So its Monday again! :P I've officially been here for about 3 months and one week... I can't even believe it! Time flies by here!
Like I said last time, Saturday night we went to Sonnendeck. The other day one of my friends put up pictures of me & Wandy & Vartan dancing on the bar ...so embarassing! They were an automatic de-tag. Just the worst. I was a sloppy sweaty mess!
Would you believe... that yesterday I went for a run!? Yes its true! In the woods too! Its nice living in Dodesheide becuase its right on the edge of the city & there's a lot of nice things around here to see like farms & woods. :) Last night I hung out with Ian & Mike & we watched fantasia! Tripiest movie ever!
Today I had trumpet ensemble & a trumpet lesson & tutored for an hour or so. I also practiced trumpet for a while & piano for an hour! :P so good for me! :) Theres this little clothing shop on Johannisstrasse that sells the nicest stuff and I couldn't resist and went there today and got another shirt! Its the third one I have from there! :P ahah I'm such an impulsive shopper it is just terrible. I watched some Community & The Office with Ian & Mike tonight also, and that leads me to now! Not the most exciting day.. but if I don't write about it I will forget what I've done here!
Suze
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Ahh love the Erasmus life
So the past few days have been really great!!
On thursday I went out with one of my german friends to Sunrise & there we ended up running into a whole bunch of international students! It was a really really really fun night. Lets just say OSH is bia ;-)
Last night was pretty relaxed! On thursday I only got like 3 hours of sleep... so last night I went to bed pretty early! There was a Greek/Turkish party happening in Haus 6, so I stopped by there of course, and then me Mike & Wandy played a couple rounds of beer pong in one kitchen. I can't believe I've actually never played that game before in all my years at Laurier!
Today was a unusual day... because it is Saturday, but yet I had rehearsal alll day! Gosh darn orchestra! After that I practiced a tiny bit & then came back to Dodesheide. Eurovision 2010 was happening tonight... which is like this HUGE singing contest but for all of Europe! It is soo epic, and gets more ratings than the super bowl here! It was really fun, so many people crowed into Nachtasyl here & cheering for their own country! And cocktails at Nachtasyl are only 1.50 euro, just ridiculous, because it is a student bar & they are not in it to make money so they sell the drinks for what they buy it for. So anyways we were in Nachtasyl for quite a while then went to Sonnendeck! And we danced on the bar again!!! hahah it would not be a night in Sonnendeck unless we danced on the bar! ;-) And we managed to catch the last bus back:)
So that brings me to now! Wandy & I sat in the kitchen for like a half hour eating some pasta & chatting when we first got back!
But! Big news!! I am thinking of staying here for another semester... so far it looks like I think I will. There are pros and cons to both staying and going... I have to look into it though from the sides of both schools... its really complicated!! I will keep you updated though...
okay thats it! I'm exhausted.. its exactly 4:01am now!!
Tschuss! Gutan nacht!
Susie
On thursday I went out with one of my german friends to Sunrise & there we ended up running into a whole bunch of international students! It was a really really really fun night. Lets just say OSH is bia ;-)
Last night was pretty relaxed! On thursday I only got like 3 hours of sleep... so last night I went to bed pretty early! There was a Greek/Turkish party happening in Haus 6, so I stopped by there of course, and then me Mike & Wandy played a couple rounds of beer pong in one kitchen. I can't believe I've actually never played that game before in all my years at Laurier!
Today was a unusual day... because it is Saturday, but yet I had rehearsal alll day! Gosh darn orchestra! After that I practiced a tiny bit & then came back to Dodesheide. Eurovision 2010 was happening tonight... which is like this HUGE singing contest but for all of Europe! It is soo epic, and gets more ratings than the super bowl here! It was really fun, so many people crowed into Nachtasyl here & cheering for their own country! And cocktails at Nachtasyl are only 1.50 euro, just ridiculous, because it is a student bar & they are not in it to make money so they sell the drinks for what they buy it for. So anyways we were in Nachtasyl for quite a while then went to Sonnendeck! And we danced on the bar again!!! hahah it would not be a night in Sonnendeck unless we danced on the bar! ;-) And we managed to catch the last bus back:)
So that brings me to now! Wandy & I sat in the kitchen for like a half hour eating some pasta & chatting when we first got back!
But! Big news!! I am thinking of staying here for another semester... so far it looks like I think I will. There are pros and cons to both staying and going... I have to look into it though from the sides of both schools... its really complicated!! I will keep you updated though...
okay thats it! I'm exhausted.. its exactly 4:01am now!!
Tschuss! Gutan nacht!
Susie
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Back in the game!! I love Germany! :)
So my two month blog hiatus is over! ...and man have things changed!
Well, first off, about three weeks ago I moved into a different residence. Actually, I switched rooms with another girl. She was really unhappy here & I didn't like where I was living... so we made a simple switch! :) Its worked out for the best for the both of us. I love it here. Where I'm living is called 'Dodesheide'. It is a dorm style residence... long corridors with single rooms, and the whole floor shares a kitchen. There are SO many international students here I love it. Most of them go to the Uni. There are people from everywhere here... USA, Indonesia, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, just everywhere! Its a ton of fun! There are three separate buildings that all form our little dodesheide community. :) I love it. And there is a little pond right behind my building which we hang out at on sunny days. There is also a little bar in one of the buildings called 'Nachtasyl'. Its really cheap and theres a dart board & a pool table, its a good time. We also have poker nights every week... and I'm actually really good! I've been playing poker with my dad forever.. and its finally paid off! ;-) This residence is also the cheapest residence to live in... just 144 euro per month!! just ridic! The only downside is that it is kind of far from the school... about a 30 minute bike ride. But at least I'm staying healthy!! :)
Honestly in the past few weeks I can't even count how many times I have gone out! Its about 2 or 3 times a week. I wish I had stopped my hiatus earlier so I could write about each night, but now its back! So I'm back in action with the blogging about some outrageous stories :) but I'll say the highlights I can remember of the past week or so...
So for the past 10 days there has been this huge festival here called "Mai Woche" which means May Week. Throughout all of the pedestrian only streets there were all these different types of booths, mostly food and beer! And on every corner there was a stage, it was saweet! I think I went there waaayy too much :P They even built this outdoor club, it was amazing and they hired girls to dance on the bars! I was in there the opening night & this large drunk guy got on the bar as well and danced but he was so drunk that he just fell completely backwards off the bar! It was so ridiculous! The festival was a ton of fun to go to, even if just during the day to see some live music. :) It just ended the other day.
So I think I am going to be doing some traveling in July! I will be going to Pampelona in Spain to run with the bulls in the streets! It is insane I know, I hope I don't get hurt! I need to start running in advance! :P I also really want to go to Ireland! I think I'll be going there too! and then on the 17th of july to Croatia! oh baby! Thank god for my tutoring money! ;-)
My classes here have been going well!! Life actually started to get really busy! I have to write an essay for one of them, and I have been putting it off for like 5 weeks.. actually. this weekend maybe I'll live in the lib and just get er' done! :) And I lovee my trumpet teacher here still, he is just amazing. I'm learning so much from him. I definitely could not have gained the knowledge I'm getting from him, in Canada.
So the most outrageous story from the past couple weeks is this one night, we were all just at this bar Sunrise where we always go and we stayed there really late and a few of us were really pretty drunk, and so we were walking through the MaiWoche festival, but like everything was closed because it was so late. All of the booths were closed, and at this one bar the tent flaps were covering the whole bar and the entrance into the bar (which actually spins during the day), and so us being so clever, we decided to go into the bar! We just opened the door and crawled right in! It was sooo cool! And hilarious! So we were in there and just poured ourselves some strawberry drinks and then left like nothing happened! My one friend who was pouring the drinks spilt the strawberry stuff like all over the counter hahaha. but now I have the glass cup from that night & its such a good souvenir! Then a couple nights later we went to this karaoke bar, and things got a little out of control again... well first off were were there until like 5:30 am! It was light out when we left! And so the three of us from the last time we went into the spinny bar were walking through the MaiWoche again, and we decided to go in again! And this time we weren't even drunk really! And it was daylight! haha so again we got some drinks. All in a days work!!
Tonight I played poker in the bar here in Dodesheide with the Americans and our friend from Indonesia. We play every Wednesday, Texas Hold Em'! Its always a good time. :)
Tmrw I have no classes because its Thursday, but I have to tutor for a few hours and practice of course. I also have my weekly massage in the afternoon :) :) :) I think I am actually addicted to great massages now! When I go back to Canada I'm scared I'm going to need to start getting weekly massages! Eeek!
But, thats all for now! I'll write tomorrow of course!
Thanks for reading!
