After a normal week of school two good friends and I decided we needed a girls night and a girls night in Germany is exactly like in Australia so it felt really nice! The night involved going to Jule's house along with Shelly in Kühlungsborn; playing some games, listening to music, gossiping (even if i didn't know many of the people it was about) and just having a good time together. We ended up at the small local bar in the town, and danced the night away. I got to know the girls a lot more and the night really helped build our friendship, well i think.. which is sad because I will be leaving so soon!
20. Samstag Oktober - Franzi's 18. Geburtstag party!
Franzi turned 18 so she organized a cute little dinner party with people from school. We had punch, talked, went for a little creepy winter walk through the streets and ate, a lot! It was a great night because I got to hang out with my older German friends (they are in year 12 and i'm in year 11) and just relax since they have all known me from the beginning of my exchange and have been there for me all the way!
Franzi turned 18 so she organized a cute little dinner party with people from school. We had punch, talked, went for a little creepy winter walk through the streets and ate, a lot! It was a great night because I got to hang out with my older German friends (they are in year 12 and i'm in year 11) and just relax since they have all known me from the beginning of my exchange and have been there for me all the way!
26. - 28. Oktober - Berlin for Bruno's birthday :)
Bruno is one of the "oldies" out of the exchange students, i've known him since Eurotour where we met on the last crazy night in Berlin.. he is not with Rotary however but with some other organization this year. Bruno is like the "king" of exchange students.. he knows everyone!! So his party or should i say birthday weekend, was hilarious and very eventful, filled with exchange students from all over the place.
Once arriving in Berlin in the afternoon on friday I was greeted by Will and one of his Australian hugs at Berlin HBF (main station), after a brief chat we met up with all the other exchangers and bought supplies for what would be a very big night. The night was really fun and chill as it was the ideal exchange student party, with lots of food and drinks.. brownies, pizza, gluhwien (hot wine), beer.. you name it we had it! I also met another Australian girl, Allison, who lives near Cairns, she is with the same organization as Bruno.. she was so happy to meet me as she hadn't spoken to someone from Australian since January (how sad!!). The night ended with everyone crashing in Bruno's giant room, a very funny sight.. exchange students everywhere (shown below)
Saturday involved shopping in Berlin with the girls, afternoon meeting up with Riley's friends and some of their American friends and sharing shisha - so much talk about America, and lots of slang i couldn't handle it, so I just talked to the Germans :) Later we ended up going to a "Havana" Club which is a latin dancing club with all Bruno's latino friends and the other white exchange students who couldn't dance. Since I don't know salsa or any dances the latino's thought it was their rite of passage to try and teach me.. or just lead me hahaha. After they gave up since I sucked Till, a German guys who was in Chile for one year, just danced with me instead - hilarious!! (such a shame I didn't take any photos!)
Sunday we went to a massive second hand market in the middle of Berlin called Mauerpark (Wall park - because the Berlin wall went through it).. it was amazing!! I am so sad I hadn't gone in summer and for a long time.. there were stalls everywhere, live bands, street performers and amazing hand made food, loved it! Very fun weekend, i love exchange students :)
Dienstag 30. Oktober - Halloween party
My very first Halloween party didn't really turn out like I pictured or what happens in the movies... the typical American party with loud music, lots of people and always drama, but in a way I am very glad because I had a great night with 3 good friends! Ditschi, Johann, Shelly and I made pizza, played drinking games and dressed up in halloween costumes (Shelly and I hired ours).. my costume was Little red riding hood or originally known as Rotkäppchen since it is a German story! We ended up talking for hours and crashing later in Shelly's room. I love it now that I can speak German so confidently, its just so much easier and a lot more fun :)
2. - 6. November - PARIS!!!!
Paris tour started off with a rough start.. as an "oldie" I was in charge of getting 4 exchange students from Rostock to Berlin by train, I had the ticket and could speak German.. Everything was going to plan until Gary, the Taiwanese boy, got off the train a few spots too early!?!! I called him (his phone was broken) and I went back to go find him, but he was gone! His English and German were minimal so he was pretty much lost. I tried not to let that bother me too much as I really couldn't do anything more.. so I met up with some Aussie friends (Marika, an old soccer friend, and Alana, an Aussie exchanger in Austria) at McDonalds before hopping on the bus, it was great to touch base again and relate to Australia!
Once on the bus we got a phone call from the German police saying that they had a scared Taiwanese boy and we should pick him up because they didn't want to babysit him anymore hahaha!! After that little hiccup we were on the road to Paris, a big over night bus ride (14 hours). Didn't really get much sleep since the Latino's were singing, American's were talking loudly and the seats were so uncomfortable.. but the time everyone was almost asleep I was getting frustrated so I decided to lie down my jacket on the bus floor, get a pillow and a blanket and just sleep there! When I woke up I saw about 5 others doing the exact same thing.. hey at least I go some sleep! We arrived in Paris at around 9am and that is when the real adventure began!
