The Adventures of Jules

This is the end, my only friend, the end :)

2006-02-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

The Adventures of Jules

It's almost over! I'm flying home tomorrow. We're meeting up at the airport at 5:30am. Fun. Luckily Herr Stein, the German organiser, is letting me stay at his house, so that makes life somewhat simpler. Especially considering the Bleiers live 2 1/2 hours away from Dusseldorf , and all the hotels there are full. I have told him however that he had to ask his family first. (Call it the Ulla lesson).

So, I'm coming back Australia Day. Hooray. Just in time to start doing the research I've been able to put off in the name of international travel.

So, here are my top ten moments of my trip:
1. Having people who not only let me stay with them, but were happy to have me there (Rudi, Elke and Lea, May and Teo, Juliette). Same goes for people who went out of their way to do things with me (Bummi and Manuela, Lukas and Nadine, all of the above, plus quite a few others.)
2. When Oscar came to stay. Not everybody would fly for two days each way just so they could stay with me for a week. Love you fatty!
3. Being able to travel again. Whilst being subsidised.
4. Being able to watch movies, read books and acquire new music. NOTABLE MENTIONS Movies: The Philadelphia Story, Matchpoint and Mr Deeds Goes To Town. Books: Cloudstreet, The Line of Beauty and Bright Lights, Big City. MUSIC: All my stuff from May and the Bleiers.

5. Seeing Berlin, Copenhagen, Munich, Colmar, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Freiburg, Ljubljana, Koper, Tuebingen, and last but not least, Rottenburg.
6. Shopping. Not my favourite activity at home, but really enjoy it whilst travelling. It kinda feels like exploring.
7. Seeing some pretty amazing social/ cultural/ historical places. (Including some UNESCO world heritage listed ones).
8. Snow and snow sports - Toboganning, snowboarding and snowball fights.
9. Realising that getting along with people and sharing rooms with them is totally manageable. This is particularly the case for my week in Berlin. (In case others were reading too much into it!)
10. Learning to appreciate my life at home.

In conclusion,

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish,

xxx

Jules

Oh, and check out: It's almost over! I'm flying home tomorrow. We're meeting up at the airport at 5:30am. Fun. Luckily Herr Stein, the German organiser, is letting me stay at his house, so that makes life somewhat simpler. Especially considering the Bleiers live 2 1/2 hours away from Dusseldorf , and all the hotels there are full. I have told him however that he had to ask his family first. (Call it the Ulla lesson).

So, I'm coming back Australia Day. Hooray. Just in time to start doing the research I've been able to put off in the name of international travel.

So, here are my top ten moments of my trip:
1. Having people who not only let me stay with them, but were happy to have me there (Rudi, Elke and Lea, May and Teo, Juliette). Same goes for people who went out of their way to do things with me (Bummi and Manuela, Lukas and Nadine, all of the above, plus quite a few others.)
2. When Oscar came to stay. Not everybody would fly for two days each way just so they could stay with me for a week. Love you fatty!
3. Being able to travel again. Whilst being subsidised.
4. Being able to watch movies, read books and acquire new music. NOTABLE MENTIONS Movies: The Philadelphia Story, Matchpoint and Mr Deeds Goes To Town. Books: Cloudstreet, The Line of Beauty and Bright Lights, Big City. MUSIC: All my stuff from May and the Bleiers.

5. Seeing Berlin, Copenhagen, Munich, Colmar, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Freiburg, Ljubljana, Koper, Tuebingen, and last but not least, Rottenburg.
6. Shopping. Not my favourite activity at home, but really enjoy it whilst travelling. It kinda feels like exploring.
7. Seeing some pretty amazing social/ cultural/ historical places. (Including some UNESCO world heritage listed ones).
8. Snow and snow sports - Toboganning, snowboarding and snowball fights.
9. Realising that getting along with people and sharing rooms with them is totally manageable. This is particularly the case for my week in Berlin. (In case others were reading too much into it!)
10. Learning to appreciate my life at home.

