A good day to relax

Today we didn't do much. We just stayed home which was good because the last week and this coming has and will be crazy. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so a late night, and on the 2nd very early in the morning we are flying up to Berlin for 3 days. I mainly just played Minecraft Julian and that was the most exciting thing I did today.

HOMAG Factory Tour

Today Thomas took Julian and I to the HOMAG factory. Thomas walked us around explaining what all the machinery did. It is their largest factory being over 500 metres long. They make large machines for wood production such as panel production for furniture and sawing and CNC routing. They make all the machines and then send them off to other companies who actually use machines. The machines that they make range from $50K up to millions of dollars. We saw one machine which was being sent to a wood refining company in Australia. Thomas doesn't work on the factory floor but in sales in an office attached to the factory. The place was mostly empty of people because many people take time off between Christmas and New Years, but during normal times the factory has 1,600 people working there. We also saw gluing machines and other automatic machines where you just hit a button and with conveyors and other robotics, you put in the raw wood, and out comes a door frame or window frame etc. It was pretty cool. At the end we got freebie USB which is pretty cool because its a 16GB one and is pretty fancy looking.

Water Park Badkap

Today Karin, Laura, Julian, Sandra (Laura's friend) and I went to the Badkap. They weren't just any pools. They were similar to the play kind of area at Homebush Olympic pool. There were slides and different shaped pools and hot and cold pools. There was just a normal tunnel slide that spiraled around that we went one twice, one where you stand up and the floor drops away and it goes fast which I went on  twice and there was a wild water one which went outside and was open similar to Splashout at Jamberoo but wider fitting more people at once. This one Julian and I went on 22 times. It is hard to explain it so have a look here. There was also a pool outside that we went into was it was really warm like the rest of the place and was connected to inside. There was also a laser show at the end of the day.

Ulm Minster - Bigger than Cologne!

Today we all went for a drive to Ulm, a city in the south east of Baden-Württemberg on the border of Bavaria. It is also on the Donau (Danube) river which is the border. Ulm is also the city where Albert Einstein grew up. However, that's not all that Ulm is known for. Many people believe that the Köln Dom (Cologne Cathedral) is the biggest cathedral in the world, how ever it is only ranked 4th at 157.4 metres tall. Ulm Minster was originally planned to be shorter than Köln, but later the spire was extended to surpass Köln. Ulm Minster is 161.5 metres tall with 768 stairs going up to 143 metres. Ulm Minster is often referred to as a Cathedral, however it never sat a bishop, so technically it is only a church. We also walked over to the Blue Danube and had a look around. It is similar to Albury and Wadonga how Ulm is basically one city, but Ulm is in Baden-Württemberg and Neu Ulm is in Bavaria.

Black Forest Glass and Clocks

Today the Kletts and I drove to the northern part of the Black Forest. We went to see the last traditional glass producer in Germany and to see the world's biggest cuckoo clock. At the glass smith you could see them making vases and other glassware by spinning and blowing and the glass had cool colours all mixed in to make cool effects. There was also a bit of history about glass production in the 15th Century and even some glass from Ancient Rome in 100 AD. They also had information about rocks and gems and there were some Australian opals and some obsidian (natural glass and in my opinion one of the coolest gems/rocks) from Vesuvius (Emily can tell you all about Vesuvius). Naturally the world's biggest cuckoo clock is in no place other than the Black Forest. It is a completely special design with not a single part taken from mass production. Some specs of the clock include;
Time of construction - 5 Years
Weight of the mechanism - 6 Tonnes
Size of the mechanism - 4.5 metres x 4.5 metres
Weight of the cuckoo - 150 kilograms
Size of the cuckoo - 4.6 metres
Weight of the pendulum - 100 kilograms
Size of the pendulum - 8 metres
Biggest diameter of the wheels - 2.6 metres

Here is a video I recorded of the clock striking 4 o'clock

Christmas!

Christmas today! We all woke up late because we had opened presents and stuff last night. We didn't go to church because Thomas and Karin were preparing for guests to come over this afternoon. We had lunch with Laura and Julian's Oma and Opa again today. After Lunch Julian and I had a NERF battle which was very fun. Later Thomas' extended family and Klett family friends came over for afternoon tea. We ate Christmas biscuits, Lebkuchen, and cake and we drank Kinderpunsch and water because it was very warm. It felt like spring! So much for a white Christmas. It is interesting that what Australian's do over 3 days the Germans do in 2, In Australia on Christmas Eve, there is carol singing, Christmas day is presents and imediate family, and often Boxing Day is with extended family. Here in Germany, carols and presents are in the evening of Christmas Eve, and on Christmas day it is with the whole extended family.

