Charlotte's Year Abroad

Bienvenue en France

2008-02-02T18:33:00.000+01:00

We arrived at La Rochelle airport around 5.50pm and was shocked as our plane seemed to be the only one there! The airport looks the size of one lounge at Heathrow! There's a cafe/bar but nothing else! Very bizarre! The flight was good, and RyanAir have slightly more leg room than EasyJet which is good for me. The only thing that would've made it better would've been if the woman in front of us changed her child's nappy. We were close to grabbing him and doing it ourselves at one point!!
It took us a bit longer than I anticipated to get to Poitiers, but next time I have to do it, I'll know what bus to get and where from/to. Our train was the last one to Poitiers (7.45!) - luckily we were there early enough to get a sandwich and our tickets.
We couldn't find a lift at the station so we went down a ton of steps with our heavy suitcases.. then up the other side. Then we got to Poitiers and again, couldn't find a lift (are there no disabled people in France?!) so, down the steps then up some more (a woman grabbed my suitcase cos i got the giggles half way up the stairs and nearly fell down!)
We got to our residence at about 9.30. The office seemed to be shut so we were quite annoyed as we'd already told the guy in charge we were arriving late. Sofia then knocked on a door and a guy came out - luckily he had our keys and we didn't need to sort out any forms until this morning. We then got settled in our room and were too wide awake after unpacking so had a look at everyone's rooms then decided to go for a walk to see what was about. It's really well lit here, which we really like because it feels quite safe because of this. We were walking up the road and think we walked a bit TOO far as we saw 2 women who were more than likely prostitutes!! (A great start!) Then we found a kebab shop on the way home so Sofia and Charlotte bought some food but the sight of the place made me feel sick so I didn't get anything! Once we got back, we were so tired, but ate some food (I gave and had a few chips!). We then tried to watch a bit of the film "10 Things I Hate About You" but just ended up chatting over it. Then I think I got to bed around 1.30am.
I slept really well. I have a sofa in my room that pulls out into my bed (it rolls back up easily with my bed sheets on, luckily). I'm really pleased with my room, it's really nice - I wished we had these residences in the UK - it makes much more sense! We each have a bedroom with a sofa bed, desk, a table to eat at, a bedside table, a small stand with drawers (that lacks a TV unfortunately) and some shelves and built in wardrobes. Then we have a little kitchenette with a nice sized fridge, all pots and pans, 2 hobs and a microwave. The only problem is there isn't an oven, but I'll get used to it easily enough. Then we have a nice sized bathroom with a shower. The people who we've dealt with in the offices seem really nice as well.
This morning I got up at 8am to go downstairs for around 10am to sort out the paper work and rent. It took quite a while to start with but we whizzed through it once it had been fully explained to us. It all seems to be very well organized.
After we did this, we went to explore the Centre Ville. Unfortunately we have to climb what seems like a million steps (or walk around the road which would take twice as long as it bends) to get to the Centre Ville or the supermarket etc. I found this photo online for you to get the sort of idea of the agony my legs are in at the moment!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davers/354758687/ The photo doesn't show all of the steps - they go round slightly too. But, I managed it well enough! The town centre is really pretty, very typically French. We found a Monoprix (but we aren't sure if it's the cheapest one yet - it might work out cheaper to get a bus to Auchan).
My fingers feel like they're going to come off after carrying back our food and suitcases from yesterday.. luckily we found a bus stop that goes back to near our residence. For the rest of the day, we've mainly been relaxing and watching DVDs!
Then we just popped to the station and I saw a sign for a lift.

