Carcassonne, France: My first two and a half weeks here!

The evening of June 2^nd and I arrive in Paris after a lovely view of the city from the plane as we circled above. My boyfriend was already for me at the arrival gate. Thank God, he was there. Normally, I would take the cheaper option and travel to the hotel by train from the airport – but this time, I had no intention of doing that. Not after the journey I'd had with the 40kg of baggage. Price of taxi : 50 Euros

The hotel was decent enough. It was almost in one of the famous Parisian 'banlieu'. Anyway, we spent a few days in Paris hanging around and walking around. It was hot weather. People were out and about. The Métro was packed and sweaty as always. Although, we weren't attacked on the Métro this time. Yeah, I don't know if I told you that last time we were travelling by tube in Paris some sort of spastic lashed out because he wanted to stand by the door, and we were sitting there. All was well in the end.

So I tried to get back into speaking French. I thought it would make sense as I knew I would be here for three months. It wasn't really happening. Understandable that German words were coming out instead of French ones as I'd been there for nine months and thanks to the German boyfriend I have. It was clear that my spoken German had overtaken my French. It upset me a little bit as I've been learning French for much longer and considered it my second language.

Saturday 4^th June and it was time to travel down to the south to my new home. We sat there on the TGV and watched the weather go from bad to worse. Didn't expect that.

As we arrived in Carcassonne (my new home) I can't say I was too impressed. Not because I knew the town would be the worst place in the world and the weather would be awful, but because I knew it'd be too small. My boyfriend had the time of his life winding me up about it. That was all right though, I wind him up enough when I'm ready.

To be honest, I wanted to turn around and go home. I just thought : I'm going to be so bored here, no escape, small town life, not my thing !

Well, I thought I'd give it a go, and that's what I'm doing. I try to look on the bright side. One of the British girls I got to know in Hamburg is livin' it up in a German village barely on the map for her summer.

We stayed in an old castle in a village called Cavanac a few miles away. It was nice there but the best bit was the dinner on the Sunday night. I'm telling you, it was amazing! Plus, there were about 4 bottles of wine sitting there waiting to be consumed. I got through one.

I also got through a number of snails. I was a bit taken aback by the fact they came as an actual bowl of snails. I thought it was just going the meat of the snails on the plate, if you get what I mean.

The next day, I went to meet my work colleagues at the youth hostel. They seemed like nice enough people. The boss showed me around and showed me my room. He let me know that scorpions have been found around before, which freaked me out. In fact, I saw one yesterday but it must have been a member of the smallest species of scorpion on the planet so I didn't cry too much. I couldn't even really see its stinging tail. BUT, it was on my lock, so all I'll say is : Thank God for that automatic light.

The job's OK. On the first day, the guy in-charge basically said 'here's the bar, do what you want with it'. I stood around and thought 'I dunno where to start' so I started to fiddle with my BlackBerry.

Because the bar won't be opening officially until the peak summer season, I haven't actually been running a bar up to now; I've been playing dinnerman. Serving groups of school kids. Sometimes I've got to do the washing-up. It's hell. Especially when 100 plates come flying at you after dinner. Luckily, people have run along to help me a few times. Maybe they're being nice 'cause I'm new. I'm grateful anyway.

If you know me, you'll know that the weekend, and having fun at the weekend is quite important to me. Well, the weekend in this part of the world is bringing me to tears. Think about it, I've just come from Hamburg, a city with too many clubs to choose from. To say this is a 'shock to the system' is an understatement. I've found one bar, which is Irish. It's probably the best place in the town centre. The staff are cool and I've got talking with the doorman who's English, the owner who's Irish and her barmaid sister. They're nice and they tell me that life in Carcassonne will improve as soon as the annual festival here gets started.

The expatriates who I've met here seem to love it, although they understand why I'm finding it boring. But out of those I've met, none are in any hurry to return to Britain. Or South Africa in the case of one man I spoke to.

If you want nightlife here, it's a train ride away. Nearest cities are Toulouse and Montpellier. You have to start your night at 8pm though because that's when the last trains leave here.

Last weekend, I expected to find a train to take me away for the night at 10pm after having not read the timetable properly. The next train was due to leave at 7am. Soul destroying.

Next time, I plan to go to Montpellier for a night out. Toulouse was a bit of a let-down. Too spred out. No real clubbing district.

