The weather was amazing today! I took about an hour snooze in the sun today and woke up a little red..a small problem with being as Caucasian as I am :/ naja
Doris went to her mom's 95th birthday and Nathan and I went back into Kassel and walked around for another few hours. Eventually found an internet cafe and headed back home. A friend from Doris brought over some cake and when Doris returned home she too had cake from her mom's birthday party. We had to eat all the pieces, Nathan and I. I was a little full after 5 pieces AND supper. Played some Rummikub and then off to bed. School tomorrow!
Monday, May 11, 2009
09.05.09
I didn't hear my name get called yesterday saying my host mom was going to pick me up at 9, so this morning at 8:20 I was a little rushed with packing, eating, and waking up. Almost everyone is staying with a family, but my situation is a little different. My gastfamilie consists of Frau Doris Wagner, her cat Charlie, and Nathan (another Canadian from Regina). She picked us up and off we were to Baunatal, a village pretty much attached to the S.W. corner of Kassel. We got unpacked and a little settled down and then off we were into Kassel. We took the straßenbahn (tram) into the city so we would know the way to get to school. Kassel isn't the most beautiful German city (Over 80% was destroyed in the war because of a tank factory and then it was rebuilt in the wonderful 50s-70s architecture) Doris went back home and Nathan and I spent a few hours walking around the city. Good god...we counted 11 mullets today...mostly on men..but 1 or 2 on females..ugh! We watched a little tv but I went to bed early because I was stupidly tired..almost falling asleep at the supper table!
Oh yeah! The straßenbahn was not running for a few hours today because of a demonstration. The ice hockey team, The Huskeys, were demonstrating because they didn't have enough money and wanted more from the city. No clue if they got what they wanted or not.
Oh yeah! The straßenbahn was not running for a few hours today because of a demonstration. The ice hockey team, The Huskeys, were demonstrating because they didn't have enough money and wanted more from the city. No clue if they got what they wanted or not.
08.05.09
My head was a little bleh this morning..but nothing that breakfast and copious amount of OJ didn't fix. Highlights of the day:
1) Swimming in is beautiful outdoor swimming pool. There was a dive tank, swimming lanes, kiddie pool, and another pool with a slide. It would have been better with a hot tub, more sun, and warmer water, but no complaints!
2) Did a tour of the city. Pretty interesting. The town was founded in the 17th century and survived many wars and what not. Our tour guide spoke pretty slowly so I was able to understand almost everything he said :) There was a massive 5 minute downpour and after that it was only sprinkling the rest of the night.
3) Repeat of last night, but with 20+ more people. This time we took over the entire non-smoking section of the pub.
Tomorrow we're heading to Kassel to meet out gastfamilie.
1) Swimming in is beautiful outdoor swimming pool. There was a dive tank, swimming lanes, kiddie pool, and another pool with a slide. It would have been better with a hot tub, more sun, and warmer water, but no complaints!
2) Did a tour of the city. Pretty interesting. The town was founded in the 17th century and survived many wars and what not. Our tour guide spoke pretty slowly so I was able to understand almost everything he said :) There was a massive 5 minute downpour and after that it was only sprinkling the rest of the night.
3) Repeat of last night, but with 20+ more people. This time we took over the entire non-smoking section of the pub.
Tomorrow we're heading to Kassel to meet out gastfamilie.
07.05.09
Typical German breakfast: Bread, jams, meats, cheeses, and some cereal stuff. Nothing special, but good non the less.
Made my way to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and then to the Flughafen (airport) to meet the rest of the group. There is about 65 of us so it wasn't too hard to find the group of tired, nervous looking, English speaking people sitting with a bunch of baggage. We had to wait a few hours for all of us to get there and around 2:30 2 buses came to pick us up and off we were to Melsungen, a small village not far from Frankfurt and Kassel. We were to spend 2 days here getting over jet lag, getting to know each other and to get English out of our system, this program ist NUR auf Deutsch! We took over the youth hostel, 4 to a room, and boosted the economy 10 fold! The first day was nothing special. I guess the highlight was buying some beer at the supermarket, drinking by the river, and then going to the pub for many more beers and to mingle with some of the locals. A great start to the program!
