It's been two weeks since I last posted - what a disgrace, I know! I'd like to say that a lot has been happening, and I suppose it has, but honestly, damned if I can remember it all. So, my apologies if this is all sporadic and disjointed and (most likely) completely incomprehensible.So, for the last two weeks, German class was over in the Technologiepark - it's about a 15 minute walk from the uni. I walked half of the time, which necessitated leaving a little earlier, or caught the bus when I wanted to leave at 8am as normal. Catching the bus was quick and easy, but I resented having to talk to people who were on the same bus as me, or having to walk with them into the Technologiepark after the bus ride. I like having my mornings to myself; I want to take off my ipod when I get into class, not before. I like having my half-hour of music alone with my thoughts. So I didn't enjoy having other people infringe on that. I'm going to do my best to avoid taking the bus, and make sure I get off my lazy backside and walk every morning. It'll be easier from now on, because we're back at the uni, in the 'fishbowl' (one of the room in E-building, everyone can see in as they walk past) for the rest of the term.
So, last weekend... where did that time go? I went to the Market on Saturday, as usual, and I think I walked through town at some point. That might've been when I went to the Marktkauf on the other side of town. No, wait, that was another day. Hm, dunno. On Sunday I managed to get the seminar's material written in one fell swoop, which was nice. That's my task for today, too.
OH, I know what I did last week: I chased up a tax card. I handed in all my stupid paperwork for this job, and then got told to get this card, and bring it back. So, after visits to a few offices (they really enjoy redirecting people to other offices!) I managed to get one. It only took a few minutes in the end; I looked at the woman and said, "That was so easy!" with amazement, and she laughed. Anyway, I did finally hand in all the extra paperwork, with the tax card. Then on Thursday morning, I got a call from the poor woman trying to put together my contract (she doesn't speak English, and consequently has to endure my insufficient German)... I was in the breakfast line at a hostel at that point, which I'll get to later, but I managed to understand in the end. The problem is that I can't get a job as a student assistant unless I'm enrolled in a degree at the uni. I've emailed Manfred but am yet to hear back, so I'll go visit him on Monday if I don't get a reply. I apologised profusely to the poor woman, but I know I've just been a total pain in the ass for her. No wonder this town has such a reputation for disliking foreigners, hahaha!
I spoke with Mum on Skype today (she forgot about me last weekend! I was really sad) and she said that I shouldn't be working if I wasn't getting paid for it, because it's taking time away from the German course. While I'm disappointed that there's been issues with getting paid, I still hope that there's some way that I can be employed and get some money, so I'm crossing my fingers that I can just be employed as a casual. Of course, I don't think they'd be too psyched about paying me for the full length of time that I'll actually be working; I've been working for a month, which means that they'd technically have to pay me until after I've left the country, and I really don't see that happening. It's all getting a bit complicated right now. Either way, as much as I agree that it's totally cut into the time I spend on the German course outside of class (aka, it's gone from "a little bit" to "absolutely nothing") I don't think that I should just throw it in if I don't get paid, because it'll help me get a job later. It's just such an annoyance right now.
So, back to everything else. On Monday night I picked up Steph, a girl I used to work with at Woolies, from the train station. She'd been on some tour around Europe (I think you should all know how I feel about tours, but in her defense, at least it wasn't Contiki) and was dropping in to visit for a couple of days; I think she was pleased to have a familiar face, because she's not really cut out for travelling alone for so long. Anyway, after uni on Tuesday, we went to the Dom and had a wander around. Went to Real for some food and cooked up awesome pasta when we got back. By Wednesday I was exhausted - I think she'd forgotten that I still had to get up at 6:30am, when she had the luxury of sleeping in until 10, so I probably wasn't as active as I could have been. Anyway, she met me at the uni for lunch, and sat in on the Seminar. Manfred wasn't there, for the second week in a row. None of the students were surprised, actually. Interesting. So, after that, we went (via Netto for snacks) to the train station. Caught the train to Koln. Missed the transfer in Hamm because first the train was half an hour late, then it pulled in to a different platform. By the time I'd confirmed that it was in fact the train we wanted (the sign gave a totally different destination) the doors had closed, and we weren't on it. So we waited half an hour for the next (on time) train.
