First Day of School!!

Guten Tag alles!

Day 50, first day of school! FINALLY!! Yesh..................... My school starts so it's the end of my 'holidays'... Boooo~!! OR maybe not!! hahahha! Lets see how it goes ya? :)

I checked my timetable.. I had a morning class, 8am.. I left at 06:30 to catch the 06:47 bus to be in school by 08:00! Arggghhhh~!! I hate morning classes!! Grrrr.... Lucky I met Li Lin at the busstop! She has classes at 08:00 every Tuesday and Friday.. Lucky me! Im not so bad.. Only one day every week.. Ok, it's bad enough.. :P

Anyway I reached school at 07:35.. Not bad! Very fast! We walked to the building to find our lecture halls.. Then we went to the Mensa to sit and have breakfast.. BUT it only opens at 08:00!! Doesnt make sense, but whatever la! So I walked into the lecture hall.. A BIG lecture hall.. EMPTY!! OMG!! I waited for 30min!! I even walked to this admin office, but noone was there.. I gave up.. I saw a group of students hanging out outside the building, but I was too shy to ask if they were in the same class as me..

Yup! The HUGE EMPTY lecture hall.. Btw, I find German things very interesting.. Like the chairs and tables.. Both foldable! My window!! I can open them two ways! Damn cool! Very jakun for me! Lol!

So I went to the Mensa, to have breakfast.. Sat there waiting for my next class.. Today I was supposed to have 4 classes back-to-back, including the 08:00 one.. :P:P

08:00-09:30 Energy-efficient Building Systems (in German)

09:50-11:20 Principles of Planning (in German)

11:40-13:20 Principles of Planning and Building in developing countries (in German)

13:30-15:00 Basics of Building Construction (Foundations of Construction of Tall Buildings) (in German)

I dont know how Im gonna have my lunch.. Probably after 15:00.. BUT I think Im taking a German class after that.. Sooooooo.... Wish me luck! I think I'll have to fast every Tuesday! Lol!

Ok, lecture 2.. BAD.. From the website, it only shows that this is the only lecture they had.. No tutorials.. BUT when I was in this lecture, the prof said that there's another lecture that I MUST attend and ANOTHER tutorial every week.. OMG!! Forget it! I dont even understand him, he spoke too fast..

Then I waited for the next lecture.. AGAIN... Empty lecture hall.. So I checked and it starts next week.. So ok, fine!

The last lecture for the day.. OMG!!! THE PROF SPOKE EVEN FASTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE!! I was thinking, 'Im sooooooooo gonna die!!!' BUT amazingly, I understood him better.. I dont know why, or even how!! Lol! His module is very technical.. After the class, I spoke with him.. I asked if I could speak in English.. And he was very nice.. He said it was an easy module, manageable.. So I think I might take this.. Anyway, I told him I'll try to speak more German next time, and I think it's gonna be a mistake! Lol!! But he was nice.. Lets see how my semester goes.. Bismillah! Pray for me!!

Anyway, I noticed that the professors here have assistants!! They dont work alone.. They dont do any admin work here.. Probably it's true about what they say, that professors are very highly regarded here in Germany.. Maybe more than the leaders! Lol! Let's see how easy it is for me to make appointments with them! hahaha!

Then I went to collect my certificate for my German test I did.. I got 2,7.. The best score one can get is 1,0 and the worst is 5,0.. AND Im alright with it because I scored 4,0 for listening comprehension, WHICH I missed the first part of it! IF I had reached earlier, I would have gotten better and my grades would most probably be better too.. So Im ok with it.. 2,7 is satisfactory! haha! Pass!!

So....... I passed UniCERT I.. Im gonna take more German classes.. Then I went to Dieburg city centre. I bought a set of ping pong rackets and the ball, notebooks AND ice-cream!! Yummy ice-cream!! Gut und günstig!! I think Im addicted to ice-cream!! I always crave for it!! Chocolate ice-cream everytime!! hahah! I walked back, happily. Met the rest, then played ping pong in the playground nearby. All playgrounds here have table tennis table and foosball table. Very fun.. I think Im not too bad. hehe!


The walk home now is very nice.. There are flowers everywhere.. Its BEAUTIFUL!! AND the weather is LOVELY.. It couldnt get any better! haha!