*I'll put up pictures when I can...I don't have internet at my gasthaus and need to get some sort of special password for Wi-Fi
Made my way to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and then to the Flughafen (airport) to meet the rest of the group. There is about 65 of us so it wasn't too hard to find the group of tired, nervous looking, English speaking people sitting with a bunch of baggage. We had to wait a few hours for all of us to get there and around 2:30 2 buses came to pick us up and off we were to Melsungen, a small village not far from Frankfurt and Kassel. We were to spend 2 days here getting over jet lag, getting to know each other and to get English out of our system, this program ist NUR auf Deutsch! We took over the youth hostel, 4 to a room, and boosted the economy 10 fold! The first day was nothing special. I guess the highlight was buying some beer at the supermarket, drinking by the river, and then going to the pub for many more beers and to mingle with some of the locals. A great start to the program!
*I'll put up pictures when I can...I don't have internet at my gasthaus and need to get some sort of special password for Wi-Fi
Back in the Deutschland. May 5/6, 2009
So I find my-self back in the land of bier, brot, and wurst. Gott sei dank!
The lead up to my flight was a little hectic...my fault for leaving EVERYTHING, and then some, to the extreme last minute (Like canceling my phone plan while standing at the gate at Pearson International) everything is good now, or so I hope...
Anyways, flight from Calgary to Frankfurt, over Toronto, was extremely uneventful. I had a personal tv thing so I watched movies and tv the entire way. Got into Frankfurt Wednesday, May 6 around 7 am. Got my luggage and took the S-Bahn (uhh...kinda like the C-train but better cuz its Germany and its efficient) into town. Got extremely lost trying to find the youth hostel, which really sucks when you are lugging around a 40+ lb backpack and haven't really slept in 3 days. Eventually found the place and could only store my luggage there because check-in wasn't until 1, it was around 9 am at the time. Went into the downtown area and did some window shopping, seeing as everything doesn't open until 10. When the stores opened I went to Vodaphone and got my-self a German SIM card and did a lot more walking. Found this great place for lunch and had Jägerschnitzel (my absolute favorite) and beer. Went back to the hostel and checked into my room. Now I've done a fair bit of traveling and every single time I go anywhere I put my liquid stuff in ziplock bags and then those into my toiletries bag..this time I didn't and NEVER again will I make that mistake..the ONE time I didn't I end up with shampoo goo covering half my backpack...took me a good 40 minutes to semi clean it up...talked with this older gentlemen sharing the room and then passed out. Woke up at 10 to shower and fell back asleep. 15 hours of sleep is a damn good way to kick jet lag!
The lead up to my flight was a little hectic...my fault for leaving EVERYTHING, and then some, to the extreme last minute (Like canceling my phone plan while standing at the gate at Pearson International) everything is good now, or so I hope...
Anyways, flight from Calgary to Frankfurt, over Toronto, was extremely uneventful. I had a personal tv thing so I watched movies and tv the entire way. Got into Frankfurt Wednesday, May 6 around 7 am. Got my luggage and took the S-Bahn (uhh...kinda like the C-train but better cuz its Germany and its efficient) into town. Got extremely lost trying to find the youth hostel, which really sucks when you are lugging around a 40+ lb backpack and haven't really slept in 3 days. Eventually found the place and could only store my luggage there because check-in wasn't until 1, it was around 9 am at the time. Went into the downtown area and did some window shopping, seeing as everything doesn't open until 10. When the stores opened I went to Vodaphone and got my-self a German SIM card and did a lot more walking. Found this great place for lunch and had Jägerschnitzel (my absolute favorite) and beer. Went back to the hostel and checked into my room. Now I've done a fair bit of traveling and every single time I go anywhere I put my liquid stuff in ziplock bags and then those into my toiletries bag..this time I didn't and NEVER again will I make that mistake..the ONE time I didn't I end up with shampoo goo covering half my backpack...took me a good 40 minutes to semi clean it up...talked with this older gentlemen sharing the room and then passed out. Woke up at 10 to shower and fell back asleep. 15 hours of sleep is a damn good way to kick jet lag!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)