2007-11-17T12:02:00.000+01:00

I've been doing lots since I last blogged. And then I forgot to update. Mum, Dad, Tim, Grandma and James came over last Saturday for my birthday. We walked quite a lot, my legs are still recovering.
Then on Thursday, my friend Sofia came to Berlin. I'm really tired from all the walking I've done over the past week or so!
I'm feeling much better than I was a few weeks ago, anyway. I'm not that dizzy anymore, so I'm finding it much easier to go to sleep now. Apart from family and friends being here, I haven't really done much else. I've FINALLY finished the translation for work. But now I need to read over it and check that it's complete and all makes sense. Some of it was too hard so it took me a while to get it to make sense. I'm looking forward to finding out what they want me to do next for work.
I'm going to the theatre on Thursday. To see some strange thing about East German football. I agreed to go and see it before I realised what I agreed to! I hope I don't fall asleep during it. And I also hope it doesn't go on too late, I'll be so tired otherwise. Hopefully I'll have time to come home between work and the theatre for a nap!
I don't have much else to say at the moment... I'll try to remember to update again at some point...

2007-11-06T13:26:00.000+01:00

Mother informed me that I didn't update with my diagnosis.

Basically, I need to have aphsiotherapy on my neck because it's something to do with my neck not being allined properly. And same with my spine - she says I have mild scoliosis and that is what is causing my dizziness and headaches.

However, I am still alive. And its not planning on killing me anytime. So thats positive.

2007-11-05T22:25:00.001+01:00

Went to Munich to meet up with Dad and Tim and then stayed overnight. The train there was really cool, and luckily I had my laptop so I watched lots of TV shows that I downloaded. I had a wander around Munich, and had forgotten how pretty it is there.
The train journey back was quite boring but I managed to sleep for quite a while. The journey is 5 and a half hours. Was glad when I got into bed last night!!!
Only problem about travelling for a while is that I get so tired - it was so hard to get up this morning.

I'm trying to look for a work placement in France. I've been given 2 places to ask from uni but they're both in the suburbs of Paris, which is revolting. So I think after work tomorrow, I'll be coming home and searching the internet for possibilities.

I think it's bedtime now. I'm shattered.

Still no better...

2007-10-31T21:09:00.000+01:00

I managed to find an American doctor online, so I had an appointment yesterday. She said my ears look healthy (which makes a change) so it's not an ear infection and there's no sign of anything different on the ear drum - so it's definitely not my ears that are causing my dizziness. So she then felt the back of my neck and said she could feel a lump/knot in the back of my neck, so wanted me to go for x-rays to see if anything will show up. So, I went to that today.
Germans obviously like to keep people waiting - I waited just over 2 hours to see my doctor yesterday and then another 1 and a half hours today for my x-rays. Tomorrow, I have to go for an appointment with my doctor so she can look at my x-rays and have a further look into it... Hopefully I won't have to wait too long. I remembered my book today so luckily I wasn't completely bored - unlike yesterday.. All there was were parent and baby magazines in German.
I'll probably update tomorrow after my appointment in the evening to update on whatever is wrong with me - if she manages to find anything!

2007-10-26T19:52:00.000+02:00

The last few days have been rubbish. I'm feeling awful at the moment.
On Wednesday I woke up feeling like I was on a rocky boat - really dizzy. Then I almost collapsed on the way to the bathroom because I couldn't see. And I keep getting this on and off. And headaches in the morning when I wake up. Luckily they haven't been as bad as on Wednesday when I could barely move it was so painful. I'm struggling to sleep because strangely, it's worse when I lie down - which is highly irritating because I am so tired but I feel sick when I lie down. Thankfully, I haven't been sick so that's one good thing! I still have my appetite thank god... but because I haven't been at work, I've just been wanting to eat constantly. And my Bahlsan Leibniz addiction is only getting worse.
I've managed to get a lot done today which is good, because it doesn't hurt my head sitting up at the computer. I've been a bit homesick today because I'm not feeling well and usually I have someone around that I can moan at or to get me stuff, but I'm pretty much alone.. and feeling lonely!
So for dinner, I made myself jacket potato, beans and cheddar cheese! That cheered me up a lot :) Hopefully if I feel better tomorrow, I will be going to a museum. But, it's open on Sundays as well so I might go then instead.

After feeling dizzy and sick all morning...

