miracle drug

Which European City are you?

2006-07-24T10:07:00.000+02:00

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris.You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

wooohey, I am Paris, I am ashamed I have never been there even though it is just a 4 hours car drive away... Thanks to Jonathan, I have found this on his blog, it is fun.
Actually, I was nearly going to Paris next week but then we decided for Salzburg in Austria. I am going there on Thursday. You can await updates on that!
For the rest, it is quiet on my blog, yes, but I m just enjoying my free time with a lot of wimming and relaxing. So not much happening here :)

After the World Cup

2006-07-12T22:59:00.000+02:00

It's been 3 days without football now, ey, its a tough time ;). Actually, it really has been weird I had to look in to the programme again to know what else they show on TV.
Well, I promised you a general reveiw and here I am to try and make my points.
First of all, congrats to Italy winning the cup! Its been like 1990 in Italy, Germany was the champion and Italy became third, just like this year only the other way around :D. I was actually going for France as I sympathy with Zidane but the foul that happened really shocked me. Zidane is a professional football player and should not attack other players, no matter what Materazzi might have said to him to provoke him. Sad for him to leave professional football like this. But anyway.
I have seen a nice report on TV yesterday about the feeling that has been going on in Germany and what is left of it now as the big party is over. People of you who have been in Germany or are just well informed probably know that we had a difficult past (well, thats a thing everybody knows though) and due to that past there was never a big unity in the country, no national pride, always the fear of being looked at in a strange way by other countries when raising the German flag or singing our anthem. I know its strange, WWII is more that 60 years ago but it stays in people's heads forever if information is not renewed. My generation only knows our past from the history books, being totally aware of it, feeling ashamed, but no more.
The event of the World Cup here in Germany gave us something special. I have never felt such a unity and love in my country before. A sea of flags everywhere you looked and still look, happy people showing their nationality with pride and at the same time welcoming visitors from outside the country. It definitely was 'a time to make friends'. On the one had Germany has become more open-minded towards other cultures and at the same time we had the chance to present a new Germany - relieved from our historical burden. Not only WWII but also the reunion between western and eastern Germany has not been completely sufficiant. That football event has has taken it a great step forward though. In these days I can say I feel proud to be German. I have been abroad several times and it has always been a weird feeling when somebody asked for my nationality. There were these unspoken things in everybody's minds about the fact being German. To me this is no more.
Thats one thing I love about football and World Cups. It units the world, different nations, creates healthy nationalism and erases racism. There were public viewing points in every major cityhere, a new idea of watching football - big screens on major places. The good thing was that international fans could watch the matches peacefully next to each other. It was always a big party in the end - having Mexicans celebrate with the French or Ghanese celebrating with the Czechs.
One aspect that made it possible to let the enthusiams get that far was our sympathic national team and coach Jürgen Klinsmann. I was so upset when I heard in the news today that Klinsmann wont continue his job. But it is his decision that we have to accept and he is a hero here anyway :). I really hope that the new feeling here in Germany will last for a long long time.
The World Cup was something like an explosion. An explosion of new vibes, a new identity and a time to have a multicultural party with friends from all over the world!
For me I can say that I am soo happy and thankful that I could play a part in the whole event, even though it was a minor one ;). But I hope I could represent a bit of ourselves and who we are to all the stadium visitors.
Cant wait for the European Championship 2008 in Austria/Switzerland followd by the next World Cup in South Africa! But it is sooooooooooooooooo long to go!!!

Tagged

2006-07-06T23:35:00.000+02:00

I have been tagged by Emma so here I am to do my duty:

5 things in my (I have to say our fridge):

eggs
chocolate
cheese
beer :)
salads

5 things in my handbag:

mobile phone
wallet
keys
Thai coins (they look exactly as 2 euro coins :O)
sewing kit (I wonder why)

5 things in my wardrobe

its hot so I can mainly see:
t-shirts
skirts
swimming suit
belts
oh, and there is my chemistry costume :)

5 things in my car:

cds (cant live without music while driving)
pen
tissues
map
parking card

hehe, wasnt that interesting?

We are so upset

2006-07-05T09:48:00.000+02:00

Its been really sad for us to lose yesterday in the last 2 minutes against Italy. The World Cup was something special here with magic and soo many positive vibes around. Germany is out now, I am hoping for 2 more good matches and I wish now for France to get the cup.
Once I have erased my grief I will give a post here evaluating the whole happening and whats been going on here in the last few weeks. All I can say at the moment is that I have never been as proud to be German. That pride can be observed everywhere these days and it makes me really happy.

Photos: Czech Republic - Ghana & Sweden - England

2006-06-21T21:56:00.000+02:00

I finally uploaded a few pics that I have taken at the last two games in Cologne - enjoy!
To the left and right, situated in the middle fo the Ghana fanblock, a few enthusiats celebrating their team :)
I think here this Czech guy wanted to swop shirts with the Ghanese but he did not want to give away his shirt ;)

here is me and a fan

happy Ghanese people celebrating their victory

beware of the vikings!

swedish invasion

swedish fanblock

yeaaaaaah, I am inside! Hiding with my Aachen shirt

the loud English masses :)

and finally my favourite English player Peter Crouch aka mister long skinny legs :)

Volunteering - part 2

2006-06-20T11:12:00.000+02:00

I am just about to catch the train to get to Cologne as England-Sweden is on there tonight. I am really nervous! I love English football even though I hope Germany wont meet them in the second round. Have takne a few pics at the weekend when we had a big African party as Ghana won ocer the Czechs. I will post them together with the pics from the match today.
So far I can say that everything has been very peaceful in the stadium and also in the city. Okay, there were a lot of depressed and crying Czech fans but in the end I saw them dancing together with the Ghanese on African bongo rythms :) so nice to see.
Hope today will be as peaceful and that I get to see Prince William or Robbie Williams. You never know!!!!

My first day as a volunteer

2006-06-13T19:38:00.001+02:00

Hey, its done! I had a really good start at the match Angola - Portugal. I was situated near the entrance and i had to check everybodys ticket. It was funny how people were really nervous to get inside and some of them would not hand their ticket to me in case I could run away with it and watch teh game myself. A few were screaming of joy once they passed security and were officially inside the stadium :). I was impressed how peaceful everything was and how nice everybody treats you. Once the match started I was looking for a tree seat and sat down :))) yes, it is unbelievable, there were a lot of free seats everywhere and officially the stadiums are sold out. People buy tickets and just do not come to see the match if they are not interested in the teams. Its a bit unfair as there are many many who are dying to be there. Like me, hehe, and I took advantage of it...On Saturday, the next match in Cologne, I will take my camera and post some pictures here.
Until then, enjoy the matches and press thumbs for Germany against Poland tomorrow night!

WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN

2006-06-07T15:00:00.000+02:00

Is the final countdown! Only two more days until the first match Germany-Costa Rica. I am getting so nervous, for what??? On Sunday is my first day as a volunteer at the match Portugal-Angola. Waaaaah! I will certainly post about my time there and all the craziness here.
I went to Cologne yesterday and I felt like the silence before a storm. People were silently building up big video walls on public viewing places and in every coerner I saw people with different nationalities. I was saying to my friend: "I bet they are from Brazil, these people came to see Ecuador, what about these?"
I cant wait!

06.06.2006

2006-06-06T21:22:00.000+02:00

Hohohoooo, what an interesting date this is today and what an interesting day I had...
Thankfully I do not believe in teh devil cos if I believed, everything would have ended differently maybe...
This morning beofre I went to work I visited two cats at my friend's place. I look after them for this week as she went to Scotland for a holiday. I parked my car in front of the hous and when I can back 15 minutes later there were two men threatening me that if I had stayed 10 minutes longer, my car would have been gone...But there were no official signs that parking is prohibited and in addition, my car did not harm the passing traffic at all! Grrrrr, they made me pay money but at least they let me go.
Then at work....My boss asked me if I could drop off a letter at the hospital. So I rode in front of the main entrance of the hospital, thinking I could just jump out of the car dropping the letter of and come back. The people outside probably would not get the idea to take off with my car...when I was inside dropping off the letter, I looked to the car and I saw three people around it and one sitting in it! AAAAAAAAAAAH, running outside I was told that I had not pulled the hand break enough so that the car was slowly rolling downwards to the street. Hehehe, shit happens. I took off being really embarrassed. :/

Review with T2T

2006-05-24T18:56:00.000+02:00

Heyeverybody, just saw that Travel to teach put my review online onto their homepage. You can get to this via this link if you are interested http://www.travel-to-teach.org/thai/vol_home.html Hehe, I got a little shock when I saw my face there all of a sudden.
So contact me if you need more info :)

Long long time ago, but I can still remember...

2006-05-16T23:34:00.000+02:00

when I posted the last time on my blog!
I am so sorry, its been nearly a month! but hey, I am okay and now I am trying to give a few updates:

1. I finished my last post with football, so I will start this one with it...yesterday we celebrated the official promotion party of Alemannia Aachen in town. 15.000 fans gathered on the marketplace in front of the Aachener Rathaus and celebrated their team all night long. What a historical moment that was, after 36 years, Aachen is back in first league!

2. The World Cup is coming closer and closer, and me as one of the volunteers for the venue Cologne, I am getting more nervous everyday. I had a training on Friday, including a gueded tour through the stadium and lots of helpful information how to act and behave during the matches. I will be one of the info-volunteers, meaning I will be situated outside of the stadium helping visitors find their way, guiding them to less crowded areas etc. For the match France-Togo Ill be inside showing the fans where their seats are, so that means I can stay inside the stadium during that match. WOW!
Sunday all the volunteers were invited to watch American Football. Boy, this is not my kind of sport! I was missing enthusiams and wuarters were just taking too long, I got bored.
In the next few weeks I will participate at a Swedish language course, have a guided tour through Cologne and maybe I can go waterskiing with other volunteers :) The FIFA is definately making agreat effort to give us the best time during our volunteer work, they are doing a great job so far. Even though we are not paid for it, waht we get can be worth much more. Me as a football fan, I am already happy to see the atmosphere at the venue. In addition, we get a whole amount of clothing from Adidas from shirts to shorts and shoes which we can keep for ourselves. Thanks :)

3. My busiest month at university is done :) I have finished my work in the lab and now I can totally concentrate on my English studies and on a paper about my teaching experiences in Thailand. And of course, I can concentrate on the World Cup, hehehe.

4. On Friday I will go and watch Feeder in concert!!!! They are not that popular but I saw them as a supporting act during the U2 gigs last year, they are amazing. And by the way, their frontman is such a sexy guy!!!!

5. I havent been feeling too well the last few days, got no idea waht it is. Maybe is the sudden amount of free time that makes me think too much about everything. I think I realised how much I miss Thailand.

6. It is really late now so I guess I will go to sleep. Hope I wont be too lazy writing from now on, I should have some interesting news for you in the not far future.
Gute Nacht!!!

Sunset

2006-04-10T15:12:00.000+02:00

Hey, I thoguht to catch the beauty of Germany once in a while. This is a sunset in front of our house from last night. Awww.
I have a new camera since last week so you know how it is with something new, everywhere I am wiht my camera :). lets hope for more nice pics!

Beautiful Koh Phi Phi

2006-03-31T09:36:00.000+02:00

Welcome to beautiful Koh Phi Phi! This is the place I thought was most beautiful when I travelled, even though it is packed with tourists. But how can I complain about this when I am a tourist myself? On the right thats me and Sieb snorkelling :) and on the left you can see Maya Bay, famous "The Beach" beach.
To get to our accomodation place we had to take a long-tail boat, as there was only one exhausting hiking track that would have taken us to Long Beach by foot.

isnt that a nice place to have dinner, everyday? Plus lunch? Plus breakfast? I think it was... and one highlight was definately the beautiful sunsets...

Teacher Cat and Teacher Dog

2006-03-28T23:12:00.000+02:00

So everyone, let me introduce to you one special person I met when travelling, teacher Cat! In case you were wondering about the heading, yes, her real name is Cat, but I had the pleasure to be named teacher Dog as we were both at the same school together. Isnt that just so much easier for the kids, teacher Cat and teacher Dog? Dont I even look like a dog on the picture? Okay, I am going too far...

Cat is still travelling and at the moment she is teaching in Hanoi, Vietnam. To check out her blog: www.gatacat.blogspot.com (I told you Cat!)

Okay, to leave a better impression of teacher Cat and Dog, let me search for one normal pic of the two of us....

