Sooo have been a bit lazy and will start off where i finished.
Tuesday -
We went to a lecture in the morning about management fashions. This was a lecture about how different management trends come about, and the rhetoric consultants use to sell their ideas. It was not exciting or as interesting as yesterday but it was still ok. After that it was casestudy time. So we sat and worked on ours for a few hours. Then the five lovely ladies in my group all walked downtown to find lunch. Ended up with ham and salad rolls (what a surprise). And i also bought some fresh strawberries from the market. I found out also that you get paid 15-25c when you recycle your plastic bottles here. So i kept mine (and Diannes). I still have them (wednesday night now...) but i am determined to get my 30c. We met up with the rest of the group and my left over strawberries got shared around, and ended up being taken by a complete stranger.
In the afternoon we went to BASF. A huge chemical company (employing 30000 people in mannheim!). The first part was a museum of the different things they make (foods flavours, colours, plastics, scents etc.) which was fairly interesting. I wish it had stopped there. Then they took us on a tour of the plant. It is massive. We were in the bus for 40 minutes. It was boring after 3 minutes. I didnt really know what the guide was talking about. And we werent allowed to take photos so i was bored. One interesting thing was to prevent oil spills in the river they have lines from bank to bank which blow air into the water, raising a strip of water about 3cms. This is enough to stop the oil spreading in case of a spill. Clever huh. I managed not to fall asleep (unlike others!). Then it was time to go and visit the learning centre (even though we wanted to go home). The BASF learning centre is for employees to partake in self-directed learning. Its like a library for staff which is trying to use lots of different methods to help people learn in different ways (a room with no corners apparently helps...). Our guide told us that when you study you shouldnt eat a treat when you take a break, you should have the break then eat a treat when you begin work again. Interesting. But i feel my method of eating treats the whole time whilst studying is also effective.
Finally we got to go back to the hotel. But i was soo tired. But we had case study work to do. sigh. We met in A & D's room. I forgot their room number (and was meant to tell the other girls) so i just stood outside a few doors trying to work out which one their voices were coming from. It worked. We "worked" on the case, but also spent time talking about different holidays here, and how they celebrate christmas and easter differently. It was fun.
We had to finish at 8pm because the soccer was starting and everyone was going for dinner at a nearby pub. Sarah and i got there late and then left because they said our food was going to be one hour (we didnt even want the food, and we didnt want to watch football). Aparently we were being called the grandmas. I dont mind, because i get this at home too. So we wandered the streets of mannheim and eventually settled on the pizza shop a block from the hotel. The pizza men didnt speak english. It was fun ordering (we were the only customers). Sarah wanted pineapple. We tried to ask, but they said anana - i thought this was banana. So i said no. And then asked for paper and a pen and drew a pineapple. Turns out they were right...very funny! And very good pizza and nice company too! so nice to meet someone so like minded! Still finding the hot hot weather and long sunny days a strange adjustment. We ate dinner after 9pm but it didnt feel weird. Back to the hotel and i got to chat to mitch for the first time which was pretty exciting.
TODAY:
Soooo today. We began our morning with a tour of John Deere factory. We were given a small presentation about the company's history. They spend $4.5 million on R&D every day! WOW! Then we went on a tour of the factory. It was hot. It was smelly. It was BORING. Waaaaaaaay to much technical information. I had no idea what he was talking about and wasnt sure what everyone was doing even when he told us. Im sure the machinery was impressive. And the quality assurance systems were very detailed. But i couldnt concentrate after 20 minutes passed. The tour was 1.5hours. Lucky H. was bored to. So we started making up games. You had to walk on lines, you had to stand on one foot when waiting, you had to bend up and down waiting, practice ballet moves etc. It was like being in primary school. It was fun to have a silly friend to save me from boredom. Im sure i was trying to remember interesting facts from the tour to add here...i cant remember any of them. After the tour we did a quick look in the museum, then had a quick drink/food break, then we had to sit through another 20mins of a sustainable resources. Looking around the room i think 25% of people were listening. There were lots of facts. Some were interesting. But i didnt really listen either as i was writing palm cards for tonights presentation.
