Even more travel!

Ok, what can I say - I'm all travelled out!! and still got two weeks of it left!!

Currently in Prague, but have been to San Francisco, New York, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Vienna over the last few weeks. Have seen soooo many places its all a bit of a blur, but I have plenty of photos to remember it all by. The bad part is that with the digicam I have gone a bit crazy with photos so have proly too many - hopefully I can pick some goodies to show ppl.

Only another two weeks till I'm back in OZ and travelling basically the whole time.

Hope I can adjust to life back home well enough...including finding some good work!

Travel, travel and more travel

As usual, its been far too long since I last wrote in this blog.
At the end of September I went for a day trip to Oktoberfest in Munich. The beer 'tents' are massive temporary tents housing about 6,000 guests and smelling of stale beer and grilled chickens. Not particularly pleasant from that perspective, but each tent was grandly decorated. Each tent is presented by a different beer brewery and decorated in a particular theme. Apart from the beer tents, there were plenty of other food stands and heaps of rides. A bit like the Melbourne Show, just 10 times bigger! Of course there were thousands of people there too. Every few minutes I would hear Aussie voices somewhere...and wander off in the other direction. I was warned they can be dangerous and make you get spastically drunk ;-)
After seeing the fest, I took a walk into the centre of town. I wanted to see the Glockenspiel at the Munich Town Hall, and of course with my luck the Town Hall was under renovation so the Glockenspiel was not completely visible, nor did it work properly. There was no sound...ie no Glockenspiel - just he movement of the figures in the clock. Bit disappointing. What was very nice though was the walk I took through the Englischer Garten (English Garden) which is meant to be the biggest city park in Germany. It was a fantastic day with blue sky and sunshine, about 20 degrees and autumn colours in full swing.
Last weekend I took a trip to London to visit some friends for a few days. That was awesome. I saw plenty of the usual sights, including the London Eye - expensive but a great view. The highlight of the weekend was seeing my friends, and seeing the musical "We Will Rock You".
This week has been spent with Dad visiting his old workplace and where he used to live a few years ago. The last couple of days were spent visiting friends in Regensburg.
Tomorrow I go with Dad in a hire car to visit various relatives all over the south of Germany over the coming week. Then I'm off to the USA for a wedding of one of my best friends - that's in San Francisco. 10 Days in San Fran, then a few in New York before heading back to Europe for three weeks and then back to Oz. It'll be a busy few weeks, but I'm looking forward to it all.
Can't wait to see my family and friends again soon too.

School's out....and so is Summer

Again its been a while since my last entry.


After visiting my cousin in Berlin (last entry) I went with my aunt/uncle/cousins to Zillertal in Austria. There we collected wild mushrooms called "Pfifferlinge"....and cooked them up with roast deer meat....yum yum yum!


Last four weeks have been spent basically working and going to school. I've now finished my German courses and probably get about 10% of the language right!! At least my German has improved heaps and I can write an email or letter and have a conversation without too much drama. The grammar still isnt the best, but hey - cant have everything ;-)


As part of our last German course, every Friday afternoon we would go on an excursion/outing. We have been to the Fembohaus (a museum about Nürnberg), Felsenkeller (underground tunnels under Nürnberg where they used to collect water and store beer and vegetables), Lochgefängnise ("hole jails" - basically cells under the old council building where prisoners were held during the middle ages), and a nature walk up a local hill with an old tower on the hill. Each outing was coupled with a beer drinking session which was loads of fun.

Work is still pretty good, except now that the weather is getting cooler and the leaves are changing colour, I will get less work. Basically when its too cold or raining the beergarden isnt open, so I dont need to be there.

Went out drinking with my 2nd cousin the other day. Only had about 5 or 6 beers in about 2 hours, which was enough to give me a stomach ache the next day. In any case it was good to finally catch up with my cousin because we've been wanting to do it for the last four months but never found a mutually suitable time.

Tomorrow is my birthday (although as I type this it is already my birthday back home in Oz) and I am invited to lunch with some school pals, and then dinner with my cousin and his girlfriend. I'm looking forward to a lovely day.

Next on the cards is more German grammar practice, local museums, swimming, visiting relos, London, USA, Austria, Czech Republic. So plenty to do in the next couple of months before I'm back home....and looking for work.

Spreewald - wow!

