Frohe Weihnachten

Vlog?... oh dear

Just another day

Hello all.

I am setteling in more and more which means that my akward situations are slowly becoming less and less frequent and although that is great for me, it creates fewer stories to share and laugh about. I have however joined a "gym" and that is always a laugh! This "gym" is more like a bunch of excersice classes that are held in a elementary school gym a few times a week. 99% of the classes are full of women over 40 wearing spandex and sweat bands! I personally participate in the Monday night yoga class, the Tuesday morning nordic walking class (however that ended this week, its been going on for about 2 months) and the AMAZING Wednesday night step class. Although they all are extreamly halarious (mostly just for me, the older women take them seriously) the Wedesday step class is a legit workout and it good fun, except for when you trip over your step, thats just embarassing!

All the classes are a little challenging because they are in german and some of the words just don't translate fast enough in my head, so sometimes I get a tad confused but mostly I just look around and see what the others are doing. Besides all the classes being in German, they are also all led by an extreamly fit woman named Heide. She is a legit tank, she is so strong, but she is really nice so that makes here a tad less intimidating. She also sometimes wears pigtails which, really really makes her less intimidating and on the days she wears brightly coloured hair clips and purple sunglasses she not threat at all!

So if any of you are looking for a good work out in Germany some day, let me know and Ill show you around the Denkendorf "gym".

sidenote: Denkendorf, is another small town (although larger than my village) close by that has the grocery store, butcher, backery, "gym", etc. for all the surronding small towns.

today: clean the whole house, chocolate dip about 100000 cookies to stock up on christmas baking early, step class

p.s the picture is of me in my work shirt a couple of weeks ago when we had a big pumkin selling day. The shirt says Erdbeeren Funck our company/farms name (erdbeeren is german for strawberry and Funck is the grandparents last name)

It's all Greek to me!

There is a saying my dad uses that states “Head in the oven, feet in the ice bucket. Are you warm?” It really is just to say two extremes don’t always make a logical average. So when people ask me “How was Greece?” I say “great!”, however great implies the whole trip was great when really about 50% was more than great it was absolutely incredible, 30% alright and 20% pretty crappy. But if you ask me about the days that were incredible, I had an amazing time and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So I know you are all super excited to hear what went well but I am going to get rid of the bad news first and then get on to my bragging! The bad news involved having a very bad first day. I got to Athens with no hiccups in my transportation and settled into my hostel just fine. For my first day I had planned on going to the Corinth canal to check out the bungee jumping there and see if I would have the guts to do it. After being followed by a very creepy man for about 20 minutes on my way to the bus station and then being followed onto my bus by the same man I was officially creeped out. Thankfully there was another bus coming in 5 minutes so I jumped off the bus Mr. Stalker was on and grabbed the next bus. Once I had made my bus transfer I settled in for the long bus ride however I settled in a little too well and I missed my stop by about an hour and ended up in some very small coastal village about an hour north of where I wanted to be. With no one speaking English I awkwardly managed to communicate with the owner of the bus station and she figured out my grave mistake. After balling my eyes out and having this lovely lady offer me gum and Kleenex to cheer me up I managed to get on a bus to where I actually wanted to be. But alas the bungee jumping company had closed the season early due to heavy winds so my efforts were a loss. Finally I headed back down to Athens to go to an English movie and pretend I was back in Canada. My other major hiccup was having about 500 euros stolen from me. I had put it in the hostel safe however there were construction workers working on the boiler in the same room as the safe and one of them lifted it. THANKFULLY! The hostel staff embraced their inner CSI and managed to figure out who might have taken it and the guy came forward and I got my money back but I had about a good 24 hours of not knowing whether or not I was out 500 euro. My last piece of -not so happy news- is that it is a lot harder traveling by yourself than I thought it would be. I am 100% a people person and although I met some really great people during my trip it’s just not quite the same as having someone by your side the whole time. It was nice only having to worry about myself but at the same time I was in fact the only one worrying about myself and had no one to look out for me when I was by myself (that gets a little scary when you are alone after dark in a foreign country).

Ok negativity aside, now I get to brag!!!! Too much happened over the past week so the easiest way to explain my trip is a top ten list!