We got back to the hotel at around 1.30. Our group met again, and then we all had to leave at 3pm to go to the winery. YAY. We were catching a tram. We were all waiting at the stop. The tram arrived. Five of us were waiting for two ladies to get off the tram with prams. The doors closed. We pressed the open button. They stayed closed. Five of us missed the tram. Oh no. I ran after it because H. was standing in the back signalling for us to run. But no one else did. So the guy from Belgium rang Michael. They all caught another tram back to meet us. Apparently they had tried to keep the doors open for us at the next stop but the driver said he would call the police...WHOOPS. This all meant that we now had to run to the train station and catch a train instead. Then change trains twice. And we ran 20 minutes late. It was an adventure!
The town the winery was in is beautiful. Very picturesque, very much reminding me of a little village in France. The winery was amazing. Its now 225 years old. 9 generations of one family have kept it going. We started with our case studies. Our group presented last, after a very long and detailed presentation by another group. We kept it short, sadly not very snappy, but it didnt really matter. Then we went on a tour of the grounds. They are spectacular.
1. They have a ginko tree which are rare in the area. The leaves grow as two separate sections, then these form together as one. Goethe wrote a poem about them being like old married couples.
2. a long time ago an American bug was introduced that burries under the ground and eats the vine roots, killing the plant. The only roots that survive are american wild vine roots, so all the vines here are grafted on to those roots. Amazing.
3. They plant rose bushes at the end of the vine rows. This is because fungi diseases will attack the rose bushes first - then they know to spray.
4. Lots of wine makers die because of CO2 poisoning in cellars. I did not know this. Always take a candle down with you so you know if you need to make a fast escape.
We also did wine tasting. 6 different wines. Some were amazing, some were not. I liked the one they made with a red grape, but the wine looks white (they must be extra gentle when transporting the grapes becaus if the skin gets broken the colour gets into the wine). Had some iced wine too. SOOOOO sweet. I also enjoyed the sparkling passionfruit wine. All very tasty. I didnt finish any of my samples but others around me enjoyed them. needless to say the mood of everyone was very relaxed upon leaving. I spent time talking to H again. We drew pictures to learn new words in english/german. She knows german, english, swiss and Finnish. WOW. I wish i was multilingual. I also drew german guy (whos name i forget) a kangaroo.
We all made purchases then walked through town. This time everyone stopped for gelati. I learned that in germany the phrase for getting your "good side" in a photo is make sure you get my "chocolate side". I like this.
Caught a tram back to Mannheim. Sarah and i very much enjoyed a sing-a-long to some Sister Act 2 and other great hits. Then we walked (forever) back to the hotel. my feet are soooo tired!
Time for bed now because tomorrow we leave at 7.15am to FRANCE!!! Thats in 7.5 hours.
Ahhh good night all!
Ill keep you posted.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Another quick run down
Sooo shouldnt really have stayed up so late last night, as the sun still broke through the window and jumped onto my face at 5am. Silly sun. At breakfast i did find out the rooms have real metal blinds that block out all the light. If only i'd known three days ago...
TODAY. Wow. So long. First we breakfasted. Got to know some of the other group members. Just talked about what we study and where. One girl was from Canada and studying in finland (she married a guy there), the other from Portugal. So cool to meet such a mix of people! We had to meet in the lobby at 8.30am (half an hour before 9am michael tells us...). So we did. From there we walked to the uni together. Then had a welcome session - with info about the uni, and about the state of Baddn-Wurttemberg (we were are). Then we got info on the case study. Where they basically said it wasnt really about all the info in the case (exporting) but it was about event management. Sooooo vague. But in a group. And i got a nice group! YAY. So i feel less stressed, because i feel they cant really expect too much in 3 days, and Michael told us it shouldnt take more than 5 hours of work. Having said that, i still wasnt really sure what we were meant to do a 15 minute presentation about on wednesday.