Suze
Well, first off, about three weeks ago I moved into a different residence. Actually, I switched rooms with another girl. She was really unhappy here & I didn't like where I was living... so we made a simple switch! :) Its worked out for the best for the both of us. I love it here. Where I'm living is called 'Dodesheide'. It is a dorm style residence... long corridors with single rooms, and the whole floor shares a kitchen. There are SO many international students here I love it. Most of them go to the Uni. There are people from everywhere here... USA, Indonesia, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, just everywhere! Its a ton of fun! There are three separate buildings that all form our little dodesheide community. :) I love it. And there is a little pond right behind my building which we hang out at on sunny days. There is also a little bar in one of the buildings called 'Nachtasyl'. Its really cheap and theres a dart board & a pool table, its a good time. We also have poker nights every week... and I'm actually really good! I've been playing poker with my dad forever.. and its finally paid off! ;-) This residence is also the cheapest residence to live in... just 144 euro per month!! just ridic! The only downside is that it is kind of far from the school... about a 30 minute bike ride. But at least I'm staying healthy!! :)
Honestly in the past few weeks I can't even count how many times I have gone out! Its about 2 or 3 times a week. I wish I had stopped my hiatus earlier so I could write about each night, but now its back! So I'm back in action with the blogging about some outrageous stories :) but I'll say the highlights I can remember of the past week or so...
So for the past 10 days there has been this huge festival here called "Mai Woche" which means May Week. Throughout all of the pedestrian only streets there were all these different types of booths, mostly food and beer! And on every corner there was a stage, it was saweet! I think I went there waaayy too much :P They even built this outdoor club, it was amazing and they hired girls to dance on the bars! I was in there the opening night & this large drunk guy got on the bar as well and danced but he was so drunk that he just fell completely backwards off the bar! It was so ridiculous! The festival was a ton of fun to go to, even if just during the day to see some live music. :) It just ended the other day.
So I think I am going to be doing some traveling in July! I will be going to Pampelona in Spain to run with the bulls in the streets! It is insane I know, I hope I don't get hurt! I need to start running in advance! :P I also really want to go to Ireland! I think I'll be going there too! and then on the 17th of july to Croatia! oh baby! Thank god for my tutoring money! ;-)
My classes here have been going well!! Life actually started to get really busy! I have to write an essay for one of them, and I have been putting it off for like 5 weeks.. actually. this weekend maybe I'll live in the lib and just get er' done! :) And I lovee my trumpet teacher here still, he is just amazing. I'm learning so much from him. I definitely could not have gained the knowledge I'm getting from him, in Canada.
So the most outrageous story from the past couple weeks is this one night, we were all just at this bar Sunrise where we always go and we stayed there really late and a few of us were really pretty drunk, and so we were walking through the MaiWoche festival, but like everything was closed because it was so late. All of the booths were closed, and at this one bar the tent flaps were covering the whole bar and the entrance into the bar (which actually spins during the day), and so us being so clever, we decided to go into the bar! We just opened the door and crawled right in! It was sooo cool! And hilarious! So we were in there and just poured ourselves some strawberry drinks and then left like nothing happened! My one friend who was pouring the drinks spilt the strawberry stuff like all over the counter hahaha. but now I have the glass cup from that night & its such a good souvenir! Then a couple nights later we went to this karaoke bar, and things got a little out of control again... well first off were were there until like 5:30 am! It was light out when we left! And so the three of us from the last time we went into the spinny bar were walking through the MaiWoche again, and we decided to go in again! And this time we weren't even drunk really! And it was daylight! haha so again we got some drinks. All in a days work!!
Tonight I played poker in the bar here in Dodesheide with the Americans and our friend from Indonesia. We play every Wednesday, Texas Hold Em'! Its always a good time. :)
Tmrw I have no classes because its Thursday, but I have to tutor for a few hours and practice of course. I also have my weekly massage in the afternoon :) :) :) I think I am actually addicted to great massages now! When I go back to Canada I'm scared I'm going to need to start getting weekly massages! Eeek!
But, thats all for now! I'll write tomorrow of course!
Thanks for reading!
Suze
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Disco Pogo
It is inevitable. Apparently I cannot handle having a blog hahaha. But I have not given up yet!
...I will work backwards!!
Okay so for the past few days the internet here has just been awful. I'm not just talking like turtle slow... I'm talking like five minutes to check your email slow! Well my point of this story is, I made my Ice Breaker video a few days ago but I made it really quickly & it was just a rough draft. I wanted to make sure my idea wasn't totally out of the wazoo. Well anyway, I made a new one and added a whole bunch of stuff, but it wouldn't upload because of the internet here. :( so lame!! I hope the song Disco Pogo will win over the markers hahah. :)
I'm feeling a lot better being here now. It was hard at first... but I think I have come to terms with everything. There's no use in being upset anymore about how things worked out, so I should just try to make the best of it and seize the day. Speaking of which, I bought a flight to Sweden! I will be going to visit Lucas on April 8th, less than two weeks away! The flight round trip was only 38 euros! Really cheap!
Okay, so my bed here is like a good foam mattress, and it is on top of the bottom (obviously)... but the bottom is made out of like many wooden strips about 2 inches wide each and a few inches in-between each one... making the bed bouncy. Okay, so the other day I stepped on my bed for some reason instead of just sitting... and what do you ya know! I hear this huge snap! How embarrassing for me! One of the wooden strips broke hahaha Something like this would happen to me! hahah
So my biggest accomplishment so far since I've been here... drum roll.... get ready for it..... I completed seven seasons of Gilmore Girls!! I'm not sure whether or not I should be disgusted or proud. Seven seasons, that is 100.45 hours of tv. Next up: 10 seasons of friends! Yay!
Well this week here is Easter week, so a week of holidays!! I am going to go to Bremen, Hannover, & the North Sea I think! These are all places I can get to for free with my student card which is kind of fun! :) I might as well go if its free, right?
Also, I've been tutoring alot! I did like 7 hours last week and I think I'll have the same amount the week after this one. For Easter week most students went home! I think if I keep up these hours, Egypt will definitely be a go!! :D
Anyways thats it! if you are interested in seeing my breaker video, its on youtube called "European Breaker". Its also a sing along!!
Thank you kindly for reading!!
Susie
...I will work backwards!!
Okay so for the past few days the internet here has just been awful. I'm not just talking like turtle slow... I'm talking like five minutes to check your email slow! Well my point of this story is, I made my Ice Breaker video a few days ago but I made it really quickly & it was just a rough draft. I wanted to make sure my idea wasn't totally out of the wazoo. Well anyway, I made a new one and added a whole bunch of stuff, but it wouldn't upload because of the internet here. :( so lame!! I hope the song Disco Pogo will win over the markers hahah. :)
I'm feeling a lot better being here now. It was hard at first... but I think I have come to terms with everything. There's no use in being upset anymore about how things worked out, so I should just try to make the best of it and seize the day. Speaking of which, I bought a flight to Sweden! I will be going to visit Lucas on April 8th, less than two weeks away! The flight round trip was only 38 euros! Really cheap!
Okay, so my bed here is like a good foam mattress, and it is on top of the bottom (obviously)... but the bottom is made out of like many wooden strips about 2 inches wide each and a few inches in-between each one... making the bed bouncy. Okay, so the other day I stepped on my bed for some reason instead of just sitting... and what do you ya know! I hear this huge snap! How embarrassing for me! One of the wooden strips broke hahaha Something like this would happen to me! hahah
So my biggest accomplishment so far since I've been here... drum roll.... get ready for it..... I completed seven seasons of Gilmore Girls!! I'm not sure whether or not I should be disgusted or proud. Seven seasons, that is 100.45 hours of tv. Next up: 10 seasons of friends! Yay!
Well this week here is Easter week, so a week of holidays!! I am going to go to Bremen, Hannover, & the North Sea I think! These are all places I can get to for free with my student card which is kind of fun! :) I might as well go if its free, right?
Also, I've been tutoring alot! I did like 7 hours last week and I think I'll have the same amount the week after this one. For Easter week most students went home! I think if I keep up these hours, Egypt will definitely be a go!! :D
Anyways thats it! if you are interested in seeing my breaker video, its on youtube called "European Breaker". Its also a sing along!!
Thank you kindly for reading!!
Susie
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Note to self...
don't step fastly onto my bed.
I'll explain tomorrow.
thanks for the short read! Night!
Suze
I'll explain tomorrow.
thanks for the short read! Night!
Suze
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Professional English Speaker
So I started tutoring today! Its pretty relaxed... we just talked for an hour and a half. Its a pretty sweet deal. I'm just scared that with all these students I will eventually run out of things to talk about! The guy I met with today mostly just talked & I said: ya, okay, ooh really why is that? My usual responses :)
So I went to the international dinner tonight. It was good, met a couple of people. The event wasn't very big. I also finally got a buddy, which is a german student who lives here who helps you out with anything you need. At first I didn't have one because I am studying music... but I think because of my previous email I sent them they were concerned. Also, the rice crispy squares were a success! This one girl liked them so much she wants me to email her the recipe! haha :)
Thats its for now! I've also started to work on my video for my breaker creative skit! Skype interview is a go!
thanks for reading!
Suze
So I went to the international dinner tonight. It was good, met a couple of people. The event wasn't very big. I also finally got a buddy, which is a german student who lives here who helps you out with anything you need. At first I didn't have one because I am studying music... but I think because of my previous email I sent them they were concerned. Also, the rice crispy squares were a success! This one girl liked them so much she wants me to email her the recipe! haha :)
Thats its for now! I've also started to work on my video for my breaker creative skit! Skype interview is a go!
thanks for reading!