My Greece trip top ten:
1. Swimming in the Aegean Sea in my undies
I went to Napflio for the day and didn’t think to bring my swim suit but the water looked beautiful and it was such a nice day so I striped down and joined the Greek men in their Speedos and went for a swim! The water was amazing; it was perfectly clear and turquoise!
2. Acropolis! Especially at night!
The Acropolis was so cool to explore and see the very impressive work in real life. Also our hostel as a roof top view of the Acropolis and at night the Parthenon gets lit up so you can see it from all across town but it is best when you are higher up i.e on a roof! Amazing scenery!
3. Waiting in line for lunch with 12 fat Greek men all over 40! (Waiting for the best souvlaki in town I might add!!)
I found a really good and cheap souvlaki place that wasn’t touristy at all and it was great! I was squished in this tiny hall waiting to order with a bunch of old Greek men and I was this 18 year old Canadian girl, it doesn’t get much better!
4) Climbing some random hill to see a bird’s eye view of all of Athens.
Two guys from my hostel and I made the trek up this large hill in central Athens, once you get to the top you can the acropolis from above and see all the way out to the sea, it is definitely worth the walk.
5) Seeing the ancient jewelry of the Greeks!
So much of the jewelry I wear today is so similar to what they created in Greece so many years ago. It was so cool to see what trends people started hundreds of years ago had carried on to my generation! (National Archeological Museum was the heart of this number 5 on my list)
6) All of the ruins!
It is so cool to see all the ruins from where people had earlier civilization. Delphi was especially cool to see the mountain-side village that had be discovered in ruins, with a track, Apollo temple and statues in relatively good condition. (although the statues are all in museums now, which is too bad)
7) Learning about History!
Self explanatory.
8) Greek Salad in Greece.
So cool, it just had to be done and of course it was delicious.
9) The sun shine and sitting in my bathing suit on a random beach on the island Aegean.
10) Everything in between.
All the little things that added up to a good trip i.e. going for walks after dinner and going through the touristy shops, meeting new people, eating so much souvlaki, taking the ferry, walking through an old mountain-top fortress, standing at the “center of the earth” in Delphi, seeing the fresh fish markets on the island of Aegina, randomly going to a Hookah bar (not really greek!!) etc.
I know this is an odd way to recap a week so if you want more details about my trip just email me, or facebook or if you’re really interested you can skype me!!!

Today: unpack, clothes everywhere, work,

one with the germans

--Before I begin let me first explain the drinking rules and regulations in Bavaria. If you are between 16 and 18 you can drink beer and wine and go out to clubs, however you must leave the club by 12 (no later). (This curfew rule is surprisingly followed very well by teenagers, as if you are caught under 18 and in a club past 12 you are brought home in a cop car). If you are 18 and older you can drink whatever you like (including hard liquor) and stay out as long as you like. --
This weekend was an especially exciting weekend here in Germany because not only did I have a great weekend, but I had a great weekend right here in Ingolstadt! (quick reminder, Ingolstadt is the closest main town to Dorndorf.)

This weekend after work on Friday I packed up my overnight bag, grabbed my sleeping bag and headed into Ingolstadt for a weekend full of plans and adventures. Friday night I went to the church youth group as I have done the past few weekends. The youth group is obviously all in German but as I have made a few friends from the church weekend last week I was able to sit and chatt with some of the girls as the night went on. After church Marie (a 16 year old girl I that goes to the youth group) and I headed over to her brothers flat in downtown Ingolstadt to get ready for our evening out (We slept at her brothers flat so we didn’t have to go home the same night).

The two of us first headed out to a small party being held as a school fundraiser at a club nearby. Now for all us Canadians this is a very odd thing. There is no way that a high school would allow a fundraiser to be held at a club, selling alchol, in order to raise funds for the 12th grade end of the year party. But alas this is Germany so why not. To explain this party a little more, anyone could come (you didn’t have to go to the high school), so there was a very mixed crowd. Anywhere from 16 year olds to 20 year olds were there, even a few teachers showed up. (Again a more German thing than Canadian, running into teachers on a night out. Teachers often will go to the same clubs as some of their students, so it isn’t unheard of to end up drinking with your teachers, sometimes your teacher will even buy a round for everyone!) The party only sold beer and wine because OBVIOULY, you shouldn’t encourage young people to drink “hard” alcohol, that would just be irrespirable for a school organized event.
The party was ok but both Marie and I wanted to check out one of the busier clubs so we went back to Niles’ (Marie’s brother) apartment to wait for Sarah (Marie’s sister) so the three of us could all go out together.

Once Sarah was arrived we walked over to Suxul, a club with techno in the basement and hip-hop/dance music on the main floor. Suxul was very fun and we got to dance the night away. The only thing that wasn’t so fun was the mass amounts of smoking. People smoke a lot of cigerattes here, so in the techno part of the club it started to get a little hard to breathe. It being in the basement the air couldn’t really escape as quickly so it just turned into a mass second hand smoke cloud! As a result I smelled like a chain smoker for the rest of the night and even the next day despite my attempts to wash the smell out of my hair. YUM!

Once we decided to call it a night we walked back to Niles’ apartment where we would be sleeping for the night. Niles has a one room flat with a small bathroom. With so little space Marie took the bed and Sarah and I slept on the floor. This was no probable for the three of us, however, when, around 7 in the morning Niles came home with 2 of his friends we then had 4 people sharing the floor and Niles pushed Marie over and they slept head to toe in the bed. Let’s just say it was a little cozy.

When I woke up Saturday morning I packed up my things and left the apartment around 12 with Marie and Sarah. After dropping my things off in my car and saying goodbye to the girls, who had to head back home, I made my way down-town to have breakfast. I sat and had a bagel and read my book as I waited to meet up with two other girls from the church, Johanna and Deborah.

Johanna and Deborah had invited me to go shopping earlier in the week and as I had already made plans to go for coffer with a friend of mine on Saturday it worked out perfectly to go out with them the same day. When the two girls arrived around 1 o’clock we shopped and talked, as girls like to do! Both of the girls speak perfect English, having gone to an international school when they were young, so it was nice to not have to think too much in German.

