11 Days!

So there’s only 11 days until my return to Canada and really not much to report.  I’ll definitely miss Germany but I’m looking forward to going home.

I’m going home a different, stronger, more confident Britney but also going home to a different life.  I’m entering my 5th and final year at the U of C (oh how time flies!) and my dog passed away while I was here in Germany.  Life back in Canada will definitely require some adjustment.

Not really sure what else to say but I thought I should update as its been some time since my last blog post.  Maybe I’ll come up with something later.

Tomorrow I have the day off so I’m going to explore the town and Kloster (Monastery) of Maulbronn where I’ve been working, it should be a good day!

A Day in the Life…

So everyone has been asking me what I do here in Germany…so here goes.

I eat breakfast in the hotel at the breakfast buffet.  The hotel is about a 10 minute walk from where I live which is really very close but actually almost on the otherside of town because Maulbronn is so small (google Earth/map it seriously it’s smaller than Rundle).

Some days I then work in the hotel cleaning rooms, usually just the bathrooms.  I can clean like no one else now! Haha.  That usually goes until about 12 or 12:30 but sometimes (seems like most days now) I leave at 11:45ish to go work at the restaurant.

At the restaurant I pour drinks.  Really typical drinks are Apfelschorle which is Apple Juice mixed with sparkling water and Spezi which is Coca Cola mixed with Fanta (kind of like a German orange pop but not as sweet).  I also pour beer!  I’m getting pretty good at it, it takes practice!

How late I work depends on the day and how busy the restaurant is.

On weekends I also often work weddings!  This past Saturday was a super long day.  First I worked cleaning rooms, then in the restaurant, then at a wedding!  I worked from 9am to 4am with hardly any breaks, it was rather insane.  I did meet a really funny/nice/outgoing guy at the wedding though!  He pulled me onto the dance floor and told me to forget about work.  It was pretty funny.  At the end of the night we exchanged email addresses.

Also some things I will miss about Germany (seeing as I go home in 26 days!):
- cobble streets
- delicious food cooked for me everyday
- being a 10 minute walk from work

Settling in..

So I’m starting to settle in to life here in Maulbronn.  After sleeping in the basement for a few days because of the overbooked hotel (they needed to put guests in our rooms) I’m back in my room sleeping comfortabley.  I also now know where the schedules are so I can see where and when I’m supposed to be working – even when they double book me like this coming Saturday.

I’m on my third week of work, which means only 5 more then time to head home! I’m getting excited to go home and see my family and such but it will also be sad to leave Germany behind for who knows how long.  My German is improving everyday – I actually understand television programs now which is rather exciting! And I can understand my coworkers when they’re not speaking directly to me!

I also got to visit a couple neighbouring towns, Pforzheim for shopping and Stuttgart for a really awesome museum of the history of Baden-Wuerttenburg! I love museums, I don’t care how much of a geek that makes me, and this one was definitely one of the best ones I’ve been to!  I did the audio guide tour in English just for a break from German, but I had to read all the plaques and things describing the artifacts in German – not easy!

Long time no blogging..

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the terrible lapse in blogging but I´ve been seeing the world and there hasn´t been much time to blog.  Since I last wrote I´ve been to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and back to England!  It was an incredible trip and I´d recommend Topdeck to anyone looking to go on a group vacation!  I had an amazing time and met a lot of amazing people!

I´m now back in Germany, somewhere where I can understand the language (at least a little bit) and slowly adjusting to work and life here.  I´m living in a guest house of the hotel and I have my own room which is huge and has it´s own bathroom as well.

Work isn´t going so smoothly though, seems like they don´t really need me and are just trying to find stuff to keep me occupyed, rather annoying.  So right now I´m feeling like I just want to go home.  I´m actually really tempted to ask my dad to change my flights and go home ASAP.  But I´m going to stick it out, it´s only 8 weeks, and this way I can atleast earn a bit of money.  I know lots of people back home are having problems finding summer jobs so I should just be happy that I have one.   Hopefully I can get into some sort of a routine sooner rather than later, and I really want to fit in some travelling, but I´m not sure if that will be possible yet.  I don´t even really have a work schedule.

So yeah today I´m feeling a bit bummed, hopefully things get better.

Wow time flies…

So the 6 amazing weeks with CSSG 2009 are over.   I feel like the little lizard/dinosaur at the end of Just of For Laughs who yells “mommy it’s over” or something to that effect.

