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.

Alles in Butter!! (Everything is great!)

On thursday16.06, I met the crazy guy on the tram again. He stinks really awful. However, what is done is already done. Before sports, Doro and I went to the tram station near school. We met David and boarded the same tram. Doro found a place that is possible for three person to seat, but unaware that a guy was lying on two seats that are opposite to each other. I was totally shocked when I saw that guy next to me. I stayed calm. Then Doro started to talked to David about how small her handbag was while she was looking for something in her fully packed bag. Then the guy next to me spoke in a horsh voice telling her to get a larger hangbag. Doro was really calm and nice in a way telling him that she agrees. That man was totally in convinced and his voice raised. He told Doro to buy a backpack instead. Doro was a little stirred and she just answered yes. I find that it wasn't really wise to talk so much. I hoped that nobody would continue talking because the guy next to me was already gaining confidence that people agrees to him. David then talked about sport. He assumes that we might do lontar peluru. Then the guy sat upright and made a statement that David can't do it because he has really skinny arms. He even asked David whether he is gay. I was totally worried. David was also quite calm. It was really an experience for me to see how calm they can be when they face such situations. After getting out of the tram, I told Doro that I have seen him before once and how I felt. She explained to me that she had to be calm and nice to people that are aggressive like him. These people should not be handled in a negative way like ignoring them or being mean to them because they might react to it and we might be in trouble. In sports, we did basketball. I know that I suck in sports but I still try. Not a single person would like to pass the ball to me because I get nervous and I have no idea who to pass to or what to do with the ball. I tried to gain trust form the people but still no sign of trust from them. So, since I don't get the ball I can block the opposing players since i can only run. I was really touched that our coach reminded them that I am in the team and that I should be noticed. I felt that my efforts are worth it although it doesn't change the fact that I suck in sports.

Yesterday was one of the best day in school although I was late for Maths class because I wasn't aware about the changing of the classroom. I got my Physics paper back but was not graded because I did only the first question. The marks was relatively good and of course I didn't do the explanation questions. Arsenji asked me about my grades but he was shocked that I didn't get grades. Haha, he even laughed about my paper because the teacher wrote down, 'Not Graded'. He is just so sweet. I can easily approach and talk to him. Then I went to talk to David because he was with Arsenji, I told him (finally!) that I would really like to find a time to play Trumpet with him. (although I don't practice)(it was actually an excuse for me myself to practice trumpet playing) I would not like to bore myself till I rot. I have to make contact with the people here. In Biology, I participated in class by answering the teacher's question in German. I feel so relieved that she allows me to join them. I was a little worried of making myself embarassed. The girl sitting next to me Luisa said that it was really good for me to do that. I feel that I am making progress. After class, the teacher asked me whether that I should be graded. She asked me why not when I am going to stay until January. I am really afraid of wasting her time because I spend an awfully long time to write just a simple paragraph. She was really nice to hand me a brochure about the science exhibition that is happening now in a ship along the rivers starting from the south to the north. Then Amadaeus was really kind to show me the way to the new classroom that we are suppose to have our english class. We spoke quite a lot and I feel really comfortable that I don't have to crack my head just to have a simple conversation with him. He speaks what he thinks and asks me questions. He was totally okay in helping me in my maths, if just that I have questions. He thinks alot and is quite a inquisitive person.  The best part is that I got his number. =More contact possibilities.