The internet and shopping is another pain in the behind. The only supermarkets are miles away. Where I live is like living in a theme park! So, if you fancy I drink and would like to pay 2,50 for it, go ahead.

The bigger problem is with the internet though. The hostel internet does not reach my room. Of course, I can step inside the hostel to use it, but I far too lazy for that. I'm only happy when I have working connection in my room. Cut a long story short, it's costing me a lot to run this internet 'key', as it's called in France. And when I run out of credit, guess what I've got to do ! Yes, walk to town and back.

I have to say the countryside around Carcassonne is very pretty. My new colleagues took me for a drive last week. We went to a very picturesque village – a tiny one. I don't even think it's on the map. Nice. I don't mind a bit of countryside. Just don't keep me there.

I think Carcassonne would be a bit better for me if I could drive.

My colleagues now know I'm gay, by the way. I told them after that drive when we ate lunch together. Phew, two of the other colleagues are too. Apparently, one of them predicted before I even left Germany. Well, what can I say.

They're cool about it though. However, the girl I work with in the kitchen has obviously never met a gay guy before. I thought it was sweet at first, but now it's a bit too ignorant for me. Watch this space, I fill you in with some of the things she's said if she continues to come out with idiotic stiff.

I've got an hour left at work – zzzzzzzzzz. The owner of the Irish bar's invited me to another bar tonight. Starting from 1am. We'll see how I feel in a hour.

So, that's been my first couple of weeks here in France. Hope it hasn't been too dispressing for you. I'm flying back to Britain for good on Thursday 8^th September - there's some good news.

But, I'll be keeping you informed well before then.

Bonne nuit

May: Last month in Germany!

Good day, everyone. A month and a half to tell you all about – I'll try to do it briefly.

The main thing that's happened within that time is that I moved from Hamburg to the south of France. I've been here for about two weeks now. However, you're still in the dark about my last 3 weeks or so in Germany, so I'll fill you in...

Remember last time I left you I said that there was a school trip to London coming up, and I didn't want to travel there and back on the coach with them? Well, that trip happened and it went really well.

They did what most tourists do: walked and walked and walked. It was almost too much walking – for me anyway.

Of course, they saw all the main London sights. But for me the best part was when we let the kids loose in a certain area for a few hours. That meant the teachers and I could go to a restaurant or pub, have a nice meal and a few glasses. In this time, the teachers also had a chance to meet my boyfriend. He'd heard a lot about them; they'd heard a lot about him. And it meant they could all speak German together. They liked him a lot!

I think for the two teachers who went on the trip, the fact that I was there was a relief for them. On the Tube for example, they only had to follow me. No going to the wrong platforms, no getting on the wrong trains.

I think for all of us, the musical 'We will rock you' on the Wednesday night was the highlight. They were in London for 4 days in total. They left on the Thursday night, leaving me to stay on there until the Sunday night when I flew back.

Towards the end of my time in Germany, I tried to spend quality time with the friends I'd made there. A week before I left, a group of the teachers and I went to a top-class restaurant at the back of an industrial estate. It was a buffet. A plate there cost 35Euros. Because it was my last few days with them, they 'invited' me as they say in German, which means I ate for free.

And the night before I left, we went to a bar together where I was showered with a few presents. I was a bit overwhelmed. This came after a day of presents at the school when the pupils applauded me and said 'thank you' and 'bye'.

Perhaps the sweetest present was an album of our trip to London which had been put together on a Mac. Apparently it was sent off and returned as a book, and that's how it was presented to me – so sweet.

All I all, I'll never forget the folks I worked with in that school. Lovely people who were nothing but nice to me. I hope I see them again.

Of course, there was the young English-speaking crowd with whom I shared the Hamburg experience. We had a few nights out too. We met up as many times as we could towards the end – mainly to get as many drinks down our necks as possible. The last full weekend in Hamburg was a good one! But after it was over, we decided to meet up one last time on my last night – for food – and 20 litres of beer, between us that was.

It was a brewery with good reviews and obviously, this 10 litres of beer thing went down well with us too. We wanted it to be a kind of traditional German last night. So, we ate and drank. Afterwards, some of us went on to the Reeperbahn. It was busy there even though it was a Wednesday because the next day would be a Bank Holiday.

That was my last night in Hamburg. The hope is to see the guys I met there again. I know it'll be easy to see those again who live near London, but I really hope I don't lose contact with the rest.

