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.