Cookies or Brownies? In ready for Christmas!

I had the opportunity to bake with a friend from school. I wondered why I see her so often during breaks between classes for the past few months of the new semester. I wanted to bake Marzipan Chritsmas cookies initially but I changed my mind because she isn't a great fan of Marzipans, but chocolate. After that, we went to the Alte weihnachtsmarkt in Heumarkt. It was really cool.

Failed Chocolate cookies. It was chewy but aromatic. :) hehe

She is totally different from what I have expected. She listens to Rock and unbearable to classic or pop. I was totally shocked whem she played the music from 30 seconds to Mars in a relatively full blast. Naturally , I didn't show any reaction towards her 'norms'. We could even hardly hear each other. She don't seem to me that she bakes because she don't have standard baking equipments at home like measuring cups or spoons. We planned to make chocolate cookies from the recipe I got from Kate. She told me that it tasted really good, she had this recipe back from her girl scout time. It reminds her of the camps she had. Okay, we used chocolate drinking powder instead those for baking, which I never thought about that the powder is sweetened. And the funniest mistake I ever did was melting the butter under heat instead of creaming the butter. I misunderstood.  :) So, we took the time to separate the cookies and as expected, all flattened up in the oven and fused into one big piece of chocolate 'cookies or brownies'. We had a great laugh. The texture was chewy and it was extremely sweet for me. (although it had a really tempting chocolate aroma. ) I didn't ate lunch and I was hungry. I ate some of the 'cookies' and went to the christmas market. It was wonderful. I had a really great time listening to her explanations about the stuffs that are being sold and her wonderful stories of her childhood.

There is a stand that is selling glass made Cologne Cathedral stuff. Those are really fine work on the products that they are selling. Marie was really attracted to the things sold there. She wanted a ring because she lost the last one she had. Then we talked and the guy in this Dom Glass company explained to us about the difference of the normal glass and the glass being utilized in making the products. I didn't remember much of the details but I am pretty sure that it is the difference in the texture and the temperature utilized to form the items. In the middle of the conversation, he told us that he is living in Jakarta since 5 years ago. He comes back to Cologne every year to work in the Christmas market.  Obviously he speaks Bahasa Indonesia and he says that the language is interesting and cool. I felt ashamed for not being to be proud of speaking the language. I can't believe that he, a German appreciates the language and I didn't see the beauty of the language.

Domglas products

I was curious that she mingled around the group of friends for the past few months. Then I realised that she mixes around with people that are older and mature. Her besties had graduated and they are now studying in another town that is considerably far away from Köln. Then we talked about being strivers because I find it easier for me to mix around with people that have good grades. Eventually the definition could me positively or negatively understood. I just can't understand about the culture and mentality of those who teases or labelises people who make an effort for their grades. Of course, those who are being labelised are eventually 'not cool' and they don't get really much contact with the others. It can be so bad that they would try to get an acceptable level of grades. I am so glad that it is different in my country. If the 'smart' people are not being acknowledged, we might have the same fear of getting better grades than the majority.

Friends matter.

I can't believe that I am so depressed because of that matter...

I had to write a test on Thursday, Physics. I wasn't really prepared because I don't really understand the concept of the theme. I went into class and felt really stupid. I should have not even be there in the first place.

Most of the participants are guys. Rebecca and I were the only females. The guys were really sweet as they wished me good luck. We were always required to observe a model experiment which will be based on in the test. After writting down my name, I read the questions over and over. It is really frustrating that I had questions from the questions or tasks stated on the paper. The test is supposed to last for 3 hours. I decided to pass my paper to my physics teacher instead of wasting my time sitting there doing nothing. Obviously, it is the first time of my life that I passed up an empty paper.

That was really embarassing but I prefer to save my time doing better things. I was shocked that Rebecca laughed in a sinister manner. Eventually the others like Lingan laughed too, perhaps just in a friendly manner. I don't really care what reaction others give but my friend, means a lot to me. My thoughts were only on this matter when I was in the computer room. I felt sad.

Before my favourite subject Biology, I went down to the small gathering hall. I saw Rebecca and I wanted to say Hi. She called out a name and walked by my side to the back. I thought she ignored me, but I was sure that she made at least 2 eye contacts with me. I was bothered and I couldn't concentrate in biology class. I didn't even talk or greet Amadeus. I told about my problems to Nilam, a girl from Afghanistan. She was really caring and nice. She noticed how lifeless I was during the lesson. The most unbelievable thing was that I actually cried. That happens usually when I am mentally weak.

Nilam was really nice that she comforted me. It helped to stop my tears flowing but I needed time to recover. I went home like a zombie. The most depressing part is that I had to cook my own lunch and I had no one to talk to. Kate was invited to a cake and tea birthday party. She left directly after my arrival home. It took me like one and a half hour to cook instead of 30 minutes. I wasn't in good form. Food and utensils fell consequently on the ground or on the stove. Nothing tasted although Kate told me that the food I cooked tasted really good.

After my late lunch, I needed somebody to talk to. I talked to Tom and  Karen. I missed Karen so much. I realised that she is the only friend that cares and helps out a lot. Really fun,understanding and hilarious person. The most important part is that we understand each other well. I had a really long talk with her in our broken and confused accented Manglish. I felt so much better. I would really like to spend time with her after flying back to my first home.  I talked to Tom about my problem and suprisingly he has a bigger problem. I feel sorry for him. He spends most of his time with exchange students instead of his friends in school or to be definitive, the germans. Not only that, he had problems with his family. I had to look up to his ability to withstand such pressure and situation at home. He had to even sign the SA.  He told me that I have to be grateful for the friends I have. He advised me to get things cleared instead of having unneccessary doubts.

I explained to Kate and she was really caring. She felt sorry for me. I felt even worse. We spent the night watching a thriller, Bourne Supremacy which in the end casted a sleeping spell on me. It was really funny to know why she don't watch thrillers or reason why my siblings feel embarassing bringing her to the cinemas. It wasn't that thrilling to me. She made so much noises like 'ooh', 'Sxi..', Auwa..','No..' or 'eh..'. She was so excited, especially the part where Jason Bourne had to drive a car recklessly across the streets to avoid the polices which in turn caused a chaos in town. The funniest part is that she covers her eyes when people tackled.

I was dog tired. I went to sleep without doing anything for my next day in school. I realised how friends matters to me.

Laterna,Laterna~!

I had no school today although it was an official first day of school. I had the opportunity to stay in bed until the sunlight woke me up. I was asked to play the trumpet for a St. Martins parade, a religious Christian event  at Rebecca's Mother's kindergarden in the evening. It was like a mini marching band for the festival.

The festival is actually to remember the deeds of a Man, St. Martin. St. Martin was riding on his horse in his red cloak on a cold day. On the way, he saw a beggars by the streets. He decided to share his red cloak to the beggars on the street by splitting it up into pieces in order to make sure that some of them have part of the material. The tradition here is that children light up lanterns, sing the Martin songs and walk around the neighbourhood, knocking on doors asking for sweets or treats. It is not really necessary for the children to knock on doors asking for things but they celebrate it in kindergardens with the lanterns, walking about and singing. After the walking about around the neighbourhood, they light up a bon fire and the children are distributed with this Weckmann (a bread made from yeast dough and raisins). The Kindergarden had a small ceremony where one of the kids was dressed as St. Martin riding on a pony, and the other two as beggars. They repeated the scene according to the story.

I have been practising for the whole week for just 5 simple songs, so that I can sound better. That is the consequence for being lazy.  On the way, I met up with Leonie. She was in the same tram as me, it took me a while for me to notice that she was standing just right in front of me. Of course, her back was facing me. Suprisingly, I managed to talk more than usual. It was really pleasant.  We were a group of five girls. A flutist, Saxophonist, Baritone player and 2 trumpeter. It was really cool that we managed to get together to help Rebecca's mother. They always had professional bands in the previous years but some misunderstood between the two parties resulted in desicion of the orchestra to not take part in this event. She said something wrong but she was not meant to be so. That is how I ended up taking part in this cultural event. After the practice, Rebecca offered her self-baked Apfeltaschen ( yeast dough made in to a pillow that is filled with apple mousse).  After the performance, most of us decided to leave although we were given coupons for food. Most of us had plans.

I walked with Leonie to the tram station and boarded on to the same tram. I took the advantage of the time we have by talking to her all the time. Then we talked about Christmas and future activities that we can do together such as ice skating and snow sleigh. Haha, I even told her that I have not baked or eaten christmas cookies before. Since she likes to bake, we might end up baking together. Rebecca bakes quite often too. I gave her a hint that we should spend more time together before I leave. I even suggested that we should go to Christmas markets soon.

I went for choir practice. The St. Martin's song was in my head all the time, instead of Bach's Lobet den Herrn or Chichester's Psalms by Bernstein. Shame on me. Hehe. The songs are really sweet. I shall share some links here below.

Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne ( I am taking off with my Lantern)
Laterne, Laterne (Lantern,Lantern)

Children from the neighbourhood with their lanterns.

Taste the Swiss Cheese- Basel.Zurich.Luzern. in 1.5 days

For the past few weeks, I have been giving myself excuses for not writting and updating about my situation here in Germany. Haha, shame on me. I was being lazy and I didn't have the mood to do it. If you have been wondering...just don't worry, things are going really well. Just like what my host mom always say, ''No news is good news.''