The next day involved the mighty task of moving to France – moving a whole room to France with a 23kg weight limit. Thank God, I'd already shipped a suitcase back to my mum in Croydon the day before. I also bought a new suitcase as I knew the other one wasn't going to cut it. Packing and tidying took all day. Going to the airport I just knew the bag was going to be over the limit. I wasn't wrong, it came up on the scales at 37kg. I was told I would have to go and buy another suitcase, transfer some stuff over and get the main bag down to under 23kg. I had no choice so that's what I did. That left me 100Euros out of pocket and I went on my merry way. Left Germany.

New, easier to read blog update! Here's my April!

Hi, everyone,

Wow, I have a whole month to update you on. That's how long it's been since the last post on 25^th March. In that time, quite a few things have gone on but I'll TRY to keep it short.

Twitter insult

Ever woken up the night after a night out and said “My God, what have I done?”

That's exactly what I said to myself on the morning after a night out a couple of weeks ago after I managed to offend every female friend I have here in Hamburg. They woke up outraged after I branded them “stupid bitches!” on Twitter!

After they got over the initial shock, some decided to write me angry Facebook, Twitter messages back.

I was horrified myself and took the tweet down straight away. Dunno, what got into me there but they're actually used to me calling them “babe” and “babes” or even “baby” - sometimes it's “darlin'”, in fact.

What I was trying to say on Twitter was express that I think females tend to stick together when it really comes to it. And so do the boys, I might add. This wasn't true in this case though. Someone put that idea in my head. I've now learnt to keep well away from Twitter after a few drinks. Luckily, I've got good friends; one of them explained to me that after waking up furious, she then came to realise that it was a drunk Leo. Being drunk's no excuse though, as I mentioned in my apology which was posted to both Facebook and Twitter. Glad that one's all cleared up anyway.

Flatmate's banging habits

I would like to add my flatmate on Facebook when I leave Germany (I'm pretty sure she has it). Great idea, but it will be a bit of a worry once she's added. Especially if she discovers that everytime she's had sex – sex which has been overheard by me – it's been plastered all over Facebook and this blog.

I normally wouldn't do this but she really does pick her moments. Take last week, as I was waking up at 4am to get to the airport to catch my 7am flight to London. She was up at that time too. 'Ok, fine', I thought. But she was in the shower, which I thought was a bit weird. Why the hell's she showering at that time of the morning?, I was thinking.

Oh, yeah, I might have known! As I was leaving, there she was next door. Her way of saying 'bye'? 'She could have waited 30 seconds and she would have had complete privacy,' I said to myself. *Rolls eyes* - Anyway, I'll miss her.

My school wins first prize

Not much been happing in school over the last month, apart from this: My school's 8. Klasse winning first prize for their Spanish film. And then another when they performed a stage version of it to a audience in the hall of the ugliest school ever in Mümmelmannsberg, Hamburg. It was long day but worth it after they beat off nearly every school in Hamburg. This competition happens every year in German schools, in which schools compete to make the best short foreign language film. Something which just wouldn't happen in Britain, I was actually very impressed! So they left with two first prizes. Now, they will go on to perform at a national level in Magdeburg in June to compete again schools from across Germany.

London & Royal Wedding

So I returned to Hamburg from London on Monday evening. I spent Easter there. It was a nice, long break and we were treated to splendid weather on most days.

My boyfriend and I did a country drive to a country mansion in Essex last Sunday, but Friday was the day to look forward to. What with this Royal Wedding that was due to happen.

I won't say I flew into the hype by flying into the UK, because there was just as much, if not more, in Germany. There certainly was hype in Britain though with only a week to go. I bought Union flags from the pound shop and then began to get quite excited about Friday.

On the day, we left the house at around 10am to go to Hyde Park. Not many people on the streets. We now know why – 25 million people watched it. Hyde Park was great with thousands of people gathered around the three giant screens they had up – we arrived just after Kate left the hotel. I also missed the point at which Kate and Wills were declared 'man and wife,' because I was off buying booze.

I felt nothing but happiness for this future Queen of ours as she left Westminster Abbey as a princess. Shortly after that, the party in Hyde Park began and it was the moment when everyone came together to wave flags, drink and dance. A great day. I continued to walk around with my flag all day as it's not everyday that days like this come around for us.

First Anniversary

The next day it was all back to normal but I had a surprise to look forward to. For our first anniversary, my boyfriend told me that he'd arranged somewhere special for us.

