Learning to Fly

It`s done.
This is my first post I write in my new home.
I arrived on sunday evening and yesterday was the first day all 4 of us were here.
Our flat isn`t ready yet. A lot has to be done, like our kitchen isn`t ready at all^^ .
But thankfully I still have a week till Uni starts.

At the Moment I feel like there´s so much to do and organisate but I`m motivated :)
It`s so refreshing to walk through the City and not knowing someone or some Shops!
And here in Göttingen, where I´m going to spend the next 3 years, if my choice of uniprogramme is good ;), everything is so cute and historical! I have a good Feeling :D

Now I can choose WHAT, WHEN, HOW!
It feels like I`m free. Not that I felt like I sat in a Cage at home, but it`s something completely different to life on your own or in a commune.
I flee the nest.
I´m the Little bird, who learns how to fly and maybe I´m on an altidute flight right now and will land on my nose, but right now it doesn`t matter!
Right now all that Counts is, that it feels good, that I feel good!
And that`s a start!


~ I feel the tears coming in. Maybe it`s harder than I thought. I don´t want to cry. Slowly I drive off. Around the Corner and the tears are coming. I`m leaving. Home.~

A new beginning

Ist`s been a while.....

And I`m about to make a big step towards my future.
I`m moving.
Away.
Into a new City! It was my biggest wish in the beginning of the year, just to finally move out of my old home, the City I grew up in, into a new surrounding. Starting a new life there.
My very own life.
Away from my Family and old friends. Now I`m about to do that big step. And I feel anxious.
Its so weird. Suddenly you get Aware of all the things, all the privileges you have whilst living with your Family and maybe you realize how, actually, hard it is to run your own household. (I haven`t moved yet, but I spent a lot of time alone at home the past couple months^^)

~How much Food do I Need on a weekly basis? What cleaning material is the best? Which paperwork has to be done? Do I really Need to take this shelf with me?~

Also it made me realize, that I`m going to miss more things, than I actually thought I would.
I`m so torn by my Feelings. I Had a couple of days where I felt unsure about all my decision I`ve made this year.
But I try to be positive. I had a pretty bad year so far. Now It only CAN GET BETTER! :)

Another fact, I`ll share my flat with 3 other People. All from different places and all new to the City :)
I`ve met them very briefly and I´m excited. They`re all really nice and I think I`ll get alone with them. But also, of course, I`m hunted by the thought, that maybe we`d hate each other and the plan of a shared flat won´t work out!

I`m writing this post sitting between cardboard boxes. I`m not done packing yet. In fact I just started and I`m a Little overwhelmed.
I own A LOT things and I already see, that I have to leave some stuff behind.

Hamburg Familyholiday

woaaah! so much time has passed and I was lazy :D

I think its way over a month since I last posted something, but there wasn`t anything Special going on!
My life contains mostly now of working and chillin at home. More chillin though^^ Oh ja I got a Job now I haven´t talked about yet. Its basically waitresswork, but at different Events and Hotels. Its pretty nice and I can choose when and where I wanna work + I get good Money!

Another Thing which has changed for quite a few time now but I didn´t talk about it is, that we got a new dog! I have mentioned it before( way back at my Christmas post), that our dog had cancer and he actually died in the end of january, which is almost 5 months back now. But we were all really sad and I didn´t feel like writing about it, as I`m a Person who doesn`t talk much about their Feelings. And for a Long time it wasn`t sure if we get a new one. But after 4 month without a dog we all were sure, we NEED a dog :D So we went on a hunt for a new familymemeber, which was quite difficult as we had some requirements. Like getting along with cats, being alone and most important I wanted a dog I`m not allergic to. Also we were searching for the smaller Versions xD
But finally we stumbled across a profile on the Tiere in Not Odenwald side. At first we had to laugh, cause this tiny Girl looked really uncertain into the camera and had ears like Dobby from the Harry Potter movies :) We decided to meet in Person and for me it only took a second to decide, that this is gonna be our new companion!Also I`m not allergic to her. And she`s just adorable :) the only Thing is, she`s really really anxious of men, which makes it hard for my brother but we`re trying hard and its getting better.

