Finally.. I have come back!

Christmas this year was very interesting..      I spent plenty of time away from home, seeing my mates, my dad and stepmum and the rest of the family too..     so all was good!!

I am now back in Germany.. and - apart from everyone wishing me a "Happy New Year!" , its pretty much like I have never really been away!  The town's Christmas Decorations are gone, the sales are over and the only real sign that it is (near) Christmas is that there is a slight dusting of snow on the floor right now.

This makes me realise that I was actually really comfortable here.. I put that partially down to the people of the school and local area.. but it was really nice to come back and slip in as if nothing had happened.

The three weeks of Christmas flew by in one respect, and dragged in another.  I was really happy to be going home for so many reasons. The break was great and the lie ins were awesome! I managed to see most of the family and even travel to London to see (one of my two) best mate(s) for new years Eve!  it was the first time for a few years that I didn't work for it !  so I could also afford the odd drink!

The Christmas period was typical. ..  the usual stuff that every family tends to do (and some things that other families just don't do..  especially this year...)   and it as the same in that we got all excited for something that is the same every time!!

It was the first Christmas that I noticed the change since turning 18..and not being a kid anymore.

Christmas eve was spent in the Indian - very sophisticated- with Prosecco and curry!

the run up to me coming back to Germany was slightly rocky..  I had other things on that were unavoidable and due to this, I didn't actually manage to pack properly.. and - I would say that the two things I forgot were some of the most important .. like...  towels.. and my bed sheets..  dammit!!

The day that I was flying came and I was waiting at the door like a dog for my dad to pick me up..  it was definitly time to get back to what has now become normality with some great colleges and some great friends now too!  I enjoyed seeing everyone.. but the time to go back was the right time!!

I am now here till may.. I may have the odd adventure here and there.. but only the one planned so far.. ..    I cant see it being difficult to stay here for a solid 5 months..

sorry that this entry is a tad on the "mopey Christmas" side and very little to do with my "adventures in germany"  but , I thought it was time for an update.. and to let you all know that I am enjoying this year abroad so much, that I was actually desperate to come back !!

cheers!

There is no place like it... Home

Home.  There are lots of different definitions of it, but I usually use the on that is "Wherever you feel at home",

I have a few places that I consider Home. Sunderland is my second Home.   I have made some amazing mares there.
but the other one is that place I grew up in.  Where my parents are.  and , In less than 75 hours. That is exactly where I will be!

I had a small taste of it last weekend, I flew to Sunderland to see one of the two people I call my "Best Mates" . The weekend was one I will never forget for a lot of reasons. But one of the main reasons was the sheer Horror that I had with Public Transport.

Being clever, I decided to choose the cheapest. This was with KLM and it was from Frankfurt to Newcastle with a change of flight in Amsterdam.
As a lot of people will tell you , I plan everything down to the last second. It will be followed to this plan, and If it goes astray, then, the world may aswell end.
I knew that this was especially important here, because of the change over in Amsterdam, which I had less than an hour for.

The way there was not too bad.  Big Shout out the the "best mate" I was visiting who told me to sit at the back of the plane.   Cheers mare !  We were swapped onto a rear- engined plane...  it was awful! But , in true mate style..  he found this Hilarious!

My 'Window' is hidden.. its behind the engine... -_-

I got to Amsterdam with the constant ring of D# in my ears..  Then, I had to go for it .
- Check in to next flight
- Passport control
- Security Check
- the 7km (well, that is what it always feels like!) walk to gate D24

sorted! got to the flight in time, and made it to Sunderland.

Typical LADS weekend really:
- Beer, Steak, Football, Half of Batman  (inside joke!)  and buying DVDs that are on the 2 for £10 at HMV
(although, that can be baffling at times, too..  )   (another inside joke!)

I Enjoyed the weekend. Seeing my mate, and being back 'home' was night. I did speak German to people and I forgot that the cars come from the other Direction.. but apart from that..   fine!

It was on the way back.

Dear god.
I think I lost about 10 years off my like due to this trip.

Set off from Newcastle, Slightly late (don't know how, only about 4 planes go there) and Arrived in Amsterdam late too.  Had 50 mins to get to my next flight...