Then we were taken on a tour of mannheim by an older lady,..i forget her name... Basically it seemed everything was invented here, and all famous people came from here (or at least stayed here for a night in an inn...i exagerate...). But Mozart stayed here for 162 days, and played the organ in the Jesuit, Baroque styled church we went to. Very impressive. The first bike, car and tructor were all invited here. The guy who made the first car (three-wheeled), got laws made especially for him because people were scared of the new transportation mean. he could only ride at 5km an hour...seems a bit pointless really. The tour was long, and really really hot. So sunny here and no shade. But she did point out the nice cafes. And one place rents out deck chairs so you can go and sit on the grassy lawn - cool idea! We also walked up to the famous water tower. It is cool and old. Its famous for preventing diahorea and other illnesses. It was funny how our german guide pronounced that word.
Headed back to the uni for lunch. Their cafeteria is amazing. This lunch was included in the course. We all helped ourselves. Then found out you pay by weight (they weighed each plate). I tried to go healthy, so halved the chocolate berry tart with S (im not really sure if people would want me putting there names here...). Had interesting conversation with the couple from Belgium about Australia and Australian animals. And the guy from Germany (who is also half arabic) - he lived in israel for a while, didnt have to do army service in germany (which he was pretty pleased about) and he wanted us to send him some kangaroos. He thinks they're awesome. It makes me laugh.
After lunch we had our first lectures - both 90 mins long. One about the germany economy (they;re BIG exporters - i didnt know hoow powerful Germany was, and how labour used to cost so much becaus of additional labour costs - social security payments - so unemployment was high) and then about the European Union (Parliment, Council, Commission) and the problems with the euro at the moment (because everyone went into high debt). I thought we Aussies and American were at a little disadvantage, but all the Europeans said they had forgotten it all. The lecturer kept saying it was way too much to cover in 3 hours. And it was. We hardly got through any of it. But what we talked about was interesting. I also had my first Haribo gummy bear. How exciting.
Next, we spent an hour and a bit in our group to work on the case study. How should a winery use a function room, garden and outside area (in a vineyard) to make money through events??? Well we thought of seasonal holiday events (mothers day brunch, valentines day etc.). Everyone was getting pretty sick of it, so we called it quits and decided we would ask Michael tonight at dinner (he, by the way, is the guy who is leading our program). Its hard not to overthink the questions, and not to get into minute details of what events would be like. But at least everyone was friendly, and wants to work. Plus, i hardly think they will fail us...
Now its time for me to go meet the group for dinner at an italian restaurant. I'd rather have the night in, and im not even hungry from lunch still (and that was nearly 8 hours ago!). But im sure it will be fun when i get there.
I'll keep you posted.
TODAY. Wow. So long. First we breakfasted. Got to know some of the other group members. Just talked about what we study and where. One girl was from Canada and studying in finland (she married a guy there), the other from Portugal. So cool to meet such a mix of people! We had to meet in the lobby at 8.30am (half an hour before 9am michael tells us...). So we did. From there we walked to the uni together. Then had a welcome session - with info about the uni, and about the state of Baddn-Wurttemberg (we were are). Then we got info on the case study. Where they basically said it wasnt really about all the info in the case (exporting) but it was about event management. Sooooo vague. But in a group. And i got a nice group! YAY. So i feel less stressed, because i feel they cant really expect too much in 3 days, and Michael told us it shouldnt take more than 5 hours of work. Having said that, i still wasnt really sure what we were meant to do a 15 minute presentation about on wednesday.