2007-10-25T15:13:00.001+02:00

Everything just seemed right again :)

2007-10-24T22:15:00.000+02:00

I've not done anything out of the ordinary the last few days. Just work, then more work. Until today I woke up with a migraine. But I woke up and almost collapsed on the way to the bathroom because I was so dizzy and couldn't stand up. It lasted a few hours... I didn't sleep very well but I don't think that would have caused it. Luckily it has gone now but during the day I kept getting slight headaches when I stood up.
So, I began diagnosing myself with various diseases and syndromes. The internet is a dangerous place if you worry about your health. Type in a few symptoms and you've got 6 months to live. Terrifying.
This week, I think I have Meniere's Disease. I have all the symptoms!! Luckily it isn't fatal...

Festival of Lights...

2007-10-20T22:55:00.000+02:00

Today I woke up at 7.30!! To go to Ikea! We went there around 9am, and we had breakfast there. I had loads to eat. You can choose so much. So I had a plate of smoked salmon, cheese and salami, with 2 mini breadrolls. Then I had some strange small meatball that Germans eat and scrambled eggs. It was surprisingly delicious!! We eventually got home at about 12.30, after hours of drooling over massive beds and beautiful kitchens. My fingers were close to falling off on the way home after carrying everything back!!

So naturally I had a nap in the afternoon after my lunch.
We then planned to meet up around 6 in central Berlin, so we could go to the zoo. At the moment, until next Sunday, there is a thing on in Berlin called the Festival of Lights. Basically, anything famous in Berlin is luminated in different colours, and some in patterns. So on the website it says that the zoo is lit up as well! So, we paid our 6€ and were excited and went in to try to find Knut, the polar bear.
So, it turns out that we paid 6€ to see 3 different bushes lit up in green. And the only animal that was out was sea lions. Luckily they were cute so it wasn't all bad. We then discovered that three quarters of the zoo was sectioned off so we couldn't go there. So we only managed to see some sea lions. Needless to say we were extremely disappointed. We did manage to fill up 25 minutes there though.
After we left, we decided to get on a bus which goes past all the famous places to see if anything else (that was free) was lit up. It turns out that almost everything was in different lights. I took about 70 photos but here are just a few of them! [exactly the same as those posted on facebook]. If you click them, they'll become bigger.

in order:
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (This was bombed in the WWII, leaving a massive whole in the ceiling. A new church is built next to it.
Entrance to the Elephant entrance to the zoo.
Hotel Adlon. (V.posh hotel next to the Brandenburg Gate where Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window)
Brandenburg Gate. (This was illuminated in many colours. I took a short video, maybe I'll try to post that next.)
Unter den Linden. (Long road leading towards the Brandenburg Gate.)
Unter den Linden.
Fernsehturm (Berlin TV tower - there is a view point and a revolving restaurant at the top.)
Deutscher Dom, Gendarmenmarkt. (German cathedral.)
Französischer Dom, Gendarmenmarkt. (French cathedral)
Konzerthaus, Gendarmenmarkt.

Note to Mum, Dad, Grandma and James: The last 3 pics are where we are staying in November. If you look carefully behind the German cathedral, you can see "Hilton" written =)

Edit: I managed to upload my videos to youtube.
Brandenburg Gate - no need for sound
Unter den Linden comedy opera house. Very short - almost pointless!
The other is still processing at the moment... but it should work by the time someone reads this... if you click on my username charlotterichards on youtube, it should send you to the videos, where the other will hopefully be :)

2007-10-19T15:47:00.000+02:00

The last few days have been uneventful - but very cold. The weekend is going to get even colder.. Possibly into the minuses very soon. So, those coming to Berlin - don't forget a hat, scarf, gloves, thick coat and thick socks!

The past few days, we've been speaking in English because Anaice has been missing her boyfriend a lot and needs things to keep her busy and at the moment, it's still easier to keep up conversation in English. Although I do think my German is improving.. At least I hope.

