Merry Christmas!

I am leaving Berlin tomorrow morning to go to Bad Honnef, in my bf's family. This time of year I honestly miss my friends and family most of all. But hey, at least I'm not going to be alone on Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Those who have the luck of having SNOW for Christmas (ahem - montrealers), ENJOY IT.

I haven't got any!

xx
francoise

Flowers

Today I received these beautiful flowers from my bf. For nothing. It's just one of those little things that make your day worthwhile.

We'll be in my boyfriend's family over the holidays, and back in Berlin on the 29th. Probably going to spend the 31st on Unter den Linden, near the Branderburger Tor.

I have my first presentation to do at the University on Friday, and yes, it's in German!

The kids to whom I give language classes have been progressing, more or less, each at their own rythm. I'm slowly feeling like I'm catching a normal rythm of life.

It's starting to feel like home. Finally.

Snowy morning

When I woke up this morning, everything was white. The few trees we almost call our own are bare and I could see the backs of the houses from the next street. It wasn't quite bright yet, as the sun has been delaying it's entry and leaving ever more earlier, but the snow just gave a slight shimmering tone to everything. I snuggled up, close to the window, with a steaming cup of coffee, and watched nature's pure magic on a city so grey.

I noticed a light on, on the other side of the yard. I was wondering, are they too, taking the time to enjoy the morning snow? Are they peering across the yard and wondering, if I'm wondering, too?

A little bird hoped from one branch to another, looking like it was trying to find a warm spot, some comfort in the cold. And the snow kept falling and falling, in tiny little snowflakes, landing on my windowsill, and welcoming me to the world, with their beauty, for a brand new day.

blogger's block

so I'm sitting here, not quite sure what I should write... feeling bad abour not posting more often... and actually absolutely extenuated. Yep, I'm making money folks! It just barely covers my basic expenses, but at least some of it is coming in. I was feeling really bummed out earlier this week because I really wanted to go home in march, but I have to face it: I just don't have the money. I'll try for august. My mom is going to be so disappointed...

Ah well. on a lighter note, I feel like I'm building slowly a circle of friends, person after person, slowly making friends. I started this english literature calss which is absolutely amazing, I had forgotten how good I was at literary analysis, and how much I actually enjoyed it.

I'm basically living like a poor student - which is what I am anyways... Had spaghetti fot dinner - again. I can't wait to make a bit more money and buy the last 2 manuals I'm missing for university. They're 15 euros a piece, and right now I just can't manage to pay that.

oh well. it'll get better.

random thoughts

you what really demands concentration? having everyday classes at the uni in german. Man am I tired when I get home! I'm now known as "the french speaking canadian girl" in my program. I've also started giving french and english lessons... really not too bad and pretty interesting! My life has been pretty much boring the last week and a half, just adjusting to my new life here. This evening I ate a ham and cheese sandwich, straight out of the sandwich maker ( you know, those machines that grill your sandwich and make the cheese melt!) it's kinda stupid, but it tasted like home.

another interesting thing is that at the uni, I have classes in english and classes in german. Well, of course all classes in english are given by german professors who speak horrible english and 2/3 of the classes in german are given either by french or english native speakers, so their german is even harder to understand as the german professors' english...

Went to a really cool party saturday night at a mini-golf center. funny.

We won't be eating chicken for a while here,... hope it doesn't get to north america!


I miss my family.

I miss normal University. I miss people who speak with a quebecois accent in french and who say "eh" in english. I miss maple syrup. I miss having a job where I'm making a lot of money (ok, I DON'T miss working every saturday and sunday), I miss bacon and toast for breakfast. I miss Tout le Monde en Parle with Guy A. Lepage. I miss Enjeux. I miss walking home on Mont-Royal street, late at night after work, seeing all the people huddled in the barsand restaurants, talking with friends, being happy. I miss the smell of Autumn. I miss the friendly way people have in Quebec, that if you get along with someone you just met, chances are they will invite you for coffee or a drink. I miss making witty comments in class that make the students laugh and the teachers smile. I miss walking on the street and bumping in to people I haven't seen in a long time (mind you, if and when it'll happen here, now THAT'll be the day!). I miss shopping downtown, and popping in to a bikini shop where my friend works, just to say hi, and then finding out she was just about to go on break, and having lunch together.

The worse thing is, I know that if, for whatever reason, I were to go back to Montreal to live, 1) it would not be like in my memories and 2) I'd probably start missing stuff from over here!

YO!

howly cow has it been a while! so, had my first classes at the uni, met tons of people! Last night I was invited out with a group of girls (all german, yay!) and really had a good time. It felt SO GREAT to finally meet new people, make new friends and just have a blast... Get a load of this: my bf met a girl in one of his classes, she's german, went to canada, met a canadian, brought him back, and they're here in Berlin since the beginning of october. How cool is that?!?! They're coming over tonight for drinks. I found a mini job as tutor for a 13 year old kid in english and french, and it's pretty well payed, and he's so bad he needs 6 hours a week ( that's more than what he actually gets in school). But hey, I'm not complaining! I also signed up for a hip hop class at the university's sport center, which feels soooo great to finally be moving and dancing again ( I used to do hip hop once a week in montreal and I was REALLY missing it!) I also made a friend there, a girl from Leipzig. It's really great here, I'm finding out I make friends so easily, and also that my german is actually quite good! Everything is going so fast, I'm absolutely exhausted of all the new experiences, the new classes at university, the new friends, FINALLY starting to really party again, but I am absolutely happy. And the Queen of the world. HA!

