Tuesday, June 13, 2006
"Culture-Trek" - StralsundThe last couple of days have been really great. The last week in particular. Birthday and everything that went with it, and then it finally got warmer, and to top it all off, I went on a YFU trip on the weekend, to Stralsund.
For those of you who don't know where Stralsund is, take a look http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
here.It is right on the Baltic Sea, and if you look a little west of Berlin you will find Braunschweig, which is, just a refresher, where I live. =)
Anyway, I really don't want to go on one of my long-winded blog entries again...but this time I really have to, because it was just such a great weekend. So...Nikki, I know you are going to only skim through...but Mum reads it all the time. Hi Mum!
It all started on Thursday morning, at 11am. I had to travel to the Central Train Station, and there I got a InterCity Express to Berlin.
I love those trains, they are really fast and comfy, and really roomy as well. It is great to travel with them, but they are pretty expensive as well.
I got off the train at the newly-opened Central Station in Berlin, which is massive!! It was really cool to see it, I am the first one from my family to see it. (They begged me to take photos.)
I had about ten minutes to find my way to my next station, and there I get on a Regional Express to Stralsund. It took three hours, which was really boring, and it seemed to take even longer because I was really looking forward to arriving in Stralsund and meeting everyone. I listened to music and read alot, I also dozed off (because I hadn't sleepen in over four days properly), and eventually the train pulled in.
I didn't know where I should go and everything, and I stood alone for quite a while, wondering why there was no-one there. Eventually two Japanese guys came up and asked me, and then later on we saw some other people, and it would have been impossible that they weren't our other exchange students.
There were 9 exchange students and one person from YFU. Two from Thailand, two from China (I never spoke with them, they are together and never spoke to us either), two from Japan, one from the USA, one from Bulgaria (she lives in the next town) and I. The person from YFU was Anne, and she was in Finland as an exchange student. Dora (Bulgaria) didn't come though, she was late, she got there at 6pm.
We all went to the bus station and then waited about an hour for our bus, which wasn't soo bad, because there was a supermarket right next to the station, where we could buy food and drink. That's all we cared about at that time.
We eventually got the bus, which was one of those bendy ones. It was really cool, I stood in the middle and then sat on my luggage, which was surprisingly comfy. Anne had to buy the tickets, which took about ten minutes...and the bus was really full, which was made worse by our luggage.
We survived though.
We got to the station, Devin, and then had to walk through a forest kind of thing and found our Youth Hostel. Anne asked me if I could remember the way to the station, which I said yes to, not knowing that she wanted me to go back in less than an hour to pick up Dora. I did it though. I got a YFU T-Shirt to wear..and then tryed not to give it back to Anne. She found it eventually though.
We got our rooms and stuff, ate some dinner and then I had to leave to pick up Dora. I knew that I knew her!! She is really nice, and we got on really well. It was kind of like a head start or something, having that time to get to know her, which the others didn't get.
I think I was the person who walked from the station to the hostel, through the forest and stuff the most. I did it pretty often...
After dinner we set off to Stralsund, we went and met another YFU-ler, who was an exchange student in the USA. We sat in a cafe and talked for ages, until they shut and we got kicked out. It was nice, YFU people are always the best...that's why YFU is so great.
We left and had to go home with a taxi, because there are no busses after 8pm or something. It was OK, Anne rung up the taxis before and then they were there when they were supposed to be.
Anne and I were in a taxi together, and there was another old lady in the front seat. We talked a little and stuff, but she didn't see a word. Then she got dropped off and said goodbye to the driver, but nothing to us. Then Anne said "Wiedersehen", which basically "see again." She just shut the door and then we burst out in silent laughs. It really was funny.
I don't really remmeber what we did that night...I think most of us sat around talking and stuff, maybe we were sitting on the beach or something. There were kids down the hall and they were really annoying, and about midnight they got told off for being so noisy, and at about 1 we decided we should shut up and get some sleep as well. I am not sure about the exact time though.
The next morning I woke to the sound of my alarm...I had set it for 6am, intending to get up and go running. I went to sleep again though, and 15 mins later Pat from Thailand, who wanted to come as well came and woke me up, asking if I wanted to go still. I got up, got changed and then we went for a run.
We didn't go very wide, I was sleepy, but Pat wasn't very fit either. Me either, come to think of it. =P Naja, we got back, stretched and then lay on the benches, waiting for the others to wake up, so I didn't wake them up by having a shower, which was really loud.
Had a shower, it didn't work somehow though...I had to swap showers with someone, which was made difficult because of my puni towel. It is the smallest thing I have ever seen!!
Breakfast, made lunch for the day and then we set off with the bus to the train station, because we wanted to travel to Greifswald, a "university-city." It was quite OK.
Train ride was funny, like always. If you travel with people, the ride always goes so fast and it's always so fun!
We got there, looked around a little bit then went to the Uni. We didn't really get to see TOO much, but the people who needed to went to the toilet...
We found a lecture room and drew on the blackboard and looked around a bit, then left again. Next we went to the cathedral there, it was cool, but to be honest, once you have seen more than one of them, you have the feeling they all look the same.