First pay packet!! Yay!!
More interestingly though, I was up in Berlin on the weekend visiting my cousin. My uncle was there too. My cousin had organised for the three of us to go to the Spreewald (about an hour south of Berlin) and hire kayaks to go paddling through the Spreewald canals and rivers. It was an awesome weekend, I loved it!
The Spreewald (Wald = forest) is so named because the Spree (the river that flows through Berlin) flows through this area. What's particularly special about this area is the it is low-lying flat land with lots of canals and tributaries. The whole area over the last few hundred years has been populated and farmed and in so doing, the forest area has been depleted. Now, under UNESCO observation, the area is being regenerated interestingly while still being populated and farmed. An interesting mix of man and nature and a long term plan to restore the land to its former glory.
We arrived in the Spreewald on Saturday and visited a local Nature House which had a great display explaining the history of the area and how it is being regenerated. It gave an excellent idea of what to expect when visiting the Spreewald. I didnt expect it to be soooo much better than expected!
I was really looking forward to the weekend, and then we finally got our kayaks and were in the water. Now I was happy - out and about in nature, having an adventure on the water, with two members of my family. We paddled around for hours, enjoying the scenery which was awesome. The worst part was probably all the tourists around, but all part of the experience. We paddled to a nearby town where there was a historical village which had various old houses from 100 years ago. They displayed various aspects of life back then and how people lived. We ate at a local "kiosk" (after a little arguing over where we should eat - we were all really hungry and that can mean hightened tempers!) - which was really a stand next to the river where we could 'park' our kayaks and order some food. We had 'Schmalzbrot' (slices of brown bread spread with a homemade spread of pigs fat and bacon bits) and Leberwurstbrot with pickled cucumbers. Cucumbers are the main agricultural industry in the area.
After lunch we paddled further and after 13.5kms for the day stopped at our camping spot. Pitched the tent and cooked some beans and sausage on a little camping cooker. Drank some beer together and chatted until dark. It was awesome! I loved it!
The next morning we ate fresh bread rolls (we could order them the night before through the camping office) with cheese and cold meats. Then another fantastic day on the water paddling through the Spreewald. Today was a little easier to paddle because we travelled mostly with the stream. We paddled about 18.5kms on Sunday.
Arriving back at the car, we ate some dinner at a local restaurant. The food was delicious, but it took ages to come to the table. Therefore it was cooked fresh and tasted oh so good.
Then it was off home to my cousins place in Berlin again - I slept in the car a little. After so much paddling I was really tired, but enjoyed every minute of the weekend.
Now I'm looking forward to going to Austria with some other cousins, Aunt and Uncle next weekend.

Happy working and learning.

OK, that's it! I've had enough - I'm going to chuck in another job that I don't like (never did in fact). This telephone interview gig is sooooo boring it's painful! I did another shift this week, to see if I could still do it but I can't - it's too shitty! Apart from being a boring job, it's not exactly the kind of job I find morally correct. The whole concept of calling people at home, annoying them at home, asking questions that are almost positively not really going to reveal that much, is just simply wrong.
The topics that I had to ask questions about revolved around the advertisements of banks and insurance companies. Other topics that were asked about included refreshment drinks, telephone companies, shopping, energy providers blah blah blah. The questions I had to ask were really dumb and very annoying. The market research company would tell us to say whatever we have to on the phone to get an answer (nearly all questions are multi-choice answers). Most of the time the 'interviews' would take over 20 minutes, and we were told to say it only takes 10-12 minutes because "most people will forget the time when they're in the interview". Then we were told to keep asking the question when someone doesn't know something or doesn't have an answer - surely this means the results of the 'research' aren't exactly correct.
We were also only paid for the time we were logged into the questions. This meant that toilet breaks, smokos etc weren't paid.
On a happier note, I have a job now at a local Irish Pub which is much more enjoyable. It's only casual work but I like it so much better than the stupid telephone job! It's also a lower hourly rate but with tips it actually works out more. Also, I am much more prepared to do more hours.
At the pub I basically help out keeping the bar and beergarden stocked with drinks, serve meals, help in the kitchen a little, and help cleaning. The other workers are friendly (on the most part - there was a grumpy lady working on the weekend) and at least I can chat with them about normal stuff...not just stupid questions about advertisements!!
I also think that if I give up the telephone job I will at least have more time to focus on practicing my German grammar. I've found a grammar book with lots of practice exercises, so I will use the extra time to practice that. I have come to a point with my german skills that I need to get rid of the ingrained mistakes I constantly make, which isn't easy.
Well, happy working and learning!

