Ich bin ein Hamburger

So today I am in Hamburg. The city of fish, strippers and Emma (hopefully not all at once though...) Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the harbour as well as a few other things to celebrate New Years, but more of that another time.

Em is currently sleeping next to me, seems she had a late night last night and bedtime is at 7pm in her household. I'm actually debating taking a page out of her book and having a nana nap too after the horror journey I endured to get here today, but it's really cold - and I don't think she wants to spoon...

Germans like to travel, no one would doubt that considering that even in Australia we have german speaking tour guides to cater to the truckloads of Germs that visit our shores each year, the only thing is that Germans don't seem to like travelling within their own country, as proven by the exorbitant amount I had to pay to catch a five hour train to Hamburg that went everywhere else first. Seriously, it went to Frankfurt, Munich, Kassel - you name it, I passed through it. However it's not just the ridiculous prices of the DB (German Metlink) you have to contend with but the german love of reserving seats too. It costs 4€ to reserve a seat here in GermLand and it's a price you have to pay if you don't want to hear " *clearing throat* Ummm that's MY seat" every time you move into what anyone else would call a spare seat (best not to ask if their name is on it...it kinda is) I however, being an Aussie and having grown up with reservations only being made by calling out 'DIBS ON THAT!' or 'SHOTGUN!!!' before your peers did, did not recognise the necessity to pre-book a seat and was left sitting in that little room where people get on the train before entering a carriage either side. And let me tell you - there were no seats and no heating for five and a half hours and I had to stand up and move awkwardly to the side every time the train stopped to let more people board, only to see them walk to off to find their reserved seats - hating.

...but at least I have my 4€ right???

Hope all is well.

2.5 hours of my life I'm never getting back.

So I'm exhausted and getting ready for tomorrow (by getting ready I mean excited, not packing - I like to leave that till the last possible second) I'm heading off to Hamburg for a few days to visit a friend but alas today was spent yet again in Stuttgart, not the place to be if you lack a decent sense of direction.

I do this often actually, grossly overestimate my directional sense and end up in central China rather than Richmond (slight over exaggeration perhaps...) but none the less I am really bad and my mum is always commenting on my ability to get lost in supermarkets - although in my defence it is not that I get lost, only that I forget which aisles I've already been in... So today I had smack down with mother dearest. Seems my high heels, the 5km walk and both our jetlagged statuses made for a tense morning and quite the adventure for me in the afternoon. Mum walked off home leaving me to fend for myself (ok I might have cracked it and wandered off of my own accord...) unfortunately no one really considered how I was going to get home, and I was left in a city I have lived in for all of two days without the faintest idea of how to get home - let alone what street I live on - woe is me.

Two and a half hours later, a lot of rude and unhelpful people who honestly thought I was joking when I said 'no I actually don't know where I live, pretty sure it's on top of a hill though, can you direct me there?' and I finally made it home after one crafty Germ asked if I knew the nearest station, thank you Herderplatz. If only I'd listened to Mum's full explanation of how to get home in the first place it probably would have taken all of 20 minutes - but that's not really the way I roll.

So Mum's threatening to put dog tags with my name and address on me in future, just in case I get lost again and a responsible adult has to come and collect me, but we'll see how I go in Hamburg - maybe I'll prove myself an orienteering master yet...but I doubt it.

Hope all is well.

Return to the Fatherland

So today I arrived back in Germany, figured it went so well last time I might as well come back for another year or two. Mum's work offered her a transfer to Stuttgart a couple of months back so she's been living here since June whilst I suffered through my final year of VCE, but now it is over (thank god) and I have returned to the Fatherland albeit in another city...

I was actually freaking out somewhat considering that I'm pretty much on my own German speaking wise this time, but  it's gone pretty well this past eight hours,  although that might have something to do with the fact that I haven't gone outside more than once... In fact the only direct contact I've had with Germans today was on the plane when I woke up to a creepy old flight attendant handing me a glass of water and exclaiming delightedly that I was "Finally awake!!!" - a clear sign that he had been watching me for hours... and a quick trip to the grocery store to buy necessities like chocolate and bread where I was so silent that it became uncomfortable between the checkout chick and I...

I'm gonna have to talk to people tomorrow though, I don't actually know anyone in this city let alone how to get around so I figure it'd be best to kill two birds with one stone here and find a Germ to take as my own so they can chauffeur me around...now just to find one willing enough to be my BFFL. I'm not entirely sure how to tackle this whole no friends situation though. I'm not sporty so there's no point joining a team of any description, I don't wanna have to get a job and I really don't think it's appropriate to assault people on trains with a conversation that will ultimately come down to 'will you be my friend?' Guess I'm just gonna have to wait for my prey to come to me in order to pose the question, although maybe calling them prey isn't the best start...

But the jetlag is beginning to return now so I'm gonna go pass out for a few hours and allow my body clock to become even more out of sync but I have included a photo of myself in my brand new onesie - although I do look rather midget-like, I hope you will notice that not only does it have footsies, but it also pink leopard print and therefore awesome - that is all.

Hope all is well.