One month already!

Well I can't believe 4 weeks have passed by so quickly. A quick recap of last week: on Monday evening I went for a few drinks at a flat party. Monday is students night here (which is very weird), so it's the most popular day of the week to go out. I just went for the pre-drinks and skipped the club afterwards because I didn't want to go to class hungover, especially as I had a presentation to do the next day.
The presentation went well, and it was the last of 3 so that was a relief! Late afternoon I was invited to hang out at the Bismarck Tower. We had a couple of beers and watched the sunset. I managed to get a pretty good pic this time! On the way home I walked passed a rotisserie food truck so I got spare ribs and pommes frites for dinner. That was so delicious but I had way too much food and accidentally ate all of it... The food truck is there every Tuesday so that's definitely me once a week! So convenient as it's only 3 minutes walk from my place.

On Wednesday we had an afternoon class activity in town. We had to prepare 10 questions in German and ask 5 people on the street of different age groups. At first we all groaned because it's extremely awkward going up to strangers and trying to talk to them in a language you only know a little bit of. What if they were rude or said something you couldn't understand? But we got to go in pairs and after a while it was kind of fun having real full German conversations and luckily we picked very friendly strangers. So in reflection it was a really good exercise because it definitely made me feel more confident in talking to the locals. Afterwards we all met up and had a nice ice cream at a popular café as a reward.

I finally tried 'Mezzo Mix' which I've seen a lot of people drinking here. It's a very German soft drink of coke and fanta mixed together. It sounds gross but it really is all kinds of amazing!

Am I German yet?

As it was our last test on Friday I turned down a party to stay in and study for it. What a good student.
That was a great feeling finishing our final test and after class some of us went to the river Sein to hang out. We had a few beers and bit of a picnic. I discovered currywurst chips which are now my new favourite! We chilled there for 5 hours, watched the sunset and had a great afternoon.

On Saturday we had a full day hiking tour of the island Reichenau, which is in Lake Constance. It's a World Heritage Site and very historical and beautiful. Only the very rich live there and they all had lovely old houses with impeccable gardens (and a boat). I love how here everyone decorates their trees with painted easter eggs and streamers.
We visited castle ruins, had lunch at a nice café, went to the Münster, an old church from the 8th Century and a museum. It was particularly cool because to the left of the island was Germany and to the right was Switzerland. Apparently you are not allowed to cross over to the Swiss side of the lake by boat! Not even by a few metres- you'll get a huge fine. That was a big day, we walked 17 kms! So afterwards a group of us went to a pub in town for some beers and then we had dinner at a German restaurant. I had me some Weiner Schnitzel! We had a couple more drinks and then went home as we were pretty knackered.

Reichenau

On Sunday I didn't even leave the house except to do my laundry, which is very unusual for me. I really felt like I needed a proper day of rest. Plus nothing's open anyway and it was a crappy weather day. So I just chilled and did a lot of last minute travel planning and research for my impending trip coming up!

This Monday I decided to go out this time because if I keep turning down invites I'll probably stop being invited... And it was a last hoorah with everyone as most people are going away for the 2 week break. There were pre-drinks at a flat and later on we went to the club called Berry's. It's the largest in Konstanz and it's probably the equivalent of two clubs joined together- with a huge smoking bar in the middle (Europe!). Each side of the club had it's own dance floor, stages, bars and different kinds of music. So it was very huge and being student night with half price drinks (which are already very cheap) it was very very packed! I had a bit of fun hanging out with everyone and trying to speak German to strangers but I made sure I didn't have too much to drink. I was home by 3am so at least I got 4 hours sleep! It was quite hard to get up though...
And Tuesday (today) was our last day of the March Course. In the morning we had lessons as normal but in the second half of the day our teacher taught us a German board game that everyone could play which was fun. And then all the international students had a big free lunch together and a small ending ceremony. I gave everyone in my class a small token I brought from New Zealand- a Whittakers L&P chocolate slab, which they liked. My class is so awesome so I'll definitely miss seeing them everyday. I'm sure we'll stay in touch though and hang out once the semester starts up.