Suze
Monday, March 22, 2010
I've been lame
I have been quite lame lately in regards to posting, so heres a little update... good new & bad news
So lucas came to visit on Thursday! We had a really great time together! Drank all three nights LOL. The second night we ended up finding this huge statue and stayed there for SO long just trying to climb on top of it & mount it! Ahaha there are some pretty epic videos of us giving instructions on "how to mount a fraulline"! I almost peed myself every time I watched them. The last night we ended up hanging out in this playground for sooo long and tedor-todored for like an hour and a half... each of us with a 1.8 euro bottle of wine in hand! People must have thought we were so strange... especially because every time people would walk by we wouldn't say a word, just keep going up & down on the tedor-todor and drink our wine. It was no big deal. And at one point like 5 guys came into the park and all peed at the same time! LOL I think it should be named the pee park, I may have participated as well. :P The weekend was really fantastic with him here, next up I will go to Sweden to visit him! I'm thinking end of April or some time in May. Yes that will be grand. :)
Things are still kind of lacking in the social department. I found out that alot of international students live in the same residences, many in the same flats. I just think its so unfair. And a lot of them already know each other because many of them participated in the February language course. Its just hard sometimes not knowing many people, and the only people I have met in this "residence" are my two flat mates (one of which may I remind you is 27!). Yea soo. I actually sent an email yesterday explaining everything thats been happening so far & asked if I could switch residences. Its just so unfair to me, it sucks so much. Like I chose to live in residence to meet people... If I knew it was going to be like this I would have just rented a random room somewhere. It turns out that there are no available rooms though... but they asked me to come in and talk to them tomorrow, so hopefully things will be better for me. You'd think after three weeks of living here I would have met more than just a few people.. yea not exactly what I anticipated would happen before coming.. its kind of hard on me, but I'm hopeful that things will get better soon. Can only go up from here!
Also, I start tutoring tomorrow! Its just making conversation really with the students... but I don't even have any idea what we will talk about! hahah things could get a little turtle. And in the email the guy sent me he said "I can't wait to meet a professional like you" ... so things are definitely going to be turtle once he meets me haa. I downloaded some funny stories and some news articles so he can read to me if he wants. :) I hope it goes well!
Furthermore, there is an international students' dinner tomorrow evening which I will be attending. Every student is to bring a dish typical of their home country, so I made rice crsipy squares! (With smarties on top!). I had to go to three grocery stores to find marshmallows! And even then they only had one kind and they were imported from the states and work out to cost $3.50 per bag LOL but I bought them anywyas. And apparently Germany likes to have 1000+ types of Muesli, but only one type of rice crispies and they are chocate! ahahha oh well I think they will be a success regardless.
Anyways thats it for this evening. I'm off to bed because its midnight now. I will post tomorrow. Get back into the swing of things.
Suze
So lucas came to visit on Thursday! We had a really great time together! Drank all three nights LOL. The second night we ended up finding this huge statue and stayed there for SO long just trying to climb on top of it & mount it! Ahaha there are some pretty epic videos of us giving instructions on "how to mount a fraulline"! I almost peed myself every time I watched them. The last night we ended up hanging out in this playground for sooo long and tedor-todored for like an hour and a half... each of us with a 1.8 euro bottle of wine in hand! People must have thought we were so strange... especially because every time people would walk by we wouldn't say a word, just keep going up & down on the tedor-todor and drink our wine. It was no big deal. And at one point like 5 guys came into the park and all peed at the same time! LOL I think it should be named the pee park, I may have participated as well. :P The weekend was really fantastic with him here, next up I will go to Sweden to visit him! I'm thinking end of April or some time in May. Yes that will be grand. :)
Things are still kind of lacking in the social department. I found out that alot of international students live in the same residences, many in the same flats. I just think its so unfair. And a lot of them already know each other because many of them participated in the February language course. Its just hard sometimes not knowing many people, and the only people I have met in this "residence" are my two flat mates (one of which may I remind you is 27!). Yea soo. I actually sent an email yesterday explaining everything thats been happening so far & asked if I could switch residences. Its just so unfair to me, it sucks so much. Like I chose to live in residence to meet people... If I knew it was going to be like this I would have just rented a random room somewhere. It turns out that there are no available rooms though... but they asked me to come in and talk to them tomorrow, so hopefully things will be better for me. You'd think after three weeks of living here I would have met more than just a few people.. yea not exactly what I anticipated would happen before coming.. its kind of hard on me, but I'm hopeful that things will get better soon. Can only go up from here!
Also, I start tutoring tomorrow! Its just making conversation really with the students... but I don't even have any idea what we will talk about! hahah things could get a little turtle. And in the email the guy sent me he said "I can't wait to meet a professional like you" ... so things are definitely going to be turtle once he meets me haa. I downloaded some funny stories and some news articles so he can read to me if he wants. :) I hope it goes well!
Furthermore, there is an international students' dinner tomorrow evening which I will be attending. Every student is to bring a dish typical of their home country, so I made rice crsipy squares! (With smarties on top!). I had to go to three grocery stores to find marshmallows! And even then they only had one kind and they were imported from the states and work out to cost $3.50 per bag LOL but I bought them anywyas. And apparently Germany likes to have 1000+ types of Muesli, but only one type of rice crispies and they are chocate! ahahha oh well I think they will be a success regardless.
Anyways thats it for this evening. I'm off to bed because its midnight now. I will post tomorrow. Get back into the swing of things.
Suze
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Things are going well :)
The past few days have been pretty rough on me, I was just feeling really down & missing everyone from home a lot. But yesterday was a really good day, I met some international students and I'll be seeing them again tonight I think. Also, Lucas comes today! I made him a little "Welcome to Germany" care package made of Haribo gummy bears, a mini jager meister, das Bier, and a bun from a bakery!! :) yay! I can't wait to see him!! I know I've been slacking the past little while in this blog, put I think things are going to start to pick up soon so there will be lots to report on!! Its a beautiful day here, like springs jacket weather! So I'm off to practice, then pick Luke up at the train station!!
Hope everyone had a great St. Paddys! And I hope it at one point involved phone books, pilons, and fire extinguishers!!
love!
Susie
Hope everyone had a great St. Paddys! And I hope it at one point involved phone books, pilons, and fire extinguishers!!
love!
Susie
Monday, March 15, 2010
Its been a while
Yes, yes it has been a fair while since I last posted. Well the good news is I am alive and well... although the two day hangover did tire me out quite bit. Honestly nothing much has happened here in Osnabruck. Today I had my first trumpet lesson with my new teacher and that was really great. I learnt a whole new approach to playing the trumpet that I think if I commit to could be really great! Well. As lame is it may be that is about it. Maybe its for the best though that I don't have any outrageous stories to report on. I just thought I'd check in here in the good ol' blog. :)
Good night!!!
lovelovelove from all the way over here
Susie
Good night!!!
lovelovelove from all the way over here
Susie
Friday, March 12, 2010
I should probably avoid the Discotech
Well last night I went to the Discotech!! It was a hugee club, like 4 floors, and really nice architecture from what I remember. Actually, my memory of the night is quite vague to be honest. Before going to the discotech I went to a bar first with a friend and I only had three drinks there but they just killed me! They were called Zombies, and they were like 80% alcohol, 20% really fruity juice. The walk from the bar to the discotech is even a little blury :| I did not intend to be like that ahhhh I'm not sure what time I got home... or who I walked with... the club is open until 7am but I'm pretty sure I didn't stay that long. Gosh I don't like nights like this! I woke up at noon today and like could not even move, it was such a task to bring my laptop to my bed. I then proceeded to fall back asleep with my laptop in front of my face, and sleep until 4 in the afternoon!! 4!!! Thats like the whole day gone! I got out of bed around 5, chatted with my roommate for an hour and then I had the best idea ever of going to the grocery store to get a pizza to cook for my one and only meal of the day. :) however, once I purchased the pizza I had an even better idea of going to get a kabab. Sooo all I've consumed today is like one kebab and 5 glasses a water. What a great life i lead hahaha . Omg the worst day ever! Its midnight now and I still feel awful & queezy. I should not go to anymore Discotechs! Or rather I should not have anymore Zombie drinks. Also, since I slept all day I'm not even tired! Oh! I also proceeded to do laundry last night. I realized this fact this morning (well afternoon) when I saw my detergent in my laundry bag instead of on my shelf. I was kind of impressed to be honest, how many people can say they don't remember doing laundry ahhaah. So I went downstairs to the laundry room, and what do ya know, theres my load of laundry still sitting in the washing machine. Ugh worst day ever! Hopefully this isn't a two day hangover and it will be gone tomorrow!!
Thats it for now!! Thanks for reading :) :) :)
Susie
Thats it for now!! Thanks for reading :) :) :)
Susie
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Day 16!!*
So once again I haven't posted in the past few days... but really nothing of significance happened other than unsuccessfully attempting to use a pot like a pan, eating nutella from a spoon, and having a teacher that reminds me of my dentist. Oh! And having yet another class in German. fml! hahah but yesterday was a good day!
So yesterday I met the teacher who will be teaching me individually. He is pretty nice, seems really serious though, and very smart. Almost indimidating smart. I probably should have a prepared an idea of what I wanted to learn before meeting with him, because I looked kind of smart like s-m-r-t. ya know. But the whole time I was talking with him all I could think about was how much he reminded me of my dentist, which was a little distracting. So I'll be meeting with him for a couple of hours every Tuesday to cover the material. I'm hoping to get my credits with him: Post tonal theory, music culture & technology, and orchestration. But I also have a class for orchestration, hopefully it isn't completely in german like my previous classes.
