I am in Berlin. Sitting in the hotel/hostel lobby trying to use their on and off again wifi. Waiting (and hoping ) for the majority of my luggage will be returned, as we paid for, to this hotel. There was a really fun debacle with our luggage but I won't go into it here. Maybe later when it's all over. But onto the more important stuff.
I'm coming to the end of this trip only 5 more nights here in Berlin and then I start the long trek back to Australia. I'm looking forward to going home but I'm also not looking forward to it because I know as soon as I leave Europe I will miss it and want to go back. I want to soak as much of Germany as I can but I feel like I still need to come back and see all the things that I have not yet seen. I feel as if I will come back many more times for longer and for many different reasons. I have really enjoyed my time in Germany and it has made me want to work harder and get more involved in learning the language.
It's a shame that Australia is so far away and it takes so much effort and time and money to travel here. Feasibly I won't be able to come back here for at least another year and a half and who knows what will happen between now and then.
I don't think I have too much more to say. I'm getting nostalgic already. Gosh.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Der Abschluß?
I am coming to the end of my Language Course in Stuttgart, Germany. This time next week I will be (probably sleeping) in a Frankfurt (Main) hotel/hostel like a regular tourist. I have really, really enjoyed my time here in Stuttgart and may even look at the possibility of going on a proper exchange in Germany for a semester although I'm not sure how plausible that would be regarding my degree.
I have really enjoyed it here, somehow I feel both like a complete stranger in this city and but also very much a part of it too. A stranger because although I understand some of the language when I'm out and about and talking to native speakers (a lot more I hope than your average English speaking tourist) I still don't understand quite enough to think that I am truly properly able to function using only German. Looking at signs and advertisements and instructions I understand enough to get by not to a enough to consider myself proficient. At the same time I feel a part of the city because I know how to use the U-bahn and the S-Bahn and are more than just touristy familiar with stations and places. I am living in an apartment building filled with Germans, with a host family that only speak German at the dinner table and only speak German to me (although I may be guilty of speaking a little English to them *sometimes*). I go to school every day at a German university and I have teachers that only speak to me in German.
If I spent a whole semester here I could see myself reaching fluency in the language and perhaps feeling more a part of this place and language. I would be lying it if I said I wasn't looking forward to landing in London Heathrow airport where I will once again by fluent in the native language of the country. I now have a whole new level of respect for people who have to learn any language as a second language especially as adults.
I would really like to write another part to the entry but then I feel it would be too long and I'll probably just end up going on a tangent so I think I'll just make this part one.
I have really enjoyed it here, somehow I feel both like a complete stranger in this city and but also very much a part of it too. A stranger because although I understand some of the language when I'm out and about and talking to native speakers (a lot more I hope than your average English speaking tourist) I still don't understand quite enough to think that I am truly properly able to function using only German. Looking at signs and advertisements and instructions I understand enough to get by not to a enough to consider myself proficient. At the same time I feel a part of the city because I know how to use the U-bahn and the S-Bahn and are more than just touristy familiar with stations and places. I am living in an apartment building filled with Germans, with a host family that only speak German at the dinner table and only speak German to me (although I may be guilty of speaking a little English to them *sometimes*). I go to school every day at a German university and I have teachers that only speak to me in German.
If I spent a whole semester here I could see myself reaching fluency in the language and perhaps feeling more a part of this place and language. I would be lying it if I said I wasn't looking forward to landing in London Heathrow airport where I will once again by fluent in the native language of the country. I now have a whole new level of respect for people who have to learn any language as a second language especially as adults.