Before we were done shopping we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then stopped in a few more stores before I had to leave them and meet up with someone else for coffee. Now this may sound like I am Miss.Popular here in Germany, going from friend to friend all weekend but let me make something very clear, this is not only my first time going out with these girls but I really have made very few friends here in Germany up until now. This is not to say I was totally alone, Jutta and Holgar have been great friends but they are a little older than me (they have 2 kids over the age of 13) so going out with girls my age here in Germany is not only a luxury but a “first” for my year abroad.

Last but certainly not least of my adventures of this past weekend was coffee with a girl I randomly met in a bakery a few weeks ago. She was working at the bakery and when she found out I was a girl living in Dorndorf who doesn’t speak German a few questions were raised. After we talked for a while I found out that she also did time abroad only she went to France. She said she understood how it was to have so few friends and gave me her number in case I ever wanted to get together for coffee. So we decided to meet for coffee on this particular Saturday afternoon; and it went very well. Having no real idea of who this girl was I was a little worried that things might not go as well as hoped. However we got along really well and enjoy a lot of the same things, we both run, she skis and I snowboard etc.

After all this excitement I headed home Saturday night to go to bed early. As you can see I once again had a very eventful weekend full of new adventures and new experiences. I can’t yet call Germany home but I can definitely call it a place I love, and I am growing to love more every day.

P.S I’m sorry if this post sounded a little squished together but I wanted to re-cap my weekend as best I could without dragging it out too long.

Today: laundry, pumpkin waffles, missin’ my homeland

God, Beer and Greece

This past weekend I spent at a church weekend/get-together with my host family. It was interesting to say the least but all in all I had a great time. I got to practice my German (A LOT!) and I got to meet some other girls my age.
The weekend consisted of games and sermons and free time etc. and because it’s a church weekend in Germany is obviously involved drinking! Although I didn’t drink (as memories from octoberfest are still a little to fresh) I hung out in the church’s bar area on Friday night. (The bar isn’t actually in the church; it is just on the church grounds; in the same building as the sleeping arrangements). The weekend was really fun but as the weather gets colder more and more activities are moved indoors and people like to enjoy the warmth of a heated room and a good German beer.

Speaking of it getting colder, I AM GOING TO GREECE IN 12 days! Only moly! I really can’t even write this post without wanting to talk about Greece. I have been in Germany for 2 and half months and although I love it here, I am so excited to move on to my next European country. It is crazy to think but by January I will have been in 6 different European countries. How crazy is that? I am just too excited, I am sure you can see why it is difficult to recap a good but rather lack luster weekend when all you want to do is talk about all the truly fantastic plans you have ahead. But don’t worry I plan on giving full updates about Greece while I am there. I will be in Greece for a week so I am sure I will find time to go on the internet for a little while and brag!

Today: Hanna Montana in German, apple cake, giant work vests

Oktoberfest

This past weekend was the weekend of Oktoberfest in Munich. 4 of the other Intermenno kids came down to stay with me and we crashed at a friend’s house in Ingolstadt (about an hour train ride outside of Munich).

To explain Oktoberfest, it is a bit like Vegas, there are drunken people everywhere, there are tits popping out of about every girls shirt, it’s pretty over-rated and well… what happens at Oktoberfest stays at Oktoberfest!

First let me explain the drunks, the first day we went into Munich we got there around 9 in the morning on the Friday and the crowd wasn’t too big but the tents were all already nearing maximum capacity. There were quite a few drunk people but no one has passed out on the street yet and people have refrained from puking their guts out in public at this point. Later on when we came back at night that is when the drunk people were stumbling around, puking and talking to themselves.

Boobs. If anyone has ever seen a Dirndl (the typical Bavarian dress, (Bavaria is a state inside of Germany)) then you know it does amazing things for the female form. However the people at Oktoberfest are not all young and beautiful, so when you get to see a bit of a show from some aging women, the dirndl somewhat loses its charm.

Overrated. Oktoberfest is over rated simply because the crowds are too big and no gets to see the real Munich. When people see Munich during Oktoberfest they often see it when it is jam packed with people and it super load, and if those two distractions aren’t enough to bother you, you are probably seeing Munich through drunk eyes. No matter how you see Munich during Oktoberfest, be sure to come back and see it again when it is calm and quiet and you have time to explore the city. Also a word of advice, if you want to see Munich and still want the Oktoberfest feel, almost every major town in Bavaria has Volksfests, where they serve beer by the liter, there are roller coasters, Dirndl and lederhosen. It’s pretty much everything you would get out of Oktoberfest, just in a smaller atmosphere, and where everything is cheaper!

What happens at Oktoberfest stay at Oktoberfest. This saying is not made because of embarrassing or risky things that happen at this festival it is simply because if you are drinking Oktoberfest beer (which is brewed to have a higher alcohol content) you probably won’t remember a whole lot of your night the next morning.