DAY 1 - After a nice french breakfast we were on our way throughout Paris. First stop: Arc de triomphe! I was assigned as a team leader, the pink team, which involved me taking care of 10 girls.. though it wasn't difficult and i had help from the other pink boys team :) it made it quite funny because we'd always do a roll call at every major check point and we'd race the other pink team to see who was faster.
After the excitement of Paris wore off a bit we my French oldies, Frenchie and Maxime, met us!! It was so good to see them, just like old times with all the older exchange students.. so many memories about Eurotour and the beginning half of my year popped into my head by just looking at them. They joined us for the whole day, showed us around and told us a bit about Paris/France.. I even escaped the group for a while and went shopping with them, such a great time!
Next stop: Palace of Versailles! French, Maxime and I just found the group before they went inside.. shopping took longer than we thought. The palace was beautiful; full of gold, historic paintings, the room of mirrors and the garden was magnificent!! Such an amazing place, rich with history and surrounded by lovely grounds. The exchange students could get enough of it, taking billions of photos haha. Once we exited Maxime said he had a surprise for me.. he'd bought me a box of real French macaroons from the palace kitchen, so cute!
The day was so perfect, i loved spending time with my Frenchys and getting to see such an old culture - even more to come!! At night we went to the Montmartre Church, which is on the biggest hill of Paris, walking up the famous steps.. after the long walk and satisfaction of looking out over Paris we went to dinner in a sweet French restaurant. Afterwoods we had free time where Riley, Will and some others sat on the steps with me watching the Eiffel tower glitter = magical! I hadn't go enough of Paris at night so once back at the hotel I went to the roof with a small group and just was memorized by the tower, its so pretty!!
DAY 2 - Next stop: Eiffel tower!!!! Being up close and personal with the Eiffel tower during the day is lovely, with the water fountains, green grass and happy people surrounding it.. being on the Eiffel tower is another thing! Such a great view of the black and white, classic city... simply beautiful. It was very funny on the tower as all the exchange students were either excited because they could kiss someone on the tower or depressed that they couldn't. Two friends and I were the single ladies so we decided to be funny and have a three way kiss!
Next stop: Notre Dame!! Its a really old magnificent church, with beautiful stain glass windows, and creepy gargoyles on the outside; its over 800 years old! The church is in a really pretty area of Paris with a lovely river/bridges, and is surrounded by little shops and cute cafes. Once out the front we lined up to get inside while the hilarious Rachael and Riley reenacted the humpback of Notre Dame!!
After having a walk around inside and being amazed, Maxime met up with us and took Will and myself around the streets of Paris. We stopped and watched a street performer who decided to pick on me, getting me up and making me help him/proposing to me with a love heart balloon (all in French); Maxime couldn't control his laughter! Once embarrassing Andrea finally stopped, we all sat along a French river which over looked the Notre Dame, and ate the macaroons Maxime gave me, whilst reminiscing about the earlier months of our exchange = a perfect moment I will never forget!!
That night we went to dinner quickly and then spend most the night admiring the Eiffel tower on land and also on a boat cruise! Really really really beautiful city, definitely know why it is named the city of love!! Afterwoods we went to the not very classy section of Paris and visited the Moulin Rouge; hilarious because Riley and I sang the theme song and posed like classy Moulin Rouge girls :)
Later on that night the fun continued as we had a little party in a small hotel room, extremely hot and too full on.. so a group of Americans and myself went to another room and just hang out, turned out to be the best decision as we got into some funny discussion and debates, oh Americans and their opinions!
DAY 3 - First stop: The Louvre!! Wasn't overly excited for the Louvre as I was tired and i'm not extremely interested in art.Will felt the same so we just went to see the Mona Lisa, had a short walk and then sat in the cafe for 2 hours talking about life! I bought some macaroons for my host family and then headed outside with everyone to take our group photo. We had to be very careful with our flags because we really weren't meant to show them since the Louvre is a French monument, but we were quick and skilled so we got the photo! Plus Will and I got our special kangaroo and koala piggyback picture :)
After a bit of a wait for some heavy rain to pass, Will, Thomas (American), myself and some Rotarians made it into a fancy restaurant to eat escargot (snails!!) - Will and I ate majority, they weren't actually bad with the yummy butter garlic sauce.. i know crazy, snails!
The Paris trip was slowly coming to an end... we had a nice dinner together one last time and then headed onto the bus. On the way back to Berlin I tried to organize the exchange students to perform at the peace conference, very stressful! Though all the stress was worth it as Kerstin gave me a little present; a personally made bookmark and photo album of my year, as well as my exchange student certificate of achievement = SO HAPPY. Perfect end to the trip... well another 14 hour bus ride with uncomfortable seats, but with good company so I couldn't really complain!
THE END.
