Mein Leben (My Life)---UPDATE!

A day in the life

So, I am officially 9 weeks in. I thought I would give a general update ☺

#1. I’m over the homesickness!!! I mean, I still think of you guys EVERYDAY! But I’m no long super sad about it, which is great! I hate being sad!

#2. My foot is FINALLY almost all better. I no longer feel and ache when I walk! After over a month of slight cripple status, I am ecstatic!!!

#3. School is good. I really like my piano teacher now, although she’s kinda too nice. I always do better when I’m scared of my piano teachers, and this woman wouldn’t hurt a fly haha but she’s getting me to thing about music from a new perspective and helping me “look at and feeeeeeellll the phrases…..” lol

#4. I had a great weekend last weekend! It was exactly what I needed! Pretty low key. Friday night I went to a Weihnachtsessen! Which is a Christmas dinner that my friends boyfriend cooked for us! He made a four course meal for four girls (Vera, his girlfriend, me and two others). It was DELICIOUS! Probably the best food I’ve tasted in Köln (not in Germany because I’ve eaten with my relatives and my Tautes could take down even the most famous cheff! ☺) So, he made Menu’s for all of us that we could take home, wrote us each a little letter, and decorated the apartment Christmas style! It was a real treat! I got to spend the night eating, drinking wine and listening and participating in German chatter!

Saturday, I hung out with my exchange pals Ingrid and Freda. We’ve been planning a girls night FOREVER where we dress up in dresses, go out for dinner and then finally go dancing! (none of us have been dancing in Köln yet!) So we made it to the dress up part, made it out for dinner and then…….Ingrid rolled her ankle! So quite easily actually, we opted for chocolate and a movie at Ingrid’s….which turned into a sleepover! It turned out to be a perfect night! Aaannnnnd we decided we’d dress up in the exact same clothes and do the dancing thing another time ☺

This week I’ve had massive Choir rehearsals- WHICH I LOVE! Upon telling Cara this, she gave me the big “I don’t believe you just said that” eyes. Haha Generally I’m not a fan of Laurier choir, but this choir I could sing in ALL day! We do songs like “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” and other rockin pieces, the musicians are so talented, and everyone claps and dances and gets right into the music! Maybe I will try and get someone to post us on YouTube?!?!

#5. Weihnachtsmarkte sind offen!!! The Christmas markets are open!! For those of you who don’t know, in Germany Christmas markets are a huge deal! They are on every Platze and in every Markt that exist almost! I stumbled across one the other day and I want to go EVERYDAY! Haha So, let me describe……picture a bunch of (if we had one of these, it would be trailers, or concession stands) but their concession stands are pretty, they’re wooden, and they look like a bunch of mini houses decorated with lights, tinsel,bows, you name it! From the stands, you can buy ALL KINDS of amazing Christmas goodies, from pastries, to beaver tails to GIANT pretzels, to candied nuts, sausage, Fruchtbrot! (one of my fave’s…fruitbread) etc. the drink of the season ( and yes, Germans basically have a different drink for every season, celebrations etc.) is Gleuhwein. This is a sweet wine that they warm up! So its like drinking hot chocolate except its wine?! Hahaha

As well as food, the vendors sell all kinds of cool crafts that make excellent Christmas presents. When I found this place by myself the other day, I was just about beside myself! I saw so many things that I loved and wanted to get.

I asked one of the vendors “Sind Sie heir bis Weihnachsten?!” (are you here until Christmas!?)….

He replied “Ja”

I said “ Jeden Tag?!” (everyday?!?!)

He said “Ja”….with a bit of a funny look….

I said with a sparkling eyes, like a kid in a candy shop, “ Ich komme züruck, ich komme züruck!!!!” (I’m coming back, I’m coming back!!)

He said “ok, ich bin heir” (ok I’m here)…..with a bit of ---get a load of this weirdo, look

HAHA

Oh, Deutschland, Ich liebe dich!!