New job #2

Well, I've managed to work through a second week of 'tele-interviewing'. It is a little easier now....I think the nerves in the first few days were getting to me, but I still dont like the job. At first it was just questions about banks, but now I'm also asking dumb questions about insurance companies. These questions take sooooo much longer. The other day I had a lady on the phone from 8.40pm until 9.30pm!!! A whole 50 minutes!! She was 60 years old, and the last 10 minutes were just stupid phrases about general life situations/thoughts (eg "if I work hard I can reach all my goals in life" and whether she agreed with them or not - at least 10 minutes, and about 50 phrases!!! Such a nerve from the market research company!
Thursday I also started working at an Irish Pub in town, called O'Sheas. The funny part is that the owner of the place rang me on Tuesday afternoon to see if I could drop by on Thursday evening for a chat about mabe working there. Then he umm-ed and arr-ed a bit cos he was a bit embarrassed to ask if I could work that day as well! So I said yes, and it went quite well. It's not my favourite job, but its better than tele-interviewing! And at least I can talk with people normal and I feel like I've done an honest day's work. I think I'll do a few shifts a week of both jobs - the telephone job will give me great practice in German, and the pub job will give me a good work out (it is physical work having to walk lots and carry lots of stuff around)....and of course it's all a bit of money!
My German course finished last week, but I hope to keep in touch with some new found friends. Many of my classmates will be doing the next level course as well, which will make it much more enjoyable I think. I plan to find a good german grammar book where I can practice in the weeks where I dont have school.
This weekend is the Klassik Open Air Konzert which I am going to see with my family. It is held each year and is a free concert with classical music held in a parkland area which was once used by the Nazi Party as part of their Rally Grounds. We will take a picnic and enjoy the lovely summer weather we are having lately. Although its not quite as hot as Oz, its pretty humid so that makes it a little more uncomfortable than at home.
On a different note, television here is full of CRAP!!! They have these talk shows (like Judge Judy, or where people come to 'solve' their problems) which are soooo overdone and fake, it is obvious that its always actors! I find it sooo funny to watch. If I ever need a 'pick-me-up' then I just watch one of these :-) It's also taking a lot of getting used to seeing english programs dubbed in German....it might become so normal for me that the shows back home will be strange in original language!

Found a job...

Hmmm, well, I have finally started a job hear in Germany although its not exactly a dream job. It's a job as a telephone interviewer for a market research company. So I'm basically sitting at a computer ringing people and annoying them with dumb questions about what drinks they like, what bank brands they know and who knows what else.

The worst part about the job is not the fact I dont like the idea of annoying people in their homes (we all know how very annoying it is!) but the fact I have a bit of trouble reading the German words to ask the questions. Its rather embarassing to talk to people reading text like a 12 year old would read a book out loud. The supervisor gave me some feedback saying I sounded sad on the phone and need to add more pep to my voice. Hmmm, we'll see how I go with it.

Maybe I'll find another job that's a bit better in the near future. We'll see.

My German course finishes in a week's time which is sad because I really enjoy it. The other class members are all really nice people, and many of them will also be doing the next course with me too.

Course started!

I've started my German course, and so far its pretty good. There lots of grammar I have missed in the first few levels but I think I'm in a class at the right level now.

Havent got any work yet, but a few prospects that may be fruitful in the coming weeks. Fingers crossed. (Thumbs pressed as they say here)

I am looking forward to coming home already...even though its still nearly 6 months away! I return end of November, but going to Syd to visit some friends, then be back in Melb at start of Dec.

Christening (Taufe)

Yesterday I spent the day with my cousins and the christening of their son. It was a great day, with beautiful warm weather, a lovely christening ceremony at a local church, and of course a celebration is not complete without FOOD! And there was plenty of excellent home made food.

Late in the afternoon the black clouds rolled in and it poured rain for about 20 minutes, when the sun came out again.

Last week I had a job interview, and I have a trial run session (about an hour) on Tuesday, so hope that goes well....fingers croseed!

Sore legs!

