Homeward Bound

Well tomorrow morning its back to Canada...wish the time here was longer, but the two weeks were nice.

Heading out for our farewell dinner in a little over an hour.

The last week has been hectic and full of visitors, but it was nice. I will write a full update when I get home on Monday evening or Tuesday after work if I am too tired on Monday night.

Suitcases are packed, though the one is about 2kg too heavy so after dinner I will have to repack a little bit. Perhaps I bought one too many pairs of shoes or other items, but thats usual, but somehow I always get it all home.

My brother in law is picking my Dad and I up and we are going back to their place for dinner and of course I need to pick Asili up.

Bobbi, sorry I dont have time to respond to your email right now but let me know what is up with Durango, hope she is better now.

A week almost gone

Well a week is already almost over; its sad how quickly the time passes.

So far we have been shopping several times and we made it to Sachsen Hausen, the concentration camp that my Mom and I wanted to visit while here. It was quite interesting though of course quite sad.

My Aunt absolutely LOVES shopping, so naturally in any free time that we have we end up going to a mall or Karl-Marx Straße or another big street. I have gotten loads of new stuff including; several sweaters, a pair of pants, 2 blouses, 2 shirts, a long sleeved shirt and 6 pairs of shoes. I LOVE the shoes here, the selection here is so much better! Oh and my Aunt bought me a purse that I absolutely LOVE! H&M here is still better than the ones in Canada and by C&A I bought a lot of things too...including a sweater my Dad may have accidently stole for me...I should probably explain what we think happened. So we were at C&A, Germanys largest department store, and my dad had bought a suit, a bought 2 shirts and my Mom a necklace...we paid for it all together and we (my Mom, Aunt and I) we still looking around and my dad said he would meet us outside. A few minutes later we go to head outside and we see my dad at the door talking to a security guard...seems they didnt take all of the security tags off and he set the alarm off...so the security guard unpacked the bags and took the items with the security tags to the cashier to have her take them off...so my dad packed all the things back into the bag, the security guard came back with the item and we left...we get home and Im unpacking and I find a sweater none of us bought...so what we think happened it that when the security guard unpacked the stuff and put them on the one display table, when my dad packed everything into the bags again that he accidently put the extra sweater into our bag.

That took quite a bit of time to write, the keyboard is different here and it takes me a little extra time to type...at any rate, its a little sad here and seeing how my grandparents are aging, Opa's alzheimers is pretty bad and my grandmother isnt doing all too great either. And of course things here arent always peaceful because of my cousin so that adds a lot of stress to their daily life. Oma keeps saying how we made the right decision to move to Canada because things are a lot calmer and relaxed for us. Naturally though thats more so our family and not the location. I have to say I am very happy I have the immediate family that I do...even though normal isnt quite the word I would use to describe us, we are wholesome...if thats the right word I dont know either.

My English is starting to sound funny to me, not sure if its actually MY English per say or just English in general since I hear, speak and think German all day.

Went to the Pizzeria tonight for dinner, imagine it only cost 31.50EURO for 6 people...and included in that were 3 beers and my 3 vodkas (my Aunt is a bad influence, 'hey your drink is gone, order another'. Thats only about $40CAD. I think the waiter thought I was a drunk as I kept ordering vodkas and everyone was still on their first small beer...ah well we was cute and polite or he thought I was stupid for also always saying thank you and please...I have noticed since Ive been here that German people really are quite rude...dont say hello to strangers on the street (other people besides me do that right?), dont hold doors open and the biggest piss off is them not saying excuse me when they want to get by you...they just push their way through kind of like in Japan...that could partly be a city thing mind you.

Yesterday, imagine, in the shopping mall they were giving out full size samples of Jagermeister and a mix...for example Jagermeister and cola or cocoa...it was so good!! I never would have thought to mix Jagermeister with something...if you dont know what Jagermeister is look it up, I cant think of the proper word.

Ok,thats all for now as Oma is upset that I didnt go straight back to their place after dinner, but my Aunt and I wanted to finish putting something together for my her birthday next week. So I had better finish that and then get back over there.