Hoooooommmmeeesick!

That’s it, I am officially HOMESICK in a big way! In two days I will have been here for 2 months! I love everything but I miss so much the people that I love!

I’ve got “Miss Independent” and “Miss grown up” down pat! I pay my own bills and banking, cook (or not cook) my own food, make my own friends, find my own doctors, physiotherapists and prescriptions, figure out my own school, plan my own trips, find places and read maps on my own, do my own wash, cleaning, grocery shopping, light fixing and now I do it all (or attempt it all) in GERMAN! I’ve had enough of her, “Miss Independent.” I want to be someone who’s taken care of, I want to be asomeone who’s got people that love her that she can actually see and touch, I want my parents and my family, my cousins and my friends, period! I miss being hugged by people that I know if I were sick, they’d want to take care of me, and I miss being with people that would be excited if I came through the door.

Wow, that is a load from my heart. Now, that being said, I refuse to say I want to go home. If I had to miss out on this awesome adventure or leave now, my level of sadness would be equivalent to what I am feeling now. SO, after post this and have a little pitty party, my chin will be up and I’ll go get my laundry from the laundry mat with a big smile on my face, but please, please pray for me, and know that I love and miss you more then you know!!

Love,
Katrina

So how about.....Amsterdam?!

This weekend was one of the best so far! Julia (my friend from Waterloo who’s doing a semester abroad in England) came to visit!! It was so great to have her here! While we hung out it almost felt like we were back home again and not 50 million miles away.

So, she came in on Thursday night. Since I arrived, I had been thinking of things we could do together in Germany………but the morning of the day she was set to touch down this thought crossed my mind….”We could go to Amsterdam!” I mentioned this to Jules and it was followed by a HUGE smile and “LETS DO IT!”……WOOO HOOO! We had a plan, not it was time to put it into action! We set out booking our rides to and from, as well as finding a hostel close to the centre of town.

This is the first country outside of Germany that I’ve been to since I arrived and I think it will be my favourite! I LOVE AMSTERDAM!

Now, what do I love?

Mainly, all the canals, houseboats, cool architecture and beautiful city scenes…..oh and all the tall people! ☺

We drove there with a Mitfahren-basically if someone is driving to a city they can register with this company and then we can pay to drive with them. We spent about 3 and a half hours in the back of this super nice German man’s vehicle. He, was great! We even exchanged phone numbers cause he wished he had time to drive us around Amsterdam and show us the sites. He said the next time he was going, he’d give us a call lol.

So upon arrival we decided we needed apple fritters!......these were the BEST apple fritters I have ever tasted! We spent all day walking the streets. We toured the main market, the Floating Flower Market (mom you would have been in Heaven! If I was coming home soon, I would have bought you a million bulbs! ☺ ) the inner city, we went on a boat tour of the canals etc.

The streets are super narrow and there’s not a lot of parking cause the city is literally built on water! Because the lack of space on solid ground everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) drives bikes! I’ve never seen so many bikes in one place, and so many different kinds! People with young children have these crazy bikes that they cart their kids around in. Picture a bike with a wagon in front of it, …….but then take off the wheels of the wagon and just put a bike tire out front and you have the regular means of transportation used for moving your family around. Haha

Our hostel was great! So great I think I am going to try and volunteer there during my two month semester break! That way I can hopefully meet people with a houseboat and get to go on it! Haha

Me and Jules were a dynamite traveling team. I definitely learned that it pays to be super friendly when dealing with people, especially in places with heavy tourist traffic. I know what its like to work with stupid tourists and if you ask questions in a polite way and try and make people laugh, they’ll be MUCH more please to help you AND even cut you some sweet deals!!
OK, that’s all for now! Tchau!

KARNEVAL!

What do you get when you combine thousands of adults dressed up like cows, pigs, clowns etc., a lot of German beer and sausage, loud music and beautiful weather?!.....KARNIVAL!