Then back home. Fried chicken!! Finally I used the rempah from Singapore, to season my chicken. it was GOOD!! Taste of home.. Ate rice with some of them.. I couldnt cook in my kitchen and they dont like me to eat alone, so they always invite me to their kitchen. It was nice.. :):)

Feiertag AGAIN!!

Guten Tag alles!

Day 49, Monday. Feiertag AGAIN. I dont know why.. Why ah??

So I stayed at home. Last night I cooked only some of my Shephard's Pie, so I baked the extra for lunch! This time, the dish for one person!! hahah!! Imagine.. Im eating soooooo much these days, Im gonna be fat!! Seriously!! I always eat for 1.5/ 2 persons because it's difficult to cook for 1 person!! hahah! I tend to cook too much! Lol! So..... Im gonna be fatter by the end of this SEP!

Before entering the oven..

I put a thin layer of meat this time..

Then I played computer games the whole day and decided ROUGHLY what Im gonna take this semester.. I chose 6 modules, BUT Im definitely not taking all.. Im 2 modules ahead, so I can afford to take 3 modules this semester! BUT it's tough!! Im afraid to take them in German!! But Im gonna take at least one anyway!! For the fun of it! Perhaps I can improve my German this way! Lol!

Ok, today is a slack day.. Let me enjoy the rest of the day! hehe! BYE!!

Easter Sunday

Guten Tag alles!

Day 48 is Easter Sunday! A holy day for all Christians.. So Happy Easter!

Yesh, we were supposed to have a BBQ, but didnt know what time. So I cooked lunch for myself first. I thought the BBQ was later in the late evening.. BUT I saw them preparing downstairs at noon!! hahah! BBQ, I thought, is always in the evening.. So not my fault! BUT lucky I had lunch first because the food wasnt halal, so no worries abt not eating.

I was having my lunch, while they were setting the fire.. We didnt buy the fire starter, so they used alcohol.. They put alcohol on the charcoal and put fire.. APPARENLTLY thats how they do it in Brazil! hahah! I thought it was a terrible way of setting the fire because the fire wasnt too good.. Lol!

I just watched them ate.. Then they said they can cook for me sausage in an aluminium foil, so that it wont touch the other food.. So they did! But since I ate, I only did one.. They wrapped sausages in an aluminium foil and put it in the fire..

There were alot of space there, so we sat on the grass after the BBQ and talked.. Told stories and jokes.. I was a little pissed actually, so I left early.. I went to my kitchen to make Benofi Pie.. Then later I joined them again.. I invited them for dinner in my kitchen because I had 1kg of minced meat to make Shephard's pie! hahah! TOO MUCH for sure!!

I only had one dish because of lack of resources, but I thought was good.. So 8 people shared the pie.. But it's sooooo funny, coz I invite them for dinner, but I had to borrow so many things from the other kitchen.. Like plates n fork n spoons, for them to eat.. I only got one set for myself.. haha! AND they said it was good, but I dont know whether to believe them because they are always nice.. They would say nice things, even if they didnt like it.. haha! Then we shared the Benofi Pie.. YESH, it saved the night! Lol!! They loved it.. Thank goodness! It was apparently better than the previous one.. [because i added ingredient X. hehe!] It was nice..

Then went to Pedro's kitchen to play stupid games.. Yesh, the camp games that we always played! The finger game, the taping game, 007 game, murderer etc.. It was fun! But we weren't complete.. So many of them are not back from their trip.. But it was still a very nice day.. :)

Saturdays are better than public holidays!!

Guten Tag alles!!

Day 47... I was supposed to go to Stuttgart with the rest.. There was a festival/ carnival thing there.. AND guess what?? I OVERSLEPT!!! Thiago was tasked to call me until I wake up.. And Pedro volunteered to knock my door until I wake up.. YESH! I did woke up!! BUT I couldn't get my bum out of bed!! Ich war todmüde!! I was dead tired, I dont know why!! So yeah... I was in Dieburg alone... :(

So I decided to go Darmstadt! Maybe today was a luckier day, I hope!! And it really was.. It was much easier to get to Darmstadt.. The supermarketSSS were opened.. I actually say a shop in front of Rewe supermarket, selling soooooo cheap stuff!! SOOOOO... oOps! I bought 2 pants and a tanktop for only 22 euros!! But so cheap right!! I love them alot!! heheh...