YAY ME!

Nightmare

I've been having this recurring nightmare for about 1 year/1 year and a half. It's not always the same, the setting changes, the circumstances change, the people change... but one thing stays. It's always some sort of tsunami. And it started way before the tsunami in Thailand. I'm always on a beach, or on the side of a lake, and there's always some kind of wall next to me: a hill, a hotel wall. a huge tree... Anyways, I'm always having fun, and then I realize something's wrong with the water.Terribly wrong. I try to run away, but everything goes so slowly. Except the wave. It's like, 50 meters high. I see the wall/ hill, and I know I'm going to violently crash into it as soon as the wave hits me. I feel absolutely horrified, and try to run away but somehow I just can't. The feeling I have when I wake up is just absolute dread. What's strange is that in my life, I was never, ever afraid of water, quite the contrary...my parents couldn't manage to get me away from the ocean when I was a kid, and my boyfriend too, now that I'm an adult... I've tried to find any movies I would have seen, books I would have read... to no avail.

I wish these water nightmares would stop, as I have them quite frequently ( at least once a month) and they always leave me drained... and terrified of the water.

International Students

Today was the first meeting at university. a presentation of the Uni, campus tour, international student activities etc... Well, turns out almost all of the international students are here with an exchange program, and a lot of them know each other from their home country. I tried many times to make conversation with other students, but they just kept to themselves and basically would answer my question ("where are you from? what subject are you studying?") and then turn away. HOW RUDE!

arghhhhhhh.

And of course I am THE ONLY canadian at this University.

I can't wait til semester starts, so I can meet german students. maybe they'll be nicer. I mean, what's wrong with me? I don't think I'm some sort of weird person they would want to avoid???

anyways, the stupid guided tour for romanistik students was shit, the student-guide knew less as I did about certain things around campus ( Ok, I am very resourceful, but come on!)

I'll pretty soon need to find a job, and honestly it's scaring me to death, probably having to work with the public... in german.

well. off to Ikea tomorrow to buy curtain holders!

What I am proud of

-waiting for 4 hours to register at the city offices of berlin
-being accepted at the university here without an exchange program: just me by myself
-passing my language test with flying colours
-making the decision to move to Germany
-being strong enough to get what I really want
-standing up for myself in front of my family and friends without damaging the relationships
-knowing I can rely on myself no matter what happens
-knowing I can achieve whatever I want, if i really put my mind to it
-being 23 years old and living in Berlin.

freakishly accurate

frankie took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Seeks an affectionate relationship, offering fulfi..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

resident

Well, I am now the proud owner of a 2 page RESIDENCE PERMIT in my passport! wou-hou! I have insurance, have opened a bank account, am registered at the city offices and all that's left is my registration at the Uni, which I will complete tomorrow, as a birthday present to myself.

I just keep looking at the colourful sticker in my passport... now I can start looking for a job...

Here we go again!

BERLIN BABY!!!

We're here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally my own HOME. No more living with the parents!!!! We started packing our stuff into the truck wednesday morning around 9:30 am. The truck we wanted to rent wasn't available, so they upgraded us to a 7.5 ton truck. Man is that something on the german highways! We packed up everything with the help of 5 people within 2 hours, had lunch with my bf's father and left around 12:00-12:15. You see, the last time we went to Berlin it took us about 6 hours, so we calculated 8 hours to be safe, thinking we'll be done over there max around 11:00 pm. Well. We got 3 different areas of severe traffic and many areas were under construction. We pulled up in front of our appartment building around 10:30 pm. Bf and his brother returned the truck here at the branch in Berlin around 3 or 4 am. GAWD. I never ever want to move again. I am going to live here for the rest of my life and be content with our small but comfy appartment.

It is our first appartment together. It still feels so weird seeing both our names on the doorbell and the mailbox. It's like every time I pass by, I look at it and I feel all tingly inside. It's surprising sometimes how life can just give you so much. Next friday, October the seventh, it'll be four years that we are together. I will also turn 23 years old. Starting a relationship with him was definitely the best birthday present I ever had...

Weekend at my mother in law's

We were invited this weekend over at my mother in law's with my bf's brother, and his girlfriend. It was supposed to be just a little get together before we move to Berlin, which is a good 6 hour drive from here. Oh, and at the same time on sunday my bf and his brother could help just move the big furniture out of the living room because it was being re-carpeted and re-painted on monday and tuesday. yeah right.

