets dizzy every time I turn it. I think this is a sign to go and try to navigate the terrifying shower that appears to have some secret to make it work, and crawl off to bed.
Nuhnight!
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