Then I bought some meat.. Pedro actually told me to buy halal meat for all of us for the BBQ, so that I can eat everything.. Yeah, we planned to have one tmr.. So... While I was on my way to Darmstadt, Bruno called me, asking me whether I was in Dieburg.. He said that they have decided to make a BBQ and he's buying the meat AND he actually invited me to go.. I was thinking, I KNEW about it.. I kinda suggested to Pedro if we can have a halal one! So that's why I was supposed to buy the halal meat for everyone.. BUT when Bruno called.. I was confused.. So I thought probably he's buying everything for the rest, and it wont be a halal one.. So ok, fine.. So I just bought 0,5kg of chicken, 0.5kg of sausages and 1kg of minced meat, for myself.. I dont know how I can BBQ, but I just bought just in case there wasnt enough food.. So... True enough, when I was going back to Dieburg, Bruno called again.. "Shaza! Did you buy chicken for all of us??" OMG.... He said that Pedro told him that Im buying the chicken.. HAHAHH!! OMG.... What a screw up today!! Miscommunication!! So now, no halal BBQ!! Boooo~!!

I met him at the supermarket to buy the remaining stuff, like charcoal, chicken, bread etc.. He bought the other meat, so its ok.. ANYWAY, he was telling me that Catholics dont eat meat on Easter Sunday, AND tmr was Easter Sunday!! Yesh!! hahhaha! So it's weird that we're having a BBQ with lots of meat!! Lol!

SO.... Itinery for tmr: BBQ, Im trying Shephard's Pie and making Benofi Pie!! Woooo~!!

Feiertag

Gutan Tag alles!

Today today today.. Friday!! I planned to go Darmstadt to go to the Turkish supermarket to buy some food for the weekend.. I walked all the way to the city centre, because I wanted to buy a set of table tennis rackets and ball.. BUT closed.. Fine.. So I just had ice-cream.. IT'S VERY GOOD!! Gut und günstig! Good and cheap! hahah! So... I walked to the busstop.. Saw the bus timings, we had to wait for about 45min.. Its ok! So waited and waited and waited.. Then a lady came and checked the timing, I told her it was coming now.. Then she said no.. Today was FEIERTAG!!! OMG!! YA!! I FORGOT ITS GOOD FRIDAY.. I don't even feel the Good-Friday-ness in the air, in this Catholic/ Protestant country.. It's weird.. Anyway I had to wait another 2 hours!! The bus comes every 2/ 3 hours!! Bloody hell!! Then walked to the train station, hopefully there's a bus there, or a train maybe.. They both coming in an hour.. So wth! I just waited for the bus.. So in the end, I took 3 hours to get to Darmstadt.. Consist alot of waiting.. Arggghhhh!!!

So I walked to the supermarket.. CLOSED!! Then I asked around, and they said that today EVERYTHING IS CLOSED!! Maybe tmr it'll be opened.. ARGGGHHHH!!! So I walked around alittle.. And decide to head back home.. Yesh, I was expecting to wait some more.. There was a bus in 30min BUT it doesn't go to Dieburg.. OR I can wait for the bus in 2 hours and it goes to Dieburg.. WTH! So I took the earlier bus.. The trip was VERY long.. And I thought it'll probably stop right outside Dieburg.. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... I was wrong.. I got down at the last stop and it wrote 'Dieburg 3km'... OMG!! I walked and walked and walked.. Ohh no no no.. It's not 3km for sure!! It's like 4km TO GET TO DIEBURG.. AND I realised I was in the other end of the town.. So I walked another 4km to get home, I think.. OMG.... So this time, I took about 4 hours to get back..

Feiertage are worst than Sundays I think!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr... Such an unlucky day for me!! Nico was saying that yesterday was my lucky day because we didnt miss any bus/ train to Mainz, we got cheap circus price because it happened to be partner's day, I managed to persuade them to watch with me, it was VERY GOOD.. Basically it was a very very good day! Perfect! So probably I drained all my luck yesterday.. So I was left with none!! I hope it'll be a better day tmr! I want my luck back!!

Circus in Mainz!! :)

Guten Tag alles!

