Hello my Wonderful Family and Friends!
How are you all? I’m ok. This is the next instalment of Nix In Pretzelland, and –as usual- it’s gonna be long cos it’s about 12 weeks worth of info in one!...BUT, I am gonna leave out most of the really detailed stuff, cos otherwise you’ll be reading for a good 2 hours.... hehe. It’s actually sad..... Anyway, moving along swiftly.....
We last left off around Easter time. (Gosh it feels like a lifetime ago!!!)
At Easter I went to visit my exchange friend Kirsty, who (normally) lives in Edenvale for those of you who know where that is. I had a great time with her and it was so cool to just have a normal conversation at the time, mostly because I was going through a lonely patch… But yeah…
Easter was great. I got loads of schokolade from the Edelkotts and my host grandparents. Got a gift certificate also and a couple of other things including a Weltmeisterschaft (World Cup) t-shirt. Very cool.
Then a few days later, a friend of mine from school in SA came to visit me. Heidrun is doing some work over here and happens to only be a couple of ours by train from me so she came to spend the night. We chatted loads, wrote one weird letter to a friend back home and then went to Ulm for an afternoon. We climbed the Münster, ate at Subway, walked a bit around the area and then delayed my train back cos we (read ‘I’) couldn’t get Heidi’s notebook out of my bag! Hehe. Anyway, it was a great visit.
The next weekend I went with the Edelkotts to a Kletterpark/ Abenteuerpark which is basically a Climbing and ‘Adventure’ Park. We did 3 courses, of varying difficulties and heights. Each person is wearing a harness and is strapped onto a walk line. They must then hook and unhook themselves through an ‘obstacle’ course of rope and wood bridges, Platforms, fooffee slides (zip lines) and ladders. It was actually a lot of fun. A days worth of that an we were all sooooo stiff the next day! Hehe
The Next Sunday I went with the Edelkotts to the Federsee which is an ancient civilisation area and now also a bird sanctuary. We walked a long the boardwalks and then went into the town where we had the opportunity to watch the Maibaum being raised. A Maibaum is, as the name suggests, a tree that is ‘put up’ in May. It is normally leafless, except for a few branches left at the top as a sort of crown. Ribbons and other decorations are also put on the tree. Every town and village normally erects one. Also, as part of the tradition, young men sometimes erect one in the gardens of the girl they love as a message to all those around. I think it’s sooo sweet. I did see a couple, but they’re not nearly as popular now than they were 50 years ago, apparently.
The next Wednesday was our Choir (Chor) Concert which was 60’s and 70’s themed. We sag songs like ‘Hit the road Jack’, ‘Round, Round (Get Around)’, ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Les Femmes et Garcons’. It was definitely fun and we rehearsed soooo much! Hehe. We (the students in the Choir) didn’t have school for the first half of that week cos we’d rehearse from 7.30 am to 4 pm each day. We were singing those songs in our sleep for the next 3 weeks! Hehe.
The next Sunday was the German Mothers Day, so I went to Sigmaringen with the Edelkott family to see both sets of Grandparents. We went out to Lunch with Gertrude’s parents and it was lovely. It was the middle of Asparagus season, so everyone except me ordered Asparagus! Asparagus (Spargel) season only lasts about 5 weeks, but the Germans eat about half a ton each of the stuff in that time! Erlack! After that I don’t know if I’ll ever eat asparagus voluntarily again! Hehe
On the Tuesday I went with my class to France for a day! We went to Salzburg and also to a concentration camp, Natzweiler-Struthof. It was really interesting, but really sad.
The District Conference for 1930 was on the 19th-21st of May and was really nice. We stayed in a little ‘ski’ lodge about half an hours drive out of Bad Sackingen and it was really great to be with all the other exchangers again. We played games and basically amused ourselves most of the time, but it was cool all the same. The conference itself was pretty boring but we did have to stand on the stage and give the standard ‘Hi, I’m Nicky from South Africa. I’m hosted by Rotary club Ehingen-Alb-Donau and Sponsored by Brakpan Rotary club. I am 17 years old and I really like Germany…’. We did sing a song though which was really funny. It went to the tune of a popular German song and in it we stated just how much we like Germany, how we don’t wanna go home and that we’ve been eating way too much bread and potatoes! Hehe. It went down well.
The next weekend we started our first summer holidays (yes, first) which were two weeks. They’re called Pfingstferien (Pentecost Holidays). This is when the schools up north start their full summer holidays. They’re probably back at school by now while we’re going on holidays for summer on Wednesday (3rd August). This is the time when many families go away to the Med cos it’s less expensive, apparently.
Well, I didn’t go to the Mediterranean, but I did move to my second host family! Josef and Dorothea are my ‘new’ host parents and then I have 3 host siblings: Sebastian (16), Friederike (14) and Christiane (11). They’re all really nice people and we get along quite well.