Okay...let me explain this. We had lived for 4 weeks without Mc Donalds! I mean, I dont want to praise it or anything on my blog, but sometimes you really get the need for mackes, and we needed it! Especially when you are travelling it is just something essential once in a while. Apart from that, did I mention that I still miss Thai streetfood?

I found out there is no normal pic. I think that is a good sign.

Thailand in pictures

2006-03-27T16:39:00.000+02:00

this is in the temple teaching the monks. They were so funny and so different from what I expected.

leaving party in Nong Khai. We do not normally look like that!

well, this funny guy was a bus driver and absolutely wanted to be on a picture with me. And when the pic was done he ran to his friends giggling all the time. Great people the Thais!

this is one of my favourite pics. It is taken in Laos near Vang vieng.

This is me and my class in Nong Khai, Cheeky kids, but all lovable.

and finally a magnicifent sunset at Long Beach on Koh Phi Phi

culture shock

2006-03-27T16:22:00.000+02:00

When I arrived in Thailand I read a book called "culture shock" teaching me about a culture shock and why you would get one arriving in Thailand. It was quite an interesting book, but, no, there was no culture shock, everything was new and exciting.
Now, being back in Germany since 2 days, I think I finally suffer from culture shock, here are my reasons:

1. I got totally annoyed by all the Geman people when I boarded the plane in Bangkok.

2. Once on the plane, my annoyance got more and more, listening to people complaining about
the cue for the toilet. Do they think other people do not have the need to be relieved from bladder pressure???

3. Once out of the plane back in Düsseldorf, ther was a long cue for passport control. Sure, that is what you expect if you dont fly inbetween Europe, and of course, it takes some time... but here's the complaining "hat kind of a service is that? I cant believe this! This is not Bangladesh is it?"
"Welcome back to Germany" the guy in the cue next to me murmured. How true!

4. Even though we finally hit spring and have 16 degrees, I keep freezing and wearing all my winter clothes

5. My stomach is not used to western food anymore. Everything is fat and lies heavy on ur stomach. I do not feel very well after eating.

6. Walking through the city today, I missed all the smiling and happy faces. Where am I?

7. Went out for dinner with my friends yesterday, but how expensive is this country? For one meal here you get 12 meals in Thailand? Weird...

8. Being in bed it feels weird to cover yourself with a thick blanket, and where is all the sweat???

9. While driving today it felt weird to be on the right side of the road and the traffic was so organised.

10. I miss the sun, the heat, the food, the lifestyle, the friendliness, the lazyness, I miss everything about Thailand!

Culture shock was defined as the craving for things known from home and the idolising of the home country. but Thailand is not my home country and I am sure, I hope, I will be alright in a few days. :)

updates

2006-03-20T07:42:00.000+01:00

sorry guys, it has been ages since I last updated my blog and I have done so many things since then! Wow, where should I start??
After leaving Chiang Mai I got quite sick on the night trains down south and I had to get rid of a cold as I wanted to go diving on Koh Phi Phi. Thankfully my cold wasnt as bad anymore when I got there, I could equalize unterwater and I got my divers license within 4 days!!!! I love diving! At first I was so scared cos u really depend on your tank and regulator down there, but once you are down it is really relaxed. Well, after the first 2 dives, lets say:). The first day I was down there I was not amazed by the fish or corals, I was just thinking, "wow I can breath underwater!!! breath in - breath out".
So after Phi Phi we went to Railey BEach but I have to say that I did not really enjoy myself there. It was just way too touristy real and Thailand had disappeared. Plus, there was not much to do there. To be honest, the whole south is not the same Thailand as up north and I am so glad I experienced the real Thailand in Nong Khai. So after 3 nighs on Railey we left for Koh Pha ngan, which is quite touristy as well, but I love it so much more here! Might be because of our bungalow right at the beach with sunrise views! it is really amazing! I went diving here yesterday and the other days I just relaxed at the beach - reading and swimming. Lovely. So tomorrow I am leaving for Bangkok to spend 3 more days there, to get rid of the Thai Baht that I have left :). And Saturday I am going home!!! I cant believe this! On the one hand I am really looking forward to be back home, but on the other hand I know that I will miss Thailand, especially Nong Khai, as that is where I spent most of the time and was involed on Thai everyday life. Plus, I met a bunch of lovely people over there.
So I will update again from Germany, hopefully with a lot of photos to make my blog more interesting again :)))
bye

in Chiang Mai

2006-03-04T09:40:00.000+01:00

After a 12 hours bus trip over night we finally arrived in Chiang Mai this morning :) I am so happy to be here and we stay in such a nice hotel! I am here with my Dutch travel mate Sieb and Cat from America. And lucky hat has a lot of hotel points so we invites us to stay for free with her in the hotel. and we have a real suite!!!! it is amazing! tomorrow Sieb and me go on a trekking tour, including bamboo rafting and elephant trekking. I am excited about that!
I am so looking forward to my last 3 weeks here and the travelling, but it was also so sad to leave Nong Khai yesterday. Saying goodbye to my class was hard, the girls were crying, I so did not expect that! At night we had a bad tase party inbetween all the volunteers from Travel 2 Teach and it was good fun :) I dressed up as the pink girl and all my clothes, make-up and jewellery was pink, I looked disgusting! On the way to a club later that night I fell off my bike and now I have a bad bruce (? is that the word) on my shoulder and my hand. So studpid bit I can be lucky nothing worse had happened.
tonight we are visiting the night bazaar which is dangerous cos I am in a shopping mood. monday night we leave for Bankok and from there for Krabi to spend a few days on the islands and to learn diving! And in no time it will be time for me to fly home again :(, but hey, at least I can go back to see Alemannia Aachen play then!
So far the news from Chiang Mai!