Zurich

I just came back from Switzerland yesterday evening. Switzerland is a must visit place. A natural beauty. There is  mountains, trees and water everywhere.  I stayed in Fei's house. I worried that I have made a wrong decision to travel to Basel just to visit my friends. Things turn out really different as expected. I assumed that this trip to Switzerland will cost me a fortune. Out of luck, I got really sweet and intelligent friends. They made my trip really worth the price. I managed to save a lot of money to visit and travel to Luzern and Zurich. I was lucky that I was on the right timing to experience the Fall fair in Basel. Everywhere is totally crowed with people. The atmosphere was really pleasant. I missed fair like this because it is not often that I can see fairs like this with people setting up their stands selling all kinds of stuffs. Morning markets in Germany sells vegetables and fruits most of the time, obviously as I said, it is costs more than the normal price. When it come to prices, I can starve in Switzerland. The things are really costly. I was 'complaining that with the amount I pay for the same bread in Switzerland is sufficient for me to buy 3 of it in Germany.However it is quite reasonable for the locals here in Switzeland as they receive a relatively high income. What I heard from Fei is that the general low income is CHF 3,000. Even Joe told me that doing simple part time job may be having a CHF 15 per hour rate.

The lovely people

In this Herbst Messe, we went around and bought typical sweets from the fair. They taste really exotic but a little too sweet for me. I am still so glad that I got the opportunity to meet Carima on Saturday evening. She gave me a really firm hug and it was relatively a long one. The feeling was extraodinaire. I felt really different that I am speaking in german with her instead of english. eveything seems different. We shared our thoughts and talked and talked and talked. It was like that there was no end to it. Then she showed me what is special and typical Switzerland or Basel.  It was really fun spending time in such funfairs. I saw how Joe was so excited to the idea of meeting her first (if I am right) Swiss who went to Malaysia. Anyways, she was the only one from Switzerland during her year. It was a brave decision she made. The world seems really small, we are all somehow connected. Fei knew who her brother is. It is really funny how exposure change the mind. Before I came, I was always excited about whites and I had stupid ideas that I would be willing to marry anyone of them. After exposures, I see people not only how they look but most importantly how they think and act. This is what I think that is really important. Communication is the only key to know somebody better. To be honest, I really wanted so badly to get to know 'white' or 'european' guys before I came. Now to reflect on my thought from back then, it makes me laugh to know how naive I was.

It was a really nice journey to Switzerland. I am pretty sure that this will be something that I will look back in the years to come. It is the first time that I broke my record in talking for all the time, sharing our thoughts and stupid ideas. It was of course nothing really bad but me talking all the time? We had really good ideas. I think that we might be a good team. Three of us have different skills and we could really compliment each other.

Encik Jeffrey grilling his famous steak. :D

We found a Malaysia food stall in the funfair. Obviously that made us really happy and excited. We were totallly in cloud nine seeing the poster of Malaysia all over the place. The food sold there are like Curry puffs, popiah and mainly Jeffrey's steak. That actually made us think that the stall is something for the Europeans. We went near to the place where the cooks are grilling the steaks. They are Indians or perhaps Mamaks.They served the steaks in between two pieces of white bread. A young mixed race guy asked us whether we are from Thailand. Joe reacted really quickly and told him that we are from Malaysia. Then he told the boss Jeffrey and Jeffrey started a conversation in Bahasa Malaysia. He didn't seem really excited as we were, nor did he smiled. Fei San and Joe had a feeling that he was being cold and rude. They turned around. It was also because that they had problems in replying in Bahasa. They needed time to switch.  It was really funny. Then I continued to speak with him. I heard him telling us that he is going to treat us. To our suprise, he gave each of us two curry puffs each. That costed quite a lot to us. Every bite reminded us of home. We were extremely happy. After speaking with him, he told us that he works for the Consulate of Malaysia in Switzerland. He goes back to Malaysia every 2 months and is currently working on a project for UiTM. We go to know that he stayed in Switzerland for 41 years and this young guy is his son.  He explained to us how often he sees Malaysians  walking by or entering his food store every year in the annually held Basel Fall Fair. Lastly, he treated us each a bottle of soft drinks, we thanked him and continued touring town. He is a nice and cool person.

Encik Jeffrey's 'steak house'

I heard of Fei's problems before I came but then it is really obvious to me during my stay by her family. Just like what Joe had reminded herself 'out-loud' that we can't compare with the others. Everyone is different. I have to be really grateful that I met people who really have mutual understanding in the family. I can't imagine how difficult it would be for me to speak and share my thought with somebody in a foreign country. What would I do if I face uneasy problems similar to her? I have to really salute Fei and it doesn't really matter to me if her decision is the best or not to make. I still think that things are never to late to change, but different individuals ask for different things.

I am really suprised to know how much self-improvements I have made in such a short period of time. Especially in my social skills. I have to admit that I am really in the pits in socializing but I tried. I learned to stay calm at all times when dealing with really stubborn and difficult people. I will never forget about my experience working in my mom's friend's company. The husband of her friend was my boss. He thought me to be diplomatic and I have to always make sure that my feelings don't interfere with what I am doing. So, in relation to the paragraphs topic, I just talked and I don't value a person through their facial expression or the way they speak. I communicate to understand and know a person. First impressions are not always accurate.

I really owe Fei, Joe, Zen and a girl chinese girl a favour for making this trip so meaningful to me. The most important part is that Fei strained her nerves to think about my budget and the for organizing the trips we have made together. The best part of the trip was when we sat by the side of the river in Luzern in the evenings, munching on chips while sharing our piece of mind.
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Friends :)

On Sunday, Kate flew to Berlin for a Museum Art exhibition. She went out early in the morning. I had to stay at Martina's house on that night. I went to Leonie's party in the afternoon. She threw a small party for her house warming. It is just so cool to know that her sister and her shares a apartment lot. Her parents live then on the ground floor. Her house was really good furnished and simple. I felt really comfortable when I was there. It was suprising for me to see two sisters that understands each other so well. Her younger sister seems like her older sister. They help each other out.

It was really nice to sit there and talk. Although I am the one who listens for the most of the time. Rebb was really tired. That as an excuse, she tried to speak in her self defined 'asi-Kölsch'. A dialect from the region. It sounded really horrible although it was not the exact Kölsch. We cooked spaghetti together. Viola poured in too much Zuccinis and tomato purree into the sauce pot. The pot could last them for the whole week. Most of us in the small white kitchen were crying- somebody cut onions. It was so strong that the aroma still pricks our tear glands even though we had them sauteed with oil in the sauce pot. We spoke from politics to toilets and also contact lenses. They were making fun of me. I was most of the time quiet because it would take quite a long time for them to analyse what I would like to express. When Reb started to create groups among us, I was the Swiss from the EU. The one who is most of the time neutral and the one collecting the money. Haha. Reb and viola a country and esther, Leonie another. Reb was totally high,  like she was drunk or something. The main excuse is that she doesn't drink at all. Anyhow, It was really nice to hang out with them. I received a totally different impression from them, especially Esther. She is a really sweet and nice person, and also soft-hearted. I felt really touched when they told me how things will be different after I leave Germany. Reb will lose a Math partner and Esther will lose a Biology partner. I can't even take part in the Class excursions during the summer holidays. I would really like to stay for a longer time because I finally found friends.

Buses

It was a full weekend but definitely memorable.

For the whole day, Kate was bugging me to listen to this Philiphine choir. I heard it online and it didn't interest me at all. I could have rejected the suggestion but I wanted to give myself a try. Alhtough I was a little annoyed that she wanted me to do what she couldn't do. She was using words like, ' If I were you, I would...' I can just simply said that 'too bad you're not', but I don't see the point doing it. Since it is not the matter of life or death.

I invited Amadeus for lunch on Saturday. I had to do some preparations for the wontons a day ago. I had fun wrapping them. It was a pity that it didn't came in to my head to take a picture of my wontons. It isn't that hard to wrap a wonton, as thought. Kenric came by for dinner and a sleepover. He helped out wrapping 2 wontons. He is a really nice guy but 'verpeilt'..haha. My mother was in the Philharmonie with her Abo tickets. She didn't know that Kenric was coming, neither did we plan about it. Kenric and I were actually planning to listen to a Philiphine Choir peformance in the evening in town.  Unfortunately the tram had to stop working dued to an accident around Wienerplatz. I was really annoyed with it and I lost interest to make an effort to get there. I didn't even expect that Kenric will be joining. I asked him 2 hours ago and he wasn't sure. It turned out in the end with a total different plan. He came to me, had dinner, spent a night and had breakfast together. I discovered that he plays piano well, but he doesn't know how to analyse music. The type of music or musicians that he likes are also really different from mine. Anyways, Friday night was really unexpected, for him to be there with us.

I am really sure that I dislike travelling with the buses here in Köln and Leverkuesen. I am totally unexperienced in the bus systems...although it is actually really simple. I was 'forced' to board off the tram a station before Berliner str. The passengers and I had to walk to Berliner Str., using the bus to get to our destinations.  After I decided to return home, (obviously by bus), I had to make sure that I am going to board the correct bus near home. Berliner str. is the last station and also the first station of the bus's route. So, the bus arrived. It stated to on the electronic sign that it will stop at some stations around where I live. Just to be on the safe side, I wanted to reconfirm with the bus driver. Eventually, I overlooked the bus plan. It was eventually going to stop at the station that I am supposed to board off. However, I didn't knew about it. I asked him and he nodded. After a few seconds, he grimmed and gave me a really awful sarcastic look. He continued, '' Ja, natürlich...Kannst du nicht lesen? Es steht im Fahrplan. Nicht faul sein...'' ( Ya, of course. Can you read? It is stated in the busplan. Don't be lazy...) ...I smiled and place my ass on one of the seats in the empty bus. Obviously I wasn't really happy with his service. I felt like shooting him. I wanted to complain and request for his name.  Nope, I didn't do it.    If he does it again (so happen if I see him AGAIN)...perhaps I might. Obviously not.

