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