Last night, we went to see Ratatouille at the cinema - in German! Luckily I saw it in America so I knew what it was about! It was strange hearing German being spoken in a French accent. Although it was somewhat confusing. It wasn't as good as I had remembered but it was still enjoyable. Nemo is still my favourite.

This weekend we are wrapping up warm and going to Ikea to get shelves for Anaice's room, and then going to Ku'damm. Then maybe on Sunday I'll go to the zoo to keep myself busy - I was so bored last Sunday because nothing was open.

I finally got my dates through for Poitiers. Looks like I can't go later than I wanted to... but we get a hell of a lot of time off. So I guess that will make up for it. Just a shame that I'll have to leave here earlier than planned. Maybe I'll come back here for a month or so in the summer.

Also... I think I'm becoming slightly obsessed with Michael Buble. It must be about 5 times I've listened to the album so far today...

2007-10-17T18:08:00.001+02:00

It turns out the woman I went to see last night is the mother of my boss's daughter (I assume they're not together, because they would've had used such a strange way to describe each other.. although I do wonder with Germans sometimes...).
She wanted me to help her with her work and correct anything that is wrong, like spelling, punctuation and grammar (obviously, we have never met before this point!). So it took about an hour correcting things and helping her write more. When I'd finished, she offered me 20€ for my time, but I declined (stupidly, seeing as I went straight to H&M afterwards!!) - I didn't think it was very fair that I took money seeing as I was only doing it as a favour.

She then said she's going to help me with my dissertation because she grew up in East Germany and loves to talk about the wall. She also said that she knows someone else who can help me because he tried to escape from East Germany, and went to Hungary illegally! So that should pad out my research and dissertation quite a bit! So, obviously I'm quite looking forward to that now. At least it should make writing 10,000 words interesting!

Tonight is football. We shall be watching Germany, but I will have a live ticker on for the French. With my fingers crossed throughout the both of them! Vive la France and all that...

2007-10-16T15:17:00.000+02:00

I don't think I've quite recovered from my lack of sleep on Saturday. I woke up with a really swollen throat yesterday morning and today it's worse and really sore and I woke up with a migraine - luckily it's gone now! I found it so hard to move this morning because my head hurt so much. So, I didn't go into work today, I just stayed at home, and nipped to the chemist to get throat sweets. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow.

It was really sunny here today and yesterday, which is good because I've been so cold recently and today. Unfortunately, I still need my coat when I go out!!

Today I was thinking about the recycling system in Germany (I've had a lot of time on my hand!) - they have a system here called "grüner punkt" (green spot). Anything with the symbol on can be recycled. This is pretty much anything the packet meat comes in to my rolo wrappers and crisp packets! Then there is a plastic bottle system - for any returned small bottle, you get back 15cts, and for larger ones then you get 25cts. Then there is the paper recycling that is anything from cardboard to newspaper. Then you have the "rest müll" which is anything that is left - basically food. I think that other countries should do it rather just cans and paper. Even the bins tend to have 3 sections for recycling - even McDonalds! Maybe I should write to Gordon Brown? I already feel environmentally friendly after 2 weeks!

I'm going to nap now because I have to go out tonight :( I'm going to help my boss's girlfriend/friend/i don't know who.. she's doing a project in English and wants me to help her with her English and proof read it. At least I think that's what it is!!

Party..

2007-10-14T12:48:00.000+02:00

My previous lemon meringue pie turned out rank, so I made another!! And little scones! We had a variety of English crisps - marmite, salt and vinegar, prawn cocktail, bbq and Worcester sauce. We also put out some bread and marmite so people can try that - everyone was on the side of "hate it" from the "love it or hate it" slogan! Not many people were keen on pickle either! But, I'm very proud to say everyone loved the lemon meringue pie and the scones went so fast I only had one!

I only had a bit of the pie, but I thought it was ok - obviously not as good as Grandma's but it was good enough to eat!

