2.2.2011

Came home from school, no sport tomorrow!!! I am really happy because the teacher is a total w*&%er and thinks he knows how to do every sport, even though he doesn't. I still can't believe the time has gone by so fast. Slept quite a lot after school. Really loving this bakery down the road from the school that sells mozzarella bread rolls, Laurent quality, normal price. I am really going to miss Germany

Another Bulk Posting

27.1. cont.

I took the train to Nürnberg and it was worth the trip. I walked around town for a while and didn't really know what to do, in the end I had about 2 hours to spare and I saw that there was a transport museum. It was really cool, showing the growth and extravagance of the German train system since the beginning. I stayed until closing time and I saw a Russian kindergarten group. One of the kids reminded me of one the crazy little ones in Ukrainian school. Oh Uki school...

It had been snowing the whole day and it didn't look like it was getting better, when I walked into the museum, it was snowing but instantly melting, as I left, it was snowing like crazy, windy and there was snow everywhere. I asked the cashier at the museum if she knew where there was a supermarket. She recommended a petrol station, which I know is expensive. 50 metres down the road was a shopping complex with 2 supermarkets and a pharmacy.

The train ride home was delayed 20 minutes and at various points along the route, the train driver had different excuses for why we were late. I got home from an action-packed day of which about 6 hours were spent travelling, but for only 21 €, it was absolutely worth the money spent!

28-30.1.2011

Some people thought I had left without saying goodbye, again!! I found out that I didn't miss out on anything in sport, as in I didn't miss gymnastics, damn!!! I was really tired from the last few weeks of travelling so as soon as I came home I crashed into bed practically until Sunday morning.

On Sunday I logged some points into my GPS and I was off geocaching with Rocky. Sadly I was not able to find anything because it is all snowed in, it was still a fun walk to a place that I had never been before. Part of the place where we were was back in the first few weeks when I got lost with Rocky. It struck me how much more confident I was walking around in the forest, knowing where I was, despite having a GPS.

I spent the afternoon sleeping again, it was so nice and relaxing to just have a quiet weekend without anything on.

31.1.2011

I spent the day at school and then commuted to Munich. I lodged a complaint with DHL about my parcel not turning up yet. I like how they expect you to remember what you packed in there 2 months ago!! Hopefully my second parcel with all the fun stuff arrives a bit more punctually.

The TV show in the Australian jungle finished on Saturday, but they have a channel called DMAX, which broadcasts often Man vs Wild and such other American survival shows. I would say it is one of my favourite non-mainstream channels.

Sara-Maria has her 16th birthday tomorrow and I was walking around in a shop and the Aussie film "Beneath Hill 60" instantly got my attention. I hope she likes it, I know she is a war story/film fanatic.

1.2.2011

Pinch, punch, first day of the month!! Last month in Germany, the time has flown so quickly. I have enjoyed the time here and I have been to so many places in such a short timespan, mostly thanks to being already confident with the German transport system, the friends I have in Deidesheim and region and the fact that I could join the school German trip in Berlin, it has been absolutely amazing!!

Sara-Maria really liked my present and my card, Sara set up sparklers outside which was also really cool!!

After school we had farm muffins, don't quote me on the title. Sara had school longer and as soon as she came home, the guests started pouring in for the typical German: "Kaffee und Kuchen", translates to coffee and cake.

Last two three weeks

9.1.2011

I haven't written for a while so I will try to compile my memory as much as possible. This was a Sunday, the last proper day in my holiday, that started on New Years Eve. It has been an amazing 10 days.

Today we left late enough to sleep in a little bit. We went and visited Neuschwanstein. The woman giving us a tour was obviously not a person who regularly spoke Hochdeutsch because she spoke very long words and every now and then she let out out a bit of Boarisch.

The host sister of one of the people I came to Australia with is really nice. We have all been staying up really late just talking, I want to go visit her. She lives near Frankfurt.