So here is Maali. We thought Long about a Name, cause we didn´t like her old name Tonina. My mom asked me then what "march" means in finnish. Maaliskuu.And we think Maali is perfect, cause we got her in march :)

She has the perfect size though, cause we didn´t want to get a big dog

Long talk^^ Now What I actually wanted to talk about is our familytrip to Hamburg the week after eastern. I have an aunt, uncle and 2 cousines, who live in Hamburg and my youngest cousine celebrated her confirmation on this Weekend. Also my grandpa had the honour to celebrate his 90th birthday. He and my grandma stayed in St. Peter- Ording at the North sea. Me,my mom, my aunt and my other cousine rented an appartment via airbnb ( I`m starting to really like this page :D)
All in all we were 5 days in Hamburg including one daytrip to St. Peter-Ording! And I had so much fun. I really looked forward to this trip, cause I just love spending time with my Family! Its always great and we`re all just so crazy :D We had so much LoLs. I talso ment, that we got out of our everyday Routine, which was really refreshing. I haven`t been out since the Paris trip in january.
It was the 2nd time in Hamburg for me so most of the sights I`ve already seen. But we weren`t bored. Next to the confiramtion sunday and a lot familydinners we went to Hagenbecks zoo, bootcruise on the Alster, Miniature wonderland, which is basically countries, which are rebuilded into a miniature railway world and of course Shopping :D

My cousine and me @ the beach



Elephants @ Hagenbecks Tierpark

Alpacas!!! you could feed them and the elephants

Me, my aunt and mom @ dinner

Confisunday. Me, grandpa, aunt, mom, grandma and cousine`s grandma

Blazer: H&M
Blouse: Monki
Shoes: old :D

Soon all my friends have Holiday or coming back from their year abroad and I`m not so alone anymore. The past month I really felt a Little alone even I have work. But usually I work on 2 days a week. Also I`m planing more travel related stuff :D Since I´m going to Uni in late September I have the whole summer. And Its the last summer where I`m Kind of "free". So look Forward to that^^

XoXo.

Änni

For those who have heart

On the 4.02. I went to my first A Day to Remember Concert.
The first time I saw my all time favorite band live and....once again, they suprised me!

It`s a never ending Lovestory!
Sometimes I have the Feeling they exactly know, what I`m thinking. Like they hid eavesdropping bugs in my brain.

I got the tickets as a birthday present from my mom and one ticket I gave to my brother as a gift :) 

As we stood in line , I totally felt 16 again.   All the band- shirt -wearing kids, drinking, having fun and no worries about their future ....just reminded me of how fast time flies by. 

A couple of years ago I was like them too. 

Now I stood there kind of tired from working 8 hours that day, no alcohol cause I was driving and no band- shirt.

But that didn't hold me back from having a great time! 

A day to remember are just such a great band and they proved to me that they're not only sounding good on tape but also live .
just for those who have heart

 

 

Je t'aime, Paris !

I`m back from a short weekendtrip to Paris.
I`ve never really had France on my Screen. They`re our neighbours and of course the City of Love, Paris and thats all what came in my mind when thinking about this Country. Maybe ist because I`ve learned Latin and not French in School so I don´t really have a Connection with it :D
But since one of my friends makes an Au pair year there I thought, why not visit her^^
On Friday I packed my 7 things, Valerie and Thomas and my not excisting French skills in my car and we were off to Paris!

We booked a small appartment ( 1 room, no table :D) via airbnb in the district la Republique.
We arrived around 3 p.m. after we searched a parkinglot for about 15 minutes^^ and we still had to walk 20 minutes to our accomondation. And we had to pay every 2 hours for it-.- Our first Paris experience :D But we were lucky and during the Weekend the parking was free.

