In the blink of an eye...

Just very qick...

2005-05-24T09:45:00.000+02:00

Gee...everything seems to be so busy right now...visitors, school, exams,... We do not have much time to write here right now. Another point is that the computers here are not the best, we tried to put new pictures online but it did not work... Sorry!
We'll try to write soon!
Hold everything crossed...Thursday is our final exam of the language class...

Auf zu neuen Ufern

2005-05-05T14:10:00.000+02:00

Tach. Gerade kurze Pause vom Sprachkurs, da dachte ich mir, schreib ich noch was in den Blog bevor wir wieder mal auf Reisen sind. Diesmal nicht so lange, nur übers Wochenende und auch nur eine Stadt. Kristina ist seit gestern da und wird einfach mitgeschleift (mitgeschleift oder mitgeschliffen? ich glaube, diese Frage kam Susan und mir schon einmal, als wir am Ufer des Ria de Bilbao nach Hause gegangen sind...). Wir werden heut noch die Bustickets kaufen, nachher ist der Bus morgen schon voll und das wollen wir ja nicht riskieren. Uns erwarten 8 Stunden oder so Busfahrt und eine kostenlose Unterkunft. Wäre ja fast ins Wasser gefallen mit unserem Barcelonatrip, da die Jugendherberge, bei der wir angefragt hatten (die einzige übrigens die für die 2 Nächte noch frei war und die wir uns hätten leisten können), dann plötzlich doch schon voll war, als ich nochmal nachgefragt hatte. Was tun, was machen? Sich beim Hospitalityclub anmelden. Von jemandem darüber gehört, im Netz gesucht und gefunden, angemeldet, abgewartet, dass man angenommen wird und schon Leute aus eben Barcelona angemailt ob sie Platz für einen haben. Man bezahlt nichts, nur sein Essen und vielleicht die Dusche, und hat auch noch nen Stadtführer. Erst nur Absagen bekommen, dann hat's geklappt. 5 vor 12 sozusagen. Aber hat noch geklappt, puuuhhh.
Das nenne ich doch mal eine echte Alternative!

That's the kind of text we have to read in Germany!

2005-05-03T09:58:00.000+02:00

English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every 7 humans can speak it. More than half of the world's books and 3 quarters of international mail is in English. Of all the languages,it has the largest vocabulary - perhaps as many as 2 MILLION words. Nonetheless, let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb thru annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

English in Spain

2005-04-28T11:02:00.000+02:00

This was one of our exams. We are taking a class, which is the highest English class here and the students will graduate this year, becoming teachers and translators!

They had that list since four years, to practise the pronunciation!

We had to read the words!

That was the whole oral exam!

They should have a look at our Vor-Diplom!

Word lists.
Vowel

1. peak beat feel thief...
2. pick bit fill thick
3. food fool wood
4. book foot full would
5. law caught all fall (Am…)
6. lot cot pot lock (Am. = 10)
7. let pet bed fell
8. diagraph cat pat bad rang
9. caret pub mug love cut
10. father palm spa balm (Am…)
11. again famous circus combine
12. bird learn turn word

Consonants

1. Aspiration: pitch retain top came cover tip tongue

2. Devoicing: pray train cry claim cute twice apply

3. Unreleased stops: pig bed Bob bobtail at Bob at me

4. No fricative: again digging rebind leader reading ogre

5. [v]: vest serves vowel living vice voiced prove

6. [d]: udder/other breed/breathe dare/there

7. [z]: lose it raising result lazy busy resign proposal exam

8. [Z]: confusion casual visual measure occasion decision

9. [N]: singer ringing sung king hangs thing singer/finger

10. Velarized: l call fall elk silk line

11. Syllabic [n]: cotton maiden kitten bitten prison doesn’t Britain

12. Syllabic [l]: needle panel medal saddle candle

13. [j] vs. [dZ]: Yale/jail yoke/joke yety/jetty yam/jam use/juice

14. [w]: would wool Woody woozy

Happy Birthday To You...HÄÄÄBBIIE BÖHÖRSDÄJ

2005-04-27T11:07:00.000+02:00

Weil die Elvira heut Geburtstag hat, da habe ich gedacht, ich schreibe ihr einen ganz eigenen Post, weil ihr das Freude macht.
Ein schöner selbstgeklauter Blumenstrauss steht heut auf deinem Tisch, und wenn du ihm immer schön Wasser gibst, dann bleibt er länger frisch!

