The Big OE

Well winter can’t seem to make up its mind around here lately. I’ve been pretty lucky so far as it’s been one of the warmest winters in Germany in over 30 years. I was even able to go for a walk along the Rhine with the sun warming my face last weekend, and then a few days later it snowed. I was like a kid at Christmas, of course there wasn’t enough of it to stick around but I was still happy. Then on Saturday night it was warm enough for me to even walk into town without any trouble. Taking the boys to school in the morning is really the only problem, as it’s around -6 degrees Celsius some mornings and there’s been bad frosts a few times, but nothing to really complain about.

Apart from the weather, there’s been some good, some bad and some out right strange things happened last week. Monday mornings are never great to begin with, but last week I found out first thing that I am not eligible to apply for a working holiday visa for the UK, while living in Germany, as I have to have 6 months left on my current visa and I only have 4 and a half months, go figure. But the stupid thing is that even if I had six months left, my visa for the UK would start (at the very latest) in three months time regardless if I was still planning on living in Germany for the following next three months or not. So the nice man at the Embassy kindly told me there was no other way than to go back to New Zealand, and apply there. Just for those not clear on flight times, a flight from Frankfurt to London is 1 hour, a flight from Frankfurt to New Zealand and then on to London is a total of 48 hours flying time, not to mention the cost involved – does that make any sense to you?

The infamous Rhine and Rhinegau region

I love New Zealand, I really do – but I’ve finally got my wings and I’m just not ready for them to be clipped just yet. So I need a new plan, and at the moment I am throwing around the idea of working in Canada for a year. Of course there’s problems attached to getting a Visa there to, but hopefully still doable. Then there’s the idea of working in a Summer Camp, or a National Park in the North West of the US. I could teach English in Japan, Korea or China. For some strange reason I’ve always wanted to work on a ranch in Montana. Then again I could always return to NZ and do honours. One thing is clear however, and that’s that I need to get a good job, I have had my year off and now I need to start using my skills I gained from my degree and get started. Easier said than done right? I seem to have to make these huge life changing choices around this time each year and each time I wish the right path makes itself more obvious to me sooner. But anyway that can all wait for another day, on to some other news. I have just found out I have two weeks off in April so I am planning a road trip doing a big loop through the south of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, a little bit of France and back into Germany. I’m hoping to be able to couchsurf most of the way and meet some locals. I have even been offered an apartment in Berne, Switzerland for a week already, in exchange for looking after their cats while they’re away. So I might use there as a base to explore around as much as possible.

Ellie

Now to the weird, I was minding my own business waiting for Ellie outside a shop and munching on some pizza, when out of nowhere this ridiculously happy woman stands in front of me and starts smiling, then there is a film crew of around 5 or 6 people watching my every move. No one says a thing, I can’t for the life of me think what to say in German so I just asking “What the hell are you doing?”, but no one says anything, they just move around looking for different camera angles. I wonder if it has something to do with the pizza, or fat people eating junk food, I’m utterly confused and no one will answer my questions. I don’t know whether they want me to move, I’m in their shot, should I keep eating or stand perfectly still. I wait desperately for Ellie to come, and then finally the woman in perfect English tells me they are from a Children’s television show and they are doing a piece on peoples reactions, when others smile at them. It wasn’t till afterwards I realised they never asked my permission to film me, and I never had to sign anything like you would back home, but guess that’s just how they do things around here. Of course Ellie came out, when they’d all gone and I was in utter hysterics. Guess you had to be there.

A Bingen lane, with the Rhine and grapevines in the background

The next day Ellie and I drove out to Bingen, a small town on the Rhine and had a walk around, we both needed to get out and have some fresh air. She’s getting married in London this weekend, and so I’m all excited as I’m finally heading over to the big smoke for three days. One of my old flatties just moved there a few weeks ago, so its going to be wicked catching up with him, even my sisters going to be in town, but with the wedding and everything I’m not sure we’re going to see each other. Although I can’t really afford it, I’m shelling out for a night to stay in a “Luxury Hotel” with a few other wedding guests, as I don’t like the thought of finding my way back to a hostel on the other side of town, after the tube has stopped working and trying to find night buses on my own. Better to shell out, and be safe knowing that there are a whole lot of people staying in the same place, not to far from the venue.

So look out for my next blog, with all my antics in London. Ooh and just so you know, the family’s pretty sure they’ve found their new Au Pair, an 18 year old girl from California. So times running out for me, it’s going to be over before I know it. And of course any life advice is always appreciated.