Weel, we got there on saturday afternoon. You have to picture it, this is a small appartment, with a kitchen, 2 small bedrooms and a living room/dining room. I expected the living/dining room to be almost empty ( you know, crystal and silver packed, furniture empty, just the basic necessities so that we can have a pleasant dinner and maybe manage to eat breakfast the next day.) Well, absolutely NOTHING had been done. My mother in law really wanted us to go play tennis (even though that we were 5) so I'm thinking, since she gets up so much earlier than all of us she'll pack up and prepare everything tomorrow morning. So we go on and play tennis, it was fun, came back home, barbecued, went to bed. Sunday morning we get up... She had one, I repeat one box packed. I am not that all familiar with my mother in law, since we've been living in Canada for the past 4 years, and quite frankly I just don't know her that well yet. She had decided that we, the girls, could pack up all her stuff for her, that it would go faster. Umm, okay, would have been nice to have been asked first, but ok. Man. SO MUCH JUNK. THe furniture was dusty and she hadn't even had a look in the stuff! I found an old kleenex in her stuff. When we asked "where should we put these boxes now?" SHE HAD NO IDEA! But wait, then my bf asked exactly where the heavy furniture pieces ( 4 pieces) should go, she hadn't thought of it!!!!!! SHe just said " well actually I have no idea, it's quite difficult with my small appartment, but I'm sure you guys will figure it out." WTF?!?!?

She THEN started to order us all around like children who still live under her roof ( my bf has never lived with his mom, he was raised by his dad). I start taking pictures off the wall, and take them to one of the bedrooms. The pictures are so dusty I can't help but sneeze. At this point, we've been working for a couple of hours and I'm starting to feel insulted that she's making me do all this for her ( she is no old lady!) and then she sees me with the painting in my hands and says " well, can't you see that it's dirty?? you can go in the kitchen and wash it" (no please)

and NO, it's not over. We get a phone call from Berlin. You see, we know 2 people in Berlin: our friend Alex and his roommate. They were going to help us move in. Guess what? One broke his foot and the other hurt his back, is on bedrest and might have to be operated! Now THAT is bad luck! It really sucks for them , and we felt really bad for them, but at the same time I started panickin. We have some pretty heavy furniture and I'm not sure I can do it alone with my bf. Bf's brother, so sweet, offers right away to come with us to Berlin on Wednesday, so that he can help us unpack. Then the mother hears it. And here we go again. She claims he said he would help her move back in the furniture on wednesday. We say, well then maybe he can move back her stuff in on thursday or friday? ( her appartment is still liveable, with access to kitchen bedroom and computer) She starts FREAKING OUT saying that it's our problem and that then we should reschedule our move to thursday (oh yeah, that's really simple: huge truck we've reserved, friends to move out the furniture from here, 6-7 hour drive, appointment in Berlin with the owner...) and that there is NO WAY That she will let the brother come with us on wednesday. MY GOD. I swear, this woman will drive me nuts. I was furious. Then she suggested we all come to her house on tuesday night and move back in her living/dinning room. I say that wouldn't work for us, we have to pack our stuff up. ( we have a complete kitchen , bedroom and living room) She answers " what? no, you don't have that much" OH REALLY? thanks for telling me, you know, maybe we rented a 5.2 ton truck for nothing! Then, I say, we also have a goodbye family dinner at my bf's dad, and since we've been living here free for 3 months now and they've planned this dinner for more than a week now, unfortunately we really have to be here for the dinner. Her answer? "Well, that's not important, you can have your little dinner later" LATER? when? over the phone from Berlin?

Well, we finally left on sunday at least 3 hours later that what we had planned on and I managed to not run away from her apartment screaming. Please tell me all not mother in laws are like this.

EXEMPTED!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I got up a 9 this morning, my bags were packed, I was totally nervous about the oral examination... Decided to call the university anyways,at least to get my appointment...

I got a 3 in every part of the written exam! ( it's the highest you can get) and so I was exempted from the oral examination! wouuuuuuuu-houuuuuuuuuu!

I did it! I did the DSH and got the best results possible!

yay me!

so, I obviously did not go to Berlin, I am now packing my stuff up for the move, which is next week. we heard yesterday that our appartment is ready... yay!

Last. Step.

I'm leaving once again tmorrow for Berlin. This will be the last step of the exam. Oral examination. Tomorrow i will receive the results of the written exam. If I succeeded, either I receive an apointment for the last part either on thursday or friday. I am nervous, because it is difficult to prepare for a discussion. I hope I don't get just too nervous and my german comes out all wrong...

Oh well, I guess this is it! it seems like all I do is ask for you guys to wish me luck, but once again, please do, and think of me on thursday and friday!

yeah, I am

You Are A: Puppy!

Beloved by all, puppies are energetic, playful, and loving. Your outgoing and friendly nature is part of what makes you a puppy. Known for their loyalty, puppies make great pets for young and old alike. And an innocent puppy face can melt anyone's heart!

You were almost a: Pony or a Lamb
You are least like a: Chipmunk or a TurtleWhat Cute Animal Are You?

500

so, in 5 hits I'm going to be at 500 visitors. Funny tha not a lot of people actually leave comments...

Everything is not so easy.

I try to be positive in life as much as I can, and believe in myself ( what other choice do I have anyways at this point?) but sometimes it's just too much.

Some days I just get in the shower and cry my eyes out.

so...

I'm back from Berlin! The test went well, i think.. I was so nervous I hardly ate anything the whole ay wednesday. I'm really glad it's over, but I think my body is really tired from all the stress. i feel like I'm just so tired all the time...

Of course the univeristy made a mistake with the papers and everybody has to do the oral examination. So I'm leaving again on wednesday for Berlin, I get my results ( actually I just get to see if I passed or not the written examination) and I then get my appointment for the oral examination, which is held either on thursday or friday.