Wie schön, dass die Elvira geboren ist, sonst hätten sie einige sehr vermisst!

Wie schön, dass wir heute an deinem Butzeltag beisammen sind, ich gratuliere dir, Geburtstagskind!!!

Lass dir das Essen heut fein schmecken ... wir können dich auch wieder füttern, wenn du möchtest ... und auf das es eine tolle Feier wird ...

LASS DICH VERWÖHNEN!!! (aber nicht von mir)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIRA!!!

P.S.: Der Susan ihre guten Wünsche haben ihren Grund ... Bitte bleib noch lange glücklich und gesund! Dich so froh zu sehen ist was mir gefällt. Tränen gibt es schon genug auf dieser Welt!!!

P.P.S.: Das ist alles nur geklaut. Das ist alles garnicht meine. Das ist alles nur geklaut. Doch das weiss ich nur ganz alleine! Das ist alles nur geklaut und gestohlen und entzogen und geraubt ... Entschuldigung, das hab ich mir erlaubt! O:-)

How to become a pensioner in 30 seconds

2005-04-25T13:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday. Visiting Burgos with visitors. My parents and my sister, so to say. Since it was cooooold there - we had sunshine in Bilbao and therefore left our thick coats at home - we decided to take a more intensive look at the worldwide known cathedral to warm up. At the ticket counter we saw a sign informing us about the entrance fees depending on the age. I just wanted to ask how many people form a group (for group discount). I think she didn't quite get what I was asking in the first place cause she told me that the age for a pensioner is 65. So because we were missing 10 people to form a group, I smiled at her broadly and said we would take 3 tickets for students and 2 for pensioners - and got it.
Result: 2 Euros saved, 1 Euro found in the locker, and my parents turned into my grandparents.

Now we know what Sanne is up to!

2005-04-22T10:18:00.000+02:00

"Six elephants escaped from an amusement park Wednesday and injured a woman as they rampaged through the South Korean capital, according to a news report. All were recaptured and returned to the park, police said. An elephant charged into an alley near an elementary school and hit a 52-year-old woman, Roh In-sun, with its trunk, Yonhap news agency said. She was being treated at a hospital. “She fell, and I ran away because I was scared,” said Roh’s landlord, Lee Hye-ja, who was standing with her when the elephant charged toward them. The animal remained trapped in a garden.Three of the pachyderms had barged into a nearby restaurant.The elephants escaped due to the fact that someone, who indeed seemed really zany, opened the gates of the circus compound at the Children’s Grand Park, police said."

OH NOOOOOOOOOO

2005-04-19T11:49:00.000+02:00

We were just walking to the computer room again (because the girls and boy we were supposed to meet in order to finish our Psychology project which is due next monday, did not show up...once more) and we were thinking about nothing bad when we figured out.......SHE IS BACK!!!!
We saw her with our own eyes...standing there, talking to another teacher.
Now, that we just got such a nice substitute. She is younger and explains things clearer...and it is not that boring. She's also been an Erasmus in Denmark before, so she was very helpful for us, since she always made sure we got everything...
And now...everything gone...out hopes just vanished...cause she is back!!!

This is how I feel today...

2005-04-19T10:05:00.000+02:00

Spanish room mates, part II

2005-04-18T14:17:00.000+02:00

She does have a boyfriend now. Or, lets say, her at-least-16-year-old (she said that on the phone!!) blind date from Friday stayed the night over in her room. Not that we have problems with that. In contrast to our landlady we do NOT think that the male species has a special tendency to vandalizing apartments. The problem is not he, but she. Or, what is the result of him staying over. I mean, what do you do on saturdays, 6 o'clock in the morning? Sleep. That's what we do normally. But what if your spanish roommate once again forgets that you are not accustomed neither to high-volumed alarm clocks nor to other weird sounding and pretty loud noises?

Send us valium.

NEWS +++ NEWS +++ NEWS

2005-04-14T15:09:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we founded the first ever official "HUGE-IDOL-SANNE" fan club.
More things to come...we'll keep you posted.

Poor Susanne

2005-04-14T13:00:00.000+02:00

Today we all want to be with Sanne...
She is very unfortunate and has to celebrate the black day today. Our deepest sympathy and don't worry, all of your friends are with you!
And next year you won't even think about this day anymore because you will still be busy eating all the sweets your sweetheart gave you!

