Hallo Alle!
Well this is it. I've officially moved back to Boston now. I can't believe how the time flew by.
I left about mid-day on Friday the 22nd, which meant I had just a little bit of time to spend with my good friend Rob on the last morning I was there. We went to get breakfast (my last European breakfast), and then spent some time listening to music and hanging out. Then my car came, it was time to leave Europe. Sigh.
The travelling day was long. I got to my Basel - Frankfurt flight on time, but then my flight from Frankfurt to Boston was delayed 2 hours, which was so aggravating. I just wanted to get back to Boston!! But finally the time came. I boarded the plane and prepared for the 7 1/2 hour flight back to Boston.
Finally being back was so surreal. I was in the customs line, and above the officers there were screens that had a welcoming video playing, and all the stereo-typically American images and such. It was so weird! Everything was in English! Luckily I had no issues at customs, and then I proceeded to get my luggage, which was already on the carrousel because I'd been in the customs line for so long. I walked out of the doors of the airport, and was amazed by the humidity, and the hustle and bustle. I just couldn't stop thinking, I'm back now. This is Boston. Whatt???? Such a surreal feeling. And then my lovely friends Lisa, Seth and Alex came to pick me up, and all the stress from the day vanished. Being reunited with my friends here has been such a blessing. I missed them all so much when I was in Europe, and seeing them again has definitely helped me with all the craziness of coming back.
I've been experiencing more culture shock than I thought I would. On my first day back, we went to a Mexican-style fast food restaurant, and I had to remind myself to order in English. And then when the lady handed me the bill, I had NO IDEA what to do for tip! I totally forgot what the rules were, so I didn't tip at all... luckily it was a fast food place so tipping wasn't necessary, but if it was an actual restaurant, I'm sure I would've gotten some dirty looks! It's crazy how the littlest things can make such a difference. Like hearing English everywhere on the street, not knowing how to weigh produce in the supermarket (they do it FOR you at the till... NOT like in Europe), having your food bagged for you, swiping your card yourself, J-walking, etc. etc. And then of course there's the food. I think the food here was actually making me sick! So strange. I'm definitely ok now, I just ate a slice of American Pizza and so far no symptoms. I just didn't realize that that would be a thing that I'd have to get used to again. So strange.
I'm really thankful for the time I spent in Germany. There were definitely a couple really hard times, settling in was harder than I thought it would be, and there were lots of trials along the way, but I feel like I learned so much and really grew as a person. So that's awesome! I really hope I get a chance to go back there again, maybe spend more time living there, because it's such a beautiful country :).
I'm also quite happy that this blog worked out so well so all of you could keep track of me while I was gone! Definitely a nice alternative to Facebook ;) Now it is time for the next stage in life, here in the lovely city of Boston, MA. So looking forward to what God has in store for me in the next few years! I know it'll be awesome :)
Herzliche Grüße und Aufwiedersehen!
<3 hannah ;)
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Getting Ready To Say Good Bye
Hallo Alle!
Wow. I'm leaving on Friday. It seems so surreal, my mind can't accept that I'm actually leaving Germany.
My time here since being in Croatia has been pretty quiet. Just alot of practicing and getting ready for all of my 2 finals... hahaha. Seriously it's so funny, for my German Music History class, our teacher said last week, "Well I guess next week is the last class, so we'll watch a video. Don't forget to bring some delicious wine!" HAHAHA!! That is my final. Best EVER. Besides that I just have to get ready for my piano techniques exam (which is pretty easy) and the one I'm most nervous for: Harmony 4. I don't think it'll be too bad because my teacher is awesome and really relaxed, but I'm still nervous because we covered so much material. Hopefully it goes well!
Other than written exams, I just have to get ready and practice for the Abschlusskonzert, the final concert. But I'm not playing anything super duper tricky, so that'll be pretty chill as well.
Pretty chill basically describes this whole semester for me. That's one thing that I was hoping for in coming here, and that hope was definitely fulfilled. It was so nice to have so much free time just to relax, practice, think about life, grow closer to God, get to know people, explore and try new things, rather than really stressing about school. I really don't feel like I've been in school these past 4 months, just a couple classes. Even my classes were more of a cultural experience; obviously all of my teachers speak German as their first language, so I got to try to speak German with them sometimes, and sometimes they'd teach us phrases or words in German. We also got exposed to the German method of notation; they don't use sharps and flats like we do, like they won't say "B Flat". In Germany, B Flat is actually "Be" and B Natural is "Ha". I think. Something like that. But basically they just have different names for every semi-tone, much like what we do in chromatic solfege. Just something interesting ;).
I'm definitely getting pretty sad about leaving. I absolutely LOVE Germany. Always have. And now I've met so many awesome people, and got to really experience what living here is like. The food is AMAZING, as I've said many times, and I'm definitely really going to miss it. There's a European import store in Harvard Square, so I'll probably be there like every day getting cheese. Although one thing I definitely WON'T miss about living here is sharing a kitchen... it'll be so nice to be in my own kitchen and room again. I will miss the BEER AND WINE... especially this one particular micro-brewery that I've come to absolutely love. Going to miss that beer a lot. I will definitely also miss Fußball. Watching the EM (Europameisterschaft, aka. The Euros 2012) has been soooooo much fun. I've really got a chance to see some real German patriotism, which is a really rare thing and something to be cherished. Actually seeing people fly German flags is such a rarity, so seeing so many people with German flags on their cars and people painting the colours on their faces and buying Germany necklaces and Vuvuzelas is just so special. And seeing how they all get so excited about all the games is so awesome and exciting; if there's one thing you've all got to experience at least once, it's European Football. Even if you don't go to Germany, Football in Europe is SOO much fun.