Mmk so yesterday night there was a meeting for all english tutors. I got to meet a couple other native english speakers, which was refreshing. I think the job is going to go well. You tutor someone for 45 minutes, but get paid for the hour. Also, for every 4 hours you work, you get an extra hour of pay for preparation! We only get payed once, which will be at the end of the term and probably for 120 hours. It will be almost 1000 euros!! If everything goes well, I think it would be neat to use that money and go traveling, but not europe! What about Egypt! There is a Contiki tour that is 8 days that goes all over europe and is under 1000 euros! I think that would be the coolest thing ever. Chances are I won't be able to get a job for July and August here since I don't speak german, so the plan might be to just stick around until the first week of july when the term is all over, go on the tour, and then fly home. It all so far away though still! But Egypt would be amazing! And different than good ol' europe. :) I won't tell my mom about this though, I can only imagine what she would say!!
After the meeting I met up with the two friends who have been showing me around and we went to the bar that I was at the other night, because apparently every other Tuesday there are jazz jam sessions there. It was really cool and relaxed... whoever wanted to play just brought their instrument and jammed. Its too bad we don't have something like this in Waterloo.
I think that tomorrow I am going to the discoteck! haha it shoudld be a fun! Apparently the biggest one in Osnabruck!!
Life has been a little lame lately, but hopefully it will pick up eventually. There are no classes today through Friday because of a competition being held in the music building, they shut it down for students. I can't even practice there! Just ridiculous!!
Okay thats all! Thanks for reading!!!!! ♥♥♥
Susie
So yesterday I met the teacher who will be teaching me individually. He is pretty nice, seems really serious though, and very smart. Almost indimidating smart. I probably should have a prepared an idea of what I wanted to learn before meeting with him, because I looked kind of smart like s-m-r-t. ya know. But the whole time I was talking with him all I could think about was how much he reminded me of my dentist, which was a little distracting. So I'll be meeting with him for a couple of hours every Tuesday to cover the material. I'm hoping to get my credits with him: Post tonal theory, music culture & technology, and orchestration. But I also have a class for orchestration, hopefully it isn't completely in german like my previous classes.
Mmk so yesterday night there was a meeting for all english tutors. I got to meet a couple other native english speakers, which was refreshing. I think the job is going to go well. You tutor someone for 45 minutes, but get paid for the hour. Also, for every 4 hours you work, you get an extra hour of pay for preparation! We only get payed once, which will be at the end of the term and probably for 120 hours. It will be almost 1000 euros!! If everything goes well, I think it would be neat to use that money and go traveling, but not europe! What about Egypt! There is a Contiki tour that is 8 days that goes all over europe and is under 1000 euros! I think that would be the coolest thing ever. Chances are I won't be able to get a job for July and August here since I don't speak german, so the plan might be to just stick around until the first week of july when the term is all over, go on the tour, and then fly home. It all so far away though still! But Egypt would be amazing! And different than good ol' europe. :) I won't tell my mom about this though, I can only imagine what she would say!!
After the meeting I met up with the two friends who have been showing me around and we went to the bar that I was at the other night, because apparently every other Tuesday there are jazz jam sessions there. It was really cool and relaxed... whoever wanted to play just brought their instrument and jammed. Its too bad we don't have something like this in Waterloo.
I think that tomorrow I am going to the discoteck! haha it shoudld be a fun! Apparently the biggest one in Osnabruck!!
Life has been a little lame lately, but hopefully it will pick up eventually. There are no classes today through Friday because of a competition being held in the music building, they shut it down for students. I can't even practice there! Just ridiculous!!
Okay thats all! Thanks for reading!!!!! ♥♥♥
Susie
Monday, March 8, 2010
Ich verstehe das nicht!
So!!! Whoever reads this is going to think I am a total weiner!
I'll start from the beginning... okay so I get up and I go to this place to get my german visa. BUT apparently I need to have proof of 600 euros per month in my account for each month that I stay here! I don't spend nearly that much! I also don't have proof of those funds! I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do! Ah I will have to call mommy for this one haha... maybe get her to mail be something. Ooh goodness I hate all this administrative stuff! Just ridiculous.
Okay so after I failed at obtaining my visa I was going to go to my first class, which was about pop music and music videos, which I think would be quite interesting! However, I was too nervous to go to the class!! Its not going to class that makes me nervous, but the fact that I don't speak german and the class in german. The teacher would then need to translate everything just for me, and I feel really awful that everyone else in the class, its just wasting time for them. Ah! So I didn't go!! :| What a weiner! And then I was kind of mad at myself for not going, so I made myself go to my second (and last) class of the day. The prof is really nice and we talked for a bit before the other three students in the class came in. But they speak german (of course), so like the whole class was in German except for some little things he translated for me. I don't know,... it was just kind of pointless for me to go to that class. I didn't understand a thing! (Ich verstehe das nicht!) I'm looking forward to tomorrow, because I will meet the professor who will be working with me individually! Hopefully that goes much better than today! :| I might just learn the contents of the german course from him, because there is no real point in me going to lectures in German. Ugh! Hopefully tomorrow will be better! But I practiced today! I don't even remember the last time I practiced at Laurier which is completely awful!
I think this is an early night though!!! Night!!!
<3 Susie
I'll start from the beginning... okay so I get up and I go to this place to get my german visa. BUT apparently I need to have proof of 600 euros per month in my account for each month that I stay here! I don't spend nearly that much! I also don't have proof of those funds! I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do! Ah I will have to call mommy for this one haha... maybe get her to mail be something. Ooh goodness I hate all this administrative stuff! Just ridiculous.
Okay so after I failed at obtaining my visa I was going to go to my first class, which was about pop music and music videos, which I think would be quite interesting! However, I was too nervous to go to the class!! Its not going to class that makes me nervous, but the fact that I don't speak german and the class in german. The teacher would then need to translate everything just for me, and I feel really awful that everyone else in the class, its just wasting time for them. Ah! So I didn't go!! :| What a weiner! And then I was kind of mad at myself for not going, so I made myself go to my second (and last) class of the day. The prof is really nice and we talked for a bit before the other three students in the class came in. But they speak german (of course), so like the whole class was in German except for some little things he translated for me. I don't know,... it was just kind of pointless for me to go to that class. I didn't understand a thing! (Ich verstehe das nicht!) I'm looking forward to tomorrow, because I will meet the professor who will be working with me individually! Hopefully that goes much better than today! :| I might just learn the contents of the german course from him, because there is no real point in me going to lectures in German. Ugh! Hopefully tomorrow will be better! But I practiced today! I don't even remember the last time I practiced at Laurier which is completely awful!
I think this is an early night though!!! Night!!!
<3 Susie
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Feeling Welcome
So the past couple of days I have been severely lacking in the blog posting! So I have a feeling this may be a biggie to make up for my temporary lack of commitment.
So anyways things are going pretty well. On Friday I met someone about the english tutoring job, and everything is a go. We will have a meeting next week and then I will have my students! Its pretty relaxed I think, and since its tutoring, I basically make the schedule because I contact the students and see when they are available to meet with me. It will be nice to have a little extra cash flow since my budget is so so strict. Maybe I'll save it up and go travelling a little at the end... or maybe save it just in case I accumulate any debt over the next few months and then its a "survival money stash". Haha knowing me I might actually need it!
Well I have my courses picked out. Right now I have six separate courses, plus lessons, plus 3 or 4 ensembles. I also have a class in english that is just for me! I will be meeting with a teacher about three times a week for a class, and its pretty open. We can study most anything I am interested in. I think I've really lucky to have this opportunity... Its not very often that you get a class just for you, where you can study whatever you wish. I have to think of some things I want to learn about! I think things will probably get quite busy as the term goes on. Classes are only 45 minutes to an hour and a half each time though, so its not really that much class time. Ensembles don't start until April, so I'll be able to ease myself into the classes before getting too overwhelmed. I will be in orchestra, which also means I get to play in an opera! I think that is so cool!! I also said I would play in the big band here, and a brass ensemble, and I think I will also do trumpet ensemble and maybe choir. Oh so exciting!! I might as well play in as many ensembles here as I possibly can and take advantage of all the opportunities here that are different from Laurier. I'm actually getting excited to start school now! It may sound strange, but I feel like it has been a long time since I've really committed myself to school work, or since I've been interested in or involved in my program. Last semester I was so busy working and second year was so busy with wlusu things.... Its a nice feeling to know that I can show my inner nerd and have school as my obligation. :) I am a little nervous to go to my two classes tomorrow however, because I have not talked to these professors about teaching in english... although they were given to me as optional courses, I'm a little worried with some disorganization that the teacher is not aware that I need to be taught in english. Eek! I think I will go a little early and maybe talk to the prof before hand to make sure we are on the same page. :) God knows I'll be stuck in a class that is only in German!! fml! hahah
As far as the social scene goes, its been picking up!!! Well I guess it could only go up considering I didn't know anybody last week! On Friday afternoon I got this call from the dean (well I found out he isn't actually the dean! He was last year, but then this year he decided to step down and is now a director... but I will still refer to him as the dean:) ) anyways, so I get this call and he asked me if I wanted to go to the musical with him, and of course I say yes. So I met him at the school and we walked over together. It was a musical written by students and run by students and I was really impressed! Even though it was komplett auf Deutsch, I still got the general gist of it and it was quite funny! Okay so soo embarassing... so at intermission the dean asked me I wanted a beer, and I said yes, and so he got me a beer. And just a side note... I never drink beer from bottles, usually only cans, so I have been unaware of any foaming out the top of the bottle that could occur. So anyways I take a sip and foam spills right out the top and all over my hands! SO embarassing! ahhaa he probably was thinking that I had never drunk beer before! And so after the show was over I was putting on my coat and things, and he was like 'oh! After the show we party! There is a party now!' I was like whaaahh?? Throughout the night he had been introducing me to a few different people, so he said to me 'oh you know people now, so you should stay!' I was like :| ooooh kayyy. But I actually knew no one!! PLUS everyone was speaking German, so its not like I could just hop in on someone's conversation. Luckily he introduced me to a girl who is really interested in studying at Laurier next term, so I was able to talk to her, and then she invited me out to a bar that all the students were going to after. So I ended up going and getting a drive and everything and meeting quite a few people! It was great! Although, I think my name has officially become "Susie from Canada" ahhaha. Oh well whatever works!