Still at my Aunts place!

New York

I have always wanted to go to New York...too bad my luggage has now made it there before I have.

So after, Amerstdam and Paris, we finally made it to Berlin! And we stood at the luggage carosel waiting for the luggage,and it never came. Which I had actually already said to my Mom when we were eating a baguette in Paris. So we had to go to the lost luggage station and they typed in our luggage claim numbers and told us they werent on their system...they were lost. Great. He took our information and gave us each a little travel bag with a tshirt, toothbrush and toothpaste and a few other things. Of course the only thing we had with us were our purses taht we had taken on the airplane.

Anyways we made it to Omas 9 hours later than expected. We had some dinner a few amarettos and we were in bed around shortly after 10pm. Have to say we were a little tired...we had been up over 36 hours.

Sunday we slept in until around 10am, woke up and had breakfast and then my aunt, boyfriend and cousins came over for coffee and cake. My Aunt and I had to "make coffee". That means we went to the kitchen started the coffee, had an amaretto,went back to the livingroom, went to check on the coffee, had an amaretto, etc. We got about 6 amarettos in before people started to catch on. When dinner came around I wasnt hungry so while everyone ate I went for a jog. I counted 9 smart cars on the route. I decided each time I will count something else. Keeps my mind off the jogging. Probably going to skip the jog today though.

This morning we (Tante Heidi, Mom, Me, Bianca) went shopping for some things for Omas birthday party next week. Well, Bianca went home half way through. Imagine, one bottle of amaretto cost 4 euros!!! Thats just over $5!! What a deal,we bought two amarettos, dooleys, vodka, and another type of liquer...I also got some soup,yogurt, some cheese and sausage for my Dad and a few other things and it all came to only 45 euros! Amazing! No wonder we drink so much more here!

At Tante Heidis right now,we just had cake and coffee and will have dinner later. Mz dad went to a cousins house today to help him with the kitchen that thez are building in. Building in I dont think is a right word in English.

Its already starting. I dont know why I was worried about the English, Im already thinking in German and often cant think of the right english words. Its amazing how quickly it comes back to you.

Yesterday at cake my Mom and I invited ourselves over to Biancas and of course she said no right away. So we asked her when a good time would be and see said Wednesday morning, so we are holding her to it. So Ill have to report on that afterwards!

Thats really all the news I have.

Oh, never did right the outcome of our luggage...it arrived the next day at 6pm. So it wasnt that bad. There were stickers on them from New York, which is how we know where they ended up.

Amsterdam - Paris - Berlin

Trip isn't going exactly as planned...

I was picked up from work as scheduled at about 1pm, we got down to Toronto in really good time, checked in without difficulty, had time to have a coffee with my sister and Del before they headed back home, and boarded. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful...my mom and I played Kanasta and watched "The Devil wears Prada". The flight to Amsterdam was only 6 1/2 hours. We landed here at 7:30isham local time, around 1:30am Toronto time. Our connecting flight to Berlin was scheduled to leave at 8:05 am. We didn't make it in time.

So here we are in Amsterdam for several more hours. And as luck would have it, it's Fall Break for students here, so there were no other flights to Berlin available until 10pm!! We inquired about renting a car and driving to Berlin (about a 6 hour drive) but it would cost 850EUROS! But KLM got us on a fight to Paris at noon and then after switching planes again we will get to Berlin at 5:20pm. That's going to make for a long day!

It's 3:45am in Toronto now I think...I was feeling a little tired but am on my second wind now.

So now I'm at the Communication Zone, have spent 6EUROS to use the net for 30 minutes, and my parents are over in the restaurant having a cigarette. Earlier when we were having a coffee this elderly man came up to my dad and asked if he was Eddie Shack (ex-hockey player). My dad said no, but that he had met him before - turns out Eddie had been to the races at the Barrie Speedway one night.