The town hall and then we got free time to do what we wanted. Mary (USA), Anne, Dora and I, so, the non-Asians, all went shopping together.
We looked at jewellery and stuff and then stocked up on drinks for our night on the beach. We also bought hair dye, I bought pink, Anne purple and Mary a reddish colour. I said I would like to do come back home different looking, and then we all agreed to do it together. It was really nice, but then we were all exhausted, so we sat in front of the cathedral, where there were benches and where it was pretty, and hung around there for the next two hours. We had alot of fun, talked and stuff. The normal stuff. It was cool though.
We all met again, on the market, where there was this festival thing or something. It was funny, because I saw this "Ranch Of Australia" place, and was like, OMG! Someone suggested I should go up and start talking in Australian, I went up wanting to ask them in English with an Aussie accent if they had ever been in Australia, but somehow they didn't want to talk to me...Don't understand why.
We went to the train station and went home, thank god. I was pretty tired, but I got energy suddenly when it came to dying a Japanese guy's hair blonde. It was really funny, we tried to dye his hair blonde, but it didn't really work, unfortunatly. His hair are light brown now, but it looks so cool!
After that I went to the bathroom and wet my own hair, preparing to die my own hair. I waited for Anne, who had the towel which I wanted to use, and then when she was finished I started to kill my beautiful (???) hair. It was funny, because she sprayed purple hair dye all over the bathroom, then she had to clean it up. There is now a purple stain on the wall, in memory of us. =P
We waited and stuff, then washed all the dye out. Her hair was still a little bit blonde, but it looked really cool at the bottom, which was purple. We decided to do it once more, to make it all purple. I washed out the dye, but you couldn't really see much, because my hair is so dark anyway. (There isn't any sun in Germany!!) You can see it at the bottom a little bit though, where I had blonde streaks once upon a time. It was OK...
Then we started our party on the beach. It was a half birthday party for Mary and I (I told them it was my birthday on Saturday and then they asked me if I would celebrate with them), but it was really just to have fun. (And to celebrate the opening of the world cup and Germany's win, of course.) We sat on the grass above the beach, but it was about two metres to the water from where we were sitting.
Then we cracked open the bottles and the fun started.
Some of us went wading in the ocean and some sat on the shore. I did both, but it was pretty cold in the water. =(
Anyway, that was really fun. We spent ages just talking and doing random things, taking photos and stuff. Then Anne decided she was hungry and she wanted pizza...we ordered pizza, which was really good!! It also helped, like, a rest between the bottles. =P
Naja, we ate the pizza and suddenly Dora and I were the only people on the beach.
We started singing and things, which is always really funny. Dora and I got on really well, whicih is really cool, because she lives near me and we can meet again sometime in the future.
It got pretty late and then I went to bed. I think I was the life of the party or something, because they all came straight after that.
We all got in bed and slept. It was late and the next morning I didn't go running. I can't imagine why...
We were all dead, especially Dora and I. We were pretty...well, my head hurt and Dora didn't even get up for brekky. I am proud I managed to get out of bed and sit down at the table and eat a bowl of yogurt.
Straight after brekky we went by bus to Stralsund. This time we really saw the city Stralsund, not just the train station or a cafe someplace.
The returnee with whom we were in the cafe showed us around the city. I don't really remember exactly what she said, but I know some of it was interesting at the time.
We went to the harbour at the end and then went and looked at some ship. After that we ate fishrolls, which is a specialty there or something. they are disgusting and I gave mine away. Eventually someone threw it in the water.
The coolest thing I found there was a Germany shirt, which I bought really cheaply. It was so great.
Unfortunatly my camera died t this stage, and I couldn't charge the batteries until I got to the youth hostel. So I don't have any crazy documenteries and stuff from this time of day.
We then went to a see museum, Anne boguht us the tickets while they were all in the toilets and then she explained to Dora, Mary and I what was going to happen. She didn't want to go into the museum, which I can understand, and she left us alone there and then gave us the afternoon to do something else. She explained how we could get home and stuff, and, being the control freak that I am (you all know it!!) I repeated it to the others later. We would meet again at the youth hostel. I think the pair from China didn't really understand me though, they didn't speak much German and they don't speak good English either, so we couldn't explain it in English either.
Then Anne left and we looked at the museum. I won't go into detail. I don't want to bore you more than I already am. ;)
After that we all met up again, except for the Chinese, and we went to find some icecream in the city. They all wanted cheap stuff, so we asked the directions to a supermarket and went there. We bought our icecream and our drinks for the night. Big mistake, because after that we had to carry them everywhere. =(
We hung around for a while and ate our icecreams, then we went to one of the churches and walked to the top of the tower. From the top you could see the whole city and the ocean, whiih was really nice. I showed everyone where we were living (my sense of direction is actually pretty good!!) and then we found our paths through the city form all the times we walked through the city.
It was so nice and warm there, and Dora and I sat down in the sun for about 20 minutes, the others all joined us eventually and then we went down, thinking about travelling to Ruegen, which is the island near Stralsund.
