Deutschland, here I come!

The Countdown Begins...

2007-12-12T23:03:00.001+01:00

Just a very quick one;

Today is my 300th day being away from New Zealand.

I have exactly 30 days till I leave and 32 days till I'm back.

And so

THE

COUNTDOWN

BEGINS

Trier

2007-11-14T20:51:00.000+01:00

A couple of months ago I took part in an AFS Midstay Camp. This involved moving to another region of the country and living with a new host family and going to a new school for two weeks.

After a 10 hour trip (normally 7 but mine included trains running late and therefore the missing of other trains) I arrived in Trier, Germany’s oldest city, and met the 19 other exchange students who were also taking part in the AFS Midstay Camp. There was quite a smorgasbord of different countries present including NZ, China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and, sadly, Australia. I had a fellow New Zealander on my side, Liam (pronounced in a sheep-like voice) was all alone in his Austrailianity. A few measly attempts were made to insult us, something in the region of us all eating each other until the British came along and took over, but it was a rather pathetic attempt, especially after we reminded him of his country’s origins!

So we spent 3 days living together in a hotel-like hostel complete with 3 fantastic meals a day, twin bedrooms and cleaners that came every morning and did the rooms. It was so un-AFS-like (refer to previous AFS camp blog) that we thought we’d been dropped off at the wrong place!

Over the 3 days we took part in a UNO course where we were all given a different country to represent and had to solve a problem through discussing and debating. Was a lot of fun but also really frustrating when trying to deal with North Korea who continually declared that he was a dictator and therefore didn’t care that his people were starving to death. Paired with Russia (AKA Liam) they caused America a lot of headaches.

But it wasn’t all work and no play. As is normal when exchange students get together, there were a lot of laughs, a lot of music (usually turned on in the middle of a lecture) and a lot of dancing. On the last night we went into Trier to have a look around and ended up (surprise surprise) at a pub. As we all sat down a weirdly dressed man came up to us with a bucket full of schnapps. He told us he was getting married the next day and was on his stag night. He then said if we gave him our loose change then we could help ourselves. The guy would have made at least 30 euro off us! In Germany, these schnapps are called “Klopfers”. The tradition is that everyone raps the top of the bottle on the table 10 or so times and then opens it, puts the cap on their nose and then drinks the thing without using hands. It’s hilarious to watch and is actually quite difficult to do!

I had a lot of fun chatting to one of the AFS guys who was brought up in a bi-lingual household so he could speak perfect English in a variety of different accents (including German). It was hilarious discussing different things in different accents and then trying to teach the Latino’s the British accent. All in all it was a really good night.

The next day our temporary host families came to pick us up. A family would arrive, a name would be called and a student would be taken away. It was actually a lot like Scotland come to think of it! I was picked up by my host mum’s cousin and her husband who were also hosting a student for the 2 weeks; Daniella from Costa Rica. We ended up seeing each other every other day because we lived so close together and Daniella and I did a lot together because of it.

My host dad, Stephan, and my 2 host sisters, Lea and Lotta, came to pick me up from Kirstin and Michael’s house and then we drove to our house where I met my host mum Alexia. It was so cool to be living in a house with kids and a bit of life in it again! Lotta made it her mission to wake me up in the morning by turning the light on and off and giggling until I move. Then, if I didn’t get up, she would get very frustrated with me and tell me in a very stern tone that I wasn’t allowed to sleep anymore and it was time to get up.

Over the 2 weeks I had to go to school with my sister Lea in the little town of Whittlich. It was so much easier on the first day of school there then it was in the beginning in my school in Ludwigsfelde. Not only were the people so much friendlier and open but also the fact that I could speak German was definitely a big factor. Admittedly (I hope no one from Afs is reading this) I didn’t go to every single class, nor did I go to school every day. All of us who were living in the same sort of area decided to search for a different kind of education, in the form of sneaking off to another country. That’s the beauty of Europe; get on a train and 1 hour later you’re in a new country. Our choice of educational field trip this time was a tiny little place called Luxemburg. After a couple of hours of looking around we came to the conclusion that Luxemburg is the most boring country that exists. It has one city which is called Luxemburg, and is full of rich German people with holiday houses. It didn’t seem to have a speciality in any kind of food and so we ended up at McDonalds.

Some other funny things that happened (yes Michael, here it comes!!) was at a birthday party of a friend of my host family and also Michael and Kirsten. As far as German parties go it was pretty typical; terrible German folk music that helped the older people relive their youths, an indefinite amount of beer on tap and some rather interesting (and more often then not, disturbing) dancing. The most interesting of all was that of Michael. For his own sake I inform you that he had been taking full advantage of the beer on tap and so (I hope) this was not his usual form of dancing. The quality of the video is not fantastic but you get the gist of it. The best moves are at the end, so try to make it through!

THE BEGINNING OF THE DANCING

*Warning, this film may contain moves that just shouldn’t be performed by people over 30. Scrap that, they shouldn’t be performed at all!!*

THE REAL DANCE.

At the party I met an American soldier who didn't speak any German and wasn't even invited, he just saw there was something happening so walked in, got himself a plateful of food and sat down!! Was a bit random but didn't matter. Daniella, the soldier and I created what can only be described as an apartment block for non-human things. It really is impossible to explain so you will just have to check out the photos:

Me and my host sister Lotta

Lotta and Stephan

My sister Leah

This is Daniella and here new hat...sorry couldnt get it to rotate!

I was South Africa...I tried to Nuke Korea but no one went for it...

Me and Daniella

Our little going away party with some girls from school. Next to me is Camille from NZ

Well, have had a lot of complaints about my blog entries being to long so I am going to leave it at that!

Scotland

2007-10-24T19:54:00.000+02:00

I recently returned from a class trip to Scotland. In Germany they have what is called a “Project Week” for everyone in the 12th class. Its supposed to be an “Abschluss feiern” (literal translation “finishing party”) as everyone will be doing their big exam in the 13th year, but it doesn’t really make a hell of a lot of sense considering they all still have 2 years of school left. Doesn’t matter what I think though, just a bit of a background insight to the trip.

In the Project Week we were given 3 choices of trips; Scotland, London and Italy. Well considering I have already been to London (got the accent down pat too, thanks to all the old British films force-fed to me by my many cousins) and to Italy (and to France, Egypt, Luxemburg, Holland, Switzerland etc te he he) I figured Scotland would be good to add to the list. Plus I like laugh at the men wearing sk…umm...the traditional kilt.

So the plan was to take a bus from Berlin to Amsterdam (a full day driving) and from there a night ferry to Newcastle and then to Scotland with the bus. Sounds nice and simple but we need to add in what can only be described as the “German factor”. See, Germans need to have a plan. No matter what they are doing, there has to be a plan involved. Whether it’s going for a walk or going for a drive, there needs to be a map, a spare tyre/pair of shoes, 2 sets of clothes appropriate for different weather conditions, and at least 2 friends need to be informed of where they are going and when they are expecting to return, therefore guaranteeing the quickest possible search and rescue launch if anything were to happen. (Luckily my host family are not like that at all, are much more relaxed. So much so that we usually don’t bother informing the 2 friends.)

After 7 odd months living here I still haven’t managed to fully grasp the concept of this whole planning thing and often get a bit of stick for my relaxed, “she’ll be right” attitude. (There is a point to this whole rant, its coming!) So the German factor struck again about 2 weeks before the trip when I was chatting to some girls from my class about how long the bus trip would be. They asked me who I was sitting with on the bus and I said I’d see when we left. They looked a bit shocked at that and then explained to me that I needed a plan. They had a plan, a plan that had been formed about 6 weeks before the trip was supposed to start. It seems everybody else had a plan too, as everyone I asked already had a “Bus Buddy”. I personally found the whole thing a tad ridiculous and, in the end, a bit annoying as over the whole 5 days you were expected to sit with the same person, in the same seat and talk to the same people (i.e. the ones surrounding you). Only on the last day did I manage to break tradition and even then it was only because my bus buddy fell asleep over the 2 seats, leaving me seatless. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here, back to the beginning.

So as you can tell, I managed to acquire a bus buddy and on the 7th of October at 6:30 a.m. 42 of us met with our suitcases and passports and chose the seats that were to be ours for the next 5 days. So began the 7 or so hour bus trip. Not very eventful really, just driving. We watched a film in German which is always fun and stopped every couple of hours for a public toilet break…again always fun. The problem with the public toilet system in Germany is that you have to pay up to 80 cents just to sit on a not-too-sanitised toilet seat on which many have sat before you, do your business and leave. Whereas in the clean green fields of New Zealand you get to do the same thing but for free! In fact, it’s more then likely that the New Zealand public toilets are actually that little (but very significant) bit more hygienic because everyone tries to avoid them as much as possible. This is due to the fact that we all assume that they will be disgusting because they are free and therefore must be “pretty budget.” On the other hand, everyone in Germany assumes that the public toilets will be in good condition because you have to pay to use them. This ensures maximum usage, thus producing the consequences of maximum usage (I won’t indulge in the details). And the clever thing about the whole concept is that by the time we see the state of the toilets, we have already paid and so are unable to back out of the deal.