Because it was holiday and also cos Dorothea wanted to show me some stuff in the area, those holidays were really great. We went to see quite a few attractions, including the Steiff Museum (about the woman, Margarthe Steiff, who unwittingly invented the Teddy Bear, and so got quite rich, as I’m sure you can imagine),the Charlottenhöle (which is one of the hundreds of caves in Southern Germany), the Federsee Museum, a town, Rothenburg, that is still in it’s original Medieval state 8and boasts the most gorgeous Christmas Museum!) aaaannnddd TADA! Schloss Neuschwannstein! Beautiful place. Sebastian also plays the Tuba for our dorf’s band, so he was in their Pfingstferien/Spring festival March.
I actually ended up having an extra week of ‘holiday’ in this time because the first half of the first week back I was at a Chor Probe, or Choir practice week. The choir was going to sing Mozart’s “Requiem” and, as anyone who’s sung it, it’s hard! Hehe. Anyway, I heard the concert was great, but I couldn’t be there because I was on a Biking Tour with the other exchange students on the Bodensee, or in English, the Lake (of) Constance. It was really wonderful but it was to be the last time I saw most of the other exchangers as most of them have now gone home. So ja, the last day was sad, but we had fun together.
School was the way school always is: long, boring and tiring. Although I must state that now that summer is here it’s a lot better! I haven’t been much in the last while but I was welcomed back last week quite nicely.
The reasons that I haven’t been to school recently are that I went home for 2 weeks and then, after a short weekend back in Germany canoeing and hinking with the short term exchange students (ie, for 4-6 weeks), I spent 2 amazing weeks in Denmark.
I went home for family reasons, and I must say, it was REALLY strange to go home! It feels like everything has changed and yet everything has stayed the same all at the same time! But it was definitely good to see my family and some of my friends again. The conversations about what we’ve all been doing are so weird cos now we’re all living COMPLETELY different lives, which of course I knew about but it feels a lot different to how I thought it would! Oh well.
During my visit to Denmark I stayed with the Beck Family; Martin, Lise, Jacob, Kirstine and Mathias. Kirstine (Kir (Kia) to the exchange students and the South Africans that she met) stayed with my family between December and March 05-06. It was a surprise visit and it was really great to see her again, as well as to have the opportunity to meet her family and see where she comes from. The Becks were really great and I had the opportunity to see a fair chunk of Denmark and experience a bit of the culture. They took me to see Kolding (say Kolling), Kobenhavn/Copenhagen, Århus (Or-hoos), and Esbjerg (Ess-bee-ah), as well as taking me with them sailing twice (once with Martin’s brother Peter and also with friends of Jacob’s), took me to Legoland and I had the opportunity to see not only their house in Vejle, but also the Beck Summer house which is in Hvidbjerg (Vil-bee-ah). (I’d probably get thrown by a Dane overboard for those pronunciation guides, but hey, it’s as close as I can get using English)! I went to Kolding with Jacob and Mathias and we first went shopping and then we went to see the Koldinghus, which is an old 'castle'. Was interesting and I say a fair bit of Danish designer pieces and also quite a bit of Danish Porcelain. In Copenhagen we drove a bit around the city first and then went to see the Little Mermaid, who is in fact VERY little. Fortunately I was warned before hand, otherwise I think I would have been really disappointed. Then we went to see the changing of the guards at the queens palace and then we walked a bit on the shopping streets and in Nyhavn (I think that's how it's spelt, but don't sue me if I'm wrong!). We went to this awesome little teashop that smelt oh-so-good. Then we went to pick up Kir at the Airport where I disguised myself as an arab woman and we waited at least an hour because British Airways had lost Kir's luggage. Anyway, the disguise worked quite well ;b . In Århus we went shopping in the morning and then we went to this really old 'village' within the city called Den Gamle By. It was really cool to see all these really old houses and we also all tried walking on stilts! Lots of fun. In Esbjerg we visited friends of the family and had a lovely afternoon. That morning we also went to the beach and swam a bit and worked on our tans. It was really hot for those 2 weeks, and the weather was practically perfect. Going sailing was absolutely wonderful and I saw 2 different areas when we went so it was even more interesting. I also got to spend a day with Alex from Aus (she came with the Becks to visit me earlier in the year). We had a nice long talk and had a good day. I also got to experience a party with the people who live on the street in hvidbjerg where the Beck's summer house is. Also was lots of fun, and I got to speak a bit of German to one of the guys there who normally lives in Freiburg. Didn't realise how bad my German had gotten until then. But then again, I'd barely spoken the language for a month by then!!! hehe
well, Congrads! You’ve reached the end! If you do want the (very) detailed version of this, send me an e-mail!
Luv ya’ll lots! Miss ya too! Teddy bear Hugs and Elephant Kisses!