In conclusion,

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish,

xxx

Jules

PS: Look at http://leableier.blogspot.com

Sexy Bugatti

2006-01-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

Berlin Dome

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Installation in the Jewish Museum

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Checkpoint Charlie

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Hanging with NZ lady friends

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The Story of Berlin Museum

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Figures on the Brandenburg

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The Brandenburg Gate

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Jewish Memorial in Berlin

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The Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz

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At the Berlin Wall

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Berlin Sculpture

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Funky Danish Cafe

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Retail Therapy Copenhagen Style

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Shopping with Juliette

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What a City Looks Like When It Stays Out of Wars

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Changing of the Guard

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Copenhagen

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Berlin

2006-01-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hello from Berlin. I currently feel like I'm a teacher on a school excursion. Today we started the day with a session on the history of Berlin. This was followed by what should been a bus tour. However, the bus broke down and we ended up walking around instead. Whilst my feet and hands lost all feeling, I wandered past the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Picasso Museum, and lots of other intestesing places. Berlin is nothing if not interesting and historical.

We had two hours free time (checking out the Gourmet section of KaDeWe and H&M etc.). This evening was a visit to the History of Berlin Museum. Tomorrow the chaperones get some time off, so there's talk of visiting the Film Museum, the Picasso Museum, and possibly the Berlin Zoo. Will be going with my lady friends, three female teachers from New Zealand. I'm the token Australian. And totally outnumbered. Out of approx. 88 kids, 11 are Aussies. Tomorrow night is a visit to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.

It's an unusual experience to be supervising so many students. Not to mention getting them in trouble for being too lackdaisical with the rules regarding alcohol during their excursion!

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Hanging Around the Mountain

2006-01-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Fun and Shenigans

2006-01-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Well, really not long to go now. 16 days exactly, according one of my students. Am managing to fit in a few fun things to keep me occupied.

Tomorrow I'm going snowboarding for the day. Hooray. Manuela and Bummi are taking me. Really have to work out how to get adopted by the Bleier family. Don't know if they'll have me though. Always a problem.

Then, the next day, I'm going to Copenhagen. A week long visit, crashing at Juliette's. I'm getting very familiar with student accomodation. From Juliette's, it's a week in Berlin to round out the trip. It's been great to have places to stay and play.

Not excited about having to return to Uni work. Love where I live, love my boyfriend and those around me, dislike reality. Doesn't everybody? Now I know why everyone keeps extending their exchanges. I just thought it was cos they didn't like me :)

Slovenia Wrap Up

2006-01-07T03:04:00.000-08:00

Alrighty then. Here is my wrap up for my trip to Slovenia from the 29th - 3rd.

Had fun visiting my friend May, and her "European Luffa" (see Sex and the City; Bradshaw, Carrie & Petrovsky).

And for the record, yes I went to bed at 12:05 on New Year's. We all watched Beverly Hills Cop 3 together, before watching fireworks outside, (as Teo so accurately put it, "like Iraq). Guess that's what happens when everyone's allowed to have fireworks.

Although this behaviour is completely justified, because of the night before. We went with Teo's friends to a small farmhouse in the middle of absolutely nowhere. No telephone, everything brought in, surrounded only by snow and woods. Around 30 people turned up, and proceeded to have a great time. All the Slovenians decided that it would be absolutely criminal for May and I, having come all the way from Australia, to have any empty glass at any point during the night. Which was fine, except for their decision to then play Billy Idol, U2, Drum and Bass, and any other loud, thumpy music that made the floorboards vibrate til 1pm the next day. Waking up to 'Rebel Yell' at full volume wasn't the best!

