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.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
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.
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.
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