We walked past the Centre Point tower in the heart of London and he stopped to take pictures of it. I got restless wondering why he was wasting his time. The reason was - that was the place!

A restaurant that sits at the very top would be where we'd celebrate. I was very impressed and London looked fabulous from above. As you may know, I love my home city of London so it meant a lot. Plus, we managed to get a table by the window which looked out to the west of the city – at sunset. Great times!

Passport

I did start to panic a few weeks ago after the photo in my passport started to peel away from the laminate. Anyone who's seen my passport knows it's look like shit for a long time ever since it went for a dip in the beer in 2007. I only got it in 2006. I then learnt not to put it in bags with beer when travelling intercity. It's not just that though; I think it's been out on every wild night out since I started uni. I've got no other formal ID, you see.

I was worrying because I'm travelling quite a bit these days. Phoned the British embassy and stuff. They said replace it. I said there's no time because I don't have a week or two to wait – I'm travelling at 2 week intervals from now. I decided to take the risk and when I returned to the UK, I asked the immigration officer. She didn't look at it the first time but when I asked her, she then gave me a bollocking. Anyway, it's been fine going and coming, I WILL change it when I'm back in the UK for good in September.

May Plans

I will be back in London in two weeks time but, this time to play tour guide. The 10. Klasse from my school are to make the trip (by coach) to London to see the sights and practice their English. I'll be there as a sort of guide and to escort the boys of the class to Wembley Stadium, as the two female teachers have no intentions of doing it.

I'll be flying in, not coming on the coach with the rest of them. I could have one on the coach for free but I bough a plane ticket just last week. That's how much I don't want to do that coach journey both ways. It's going to take them at least 15 hours each way, what with all the stops they'll have to take. Plus, I've just come from London. No thank you!

For the moment though, I'm back in Hamburg and it's exactly one month before that one way flight to Paris. I'm determined to make the next month here, an unforgettable one. We had lovely weather here before I went to London so I'm hoping for some more.

If you're into UK politics like me, you'll know that the AV referendum will take place tomorrow 5th May in the UK. I ran around to get the application to Croydon, which enables my mum to vote on my behalf. Tonight, she announced on the phone that she won't vote for me because she "can't be bothered and because Yes2AV will lose anyway". I'm sure she will though ;) 

Also, one of my FAVOURITE TV show, 'The Apprentice' is coming back to BBC One on May 11^{th. I'm so happy, it feels like it only finished the other day. It was actually before Christmas. Time flies.} 

^{And lastly, I will leave Germany on a direct flight to Paris on 2nd June. Sad time - I'll be sure to update you guys again before then.} 

^{Take it easy, people :) xxx}

Summer Plans and March update

I now know that I will be returning to the UK for good sometime about 10th Sept. I finish here in Germany on 31st May.
You might be asking yourselves: Where will he be and what will he be doing for the summer?
Well, I'll be in the sunny south of France - working. I found the website of a woman who finds work placements in France for students. I gave her a call and she quickly arranged this placement in Carcassonne for me. I only had to pay her £150. The placement is in a youth hostel working in its bar for 35 hours a week. I'll have a room provided by the hostel nearby to the hostel. I'll get 3 meals a day, 7 days a week and about 400 euros to go in my wallet every month - Sounds amazing, right?

It is an amazing deal and I will be doing it. One thing, though: It's not in a city! I may sound like a big baby but, it's a BIG THING to me; however, I've decided to step outside my comfort zone and 'try something new today.'
Toulouse is not too far. It'll be warm there and everyone I've told about this says the town is very nice. I believe them. Come and see me, people!

So, when I'm finished here in Hamburg it looks like I won't have long before I'll have have to be in France. I will book DIRECT flights from Hamburg to Paris soon. No coming home to London. I'll get back to you with the date.

I was back in London for almost two weeks at the beginning of March. Didn't do much apart from spending time with my boyfriend, watching a lot of Judge Judy with him in the mornings, and doing whatever in the evenings.
The weather was nice!
I didn't want to leave to come back to Germany but I know I'll be sad to leave here when the time comes.

There's just 2 months to go. It really has gone fast. And one of the things I'll be most sad to leave is the school...

School started again on Monday and even the first lesson was eventful. As usual it was Monday morning with 4a. Remember those lovely 10/11 year olds?
One fight took place in the room (it wasn't serious). Then I witnessed a girl showing the boy sitting next to me, Nic, her middle finger. At least it wasn't aimed at me this time. But insults were, from Nic himself during the break when the teacher and I decided to keep him in to write out the class rules. Not just him - but he was by far the rudest and it wasn't the first time.