How Time Flies

2006-01-07T02:54:00.000-08:00

The photos below are from the Maulbronn Cloister that we visited yesterday. It really was amazing. After seeing a few too many churches in Europe, you become jaded and start thinking that they all look the same. Not so, in this case. The sheer age of some of buildings (1100 upwards), their size, and the intricate detail makes you stop and start looking at things clearly all over again. UNESCO agrees, because it has put a world heritage listing on the place. Even Sean Connery has visited, during the time he filmed sections of "In the Name of the Rose" there.

After visiting the Cloister, we had a lovely lunch in a 'Gasthof' nearby. The surroundings weren't great, but the food was. I had the largest piece of meat I've had a long time. It was beautifully cooked. Didn't expect to go to Germany and cut down on my 'fleisch' intake!

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Maulbronn Cloister

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The Symbol of Ljubljana

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Young Love

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Ljubljana

2006-01-04T01:13:00.000-08:00

Outside the Farmhouse

2006-01-04T01:11:00.000-08:00

Hola from Slovenia

2005-12-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hello. Happy New Year.

This evening will probably spent in, recovering from a big one last night. May, Teo, some of their friends and I travelled to a cottage in the middle of nowhere to attend a party. The place really was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by forests and the most snow I have ever seen in my entire life. People were toboganning outside the front door this morning.

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is very pretty. We were there the other night, drinking in a nice bar, before everyone we were there with decided to leave and have a big snow ball fight. It is very entertaining watching a bunch of people in their mid twenties launch full blown snow warfare at one oclock in the morning.

Slovenia, Here We Come.

2005-12-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Slovenia until Jan. 3, so don't know if they'll be many photos or posts before I come back. So, have a lovely NYE everybody, and look after yourselves.

Until the New Year!

xxx

Jules

Toboganning Down the Road

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2005-12-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

Nativity Scenes

2005-12-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

We did do something on the 25th - we went and visited some Nativity scenes at local churches. One took two men two days to set up. And some were also very old - Baroque period.

I also loved seeing the Franciscan monk. Very disappointing that Rudi was unable to get a photo. It would have been my 'In The Name of The Rose' Moment.

Markus, Lea und Nadine

2005-12-27T05:31:00.001-08:00

Must Be Xmas. Have to Find Extra Tables

2005-12-27T05:31:00.000-08:00

All This For Entree

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Nativity Scene

2005-12-27T05:26:00.000-08:00

Bon Voyage Jamesie Poo

2005-12-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

The Day After The Morning After.

2005-12-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

Xmas in Europe is doing crazy things to my concept of time. Mainly because here they work on a totally different time scheme.

24th Dec Aus = Xmas Eve Picnic
24th Dec Ger = Xmas Dinner and Present Giving

25th Dec Aus = Xmas Present Giving and Xmas Lunch
25th Dec Ger = Nichts

26th Dec Aus = Boxing Day & Sydney - Hobart
26th Dec Ger = Big Xmas lunch

Firstly, a massive thank you to the Bleiers for a lovely Xmas on the 24th. I felt completely at home, received thoughtful presents, and generally enjoyed myself. It was also fairly novel having to dress up for the evening. I'm not used to seeing those around me in suits at this time of year.

I've got to say that having the day off on the 25th was wonderful. I slept in, read books, and also watched good films which had phrases like "Miss Hepburn dressed by Givenchy", and names like Johnny Mercer and Cary Grant in the titles. Mr Grant's films may be old, but he's just so damn good in them. My favourite was probably "The Philadelphia Story", which I've never seen before. Also finally got around to reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night -Time" by Mark Haddon. Highly Recommended. It's a mystery murder novel written from the perspective of fifteen year old with Asperger's Syndrome. And for those of you who are very busy, it's pretty short and won't take long to read.

Yesterday (the 26th) we had a Xmas lunch that felt much more like Xmas at home. It was one of those lunches that didn't start til two, and finished at 5pm, with everyone going home by 6:30pm.

A big hello to Jamesie, who's currently sailing in the Sydney to Hobart. I'm sure he's having a wonderful time, and knowing him the sea sickness and salt spray is having no effect on his decision to do it again next year whatsoever.

