Deutschland, here I come!: August 2007

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!

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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!