Done!

I am done with everything basically. On Wednesday I had my thesis presentation and passed it with a good grade. This means that I am now not a student anymore and really have to look for work. I am unemployed now and that's something I dont want to be!

Anyways, now is weekend first. (Started this post on Friday last week!). I am back in Hamburg and am trying to fix A's bike, which is more difficult than expected. It's really getting christmassy here and we have more and more candles and lights everywhere. Also my mum gave us already an early Christmas present by making us a very nice Christmas calender.

In the time I again did not write - I wanted to but didn't find the time when I had the motivation and vice versa - we went to a concert of the Cat Empire here in Hamburg, which was nice.

 

Directly the next morning we took the plane to Cologne, where we were picked up by my brother. Together we went for the funeral of my grandma. She died in the age of 96, while I was on the Camino.

After that we went to Aachen. We were visiting my parents, the Christmas market and did already some Christmas shopping.

The next week was pretty eventless, but then on the weekend we had a full program. On Friday J. A's friend from Finland came to stay with us for the weekend. We did some tourist program with him and were walking around the city on Saturday. 

The funny thing was that also A's cousin T. from Canada was in Europe; he had some kind of conference in Amsterdam and had some days before and after to travel around Europe. As it goes they quickly changed their plans and instead of staying in Amsterdam the whole time they came to Hamburg to meet up with us.

J., A., and I wearing funny hats!

Even better, G. a girl from Canada I had met on the Camino, who was also traveling around Europe happened to be in Hamburg that exact same weekend as well. So we invited her over to our place for the evening. After some wine and beer we all went out together and had a good night-out in Hamburg.

After that weekend I went back to Aachen. I still had my mum's car and had to bring it back. Also I finally had gotten an appointment for my colloquium for that Wednesday that I didn't wanted to miss. I stayed in Aachen from Tuesday until Thursday and then came back to Hamburg.

The weekend was relaxed again. A. signed up for the Hamburg Marathon in April and on Sunday we went to L&A's place to have some Glühwein and play some board games. I really enjoyed that afternoon and it for sure would have been a long evening if A. would not have gotten sick exactly that day.

Now she is in bed already for four days, had a fever still yesterday and I am trying not to catch the cold. It sounds so bad, but at the moment I am sleeping on the couch, the bedroom is a quarantine zone and I am staying as far as possible from A. However at least Saint Nicholas came to her and brought her flowers instead of twig (here in Germany Santa's helper, Knecht Ruprecht, brings a twig to children who misbehaved during the year); I reckon that's how he treats sick people.

 

Anyways, I eventually fixed A's bike, made some really nice goulash and yesterday I used the time to bake an apple pie and make some roasted almonds. I will never get bored in the time before Christmas!

~M~

Family Trip!

This morning we had to get up early! We were going on a trip with the whole "family"; my parents, my brother & his girlfriend S., A. and me! We went with two cars to visit my grandma, the mother of my dad in Siegen, some two hours from Aachen! As I said, it was quite early and so A. had a nap in the car.

We went with two cars, since we were six people and we do not have such a big car. When we arrived at the retirement home, where my grandma lives, my brother and S. were not there yet, but arrived shortly after. We went up to my grandma's room, but she wasn't there and so we looked for her and found her sleeping in a chair in one of the common rooms. My dad carefully woke her and after realizing who was waking her she was super happy to see all of us!

 

 

We stayed some time with her and then went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in town. Earlier, when my grandma was still living in her own flat we had been to this restaurant every time we visited her since they had a huge lunch buffet. Also this time, basically as a tradition, we went there and were eating so much from the buffet and from the front-cooking-station. It was amazing!

After lunch we headed to Bad Honnef, the town I am studying in. My family owns three flats there, my dad two and my brother one, which we are renting out to students of my university. Today one student wanted to move in and my father and my brother wanted to do something in the flats. Since we were in the car anyways we had no choice but going with them. However, after some time in the flat I got bored and went with A. and S. to have a walk and a coffee in town.

On the way to Bad Honnef!

It was nice to walk around and get some fresh air, but also to see my university again and to see all the changes that had happened during my absence. The city was deserted, since most of the students are not back yet and also since it is Sunday today! I am actually not moving back to Bad Honnef (as it looks right now) and actually I am a bit sad about this decision; my last hope is, that the person being interested in the last spare room decides not to take it. Right now I am really hoping he wont take it, but my gut feeling tells a different story!

Anyways, I'll be good and right now I am having a beer with my lovely A.! I will finish writing, will upload the pictures and then I guess we'll watch a movie! This was somehow a weird, but good day!

~M~

Back home... for 4 days!

Now, to not create a extremely long post, I decided to split up everything I did during the last weeks. It's easier for me, as I can update my blog in different stages and it's easier for you to read and follow through! Also it feels better for me, as I am filling my blog a bit and get some more posts per month ;-)

On the 30th of December A. and I went with a really early flight from Helsinki to Düsseldorf to spend New Years with my parents. They picked us up from Düsseldorf Airport and we drove directly to Siegen, were my grandma is living. She was brought a couple of months ago into a retirement home, as docters found her incapable of living alone anymore. It was the first time for ages that I saw her and it was really good. She is still energetic and was so happy to see us all. Her enthusiasm is really inspiring and it is incredible to see that a person in the age of 94 can still be like that. She was unwrapping the presents we brought and was obviously touched by our visit.

It was good to be home then later. Aachen is still my hometown and it is always nice to be again in the house you grew up in, to see the surroundings changing, to see how time changes everything. A. and I went to the city during these days a couple of times and every time i saw something new and something changed and this made me realize how long I've been away for.

New Years Eve we spent with my parents at home. I haven't done this since I was 14 and this made it even more special. I also made my brother stay home and celebrate with us, which made me really happy. It is amazing how the spatial distance between siblings can bring them closer together. I realized this the first time, when my brother went to the USA when I was 13 and now I feel it again, since I am away all the time. The separation makes you understand each other better and let you enjoy the few time you have together instead of fighting over nothing like when you were small.
After the amazing dinner (thanks to my mum) we went out to celebrate the new year on the street. After shooting some rockets and nearly getting killed ;-) by one mislead rocket we, my brother, A. and me, went to the city to go to a new years party. The line-up however was so long and not moving at all, so that we decided after 15 minutes queuing and not moving a bit, to grab some cocktails. We sat there until 3.30 a.m. until the bar closed and then decided, since the line up at the club was still not moving, to go home.

The next day was a hangover day and we visited my other grandma, who is suffering from dementia and therefore also living in a retirement home.

The 2nd of January 2010 (god, it's really weird ... I am all the time typing 20010 :-D) we started packing our stuff and preparing for Paris, where we went the next day. This also included going to the city again and grabbing one more time a coffee at Starbucks and more important printing my desired T-Shirt with a striped Mini in the front. I love it !!!

Anyways, the next morning meant getting up early and leaving to the train station to go to Paris. It snowed loads (for this region of Germany) during the night and so we were more sliding than driving to the station.

It was a great time in Germany. It was good to be back again, even tho I love to be "on the road". But it is always good to know that there is a place on earth where somebody is always welcoming you and where your roots are... Thanks mum, dad and F.

~M~