GERMANY :D

Well,  I am here- Germany!    Today was a tough day though

Today I have managed to
- Brave terminal 5
- Brave (and I mean brave) the German Passport control
- get from one side of Frankfurt airport to the other for the trains
- get on the right train
-get off at the right stop and
- find my way to the hotel!

I'm pretty chuffed with myself!

Going back to the point about the German passport control:
I went to Berlin a couple of years ago - and i remember the guy on the passport check was really scary - he said nothing, he just looked at you, opened your passport , judged you by your photo, then put it on the desk, and swished his head as if to say "ill let you in.. for now... !"

Clearly , it had a long term effect on me - cause I was sweating like a politician in a room with Jeremy Paxman.

Well when i got there - (my mind may have been playing tricks on me) but the guy looked EXACTLY the same!     he took my passport, looked at it, and swooshed his head!!   my responce was a (quite loud) PHEW!

at that moment - i was stopped and asked to show my passport , but this time to a nice man in a police uniform and a SERIOUS pistol!

luckily, he let me pass too!

so yeah - BRAVED it!

Anyway - after the train i have arrived in Cologne, or Köln, to those in the know!   I was greeted by the pretty serious cathedral!  which is a fair thing!

So yeah - iv only been here about 7 hours now - but i like it !!     i have a lot to do for the next few days, but it should all be sorted!!

free morning tomorrow - then a course to go to!!  Im off to get a daylight pic of the above

turrah all!

Ready for the Off!

Luckily, and in the interest of my own sanity; a lot has happened recently that is for the better! (small dance!)

I now have my accommodation sorted - its very similar to uni accommodation, but I have a Balcony! :P   

so I have a place to stay, a job, contact with colleges.  transport to and from my course all SORTED!     

I will admit that i'm a happy lad!

But now - im ready for the off - not in the sense of "I have everything sorted, so I can physically go"  

more

"I want to go now , please!"

I mean , don't get me wrong; I still have some jitters - I keep doing strange things - just 20 minutes ago I put butter in my coffee instead of milk (long story...!)   and I have very odd airport related dreams too!  (nothing sinister though, I assure you all!)  

But I am packed!!  I have 2 days of work to contend with, so it had to be done whenever I had the time - which was now!   It was tough- i found that , though I don't have many - I appear to have a worrying attachment to my clothes !  I didn't want to leave any of them at home!!     but, despite this (slightly odd) issue - I managed to pack it with 1.5kg spare!!   British Airways will love me!   this includes the NEW stuff I bought the other day!     I am impressed!!  


So -2 days of work , my brothers GCSE results, a trip to Whitchutch and a Lord of the Rings style adventure to Heathrow waits - I may be desperate to go - but I have a long time to wait yet! :/

Talk soon!!   hopefully , the night before I depart!

Just over a week to go...

Well, having known about this 'move' for over 2 years now, spoken to friends about it , got stressed (a personal specialism of mine!)   it is now exactly 9 days till I bid the UK fair well for just over 9 months.

Today is the day that i have decided to pack my case - this leaves me with plenty of time to remember any of the stuff that I would normally forget! (one day I went on holiday and had forgotten boxer shorts :/)  but it also is a desperate attempt to get rid of the worries and try to get a little excited about it!

so far, I have BATTLED against the cost of flights, banks, the Bleeding British council (which is how i will refer to them from now on) the German way of booking trains (its odd!) and plenty of other stuff that has ,just about been sorted!

I must admit, when I search deep down, I can find some excitement.  I have already witnessed the kindness of strangers - because i have had  of the teachers offer me a place to stay for a few days, so that i have someone to ask questions too, and show me the ropes - which is humbling and has also helped me a lot.  It does also mean that i can put my lecturers' stunning "intercultural competence" lessons into place - ironic that they use the word competence really..  especially in the MFL211 (which is the module code) lectures.

So now it is down to the final details..   sorting out my euros to go with, finalizing plans and visiting the family before the wonders of Terminal 5 at Heathrow (yes, Heathrow - it had to get the flight from there , in order to save about £400!)    I also have to squeeze in 2 days of work, a trip into Chester to sort out funds and pick up my new glasses and then , just maybe - go for  quiet pint with my dad and Stepmum to thank him for all the help they have given me over the last few months.   One day there may be something I can do to truly show how much i appreciate it ..   I guess i have 9 Months to think about it! :D


So - ill call it time for now..   hopefully the next installment will be more positive, slightly more light heated and contain at least some good news.    right now I Guess im just struggling to get into my head how fast 9 days will go, and the amount of emotions running through my head!

Turrah for now!