Christmas Eve - The European Way

Today is Christmas Eve! We watched a Christmas TV movie that is on every year on Christmas Eve, which is a film adaptation of Cinderella but not all Disneyafied. It was pretty good. Later Julian, Thomas and I walked to the church where it was a carol service and the little kids put on a nativity scene. Laura and Karin didn't come because Laura wasn't felling well and Karin was making dinner. After the church service we walked back home in the dark. We then had dinner with Laura and Julian's Opa and Oma. Dinner was pork, salad and noodles from ALB-GOLD, the noodle factory that we went to on Monday. After dinner was presents time. Both Laura and Julian were very excited about their Avengers and Minecraft poster that I gave them. I was also very surprised when I opened a box and inside was a huge box of 100 single serve MILO sachets. For those of you who don't know, I drink maybe 2 litres of milk per day, and almost all of it is with MILO. Now MILO isn't in Germany which is ok because I have been having kakao (cocoa), but it was good to have a MILO drink again :) Mum and Dad brought it with them on the school trip and left them with the Kletts to give to me on Christmas Eve. Which leads into a big difference. In Europe, people open their Christmas presents on the evening of Christmas Eve rather than on the morning of Christmas Day. Now if the hype killed you from waking up and having to wait to open your presents, imagine what it would be like hyping up for a whole day before! I don't know how they would do it! Later I played some Minecraft with Julian.

Chocolate Fondue

Today Laura's friend Sandra came over. Julian, Sandra, Laura and I all ate fruit with chocolate fondue. It wasn't the typical fondue with the fountain but rather a more traditional style of just melting chocolate with a candle underneath. It was very yummy. We also watched a couple of episodes of the Nanny. Other than that it was a pretty average day, just staying home. Not much to report on. Definitely no sign of snow. :(

Movies and Christmas Tree

Today Julian and I watched both Antman and Percy Jackson in German. We also put up the Christmas tree and decorated it with silver and blue baubles and beads. Other than that a pretty quiet day.

Alb Gold Noodles

Today Karin, Laura, Julian and I drove to the Alb Gold Noodle factory. Nick and Hannah came as well. We took a tour of the factory, going in and seeing how they mass break eggs and all the process which are involved in making noodles. It was pretty interesting. Afterwards they gave us a free packet of noodles! There was a big shop where you could buy lots of products but I didn't buy anything because I wasn't sure what would get into customs. I also couldn't take any photos of the actually factory insides.

Rhine Falls in Switzerland!

Today we went for a nice Sunday drive.....to Switzerland. We went to the Rhine Falls which are these huge water falls in the middle of the Rhine River. I am dubbing them as the Niagara Falls of Europe (even though its not quiet that fast)! They were really cool and loud with 250,000 litres of water going over every second. The flow is much slower in Winter with it being about 600,000 litres per second in Summer. They are 150 metres wide, 23 metres tall and the pool at the bottom is 13 metres deep. It would have been better if the weather was a bit better. It wasn't too cold, it was just that it was very grey and foggy and it was hard to see the other side of the river. It was funny that in just in an hour an a halfs drive, we were in Switzerland. Granted, it was only the northern tip, but nonetheless it is still Switzerland. We went through the border check (they didn't look at my passport) and I bought Swiss souvenirs so it was Switzerland! Driving back we followed along the river and it was funny that on one side of the river was Germany and on the other side was Switzerland!

I am not sure why you would fish so close to the waterfalls. Fish can't even swim u the falls!

Today is also exactly 5 weeks since I arrived in Germany and I have 5 weeks to go so its halfway over!

Soccer in Stuttgart

Today we went into Stuttgart to watch a soccer game! It was VfB Stuttgart verses Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg was first to score in the game, but Stuttgart scored two goals in the first half to make up for it. In the second half Stuttgart managed to score another goal, ending the game with 3-1 Stuttgart's way. It would be very demoralizing for Wolfsburg playing at Stuttgart. Because it was a home game for Stuttgart, almost everyone in the crowd was cheering for Stuttgart. When Stuttgart scored a goal, the whole stadium would jump up cheering. When Wolfsburg scored a goal there was only some clapping. There was also a constant chant from the spectators behind the goals with their fan chants. In total there was over 47,000 people at the stadium. I knew that sport attracted tens of thousands of people, but actually being there in person makes it so much more real than just some numbers on a page. If there were on average 2 people per car, and there were lots of people on buses, there there may have been 20,000 cars.....