countdown

2006-02-27T09:26:00.000+01:00

I have onlz 4 more days left in Nong Khai, time just flew by!!!
But then, I am really looking forward to go travelling for the last 3 weeks and I have also a few reasons looking forward to go back home, for example Alemannia, hehe, or the World Cup!
Over the weekend I went with a friend to Laos as I had to extend my Thai visa. We spend 2 very niece days n Vang Vieng in the mountains and did kajaking on the river. It was just beautiful there! And so different from Nong Khai as it was packed with travellers. It feels good though to be back home in Nong Khai :)
And yes, las week Sunday night somebody broke into ou dorm and they stole my handbag which included my camera and my wallet. I did not have too much money in there but I was so upset about the camera. I try to claim some money back from the insurance company but I doubt I will win. Everythign is very stessful now, as it is my last week in school I need to get my certification adn also find out a lot of things about the school I teach at and the Thai School System as I need to write a report about my stay here when I am back home. Also on Thusday I have to say goodbye to my class whic is quite sad :( the have to say goodbye too often to their teachers, which is not a good thing I think.
last week I celebrated my birthday here which was really nice. My roomate Sieb got me a nice new bag as mine was stolen. I will also go travel with her and we will leave Nong Khai together with an American girl on friday. First well go to Chaing Mai and from there to Ko Phi Phi, to Ko Pha gnan, Bangkok and from there I will fly home on the 25th of march.
So on my birthday we went out to an Australian bar which I enjoyed a lot of course ;) I got a birthday cake and some free beer. yeeha.
I have to leave from here cos I have to get some presents for my friends at home on the market.
I will give zour more updates one I started travelling. hopefully I can put on new pics soon, I will get a copy of the pics that Sieb takes.
Hope everybody is fine!!!

a few more pics

2006-02-18T11:18:00.000+01:00

for everybody who is curious, I finally managed t put some more pics onto my blog. On the left zou can see a beautiful temple in Namsom, where I spent the last weekend. On the leftzou can see a few monks collecting food in the morning og Buddha day, they werte on the way to their temple.
Well, the other one, I cant believe it now as I am writing it, Iate a grasshopper!!!! But at least I took the head off, while the lady who was selling them was eating everything of it, except from the legs! yum yum

The other one shows us
girls in Namsom on our motorbike tour. We stopped at that beautiful lake, wow!
Right now I am really tired. We went out 2 nights ago for a birthday party and since then I havent slept cos it starts to become really humid and hot up here. I just keep losing water and wake up in a wet tshirt. I hate it when it does not cool down at night. O well, I just have to get used to it.
So far the news from Thailand! Bye

Sawa dii kha

2006-02-15T05:29:00.000+01:00

that is hello in Thai! I also learned the numbers so far so I can try to bargain when shopping and also "thank you" which is something like kop khu kaa. I also have more pics, here we go:
no, here we dont go...the internet is so slow today, it would take me hours to upload one pic. sorry. next time I will try again.
So, what has happened so far...over the weekend I travelled to Namsom, a little village nearby which was good. We stayed at the travel-to-teach dorm there, had Thai cooking class, and Saturday we went on a motorbike trip through the mountains it was a stunning scenery. Sunday it rained, yes, it rained . I could not believe it. But now we are back to the heat. The village was so small the we were the only westerners there and I felt like being in a zoo when I was walking around. everybody was saying "falang, falang". Just imagine Iwould do that back home when I see a foreigner, lol.
Monday was a Biddha holiday and we went to the temple to bring food to the monks. We got a blessing from them, I hope I live a few years longer now.
Yesterday I had my first day alone with my new class. It was fun, I also received a velantines rose :) that would not have happened back home. Today I was off, again, but tomorrow I will be back in class.
It is lunch time now and I am starving. Hope I can post some more pics next time!

tschoe (that was German)

some pictures

2006-02-08T07:30:00.000+01:00

Hello!!!!
This is me still in Nong Khai and I am just trying to upload some pictures, but it takes ages!!! Anyway, I will try my best. This is me in the hammock (is that the word?) at a lovely guesthouse where we sometimes go for breakfast or lunch.

on the bottom you can see a a Buddha temple which is just here in town, quite close to my dorm. I think it is beautiful.

Somehow this one has been added three times, but eh, I just leave it like that, does not look too bad.

So apart from that I am starting to enjoy school a lot more. The first day was just a shock i guess. But still, the treat us like popstars, today I got roses and a map of Thailand from a boy of my class that I am taking over next week. WOW. Two girls were leaving Meechai School today and the carried away bags of presents. This is so....wow.

Anyway, I have to leave you here. Thai language class part II is about to commence :)

Teaching in Nong Khai

2006-02-06T07:58:00.000+01:00

Uh, I am in Nong Khai now since Fridaz and today Ihad my first day at Meechai School, a primary school just in the outskirts of Nong Khai. So, what can I say? It is just crazy!!!!!
The weekend was nice, I slowly got adjusted to everything here, like driving on my bike on the left side of the street, the food, the toilets :) and the new people I am meeting here. The other volunteers are really nice even though most of them are dutch lol. it is true, 70 percent of them are from Holland and I dont even like like being away from home.
The day at school today was mad. I went there with an American girl and as it was my first day I was supposed to just sit there and watch the Thail teacher how thngs are like here. But once we entered the classroom the teacher disappeared...she had something else to do and as our Egnlish is better she just feels embarassed i guess. I was so shocked! I had not prepared a thing, I doid not know their level and how far they would understand me so thankfully Cat came up with an idea and we tought them some vocabulary by drawing pics onto the board or just plyed hangman. During the break I dod not really get time for myself. everybody wanted to hold my hand and play. One girl even came to collect my shoes as we take them off before we enter the classroom. Whe the lessons were finished she came back t me and put me my shoes on. Weird, eh?
I am so confused. I have to prepare somethin for tomorrow so that I know what to teach them. Right now I have to go back to the dorm cos have to attend some Thai lessons, I am very excited about that!
more soon!

Im in Bangkok!!!

2006-02-02T11:43:00.000+01:00

Hola!

Well, here I am sitting totally tired in an internet cafe in Bangkok and waiting for another 3 hours to pass until the night train to nong khai leaves...
i arrived here verz earlz in the morning, well it was already 10am bangkok time but 4 am german time. since then I have been waiting inside the airport (wow it is soo humid outside!!)
to meet H., a volunteer from the Netherlands (he explained to me that I should not say Holland cos its wrong...) at 3pm. But he did not appear and suddenly I heard that my name was called out. "xxx please come to airport information". How embarassing!!! well, at least i found him then and I did wait at the wrong meeting point :( happens.
apart from that there are not manz more news, just hat my first food in Thailand, fast food :) from KFC, very good!
Okay, my time is nearly finished. oops, just hit accidently a button for the korean alphabet...had to call somebody to get it back into english. uff, hard times.
youll hear from me!!!

What kind of soul are you?