Now to quickly highlight my weekend! I had an amazing time hanging out with my friends from Intermenno. Three of them came Thursday night and we all spent the day in Munich on Friday, doing a walking tour, checking out Oktoberfest and trying to get into a beer tent. Jodi was coming Friday night so we gave up our hope or being let into a beer tent and headed back to Ingolstadt early to pick her up. Not wanting to trek all the way back to Munich (Oktoberfest shuts down around 12 anyway) we decided to explore the night life of Ingolstadt. In Ingolstadt we actually ended up at this dance club/ rec center/ community art project/ techno dj event/ random place where we got to go dancing which was quite interesting to say the least. Later we came back to the house we were staying to crash in the tent in the back yard. Saturday, again, we headed back to Oktoberfest to explore and check things out however it was crazy busy by the time we got there and it was obvious that the only way we could get into a beer tent would involve waiting in line for at least 3 hours. Instead of waiting in line we decided to go explore more of Munich. Rebecca, Andrew and Nolan all went to Dachau (a town a few subway stops away) and Jodi and I did a walking tour of Munich. (Side note: I love Munich a lot, so going on my third walking tour I am getting the hang of where things are and what their significance is. I’m hoping by the time my sister comes to visit I will be able to give the tour myself!) We all met up again around 6 and decided to hit up the Augustiner beer hall in Munich. Augustiner beer is wonderful like many German beers. (Germans’ truly don’t joke around when it comes to all things Beer!) Afterward we went to another bar where we had some more beer and later on we eventually found our way back to the train station and home. Although we all had moments that were not in our finest state, over all the weekend was a success and I can officially say I conquered Oktoberfest.

p.s the picture is of the 5 of us in my friends backyard where we camped out for the weekend! Thanks again Jutta and Holger!

today: train stations, sleep, officially 2 months in germany

Catch up

This past weekend was an intermenno conference weekend! It was sooo nice to be with other kids my age and to hang out with people I know. Other than a small mix up, getting off at the wrong station on the way to the weekend gathering, I had an excellent time and everything went smoothly. We all met up on Friday evening, and had a lovely day in Heidelburg the following day on Saturday. In Heidelburg we walked around the city, taking pictures and just enjoying each other’s company. Lastly on Sunday we had a short devotion and then had to say our goodbyes after lunch as half of us left just after 1 oclock.

For many of you who haven’t done intermenno you can understand what a trainee goes through and experiences but only true trainees know the trainee experience in a personal way. To be able to talk, vent, share, and laugh about all we have been faced with made me feel a lot more confident in my decision to do intermenno. All this chatter also helped wash away all the doubts I was beginning to have about the up-coming year.

I know this is a very short recap of this past weekend, but from my experience hearing someone recall a bunch of conversations and dialogs between other people just isn’t that interesting if you weren’t there yourself. I hope this will suffice for now.


To quickly recap the previous weekend before this weekend, my friend Becky and her mother came through Dorndorf on their way to Nurnberg and picked me up. From there we spent a day and a half in Nurnberg and a day and half in Regensberg. They are both beautiful little towns and I had a wonderful time. Again I would go into greater detail but most of the time was spent talking and shopping with Becky and would be boring for you to read about. A more exciting thing worth mentioning is the one night we did go out dancing! After a 20 minute debate in the parking lot about whether or not to go into this rather large, and sketching looking club we decided to go for it and had a blast. We danced the night away and, although most people were fine, we had to make sure to avoid the creepers. I would try and compare it to a Canadian club but I am not yet of age to go to a club in Canada so my only clubbing experiences have been German so far. And, well... so far so good!

To make up for my lack of a blog updates last week I thought it would be fun to share a quick story about one of my days last week!


Last Wednesday, I was sitting at the table cutting strawberries and preparing buckets of cut-up fruit for making ice cream; as Sonja was to make ice cream the next day. I had gone to one of the large refrigerators to get the last, of the 8, buckets of strawberries; however after returning and sifting through the buckets I quickly realized that the fruit had gone bad and needed to be thrown out. I picked up the two heavy buckets of rotting fruit and headed over to the neighboring pig farm where we dispose of our compost. As I waited to cross the road I realize I was still wearing my apron and was in a sorry state of appearance. Just as my heart began to sink in distress about how I was dressed and my lack of make-up and lack of style I remembered I was heading to a pig farm and my self-conscious worries melted away.

As I walked past one of the pig barns on my way to the large compost/ manure pile I saw the little old lady that works on the farm feeding the pigs and shoveling pig dung. We can’t communicate much as she only speaks German and I am only still learning the language, but despite the barrier I always say hello and, under the large white handkerchief wrapped around her hair, she nods her head in greeting. Today, like most days, we had our usual salutation and I continued on to the compost pile to dump my buckets of waste. Today, however, the chickens were out of their cage and were pecking away all around the compost pile. I dumped my buckets of fruit and the chickens all came pecking towards me. I let out a load and embarrassing yelp and quickly ran away from the fast approaching 20 pecking beaks.

Once I had gotten away from the chickens I saw that the farm kittens were lapping up a fresh bowl of milk just inside one of the barns. The now wet, white tongues of 5 kittens were lapping quickly and selfishly at the bowl of milk as they climbed over each other to get to the bowl. In the chaos of squealing pigs, attacking chickens and fowl smells, these little kittens bring joy and calming to the commotion of a busy farm. I enjoyed this pleasant little moment and continued on my way back home.

today: pumpkin cake, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread

p.s the picture if of me and Becky 1. on a boat ride in near Regensburg 2. in Nurnburg

just b & me

Before I begin, I short note on traveling:
Me and trains are beginning to have an awkward relationship. Every time I step out of one I seem to feel like it was the worst idea ever and that I should just hop right back on. It’s a love hate thing. I hate it when I’m on the train but as soon as I step on the platform I realize that I love the train more than I love being lost in a new city.
I feel like everytime I walk into a new city I start off feeling unsure, helpless and alone, but by the end of my stay, no matter how short, I feel like one of the locals, like I was born to find this city, born to discover the things I discovered and experience what I had just experienced. The switch of these two drastic emotions does a number on your brain, and if you play your cards right, you just trick yourself into thinking you know what you’re doing until you actually do know what the hell is going on.