I got off the train at Messe-Deutz and checked into my hostel, and Steph went to the Hbf (they're only a stop apart, directly across the river) and found her hostel. I caught an S-bahn across the bridge to meet her, and we dropped by my hostel again. (I wasn't sure if mine had lockers, so she'd taken my laptop... only to discover that I did have a locker, and that the only free locker in her room was broken!) So, we then caught the tram a couple of stops to Gebaude 9, and managed to catch a couple of songs of Skylark or whatever they were called. I think they were British. Anyway, they weren't great, so I didn't mind missing them. Les Savy Fav started soon after, and they were great fun. It was something of a learning curve for Steph; she said as we were going into the warehouse that she'd have never have gone anywhere like that on her own. I couldn't explain to her why I knew it was safe from the first time I was there. I likened it to familiarity with being amongst punk kids; I know they're not starting fights. My only experiences with street tensions have been with kids who think they're gangsters trying to start shit with the kids with tattoos and tunnels, who usually walk off without comment. I tried to explain that if I saw a group of punk kids on one side of the street, and a group of hip hop kids on the other, I'd be a thousand times safer on the punk side, but I'm not sure if she could understand my logic. Eh, whatever.
Les Savy Fav were fun, but not as brilliant as the first two times I'd seen them. Kids were still dancing, and the singer was absolutely nuts, but I had to keep worrying about Steph's reactions. I guess when you already know that the singer of a band is likely to come out on stage in costume (including a decorated body stocking with muscles and organs and bones drawn on, saying "everybody has a body" across the back) then you don't get such a surprise. Either way, I think it was probably a new experience for her to see someone who just didn't give a fuck; he's this massive guy, with a huge belly, a huge beard, and balding hair, who fucks around on stage and climbs on stuff and gets down. I thought it was awesome; it takes a lot of guts to stop caring what anyone thinks, and just be silly and have fun. I tried to explain that later, but I think that was somewhere else where different people will have different opinions. ;)
Anyway, we were both exhausted after the show, after being on the go for so long, and walked back to our hostels. I helped Steph find the pedestrian section of the rail bridge before I walked back to my hostel - she didn't want to catch the train for some reason. Oh, I forgot to mention that the reason why she wasn't staying at the Deutz YHA was that it was fully booked; I'd booked my room months ago. I got back at about one. Anyway, she sent me the necessary sms to say that she was safe, and I slept like a coma until about 7:30am. I had breakfast in the cafeteria-style breakfast room, which was loaded with sugar because of course jam was the only vegan option. I was totally over sugar that day. We met at the station at 9:30am and explored inside the Dom. The treasury was pretty cool, too. We then went to the Ludwig museum, which is a modern art museum. Steph isn't really into art, so I don't think she enjoyed it so much. I was walking around looking at awesome 1920s Parisian photographs in an exhibition while she was just sitting there. Fair enough, everyone gets tired feet, but I was unwilling to skip an exhibition I was loving, especially after having paid for it. We both got excited about the cute stuff in the gift shop after; I bought the ceramic travel mug (ok, no handle, so technically it's more of a beaker) with silicon heat-proof lid and and grip that you see at the top of the post. I love it, and am using it religiously; it keeps my drinks warm! And it feels nice to hold it. And it's pretty. Love it.
Anyway, afterwards we went for a quick walk through the shopping district - Steph needed new ballet flats because hers had fallen apart completely. She didn't buy any, but she did throw the old ones out, which was definitely a step in the right direction! We sat down and had a coffee (and she had a danish) and then we wandered over to the NS-Dokumentation exhibit, which was in a building previously used by the Gestapo. The small museum would have been much cooler had it not been filled with screaming schoolkids (they were maybe 13 or 14) a few minutes after we arrived. I wanted to complain to their teacher, but figured there was no point. I think I did a pretty good job of translating lots of the signs, but failed epically with the old-fashioned print... the alphabet is simply incomprehensible sometimes. Anyway, after that, we wandered over to the train station, and I got a salad for dinner. Steph got a wrap; we were happy for some vegetables, after eating baked goods all day. Halves in a fruit salad, too. I did, however, introduce her to the wonders of German prezels, baked goods, and streusel: mission accomplished. I managed to showcase the one good thing about German food, at least.