Maybe I just need more experiences.. :P

My summer holidays

Hey guys,

The summer and the summer holidays here are over. It is already Fall now in Germany. It is really saddenning to say that I have only four months left. I have to somehow utilise my time to do whatever I want. I can't guarantee that I will be back in Germany. I would really like to come back, but I still have to wait for another 2 years. I have to be determine to acheive my goals and time will tell.

Obviously, I have to apologise for not updating my blog for such a long time before the summer holidays. I decided to take a break for the summer holidays but eventually I almost forgot about it until Aces and Mun reminded me about it.

Before the sommer holidays, my host sister Gong Joo came for a month and Jamie stayed here until the second week of the summer holidays. Just before I depart to Schöneberg with my mom and Joe, I realised that Jamie made me think about the things that I have never though of. I learned a lot from him. I can't believe that I even felt a little sad that I might not be able to see him again for the rest of my stay. To think about ti, I can't  actually put a statement on Jamie that he is spoiled. I figured out that he grows mature as time passes by. He is anyhow just a child and still learning through time.  I have to really be careful to not be harsh on kids. They just need time and I have to be patient. Children are pioneers in picking up adult's habit.  Now I think that it is not such a big deal if Jamie is a picky eater, he just can't choose. What is done is already done, unless my sister would really want him to change.To change a child's lifestyle is as equal for me to tell the parents to change. Unless if the child thinks differently and thinks for himself.

 Everytime when I think around this topic, it reminded me of me myself from a few years back then. I wasn't a really bright person, to be honest. Through experiences and exposure, and of course luck (that Dear God gave), I learn and change. I started to figure things out. I think more before I act.(most of the time) Through the years, I have learned that to obtain my own happiness, I have to be positive no matter how heavy the rain is, I even made myself enjoy the wet and cold days.  'Catastrophes' that we have encountered in life perhaps are just puny ridiculous obstacles that we later laugh at.

Forget about Jamie's 'picky eating habit', I feel that I am getting more nutrition concious after the arrival of my Aunt. I started 2 months before summer to take the initiative to know what nutrition I am supplying to my body. Every processed food I am eating are first anaylised. Not to blame my 'healthy' Aunty eats really healthy, it just feels good to know that every bite I take in is nourishing every single cells of mine.  Not forgetting to mention that it is a healthy way to lose weight. I have succesdully loosed 3 or 4 kg for the past few months. Now aiming to loose more than my initial weight. I gained 4kgs shortly after my arrival and obviously was really depressed. As a result, I decided to loose it. After all my hard work, I lost the 'extra' weight and now aiming to loose more just to have a better Basal Metabolic Index. It makes me feel better and healthier.

My mom Kate once told me that I will learn and know more about the person who I am travelling with. I agree to it. After the trip to Iceland and Copenhagen with my Aunt during the last 2 weeks of summer holidays, I have to accept that everyone have their own weak spot. I started to be annoyed when she started to question about my decisions. Sometimes I prefer to adapt to this culture because I think it is better and there is no right or wrong. I was even suprised to find out that she has the habit of making sure that she is correct. She is exposed to many different culture and she accepts it. I had to actually use a really strong or rather harsh tone to convince her about the reason why I prefer things done this way instead of another. Just for a really clear example, I use this toothpaste that the tube is designed upwards to make sure that the toothpaste flows down to the cap, so that we can save all the fuss in squeezing the last bits out, for economical reasons. I told her that I prefer and it is better to place the toothpaste upwards with the head facing downwards. I had to give a reason, which was it is easier for the paste to flow out. Then  the next day, she told me that she still has to press the tube to squeeze it out. And started questioning me about my 'stupid' theory.(to show me that I make no sense...she didn't accept the reason I gave and it seemed to me that she really wanted to put the tube her way). I got fed up of things like that from her. To avoid complications, I just told her to do what she wants.

Anyhow, I am really glad and I find her really sweet for bringing me along to the Scandinavians for the holidays. The things there are extremely expensive. Everytime we buy food or souveniers, I have thank God that I am in Germany, with food sold in reasonable prices, so that people in Germany are able to afford, at least they will not starve. I can't imagine how am I going to survive (and especially, my parents) if I am really sent to Scandinavian countries as my host country.  Back to the topic, my Aunt talked to me alot and told me much about my family conditions. She bought me lots of stuffs and brought me to lots of places. She shared her opinion and even listened to mine. We had a really great time together.

I thought about women who are ageing and not married.  The disadvantages of being old and single as a woman are that they start to develop their own quirks through the years. Being old and single for a long time make a person think really different. It is okay to be young and single, but I have to at least have a relationship to know and learn how to share and care for others. Not to say that those who have not gone through a relationship don't share or care, it just a general statement.  My Aunt cares for others, just in a different way and from a different perspective. I wanted to be an independant person, not planning to rely on my husband if I am going to have one. To tell the truth, I don't even want to be married in the first place. However, after discovering about the pros and cons, I decided that I have to at least have somebody to be with. And nonehtheless, it is not necessary to get married.

to be continued...

Weekends 16-17.07.11

Saturday, I had to go to school for the Summer festival. It was not as bad as I thought it was. There were still really nice stalls. I saw Maria, Ken's sister. I realised that she is indeed an active girl in school. I met up with the people in choir and warmed up. I met up with others but they were really ignorant of my presence. I would really like to say hello but it is that either they look away or they couldn't hear me. The girls are so much better. Then I was actually looking for Amadeus but I couldn't find him. Most of the booths set up by the students are selling cakes and fruit skewers. The only proper food sold is only the bread with a long grilled sausage in the middle of the school platform. I met up with Rebecca, Leonie and Luisa during my break. Rebecca's mother was there too. Her mom would like to talk to the teachers of Rebecca's. During the performance, a girl of the 12th grade came by and said that she would like to perform. The teacher actually allowed her to do that. She is such a show off. I have not seen her for practices for quite a while but she came by. Like some LC star. It wasn't my problem anyway, I pretend that I don't know. Anja, Max,Anna, Valerie and Hendrik were there to hear the performance. I wanted to speak with hendrik but he seems really bored, Anna came by and I had no chance to speak with him because he received a phone call. He walked away after the performance. I was so bored and I was really hungry. I bought the last piece of cake sold that was considered to be reasonable although I know the type of food that I will be cooking in the evening is really filling and high in carbohydrates.
 I went to Marlene's house, being all excited to cook the food. During preparation and the cooking process, I am pretty sure that Marlene doesn't cook much complicated food. She made the whole fire place full with bater from the banna fritters when she was frying pisang goreng.  We had problem with the timing too. We didn't plan what to do first and what to do next.  Something embarassing happenned. I was supposed to cook nasi lemak. I was not experienced in using the pot and the fire place for cooking. I cooked the coconut milk first with pandan. It was really aromatisch but boiling. I had to cool it down slightly before I cook the rice. Then I placed the pot that is filled with rice and coconut milk on the heater. It was the maximum heat intensity. I left it boiling. Then while I was thinking of the sambal, a scent of burnt food was smelled. I thought it was the bananas but white steam is escaping the pot of rice. Marlene saw it and asked me what is that, I thought it was normal and insisted that it came from the bananas. Then Marlene rechecked and I opened the pot, I saw something brown. and I did something stupid is to stir it. haha, the whole pot was totally messed up. I had to cook it again. I made her kitchen filled up with white gas. It was really funny. Then Marlene made the sambal and Tempe. She chopped up the whole packet of chillis. She boiled it in a pot of water, the steam was so spicy, it caused Martina to cough and cry while she was cleaning the pots and pans. We had fun making a mess.
Kate, Gong joo and Jamie came by. They brought the sago I made this morning. That was really hard work. Obviously Jamie didn't eat anything served. Then after eating, they discussed about how Martias started to be avegetarian. He is really a picky eater. He doesn't eat soya, cucumber, mushrooms and raw paprika. He even speaks really loud for being like that. Gong joo told him about the tasty meals that could be made out of from the ingredients he don't eat. When I went home, I got to know that Kate brided Jamie for behaving himself although he doesn't like the food served. That was really horrible for me to know that she actually did that, or perhaps it is just only the way for children like him? I have no idea, that is totally not my problem. I realise that most of the Germans have major problems with food and picky eaters. Those who really pick food to eat should be exposed to people who have nothing to eat. Just when they don't like eating it, they leave it and dump it in to the waste. Hello? Isn't it better if you finish up the one that you tried and never take it again for the second time. I am really suprised to know that most of the Asians educate their children better in food aspects and table manners. Martias gets annoyed really fast. He is really a hard person for me to interact with, he actually ignored me when I said hello to him on that day. I tried to smile at him and it was always that I had to get ready to not feel embarassed or bad when he gives no response.
Anyways, it was really a nice experience. I was glad that Marlene was sent to Indonesia. She is not so picky in eating. She learned to eat what is served and not waste.

