Back in the UK

so I'm home :) driving back from germany was not all that awful and I would definitely recommend it if you have a sever amount of luggage. Which I'm pretty sure most Erasmus students do after a year abroad :) AND you even get to stop off a calais for a nit of last minute booze shopping.

The year is over now and I had such a great time, met amazing people and had so many fun and new experiences. If any one gets the chance to take part in a semester or year abroad take it and do everything you can

It's nearly all at an end

So I haven’t updated in a fair while and really although I’m not the best person at remembering to update this blog it’s not all entirely my fault. I blame my sever lack of internet in my room, the laptop dying on me on more than one occasion before finally giving up the ghost last week and having a ridiculous amount of essays to write within a matter of weeks. But that does ultimately mean a lovely shiny new laptop when I return home :D

So let’s start with what has been missed over the past month since I last updated.

Firstly I’ve managed to have 2 visitors this year, the first being my boyfriend and the second a rather spur of the moment visit from my best friend. Both of the visits were lovely we visited Frankfurt and wandered round the old streets of Marburg. I really didn’t want either of them to go, but it did mean that I was home sooner and that I guess was the best thing to know.

So let’s think of the events that have been on in the past month

Firstly the very small town I live in had a sort of 3 day musical event where they celebrated Marburg and everything Marburgish (that’s a word I’m sure). 3Tage Marburg basically meant beer and Apfelweine stalls and Rost Bratwurst and Crêpe vendors throughout the city. We went to the opening night and sat around listening to the music whilst having a very Hessisch Licher Beer, it really was a lovely evening and such a good way to welcome my 

friend to Marburg.

On the 9^th July we headed up to Frankfurt to watch the Women’s World cup quarter final games that were being shown on 4 big screens by the river in Frankfurt. They really went all out for the World cup over here, and I got the feeling that if it was in the UK there really would have been such a big fuss about it. We turned up early to get a good spot and as we were there so early we were able to get lots of free football based things, including a picnic blanket!

So in between all these lovely visits and days out I had 1 10-15 page essay and one 20-25 page essay (I gave up on the 2 in German), a presentation and an exam to prepare. Now those essays were hard! Firstly I have never written an essay based on the pages, at home it’s always a word count and that still makes far more sense to me than pages and I have never written an essay over 5 pages, so 10 was a struggle let alone 20! But I managed to write them both in about a week and a half and even managed to get a passing grade on them both. That = a very happy me :)

The presentation I also had to prepare was pretty easy, being in a group with 2 other Germans especially one who knew exactly how they wanted the presentation to go made my job far easier. The exam however, not so easy. Having to learn things for lectures that I really didn’t understand was hard, so in the end I just read a text book that I had brought from home and hoped that would help. I guess it did, I mean I managed to pass so that’s what matters right?

So that’s it I’m done with university here in Germany forever, I have enjoyed it but some of the work they expect you to do even when they know you’re a non native speaker can be pretty harsh and the I’m ERASMUS be nice to me card really doesn’t work with some lecturers who just can’t grasp that there is a significant difference between you and the other German students in the class.

But I have really enjoyed my time here and I know I will miss it, especially when I’m back at uni at home and the pressure of graduating with a good degree is piling up.

Hessentag / Youfm night - Oberursel

So yesterday we went to visit Hessentag in Oberursel. Hessentag is a festival that celebrates Hessen (the state I currently live in) and lots of the smaller towns and local businesses go along to promote them. All of the things they did were free and it was a lot of fun, we even went on huge Ferris wheel and could get an awesome view of the Frankfurt skyline. Around 7 we headed over to the huge open air arena for the Youfm night, I had heard about it on the radio a couple of moths ago and it was only like 21euro once you included the booking fee for 3 big German bands. A great night filled with dancing and singing along to the songs we knew, yep that’s right we actually like German bands and know their songs. Would of like to have been able to stay to the end of the last set but dam trains stop running after 00:30 until 5:30 the next morning and we didn’t have anything to do in that time.