Today is Day 45.. I went to Mainz!! hahah!! I wanted soooooo much to go to the circus, so I managed to persuade some of them to go to Mainz with me.. 'To go sightseeing'.. But yeah, we did! hahah! Then later in Mainz, I persuaded them to go to the circus.. First, to just see, maybe check the price.. Then when we reached there, we found out that today was Partner's Day, Partnerstag.. It's 10 euros for one person, and 12 euros for 2 people! Wah!! I was soooo happy!! I checked the internet sooooo many times, and they put 14 euros.. And this was a turn-off to them.. So I was very very very lucky! It was so cheap on today!! hahha! BUT I must say.. The circus was fantastic!! They said it was worth the money.. It was very very good!! I liked it ALOT!! hahahh! It's a Russian circus.. There were a mix of everything.. It was really nice.. I enjoyed it alot.. Nicolas was saying that I was smiling all the way when we decided to go in.. I was super duper happy! Serious!! I couldn't hold my excitement!! Lol!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dog performance the most.. Very fun and entertaining! Really cute.. It's amazing how they trained all these dogs very well.. Beautiful dogs too! And another performance I liked VERY VERY MUCH as a couple doing some dance and 'flying' with these two ropes in the air.. It's alittle difficult for me to describe.. The dance was BEAUTIFUL!! I have never seen such a beautiful dance before.. So graceful.. AND definitely contributing to its beauty of this performance is the music! Yanni's Until The Last Moment.. VERY VERY beautiful song.. Yanni is AMAZING!! Go youtube him and listen to his songs.. MASTERPIECE!!! Im probably falling in love with his music.. So calm and serene, yet full of emotions.. Wunderbar!

Anyway, I didn't take many pictures.. There wasn't much to see..

We went to a church first.. It was a Protestant church.. I was telling them that I've entered more churches than mosques here in Europe! Lol!! It's soooooo true!! I only know one mosque here in Darmstadt anyway.. And I don't need to go to the mosque for Friday prayers etc.. But it's interesting la.. I get to compare all the different churches from different countries.. AND honestly, I like this church the best! Just because it was simple.. I think it's not a tourist attraction or something.. You can see that it's mainly used for prayers/ mass.. And there's not much pornography.. Even the statue of Jesus Christ in the front has clothes on! As in, full clothes! Like a cloak or something.. In other churches, the statues have cloth only covering the private parts.. I don't like it at all, to be honest.. I don't care if its art or not.. This church too has other sculptures.. I can say, modern/ recent scuptures.. And no pornography!! Men and women with clothes on!! Got one that looked like a women in a telekung (the cloth Muslim women used for prayers).. I like it, because it's very modest.. I keep telling Pedro that I don't understand why statues and paintings of people has to be naked.. Especially in churches!! Is it ART? Is nudity allowed in the religion? [Ok, mainly in catholic churches..] I hope I didn't offend anyone.. Im just so curious.. I just don't understand.. Probably I asked the wrong people, those that are not very religious.. So that's why I liked this church alot alot.. It feels closer to home, if you get what I mean.. Anyway, I sat there in the church, because I found a kids bible storybook.. So Nicolas helped me with the stories, to know the different stories in the bible.. I thought it was interesting.. I only read a few stories, like about Jesus rise from the dead (about Easter because Easter is this Sunday) and the good samaritan.. I read it in German, so I don't know if I got the names right.. Very simple German, so I liked reading it alot.. Very easy to understand..

There's the church in the middle..

Look at the cross in the front.. Clothes on!

We walked a little more.. Went to have lunch and ice-cream!! Then we walked to find the circus.. I really think there's not much interesting stuff to see in Mainz.. I like the river.. Very nice.. I'd love to just sit by the river and enjoy view.. Very very very lovely, calming and relaxing.. I liked it alot! And it's a wonderful place to settle down, to me at least.. Especially to raise your children or something..

The circus!! Fantastic!! Seriously... Dances, clowns (by a Charlie Chaplin copy and apparently the world famous clown Oley Popov), magic show, dogs performing some funny and cute tricks, another performance with the horse, gymnastics, motor stunts in a sphere cage etc.. It was really good.. Very impressive.. :):) Im just soooo happy I finally get to watch circus performances! :):)

I dont know what is this.. They are old books inside, but I cant open it.. So I dont know what exactly is this for.. To show off?? Lol! Makes no sense...

Welcome Day!

Guten tag alles!!

Im back from my trip.. Safe, sound and very contented.. hahah!! The trip was wonderful.. I havent had the time yet to blog about it.. I'll blog about it soon k!