GO!

- Check-in was terrible.. machine was very slow and  took about 5 attempts -_-
- Passport control: some advice - if there are well over 500 people queuing to have their passoort checked..  maybe it worth opening a second line??     just a thought
- Security.... well..   do I have to say anything??   I chose the one queue where no matter how much they checked..  that guy still sets the scanner off..    annoying..

then..  Gate..

E89     ..  I was like Basil Fawlty!
"Well, that is just perfect!"

Off I went..       and got to the plane late..  the plane held 100 poeple..  I had 99 of them starting at me..and then an announcement..
"Sorry ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be delayed slightly, as we have a passenger from Newcastle who's bag needs to be loaded on"

THAT WAS ME!

got to Frankfurt late, Schedule was Ballsed and I really needed to get home.  I was pleased with KLM. None of the delays were their fault, I was late in and they waited for one passenger.   I would recommend then to anyone!
I got on the train from the Airport to the main station, I got the platform and could have Waved goodbye to the driver.   SHIT..  missed it..

Double Shit...  Last train of the night...
triple shit..  what the hell do I do now...

see...  no train....    :/

I was a minute too late.

I, being smart, went to the pub!  It had Wifi and I could form a plan!
Wifi was broke..  luckily the pump wasn't - I could have drunk it dry.   partially for missing the train, partially for doing that thing that Mr Bean does  on "Mr Bean's Holiday" when he did the same.

Well, I had no choice, I was stuck..  I was going to spend the night there, but how and where?
there were 3 options

1- the 24hr Mcdonalds
2- sit in the station and listen to music
3- find a hostel.

I went with number 3. Reluctantly. After being in the pub it was now 1 am and the first train was at 5:26 am. But I was tired, slightly fed up, and it had begun to rain.
I found one, and got my head down for a few hours kip.  Caught my first train, and managed to do a day of work too..     How.. I dunno..  well.. I do..  I had Irn Bru from the UK!


But anyway. Though my ell with public transport makes me want to walk home, My flight is at a good time, I will be on the first train I can be after work so I definitely don't miss the flight, and the flight is a direct Lufthansa flight.   So - hopefully, no issues!


I cant wait to go home. There are some aspects that I can wait for - and not always the ones that are always there, but I need a break, and I need to say hello to the Family.  It has been the same amount of time as it would have been at University, but taking in all that I have, from the sights, sounds and smells of Germany, to the Culture, Language and routine. I am tired.   I am pleased that I had a visitor halfway through, cause It broke it up and Im always happy to see a good mate :)

I feel weird about it. Im looking forward to it (my suitcase is already packed) but I know that I could stay here If I needed to, easily. I guess after the tough weekend of transport before, and the taste of the UK.. I am pretty ready to head back to the family.

So. I hope this week goes fast, I hope that I can get home and Enjoy a beer with my dad and see my brothers again.  I have a small trip planned for Xmas, but the plans need to be finalized there.

I don't know when this will next be updated.. but If I don't see you, or write another one...  then Have a good Christmas.. and all the best, for 2013

2013 is set to bring a lot. F1, more Germany, the start of my final Uni year and some other stuff that I am very excited about too.  It is gonna be hard at times..   but - if its easy, where is the point?

till next time!

Its the start of a 365 page book.. When you write it, make it a good one...

Wegen Des Wetters...

Schlüchtern in the Snow

I have been told since before I got here, that Germany gets snow.
The UK gets snow... in some places quite a lot.

Here in Hessen, The snow is Very unpredictable. IM pretty sure that the weather has been right every time in that they forecast it. But wrong in the amount that comes down.

Last week, It began to snow on Saturday night. It was about 11PM, and I was just getting ready to go to bed when I noticed it. I wasn't fussed really Im kinda used to what we have in the UK, where it soon melts, and even if it did come down a fair bit, I knew that when I woke up, it was going to be Sunday, so there would be no point in going anywhere anyway.

well, for some unknown reason, I woke up at about 4:30 am. It takes effort for me to look out the window, as the only window I really have is in the roof and no where near the Bed.
I looked out the window. It reminded me that it had snowed (you know that stage where you are awake but your eyes don't work?   well.. that!)