It's really frustrating to not know until the last minute if I passed or not ( I think I did well, but you never know how they correct...) And I get my appointment at the last minute...


I feel like every single thing is so stressful, tiring and uncertain, and then when I finally accomplish it, I am totally relieved for like 2 or 3 hours, maybe half a day, and then I feel the anxiety starting to rise again thinking about how I have to organize my shit for the next step. For example I was really happy after my written test on thursday, well actually almost ecstatic and then I thought " Oh my god, now i have to find a connection for berlin for next week, find somewhere I can sleep for 2 or 3 nights... prepare for the other examination. Then, when it s going to be done, I have to buy governments medical insurance for students, then I have to register with the city, then I have to obtain my visa, then I get to officially register at the university... And we'll be moving short of 2 weeks from now, then I'll have to figure out how I choose my courses for this semester, THEN find a job (Oh my GOD!)than actually start to work with german people.

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

If I survive this, and get to the point where I'm registered for my classes, got a job and all, lets say by end of october/beginning november, I will officially proclaim myself super goddess of the world.

nervous.

Oh god, I am so going to die. So, my big language test is on thursday, from 8.30am til 3 pm... I'm taking the train tomorow morning to go to berlin, this time alone.
1st... OMG! alone in BERLIN?!?!?!?
2nd THIS IS IT! This is the test that will let me study in Germany or not..

I hope everything goes well, I have no idea of the level of difficulty of the test and I'm pretty sure I won't be sleeping much tonight or tomorrow night either...

The results will be in next wednesday ( the 21st) and these will determin if a) I am not fit to study in Germany b) I am so good I don't need to do the oral test (thursday is hearing comprehension, reading comprehension and writing) or c) My written test was good, but I still need to do the oral examination...

I'll tell all of you right here how it went.

If you have a minute on thursday, please think of me!

BERLIN

We saw the good. We saw the bad. We saw the ugly...

so, here are acouple of pics of our appartment hunt in Berlin.

We probably saw between 15 and 20 appartments. Curiously, many appartments in the same price range differ totally in quality. Also interesting, is that some builkdings are renovated and the building right next to it isn't here are some examples:


I was also surprised to fond that a certain number of buildings still have damage from World War II





































Sooo, our appartment is currently being fully renovated, so the only pictures I have are of the appartment full of tools and stuff, but still.. better than nothing!

Our appartment is small but comfortable, and comes with a built in kitchen. ( Most in Berlin come only with a sink and an oven) We also have a fridge, gas oven and washmachine with it!

so, here it comes!

the entrance and hallway:
























bedroom:




















kitchen:






















view from the kitchen and living room:


















the entrance to our builing:






















and finally, our building, seen from the other side of the street:

We were really lucky to find something like this.. nice floors, 3 meter high ceilings, nice kitchen and renovated...

We will be moving in around October 1st.... probably a couple days earlier.

Now I have to study, I have my big language test on thursday.. So i will be studying like mad this week. Think of me on thursday, this is the exam that lets me study in germany...

got it!

So, we have found our apartment in berlin, our move-in date is October 1st... I'll post pictures soon! sorry for the short post, be back in a while.

please know what you see is not the truth

so, this evening we decided to watch the north american ( canadian actually ) news as well as the german one. Both showed how people are in desperate need, both showed how anarchy is taking it's toll in new orleans...

One of them showed how help is finally arriving and that work is being done. the other didn't. I'll let you guess which one did which.

Yeah, I'm sitting here, FURIOUS. The german reporter was in Biloxi, LA. Stating that there are still people 4 days after the catastrophy. 4 days. That is too long for the richest country in the world. Other countries are sending stuff. For what? They do not lack resources, but rather are not able to organize help, or should I say, unwilling to help the poorest, blackest state of the US. Well anyways, the international press was not told that the president would be coming in biloxi. Actually, it was more by accident that this reporter was there and saw what she did. a SHOW

about two minutes before everywhere where the president was, were bulldozers, soldiers, HELP and search teams. Not for the president. For the north american press that travels with him. So that all north americans can believe that finally help is there. LIES

If you are in north america right now, KNOW that what you see on tv is not true. It is a show. What kind of government does the US have? Ask yourselves questions. Help is not there yet, and what is there is completely disorganized. This is what we see here.

Oh, and one last thing: one of the reasons why there aren't enough soldiers to help in New Orleans is because the "available" people were all sent to Irak. hmph

It has been 4 days since Katrina.

LA: estimated 10,000 deaths. thousands are still waiting.

appartment hunt

so, yesterday and today we checked out a couple of neighborhoods in the city. Let me tell you, if you are ever in Berlin, biking is the way to go! First of all, the trains and S-bahns are unbelievably expensive ( a week card cost 25 euros!) and also you really get a good impression of the city by bike... soooooooo

tomorrow we'll be visiting 4 appartments... wish us luck!

New Orleans

shit. I'm checking out the news here and the number of deaths caused by Katrina in Louisiana is raising by the hour. Please grab someone you love and tell them how important they are to you.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. I know it sounds totally cliche, but it really does.

BERLIN!!!