Since we only had about 2 days we just saw the oh so touristic attractions like shit, we were the 0815 Tourists, I never wanted to be :)
But I think we saw every sight, you should see, when visiting Paris!
like Notre Dame, Louvre, Montmartre, centre Pompidou, Triumphal arch and the Eiffel Tower!
And we, of course, met up with our friend Svea :)

As this post has a really touristic Flair, I thought, I write some Random Facts about our personal experiences :

Random Facts :

• We all, Valerie, Thomas and me had the privilege to have some birdpoo on us. Seriously I`ve never got pooped on and then in Paris we all got shit on within one day :D  f****** birds!
• I drunk my first Cocktail of the year ...OUTSIDE... In January... in Paris !
• While Walking across the Love Bridge ( I don´t know how it`s called but the Bridge, where Lovers put on locks, to Show that they love each other forever^^) a guy came to us and wanted to braid a bracelet for me. When I said, that I don´t Need it, he tried to explain to me, this Bracelet is good for BUNGA BUNGA :D He then considered Thomas is my boyfriend and that we`ll have great Bunga Bunga in the evening ^^ (Which he`s not but the things People do to sell their stuff...) We had a good laugh :)
• The prejudice, that the French don´t speak English, has turned out to be half true. One guy in a Tourist Information could not speak a single word English! Like seriously, why do they hire not-english-speaking people for a Tourist Information!?!?! But usually we met nice People, who could help us and spoke understandible English. 
• Almost all Museums are free for Europeans under 25 years. But I was kinda disappointed by the Mona Lisa. Waaaay too many Asians in front of it and I imagined the painting a Little bit bigger. 
• Driving in Paris as a foreigner resembles to suicide
• Paris is truely the City of Love! I`ve never felt so romanticc than there.

On sunday we left Paris around 5 p.m., which was maybe a Little too late^^ We drove the whole time in the dark and were really exhausted when we arrived around 1 in the night!
But all in all I really like this City and two days are definetely too less time to really see everything.
There are so many nice places to see and Shops to discover, I`ll definetely come back!

Tourist Picture No.1

Tourist Picture No. 2

Toursit Picture No. 3

and 4 :D

Toursit Picture No. 5

Tourist Picture No. 6

XoXo, Änni

Here and gone again

A New Year. New changes. New beginnings.

Thats my Motto for 2014!
Now I`m almost 3 weeks back in Germany and I already escaped last week ;)
Ok, ist not that bad here, I´m actually doing quite well, better than I thought I`ll do, but ...I don´t have anything to do! And its killing me.....
Waking up in the morning and realizing , that you have no plans for the day is horrible! I never had such a hard time getting up. People told me to enjoy this, cause soon I`ll work my whole life Long, but to not have a reason to get up literally kills my day!
So the opportunity to go on skiing vacations with my aunt and cousine came right in time^^ Also I wanted to go skiing again this year.
I had a really nice time with them. It was a women vacation xD A couple of years ago we were in the same Hotel, so we knew the skiingarea there and that the Hotel has a nice Spa and GOOD Food :D 4 course in the evening :O
Also it was good for my Jetlag^^ After two weeks I still couldn`t sleep before two and the fact that we got up at 8.oo o`clock every morning really helped! ( Well now I`m back in my old Routine -.-)

We went skiing everyday and the weather played along. Except the last day was foggy! Also it was really warm. I believe only in the night under 0° C. #notlikecanada :D
Also I`m now Champion in packing my luggage^^ Ì`ve never travelled with so less things than on this trip. Ok it was only 5 days but for that I had only the main things I really Needed with me. And today I have to pack again :) Cause tomorrow I`ll drive to PARIS with Valerie and our friend Thomas to visit one of our friends, who is an Au pair there atm.
Only for  the Weekend but I`ve never been to Paris and I have something to do then^^

Also I just came back from an organic farm here in Darmtadt. And I`m starting an intership there in the beginning of february! I`m really looking Forward to it. Its big and has every farmingaspect we experienced in Canada on the farms in one :D
So I still have 2 weeks to do whatever I want to do....but I think I`ll mainly hang around in the internet^^

Here are some pics of my vacavacation xD

oh and we were in Austria ^^

my cousine and me

Canada feelings^^

One of the deserts

Coming home for Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all!...well a Little late :D I admit, I was a Little lazy the last days^^

Half a year is almost over and its already Christmas. And I have a big suprise for you but I dont want to spoil you ;)

So were did I stopped?

