School Solo (Not really)

Today was Monday so back to school! Murray and Leon were away from school today but it was ok. We started with double maths, then we had double sport. In sport we did more badminton. After badminton the Germans had French and Latin so I went to the break room and read a bit of my book and also got the Wi-Fi working on my phone so that I can do Duo-Lingo and Leo. Lunch was pasta and sauce and I had it with Laura, Izzy and Nico because the French class were let out late (and the three I just mentions do Latin). After lunch we had double physics and then a single of English. Normally the English lesson is all in English but it wasn't today because we were going over the test we did on characterisation. Frau Watts didn't mark Murray's and mine :) Dinner was pancakes and Nutella (you jelly Sarah?)

Church and Reutlingen Weihnachtsmarkt

Today I got up at 9 am after sleeping in for almost 11 hours. Apparently school really tires me out! Julian, Laura, Karin and I went to church while Thomas was making lunch. Laura and Julian's Oma and Opa came over for lunch again which was roast pork with mashed potato. Later Julian, Karin, Thomas and I went to the Christmas markets in Reutlingen where we ate bratwurst and waffles and drank punch. We also had a look around at the stalls. Sorry if the photos are blurry, I forgot to take my camera so they are from my phone.

Martial Arts

Today was a slow start doing basically nothing all morning. It snowed a little last night and there was some snow in the morning but my late morning early after noon it was all gone. Laura and I went to Laura's martial arts place and we did some martial arts stuff. I am not quiet sure what discipline is. It was alright but my arms and legs hurt after it. We did some basic stance stuff and posture and some easy things to do to get out of a fight if someone is looking for trouble. After martial arts we watched the Yogi Bear movie. Later in the evening Julian and I played hide and seek on his Hogwarts that he had built in Minecraft.

Horse Riding

Today school was pretty boring today with a double free while the Germans have Latin/French. Double religion was pretty boring as well because the class was making posters on work that they had done prior to us coming to Germany. Double chemistry was ok as well. Today was Friday so it was a shorter day except for the train being 20 minutes late! What is this! A German machine not being efficient enough? We still got home before 2pm anyway. Later in the afternoon Laura, Izzy (one of Laura's friends) and I went up into the Swabian Alps to go horse ridding. Due to the alps being up higher it had snowed and was about -2 degrees. The horse riding was inside a cattle shed so it was out of the snow. It was all good and we even got into a bit of a trot at a few points. Every thing was good until a big ute drove passed outside the shed. Its wheels slipped on the ice making a lound crushing sound with the sound reverberating all through the said. And with my luck my horse got spooked by the sound and just freaked out and started sprinting in the other direction towards one of the other horses. It turned out to be old though because I just yanked hard on the reins of the horse and it stopped.

A late start and Thanksgiving?

Today we didn't need to be at school until 9:30 because we didn't have double German first thing. This meant we didn't even need to leave home until 8:45! Once we arrived we had double chemistry where we just pretty much went over safety procedures because it was the first time the Germans had chemistry this school year as there was a timetable change at the start of this week and science is on a rotation. Chemistry replaced biology! Too bad that we are going to start with organic chemistry first anyway. After chemistry was going to be almost 3 hours of lunch because there was the normal 2 but we had a free before lunch because on Tuesday KL, the roll call thingy, went into lunch. It was OK though because we ended up having German anyway because the prac teacher was being marked on by her uni. So that took up the free period and some of lunch which was a bonus. Lunch was Thanksgiving themed with turkey and cranberry sauce, cream corn, pumpkin pie, stuffing and an apple cinnamon dessert. Come to Germany and have American lunch! Apparently the school often has themed lunch such as Bavarian food and everything blue and white for Oktoberfest. After lunch we had double music where we learnt about homophony and polyphony. Now dictation is hard in English. Try writing down a page of notes, being read out to you, in German! After that we had GK where we finished of the economy simulation by comparing who had the most money by the end whether it was Asian or European workers, handlers, factory owners etc. Most of the Asian workers were in debt :(

Shorter day + Kebabs!

Today was Wednesday so we had the shorter day! We had double physics where we just did more stuff about forces and force parallelograms, double math where we just did more function stuff and in double English we just learnt a little about a patriotic English song called Rivers and some word order stuff. When we got off the bus at Bodelshausen, Laura and I walked to the local Döner Kebab shop where we got some kebabs and they were really nice. Other than that a fairly standard day. Nothing much to report on.

Lunch ONLY twice as long....

