Sickness

I didn’t suffer with allergies for a year now: cat – hair, dust, grass – I didn’t react! It was great!

Right after being back everything did start from the beginning. I sneezed every five minutes, reacted on everything. Further on I got a cold within the first 3 days – which kept on for three weeks. Now I stop sneezing but start coughing….

Fruit, Biscotti and activities

Last weekend I met for having brunch with my best friends. A really nice buffet was offered: different kinds of bread (can’t tell you how much I missed it), quark and joghurt, cheese and cold meat and lots of fruit. Unfortunately I tried kiwifruit and ananas – a pity; I can vividly remember the nice taste I had in December.
The last evenings I was looking for something “nice” to eat. There were fruit or chocolate available – but I am missing Don’s Biscotti.
Another thing I do miss is the activity. I did start to cycle again, but with cold and rainy weather I often just stay home. By doing this I notice a special ‘not resting possibility’ – I have to do something! And because of this and the weather I decided not to start cajaking but Tai Chi (I’ve got the first training on Friday).

Freetime activities

I have got a lot of free time in the moment. So you may ask what I am doing - tidy up the flat and my room, writing applications, training darts?!? That's almost right.
But there is so much time so I did start to read all my books for young people (written by Berte Bratt) again, finished the Harry Potters already
(of course I did read the english version!),






did the Aboriginal Puzzle I was given for Christmas












and I am watching McLeods Daughters! I couldn't resist and had to by season 1-7 - season 8 will have been bought in february, when it is purchasable.

Marl

Marl is a small town in the west of germany. It is part of the state Nordrhine Westfalia, the area is called the "Ruhr area". As one of ten towns in the district "Recklinghausen", it expansed on 87,7km² with a population number from around 90.000 people ( that are 1023 resedents/ km²).
As I got to know lately the town was already settled 600 a.C. by te Celts, which were frightend away by the Teutons. The Romans followed but pulled back after the "Battle of the Teutoburg Forrest" 9 p.C. 80p.C. the tribe of the Brukerer settled and a few y
ears later (during the next centurys) the Saxons settled as well.
In medevil times Marl was involved in several wars and in the late 19th century 2 coal mines were opened; the first one was closed 1972 and the second one is subsidized for years now - it has to close in the next years.
Formed in 1938 the "Chemical factory Hüls" was one of the main employers in Marl. This was one reason for the town to be bombed during the 2nd World war and afterwards occupied by the Americans.
1974 the "Marler Stern" - the one shopping mall- opened. It was a spectacular moment, this building with its 2 storages 180m long and 25m wide. Especially the "Air cushion roof" was a new invention.

So, in this industrial town I grew up and now I am back. By the way - 60% of the area is green: parks, fields, forest and waters.

Everyday life

is as boring as before. I am still looking for a job and waiting for responses to my applications, battle with red tape and don't really know where I belong. It seems like I have change a lot but everything here didn't. - Have I written that before and start to weary you?

However, I continued my dart playing and am still surprised how well it is working - conciedering a break of 13 months.
I fixed my mums bike and try to cycle consistently every day; what is very hard when it's cold and rainy.

So today I decided not to write about my life back here in Germany in general but about my city and public holidays as well.

Breakfast - Quartett

Four good friends whom knew each other science school. We try to meet every month once which is hard enough with three people working on weekends and two of them doing shift work. However, last year my three friends (without me) haven't met once!
So I was very suprised when I got a text asking for a meeting this weekend. In the end I had brunch on saturday and sunday as the one friend must work on saturday and the other on sunday; Joey was there both days. These two meetings were great; each for its own.
We laughed and entertained not just ourselves but the neighbours as well. My Australia - Photobook was looked at jealously and both times we sat together, laughing & speaking for approxemetly 4 hours.
It was so good seeing them again after such a long time.
This days I am in a better mood. It is amazing how quickly I adjusted in the end. I am still not happy about the weather. It is typical weather for this season: rainy, grey and cold (the snow is gone - I am so about about that!). The sun is seen every now and then and it's getting dark around 5pm. But I am back and everybody around me is happy; and I am happy about seeing my friends here. Even though I am missing everybody back in Australia now...

Reality

Knowing I would come off a "high" back here into reality is not easy - but I will manage.
My year 2008 was a complete success; it did start a bit rough but turned out really great! I found a new family and some real friends, did see the most beautiful beaches, learned to work on a farm and improved my english.
So when I arrived in Frankfurt - in a winter as cold as it hasn't been for ages - I was disappointed and had a negative attidude against everything. This did change towards a realistic attitude: it is cold and grey here, I am unemployed and not yet sure what to do.
I had made plans what I wanted to achieve in Down Under - not everything was done in december as often happens. And of course I did made plans for the year 2009.
Next to "finding a job" are lined up things like: continuing to speak english, improving riding skills, saving money for the next journey (which is to earn first), stay in touch with these great people I did meet,...

You will get to know how things work out...

Friends

Being back now for a week and nothing changed - I mean, I did change a lot in one year time but it seems nothing else did...