 We are there in that crowd, as far forward as we could get without being VIPs

Definitely check out these bands if you have time. Even if you dont speak/understand German, you can still have a good bop along

German class meet up in Hannover 3rd - 5th June

So after an already exciting week followed our German class met up in Hannover. We had organised it about a month before 3-5 and had managed to get 8 out of the 13 of us confirmed but after getting there it was just 4, the 3 of us from Marburg and another girl who is studying in Duisburg. Got a pretty awesome hostel in the end, 14,50 euro for our own private room with a shower and not too far out of the town.

First day there we did like we did in Munich and just had a general wander around before heading to get some dinner followed by cocktails and another Irish bar. It had karaoke and we had already done that the night before too at Emily’s leaving Marburg night out, so of course we were in the mood to sing.

The next day we did our own tour of Hannover. its really cool there, they have a red line painted on the floor that goes past all of the main sights there and you can buy a book from the tourist information for 3euro that tells you all (definitely worth the money). After a long day of walking we headed back to hostel for pizza and wine before 3 of us headed back into town to find somewhere to party. And lo and behold we found the red light district of Hannover to party, there was a huge street party with music and outdoor bars so we were all pretty happy to spend our time there.

Morning after and feeling fine we headed over to the Herrengarten (which I saw on Eurovision so had to go and see it whilst we were there), it was really pretty and huge garden and I really recommend a visit to the grotto decorated with designs by the artist Niki de Saint Phalle.

 New Town Hall in Hannover 

Herrenhausen grotto

Red Bull student boat battle - Uni Marburg V. Uni Giessen

So the day after Twin Atlantic was, at the title of this post says, The Red Bull Student Boat Battle Uni Marburg V. Uni Gießen.

So the premise of this event was as follows

2 Teams

3 people on each team

2 rowers

1 person with a huge pole to know the other person with a pole off (think gladiators and your pretty much there).

It was a pretty fun day, watching people in fancy dress falling into the water and we even managed to get prime position front and centre

Twin Atlantic

On the 31^st of last month I managed to get to go and see Twin Atlantic in Frankfurt, originally I had planned to go all the way to Cologne to see them, but luckily they added in a few extra nights and Frankfurt was one of them :) and I even got a friend to come with, so I wasn’t a completely crazy fan girl. Now I saw them last summer at Hevy festival and they were awesome and they sure didn’t disappoint this time either. They played most of the new album and the good ones from their last album.Took far to many photos (261 to be precise), but loved every minute of it.

 Great night, so worth it.

Munich 27th - 29th May

Time again for another mass update as I keep forgetting to let all of you out there know what I’ve been up to.

So let’s start with Munich. After dinner one evening we were discussing what to do and where to go at the weekend (as we usually travel around Hessen as its free on the weekends) and as a friend had some one over from the US we decided to go to Munich.

Booked our hostel, super cheap only about 23euro for 2 nights. And off we went the next day. We travelled on the slow trains as it is far cheaper so our journey took about 6 hours to get there. After checking into the hostel about 2pm we went for a bit of a wander around Munich, taking the mandatory tourist pictures and getting some food on the way. Were far to tired that evening to have a serious night out on the town so it was bed time about 10 for us.

Woke up the next morning and headed off out for our tour of Dachau. We went with the Sandeman tour group and for 12euro we got transport and our own guide, who was just so dedicated and passionate about. I won’t write much on Dachau, but let’s just say it’s an experience. And if you can go on this tour I would recommend it.

After getting back from there about 4.30pm we grabbed some food, headed back to our hostel to change and then out in the town for the evening. Spent the majority of our night in an Irish bar and would you of guessed it!? Met English people, they were all pretty cool and we all had a good night. One of the girls I was with ended our night running through the main fountain in Munich with 2 of them, soaked but hilarious.

After waking up feeling a little delicate the next morning we met up with a few people from the night before grabbed some brunch and went off on the Sandeman’s free walking tour of Munich. Again I so recommend these tours, the guides are fun and know so much.

For the rest of our time in Munich we spent it killing time in bars until our 9 hour train journey at 2am! Slow trains and Scöneswochenende tickets are great but take forever especially on a Sunday.