The next leg of our journey was with the ferry that we nicknamed “Titanic”. It was a massive thing with 3 or 4 restaurants, a night club, a sports bar and a café with a kid’s room. There were 4 of us to a cabin (which were absolutely tiny) and we basically had free reign of the boat. The next day was my birthday and so I decided to stay up till midnight just to see the dawn of my 18th year. In the night club they had a very good live band so we hung out there for the night, sometimes dancing when a favourite song came on. The real bugger of the night was the fact that the teachers said we weren’t allowed to drink any alcohol, not even a beer. Considering the fact that I was turning 18 and I wasn’t even allowed to have a “prost” it was a bit of a downer. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the 3 teachers were sitting in the corner of the club keeping an eye on us. So I ordered a Pina Colada without alcohol in it and gave them a sweet smile when it arrived. Whether they saw me or not I don’t know, but they didn’t say anything.

It was getting closer to midnight and most people had gone to bed (as far as I was aware anyway). The few that were left were there for me which was really cool and we all kept checking our watches. Next thing I knew the band had finished a song and were telling the crowd that it was my birthday and sung Happy Birthday to me! I looked around for the culprit and all of a sudden there were heaps of people from my class that had snuck in without me seeing. Luisa gave me a card that everyone had signed and a Big Ben money box from the teachers. Everyone gave me a hug and said Happy Birthday…it was really amazing!

The next morning at breakfast the teachers congratulated me and those who weren’t there in the night came and gave me a hug. It was a fantastic beginning to what turned out to be an absolutely fantastic week! We visited a couple of castles the first day and then travelled to the small town of “Tulibody” where we were to be collected by our host families. It was absolutely hilarious for me watching my classmates waiting. The way it worked was that we had groups of 2 or 3 and then would be in a host family together. For me, it was just yet another host family to meet and greet (the Scottish were my fifth) and its almost second nature now but at the same time really tiring. It will definitely be good to get back to original family of Blankenbyls in January, but not a day before I have to! Anyway, back to the bus. Everyone was really nervous and every time a new car pulled up, every single person watched with a very worried look as the people climbed out and claimed their pair. What was the funniest though was the whispering that went on when the host parents got out of their cars and we got a good look at them. Immediately people would turn to their neighbours and remark on whether or not they wanted that particular host family. It was fair enough too, if you were to judge people purely by what they looked like; there were some pretty interesting characters that made their way over to the scared-looking group of German students (and me). So eventually everyone was distributed to their respective houses and were left to see if they had luck or not with their host families.

On the second night in Scotland, we arranged to meet up and go to the local pub, thus contributing to our Scottish educational experience. At 7 we met up at the bus stop and the plan was to head to the pub when we were all there. After waiting for a while half the group got fed up and went off to do their own thing while the rest of us stayed there and waited for the others. Eventually they showed up, followed by about 20 kids. “Kids” being the age of 10 or 11. When the kids saw the rest of us they kept their distance a bit and stood there looking menacing. But hey, they were just kids right? We all kinda laughed a bit at them and then headed off. As we walked up the hill, doors of various houses opened and more kids slipped out into the night. We looked around a little nervously but even so, I couldn’t help but laugh, with the scene reminding me of movies I had seen. The leader of the pack of kids started yelling something at us, looking back at her friends every so often to see if they would laugh at her comments. They started to get closer and we did our best to ignore them. We crossed a road and suddenly they stopped and just watched us walk away. It seems we had left their turf. So, a little relieved, we arrived without being mauled at the Scottish pub of the village. We all pushed our way in and took up 4 tables, giving the pub the impression of being very full. Being the resident English speaker of the group, I suddenly had a lot of people calling my name asking if I could order for them. That’s where it got interesting as I am terrible at switching from English to German all the time. So began a very chaotic evening of me translating, ordering and basically playing bartender. Was lots of fun though and was good to be in a friendly New Zealand-like pub again.
We eventually all moved into the room next door so we could fit and asked for some music. The lady gave us the cds to choose from and so Tom Jones blasted through the speakers. It was a good night with lots of good people.When we headed home we were once again struck by the Killer Kids. This time they were armed with eggs. Under attack we tried to stay cool but ended up running for the hills, with me cracking up the whole way. We swore that next time we wouldn’t be caught off guard and so the next night I brought a couple of eggs from my host mum, just in case. (Un)Fortunately, there was no sign of the Killer Kids the next night and so I didn’t have a chance to use them.

Over the week we visited various different castles and also the Whiskey Distillery from “The Famous Grouse”. Having the bus with us the whole trip was really good because it meant we could leave what we wanted in it when we went places and didn’t have to lug everything around. All together the group of us would have taken over 1000 photos of the same thing and now a night is being organised so we can look at them all!
On the ferry back the teachers gave up when they saw the waiter approaching us with a load of 4 euro beers. The band was not so good this time so we all made an appearance at the sports bar where they had a dj and were playing the usual techno songs that are really good to dance to up to a certain point. Anyway, the conclusion to the night was getting one of the teachers to dance with us. He needed 4 or 5 beers before doing so but he did it and we all cheered him on.

The trip itself was not hugely eventful but I got to know lots more people in my class and things are looking much better school-wise. Enjoy the photos!

Us on the ferry back.

This is Louisa...not a very flattering photo...

Anna and I

Michelle and I...keeping warm with my cool new scarf.

This is the whole group of us...spot the scarf!

Umm...I'm no sailor but shouldn't there be lifeboats here???

Oh, well now my confidence has returned.

Titanic

Lexie, me and the boat mascot.

Elina and I

Me, Jenny, Elina and Lena. (refer to non-twins in Harry Potter post.)

Awesome view.

The Chateau

Carston, Sebastian, Luisa, Louisa and Christine

Loch Lomand

Us in the pub at Tulibody. Recovering after the Killer Kids Episode.

Caro, Michelle and I at Loch Lomand

Thats it!

Urlaub (with more photos now!)

2007-08-29T23:17:00.000+02:00

Well, I’ve taken a while to put up another blog, partly because I’ve been away and partly because I figured my last one was long enough to keep you all going for a while! But I figure its time for an update. Well, at least a very quick summary and then some cool photos.

But before I do that, I need to clarify something with all you cheapskates out there who are doing more then just reading my blog. When I put photos up, they are copyrighted. That means, only I have the right to reproduce these photos, unless of course I sell that right which can be arranged. Call me and we’ll talk.

What brought this to my attention was when a fellow exchange student (who I won’t name) showed me her scrapbook of Germany. Inside Camille’s scrapbook (oops) were MY photos! Off My blog!! It was packed full with MY photos! That I had painstakingly taken and then spent hours resizing and uploading! And then she just did some fancy trick involving the ctrl, c and v buttons on the computer and bam! straight into her “book of memories”. I couldn’t believe it! When she realized what I had seen, she snatched the book out of my hands and hid her face-as was to be expected in such a situation. But she opened my eyes to the law-breaking that is going on right under my nose, which is really not easy to do. I mean, have YOU ever tried looking right under your nose without a mirror? Considering most of you probably just went cross-eyed trying, you will realize how difficult it is!

Do you WANT me to put a big copyright stamp in the middle of any photos I put up, distorting the view and ultimately the entire picture? Because I will, you can count on it! This has got to stop! Or at least continue in a more orderly manner! As I said, call me and we’ll talk...

So, with that little rebuke outta the way, we can move forward together, with everything up to this point forgiven and forgotten…except in Camille’s case, whom I will no longer allow to visit my blog. And for the rest of you, you’ve been duly warned!

-----

In the summer holidays, which have sadly come to an end, I was lucky enough to be taken around France in a campervan. We saw lots of French things, ate lots of baguettes, got very annoyed with the French people and even got a peep into the secret life of the pope. The truths we uncovered about this “great generation of men” were nothing short of unnerving and, if revealed, would bring the whole Catholic religion to its knees (excuse the pun). Unfortunately, I’m not really in the mood for bringing a religion to its knees (pun! pun!) today and so you’ll have to figure out these truths for yourselves *insert Da Vinci Code extract here*

We had roughly 2 and a half weeks in France, one of which was spent lying on the beach and basking in the 28 degree sun, causing me to be mistaken for a Latino in later times, or, for the more educated of the German race, a Maori. Over the time, the Melzer family I was with nicknamed me their “hobbit”. Something to do with hairy feet and being short, though I never really got it as I was not overly short compared to them nor do I have hairy feet! Well, sometimes I forget to shave them for a while and then the inevitable happens.

IT WAS A JOKE!!! I DO NOT HAVE HAIRY FEET!!!

But Robin Williams, now HE has hairy feet.

Heck, even I don’t know what I’m on about anymore…back to France then shall we? Yes, so we also happened upon Avignon in our travels and a lot of other random little towns whose names escape me but which are impossible to escape from if you catch my drift. But we had a lot of fun along the way, managed to find a very secluded spot in the middle of the night at which we could safely play P’tonk without the French seeing, and therefore laughing at, us. You see, the French are very much into their P’tonk and tend to have a few skills in the area. Whereas we, well, we were 3 Germans and a New Zealander! What could you expect? All the Germans wanted to do was kick the bowls around whereas I was pretty keen on picking them up and running, tackling anyone who got in my way. Either way the younger generation (Sophie and I) kicked the butts of the older generation (Katrin and Lutz). Nothing more needs to be said about that!