Berlin:
Berlin stared with my hood up and my back hunched trying to cover my map from the rain as I tried to find my way to my hostel. The first hostel was full but I was referred to another and made an easy switch over to the next hostel a few blocks away. After dropping my stuff off I headed down to the more main area of town to where my tour was going to start. I was a tad early so I waited for about half an hour and then joined the group following or tour guide Kenny. It was a pretty cold day, so as I tried to focus despite the nipping wind my heart thought of Munich. Munich was smaller and had history and had a personality of its own and yet Berlin had barely caught my interest yet.

I continued to follow the group and found myself at the place where one of the famous book burnings happened. This is ironically across the street from one of the worlds most prestigious universities, having had Albert Einstein as a student and produced over 20 graduates that would later go on to become Nobel Prize winners. As I followed along I wondered how the same place with such education, could also be the home to an act filled with such ignorance and lack of education to the subject of human rights. There are so many tough and unanswerable questions that come up when traveling through the history of Germany but as you learn more about the history a city holds you are able to then feel like a part of the city. Berlin has a past like anything or anyone and as I got to know this history I was able to better enjoy the city.

After a quick break to grad some tea/coffee my hands followed the lead of my heart and began to warm up. We moved on from our break to Check Point Charlie and to sections of the Berlin Wall. I learned about East vs. West Berlin and about the propaganda that surrounded it all. I learned about injustice and I learned about the incredible resilience of the human spirit.

Unfortunately I had to leave the tour early to head to the next tour I was planning on taking, so I ducked out of the wind and into the subway station and away I went. Trying to figure out the subway map while running to my subway track, I knew it would be a close call whether or not I would make it on time for the next tour. Running from track to track, switching subways lines and trying to gage how long it would take to get half way across the city, I managed to make it there with a few minutes to spare. I saw the sign for the tour company and was greeted warmly by a rather eccentric girl named Summer (our tour guide). Summer was really nice and was dressed in sparkly tights, plaid shorts and a turtleneck with a checkered bag to match. I was beginning to have a very good feeling about Summer and how the rest of the day would go.
To clarify, the tour I was about to embark on was called the Alternative Berlin tour. This tour showed you Berlin’s graffiti and modern culture. We walked about in some of Berlin’s artsy areas, learning about the squatters living about Berlin, about the graffiti culture and about some of the main graffiti groups and artists. We went to a small art showing of one of the local graffiti artists (just going on for a few days so it was kind of spur of the moment), to a old Natzi office turned artist project/artisan shop, to the East side gallery (The longest standing stretch of the Berlin wall, painted by famous artists and graffiti artists) and other art projects and interesting places. Two of my favorite places were, a preserved alley that was still in the original shape it was pre world war 2 and an abandoned soap factory. The old alley-way held a restaurant, a coffee shop, a small Anne Frank memorial museum and an artist’s store/gallery. It had all the original brick work it had before the war, and was kept preserved by a group of artists to make sure people never forgot what was there before all the developers came in and started to reconstruct the area. The abandoned soap factory is a bit of a story in itself. It is not officially apart of the tour because for 1. Summer is not legally allowed to bring people there as it is private property and 2. it is fenced off so in order to check it out you have to climb over or under a fence. (Summer is the only one currently doing the “Alternative Berlin” tour so she gets to try out new stuff on different groups). So, on a “break” in the tour where we were allowed to get coffee etc., Summer instead showed us how to get into the fenced off area. Once inside we walked about this gutted old factory looking at all walls that were coved from ceiling to floor in some of the best graffiti.

After this exciting tour I headed back to the hostel. By this time I was allowed to go into my room and unpack my stuff. In my room I met up with a girl, also traveling alone, who was traveling home from Spain back to England. We grabbed a drink together at the hostel’s bar on the top floor and then grabbed dinner. (We found this small bar a few blocks away and order bagel-salami sandwiches and a beer, best sandwich I have literally had in my entire life and it was 6 euro for the drink and sandwich. Amazing! ). We headed back up to the hostel bar and met some other travelers from the US and from Australia and even another Canadian. Much to my own surprise I was one of the people who knew the subway system best so I helped find our way to a club a new subway stops away from our hostel. After a long day I was more than ready to go to bed so some of us headed back to the hostel “early” (past 3 in the morning) and went to sleep.

The next day began at 9:30, as I had to check-out by 10. (This day turned out to colder than the first.) My uncle’s cousin and her 2 daughters and niece came to pick me up around 10:30 ( I have never met them before) and, just as I was fully waking up, my day began. We drove to a flee market not too far away where you can buy handmade or used clothing, jewelry, furniture, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. I was just beginning to see Berlin’s Hidden corners and characteristics but alas I had a train. They first took me to a vintage decorated waffle shop and after having an amazing lunch, they dropped me off at the train station.