The people were all really nice and spoke slowly to me!! I think there was probably about 15 of us, which was good. There was just one guy I wasn't keen on - I think he tried to get people to laugh at him too much... and he looked like someone and I couldn't put my finger on who, which annoyed me more. There was one guy who came who spent last year at Imperial so that was nice to talk to him.

There were also a few people who came and we're going to do a thing where one day each week (I think Mondays) someone cooks for the others, so that should be good fun, it should also help improve my speaking, too.

I am so knackered today, I'm not planning on doing anything at all. Everyone left at 3.30!!! When it got to about 1o'clock, I was starting to wish they'd all go home, because everyone gathered in my room. But no such luck. I must've got to bed at 4 - then I got woken up at 10 by some loud child somewhere. So I'm not feeling too great today. Early night for me tonight. (I feel like an old woman!) Anaice said earlier in the evening she hopes people will leave at 12 so she can go to sleep! And she was up at 9.30, washing up - everything was done before I got up, she said she had nothing to do - I felt so awful!!

I'm going to go and watch a film now.. maybe have a nap.. eat a bit.. then go back to bed!!

2007-10-13T10:48:00.000+02:00

Just a few pics. The pie didn't turn out very well :( and that was my responsibility so I feel bad haha! It's very crispy though - I'm just very tempted to go and pick off every orange bit i see - I think I definitely used too much sugar, which is a shame because it would look ok if it wasn't for the sugary orange bits... maybe I'll go and pick them off now! The orange bits don't show up very well in the picture there so here's an idea of what it looks like: (!!!)

Doesn't the potato salad look delicious? It smells so good I could eat all of it!!

Not as good as Grandma makes it...

2007-10-12T21:55:00.000+02:00

... But it's an effort none the less!

I have been in the kitchen for 3 hours almost non stop!! Tomorrow we are having Frikadellen (basically meatballs with a German name!) and German potato salad. Then we have lemon meringue pie (if it turns out ok - fingers crossed!) and scones, and also some German fruit salad thing, that is berries in sauce - we had some earlier, it was lovely. We had it warm with ice cream :) Everything looks so yummy, I want to eat it all now - it's very tempting.

I had work today, I managed to get their even though there is a strike. Apparently a strike in Germany means the trains still run, they just tell you they aren't running properly. Imagine what the French would say!! I wasn't really at work for long, I was the last to leave. At 3:30. I'm starting to quite enjoy this! I can lie in and get home before 4.30!!! And I still have stuff to occupy myself at work because I have been doing the translation.

We have about 20 people coming tomorrow, so that should be good. At least if I get too nervous, there will be the football on to watch!! I'm very tempted to go and get a bowl of the potato salad!! It's lovely, it has lots in it - gherkins!! I'll take a picture of everything and post it on here on Sunday!

Lemon meringue pie...

2007-10-11T22:30:00.000+02:00

I went to the English shop today - where we bought a filling for a lemon meringue pie! And stuff to make pastry. Yes, I'm going to try to recreate the Grandma classic. For the party, we decided that our warm food will be something German, and the rest will be English. We got a few different flavours of crisps - including marmite and prawn cocktail, which Anaice found quite hilarious! I think we are going to have Frikadellen for our German meal.

I had work today for a while, and I was doing my translation and then I went home, I couldn't seem to concentrate very well after a while. The text is quite difficult to translate, but after I while I was on a roll - then I got hungry and then I seemed to completely stopped! I've done about 2 and a half pages so far - my hand hurts a lot from all the writing!

Tomorrow the S-Bahn (the over ground train which I HAVE to use to get to work) is not on. There is some strike or something like that. Which means I will have to walk to another train station to get the U Bahn, then change and get on another line, then get to Alexanderplatz and change again for a tram. Or get a tram, then the U Bahn then another tram. Either way, it will take quite a long time. It's quite stressful - I haven't done either journeys so I have no idea how long it will take - and the website for the timetables won't let me online now either!! Thank god it's Friday tomorrow!!