2006-01-31T17:19:00.000+01:00

Thank you Jack, I have stolen this ;)

You Are a Peacemaker Soul

You strive to please others and compromise anyway you can.War or conflict bothers you, and you would do anything to keep the peace.You are a good mediator and a true negotiator.Sometimes you do too much, trying so hard to make people happy.
While you keep the peace, you tend to be secretly judgmental.You lose respect for people who don't like to both give and take.On the flip side, you've got a graet sense of humor and wit.You're always dimplomatic and able to give good advice.
Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul, Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Du hast die Haare schön

2006-01-29T00:14:00.000+01:00

Do you recognise any correspondence?

TAGGED! I am starting to like it!

2006-01-08T14:52:00.000+01:00

Here we go, my first tag for the new year, and who else could it be than lovely Carmel who thought of her little pazza friend Stef over here in Germany...
Lets go!

What was your favorite movie in 2005?

Have not been much in the cinemas last year, but I guess my most favourite movie was "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

What was your favorite book in 2005?

Uff, did not have much time to read other books than chemistry ones. But the few ones that I read were fantastic, including:
Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince (its him again!)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Frankenstein

What was your favorite music album in 2005?

I think the album that I listened to the most during the whole year was U2 "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" Followed by "X&Y" (Coldplay), "Hopes and Fears" (Keane) and all songs by Herbert Grönemeyer. Not to forget the new Robbie Williams but it came out that late last year that it will probably be my "album 2006"

Richer or Poorer?

Richer, so that I can spend all my money on travelling and live the normal standard (not too rich and not too poor) whereever I am

Thinner or fatter?

Would not mind a bit fatter, but not my belly! Although, I am very content with my weight

What kept you sane this past year?

You ask me what kept me sane? Well, I would rather like to mention what drove me insane the last year...what kept me sane were the days when the sun shone on me and when I could spend the day with lovely people.

Which personal accomplishment in 2005 are you most pleased with?

Certainly my pre-diploma in my studies. I have worked hard to get it all done in 2005 and to take things a bit slower in 2006.

What resolutions have you made for '06?

I usually do not make resolutions for a new year, cos I would never stick to them. If I think about it now, I hope to find everything I am looking for. I dont even know exactly what I am looking for, but I believe my upcoming trip to Thailand will lead me somewhere. I wanna be closer to my inner self. And of course I will have my eyes wide open to search for my better half!

Which bad habit are you most motivated to break?

Bad habits? not that I know, lol. Everyone comes with bad habits and I think I should learn to accept other peoples bad habits.

What are you most looking forward to in 2006?

the World Cup

Thats it! So now I will tag Emma and annong! Go ahead and have fun!

Could you pass grade 8 in maths?

2005-12-28T15:57:00.000+01:00

You Failed 8th Grade Math

Oh no, you only got 6/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Well, looks like I have failed but I just blame it on language problems ;) How about do, could you pass grade 8 in maths?

Thanks to Emma for that one

Tagged

2005-12-16T17:08:00.000+01:00

A joyful moment! I have been tagged again!!!
This one goes, have a guess, to Carmel, and I should write done some quotes that have a deeper meaning for me, that I just like and remember at some time.
To be honest, the first one that came into my mind was:

"Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you get"

Haha, let's turn it into guessing movies :) It is simple, eh, but in the end it it so true.

"Der Mensch kann nicht tausend Tage ununterbrochen gute Zeiten haben, so wie die Blume nicht hundert Tage blühen kann" Treng-Kuang

I shall translate the sense of this one: it says, that a human cannot have good times forever, just as a flower does not blossom all year round.

"Humor is mankind's greatest blessing." Mark Twain

Oh this is soo true...

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?" Richard Bach

This reminds me of Carmel and Jonathan. It also reflects my point of view. A lot of people say that long-distance relationships do not make sense, but if its really love, it does.

"I thank you God for most this amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes." E. E. Cummings

This is a part of a poem which reminds me of natures untouched beauty.
Unfortunately I need to stop here, I really got caught in it, lol. I have to leave for my cousin's birthday party.
Quote if you want to quote!

The Final Draw

2005-12-09T22:24:00.000+01:00

Wohooooooooooo, what an exciting moment that I have just followed on TV. The group-draw for the World Cup has just taken place and here are the results...

Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Côte d'Ivoire
Serbia Montenegro
Netherlands

Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana
United States
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korean Republic
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

I think this is all very exciting and what interested me most were the matches that take place in Cologne as I am going to be there and work! This covers the matches Sweden-England, Angola-Portugal, Czech Republic-Ghana and France-Togo so far. Heyheyhey! Sounds pretty exciting doesnt it?
You can visit www.fifaworldcup.com for more invormation. I just saw that they also have little videos vor every venue here in Germany.
So who is coming to which match?

I have been tagged?

2005-11-24T22:27:00.000+01:00

Uh, just read Carmel's blog and had to realise that she tagged me for confessions. You have to be careful, I might me to afraid to read your posts the next time ;)
Okay, let me confess...let me think...here we go.

I confess being addicted to Cheeseburgers from Mc Donalds

I confess I hate getting up in the morning when it is still dark outside. For that reason I dont start university before 10 am in the winter term.

I confess I want to travel all the time and everywhere.

I confess I have a problem with finding a boyfriend in my hometown. I confess I might be running away from them.

I confess I stole money out of my Mum's money bag when I was young. About 1 Euro :(

I confess that i vomitted onto the veranda of a farm I was staying at in New Zealand after I got very drunk. I confess that REgina cleaned up for me and in my drunken state I must have kicked the bowl and well...the rest you can imagine.

I confess I am reading the new Harry Potter book.

I confess I went shopping yesterday instead of sitting in the library and studying chemistry. I confess I took the chance and bought a lot once I was there ;)

I confess I was not quick enough to get a ticket for next year's Robbie Williams World Tour :´( they were sold out after 12 hours!!!! 2 concerts! I blame myself for not being wise and early enough.)

I confess that I cant wait to get to Thailand next year.

I confess that I am crazy for Alemannia Aachen and sometimes I start to adore the players and daydream of going out with them. Is this abnormal?

I confess I am still up and I sould be in bed already...

Okay, I think I outed myself a few times but I have to deal with that. So how does that work with tagging, do I have to tag another person now? So the person will be....Jonathan. Sorry, but you are the only one in my list I know personally and that motivated me to choose you.