That's the account of my trip thus far. I'm just anxious to get there and to see my family. Though I've been a little stressed out about my German. I had to call my Aunt and tell her we were delayed and not to go to the airport yet and I stumbled all over my words, and the more worked up about it the less I can properly speak. Never really had that before, guess it's just because I haven't used my German really in 3 years (other than the odd phone call and letters to my Oma). Well I'm sure it'll be fine once I'm there, I'll have no choice but to use it and I'll come back not being able to speak English properly as is always the case. I think Bobbi calls me right after I've returned from Germany just to laugh at my poor English.

So Bobbi, looks like you'll have to wait a little longer for some good Bianca stories. By the time we get to my Oma's it'll be about 6:30-7pm, so maybe Bianca will be home from work by then...oh, Bianca...work...I didn't just use those two words in once sentence, not possible...she's sick we were told last time we talked to my Oma, so of course Bianca can't go to work sick...yeah...my mom and I have bet that she's not working any longer by the time we get to Berlin.

Let the travels continue....

Leaving on a jet plane...

Woo hoo!

It's 7:30am on Friday the 13th! I've got a morning left to work and then it's off to the airport!

I'm ready to go, suitcase is locked, I've just got to get dressed and then I'm off to work.

The past two days have gone by really quickly. Wednesday I spent 11 hours at work, came home and did more work, got to work at 8am on Thursday and left at 6pm, stopped by at my sisters quickly and then went to the gym for an hour. Jamie-Lee has the flu so I had to go alone. Wanted to see Georg, the man who works there, as I had asked him if he wanted me to get him anything on my trip (as a young child he used to live in Germany and spent several years there in the military), but he was off as he had fallen and hurt his back. He wanted a special kind of snapps, but I can't remember the name. I'll have to get Jamie to check and email me.

My sister and Del are taking us to the airport, they'll be at the Mall between 12:30 and 1pm to pick me up. I should get going, still have a few things to finish up here and need to stop by the bank before going to work.

I'll post from Berlin!

3 Days to Go!!

On the Sunday I woke up at 8am, I read in bed until 9am (finished the new Margaret Atwood book) and then got ready and was at the gym just after 10am. Left the gym at 11:30am and as I was driving on hwy. 11 between Bracebridge and Gravenhurst there was a pickup truck a little ways ahead of me and I saw the armchair that he had in the back lift and fly off, luckily it landed in the middle of the highway so I could drive around it. It's really quite clever to drive over 100km an hour with furniture in the back of your truck that’s not tied down. Luckily though it didn’t cause any accidents. Then I stopped for a coffee at the Timmies just outside of G’hurst and just as I was getting my coffee from the window some guy parks at the end of the exit lane for the drive-thru, that caused quite the stir. I was happy when I made it home! I then cleaned my car (inside and out) and then gathered up some things that I am planning on taking to Germany with me.

My sister, Del and the boys arrived for Thanksgiving dinner around 5pm and we ate at 6. My Dad’s turkey was, as always, excellent. And my sister had brought a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie that she had made, both were very good!

Monday was spent packing, cleaning and doing laundry. Yes, I think this is a first for me; I am COMPLETELY packed and ready to go several days before I leave! The only thing I have left to add to the suitcase are my running shoes, but I still need those for the gym tomorrow and Thursday. And of course toiletries and the batteries I bought today for my camera and mp3 player, but you can’t really count those.

Work today was mad! I had to finish the Maintenance Manuals (we’ve ended up with 3 versions depending on the position) and we had a staff meeting at 3pm at which the manuals were being presented, and the HR person was there. Hardly had time to pull stuff together for the promotional part of the meeting that was obviously all the stuff that relates to my position. Somehow I did manage to sneak out for a full hour at lunch with Heather to our favourite Timmies. The next few days are going to be equally busy as I try to get numerous things done before I leave. Right after I am done this (yeah, probably rambling a little to procrastinate actually doing the work!) I’m going to work on my Marketing Manual as I want to have it completed before I leave on Friday. It’s one of my 2006 corporate goals, and I know I won’t have time to work on it once I return as we’ll be into the Christmas season by then.