I also learned how to sleep in a very tiny space when we were away. Its not that the bed was small, it was a good-sized queen, it was more the fact that I had to share it with Sophie who seems to enjoy rolling around a bit and taking up as much space as she possibly can while chatting away to herself in her sleep. When it got annoying I’d give her a bit of a shove and she’d crack up laughing (still fast asleep) and roll over. Sounds rather amusing, definitely one of those things you look back on and laugh about! :D

Yes, so after France I caught a flight to London where I had 3 nights. 3 nights meant 3 delicious English breakfasts, 1 roast dinner, one dinner of baked beans on toast and one dinner of fish and chips. Oh man, it was so good! You don’t realize how much you miss normal food till you eat it after 6 months without it! When I get back and am throwing a big junk food party without any pork in sight! You’re all invited :P

I was in London with a fellow New Zealand exchange student, Lauren. Since I only had 2 full days, we had to do some “power sight-seeing”. That means get in, take photos, get out and on to the next one! But it was heaps of fun, and we were at all the hotspots. They included Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, The Parliament buildings and Big Ben, a Buckingham Palace Guard (check out the photos!) Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens and so much more that I really can’t remember!!! We went to Kings Cross Station and found platform 9 and ¾ from the Harry Potter movies. Lauren got a photo on a big lion, after taking about 30 minutes to climb up onto it (which I have video proof of) and we took so many photos they barely fit onto one Cd. Admittedly we got pretty disorientated at times, at one point somehow getting lost in a seven fingered market square, then taking what we thought was the right bus until after about 4 stops in rushhour traffic we realized we were going in the opposite direction then we wanted, then having to get out and find another bus and then after all the panic didn’t make it in time to see the attraction anyway, as they stopped selling tickets an hour before they closed! But it was heaps of fun and one of those things you have to do once!

Well, that is the end of my quick little summary that turned out (as always) not to be so quick after all. But I know you all secretly love having to sit at the computer for hours reading this!

And here are some photos!

Lutz (left) and the French Professional arguing over who's closest.

Lutz realising he has really no idea and the Frenchman knows all

Beached in France

Aaaahh...holidays.

Me having to hold the tarpaulin in the gale-force winds...check out the facials!

Sophie and I at the Asterix and Obelix restaurant...BIG pizza

Me dyeing my hair red.

The beach close to Bordeaux

London!

Me, a can of V (so good!), and the Tower Bridge

Lauren in the London Phone Box

Me in front of the Parliament Building and Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Lauren won her fight with the Lion...finally.

Buckingham Palace...pretty unimpressive really.

We tried to make him laugh...

...but all he did was make his nostrils flare...

...not unlike a bull. It was actually...

...pretty scary!

Look! A chipmunk...or a squirrell...

Go Harry Potter!

Well, thats all folks! Leave me a comment and tell me how you liked it!

Harry Potter Premier

2007-07-31T12:54:00.000+02:00

Here’s a story about a crazy Tuesday night in Berlin…

It was Tuesday the 10th of July and I had school the next morning. Granted it was the last day of school and I’m an exchange student who goes to school with sort of a tortured artist approach, but school is school. Nonetheless, I decided I could sacrifice my sleep for one night and go and see the Harry Potter midnight premier in the Sony Centre with 3 other such exchange students and, surprisingly enough, 2 very game German unrelated twins from my class (explanation to follow).

So I met Connor from America smack dab in the middle of Berlin at about 4:30. Lacking time and an idea of what to do, we immediately agreed that the best thing to do was to get out of the rain and go to Starbucks. We barely spoke to each other as I had 2 extra tickets to the premier so we were both desperately calling everyone we knew to see if they wanted to be spontaneous. Connor even went so far as to call a friend of his in Munich, telling her that if she jumped on a train there and then she would make it with 10 min to spare before the film started. Surprisingly enough she wasn’t to keen, despite our suggestion of not having to buy a train ticket and instead keeping an eye out for the ticket guy and hiding in the toilet every time he came. We were standing in line at Starbucks and Connor was still talking on the phone. I had exhausted my friends list (Hey! He had been here 6 months more them me! Give me a break!) when I saw two sofas’s being released from their current owners. For those of you who have any idea how Starbucks works, you will know what a novelty getting a sofa to sit on is and therefore, if the opportunity presents itself, should be taken without a moment’s hesitation. The problem was, at the exact same time I saw the empty sofas, I was asked for my order. I had to make a decision and I had to make it fast. Take the sofa and lose my place in the line? Or make my order and hope the sofas go unnoticed. In the end I found a third option. I poked Connor and pointed urgently at the empty sofas. His eyes widened in disbelief and excitement and he performed a dive that brought tears to my eyes. Confident that he would protect the much lusted after seats, I happily gave my order to the lady. When I had my drink we swapped places, with me bearing my teeth at anyone who so much as glanced at the empty chair next to me.

After drinking our coffee we headed off to meet Viole (Argentina), Stasa (Bosnia) and Atur (Brazil). As we waited, Connor performed one of his favorite pastimes of calling a friend in America from a payphone and saying “Hey, whatsup, I’m in Berlin. Just thought I’d call. Gotta go, bye!” I am pretty keen to do that sometime...don’t know who I would call though... how about the first person to leave a comment on this blog? :P

So yea, Viole and Stasa showed up without Atur. Apparently he hadn’t showed up at the train station, even though we had discussed it with him a week ago and made sure he was coming. Stasa had called him and the conversation had gone something like this:

“Hello?”
“Hey Atur, this is Stasa, where are you?? Are you coming to the movie?”
“Oh yeah, hang on a minute”

*heard in the background*
“Hey mum and dad, can I go to the midnight premier of Harry Potter tonight?”

*Atur returns*

“Ah Stasa? I can’t come sorry.”
“What? I thought you asked them last week?”
“Ah, no. Sorry I can’t come.”
“Ok...bye.”
“Bye”

We couldn’t believe it! We were down to 4 but we couldn’t let it faze us as we had places to be and people to see. So we headed to the subway and proceeded to get on the wrong side of the tracks and nearly take the wrong train, all with me leading. Like a true leader should, I handed the mantle to a more experienced and knowledgeable leader who would lead us safely through the intricate mazes of the underground; The Great Viole. She guided us with such ease and style that we wondered if she really did live in Potsdam and if she wasn’t partying to hard and to much in Berlin every other weekend. But we were grateful for her help and in no time at all we were at the right station and it was again up to me to lead the others to the restaurant that we were meeting my host parents at. And of course I had no idea which direction to go. What made it worse was that we were at a crossroads so I had 4 options in direction! After crossing the road about 6 times we finally chose a direction and made it to the restaurant.

After eating our full of chicken, we took the train back into middle Berlin and proceeded to aimlessly walk the streets. The awesome thing about Berlin is no matter where you go or at what time, you will always find something to do. And Berlin didn’t fail us that night! In the middle of the street was a booth boasting “free stress tests”. We looked at each other and decided that we had VERY stressful lives and should probably take it, you know, for our health. So Connor got the first free test while we watched with interest. The longer the test went on the more stressed he looked and we were a little bit worried about him. Stasa went next and I watched all
the colour drain from her face.

I was next.

A very serious man asked me to take a seat and remove my ring and then grasp onto two metal cylinders connected by wires to a very complicated looking machine. He explained to me that he was going to ask some questions and that I didn’t have to answer them if I didn’t want to. He was kinda a young and creepy sales rep; black suit, schick glasses, hair slicked back and he had this very unnerving stare. Nervously I agreed and we began. The conversation went something like this:

“Ok, I want you to think about your parents”

“Alright”

*thinks about parents*

^Needle goes spastic on machine^

“Mmmm, do you have stress with your parents? Because the machine is showing stress signals.”

“Ah, no…my parents don’t even live in the same country as me”

“Oh, well, umm, does that stress you?”

“Nope!”

“Ok, lets try something else then. Think about your boyfriend”

“Ok”

*Thinks about boyfriend that doesn’t exist*

^Needle goes spastic again^

“Ok, well it definitely shows that you have stress with your boyfriend”

“Well actually I don’t have a boyfriend”

“Really? Well, does that stress you? Do you want a boyfriend?”

“Not at all, I love being single!”

“That’s weird…because it shows you have stress there.”

He then sat there staring at me, straight into my eyes, waiting for me to break down and confess my hidden lust for a boyfriend. I sat there staring right back at him, and eventually he gave in. He then tried to sell me a book on…wait for it…scientology!!! I was a bit freaked and wondering how to get outta there when the other 3 came and were like “ah, Rebecca we better get going or we’ll miss our train”. Of course we had no train to catch but it worked and we quickly walked away, trying not to laugh too loudly.

After that we went to a shisha bar and had a cocktail and a shisa which was relaxing. We then found a playground and Connor tried to prove that he could hang upside down from one of the little hole things. He succeeded and we didn’t need to call an ambulance.

It was nearing the time for the movies and so I called my two german friends and got them to meet us outside the cinema.