What Beetroot Salad Looks Like

2005-12-27T04:44:00.000-08:00

A Selection of Rudi's Photos From the Last Month.

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And Remember..Don't Hassle The Hoff.

2005-12-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

Dinner.

2005-12-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

I Love This Photo.

2005-12-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

Unwrapping.

2005-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

I Like Germany...

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Lighting The Candles on The Tree

2005-12-25T00:20:00.000-08:00

"Cat and Fridge"

2005-12-25T00:18:00.000-08:00

Hmm..Just Like Being At Home.

2005-12-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

My Foxy Host Partner

2005-12-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

Manuela and Bummi Playing Santa

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A Man and His Sound System

2005-12-25T00:12:00.000-08:00

Table Setting

2005-12-25T00:11:00.000-08:00

A Message for Those Celebrating Xmas at Shadforth Street

2005-12-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

To all my relos, Merry Xmas, and I hope you're all having a good day. I've got a short message for you, because you're all the people who make Xmas what it is for me. What I'll be thinking about tomorrow, while you have all been sitting in the sun, eating, drinking, and being merry.
What Xmas means to me:
* Always waiting for Jonathan to turn up so that we can start opening presents.
* The usual ham on toast, champagne and orange juice accompanying present unwrapping. Not to mention everyone showing off what they received. And everyone sitting in their usual places and going through their presents afterwards.
* The last minute rush of moving everything to different rooms, putting the cats in the garage, and opening all the doors in the house for the first time in months.
* Being able to see the table top in the dining room and the kitchen.
* Sparkling burgundy
* The Xmas poppers, which everyone sniffs afterwards. Except for Libby, who blocks her ears.
* Waiting until 2 or 3pm to actually eat.
* Seeing my cousins, especially Tina and Caroline, and hearing what they've been up to.
* Various people sneaking down the back for a smoke.
* Lighting the Xmas pudding
* Dad taking way too many embarassing photos
* Seeing Holly and realising that everyone time she gets bigger, she makes me feel older.
* Jane demolishing the brandy sauce.
* Robert recovering from a big night the night before.
* William and Jessica terrorising the cats
* Watching people decide when it's time to leave, and head off to all the other relatives.
* Uncle Gussy sleeping.
* Various parents and Uncle and Aunts reminiscing on the day, and downing Southerly Busters in the front garden.
* Wondering how we'll ever get through all the left overs.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T02:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!
Have yourself a great day, and a good mix of presents, family and friends, liquid and solids consumption, and whatever the Christmas spirit means to you!
xxx

Jules

2005-12-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

My Ipod has died. Again. With 5 weeks to go before I come home. Not happy Jan. Also, if I wanted to get it fixed in Germany, it wouldn't be ready until late January anyway. Then, on the way home from Cologne today, there was a man listening to his Ipod, blissfully unaware of everything happening around him. The Universe was defninitely mocking me. Especially frustrating because I've been saving loads of music to my Ipod that I really wanted to listen to, including the Waifs, Propellerheads, Lamb and a whole lot of other stuff.

Was in Cologne visiting four of my students (see, I am working over here. Really.) Teenagers make me laugh. We're in the middle of a major city in Germany, and where do they want to drink coffee? Starbucks.

On the other hand, had definitely had some interesting experiences. Like randomly speaking to people from Iraq and Africa. Don't get to do that at home too often. How's this for globalisation: An Australian and a man from the Congo standing on a platform in Mannheim speaking German.

Made Ice Cream pudding today. It's my contribution to Xmas dinner. Here they celebrate and give presents on the night of the 24th. Lea and Rudi bought the Xmas tree today, and tonight we're having Piper Heidsieck (my other contribution, and Sparkling Burgundy Replacement), Meat Fondue with about seven different sauces, and my dessert. Looking forward to giving presents.

Merry Xmas from Einstein and Me!

2005-12-24T02:20:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Vice. In German.

2005-12-24T02:14:00.000-08:00