In the afternoon we had a lot of time and we wanted to go to Austria, as it is only 1 km away. We caught this extra small bus and it was really cute. The first stop in Austria was only eight minutes away. At the time it sounded like a good idea.

When we got out, we saw that it wasn't all that it cracked up to be. There was a kiosk, basically a shop that is always open and sells alcohol and cigarettes to any he can, a derelict Gasthaus and derelict bus shelter and a large house where weird drunk people, on Sunday at 4 pm, were walking in and out all the time. As we got off the bus, one of them walked towards us, it was a pretty scary guy!!!

That night we went and played billiards, it was practically empty and then we went to McDonalds. Afterwards we walked home and then stayed up until 2 or 3 am talking again.

10.1.2011

Not much happened today either. We caught the train back home, wherever home was for all of us. My train trip was much shorter than I expected, leaving me a few hours to bum around in Munich, since there was no one at home anyway.

I caught a train with an Aussie girl who came down with me and she seems to think that exchange is hard and it isn't fun, oh well, I found out that she was leaving one month earlier than scheduled!!

When I came home, I just slept for a while recovering all of that lost sleep.

11-12.1.2011

The day started really slowly, I was really tired and then some people thought I had left for Australia without saying goodbye!!

School is as usual. Maths I am finding really easy, so I am going to start doing Maths work for Australia. University German results on Friday!!!

Plans are going into affect to go to Frankfurt on the 21-24 February. After school the last two days I haven't done anything but sleep, still recovering from the trip and lack of sleep since last Wednesday. It was still totally worth it.

13.1.2011

Thinking that we would be doing gymnastics in sport I decided it would be wise not to go and better use my time exploring Starnberg. I bought myself a magazine and looking for a unique present for Didus in Starnberg.

It is all confirmed, the trip to Frankfurt is go!!!

14.11.2011

Today I checked my emails and guess what was there, an offer for UMEP German!!!! I am over the world happy, which is because that means that I am finish with Chemistry at school and I am wholly doing what I want, apart from English, which I sort of like.

After school I went to the city, booked my ticket to Frankfurt, having bought a Bahncard for 10 €, I have already saved heaps, should have done this earlier, if only I knew that there was such a thing that was so simple to set up and use.

I walked up to the river and I walked up to the Museum, but it was closing and it looks like it is aimed more at small children! I saw some beautiful churches from inside and outside, was really cool. I have noticed that at every Church I go to, I have to buy a candle and then take a photo of it. I think that's as close as I am going to get to go on Sunday to church.

My GPS finally came today after all that stress, I can't wait to find the geocaches that are within 1 km of our house!

Tomorrow Salzburg, this is a city in Austria direct on the border between Germany and Austria.

15.11.2011

This was early for a Saturday wake-up, but this is what traveling is about, wake up early and then recover in the train! I got up at 5:45 am and then left at 6:30.

There were a few problems with the train about 5 km outside of Salzburg, I ended up getting there at about 10:30.

First impressions, it was raining and I decided I was smart and I just started walking without a map, in the wrong direction! I ended up walking in the right direction and walked into a bakery, which was noticeably more expensive than any other bakery I have ever been to yet, I went to another and it confirmed my theory, Salzburg is expensive!!

I walked into the city and then saw a castle up the hill, it looked like where everyone was going, so decided to follow suit. Everyone around around me was speaking Russian or Ukrainian, I must say that I heard a substantial amount more of my mother tongue than German for the rest of the day.

The castle was way up a hill, and the funicular was broken! It was quite a hike, I had to stop a few times to take in the view, that's what I called it. The castle has been well preserved and there are a few museum, a guided audio tour of the castles history and also break taking views of Salzburg. I got a few postcards, including one that had "No, Austria does not have Kangaroos".