Sunday. Yvy came by and had pancakes and bacons with us. Yvy and I had also sunny side ups. She wasn't really in a good shape because she didn't get enough sleep. I was really bothered to see Jamie's attitude in learning. He was given a fork and knife to cut the pancakes. He insisted on using his hands because he can't use the forks and knife well. When Kate was trying to teach and persuade him, he said he don't want to learn the proper way. Jamie talked to Kate in a really rude tone and Kate was so patient. I can't believe that she didn't correct his manners. I really wanted to leave the table. I had to really keep my mouth shut because it is obviously not my problem. I did a mistake. I breathed really loud. I think it is really obvious to Kate and Yvy that he is getting on my nerves. I tried to cover it up again. What is done is done. Then I went to talk to my mother about the food and attitude problem that I realised among the people here. She told me to be really careful in taking care of my emotions. I have a really big weakness in hiding my feelings. My feelings are always exposed on my face. I really have to learn to mantain the same facial expression like Martina in every situation. Kate and I went to choir practice with the tram. We met up with Doro and the others along the way. I feel that I am almost fed up with listening to the things that they discussed. I decided to sit in front. It was no fun at all. I tried my best to mix in, but I feel really bored. I was really glad that Kenric was coming for the concert. Marlene and Martina came too. All of us went to the bar nearby for dinner and celebration. I was totally happy that I could spend some time with him. I shared my experiences and thoughts with him. He is also a really hardworking person. He could understand and speak quite a handful of German already. It was the first time I ate in a bar. I had salad and Kate treated Kenric a meal. It was really interesting but really big in portion. I was really suprised that I tried to stop Kate without thinking from persuading Kenric agree to pick which meal she suggested. I was really worried that he will be like me, having problems with saying no. Anyways, it was really fun for tasting food that I have never tasted before. Typical German food. I feel contented.
I was actually really angry for Katalina to not appear as she had agreed to come to the concert through facebook invitation. However, I should really be more understanding. Perhaps she has something on or she forgot about it.

Waves of events 11.07.11-15.07.11

Monday, I had only 2 periods of maths and it was cancelled. I went to school for nothing and I had to travel around 2 hours to and fro. I went home as early as I could so that I am able to catch Jamie and Kate before they keave to the stores. I love and enjoy going to the store. I wonder why Kate doesn't bring me there as usual anymore. Perhaps I was too slow and  I have problems in making desicions in buying food. After that, Kate rushed back home in order to prepare food for them. I was really fine with the time but Kate was so stressed up with the time. I was totally disturbed.  Gong Joo and jamie are going for climbing with Peter and I have to join Sports. Then Kate decided that we eat leftovers, there wasn't a problem. I was so tired and she was forcing me to finish the rest of the spahetti sauce on my rice. I didn't want it. She insisted on putting the rest on my plate although I already said no. I was so angry, I couldn't control my emotions anymore. Gong Joo saw that really clearly. I was totally in a bad mood. I can't even smile properly. Sports wasn't much of a fun and it was the last. I didn't get a right group and the people didn't pass the ball to me.  I didn't have much fun. After that, I went to the book store and bought a book as a souvenier. I had a major problem my emotion, I was trying to buy food to feel better. I failed and bought a prezel. I went for choir and sang. There wa this solo part in a piece, I would really like to sing it but German was not my mother language and I am still learning, so after the first attempt, the conducter suggested that  another soprano sings it. I felt embarrassed because I was nervous and not to mention that it was too sudden, I wasn't prepared.  I couldn't control my emotions and I ignored Kate. She was stuffing things to me and I seriously didn't want it because it is of no use to me. Perhaps it is not the best way of telling her how much I don't like her way of making other people do what she want, but I was really tired and it has already reached my limits. When we  were walking home to the house, I was trying to make the situation better hoping that she doesn'T realise it. It was too obvious and she asked whether it is true that I am really angry at her. I said no and give my lethargy as an excuse because I know that if I tell her the truth now, I know how much worse the situation could get. I would have said things that I didn't mean to. Then I had no mood or hunger to eat. I didn't know that Gong Joo prepared food for me for dinner. I just simply went up to bed.

Tuesday, The first thing I have to do is to apologise to Kate for expressing how angry I was. Then I told her the reason why I was in a bad mood. She knew that all along and she told me that Gong Joo scolded her. She told me that she will not force me to finish up the food. I was trying my best to not let things go out of hand, she is really a nice lady and everybody has their weakness. Then I went to school again for nothing. I saw Amadeus and I spoke to him. He is really a nice person. I was suprised that he knew what happened in Malaysia. He thinks that the people are brave to demonstrate against the government. He went to the computer room and I was planning to stay with him but he had  only the first 2 periods free. He suggested it is better if I go home, oh well, I went home for a nap. I had unfortunately the last 2 periods only. I went home and I slept because I got the muscle sore from the exercises I did in Sports lesson.  Then I woke up and went for english lessons. I went to the classroom early with Amabeus. We had a long chat about things and stuffs. There are lots of people in Köln that are not locals or pure Germans. He is borned in Germany but his parents are from Polland. He told me that he could speak Pollish. It is really cool to know that he speaks alot of Pollish at home. He is also not like most of the students here, he don't really like carneval. Then he told me how much he likes chinese food like the duck and sups. During the break, he gave me a Duplo. I accepted it although I know it will spoil my diet plan but I would like to try it somehow.  After lunch at home, I wanted to swim but the weather was just not warm enough for a dip in the pool. The weather was cloudy and I can't see the sun. Where is the sun when I need it? Then it drizzled for a short while. I weighed my self again and I was really dissappointed with myself. I lost one kg last week and it was back to normal again. I really had the urge to swim again. Then after the rain, I went out with the family to the playground near the stores. Kate saw this simple built in monkey bars and Kate told me that she used to lift herself up and hung herself upside down. I can't do it. Then I told her how my parents use to tell me that I should always hang myself so that the gravitational force will make me longer(taller). She laughed at it and told Gong Joo about that. Then she made fun of that statement and told me that my height is just nice, I don't need to be any taller. After that, we went to Aldi. She bought lots of sweets and food for her bread. Kate was a little worried for her. She told me that the things she bought is her Frustration pack.

On Wednesday, there wass a certificate conference going on among the teachers in school. Therefore, there was no school at all. I was at home doing what I would like to, no choir and no orchestra. It was really nice for me to stay at home on a rainy and cold day. I was invited to go to a concert by Angelina from A orchestra. She plays in the orchestra in Universität Köln. They are awesomely good. They played hollywood soundtrack pieces like ET, Star Track and Harry Potter. They played Magnificant 7 for the encore. It was really astounding for me to hear how good they are. It was really cold and I had to use the tram at 2330. I was lucky that there were still a handful of people waiting with me for the tram to arrive. I met Luisa in the concert and we talked during the break. She talks really fast. She explained to me that her mother is a german teacher that teaches mostly Asian people who comes to Köln to study Music or Psycology. Luisa does a great job in mimicking how the korean and Japanese people talk in German. She makes me laugh. A sweet girl but a little over reacting person.

On Thursday I had totally no school but I was there. I saw Anja and talked to her for quite a while. I felt really stupid that she told me that there was no school for the last 2 periods. I had to go home. In the afternoon I went to an Asian shop in Neumarkt with Marlene. On the way in the tram, both of us discussed about food. Then we talked about durian. She told me that she eats durian ice cream but not the durian. Then I thought about durian marmalade. I couldn't imagine how stomach filling that marmalade will be. Not to mention that the long lasting aroma. I was amazed by the things that they  sell in the shop. It is owned by the chinese if I am correct. The stuffs and ingredients sold there are not as expensive as I thought. It was reasonable. I found vegetables that I usually eat in Malaysia. We bought what we need and went home together. She was really nice for driving me home. She even paid for the ingredients that I bought in the asia shop. I don't have to worry that much.  On the same evening, we played mensch ärgert mich nicht. Gong joo told me how important it is to voice out our opinion to others and being strong to reject or to say No. She started telling me about that after she was arguing with Kate about the quality of wine she drinks. I prefered to say nothing and she started to talk about being strong. I really don't know whether I should voice out my opinions because if I did that at home in Malaysia, I would be in hot soup. However, I too find it better if I voice out my opinion.

On Friday, everything was normal I guess. I had to go for choir practice in the 2nd period and I missed the maths class. For the performance on Friday for the school's summer festival. Somebody told me that it is not as interesting as it was suppose to be because not all the students are taking part. However, it is obligatory for the students to be present on that day. There was stammtisch in the evening and I couldn't make it. I had to go for the full rehersal in St.Severins for the performance on Sunday. Kenric was so excited about it and he met up with lots of Malaysia returnees. It was totally tiring for me to practice the pieces, the pieces are relatively hard for me. On the way walking to the church with Kate, I saw this backery that is not like the others with franchise outlets. I was really curious about the quality of the bread sold there. Then Kate told me that I am allowed to buy a loaf for a try. It was totally satisfying. On the way home after the choir practice, my problems in singing is noticed by Dorothea. She told me that I was going flat when I tried to force the sound. I knew that somebody is going to notice it oneday. I felt a little embarassed. I can't wait to cook on Saturday and looking forward to what they will think about the food.

Busy weekend. 09.07-10.07

The welcoming fireworks before the event, and the cruises.

On Saturday, We had guest arriving to our house. Kate's sister-in-law, Claudia and her daughter Anna. They arrived quite late in the afternoon. Kate was busy with cleaning the house. She was so stressed up.  Gong Joo told me that it is always like that. Kate was easily annoyed with things.  She rushed out to buy groceries. Then Gong Joo and I ate the left overs from yesterday. It was really late and I didn't want to wait. I went for a jog in the woods while waiting. Then they were already in the winter Garden having tea and cookies after I jogged. I refused to have cookies because I ate 2 pieces of cake on Friday at Ush. However, I drank half a glass of sekt. They wanted to have really late dinner, just before I leave for the Kölner Lichterfest. They wanted to have a session of chit chat instead of joining Rebecca, her mom and I. I was slightly dissapointed but it turned out really good that Rebbecca and her mom were with me. Instead of going to the crowded area, we went to the south bridge. We saw the cruises and ships passed by. It was fun waving at the people. They cheered and roared. The scene was not as bad as expected although it was so far away, and the music wasn't that loud. We can merely hear it. Her mom didn't like the loud music so they decided that they go to the south bridge instead of being with Leonie. Then I had a really nice time with them and her mom was not that weird as I thought. Perhaps it is just that I am somebody new to her. I got problems speaking to her mother. I tend to think and speak wrongly although I do always have that problem but it was worse. I felt much more better because she is really nice. Rebb explained to me about her sisters and brothers while we were waiting for the fireworks to start. We were obviously very early. I got a good laugh with her stories. I got to know her deeper and I realised that she has quite some similarities with me. That is perhaps the reason why I felt much more easier to speak and interact with her.
I then reached home really late like 0100 on sunday. The amount of people using the tram was unbelievable. The polices were on duty to make sure that the tram schedules is in order. I was really glad that I went to the south bridge instead of some other places since I live so far away from town. The amount of people waiting at the Deutz station was really enormous. Igot a place to sit down before the stations. The tram was totally packed.  They were like sardines in a can. They can hardly even rotate 90 degrees. To not be too shocked by the situation, I decided to take a  nap until I reached home. They were still talking and having cookies and wine. I explained and went to sleep. What I know was that they slept really early in the morning.