Oh ja we were in lake Louise for two days after we left the lodge really spontaniously. We had nothing planned after that so we actually had no idea what we should do then......Also I got some bad News from home and the Situation at the lodge didn`t helped my already sad Feelings! So there we were, in the middle of nowhere, sitting in a Tim Hortons with no plan, it was cold and Christmas was coming! Of course you think of home and that it would be nice to spend Christmas with your family....So the idea was Born and we called Lufthansa:D

So we ended up going back to Vancouver to our friends, who were Kind enough to offer us a bed again. We were super relieved and we could finally relax in a warm place after  the last weeks ^^

And we could organisate our plan more! After 1 day we had a fully thought- out plan, which we could tell our parents :

 

-  the first stop would be Vancouver

- then the days before Christmas ( 18-22 december) on Vancouver Island

- Christmas we would spend in Vancouver again before we would head to the USA again

- backflight on the 6th of january

 

But actually we rebooked our flights so that we´re in Frankfurt on the 23rd.

We actually stayed in Vancouver till the 18th. Our last days in Canada, I had mixed Feelings. Our dog has cancer and I was so afraid that he`s going to die before I come back. The thought hunted me all the time but I tried to enjoy the last days as good as I can! Also our trip ended so apruptly that we didn`t really realized that These were our last days.

We met Jan and Timo again, had a funny day with them in Vancouver and went Souvenir Shopping ( I never, really never bought so many Souvenirs :D), visited the Museum of anthropology and we finally made it into China town and it wasn`t worth it at all ^^

And then there was the Christmas Spirit! I know that in America everything is bigger and actually I shoudn´t have been so suprised when I saw with how much wastefullness the canadians decorated their houses. The street we lived in looked like Santas Runway xD

Never ever go into a Lush cosmetics store with boys^^ they look like THIS after it :D

rainy day in Deep Cove

Museum of anthropology

Christmas garden.......you`ll never see such things in Germany^^

Santas Runway ;)

 Then the day came when we had to start to tell lies. Early in the morning of the 18th we took the bus to Seattle. We had the funniest bus Driver ever^^ I was so tired cause we had to get up at half past three in the morning, that I woke up when we were already at the boarder.

The entry into the USA was really easy this time, cause we aleady had our stamps in our passports and....we were in the USA! Bye Canada :(

But before I got sentimental we arrived at the Seattle Airport and flew to.....Phoenix!! Tadaaa Suprise :D No we had just a short stop there before we flew into San Francisco.( More airmiles!!!!!) Our last stop!

I was already in San Francisco 4 years ago and I really liked it there, so I had nothing against it to discover this beautiful City again. Also we saw some places I `haven´t seen at my first visit there.

But first of all we had a Little schock^^ We knew that our Hostel isn`t in the best area of SF but when we arrived at Union Square, there were so many homeless People, we were tired and exhausted and we just wanted to have a nice, cozy bed. But bad luck....

Fortunately a taxi was Standing around the Corner. We really wanted to walk to the Hostel, which wasn´t that far away but if you ever were in SF you know that it´s really hilly^^

Arrived at the Hostel and in our room, we wanted to Change our accomondation. Well, in the end we stayed and it wasn´t that bad but tiredness and Exhaustion made us feel really uncomfortable...the beds were like armybeds, the toilet didn´t flush well and we didn`t know our roommates! We just knew that we`re in a mixed doorm bedroom. So in our distress we called another Hostel and reserved beds. (Note: before we actually spoke with an emplyee of our Hostel and before knowing the cancelling policies) Jep, we were desperate^^ The end of the Story was that, after a discussion with an employee ( and after we found out we had to cancel 48 hours before, which ment that even we would Change Hostels , we still had to pay 3 of the 4 booked nights----> which ment, we would spent waaaay more money), we decided to try one night. In the middle of the night our roommates finally came. Two German students and they were really nice....not too bad :D

Next morning after the very delicicous variety of the homemade breakfast ( only pancakes^^ everyday...the last two days we didn´t eat breakfast in the Hostel xD) we walked out of the building and the sun and pleasent 17°C welcomed us :)