The lovely old town hall in Munich

An eventful two months are on the way!

So the next few months before I leave Germany are certainly eventful and im going to do a quick countdown now :) So here we go:

12 days Twin Atlantic live in Frankfurt :)

14 days until Emily leaves Germany back for England :( night 2^nd

15 days until our German class meet up in Hanover

22 days until going to see Juli, Wir Sind Helden at the You Fm night in Oberursel

24 days until my boyfriend comes to visit

58 days until the end of uni in Germany

66 days until going to see Formula 1 Nürburgring

70 days until my family come to Marburg

72 days until I get back to England for good

Now I really can’t complain of being bored or having nothing to do can I?

Party an der Lahn und Eurovision

So as most people in Europe know last weekend was the Eurovision song contest, but as well at that it was a friends 26th birthday. He organised a Hawaiian themed BBQ by the river, unfortunately though it did rain a bit so we moved under the bridge (which was pretty thin, but kept us dry) it turned into another tunnel party. We joined up with 3 other people who were also celebrating so as you can see there were an awful lot of people.

So this lovely afternoon was followed by a night of Eurovision at our friend Emily’s house, with chocolate fondue and dressing up as countries. The Portsmouth girlies were altogether to support Blue (and even vote for them) plus an American who we thought should be introduced to the amazingness that is Eurovision. Although Blue didn’t win and were beaten marginally by Jedward they still did us proud and it was a great night.

 Look at that lovely Fondue goodness

Nacht der Museen und Tunnel Party

So in Frankfurt there is something that happens every year, the night of museums. Now this sounds a little similar to the film, but (whether you look at it as fortunate or not) there is no museum exhibits coming to life. Instead however pretty much every museum in Frankfurt from 7pm until 2am is open. They all hold different events alongside showing their normal exhibits and these places put on extra things like shows, movies music dancing. However this year we really weren’t prepared for this night so had to skip it and instead had a little shopping trip to Primark (yep Primark is here in Germany, even if its only one).

After getting back from Frankfurt and spending some time at Schwarz Weiss Jade and I were convinced on going to a tunnel party somewhere in Marburg. Now we were told it was at Stadthalle, so after walking there turned out it was so we all piled into a taxi and asked him to take us to it and to our surprise he actually knew where it was!

Now turned out this party wasn’t so much a tunnel party as more of an under a bridge party in a field in the middle of nowhere. But it was still impressive either way, a huge DJ deck, light show and a bar (where we got free beer as he kind of forgot to take the money). The whole night was pretty awesome and seeing the sunrise was a pretty impressive moment (especially as I usually leave a night out for bed at 3, which is when we actually got to this party) and the 6am taxi ride was interesting, getting home and going to bed when people were heading off to work :)

oh and on a most fantastic side note I passed linguistics on my second try :D

Easter and a proper Sunday roast

So its been a while since I last updated (I am just a tad forgetful sometimes) and quite a lot has happened so I shall post a few mini blog’s now to hopefully update everything.

So lets as the title of this post says talk about Easter and a proper Sunday lunch. As we weren’t at home this Easter (without easter eggs, as they seem to prefer bunnys over here) all of us Brits decided to attempt a Sunday roast. And surprisingly it went amazingly well considering the limited amount of utensils we have in our Halls. We cooked chicken, actual roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and other veggies and I got a decent form of German Quorn thing too and chocolate cake with Birds custard for pudding. It was a lovely afternoon with games and chatting

Yummy yummy dinner :D

In Germany they also have quite a few traditional baked goods and one of those is a hare (kind of like a giant bunny shaped doughnut). Its pretty awesome you’ve got to admit :)

The day i broke the law by dancing

So after yet another week of less classes than I was expecting, due to illness and classes just generally not being on, but I did get told the EU was “sexy” which was erm an interesting term to say the least. We decided on a trip out to Schwarz Weiss (the student bar) which then turned into got to a birthday party in another of the buildings near where I live for a girl I didn’t know and still don’t know if I actually met her at all. But this party was amazingly impressive for something in student shared housing, there was some serious lighting going and a HUGE set of decks with its very own DJ. After midnight (probably nearer to 3 if I’m honest) I was told that technically we were all breaking the law. In Hessen (the state Marburg is in) it is actually illegal to drink alcohol and dance on Good Friday!! Again the phrase “those crazy Germans” comes to mind.