Then we were taken on a tour of mannheim by an older lady,..i forget her name... Basically it seemed everything was invented here, and all famous people came from here (or at least stayed here for a night in an inn...i exagerate...). But Mozart stayed here for 162 days, and played the organ in the Jesuit, Baroque styled church we went to. Very impressive. The first bike, car and tructor were all invited here. The guy who made the first car (three-wheeled), got laws made especially for him because people were scared of the new transportation mean. he could only ride at 5km an hour...seems a bit pointless really. The tour was long, and really really hot. So sunny here and no shade. But she did point out the nice cafes. And one place rents out deck chairs so you can go and sit on the grassy lawn - cool idea! We also walked up to the famous water tower. It is cool and old. Its famous for preventing diahorea and other illnesses. It was funny how our german guide pronounced that word.
Headed back to the uni for lunch. Their cafeteria is amazing. This lunch was included in the course. We all helped ourselves. Then found out you pay by weight (they weighed each plate). I tried to go healthy, so halved the chocolate berry tart with S (im not really sure if people would want me putting there names here...). Had interesting conversation with the couple from Belgium about Australia and Australian animals. And the guy from Germany (who is also half arabic) - he lived in israel for a while, didnt have to do army service in germany (which he was pretty pleased about) and he wanted us to send him some kangaroos. He thinks they're awesome. It makes me laugh.
After lunch we had our first lectures - both 90 mins long. One about the germany economy (they;re BIG exporters - i didnt know hoow powerful Germany was, and how labour used to cost so much becaus of additional labour costs - social security payments - so unemployment was high) and then about the European Union (Parliment, Council, Commission) and the problems with the euro at the moment (because everyone went into high debt). I thought we Aussies and American were at a little disadvantage, but all the Europeans said they had forgotten it all. The lecturer kept saying it was way too much to cover in 3 hours. And it was. We hardly got through any of it. But what we talked about was interesting. I also had my first Haribo gummy bear. How exciting.
Next, we spent an hour and a bit in our group to work on the case study. How should a winery use a function room, garden and outside area (in a vineyard) to make money through events??? Well we thought of seasonal holiday events (mothers day brunch, valentines day etc.). Everyone was getting pretty sick of it, so we called it quits and decided we would ask Michael tonight at dinner (he, by the way, is the guy who is leading our program). Its hard not to overthink the questions, and not to get into minute details of what events would be like. But at least everyone was friendly, and wants to work. Plus, i hardly think they will fail us...
Now its time for me to go meet the group for dinner at an italian restaurant. I'd rather have the night in, and im not even hungry from lunch still (and that was nearly 8 hours ago!). But im sure it will be fun when i get there.
I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Its getting close to midnight. But i had sooo much to write about today. sigh. here it is in dotpoints (please ignore spelling errors..i am writing by the light of the screen - room mates...)
- Caught the tram to heidelberg at 8.30AM. only weird people are up at 8.30am on Sundays in Germnay.
-met Vitali at the station. Then he took me on an awesome tour of heidelberg for 8 hoursl it was amazing. A city in a valley, with a river, and lots of old buildings. What more coould one want? We went to the Philosphers path, saw a house where the person is in a secret society (how exciting!), crosed the aptly named "old bridge". wandered the cobblestoned paths. went up to the castle (took the stairs), looked in a church (whilst the service was on), had a coffee at Witali's fav cafe, walked passed shops (all closed on sunday) and Witali gave me some great info on the area and german history. He also has a good sense of humour (which is clever when you can make jokes in another language). So many of the facts about black birds and metal pipes i know to be false. Had mexican for lunch (traditional german...). Everyone here has german flags hanging up. I found out this is only during the soccer, because when th soccer isnt on, handing up flags has bad conentations linking to WWII. I thought that was interesting. Thy are obviously trying to get their moneys worth from the few weeks world cup is on! Then after walking for 4 hours i said good bye and headed back to mannheim.
- it seemded i had boarded the tram-spotters dream tram on the way home. There were men in fields taking photos of it, and some getting off to take pics then jumping back on...very funny. I got a pic to in case i ever want to take up the noble hobby that is locomotive watching.
