Sunday Kanu Trip 22.05.11

  The weather wasn't that promising, it was cloudy and windy. The Köln AFS commitee had planned the Kanu trip a month ago. Initially we planned to kanu by the Sieg river, however the weather was too dry and the water level of the river was too shallow. We went over to Wupperhof instead.  I almost catched a cold when I was having breakfast with Kate in the Winter garden.

 I wasn't well prepared for the weather nor the trip. Kate was really concerned and she thinks ahead. I packed a set of garments, just in case I fall in to the river. She brought a rain coat for me and a hat. I wasn't really concerned about it because I am already ready to get wet. Sounds ridiculous because I was lazy to use my brain. So then, I packed a bottle of Sprudel water. It is not usual for me to drink that water, but I realize that I am slowly getting use to it. It is not a bad idea after sports, it's slightly salty.

Okay, I went to the Deutz tram station early in the morning and it was drizzling. I felt really cold. Volker and his wife Annette picked me up at the entrance of the station. There was also another girl with me, as far as I remember, she is slightly older than me. The Gemans are really good in socializing and generation gap is not so far apart. She was talking and talking and I had generally no idea what to say. The Germans are really sarcastic in a way and they think it is funny, especially the guys. On the way to our destination, Volker wanted me to explain what I did for the past few days. I was sleepy so I didn't talk much. Then Annette and the other continued their conversation.

When we reached, the others are already there. katalina came with Hanna. Kata dyed her hair. I am really convinced that the latinos really spend their money, especially to groom themselves. Brian came later then, with his family member. They are really sweet people. I still had the bad impression from the first outing we had. However, I had to try anyways to prove that I am wrong. I was so hungry and I ate a frikadella made by Volker. It was so juicy and delicious. I am definitely going to have the recipe one day. I was really suprised that the Germans are so used to have sweets everywhere they go. Every Kanu has a tub where we put our important things in it so that it is secured from the water and under our surveilliance. There will be sweets like mars, Balisto, Knopper, crackers, chocolates, snickers and buenos in the tubs of the younger generations. I was in the same Kanu as Hanna and Kata. I know that Hanna is vegetarian but the way she consumes sugar is terrifying to me. Obviously, Katalina is also the same just not as bad. The Latinos speaks spanish among each other again, even the Germans that knows how to speak the language. I am not so annoyed this time because I know that they just can't help it. Oh well, not my lost. I can still speak with others. 

  We had a four hour routine of Kanuing along the river. We received rain at least three times while we are on the river. The first time was the worst because most of us got so wet. I was lucky to have my new rain coat and a plastic bag from Annette to cover my lower body. I was the only one that was still relatively dry. I was feeling really cold though. It was funny that none of us fell into the river besides Volker, Ushi and her husband's Kanu. They were too heavy. When the stream was strong enough and they sank deeper into the water, the stream was capable enough to turn the Kanu over. It was really fun. In the mids of the trip, I was so hungry that I had to feed on the poison(sweets). We had really a good time anyways. While we rowed and met Brian's Kanu, We would combine our Kanus and move on together. The amusing part is, I am pretty sure that I am staying 90% dry but I got wet because of that. The small gap between the two boats allows water to splash upwards when the waves are slightly stronger. I was so annoyed with te water but I had an awesome time spent.

During a part of the journey, It was such a funny scene to see that Katalina had no further interest in rowing. She ate a lot of sweets but the way she rows the kanu makes me laugh. She was just merely stirring the surface of the water. Hanna and I was rowing the normal way. I don't think they realized the cause of my laughter. Along the way we saw herds of ducks and cows. We even went through brigdes with people observing what we were doing, rowed across bike riders favourites-forest trails. The cows reminded me of the poem that the english teacher handed out to us. The cows have really nothing to do but to see what is happening around them and to chew their food. They live a really simple life. 

When we arrived at our final destination, we had a picnic somewhere on the grass. It was really a nice weather for a picnic, windy but not cold. Then we had lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, Frikadelle and bread. Max brought Konyakku with him to share out. I am really suprised that most of them have never tasted it before. I felt really proud and lucky to be a Malaysian. I have the opportunity to taste almost everything and most of them taste exactly the same as overseas. Besides that, most of the Malaysian are able to afford to taste international cuisine.  I had a big problem in defining the language I know. Especially when they ask me about the difference between madarin, Cantonese and Hakka. They are really suprised that I can speak in these languages. In total I know 4 languages and 2 chinese dialects. The funny part is when I gave Brian Lam my handy number. I was so used to count in Mandarin and he heard it. I shocked him when I spoke Mandarin and Cantonese. I assumed that he knows, It was really an enjoyment to see his reaction. 

 I was talking about Shinji about the difficulties I am facing to find a date to the cinemas because he is always drunk during the weekends. So, I gave an idea to Brian to go to the cinemas together on Monday to watch Fast and Furiuos 5. It is not the kind of movie that I will watch but It was better than nothing. he is going to leave soon and I hope I am able spend more time with him. 

In the evenings, Kate, Claudia, Yvy and I went to the Kölner Philharmonie for a Diven performance on Modern arts and music. It was really interesting that the house was almost full. I was so amazed and excited when I was in the building itself. The hall was so huge and grand. During the intermission, we went out to chat with others and come to realise that the performance is for the contagons. Not a bad experience as a birthday present. The starting was a tenor's performance. I find the ending of the extracts from pieces are really grand although I expected it to be in another manner. It reminded me how Michael explained that it is very German to end with a grand ending. Oh well, It's interesting to me. Then comes a lady, Georgette Dee that sounded like a mans voice. She expressed and sang the songs in a really weird way and I was astounded. She got the crowd's applause. I suspected that she is a homosexual. Anyways, there was another man Tim Fischer, I think he did a great job in expressing the poems, just that I can't understand most of the contents. The was also a blues band, then comes the interesting duo of Rebecca Carrington and Colin Brown. It was really interesting and Rebecca had exposed the audience on how much she could do with her Cello Joe. With her cello, she made it sound like a bagpipe, played indian music and chinese music. She played and sang pop songs by madonna and another singer with her cello with Bach. Nevertheless, she did Opera and beat boxing. She mimicked the sound of the trumpet just with her voice, it was totally cool. There was also an english band that did a good job on making the crowd high. They sung evergreens and famous songs. It was really funny when they invited 2 of their stage dancers up to dance. According to Yvy and Claudia, they did a really bad job in dancing.

After several outings with Kate, I realised that she is easily stressed with small things. I think it is uneccessary when it doesn't help much and makes things worse. For example, I was already ready to board the Train to Köln but she wasn't. She was later than what she had told me. Then she forgot to bring some items. It reflected to me that I am quite similar to her when it comes to important things that are on the edge of the deadline. I should train myself to stay clam at all circumstances because things won't work out if I rush or being over stressed. I should also be prepared and plan ahead at all times.