Today lunch was only twice as long as it is in Australia rather than three times. This was because rather than having lunch, we had another class which was the roll call kind of class where it is sort of an organising lesson for just random stuff. We also have music where we say songs which was better than it sounds, we had the economics/physiology sort of subject where we continued the economy simulation where we are Asian workers making phones. We also had double German and triple MUM. MUM was pretty boring as they just discussed the movie we watched last week. It was good that lunch was shorter. Other than that a fairly bland day.

Back to school

Today was a fairly standard sort of a day. We got a new timetable where we have music instead of history and geography and chemistry rather than biology. Today we had double math, double sport, a free while the Germans had Latin or French, double physics and to finish off the day we had a single English. Not much happened today. When I got home I watched the Disney movie Planes: Fire and Rescue in German but with English subtitles so I had some idea of what was happening. There was still snow on the ground and it snowed ever so lightly during the day, but by the end of the day it was mostly gone.

SNOW!!!!!

TODAY THERE WAS SNOW!!!! Last night it started to snow ever so lightly and by morning there was snow on the ground! Enjoy the photos. Today Karin, Laura and I went to church and it was different to WACC. It was a wack ton more traditional church serviec plus the fact that it was actually in a church and not in the school auditorium. After church Laura and Julian's Opa and Oma came over for lunch in the very long trip from next door. Later in the afternoon we walked to some more markets and there was a petting zoo which had goats and donkeys! Once we got back to the house Julian and I had a bit of a snowball fight. While everyone in Australia is having 40 degree whether I am having snow!!

Soccer, Bond and Lichterglanz

Today started out slowly with not getting up until about 10:00am. We went to the local sports-ground and watched Julian's soccer team play against Tuebingen. Julian didn't get to play in the first half because he was a reserve. By half time it was 1-0 Bodelshausen way. At half time Karin and I went back home to pick up Laura and take her to her Kung Fu class. When we got back home Julian and I play Minecraft over LAN together. At 5:00pm Laura and I went to Hechingen cinemas and we saw the new James Bond film Spectre. It was in German but I understood most of it because, well its James Bond. Its not hard to understand when James is blowing up things with explosions everywhere! SPOLIER ALERT! It was good. You must watch it. After the film Laura and I walked around the block to the Lichterglanz which is a light festival with Christmas markets and at the end there were fireworks. (No way as near as good as the Country Fair but fireworks nonetheless!) And the drive home it started to snow lightly!

Even shorter school and horses!

Today was a one of the short days where you go home for lunch. What was great was today was even shorter than normal! We had a double German, then double physics...and that was all! The math teacher was away so physics just moved earlier in the day! Its funny because on Monday we had an 8 hour day at school and today was only 3! We were home before lunch would have even started. In the afternoon we drove up the Swabian Alps where Laura went horse riding. And next week I am going to go riding too! Haha. Its been raining all day today and they are expecting some snow on the weekend!

Shorter school!

Today we had a double GK which is general knowledge. It is subject about politics and economics and psychology all smushed together into one subject. In this double we did a simulation game where we compared the work of people in Asia to those in Europe and the bosses of companies. We had a quota to cut out paper phone and colour them in. The Asian workers who both Murray and I were had to cut out the phones with nail scissors and collour them in with felt tipped pens. AND we were only paid 2 Euro per phone (one phone cut out equaled 250). The European workers could use large scissors and highlighters, making their jobs much easier and they were paid 100 Euro per phone! We also had a double religion where we were meant to make a poster about 2 countries in conflict or poverty such as Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Iraq etc. Then single math and a single German after lunch which was hamburgers. We were also meant to have a double  biology after lunch but because the teacher was away we got to leave school early! I wish we had that in Australia! No casuals, just free periods if the teacher is away!

We missed the bus!

Today was a shorter day at school. Wednesday and Friday are only 6 periods rather than 8, and there is no 2 hour lunch. We had double Geography, double Physics, single English and Murray and I had a free while Laura and Leon had Latin and French. In English we did a test on characterisation which Murray and I did aswell so that ours could be used as an example. Only problem was we haven't done characterisations in English (not can I can remember) and that English is my worst subject! English was last so the test went a little overtime which meant we missed the bus from the school to the train station by about 2 minutes. The next bus wasn't for another half hour! However, we didn't have to wait because Leon's mum picked up Murray and Leon and Danni's Mum (Danni is a boy in our class who also lives in Bodelshausen) picked up Danni, Laura and I and dropped Laura and I back home. It seemed weird being at home while it was still light! Yesterday and on Monday by the time school finished at 4:15, catching a bus to the train station, catching a train, then another bus, and then walking it was already becoming dark!