Enter unrelated German twins Lena and Elena. Two blonde girls who at the very least look like sisters though more like twins and who are completely unrelated. During the first 3 months of school I didn’t realise there were two of them, which was a little crazy because Lena is in my English class and I am going to Scotland with Elena as my partner. But as far as I was concerned there was only one of them!! What are the chances of looking so alike and having such close names!!

So after the introductions were made we went to see the very disappointing movie, though the audience was great with a lot of clapping and booing at different characters such as Sirius and Snape. There were some people who were really into the whole premiere thing and had hired costumes for the event!

After the movie we saw TV stations doing interviews with people coming out of the movie. I myself had had enough of humiliating myself with my German in front of a TV camera and the others just chickened out so we didn’t get on TV that night.

Lena and Elena headed off straight away to catch a train while we hang out for a little in the Sony Centre. It was Connor and Stasa’s last night in Berlin as they were going back to their respective countries 3 days later and so they decided they wanted to say goodbye to Berlin. I can’t explain what happened, you will have to watch the video:

http://bebo.com/FlashBox.jsp?FlashViewType=Personal&FlashBoxId=4396707484&MemberId=4387788122

Here’s where it got interesting. We headed off to the train station to get the next train to the main station. Then from there we would catch a train to Potsdam and I would stay the night at Viole’s. But as we were about to take the down escalator, Lena and Elena came up the “up” escalator. We were a bit confused as they had left us about 20 min earlier. They were not happy. Apparently all the trains had shut down till 4 because it was a week day! And that was bad news for L and E because they had to go to school the next day as real students which meant they would get exactly 0 hours sleep. They were a bit panicked and were talking about taking a taxi all the way home which would have cost them a good 80 euro. But, as luck would have it, the buses were still running so they were able to take one to their station and then a taxi from there.

We, on the other hand, had no such luck. Our train was going to go at 4:20 from the main station so we ended up taking a lovely stroll through Berlin at 3 in the morning. Wasn’t bad, though we were all thinking about how we had to get up and go to school in 4 hours. We caught the train to Potsdam and arrived about 5:00 a.m. Viole and I then had to catch a tram to her station and then ride ONE bike home together. That was scary. We were wobbling all over the place and kept cracking up laughing which made the bike wobble even more. We finally made it back in one piece thankfully and were home about 6. Viole went to sleep but I stayed up as my host dad was coming to pick me up at 7. So I went to school without a minute of sleep. I was ok though, drank a lot of coffee and it was only a half day. I looked pretty terrible though. But hey, that’s what memories are made of huh?

There, I completed a blog!!!! I don’t know when I’ll be able to do the next one as I am heading off to France and London on Friday and won’t be back for a month. Till then!

Becks.

Here is the booth

Connor looking stressed

Stasa taking her test

Connor after the test :P

1000!!!!!!

2007-07-05T18:46:00.000+02:00

Today we celebrate our 1000th visitor to this blog. Why, it seems like just yesterday when I would click the refresh button over and over just to make it look as though people were visiting. But, as time went on, I was wracked with a sense of guilt and false advertising and so decided to give up on this blog altogether.

So, I said my goodbyes and swore I would never again allow myself to enter into such a self-confidence-ruining trap. But, like all addicts, I couldn't stay away. Of course, I told myself that I could stop anytime that I wanted and I was completely in control. But looking back now, I can see that I was in fact not in control, I was being controlled by the cursed need for the hit counter to continue changing.

Now you may be saying to yourself "Why didn't she just not go into the site?" or some such condescending and cruel critisism. But the fact of the matter is that if you have never been down that dark road then you can not possible understand.

So there I was heading for destruction and then something amazing happened. Something that changed my life forever. I received a comment. Did you hear me? A comment. I received a congratulatory, complimentary and caring comment. I couldn't believe it, I thought someone must be playing a cruel trick on me and so I went to the dark place (my blog) to see it for myself. And there I was face with another surprise. The hit counter had change. As in, increased. Without my help. Suddenly I felt a warmth spread through me, beginning from my heart. Somebody had visited my sight...Somebody had left me a comment...Somebody cared.

From that point on things took an upward turn. Now, instead of checking my blog with a feeling of dread, I looked forward to seeing what new comments had been left and how many people had visited. I began to have inspirations as to what to write, which only encouraged more hits. Before I knew it we had hit 500. Then 700. Then 900. And finally, the big one...

1000

So thank you all who have been kind enough to visit, and a greater thanks to those who have taken 30 seconds out of your day to leave comments. Its people like you who make this world a better place.

Oh, and thank you Mum and Dad, this blog wouldn't be possible without you. (Not to sure why but thats what all the big stars say).

Pickpocketing Pocket Stealer

2007-06-30T08:24:00.000+02:00

Well heres a random one. In english class we had to define english words. On of the words was Pickpocketer and one of the girls in the class wrote "someone who steals pockets" which I found rather funny so I wrote a newspaper article about it. Enjoy.

Pocket-stealing pickpocket

In a bizzare turn of events today, pockets from all over the city have gone missing. The police issued a statement warning the citizens of Ludwigsfelde that a literal "pocket-stealing pickpocket" was on the loose, though police hoped to have the culprit in custody within the next 48 hours.

"This kind of criminal is the worst and is not welcome in this city." says the chief commissioner. "It is a constant frustration when petty thieves cross the line and go to the next level. Instead of being happy with taking things out of the pocket, they have to take the whole pocket which is just not acceptable"

Experts are predicting major consequences and after-effects of this vicious crime. The victims are finding themselves standing in the street, exposed to the crowds.

"The levels of exposure vary," explains leading expert of pocket disappearances, Kip Tekop. "For example, it the victim was wearing cargo pants and one of the lower pockets is stolen then the exposure is at a minimum and has no lasting effects. However, in the more extreme cases, a back pocket is stolen and exposure is extreme with the victim inadvertantly baring all."

Due to the new threat of involuntary exposure, demand for underwear has more then tripled. It seems that our citizens have taken to the thought that if they are exposed, at least they will have something nice to show off. Also, some extremists have taken to wearing more then one pair of pants. Not only has this lead to a bizzare new fashion of wearing shorts overtop trousers overtop longjohns but is also believed to have contributed to the increase of emergency calls regarding people collapsing on the street.

"People are just not being responsible about the weather," commented one paramedic today. "Of course if you go out on a warm summer day with 3 or 4 layer of clothing then you are going to overheat.

The paramedic preferred to stay anonymous but did say that his real dream was to become a mechanic.

And finally, world-renowned jeans label "Levi" are being sued on charges of false advertising. In Levi's string of commercials that were recently released, Levi jeans are proclaimed to be "tough" and are likened to such materials as leather and four-wheel drive vehicles. The individual suing the company say the ads are misleading and "are not nearly as tough as shown, trust me I know".

Though details were not given in regards to the comment, it is believed to be connected to the pocket stealing pickpocketer.

Well, there ya go. Hope you have been warned...

Newspaper Article

2007-06-28T16:40:00.001+02:00

Ok so there have been a lot of newspaper articles about the asparagus queen but they have all been in German and so I havent bothered to put them up. But now the local newspaper in NZ wrote an article so I thought I'd put it up.

North student crowned in Germany

Asparagus Queen Rebecca Blankenbyl

By Saskia Konynenburg

19jun07

Forget parading in a bikini to win the title of Miss New Zealand - a Whangarei student has been crowned the Asparagus Queen of Germany.

The bizarre title was given to Rebecca Blankenbyl - who is on an exchange project in Germany - as part of the asparagus season celebrations.

"I thought it would be a lot of fun and thought,`What the hell, I'd never do it if I were in New Zealand.' So we rang up the boss and put my name forward.''

The Pompallier Catholic College student said winning the title had helped with her studies. ``I've met so many interesting people and my German has hugely improved after having to speak with reporters from newspapers and also having a TV interview with our local station.'' She celebrated her title at the German Agricultural Day event where she met other German queens and Alan Cook, New Zealand's Ambassador in Germany.

``Germany is dead keen on its queens. At the agricultural day I met the Harvest Queen, the Egg Queen and the Fish Queen. The Harvest Queen told me she had once been to a get-together of all the queens in Germany and there were over 500,'' Rebecca said.

Rebecca is staying in a town called Ludwigsfelde in the Brandenburg region, where they are asparagus mad from May till the end of July. However, Rebecca isn't so keen on the vegetable. ``The season is really important because when it is over there's no more asparagus for the rest of the year. ``This means that everyone eats as much asparagus as they can stand during the season but I've had enough and refuse to eat any more.''

Overview

2007-06-14T22:26:00.001+02:00

OK, so basically I’ve been pretty hopeless at keeping this blog updated as I’m sure you have all noticed. Therefore I will now proceed to give you a complete overview of what I have done so far.

Also (pronounced owl-so), on Thursday the 12th of April I went to the zoo with 6 friends (3 germans and 3 latinos). That was cool, though was sad to see all the animals couped up like that. Would honestly have to say Auck zoo is better, at least by way of space for the animals. We got to see Knut, the little polar bear that was born in the zoo. He has become a bit of a celebrity in Germany; so much so that you can buy Knut shaped marshmallows and Knut sausages. Crazy, I know. We didn’t actually see him properly, as the line to see him was about 300 metres long, but we did get photos by jumping into the air with the camera above our heads and taking a photo just as we were at our highest. Was rather interesting but you can definitely see him!! Oh yea, and there was also a big Kiwi there, kindly donated by good ‘ol Aunty Helen.