He ended up in front of the Deputy Head after he ran out the class twice, refused to do the work, insulted my German and even tried to be rude in English to me. She gave him a talking to and reminded him that his Italian dad's German would have been a bit shit back in the day. She didn't forget to praise my German too. We all know it needs improving though ;)

Same old, same old with that class. Now, the teachers and I are discussing what new action to take against the main trouble makers future lessons. I'll keep you updated.

The rest of the week was great with the kids, as usual. On Wednesday evening a few of the teachers and I visited a teacher off-sick with a broken leg. We sat around a table and played a German word game. I thought to myself: 'There's no way I can do this.' It was actually quite funny in the end. They went easy on me, allowing me to say it in English if I couldn't say it in Deutsch.

This is Delroy Grant (such a typical Jamaican name). He was convicted to life in prison today with a minimum of 27 years. He's the man who raped numerous OLD women (and some men) all over South London and beyond for almost 20 years.

I know I've gone on about this on Facebook and Twitter today but, for me this case feels quite close to home. The first area in which he struck and also one of his favourites was Shirley, Croydon (where I'm from). They appealed for him three times on Crimewatch so I was always aware of him. I remember thinking about him when walking home from the night bus stop along Shirley's empty streets at about 4am after a Central London night out.
Obviously he wouldn't have wanted me but what if I'd seen him in the street like this CCTV camera saw him here in Honor Oak Park, SE London :



Just the sight of him would have freaked me out.

I can't believe they it took them so long to catch him. Those poor women. What's the point of the police going to Crimewatch if they're going to ignore some of the names given to them?

Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8404565/Night-Stalker-Delroy-Grant-
profile.html

Anyway, folks, I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll try to. Drum 'n' Bass night tomorrow night from 11pm at Juice Club in Stresemannstrasse in Hamburg tomorrow. If you like DnB - be there!

Until next time!

Birthday and end of Feb!

Finished school 4 hours ago meaning that my 18 days of holidays have now started. Today's a good day.

I guess you'll want to know whether I'm staying here in Hamburg for the time or bolting to sunnier climates.
Answer: Yes, I will be returning to London on Tuesday.

Let me update you on the goings-on since last time.

I saw 'The King's Speech' - finally! And in English too. My flatmate took me as a kind of birthday present. My boyfriend called it 'our date.' She bought the tickets, I bought the bucket of popcorn even though she only had two hand fulls out of it. In fact, I've just finished the bucket now - we went on Tuesday evening.

I thought it was a good film like almost everyone else did but noticed the outbursts of laughter at almost every line from the German audience. Something that Chris and Kasia warned about. It came down to them not really understanding the light humour of that kind of British drama. Although some lines certainly were loud-out-loud funny.

Back to my flatmate and she and I had a long discussion after the cinema. Very interesting. I learnt more about her relationships past and present and her temper (which explained her throwing the boyfriend out of the flat last week).

She spoke English but suddenly reverted back to German.

We moved on to talk about the Turkish in Germany. I've found myself in the middle of countless immigration discussion recently - about the situation in Germany and in the UK. What she had to say about Turkish people in Germany interested me because it was the same opinion I've been hearing from many Germans.

The gay discussion came up to. Yes, she already knew about me. No, she has absolutely no problem.

Chris B left Hamburg for a sunnier Spanish life. It seemed to hit him in his last week of being here that his time was coming to an end. We went for drinks etc. to see him off.
His main drink up was on Saturday before his departure on Sunday. Unfortunately, due to Emma B's leaving do the night before, many people were too hungover to go.

I turned 22 this week and it was a calmer affair this time, but still amazing. Boyfriend came from London late on Friday - He was back in Germany visiting me after 2 months.
We were soon out of Hamburg early on Saturday morning and en route to Berlin. I didn't reserve seats so we almost ended up like cattle by the doors of the train. That angered my baby, but soon we found seats together and then we were kissing.

The journey was only two hours and I saw the German capital for the first time. It didn't feel like a capital to me and there were a lack of maps and clear signs for tourists.

Our appartment was amazing! A long open plan loft with patio doors which went the lenght of the flat, allowing the sun to shine through. The sun was shining there but it was FREEZING. We had to stop to warm up whilst sightseeing.