-got back to my hotel room and met my roommate. Nice to have company, sad to lose my space. I was meant to do washing, but we went to watch the world cup instead. So glad we did. The clerk (Alex - he will be my friend on the friendly clerks list) told us to go to the old ice hockey stadum. Cost = 3.5 euro and my beloved pump drink bottle. oh well. The experience was worth it. The noise was amazing. They all knew chants, and different hand clapping routines clapclapclapclapclapclapARMSINTHEAIR. That was my favourite. Then every goal - the roar was amazing. Beer splashed in the air. electric vibe! Even the replays of the goals got cheers. Beckham got boos. I laughed. Even more funny was when we left. the celebrations continued. I joined in to try and get some people going - it didnt take much. Then the cars started appearing, a constant stream past our hotel of pople honking their horns and shouting and waving flags. They were driving to the centre of town where everyone celebrates. This went on for 40 mins at least before we had to leave again for our welcome dinner. Im sure it went much longer than that (some cars will still driving around when we arrived back at 11pm..)
- Before we left i put on a load of wash - 5euro. ouch.
- dinner was aweesome. The company, and the buuffet. I finally at sourkrout - welcome to germany.I was a little (well maybe a lot) hyperactive. Everything was funny. I met another girl from uni who is hilarious and has very similar sense of humour (and tastes - eg. gelati - so i took a group of them to a gelati shop afterwards). Also met a guy from india, and a girl from germany, and two guys from norway who i think thought i was crazy. Especially when sarah and i started talking about seeing hannah montanta the movie...hehehehe. Michael the guy leading the program is also very funny. Im glad people have a sense of humour. Also, anothr bonus, the casee study is a group project - WOOHOO. Awesome.
- got home (after gelati). Then had to put my wash in teh dryer. Took me ages to get the machine open, funny since i had told Alex in the afternoon that i knew how to use a machine!
- now its waaaaaaaaaay past my bedtime.
I really havent been able to do today justice. Hopefully some of the pics on facebook help.
I'll keep you posted!
- Caught the tram to heidelberg at 8.30AM. only weird people are up at 8.30am on Sundays in Germnay.
-met Vitali at the station. Then he took me on an awesome tour of heidelberg for 8 hoursl it was amazing. A city in a valley, with a river, and lots of old buildings. What more coould one want? We went to the Philosphers path, saw a house where the person is in a secret society (how exciting!), crosed the aptly named "old bridge". wandered the cobblestoned paths. went up to the castle (took the stairs), looked in a church (whilst the service was on), had a coffee at Witali's fav cafe, walked passed shops (all closed on sunday) and Witali gave me some great info on the area and german history. He also has a good sense of humour (which is clever when you can make jokes in another language). So many of the facts about black birds and metal pipes i know to be false. Had mexican for lunch (traditional german...). Everyone here has german flags hanging up. I found out this is only during the soccer, because when th soccer isnt on, handing up flags has bad conentations linking to WWII. I thought that was interesting. Thy are obviously trying to get their moneys worth from the few weeks world cup is on! Then after walking for 4 hours i said good bye and headed back to mannheim.
- it seemded i had boarded the tram-spotters dream tram on the way home. There were men in fields taking photos of it, and some getting off to take pics then jumping back on...very funny. I got a pic to in case i ever want to take up the noble hobby that is locomotive watching.
-got back to my hotel room and met my roommate. Nice to have company, sad to lose my space. I was meant to do washing, but we went to watch the world cup instead. So glad we did. The clerk (Alex - he will be my friend on the friendly clerks list) told us to go to the old ice hockey stadum. Cost = 3.5 euro and my beloved pump drink bottle. oh well. The experience was worth it. The noise was amazing. They all knew chants, and different hand clapping routines clapclapclapclapclapclapARMSINTHEAIR. That was my favourite. Then every goal - the roar was amazing. Beer splashed in the air. electric vibe! Even the replays of the goals got cheers. Beckham got boos. I laughed. Even more funny was when we left. the celebrations continued. I joined in to try and get some people going - it didnt take much. Then the cars started appearing, a constant stream past our hotel of pople honking their horns and shouting and waving flags. They were driving to the centre of town where everyone celebrates. This went on for 40 mins at least before we had to leave again for our welcome dinner. Im sure it went much longer than that (some cars will still driving around when we arrived back at 11pm..)