On the 23rd of April I went to Potsdam with friends to check out the Lord of the Rings exhibition. It was the exact same one that they showed in Te Papa Museum in Wellington, though I didn’t see it there. Was really funny to hear Peter Jackson talking cause I could totally hear the NZ accent, which I never could before. After 4 months (nearly exactly!!) with German accents, you can really hear the NZ one!! So yeah, that was a good day out. One random thing tho, is in the entrance to the exhibition was a huge life sized model of the dog thing from “The Never Ending Story” movie hanging from the roof. I mean…what the heck right?? After Potsdam we heading back home via Berlin and met heaps of crazy soccer fans. See, there must have been a big game on cause there were all these drunk as fans in the trains and in the train station. They were all singing and happy as, not dodgy at all which was good. Anyway, we boarding the train home and found an empty room. So we got seated then suddenly 10 or so fans came up the stairs, singing and yelling and having a good time. Rowdy as but all in good fun. Their team obviously won and they were very happy about it. One guy actually got kicked off cause he got caught smoking in the train which is not allowed.

On the 27th of April I went to a “diskothek” (night club) with 2 other exchange students in Potsdam. It wasn’t fantastic cause it was a “bass and drums” night which pretty much meant every song was the good ol techno beat “boom ch boom ch boom ch” (like my onomatopoeia?) Didn’t get home till 4 so was pretty tired the next day but held up. I went with Anke and Hermann to an art market that was pretty cool, all sorts of wacky stuff for sale. Then on Sunday I went to the “baumbluten fest” in Werder. Literal translation is “tree blood festival” but it was similar to Octoberfest in the way that everyone was there to get drunk. But if you didn’t want to get drunk (like me) then there was still plenty to see and do. You could even do the bungy from a crane if you wanted!!

On the 17th of May I met Lauren from New Zealand and spent the day with her and her host family in a film park in Potsdam. Lauren lives in Bremen and she was in Berlin for a weekend with her fam. The film park was ok, though not really what we expected. It was more to do with the making of movies then like rides and stuff, but was good to hang out with a fellow nz student for the day and talk about how it’s going so far. There was a cool 4D movie we went to, with wind and stuff as well as 3D glasses. Also, King Kong graced us with his presence. At the end of the day there was a big stunt show on and one of the guys was from NZ so we chatted with him for a bit. Interesting story actually, he was in uni studying mechanics, found it boring so became a stunt man. Lol.

On the 18th of May I had an Asparagus Queen appointment and met the NZ Ambassador and his wife (Mr. and Mrs. Cook). They were both really nice and I sat next to Mrs. Cook at lunch and chatted to her. They live in Berlin and she told me to pop by sometime :P Also met Germanys Minister of Agriculture and a lot of other important people from the parliament. It was a big conference and I had to sit on the stage with all the important people while speeches were made. I also met the Harvest Queen, the Fish queen and the Egg Queen. Don’t ask.

On the 24th of May I went to Nordhorn for the weekend to meet and stay with Hermann’s parents. While there we went to my first ever handball game. Its gotta be the second coolest sport (rugby first), and Nordhorn was playing so there was a big fan group with drums and chants and things. We won 30-29. I also went to Holland (10 min drive) while we were there to visit my Uncle and Aunty and Cousin so that was really good to see family. We stayed for 4 days and then headed home.

On the 10th of June I had my last Asparagus Queen thing and had an interview with the local tv station. Then on Sunday I played in the musik school summer concert. I played the bongo drum and it was really fun. In June we get to go to a big music weekend with 2500 other teens to play, so looking forward to that!

And this weekend I have another AFS camp with all the exchange students in my area so that will be heaps of fun!!

Well, I hope you are all now well informed!!

~B~

Photos...Finally!

2007-06-03T16:38:00.000+02:00

Well, heres the living proof:

Me and 2 "blokes" from the parliment

Me, the 2 blokes and the Mayor of my town.

Me and the 2 old Asparagus Queens

Me and the Mayor. And Spargel.

Me, Anke and Hermann

Me and the Mayor again.

So, there you have it!!!

Hang in there...

2007-05-22T15:25:00.001+02:00

Hey guys just letting you know that I haven`t done part 2 yet because my computer has broken down, taking with it photos etc so I have to wait for it to get fixed before I can get the next entry in. Dont worry though, its on its way!!

Till Soon

Becks

New Found Royalty Part 1

2007-05-02T22:14:00.000+02:00

Finally!! The secret is out, the cat has been let out of the bag, the cloud of mystery has disappeared and now all can be revealed about my newfound royalty here in the fatherland.

It all began when we Hermann and I went to the “Spargelhof” (asparagus headquarters) to buy some bread. We met the boss who was a friend of Hermann’s and they started chatting away in Deutsch. I stood there and zoned out like I normally do and then the boss asked me a question. I was like, huh? Wie bitter?. Then he babbled off something and I looked at Hermann for help and he shook his head to say no. So I said no and, it seemed, that was that. When we got home I asked Hermann what the guy had asked me and he told me that they were looking for this years Asparagus Queen and he had asked if I wanted to be considered for the position. Obviously the first reaction was “Heck no, that’s way to embarrassing” and we just kinda laughed about it. But then as we talked about it more and more I started thinking it could be fun and its just the kind of thing I would NEVER do in New Zealand which made it all the more enticing. In the end I thought “Ah, why the hell not?” and so we called Herr Ehlers and said that I was keen. I so didn’t think that I would get it and so for the next week I didn’t even think about it again. And then one day I got home after school and Hermann told me that I had been chosen (I was one of 2 who wanted it, big whoop) and a reporter wanted an interview with me!! I was like, “oh man, what the heck have I done!?”

“The Interview”

So Anke and I arrived at the spargelhof and went inside to look for the reporter. She was waiting in one of the seats and was talking to an older lady. We said hello and then sat down to wait for Herr Ehlers to arrive and show us where to go. Not a word was said about Konigin’s or Spargel and the conversation was kept very light. Then Herr Ehlers came in and, completely ignoring Anke and I, started talking with the older lady. She got up and went with him to the other end of the shop, leaving us behind. I thought that was really weird and a bit rude that he didn’t even acknowledge us but I waited to see what would happen next. We saw the older lady leave and Herr Ehlers came back towards us. That’s where it started getting a little surreal. He came straight to us and apologized in a whisper for not talking to us, saying that the lady we were sitting with was the biggest gossip in the town and had she of realized that I was the next Spargel Konigin then the whole town would have known within hours. That was where I began to realize that they were taking this whole secrecy really seriously!

So there we were huddled together and talking in hushed tones while taking suspicious glances over our shoulders to see if there were any coronation sabotages listening in. I was trying so hard not to laugh at the whole situation, it was so bizarre! So then Herr Ehlers ushered us out the door and into the storage house. Where they stored stuff. Like beer and other things that can be stored in storage houses. And mattresses. And, coincidently, the Konigin’s dress. We were locked in this little room (though admittedly we locked the door from our side) and I tried on the dress. The dress itself was actually a bit of a shock to the system at first sight, partly because it wasn’t even a dress but a skirt, top and cape and partly because it looked like the kind of thing I would dress up in when going to one of Amy’s dress up party’s. For those of you who don’t know Amy or her dress up party’s then all I can say is that you are yet to live and have been greatly deprived. Anyway, moving on…

So I got the dress and crown on and then the journalist took some photos, mostly crazy posing ones where I am trying to climb up the wall like spiderman. Didn’t work unfortunately, I ended up in a very awkward position on the floor with one leg curled around my head and the other….well yea, you get the idea. After the photos we wrapped the dress up in a big sheet we found (and consequently stole now that I think about it…its quite nice on my bed though…) and then, after checking to see if anyone was watching, took it out and hid it in the car.

Part 1 of mission complete. Casualties: 1 (old lady)

Then came the interview. Was a little difficult because the journalists English wasn’t that good and my Deutsch wasn’t that good but between the 3 of us I think we managed it ok. Actually, I am yet to see the article as it doesn’t come out until the 10th so who knows, we could have got our wires crossed and I’ll come out as a gothic who likes to play tennis. We’ll see.

So, that’s part one. Part 2 will include photos of the big coronation and of me getting friendly with the mayor of the town. Age: 65 (I told him I didn’t believe him. Good line, works every time)

Bis dann!!

Goodbye To A Dear Friend

2007-04-23T18:35:00.000+02:00

I have received the news of a tragedy in the family. What makes this tragedy worse then your average tragedy is that a member of my immediate family was the cause of it.

My Father woke up one morning with destruction on his mind and murder on his lips. No amount of pleading from my little sister could change his decision or weaken his resolve and the fact that my mother was not home only made the situation more hopeless. Today was the day to make his "vision" into a reality he told himself and went into the garage to search for a means to an end. He came out brandishing a chainsaw.