Yesterday I went for lunch with the girl who was showing me around on wednesday, and then went to practice at the school with her. While I was practicing, this other trumpet player walked in because he heard a trumpet player, and we ended up talking for quite a while. Apparently my teacher is really great! He is also apparently really strict with technique... which I guess is both good and bad! I'm excited to meet him finally. I ended up going to see the musical again with my friend and going for dinner with her and her boyfriend. However, the party after last night's show was kind of lame, so we left after a while and were going to go for a drink somewhere but ended up just going home haha. It was a good day though!!
Today as been low key, its the first day I haven't left the house! My mom finally figured out how to use skype! hahah she was so amazed!
Anyways I best be off to bed! I will pray that my classes are in German!!!
Night!!
love!
Susie.
OH! And Lucas is coming to visit next week maybe!!! YAY!! :D So excited! :)
So anyways things are going pretty well. On Friday I met someone about the english tutoring job, and everything is a go. We will have a meeting next week and then I will have my students! Its pretty relaxed I think, and since its tutoring, I basically make the schedule because I contact the students and see when they are available to meet with me. It will be nice to have a little extra cash flow since my budget is so so strict. Maybe I'll save it up and go travelling a little at the end... or maybe save it just in case I accumulate any debt over the next few months and then its a "survival money stash". Haha knowing me I might actually need it!
Well I have my courses picked out. Right now I have six separate courses, plus lessons, plus 3 or 4 ensembles. I also have a class in english that is just for me! I will be meeting with a teacher about three times a week for a class, and its pretty open. We can study most anything I am interested in. I think I've really lucky to have this opportunity... Its not very often that you get a class just for you, where you can study whatever you wish. I have to think of some things I want to learn about! I think things will probably get quite busy as the term goes on. Classes are only 45 minutes to an hour and a half each time though, so its not really that much class time. Ensembles don't start until April, so I'll be able to ease myself into the classes before getting too overwhelmed. I will be in orchestra, which also means I get to play in an opera! I think that is so cool!! I also said I would play in the big band here, and a brass ensemble, and I think I will also do trumpet ensemble and maybe choir. Oh so exciting!! I might as well play in as many ensembles here as I possibly can and take advantage of all the opportunities here that are different from Laurier. I'm actually getting excited to start school now! It may sound strange, but I feel like it has been a long time since I've really committed myself to school work, or since I've been interested in or involved in my program. Last semester I was so busy working and second year was so busy with wlusu things.... Its a nice feeling to know that I can show my inner nerd and have school as my obligation. :) I am a little nervous to go to my two classes tomorrow however, because I have not talked to these professors about teaching in english... although they were given to me as optional courses, I'm a little worried with some disorganization that the teacher is not aware that I need to be taught in english. Eek! I think I will go a little early and maybe talk to the prof before hand to make sure we are on the same page. :) God knows I'll be stuck in a class that is only in German!! fml! hahah
As far as the social scene goes, its been picking up!!! Well I guess it could only go up considering I didn't know anybody last week! On Friday afternoon I got this call from the dean (well I found out he isn't actually the dean! He was last year, but then this year he decided to step down and is now a director... but I will still refer to him as the dean:) ) anyways, so I get this call and he asked me if I wanted to go to the musical with him, and of course I say yes. So I met him at the school and we walked over together. It was a musical written by students and run by students and I was really impressed! Even though it was komplett auf Deutsch, I still got the general gist of it and it was quite funny! Okay so soo embarassing... so at intermission the dean asked me I wanted a beer, and I said yes, and so he got me a beer. And just a side note... I never drink beer from bottles, usually only cans, so I have been unaware of any foaming out the top of the bottle that could occur. So anyways I take a sip and foam spills right out the top and all over my hands! SO embarassing! ahhaa he probably was thinking that I had never drunk beer before! And so after the show was over I was putting on my coat and things, and he was like 'oh! After the show we party! There is a party now!' I was like whaaahh?? Throughout the night he had been introducing me to a few different people, so he said to me 'oh you know people now, so you should stay!' I was like :| ooooh kayyy. But I actually knew no one!! PLUS everyone was speaking German, so its not like I could just hop in on someone's conversation. Luckily he introduced me to a girl who is really interested in studying at Laurier next term, so I was able to talk to her, and then she invited me out to a bar that all the students were going to after. So I ended up going and getting a drive and everything and meeting quite a few people! It was great! Although, I think my name has officially become "Susie from Canada" ahhaha. Oh well whatever works!
Yesterday I went for lunch with the girl who was showing me around on wednesday, and then went to practice at the school with her. While I was practicing, this other trumpet player walked in because he heard a trumpet player, and we ended up talking for quite a while. Apparently my teacher is really great! He is also apparently really strict with technique... which I guess is both good and bad! I'm excited to meet him finally. I ended up going to see the musical again with my friend and going for dinner with her and her boyfriend. However, the party after last night's show was kind of lame, so we left after a while and were going to go for a drink somewhere but ended up just going home haha. It was a good day though!!
Today as been low key, its the first day I haven't left the house! My mom finally figured out how to use skype! hahah she was so amazed!
Anyways I best be off to bed! I will pray that my classes are in German!!!
Night!!
love!
Susie.
OH! And Lucas is coming to visit next week maybe!!! YAY!! :D So excited! :)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A much better day
Let me just say, today was a much better day than yesterday. The dean called me this morning and told me he had emailed the theory professor about me. He was also really nice and said that if I was stressed to call him. I guess I wasn't very good at hiding my feelings yesterday ahaha. Anyways I ended up going to see the theory professor today because I wanted to talk to him in person, and he said that it will all work out. I gave him a list of a whole bunch of courses at Laurier that I need so I might not end up taking post tonal theory (which I'm not so sad about! :P) because allthoughthey do offer that course at the Fachhochschule, it is only in German. Even though it was a much better day, I still had my regular ridiculousness happen to me.. because god knows it wouldn't be a day in the life of suze if something didn't go wrong haha. So this morning I attempt to walk to the bus stop to take it to the school, and I ended up looking for the bus station for half an hour! I walked in this HUGE circle! And then I get on the right bus number, but its going in the wrong direction! I ended up at the zoo! It was a good like 45 minute bus ride. Just Ridiculous. But today the orientation was pretty good, and I went out to lunch with some other students who were being .."oriented"? I guess haha but ya it was good! And the student cafeteria here is SO cheap! you can get a full meal with a couple side dishes, dessert, and a drink and pay less than three euros! Its super cheap for students! Why couldn't the DH be like this?!
Well anyways this was just short and sweet. Oh! I forgot to mention that I got a job! Well... kind of. I just kind of walked into it. So today I went to the international office to ask about getting a student visa, and the guy asked if I was working while I was here and I said maybe and he said "do you want to?" haha they need native english speakers to be english tutors. Its only like 5 hours a week! Could be perfect! He asked me to come in tomorrow at 1... I'm not sure at all what I'll be doing or how long I will be there for. Exciting!
Anyways thats all for now!! Night!
lovelovelove, Suze
Well anyways this was just short and sweet. Oh! I forgot to mention that I got a job! Well... kind of. I just kind of walked into it. So today I went to the international office to ask about getting a student visa, and the guy asked if I was working while I was here and I said maybe and he said "do you want to?" haha they need native english speakers to be english tutors. Its only like 5 hours a week! Could be perfect! He asked me to come in tomorrow at 1... I'm not sure at all what I'll be doing or how long I will be there for. Exciting!