I went back down to the city to grab a bite to eat. There was a Saturday market where I went to a stall and got currywurst and chips and then found a stall that sold a poppyseed stick, sort of like the one we get between Cherkassy and Kiev. It tasted really good, but at the end I couldn't eat anymore I was so full. I walked around the city and saw that practically every shops sells Mozart Kugeln, I got a decent amount for Christmas, so I thought that was enough. Mozart's birth house is where there are lots of tourists and also a lot are shopping in Gucci, Swarovski and the like. The majority of the tourist were either backpackers or very rich.

I climbed another massive hill in the middle of the city and spent about an hour taking photos of the whole place. The late afternoon I spent walking slowly back along the river the train station. I then got a Döner and saw for the first time an automatic meat carver. Goodbye Salzburg.

There was a Chinese woman and her half Chinese, half German son. She was really funny, to laugh at. The boy would fall asleep and then she would read the newspaper and then hit him until he woke up and show him the article, he was really grumpy. The couple sitting across from me found it also quite funny, which didn't help me keep my laughter in.

16.1.2011

Nice sleep-in, talked to parents, slept in again. Woke up at around 12 midday to a perfect day. 12 degrees, bright, sunny, blue sky. I went outside in search of my first cache.

I got to the location and then stood around for a while and saw a structure and I was sure what it was and I searched and searched and then it came to me, I ripped it apart and, Voila, my first cache!

I went to find to further ones, unsuccessfully. I think one was flushed into the river because of the snow melting and the other I think was ripped apart by a dog, both made by the same user, not going in search of his caches anymore.

That was it for the weekend. I really hope the nice warm weather holds out.

17-20.1.2011

Was a pretty uneventful day, I am really looking forward to Frankfurt. In between really loving watching 24, finishing up season 3 in German. It's a great way to watch TV without having to wait until 10 pm when I can watch what I want.

On Thursday I decided that we would not be doing gymnastics, how wrong was I. I ended up getting a 2, where 1 is the best and 6 is a complete fail. No one got below a two. I found out that if you fail sport, it doesn't matter, so there are a few who never turn up to sport because they can't be stuffed, and the sport we do is really crap and not real sport.

21.1.2011

I had a packed enough that I could pack it all into my school bag, and it was plenty! I took the school bus, went into the city and waited at Starbucks, free Internet and then got on to my train to Frankfurt. I can say that I have now finished one book for English and I have gotten quite far with Maths.

I arrived in Frankfurt at lunchtime and somehow walked to the main shopping strip, there I found again a great meal - Currywurst and chips. I then walked up to the Main river and I had a bit of dejavu, remembering when I was last in Frankfurt. It was really fun

The time came to take the train to Altenstadt, where Anne (the girl I met) lives. It's about an hours train ride. On the way there was quite a lot of flooding. This is typical for winter.

We met, had dinner and then went for a walk in the town. Anne froze so I gave her my jacket! She put on a jumper and then started arguing that it was a jacket. When we came home we watched KeinOhrGucken, apparently a chick-flick, but I laughed quite a few times so hard and loud. We then watched 17 again, it was OK. I then met Anne's dad in between the two movies, he got home late. He is really interested in the history of the area, since it was the border between the Celts and the Holy Roman Empire.

22.1.2011

Today was an early wake up for Anne, 10 am!! We then got around to leaving at 12 pm for Frankfurt. We walked around everywhere, went shopping but we didn't buy anything, it was all too expensive. It was a great day to catch up and reminisce on our weekend away two weeks ago.

At night we watched some TV, where I fell in love with my favorite German TV series: "Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus!". Basically a german version of survivor with famous people and it is set in the Australian jungle, I think Daintree rainforest. We then watched Marley & I.

23.1.2011

I nice late wake up and then we stayed at home until we got enough energy to get up and go to the Glauberg, this is a mountain that has had civilizations living there for the last 10000 years. It was really interesting and this was the first time it had snowed for a while now.