Last week I visited my aunt and cousins near Augsburg. I helped my aunt in the garden mowing the lawn and cutting the hedge. One night we all sat together to have a great meal with asparagus - its asparagus season at the moment so everyone is on this asparagus wagon. Was very tasty though. Another night we went to my aunts boyfriend's place for Father's Day (that was last Thursday 17 May) and met his kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Was a nice evening, a late evening, and a little too much to drink :-P

The weekend just gone was spent with Mum's cousin in Berchtesgaden where my Oma lived. It's a beautiful place in the Summertime, without snow (I only know the place in Wintertime with snow everwhere) - lots of green and flowers in bloom. We walked up two different mountains on two different days, and then walked to the Obersee after a boat ride on the Königssee. My legs and feet were sore from walking so much and not being used to it. I managed though. On one of the walks there were fallen trees all over the track so we spent an hour longer on our walk climbing over the trees and finding the path again.

Today I am being chauffeur for my cousin, and tomorrow I think I will need to be more serious about looking for a job! A little bit of boredom setting in is also helping boost the motivation to get a job. I applied for one last week, but didnt hear anything back. Hopefully I can earn some money while I'm here!

Hamburg

Wednesday, 9 May 2007 - Friday, 11 May 2007

For three days I decided I would take a trip to Hamburg (no job, and no money, but lots of time). It was very interesting to learn about the history of the city, which dates back hundreds of years, and the fact that it is a "free harbour". It was actually established as an international trading harbour, free from duties and taxes. Even today it remains one of the major trading harbours of the world. Funnily enough it is actually a harbour on a river, the Elbe River, and not on an ocean or sea.

On the Wednesday I travelled by ICE (InterCity Express) train to Hamburg, with a top speed along the way of about 256 km/hr!!!! So much for Melbourne’s "Very Fast trains" - and then compare with France’s TGV (tested recently at around 500 km/hr), or the Maglev trains in Japan and China which travel something phenomenal too. That afternoon I decided to take a bus tour of the city to see all the general tourist sites I should visit later on. My hotel for the next two nights was right in the middle of the red light district "Reeperbahn" with sex shops up and down the street. It was a little unnerving but at least I had a room with a TV and shower and warm bed for the night.

On the second day, Thursday, I went to the church ruin of St Nickolai which was mostly destroyed in the second World War. The played a concert with the church bells at lunchtime which was great to see and hear. Then I visited the church of St Michaelis - home of the largest church clock in Germany. It also has the graves of the musical family Bach. That evening was the reason for going to Hamburg in the first place, Der König der Löwen (The Lion King) musical, which was fantastic. I will have to see it again in Oz when it returns there. By the way, it’s been playing in Germany now for the last two years or so!

On the Friday I visited the Town Hall/Council Chambers - that was an interesting tour. Hearing about the significance of some of the rooms and how they were built was almost unbelievable. It was also one of the few buildings in Hamburg that wasn’t destroyed or disturbed during the second world war. In the afternoon I visited "Minitur Wunderland" which houses the worlds largest model railway display. That was awesome to see, and I spent over two hours in the place. They even change the lighting every 15 minutes to nighttime! In the evening I travelled by ICE train home again, although there was train chaos in Hamburg that night due to a fire at another Hamburg station. I tell ya what, the German train system is fantastic - punctual, reliable, clean, smooth - but when there’s a hic-up, the whole system is in a mess.

Last week...

Wednesday, 2 May 2007 to Thursday, 3 May 2007

Hainsfarth

Drove with a cousin to my aunt and uncle’s house in Hainsfarth. There we played a Swedish bowling game in the garden before doing some gardening with the rest of the family – I did some hedge trimming. I met my cousin’s (another cousin) husband for the first time and also their two kids, one also for the first time.

On Thursday we went shooting at a local shooting range. My uncle had a new sight on his rifle so we all had a go at shooting the bullseye. Having only ever shot a gun once or twice in my life I didn’t do too badly, hitting the target only a couple of centimetres from the bullseye – at a distance of about a hundred metres (I think)!

Friday, 4 May 2007

Money in, money out

Friday was “battle through the bank account jungle” day. I was expecting plenty of questions and difficulties given the identity checks needed in Australia! Instead, I was the proud owner of a simple account number, online banking access, and a new plastic card in the mail within about 15-20 minutes. I only needed my passport and an address and it was all done, I even made a deposit to get the account started. One of the few differences I’ve noticed – a simple account opening process.

After that, I went to Mum’s cousin and booked a small holiday to Hamburg to see “Der König Der Löwen” (The Lion King) musical. Since I missed it in Melbourne, I thought I better get in quick to see it here…only to discover that it’s been playing here for the last two years already!!! How rude – it should have played longer in Melbourne! Similarly, the musical Starlight Express has been playing in Germany in a specifically built stage for the last 20 years!! Unbelievable. Anyway with two nights in a hotel, a train trip, musical ticket, and a trip to a massive model train exhibit I am a little poorer.