All in all my first week of work has been quite strange, but I have enjoyed it because I've also been able to get along with other things. When I was working this summer, I got in too late to do anything because I was so tired after my commute. And at weekends all I wanted to do was relax. I've not been that tired this week, apart from yesterday.. and today.. ok I lie.. but I've not been as tired as I usually am. It does help that I'm able to sleep in until 8/9 each day... :)

I've also realised that already I'm talking a lot more. Anaice said that she thought at first I was too shy to speak but now we've been talking loads all evening, I cooked us dinner (gnocchi is my new favourite food), and we spoke pretty much constantly - quite unlike last Tuesday when I was really struggling. I think it really helps to be completely immersed in the language, but also knowing I have people to help me if I'm really stuck. I feel more confident already - this time last week, I would have never have believed it!!

Jetzt geh ich ins Bett :)

Uneventful..

2007-10-10T23:30:00.000+02:00

Today was quite uneventful. I was the first at work at 9.45 (I'm starting to like this whole German work thing!) and there was barely anything for me to do all day so I was browsing the internet. I was eventually given a task - although I don't know if I'd prefer to be bored than this! I have to translate a 12 page history of the Football Fan Projects in Germany! Luckily there is no time frame and they said I can do it in my own time, so I'll be doing that during the next few days! I've only ever translated French before so it should be interesting to see how different it is.

Tomorrow we are going to the English shop again to have a browse and see if we can find something for our party. Maybe I'll ask the people in the shop if they have any ideas.

Pretty much all evening, I've been online staring at beautiful designer clothes - it's becoming a terrible habit. I've decided that my dream is to own an Hermes scarf, and I've seen a fabulous one online!!

A life long dream of mine was so close today, and yet I only found out what occurred hours after it happened. The Backstreet Boys are currently in Berlin (or maybe now on their way to Koln!). They have been in Berlin the past few days, and I find out the day they leave! They played 3 songs in a shopping centre in Potsdamer Platz (which is only 25 mins from here!).
I think I'm still a 12 year old kid at heart - my heart sank when I found out I had missed them. Oh well, there's still Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise to spot!!

I've been ever so tired all day, so I don't know why I'm still awake at almost midnight! I suppose I should go to bed...

Work again...

2007-10-09T15:22:00.000+02:00

I started at 10 today, because I was told the meeting would start then... I got there early because I thought, typically German, they'd start early. But no... There was still only three of us in at 10.30!! The meeting started at 10.45 and lasted until 1pm!! They said they have a tradition that every Tuesday when they have their weekly meetings, they have a German breakfast - I wish they told me that yesterday, I wouldn't have eaten a load of toast and marmite this morning! There was lots of cheese, ham, salami, delicious bread and various other pastes which i didn't try cos they looked weird! ... oh and a bowl full of radishes!

To be honest, I didn't understand much of what they were saying, but I got the gist of some of it! It finished at 1pm, so I asked if there was anything for me to do - turns out there wasn't, but they suggested I go to this Stasi museum which is near work so, my boss called up to see if there was a tour in English, which there was at 2.30 (with a group of Swedish people!). I thought I had time to go home, get my notebook and camera and then go to the museum. I was looking forward to it, but then I missed my train then had to wait 10 minutes for the next one, then I got home at 2.10 - too late to go. So I (very bravely) called up the museum to see if there was any tours on Saturday. I'm now going to go either 10am or 1pm. I think the 1pm sounds slightly more inviting.

Currently, I'm (sadly) excited to discover I can listen to magic fm and wait for it... radio JACKIE online! I hope this will help cure my homesickness! I can now find out what is happening in Tolworth this weekend! I'm pleased to hear that the Marks and Spencers in Staines has been refurbished.

I'm going food shopping again, which I like to do here because everything is so different and new to me. And there's Barilla pasta and sauces!

Until next time...

Work...