So I will finally make it into bed and have a good rest, finally relieved from all my sins ;)

My race of Middle Earth

2005-11-22T15:14:00.001+01:00

Numenorean

This is my race, thanks Carmel, and also thanks anonymously to Jennifer

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wise Words

2005-11-22T15:02:00.000+01:00

I just got these texts in email. It is sweet and also has some good advice. Enjoy it on a cold November day like today!

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken, probably more than once, and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Thsi one is for all the women out there ;)

Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot; who calls you back when you hang up on him; who will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for the guy who kisses your forehead; who wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats; who holds your hand in front of his friends. Wait for the one who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you. Wait for the one who turns to his friends and says, "..that's her."

The last tickets for the world cup have been taken

2005-11-17T22:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a very big day for a few football-crazy nations as the last matches took place and it was the decision for 5 more teams to join the World Cup.
Congratulations to Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago and the Czech Republic.
I am very surprised and happy that Australia and Trinidad and Tobago got their ticket to the event. As long as I can think back (okay I am not that old), I can't remember I have seen them play in a World Cup. It is good to welcome them, it is going to be a much more intercontinental crowd :)
I am sure it is going to be a great time next summer and I am happy and proud that we can welcome all different nations. I just pray that incidents like last night at the match Turkey-Switzerland will not happen again. I am not sure in how far this has spread in the news in other countries, but the fact is, that right after the match (Turkey won, but Switzerland was still qualified for the cup), players started a fight with each other and what I consider as even worse, even the security people went up to the Swiss men and kicked them. Turkey might be excluded for the World Cup in 2010 but now they claim that Switzerland should be sentenced, too. I do not know what has happened there exactly, I just pray that in the future, nations and teams will behave a bit more respectful towards each other. What a shame if anything else happens. In the end it is just a game.
Okay, I want to conclude with something that makes me more happy. Still about football but hopefully it will be more peaceful. Tomorrow I will drive to Bochum to see my team Aachen win ther :). Press thumbs!!!!

Things we do at university

2005-11-11T20:26:00.000+01:00

I am in a very good and funny class called "Advanced Written English". It could be boring but our teacher does a very good job we do not miss the fun part of it.
Last week we got the task to rewrite a love letter from the positive into the negative. Does not sound too difficult, the we were only allowed to change punctuation.
Well let me first quote you the love letter that we were given:

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I year for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy -- will you let me be yours?

Gloria

Isn't that sweet? Well think about it, and maybe you will try yourself to change its contents into the opposite. but only change punctuation! Have you done it? Only then keep reading the rest ;)

Well, it has not been too difficult I guess. Here is the result:

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours Gloria

uw, what a change isn't it? I liked that task, hopefully we all learned how important the correct punctuation is.

Here is another one:

I have a spelling chequer;
It came with my PC.
It planely marks for my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I've run this poem threw it.
I'm shore you're pleased to no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh.
My chequer tolled me sew.

:))) I think I don't need to make a comment on that one.

And last but not least I have something very difficult for the tongue:

Three sweeping sweet switched Swiss bitch-witches watch their three washed Swiss witch swatch watch switches. Which sweeping sweet switched Swiss bitch-witch watches which washed Swiss bitch-witch swatch watch switch?

my mind is crazy now after typing this!
Have fun!!!

Halloween

2005-10-30T01:46:00.000+02:00

It is Halloween soon, but I have to admit that I already celebrated it last weekend! My sister and her friends had a party as they all finished their studies and we were supposed to come in our costume. I decided to go as a ghost, anybody recognise me? on the pic you can see me, my friend Regina and my parents. :)

A crazy Weekend on an expensive Island

2005-09-20T19:26:00.000+02:00

I came back from London yesterday and I am still so exhausted. Lets say I did not sleep much over there and I drank too much...
I arrived on Saturday morning, after I had to get up at 4am to be on time at the airport...Gary picked me up at Victoria, we went to his place where I met Anna from Ireland, such a great person! So during the day we went to the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels (but I don't believe that the ones a visitor sees are the real ones). It was really interesting inside of the Tower with all its museums. The other times that I have been to London I have not been inside of anything, except from the Dungeon.
Well, we finished the day with waiting for our table in an Indian restaurant. We had to wait for about 2 hours so we passed our time by drinking 3 bottles of wine (the three of us). As if that was not enough there was beer in the restaurant (and a yummy curry!!!!) and when we returned we drank some German booze. I brought Weizenkorn, which is similar to vodka, as a present for my host and the next morning I could not believe that we drank the whole bottle!!!! But well, I learned my lesson with my big hangover. I would love to show you some pics of that day, but unfortunately Gary deleted all my pics on the camera. He only intended to delete one where he thought he would look ugly but in his state of drunkeness he must have deleted them all. AAAAAAHHH, so annoying!!!!
So the next day we walked to Greenwich and from there we went on a boat along the Thames and passed the Tower Bridge and Big Ben.

We walked to Trafalgar Square and I have to say that London is such a big but beautiful city. I would not like to live there though, I am too much a country girl for that. The weather was cloudy on that day so now all the pictures I have are very dark and not sunny :(
In the evening I saw Heather and Mark, friends I know from Australia who I have not seen for nearly 2 years as well. It has been great to chat and talk about old times, but in the end I was just sooo lucky to hit my pillow.
So yesterday I returned and slept like a baby last night.
Thank you Gary for having me visit, and hopefully see you in Germany next year :)

So I enjoyed my crazy weekend and now I am back to reality, my new semester starts in a week and I have to prepare a few chemistry experiments. Plus there is my English literature examination next months. Well, at least it keeps me busy and stops me from spending too much money. lol.

Going to London

2005-09-15T15:00:00.000+02:00

I will be going away for the weekend, I will be going to London!!! I visit a friend of mine whom I have not seen for more than 2 years, I am really excited. I hope we'll have nice weather and I am sure it is going to be great, it has been 6 years since I have last been to London.
I will post on it when I get back!
See you soon!!!

Sea Shells from the Sea Shore

2005-09-06T09:33:00.000+02:00

I went out last night to celebrate my passed exam in physical chemistry (yes it is done!!!) and I ended up in a nice international group with people from Spain and Costa Rica. And one of them taught me this one:

She sells sea shells from the sea shore,
if the shells she sells are sea shells from the sea shore,
then I am sure
that the shells she sells are sea shore shells.

woooooooooo, it was an impossible task for me, but try yourself!
And have a nice day!!