Then on Saturday, I went to the trip up to the roof of Dom with Kate and Yvvonne. Shinji, Max and Liza was there too. Unfortunately I can't really understand what the guider is talking about since he is talking about history and he talks damn fast. Then I got really good pictures from Martina, she took photos of us with my camera. Then We went to the chamber where the clock's mechanism is, quite interesting and sophisticated design for the clock to strike it's bell every 15 minutes and hours. The golden elements built on to the roof are plated gold, most of the roof is made out of lead.  I asked Martina about Kenric too, She told me that he is coming alone. Such a worse situation to come to Germany and have nobody together. He is staying in Dellbrück where Doro is staying and it is just next to my area. :) I can show him around. Then somebody suggested that I can climb the bell tower with him. It is really tiring but so far as I know, it would be fun. After that, Kate, Martina and I had a cup of Kölsch beer in Früh. We talked about matters and stuffs. It's interesting that Kate could repeat the same story to everyone, maybe it is just the age to blame. Then I went to the Ticket booth to ask for the price, personally, I don't think it will help me if I ask them about the stuff I don't know. Obviously I have my budget to keep. I feel that she feels annoyed that I always have to think it over for quite a while to buy the tickets or anything that is out of my daily needs.  Then in the evening, both of us went to Inga's house. She invited both of us for dinner because Kate helped out when she shifted her house.Kate and I baked a cheese cake earlier as a gift for Inga with Quark instead of cheese. It was totally an enjoyment. It was so fresh and creamy. Then Inga made Lagsana for dinner to be served. She lives alone at home and she talked over things that happenned recently and her children. Sometimes I just don't understand how Kate is able to stress herself just to think for other people. In my personal view, It is not possible to expect others to do or follow what you personally think is good, and when the person doesn't want to do it, she starts convincing. It is just so suprising for me to know how tolerant and patient the Germans are. They think really differently. She asked me whether I call my parents often, I answered no and made a joke that I call them only when I need money. Inga's daughter had a problem with the landlord and she might have to shift again. Kate insisted that Inga should visit her daughter and help her out. In my opinion, her daughter is already so grown up, I don't think the problem will be solved if you just visit and help her out in the house. For Inga, she had the similar opinion. From their conversation, I can see the difference between the culture of two countries. The Germans give their children more independance and freedom. They try not to interfere only when it is necessary. This is how I think the children here are at a certain point thinks mature than their biological age. Just like a boy in school, he shares an apartment lot with his brother nearby school. I find that it is so cool that they are already living without their parents at such a young age.

On Sunday, I went to the Opera House to watch Don Giovanni. It was really interesting on how the director interpret the Opera. It was interpreted in a modern setting. Electronical devices such as the LCD reflector, Stereos, Surveillance cameras and IPOD was fully utilized in the film. It is just that I find some parts that doesn't fit well with the pieces that were originally designed for the time were Mozart was. Some parts that exposes sex desires are inneccessary. The most shocking part is when the actresses take of their clothes exposing the upper part of the body naked, mimicking obvious obscene scenes. It was definitely distracting and unpleasant, in my opinion. Then I met Rebecca during the intermission. Her mother and another girl from my Music class is there too. I felt a little awkward at first and I don't know what to talk about with her mother around. Her mother seems friendly but in a way that I was not used to it. Then her mother suggested that Reb could bring me along for hiking but she wasn't sure whether the car could fit me in. At last, it was impossible for me to join them on Monday. I find the way the germans study are so cool. They don't really have that much of stress as most of the students in Malaysia do when the exams are near. She is writting a paper on Tuesday but she wasn't worried, she seems so well prepared. Then I went home and saw cherries on the table. A couple came by for some plants from Kate's Garden. The people here are quite friendly, perhaps it is just Kate that she has so many visits from such a wide variety of people. The man that came is suffering form cancer and he loves to bake bread. He gave us 3 pieces of bread to try. I find the bread tasty in terms of texture and content but salty. It didn't go well with the soup we had for dinner.

Prag Trip :) 02.06-05.06

I felt so lazy to record and reflect what happenned for the past few days. It is obvious that I didn't get enough sleep. Everything was so perfect and prepared for the trip to Prag. Of all the other things, I actually forgot to bring enough money to travel. It is so embarassing that I actually brought enough food and garments but the money. However, I had fun and I met quite a number of interesting people.

On Friday, I had no school and the weather was just so perfect. It was cooling and windy. I packed a lot of food to Prag just incase that I would be hungry. It was such an indulgence for me to have freshly harvested wild strawberries from the garden. I waited for Flor in the Main train station and Luis was not travelling with us. I am suprised that she didn't tell me that only both of us are travelling together. We might have cheaper tickets if we travel in fours. Oh well, both of us arrived there early at the Duisburg main train station and we had to wait for a long time until the others arrived. I felt really dissappointed when Flor asked me if I would like to speak in English. I can't believe that she can't understand that I need to speak in German. She has to be patient with me. For quite a number of times she has been asking me that question. The germans don't even speak to me in English although I had stops and mistakes when I talk to them in German.

When everyone was there, the people starts to group themselves. The most obvious one was the latinos. You can hardly see others in their group as they speak only spanish. Then what is left are the europeans and asians. I tried talking to the Latinos but they are so busy with each other they don't even bother to look or notice your existence. I thought that I was going to suffer in solitude when I board the bus to Prag. However, I managed to make friends when I arrived in Prag especially Wynnie. I thought that she was perky at first and she is very good in socializing. She was busy talking to a Japanese girl and I changed seat to sit with the chinese boy. He was totally ignoring me and I find it really rude when I spoke to him in german and he answered me in english. In anyways, he was also talking to the other chinese girl about chinese singers and songs, perhaps he just wanted to speak to someone from his country badly. I arrived at the mcdonalds in Prag and realised that everything sold was high in price and I didn't bring enough money with me.