Today, Day 44 in Dieburg.. I came back on the 6th April, slightly after midnight.. Ok, means it'll be the 7th.. I rest the whole day yesterday.. Slept like a bum, which is not common for me, right Walid? ;) But I had a very good reason to sleep til soooo late.. I woke up about 1pm, did some updating to worried people in Singapore.. Then cooked and ate.. Then spent the rest of the afternoon on my computer, to choose my modules for this semester.. Then dinner.. Then went to the other kitchen to calculate the amount we spend together and divide the cost.. I havent yet counted the exact amount I spent.. But roughly about 350 euros for the entire trip.. I think the accommodation was expensive! More than the transport!! Lol!

So, today, I had the Welcome Day.. I thought it was a waste of time.. They just welcome us.. Then give us salty bread! Lol!! Germans in the south, apparently, like this type of salty bread.. It was weird.. Lol! Then I talked to a guy from the Department of Civil Engineering.. Yup! Im in this department.. He wasnt too helpful with the modules that I intend to take.. So I just asked general questions.. So basically, in Germany, you can go to any class you want.. Just go, then decide later which exams you want to sit for.. Quite cool! Very flexible.. But after being in Singapore for my whole life, I somehow don't feel so secure.. Like 'are you sure I don't need to register, and I can just take the exams' etc.. Lol! A little kiasuism.. But it's cool.. Very relaxed.. I don't need to stress myself over bidding!! Over tutorial balloting!! LOL! Chill! My classes start next week, and I haven't even decided on my modules.. hahhah! BUT with this system, it means that most of the modules are 100% on final exams.. Which is BAD!! They do have assignments etc, but it isn't counted in the final grade.. AND exams can be in july, August or September.. Up to the professor.. So if I MUST go back to Singapore before the exams, I can take an oral exam maybe.. Maybe it'll be good... Better than written! In German somemore!! So... We'll see how it goes.. But right now, chiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllllll... Lol!

Anyway, I might be taking another German module in this semester.. BUT it has to nicely fit into my timetable!! hahah! And I might take another 2 core modules.. AND probably an English module.. English literature.. There's one.. Ghost Stories!! I think it'll be interesting!! I wanted to do a history module, or maybe some module on European history etc.. But all in German.. I think it'll be too heavy for me.. See how la.. If got someone to do with, I might take it.. hehe! Taking the plunge!

Speaking of taking the plunge, Im glad I did so, when I decide to go to Germany.. It has been great.. Everything has been going sooooo smoothly for me.. I couldn't ask for more! haha!

So after the Welcome Day, we accompanied some of them who are eating in the Mensa.. I wanted to go to the supermarket, buy some food and eat at home! After spending sooooo much on the trip, I better cut down on my expenses.. Unnecessary expenses, like eating outside.. I better ta-pao food now, or just eat at home! Lol! So we went to Real Supermarket.. It was at the opposite end of Darmstadt! I never knew Darmstadt to be that big! Lol!!

I think the people in Germany are VERY nice.. They are very helpful! Like when I was in the bus, I asked the bus driver where to stop.. Then I told the rest.. Then an old lady near us just said that she's going there, and she can tell us when to stop.. So nice! We also asked a Muslim lady in the bus.. She was super nice.. I talked to her in German.. She was with her child.. So I just asked her if there was any Muslim supermarket near the Real Supermarket.. Then she started telling me about this Iman Frauen Zentrum.. Actually it's Iman – Bildungs- und Freizeitzentrum muslimischer Frauen.. It's like a centre for education and free-time/hobby for Muslim women.. [Ok, I tried my best to translate.. Lol!] They meet every Thurday, for something.. I didn't really get what she meant.. She told me I can go there tmr! hahha! So nice.. I'll see how tmr.. Probably I'd go.. :) Btw I like Germans! They are nice.. Ok, so far the people I met are really nice.. I haven't met anyone that looked down at me, cursed me or something.. Like for being a Muslim or being an Asian.. Everything has been very pleasant for me, Alhamdulillah.. Really glad.. So dear Ibu, dear Mak, dear Walid Jumblatt, don't worry about me! So many nice people around! I'm really lucky.. :):)

I got nothing much to update now.. Just have to work on the updates for the previous days! Lol! Bye for now.. :):) *muuuaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!* from Germany!! :):)