A good night out, minus the wierdos

Now of course every one likes attention, it makes you feel good, but I’m sure everyone has standards, a person your age and not a balding guy in their mid 40s is always a good starter I think (unless of course you are into that).

Why is it always my luck that when I’m out in a club having fun with my friends, I always get the creepy weirdo guy near me. who wants to know my name (which 9 out of 10 time they will get wrong every time), how I am and other pointless questions which are ignored and even after numerous occasion of removing his arm from round my shoulder he still will not get the hint and get lost!?

Last night was an American friends 21^st and now we all know 21 is a pretty big deal out there and so we had to party hard, after going to the local student bar we headed out to a more club type place in town and all in all is was a pretty good night, minus the fore mentioned creepy weirdo’s.

  Always good to go to a club named after a beer

oh and P.S On a side note, no cleaning lady this morning. Clearly the place is an acceptable ammount of clean now :)

What's with all the cleaning!?

I seriously thought that where I lived got cleaned once a week, and for me that was fine, the cleaners seems to do a pretty good job. But I do believe I was seriously mistaken. This is the 4^th day that I have seen the cleaning lady on my floor! We are not messy people, what on earth is left to clean!? I mean this morning she cleaned the bathroom and moped half, that’s right half, of the corridor. Germans are known for their efficiency sure, but I think this is borderline OCD.

The world is crumbling a little

Well it’s only Wednesday, but my first week of lectures are over. Out of my 7 classes this week I’ve only had 4 as the others don’t start for another 1 or 2 weeks which is a pretty good week if you ask me, and the classes I did have all seemed pretty interesting. However I have really noticed my German confidence has just disappeared at the moment, I know the 7 weeks at home didn’t help but I didn’t think it would be this bad. AND on top of my lack of confidence I found out that I’m not into one of my classes and I think the rest of the work that goes with the ones I can do is going to be hard, how can I ever write 10-12 pages in German!?

Let’s just hope it all sorts its self out in the end :)

But on a much nicer note, the weather for this week is looking up and travels around Hessen are on the card. Definitely a far better way to spend my time. And on an even more exciting note its only 60 days until my boyfriend visits, which is oh so very exciting as i miss him rather a lot right now and 107 until I’m back in the UK for good.

Oh what a perfect day!

I just can’t get over how lovely it is over here in Marburg now. The sun is shining, birds are singing and everyone is out enjoying themselves. After a lovely lunch with the girls we went and sat by the river for the afternoon, along with a very large percentage of the student population of Marburg. It just makes me want to be on holiday and be able to barbeque, but in Germany they just don’t seem to do decent veggie BBQ food, Oh Quorn how I miss thee already!

And just incase you are questioning the lovelyness of Marburg, here is a Winter/Summer before and after out of my window in halls.

 The new view just makes you happy, don't you think?

Class Wars

So last semester although I really enjoyed my linguistics class last semester, unfortunately I failed so am now 6 Credits short for the year. I thought I had done my time table and it was perfect but when re-checking tonight I tried to work it all out and figured I was now 12 Credits short! But after working on it, found some more classes I was interested in and then added them all up and now I’m 11 Credits over!! Ooops, lets see how it goes, Uni really can’t moan if I’m that much over can they?

Where did all the time go!?

I’m all packed and ready to go, the past 7weeks back home have just gone so fast. I do thank the Germans for their odd semester system for giving me this HUGE break from Uni, but now going back for 4 moths again feels like so much hard work compared to what I’ve just got use to. Although to be fair I have spent pretty much all my time back here on the go seeing friends and family so its been al go.

But then again I am looking forward to being back out there with new classes and new adventures to go on and I know that when I go back to real Uni in September its just going to be such a shock what with dissertations and final exams all before graduation! But that’s a year away yet so I’ve got plenty of time.