I felt like in the last week or so I finally got close to a couple people which was cool, but now I won’t see them for quite some time, which is not so cool.

I’m fairly sad to be leaving my host family, they were really awesome! And leaving behind good friends and good memories.  But I’m also excited for the next leg of my trip!!  On to Holland!! Then London and a bus tour!

FYI I got an A+ in my course!! EEE!

Life as a German..

So things have been pretty busy here but I’m procrastinating so I’ve got time to do an update!

Last week we went to a Volktanzabend (Folk Dance Evening) and learned some traditional folk dances from Germany as well as Holland and Turkey! It was sooo much fun!  I really need to join that Bavarian/Austrian dance group when I get home!

Then on Thursday morning it was off to Eisenach and Weimar.  Eisenach is home to the castle where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into a common German which the people could actually read.  Basically it was the birth place of the standard German language.  Pretty important to German history!  I’ve been there before but it was cool to get an English tour this time!

Weimar is the home of famous Germans such as Goethe and Schiller (poets/writers) and also the home of the first German Democracy, apply named the Weimar Republic.  I got a walking tour in German (which I actually understood most of) and also visited the Concentration Camp Buchenwald which is just outside of the city.

While at Buchenwald I happened to walk into a building through the exit, so I didn’t really know what was in the building, I stepped into a room and there was the Crematorium!  I was not at all prepared for that and it freaked me out a bit.   This is the 2nd Concentration Camp I’ve been to in Germany – the first was 2 years ago at Sachsen-Hausen.  I think it’s so important to visit Concentration Camps so that we remember what happened and never forget it so that it doesn’t happen again.   It really astounds me how there could be such a lack of respect for human life.

Now I’m back in Kassel for my final week!  I can’t believe how quickly time has gone!  But I’ve still got so much to look forward to this summer!   Oh and right now, there’s 2 horses in my backyard (my host family has horses and sometimes they bring them into the backyard) even though I live in the city (though on the edge).  I love Germany!

Hamburg!

Okay this update is long over due but I’ve been fairly busy!

Last weekend I went to Hamburg in the north of Germany with 9 other people.  Travelling with this many people was a little bit hectic but it went pretty well.  The harbour and city are rather amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much construction on one street before though!

The first night we went out to the Reeperbahn which is the largest red light district in Europe – even beats out Amsterdam!  It was rather interesting but we didn’t go into any of the places.  We then met up with some locals that a friend knew and hit up a over priced Australian bar.  I was sooo exhausted but had a good time!

The next day we saw Miniture Wunderland (model trains galore!) and the bombed out St. Nikolia Kirche with amazing views of the city!  Plus no stairs to climb!  The elevator (or Lift) was rather fast and a little freaky, but saved the legs!

The harbour was rather beautiful and we ate fish and chips at a stand along the harbour.

This week back in Kassel has been fairly tame, nothing really to tell.  I booked all my tickets for trains and flights to Holland and then London and then Stuttgart though so that’s a weight off my mind.  They cost a bit more than I had expected but I’m flying with British Airways which is less of a hassle than flying with cheaper carriers like German Wings or EasyJet.

This weekend I’m staying in Kassel even though it’s rather cold here! Although luckily no snow like Calgary!  Last night I went out with some friends, today I’m doing homework and then going out later, tomorrow maybe some museum hopping or shopping and then a play! 

Berliner Report #2

Alright so after the philharmonic my friend Krystal and I just headed back to the hostel for bed since we were both so tired!

Friday May 22nd we started off the day by seeing the Stasi-Gefaengnis (German Communist Prison)  in Berlin.  It was pretty interesting to see the way they treated political prisoners in those days – just for wanting to leave the country!!  No wonder so many people tried to or did leave and I now understand more about the stories Karl-Heinz (Steve’s Opa) told me about East-Germany.

After the Stasi Prison we headed again over to the East Side Gallery and then it was on to KaDaWe which stands for Kaufhaus Des Westens.  Pretty much the biggest, fanciest, and most expensive department store ever!  I bought a totebag for 3 Euros and we had some snacks on the 7th floor restaurant.  Seriously expensive, but oh well it was pretty yummy!

After KaDeWe we saw the Gedaechnis Kirche (not sure of the spelling) which is a church which was mostly destroyed during the 2nd world war.  They build the new church right next to it which is plain and almost ugly from the outside but is amazing on the inside with all the different colours of stained glass.