(for more information visit Susannes post)

THE "Puss-in-Boots-Look" for our Huge Idol Sanne

2005-04-13T15:07:00.000+02:00

Spanish room mates

2005-04-13T13:13:00.000+02:00

I don't know if you knew... but we are sharing our apartment with a spanish girl from Madrid who works here in Bilbao. Her room is next to Susans so there is only a very thin wall between which means that whenever Nadia has to get up in the morning Susan also does... not to get up but to pound against the wall or Nadias door. Mostly it's no use and Susan has to noisefully storm off through the hallway to interrupt the power supply. It really is NO fun to wake up because of a discotheque volumed radio alarm at 6 o'clock in the morning, even on saturdays and sundays! But that's not what I wanted to talk about.
As we mentioned in a previous post, we have guests from Germany here who are sleeping in my room for their time of stay and meanwhile I pester (this is a newly acquired word, so if I am using it not correctly, tell me!) Susan. *evilgrin*
Since we do not have a living room to our disposal, the kitchen has to be used for sitting together which, in my understanding, does not prevent others to come in and get something from the fridge or just to say hello. Maybe my understanding is quite different from the spanish one. Can you imagine living in a small 3 room apartment without running into the third person living there? We rarely do since Nadia leaves early, comes home late, keeps her door closed and seems in no need for the kitchen when we are in there. That's why Christiane and Lars have not yet seen her since their arrival on Saturday.
There was another incident when Juli, a girl from Leipzig who is studying with us there, knocked on Nadias door to say hello and nobody answered - she was there, we heard music only a few minutes before!
Wasn't there someone saying spanish people are open-minded and eager to get to know foreigners??

Habt ihr die Fotos schon gesehen???

2005-04-11T12:46:00.000+02:00

Hey...

Did you have a look at the pictures yet?
We put them into the link list to the right...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y150/pix4u/

Bilbao, 4/11/2005, 00:00 o'clock in the morning

2005-04-11T12:37:00.000+02:00

Susan is sitting in her room with Lars, Christianes boyfriend, while Christiane and me are getting Susans presents ready, 2 minutes or so before midnight. I go to check the time on Susans alarm clock which says 00:00 o'clock. We are ready to congratulate her when "RING RING RING" Susans mom calls. Susan says to her "You're the first one..." Oh well, we didn't even had a chance! We got it - 30 minutes later ;-)
But okay, her mom was so happy to be the first one!

¡Que tengas un buen cumpleaños!

To one of my dearest friends

2005-04-08T12:40:00.000+02:00

I know you will read this all the way through and figure out that I am talking to you, because you are very attentive.
I was thinking about you yesterday when I went home (in the rain...getting home totally soaked!) and your situation. I know it is not easy...and I've been there before!
But you should not let that get you down...you'll get over it! You're smart and funny...and everyone who wants to miss out on that is a fool! In a couple years, when your book "My life as the friend of the wife of the grandson of the Queen of England" is published and you are a huge star and everyone loves you (even more people than right now already), everyone who turned you down and did not use every possible situation to spend time with you will regret it.
And every guy will wish you would be the mother of his children because you will have so beautiful, cute and handsome kids who are being raised with an unique raising style that will become THE STYLE!!! This will bring you even more fame.
And you dear friend, the wife of the grandson of the Queen of England will always travel with you to spread THE STYLE in the whole entire world.
And then there will be people who will REALLY REGRET their choices!
But you will stand above that!
I know there is one person who would marry you right away if he could! But for several reasons this is not possible...Nevertheless he loves you!
And so do I!
And many others!

Keep a stiff upper lip!!! And keep smiling...

Sind wir hier in Norwegen oder was?

2005-04-08T12:15:00.000+02:00

Besuch steht ins Haus, der Sonntag vor der Tür und es stellt sich die Frage: wohin wollen wir Christiane und Lars entführen? Was wollen die beiden sehen, Pamplona, Santander, San Sebastian oder vielleicht Burgos? Die heftigen Regenfälle von gestern sowie dunkle Wolken von heute veranlassten uns dazu, doch mal bei www.tutiempo.net vorbeizuschauen und sich die Wettervorhersage anzuschauen für diese Orte, um danach zu entscheiden, wo wir hinfahren.
Burgos, Freitag bis Dienstag:

SCHNEEEEEE? Halloooooo, wir sind doch in Spanien! Sorry, Baskenland, aber trotzdem! Lieber Petrus, du musst betrunken sein. Oder hast du wieder zuviel geraucht? Böser Junge! Bist mit der 1 und dem Minus durcheinandergekommen! Oder sollte Dom recht behalten, als er sagte, für Madrid sind -2 Grad vorhergesagt? Ich bin dagegen!!