Last day for the year

Today was the last day of school for us for this year! It was a very easy day and we did not do much work. In double religion, we had food and drinks as a kind of thanks for the church service yesterday and just a good way to end the year. We also had an Afghani refugee come into the class who talked about his life and coming to Germany etc. It was really good for Murray and I because he first learnt English, then learnt German so he was really good to understand. He was very clear and not fast and no Swabian dialect. Murray and I understand almost every word! It is actually funny as well because the Afghani is going to marry one of the boys in our class sister. Then after recess we went down to the break room because the Germans had French/Latin. A few minutes later Leon came down and told us that we needed to come up to class with him. We were a bit confused as to why we were going to French but we soon understood. Frau Watts, who is both the English and French teacher changed their French lesson into an English lesson because she brought her husband in. This is because we are learning about Britain and its differences to Germany (and Australia) and Frau Watts husband is English! It was very laid back and we talked about whats popular in Britain and Australia and Germany and it was funny to hear a very English accent after only hearing German for the past 5 weeks! It is interesting that he has been living in Germany for 20 years but he still has his British accent! We also did the very English thing of having tea and biscuits. After that was double Chemistry where the Germans did a bit of work but Murray and I were both too tired to do anything so we just talked to each other and the Germans when they finished.After that Karin drove us home and now we have 3 weeks holidays! (DON'T RUB IT IN THAT AUSTRALIA HAS ALREADY HAD HOLIDAYS) Its one week till Christmas, tomorrow we will have been here for 5 weeks, thus half way and Murray flies out to Norway to meet his brother on either Monday or Tuesday! Its all happening!

Church Service

Today we went to school like normal where we had double German and double chemistry. After chemistry was a free period like it is every Thursday. Murray, Nick and I just went down to the break room. At 12 the Germans went over to the church to setup for the Christmas church service. We stayed behind because the service didn't start until 2:00pm. We got really bored by 1:15 so we just slowly walked to the church with a little help from Google Maps, but we mostly remembered from walking back from the rehearsal last week. The service began at 2 and people say, Laura accompanied on piano, people read prayers and some other stuff. By 3:30 it was over and we walked to the bus stop then caught a bus to the station, then train from station, then bus to home.

No Laura and Schnitzel

Today Laura stayed home because she was sick. I caught the bus to the station, train, then bus to school all fine. School started with double physics but we didn't actually have it. Frau Willemburg and another man spoke about subject selection and the Abitur for after Year 10. Murray, Nick and I just went to the break room after a bit. Then in Math we went over common mistakes in the math test that the Germans did last week. Finally in English we just watched a film about about a Pakistani family living in England and the conflict between religion and tradition and adaption to Western society. After that was home time. I just caught the bus to the train station and that was fine because I was with everyone and Murray and Nick. But it got a little different at the station. Nick and Murray along with almost everyone else catch an earlier train which is an express train which goes straight from Mössingen to Hechingen. This means the Bodelshausen people have to catch a later, all stops train. This happens every Wednesday and Friday but today was a little weird because there was no Laura and a couple of her friends were either away or got driven home. It was alright though. I knew what stop was mine etc. Later we went to the sports club where Julian plays soccer for his soccer team Christmas get together thingy. We all had chicken schnitzel and it tasted really good.

People away

Today Laura didn't come to school for the first couple of periods because she wasn't feeling too good. I just caught the bus in the morning with Julian and no I caught all of the right buses. :) She came after GK. Nick was also away but that was because he went to the Ritter Sport factory with Hannah's parents. School started with us watching Walk the Line, the film about Johnny Cash, in double music. After recess we had a single GK and after that we had a double German. We were in German for the start of it but when they started making posters about the book, Murray and I went down to the break room. Then we had KL which Murray and I should have just gone to lunch instead because we didn't have Frau Watt's like normal and they just handed out notes to people who needed to update their school details etc. Bit of a waste of half an hour in the case of Murray and I. After lunch was triple MUM (People and Media) and Murray and I just attempted to translate the worksheet with the help of LEO.

Australia Presentation

Today Murray and I went to one of the year 9 English classes and spoke a bit about Australia and the differences between it and Germany, talking about uniform and the lack of public transport and all of that kind of jazz. We showed photos of the school and Sydney Harbour and other things. It was the class who had the same teacher as who we have for GK. A few of the people to ask questions about stuff and at the end I asked who was thinking about coming back to Australia on exchange next year and about 6 or 7 people put up their hand from just the one class! We also had double maths, double physics and a single of English.