We then headed back to the hostel for dinner and some cheap beer.  Friday night was rather amazing.  After having a few beers in the back yard of the hostel we headed out to “slay the city”.   Some people went to a gallery for a famous photographer and the rest of us headed to a restaurant near by for drinks.  After that we headed to a rave at a place called SCALA.

The rave was pretty awesome…at first it was just your normal place with music and beer but then we went down a floor to dance.  Dancing in Germany is way different than in Canada, the only people “bumping and grinding” are the Canadians!  Germans be and let be…they dance in their own space and give everyone else their own space.  No need to worry about being touched innappropriately or having to stay away from creepy guys.  We also met 2 Germans who at the end of the night lead us up to the top of the apartment building the rave was in.

We climbed the stairs to the top of the building then entered the really creepy attic, I felt like I was in a movie.  It was already about 5am at this time!  We then climbed a metal latter to the roof!!  I saw the sunrise behind the famous Fernsehenturm in Berlin!  That is seriously a moment I will never ever forget!

We stayed up there for a little bit but then headed out back to the hostel.  We stopped around 5:30am for some breakfast donairs with a couple Norwegians we met also leaving the rave.

I got into my hostel room at about 6:15am and slept for about 45 minutes.  Then it was time to shower, pack and head out for some more sight seeing.   I headed off with Cathlin, Morgan and Nathan to the Olympic Stadium where the 1936 Berlin Olympics were held.  It was really quite an amazing sight and I never would have thought to see it on my own.

Then there was some souvenir shopping by the Brandenburg Gate and a visit to the identical French and German Cathedrals.

That was the end of our trip and we headed back with our feet in an incredible amount of pain back to the hostel.  I can’t believe I walked and danced so much in just a few days, or how stiff and sore my body was!  But I had an amazing time and it was definitely a different experience than my first time in Berlin which I’m really glad for!   Now its time to do homework for class tomorrow!

I’ll add the links to photos when I get them up on facebook!

Bis Bald,

Brit

Berliner Report

Alright so I’m going to break this up into days to make it easier for everyone.

We arrived around 2pm on Wednesday May 20th in Berlin.  The bus ride took about 6 hours and was fairly boring.

Once arriving we did a little bit of sight seeing, had dinner, did some beer drinking and then headed out for the night.  We first went to a few little pubs but then found this small little club that seemed quite quiet at first, but then we went out the back door.  It was like entering a new world – there was an open air area that had sand for a floor and graffiti was everywhere!  There were some strange things to sit on or in – like an old metal bathtub.

This outdoor beach garden was shared by about 3 little bars (Kneippe).  To me it felt like the epitome of what Berlin is – this surreal world.  I finally had another one of those “holy crap I’m in Germany” moments – I love those moments!

We chatted and danced the night away – I got back to the hostel at about 4 am and only got about 3 hours of sleep.

On Thursday May 21st we headed out early to the East Side Gallery.  This is a portion of the Berlin wall that still stands and serves as an art gallery – for art that is painted on the wall.  They are currently re-painting this gallery because of the extensive graffiti as well as people take pieces of the wall with them and general environmental weathering.  Parts of the wall are currently painted white, while other parts are almost done.

After the East Side Gallery we headed back to the Stadt-Mitte (center of town) to see the Jewish Museum.  This museum is different than other holocaust museums I’ve been to because it documented actual families.  It was really heart-wrenching and made me think alot about what can go on in the world.  I wonder how SS guards were able to kill so many people without questioning their orders.

After the Jewish museum we headed off to Kreuzburg – the old Turkish quarter – with our Professor John.  It was raining pretty hard during parts but we still had a good time and got to eat some really good food!!   We then headed back to the hostel to get ready for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra!

Off to Berlin!

Tomorrow we’re off to Berlin!  The bus leaves at 8 am which means we’re leaving the house at 7:30 in the morning.   I’m mostly packed, I just need to pack my shower things!

We’ll be there from Wednesday to Saturday and staying in a youth hostel.  I’m looking forward to it even though I was there 2 years ago, it should be really great!

I’ll have more to update when I get back I’m sure.   Oh today I had a Doener (Donair) from my favourite Doener place in Kassel! I waited 2 years, and yes it was as good as I had remembered! YUMMY!!  And only 2 Euros! Though it was 1,50 Euros the last time I was here – darn inflation!

Oh and another thing I’ve noticed…the paper sizes here are different than back home so my papers don’t fit in the binder I brought with me!  You think I would have known that before but for some reason I didn’t realize that.