She said something funny

On Sunday, Kate planned to have a really nice breakfast together with all of us. However, they oevrslept and I had to have breakfast alone befoe I leave to the main train station.  Yvy came by and Jamie woke up. They talked about the wedding celebration she attended on Saturday. Sister Claudia was not there because she worked in the restaurant on Saturday. So, I was glad that I left early because Kate told me that she will be serving bacons and eggs. Then, I reached the main train station early to meet up with leonie and Rebbecca. Both of them are bringing me to the Museum Island, the Hombroich museum In dusseldorf. We boarded the S-bahn. While waiting, both of them were explaining to each other what they saw and their thoughts about the firework on Saturday night. Both of them saw different things and rebbecca made a statement that is really good. She says that we see different things from different perspectives. They are really nice to me, they paid for me for the bus tickets from the Nuess tram station to the musuem. The concept of the musuem is just so special. There are houses that are like exhibition halls. The paintings and sculptures are arranged and placed in a artistic manner. Most of the art works are not labeled. The architechure of the houses are also really sophisticated. There are houses are only built and left empty to emphasize on it's architechure. The sculptures we saw on the way was also hilarious looking. I made some pictures with them. Then we had lunch in a cafeteria with also a special architechure. It looks really modern and nice. We ate outside under a tree. There were geese and ducks around us. It was a surrounding with nature, not to mention that we had guest while we were eating- bees and bugs falling on us from the tree. The bugs that were all over us are small but harmless. It is just annoying to see it being all over us. I don't think we managed to get rid of it. I tasted some spread that looks like butter but it is white with colorful stff in it. I saw rebbecca taking a tablespoon portion of it, so I decided to try. The taste of the salt was good but not the texture of it. It make you feel really fat. It is lard spead, they call it Schmalz. I was really lucky that I took a teaspoon amount for a try. Then we went to a exhibition room after lunch and decided to go home. I was actually making sure that I will not be too late for visiting Kenric. He arrived in Germany! I feel so glad and happy that somebody from Malaysia is living nearby.  I made it to the station and only Marlene, Martina and I was in Kenric's host familys' house. It is really comfortable to be there and they served coffee with ice cream, plus berries. They talked alot of funny things and his family members seems really nice people. His father even told me that I can come to visit Kenric anytime I would like to.  He seems really tired but he is still really a nice boy. Martina told me that he is a bright and open person. It is just that he needs time to learn the language. I can see  that he is very enthusiastic. I treated him  lebnis pick up since I don't want to have it just to watch my calories. He is underweight so I didn't bothered. He needs more calories. haha, I know that is totally mean. Anyhow, I had a great time. Moritz and the other cousins were there, they were having coffee, wine and cookies again. Sometimes I just wonder how can Gong Joo eat so much but still look the same. Or is it just that she doesn't gain weight.

Monday 04.07.11-Friday 08.07.11

Monday 04.07.11-I had fun on Monday during sport. All of us retook the shotputs test and I failed badly. I got 3.20 meter while the others got up to 6 meters. It was embarassing.  Anyhow, I had fun playing basketball because I am improving and finally somebody passed me the ball. I felt really satisfied that somebody in the team trusted me. I know things will get better and better. After sports I had to wait as long as 2 hours. To make sure that I don't sit just in the cafeteria doing nothing productive, I went to browse the stores nearby the school. Checking what asia or chinese ingredients they offer in store. To my 'suprise' I found sweet soysauce and chinese stuff.  Just being curious, I compared and browse through the prices of the chocolates sold in different markets. I realise that Kate was keeping her mind busy with Jamie and Gong Joo. I hardly have time to speak with her. Perhaps she needs time to speak more with them. Then i told her about the things that I saw in the asia shop. She wasn't really talking much on that. Perhaps I need to just stop talking about food.

Tuesday 05.07.11- I got my english paper back. I was feeling really good that Amadaeus spoke more to me during german class about his trip to England Sheffield.  I felt really comforting that he was willing to show me pictures that he took in England. There was this boy Julian who came back from his exchange year in America. My eyes were sparkling when I saw his certificate from his host school.  The whole thing looks just so professional.  The certificate was printed in silver and was protected by a cushiony black file.  I wonder if I can get it form this school. I just hope so. I felt much better that I could spend some time with Doro and Maya. Doro seem really awkward but she was still being nice.  Anyhow, I am not going to ask her the second time if I annoy her or something. I just have to wait and see. Maya suggested that we should meet up and play activity, she was totally being nice than ever. Maybe the tests are over and summer is coming soon. I was afraid that amadeus would feel that I will annoy him. So I told him that if I ask him lots of questions, he have to stop me. However, he says that I don't, I am totally relieved. In english class, I was so nervous about my english paper. I assume that I will get really awful marks or grades on that paper. I told Amadeus about it. He was being really supportive and positive, trying to make me unworried.  I was really glad that I am able to talk to him.

It was already two days that Jamie was here. I didn't tend to interact much with him yet since he is going to stay for a month. This little nephew have lots of energy to spare. I have to try my best to be really nice.  Then I told them that I am plannning to have a swim in the swimming pool nearby. Kate and Arlene had to leave in the evening for a performance from the New York voices. Jamie was out with his father in the afternoon at coasts of the Rhein river.  So I had all the time and no retrictions because not all of them were at home. They were busy.  I rode my bike to the swimming pool. It was not as full as the first time I went. A guy that works for the swimming pool saw me swim. He was standing at the side for quite a long while. he was also discussing about the way i swam. I felt so embarassed because I know that the way I swim is really weird. I can't swim properly. After I got out of the pool, he came by and asked me how my style of swimming is called. He said that I swim really weird because I swim under water for 5 strokes and went up for oxygen. I did that consequtively. He asked me if I wanted to swim of to dive. I was totally feeling like hiding my head into sand or something. Maybe a friend to swim with me wasn't a bad idea after all.

Wednesday, I called home and told my mom about the swimming story and she was laughing. I just didn't want to talk to her about money all the time. And I told her that I just bought 2 books to bake. Earning some cash through baking wasn't a bad idea. I just love eating things like cookies,muffins and cakes. It is just crazy when you know how many calories these things have. Just to make sure that I am sick of it, I should bake it more often.  She was laughing, she thinks that it will not happen. We'll see how things go.  Then I went for orchestra, I skipped choir because I think it is not worth it to wait for two hours in between and choir is not that fun afterall,  Then most of the brass members turned up. We spoked and played together. I felt really nice to play as a team again, nonetheless, I know these people. They are sociable. Laureths was really happy to be there. I see him smiling all the time. Perhaps  it will only last for the first practice.
 I called Agata, my previous German teacher. She is a really excellent teacher for me. It was dissapointing to know that she was not able to give me lessons. Her son had an operation and she had to replace another teacher too. She is working really hard and she is totally stressed out. The common problem found in Germany is that she is also a single mother. She lives alone with her son. I told Kate about it and I think it is really good if they give couples award that stayed together for the rest of their life so that the people will make really careful choices. But anyway, i really hope that she can get through the hard times.

Thursday, I had biology lessons and other lessons as usual. It was so embarassing for me to answer wrongly about the definition of respiration. I actually said that the end product of respiration is Glucose. Hendrik accidentally stated out loud that I am wrong in english. He then covered his mouth. She seems a little angry. However she was willing to fill up my report for the organization. She asked me some question and she wrote down some really good and nice comments for me. It was really sweet of her. After that, I went to the severinstrasse to buy a bun and compare prices of the ritter sports chocolate since I have time. Then I bought some chocolates so that I can send some back for my family members to try. I ate the extremely untrue Teriyaki fish and an apple. It was indeed filling. I went to sports. Doro was not there and most of them are not. Perhaps it is because that they have got their marks recorded.  We played basketball. It was indeed fun for a 4 x 4 team. I had fun since the opponent I got was Jan. He is a really active and nice person. I learned how to block a person from taking over my ball. The funniest part for me is that Jan was one and half a head taller than me, he is also very active. I was so ready to prevent him from getting any passes from his team mates. So then, he took my ball from the back of me since I am shorter. I was really not happy about it but since he got a foul from the coach, I was at the same time pleased.  I ran after him to prevent him from getting any chances and it made me move more.  The best part is I had scored once for my team. That brought me a whole lot of satisfaction.

