My final day in Germany has arrived. Has it been too long? Has it come too soon? It's hard to say. On the one hand, certain aspects of England call me back, on the other hand, there is still so much in Germany that I have not done or seen, and Stralsund, as snow ridden, out of the way and unashamedly German as it is, has started to feel just a little bit like home.
Don't worry Germany, I'll be back.
When leaving a country, the days are action packed. My to do list is extensive, with things being added about three times as fast as I can cross them off. The people at the bank will probably be glad to see the back of me, the number of times I've been in and out trying to sort out all things financial.
Presents for the teachers, the landlady and the school kids have been bought and dispatched- kids of all ages and nationalities love baked goods with Smarties! I have received all kinds of goodbye cards and presents too, and given my address out to most of the girls in the fourth class- I am not expecting too much fan mail, but you never know.
I will miss Stralsund, and the people I've met here. I will miss the lifestyle too, and of course the bakeries.
With my cases packed (please please Ryanair, let me be below the luggage limit!), my flat cleaned, the keys returned and my goodbyes said, all that is left to say is:
Goodbye Germany!
And Bis Bald- I hope I'll be back soon...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Eurovision
On my previous blog, I commented that I would be supporting Germany, rather than England. This was mainly because England's entry is always rubbish, rather than any patriotism for Germany, but I am tempted to withdraw the comment, I didn't realise it was going to be so controversial!
The German entry is pretty damn catchy: Lena- Satellite
I've yet to hear the English entry, or any of the other countries, and although they are all available on youtube, I am saving it for the Eurovision Party we will be having when it's on- admittedly that only means going round to Carli's house and watching it there, but I have to make it sound grand.
Anyway the main point of this entry was to give Carli a mention, and we are very grateful that she has so generously offered to host a party so we can come and watch Eurovision, and she was in no way coerced into this decision.
The ulterior motive for this blog was to get the German Eurovision entry in your head. It's unescapable here.
The German entry is pretty damn catchy: Lena- Satellite
I've yet to hear the English entry, or any of the other countries, and although they are all available on youtube, I am saving it for the Eurovision Party we will be having when it's on- admittedly that only means going round to Carli's house and watching it there, but I have to make it sound grand.
Anyway the main point of this entry was to give Carli a mention, and we are very grateful that she has so generously offered to host a party so we can come and watch Eurovision, and she was in no way coerced into this decision.
The ulterior motive for this blog was to get the German Eurovision entry in your head. It's unescapable here.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
German Me.
I feared my blog had been losing momentum because Germans had stopped doing weird things for me to discover and comment about. However, I feel the real reason is that I have gone native, and all the things I previously noticed as weird, I now consider as perfectly normal.
That's not to say the Germans don't still occasionally do/ wear/ say things that make me stop and stare, but the everyday stuff doesn't seem so odd anymore.
Which is why, when I am back in the country in just a few weeks, you should not be surprised if I do some or all of the following:
1. Shaking hands with everyone as I enter a room.
2. If I don't go as far as shaking hands, I will probably say hello loud enough to make my presence known. This will apply in shops too, where I will also say bye to the shop assistant as I leave.
3. Eating ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.
4. Dressing practically. I have a German coat now, there's no going back!
5. Relying too heavily on the timetabling of public transport. If a German bus is meant to turn up at 14.32, that's when it will turn up. Even if there's been a fair amount of snow. I fear 'This bus runs approximately every 10 minutes' just isn't going to be good enough any more, and I will have to relearn not to be surprised when three buses turn up at once.
6. Pressing my thumbs for luck. That's what they do here, rather than crossing their fingers. As I don't need to wish people luck here very often, I'm at that awkward stage where I will cross my fingers for them, then remember they have no idea what that means, and probably think I'm making some kind of obscene hand gesture, and quickly switch to the thumb pressing gesture. I will probably have just got into the thumb pressing habit by the time I get back.
7. Dropping the odd German word into the conversation. If the Germans can get away with saying 'gehandicapped' as a legitimate 'German' word, then I think I'm allowed a bit of Deutsch, oder?!
8. On a similar note, using the German sentence structure or word order, instead of the English one- some things just roll off the tongue better in one language, especially if I'm recounting something that happened in Germany, or what someone said in German.
9. Getting up ridiculously early, and then probably feeling disappointed that I'm up at 6am and there is nowhere open to cater to my ham and cheese sandwich eating needs.
10. Stockpiling food for the weekend. Nine months of shopless Sundays have got me trained in long term meal planning. Either that, or I will only go shopping on Sundays, just because I can.
And there you have it, 10 things to expect from the new German influenced Hazel. Hopefully this will give you a bit of advance warning, and you won't think I've gone completely crazy, and we can still be friends.
Though I will be supporting Germany rather than England in Eurovision.
That's not to say the Germans don't still occasionally do/ wear/ say things that make me stop and stare, but the everyday stuff doesn't seem so odd anymore.
Which is why, when I am back in the country in just a few weeks, you should not be surprised if I do some or all of the following:
1. Shaking hands with everyone as I enter a room.
2. If I don't go as far as shaking hands, I will probably say hello loud enough to make my presence known. This will apply in shops too, where I will also say bye to the shop assistant as I leave.
3. Eating ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.
4. Dressing practically. I have a German coat now, there's no going back!
5. Relying too heavily on the timetabling of public transport. If a German bus is meant to turn up at 14.32, that's when it will turn up. Even if there's been a fair amount of snow. I fear 'This bus runs approximately every 10 minutes' just isn't going to be good enough any more, and I will have to relearn not to be surprised when three buses turn up at once.
6. Pressing my thumbs for luck. That's what they do here, rather than crossing their fingers. As I don't need to wish people luck here very often, I'm at that awkward stage where I will cross my fingers for them, then remember they have no idea what that means, and probably think I'm making some kind of obscene hand gesture, and quickly switch to the thumb pressing gesture. I will probably have just got into the thumb pressing habit by the time I get back.
7. Dropping the odd German word into the conversation. If the Germans can get away with saying 'gehandicapped' as a legitimate 'German' word, then I think I'm allowed a bit of Deutsch, oder?!
8. On a similar note, using the German sentence structure or word order, instead of the English one- some things just roll off the tongue better in one language, especially if I'm recounting something that happened in Germany, or what someone said in German.
9. Getting up ridiculously early, and then probably feeling disappointed that I'm up at 6am and there is nowhere open to cater to my ham and cheese sandwich eating needs.
10. Stockpiling food for the weekend. Nine months of shopless Sundays have got me trained in long term meal planning. Either that, or I will only go shopping on Sundays, just because I can.
And there you have it, 10 things to expect from the new German influenced Hazel. Hopefully this will give you a bit of advance warning, and you won't think I've gone completely crazy, and we can still be friends.
Though I will be supporting Germany rather than England in Eurovision.
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