Damn...this post is already waaaay too Long so here is our touristic SF Exploration tour^^:

Day 1:

A walk through Chinatown then to the Coit Tower, from which you have an awesome view over the City.( again SF is very hilly^^ didn´t thought we would walk that much). Walking around Fishermen`s wharf + Pier 39...bought a MUNI pass and Tickets for Alcatraz. We were so lucky. We got one of the last tickets available cause it was Christmas time and lots of People bought their tickets in advance. So the next days all tours were sold out :)

 

And actually now you should have the privilege to look at some amazing pics cause I thought I have the pics. But.. I don`t have them :D

 

Day 2:

made the said Alcatraz tour. One of the Hilights. it was so interessting and weird at the same time. Just imagined that in this building, were you`re Standing in, hundreds of murderers were kept. I think we stayed almost 4 hours on the Island. After that seafood at Pier 39. Drove with the cable car. The evening we spent with our roommates, Linus and Lasse, in our room. They were kind enough to buy us alcohol. USA... 21 etc. ;D

 

Day 3:

We took the bus to the famous Hippie area to walk to the Goldengate Park, which took a Little while. There were many nice, Little Shops and boutiques ;) The Park per se wasn´t that worth seeing.  We smelled the,, now familiar scent of weed :D

After that we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge! And the famous Lombat Street was on our Tour too.

 

  found some pics :D

 

Day 4:

Our flight was around 9 PM so we had some time to do....Shopping!!! :D We stored our luggage in the Hostel and came back with "a few" things :D *cough* But I had some space left in my backpack! *proud* :DD Lets just say Victoria`s secret got a lot of Money from me^^

 

Then our last trip began. ( Imagine now sad Music in the background^^). Luckily we flew with Lufthansa :D Best Service so far.

But yeah. At the time I had so many different thoughts in my head. I was excited, worrried, sad, tired, happy...all at the same time! The last days, I don`t wanna say I was homesick but I did miss home a lot. Mainly because of our dog. So I really looked Forward to see him and my Family. Also I was so excited about the faces of my Family, when they would see me Standing in the door :) Nobody really noboday had a clue and I`m so proud that the whole plan worked out so well!

I think this suprise made the farewell of These 5 month easier. I think when I sat at the Airport, I didn´t realize our time here was now over and that in a few hours I would have native land under my feet^^

After a 10,5 hours flight we landed in Munich and after another 40  min flight in Frankfurt. It was weird that everybody could understand us^^ Now we had to be careful what we say :D

The husband of Valeries Sister picked us up and we spent our first night in Germany at their place.

 

 

Christmas Eve:

Christmas day we spent at their place aswell. Wraping gifts and killing time. I knew that my Family would celebrate at my grandparents and around half past five Valerie and me began our last way with our backpacks^^

Now it was over. We won`t see each other 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.lol. Kind of weird...I didn´t thought that I would get so used to a Person other than my mom and brother. And we didn´t have a single fight in the past 5 month! I think not everybody can say that :)

At 18.30 I stood in front of my grandparents house. I still had some doubts that my mom may knew I`m coming. But as soon as I rang, the door opened and my brother saw me...all of the thoughts went away. My brother jumped over the gate and huged me. He said nobody was expecting me :)

I came in and first I saw my uncle and Cousin. All the man came to the door cause my grandma thought it was a thief who rang :D And than chaos broke out. My mom looked like a car when she saw me and everybody was so suprised!! One of the best moments this year!!

I wasn`t even 5 minutes there and my grandma had already phoned my aunt^^

 

Jep, that was almost a week ago. I still fight with my Jetlag and the waether here is s***.

But its nice to sleep in your own bad, having my pets around and a working shower :P

Now I realized I`m not in Canada anymore and... I miss it! Time flew by so fast ( as always) and I still can`t believe that I`ve travelled all over the Northmerican continent in the last 5 month. Experienced nice and bad situations, met beautiful People, saw places I`ve only dreamed of, learned alot about things I know and new things in fields, I thought I would never experience and somewhere in the Canadian wilderness I found what I want to do.

 

 

 

P.S. Our heater just broke down...thankfully I know now how to make a big fire :D