Friday, I got really stupid schedule from school. I got 3 periods of free periods in between of the six periods. I would gladly not go for arts class but it is obligatory for me to go to school. So, just to spend the time and preventing myself from sitting in the bad air conditioned cafeteria doing nothing, I went strolling in neumarkt. It was indeed something. I went only along the Schildergasse since It was always that I walk by that area. I went to the famous Mayerische bookstore for a browse, then I saw this discounts on really good books. I would really want to have a book that I can keep and use it for the rest of my life. Then I saw this recipe book for Dr, Oetker. The brand is famous itself. I would like to get one limited edition only available in that bookstore but I have to think it through before I regret. Then I went back to school just in time for arts lesson. The same boring thing repeated every week. Nobody was paying attention to her and talking among themselves. When I arrived home, Kate baked two cherry cake and Gong Joo cooked wild mushrooms and chicken. She can cook well but I feel that she still has the asiatish thing in her. She cooks and eats like the asians. That is only what I feel. In the evening, I didn't feel like going to the pub. I changed my mind immediately when Kate said that she is bringing Jamie to Ush's place for a visit. I followed and it was really nice to be there because everything she prepares for food is biologically grown and treated. She has edible and herbal plants in her garden. The food she prepares is not as high in fat as the others. I ate a flower that has an antibiotic effect. It was really cool. She has berries and plants that I have never seen before.  There is a pond in her garden where frogs inhabitated. Her grandson is nine years old and I feel that he is quite matured for his age. He knows what he must do for example greetings and so. He has his own opinions  and he voices it out. I was so annoyed that he is a little bit like her. He is slightlt impatient and stubborn. Or it is just the nature of children. I don't know. I just told myself that teaching chidren is definitely not my thing since I have not seen or encountered children that I am able to teach. I was so annoyed with how Jamie's attitude towards learning is. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that it is not my job to teach him  and I am really harsh on children most of the times. Children is just so not my thing. While we were preparing to have cake and tea, Kate was moving here and there looking for things to do although she was requested to not do it. I just don't understand if it is her culture to push or insist on doing things when she is rejected or asked not to. There were actually a short scene on how Kate insisted on helping and Ush rejecting her offer.  Besides that, we played Skipbo.Jamie and Julian, Ush's grandson joined.  He didn't know how to play and Kate told him that his action is stupid after he played some cards out. I felt that it was so harsh on a kid from a visitor. I don't think that she does that on Jamie.  I was getting a little dizzy experiencing the situation between them. Sometimes I think that children and the older aged people can be so similar but somehow different. It was really fun for me but also a little tiring at the same time. I feel really influenced how stressed Kate always was on small simple things. I really have to learn to not be influenced by anybodys' negative mood or emotion.

Saturday 02.07.11-Sunday 03.07.11

Saturday, I had Choir practice in the afternoon. There were not much members around. It was really nice for me to join the practice. I felt that my voice is recovering again. I sat next to a lady that have no idea what she is doing although she can really sing. The oroblem is that she doesn't count and sightsing properly. I noticed it after we were arranged to sing appart form our voices.

Kate was sitting opposite of me. She was making a lot of faces when she thinks something is wrong. She was trying to give signals to Michael the conducter. I can imagine how others feel when I do that. My natural mother makes really serious critics when I do that. Now I know what it is really like. I am not going to do that anymore.

I was invited to attend the choir performance in Christus church next to my area.  It was ending till midnight and I ws thinking about how I could reach home so late at night.  I didn't tell Kate about my arrangements back home. I refused Anna's offer to stay over at her house because I feel weird and uncomfortable if I do that.  I told Kate before I went for the chor practice. She has really problems in managing her time. She wanted to leave 15 minutes before the practice ends but she didn't. Then when I told her about Anna's offer, she told me that it is better if I stayed overnight. So then I did. She asked me to tell her earlier about it. The problem is, I didn't want to do it earlier.

The performance was not up to my taste as I thought but it was still relatively good. Anna's father does music and she sings with her mom. They are one musical family. They are really nice. Not to mention how nice Anna is.  They have a small grand piano and a cembalo in the living room. I saw a violin and two cellos. There is no television in her living room. I find that just so awesome.  Even the walls in her house is filled with pictures and artworks done by her parents. I just think that it is unbelievable to know that family like this exists. I thought I could only read it in books. I feel really at home.

Sunday, I had to wake up early in the morning in order to be on time for Choir practice. I woke up early and her dad is the first person to be in the kitchen. 'suprisingly'. He dad prepares breakfast. He heats up the oven for the bread, boiled eggs, arranged the breakfast table. He is quite sociable too although a little irony but really fun. Then her mom and sister came by. They were really nice and the food they eat are really healthy. The most interesting part is that they discussed about musci on the breakfast table. I am totally excited, to be sure that I will not frightened them , I kept quiet. His dad drove me to the tram station and we talk quite a lot. I didn't regret that I have made a decision to stay over at her house. It was totally nice and interesting.

In the afternoon, I went home with Kate after the choir practise. We went home during the lunch break.   On the way home, Kate told me that Claudia was not happy with her postponing the time of the America independance's day celebration. Claudia told her that she would have done a lot of things already. It was too much of me to ask her a question, but I already did it. I asked her , 'why didn't you tell them earlier?' She said that she totally forgot about the choir practice. She did not have enough time to prepare the food and she forgot that Yvy was going to another city to help her friend to move.

Then she asked me in return about the reason why I didn't tell her that I was going to stay over. The problem is that I don't even know that I will have to do that. Then she kept quiet. Anyhow, besides Kate being totally 'ruchy' and stressed out, the lunch was really good. It was really nice to have Norbert, Claudia , Yvy and Arlene to sit together to have lunch. We ate American food like hamburger, salad, fried onions, Potato salad and baked beans. She did it really well, she put brown sugar and onions. We ate cookies and cream ice cream with chocolate crisps topping as our dessert.
We had a nice time. :)

In the evening, We went to fetch Gong Joo and Jamie from the airport.

Monday27.06.11-Friday01.07.11

I told Doro on Monday that I planned to go home instead of staying in school. She wanted to stay in school too but she changed her mind after I told her about it. I felt that we were getting further apart or it is just that we never knew each other well enough. Before I went for Sports lesson, I was so annoyed that I received mails form my dad telling me about what I should do about my studies. I wss perhaps in not a good mood. Instead of leaving it hanging, I replied it as fast as I can. I didn't give myself sometime for the mail to sit although it was totally a bad idea. After that I rushed for sports. I was actually late for sports but I was lucky that we had to move indoors. So I wasn't considered late at all. We did the shotputs in Sports. I totally suck at it. They had a test on it and I totally failed. I am still wondering how they could throw the shots that far away? Or it is just that I don't know how to use my strengh. I feel so embarassed. After that, I went to buy the train ticket from Hamburg to Berlin. I couldn't believe that the maschine didn't accept my 20 Euros to pay for the remaining 10 Euros. The stupid maschine ejected my money. Luckily I was able to exchange my notes with a passer-by. Then I went for choir. I am starting to feel the desire to sing again. It was totally satisfying. I wanted to talk to Kate about what happened in school but she was really so bothered with other things at home and we didn't talk much. The members went for a drink after the practice. Obviously we had to join them because Dorothea would really like to have a sip.

The sun was really awful on Tuesday.Not to mention that I received a missed call from my dad while I sleeping. It disturbed my sleep because I know that When he calls me in the morning, it is not a good news. He sent me a really sarcarstic message that I used up to 320 ringgit for my phone calls back to the malaysian bank to deal with my debit card. I eventually forgot what the pin number was. He used that and made me feel really bad. I was bothered with that freaking message for the whole morning. I can't actually believe that he wants to torture me mentally and he should know that I didn't mean it. I felt really sorry for Kate that she saw me in that awful fom of me the first thing in the morning. I looked really gloomy.And in school,  It was so hot that I couldn't really think well. The temperature was as high as 35 degrees celcius. I got a headache. I screwed up my english paper. Amadeus wasn't there with us as he flew to England for a project from the school. It was really cool to know that the school pays for everything for him to be able to join such programes that will be last for a week. Everything was planned including timetable, visits and accomodation. In the afternoon, It was burning hot and the condition of the surroundingd was totally anoying. I went to the Waldbad while Kate and Arlene was busy with the garden. I think that it is really nice that they do things together. Arlene keep telling me that she feels lucky that she has no brother at all. The swimming pool was really full due to the weather. I felt really weird for not being able to swim properly although most of the people don't really pay attention to me. I had a great time. I felt really weird when Kate asked me to bring a book. I stopped and thought for a while. She told me that it is relaxing to lie down and read for a few hours. It ws such a culture shock. What I only think is only to swim but not to relax because the main idea of me going there is to exercise. She even asked me whether I am asking somebody to go there with me. She told me that it would be nicer to have company. I agree to that but not when I would like to concentrate in swimming. Perhaps it would be nice when another person with the same purpose is swimming with me. 

On wednesday, I had no Arts class and I went to Mcdonalds during the arts period because there was a test for the others. I don't know anything theorical or historical about art, therefore I went to hang out with Max, Rebecca's friend in MCD since he wasn't going to get any marks for the semester. Then we talked a lot about the differences of the countries such as Malaysia Germany and America. He was totally crazy about gaining weight. He went to America and gained 8 kgs. That was really shocking. It wasn't that suprising when he told me he went to Mcdonalds everyday for breakfast and lunch. He is still not satisfied with his weight. And I have to agree that he still looks skinny. I can't imagine how he was before he went to America. If I told Kate, that would be a little offensive that he went to America and gained 8 kgs.  I skipped choir and went for Orchestra. There were not much members. However, it was totally better than the previous orchestra. I had fun. The people here are nice and sociable, disciplined and fun. The conductress Frau Whitman is really fun and hilarious, she a little child-like. In the evening, Kate, Arlene and I sat in the winter Garden after dinner. We had wine and I listened to them telling me stories of their childhood and travelling stories. Kate told me that they didn't have any money and her mother wanted to travel to Europe. They did alot of bag-packing,camping and tenting. And it was really funny that they told me how funny and memorable it was. Arlene told me her story while she was in Spain. There was a time that the people in Spain had to vote for a new government before the dictator is dead. A famous professor and her wife refused to vote for anything. Then, they were arrested and claimed to be sick. This was broadcasted through the radio while Arlene and her host family was having dinner. A girl said that it is not true, but another person says that it is true because it is broadcasted through the radio. She told me that taught her a really good lesson that she will not forget. We have to really interpret the information we receive and not just accept them blindly. It showed us how effective medias are to change their perspective of thinking.  I learned really alot from what they told from their experience.