Despite the city not having a capital city aura about it (in a way) and the bad sign posting, I found it to be a cool city, very interesting. Especially the history. You can actually feel it when you're around the wall, I would say.

The best part was my birthday suprise arranged by my boyfriend - I love the man! I guessed it would be some sort of city tour but I didn't expect it to be a self-drive tour - in old East German cars known as 'Trabis.' They're so famous that people waved and took pictures as we passed. Of course, we kissed for those pictures. And we got the thumbs up from one woman.

I can't drive so that allowed me to sit back and enjoy the ride. Working out the insane gear stick also wasn't something I needed to concern myself with.

So that was Berlin.

Back in Hamburg, school hadn't gone anywhere. In fact, I forgot all about it on my actual birthday, I had the day off - it was a Monday.
To be honest, I hardly did a thing in school this week apart from stay awake. I got a two bottles of alcohol as a birthday present from the Deputy Head and from my mentor - a lovely card went with the Deputy's bottle and some Marzipan came with my mentor's. They're both darlings!

And they've sorted out this weekend's pre-drink, that's for sure.

"You wanker, you arsehole!"

I just love getting up at 7am on a Monday morning, me. Especially when I'm going in to get called, not just a wanker and arsehole, but also almost every other swear word in the German language!

You've probably guessed that these kids are the worst of the bunch but you might not have guessed how old the boy with the worst mouth of them all is.

Well, he's 11. And that's what happens when you try to keep him and the rest of them in during break when they think they're just gonna swan out when the bell goes.

Ahhh, we'll see how it goes on Monday same time, same place. But if they think I'm backing down, they're in for a shock.

The bitching amongst the teachers in the school continues meanwhile. 10 teachers were off-sick yesterday. One of them (who's always sick) rang in today to let them know she'll be off until Wednesday. The deputy rolled her eyes after the message was passed on.

Another conversation took place just before I left today. It went something like this - 'Oh, her! So, so bad, she is.' That was a member of staff they were talking about. They don't like her then!
I just sit back and listen to it all. Maybe learn a few words along the way. I think it's doing wonders for my German, I'm sure.

2nd lesson today and I'm left standing in front of a Year 10 class. I'd been asked to get the lesson started. I'd actually finished for the week but she just assumed. That was all right though. It's not like I was going home to do anything other than sleep and w*** - guess the Year 5s were right about something!

The rule is that I only speak English with the kids - so that's what I do! Didn't expect the group of girls in the corner to literally not understand 'What's your favourite sport?' though. Even when speaking asss sllooowwlllyyy assss posssibblleeee. We got there in the end anyway.

I've finally worked out the difference between the German school years and the English ones. The English school years are one above. E.g. 4. Klasse here would be Year 5 in the UK. Dunno why that took me 5 months to grasp.

So, Monday night and my flatmate and her man didn't see their usual Monday night at 11 banging through. Oh well, maybe next week. Instead, it was me doing the screaming - real screaming.

Noooo, not like that, you dirty people! I had a nightmare, innit.

Never screamed like that before after a nightmare. It was 3am and was in a world in which I was being held hostage. Maybe it was the cheese I'd eaten before bed. I dunno, but I really scared myself and I was sad my boyfriend wasn't there to hold me.

Also on Monday, I decided that I, without doubt will go to France after my time here in Germany comes to an end. I've opted to try to find something in Marseille. But that's just it, I've got to find something! So that's what I've been doing all week, trying to find some sort of work to do in France over the summer. Happy times!

Lastly, I just want to express my love for EasyJet's Speedy Boarding option. I flew to London and back last weekend to spend Valentine's with the boyfriend (It was my first one - awww). So that meant having to fly twice in under 48 hours. Not my thing but Speedy Boarding made it just that bit more bearable.

Run to the front of the long arsed queue at Hamburg after an already long arsed queue at Passport Control.

Then, on the way back, it was already bad enough having to go to Luton. It was even better when I only had one fairly long queue to wait in.

Well, anyway I suppose that's just my opinion.

Love you all :)
x


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Sex, boozing and bitching!!!

Getting off to sleep was delayed last night. He had it...in her in the next room. So, I played YouTube videos from a chatshow with the hope that the laughter would drown it all out.

Anyway, it didn't go on for long. Anyway, maybe I need to chill out. 