Wir sollten zuhause bleiben, uns mit ner Tüte Chips vor den Fernseher pflanzen und nicht daran denken, dass wir ja eigentlich in Spanien sind.

COMING SOON!!!

2005-04-07T16:15:00.000+02:00

We actually managed to get a great and wonderful person to write on our blog. The person I am talking of is no-one less than the perfect Dr. Dr. Emma Zimmer!!!
We are all looking forward to her arrival!

Thank you, Claire!

2005-04-06T19:32:00.000+02:00

You inspired Susan to be constantly sorry for herself. Die AAAAAAAARMEEE! (The POOOOOOOR Susan!) And I have to deal with that. Day after day. Ich AAAAAAAARMEE! (POOOOOOR me!)

Ärgern?

2005-04-06T19:05:00.000+02:00

Ich? Die Susan ärgern? Sowas würde ich doch NIE tun. Never ever would that happen in Paris, hem, Bilbao. Leipzig. Wherever. Trotzdem beschwert sie sich ständig. Ich würde sie ärgern. Jaaaa jaaa! ¡Jo! Das bisschen Durchkitzeln, Decke wegziehen, viel zu früh wecken, dumm angucken, blöde Kommentare abgeben, Dazwischenreden und mit Erdbeeren bewerfen (ich hab noch nichtmal getroffen!!!) ist doch nicht der Rede wert. Oder was?!

NEWS NEWS NEWS regarding: Favorite Teacher

2005-04-06T12:19:00.000+02:00

As I mentioned yesterday...my favorite teacher was not in class.
When I got to class today I was told that she is sick and therefore we will have another teacher up until further notice. I really hate for her to be sick...but I am glad we have another teacher for now...she seems nice.

Yesterday we went to the Corte Inglés because I have to read something called "La Lengua de las Mariposas". So we were there looking for the book, but since everything seems to be organized there in an odd way we went to Topbooks, which is basically right beside it...anyway...
I found the book after a while...one that was even cheaper than the one the sales woman gave me (perfect) and then we were looking around...on one point we couldn't do that anymore because our eyes were stuck...there were english books for 2,95...so guess what we did...!!!

What to do with a lonesome book of bank statements 8 o'clock in the morning?

2005-04-06T10:15:00.000+02:00

This morning we were late for class (Really?!?) and had to run. Nothing wrong with that, but a small book of bank statements crossed our way, lying on the stairs without anyone looking for it. Poor thing! We wanted to take it to a bank office but the first one we saw was still closed. In the next one on our way Susan saw someone behind the counter so we entered. "We're closed!" (Huh, okay, but the door was open... ) "We found somethi..." "We are closed!!" (Yeah, I know, you just said that...) "Yeah, but we don't want anything, we just fou..." "WE ARE CLOSED!!!" (JERK!!!) I smashed it onto an ATM (service terminal) and we were out.

Der Sandmann auf Spanisch

2005-04-05T17:42:00.000+02:00

“Buenas noches, hasta mañana, los Lunnis y los niños, ¡nos vamos a la cama! Nos vamos a la cama, nos vamos a la cama, ¡hasta mañana!”
Das hat Susan gerade gesungen, was mich gleich mal dazu animiert hat, einen kulturellen Vergleich anzustellen:

Lunnis (Spanien): 21 Uhr, Sandmann (Deutschland): 19 Uhr
Fazit: spanische Kinder gehen später ins Bett. Und das nicht unbedingt gleich nach den Loonis, sondern nachdem ihre Eltern mit ihnen aus den Bars, Restaurants oder ähnlichem wiedergekommen sind. Die schleifen doch echt ihre Kinder, und sind sie noch so klein, ständig mit sich rum, bis sonstwann… kein Wunder, dass die hier nicht wirklich Bedarf an Babysittern haben, weswegen Susan sich immer so schön aufregen kann.