Caught the train back to Pb at 4:21 (arrived just before 7pm) and came back here, tired and ready to relax. Steph repacked her bag while I updated my internet stuff, and then she skyped her Mum while I fell into bed. I didn't sleep until after she'd finished, though, despite her being in the kitchen, so I probably should have better-utilised that time and read a book. Oh well. I caught the bus to the Techpark direct from there, and struggled to stay awake in class. I was thankful for the weekend. I was invited to a party hosted by the students from Cameroon, and Frau Bartsch discovered that my name is pronnounced with a long "ee" sound. I think she felt a bit bad that she'd always said it wrong, but I did my best to explain that Germans just pronnounced it as it was written, so it wasn't a big deal. Anyway, it was a relief to have the week over and done with. I had an early night after reading a book; finally had the time to finish Empires of Food. It's been sorely neglected; outside of blogs, I haven't read anything for leisure (ok, blogs are more addiction than leisure) since before I got the job. So it was a nice accomplishment, and I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in food.
Saturday I got up early and went to the markets. The Christmas Market is being set up, so I had to search for a while to find my usual lady. 25 Euros later (how do I do that?!) I was at home, tucking into onion baguette slathered with harissa, hot coffee, and fresh apples. I love weekend breakfasts; I'm all alone, the world is peaceful, and I have the time to cook myself something delicious. They're my favourite time of the week. And this weekend, I had massive coffees in my beautiful cup. Love it. Ahem. So, moving on, yesterday was a recharge-day of sorts. I watched the rest of the "Victorian Farm" series on Youtube (yep, from episode 19 to 36!), which is a series about 3 historians living in the Victorian manner on a farm. I love stuff like that. I basically lazed in bed and ate for the entire day, and it was awesome. I need a whole week of that, and maybe then I'll feel relaxed again. I had a headache last night because I read all day without my glasses, so I didn't go to the party; I felt a bit bad, but the idea of going all the way out to Stephens Scheune at 10:30pm didn't appeal to me. It's too far, too late, and didn't allow me the appropriate public transport options to just do a courtesy visit. Oh well.
So, this morning I got up at 8am, finally feeling like I'd caught up on sleep (even though I know that's physically impossible). I made Korean-style vegetable pancakes for breakfast using leftover kale, and they were amaaaazing. So good and crispy! I chatted to my mum for over an hour, which was lovely, and she discussed the possibility of selling my car to Jayne (and buying something else that I will have access to). I'm always glad to get consulted for these things; I think after I cracked the shits about the billion and one car-swaps while I was trying to get my license, they've realised that it does, in fact, matter to me which car I'm driving. Jayne has booked the first hotel for our trip (good; I was getting really nervous about how late she's left it). So, now I just have to write about food in Australia, and put together some kind of powerpoint. I think I'm going to bake some Anzac bikkies too, on Tuesday night, so that the class will like me. (Buying favouritism? Hell, yes.) Haha. Nah, really it's just because I can't be trusted to bake an entire batch of cookies, because I eat them all myself. The chocolate cookies last week proved that... they tasted like nutella. Mmm.
So, I think that's the whole fortnight, recapped. Oh, I got a letter from Louise (I won in the cute-card competition, so I'm going to start a modern-art postcard competition) and, despite needing another vaccum (Steph had some pringles break open in her bag) my room is looking good again. Life is busy, but it's not too bad. Still looking forward to going home, but hey, all in good time. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to next weekend, to the first snow (against all logic, I know) and to my December travels with Jayne. Just gotta hold on in the German course (still getting good marks, but I know that I'm not learning as much as I could) and get through it.
I'm going to try to go for a run, for the first time in weeks. Legs, and foot that I think I fractured in my first week here, I apologise in advance.
