Hamburg

I am back from Hamburg!
Johanna and I spent a very nice weekend there. The weather-god was with us: it was quite cold but dry and yesterday even the sun came out for a bit.

Have been driven off on friday morning (5.30am) we arrived in Hamburg at 9am. My plan worked out well: Leaving early and so driving away from the rush-hour traffic. There was just a short stopp and go just before Bremen. But not as bad as it could have been.

As check-in was not before 3pm, we decided to left our bags in the car and searched for a cafe to get some breakfast.
Easy - you think?!? It was hard work! But finally we found one both of us 'liked'. After breakfast it felt much easier to stroll around and discover the city. We ended up in the old warehouse district and had a coffee in a coffee roas house. Saturday was 'day of the coffee' and after we drank ours, we had a 'Barista Lesson' and talked to a coffe master later on.





That is what the coffee should look like





Looks similiar - don't you think so? I was told after a weekend working as a Barista (and 1500 coffees later) that one would look like the other one...


Subsequent to that we went to our hostel, checked in, refreshed and were off again.
After having finished our dinner - in a Tansanian restaurant - we found our way to the 'Neue Flora', the theater we would watch 'Tarzan'.
It's a really wonderful musical. Lots of dancing and acrobatics - both on stage and in the air. A pity is that the lead is a Swede: a gorgeous man with clear voice (as long as he sings) but when speaking German there is a hard and badly sounding accent...
Anyway, really sweet: the young Tarzan, performed by a boy maybe 10years old, had a part in the beginnin of the second act as well and was even on stage at the very end for the curtseys! Next to 'Beauty and the Beast' I guess, it is one of the few musicals you see children on stage for the bow.

Yesterday we went for a sightseeing tour in one of the red double-deck busses. Sun came out and it was great!
I attended severel tours before while my differnt stays in Hamburg, the last one in 2007. There changed so much! The new 'Hafen City' - Europe's largest inner city development - is not only a construction side any more. The first 1000 inhabitents did move in the first completly finished buildings, a school and a preschool did open this year and even a restaurant and a shop are already open.
I loved to stroll around that area! If I win the lottery I would by an appartment in Hafen City! (Main problem is, I don't play lotterie. So, how can I get up to 11.000€ / square meter for my appartment?)
Johanna and I did walk through the Old Elbe Tunnel and had an astonishing view to the harbour promenade, then went to 'Cap San Diego', a museum ship, on which an exhibition is on about the emmigrants who left to Amerika between 1880 to 1910. Very interesting!
After a drive on a small boat in the evening, when the harbour side was lighted up, we walked to our hostel again and fell into bed...

After breakfast we headed back to Marl this morning, as Joey needs to work tonight.
What a pity! Such a nice weekend... ended so fast...

Federal Elaction

Just a bit data:

There are 82.117.000 people who live in Germany (according to a census from July 2008).
About 62.000.000 are eligible to vote.
That means round 1/4 off all residents are not eligible to vote. There can't be that much children who are younger than 18... If I am not mistaken there are round 80tsd births per year; that means there should be round 1,4 mil. under 18-years olds.
Brings me to the question - who are the missing 18,5 million people?

Now waiting for the first results...

OWD

I did it! I am an OWD now!

Christoph and I did manage to spare some time and went for five dive trips. It seemes that I am not incapable of diving:
Not being to nervy when we start to sink and finally sinking independently (which isn't as easy as it sounds to be); finding my way with a compass and being able to use the alternative air supply.
The really hard thing about diving? Switch off your brain! For me, it's really hard to float. When sinking, I touch the ground; well, then I use the inflator to pump some air into my jacket - and raise up (but to much!!). I don't manage to float at the first attempt (or the second or third). But when holding the finimeter or inflator in my hands - it's much better and I finally seem to float!!!!!

What next? The AOWD - of course! Down to 30m, a trip with photographing, a night trip. I just need to find the time. That is the problem. Usually the courses are held on the weekends. Those days I am working! That is way ,again, I need to make an arrrangement with Christoph...

