Herzlichen Wilkommen!
Okay, I confess - I've been feeling rather lazy to blog so after close to a whole week of procrastination, this is my account of Germany so far:
Pre-departure
With my family and relatives.
With my JC friends - thank you so much to the girls for the collage as well as the extra photos! I'm sorry I didn't have enough space in my luggage to fit the collage in, but the extra photos are currently pasted on my wardrobe here in my room!
With the councillors
With my TKGS friends + Florian
(L-R): Peiwen, me, Jia Li and Eunice while in transit in Bangkok
I expected myself to sob buckets as I entered the boarding terminal, but surprisingly didn't do so. I just shed a few tears for all of 2 or 3 minutes? But amidst my tears I totally forgot all about that contraption known as a TROLLEY to store my huge-ass (and heavy) hand-carry bags so I lugged my bags around like a fool in the middle of the airport.
Arrival, Days 1 and 2 (04.02.09 - 05.02.09)
This is me at the baggage counter at Frankfurt AM Airport, struggling to balance 40 bloody kilograms worth of baggages. Bearing in mind that I am all of 43 kilograms. Nearly died lugging all these.
We took the ICE (a high-speed train) to get to Mannheim, about a 30-minute ride away. But it wasn't fraught with any troubles because we initially missed our train (we were running after the train but couldn't go any faster because of our luggages) and so had to take a next one an hour later. Luckly we didn't have to pay for new tickets.
This is my ticket.
The rather curious train conducter, and a spontaneous stranger behind.
Peiwen's buddy, Fabian, picked us up at the Mannheim train station when we arrived. Really thankful for all his help - he carried our bags as though they weighed nothing! Got to really thank him for bringing us around Mannheim, settling our registration at the International Office, opening our bank accounts and so on.
Us with Fabian
Outside the castle
The side view of our school a.k.a the castle :)
Honestly, how many people can say, "I attend lessons in a castle!"
First meal ever in Deutschland! Chicken sandwich with sour cream.
Us posing with our food.
Day 3 - Ikea trip
Took a trip to Ikea (on the outskirts of town) in a bid to prettify our rooms.
Eunice and I, at the bus stop outside our hostel
Graffiti outside a club (vacant, I think) near our hostel
Exchange policy sign
We were trying to spell out IKEA with our bodies :P
Day 4
Day 4 was spent mainly in the city centre.
H&M - I don't know about you, but I don't find H&M all too cheap! But that aside, I bought a studded belt and 2 pairs of gloves for about SGD$20 altogether. (And I also bought a faux leather jacket in another store for just $20! Will upload the pics some other time)
The tram that runs through our city.
And we returned to our hostel for a home-cooked meal and this is my first every dish which I whipped up by myself!! Spaghetti aglio olio :) Spaghetti was rather hard, but still edible nevertheless.
Day 5 - Ice skating
VISUM Mannheim (The international student group in our university) organized an ice-skating trip for us, and coincidentally the majority who turned up live in Hafenstrasse! (our student hostel) But it was a rather harrowing experience for me because I have never ice-skated in my entire life, much less stepped foot into a rink! It was rather embarrassing, because the moment I stepped foot onto the ice I TUMBLED and fell on my ass! And had to get help from the others - if not for them, I would currently be lying in a hospital bed with so many broken bones I think! Luckily, I didn't take any pictures at the rink ;) But seeing those kids eing able to glide ride past me certainly put me to shame!
Dinner was at this quaint little bistro. (L-R: Chris, Elisabeth, Peiwen, Eunice, David, Christian, Sylvain and Eszter) Here in this photo, you see all sorts of nationalities - French, German (I'm not sure whether juxtaposing those 2 together is such a good idea hahaha:P), Swedish, Norwegian, Hungarian and us Singaporeans :)
With Eszter, a nice Hungarian and Chris, also a nice German. (and he speaks very good Mandarin!!)
David ordered a "small" serving of salad ... not.