Stuttgart and Steak

Today we didn't go to church because we went to Stuttgart instead. We went to a steakhouse where we had some of the best steak ever. I had a Mr Rumpsteak with salad and an amazing baked potato with sour cream. Delicious! After lunch we went to the Christmas markets and had a look around, bought punch. There was even a garden model railway surrounded by one of the ride on railways! It also occurred to me that Stuttgart is my most visited city in Europe. I have visited it more than I have visited Melbourne! I have only been to Melbourne once, but I went to Stuttgart on the 2013 Germany Trip, 2015 Europe Trip and One exchange as well! On multiple occasions for each trip as well! Here are some photos and a video of the train!

Here is a link to some interesting facts about the Stuttgart Christmas markets such as 3.5 to 4 million visitors annually. http://stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de/en/general/wissenswertes/

Later I helped Julian some more with preparation for his maths test.

Photo and video from horse ridding

Here is a photo and a video of Laura and I horse ridding. My horse is the middle while one. It's name is Schumi as in Michael Schumacher.

Monopoly and math

Today was another quiet day. I helped Julian prepare for his math test on Monday. It was a bit hard explaining it in German but I think we wnt alright. Julian and Laura's Oma also came over for Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake, Afternoon Tea) where we had tea and muffins. I had a chocolate milk! After that Julian, Laura, Thomas and I played Monopoly City which is a different version of Monopoly for 2 hours! Thomas left halfway though, splitting his money and districts between Julian, Laura and I. By the end of the two hours we came to an agreement to end the game saying Julian won because he had the most districts and he had about 7 times the amount of money that I had. I kept on landing on the most expensive district which Julian owned, doing so about 5 times. But I got my revenge when he  kept landing on one of my districts which was maxed out costing 13.5 Million to land on (which is about 1350 in the original game) And he landed on it about 4 times in a row!

One lesson and horses

Today was a very easy day at school. It started with us going to the church in Mössingen where the Germans had a rehearsal for the Christmas church service. Nick, Murray and I just sat in the row and talked and watched the Germans rehearsing. After that we walked to school which was a couple of kilometres and arrived in time for recess. After recess was double French/Latin so we just went to the break room. Finally our only lesson for today was a double chemistry.

Later after school, Laura and I went up the Swabian Alps to go horse riding. This week was better because well my horse didn't get spooked! We did a few different things, getting into a trot, doing circles, figure 8s and other stuff. Karin took some photos.

Ultra short day!

Even though today was Thursday which is normally a long day, we were home earlier than Wednesdays and Fridays. We had a double German, recess, double chemistry, and that was it. That was school for today. So we were out of school by 11:20 am, caught the bus to the train station, waited for the train, caught the train to Bodelshausen and got on the bus. We all went to the Döner Kebab shop for lunch which is down the road from our house. Laura and I walked home and Laura went back out again to do MUM homework with Luisa, Sandra, one of the Pauls (there are three) and Mark. I stayed home because I am in a different MUM class so I didn't have their homework. I was in the house eating Döner by 12:20 pm. All of this was because of teachers being away and the lunch break starts earlier for us on Thursdays because we have a free before lunch because KL goes into lunch on Tuesday. This meant we could just leave even earlier. Not that buses match up or anything but it would be pretty cool if we could do it at WAC if the teacher was away you just had a free and could go home if it was last period!

Nick's first day

Today Nick came to school with Hannah. He arrived on Tuesday morning. It was a pretty good day for him to come to school because it was Wednesday which is a short day. We also had double English, a double free and physics so the only lesson which was hard was physics. We had a free because the Germans had a math test and neither Murray or I felt up to it. Both of us with a bit of a cold. When we got home I slipped a bit on the marble stairs coming upstairs and smashed my right knee onto the edge of the step really hard and it hurt to move. No blood but very sore.

Bakery and Breakery

Today we didnt have double music at the start of the day because the teacher was away. We still left the house at the normal time, caught the bus to the station, caught a train to Mössingen, and got on a bus at the station. But instrad of getting off at school, Laura, Sandra, Luisa and I got off the bus at a bakery on the way. I bought a chocolate croissant and so did Luisa, Sandra bought a Brezel and Laura bought some pastry ball things. It tasted good but we had to wait half an hour for the next bus in the cold wind. The bus took us to one of the streets near school so we walked the rest of the way. After recess we had a single GK and double German but Murray and I went to the cafferteria so we could do stuff because they are still doing the book they read. After lunch which was Mautaschen, we had triple MUM.