My Berlin trip was grinding to a very sudden and unwanted halt. Most people thought I was crazy for trying to tour Berlin in less than 48 hours and although in the end I consider the whole trip a success I know I barely scratched the surface of the interworking of Berlin. One of the things Berlin has taught me is that the best way to travel is to start with a map and then follow your heart. It sounds cheesy but I wouldn’t have seen half the things I did if I didn’t go with my gut, or decide to just give something a try. I spent a whole weekend with total strangers and yet with these strangers I created memories and stories that will last me life time.

Today: waffles, maps, cardigans, lots and lots of tea

p.s the pictures are in the soap factory

This Thursday will bring me to my one month marker in my year in Germany. It is crazy to think I have been here for a month already. Although each day does not seem to slip by all that quickly, this month as flown by. Having been here for almost a month I have realize I have learn a lot and yet I still have so much to learn. I have learned to drive a stick shift, to drive on the Autobahn, to use a German/English dictionary, to help run a small ice cream business, to pick the flowers so they will bloom perfectly in your room and most of all I have learned how to keep a farm house clean (no easy feat). The things I have yet to learn are, how to speak German (although I am working on that), how not to get lost all the time, how the train system works in Germany, and many, many more things.

This last months has seen its ups and downs. There have been days where I was ready to pack everything up and come home, and there were days where I was ready to move here forever and never look back. Everyday has been a different experience and a different emotion to follow that experience.

It’s tough knowing that this year I will not be in school. Now for many people this would be a great thing, and a small accomplishment, to dodge another year of sitting in class, but for anyone who knows me, I generally love school. Yes the homework sucks and exams are never fun but overall learning and hanging out with friends seems like a pretty good time to me. Going to school was an obvious and easy option for my 2009-2010 year. Half of me wishes I had stayed back, and was unpacking my things into a dorm and preparing myself for 2-a-day practices at cross country training camp but at the very same time I am so glad that I didn’t take the easy route and go to school. No doubt school would have brought its own challenges and trials but by going to Germany I was guaranteed long, struggling, difficult challenges of size and shape I could not prepare myself for. Coming up on the one month marker I realize I have already overcome a lot of the hard work adapting to a new country and that I am already knee deep in my time in here. I made a decision to come here on my own and now I have to learn to adapt and grow beyond what I already have thus far. From here on in I am leaving my second guesses and wishes back in Canada.

P.S I wish everyone the best of luck going into university, and although I can’t join in with you for frosh week I’ll be at a frosh week of my own, its call Oktoberfest!

Today: make jam, anne, flowers

Öh My Munich

So today I decided to head down to Munich for the day, and this is how it went.

I drove myself, Sonja, Toby and Hanna to church in the morning (yes I drove of the Autobahn, I wanted to scream, laugh, cry and die all in the same moment as I had a little bit of trouble switching from 3rd to 4th and I didn’t know what to do, but merging was fine in the end) I parked Micra (my car) at the church and walked to the local train station with Tobias. Toby helped me buy my train ticket and without him I would have bought a 35€ ticket but instead I only had to pay 20€, so that was awesome start to the day. I waited on the platform and hesitantly boarded the train hoping it was the right one. The train pulled out of the station and I found a seat by myself and pulled out my trust Europe on a Shoestring book. I looked through the pages to make sure I knew where I wanted to go and so forth and felt excited to see what the day would bring. About an hour later I found myself climbing off the train onto the Munich platform. What the hell have I gotten myself into and why did I decide this was a good idea. That was the first thought going throught my head, but I knew there was no point turning back now so I bravely walked through the train station (which is Massive I might add) to go outside. And thats when I saw a “tourist Information” sign and knew I would be ok. I asked how to get to the city center and although the directions were very simple I would have never gotten there on my own had I not gotten directions.
I walked past all the shops (which were closed cause it was a Sunday) and realized I had found a small slice of fashion heaven! I wanted to buy everything! As I continued to walk I found the Marienplatz ( the town square) and walked about some more, I found one of the museums I wanted to go to, but when I got there it looked lack luster and I just kept walking. I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do. What was I thinking coming to Munich with a plan that fell through so quickly. I could go to an art museam not to far away, but art isn’t really my think. I thought about going to Dachau (one of the Concentraion camps ) that was only one train stop away, but I couldn’t really make up my mind. In the mean time the Neuses Rathaus (an old building) has a large Glockenspiel (pretty much a giant co-co-clock) that goes off at 12. It was about 11:55 so I joined the growing crowd and waited. As 12 rolled around, all the surrounding churchs, and there are a lot of them, started chimming, it was so cool hearing them all go off. Then the last clock to strike 12 was the Neuses Rathaus, and off it went, it was cool but a tad anti climactic, but I was just happy to see one of the cool sights of Munich. After this was finished I again found myself not knowing what to do, there were all these old buildings and monuments around me and I had no idea what any of the meant of signified. I saw a sign that said “Free walking tour of Munich”, the sign was in English which was a good start but I was beginning to think going to Dachau was the best option. I have never really been on a tour as such and was EXTREAMLY hesitant to join this group. I very shyly joined the back of the group and stood there debating to walk away or not. James (the tour guide) was Australian, and asked us all where we were from, at this point I knew that if I said where I was from I was in it for the long haul. So I said Canada when asked, and decided going with this tour was better than wandering the streets alone. At first I hung at the back of the pack having no clue what I just got myself into BUT the tour was AMAZING!!!!! It was about a 2 hour walk around Munich and I had so much fun. The tour guide was super nice and I learned so much about Munich I never would have known. And to top it all off he gave us suggestions of what to do after the tour so I had stuff to do even after the tour was done. I felt kinda bad cause the tours run on a tips basis and well… I didn’t tip. However part of the tour was you get a free beer at the end but I knew I had to drive home after and declined the beer, so I figured I was saving them the beer money instead. After the tour I went to the st. peters tower where you can over look Munich and it was sooo beautiful, and having just finished the tour I could point out buildings and know what they were and I could find the buildings where I wanted to go next. It was great (well minus the 14 flights of stair I had to walk up to get to the look out, but to be honest it was more than worth it).