On thursday, I had sports and played volleyball. I was not in my good form but I was glad that I am better than before. . I had fun and I did really good sports. I felt that Doro is ignoring me a little. Perhaps it is because that I mixed around less with her or something ? Or perhaps it is just that I am too sensitive or having high self conciousness? I don't really know because sometimes she tends to ignore me or not hear me.

Fri- On Friday, I actually had Choir practice but I made my decision to skip the practce in order to make it for the farewell meeting of Shinji, Brian, Flor and Luis. They are really nice people although they seem really weird to me. Especially Brian, he has totally changed the impression I had when I arrived here in Köln. To my suprise, Marlene came too. In the mids of the meeting, we went to a park nearby and have a drink. The part that I think it is funny is when they went in to a alchohol shop. Everyone was suppose to buy something in 5 minutes in the shop. I was walking around with Shinji and he was showing me around to tell me which beer is good although I know taste is something really subjective. Then <moritz saw me walking around and he was asking what am I buying. I told him that I am not buying anything. His expression was totally funny. I tried some from what they brought since I don't drink much beer. On the way to the park, Shinji told me to be really careful to Luis because he slept with girls before from different race. Luis keep getting close to me and trying persuade me for a drink. He was putting his hand over my shoulders and so. Shinji came by and stopped him. It was really a funny scene for me to know what is actually happening. the guys were asking me to say foul words in different languages, for god sake that I can't recall what and how it sounds. Then they told me about the first day of stammtisch regarding Shinji. He drank alot until he went tipsy. It was really funny because Brian and Moritz was supposed to make sure that he knows his way home. Instead of boarding the correct tram as told, Shinji ran to some direction opposing to the correct tram direction. Moritz and Brian board off their tram and ran after him. It was really funny to hear that. They managed to get him after he fell on the ground. Then I wanted to return to the meeting place early because Marlene was there and I wanted to share Fries with her. It was really nice that Brian accompanied me back early. We spoke in languages that we understand and he was walking really fast. He told me that I don't look like I am 18 bacause of my size. Then Flor came by and asked why are we leaving so early. Brian told her that we are going back early because we are chinese. Chinese goes home early. I was totally agreeing to his statement.It was so funny that only chinese could understand why he said that. I am totally going to miss him.

sunday 26.07.11

 I was invited to go to the Philharmonie with Rebecca. It was a performance of a small orchestra, featuring the recorder and a string instrument that is in the range between a cello and a bass. It is originated from the Baroque period.  Her mother got the tickets from her friend as a gift. She gave it to me instead. 

After that, both of us went to have ice-cream. It was totally good and refreshing. I got my after eight ice cream but I felt really filled up after eating it. Perhaps I should really try something new instead. We talked about what she is doing and stuffs like that. I got to know that she goes to the university to join the lectures that the professors give. She had already planned what she wanted to be in future. She  is interested to study law and she is already on her way. It is really special and suprising for me to know that they are allowed to do that. Besides that, she don't have to pay for it. She is allowed to skip school to join classes like this. 

She is really different from most of the other students of her age. She thinks ahead but much more than you could believe. She acquires herself with knowledge and she works for what she wants. I felt closer to her after the meeting. I don't feel awkward as I do when I am with Doro. I felt like I am myself. Obviously, I am putting myself into a difficult situation because according to what I have observed, Doro and Rebecca hardly talks to each other. They are really different.

4th week of June

 Okay, I find it really tedious to write down what happen everyday. Sometimes it is just that I rather do more things that sitting here to write. However when I think about it, it is also important that I reflect on what happenned so I can learn. Perhaps I shall do it in a simple way.

I had a piano performance on the Brahm's Intermezzo in school with the others. Obviously I didn't remember the center part due to the lack of practice. I felt lucky that I didn't bring my scores so it wasn't that obvious to those sitting there. Unfortunately, there is a boy form the 10th grade who heard this piece before. I improvised and made it totally like a modern piece. That is what happens when I don't practice. I got problems sitting with either Doro or Rebecca. I don't know with who to sit with. I feel really awkward. I have to make a decision. Doro is really a nice girl but she has a total different likings that I do. Rebecca and I have more things in common but sometimes I still feel that I need to spend more time to understand her. She is not really opening up to me yet. Perhaps it is the language, I have to really improve my German as soon as possible. She totally has the characteristic of a top student. She controls her emotions well. Before the performance, she told me how excited she was that her grandparents are here to support her. When the performance started, she was really stabil and calm, not even a sense of nervousness was shown. For Doro, she was really still and quiet all the time. She knows what she needs to do and gives really good support to others.  Doro was really nice that she asked her mom whether she can send me home at night. It was considerably safe to me in Germany to go home in the evening and it was really bright for summer time. I was lucky. The other guys that performed as a band were totally awesome. It took sometime for me to believe that they are able to compose and perform so well. There were also those who performed spontaneously. It is a great difference between the people of the same age in Malaysia. Most of them have really good skills in their respective instrument. Cornelia sang really well too.  Sometimes when I hear them play their pieces, I realised that it is not that Malaysian pianist are bad, it is just that the perpective that most of the people think that people or musicians from foreign countries are better. I find that if we personally are determined to work on something and puts full efforts into realising it, we can always be better than anybody. However, there is still a problem that most of the people in our country that don't appreciate or realise the efforts of what our musicians put into making their performances a success.  Sometimes when people ask me for the reason I gave up on my dream of being a musician, I just have to answer that I can't just do music because it is a really tough carrier. Some people have the idea that it is easy in overseas but actually it is the same in every country.

Then, the next day when I was in school. Some of them are really suprised that I play the piano. They think I am brave to perform in a foreign country. ( Perhaps they realised that I was really nervous and I ruined it up) Anyhow, I decided that I will not do the same thing again if I am not determined into commiting my time to practice properly. Today Chor was really not so interesting because only a few members turned up. B orchestra was totally boring, they were most of the time discussing about which pieces that is appropriate for the competition and the children are making so much noise. I told myself that I have to join another better orchestra so that I will not waste my time. I got the guts to ask Frau Whitmann, the conductress incharge of the A orchestra. I felt lucky that I don't have to have an audition before I join them. Since Thursday was a holiday, I went to the Düsseldorf airport to pick Arlene up. Kate was really worried when she didn't come out early. Then when Arlene came out, she was really happy. Arlene was exactly the opposite of Kate. She is not as energetic as Kate and they don't really look that much alike. The way both of them think is also different. Perhaps it is what they had gone through in their lives.

On Thursday, it was a rainy day and Yvy came by to have breakfast with us. After awhile, neighbour Peter came by too. Then they talked about stuffs like how lucky they are to be the only daughters. Arlene told me that her father would really like to have a son to do things together, however, he didn't. The girls had the opportunity to do what a boy could do and learned alot. They even told me funny stories from the past. It was really nice to know how things were back then. I wonder if it would happen to me that I will have really good times to remember when I am old, and also repeat the same story again and again to the younger generations.

Then on Friday, I got my Biology paper back. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I got a 4 for it, better than nothing for not studying. I could have got better marks if I had put in more effort to analse the question. Their questions are usually around analisations science is always about that. I have to pull my socks before it is too late for me to build the skills up again. I was glad that the teacher included me into the class so that I can participate and integrate into the class. Just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, she asked me to repeat what the girl Valerie explained about the reason why photosynthesis will not work if the temperature is too hot. Then I explained in partially german and english. She laughed in a friendsly manner when I couldn't pronounce the word 'denaturieren' correctly. After that, Luisa next to me felt really sorry for me. because I had to explain the text, but when I think of it, it was something really interesting for me because I was having fun.  When I arrived home, Kate and Arlene was busy with preparing the food for the late birthday party. I baked a cheese cake with red currants hidden in it. I joined the party Kate set up and met some of her friends, She has a large variety of friends. It was awesome to see how they react to things. Kate felt really embarassing for not being organised and not ready before the others came. For what I knew was that she did something else too. And I was the whole time upstairs preparing for the party and writting parts of the blog. It is only Arlene that couldn't speak German. The others got carried away and discussed in German. I felt really sorry for her. I tried to speak in English, then they spoke in English for a short while. It was better than nothing. Esther's mother Abreal speaks really good english. She sat next to me. She was really understanding and perhaps she speaks good in English and it is not a problem. Reinhild, a former soprano in Choir came by too. She speaks relatively good english. She brought me a present and a post card on it. It was gorgeous. She told me that it is something to help me to improve my German. It was really sweet of her. The funniest person was Ush. Kate's former neighbour and close friend. The way she talks and move makes you really nervous. She talks really fast and she seems worried all the time. She brought a cherry almond cake but was partly destroyed by her Cappucinno set. It fell over at the side of her cake while she was taking it out from her car. She is really loevly but really a worrier. She brought me a choocolate with a shape of a heart because I helped her out previously. I helped her to scan some stuffs to her son. She even brought me Glenn Gould recordings to burn. :) After eating, I went to the party that Hendrik told me that he will bring me along. We were suppose to meet at the tram station there but we met in the tram instead. I felt really awkward and I couldn't really speak much to him with other 2 girls around. Besides, he was against the general statement that the germans are punctual. He told me that it is not true. We went to the party fashionably late because he told me that the early birds have to help set the party up. Generally, It wasn't really a well planned party because most of them were drinking all the time. It wasn't that bad until I saw the food on the table. Unfortunately I didn't taste my cheese cake I brought as I was so attracted to the other food. Hendrik told me that I can leave with him if I want. It was totally difficult for me because he emphasizes that I can do whatever I want. He was definitely drunk. He didn't knew what he was doing. Then I got a ride home from Maria, a girl from the school and Doro came with her too. I am really lucky that I am able to have a ride home.