During lunch Murray and I were in the break room doing duo lingo and other stuff when we heard one of the girls on the other side of the table say something about Australia. Murray and I looked up and looked we looked at each other. A couple of the girls from our class also looked up. Then Murray asked what she said about Australia and that we were exchange students from Australia. Then the whole room went silent. The girls opposite us who were in either 10+ or year 11, asked us about how long we were here for and why and they were very surprised that we were there and that we were only 15 and 16. It was pretty funny though how it was pretty noisy then it was silent as soon as we said we were Australian and were speaking German.

During our break in the middle of MUM we were looking at all of the school photos and saw that every year has a class A and a class B such as 9a and 9b, except year 10 who has 10a, 10b and 10+ which is bigger. All the people in 10+ looked older than the rest of year 10 and Murray suggested that it might have something to do with the loosing of 1 year of school. That they were the inbetween year when when it happened so is got a bit messed up. But I am going to look into it more.

No presentation, thus more break!

Today we went back to school as per normal. The day started with double Math which was ok. Then came the onslaught of break. We would normally have double sport after recess, but the teacher was away so we didn't have it.  After the double break, Murray and I had another free because the Germans had French and Latin. Last week the GK teacher asked Murray and I if we could do a presentation about Australia to his Year 9 English class. We said that would be fine and planned for it being today because he said Monday period 4 and 5, which was the second period of sport and the single language period. We weren't sure if we should go to sport and leave early or not go at all but our choice was made simple by the teacher being away. So we turn up to the Year 9 class and it turns out the teacher meant next Monday. So we had 4.5 hours of breaks...fun. After lunch was double physics which was alright and to finish the day we had English. It was very interesting because Frau Watts (English Teacher) brought in the head chef for the cafeteria. This is because we are learning about Britain and the Caribbean and its influences. The chef guy came from the American Virgin Islands and other Caribbean islands. It was interesting to hear his story and life in the Caribbean and how he ended up in Germany. So he is part American and part French, and his wife is part German and part Icelandic, moved from the Caribbean, now living in Germany! Lots of variety!

Esslingen Christmas Markets

Yesterday I didn't make a post because I did nothing. It was a late start and I just lazed about. I just stayed at home and rested because I've got a bit of a cold.

Today we didn't go to church because we instead went to Esslingen Christmas Markets. Esslingen is a city to the east of Stuttgart on the river Neckar. It was in the old city part so everything was Middle Ages themed. The markets were packed to the max with people left right and centre. There was a constant stream of people entering the markets even until the sun started to set. And apparently Stuttgart markets are even bigger! It was interesting to hear a few Americans talking aswell. Interesting for them to be in a smaller suburb and its not even holidays yet.

And a photo from the St Nicholas Market at school on Friday

Bus madness and St Nicholasmarkt

So today we were meant to go to the church in Moesingen to practice for the church service the week after next where I think year ten is putting on something. So Laura said as we walked to the bus stop that we catch a different bus at the train station. This was all good. So we catch the bus to the train station in Bodelshausen, then catch the train to Moesingen. This is where everything went wrong. I got separated from Laura and her friends as it normally happens when mass amounts of people boarding and leaving at once. This is normal. So I walked over to the bus stop as I have been doing for the past 3 weeks. I get on the bus as normal. I was a little confused that I didn't see Laura herself but I saw one of her friends so I assumed it was right. I also so Murray and Leon getting onto the bus behind as they normally do because not everyone can fit on the one bus. I even saw them getting onto the bus. I thought its all good. But once I got to school and got of the bus there was no Laura or anyone else. I waited for the bus which was behind. It showed up but Murray nor Leon nor anyone from year 10 got off. So I walk into the school and using the wifi in the school I message both Murray and Laura on WhatsApp asking where they are. While I wait for a reply I went to the room we were meant to have a class in and it was locked and no one was there. This is when I really began worrying. I got a message back from Julia saying that from Laura to catch a different bus. and that they were at the church and I should just wait at school. So that's what I did. I waited at school. I thought that we were going to school and then later were going to the church and what Laura meant was that we go from school to the train station, then catch another bus from the  train station rather than catch a train. But I was wrong. Once everyone got to school at about recess it was fine. I just went to the break room.

My only subject today was double chemistry. Ratio of breaks to work was 3.5 : 1.5.

Later in the afternoon we came back to school (in the car, no buses!) for the St Nicholasmarkt. 10a (my class) held a waffle store where we sold German waffles with Nuttela, sugar and apple sauce (or in a direct translation apple moose!). It was good. It reminded me of the Country Fair minus the rides and was inside and was for Christmas. All the funds raised went towards helping people in Syria.

Bad photos courtesy of my phone :)