2007-10-08T20:42:00.000+02:00

I had my first day at work today - slightly less eventful that I had imagined - but I survived!! I got there at about 10:40, so I was early in case I didn't find the right place. I then had a tour of the place, which is a huuuge sports ground with various halls for different sports like swimming, ice hockey etc. It is in the former East Germany and was used for the sports then. I was told that there used to be only two ice hockey teams in East Germany - and they only used to play against each other!! There's also a small place for possible future stars ages 12-18 to come, like a school to perfect their playing, which sounded quite interesting. In 2008, there'll be lots of games there for the Olympics - if I understood the sign correctly, it said that German people will compete there to get to go to the Olympics - if that makes sense?

There is also a small stadium there - I must say, it's nothing like the Emirates Stadium (click here for a photo of it!) ! The team is in the 4th division and they used to be the favourite team of the head of the Stasi (Former East German secret police) - there was lots of game fixing involved (sounds like Italy!), and they won the league many many many times!!

For the rest of the day, I just watched loads of videos about football - to "help" me(!!) and to help with my German. Sadly, the only thing I saw of Thierry Henry was a very brief shot of his back.

There's not much else left to say, that's pretty much all I did today. Apart from buying 2 jumpers and of course, some essentials (Choco Leibniz - which unfortunately are almost all gone already!).

I start at 10 tomorrow morning, and there's a meeting with plans for the week etc, so I'll probably update tomorrow when I get home!

My mate Marmite...

2007-10-07T12:43:00.000+02:00

I haven't done anything very productive the last few days. I've just been exploring and getting used to the trains here.

Yesterday, I went to an English shop that sells all sorts of English food. I bought Marmite, Branston pickle and CHEDDAR CHEESE! You would not believe how difficult it is to find cheddar here. There's every other cheese under the sun except cheddar!! Luckily, the shop isn't far away and only took me about 20 minutes to get to.

I've been quite lonely the past few days and I'm starting to miss people speaking English already! For the first time in my life, I was actually grateful to hear a Scottish accent in the shop yesterday!

I start work tomorrow, and to be honest, I'm quite nervous. I know I'm not going to be thrown in at the deep end, but I guess it's the fear of the unknown. I don't know anyone there except the boss, who I met a month or so ago. Also, I don't know what accents they are going to have or how quickly they'll talk to me - or what they'll want me to do!!

The shops are open in Berlin today. There's only a certain number of Sundays a year (6, I think) that the shops open. Then in three weeks time it is the long night of shopping! The shops are open until midnight! If I didn't get so tired, I'd probably go!! The shops are open until 8 tonight, so I might head out at some point. The cold weather tends to put me off going out! At least it's vaguely sunny today...

Anyhow, I'm off to make ham and pickle and cheese and pickle sandwiches!!!

A few notes about differences...

2007-10-04T18:18:00.001+02:00

Over the past few days, I've been making note of strange things I've seen here.

Obviously first on the list is FASHION SENSE! Or if you're German.. lack thereof. It's strange. I can't quite put my head around it. Where do these patent shoes, red trousers and slogan t-shirts come from? I have yet to see a shop that sells really revolting clothes. Here, they have shops like Benetton, Zara, Mango and of course, H&M. Also, no hair dresser advertises mullets in it's windows - where do they get the idea that it's a good look?

Food shopping was interesting too - how many different types of sausage does one country need? A whole aisle full, that's how many. However, when it comes to crisps, it's nothing like in England where you get two aisles full of choice - you have salt, paprika... and more salt. occasionally a packet of something strange like pepperoni. It's lucky I like paprika crisps. One thing I did like is seeing birds eye food but birds eye is "iglo" here. I think it's rather sweet. They have frozen herbs, which i think is a good idea. Everything seems much fresher here as well - the vegetables are much nicer colours and also meat only lasts a few days at the most - Anaice told me that if I want minced meat, I have to eat it that day because the date is always the same as the day you go shopping.