Afterwards we went to the cinemas and saw "The Green Hornet", it was a good movie but the 3D graphics were not worth the effort. It was a good way to say goodbye.

24.1.2011

I took the train back home. I caught an earlier train to Frankfurt and stayed in Starbucks, reading the The Age and watching videos in YouTube. When I got home I did the same thing as two weeks ago, practically crashed into bed and then not much more. It was nice to see all the cute cats everywhere.

25.1.2011

I came back to school and they were all expecting me to come back on the 27. My note that I wrote looks like 27. Well I am going to use that, Thursdays are particularly boring so I am planning to go to Regensburg or Nürnberg.

I missed my class and then I saw them near the end of the period so I just stayed outside.

After school I didn't really do much again but sleep, watch 24 in German and plan my next trip on Thursday.

26.1.2011

School was as usual. Its funny how I was one of the worst in Chemistry to the best in Chemistry, but, it is year 10. I have noticed that I would not be able to survive longer, going to school beyond 2010 for me is impossible. I am really happy that I have the opportunity to go to university this year, to experience something new. Tomorrow Regensburg.

27.1.2011

I took the train to the city and my cheap ticket all over Bavaria starts at nine so I waited at the train station for the first train, at 9:01. Regensburg translates to rain castle. It is a giant castle but it was snowing! I was at first lost, just like in Salzburg. I quickly found the Tourist Info Centre and then I was on my way.

I visited everything, it was interesting but then I had nothing more to do at lunchtime, so I decided to go to Nürnberg

Sent from my iPad

9.1.2011

Hallo!

I haven't written for a while so I will try to jog my memory as much as possible. We went to Schloß Neuschwanstein. I took lots of photos of Neuschwanstein and people around me. Since it is around 10 degrees, the streets are icy and the trip up to the bridge was really hard. No one luckily feel but it was close. For old people it would have been dangerous. I will write more later

8.1.2011

Hallo!

Today we went to a cheese factory. Its really good to get a head start on acclimatizing to early wake-ups. We stayed up until 3 the day before so it was all cool!!

It the cheese factory we saw how everything was done and afterward we went to the restaurant that had basically everything made out of cheese and every single person ordered Käsespatzen, the best thing on Earth!!

We had a lot of time on our hands and we wanted to go to the Austrian border but we weren't sure. There isn't much to do in Füssen: Billiards, McDonalds, a cinema, pubs and a few supermarkets. Its really big but just full of residents, even the people who work at the hostel as part of their compulsory community service just drink themselves silly every night.

We all went and played billiards and I played with some locals. They wanted to know how old the girls were and when I told them that they are all 16 they were pissed off!

7.1.2011

Mostly a boring day for a Christmas. First webcammed with most of my blog followers in Australia and then got packed, bought some breakfast/lunch/dinner and then I got dropped off by Christian at the train station in Haßloch.

Caught train and met people in Mannheim, caught further 2 trains. We had a funny man sit next to us. He ate marshmallow and lollies forever, had funny socks and then pulled out a banana and a liquid similar to urine, possibly apple juice.

It then all came back to me how shit the food is there!! It was really shit. At first we got given an ensuite room but then we got told that it was for our leaders! They were joking about taing it from us beforehand, the irony.

6.1.2011

Nice late sleep in followed by lunch and then more sleeping. It was all building up to the club that we were going to go to. It is open not always, but sometimes to 16 year olds, but even then you need to have a signature from a consenting adult and an 18 year who comes in with you and is supposed to look after you.

We first went to Aqua where I met heaps of friends that I hadn't seen in a while and we stayed there until about 10:30. Then we headed off trekking through the city for 20 minutes until we got to the disco. The problem was that there were so many 16 year olds looking for someone over 18 that it took me until midnight to get into the disco. Somehow I lost my drinks card which meant I couldn't buy anything and I also had to pay a fine at the end. At 4 am we were done and we got home with a normal taxi for only 4 € a piece, not bad at all for 10 km.