After work I quickly went shopping for dog and cat food and a few remaining things I wanted to get for the trip and then headed to my sister’s to watch the boys for the evening so my sister and Del could go out for dinner and a movie. When I got to their house I found out that they had decided only to go to dinner as there wasn’t anything playing that they both particularly wanted to see. So Ty, Nate and I had dinner, played and danced. Ty insisted on putting the Caribbean music on again (as we did last time I was there) and we moved the coffee table off to the side and all three of us danced away. Well Nate’s version of dancing is spinning around on his butt while putting his hands up in the air….it’s SO cute!! I wish I had taken my camera over, but it’s packed already! Then I put them to bed. Nate has been walking for a week now!

Ok, done procrastinating, off to work on the Marketing Manual so I can get to bed at some point and I plan on getting to work EARLY tomorrow so I can get some work done before the office opens.

This Time Next Week...

...I'll be sitting in my Oma and Opa's livingroom drinking amaretto and/or zambuka laughing and chatting with my family. I can't wait!

I'm starting to get excited now. I've even started packing, or well getting things together that I'm taking, and I've wrapped up all the gifts too. Very unlike me; usually I'm still packing about 10 minutes before leaving for the airport. This time though I'll be at work in the morning so won't really have that option.

I think it'll be strange to be on a plane with both my parents, I haven't flown with both of them together since 1982 when we moved to Canada, and I haven't flown with my mom since 1986 when my mom, sister and I went to Germany in the summer. After that I went to Germany twice with my sister and then 4 or 5 times on my own.

I haven't been to Germany since 2002 when I was at uni in Glasgow and I went over in April for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. My parents and sister met me there. That was one of the best things about the year in Glasgow. I was so close to Germany and it was so cheap to travel there...I flew over and surprised my oma for her birthday in October, spent a month there at Christmas and then went over again for several weeks for the anniversary.

The last time I saw my grandparents and aunt was when they were here in 2003 when Ty was born. So just over three years ago. It's amazing how time flies. I couldn't imagine living that far away from my family. It must have been hard on my Mom, and I certainly know it was hard for my Oma. I love spending time with my family over there, but the goodbyes are always so hard. I hate seeing my Oma cry and as the years move on it only gets harder. But I'm not thinking of the goodbyes yet, I'm going to have a great two weeks! My aunts a riot too, I'm sure we'll be enjoying a few fanta vodka's and going shopping once or twice...I wonder if Die Linie is still there...that's the bar my aunt and I frequented when I flew over the three times while I was living in Glasgow.

I'm rambling now.

Thanksgiving Weekend - today I went rollerblading at Couchiching Park with Heather and then we had lunch at The Soup Factory. I came home and convinced my Mom that we should rent some movies; we got "The Perfect Man", "11:14" and "BTK Killer".

Tomorrow my sister, Del and boys are coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner; my dad makes the best turkey ever!! I also need to get some things done (actually packing amongst other things) and I still have a lot of work to do that I brought home with me. I'm making sure all my advertising through to the end of November is completed before I go, all my reports for head office and I'm hoping my bank statement comes in so I can do the Gift Certificate reconciliation before I go. Also have to get the Christmas staff contracts and schedules done and other Christmas event stuff sorted. So my last 3 1/2 days of work are going to be BUSY! But that's alright, I enjoy busy.

Monday will be more work and getting things ready to leave on Friday.

I'm off. I'm going to read a bit, want to get my new Margaret Atwood book completed before the trip so I can take my other new book with me.

Memoirs

I watched Memoirs of a Geisha tonight.

I had read the book last year before the movie came out and then went to see it at the cinema with my sister.

It was on one of the movie channels tonight so I decided to watch it again.

It is, at least for me, such a moving and tragic movie. It's beautifully crafted and it had me wishing I was back in film class in university so that I could write an analysis on it. The movie made me miss Japan - especially the beauty of it. The movie is inspiring yet incredibly sad.

It left me feeling a bit somber.

This has been a pretty pointless blog - no real news to share.