I heard about the experience of Lily and Wynnie for the past few months. They had really unpleasant

When I arrived in Prag, We had to follow a guided tour around the centrum of Prag. There were so many tourists there. The architectures of the buildings are just so wonderful. The people there were so busy with their camera to the extend that they didn't listen to the tourguide. We had people that even talked when she was talking.

I had a hard time finding people with the same intention when I was in Prag. I would like to see more and learn , most of them went shopping or have no idea what they would like to do. Anyways, a boy from indonesia, Jordy treated me to a boat ride in Moldau river. We were with the exchange students from Holland too. That was the best part of the trip because everyone was high and crazy. Although I didn't get to visit the museums that I actually wanted to visit, I had fun making friends and spending time with the others. I believe that those are the moments that we will cherish through the years in our memory.

I got the opportunity to be close with my roommates Tonghua and Wynnie. They were nice but also a little annoying. It was a hard time travelling with them. The way they travel is totally different from what I would do when I travel. I wanted to move as fast as possible in order to see the most of Prag in one day. They were tired and they walked slowly. It was really a classic scene that they got energized instantly when they saw shops that they can shop in.

I was suprised to realise how lucky I am to have Kate as my host mother and happy to have such nice siblings. Wynnie had a really hard time with her former family that obligate her to jump trampolines every Sundays with her younger siblings. The first day to school was really a drama for her. She boarded the same bus with her little brother but wasn't told on where she should get out even though she asked. She didn't knew where to go but stayed in the bus all the time until the last stop. She was then brought to the main bus station and somehow her parents came to pick her up to school. She cried really badly. After all the trouble, she had to go to school to a totally new enviroment and meet new people. I can't imagine how can I manage that in one day. She is now placed in a new family but her parents are as old as Kate. However, she thinks that her parents are boring and she really would like to switch family. She don't have a contact person or German lessons. I find that it is not right. Every exchange student have to have a contact person. Problems will arise when she has no one to speak to when she needs help.

Oh well, I can't really do much but to advise her. I should feel proud and lucky that I am placed with Kate and not another person. I learn about the Germans but just in another way. Although I am going through a different experience compared to others that are living in a German family, we will still reach the same final destination as well.

First week of June 30.05-01.05

Monday, 30.05-  It was a hot sunny day and I am having my sport classes every mondays and Thursdays instead. I had to stay in school for the whole day because I am having choir in the evenings. I planned to go home after sports and then join choir with Kate. However, it was totally impossible to be in practice on time. I had decided to stay in school on Mondays from now onwards. After school, I waited with Doro for sports course. She didn't want to wait in school as it is really boring. We went to neumarkt, the mayerische bookstore because she wanted to look for exercises for her general NRW test. She couldn't find it. She bought a subway sandwich fot lunch. The Subway shop is not as famous as in Malaysia. It was so run-downed in Neumarkt. Nobody was sitting there to have lunch. We ate and talked while we were sitting on the bench in a park nearby. We talked about cockroaches, hot and cold water, lizards, free toilettes that are clean and water that are provided free in town. Doro then showed me around globetrotte since I am not familiar with this place. It was a cool place that sells things like winter coat and sport's stuff. They built-in experimantal chambers for the customers to test on the item that they would like to buy. The chambers they have are for testing winter jackets and raincoats. They even have a huge pool where you can test on the kanus, sailboats, surf boards and perhaps snorkels. The most interesting part was the toilette there. Doro showed me this crazy toilette that is built to imitate toilettes available in the woods. It was a small cubicle built with wood, the toilette is a porthole. The amusing part is that they installed a speaker and a window like LCD screen on the side of the toilette. The LCD shows the animals like deer that are in the woods. The user is able to hear the sound of the birds and smell the scent that is similar to the toilette in the woods. Then just before sports, both of us sat at the rock benches. We saw Lisa and her boyfriend. It was so obvious although she didn't tell anyone about her boyfriend because she sat on his lap.