Before I go on to describe the next part in this bloody take, first let me tell you about my friend and maybe you will be able to grasp what he meant to me. He was like any good friend should be; strong and steady, never faultering and always standing tall. Always there for me, be it night or day and never turning me away. We would see each other everyday, despite our busy lives. But even so, I could see that I was not the only one he was important to. He often opened his arms to all manner of beings, even going so far as providing shelter and a home to those who had none, all without asking for anything in return. He was, neigh is, an example to us all and his life was cut short. He was cut off at the knee's and had no means of defending himself.

It sickens me to think that this hideous crime was pre-meditated and carried out by someone with a clear head, and not in a moment of rage or insanity.

The tears are falling thick and fast now, and I can't bring myself to describe the murder but I believe the pictures speak for themselves and you will be able to paint your own picture as to what happened on that dark day. But please realise that these pictures are not pretty and I would recommend a strong stomach to those who wish to sight them...

Here he is, healthy and beautiful.

And then, a brutal end.

Zum Wohl

2007-04-09T22:29:00.000+02:00

Just had a brilliant idea for a post (considering its been a while) but unfortunately don't have the means to complete it as of yet. So instead I thought I'd "zum wohl" (cheers, or prost) to this blog, and the fact that it has officially hit the 500 hit mark. Half way there people, keep visiting! ;P

I've had a couple of emails asking me if my blog is broken or if i'm just being lazy. So, rather then answer "all" the emails one by one, here's my reply, open to the public to read and scrutinise every detail, every letter and every piece of punctuation:

To whom it may concern,

Yes, I am still alive, I am still in Germany, and I am still terrible at keeping this website updated. Oh, and no I have not fallen in love with a German boy (or any boy for that matter) and don't intend to (though intentions, no matter how good, don't always ring true).

Yours Truly,

Becks (in Germany)

Ciao For Now!

AFS Camp

2007-03-18T15:52:00.000+01:00

Ok, I know that I said I would give description of school next but the truth is that I have been to school for a grand total of 4 days out of the month I have been here! That is due to the fact that I have been sick for the last 2 weeks and therefore was unable to attend school (lol). Of course, I was not to sick to go to Berlin and go shopping, but that is another story altogether. Long story short, the school recount will have to wait. But I do have photos of my afs camp that happened last weekend in Berlin!! I like photos.

But before the photos, a few, ummm, "highlights" of the camp. Hmmm, maybe "highlights" is not the right word, read on and you will understand...

Ok, so the camp consisted of 20 odd students from all over the world. Despite the many different countries, we were inevitably put into different groups. There were the "Latinos" (roughly 80%), The Asians (6 or so) The Brazillians and, well, the NZers. All good except there were only 2 NZers, me and a girl called Maddy from Wellington. We both soon realised that, despite being english speaking (a typically arrogant assumption I think) we were definitely not the majority by way of what language was spoken. I don't know, I guess we just automatically assumed that english would be the common language and everyone would be speaking that. (of course, whats ironic is that no one even THOUGHT that maybe we would be speaking in German, despite being in Germany!). But no, spanish was the main language for the weekend. No problem really, I mean everyone DID speak english to a certain point but Maddy and I were definitely the minority which was weird.

Anyways, now that you've made it through that random blurb here's the real stuff. As typical girls, we went to inspect the bathroom facilities and were shocked at what we found. We had 2 toilets (for about 15 of us) which wasn't TERRIBLE I guess and three shower heads. Now stop and re-read the last sentence again.......We had three shower HEADS, but not three shower cubicles!! Oh no, these were community showers!! Oh what a joy! With the help of some handy shower curtains we were able to create 2 separate showers, one with just one head and one with two. But the thing is, there was still no guarantee someone wouldn't decide they were comfortable enough with their bodies and themselves and jump in next to you if you were in the double shower area. And I tell ya, it was a seriously scary thought!! The first morning I got up and Maddy and i went to take a shower (SEPARATELY). We got in there and there was no one in the showers so they were all ours. Maddy took the single shower (lucky thing) and I took the double. It must have been the shortest shower I have ever (or will ever) taken! Honestly, I think 10 years must have been taken off my life in that 1:08. Everytime the door opened in the bathroom I got more and more worried that someone would spot my single pair of feet in the double shower and jump in.

The next morning I decided that it wasn't really necessary to take a shower EVERY day...stimmts? :P :D

On the topic of showers I will now do my best to describe a very interesting girl we encountered on camp...

Her name was Fatima, but she was known as Mexico; I suppose this nickname was due in part to her original origin (Mexico) but something tells me that there were other reasons that I won't disclose in this post (email me for details). She was the only one from Mexico and she was in the "english speaking" group with Maddy and I. In hindsight, I realise that she really wouldn't have caught my attention the way she did if she hadn't been in my group. But fate had it that she spoke and understood a good level of English and was therefore designated to our group. Don't get me wrong, there are absolutely no regrets on my part, in fact I am actually quite glad that she was with us. Without her it could have ultimately been a very boring weekend...

*Interesting opinion #1*

We were discussing what was different between our host families here and our families back home. The usual little things came up "I have to share a room", "there's no snack food in the house" etc. and then Lorraine came up with the matter of cleanliness. In Lorraines host family, they take a bath once a week but use the same water. After chatting about it a bit, Mexico came up with the fact that her host parents only let her take one shower a day. There was kind of a bit of a confused silence and then I asked exactly how many showers she needed a day. To which she promptly replied "three", as though it was the most normal thing in the world and I was strange for even asking! She told us that she took 3 a day in Mexico. The grins were slowly beginning to form around the room but there was still time for further explanation before the realisation hit all of us. And so, she explained: "Obviously I have one when I get up in the morning before school, and then one when I get home from school, and then one before I go to bed at night."

In answer to that, the obvious question was "Why???" but we were all busy trying not to laugh. Our AFS managed to change the subject with the good 'ol line: "well yes, things are definitely different from your home countries".

*Interesting opinion #2*

Fatima was having trouble at school and she didn't like the classes. When asked what was wrong with them she replied that she wished they were the same as in Mexico, where 'apparantly' you can just sleep on your desk if your not interested or just leave the class if you are bored. Hmmm...interesting indeed...perhaps the schools in NZ should take a page out of Mexico's education system?

*Interesting Action #1*

Mexico liked taking photos. I mean, really really really liked taking photos. She would take photos of everything. It really wasn't anything different at first, I mean we were all taking photos. Photos of each other, the landscapes, the room and things we were doing. But Fatima, ever the one to break away from the crowd, would lie on her back taking photos of the ceiling. It wasn't a particularly nice ceiling, you know, as far as ceilings go it was pretty average. It was a normal creamy colour, same colour as the wall, and the other wall...and...well, the other wall! Come to think of it, it was pretty much a boring cream room. But still the photo's were taken without restraint. Perhaps it was her artistic license?

Ok so enough about Mexico, although I could go on about her forever!

Here are some photos of the weekend and the people:

These are the Latino Guys

My Juggling sticks, ever the great entertainer..

Me, Diego and Maddy

All of us

And us girls (Mexico is on the far left)

A son lost, but many gained

2007-03-08T20:04:00.000+01:00

An outpouring of love and grief for a South Korean teenager continued yesterday in Whangarei.
Eighteen-year-old student SangJe Lee died on Monday, hours after being run over in a hit-and-run incident at Okara shopping centre.
His heartbroken father SeungJe Lee told those who went to farewell SangJe at a funeral service in Pompallier Catholic College's hall that although he had lost his only child, he had also gained many sons and daughters.
Mr Lee and his wife Sunga Baek arrived in Whangarei from Korea on Tuesday. They had been deeply touched by the love and support they received, and the deep friendships SangJe had enjoyed, Mr Lee said.

They would always have warm feelings for the city their son loved and where he had lived for four years, Mr Lee said.
Mr Lee's Korean was translated by family friend - and the dead boy's host father - Byung Kuoog Kim of Whangarei. An emotional Mr Kim also spoke of how happy SangJe had been in Whangarei.
He asked friends at the service to remember SangJe, to think of him as they lived their lives: "To keep him alive in your hearts".
Several of SangJe's friends also spoke, among them the school's head boy Joshua Hodgson. They told of a good, loyal friend; a quiet, outwardly shy boy, who loved skateboarding, sports and music, was lots of fun, always ready to listen, to laugh, to share good times and bad.
Principal Madeleine Armstrong said SangJe had won hearts with his willingness to take part in the school's social, sporting and academic activities, even acting in a school production. "They were all threads he used to weave himself into our lives," Ms Armstrong said.
SangJe had had an ability to dissolve geographic, social and cultural boundaries and as such was a new-age pioneer, she said. He taught his fellow school students an understanding of other countries and people.
Yesterday, in the hall packed with Korean family and friends, school mates and their parents, staff and members of the local international community, his farewell included three of his favourite rock songs. As tears flowed freely, during one song - Wonderwall by Oasis - students in the audience spontaneously started singing too.
Then as school mates carried the casket from the hall, followed by SangJe's grieving parents and other family members, a Maori woman's voice rang out in karanga.
SangJe's parents will take his ashes home to Korea, where there will be another funeral service.
Meanwhile, police are still appealing for information about a dark Nissan Skyline car believed to have been involved in SangJe's death.
Detective Shane Pilmer said he expected interviewing of witnesses to have been completed yesterday before the task of checking service station security camera footage began. Footage from about 10 service stations from around the town would be analysed.
"It's a laborious task but a car needs petrol. It must've gone to one around town."