Okay folks, we are officially leaving this afternoon for Berlin. We're off to find an appartment! If I manage to find a computer I will post pictures of the ones we like and you can give me some feedback!

I will also be studying 2 hours a day for the bloody DSH test I have mid september (7 hour language test needed for immatriculation at the university).

hmm what else... oh yeah, I am getting pretty short on cash, so I will be looking up jobs... official and non official ones. Or I could just win the lottery!

;)

keep your fingers crossed for me!

Memory loss

Well, it seems as though I have lost my mind while being here. I can't believe I did it, but I actually forgot one of my best friends' birthday. I feel so bad about it, I didn't sleep much last night...

As if it weren't enough that I'm not there to see all the important events in my friends'lives, I have to forget important dates on top of it all.

I hope once I am settled in I will be able to start being normal again...

As a punishment, I will post a picture of myself begging for foregiveness and looking totally stupid

AVRIL!!!

One of my best friends in the whole wide world (literally) is getting married in one week. I talked to her today and it felt great. I felt like I had reconnected with an old friend, but really reconnected.

I am so sorry I can't be there for her in these precious times, but at the same time we respect each others'lives and happy that we are both living something extroardinary.

Look how cute they are!:

Avril and Eric's Wedding

I am super happy for her, AND they're getting married in an incredibly beautiful place.


How about you guys? Is it normal in your country to marry or is it not in anymore? At what age is it normal for you?

:)

Home

So I have been here for about 6 weeks now. So much things are starting to feel normal. I don't get weirded out so easily by stuff anymore , and it got me to thinking... Will I ever feel "home" here? How much time does it take? I used to work at a gym in Montreal and one of the clients was a french woman. She had been in Quebec since 20 years and said it still didn't feel like home. If anyone reading this has ever experienced something similar to this, you comments are absolutely welcome on this post particularly. I would really like to hear about other peoples experiences.

FUNNY!

I just found a jewel of a site on the internet. It's about a couple, the guy is british and the girl is german - FUNNY!

apparently some arguments are REALLY culturally related.

Go read it to have a good laugh!

ThingsMyGirlfriendAndIHaveArguedAbout.com

Absolute Sunday

Today is an absolutely perfect sunday. I woke up and it was gray and misty outside. Right now we can't even see well the top of the mountains. Everything seems just so Perfect. I cuddled with my boyfriend on our giant sofa, read the Spiegel (a little the Time Magazine), watched tv a bit (nothing on but the Pope - yay) and then I proceeded to spend a very productive 2 hours working on my at home german lessons. I even wrote a text that I was really proud of - bf has to correct it later, we'll see if it's good or not!

Just really mellow and happy

:)
happy sunday y'all!

Accepted

Woo-hooooooooooo! Thank god for mail on saturdays in Germany! I just got a letter from Humboldt Uni saying that I am accepted and an enveloppe containing all the papers I need to fill out to register!!!! YAY!

I am SO going to celebrate tonight!

I DID IT!

Germany

In Germany there are autobahns where there is no speed limit.


In Germany people feel free to be naked on their balcony, even though people can see them and take pictures directly from the train station nearby:

hehehe

Vienna... beautiful!

Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen yet. All the buildings are old, classic, detailed and simply breath-taking. The german spoken here is quite different, a little like the german spoken in bavaria, so I had a little trouble understanding the people. We were staying at an old roommate's from Carsten. He was living really close to downtown and the museums quartier with his girlfriend and 2 other roommates. The museums quartier is really coo, with all the museums and cool retro shops, in Electric Avenue. A must see. I was really glad because I really hit it off with Ingrid, the girlfriend of Peter, my bf's ex roommate. I was SO proud of myself after I spent most of the evening alone with her, speaking only her austrian german together, and actually having meaningful, serious conversations... and getting along really well. that was definitely a victory!

the first thing we visited was the Stephansdom, a church in downtown Vienna:



I overcame my fear of heights and went with the others up to the tower were you can walk around and have a view of Vienna... It's not inside! When you go up, you take an elevator and wait downstairs inside... when you are finished, you must wait in line for the elevator, standing on nothing but a metal cage-like floor... You can literally see the street way below between your feet. Here is me, holding on to the churches'wall for dear life...

NOT fun

There are SO many smokers in Germany and Autria.Everywhere: stores, bars, restaurants you name it, there is smoke there. Here is a picture of an ashtray in the Vienna public transportation:


We then visited Schloß Schönbrunn (castle Schönbrunn). This is absolutely a must see in Vienna. Incredibly beautiful castle, but beware of tourist-traps: for example, they'll try to tell you you have to buy a combo ticket to visit the castle, gardens and whatnot, but actually the gardens and grounds are free, and you can pay for each activity serparately. We ended up paying abour 3 euros each instead of this combp ticket for 17 euros...
Here is a garden at the back of the Schloß:


the gardens and the Gloriette:



the maze gardens (Irrgarten):



And finally, the Schloß itself:



beautiful.

The Vienna city hall:



Then we visited Schloß Belvedere, please if you are in Vienna visit this first, and Schönbrunn after, or else it seems really small but actually isn't. This is a statue in the gardens, I really liked it because it reminded me of the two sphinx in the never-ending story, through which Atrayu must pass to get to the oracle ( I am at the moment reading the Never Ending story in it s original version, german :)


The Museum of Natural History... if you plan on visiting it here, plan at least two full days... there is SO much to see here! and SO beautiful!



places like Vienna are why I LIVE for travelling.. If you haven't been there... GO!