Germans also like their nudity. I must have seen 100 sex shops already - and also one brothel, which Anaice kindly pointed out to me! I was flicking through channels yesterday evening and realised they have a quiz show just like Quizmania - except the host is topless. Very strange...

Last night was good. I met two new people - who speak very quickly, so it was quite difficult to keep up, but I hope that will help with my understanding and listening skills. Unfortunately, Bremen lost - they were doing well... until the last 20 minutes when Olympiacos scored three goals!!

I've been very lazy today, not really done much at all apart from fill in my moleskine berlin book of places I've been etc. I'm going to go shopping tomorrow and to take some pictures for my dissertation.

But now I'm going to make my dinner!

Ciao

Some pictures...

2007-10-03T17:00:00.000+02:00

This picture to the right is of my room from my desk. It's really nice and has gorgeous wooden floors. The window by the sofa is actually a door to the balcony.. which would be nice if it wasn't so cold here! Below is a pic of my room from the balcony. It's quite a big room, which is really nice, I have tons of space for everything and a variety of places to sit! I have a TV and DVD player (which really confused me yesterday when Anaice mentioned it.. I forgot my alphabet for a moment and wondered what the hell a "dey fow dey" was.

The next pic is a view from the kitchen. There's a small courtyard where the bins and stuff is so not really as nice as it looks, but still, it's nice enough!

Last night, I went food shopping. I couldn't believe how huge the shopping centre was. It was a 2 storey supermarket kind of like Asda, with everything in it from clothes to food. Everything is so cheap here. I spend 23€ (£16) on my shopping, and I got quite a lot of stuff, including meat.
They recycle almost everything here - there's four separate places for rubbish. With plastic bottles for coke, water etc, you get money back when you take them back to the supermarket, you get 15ct back for the small bottles you get in coke machines and 25ct for larger bottles. Really good idea, I think. A good incentive.

Next Saturday, we're having a small party and we're going to prepare some English food for guests.. but not sure what to do! I tried to explain both pickle and marmite yesterday... never realised how hard it would be!!

Today, we went to the Brandenburg Gate where there was a party going on all down Strasse den 17. Juni, (a v.long road leading up to the Gate). If you were a tourist and had no idea what was going on.. and went there... you still wouldn't have a clue. There was one small sign that said "Fest zum Tag der Deutschen Einheit" which is "party for the day of German unity".. and that was it! There were lots of balloons in red, black and yellow... but nothing really commemorating the wall. For an outsider, it would've just looked like a food festival where you can buy all sorts of sausage and pretzels (which were very nice, by the way). We were stopped by Sat 1. (tv channel) and asked a question but I quickly moved away so they didn't ask me and I looked like a fool on tv :D they asked her where she was when the wall fell down - she said she was only 5 so she was probably in bed!!

Tonight, we're going to a small gathering to watch the football. Should be quite good. I'll get to meet some new people.. although i'm slightly nervous about my German being rubbish!!!
I shall try update tomorrow...

My first 24 hours...

2007-10-03T10:48:00.000+02:00

Hello there - I thought this would be the easiest way to let people know what I've been up to so far.
Well.. not a lot really, because I've only been here for less than 24 hours ;)

Got here last night around 7, then got to the flat, unpacked everything, chatted a bit, had some dinner and then watched Friends in German and went to sleep.

It's so cold here already, I can't believe it. I went for a wander today, to Alexanderplatz to some huuuuge shopping centre for a browse - huge h&m made my morning! I swear the fashions here get worse every time I come here! There's everything from red trousers to mullets to patent shoes, which everyone here seems to wear! And the people are either really stylish or have no sense at all.. I haven't really seen anyone in between.

Tomorrow night is football on, so I think I'm meeting new people then. And in the day, I plan to go to the Brandenburg Gate and take some pics, apparently there's things going on for the Unification Day.

I don't start work until Monday at 11, so I have lots of free time.. and I'm in the flat alone from Thursday til Monday.. so that should be strange but nevermind! Gives me time to get my bearings etc.