My hot chilli chicken foccacia sandwich ... which wasn't in the least bit spicy! :(
Okay, that is all for now. And I am catching Jason Mraz in Mannheim baby!!! :)
Pre-departure
With my family and relatives.
With my JC friends - thank you so much to the girls for the collage as well as the extra photos! I'm sorry I didn't have enough space in my luggage to fit the collage in, but the extra photos are currently pasted on my wardrobe here in my room!
With the councillors
With my TKGS friends + Florian
(L-R): Peiwen, me, Jia Li and Eunice while in transit in Bangkok
I expected myself to sob buckets as I entered the boarding terminal, but surprisingly didn't do so. I just shed a few tears for all of 2 or 3 minutes? But amidst my tears I totally forgot all about that contraption known as a TROLLEY to store my huge-ass (and heavy) hand-carry bags so I lugged my bags around like a fool in the middle of the airport.
Arrival, Days 1 and 2 (04.02.09 - 05.02.09)
This is me at the baggage counter at Frankfurt AM Airport, struggling to balance 40 bloody kilograms worth of baggages. Bearing in mind that I am all of 43 kilograms. Nearly died lugging all these.
We took the ICE (a high-speed train) to get to Mannheim, about a 30-minute ride away. But it wasn't fraught with any troubles because we initially missed our train (we were running after the train but couldn't go any faster because of our luggages) and so had to take a next one an hour later. Luckly we didn't have to pay for new tickets.
This is my ticket.
The rather curious train conducter, and a spontaneous stranger behind.
Peiwen's buddy, Fabian, picked us up at the Mannheim train station when we arrived. Really thankful for all his help - he carried our bags as though they weighed nothing! Got to really thank him for bringing us around Mannheim, settling our registration at the International Office, opening our bank accounts and so on.
Us with Fabian
Outside the castle
The side view of our school a.k.a the castle :)
Honestly, how many people can say, "I attend lessons in a castle!"
First meal ever in Deutschland! Chicken sandwich with sour cream.
Us posing with our food.
Day 3 - Ikea trip
Took a trip to Ikea (on the outskirts of town) in a bid to prettify our rooms.
Eunice and I, at the bus stop outside our hostel
Graffiti outside a club (vacant, I think) near our hostel
Exchange policy sign
We were trying to spell out IKEA with our bodies :P
Day 4
Day 4 was spent mainly in the city centre.
H&M - I don't know about you, but I don't find H&M all too cheap! But that aside, I bought a studded belt and 2 pairs of gloves for about SGD$20 altogether. (And I also bought a faux leather jacket in another store for just $20! Will upload the pics some other time)
The tram that runs through our city.
And we returned to our hostel for a home-cooked meal and this is my first every dish which I whipped up by myself!! Spaghetti aglio olio :) Spaghetti was rather hard, but still edible nevertheless.
Day 5 - Ice skating
VISUM Mannheim (The international student group in our university) organized an ice-skating trip for us, and coincidentally the majority who turned up live in Hafenstrasse! (our student hostel) But it was a rather harrowing experience for me because I have never ice-skated in my entire life, much less stepped foot into a rink! It was rather embarrassing, because the moment I stepped foot onto the ice I TUMBLED and fell on my ass! And had to get help from the others - if not for them, I would currently be lying in a hospital bed with so many broken bones I think! Luckily, I didn't take any pictures at the rink ;) But seeing those kids eing able to glide ride past me certainly put me to shame!
Dinner was at this quaint little bistro. (L-R: Chris, Elisabeth, Peiwen, Eunice, David, Christian, Sylvain and Eszter) Here in this photo, you see all sorts of nationalities - French, German (I'm not sure whether juxtaposing those 2 together is such a good idea hahaha:P), Swedish, Norwegian, Hungarian and us Singaporeans :)
With Eszter, a nice Hungarian and Chris, also a nice German. (and he speaks very good Mandarin!!)
David ordered a "small" serving of salad ... not.
My hot chilli chicken foccacia sandwich ... which wasn't in the least bit spicy! :(
Okay, that is all for now. And I am catching Jason Mraz in Mannheim baby!!! :)