Jealous?

2005-04-05T17:31:00.000+02:00

Yeah, that feels good! Not what you are thinking, ¡jo! No, I just had a shower and am now sitting on my bed (thanks to my Notbuch - without internet access, though) facing the open window and enjoying spring temperatures and sun. Susan lies right beside me, playing a new game on her gameboy which she doesn’t like (don’t you ever believe a Russian guy or so that the already used article he’s offering on eBay is in perfect conditions!!). And between us: a box full of Easter stuff. All kinds of chocolates and goldbears “en masse”. Everyone thought we would not have this in Spain unless they are sending something. Okay, Susan brought something when she came back from Germany in February, but my mom didn’t know THAT. So there arrived a package a few days before Easter, and after we came back from our little trip through Spain there was a notice in our mailbox that we have to get another package from the post office. This one was from Susans very very thoughtful friend Christiane who wanted to help us coloring the Easter eggs, but unfortunately it was a little late and we already had painted our eggs with 08/15 (read: “nullachtfufzn”) water paint bought from a Chinese shop. But since we didn’t have very much time to celebrate and enjoy colored eggs, because of our trip, we decided that Easter is two weeks this year, and to color the next 24 eggs with Christianes very special Easter egg color. Genuine, isn’t it? That just reminds me of our Christmas party in May last year… that was fun!

How to become my favorite teacher

2005-04-05T09:37:00.000+02:00

Ok, why the heck did I even get up this morning?
I made my way all the way over the mountains just to find that our nice Linguistics teacher doesn't seem to be in the mood today! She is constantly late... Considering that this is a private university and people have to pay a lot to be here (luckily I don't have to do that), this seems really weird to me. I wouldn't want to pay for nothing.
Last time a couple students wrote something on the blackboard, something like: You are 15 minutes late, again! When she came in she looked at it and said: No, I am not. Only 12! Ok, as if those three minutes would matter since we only have 50 minutes.
She is also the teacher who seems to hate Erasmus students most. Once we got a homework that was due the next week. When we started reading the 100(!!!) book-pages about Saussure in Spanish we figured that it might take us longer and we asked her the next day if we could have a couple extra days. And what do you think she said? NO!!! Not even one or two. She told us that we have the same stuff to do as the Spanish students...who also have a hard time getting everything...3/4 of them failed the exam...and we do not get any extra time either.
One of the next homeworks...we were sitting there for nights and night to do those x pages...when we wanted to hand it in (1 day late though), she said NO...cause we were late!
Seems a little strikt to me...especially if you hear stories from other Erasmus students...they don't have any homework and the tests are so easy...and the teachers wouldn't let you fail anyway...
But oh well, luckily we don't have to pass the test at the end...would have been nice though.
Now I spent too much time reading Sanne's Blog and don't have time to write more about Elvira (that is the teachers name!).
I am off to Morphosyntaxis...another very interesting class that is all about trees...

There it is...

2005-04-04T14:59:00.000+02:00

...hidden in the smallest of the several pockets of my backpack! Why didn't I look in there before?? Stupid me rummaged in all of her bags, frantically throwing out already packed clothes and other stuff while running out of time for breakfast, but completely ignored this tiny pocket! Guess what I am talking about? Right, the hostel key! Well, I hope it won't suffer from motion sickness on it's way home!

Bin ich schlau oder was...!?!

2005-04-04T14:57:00.000+02:00

My very favorite person in whole Seoul and huge idol Susanne had a quiz on her blog. She was asking who and what her Baby Eric is. I was holding my horses as long as I could, but I couldn't stand Sanne suffering any longer, and so I freed her. She will no longer be forced to look at the yummy Mozartkugel. She will now be able to send it to me.

Am I a hero or what?!?

"Lexikon der erklärungsbedürftigen Wunder, Daseinsformen und Phänomene Zamoniens und Umgebung"

2005-04-04T14:51:00.000+02:00

von Prof. Dr. Abdul Nachtigaller
Menschen, die
Daseinsform aus der Familie der sprachbegabten Säugetiere, aufrecht gehender Daumenträger von mäßiger Intelligenz (nur ein Gehirn). Menschen verfügen über zwei Arme, zwei Beine, einen Kopf, aber keinerlei magische, eydeetische oder telepathische Fähigkeiten, was sie in Zamonien zu Außenseitern macht. Infolge der zamonischen Erbfolgerempeleien wurden die Menschen aus Atlantis vollständig verbannt, im übrigen Zamonien sind sie nur noch in kleinen Gruppen, Dorfgemeinschaften oder als Einzelgänger anzutreffen, die übrigen sind auf Kontinente wie Afrika, Australien oder Yhôll ausgewichen.