Nicky/Nix/Nicola
How are you all? I’m ok. This is the next instalment of Nix In Pretzelland, and –as usual- it’s gonna be long cos it’s about 12 weeks worth of info in one!...BUT, I am gonna leave out most of the really detailed stuff, cos otherwise you’ll be reading for a good 2 hours.... hehe. It’s actually sad..... Anyway, moving along swiftly.....
We last left off around Easter time. (Gosh it feels like a lifetime ago!!!)
At Easter I went to visit my exchange friend Kirsty, who (normally) lives in Edenvale for those of you who know where that is. I had a great time with her and it was so cool to just have a normal conversation at the time, mostly because I was going through a lonely patch… But yeah…
Easter was great. I got loads of schokolade from the Edelkotts and my host grandparents. Got a gift certificate also and a couple of other things including a Weltmeisterschaft (World Cup) t-shirt. Very cool.
Then a few days later, a friend of mine from school in SA came to visit me. Heidrun is doing some work over here and happens to only be a couple of ours by train from me so she came to spend the night. We chatted loads, wrote one weird letter to a friend back home and then went to Ulm for an afternoon. We climbed the Münster, ate at Subway, walked a bit around the area and then delayed my train back cos we (read ‘I’) couldn’t get Heidi’s notebook out of my bag! Hehe. Anyway, it was a great visit.
The next weekend I went with the Edelkotts to a Kletterpark/ Abenteuerpark which is basically a Climbing and ‘Adventure’ Park. We did 3 courses, of varying difficulties and heights. Each person is wearing a harness and is strapped onto a walk line. They must then hook and unhook themselves through an ‘obstacle’ course of rope and wood bridges, Platforms, fooffee slides (zip lines) and ladders. It was actually a lot of fun. A days worth of that an we were all sooooo stiff the next day! Hehe
The Next Sunday I went with the Edelkotts to the Federsee which is an ancient civilisation area and now also a bird sanctuary. We walked a long the boardwalks and then went into the town where we had the opportunity to watch the Maibaum being raised. A Maibaum is, as the name suggests, a tree that is ‘put up’ in May. It is normally leafless, except for a few branches left at the top as a sort of crown. Ribbons and other decorations are also put on the tree. Every town and village normally erects one. Also, as part of the tradition, young men sometimes erect one in the gardens of the girl they love as a message to all those around. I think it’s sooo sweet. I did see a couple, but they’re not nearly as popular now than they were 50 years ago, apparently.
The next Wednesday was our Choir (Chor) Concert which was 60’s and 70’s themed. We sag songs like ‘Hit the road Jack’, ‘Round, Round (Get Around)’, ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Les Femmes et Garcons’. It was definitely fun and we rehearsed soooo much! Hehe. We (the students in the Choir) didn’t have school for the first half of that week cos we’d rehearse from 7.30 am to 4 pm each day. We were singing those songs in our sleep for the next 3 weeks! Hehe.
The next Sunday was the German Mothers Day, so I went to Sigmaringen with the Edelkott family to see both sets of Grandparents. We went out to Lunch with Gertrude’s parents and it was lovely. It was the middle of Asparagus season, so everyone except me ordered Asparagus! Asparagus (Spargel) season only lasts about 5 weeks, but the Germans eat about half a ton each of the stuff in that time! Erlack! After that I don’t know if I’ll ever eat asparagus voluntarily again! Hehe
On the Tuesday I went with my class to France for a day! We went to Salzburg and also to a concentration camp, Natzweiler-Struthof. It was really interesting, but really sad.
The District Conference for 1930 was on the 19th-21st of May and was really nice. We stayed in a little ‘ski’ lodge about half an hours drive out of Bad Sackingen and it was really great to be with all the other exchangers again. We played games and basically amused ourselves most of the time, but it was cool all the same. The conference itself was pretty boring but we did have to stand on the stage and give the standard ‘Hi, I’m Nicky from South Africa. I’m hosted by Rotary club Ehingen-Alb-Donau and Sponsored by Brakpan Rotary club. I am 17 years old and I really like Germany…’. We did sing a song though which was really funny. It went to the tune of a popular German song and in it we stated just how much we like Germany, how we don’t wanna go home and that we’ve been eating way too much bread and potatoes! Hehe. It went down well.
The next weekend we started our first summer holidays (yes, first) which were two weeks. They’re called Pfingstferien (Pentecost Holidays). This is when the schools up north start their full summer holidays. They’re probably back at school by now while we’re going on holidays for summer on Wednesday (3rd August). This is the time when many families go away to the Med cos it’s less expensive, apparently.
Well, I didn’t go to the Mediterranean, but I did move to my second host family! Josef and Dorothea are my ‘new’ host parents and then I have 3 host siblings: Sebastian (16), Friederike (14) and Christiane (11). They’re all really nice people and we get along quite well.
