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.