Back "Home"

2005-04-02T19:00:00.000+02:00

So here we are, back in Bilbao. We arrived at the bus station around 8.30 this morning, after 9 hours in the bus…2 breaks (20 minutes and 30 minutes) included.
We sat right behind a very nice older couple…they left the bus in Vitoria, so they are either from there or from Valencia…but it is more likely that they are from “Basque Country” because they were so very nice! Since it was an overnight trip most of the people in the bus were sleeping. We tried the same. But the woman in front of me kept changing the back of her seat, which became very annoying! I wanted to put my feet up a bit. The thing she didn’t get was that after you adjusted the seat you had to push the button again. The seat was constantly going back and forth, also depending on where I had my legs. If I had them against the seat, the back went back to an upright position, if I took my feet away she was almost laying on my lap.
After a while Elvira tried to tell her that she has to push the button again, but she turned to her husband and said that she doesn’t understand anything and he should try. She didn’t even say a word to Elvira…her husband didn’t get anything either. It really was not hard to understand, but they didn’t even try! They probably thought it is normal that I am the one who can change the position of her seat. So…nothing changed and to prevent to push her back and forth the whole trip over I let her sleep with the seat all the way down and put my legs on Elvira’s lap.
We are here for a little bit now and there were a couple people already who acted a little funny when they recognized we’re not natives, but up until now there wasn’t anyone who claimed not to understand us at all. Those situations are so frustrating! People here can be really ignorant and don’t even want to understand you if you’re a foreigner. Gee!!!
Just a couple hours before that happened we were walking around in Valencia and found some postcards. They were 0.30 € each. We went in to pay and the woman behind the counter didn’t say a word…only pushed the numbers into a calculator and showed it to Elvira. She probably thought we are only some stupid tourists who do not understand her anyway. After Elvira paid she recognized that something was wrong with the price. She asked her and the woman explained that some of the postcards cost more than 0.30 € because they were “antique”, but the price tag said something else… Couldn’t she have said something right when we were paying? Everyone seems to think that just because you’re not from here you are a little stupid…already the way some people look at you can be sooooooo frustrating!
After that woman told us that not all the cards cost the same she went outside to change the price tags.
But now to the more exciting parts of our trip…this is not supposed to sounds as if everything sucks! It is just FRUSTRATING (did I mention that before?) and I needed to let it out before starting with the “real thing”.
We left here EARLY Monday morning…and were in Madrid around noon. It took us forever to find the youth hostel. Elvira called the hostel a couple times and asked for the name of the street, but the Italian guy was speaking so weird that it was hard to understand and it seemed like he said a different direction whenever we called.
After a while we finally found it and as entered the house we were amazed by the elevator, which was really old and kind of looked like one of those typical London telephone booths. It was really cool!
When we came into the actual youth hostel we thought it was pretty small (only one floor) and funny looking. The Italian guy at the reception told us that he is not Italian but Brazilian…both his English and his Spanish were awful and hard to understand. The room was really the best! Three beds, a sink, a little commode, a TV. Everything in a very bad shape… The glass of the window was broken and fixed with Band-Aids! Everything was pretty dirty too…we were glad we were only staying for two nights and only needed a bed to sleep in.
When we wanted to pay the room the Brazilian guy at the reception asked us a bunch of times how long we will be there for and when he filled out the form he still wrote “three”. Then he told us how much we have to pay…and only after doing the equation together with us he saw that he wanted too much money.
Walking around in Madrid we saw lots of things…there are a whole lot of really nice old buildings. It is great that there are so many fountains…
After two nights there we took the bus to Valencia. The Youth hostel was really easy to find and when we came in we were so happy to see nice new beds and simply a great hostel. It just opened about three weeks ago. Katie (who as I mentioned is from New Zealand) and her boyfriend were very nice and we had a great time there. They even let us stay there as long till our bus left, which was 11.20 pm on Friday. In most hostels you have to be out by 10 am or so. Also when we found out that we couldn’t find one of the keys, Katie said: “Oh, don’t worry about it! It’s only a key.” That was luck!
Valencia is REALLY nice…a cute little town with mostly nice people and pretty buildings and fountains. It’s definitely a city worth visiting!
And now we are back…and school will start Monday…HOW FUN!!!