My Sister's Keeper

I have read the book, written by Jodie Picoultonce. Guess, that's years ago. But I still remeber the story and especially the surprising end.
Here is a short overview:
My Sister's Keeper is a fictional novel written by Jodi Picoult. The story follows the life of 13- year-old Anna Fitzgerald, who enlists the help of an attorney, Campbell Alexander, to sue her parents for rights to her own body. Kate, Anna's older sister, suffers from leukemia, and their parents conceived Anna through in vitro fertilisation to be a genetic match donor for her sister Kate. Anna donated genetic material throughout her life, such as blood and bone marrow. Now, their parents want Anna to donate a kidney to Kate, but Anna instead files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation so she will not be forced to donate one of her kidneys to her sister.

When getting to know that there will be a movie I had conflicting views. First, only a couple of movies are as good as the books they are based on.
But then I saw the trailer and did read some good reviews.
Well, even knowing that I probably would regret it, I went to see the movie:

I was astonished! What a great production. A relator is to hear in the very beginning. That was annoying but worked out well. Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin and to their site Abigail Breslin as Anna and Sofia Vassilieva as Kate. I liked the movie till 10 minutes before the end.
Of course there were enough women watching the film who started to cry. Sniffing, snuffling and sobbing all around me.

But then! Why can't they stick to the book till the very end? Why the hell did they change the end?
Kate dies, Anna survives and the family remembers Kate life by spending the holidays in Montana. F...

This could have been a superb movie - it is 'just' a good one.

What is quite unbelievable to me - Jodie Picoult is Co-author...

Saving money

Allright, it is true: I went to London last week and yes, I do have some (round 10) tickts for local theater shows. But hey - I live to see musicals!

But here is a list of things I quit in order to save my money and get to Australia back soon:

I didn't buy a ticket for 'Spamalot
I won't see 'Best of Musical 2010'
I did neither drive to Xanten ('Evita') nor to Tecklenburg ('Aida' - with Willemijn Verkaik!)
I will not spent a couple of days in Stuttgart and see the last 'Wicked' performance there
I do not buy a ticket for 'The Buddy Holly Story' which opens next month in Essen


Just needed to write this down to remember myself how much money I have saved already - that helps...

Summer Breaks

What to watch in TV?

The final ER episode was shown three weeks ago, last week the season final of Grey's Anatomy (season 5) was shown.
There is no 'House'or 'The Mentalist' on either.

The one and only series 'VOX' shows on and on is 'Mc Leod's Daughters' - so I end up in watching these again and again or spend more time working with the laptop...

The next month is gone

I can't believe it - it's 2nd of September. I left Aussie 9 month ago to the day. Unbelievable!

No I am counting the days I have to work as a PT. Maybe tomorrow is my last, maybe next thursday will be the last one or the thursday the week after - all depends on when my boss manages to get a new employee for the job... So long I smile for the patients and just keep on moving.

Last week was horrible: There are four PT's in two practises. One is on sick-leave scince two weeks now - his work could make up for. On monday the second one got sick. My boss decided I had to work in the second practise instead doing my 'normal' patients. The third PT had to attend a trainee on thursday & friday - me alone! Tuesday to Thursday from 8am to 7pm - after works I did work two days per week only, I felt smached in the evenings. Luckily I had a 'short' friday - just up to 3pm, therefore without break!
The problems were not to do so long hours. But for all that patient moaned and were unhappy; I got stuck in the traffic, the GPS stopped working and I had to drive while reading the road map and the street name's. Last I had a heated discussion with a patient's nurse about the time I worked...
Whenever I had puniest doubts concerning my study - that week depicts I am right!
Guess, you can imagine it was great to hear I won't need to work this week that many hours as well.

A faboulus week but the best follows:
When I needed to fill up fuel I got stuck at the station - could open the doors with the key but not the ignition. At least I managed somehow to start the car and drove home. Worse happend on friday morning: again the car did not start!
What to do? Being happy about an aunt who is up early and needs her car seldom - I borrowed it for the day.
While working, my mom got in touch with the auto shop so the spare parts could be ordered. Express delivery!
We suggested the part would be delivered and the car repaired on monday - failure.
The spare part was not delieverd on tuesday either! What is meant by 'express delivery'???
The good side - when my boss asked me to work today for a couple of hours I have had an excuse. She understand and I was off today! Much better: just before midday the auto shop called, the spare part was deliverd(finally) and our car was about to be repaired!!!!!!!!
Yeeha - I've got the car back; it's a small holdon. Much easier to find parking spots with these one than with my aunt's big one!

Let's see what's happening tomorrow....