Because it was holiday and also cos Dorothea wanted to show me some stuff in the area, those holidays were really great. We went to see quite a few attractions, including the Steiff Museum (about the woman, Margarthe Steiff, who unwittingly invented the Teddy Bear, and so got quite rich, as I’m sure you can imagine),the Charlottenhöle (which is one of the hundreds of caves in Southern Germany), the Federsee Museum, a town, Rothenburg, that is still in it’s original Medieval state 8and boasts the most gorgeous Christmas Museum!) aaaannnddd TADA! Schloss Neuschwannstein! Beautiful place. Sebastian also plays the Tuba for our dorf’s band, so he was in their Pfingstferien/Spring festival March.
I actually ended up having an extra week of ‘holiday’ in this time because the first half of the first week back I was at a Chor Probe, or Choir practice week. The choir was going to sing Mozart’s “Requiem” and, as anyone who’s sung it, it’s hard! Hehe. Anyway, I heard the concert was great, but I couldn’t be there because I was on a Biking Tour with the other exchange students on the Bodensee, or in English, the Lake (of) Constance. It was really wonderful but it was to be the last time I saw most of the other exchangers as most of them have now gone home. So ja, the last day was sad, but we had fun together.
School was the way school always is: long, boring and tiring. Although I must state that now that summer is here it’s a lot better! I haven’t been much in the last while but I was welcomed back last week quite nicely.
The reasons that I haven’t been to school recently are that I went home for 2 weeks and then, after a short weekend back in Germany canoeing and hinking with the short term exchange students (ie, for 4-6 weeks), I spent 2 amazing weeks in Denmark.
I went home for family reasons, and I must say, it was REALLY strange to go home! It feels like everything has changed and yet everything has stayed the same all at the same time! But it was definitely good to see my family and some of my friends again. The conversations about what we’ve all been doing are so weird cos now we’re all living COMPLETELY different lives, which of course I knew about but it feels a lot different to how I thought it would! Oh well.
During my visit to Denmark I stayed with the Beck Family; Martin, Lise, Jacob, Kirstine and Mathias. Kirstine (Kir (Kia) to the exchange students and the South Africans that she met) stayed with my family between December and March 05-06. It was a surprise visit and it was really great to see her again, as well as to have the opportunity to meet her family and see where she comes from. The Becks were really great and I had the opportunity to see a fair chunk of Denmark and experience a bit of the culture. They took me to see Kolding (say Kolling), Kobenhavn/Copenhagen, Århus (Or-hoos), and Esbjerg (Ess-bee-ah), as well as taking me with them sailing twice (once with Martin’s brother Peter and also with friends of Jacob’s), took me to Legoland and I had the opportunity to see not only their house in Vejle, but also the Beck Summer house which is in Hvidbjerg (Vil-bee-ah). (I’d probably get thrown by a Dane overboard for those pronunciation guides, but hey, it’s as close as I can get using English)! I went to Kolding with Jacob and Mathias and we first went shopping and then we went to see the Koldinghus, which is an old 'castle'. Was interesting and I say a fair bit of Danish designer pieces and also quite a bit of Danish Porcelain. In Copenhagen we drove a bit around the city first and then went to see the Little Mermaid, who is in fact VERY little. Fortunately I was warned before hand, otherwise I think I would have been really disappointed. Then we went to see the changing of the guards at the queens palace and then we walked a bit on the shopping streets and in Nyhavn (I think that's how it's spelt, but don't sue me if I'm wrong!). We went to this awesome little teashop that smelt oh-so-good. Then we went to pick up Kir at the Airport where I disguised myself as an arab woman and we waited at least an hour because British Airways had lost Kir's luggage. Anyway, the disguise worked quite well ;b . In Århus we went shopping in the morning and then we went to this really old 'village' within the city called Den Gamle By. It was really cool to see all these really old houses and we also all tried walking on stilts! Lots of fun. In Esbjerg we visited friends of the family and had a lovely afternoon. That morning we also went to the beach and swam a bit and worked on our tans. It was really hot for those 2 weeks, and the weather was practically perfect. Going sailing was absolutely wonderful and I saw 2 different areas when we went so it was even more interesting. I also got to spend a day with Alex from Aus (she came with the Becks to visit me earlier in the year). We had a nice long talk and had a good day. I also got to experience a party with the people who live on the street in hvidbjerg where the Beck's summer house is. Also was lots of fun, and I got to speak a bit of German to one of the guys there who normally lives in Freiburg. Didn't realise how bad my German had gotten until then. But then again, I'd barely spoken the language for a month by then!!! hehe
well, Congrads! You’ve reached the end! If you do want the (very) detailed version of this, send me an e-mail!
Luv ya’ll lots! Miss ya too! Teddy bear Hugs and Elephant Kisses!
Nicky/Nix/Nicola
posted by Nicky @ 9:12 pm
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