Hotel Schmidt Essen

... and would also be glad to hear from you from time to time. Maybe it's hard to imagine, but while on the road, office talk, family affairs and village gossip will be highly exciting - so please keep sending mails! If you'd prefer getting mails to a different account (e.g. your private one instead of the office one), just send me a note with the correct address. With all the stuff keeping us busy at the moment, we've had little time to get really excited about the trip ...

Belgium was a bust



Hello!

So for two weekends in a row, my plans have not worked out exactly as I had hoped. That has only made me more determined to come back again and see Europe! It is unfortunate that I won't go over the border in my 2 months here. I will only set foot in another country on my way home when I stop over in Vienna and Singapore on ...

Hello my lovelies!
And a big 'hi' to my cousins Evan and Kristy who have recently decided to be my friends! Yay...

I am currently experiencing a lonely Valentines Day. I am talking to Scott online but it's just not the same...

My classes have pretty much come to an end. We found out how we did in our second exam. I got 20 more points which was a fantastic improvement. If I had have gotten this score initially I would have been in the 2nd top class, so that ...

... I would have liked, but oh, well! When our language class started we all had to write a letter to the editor about the Government banning Cigarette advertisements. It was quite easy for me to do and I wrote nearly two pages in the time that it took some to write half a page. And that was without a dictionary! Thanks Monash Uni for making me have to write 300 word essays in 30 minutes in the end of semester exams... So I think that mine was OK...

After that we did a ...

... and unfortunately Cori has to leave Saturday at 3pm to get back to Munich to work that night. Also, I promised Scott that we would see Neuschwanstein together and I am really looking forward to experiencing it with him.

I have 2 free days at the end of the course in which I might be able to visit other cities or countries. I was thinking maybe Brussels or Amsterdam then, because they are so close... I also have the option of coming back to ...

... This weekend coming is the free weekend. I am visiting Cori on Friday and staying over in Lauterbach. Then Sat I am going to Rothenburg, one of the prettiest and oldest villages in Germany, and from there to Wurzburg (they are the start of the Romantic strip of Germany). Sunday night I will head back to Essen.

And guess what? In 4 weeks today I am going to be back in the land of Aus!
Funny how time flies... Luv u all,

Sarah

... and see saws and Jair took photos with his camera. When I get a copy of them I will post them.

In Düsseldorf there was an Opera shop so we went in there to buy our tickets for La Boheme. There were only 3 left. 3 of us wanted to go. It was perfect. And so cheap! They really look after students here and give them fantastic discounts!

After that I tried my first ever taste of Häagen Daas Icecream which is supposed to be the best in the ...

... because of the trains. We went to Mayersche a giant bookstore in the Centre of Essen for a bit of cheering up. I found some wonderful books that I can use for my teaching in Australia, as well as a really cheap trashy teen fiction written in German that I am reading at the moment and understanding most of it.

When I got back to the hotel we made dinner and then got ready to go out to the Delta Diskothek. It's a giant disco that has ...

Hi guys,
Don"t know if u have heard or not, but Germany is in the middle of a hurricane. 150km winds and severe warnings from the government to stay indoors. It was supposed to hit Essen really hard and we were all sent home from uni early and told to stay indoors. I really wanted to go online today to talk to u all like I said I would. Sorry guys!! I"ve just borrowed Tara"s laptop now. Mum, if u read this, send me a text message when u wake up so I can ...

... to call the hotel. I met Ramona today and got my allowance for January. Then we had an official welcome, with some information before I had to sit a test to determine which level of German I am at so I can be put into the appropriate class for the duration of the course. After that we went to the Mensa, (it´s like the cafeteria...) I ...