Anyways thats all for now!! Night!
lovelovelove, Suze
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Quite the day
So today was very interesting! I went this morning to meet the dean, but turns out it was actually like an orientation for all first year students where like all the profs talk and everything. But the thing is, it was all in German! And then I was talking to the dean afterwards, and like it turns out that actually the courses they offered me are no longer? Well no longer in english? Of the five courses, only two are in english. So I'm going to take those two courses, along with orchestra which hopefully I will be able to figure out even though its in german. He ended up pairing me up with two students at the school who helped me out with everything and showed me around and such. I felt like kind of an idiot the whole day though... like everyone was so shocked that I didn't speak english.. and thought like what was I thinking? This is a german school? It was so frustrating.. like to find out that apparently I can only take three courses here? Ughhhh. And like I planned last term and the next two terms according the courses that I was able to take here. Like obviously I would not have come if I knew I could only take three music courses? I need a full course load to not fall behind. I am going to meet with the exchange student that was at Laurier last term to try and figure out what to do... I might end up taking some english courses offered at the Fachhochschule that aren't music... but that would be really disappointing. I came here to study music, not anything else. Ah so frustrating! Anyway, I hope it will all work out... it just came as a shock to me how disorganized everything was here. I will post again tomorrow when I find out some more news.
<3 Susie
<3 Susie
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Moved in to Residence!
Its true! I moved into residence today! I lugged my suitcase across the whole town to my building and waited for like an hour for the custodian to come (who was a half hour late! btw). Did I mention before that the hostel I was staying in here was called "Penthouse Backpackers"? Meaning it was on the top floor of a building? Meaning I had to carry my suitcase up three huge flights of stairs? Meaninggg I had to carry it down the stairs this morning and pretty much died? Ugh the worst! I'm happy to be out of that hostel, it was so boring! I had to occupy my time with things like broken umbrellas and super glue. Anyways so I'm in my apartment now, and guess what! Its a three bedroom apartment with me & 2 guys! LOL What!! I didn't even know if there would be guys on my floor, let alone me only living with them!! I'm not exactly sure how this is going to work out! I've never lived with guys before! I think I like living with girls, I think I'm a "live with girls" kind of person! I know there are girls in the apartments next to us, so hopefully I'll meet them eventually. I've only met one of my roommates so far & he's really nice and speaks perfect english. The other one apparently smokes a lot of weed and only eats pizza ahaha. I haven't met him yet, he should be here in a week or so. The apartment is cute. Clean which is good, with one washroom and a small kitchen. There's no living room though which is kind of strange. And the fridge is SO small! Like a quarter the size of a regular fridge, or like a large bar fridge. I was like "Whahh?!" ahah. And I don't think we have a microwave.. and I think I need to buy myself a pan ahha but luckily the guys are letting me use their dishes. :) My room is ginormous!! Like really big, probably almost three times the size of my green room in Waterloo. I also have a glass door as a window, and it opens like a door and then there is a little fence, like a balcony its really cute! So overall I'm impressed with the flat. I'm not sure how many people I am going to meet in this building though... even though it is a residence, many people have lived here for a few years, so its not like everyone moves every year. I might just end up meeting other exchange students or people in my classes... well hopefully anyway!
Sooo tomorrow I meet the dean! WHAT! hahah oh god! 10am! And the address he gave me is so confusing! He said a number then the street name then a number.... which apparently means room #, street, then building #. I'm actually going to go like an hour early so that I don't get lost. And this appointment is conveniently at the exact same time that the orientation for international students starts! Gotta love when these things happen! Oh and apparently the orientation is only intended for students studying in the faculty of business management or social science... they told me to ask the music faculty if they had anything prepared for international music students... but I'm pretty sure that I am one of few.. if not the only international music student here. They said I can come to their orientation if I want, but some of the information won't be relevant to me. I'm of course going to go... and of course walk in awkwardly late due to my meeting with the dean. Wow I'm just loving life right now! Hopefully tomorrow goes well.
So today I went shopping! Well.. not really but I got a cell phone! OH! Turns out I actually cant use my phone from Ireland conveniently! Because the german sim cards are not compatible with the english phones. So then I had to buy a brand new phone. It was only 30 euro, but still by the time i put 20 euro credit on it, it was like 50 euros. I also got some groceries, and I realized that I needed a pillow for my bed, and I conveniently found a 1 euro store... and guess what! I got a pillow for one euro! This again however is an example of when I am just too cheap for my own good, because the pillow is such a fail!! Its square and only fills half of my pillow case! ahaha God knows what its stuffed with, it feels like one of those airplane pillows.
Anyways I'm just getting settled in now, I will write tomorrow about the adventures of my day!!
Good night everyone!
♥Susie
Sooo tomorrow I meet the dean! WHAT! hahah oh god! 10am! And the address he gave me is so confusing! He said a number then the street name then a number.... which apparently means room #, street, then building #. I'm actually going to go like an hour early so that I don't get lost. And this appointment is conveniently at the exact same time that the orientation for international students starts! Gotta love when these things happen! Oh and apparently the orientation is only intended for students studying in the faculty of business management or social science... they told me to ask the music faculty if they had anything prepared for international music students... but I'm pretty sure that I am one of few.. if not the only international music student here. They said I can come to their orientation if I want, but some of the information won't be relevant to me. I'm of course going to go... and of course walk in awkwardly late due to my meeting with the dean. Wow I'm just loving life right now! Hopefully tomorrow goes well.
So today I went shopping! Well.. not really but I got a cell phone! OH! Turns out I actually cant use my phone from Ireland conveniently! Because the german sim cards are not compatible with the english phones. So then I had to buy a brand new phone. It was only 30 euro, but still by the time i put 20 euro credit on it, it was like 50 euros. I also got some groceries, and I realized that I needed a pillow for my bed, and I conveniently found a 1 euro store... and guess what! I got a pillow for one euro! This again however is an example of when I am just too cheap for my own good, because the pillow is such a fail!! Its square and only fills half of my pillow case! ahaha God knows what its stuffed with, it feels like one of those airplane pillows.
Anyways I'm just getting settled in now, I will write tomorrow about the adventures of my day!!
Good night everyone!
♥Susie
Sunday, February 28, 2010
CANADA GETS GOLD!!!!! █ ♥ █
Woo!!! Stayed up late to watch the game, it just finished and it is now midnight!!! Even though I had to watch the game alone... on a fuzzy tv.... and all the commentary was in German.... It was still one of the best games I've ever watched! YAY CANADA I feel the pride from over here!! That last goal by the states got me a little worried, but we won!! Woo!!!
Have a good night Canada!! :) :) :)
█ ♥ █ Susie
Have a good night Canada!! :) :) :)
█ ♥ █ Susie
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Having no friends can be kind of lame
Soo as the title suggests, having no friends is very lame. Well I guess I made one friend here, I talked to this guy from Munich in the kitchen here at the hostel for a few minutes today but that was it, and he's leaving tomorrow so I am friendless again haha. Its usually not so bad, but this town isn't really touristy, and this is the only hostel in the city... so not a lot of people come through the hostel. Its pretty deserted like 99% of the time, its almost erie. Sometimes I feel like I'd be safer at a really busy hostel with every bunk in the room filled, like the one I was in in Amsterdam. Thats just because I know that people are around, and say if anything happens people will be around to help, or nothing bad will happen there because there are so many people around. I guess there are pros and cons to both types. The other thing is that in busy hostels it is pretty easy to strike up a conversation with anyone, because many people are travelling/backpacking like you and are looking to do the same thing. Especially in my hostel in Amsterdam it was really easy to meet people because there was a bar area. But here so far there have only been middle aged men here for one night at a time in my room, and I haven't seen a single soul in the kitchen or living room every time I've gone. So my point is, I guess the next two days are going to continue to be lame until I can move into res on Tuesday.
Today was a slow start, I ended up waking up at noon which means I slept 12 hours again :| Hopefully my sleeping patterns will be back to normal soon! And it was raining again! And sooo apparently my umbrella is a piece of crap, because every five seconds it flips inside out, and two of the bar things on the inside are already kind of broken! I just bought it yesterday! I'm so use to this though, everything I own always breaks. Oh and I forgot to mention, that the day before my flight my iPod decided to just give up on life. Its been going for three years strong, but now nothing. I brought it along with me just for the hope of it coming back to life one day soon. But! The worse thing is that because my computer crashed a couple months ago I lost all the music that was on it, so the only place that it was being stored was on my iPod and now it might all be gone too! So ridiculous!
Okay where was I... So I just went out today with my lame umbrella and explored the town a bit. I ended up going to see where my residence is and it looks really cute! Its looks small, and I think there are three people to every flat from what I could tell with the mailboxes. Its really close to town and just up the street there are two music stores, which I visited today and they have SO much trumpet music!!! Woo! I was kind of lost but eventually made it back into town. I guess the most exciting part of my day was buying super glue. And you can imagine me with super glue. My boots were talking so I had to fix them, and even though I was being super careful, I still managed to get a patch of it on my arm and on one finger. Let me tell you, that stuff is not easy to get off. And then when I went to wash it off, because I was in such a rush I just kind of threw my boot on my bed, and when I came back sever parts of it were stuck to my red fleece blanket which was just lovely.
Oh, and I think that my children's book idea was kind of a fail. I haven't looked at it since yesterday.. I think I got discouraged when I couldn't get through the second sentence. But on a lighter note! It turns out I can use the phone that I used in Ireland here! It will only cost 15 euro to get it unlocked, and that also includes 10 euro credit on the phone, so sweet! :)
Anyways, thats it for now. Maybe tomorrow something will happen thats more exciting than buying super glue.