Well that's about it for now. Look out for ONE LAST BLOG, coming to you live from Boston, MA. :)
Herzliche Grüße, die letzten von Deutschland!
<3 hannah ;)
Wow. I'm leaving on Friday. It seems so surreal, my mind can't accept that I'm actually leaving Germany.
My time here since being in Croatia has been pretty quiet. Just alot of practicing and getting ready for all of my 2 finals... hahaha. Seriously it's so funny, for my German Music History class, our teacher said last week, "Well I guess next week is the last class, so we'll watch a video. Don't forget to bring some delicious wine!" HAHAHA!! That is my final. Best EVER. Besides that I just have to get ready for my piano techniques exam (which is pretty easy) and the one I'm most nervous for: Harmony 4. I don't think it'll be too bad because my teacher is awesome and really relaxed, but I'm still nervous because we covered so much material. Hopefully it goes well!
Other than written exams, I just have to get ready and practice for the Abschlusskonzert, the final concert. But I'm not playing anything super duper tricky, so that'll be pretty chill as well.
Pretty chill basically describes this whole semester for me. That's one thing that I was hoping for in coming here, and that hope was definitely fulfilled. It was so nice to have so much free time just to relax, practice, think about life, grow closer to God, get to know people, explore and try new things, rather than really stressing about school. I really don't feel like I've been in school these past 4 months, just a couple classes. Even my classes were more of a cultural experience; obviously all of my teachers speak German as their first language, so I got to try to speak German with them sometimes, and sometimes they'd teach us phrases or words in German. We also got exposed to the German method of notation; they don't use sharps and flats like we do, like they won't say "B Flat". In Germany, B Flat is actually "Be" and B Natural is "Ha". I think. Something like that. But basically they just have different names for every semi-tone, much like what we do in chromatic solfege. Just something interesting ;).
I'm definitely getting pretty sad about leaving. I absolutely LOVE Germany. Always have. And now I've met so many awesome people, and got to really experience what living here is like. The food is AMAZING, as I've said many times, and I'm definitely really going to miss it. There's a European import store in Harvard Square, so I'll probably be there like every day getting cheese. Although one thing I definitely WON'T miss about living here is sharing a kitchen... it'll be so nice to be in my own kitchen and room again. I will miss the BEER AND WINE... especially this one particular micro-brewery that I've come to absolutely love. Going to miss that beer a lot. I will definitely also miss Fußball. Watching the EM (Europameisterschaft, aka. The Euros 2012) has been soooooo much fun. I've really got a chance to see some real German patriotism, which is a really rare thing and something to be cherished. Actually seeing people fly German flags is such a rarity, so seeing so many people with German flags on their cars and people painting the colours on their faces and buying Germany necklaces and Vuvuzelas is just so special. And seeing how they all get so excited about all the games is so awesome and exciting; if there's one thing you've all got to experience at least once, it's European Football. Even if you don't go to Germany, Football in Europe is SOO much fun.
Well that's about it for now. Look out for ONE LAST BLOG, coming to you live from Boston, MA. :)
Herzliche Grüße, die letzten von Deutschland!
<3 hannah ;)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Photos Part 2: Croatia
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| First exposure to Croatian: What. |
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| First exposure to Croatia: Yes. |
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| A lot of the trees by the shore were a bit tipsy... |
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| White stone streets |
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| Zadar Square |
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| My apartment in Zadar! :D. |
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| Boats! Harbour in Split |
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| Finally on the boat! The Labrador. |
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| And then we decided to jump OFF the boat |
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| Hvar |
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| Wine Tasting: Delicious! |
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| Next day on the ship |
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| Korcula |
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| GELATO!! With some new friends. From Left to Right: Brittany (from Toronto living in New York), Ivan (from Vancouver), Sally (Australia) and Jonelle (Washington DC) |
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| Stray kitty that looks like Cosmo :) |
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| Fishies!! |
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| Me and Sally enjoying the sunset in Korcula. Thankfully we had a blanket because it was kindof cold and windy |
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| THE WATER IS SO BLUE BAAAA |
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| Pirates attacking Dubrovnik. Hehehe. |
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| The Cross over Dubrovnik |
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| Main Square in Dubrovnik old town |
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| and MORE Gelato! |
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| This time it was Smurf flavoured |
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| Kitty!! |
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| From the walk around the Dubrovnik Wall |
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| and ANOTHER kitty :D |
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| Ocean Kayaking!! |
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| My partner in crime |
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| Julie and Ian, the couple from Calgary |
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| See the peacock? |
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| THEY WERE EVERYWHERE |
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| the "Burger". Lol. |
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| Dubrovnik at night! |
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| BEST RESTAURANT OF MY LIFE |
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| GELATO!! |
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| Playing Congas :D |
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| The small town of Trstenik |
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| Enjoying the beach :) |
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| Makarska: Statue of St. Peter |
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| The whole group! I'm on the bottom left |
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| Makarska has a bunch of statues of tourists everywhere, which is pretty hilarious. This is a statue of some random tourist swimming |
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| My friend Steffan and St. Peter, looking over the Makarska Harbour |
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| Octopus! |
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| And other sea foods |
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| Last full day in Split |
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| Underground tunnel market in Split |
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| From the top of the bell tower |
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| Split |
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| <3 Jesus! |
<3 hannah ;)
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