I'm super excited for the holidays now! Tomorrow I'm off to Stuttgart for 2 nights to explore the largest city in my state. And on Friday I'm flying to Rome and meeting Gareth there! I'm looking forward to Italy so much. We are also going to Florence and Milan before heading back to Konstanz for my first week of the semester. I can't wait to show off my new city (between classes). For the weekend we're going to Munich, and Frühlingsfest just so happens to be starting there the day we arrive! What a coincidence... It's the biggest beer festival after Oktoberfest, so it should be a lot of fun. Then on Sunday the 19th we come back and Gareth is flying back home via Zurich. :(
So this will probably be my last post in a while, as I'm sure I'll be far too busy having fun to write anything.

And on an end note- here is a link to a YouTube video that I find SO hilarious.
'How German sounds compared to other languages.' https://youtu.be/X5z5edvaPDo

I hope everyone has a nice Easter!
Tschüss!

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient castle ruins

 

 

 

Excursion group in front of the 8th Century church

 



CUTEST goat and her kiddies!

Reichenau Münster



Decorations for Easter





Weeeeek Dritte

Guten Tag!

Another week's gone and another full one it has been. On Monday I got my first test back and I got 82% which isn't too bad but I can do better. That day I had two total food fails... I bought a croissant for dinner which I thought looked savoury (from a self service bakery bin) to have with some ham, cheese and tomato I have. But no, it was filled with chocolate nougat! Fail. And for dessert I went to have what I thought was strawberry mousse (as it was pink), but alas it was red wine flavoured! Bloody Germany! No it did not taste good!

Tuesday was St. Patrick's day so that evening I went to the local Irish pub where I invited a bunch of people to celebrate the wonderful day of the Irish with me. Those that didn't turn up in green got a clover drawn on them by me! That was a fun evening with live Irish music, good beer and a few laughs. You know it's a good night when you wake up with an empty McDonald's box next to you...

From Wednesday onwards we had our afternoons free. After class I ventured and explored another side of the city, along the River Seine. I discovered this is where all the locals hang out. They sit on the grass alongside the riverbanks and drink beer (it's allowed in public here) and have picnics or study. It's very popular and I can see why. I still can't get over the stunning scenery here- and I'm from NZ! The pictures do not do it justice- the water is absolutely crystal clear, it's mesmerising. I also came across a Biergarten (outdoor beer pub) which is an excellent discovery! I will be sure to become a regular there, especially as it's rolling into Summer.
 

 

I absolutely love going into foreign supermarkets and Germany is no exception. I have so much fun looking at all the different options and strange foods, I could spend hours in there! And I always walk away with plenty of new things to try (although as above, you win some, you loose some!)

On Thursday unfortunately I got sick. Really really sick, like couldn't even sit up sick. I had to miss class and I literally spent all day in bed and slept for 20 hours. That is definitely a record for me. I have no idea what it was but some combination of a stomach bug and fever. But at least after all that rest I could function again enough to go to class the next day on Friday. We can only miss 1.5 days here so I can't miss more than another half or I don't get my credits. I felt a bit better but I'm not sure how well I did on the test as I missed a day and didn't get a chance to study. But I'm sure I passed. There's only one test left next Friday and then the March course will almost be over! Time is certainly flying.

After our test we were pulled out of class and given beer and pretzels to watch the solar eclipse happening in Europe, and it was only 10 am! Only in Germany! As we are in the middle of Europe it was only a half eclipse but it was still really cool looking at it through these special glasses our teacher brought with him.

  

This is my German language class. From left to right: Nahn from China, Hector from Chile, Rosa from Chile, Daniel (teacher) from Germany, Jenny from Taiwan, Edison from Singapore and me from NZ! There were two people missing on the day of the photo- Malinka from Italy and Caroline from Sweden. So it's quite a range of people in our class but we all get along really well. I've just noticed I'm the only one with light hair.

