Photos from Konstanz

Well, Ersin sent me his photos from Konstanz, so all was not lost.
Here is an example, more can be seen in my photo gallery (click the picture to go there)

Trip to Konstanz

Got on the train and met up with Ersin in Stuttgart. Caught the 3 hour train ride to Konstanz. Now just a point to note, public transport in Germany is not cheap. If you want to catch an ICE train (fast trains) it is often cheaper to fly! So you need to catch the slower trains. Konstanz is only 100km or so away and it took 3 hours.

Konstanz is a beautiful city, right on the German / Swiss border. In fact, you can walk to Switzerland. We wandered around the city taking photos. We came to a big cathedral (turned out to be the biggest one in Konstanz) and decided to climb to the top. Several hundred mini-stairs later we made it to the top. The view was amasing! Unfortunately, at this point of my trip my camera came up with a "CARD NOT INITIALISED" error. I still haven't figured it out, but my memory card is corrupted :( so I lost all my photos of Stuttgart and Konstanz. Oh well, an excuse to go back there again :)

After that we got a paddle boat (the ones you paddle like a bike) and went around the harbour for an hour. I was thirsty after all this so we stopped in at a biergarten. I had a Hefeweissen (wheat beer) and the other two had coffees. I recommend people visit here if they go to Germany, but I haven't seen much of it yet.
We decided to try and walk to Switzerland but none of us remembered our passports, so we couldn't go and have a look.
We continued walking around the city and then eventually caught the train home.

1st Real Visit to Stuttgart

Went shopping in the morning and got all the essentials: bike, cooking stuff, food.
Then we went into Stuttgart (Nearest city to Sindelfingen/Boeblingen).
Stuttgart is a busy city with lots of people about. There were very cool buildings for the government. They were new but built to look old. The whole city looks fairly new, with a lot of the taverns built in old pre-WW2 architecture. Unfortunately I have lost my pictures of Stuttgart, but I will get some more.
We met up with Ersin (a Turkish friend of Janeth). We wanted to walk to the top of one of the hills and have a look, but it rained very hard so we didn't make it. Instead we sat inside a cafe and had a coffee. Managed to kill 6 hours wandering around doing not much.
Decided to make plans to head to Konstanz the next day.

Weekend Trip

On Thursday I decided I wanted to go away for the weekend, because I just found out that Monday is a public holiday!
My room-mate suggested a website www.ltur.com which offers last minute trips from Germany.
Friday morning I went in with a bag packed ready to go anywhere. The site was all in German, so I had to figure it out. I borrowed another student to help translate for me. However there were no real offers available. But I did look at future weekends and have some ideas.

I came home from work a little disappointed. I went into the dining room and started talking with a few people in the room. One of the guys named Janeth (Indian that has been in Germany for 2 years) said he was keen to do something, so we made plans for the weekend.

German Bureaucracy!

I woke up at some ungodly hour (3 or 4... don't know because I didn't have a watch or clock) then drifted in and out of consiousness until I got up about 7. Spent an hour fluffing about and getting sorted. Then another hour reading my Lonley Planet German Translation book (thanks Debra, good prezzie!).

In to work at 9am. I went into town with Stefan (my supervisor over here) to try and sort out a bank account. Man... German bureaucracy is a nightmare! It is unbelievably bad.

First, to get a bank account I needed to have my address registered with the City Hall. So we went to the city hall. I needed to fill out these forms to get my application processed. We went into a room to hand the forms in, but the room we went into was only for Surnames A-K. So we needed to go to another part of the building. Then we found out we also needed a photocopy of my VISA + Passport, so we needed to go to another part of the building to get that. We then got back to the correct room with the required documents. They ticked a box then gave us the real form that we needed to fill out. This one needed to be taken to another part of the building. Here is where we actually registered my address. I also found out I am here illegally in Germany. Not only are you required to have a Work Permit (right to work), a VISA (right to enter) and a registerd address. You also need another permit which permits you a right to stay in Germany. Am I making anyone else's head hurt here!?! So I still need to complete this part which requires a passport photo.

Anyway, after all of this the day was over :) And we still didn't have a bank account which is the main reason we went out in the first place!

The next day I went out to the bank with Heidi, because I need a translator just about everywhere official. Nobody really speaks English. Got to the bank and registered for a bank account. I get a Mestro card at some stage in the mail (which is similar to an EFTPOS card, but you can only get cash at an ATM). After we left the bank we got to the car which had some police officers standing around it. Heidi freaked out and had a panicked conversation with the police.
I found out afterwards that the car had started rolling backwards down the hill and a lady had put a stone under the back wheel to stop it going any further. The parking brake obviously didn't work. There were no fines or anything, just a panicked Heidi who couldn't speak English for a while (was in shock).

After all the above stuff, the next few days were pretty boring. Just installing stuff on the laptop and easing into things.