I would really like to write another part to the entry but then I feel it would be too long and I'll probably just end up going on a tangent so I think I'll just make this part one.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Februar
You know, I'm a little disappointed that I only wrote four entries for January it seems like a bit of a cop out since I'm away and all. All I can promise is that I will try and post more about the trip later. I have now only less than three weeks to go before I get home and I think I'm torn equally between being glad to go home and wanting to stay another six weeks. Everybody here I have gotten to know over the past 4 weeks have all been very welcoming and fun and I am definitely having a good time. Especially considering there were times when I was rather apprehensive about the decision to spend 8 weeks so far away from home in such a cold climate and in an alien environment. But on the other hand, I miss home quite a lot. The Australian weather and landscape and all my friends and family. Plus I miss being able to understand what is going on around me, the language barrier is a quite a big thing for me. I mean I don't expect to be able to speak fluent German (or even near that) by the time I leave and my German has improved a whole lot since coming here. But when I'm out on the street/in a shop/public transport I still only understand up to 50% of what people say. It is frustrating. In class and with my host family I usually understand a lot more because of context and the fact they know that I'm still just learning.
Anyway am Wochenende I went to two different towns to see two different musicals namely, Wicked die hexen von Ost und Starlight Express. Both were really good and worth all the train-time it took to get their but Wicked was still my definite favourite. All of the songs and dialogue were in German, of course but since I had seen the musical in Melbourne before I knew what was happening even if I only understood the actual dialogue 50% of the time. I had really come because I really like the songs from Wicked and wanted to hear them sung again in another language. So despite the language barrier it was really good.
Starlight Express wasn't as good, it was fun to see all the characters try and sing, dance and rollerblade at the same time but I thought the music really wasn't that good. It was all a bit bland and predicable. The show was easy to understand because there was minimal dialogue and all the songs were in fairly simple language plus it's one of those musics that is basically all about the spectacle and not about the story so there wasn't a complex plot. It was interesting to see all the characters rollerskating all the time but once that novelty wore of it was a little boring.
Also, now I have a whole bunch of programmes to send home. I'm going to have to send quite a few parcels to myself.
Anyway am Wochenende I went to two different towns to see two different musicals namely, Wicked die hexen von Ost und Starlight Express. Both were really good and worth all the train-time it took to get their but Wicked was still my definite favourite. All of the songs and dialogue were in German, of course but since I had seen the musical in Melbourne before I knew what was happening even if I only understood the actual dialogue 50% of the time. I had really come because I really like the songs from Wicked and wanted to hear them sung again in another language. So despite the language barrier it was really good.
Starlight Express wasn't as good, it was fun to see all the characters try and sing, dance and rollerblade at the same time but I thought the music really wasn't that good. It was all a bit bland and predicable. The show was easy to understand because there was minimal dialogue and all the songs were in fairly simple language plus it's one of those musics that is basically all about the spectacle and not about the story so there wasn't a complex plot. It was interesting to see all the characters rollerskating all the time but once that novelty wore of it was a little boring.
Also, now I have a whole bunch of programmes to send home. I'm going to have to send quite a few parcels to myself.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Australia Day in Ausland
(Ausland means abroad for those of you who do not know German)
Yesterday was Australia Day but because I am still in Germany studying there was no public holiday, fireworks or summer sun. There was just snow, German class and coldness. But by a happy coincidence most of the people doing the course with me happen to be Australian, either from Adelaide, Perth or Melbourne. This being the case people turned up to school with pavlova and dressed in green and gold with a whole lot of tacky, Australian flag tattoos.
After class as many people as possible (including a good sum of Americans) went out for dinner + drinks at a German brewery/pub/resturant which was a lot of fun. Ironically we went to a traditional Swabian (the name of the group of people who have traditionally lived in this part of Germany) pub, while there was an Australian restaurant next door. Even though it was really convenience that made us choose this German pub over the Australian one, it seemed like a fitting choice for the celebration that has a very young identity and a whole heap of differing traditions.
There was a decent number of people there from all the German classes and universities so I got to meet and talk to people I wouldn't necessarily see just during/because of class. I ate some traditional KäseSpätzle and Radler (?) a combination of lemonade and beer to drink. Even though German beer is nicer than most Aussie beers I still don't like it! Watered down with lemonade beer is ok.
