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



Hallo von Konstanz!

Wow I can't believe I've only been in Europe for one week, because I've done so much in that time! Saying goodbye at the airport was even harder than I thought, but I seem to be doing okay so far, probably because I've been so busy! I'm really happy here. First impressions of Konstanz have been super so I reckon I'm in for an amazing time!

Dubai Airport

My flights here weren't too bad, I managed to get a total of 5 hours sleep so that's better than nothing.
Arriving in Zurich and getting to my hotel with my luggage (which was quite heavy for me) was a little tricky. Especially trying to figure out what tram to get and which stop to get off as there were no English instructions! But I just went old-school and asked someone for help. A tip I've learnt is if they're under 30 they will most likely speak perfect English.

I was quite tired once I reached my hotel but I wanted to make the most of my time in Zurich, so I had a shower and went out to explore for a couple of hours. However I have quite a bad sense of direction and had no map or internet so unfortunately I didn't find the main city hub, which is quite embarrassing! I managed to walk right around it I suppose. In my defence it was raining and dark by the time I got there. I did stop and ask two people on the street where the centre was but neither spoke English. So that was a shame I didn't get to see the city properly, but never mind. I'm sure I will be back heaps as I live so close now. (Hopefully my sense of direction improves during my time here...)

I took the train to Konstanz the next day from Zurich Airport. Not without a delicious pretzel for breakfast and the most expensive Starbucks I've ever had (8 Swiss Francs!)

Beautiful Swiss countryside with
the alps in the background

The journey is only one hour by train and it was a lovely day with a great view of the Swiss alps. Thank goodness I had a buddy- Lukas that met me at the train station because I had absolutely no idea where anything was and getting to my apartment would have been pretty difficult otherwise!
After we collected the keys to my place and dropped my luggage off, we did a walk around the town centre, and had a coffee.
He showed me where the stores were to buy things. I needed quite a lot for my place, like a towel, kitchen things like cutlery, plates etc and then groceries. After that I went home, unpacked my suitcase and set up a bit before heading out to the international student meet n greet at the pub. It was great to meet so many people from all over the world. It's quite difficult remembering everybody's names though... (there's about 100 of us). I only had a couple of beers but I was there until midnight just chatting to everyone and had a really nice time.

We were straight into our March Course the next day at the university. We took a German language test to be put in classes of our level. There are nine classes, so quite a range among us. We had a tour around the university (which is enormous) and filled out A LOT of forms in the afternoon, such as applying for a bank account, residence permit, health insurance and registering with the city of Konstanz. These are all requirements in order to be officially enrolled with the university. We got a LOT of information that day and it was a very long one for me as I was running on 2 hours sleep that night (jet lag).
One highlight though was that it randomly started snowing! It made the Europeans groan but for us non-Europeans we all squealed with delight and marvelled at it! Quite a funny difference I guess!

We finished at 5 pm and I went to Kaufland (shopping centre) to buy more groceries and stopped by Döner Kebab on the way home for what I was told were THE best kebabs in town... and why yes, yes it was the best I've ever had!
Absolutely stuff-your-face-need-a-bib-delicious.
And then I went to bed very happy.

Droooool

Thursday and Friday our proper language classes started which go from 9 am - 12:30 pm every day. We aren't allowed to miss more than 1.5 classes or we won't get our full ECTS credits, even if we are sick! In the afternoons we finished off applying for everything and getting copies of passports, letters of admission etc.
I was very much looking forward to Friday night as we had a huge pub crawl organised by the LEI (student organisation). We split into five groups as there's so many of us and we went to maybe five or six different places throughout the night. My drinks ranged from beer to bourbon, to a fruity cocktail to a 'Gollum' shot. I was out until 2:30 am so needless to say I had a great night! Luckily for me I felt pretty okay the next day considering, and I didn't have to do anything until 2 pm, so I could sleep in.