Walking into Munich I was terrified and had no idea where to go or what to do, but walking out I felt like I was a part of the city, I knew its history and I knew how to get around. I could walk confidently and I knew I had everything under control. I grabbed a soft pretzel (they are everywhere and they are super cheap and sooo good) and found my train home and relaxed in the seat, but I knew my day was not over yet. I still had to drive home.
This was my first time driving my standard car by myself, let alone driving on the Autobahn by myself. I checked my map one more time and shifted into reverse and pulled out of my parking spot at the church. I found my way around for the most part, but I took a wrong turn somewhere, I tried to get back to where I was supposed to be but couldn’t so I just followed the signs to the Autobahn. I pulled into the merging lane and quickly shifted into 4th then got nervous but again quickly shifted into 5th, and I did it. I drove all the way home, pulled off the highway, took the two roundabouts before Dorndorf and made it back “home” safe and sound.
Today was one of the best days ever.

I can NOT wait till my trip to Berlin on Sept 4. There is so much to explore here and it is all at my fingertips.
j

p.s the picture is of me on top of St. Peters Tower

Cake, Lucky, Lake

The other day I tried to go about making a cake for Hanna’s (the youngest daughter) birthday. This would be a very easy task back home however cooking in a German kitchen posed for a bit of a problem. For starters all the ingredients about the house we obviously labeled in German, second, in Germany they cook by weight not with measuring cups, i.e 1200g of flour instead of 1 cup flour, this means that the only measurement cups they had were very cheap and were not labeled so I have to decided whether or not one of the cups was ¼ or 1/3 it was a tad confusing. Lastly their ovens temperatures are measured in Calcus not Fahrenheit, however this was easily converted with the use of google. As I went about baking the cake I was hoping that everything would come out alright as I have to add vanilla sugar instead of vanilla extract and I added Bak Puder hoping it was baking power. In the end it did turn out fine, however making the pizza for the birthday meal as well was another baking challenge I had to face the following day. I am slowly finding my way around the kitchen but having to read ingredients and instructions in German is still no easy feat.

On a separate note, the family dog Lucky has shown his extream dis-interest in me a few times now, once nipping/ biting my on the boob, and a second by nipping/biting my hand and finnaly yesturday as I was coming back from a walk yesturday Lucky started barking like crazy and, well, scared the hell out of me. At this point Sonja and Rolf knew they had to do something as I am beginning to not feel so safe around the dog. Sonja is worried I am going to leave because of Lucky, but I would only do so if the dog were to bite me again. Until then I have been instructed to give the dog treats and tell him to go outside when I am trying to clean the house, this is a fine solution for now but once it starts to get colder and the dog has to be in the house Im not too sure what we will do. In the mean time I have had a splendid time trying to explain to some of the less English speaking people in the family where I got bite as they were not home when the first incounter happened. After trying to say it in the most polite way possible and having them not understand at all, it resolved in me somewhat grabbing my chest and saying “ya, here”. It was a tad awkward! Ahahaha

Again on a totally separate note, I got to explore the town on Ingolstadt a little more the other day! After my german lesson,I borrowed a bike and found my way to a little man-made lake tucked behind some biking/running paths. It was so splendid! (I got to bike past the Danube river which was quite lovely as well.) The little lake I arrived at was an old lake that has no real beach but people line their towels and chairs on the grass surrounding the lake. This is a small little spot that only people living in Ingolstadt really know about, so I was very pleased to be in on the secret. After claiming a spot with my towel I went for a swim and then laid in the sun reading my book. I tried not to get too distracted by the MANY Speedos sported by the both young and fit, and the old and not so fit men. How very European!
Oh my what an experience this whole thing is bringing me and I haven’t even been gone a month.

today: stick shift, ice cream, post cards

love j

Strawberry Feilds Forever

I have now been at my new home for 5 days! I can now better explain my surrondings and whats all going on in Dörndorf (the town I live in). I live on a farm where we sell ice cream, strawberries and raseberries. The family owns 3 starberry feilds and has 15 small flower feilds (where people can pick their own flowers). The strawberryfields are self picking aswell but we also sell some pre picked. We alway have lots of left-over starberries so this means we get to have lots of strawberry involved desserts! The best! Sonja (the mom) also uses the left over strawberries to make ice cream. She makes loads of other kinds aswell though and they are all very tasty.