The 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, is the kick off celebration, but that actual week of Karneval is in February. This celebration has been around since before 1341! And going strong ever since! (If you’re interested in a little more details check out this link! http://www.carnaval.com/germany/index.htm)

SO, after I had practiced piano and gone to class I went home to find myself a costume! I was told countless times that the two rules of Karneval are,
1. That you should try to look as freaky as possible….
2. That you need to drink.

My original idea was just to put on all my brightest clothes, lots of make-up and do something wild with my hair….I ended up as a pillowcase superhero! ☺ It actually turned out not too bad (same pillowcase I use as a case for my guitar…..mom, I can’t thank you enough for it! Haha)

My friend Greta came over, (she’s a wicked saxophone player from my school, who studied in England for 2 years, she was dressed as a devil)…and we hoped on our bikes and rode into town.

Although we had missed the official 11 o’clock start, at 3 pm the streets were still PACKED! I’ve never seen so many adults in costume! There was a massive stage with a band playing traditional Kolsch Karneval songs….(which sound a lot like the stuff we hear at Oktoberfest) people as well as garbage everywhere! The garbage was wild! Everyone just throws everything on the ground and when thousands of people do that it equals the equivalent of walking through a small landfill. So, my best advice for you if you ever go to Karneval is keep you head up! ☺

So for the rest of the day we walked around, met new people and danced into the night! If its really true and this is nothing compared to what goes on in the February Karneval, then I can’t even imagine! So, till next time….Prost!

Tourist Time

Today, me and my friend Sarah from Australia, decided we wanted to be tourists for the day. This might sound funny, cause yes, we are foreign people here….but when you live in a city, you never tend to do the tourist things there. ( For, example, I live 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, but I only ever go there when people visit and they want to see it.)

SO, we began by having lunch at this German restaurant called “ Früh”. Its located right in the centre of Tourist mania, close to the Dom cathedral. Just so you get a bit of the sense of this restaurant, the walls were all old stone brick, your cutlery sits in the middle of the table, sticking out of a big beer mug, and at just barley 12 o'clock noon, the waiter comes by and just assumes “two beers?”……..Answer…”Ja, danke!” ☺

Because I was trying to go with the whole, “lets experience a typical German meal” ….I didn’t get meat BUT I have never eaten so many potatoes in my life! And I don’t like them any better either! I could probably go the rest of my life keine Kartoffeln (no potatoes!)

Next, we went to the chocolate museum (which we didn’t actually end up touring cause it was so packed!) but we walked around the gift shop and looked at everything they made.

We continued walking to the other side of the Rhein River (cause I’ve never been there) and there was a children’s fair or carnival going on, with a Fairiswheel and other rides. Its so funny, cause even at a children’s carnival, you still find beer gardens or little bar-trailers everywhere. That along with deep-fried cauliflower, mushrooms, crepes etc.

My favourite part of the day was on our way home. We were walking through the Alte-Stadt (old city) and out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like a brass band of about 10 middle aged men warming up on a street corner. I asked Sarah if she minded going to check it out…… we walked over and sure enough, within 5 minutes these men were walking around the street playing together! It was so great!

There were 5 trumpets, 2 tubas, a couple trombones, 2 drummers, all wearing bright orange jackets and ridiculous ruffled shirts underneath. They proceeded to play
a) lying downon their backs on the street,
b) chasing ladies around who came up and took pictures of them,
c) sitting down at peoples tables while playing etc.……
d) at one point they poured beer on the drum so when the drummer hit it, it became this huge spraying fountain!!
They were SO entertaining! I loved these men so much, I could have stayed there forever! Dad I totally pictured you being one of these guys, you would have loved it!

Anyway, so within a couple minutes, there was a big crowd around us dancing, singing, clapping and drinking on the street corner. The servers just came out of the restaurant and started serving people wherever they were standing.