- Before we left i put on a load of wash - 5euro. ouch.
- dinner was aweesome. The company, and the buuffet. I finally at sourkrout - welcome to germany.I was a little (well maybe a lot) hyperactive. Everything was funny. I met another girl from uni who is hilarious and has very similar sense of humour (and tastes - eg. gelati - so i took a group of them to a gelati shop afterwards). Also met a guy from india, and a girl from germany, and two guys from norway who i think thought i was crazy. Especially when sarah and i started talking about seeing hannah montanta the movie...hehehehe. Michael the guy leading the program is also very funny. Im glad people have a sense of humour. Also, anothr bonus, the casee study is a group project - WOOHOO. Awesome.
- got home (after gelati). Then had to put my wash in teh dryer. Took me ages to get the machine open, funny since i had told Alex in the afternoon that i knew how to use a machine!
- now its waaaaaaaaaay past my bedtime.
I really havent been able to do today justice. Hopefully some of the pics on facebook help.
I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
...to buy a fat pig...
Well. This morning i woke a little early. So i turned the tv on. Then i turned it off. It was time to tackle the case study. I set a goal to read 10 pages. It took me 30 mins but i got there in the end. Then i was off to breakfast. WOW. I was very impressed. I thought life was good getting the free breakfast at the hostel and choosing between toast, ham, cheese, cucumber and cornflakes. BUT now i was presented with the true buffett breakfast. Lovely selection of fruits, jams, breads, two cakes (?!), cereals, yoghurts, eggs, bacon, and then hams/salamis/cheese/camenbert cheese (i dont get it. Surely eating salami and creamy cheeses for breakfast is not good for ones heart?). I opted for ye'oldee museli. Unfortunately they only have plate-like bowls. I hate those. But i survived. I also managed to smuggle two packets of butter back to my room so i could use them to grease my one and only saucepan if the need should arise at dinner time. I know. Genius. If i took my bag to breakfast everyday i wouldnt have to purchase food here again...i dont think im that desperate though.
After breakfast i ventured off to the Mannheim Flea Markets. I caught the tram. I still have no idea how to get a ticket to a station that isnt listed on the machine. Im sure there are different zones, Im just not sure what these zones are. I also dont know if im meant to get the ticket stamped by the machine once i get on the tram. I watched everyone else and only saw one man do this. Im not sure if thats because locals all have specially monthly tickets or something, or if that one man didnt know what he was doing...I havent got booked so i will leave it for now.
For once i didnt get lost. I made it to the flea markets (which are only held once a month - so i scored there). They were MASSIVE. Like a big big area of lots of little little stalls. hmmm...i spose thats a flea market...So i spent 2 hours wandering around trying to take in everything. It seems flea markets are the same world wide. Just a lot of people selling a lot of junk. It was hot, and there was no shade. But i was determined to look at everything because i thought i might find something. Im getting pretty good at faking I know german. When people talked to me i just smiled and nodded, said "danka" then left. They probably thought something was wrong with me. Especially if they were actually asking me questions...Anyway after lots of walking I decided the only thing i wanted to buy was at one of the first stalls I went to. 3 little copper cake moulds. I walked back but couldnt find the stall, or the lady had sold them. Bummer. But it was ok because I saw some others for sale elsewhere. I went to that stall instead. They only had a set of two. I think i got ripped off. As soon as you have to ask 'do you speak english?' followed by 'what are these used for?' and finally 'how much?' they know they can charge you what ever you like. The ladies were very friendly. I paid 10euro. Maybe thats why they were friendly, because at the next stall i went to to buy one more smaller tin the lady asked for 1euro. I think i got ripped off. The second lady then offloaded 3 more on me for 2euro. I didnt really need 6 little tins...oh well.