Thanks for reading!!! :) :) :)
Susie♥
Today was a slow start, I ended up waking up at noon which means I slept 12 hours again :| Hopefully my sleeping patterns will be back to normal soon! And it was raining again! And sooo apparently my umbrella is a piece of crap, because every five seconds it flips inside out, and two of the bar things on the inside are already kind of broken! I just bought it yesterday! I'm so use to this though, everything I own always breaks. Oh and I forgot to mention, that the day before my flight my iPod decided to just give up on life. Its been going for three years strong, but now nothing. I brought it along with me just for the hope of it coming back to life one day soon. But! The worse thing is that because my computer crashed a couple months ago I lost all the music that was on it, so the only place that it was being stored was on my iPod and now it might all be gone too! So ridiculous!
Okay where was I... So I just went out today with my lame umbrella and explored the town a bit. I ended up going to see where my residence is and it looks really cute! Its looks small, and I think there are three people to every flat from what I could tell with the mailboxes. Its really close to town and just up the street there are two music stores, which I visited today and they have SO much trumpet music!!! Woo! I was kind of lost but eventually made it back into town. I guess the most exciting part of my day was buying super glue. And you can imagine me with super glue. My boots were talking so I had to fix them, and even though I was being super careful, I still managed to get a patch of it on my arm and on one finger. Let me tell you, that stuff is not easy to get off. And then when I went to wash it off, because I was in such a rush I just kind of threw my boot on my bed, and when I came back sever parts of it were stuck to my red fleece blanket which was just lovely.
Oh, and I think that my children's book idea was kind of a fail. I haven't looked at it since yesterday.. I think I got discouraged when I couldn't get through the second sentence. But on a lighter note! It turns out I can use the phone that I used in Ireland here! It will only cost 15 euro to get it unlocked, and that also includes 10 euro credit on the phone, so sweet! :)
Anyways, thats it for now. Maybe tomorrow something will happen thats more exciting than buying super glue.
Thanks for reading!!! :) :) :)
Susie♥
Friday, February 26, 2010
Germany!!
I have a little catching up to do! Well I'm finally in Osnabrueck! I'm stuck in a hostel for a few days, but more on that later...
Okay so yesterday was my last full day in Amsterdam, and it was a good one at that! So after my late wake up I was still able to make the tour & buy my train ticket to Osnabrueck for today. The tour was reallly great, I learned a lot as cheesy as it sounds! Like that the canal water doesn't smell because every three days the water in every canal is changed, or that the oldest prostitute in the red light district is like 74 years old and has a waiting list! I even actually saw a man approach one of the windows and negotiate with a lady! I ended up meeting a girl from Vancouver on the tour (who was a little strange) but anyways we chatted and ended up sharing a space cake afterwards haha. only in amsterdam! :P I also met up again with my friend that is living in Amsterdam and went shopping with her and her friends. It was actually really neat because her friends are from all over like Romania, Czech Republic, and Russia.. but they are all studying in english in Amsterdam, so when they talk to each other they all talk in english, but they still all have their own accents it was kind of cool to hear. Anyways, last night I ended up having a couple of Beers in the bar in my hostel with a guy from Montreal and then ended up going to a coffee shop. It was really great! Everything is so casual there, like we felt like we should be secretive ahhaa but like say you want a 'space cake' they're like 'Okay one space cake!:)' SO non-schalant about the whole thing its great! I swear only because I was in Amsterdam :P
Anyways, so I had such a good nights sleep and then this morning actually saw the Aussie girls and say goodbye to them :) and then had enough time to buy some souvenirs.. a couple postcards, magnet for my mom, and shot glasses for both my brother and I. It has been raining actually nonstop since I arrived on Tuesday, but I (being the cheap person that I am), refused to pay 5 euro for an umbrella. And well, sometimes I'm too cheap for my own good because it was raining SO hard when I got to Osnabrueck today. So I finally decided to get an umbrella and it ended up costing more than 5 euro! ridic.
Okay, so just when I thought having the brightest pink suitcase in the world couldn't get more embarrassing... having to carry it up flights of stairs and in and out of trains tops it all. Maybe I'm just weak but I struggle SO much to just lift it up, let alone carry it up two flights of stairs by myself to get to the train platform. And then, when the train doors opened I noticed that it was basically just one big leap. One big leap that I just knew was going to be a fail. And its worse because there are people waiting behind you to get onto the train as well. So it is basically a full body thrust and praying for success to get my suitcase on the train. I think I would rather have a backpack actually, because even though it gets really tiring carrying it, most of the weight is put onto your legs... and when getting in and out of trains there is no chance of falling on my face along with my backpack.
Okay so after the train ride adventure, I made it to Osnabrueck!!! Its almost surreal to be here, because I've read quite a bit about the city its almost like I thought the day would never come. I met my friend who had been studying at Laurier for exchange last term, and she picked me up from the train station and brought me to my hostel which was really nice. So I'm stuck in a hostel for four nights! Ugh this is the only one in the city actually, but its not so bad with wifi and a kitchen. So I got here around 5 and for about an hour and a half I just went wandering & exploring the city. My main mission was to find a grocery store, because it is SO much cheaper to just cook for myself at the hostel, and usually healthier as well. So anyways I bought an umbrella and found a grocery store eventually, AND I had this glorious idea of buying a children's book in German to motivate me to study the language more, but I even had to look up some of the words that were in the title hahah. So after having to ask directions of how to get back to my hostel, I decided to start to read my book, which my German-English dictionary by my side. And then in walk these two girls who were definitely german, and here I am struggling to read my book about a mouse go goes searching for love. haha How embarassing for me.
So that brings me to now :) Oh! I actually got to see some olympics today, but I had to follow along only by the video because all the talking was in German! Even german interviews at the games. Ugh! So lame, maybe I'll have to test out watching the olympics online.
Thats all for now! Thanks for reading! :)
lovelovelove
Susie
Okay so yesterday was my last full day in Amsterdam, and it was a good one at that! So after my late wake up I was still able to make the tour & buy my train ticket to Osnabrueck for today. The tour was reallly great, I learned a lot as cheesy as it sounds! Like that the canal water doesn't smell because every three days the water in every canal is changed, or that the oldest prostitute in the red light district is like 74 years old and has a waiting list! I even actually saw a man approach one of the windows and negotiate with a lady! I ended up meeting a girl from Vancouver on the tour (who was a little strange) but anyways we chatted and ended up sharing a space cake afterwards haha. only in amsterdam! :P I also met up again with my friend that is living in Amsterdam and went shopping with her and her friends. It was actually really neat because her friends are from all over like Romania, Czech Republic, and Russia.. but they are all studying in english in Amsterdam, so when they talk to each other they all talk in english, but they still all have their own accents it was kind of cool to hear. Anyways, last night I ended up having a couple of Beers in the bar in my hostel with a guy from Montreal and then ended up going to a coffee shop. It was really great! Everything is so casual there, like we felt like we should be secretive ahhaa but like say you want a 'space cake' they're like 'Okay one space cake!:)' SO non-schalant about the whole thing its great! I swear only because I was in Amsterdam :P
Anyways, so I had such a good nights sleep and then this morning actually saw the Aussie girls and say goodbye to them :) and then had enough time to buy some souvenirs.. a couple postcards, magnet for my mom, and shot glasses for both my brother and I. It has been raining actually nonstop since I arrived on Tuesday, but I (being the cheap person that I am), refused to pay 5 euro for an umbrella. And well, sometimes I'm too cheap for my own good because it was raining SO hard when I got to Osnabrueck today. So I finally decided to get an umbrella and it ended up costing more than 5 euro! ridic.
Okay, so just when I thought having the brightest pink suitcase in the world couldn't get more embarrassing... having to carry it up flights of stairs and in and out of trains tops it all. Maybe I'm just weak but I struggle SO much to just lift it up, let alone carry it up two flights of stairs by myself to get to the train platform. And then, when the train doors opened I noticed that it was basically just one big leap. One big leap that I just knew was going to be a fail. And its worse because there are people waiting behind you to get onto the train as well. So it is basically a full body thrust and praying for success to get my suitcase on the train. I think I would rather have a backpack actually, because even though it gets really tiring carrying it, most of the weight is put onto your legs... and when getting in and out of trains there is no chance of falling on my face along with my backpack.
Okay so after the train ride adventure, I made it to Osnabrueck!!! Its almost surreal to be here, because I've read quite a bit about the city its almost like I thought the day would never come. I met my friend who had been studying at Laurier for exchange last term, and she picked me up from the train station and brought me to my hostel which was really nice. So I'm stuck in a hostel for four nights! Ugh this is the only one in the city actually, but its not so bad with wifi and a kitchen. So I got here around 5 and for about an hour and a half I just went wandering & exploring the city. My main mission was to find a grocery store, because it is SO much cheaper to just cook for myself at the hostel, and usually healthier as well. So anyways I bought an umbrella and found a grocery store eventually, AND I had this glorious idea of buying a children's book in German to motivate me to study the language more, but I even had to look up some of the words that were in the title hahah. So after having to ask directions of how to get back to my hostel, I decided to start to read my book, which my German-English dictionary by my side. And then in walk these two girls who were definitely german, and here I am struggling to read my book about a mouse go goes searching for love. haha How embarassing for me.