On Friday evening I walked to the Bismarck Tower which is only 5 minutes from my place, as I heard it's an excellent spot to watch the sunset. It was built in 1912 and is the tallest tower in Baden-Würrtemberg (the state I'm in, like you may have heard of Bavaria, which is the state to the right of me). And wow I have never seen such a sunset before. A giant red bulb in the sky, it was incredible. Unfortunately I was too slow at taking the photo as I only just got there in time to see. But I got an after shot! For dinner I had my THIRD kebab here in only 2.5 weeks... it's starting to become a problem (sooo good). I had a quiet night in as I had to get up at 6 am the next morning for our excursion to Freiburg!

That was a cool day trip. There was a double decker bus hired out for us and we went there via the Black Forest. Yes I did see Hansel and Gretel's house... maybe not, but I did see a ton of snow! I asked one of my 'golden' questions prior to reaching it- "Is the forest black?" That got a few laughs. I was only half kidding... On arrival we climbed to the top of the Münster for a nice view of the city. It was built in the year 1200 and I just loved the gothic architecture of it.

 I was especially excited to be in Freiburg because it's right on the border of France! I wished we could have crossed the border just to say- today I went to France. Being so close to other countries is so astounding to me. It still doesn't quite feel real that I'm even in Germany and I'm not dreaming! We visited the university of Freiburg which is one of Germany's oldest (1457!) so that was cool to see especially in comparison with Konstanz University which is one of Germany's newest- built in 1960.

We had lunch there and then went for a guided city tour, followed by free time in which I joined the group that was going to the pub! I had already walked 10 kms and it was pretty chilly and I still wasn't feeling 100% from my recent illness. So a cosy warm pub sounded excellent to me. I was peer-pressured into buying a 'Bananenweizen'. Yes you read that correctly- a banana beer! At first it tasted glorious because I like bananas and also wheat beer, but after the next few sips it got a bit sickly sweet and hard to drink. At least I tried it though!

We left Freiburg at 6pm and it's only a 2 hour drive away from Konstanz. Everyone was pretty pooped by the time we got back so we all basically went our separate ways and went to bed. Exciting Saturday night!



I'm SO excited about my cake!

Sunday I talked to Gareth for about 3 hours via phone/Skype because it was his birthday! And I miss him like crazy. But only 12 days until we meet again in Rome. I can't wait!



It was a super cold day today but I ventured out because I heard Lago- our mall was open from 1- 6 pm (unusual for a Sunday). I had a Feuerwurst (spicy sauage in a bread roll) for lunch and did a spot of shopping. Then had a chill avo doing my homework including a presentation for tomorrow, listening to music, writing this, eating cake etc. And that's another week done and dusted! Hopefully I've seen the last of being sick for a while and I can enjoy my last 7 days left of March course before the 2 week break.

More pics below!

 

Auf Weiedersehen!

 

The Bismarck Tower

Quick action shot of the Black Forest








View from half way up the Münster

Münsterplatz Markets

Disturbing McDonalds!

 



 

Oldest hotel in Germany! Since 1358.

Banana beer. Nicht so gut.

 

Woche 2

Rhein River

Hallo Leute!

The second week has also flown by in a whirl and it was another very good week. I'm starting to feel a little more confident in my German class. Obviously I really like the language so I enjoy learning it and I'm also starting to understand it a bit better now. Earlier in the week I had an incident where my apartment's power went out so I had to go to my house master's office for help. He speaks NO English whatsoever so it's a bit of a challenge trying to communicate with him.
My first experience with him on my second day here didn't go so well, as it took forever to try explain to him I wanted a pillowcase and douvet cover- which I should have got with my bedding I hired, but it was missing. That took about half an hour of gesturing and pointing to get the message through... but my second experience today went a bit better. I knew how to say 'my electrics have gone out' and then we had a conversation about it in which I understood most of it! Hooray. So that was easily fixed.
 