Ruegen is supposed to be beautiful, but I was a little sceptical because we had to travel by train and I knew there wouldn't be anything near the train station to see. I knew it!! That's why I didn't go with them, and I went home, took the drinks with me and met some crazy Japanese guy on the way. When I got home I went into the ocean for a swim, but it was a little cold, so I got out pretty quickly. My hair didn't even get wet.
When I got back Anne was there again, and then I dyed her hair. It went pretty well actually, and after a while she came back with cool purple hair!! It looked so good!! =D
We hung around for a while, went for a walk around the youth hostle to see what there was. In one of the buildings there was a family reunion, and on that day they had a grill...I could have sowrn that I heard Anne's stomach rumble. =P
We then looked around Devin, and saw the others come back from Ruegen. They were all pretty tired, I reckon. It was pretty late already, so we started our goodbye party or whatever that was called.
That was great fun. We started on the beach, but moved to the table tennis table because there was so many mozzies, it was so disgusting!! I have mozzie bites all over me from these ten minutes on the beach, it really is feral.
We drunk and stuff, then ordered pizza once again. We sung and had alot of fun, like always. I learnt some crazy YFU thing, and...what else did we do? I don't really remember the finer details, just that it was alot of fun. =D
We all went to bed quite late, Dora and I had alot of trouble getting up the next day. We knew that Anne would be merciless, yet we didn't go to bed early, we just kept on delaying going to bed.
I think I was the life of the party, because I went to bed and then they all did too, straight after me. What's with that?
A story...
The Chinese people didn't come home somehow. We all sat there, waiting for them to get home. After a while Anne was like...maybe I should ring them?
Anyway, they didn't have their phones and she didn't want to ring heir host-parents, because they would only worry. She didn't really care that they didn't come home though. She said she told them how to come home, and we are all old enough to do it by ourselves. We all managed to do it as well.
Anyway, when I called it a night they weren't there, when I got up I looked and her bed was empty. Sometime at about 8am they got to the youth hostel.
Turns out they were on Ruegen, and missed the last train to Stralsund. They then sat in a bar until 3am then lay on the beach, waiting for the first train to take them back to Stralsund.
Honestly, they are really lucky they got back on time.
I thought that was pretty amazing though, two exchange students didn't come home at all one night. =P
Like I said, we had to get up at 7am and clean everything. Anne was merciless and forced us to get up. I got up pretty quickly, but Dora had a bit of trouble. It was hard though. Naja, it'll serve us right.
We cleaned our room, which was surprisingly easy, even though it didn't look like that at the beginning. Most of the stuff in our room was rubbish, which we just threw away.
We ate breakfast and I made myself some rolls for the trip, which was a really good idea, if I may say so myself.
We left the youth hostel, I walked for the last time through that forest and we got on the bus to the train station. At the train station we did all the normal things, said goodbye, waited for our trains and went. People signed each others t-shirts, books and shoes and we eventually went our seperate ways.
I was lucky because Dora and Ma from Japan (and the Chinese) were in my train, so we all went together.
Our train was soo crappy!! Because they were building something on the tracks, our train wasn't allowed to travel through to the central station. So we had to get out somewhere and tracel with the S-Bahn to the station. As if that wasn't enough, our train was already 20 mins late or something. I was pissed off that day, but I am grateful I didn't miss my train!!
The worst thing about it was that when they make the announcements in the train, you can't hear it anyway. We were in a fret because we didn't really know what we should be doing and things. It was so gay!!
I said goodbye and we all went our seperate ways. Hopefully I will see Dora again though, because we got on really well. =D
I got in my train and went home. I nearly fell asleep in the train, I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I was very glad to get home.
When I got there I found three people fomr the family staying here, which was actually quite gay, because I just wanted to talk to someone and tell them the stories, and I haven't had the chance to. Caro and I normally do that, but somehow we haven't seen each other very much in the past few days. We both have our own things as well.
Now I am here. Today was a beautiful day. I watched the soccer game and was soo happy when Australia won!! It was really nice. Apart from that I was at school, and three of our lessons were cancelled. It was great, I actually got home in time to watch the game!!
I have had a great time in the past few weeks travelling everywhere...but now I am glad that it is all over and I can just stay home on the weekend. I had a great time in Stralsund, that's for sure. The people were great and everything...but I am glad to not have anything more.
And that's the end of my contact with YFU in Germany. I don't think I am going to have contact with my area rep. either, because...yea. I don't even know if she knows I am still here...haven't talked to her since April, and quite frankfly, I am glad about that. =D
But I am definatly going to work with YFU when I get home. It's so great.
I am really looking forward to coming home right now...can't explain it. Weird.
This has been a long post and I congratulate you if you even got this far!! I won't bore you any longer, this is the end of my long-winded YFU meeting thingymabobs.
So, I hope you're all having fun there in the "snow", when I am sitting in the garden with the sun on my face and wearing short sleeves and a skirt. =D
It's great.
Vera was here at 6:33 AM