So,yesterday I went for my first Dart play in the year and after a 13 months break. It was okay. I had fun, even when it is still allowed to smoke inside the room we played in - after two hours my eyes were itchy and burning and I smelled like smoked meat. This is the part I still hate - but I can't amend that. Some of my team mates I haven't seen for that period of time and we chatted, I did show some photos as well.
Doing this I became a bit homesick and realized that I am home here and not in Australia anymore...
However, on the highway I did see a friend of mine (driving in her car), got up close next to hear and honked my horn - Joey did recongnize me! Obviously I did not change very much!!!

TV

As much as I groused about Australian TV - the German doesn't seem to be better:

Okay, we haven't got commercials every 10 minutes but the range is as good or bad as in Australia:

There is "How I met your mother", "Two and a half men", "The biggest Loser", "The Tudors", "Everwood", "Deal or no Deal",...

But the worse is: just old movies are shown in the moment; I mean not really old movies but such you have seen in the last (1)5 years every year - "Home alone", "Sister Act", and German productions I did see the 5th time now... There are no new movies in the common TV in the moment...

Am I happy, that I orderd the whole McLeods Daughter's lot: I got season 5 - 7 today and the first four ones should arrive tomorrow!!!

Missing

The next things I am missing:

sushi for lunch - the next sushi available is about a 30km drive away and the frozen one is just aweful!

Fresh seafood or nice fish'n'chips - Marl seems to be just a village...

sun - sunset is around 8.15am and dawn at 4.30pm... great feelings!

weather - there is snow lieing outside and it is freezing cold; this didn't hapend for ages in my area! I miss the heat and humidity!!!!

And especially I miss all these nice phrases which I mentioned in my last post! Here is no Darling, no mate, no see ya later,....

Dialogues

During the day I had to talk to several people: making appointments with docters and the bank, shopping for books, Dvd's and shoes,... It is not the same than 2 weeks ago. I do miss all the typical stereotypical expressions. There is no "G'Day", "Thanks, mate", "no worries". Everything is so formal over here. The people didn't even announce you with "Mam" or "Miss" - here I do wait for the "Darl(ing)", "Dear" or "Sweety" - there is nothing.
I touch somebody really softly and apologise immediatly - the reaction: I get a strange view!!!

I had really forgotten how prim and unpersonal the contact is!

"1st Day"

okay, I arrived on saturday and so it would be the 3rd back in Germany - but the first day I had to go out...
'Out' in this case means, I went to the employment office to notify them me being back and getting my insurance.
I got up at 6.30am, looked out of the window and couldn't believe my eyes: the street was white, the tree was white, I could hardly see the cars parking at the rear - there was 20cm fresh fallen snow!!! And this in my area - where that amount of snow hasn't got fallen for years!!!
So, after getting dressed, I was looking for a bicycle - it was just incredible: The lights on mine are broken, the tire on my mum's is flat... In the end I ended up walking to the office.
On that way I did hear a men swearing when some snow did fall on him (he just walked underneath a tree, when some snow did fall down). I was nearly bumbed by a car, sliding out off a side road. And when I entered the office at 7.30am there was an employee sitting who told me I would need my photo ID but couldn't use my passport. Then I got another appointment in 10 days time to finish off with the aplication. I was already pissed off!
It is dark till 8.30 am, freezing cold, the people seem to be not as kind as in AUS and I can hardly see the sun.
So far everybody is happy me being back - I just can't tell anybody what I want to do or not or what my feelings are; it seems I don't know myself anymore...

Arrived

Charlotte dropped me off at the Airport, I queued and could finally check in my baggage. Even with 20,9kg not aproblem at all!!!
Then the securtiy check without complaints and I entered the security area. I was not really interested in the duty free products, so I just set down and did my sudoku.
In the end my flight was in time and we started at 5pm to go to Singapoure.
The entertainment system did work for 30minutes, then we (not just me, but round 1/3 of the passangers) noticed problems and in the end the crew/ captain spoke to the quantas engineers, so we had a choice between 13 films and series. We should have the choice between those 13 - I could decide between 2 (women and another one) films and 3 reportages - really nice for an 8h flight!
Landed in Singapoure I did hope, they could fix those problems as I would sit in this very plane on the way to Frankfurt...
So after a 60 minutes stay in Singapoure we went on to the 2nd part of the flight. My crossed finger did work - no problems with the entertainment!
I did watch Mamma Mia!, Ghost Town, Witness, The Dutchess, House, Grey's Anatomy and CSI - 13 hours went by and I did land in Germay, 5.35 am on the 3rd.
As accepted I was picked up by Maik and my mum; after the first hugs we could leave the airport and drove back home. The german winter welcomed me: -12°C, frosty and foggy; it dawned somewhen after 8am.
This is so strange. I still see me on the patio on the 1st, having dinner there, talking till 10pm and being dressed in shorts and shirt. On the 2nd I woke up, be wakend by the kookaboora and Oscar running up and down the steps.
I didn't sleep in the plane, so I slept for 3 hours yesterday afternoon and went to bed early. This morning there was nothing - I couldn't hear a single sound...