Tryp Hotel Centro Oberhausen

... for the 4 days. I also thank you for giving me the tour of Northern Holland as we did in 1977 with John Balcombe & John Westmore. I enjoyed the time with you and your family and especially meeting Wilma again. Thank you.

Most importantly I must thank my beautiful wife Fernanda for allowing me to take this journey. She has always understood that I left a part of my soul here in ...

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 ...

... in my head. I didn't buy the program because it cost nearly as much as my ticket and I couldn't justify it. (The last week of a holiday u want to live like a rich man, but must live like a poor man). There was a beautiful song which I am sure was about a woman on her wedding day. I really wanted a copy! We went to the stall where they were selling the CDs but because it was all brand new music, they hadn't recorded it yet. Gretel (from Cuba/Sth Africa) bought a CD ...

... 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 ...

... next Thursday and hopefully the Phantom of the Opera on Friday, plus on Valentines day I am going to see Don Giovanni. It should be good. And it's so incredibly cheap here. I have never known an opera to be only $15 for students in Australia. (Mind you, I have never been to the Opera in Australia...)

So I will leave u to think of me in a winter wonderland (I am not sick, so this is an accurate description).

Speak with u soon,
Sarah

... singers were superb. The overture and the orchestra were amazing!
After the Opera, I made a snack for tea and then went to bed.

Monday morning we had language, and then in the afternoon we had IKK where we looked at prejudices, stereotypes, cliches and jokes. Most of them were quite funny, however all written in German. If I get the chance I will try and translate a couple to post on my next blog.

After class I went into ...

... 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 ...

... of sleep than I wanted to have, I looked out the window and the tiniest branches on the tree outside my room were perfectly still. No crazy wind; a damp, but not wet day. So I made the decision to go to school.

My morning class was easy to sit through. We watched a movie called the comedian harmonists. It's about a barbershop quintet from Germany from 1927 to 38. Some of the members are Jewish and others are Arian. A really good story and ...

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 ...

... be a really famous actor is taken out of a concentration camp to tutor him and help him prepare. Hitler is a bumbling idiot and the Professor acts almost like a psychiatrist, revealing that Hitler has 'father' issues and that is why he did everything, to make his dad happy. He would have preferred to just send all of the jews to somewhere like madagascar... Anyways, the Professor makes him to heaps of humiliating things, like ...