I live and work for a family of 5 (Also living on the property are Sonjas parents and 2 farm boys) . Work consists of cleaning and doing dishes and helping Sonja with chores and errands. The work isnt hard but I know Sonja needs the help around the house and I am happy to do it.

I have a bike and a car at my disposal which is great! The car is a Very old Nissan Micra, and I get to drive on the Autobahn with it,( to get to church and to german lessons)... Well I can drive on the highway as soon as I learn to drive stick shift. I had my first driving lesson the other day and didnt stall! It took me a while to get used to switching gears manualy but I am slowly getting the hang of things. Thankfully we live in a small farm town so there are lots of old farm roads where I can practise and not worry about other cars.

today: german lesson, more german, sunflowers

Welcome to Germany

Just the other day I set out on the 8 hour trip from Elspit, Netherlands to Dorndorf Germany. This trip began with a one hour bus trip to the train station. When we got there I dragged my very heavy luggage down the stairs to wait for the train. Waiting in the sun (it will eventually become a 31 degree day) I began to think that wearing jeans was a bad idea (it was!). Me and the 11 other trainnees and 3 committee members board the train and find our seats. Now, most of the seats are in pairs and all face the same way however there are a few sets of 4 seats that face each other with a table inbetween. I sat at one with a table, sitting accross from two french guys, and beside a fellow trainee. At this point I am extreamly hot from being outside and and carrying my luggage so I am happy to sit down and fall asleep for a while. As I wake up from my nice little nap I notice the trainnee sitting beside me is leaving the train to go another way to his placement leaving the seat beside me vacant. Now what I failed to mention earlier is that my seat was a window seat so when the seat beside me is quickly snatched up by a friend of the the french boys who are sitting accross from me I am stuck. They all start speaking in french so I plug in my ipod and read my book, but I really don't mind. As our first stop gets closer I grab my bags and wait near an exit. All the intermenno kids unload the train and I follow the gang to the next platform. At this point in the trip I have to leave on a different train to go east instead of farther south (like the rest of the trainnees). I am extreamly nervous my train will leave without me so knowing my seat is in car 23 and the car infront of me is 24 I board thinking I can just walk the one car length. I board the train and turn right. However the car to the right is a beverage cart, car 23 must be one more car over I think. NOPE i was wrong I should have turned left to begin with, so i trudge back 3 cars to where I will find my seat. I finnaly find a place for my luggage and sit down. A lovely german women start speaking to me and I obviously have no idea what she is saying, however she soon realises I am not german and is polite and asks me where im from etc. As I sit in my spot i realise I am not getting any cooler but hotter. The AC in this car of the train is broken. As I sit and wait for the train to start moving I notice a rather large german man sitting right outside my window eating an ice cream.
I still have 4 hours to go till I am in Dorndorf.
I fall asleep again on the train and wake up a tiny bit cooler but still hot. I find my way back to the beverage cart I walked through earlier and pay 2.80 € ( over $3 CAN) for a can of pepsi and to be honest, at this point I would have paid 5 €. Eventually my stop is coming up so I adorn myself with my luggage yet again. Waiting for my stop I realise the train I am on is going to be about 4 minutes late, giving me 5 mins to get to my next train instead of the original 9 mins. This means I am going to have to run. And run I do, well it looks like Im walking but i am sweating as if I am running a marathon. With one minute to spare I make my next train and settle in for the next hour. When i arrive at the train station I drag my luggage off and meet 2 of the people in my host family ( 2 of the children are at camp). We drive about 30 mins to my new home and I finnaly arrive in Dorndorf. Welcome to germany.

p.s I hope you can see the humor in this because I know I did. I knew if I didnt laugh I would cry, so laughed I did (in my head of course though, I already looked like a crazy tourist).

Hallo!
Well I have officially made it to Germany! I left my house at 8 oclock to catch a 10:25am flight to new york, from there I met up with the rest of the intermenno trainees and we took an 8 hour flight to Doseldorf, Germany. We left new york at 5:45pm new york time and arrived at 1:45am New York time or 7: 45am Germany time. (There is 7 hours time difference so I am feeling the jetlag.) Lastly we drove 2 hours to Holland to a conference center that we will be staying at for four days.
Highlights of the trip so far include hearing a little boy speak german with a lisp and getting all my luggage to germany with no troubles, also knowing I am in a country where weed is legal never hurt anyone.

Nothing overly exciting has happened, just travleing, so Im sorry if all my babbling is boring you but you can always just exit the website, so... your call.

today: toronto, new york, germany, holland, craving sleep

Alright it is now less than a week away and packing has been a nightmare! I currently have no clothes because they are all packed away, so my only clothes options are my prom dress or giant sleeping t-shirts so basically I am looking good! On a totaly different note, I figured out Munich is only an hour drive from where I am living which is great because I plan on going into the city to get a cell phone and do some banking shinanigans! I am too excited but my trip doesnt seem real yet!

P.S As I continue to write this blog you should know that I am stealing the whole outline for the set up of my blog from one of my greatest friends fallon. So some of the small little creative ideas are not my own. Thanks fal!

today: mow the lawn, pack, fallon,

OH hey!
So in two weeks I will be traveling to Germany where I will be living for a year on a farm in the south east. As I travel around on weekends and holidays I will writing on this blog to let people know what I am getting up to and as a way of documenting my trip around europe.

today: work, cousins, nerves