Something always goes wrong

2005-04-01T21:56:00.000+02:00

It's us again. I know, it only CAN be us, but how else should I start? We are still in Valencia, using our last hour here to keep you posted.
We just came back from our dinner, typical "Paella Valenciana" in a restaurant where we were not allowed to sit on a table for 4 persons although only one other table was occupied. But we just wanted to sit next to the narrow window watching the people outside... oh well, nothing we can do about it! (note: the whole time we were there not a single person sat down there)
The paella was ok, the green salad was too watery but they seem to know that there are many tourists who won't come back whether it was good or not.
On our way back to the hostel we took a last picture of a nice fountain where the light seemed to make the water change its color from time to time. Bad thing was that it was the very last picture of my film and I had to rewind it - but it didn't work which already happened before. I thought I had taken the last 36 pictures for nothing but luckily we fixed it. What we did not fixed yet is the thing with the key - we had 2 of them, each one of us got one and I had them both in my bag. Today I didn't find one of them so I had to tell Katie, the one who runs the hostel, about it - fearing it will cost us what is left of our money. But no, Katie was cool and said it's only a key, it does not matter. Phew!

Wir sitzen nur so rum, tun so dies und das...

2005-04-01T18:07:00.000+02:00

...und aergern den Fritzen von der Rezeption, der rennen muss um unser Zeug zu holen, dann um es wieder wegzubringen...
Heute ist unser letzter Tag. Noch ein paar Stunden, dann geht unser Bus zurueck nach MERRY OLD BILBAO! Als wir gestern die Tickets geholt haben, ist Elvira fast aus den Wolken gefallen, als sie die Fahrzeit gesehen hat...8 1/2 Stunden...um 11.30 Uhr (ungefaehr) gehts los. In der Zeit koennte man bis nach Amerika fliegen!
Heute werden wir dann mal noch echt valencianische Paella probieren, die mit chicken...nicht die mit Meereskrabbeltierchen.

Werden dann mal wieder den Computer raeumen muessen...die Leute werfen gleich mit Mobiliar auf uns...

Nothing changed....

2005-03-31T17:19:00.000+02:00

We're still in Valencia...everything is still great...we still do not have any time to sit here and write long posts (but we'll sure do that later)...I just took a few seconds to write something while Elfi was in the room...now she is back and bugging me because she wants to leave...we hope the weather will stay that nice and warm so Elfi won't be cold in MY Capris...wish me luck...or she will bug me even worse!!!

Jaaa....WIR LEBEN IMMERNOCH...(still alive)

2005-03-30T20:35:00.000+02:00

Jepp...we're in Valencia now!
We survived three days in Madrid...the worst YH I have ever seen... but oh well...we only needed a bed. Now we're in Valencia and this YH is perfect...colorful and the people are nice...it's run by a couple from New Zealand...
K...I just wanted to say something really quick...more to follow!!!