I Wish You Enough

2005-09-04T09:04:00.000+02:00

I liked this story, so I post it...

I wish you enough

Recently, a mother and daughter were in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, "I love you and I wish you enough."The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom"They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walkedover to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye tosomeone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?"

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said."When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, "Iwish you enough. May I ask what that means?" She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more."When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them" Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory:

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. Iwish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in lifeappear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."

She then began to cry and walked away. They say it
takes a minute to find a special person, an hour toappreciate them, a day to love them and an entire life to forget them.

Volunteer work in Thailand

2005-08-30T22:59:00.000+02:00

Hey everybody!
I have been planning for a while to go to Thailand next year February in my semester break to do work as a volunteer in a school and to teach English there to Thai kids.
I came across the idea a few months ago when I was studying brochures on opportunities to spend time abroad. The mimimun stay is 8 weeks which I thought would work out with my semester break which is usually 10 weeks. But today i saw that unfortunately those holidays are "only" 7 weeks long. But I dont want this to stand in my way and to keep me from going to Thailand.
I think it would be a good experience, especially as I want to become a teacher but have not gathered any experiences in this area so far. And Thailand to me is a thrill. A completely different culture, language and lifestyle.
I wouldlike to ask you if anybody is familiar with this topic and can give me a bit advice. I am still looking for the best company to go with. The best one so far is www.travelworks.de, they would also offer me a 6 weeks stay even if 8 weeks is their minimum as they say in their brochure. This is really kind of them.
But still I am looking for other companies so I can compare them to each other and decide then which offers are best for my needs.
I am grateful for any help on this. DANKE

Good-Bye Benedikt

2005-08-21T19:25:00.000+02:00

About 10 minutes ago Pope Benedikt XVI left Cologne /Bonn airport and is hopefully on a safe flight back to Rome. I have just read that the pilot wíll fly over Marktl am Inn, the village where Joseph Ratzinger was born so that he can at least have a view from above onto his original home. I think that this is a very neat idea. Big lights will shine onto the house where he was born and has lived in his younger years so that he can recognise it from above. Also all the inhabitants will gather holding a candle in their hands to greet Benedikt. It must be so touching.
Last night Benedikt held a vigil on Marienfeld and this morning the WYD ended with a glorious mass.
It has been a pleasure to have out Pope in Cologne for the last 4 days. It means so much that he came for the World Youth Day and I get the feeling that he has made religion famous again, he created a special atmosphere in and around Cologne. And all the pilgrims who have been here take this atmosphere back home to 193 different countries. What a unity!
I have friends who are not into church at all, but last night when we watched the vigil on tv I saw a few fascinated eyes.
In his preach this morning Benedikt gave a warning that we tend to forget about God and then we wonder how much we suffer in times of sadness and helplessness. The love and believe in God is the solution to help us in those situations.
Words that I myself found very touching were the very first ones he spoke this morning. He greeted all the pilgrims (which were 1 million on Marienfeld!!!) and he said that he is sorry he could not greet every single person what he would have loved to do by papamobil but the ways inbetween the main roads were not good enough. But then he said that the reason why we came together is the same, our believe, which connects us by heart.
At some points I did regret that I did not go to Marienfeld, but due to workd I had to stay here. So I had the pleasure to have the best view in front of the tv:)
Here are a few more pics of the WYD (visit www.wdr/themenhomepages/weltjugendtag_2005.jhtml for more)

thousands of young pilgrims have spent the night on Marienfeld, they took the vigil seroius, they waited and prayed for the morning to come.

This was last night during the vigil. It took place during sunset and thousands of candles helped to create a very special atmosphere. The hill has been made up when the planning of this day started 3 years ago. The original idea with the hill was for John Paul II. due to his health circumstances the hill was a solution to take him there by car. Now John Paul II has a good view from above. Some voices said that this World Youth Day is the only WYD with two popes - one watching from above, the other one being with the people on Marienfeld.

This is a nice view from the foot of the hill up to Benedikt.

The ceremony last níght started with a huge bell that was baptised by Benedikt XVI. The bell was named John Paul II and is donated to a church in Cologne.

international pilgrims sharing their religion

This view is stunning. 1 million people, hundreds of bishops, thoudsands of priests and one pope on a big field!!!! the police reckoned that it would take more that 10 hours for everybody to get back to Cologne. I have not heard the news yet but I would guess that there are still a few thousands left on Marienfeld

The WYD logo. It has been a few awesome days and I am looking forward to the next World Youth Day which will take place in Sydney. I am lucky for Australia as I have met so many pilgrims from there who have travelled all that way to be here. Now it is the Europeans turn to travel and who knows, I may see you in Sydney 2008!

Venimus Adorare Eum

2005-08-20T09:01:00.000+02:00

This was and still is the "slogan" of about half a million pilgrims who have come to meet the Popein Cologne. And here he is!
It has been amazing to be in Cologne and to be together with an international believing youth on a special day like that.
I arrived about noon time in Cologne and I was quite surprised that the station was not crowded and that it was quite easy to walk through the city.
But people had already gathered either at the Rhine or near the route where Benedikt was supposed to pass, either by foot or in his papamobil.
I bet a lot of people have seen pics on TV and you have probably seen more than I have :)
We also went to the Rhine and saw Benedetto pass on the boat. Well, I saw a white dot inbetween a lot of black dots, but I have seen the Pope!
On the way there we met pilgrims from Ecuador for example, singing and dancing on the streets.
We decided to to walk near the Cathedral and we were lucky enough to get onto Roncalliplatz, where Benedikt was supposed to talk and bless the crowd. (We actually asked a policemen where it would be best to go and he said that Benedikt will have his "gig" on this place, so we would see him best there and also hear him talk.)
So thats what we did. We waited for about 2 hours because every single person was checked properly before he was allowed to get onto the place. It was so hot and exhausting to stand there for so long but something made it a lot easier. A group from Costa Rica cheered everybody up with "Benedetto" calls and another group from Poland brought a guitar and we all sang songs together which was really nice.
Once we were on the place we could follow the Father's pilgrim path on a big screen, how he got off the boat and how he made his way to the Cathedral. We saw him walking through the Cathedral and when the door opened, the whole mass went crazy. Believing that I had a good position where I could see, turned out to be wrong. All I saw was flags lol. But somebody took me up his shoulders and the view was amazing. Not only that I saw the Pope while he talked about the importantness of the World Youth Day, the happy people were a blessing as well.
After Benedikt blessed us, he went through the city on his papamobil but I did not see anything of this. We went for dinner and then wanted to take the train back home which seemed to be a big problem. Walking towards the station, the whole place in front of it was crowded. You could not move forwards and backwards would not have brought us home. Inside of the building, the chaos was even worse but somehow we got on our train while I heard on the radio later that the station hat to be closed for a while.
Tonight and tomorrow morning the Pope will hold a mass on Marienfeld, a rural area about 30 kilometres away from Cologne. I hope that everything will be safe and that it will be a glorious feast!
God bless you all.