After we finished eating we went on a massive trek to try and find another pub/club/bar. After losing some people, gaining a few and contemplating going home at least once, we stumbled on a club. Compared to the standard of clubs I am used to this one was fairly decent, 3 Euro entry with a shot of vodka free on entry. Except that went we got down to the dance floor it was pretty much deserted, it's the most deserted I've ever seen a night club. We thought that this was hilarious but stayed awhile and the club got fuller as the night went on. The music was acceptable I thought I was pretty disappointed they didn't play any German pop music, it was all the same music they play at the clubs at home. Partly because I had to be in class at 8:45 the next day and partly because I didn't want to miss my last train home I left kind of early and ended up getting home at about 12:30.
All in all it was a pretty good Australia Day, probably the best so far but that's not saying much because I rarely ever do much to celebrate.
Yesterday was Australia Day but because I am still in Germany studying there was no public holiday, fireworks or summer sun. There was just snow, German class and coldness. But by a happy coincidence most of the people doing the course with me happen to be Australian, either from Adelaide, Perth or Melbourne. This being the case people turned up to school with pavlova and dressed in green and gold with a whole lot of tacky, Australian flag tattoos.
After class as many people as possible (including a good sum of Americans) went out for dinner + drinks at a German brewery/pub/resturant which was a lot of fun. Ironically we went to a traditional Swabian (the name of the group of people who have traditionally lived in this part of Germany) pub, while there was an Australian restaurant next door. Even though it was really convenience that made us choose this German pub over the Australian one, it seemed like a fitting choice for the celebration that has a very young identity and a whole heap of differing traditions.
There was a decent number of people there from all the German classes and universities so I got to meet and talk to people I wouldn't necessarily see just during/because of class. I ate some traditional KäseSpätzle and Radler (?) a combination of lemonade and beer to drink. Even though German beer is nicer than most Aussie beers I still don't like it! Watered down with lemonade beer is ok.
After we finished eating we went on a massive trek to try and find another pub/club/bar. After losing some people, gaining a few and contemplating going home at least once, we stumbled on a club. Compared to the standard of clubs I am used to this one was fairly decent, 3 Euro entry with a shot of vodka free on entry. Except that went we got down to the dance floor it was pretty much deserted, it's the most deserted I've ever seen a night club. We thought that this was hilarious but stayed awhile and the club got fuller as the night went on. The music was acceptable I thought I was pretty disappointed they didn't play any German pop music, it was all the same music they play at the clubs at home. Partly because I had to be in class at 8:45 the next day and partly because I didn't want to miss my last train home I left kind of early and ended up getting home at about 12:30.
All in all it was a pretty good Australia Day, probably the best so far but that's not saying much because I rarely ever do much to celebrate.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snow!
It snowed here in Stuttgart today, it was pretty cool. It start with a tiny bit of snow as I left my apartment building but then by the middle of classes today it was snowing a little bit more solidly. I'm told by my classmates from Connecticut that it was 'good' snow so I guess that's a good way to be introduced to falling snow.
In other news, yesterday was my birthday! I am now officially no longer a teenager! I guess that's exciting but I don't feel any different. It was weird having a birthday twin-less and in such cold weather. Nevertheless my host family put on a lovely dinner for me and a couple of my friends from Winter Uni plus they also bought me a whole bunch of German-themed presents. Which was sehr schön.
I think that is all for now.
In other news, yesterday was my birthday! I am now officially no longer a teenager! I guess that's exciting but I don't feel any different. It was weird having a birthday twin-less and in such cold weather. Nevertheless my host family put on a lovely dinner for me and a couple of my friends from Winter Uni plus they also bought me a whole bunch of German-themed presents. Which was sehr schön.
I think that is all for now.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Das Handy ist kaputt
There you go a real German sentence, live from Germany where it is mostly a shade of black or grey.
Mein Handy ist kaputt. My water bottle spilt in my bag. Now this happens at least once a semester, usually more often. I can safely say that all of my bags that are large enough to carry a water bottle have been victim to an incident of this kind. However, this time the bag in question was my new RRP $400 Mimco bag (for the record I didn't bay nearly that price for it) which holds water surprisingly well which was good, because it meant that the outside of the leather bag did not get water stained and the bag itself was unharmed. Unfortunately, this meant that my stainless steel, built-like-a-rock, previously indestructible LG phone drowned in a Mimco-induced puddle of bottled German water.