Genius food

Wednesday afternoon we had a trip to town to open our bank accounts and afterwards I checked out the local mall and had a currywurst. (Another one of my favs!) Soo delicious. I had just gotten home and was invited out with a group for a döner kebab. I'd just eaten but I went anyway to be social and just had some fries. I'm eating so much here, but oh well. I'm not going to deny myself because I love the food here too much! Plus I am walking between 8 - 10+ km a day (I have an app that counts) so I'm hoping it's all balancing out!...
In the group I met a new German guy that flats with one of my friends and he is going to take us out sometime and show us some cool places to hang out and drink. I also asked where's the best place for pork knuckle so I have that up my sleeve when the temptation rises!

I am now officially a resident citizen of Konstanz! For a maximum of two years only, but still it's pretty cool. Heaps of people have mentioned to me that they thought I was from America. I think it's because of the long hair and the way I dress. I'll take it as a compliment!
On Friday we had our first German test so I hope that went well. I did forget some things but I reckon I got 75% which isn't too bad. After lunch we met with our department of study co-ordinators to discuss our papers we are choosing and to ask any questions, so that was super helpful. I found out all the papers I'm taking are 300 level as they offer no introductory or lower level psychology in English, its only in German. So that's going to be quite a challenge for me. But at least I'm taking a few other German language and culture papers so I wont go too insane...

Typical students

Afterwards Terese and I went to the shops to get food and drinks for a pre-party we were having at her place before a big party that night organised by the LEI. We wanted to make sangria but we couldn't find a large jug or bowl to make it in. So we bought a bucket! That's how we roll in Germany!
The pre-party was loads of fun. We had pizza and there were about a dozen of us. The sangria turned out very nice and someone else brought home-made glüwein (mulled wine) which tasted like Christmas!
I'm starting to make a list of things I say that foreigners think are hilarious. So far it includes 'crack a beer' and 'have a snooze'. Even 'sweet as' gets a funny look!

We went to the big party at about 10 pm and it was a whole bar hired out for us international students with super cheap drinks- only 1,50 € per beer. There were so many people packed into that room though! It was a fun night and there was dancing involved which means I had too much to drink... I went home at about 2:30 am and felt pretty bad the next day! (I blame the sangria).


Our volleyball team- 'The Raspberries'...

Saturday afternoon was a volleyball tournament at the Uni sports hall. Each language class needed to have a team. I've never played before but I had no choice to sign up because our class is small so we all had to! It was a bit annoying because it was the last thing I felt like doing. But luckily when we got there more people joined our team so after a couple of hours Terese and I snuck off and got a döner kebab! That was the best thing ever. We then did some food shopping because all shops are closed on Sundays (it's so weird!). I got home at 6pm and it was so nice just to relax. There was a BBQ on after the volleyball tournament but I was far too tired and really wanted to chill. Plus its too cold to BBQ at the moment! The weather has been super nice though.
The whole time I've been here there's only been one 'bad' day and that was the day it snowed- which was great! The rest of the time it has been perfect blue sky days, it's quite amazing especially at this time of year.

Sunday was mostly another super chill day just blobbing out, cleaning, washing, skyping home etc. At about 3pm I decided to venture out for a stroll to Switzerland. It is literally a 10 minute walk from the centre of town and you're right in a whole new country! I had an ice cream on the lake front- just because, and walked through the town of Kreuzlingen. It was dead empty as everything's closed, but it was still nice to have a look.
And that's about it for now! Next week I'm looking forward to St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday and on Saturday we have a trip to Freiburg which we are going to via The Black Forest so that's exciting!
Below is a few more pics from my week :)

Tschüss!

This is how we study in Germany...

Room shot 1

Room shot 2

LOVE the old buildings of Konstanz!



The border representation