Wissen, das die Welt nicht braucht... GRINS

2005-03-22T19:20:00.000+01:00

Buntbären, die
Zamonische Sonderform aus der Familie landbewohnender Allesfresser mit dichter Fellbehaarung (Ursidae); kräftige, bis zu zwei Meter große Säugetiere mit Sprachbegabung. Das Einzigartige an den Buntbären ist ihre farbliche Individualität. Jeder Buntbär trägt ein farbiges Fell, aber keines ist von gleicher Färbung. Es gibt zum Beispiel zahlreiche rote Buntbären, aber jeder trägt eine eigene Variation der Farbe Rot: Ziegelrot, Kupferfarben, Zinnober-, Scharlach-, Mahagoni- oder Klatschmohnrot, Purpur, Karmesin, Bronzefarben, Rosa, Rubin oder Flamingorot.
Es gibt Gelbabstufungen von Zitronengelb über Dottergelb bis Tieforange, man unterscheidet Strohgelb, Sonnengelb, Lichtgelb, Blond, Hellblond, Wasserstoffblond, Dunkelblond, Honiggelb, Bananengelb, Buttergelb, Goldgelb, Bernsteingelb, Schwefelgelb, Maisgelb, Strohgelb, Blondgelb, Gelbblond, Kanariengelb, Quittengelb, Nattifftoffengelb, Zitronengrasgelb, Venedigergelb, Hellgelb, Dunkelgelb und natürlich Gelb.
Die grünen unter den Buntbären unterscheiden sich in Fellvarianten von Smaragd und Oliv, von Türkis und Jade, von Reseda- und Spinatfarben. Es gibt gelbgrüne, blaugrüne, moosgrüne, fichtennadelgrüne, grasgrüne, seetanggrüne, meergrüne, seegrüne, flaschengrüne, schimmelgrüne, graugrüne, giftgrüne, palmblattgrüne, erbsen-, tannen- und efeugrüne Buntbären und noch einige andere tausend Spielarten von Grün.
Die blauen Buntbären variieren in den wahrscheinlich zahlreichsten Abstufungen: Indigo, Azur, Saphir, Zyan, Kobalt, Ultramarin, Königsblau, Hellblau, Himmelblau, Unterwasserblau, Wellenblau, Quellenblau, Veilchenblau, Vergißmeinnichtblau, Kornblumenblau, Enzianblau, Lavendelblau, Türkisblau, Stahlblau, Pflaumenblau, Taubenblau, Nachtblau, Blaualgenblau, Augenblau, Blaubeerblau, Marineblau, Chinablau, Blauschwarz, Kobaltblau, Bleu, Blauviolett.
Womit wir bei den Mischfarben wären. Es gibt natürlich zahllose Kombinationen dieser Farben, die wieder neue Kreuzfarben ergeben: Violett, Mauve, Heliotrop, Flieder, Malvenfarbig, Amethyst, Parmaviolett, Zimtfarben, Kakaobraun, Mennige, Chromorange, Lachsfarben, Apricot, Florinthkupfer, Blaßlila, Elfenbeinfarben, Perlweiß, Rauchgrau, Zinnoberrosa, Graubraun. Es gibt Buntbärenfelle in Diamantfarben: Aquamarin, Cyanit, Goldberyll, Zitrin, Euklas, Chrysoberyll, Chrysolith, Demantoid, Dioptas, Moldawit, Lapislazuli, Topas, Zirkon, Axinit, Hyazinth, Sphen, Spinell, Azurit, Malachit, Koralle, Karneol und Meerschaum.
Und schließlich die Farben, die es ausschließlich in Zamonien gibt: Neol, Cyrom, Zamonit, Krelobim, Elfenweiß, Hutzengelb, Zant, Opalizam, Geistergrün, Chromolinth, Pherm, Voltigork, Melphin, Haluhazinth und Nachtigallerschwarz. Mischt man diese mit herkömmlichen Farben, entstehen die sogenannten zamonischen Doppelfarben: Neolgrün, Neolgelb, Neolrot, Cyromblau, Opaligrün, Phermgelb, Rotvoltigork und natürlich die sich daraus wiederum ergebenden Mischfarben – es gibt keine Farbe, die ein Buntbär nicht haben kann.
Mysteriös ist das plötzliche Aussterben der Buntbären, beziehungsweise ihr spurloses Verschwinden aus Zamonien. Bevölkerten sie noch vor einiger Zeit zu Tausenden den #Großen Wald, waren sie plötzlich von einem Tag zum anderen verschwunden.

"Lexikon der erklärungsbedürftigen Wunder, Daseinsformen und Phänomene Zamoniens und Umgebung"von Prof. Dr. Abdul Nachtigaller

How hard can it be...

2005-03-22T18:12:00.000+01:00

... to find some youth hostels during the "Semana Santa"? We thought about just taking a few things and going on a trip through Spain. Our first idea was to just go and see where we end up. But then we decided to look for hostels and bus and stuff and plan a little bit ahead. Now, when we started to look at all that we found that it is not as easy as in Germany, where you can just go. Most of the hostels do not have anything available, and if they do they have prices that would be suitable for the Buckingham Palace!
Now we decided to make our trip a bit shorter.
Well, we'll keep you posted!

Susan proudly presents...

2005-03-22T18:00:00.000+01:00

There you go... Sanne gave me the very nice idea and now I created one myself... A Blog... What great inventions there are...out there!!!
Ok everyone...we, Elvira and me, want to read you!!!