So then I went to a shop and bought a phone that cost 29 Euro. Except I lost all my numbers so I'll have to do a stupid facebook event to get them back if I didn't remember to save them on my other sim.
As for my continuing stay in Germany it's going quite well, it's quite exhausting I have class most days from 8.45 until 3.30. I'm lucky that I know a lot of the people in the course and all the other people are really nice and non-cliquey.
Mein Handy ist kaputt. My water bottle spilt in my bag. Now this happens at least once a semester, usually more often. I can safely say that all of my bags that are large enough to carry a water bottle have been victim to an incident of this kind. However, this time the bag in question was my new RRP $400 Mimco bag (for the record I didn't bay nearly that price for it) which holds water surprisingly well which was good, because it meant that the outside of the leather bag did not get water stained and the bag itself was unharmed. Unfortunately, this meant that my stainless steel, built-like-a-rock, previously indestructible LG phone drowned in a Mimco-induced puddle of bottled German water.
So then I went to a shop and bought a phone that cost 29 Euro. Except I lost all my numbers so I'll have to do a stupid facebook event to get them back if I didn't remember to save them on my other sim.
As for my continuing stay in Germany it's going quite well, it's quite exhausting I have class most days from 8.45 until 3.30. I'm lucky that I know a lot of the people in the course and all the other people are really nice and non-cliquey.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Hey I'm in Germany
Hey non-specfic blog reader, it's 2011! And I'm sitting next to a heater with a cup of Harrods tea by my side in Stuttgart, Germany. I mean let's face it there are more than a couple of awesome things about that sentence. The being in Germany is probably the most obvious one. I've not travelled a lot so maybe that's why I have trouble grasping the physical idea idea of being away from home. I just cannot comprehend that I am oceans and landmasses apart from my home city. Even though if I thought about it for two seconds then I'd realise that it would take me at least 24 hours to to travel to my home from where I am sitting now I still can't shake the feeling that I'm only a couple of hours drive away, that if I wanted to go home and see my mother that it would take minimal amounts of effort and time to go do so. But, of course in reality it's still approximately 7 weeks and a 24 hour flight until I can walk through my front door again.
Whenever I do start to miss my friends and family a little I can log onto facebook or text message or call them and I am reminded that even some form of home is still accessible to me (almost) anytime anywhere.
Perhaps the only thing I can't have a little bit of is the weather at home. The hot, sunny weather. Here it's like you're permanently in an ice-rink, being outside it is being on/near the ice and being inside is like being in the warm cafe upstairs where you can start to feel your digits again. Another thing about Perth or Australia in general is that I miss is the expanse of space. Places like London may be much much bigger than than Perth or even or Sydney or Melbourne but because England lacks surface area things feels so much more cramped and boxed in, even in open spaces. The sky seems different. It's seems closer to the ground in Europe but in Australia it make you feel like the world goes on forever or something. I don't really know how to explain it properly. It's probably the thing (as well as the weather) that I miss most about Australia and it makes me feel like I would never permanently move to any other country.
Whenever I do start to miss my friends and family a little I can log onto facebook or text message or call them and I am reminded that even some form of home is still accessible to me (almost) anytime anywhere.
Perhaps the only thing I can't have a little bit of is the weather at home. The hot, sunny weather. Here it's like you're permanently in an ice-rink, being outside it is being on/near the ice and being inside is like being in the warm cafe upstairs where you can start to feel your digits again. Another thing about Perth or Australia in general is that I miss is the expanse of space. Places like London may be much much bigger than than Perth or even or Sydney or Melbourne but because England lacks surface area things feels so much more cramped and boxed in, even in open spaces. The sky seems different. It's seems closer to the ground in Europe but in Australia it make you feel like the world goes on forever or something. I don't really know how to explain it properly. It's probably the thing (as well as the weather) that I miss most about Australia and it makes me feel like I would never permanently move to any other country.
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