2007-03-05T13:11:00.000+01:00

Just found this also:

Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers have sent their condolences to the family of a young fan killed in Whangarei early today, while queuing for tickets to their upcoming show.

The 18 year old was hit by a car about 3.25am while he was sleeping in a shopping centre car park before the outlet opened at 9am to sell tickets to the band's Auckland show next month.

The vehicle, described as possibly a dark coloured Nissan Skyline, did not stop and police are now hunting for the driver.

A band management representative said the group was shocked by the incident.

"The band's hearts and prayers are with the family at this sad time," the representative said.

The band's New Zealand and Australian tour promoter Michael Coppel also expressed his sympathy to the parents, family and friends of the young Northland fan.

Detective Shane Pilmer of Whangarei police told NZPA they were looking for a grey or gun-metal grey Nissan Skyline in relation to the incident.

Witnesses saw two people in the car, he said.

The teenager was struck as he was lying by himself in the middle of the carpark outside the Rebel Sports Complex in Port Road.

It was not known why he was sleeping away from the rest of the group waiting for the ticket outlet to open, Mr Pilmer said.

2007-03-05T09:22:00.000+01:00

This morning I got an email from my parents telling me that a guy from my class in New Zealand had died. Here is the news story :

A Red Hot Chili Peppers fan died after he was hit and left on the side of the road this morning as he queued for tickets for the band's upcoming Auckland concert.
A Whangarei police spokesman said the incident happened about 3.25am today, as the teenager slept while he waited for a ticket outlet to open at 9am.
The teenager, who suffered a suspected ruptured spleen and broken bones, was taken to Whangarei Hospital where he died.
Sergeant Graham Povey said the teenager was outside the Rebel Sports Complex, Port Road, when the car hit him, then drove off.
The car was described only as dark coloured. He appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

I can't believe it, someone hit him and then took off.

So this is a "tribute" to San Jae. Its not lame or a cliche. It is just me trying to do something to remember him from halfway across the world. If any of my class mates read this, I hope you are doing ok and just wish I was there to give you a hug.

The Interesting Party

2007-03-03T10:40:00.000+01:00

So, I believe a proper update is in order rather then a bunch of photos.

Well too bad, you’re not going to get one. But here is a story about a party in Berlin we went to…

Basically Anke and Hermann knew a lady who’s boyfriend was turning 40 and having a big party. Neither of them knew the boyfriend, nor anyone who would be at the party but nevertheless, when the invitation was received they couldn’t refuse and so it was agreed upon that we go. Having no idea what kinda party it was we typed the address we were given into the GPS system and off we went.

Winding through the streets of Berlin, we ventured deep into the “not so good” zone. In Germany, that means the area that the police don’t have any control over and don’t bother to patrol. Really, the police themselves are scared to walk these streets but fearlessly we drove on, with all windows up tight and all doors locked. With one hand on the shotgun and one hand on the baton, I did my best not too look scared. (Its not so bad, I think every town has a place like this, for example in Whangarei we have O.T. :-P)

So we find the place and are fortunate enough to find a park right outside of the venue. The venue being a skungy little pub filled with massive bikers and clouds of smoke. That’s one thing that really sucks about Germany, (or one thing that rocks about NZ) smoking is allowed inside restaurants and stuff so if you go out anywhere, you come back reaking of smoke, its not that cool. But back to the bikers…they really were massive! All in their big black jackets and knarly beards. Each had his (or her) fair share of tattoos and one guy had this big face on the back of his head…it was kinda creepy. Every time another bikie arrived they would all jump up and yell and hug and shake hands and cry out for another beer. Would have been ok if the venue was a bit bigger but it really was quite tiny and so if you weren’t seated at the time of the greeting, there was about a 93% chance you would be bowled over.

For the party, they hired a band to play covers and stuff like that. It was a very interesting band; they didn’t seem to have much stamina. Between songs they would all take a quick gulp of beer and then after 2 or 3 songs (depending on the beer supply) they would take a break and stock up. And their song choices were very, well, random. One second they’d be playing slipknot and the next they’d be trying their hand at the Calling or Savage Garden. And after that, well they’d stop playing because they’d run outta booze.

Hermann Anke and I all agree that we were thoroughly bored that night. So why didn’t we just leave you ask yourselves? Well now that is another story in itself. This place wanted to make it easier for its customers to buy and consume drinks from where they sat, so they wouldn’t have to keep going to the bar and paying. So they had a 10 euro card which you paid 10 euro for (duh) and got like 12 stamps on the card. Everytime you ordered something, the waitress would just stamp 2 or 3 places. It was very convenient except for the fact we went through our first one relatively easily so Hermann bought another. That was when the band began. Anke and I found our thirst’s fully quenched and really didn’t want anymore drinks. But we had to use the card up!! So I relented and had an orange juice, Anke a water (water cost the same as beer, it was crazy) and Hermann another beer. But we still had half a dozen stamps left. Anke and I tried to egg Hermann on but he was quite content sipping away at his beer. Then it started getting cold and we decided we’d had enough. So we gave the card to the lady A+H knew and headed back to the car, hoping it was still there.

The next installment will be a detailed recount of my first few days of school, the teachers and the students.

Chao

~Becks~

Bavarian Breakfast

2007-02-24T14:20:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we had a Bavarian Breakfast. For those of you who don’t know, a Bavarian breakfast includes beer, pretzels and a kind of sausage with a delicious sweet mustard sauce. Mmmmm, was really good!! With Anke rolling her eyes in the background, Hermann and I “Prosted” and took a swig of beer. Was really funny, you can see by the pictures.

Well today is my one-week anniversary of Deutschland although it seems as though I have been here much longer. This week we have been sorting out Visa’s etc with the “authority’s” (govt officials). This is where the authorities reside:

Rat House. Quite appropriately named I thought. :-P

Here is a cool machine, a shoe polisher!

We went to my school-to-be on Thursday and got my schedule and stuff sorted. My bus picks me up at 6:50 (yes, in the morning) and then again at 15:30. School itself goes from 7:35-15:10 with 20 min for morning break and 25 min for lunch. I am only taking 7 subjects rather then the normal 10. Maths, Biology, History, Sport, Politics, Music and Deutsch. Its going to be truly hideous, but hey, its all part of the experience I suppose.

Don't forget to leave me a comment :)

~B~

Photos

2007-02-22T16:43:00.000+01:00

Well I know everyone loves photos so here are some for you to feast your eyes on...

Here I am, ready to go.

Here we are flying over Aussie, looks a bit bare...

2 hours later...

Another hour passes...

I have realised why New Zealanders really don't like Australia...whenever we want to go anywhere it takes 5 hours to get past it! And it's not like its an interesting view...(Sorry Tam)

Here are the NZ girls at the Singapore airport, if you look closely you can see the ''Oranges'' if they are worthy of that name.

Here is an idea of how much leg room we had (or more appropriately, didn't have!)

This is Ashley, the Australian girl who got away with 27 kilos

Here's the train station at Frankfurt.

This is Amilca, a guy from Argentina. This is what we did to keep occupied after we missed the train! Was great fun.

Tschüss!

So it begins!!

2007-02-19T16:52:00.000+01:00

Well here is my first post from the Father-land of Deutschland!! Here’s hoping it is the first of many!!

My plane took off at 3 in the afternoon so we had to be there at 12 to meet up with the other students and check in etc. After standing in line to check in for a few minutes I was up. I put my suitcase on the weighing machine, not wanting to look. 21.2 kg’s and the chick didn’t even blink. I later on learnt that an Aussie girl had gotten away with 27 kilos!!! We were just about finished when a lady from airport security brought along a drug sniffing dog. That’s when things turned bad, really bad…Lol na just kidding, shame on those of you who thought I wasn’t! But a lady really did come up and ask me to wait there while she went to find out if I needed a special permission form to fly alone because I was 18. While waiting I got to chatting to the black-haired blonde at the desk. By the time I had left I had convinced her to go to Cambodia and help build houses for the locals with AFS. She just needed the website of AFS and I couldn’t remember if it was .org or .nz. As I walked away she called out to me telling me it was definitely .org. I asked how she knew and she goes “ ‘cause its on the back of your t-shirt.” … One word … Shame.

So, the first embarrassment had already come and I hadn’t even left the country! Crazy.

Anyways we (12 of us) all boarded the plane for Singapore and were finally on our way. I was supposed to be sitting next to a girl called Katherine but as I approached my seat an air host (yes, a guy) asked if I wouldn’t mind swapping seats with a lady so that she could sit by her friend. I was ok with that and figured it was probably better because I got a window seat. Bad move. The window seat came with small print. Sitting by the window meant that everytime I wanted to get up to go to the loo or for a walk I had to ask two people to get up, one of which couldn’t walk very well and made it seem like a mission just standing up! But all in all it was ok, especially since we had our own tv’s in the back of the seat in front of us. Time didn’t go by too slowly and none of the other students threw themselves against the plane door demanding to be taken home.