It was about 3 minutes later , after I had got back into bed, that I decided to have another look. My eyes were working, and they could CLEARLY see that we had had about 3 inches.  Possible the third most snow I have ever seen, after Sunderland in first year Uni in second, but being *slightly* beaten by the time I was in Finland in December.

There was a lot and for the first time in a while, I was excited by the snow. So excited that I decided , whilst sober!, to go outside and draw boobs in the snow..

I am an Adult by the way....

This is , obviously, a Very adult thing to do. What would have been more adult, would have been to rub it out...

The tree in Schlüchtern

after the excitement, I went back to bed
between 4:30am and 12PM, it must have snowed more. The boobs were not gone, but emphasized...., and my little town was in a completely different light.. It was covered in snow!

I don't do mornings, I barely do the daytime and only really come into my own during the evening, so (despite my previous adventure outside) I was not getting up, getting dressed straight away, and going to build a snowman!  NO!

I had a cuppa, worked out hoe cold it was, and then decided to go out.  Germany made this decision for me.
If this was the UK, I would not be going out to take pictures. I would be staying in, hugging the radiator, hands firmly around the Xbox controller and a constant supply of Tea!

It was, however, very nice. The snow was deep in places, looked great on what it had landed on and made everything look nice and wintery.

Trees across the road from my flat

The Small garden near my flat

It was nice and there is some still here too! Though I will admit that I am slightly worried, as I have a flight to catch in a few weeks, with more forecast!
But it has been cold for the last few weeks now..  you can feel it at night when you have to put the radiator up a few clicks.  It is also proven when you leave your window open over night and wake up to this!

an Icicle on my window

Germany deals well though.  Everyone has to have winter tires by law, so there there are fewer crashes . The snowploughs are out as soon as the snow hits the floor, gritting and, well.. ploughing and there is a mini tractor that does the same for the paths too..  so no one is caught out!
the trains all still ran, and there were no more delays or cancellations at Frankfurt airport than usual, apart form to the airports that couldn't cope! (I am checking, yes!)   basically they cope..  and (in another area) beat the UK. I have seen messages on Facebook and twitter about it.. here - the school was open, and I have been told that when they got 8 inches 3 years ago, it stayed open too! No lie in for me, but a serious achievement!

The little Tractor :D

That is all about the Snow for now. More about Germany and the run up to Christmas. Well, it is Christmas market time and there is currently one in Schlüchtern. It isn't very big, so I have decided to miss it for now, Just because I am off to one in Bayern tomorrow! So 2 new experiences there (see previous blog!)   I'll be taking the camera and getting some snaps!
The Lights are also going up in Schlüchtern. It looks nice! nothing too major..

Christmas Lights in Schlüchtern

It is also the time when the staff room at work begins to smell of homemade Christmas Biscuits and Cake. I was even given some , very generously, by some Members of staff, which were awesome!
I have managed to get some in Tegut to take home with me soon.. I just hope I don't eat them!

Also, last Wednesday, I went to Fulda with 150 other students and Staff from work to see a performance in English!  it was good! there were a few acting points, but considering what they had done with the few props and things that they has it was good.    The new head of English asked me if I understood everything as a joke, to which my reply was "there are a few words I don't understand!"      ...  I guess you had to be there! Even still. Some of the students that I teacher were there from class 9.  Everyone else there was yr 11,12 and 13. They said that they understood everything, so Im proud of you class 9!

Anyway, here are some more snowy pics for you to enjoy!  
catch you soon!

From the Balcony

Getting Dark.. Whats left today

In a few, unrelated matters....

This may turn out to be quiet annoying for some people, if it does - well tough... :P

This month has been Great. It is now the last weekend in November and in total, I have racked up nearly 90 nights under German Stars - in fact Monday will be my 3rd complete month here..   

The fact that is is November, means a few things right now.

1) This is all going WAY too quickly!  Christmas is , annoyingly,  the half way point of this.  Im pretty shocked at how quickly the time is going, and and how Christmas symbolizes that , although 4 months is a long time - Don't really have all that Much time left!