Saturday was an organised historical walking tour of Konstanz. It went for 3 hours around the city and it was so amazing to hear how much history the city has, with civilization starting from the Stone Age- BC. Afterwards a group of us went to the pub for dinner and had a beer. It was nice to warm up as it was a pretty chilly day. I had pork knuckle and sauerkraut which I was SO happy about.
We had another excursion on Sunday to the small town of Meersburg to visit the castle. We caught the ferry over, only a 15 minute ride away. The town is also very old and gorgeous, a popular tourist destination in Summer. It's easy to see why- for the wonderful views of Bodensee (Lake Constance) and also their vineyards which I am told have excellent white wines!

The castle of Meersburg dates back to the 5th Century and the tour was pretty cool. I am easily impressed by anything older than my country (which is most things over here really!).
Afterwards we had some free time to explore the town. A new friend Terese from Norway and I went in search of food and we had schnitzel und pommes and of course beer (mandatory). If you can't tell I adore German food so I'm in heaven!

It was back into classes today which are going okay but quite a challenge. It will be interesting to see how much I've learnt when the month is up as the classes are so intense- four hours a day and the teacher speaks only in German. There's no English allowed whatsoever, so it's quite hard sometimes to understand and can easily miss half the instructions, but I'm sure it's an effective method. In the afternoon we had a lecture on German academic culture, and that has been my time here so far! Sorry for the mega long post. I promise they won't all be this long- I probably won't have the time!

So to sum up, I'm really enjoying myself and making friends from all over. It's a great city and I cannot wait to explore more places at every opportunity I get! I'll leave a few pictures below from my first week. Feel free to comment or ask any questions if you have them. If you've sat and read this whole thing you're a legend!

Bis bald!

My walk to university every day =)
 



Gorgeous Lake Constance that shares a border with Germany, Switzerland and Austria





Historical walking tour group
 

Close up of the Swiss Alps
 

Konstanz Münster



Castle of Meersburg



 

 

Terese und ich

ONE sleep to go!

I can't believe I'm going tomorrow! I have a countdown app on my phone and I remember when I first started, it was over 250 days away!... And now it's one!
I'm all packed and organised which was a bit of a mission packing four seasons into one suitcase. I did have a helper though.
 

 

I came across a cool quote the other day that applies to me and I'm definitely going to take it on board. I've never done anything like this before so I definitely have a fear of the unknown.

 

 

But I know this will be a huge learning experience for me and I am far more excited than nervous, so it's a good balance I think. I just need to be brave and take on all challenges head on!

Well it's my last night in Australia so I better go have some fun! See you at my next post which will be from Deutschland!

 

Tschüss!

One week!

Hello!

Well it's exactly one week today until I leave for Europe! So I thought I'd better get this blog up and running again because I plan to do at least weekly posts while I'm over there. And I'll also make this viewable to other people, because so far I'm the only one that's been allowed to! Six months sure did go fast!

So next Sunday I'm flying from Brisbane to Zurich via Dubai. It's only a 3 hour stop over so not too bad. I think the total travel time is 24 hours. I'm staying the night in Zurich to explore for the day (and to recover) before I catch the train to Konstanz the next day and get set up in my new apartment. I have a German buddy that's going to meet me at the train station and help me out. He'll show me around and what's what, where to go etc. So that's good I won't get lost!
That evening there's a social gathering at a pub for all the new international students so I can meet everyone and hopefully make some friends! I especially want travel buddies and people to go to rock concerts with ie. Rock Am Ring...

Then the next day (Wednesday 4th) the March course begins. So it should be pretty full on getting everything sorted like opening a bank account, insurance, sitting a German competency test to be placed in correct classes etc.
So there's only one week left here. It's going to be very weird going from a hot Australian Summer to snowy Konstanz! I'm really excited about going, but also super nervous, just at the unknown I guess. The hardest thing for me will be being away from my boyfriend Gareth (and also the cat) for so long, but at least he is coming to visit me in April after only 4 weeks, so I can survive until then I suppose! After that will be the hard part...

Anyway that's it for now. See ya next time!