World Youth Day

2005-08-16T09:19:00.000+02:00

This is an exciting and special week for all the Catholics around the world, especially for the Catholic youth and the ones who have travelled miles and miles to be in Cologne to meet the Pope.
As I am only one hour from Cologne I am right into everything and shall give you a nice report :)
Here the World Youth Day aldready started last weekend. Our little perish had a lot of international guests, mainly from France, Australia and America. As my friend had two hosts from France I got to know them and they were great. On Friday night she had a "World Youth Day" Party and invited like 20 French and Australian people. Lol, the moment when I arrived she was alone with 10 French guys and as my French is sooooooooo good (this was irony) I was a bit worried how I could communicate to them but it was not a problem at all, they were all so friendly and open-hearted. But in the end, I did not expect any different.
So on Thurday is my big day, I will go to Cologne to be right into everything and eventually to see the Pope. They have a welcome-mass and afterwards an international youth festival in the city. I dont know what to expect but I am excited and will give you notes.

my week in Munich

2005-08-14T01:16:00.000+02:00

Well, times goes by too fast sometimes and my week in Munich is already past. I have had a good time, I was kind of excited when I left cos I did not know what to expect, I did not know what my work at the museum would be like and I also was all on my own. But I was smart enough to book into a nice backpackers hostel, which was cheap on the one hand and on the other hand, I met a few very nice people and I am proud to say that I have made some new friends from America.
To give you a rough idea of what I have experienced I will put some pics in here :)
On the right side you can see me and my good friend the Bavarian beer-drinking lion ;) Lions are some kind of symbol for the Munich people and the players of a football club (not FC Bayern Munich but TSV 1860 Munich) proudly call themselves "The Lions".

This is the famous Frauenkirche right in the centre of Munich. You can see its two chapels from a far distance and luckily they gave me a bit of orientation while I was going for walks. It still had to happen that I got lost one day without a map. So I had to ring my friend to look at a map at home to tell me where I was, how embarassing but soo funny in the end.

This is the same church. The pic is taken from the roof of the New Rathaus on Marienplatz. In this church our Pope became archbishop. A huge picture fo him inside reminds us that his origins are in Munich.

I dont have to say what is on this picture I think :) but I had to put it on, I really like the perspective.

Oh well, these two funny girls are me and my friend Franziska, she came over for the weekend. We are wearing traditional Bavarian dresses. There are some rumours and prejudices that every German looks like that, but we dont!!! Women wear those "Dirndl" mostly if they work as a waitress in a Bavarian restaurant where they serve you the nicest things, like lung, liver or any other imaginable inner organs from animals. Yuck! But dont worry, it is also possible to order chicken or pork.

Anybody knows what that is? Well if you dont know by now, you will maybe here about it in a year when we hold the football World Cup. This is the stadium of FC Bayern Munich, the Allianz Arena, and it is just amazing how it is built. I hope that next year a lot of international people will be in Munich to celebrate the biggest football happening in the world together. We have still enough time to argue who is going to win the cup. I have no idea yet.

Hahahaha, this is me at work!!! I worked for that week in the German Museum. It is a huge and famous museum which covers any imaginable field in techniques and science. So as I am a chemistry student, I obviously worked in the chemistry department. Every day they hold a lecture for the visitors and show them some fascinating experiments. And the last day at work I was offered the task to do these experiments. I was so excited and I really liked it.

And here I proudly present the Hofbräuhaus! Anybody visiting Munich surely should not miss out on that one. It is a must once you are there. It is very touristy though, but in a good mix with Bavarian tradition. You are served glasses of beer which hold one litre, you can eat Pretzn or listen to a band playing traditional music. The later you go there the worse it gets, in case you are not drunk already...

This is a building everybody connects to Munich. It is the Rathaus on Marienplatz which holds the famous Glockenspiel in its tower. The whole plaza in front of it is crowded with tourists to hear the sounds of the bells and to see little figures move in the tower. Crazy, but you have to see it.

Well, I hope everybody enjoyed the little trip through Munich. I did when I was there and I am sure I will be back soon. But just now I need to go and rest my head on my soft pillow in my cosy warm bed :)

I will write more soon, until then, take care everybody! xxx

A few Bulgarian impressions

2005-07-25T15:27:00.000+02:00

A wonderful sunset. Here are a few pics of my last holiday in Bulgaria. Some of them are too funny to keep them to myself. It was a very nice week away. Enjoy!

I also made a few friends...

but this one here was my best friend! (top picture!!!!)

oops...

sorry madam, this looks really nice but you have to understand if I don't want to buy it.

A fishy bin. Those lucky birds...

Here I wanted to go on a toilet in Bourgas. But hey, where was the toilet? It took me a while to understand...

the lights of Cologne

2005-07-10T10:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to Cologne to see a spectacular fireworks show over the river Rhine. I did not know what to expect but what I saw was just magnificent.
at 10.30pm a part of the show started as ships were crossing over the Rhine while the music was playing Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise. All the visitors which were about 600 000 all in all had gather near the river or over the bridges and everybody was holding a candle. WOW! this was so magic and special.
One hour later the firework show started which lasted about half an hour. the fireworks were started from the ships and it was accompanied by music. (Robbie Williams-Let me entertain you, Abba-Thank your for the music, Queen-Mama, Tina Turner-Simply the best, Elton John-Circle of Life, Sarah Brightman& Andrea Bocelli-Time to say Goodbye)
The fireworks were awesome and so touching together with the music. Sometimes rackets even formed hearts in the sky! It was so romantic I can just recommend it to everybody to go there next year!!!!
http://www.koelner-lichter.de