Los geht's!

So, I am finally back in Honnef, and here are some pictures from our trip!!!

here we go!



We drove the first day and spent the night in a bed n breakfast...









near Rothenfels, a small town on the Main (like in frankfurt am Main) Here is a picture of Rothenfels



We then drove to Bamberg, in Bavaria. Bavaria is well known for it's really cheap, gutbürgerliche küche. That means, lots of sausages, sauerkraut and beer for not a lot of money. here is a photo of Bamberg, a student town in Bavaria. Lots of clubs and Bars actually close during months when students are not in town. Here is a photo of the town center:





And when I say cheap beer, here is an actual photo of a 1 litre beer krug that I purchased in a Biergarten (yep... a garden where you go to drink beer in the summer.. and you're allowed by law to bring your own food)it costed...


3 EUROS!!!!!!!!!!!!! (4,50 can dollars!!!)

Then we drove to Nürnberg, where we visited an old roommate of mine, Ulrich... Here he is with the bf in Nürnberg gardens :


That night, we drank beer and watched Germany's national sport, fußball, or , in north america, soccer. The people here are nuts about it, it's like hockey in Canada.The next day, we visited catacoombs under the city :

Basically, passageways and rooms underneath the city in which they used to store beer te keep it cold in the middle ages. In the middle ages, beer was actually considered as food, as everyone drank it: women, men, children. It had more calories and less alcohol as now (2-3%) and was a strong part of the daily menu. They only built the tunnels during the second world war, and when Nürnberg was attacked on January 2nd, 1944, 55 000 people took shelter in these beer kellers and tunnels. TO this day, many older citizens of Nürnberg claim that "beer saved our lives" :)

The last interesting stop before Austria was the customs... There aren't any customs here (european union), so all you see as you zoom through on the highways are empty toll stations... actually I didn't get any stamp at all as I flew here, and One guy n france barely blinked at my passport... Theoretically I coul stay here as long as I want even if I didn't have a visa, and just say I just got here a week ago if anyone ever asked questions... anyway, here are the abandonned customs:


Next post will be about Austria and Vienna

Wien

Hi !

I'm in Vienna for the moment and should be back on friday - with pics and tons of stuff to post about!

and.........we're off!

Hey evryone! I got my first german vaccination yesterday in a real german doctor s office. She was really nice and my boyfriend was even allowed on the office with me so he could translate the more technical terms:) I am PREPARED to fight TICKS!!!

Bring it on, ticks and your virus-induced meningitis! HA!

so we're off in one hour to tonight Rothenfels, tomorrow Bamberg, friday Nürnberg, weekend Vienna and next week slowly making our way back on thursday or friday...

promise to come back with tons of stories + pics!

xxx

Traveling

YAY! This week, on tuesday or wednesday we are leaving for Bavaria and Austria! I'm really excited to visit Vienna (I think that's the name of it in english?). We're going to visit friends, and my old roommate Ulrich, it's going to be so much fun! We might even do some camping, (yay! my first german camping experience!)

I don't know if I'm going to have easily access to internet, but if not I'm going to come back with many pictures to show you guys what it was like!

Stress...

Moving here is really interesing, but MAN is it complicated. This week I recieved a letter from the Uni-Assist organization (they make sure all international applications are complete, and then only forward them to the Universities). Anyhoo, the letter stated that four of my applications were complete and therefore sent to the appropriate universities... AND that I should make sure that I was in fact registered in each university to pass the DSH, the second and hardest one (I alreay passed one in Canada - really hard and 5 hours long!). Well, for three days I have been so stressed out about this. I had no idea I have to make sure I'm already signed up for the test! After browsing the universities'websites for a while and not finding any info on the dates of these exams, or how to register, I finally find a student guide in which it suggests to international students to arrive in Berlin 2-3 weeks before the semester starts... enought time to find an apartment, but NO mention WHATSOEVER of the test. I'm assuming the test can't be sooner than 2-3 weeks before, but hey, with these german universities, trust me, YOU NEVER KNOW. So, just to be sure, I write an email to the office for international students to get the details and to know, if I should register to all universities, or only at one?

I get an answer 5 minutes later. Since it's sunday, I'm expecting an automated response saying that I should expect to receive an answer on monday the earliest, but NO, it's an automated email just referring mt back to the stupid website! ARGHH.

At this point I just start to cry and drag myself to my boyfriends computer, and OF COURSE, within 20 minutes he finds a link using google describing in detail the exam and explaining that when an international student is accepted, although they do have to pay the fees to pass the exam, they are AUTOMATICALLY signed up for the exam, and we receive at the same time the convocation and precise dates and adresses. Couldn't the letter from Assist just simply explain that? apparently not.

Service here is not the highest point. I have worked MANY different jobs incustomer service, in a department store as saleswoman, a gym as sales and customer service rep and assistant manager, and man, these people here are barely polite! It's like it would kill them to actually be nice or smile to a client. Sheesh!