After 2 hours of browsing peoples junk (old nintendos, old crockery, cuttlery, lots of kids clothes and toys, plants, miscellaneous tools, old clocks, old cameras etc. etc.) it was time to leave. I kept wanting to look at old books, then remembered there wasn't much point buying books in german (although i could easily fake reading one on a tram). Once i was back in the centre market square of Mannheim I had a walk around the produce market there. It was awesome. Lots of fresh flowers (roses, peonies, lilies etc.) and lots of fresh fruit and vege stalls. I was taking a photo of some fresh blueberries and strawberries then this old man who was the stall owner put four cherries in my hand - so cute! Again i feigned my german and said thanks and smiled and nodded yes to whatever he asked. I think he said "they are good arent they?". And they were. Sweet and juicy. Best smells = fresh strawberries, and the herb stalls. Worst smell: the cheese stall - ewwww. But i still bought a fresh wedge of camenbert to go with my fresh grainy bread for lunch - at 1euro who could resist!
From there it was back to the hotel via a craft supply shop/cafe (best combination ever) i had seen advertising a sale. They had some awesome bits and pieces. I bought some nice weighted/patterned gift wrap, and coveted the selection of pens, coloured pencils, oil pastels and papers. Lucky my suitcase has a weight restriction - it saved my bank balance a lot of pain.
Home for lunch which was fresh bread, cheese and salad. Dat ist gut! Skyped home (again!). Then i watched some tv via youtube (gold old Gruen transfer). I love the internet. Its magic. Its also the best way to procrastinate. But, finally, i forced myself to sit and read the dreaded case study. It actually turned out to be quite intesting. Did you know it takes a grape vine 3-4 years to start producing grapes, and then it doesnt produced its best grapes until 35 years of age? No I didnt think you did know that. It took me forever to read. I only put down my highlighter at 5pm. I needed a reward. I needed a gelati (need is a strong word to use. strong, but appropriate). So i headed back down the street. I love the stores open hours here - so convenient. Lots of people were out and about shopping of a saturday evening. It doesnt really feel like evening because its so bright. I chose my gelati store (1 of 4 in 2 blocks). It was FANTASTIC (hazlenut and cookies). I can see why they are so popular (so popular in fact that a shoe shop a few stores down had a 'no icecream' sign on the door). Wandered around the shops for a while. They have a lot of shoe shops with a lot of nice leather shoes. Its lucky my feet are so long because that too saved my bank balance much pain!
Back home by 7.30pm. I purchased some postcards in the front lobby. This afternoons clerktress (female clerk) gets the award for the most helpful and friendly. Turned on the tv. I dont know why i bother. All i get in English is BBC News. Although as I write this I am watching Run Fatboy Run. Its amazing how their dubbed voices almost fit with the mouths. Dylan Moran in german is still funny. Now its 9.15. I need some dinner and then some sleep as tomorrow i head off to Heidelberg to see the sights with my friendly tourgudi Witali. Looking forward to seeing a familiar face.
I'll keep you posted!
After breakfast i ventured off to the Mannheim Flea Markets. I caught the tram. I still have no idea how to get a ticket to a station that isnt listed on the machine. Im sure there are different zones, Im just not sure what these zones are. I also dont know if im meant to get the ticket stamped by the machine once i get on the tram. I watched everyone else and only saw one man do this. Im not sure if thats because locals all have specially monthly tickets or something, or if that one man didnt know what he was doing...I havent got booked so i will leave it for now.