2) This is pretty important. In fact, apart from only about 3 other things in my life (and food and sleep come below this)  This is the final F1 weekend of the season.

From this moment onward, my weekends are empty, bare and spent looking forward to March 17th , when it all starts again!
Some people do not understand how I can be so obsessed with the F1, and how I plan weekends around it. Well - I argue the same for football, or whatever you guys like. I don't know what it is , but whatever it is - I love it!

Im posting this now, before the qualifying on the Saturday, because this season can go 2 ways. One guy I want to win, and the other I would rather see his car bogged-down in a gravel trap.
if it goes that way, you'll hear from me again, and if it doesn't - Then I wish you all a happy Christmas - for all until 2015!

Im also excited about march for another reason - It is under wraps a bit at the moment - Once confirmed, THEN I will reveal all! :D

3) Germany is preparing for Christmas.

These are some comparisons to the way that Germany prepares for Xmas, against the UK  

There are some lessons for the UK here...  which include..

- The coke advert DOES NOT meant the start of Christmas, nor should seeing it make the top 10 on twitter..  Its an advert - every other advert annoys you!

Clearly, I am a pro a Photoshop

- Christmas songs - If it is not Christmas, don't play them - Germany is saving my sanity in that respect

- Christmas lights - your house is not meant to attract the attention of other planets it, therefore, does not need to have enough bulbs to keep a large block of flats lit up for 3 years.  a few, tasteful lights will be fine - even then, you do not need to put the up in October

- Though, yes, this is a busy period in the shops - you do not need to queue outside of the shop, nor when you are in the shop, must you act like a TOTAL tit!   There is no pushing, no fighting and you can breathe. Nor do you go into a shop with 400 customers and only 3 members of staff on duty..

These are just a few things...   UK - this is how Christmas should be ... 'Tis the season to be Jolly!!  NOT Jolly pissed off!!

A generic Christmas Market Picture

As part of the Christmas preparations, I have been asked to go to a Christmas Market in Bayern (Bavaria) on December 9th.  Im looking forward to it - and if you are some of the (Very) few people I but Christmas presents for - it could be that you end up with something very German and bought from this market. Even still - you will be able to spot the tourist at 20 paces - because it will be me , with my camera asking completely stupid questions.


The other thing about this time of year is that is is now the 24/11/12.
This means that in 28 days.. I go home.
Im not desperate to , far from it. In fact I think that i could easily spend Christmas in Germany, given how nice everyone is.
However, there are some things that I am beginning to , not miss as such, but would love to be re-acquainted with again.
some things are a bit sad
- Irn Bru, My xbox and a TV that talks to me in English would be lovely! but there are the other things too.

I miss this stuff!

Family are in short supply in Germany.  They annoy me at times, but they are almost contracted to do that - but no one understands you better than your family. 
Also, My dads sense of humor is desperately needed.  I usually refer to his thoughts as "dads 'professional' opinion" He always has one - and the way he conveys is is fantastic. my dad also is the type of bloke that doesn't need to SAY anything..  the face usually says it all!

My flight is on the 20th December.  This is to Manchester from Frankfurt, and it was pretty cheap because I took my dads advice and booked early.
When I booked it - I was going to book for the Friday, but chose not to.   
This was because of something I saw on the website I used to book them. I thought that it was so fantastic, that I was going to take their advice and run with it

"please note - some flights on 21/12/12 may not fly, due to the supposed 'end of the world'"

It was a Joke, the website was clearly taking the mick, but I thought that it was brilliant!
So I booked my flights earlier.

Anyway, having explained a few things, I may as well let you know what I have been up to.

Yesterday, I went to Frankfurt and met up with the 'Hessen Mannschaft' which are the other language assistants that are based in Hessen. we had a few drinks, a good laugh and it was great fun!   more to the point, I didn't miss my stop, after - Once again - falling asleep on the train.
Again though, I payed for a ticket and it wasn't checked. I have considered not paying -but that is tempting fate! I have also been invited to go to a performance of "A Christmas Carol" in Fulda!
So - im off to go and see a performance of "A Christmas Carol" in Fulda. looking forward to it actually. Its another chance for me to feel cultured!

Ill check in again sometime soon..   I think December is going to be busy!