Tuesday, 31.05- It was a full day for me in school. The weather wasn't that nice. It was raining for the whole morning and I felt like staying at home. Doro didn't feel well so I had totally nothing much to do or hear in school. She came late, like the last two periods before school ends. I was in German class and I snoozed. The boys in class are just so child-like. They tossed paper balls at me while I was snoozing, they think it was funny. Of course, I smiled at Kristian and his friend. I didn't knew who was the main culprit. I wanted to sit on maya's place at first but she wanted to sit there. She asked me whether if I could sit next to her instead on that particular seat because it belongs to her. Hello? Another German culture. That sounds really great. Anyways it doesn't matter that much to me on where I sit. I don't get grades if I couldn't follow the class. Then I went to join Rebecca during the break because Maya was busy chatting with others. Rebecca was totally bright for some reason. She even offered to join me by the river for the fireworks that is going to the held in 2 weeks time. I was glad that there is no sports after school and I had the time to do anything I want. I went to the bank in Dünnwald because I wanted to change my money for the Prague trip. However I had problems in pronounciating the word tscezchishe krohne. The lady didn't understand in the Sparkasse but I had help from the otehr Volksbank where the guy told me where that is possible to get the money exchanged. I bought green tea and a sweet that taste exactly like fishermen's friend because I had a sorethroat. There was a physics test tommorow and I went over to Peter to borrow a calculator. They are just so nice. Stephan was there too. They lent me 2 calculators and they came over for a nice chatting session after I played a good game of rumicub with Kate.

wednesday 01.06- I was almost late for school as one of the tram wasn't functioning. I was worried that the Arts teacher will not allow me to enter class. While I was on my way, the tram was totally packed with people. The female driver sounded so horrible through the speaker because she asked whoever that is with a bike should get out of the tram. That wasn't really what she was supposed to do. The passengers are actually allowed to bring their bikes on the tram as they had paid for the allowance. I wwas lucky when I arrived in school. She wasn't in school. The other was totally anoyed with her. I had a chance to go to the hbf to change my money. The commision they charge in the bank is totally high. I exchanged for 21.59 Euro and I got 400 instead of 480 krohne. I felt so tricked but when I think about it, I actually have no idea where I should go for the exchange.  I felt embarrassed because I wanted to talk to the lady in German while I was there in the bank, she spoke to me in english because I failed to pronounce the name of the money in German. I ate a fish that is extremely salted that Kate bought in the market in Leverkuesen after her English class. We were lucky that we don't need to finish it up after Stephan came by during lunch time. He finished it up.

4th Sunday of May, 29.05.11

 I harvested wild strawberries from the Garden in the backyard. There taste really good but small. The wild berry plant was all over the place and sometimes I could even smell the fragrance of ripes berries from a distance. I harvested the berries with Kate and it was fun. We talked over her gardening and weeds. Kate is really concerned about the weeds growing in the garden from our neighbour Peter. She wanted to spray herbicides on the plant because the weed that she is dealing with is hard to get rid of. Then she talked about birds that come nibbling on the berries, however there is none this year and she finds its unusual. The land is very dry and she wanted rain, we received rain throughout the week but it can fill just a cup of water. We then talked about the snails and hedgehogs that exists in Germany. She didn't spotted any this year while the humidity was not sufficient for snails to appear.
Kate planned to go for the theather performance at 11am but she changed her mind. She prefered to work in her garden and we planned to listen to the Folks songs performance in the kölner philharmonie in the evening by Köln Choir and Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig. We were late for the S-bahn because Kate forgot about the time. I knew that it would happen again,so, I can't just put all the responsibilities on her but share the responsibilities in time keeping. They are really awesome and their voice were so clean. It was a good exposure for me to the German folk songs. The Calmus ensemble from Leipzig is so good. They managed the pieces really well and how clean and clear their voice was. I met quite a number of people from Kate's friends and aquaintance. I even met Saba. She was there with her school's choir. It is was the 2nd time we met each other coincidentally although she stays so far away from Köln.
I met Simone with a high pitched voice, he is my sister's Claudia's friend's brother who lives near by. I talked to him but I didn't understand his adjectives, they are new for me. I was a little afraid because his breath was strong with alchohol. Luckily his grandfather came by and then Kate. So I didn't really want to continue the conversation and asked for water. Maybe I was too sensitive or perhaps it was just my instinct? Kate was convincing him to join choir because of his high pitched voice. To what I heard is that he can't read musical notes, however, I hope he is not the kind of person that I assume he is.  I was so tired that I don't want to talk anymore. Kate wants me to explain to Doro what happened throughout the weekend. I don't know how she does it, I realised that she can repeat her story as much as she can and never be tired about it. I didn't feel like explaining while it was so late already and I was tired.
 Doro sat our car back home, Kate love eating Liver. She asked Dorothea to buy some for her from the Bio Market while it is not as bad as others for the health.