Flight to Germany

I know this is backdated, but here is the summary of my trip over to Deutschland.
Didn't get much sleep the night before, I was quite nervous and tossed and turned the whole night. Got up early and made French Toast for Debra and I.
Then we took off to the airport and checked in. All went well, and said my final goodbyes to Debra and New Zealand at the gate. Was freaking out a little bit but managed to take my mind off things by buying European adaptors and knick-knacks.

Finally I got on the plane and sat down. On my flight to Sydney I sat beside a pom named Mark, a guy in his mid-thirties. I chatted with him most of the flight because the movie was crap (Becoming Jane). Found out some places to visit in England. When we landed he got stopped at customs for having a bottle of Southern Comfort in his bag. With the new liquid laws, you can no longer take liquids through connecting flights. So for those of you travelling, you can only get duty free at the last connecting stop!
I was wondering around Sydney airport and then caught up with David again. He gave me his contact details if I needed a guide in Birmingham. Wasn't much of a stop in Sydney, so I had a coffee then went off to my plane.

I found my seat and was sitting beside two Swedish girls named Anna and Therese. Their English was pretty much perfect. They had just been to NZ doing a medical internship for their course. They had free time in NZ so I talked to them about their trip.They said they really enjoyed it and were thinking of going back again. I got on with them really well, and spent most of the first leg (7 hours, Sydney to Bangkok) talking with Anna as Therese was sick and couldn't talk and was trying to get some sleep. We found out quite a bit about each other, it's always interesting meeting new people. They are pictured below (Anna on left, Therese on right)



Got off in the Bangkok airport, it is very pretty from the outside. On the inside it is very ummm like the inside of a hospital OR. All clean and stuff. Really had no character. Only a 1 hour refueling stop here, so just freshened up, brushed teeth and back on the plane. Swapped contact details with Anna and Therese for if they head back to NZ or I head over to Sweden (which I'm thinking of doing anyways).



This leg of my flight was the longest, 13 hours. I talked with the girls a bit but we were all shattered. Tried to sleep, but I mostly only rested my eyes. Watched a few more movies. Ate a couple of meals. This one was uneventful.

Got off the plane at Heathrow. Said bye to the girls as they headed off to catch their connecting flight. I had to catch a 6 minute bus ride to connect to my terminal. Heathrow has a bit more character than Bangkok.

Got on the plane for the final 1.5 hour flight to Stuttgart, Germany. I was absolutely shattered. I sat beside an American named Sarah who's parents lived in Germany. I was too tired to really communicate and ended up sleeping for most of this flight.

I defiantly knew I had arrived in Germany. No more English! The customs officers had no sense of humour. I went through got my bags almost immediately, then met Heidi at the gate. She was younger than I thought (about my age) and she was very friendly. Took me to my room in Sindelfingen and got me settled in with keys etc. Lucky she was with me because nobody I was dealing with spoke a word of English. I definitely needed a translator!

By this stage I was wide awake (at midday in Germany). So I decided to go into work with Heidi and meet everyone. They were all pretty friendly. Their English is ok but not perfect, and they all speak German in the coffee room. I felt very alienated at this stage :) Oh well, I guess I just need to learn German.

I got my contract sorted out and some other things. Then went home around 6. As soon as I got home I felt extremely tired. Unpacked my things, half meet my room-mate, then crashed at 7pm.
Here's some pictures of my room.

Goodbye to Opa

Last night at 6:17pm my Opa passed away. We arrived at 5pm for a visit before I was to head back to Auckland. He had been asleep since 12:30am and the doctor came to visit at 5pm-ish and said he would probably not wake up.
He didn't expect him to go that quickly. It was peaceful and it was a relief that he went in such a way. He had motor-neuron-disease, so the death was not unexpected, but just happened more quickly than everyone thought. It was very sad but in the same time, nice to see him pass the way he wanted to.

So, my travel plans to Germany have been postponed. I should be at the airport right now, but I have had to cancel my flights til after the funeral. I don't know my plans yet, so watch this space.

Leaving on Monday

Hello,

Just a quick note coz I'm going to be flat out until I leave.
I'm leaving on Monday for my 30 hours of plane travel.
I'm also giving my phone number back to work.... so from that time on, the only way to contact me is email.

I'll also update this site with my new contact details when I get some (or I may send out an email... not sure if I should put a phone number open for public viewing)

Last Day of Work

Hello there,

I had my last day of work on Monday.
Was a pretty relaxing day. Finalised some work at a client's site. Then went back to the office for afternoon tea. Shirlee put on a German theme with Apple Strudel and Pretzels :)
Somebody thought it would be a fun idea to silly-string me, was entertaining, except for getting silly string in the ear :)

Becky gave me lots of hugs and the whole thing was a little emotional.
I will miss working with the COGITA family.

From Last Day of Work