The next morning we happened to bump into each other as I was on the way out. She quickly made of point of saying (in English) 'Sorry, if we disturbed you last night.' Hmmm, funny that, she usually speaks to me in German.

I guess she thought - better apologise to the guy in his own language. Awwww - That was sweet I thought. Heading for the door, I, full of embarrasment mumbled back 'Oh, no, no don't worry about that.' 

That was that! Funny thing is, I really have any problem with it. It's just cringeworthy to hear everytime I do hear it.

So, almost a month has passed since I last spoke to you all and it's been a month of champagne drinking. Well, 'Sekt' which actually translates into 'Sparkling wine.' For me, however it is Champagne. It basically has the same effects and what would I know about 'good' champagne at my time of life!

It gets you to a 'nice drunk' and contrary to what others say, the hangovers are never usually that bad. 

I don't think I'll be drinking it on an empty stomach again though - the way I did on Saturday. No, that almost had me on the floor of the S-Bahn platform at Reeperbahn station - like Emma B did. The one bit of floor in Hamburg you wouldn't want to end up passed out on. 

We've had a few good ones this month anyway - as usual. The last couple, however, have been getting a little too messy.

On the school front, and it's all good. I still hate 4a and love 4b. Actually told a child to 'shut up' yesterday and yes, I have no regrets. It's not that bad. Anyone who went to school with me will probably remember one teacher who used to use 'shut up' on use all the time. It was her favourite! 

In my opinion the most interesting news coming out of my school here in Germany is the bitching. 

I think it's coming a head now. Speaking of 'heads,' one of them was in the canteen today bitching to our whole table but it was a bit more than just bitching. This person was MAD today- with one teacher in particular and didn't really seem to care who heard.

The main bitch was that this woman's whole class is obtaining low grades and that she's hardly ever there. 

Meanwhile, the same woman being bitched about was herself doing the bitching the other day - to me. Complaining that a new teacher that I work with never says 'hello' to anyone when he walks into the Staff Room. I was thinking, well, neither do you, darlin'! I was once a new, foreigner in the Staff room. I remember.

Madness!!!

Xmas and my entrance into 2011

I've had an extreamly lazy two days so I felt I should write a bit of blog in order to feel like I've done something other than just sleep after school.

Of course I've been going to school since being back. Getting up again for the first morning back after the break was hard - They always are! But, like most people I got back into it fairly quickly. Thankfully, it hasn't been too cold since I've been back in Hamburg either. 

I did come back to snow still on the ground on Jan 2nd but that's all gone now. So, that was almost a month of snow on the ground here and I'm frankly glad to see the back of it. Saying that though, it's better than the icy, slippery streets which existed in Hamburg just last Thursday. I quickly came to realise that I do not have shoes for those conditions. In fact, I realised before even getting to the end of my street at 7.30 that morning!

Christmas is over and I'm happy about it! I like little things about it, but in general, I'm not really into it. 

Flew home on Dec 24th after a worrying few days leading up to that day. The crazy weather in Europe led to everyone panicking about getting home on time for Christmas. And I had to be the one flying into Heathrow, the worst affected one of them all! With BA! I didn't have too much faith in them. 

Don't get me wrong, I love Germany, but didn't fancy spending my xmas here. I had plans. I hadn't been home for three months etc. 

Anyway, I got back. The boyfriend was there at the arrival gate with his xmas hat to greet and kiss me - Awww! 

We went on to spend a great xmas together with a lopsided tree and a few presents for us both on xmas day. 

My presents from him included a haunt from our Hamburg trip in July, something which we made use of on Friday night just gone and quickly contributed to a VERY messy night out indeed. And a sweet, lovely album which I can hold dear for life. Sweet. 

My presents to him were very average. I didn't know what to bloody buy him, to be honest. Although I know he is still using his mug with the sentence 'I love you to the moon' in German on the side of it. 

The other included 'Deutschland schafft sich ab,' that controversial book about muslim immigration and intergration in Germany, you may have heard about. Well, just because you're reading it, doesn't mean you agree with it. It's still in the Bestseller Chart here, I might add...

The only other present I went on to to buy was a Wii game for my brothers. I had missed them and Christmas is just for kids really. That's what I mean about Christmas just being a lot of hassle with all the crap of buying presents for everyone you know. Sending out cards left, right and centre.

'Oh, this one sent me one, so I better send him one back. She didn't bother this year so fuck 'er.'

Yeah, it's all that that puts me off. 