I'm getting my hair cut on Friday finally, way past needing a haircut. And sadly, that is about all the news I have.

The Third...

Well the third thing happened, or at least I'm going to say that it is the third unlucky/bad thing to happen to me.

To reiterate:

1) pendant lost
2) Car broken down

and now

3) I burnt three knuckles on my left hand while ironing last night. The iron was going to fall off the ironing board, so what do I do, try to catch it and instead end up with three huge burns. Yes it was stupid, but what can you do. I put ice on it and fell asleep. Woke up once because of the pain, got more ice and went back to bed.

Ah well, it certainly could have been FAR worse! Though now that I'm typing they are starting to hurt a little again, meh, in a day or so they'll be much better.

Now, I think it's only fair to expect three GOOD things to happen!

Dragon Boat Competition - Part II

Woke up Saturday morning shortly after 6am and left the house just after 7am. Got to Couchiching Park right around 7:30am when we had planned to meet. Found some of the others on Team Dunlop and after some opening ceremony confusion (first time they held the event in Orillia so it wasn’t the most organized), the races got under way shortly after 9 am.

There were 27 teams total, so 9 heats of 3. We were in the second or the third heat. Our steerer, Dave, took us out a little early and gave us another quick practice run. We placed second in our heat. We headed back to our tent and chatted a while, 3 of us went to Mariposa Market for some soup, and after we returned the results from the first set of heats was announced, we placed in the top of the silver division. We were quite pleased with that. There was an hour break, though they really should have skipped the break since it had been on the verge of raining all morning, so it was damp and chilly, but the rain did hold off until late afternoon.

We placed 3rd in our second heat and by our third we were all so tired, and starting to get sore that our third race was pretty pitiful, we never really got into a proper rhythm and our paddling was way off.

Let me tell it is hard work; it is completely different to canoeing. In race paddling you use short strokes and have to lean over as far as you can at the waist. By the time I was driving home at 4pm I was feeling pretty sore in the arms, back, waist and butt. I’m also sporting a bruise on my one thumb where I kept hitting it off the side of the boat. It only proved to feel worse this morning when I got out of bed – I was pretty stiff. But it was a great day, had a lot of fun, met some great people and can’t wait to do it again next year!

When I got home from the races my sister, Del, nephews and Gladys were here. We had dinner and then they (sister, Del, boys and Dad) left to head down to the race track for the final races that were cancelled last weekend. My Dad was planning on coming to the casino with my Mom, Gladys and myself, but Ty asked him to go to the races. So my Mom, Gladys and I headed there on our own but after about an hour of being there my cell phone rang and my sister and Del were going to drop my Dad off at the casino because the races got rained out. My Dad ended up winning $80, Gladys won $150 and my mom and I each lost $55. We got home just before 11pm; my Dad watched the news and the three of us played Kanasta. By the time we stopped playing at 3am I had won $1.50 so my total loss of the evening was just $53.50.

Today we played a little more Kanasta, my sister, Del and the boys came over in the afternoon, we had cake and coffee at 3pm and Gladys headed home shortly before 5pm.

It was a good weekend. Gladys is such a nice lady; I’m so glad that we still keep in touch with her. She wanted to come up before we headed to Germany. While my grandfather was still well, him and Gladys went to Germany for several weeks. She still talks about all of our relatives over there and the things that she saw on the trip. It is hard to believe that she is 80, she seems so much younger. We’ll be seeing her again for Nate’s first birthday (I’ll actually be away for it, but my sister is having the party once my Dad and I return at the end of the month).

Ok, I’m off to do some laundry, ironing and I have to give Asili a bath as she got into some smelly swamp water a couple of hours ago. I also brought a bunch of work home on Friday as I want to get a lot done before going on vacation, so I should get at it!

Oh and yippee! I have visitors for lunch tomorrow. My sister is bringing Ty into town to go Halloween Costume shopping and they will be meeting me for lunch. I'm so happy to be back around my nephews; that, without a doubt, was the hardest thing about being overseas - I missed out on seeing Ty grow up and change over those 18 months.