With the universities it's the same, even worse. Although there are pratically no fees to study, (only semester ticket and student union fees, approx. 200 euros), it is SO HARD to get information. The website is not well structured, and of course completely in german, and whenever you try to contact one of the offices by email, either you get an automated response like I just did or you just never get an answer at all (happened to me many times). You can only call during certain hours, and I'm not talking 9 to 5, I'm talking like 8AM-9AM monday to wednesday!!! For me, in Canada and Virginia Beach, I mean, my poor boyfriend had to get up a 2AM to call the universities ( my german wasn't quite clear at 2 in the morning), and even then, calling during the open hours,we repeatedly did NOT get an answer, left messages, and did NOT get our calls returned.

Every tiny step of the way towards registering for the university is a totally new obstacle and so complicated. I'm so happy to have my bf here to help me, and I sincerely do not understand how other foreign applicants who don't know any german people manage.

So, now that i'm sure about how the test goes, I'm going to buy a preparatory book for the exam and study for the next month and a half/2 months... It looks pretty hard, but I am a quick learner, and when I really put my mind to it, I can achieve pretty much anything, so... here goes nothin'!

To my fellow Canadians...

You Know You're From Canada When...

You're not offended by the term, "Homo Milk." You understand the phrase, "Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield." You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars. You drink pop, not soda. You know what a Mickey and 2-4 mean. You don't care about the fuss with Cuba. It's a cheap place to go for your holidays, with good cigars. You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway. You drive on a highway, not a freeway. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers. You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group. You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada. You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion and many more are Canadians. You know that the C.E.O. of American Airlines is a Canadian! You know what a touque is. You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced "Zed" not "Zee". You understand the Labatt Blue commercials. You know how to pronounce and spell "Saskatchewan." You perk up when you hear the theme song from "Hockey Night in Canada." You were in grade 12, not the 12th grade. "Eh?" is a very important part of your vocabulary and more polite than, "Huh?" Winter. Whenever you want it. And then some. There's German food, Italian food, Chinese food, Armenian food, American food, but NO Canadian food. You call a "mouse" a "moose". Contests run by anyone other than the government have "skill-testing questions" that winners must answer correctly before they can claim a prize. Everything is labelled in English and French. Milk comes in plastic bags as well as cartons and plastic jugs. Mountain Dew has no caffeine. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Canada.

hey! I'm a crown! yay!

I am a Crown. I'm regal and proud. People instinctively follow my lead, so I don't even have to try. Sometimes it's a drag. What Sort of Hat Are You?

For this post you need Internet Explorer...

Sorry for those of you using Mozilla or Opera, but for some reason the pictures and text don't align right without ie...

Today we went hiking to the top of the Löwenburg! It was really fun. On our way there, we stopped to snack on blackberries. There are so many here, you can just basically stop wherever on the streets where you find them and eat some...






If you're tall enough to get the ripe ones...
















Here is where the beautiful path starts in the forest, and eventually brings us to the top of the mountain, where ruins from a castle await us... and my german boyfriend in the german forest =)







Almost at the top (1 kilometer from the ruins), there were sheep ( I wonder what they do when it rains really hard up there?) And a restaurant where people sit on the terrasse and drink... of course, beer!











Me on the castle ruins...






Room with a view... quite breezy, though =)




We could see the storm coming, so we had a pick-nick on the castle walls and came back down pretty quickly!








Here is a pretty good view from the town where my parents in law live, Bad Honnef, and where I am staying until we find an apartment in Berlin, in september.









And last but not least, here is a close up from a couple of houses in the city... Notice how they park on the sidewalks here, since the streets are too narrow (they where conceived for horses, not cars!)



So, that was my day! Do these pictures make anyone want to come visit me ?!?!?

I am chaotic

My bf has been naging me about how untidy I am and chaotic, etc... I must have to say that he was not always the clean freak himself... Even though now he's pretty good. He gets mad at me for the tiniest things. I'm not the queen of clean, but hey, I'm no slob either. To give you an idea, my bf took this picture to prove how untidy I am:




SHOCKING!!!!!!!


And as my friends will attest, as I was younger and in my teens, I was quite something. Honestly, you couldn't see my bedroom floor. So I think I'm just not that bad.

HA!

Worst party ever

Okay, so last night I attended my first official german birthday party... Man... I just learned that german nerds are the worst of all! No, I mean seriously... We get there, an the first person I see is this guy, mid-thirties, a lot of gray hair... These huge seventies glasses on, a black t-shirt with the face of a WOLF yes, those ugly t shirts I thought were banned in the 90's... And this WOLF t shirt is stuffed into really tight black jeans... that are held together by a brown belt with a huge gold medallion up front.Man.The other people all seem quite a bit nerdy, but hey, I tell myself I'm going to give it a go, I might have fun, you never know. It was supposed to be a garden party, with a BBQ, and all, and just as we arrived, although the day had started out beautiful, sunny and blazing hot, it started to rain. An dI mean POUR. Then it started to get windy and ended up being a full blown storm. So we moved the tables and chairs into the GARAGE. And the party was in the garage. yay.
We ate salad for a while, since the guys weren't successful with the barbecue before, oh, 10 pm. Anyways, I thought I should at least make conversation with someone, so I talked with a guy and his girlfriend, but she had this weird accent in german, I was having a hard time understanding her. SO she asks me :
her: asjlöle ajkldsaöken eei?
me: excuse me, could you repeat, I didn't get that? ( in german)
her:asjlöle ajkldsaöken eei? (exact same words, exact same speed...)
me: I'm sorry, but I don't understand, could you please repeat but just slower please? (still in german)
her: WAS STUDIERST DU? (tr. what do you study, but said in a REALLY simplified way and so slow it was like a video on slow motion)

God, I mean I'm a foreigner, not stupid.