My very first Halloween party didn't really turn out like I pictured or what happens in the movies... the typical American party with loud music, lots of people and always drama, but in a way I am very glad because I had a great night with 3 good friends! Ditschi, Johann, Shelly and I made pizza, played drinking games and dressed up in halloween costumes (Shelly and I hired ours).. my costume was Little red riding hood or originally known as Rotkäppchen since it is a German story! We ended up talking for hours and crashing later in Shelly's room. I love it now that I can speak German so confidently, its just so much easier and a lot more fun :)
2. - 6. November - PARIS!!!!
Paris tour started off with a rough start.. as an "oldie" I was in charge of getting 4 exchange students from Rostock to Berlin by train, I had the ticket and could speak German.. Everything was going to plan until Gary, the Taiwanese boy, got off the train a few spots too early!?!! I called him (his phone was broken) and I went back to go find him, but he was gone! His English and German were minimal so he was pretty much lost. I tried not to let that bother me too much as I really couldn't do anything more.. so I met up with some Aussie friends (Marika, an old soccer friend, and Alana, an Aussie exchanger in Austria) at McDonalds before hopping on the bus, it was great to touch base again and relate to Australia!
Once on the bus we got a phone call from the German police saying that they had a scared Taiwanese boy and we should pick him up because they didn't want to babysit him anymore hahaha!! After that little hiccup we were on the road to Paris, a big over night bus ride (14 hours). Didn't really get much sleep since the Latino's were singing, American's were talking loudly and the seats were so uncomfortable.. but the time everyone was almost asleep I was getting frustrated so I decided to lie down my jacket on the bus floor, get a pillow and a blanket and just sleep there! When I woke up I saw about 5 others doing the exact same thing.. hey at least I go some sleep! We arrived in Paris at around 9am and that is when the real adventure began!
DAY 1 - After a nice french breakfast we were on our way throughout Paris. First stop: Arc de triomphe! I was assigned as a team leader, the pink team, which involved me taking care of 10 girls.. though it wasn't difficult and i had help from the other pink boys team :) it made it quite funny because we'd always do a roll call at every major check point and we'd race the other pink team to see who was faster.
DAY 2 - Next stop: Eiffel tower!!!! Being up close and personal with the Eiffel tower during the day is lovely, with the water fountains, green grass and happy people surrounding it.. being on the Eiffel tower is another thing! Such a great view of the black and white, classic city... simply beautiful. It was very funny on the tower as all the exchange students were either excited because they could kiss someone on the tower or depressed that they couldn't. Two friends and I were the single ladies so we decided to be funny and have a three way kiss!
Next stop: Notre Dame!! Its a really old magnificent church, with beautiful stain glass windows, and creepy gargoyles on the outside; its over 800 years old! The church is in a really pretty area of Paris with a lovely river/bridges, and is surrounded by little shops and cute cafes. Once out the front we lined up to get inside while the hilarious Rachael and Riley reenacted the humpback of Notre Dame!!
After having a walk around inside and being amazed, Maxime met up with us and took Will and myself around the streets of Paris. We stopped and watched a street performer who decided to pick on me, getting me up and making me help him/proposing to me with a love heart balloon (all in French); Maxime couldn't control his laughter! Once embarrassing Andrea finally stopped, we all sat along a French river which over looked the Notre Dame, and ate the macaroons Maxime gave me, whilst reminiscing about the earlier months of our exchange = a perfect moment I will never forget!!
That night we went to dinner quickly and then spend most the night admiring the Eiffel tower on land and also on a boat cruise! Really really really beautiful city, definitely know why it is named the city of love!! Afterwoods we went to the not very classy section of Paris and visited the Moulin Rouge; hilarious because Riley and I sang the theme song and posed like classy Moulin Rouge girls :)
Later on that night the fun continued as we had a little party in a small hotel room, extremely hot and too full on.. so a group of Americans and myself went to another room and just hang out, turned out to be the best decision as we got into some funny discussion and debates, oh Americans and their opinions!
DAY 3 - First stop: The Louvre!! Wasn't overly excited for the Louvre as I was tired and i'm not extremely interested in art.Will felt the same so we just went to see the Mona Lisa, had a short walk and then sat in the cafe for 2 hours talking about life! I bought some macaroons for my host family and then headed outside with everyone to take our group photo. We had to be very careful with our flags because we really weren't meant to show them since the Louvre is a French monument, but we were quick and skilled so we got the photo! Plus Will and I got our special kangaroo and koala piggyback picture :)
After a bit of a wait for some heavy rain to pass, Will, Thomas (American), myself and some Rotarians made it into a fancy restaurant to eat escargot (snails!!) - Will and I ate majority, they weren't actually bad with the yummy butter garlic sauce.. i know crazy, snails!
The Paris trip was slowly coming to an end... we had a nice dinner together one last time and then headed onto the bus. On the way back to Berlin I tried to organize the exchange students to perform at the peace conference, very stressful! Though all the stress was worth it as Kerstin gave me a little present; a personally made bookmark and photo album of my year, as well as my exchange student certificate of achievement = SO HAPPY. Perfect end to the trip... well another 14 hour bus ride with uncomfortable seats, but with good company so I couldn't really complain!
THE END.