School and Supermarket

Today was our second day of school. It started with a double history where we did a thought experiment about nuclear fallout and wether to have more or fewer people. This linked into the work we did later about numbers of refugees and wether to take more to help more people or less to be more sustainable. Then we had Math where we were doing stuff we would be doing in year 11 and 12 math. In double biology we learnt about what hormones come from what organs and what they do for the body. After lunch which was fish and potatos, we had a triple of MUM which is mench und media. We watched a film which I think was about some political thing and journalism. If was also weird today because at lunch we went to the local supermarket just because. It felt bad but its allowed. Nothing better to do in the 2 hours for lunch!

First Day of School

Today was Murray's and mine first day of school in Germany. It was a pretty good day. It started out with a double English which was good so we weren't diving straight into the deep end. After that we had a quick meeting with Frau Willemburg who is the vice principal of Firstwald where we had our introductions, discussed how we were going and what to do about learning French oer Latin, but in German. We then had a double sport where the boys played badminton. In Germany girls and boys have sport separately. Then was a weird kind of class where it was sort of like roll call and homeroom but different. After that was the long 2 hour lunch but what was good was we had pancakes with Nutella for lunch. After lunch was double French or Latin so Murray and I went into the library to just read or do whatever we want. Finally the day ended with German. Today was good but a bit on the long side. School started at 7:45 and ended at 4:15. The 2 hour long lunch doesn't really help but it is made up for because Wednesday and Friday school ends at lunchtime. Another day of school tomorrow!

What day is it?

Last night I fell asleep at 4:30 pm. I tried staying awake to try and get over the jet lag but couldn't. I could even feel my self almost drifting off in the car back from buying my shoes. I woke up at 10:00 pm and then for the rest of the night, slept on and off. When I woke up this morning at 7:00 I thought I had missed the bus and train for school and wondering what would happen because we planned to meet with the headmaster of Firstwald. I was worried and wondered how Murray was going to be without me. I messaged Mum and then she said that it was actually only Sunday and I don't need to go to school because it was the weekend. School doesn't start until tomorrow. Flying for so many hours and crossing so many time zones screwed my body clock up so much that in my head I missed a day.

We went out to a little restaurant in the next town over where we had lunch. I had a chicken schnitzel with chips and salad. We walked there and back, walking for about 5 or 6 kilometres. So I could stay awake, Julian and I played on the Wii U for a while. Other than that it was a fairly slow and laid back day. First day of school tomorrow!

Shopping for Shoes

Today Karin and I went shopping in Reutlingen for shoes. I realised half way between Sydney and Abu Dhabi that I had left my joggers and my 2nd pair of casual shoes at home. I needed to buy winter shoes in Germany anyway as my ones at home don't fit me with my big feet. We searched in multiple shoe shops for snow shoes and sport shoes that fitted me or weren't 200 Euros. We went into a larger shop called Schuh Tausch where we managed to find both snow shoes and gym shoes that fit me. Even better, both pairs were on sale and so together both pairs came to 88 Euro.

Abu Dhabi to Stuttgart

Today we left Abu Dhabi to head for Stuttgart. Murray and I were a little confused at the gate because it said the plane was going to Stuttgart but via Vienna. We were intrigued by this, wondering why it was going via Vienna and that we did not have boarding passes for Vienna. One we were on board the Air Berlin A320, the cabin crew told us that we would be stopping in Bucharest for a refuel stop. We found out why because on the flight information it said that we had a 150km/h headwind, making us use more fuel than normal. It was a 6 hour flight from Abu Dhabi to Bucharest, then we waited on the plane for a half hour while the plane was refueled, then another 2 and a half hour flight from Bucharest to Stuttgart. The Air Berlin flight did not have the type of on board entertainment as ETIHAD had, where every seat had a screen on the seat in front of them, Air Berlin had the ones where a screen came down from the ceiling about every 5 seats. This was OK again as I slept for a fair chunk of the flight. I watched the last 40 minutes of The Bucket List.

Leaving Australia

On Friday the 13th, Murray Jobbins and I flew out of Sydney. The plane was meant to leave at 3:25PM, however, due to lots of heavy rain, we did not actually take off until 4:30PM. This would have been OK if we had on board entertainment, but we didn't, ETIHAD, well at least on our flight, didn't turn on the on board entertainment until we were up in the sky. I managed to sleep for most of the 14 hour flight. It was good that Murray and I were at the back of the plane because it meant our row only had 2 seats not 3 so there wasn't a random person sitting with us. Once we arrived at Abu Dhabi we found our gate and waited to board for the next leg of the journey.