Anyway, I won't rant. Christmas was great. We had a German xmas in the UK. 'Sauerbraut,' in fact. I forgot to bring the main ingredient from Germany so on Christmas Eve I was sent out to search for a whole load of stuff which is hard to find in Kentish Town. I found enough of the stuff that we needed, in the end, and it made for a great dinner on Dec 27th. Yeah, it was two days after Christmas but WHO CARES! 

We also had a friend around for dinner too and he said it was the best food he'd had in a "long time."

As soon as I arrived home again, I quickly thought to myself  'Nothing's changed here, has it?' ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I know it was only three months away but I realised that I'm not missing nothing at home really while being in Germany. Apart from my boyfriend, family and friends, the place itself isn't going anywhere. So, I had no problems returning after the New Year. I even missed speaking German in everyday life which really freaked me out. So I've decided to enjoy the rest of my time here to the fullest and try not to get homesick again. I'm travelling back a bit more this half of the academic year anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Speaking of New Year. Good times!
I would like to say 'thank you' to someone. Not that he'll be reading this but as I was running like mad over a footbridge at Elmers End station for the train on New Year's Eve with two hand-luggage bags, a Tesco's bag with a 2 litre bottle of Strongbow and a bottle of champagne in it, I didn't realise that the bottle of champagne had fallen through the hole in the bag onto the floor. I managed to catch the train and as I was getting my breath back, a bottle of champagne came flying through the gap between the doors as they were closing. It took me a minute to figure out that it was mine. Thank you to that man. I wasn't going to be buying another one and I like my champagne at midnight at New Year. 

I was running 'cause I was late as usual, if you hadn't guessed!

We saw in 2011 on Primrose Hill once again. It was lovely. And I was on the hill without a coat, so the weather was treating us well for a December night. We kissed at midnight. ...But I was far too drunk soon after midnight...as usual! I won't tell you exactly what I consumed but I went on to have Chicken and Chips afterwards...Big mistake! I was in bed by 1am.

I was a bit fed-up with all the rushing around to see everyone while I was back. I tried to my best to see everyone and spend as much time with them as possible and then it felt a bit like I was still being criticised. Of course, I spent a bit more time with my boyfriend - That's what people in relationships do. So why can't I!? - DUH!!!

Back in Hamburg and a middle finger was being directed at me in the classroom from a nine-year-old boy!

This little man was pissed off after I took his rubber away from him until the end of the lesson because he was allowing people to throw it around the room. 

AND THEN, he attempted to run off at the end when I asked to wait behind after the rest had gone. Anyway, he was dealt with and yesterday I got a WAVE ...How nice, I thought!!!

We've been back for just over a week now so last weekend most people were out. We were at Katy's on Friday night. There was a lot of alcohol around and after a drinking game was completed, obviously everyone was pretty close to the edge. It was on the S-Bahn that things got messy though. ...Especially after the rum was passed round. So we don't really remember a lot of Friday.

Saturday was quieter as we headed to 'Hafenklang' again. It was an 80 & 90s night - Yeah, GERMAN 80s and 90s stuff. We weren't really ready for that but whatever. We danced, we laughed. Weed was available but I gave that a miss. I'm a good boy.

Ended the night with a full Pizza Hut pizza from the Reeperbahn. I knew it was gonna happen as a slice of the same kind of pizza sent me to heaven on the Friday night. Even the funny drunk lot on the S-Bahn home were badgering Katy and I for a bit. Piss off!

This week's been pretty boring actually. I can't do anything in the evenings really. I just keep thinking about the next morning. I just stay here and eat. It's a lot easier. I guess it's time to try and get some sort of work in Germany. I've still got time - at least 6 months. 

I say this week's been boring but for about a minute last night, it provided me with a bit of, hmmm, light-horror! OK, I know this is Germany and I know we all have needs but... Warn me somehow so I can brace for the final moments if they're your loudest! Don't get me wrong - Lovely lady. She gave me a guide book for my upcoming trip to Copenhagen - I thought that was sweet but, baby, please! EEErrrrhhhhh!

Maybe I'm just being naïve. I didn't think they'd 'do it' with me around as I hadn't heard them up to now. Maybe this round was just a tad hotter than usual.
Or, the boyfriend just said "Fuck this, I'm not waiting 'til the guy in the next room is back in England again. That's loonnnggg!"

WHATEVER!

Until next time, folks! :)