Saturday, 5 May 2007

Mum & Dad’s friends

This day was spent with two good friends of Mum and Dad’s who I’d never met before – only ever heard of. Likewise they had only ever heard of me so it was great to finally meet them, and their daughter as well. She’s two years younger than me so it was nice to meet someone of similar age. Their uncle (from USA) and cousins (from Dortmund) were there too and we all had a great time. Talking the afternoon away, then having a fantastic roast pork for dinner with three different cuts of meat and dumplings. Yum! Later we played dominoes, but a different version to what I’m used to – it was good fun. We ended up finishing up at about 1.30am, where I got a lift home with their daughter. Next weekend their daughter and I have organised to see Spiderman 3 at the cinema.

Sunday, 6 May 2007

Mum had been telling me before my trip here about a festival held each year in her home town, so I travelled down to my uncle and aunt’s place in Herkheim, near Nördlingen, to stay the night so I could see the festival the next day. Another aunt of mine came as well so I could go with her to see the festival the next day. I also got to see one of my cousins again which was great. We all had a wonderful dinner with salad and pork steaks – my uncle is a pretty good cook.

Monday, 7 May 2007

Stabenfest

Today I went to my Mum’s home town, Nördlingen, to see the 601 year old tradition called “Stabenfest”. This festival celebrates the end of an illness epidemic that happened more than 600 years ago, as well as celebrating the end of the Winter and the beginning of the Spring/Summer. The flowers are in bloom and so the parade is traditionally held with school children carrying various sticks (“Staben”) with flowers on them. There are also carts with small children, lollies handed out to the kids watching in the street, bands playing throughout the parade, and other decorations celebrating the various harvests in the region. It was really nice to see this traditional parade, and eat a “Stabenwurst” (a traditional long sausage that looks like a “Staben”). I went with my aunt who knew all the tricks of where to stand so we could see the parade three times! The parade makes it’s way out to the “Kaiserwiessen” where a large show is setup including rides, a beer tent, plenty of “Stabenwurst” and other foods, and the traditional “Kraxeln” – a tall wooden pole that traditionally the young boys try to climb to grab a prize from the top of the pole. We saw lots of kids try, and there were plenty of girls giving it a go as well – even more so than the boys. All in all, an excellent day and well worth the trip to see.

Tuesday, 8 May 2007

Employment and study

Having no job currently means no income, and of course not having any money coming in means being very frugal, which isn’t exactly the best feeling in the world. Couple that with a little bit of loneliness, and I’m starting to feel a bit homesick today. As I sat in the laundromat in the afternoon I starting thinking about all my friends and family back home and wondering if I’ve done the right thing – I’m sure in a few weeks it will be a different story.

Anyway, in the morning I went to the employment office to register and have to go for an interview next Tuesday morning – so not much luck there just yet. They asked me if I wanted to register for unemployment benefits but I said I’d like to see if I can get some work first.

After that, I went and registered for a German course which had to be paid for in cash! How backwards is that!? Then I bought the text book for the course “Passwort Deutsch 4” which I think is the same series of books used by a friend in Oz who studied German at uni.

This was all finished by lunchtime so I decided to walk to find the swimming pool which was much further than I thought. It made for a nice afternoon hike nevertheless. And upon my return, I went to wash clothes and make some pasta with bolognaise sauce and watch TV.

1 May = Labour Day

In Germany the 1st of May is Labour Day "Tag der Arbeit" which traditionally sees plenty of demonstrations and protests happening. In Nürnberg there was something happening in the main market square in the town centre, and there is the usual motorbike gathering/ride into town. I steered clear of all these things and went with Mum's cousin to the hut in the woods again.

At the hut we had a very relaxing day - sweeping the grass for leaves and twigs, clearing debris from the ponds, and eating a lovely meal out in the sunshine. Afternoon siesta is "pflicht" (mandatory) so I sat in the sun, in the sheep paddock, trying to read and understand the German tax system. I was given a booklet about taxes with my 'tax card' and it didn't make much sense to be honest. Apparently there is a church tax, and of course income tax.

Today I found a tick attached to my chest, so went to my Mum's cousin to see about getting it off. She did so very nicely, so now I have to keep an eye on the spot where it was and hope there's no infection. My uncle had meningicoccal from a tick many years ago - it can be very dangerous!