In two days the 11th of the 11th, Carnival begins. I’ve heard so much about this celebration! Everyone, old and young!..... dresses up in crazy costumes and parties in the city centre, I can’t wait! I don’t know what I’m going to wear yet, but I will have to find something! I will write about it in three days!! Hope all is well at home!!

A little bit here and a little bit there.

I miss being able to buy things in bulk…
Today I spent 1 Euro on 12 Bobbypins!!....12 BOBBYPINS! I probably loose that many in 1 week!! At home you spend 1 Canadian dollar on 50 Bobbypins!

Also, the other day I saw a lady at the grocery store buy three eggs. … I laughed.

You can’t buy packs of 6, 8 or 12 yogurts, everything comes in packages of 1. I miss my giant jar of bean salad (88 C. you know what I mean ;)…..I buy a jar of salsa every week cause they are so small……believe it or not, I don’t even bother with hot sauce cause you can only get tiny bottles and I would finish it in one sitting ☺

People don’t cook with the mind set of getting a couple meals out of their cooking either. My roommates NEVER put food in containers and then into the fridge for another meal. If its not eaten in the first sitting, it usually hangs out somewhere on the counter until its gone bad and then is thrown out. I just want to say to them….”hey! ya know if you wrap that sucker up, you could have it for lunch tomorrow….really! no word of a lie!” Buuuut I kinda figure its their business, and it would be a weird convo, so I let it slide ☺

Yes, so next time you’re at Price club, or Wholesales, love the privilege of buying bulk!

Ps-sorry I havn’t been writing as much and I know this blog is real lame….they will get better soon. Promise!

EURO PARTAY!!.....the real deal

I am proud to say I have officially hosted a real Euro Party! Me and my roommates had about 40 people in our flat throughout the night in celebration of mine and my roommate Magda’s birthdays. It was a great time! Now what makes a real Euro party you might ask? Allow me to list some essential ingredients:

1. People from at least 5-8 different countries…from what I know, there were people from Canada! (woohoo that’s me ☺), Germany, France, Latvia, Russia, Usa, Australia, England, Japan, Israel, and somewhere close to Turkey.
2. About 4 different languages circulating the room at all times.
3. Lots of people smoking…mostly in the hallway, but our flat still stinks.
4. Making soup as part of the appetizers and desserts that you’re serving. (I thought this was kinda different. At previous parties in Canada, we’ve had chips, pretzels, cupcakes etc. as party snacks……here they add homemade soup and bread to the list)
5. LOTS of wine! Everybody shows up with one or two bottles.
6. Russian music! I wanted to play our typical poplar music, but it got voted down in favour of Russian music……..I like it, BUT I think in this atmosphere I would rather hear Gwen Stefani singing “lets get this party started” ;)
7. A late curfew. I believe most people were gone by 4am which equaled a late night/early morning ☺

Combine these 7 ingredients and it equals one great night!! I feel fully Europeanized! I can’t wait to host another one.

This was also a very “music kids” party. There were exactly 3 non-music students in attendance and I think they definitely felt like the minority….that is because when you meet people in the “musical studying world” the conversation ALWAYS begins with:

“hi! What’s your name?....and what do you play?”

….this can sometimes be followed by “ok…..and who is your teacher?”

I don’t know why, but for some reason, the instrument you play defines a little part of who you are. For example, if you are a violinist, it means you’re kinda high-class. Violin is very popular at my school and very competitive. You can bet these people practice A LOT! If you’re a piano player its kinda a medium position, cause everyone plays at least a little bit of piano.. Lots of pianist want to become teachers, which means they don’t practice quite as much cause performance isn’t their final goal. I could go on and on with an explanation for every instrument but I think that would be boring. What you need to know is that it’s a different breed of people, oh! An if you would have been here, towards the end of the night you would have been watching music comedians on YouTube ☺…..not joking.

All in all it was rockin though! It took 3 people a solid hour and a half to clean one tiny kitchen the next day so you can imagine what the place looked like. I loved hosting, the turnout was great and I think everyone had an excellent time. Come visit and we’ll do it again!!