So that brings me to now :) Oh! I actually got to see some olympics today, but I had to follow along only by the video because all the talking was in German! Even german interviews at the games. Ugh! So lame, maybe I'll have to test out watching the olympics online.
Thats all for now! Thanks for reading! :)
lovelovelove
Susie
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Jet Lag?
I only have a couple of minutes, but I just came out to get my free breakfast (that is offered from 8 to 10 am), but then I walked out here & there was no breakfast & no one here. I was soo confused! I was sure that it was just past 8am. So then I looked at the clock and it said 11:45... ! What! That means I missed breakfast annndd the free tour I was planning on taking today that began at 11:15am . Well good thing for me there is also one that starts at 1:15pm. I guess when I closed my eyes for those extra five minutes it was actually 4 hours? I thought I was over the jet lag for the most part because of my first night's sleep, but apparently not. So now I'm off to the train station to buy my ticket for tomorrow! Exciting!!! And then shopping tonight with a friend I have living here.
Have a good day everyone! :)
Susie
Have a good day everyone! :)
Susie
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Day two
So today was my first full day in Amsterdam. Its weird, I feel like I have been here for much longer than just one night! Today was slow starting. Some things never change because like I usually do, I woke up about 20 minutes before the free breakfast ended. I had to rush out of bed and attempt to get ready in the dark, I've gotten pretty good at that though. So I made it to breakfast and I swear and drank half a litre of orange juice, but like ALL I could think about when I first woke up was orange juice! It was like a miracle at the time that they orange juice!! Today was pretty relaxed, we went to the Van Gogh museum, but didn't actually end up going in because it was 14euro!! So expensive :| Instead we went to the sex museum. :) A pretty relaxed day which was nice. I then met up with a friend I have living here in Amsterdam, meeting up with her again tomorrow for some shopping! Aaaand I got some exciting news! Well last term I met up with the girl who was on exchange from Osnabruck at Laurier, and she is back in Germany and has offered to pick me up from the train station on Friday & take me to my hostel! :) Whoo! I really have no idea how I would have found my hostel in that city! I get lost really easily. When I first got here I went to the tourist office and asked for exact directions to get to my hostel ahha. Anyways, tonight is just a night to relax, I'm still so tired from last night's festivities. I was considering going on the pub crawl here with some of the people I had met, but I can't just yet justify spending 20 euro on it! Maybe last summer I would have, but this time I have to be pretty strict with my money, which is probably for the best anyways. :)
Well thats it for now, I hope everyone is doing well back home! ttyl!
Susie
Well thats it for now, I hope everyone is doing well back home! ttyl!
Susie
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Red Light District!
Soo tonight was such a good night!!! Okay, well I had a nap from 2 til 6 today, but then I woke up and decided to grab something to eat in the bar we have here at the hostel. I was being kind of lame and just sitting by myself eating, having a beer, and on my computer in the bar. The beers were buy one get one free so I decided to have two, but when I started my second one I decided to not be so lame and actually go to the bar and try to make some friends! So within like 10 seconds of sitting at the bar, this guy introduced himself and he was from Canada too! New Brunswick actually. So we chatted for a long while and then ended up meeting these other two Candian guys and these three Aussie girls. So we all drank for a while and then went to this little bar, which you could smoke in. There was a sign on the wall that I found quite amusing that said "No Smoking Tobacco"... so just about everything else was welcome! It was SUCH a good night!! Like sooo fun. I got quite drunk (and still am right now) but its not so bad for me, because right now to me it is still 9pm Toronto time, but it is actually 3am!! So hopefully this will help me to get over some of the jet lag.
So after the bars I was walking back to the hostel with a Canadian guy and I decided to pick up a baguette sandwich & him a metre long baguette, then we decided to walk the Red light district. I honestly had like no idea what to expect! It is absolutely insane, you just walk down the street and there are windows upon windows with a lady in each one dressed in lingerie in front of a bed. My innocent eyes! Canada does not prepare you for anything like this! OH! And I forgot to mention earlier, that The Netherlands is pretty much the easiest country to get into of life!! I got into the line that said "non-EU passports" and I swear the lady didn't even check my picture, she just stamped my passport & I was free to go into the country!! I didn't need any of my paper work at all! So so far everything has been going according to plan :)
Anyways I should be off to bed, I'm exhausted and technically its 3am! Night! I'll write again soon :)
Susie
So after the bars I was walking back to the hostel with a Canadian guy and I decided to pick up a baguette sandwich & him a metre long baguette, then we decided to walk the Red light district. I honestly had like no idea what to expect! It is absolutely insane, you just walk down the street and there are windows upon windows with a lady in each one dressed in lingerie in front of a bed. My innocent eyes! Canada does not prepare you for anything like this! OH! And I forgot to mention earlier, that The Netherlands is pretty much the easiest country to get into of life!! I got into the line that said "non-EU passports" and I swear the lady didn't even check my picture, she just stamped my passport & I was free to go into the country!! I didn't need any of my paper work at all! So so far everything has been going according to plan :)
Anyways I should be off to bed, I'm exhausted and technically its 3am! Night! I'll write again soon :)
Susie
Amsterdam!
Well I made it to Amsterdam safe & sound! The flights weren't too bad at all. I flew Air Canada to Chicago then United Airlines Chicago to here... and I got to sit beside this nice kiwi fellow on the long plane ride.
Okay so before I checked in for my flight at the airport I weighed my suitcase to see if it was overweight, and it was 64 lbs!!! :| Wtf did I pack!!! So I had to give my mom a whole bunch of things to take back home.
Anyways, I'm just at my hostel now, and its actually really nice. I can't get into my room until 2pm, so until then I'm just kind of hanging out, maybe I'll go for a walk, explore the city a little. :)
Okay so before I checked in for my flight at the airport I weighed my suitcase to see if it was overweight, and it was 64 lbs!!! :| Wtf did I pack!!! So I had to give my mom a whole bunch of things to take back home.
Anyways, I'm just at my hostel now, and its actually really nice. I can't get into my room until 2pm, so until then I'm just kind of hanging out, maybe I'll go for a walk, explore the city a little. :)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tomorrow!
So here I am again... my bag is (almost) packed and I'm Europe bound!
I really don't know what to expect in the next few months. Not very many music students go on an exchange... actually only one music student went last year. And what is even more intimidating is that I am the first music student to exchange to Fachhochschule Osnabruck in Germany. I'm not sure what to expect of my classes, teachers, school work, and just everything in general. I'm just hoping that it is all worth it. :)
My flight is at 2:05 tomorrow! I fly Toronto to Chicago, then Chicago to Amsterdam. I have to switch terminals in Chicago which is kind of a pain and hopefully my luggage makes it to the next plane! Speaking of luggage, this time I'm taking a suitcase instead of a big backpack. I have more stuff to take this time, like bedding and books. However, what is kind of embarrassing is that the only suitcase I own is pink! But not just any pink... hot pink! Any hope I had of not looking so touristy in Amsterdam is completely gone! I just weighed my suitcase too and I'm pretty sure it is very very over the max weight of 50 pounds, which is not good at all! I'm also kind of worried about the new carry on luggage restrictions, because I have to take two things on as carry on: my trumpet & my laptop. Last summer I had no problem because I didn't bring my laptop, but this time I'm a little worried, and I found the descriptions about the restrictions online kind of vague. I guess I will just have to find out tomorrow!
I can't even believe that I leave tomorrow! I never actually thought the day would come! Its a really strange feeling I have. I'm excited to go, because I know it is going to be quite an adventure. But its hard to leave so much behind at the same time. Luckily there are things like skype to help with the pain of being so far away! I'm soo nervous though. Like sickly nervous. I can't even think about tomorrow. I try to avoid things like organizing and packing by watching the Olympics (and Canada's loss to the US :( ) and playing tetris! Its hard though when my mom is asking me questions like every 5 seconds about every possible thing to do with the trip! She covers every possible topic from having my passport to packing underwear. I think she might actually be more nervous than I am!
I kind of have a general plan for the next week. I'll be in Amsterdam for 3 or 4 nights before hopping a train bound for Germany! I'll be living in the city of Osnabruck, which I heard is really beautiful! I don't really have a plan for Amsterdam, just kind of go with the flow of things. My flight is arriving at 9 am, and I have directions to the city centre from the airport as well as these really awful directions to get from the train station to my hostel. I hate to admit it, but I know that I am going to get lost in the 5 minute walk to my hostel and it is probably going to end up taking an hour to find it! I just get use to these kinds of things happening to me! Anyways, knowing me I will probably just end up sleeping the entire day on Tuesday, because I arrive at 9 am Amsterdam time... but they are six hours ahead... so with the jet lag and the lack of sleep on the plane I bet I will be exhausted! But the thing with hostels is that you can't usually get into your room until the afternoon, so I'll have to find a place (coffee shop? ;) ) to hang out in during the morning. I've heard that Amsterdam is a really beautiful city, so I'm sure there will be lots of things there to keep me busy with. :) And then either Friday or Saturday I will take a train to Osnabruck.. which mind you isn't cheap! Like $85! But even with the cost of the train, Amsterdam was still the cheapest city to fly to that was relatively close to Osnabruck.
So I guess thats it for now. I will be posting as often as I can over the next 4 to 6 months!
Thanks for reading!!
ttyl!!
Susie ♥
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