I also went to the Volkshochschule (like a TAFE school I think) to enquire about learning German. I need to do a test online to see what course level I should do and then just enrol. I'm looking forward to doing that.

Otherwise this afternoon I'm going with some cousins (not the one I'm living with) to my Aunt's place in Hainsfahrt, then return tomorrow.

At this stage I think I will wait until Monday to start looking for work, although I am getting a bit bored so it will be much better I think when I am studying and working. Hopefully will make new friends too, cos it is a bit lonely often (and of course I'm missing all my family and friends back home in Oz).

Registration

Today I went and registered at the local Citizen Registration Office (Einwohneramt) which took about an hour. Didn't help though that I didn't have my original Birth Certificate, and they were getting confused with my birthplace.

I also asked about doing a German course, but that will have to wait til Wednesday because the person I need to speak with she's not in til then.

On Sunday I went with Mum's cousin to their little patch of land in the forest. It's really nice with a couple of dams with fish in them, some sheep and a hut. I went to feed the big fish (I think they are trout) in the top dam, and as I was throwing the food in the water, all the sheep came running up to me. I thought they were going to push me into the water, but they were just hoping I'd have some food for them. After feeding fish, we both spent the morning planting some flowers and potatoes in the vegie patch. In the sunshine that was quite warm work, and so we had a lovely well deserved lunch which was delicious. This was followed by a 3 hour long afternoon siesta.

That night, I didn't feel the greatest with a bit of a headache and dizziness, which I'd actually had since arriving. I think it's slowly getting better though. Anyway, I decided to make some vegetable soup for dinner which was really nice. I ate it while watching Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) which was easy to follow for me.

Tomorrow I will be going again to the forest to help my Mum's cousin again - it's a public holiday (Labour Day) anyway so nothing is open.

Arriving in Germany

I couldn't remember what I put in the last post, so I've repeated some I'm sure...

Well, I’ve arrived safe and well in Germany, after a loooonnnngg flight. I asked for an exit row seat, but the last one (apparently) was given away to the tall guy in front of me. I got my minimum requirement of an aisle seat….in the second last row of the whole plane. From Melbourne to Singapore I watched 3 movies (Happy Feet, Pursuit of Happyness, Flushed Away - this one I watched in German). Got some awesome Cadbury Hot Chocolate on the way…yum!
The leg from Singapore to London wasn’t quite so comfortable. I had the little British girl behind me kicking my seat every now and then, a big bloke sitting next to me (from Melb it was some skinny, young Swedish dude), and screaming kids always being brought to the back of the plane to be ‘soothed’. So I couldn’t really sit straight, couldn’t sleep proper, but I did watch another 3 movies (Employee of the Month, Man of the Year, Jindabyne).

So by the time it came to the London to München (Munich) flight, I ended up sleeping the whole way just about. This was a British Airways flight and the food was terrible - some bacon and tomato sauce thing in a crap ‘bread’ roll. Qantas food was so much better.

Then there was a train ride to Nürnberg - man the trains are smooth, fast and quiet! And of course they are spot on time. My cousin, Hans, picked me up, we went shopping and then to his place which is my home for the next few months.

In the early evening I went for a walk to visit my Mum’s cousin and quickly say hello. We went for a walk to collect her car from the mechanic so by the time I got home (about 8pm) I was soooo tired. I ended up falling asleep in front of the TV but went to bed soon after.

Grüße aus Deutschland (Greetings from Germany)

I had a long flight to Germany over the last two days and now I'm sooo tired (which is making typing on the German keyboard a little difficult). I had an alright run from Melbourne to Sydney, watching 3 movies - Happy Feet, Pursuit of Happyness, and Flushed Away (watched that one in German).

Then from Singapore to London the fun began - screaming babies and kids, girl behind me kept kicking my seat back, and I had some bloke sitting next to me who decided the whole armrest was his! Although I watched another 3 movies on that leg Employee of the Month, Man of the Year, and Jindabyne.

Food on Qantas was pretty alright, but the bacon and tomato sauce on sh!t bread from British Airways was foul.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I will go get some shut eye I think.

Dad's motorbike accident

Again, it's been a while since I've left some news here, but now there is some...albeit bad news :-(

Dad had a motorbike accident recently, so I've created a separate blog to keep people up to date.

www.twowheelrosella.blogspot.com

Check it out for progress.