After a 10 hour flight we arrived at Singapore airport, exhausted and dreading the next 13-hour length of our trip. But before boarding the next airplane we had a four hour “rest” as such. We wandered around in the heat for a bit wondering what to do. After contemplating a nude dip in the transit hotel pool (not a pretty thought) we then spotted some entertainment of a much cleaner kind; a magic masked man!! He really was magic, every time he sneezed his mask changed, magically!! While we were watching we were approached by what seemed half-hearted monks handing out little pink bags to the audience. They were rather elegant, these little bags, with flowers embroidered on the side and delicate little handles. Wondering what goodies we were in for, we opened up the bags. Inside we did not find the sample shampoos and perfumes we were expecting, instead we were faced with 2 rather oddly shaped and unusually large oranges. Oddly shaped because they fit perfectly in these little bags, without any signs of being squashed. Imagine a round orange with the top and bottom cut off and you’ll understand. All six of us were given a bag and we were kind of disappointed. But our disappointment was quickly taken away when we were offered the opportunity of a life time…a photo with the masked magic man!! I must admit, normally I wouldn’t but when you’re an exchange student you’re allowed, neigh expected, to do crazy things. And the things get crazier when you’re a group of exchange students!! Anyway, after the photo we headed back to our oranges. I saw a lady standing next to mine. She was looking around to see if anyone was watching and then she nicked the bag and ran away! Of all the nerve! That was my random bag of weirdly shaped oranges, mine!! She must have had scurvy or something to be that desperate.

We headed back to the check-in area after the performance to check-in (duh). This is where we encountered the “beep lady”. They had these scanners which they used to scan the baggage receipts to make sure our baggage got transferred onto the right plane. Hers didn’t seem to be working, either that or the sound wasn’t working so that every time she scanned something she would go “beep” herself in a high-pitched voice. It was hilarious and also kind of strange. Scan, Beep. Scan, Beep!

After that experience we dumped our stuff in a circle on the ground and blobbed. We decided to try out the oranges. They tasted like rotten water. Really. There were no bins close by (as in, within reaching area) so we decided to use them to build a shrine to real fruit. One of us had a NZ apple so we did exactly that. Built a pyramid of oranges and put the apple on the top. We thought it was kind of cool but everyone else just gave us weird looks.

Four hours passed in what seems a matter of days and we had to go through the metal detectors. There were some friendly guards on the other side to help us find out why we were beeping. We tried to explain about the beep lady but they wouldn’t listen. I think they liked their job to much. I have a feeling that it was the first frisking of many of my fellow exchange students. I myself got through unscathed, as I have been through enough airports to know not to wear anything metal.

And so began the next leg of our trip. This was by far the worst leg as the flight was 13 hours long and we didn’t have our own TV’s and I was once again not by the isle. I slept for maybe 3 hours the whole trip whereas the Italian guy next to me blocking my exit slept around 4 times that. The leg space was pretty much non-existent and underneath the seat in front was a big pole, conveniently positioned to prevent you from stretching out comfortably. They fed us breakfast at 4 in the morning German time so that threw our meal senses off for the rest of the day. But, apart from all that it was a lovely trip J

When we finally arrived in Frankfurt I was chewing at the bit to get off the plane. We headed towards immigration and our bags. When we got to the bag dispenser there was this funny little man who yelled out “Bon Jour!” and started babbling off in French. I asked him if we had gotten off in the wrong place and he just grinned and drove off on a trolley gatherer (think of one of those new scooter things that you stand on and is electric). The AFS guy met us there and everything was good. He took us through “Customs” which consisted of a counter that said “Declarations” and a doorway next to it that said “No Declarations”. What was so stupid about it is that there was no one at the counter and so if you did for some reason want to declare something, you couldn’t!

So we walked out the door and two students immediately got whisked up by their host parents. The rest of us were catching trains to our cities so had to go to the AFS area and wait. We got there at 6 in the morn and my train left at 2:45. So there was another 8 hours doing nothing. We went to look around a couple of times but it was, in essence, just another airport. At 1ish 2 girls from nz, an aussie girl and myself decided to go and find an e-café and check our emails. We were officially supposed to ask if we could but the last 2 times we’d asked they’d sent someone to babysit us who wouldn’t let us look around but took us straight to wherever our final destination was and then straight back again. So yes, we snuck away. It wasn’t that hard, there were about 50 students mulling around so we kind of just wondered away. There was this long hall you had to walk down before turning right towards the shops and things. Half-way down this hall one of the girls says “Dudes, there are 3 afs volunteers following us!” We started to walk faster, hoping we could turn off before they reached us. Then they started running and chasing us! We were trying not to crack up and just pretended we didn’t know they were there. They didn’t yell out to us or anything, they just chased us!! When they caught up to us and asked what we were doing we told them we were going to find some internet (all the while trying not to laugh) They didn’t seem to know what to do until one suggested that we check our emails some other time. Gracefully, we gave in and let them take us back. Apparently, some chili students had gotten lost in the airport and nearly missed their flight, so they were all paranoid about us doing the same thing.

Finally it was time to head to the train station. They took us there an hour or so before the train actually arrived so we were sure to be on time. We had all our bags lined up and we were ready to get onto the train when it arrived. Unfortunately, when it arrived they realized they had made a slight mistake as to where they thought the door would be. It ended up being about 20 meters to our left. Normally it would be ok and you’d just head over to the door. But there were 14 of us, each with a 20 kg suitcase and our hand luggage. The air erupted with the sound of the AFS volunteers yelling “Run! Run!!” There was a mad and crazy dash for the train which a lot of the other students looked a bit scared about but I thought it was quite funny. There was more then enough time to get everyone on the train and seated, I can’t help but think that they do that to all the students just to get a kick out of it lol.

So we were finally on our last leg of the trip and heading towards our host families, who we were yet to meet. But the dramas did not end there. Our train was running late and therefore we would be late for our connecting train from Hannover to Berlin. Julia, the AFS volunteer, told us we would have to run to catch it and run we did. Still with our huge suitcases we were sprinting up and down escalators, trying to keep up and not lose one of our own. We got to the top of the stairs just as our train was pulling away. Julia ran towards it yelling “No! No stop!” and I could swear she was going to start banging on the windows. She didn’t quite go that far but it was pretty dramatic. So we had to wait for the next train which was an hour away. It was great, and I’m not being sarcastic. I got to get to know the other exchange students from Argentina which was really cool and we laughed heaps about what we’d just done. I got out my juggling sticks and started playing with them and showing Amilca how to use them. People were staring and would have probably put money into my hat except for the fact that I didn’t have a hat.

We caught the next train without a hitch and settled in for the hour ride. I was so tired I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open. I know it sounds like a bit of a cliché but that is really what I was like. I had 3 hours sleep over a 48 hour period and it was really hitting home. But I managed to stay awake most of the time and we all got off the train in one piece. I was met by Hermann and Anke straight away and after I gave Julia a hug and said thanks we headed off to the car.

Now I could go on to tell you about what happened after that but this post is by far long enough already and I am tired of typing. Plus, I hope it’ll give you an incentive to check back in a couple of days to see what I write next.

Until next time,

_B_

The End Is Nigh

2007-02-15T10:41:00.000+01:00

Well, tonight is my last night sleeping in my own bed, am leaving "home" tomorrow at around 9ish. Have to be at the airport at 12 and then am flying out at 3. The reason for the " " quote unquote is that I am going towards a new home. I guess I'll just have to have a New Zealand home and a German home.

Anyways, will finally be able to write a post from wherence the title of my blog suggests; Deutschland!!!

So goodbye New Zealand, see you in a year!

~B~

This time next week...

2007-02-08T23:53:00.000+01:00

Yup, I have come to the stage where i think in terms of "This time next week". For instance, this time next week I will be boarding a plane along with 13 other students to fly half way across the world to live with people i've never met. Exciting huh?

Just starting to pack today which is really hard, especially with my clothes because I still need something to wear over the next week!! But otherwise just visiting friends, getting ready for goodbye party and getting last minute things sorted out. Etc Etc.

So, therefore, in closing, to summarise, accordingly, subsequently,

I must go.

-Becks

The Count Down...

2007-02-06T00:27:00.000+01:00

10 days to go...

My little slice of paradise...

2007-01-12T07:39:00.000+01:00

Well here are some pictures of my room to be in Germany...

Kinda cool don't ya think...?

Preparation for leaving...

2007-01-09T01:34:00.000+01:00

Well, this is my first post and not sure really quite what to say. For those of you who don't know, on the 16th of February I will be leaving New Zealand and going to live in Germany for 11 months as an exchange student, meaning that I will go to school and live like a local. I am staying with Anke and Hermann Rosolski in a small village named Gröben, 20 km south of Berlin. Gröben has only 300 people but Ludwigsfelde (5 min away) where I will be going to school has 20,000 and then of course, Berlin is huge.

These are my host parents, Hermann and Anke.

At the moment I am just emailing back and forward with them, working to earn spending money and spending time with friends and family. Nothing too exciting.

Bye for now