For once i didnt get lost. I made it to the flea markets (which are only held once a month - so i scored there). They were MASSIVE. Like a big big area of lots of little little stalls. hmmm...i spose thats a flea market...So i spent 2 hours wandering around trying to take in everything. It seems flea markets are the same world wide. Just a lot of people selling a lot of junk. It was hot, and there was no shade. But i was determined to look at everything because i thought i might find something. Im getting pretty good at faking I know german. When people talked to me i just smiled and nodded, said "danka" then left. They probably thought something was wrong with me. Especially if they were actually asking me questions...Anyway after lots of walking I decided the only thing i wanted to buy was at one of the first stalls I went to. 3 little copper cake moulds. I walked back but couldnt find the stall, or the lady had sold them. Bummer. But it was ok because I saw some others for sale elsewhere. I went to that stall instead. They only had a set of two. I think i got ripped off. As soon as you have to ask 'do you speak english?' followed by 'what are these used for?' and finally 'how much?' they know they can charge you what ever you like. The ladies were very friendly. I paid 10euro. Maybe thats why they were friendly, because at the next stall i went to to buy one more smaller tin the lady asked for 1euro. I think i got ripped off. The second lady then offloaded 3 more on me for 2euro. I didnt really need 6 little tins...oh well.
After 2 hours of browsing peoples junk (old nintendos, old crockery, cuttlery, lots of kids clothes and toys, plants, miscellaneous tools, old clocks, old cameras etc. etc.) it was time to leave. I kept wanting to look at old books, then remembered there wasn't much point buying books in german (although i could easily fake reading one on a tram). Once i was back in the centre market square of Mannheim I had a walk around the produce market there. It was awesome. Lots of fresh flowers (roses, peonies, lilies etc.) and lots of fresh fruit and vege stalls. I was taking a photo of some fresh blueberries and strawberries then this old man who was the stall owner put four cherries in my hand - so cute! Again i feigned my german and said thanks and smiled and nodded yes to whatever he asked. I think he said "they are good arent they?". And they were. Sweet and juicy. Best smells = fresh strawberries, and the herb stalls. Worst smell: the cheese stall - ewwww. But i still bought a fresh wedge of camenbert to go with my fresh grainy bread for lunch - at 1euro who could resist!
From there it was back to the hotel via a craft supply shop/cafe (best combination ever) i had seen advertising a sale. They had some awesome bits and pieces. I bought some nice weighted/patterned gift wrap, and coveted the selection of pens, coloured pencils, oil pastels and papers. Lucky my suitcase has a weight restriction - it saved my bank balance a lot of pain.
Home for lunch which was fresh bread, cheese and salad. Dat ist gut! Skyped home (again!). Then i watched some tv via youtube (gold old Gruen transfer). I love the internet. Its magic. Its also the best way to procrastinate. But, finally, i forced myself to sit and read the dreaded case study. It actually turned out to be quite intesting. Did you know it takes a grape vine 3-4 years to start producing grapes, and then it doesnt produced its best grapes until 35 years of age? No I didnt think you did know that. It took me forever to read. I only put down my highlighter at 5pm. I needed a reward. I needed a gelati (need is a strong word to use. strong, but appropriate). So i headed back down the street. I love the stores open hours here - so convenient. Lots of people were out and about shopping of a saturday evening. It doesnt really feel like evening because its so bright. I chose my gelati store (1 of 4 in 2 blocks). It was FANTASTIC (hazlenut and cookies). I can see why they are so popular (so popular in fact that a shoe shop a few stores down had a 'no icecream' sign on the door). Wandered around the shops for a while. They have a lot of shoe shops with a lot of nice leather shoes. Its lucky my feet are so long because that too saved my bank balance much pain!
Back home by 7.30pm. I purchased some postcards in the front lobby. This afternoons clerktress (female clerk) gets the award for the most helpful and friendly. Turned on the tv. I dont know why i bother. All i get in English is BBC News. Although as I write this I am watching Run Fatboy Run. Its amazing how their dubbed voices almost fit with the mouths. Dylan Moran in german is still funny. Now its 9.15. I need some dinner and then some sleep as tomorrow i head off to Heidelberg to see the sights with my friendly tourgudi Witali. Looking forward to seeing a familiar face.
I'll keep you posted!
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