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).