Anyways, pretty much no one at the party were interested AT ALL about hearing from Canada, what I'm doing here or anything, which I found weird, cause if I met a foreigner in Montreal I would be damn curious about finding out about their country and all...

Oh Yeah I forgot to say, there was some music and if I remember well, the first song was from the star wars or lord of the rings soundtrack, and it didn't get much better after that. When the rain stopped, they put on " I like to move it move it"
from the Madagascar sound track and started dancing around in the garden. Priceless.
I did find one cool thing though... The guy let us in to his appartment and there was this swing chair that rocked here it is:


Here are the more interesting details about how german birthday parties work:
1. you don't bring alcohol or food. the birthday person is expected to invite everybody over and pay for all foo dand booze.
2. you are expected to bring a present. they are oppened at midnight.
3. There's always food, and not chips or something, FOOD: home made potato salad, greek salad, pasta salad, obviously sausage, and some meat, bread and tzatziki...
4: basically, on your birthday it costs you a lot to have your party (the is although really cheap here) but the rest of the year you get invited to all the other parties for free!
good concept!

Peanut Butter???

I taste like Peanut Butter. I am one of the most blendable flavours; I go with sweet, I go with sour, I go with bland, I go with anything. I am practical and good company, but have something of a tendency to hang around when I'm not wanted, unaware that my presence is not welcome. What Flavour Are You?

I stick around when not wanted??? wtf??? whatever. As my answer, I will post anyways and believe all of you still want to hear about my life.

I DID IT! Today, I went to the city (Bonn) ALONE! Yay me! And I actually had fun too. I showed the way to a lost tourist (nasty buggers...stay home! ;)

So anyways, since I was in the city all day shoppng, I obviously had to use the bathroom a couple of times. Luckily for me, there were some pretty much everywhere and in every department store. The thing is, there is always a lady sitting at a table in front of the bathrooms, just sitting there in front of her little table with a plate in front of her... WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO???

Actually, when I got to the mcdonalds and saw there was a weird little lady THERE TOO, I actually understood these are the people that clean the washrooms.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Let me tell you, I have never seen a mcdonalds bathroom so clean! Now I understand (hehe Cendrine *wink wink*)

anyways, I bought three really cute tops that were on sale for 5 euros a piece (7,50$CAN)

It feels so good to finally be able to buy some stuff.
1) On the way over here, I was allowed to bring a total of 20kilos on the plane ( needless to say, only clothes and the BARE NECESSITIES... okok, plus two or three really cute things I just couldn't bring myself to box)
2) I've been planning on moving here for a couple of years now, so EVERYTHING in my appartment was second hand, knowing I couldn't bring anything and that we were leaving eventually... My mom actually offered me at some point to buy me this whole set of really cool pots and pans, but of course I had to say no, knowing I'd have to get rid of them. The only "Kitchen" thing I brought with me here are my cookbooks and a cute little design measuring spoon my dad brought me back from san francisco... it was just too cute!

Which reminds me, my parents in law are just the coolest. Since they knew that we would need, well, basically everything, they've been keeping everything for us! Pots and pans, glasses, plates, bowls, bed linen, towels, you name it! heck, I even have a coffee machine! (never had one before!)

Best of all: they want to buy a new bed, so we're getting everything from the old one: mattresses, bed frame n all! combined with my bf's washing machine, couch, sound system and a lot of other little pices of furniture, we're pretty much set!

I was really worried that settling in here would cost us a wholelot, but I can tell you that with all of this from my parents in law, I can now sleep a little easier!

Breakfast. Yum.

ok, so I was chatting on msn with my friend Avril, and since she was for one year in Australia, I ask her what what the weirdest thing there. She starts describing this weird breakfast or snack: white bread with butter, and then sprinkled with chocolate or candy sprinkles... Absolutely yuk! Sprinkles and butter??!? So anyways, I find it so totally disgusting and ridiculous that I tell my boyfriend about it.. Guess what. THEY HAVE IT HERE TOO!!!! This frenzy has apparently spread world wide somehow (oh lord!) So here is a picture of my boyfriends breakfast this morning. Enjoy!

Köln

On the way back home, we took a Gondola that went over the Rhine and took pictures of Köln:

The ZOO!!

Today we went to the kölner zoo! here are some photos:



I have absolutely no idea what these little guys are, but they are sooooo cute! I want one! (In german thy're called Erdmännchen, which means litteraly little people of the earth)I want a little person from the earth!



Can you believe they actually have raccoons in zoos here! They used to have also skunks and squirrels, but they don't anymore. They should have a miniature mcdonald's counter in there, so the raccoons could actually eat what they're used to...



I think these little guys are supposed to be German prairie dogs :) I wonder if they can take care of lambs...

And last, but not least, the german version of a hot-dog (minus two bites):