3rd Week of June

Aww, It is already the 4th week of June! I can't imagine how fast time passes. I always get slightly worried when I feel that I don't have much friends that I can hang out with or close enough to fool around. I don't want to have the same ending as others, I would really like to enjoy my life here.

It was a religious holiday on Monday and so I had nothing much to do. I just found a new past time that fits me well- Wildberries harvesting. I was harvesting berries most of the time when I was feeling like having a break. A good activity to just concentrate on the search for ripe berries.Yvvonne came by in the afternoon and had lunch with us. Kate asked Yvvone on everything to do with cooking. Obviousl, she is not a chef but her boyfriend. Kate expects her to know what and how to cook. I have to learn about that too. I was once like that, always assuming. In the evening, both of us went to Altenberger Dom. Altenberger is just a right place to bring you back to the old days. The old and finely built houses and buildings are well kept and maintained. The was alot of  farms with cows, plantations, sheeps and goats. The view was relatively good and breath taking. I attended the performance of a Kontagon that plays the Pan flute, accompanied by the harp. Both of them played well. Especially the pieces like The swan and Ave maria. Kate realised that he uses the technic where one can continue a long note by breathing and blowing at a same time. It was really relaxing however the accoustic wasn't that good for a fast piece.  I was actually so annoyed with the people that made so much noise with their feet rubbing on the ground, sighing and paper crumpling. I had to sit really still and concentrate on the sound around me. I had to close both my eyes to just concentrate on every note and phrases he expressed. After the performance, we saw a couple with horrible fat sausauge dogs. I couldn't help laughing at them. The dogs and the owners look alike. Kate saw it too. I have to be really patient with myself. I realised that I have problems still with my temper and my mood swings. I have to stay calm all the time.

On Tuesday, after rebecca was done with her paper, we met each other at Neumarkt. We had no idea what to do and shopping was just not the thing that I am suppose to do in this certain moment until my financial problems are solved. She suggested something very productive, we went to the Walraff-richartz museum. It was an enjoyment for me that I found the right person to visit musuems, It just that she had time today. Most of the time she had sports in between, just before her Euphonium class, We talked quite alot and shared our opinions of the art pieces. It was really cool that we have art works from Liebermann, Van Gogh and Claude Monat. She told me that we could get it here and we don't need to travel to France just to look at the art work. Then after that we talked about the bell tower from the Dom. She told me that she would really like to climb up the star up to the top again as the view of Köln is really breathtaking. I felt really good when she said that she would really like to travel up there. Then it was already Lunch time and she shared a piece of her marble cake with me. She loves eating cake, therefore she bakes. It is not just that she bakes for the savouring desire , she bakes healthy. She uses whole meal flour instead of normal baking flour and she uses a healthier choice of brown sugar instead of the castor sugar. They are just so interesting, most of them really know how to take care of their health although they like to eat food that are high in fat. Perhaps she don't use much fat in her cake. :) Then I went to Wiener square to try out my credit card, It couldn't be accessed. I was starting to have doubts when the guy told me that I just have to key in the correct pin in order to withdraw. I tried several times but it didn't work out. So, since I was there I went over to a family friendly garment retail store to see what's on shelves and offer. I tried on one and I just wanted to try more. OH Dear me! My natural genderistic nature.  I bought 2 pieces of upper garments and felt a sense of satisfaction since it was really worth it. Most of them were half priced and the quality was still good. Then I went home and waited until Kate came home for dinner. She came home with her friend Astrid, a french language high school teacher. She talks a lot and has a really interesting character. Kate bought a whole lot of Asiatic food from the local discounter store and expected me to know what I am able to do. Assuming is just the mother of disaster. For the speed, Kate opened up 2 cans of chicken ayam and ate rice. For me it was good but Kate wasn't really satisfied with the content and taste. She said that she could make it better. I feel that sometimes, we can don't speak when we are not sure whether we are really capable of doing it. It will end up really embarassinf when we are not able to do it. And also, She corrected my naming of the noodles with rice noodles and glass noodles. Obviously There is a big difference. I have to give a good response to correct her mistake. It is all about training and learning. I hope that she wouldn't be angry when I do that. Then, while we were eating we talked to each other. Eventually, I know that I tell my story differently all the time because I find it boring to express the same thoughts in the same way. Then Kate have the huge intention of assuming. I have to be really careful when she wants to explain to her friend about what I think and what I want to do. She seems confused when I told the truth why I came to Germany. I didn't lie to her but I just didn't tell her in detail at first.

On wednesday, I called my bank branch just before I go to school . They told me that the card was blocked and I have to return to the branch to reactivate my card. It was so stupid of me to do several tries on my pin number.However she gave me an email address and told me to send a mail to the manager for her to reactivate my debit card. I don't know if that will happen . I will be in deep financial crisis if I can't withdraw money now, and summer holidays is coming soon. I wouldn't want to borrow money from Kate. Then I went to school as usual and did my maths paper with the others. It ws not really as hard as I thought it would be. Then in the afternoon I came back for choir and Orchestra. The orchestra is having a concert on the next day and I had to practice with them. I asked Nano if i could switch to the other orcheatra because I would like to join a better group and learn more instead of being with the children. They are really hard to tame. And so, I had to do the audtion.

On Thursday, after sports I had to be in the room before the concert. I experience discomfort due to the weather, I got my first headache and discomfort in my tummy. I was feeling like throwing up. It was warm and cold, with a high intensity of humidity in the air. Doro couldn't take it so she had to stay at home instead of attending sports practice. In sports I had a small technic test on the Kugelstoßen. I got a plus!!!! My first plus in sports! XD I feel really good. Anyways, that plus was just for my technic but not how far I could throw the metal ball. I was with the people form the A orchestra outside room where they are suppose to wait. Then the A conductor came by, not even a hallo. i would really like to greet her but she ignored or didn't care to do so. I smiled at her but she had no response. Awful! Anyhow, I just realise how nice Nano is. He is really children friendly. I was quite happy when Rebecca invited me for a camp in France together during the first 2 weeks of summer holiday but too bad I have already made plans with Joe to Hamburg and Berlin.

On Friday, I had a Biology Paper to write, Obviously, I just knew that I had to write that paper a day before. I tried my best but I wrote crap. I saw stars and felt a little frustrated. I felt embarassing that I burped during the test, although it was soft but still loud enough to be heard. Then I realised that nobody cared about it, I think it is very normal here to burp since their diet is quite 'gas productive'. Then before I went for english class, Hendrik told me that he would bring me along to a birthday party instead of showing my around in Köln since that nobody will be in town this month. Then he was really direct after the conversation that he would like to go pee, in not a really elegant way. He is a little weird and funny. Then Kate went for a Wedding dinner in a beer garden, I was left alone at home. I had worked on my stuffs and spoked with Joe via Skype. I wanted to watch the movie that Kate introduced me but I couldn't find it. Then, I had to have a really late dinner because I ate too much in the afternoon. It was really hard for me. I didn't feel like writting my blog too. So I continued practising my piano for the performance that is on the coming Thursday. Then Joe was with me the whole night long, she told me that she would like to concentrate to learn only pure German but not Swissgerman. She told me that it is really hard for her. Of course, she need help in her german too. Then she told me about another exchange student, Alex that is in France for nearly 6 months. She had a really bad experience at the beginning. She was in such a depression. I doubt that she learned and grown alot after that. She realized how simple her life in Malaysia was and she loves it even more. Then I told Joe that both of us should really appreciate what we have since we are so lucky to have such wonderful family. There was once a girl from Norway who told me how important it is to maintain a good relationship with our family members because it is only them that support us mentally and spiritually when we encounter problems, although we have nothing in common, just because we are in a family. I feel really sorry for her that she didn't receive a good family in the beginning of her stay. She suffered alot. Joe wasn't making much progress too because the people speaks high German to her but speaks Swiss german among themselves. She even got fed up with the teachers than gave up explaining the subjects to her. She called me because she is always bored. I tried my best to cheer her up and I hope that everything can be soon better for her. She is also an interesting girl, it is weird that how people are so close to each other and still so far through this program. Somebody once told me that things will definitely change once we return to our home country when we have nothing in common anymore. I hope that is not so. Most of the general statements can be altered as long as we want to.

On Saturday, I was really glad that I was able to cook 'Mee Goreng' malaysian chinese style with the incorrect noodle. It wasn't as bad as my brinjal or steamed water egg. I felt really pleased with the taste and result. Kate ate it, but as usual we had to drink a lot of water after eating it. It was a relatively nice afternoon until Kate had a desire  for Spaghetti ice cream as dessert, and we wanted to ride our bikes to the ice cream shop. Besides that, it wasn't such a bad idea to invite Inga over to join us. However, Inga bought 3 pieces or strawberry cake that was actually meant for her neighbour that is unhappy about the new house the neighbours bought.  She wasn't there and Inga would be pleased if we went over to help her finish the cake with coffee. It was such a pleasure. Then Kate wanted to help her out. She is a little puschy when other don't really want to take her decision in. She has work to do at home but she wants to spend time helping Inga. I have totally no idea what to say. She was starting to deicide what and where to put for Inga although I can see that she said no. It is just so weird. It was like that Kate could stay there for a long time. It rained too while we were still inside, we couldn't ride our bikes home. In the evening, we ride our bikes home. We had pizza and apple as our dinner. We watched a film called Shakespear in Love. Not really as romantic for me as Kate thinks it is. It just that different people have different way of interpreting it. I can't bully other to have a stand on the same opinion.