Hej! It's me again, and I'm still alive. I've been home for Easter - yeah, four days - and I try to enjoy my last three days in Hamburg now. On Friday, my brothers and I drove to Trier to bring the first boxes there. My flat looks quite okay, apart from the bathroom which seems to have a mildew problem. Ough. But now, as I know what's about to expect me, I feel prepared for the returning even though I'm still working on my time-table for university. The exchange student office offers a reward for the best essay about students' experiences abroad. I've already started to write one and hope to get the first price. If I won't get it - no matter, I'll have done my best then.

Time passes by so quickly. It's week-end again and only three weeks to go until I'll leave Hamburg. I really have to hurry up with sight-seeing. The wind (or should I say: storm?) is keeping me a bit from doing bike-tours but in the afternoon I will force me to town and maybe along the river Alster. Tomorrow, I will have the great pleasure to watch "The Lion King" in Hamburg harbour. I'm really looking forward to it - it's a birthday present from my parents. For you, my loyal German readers ;-), I will try to provide another film review - wonder if you're interested in it?! Ou, and I have to plan the next semester.
Btw, I am planning a little for the summer. Of course, I want and have to fly to Stockholm, probably at the end of May. When chatting with Mats yesterday, we joked a bit about meeting at "Rhein in Flammen" ("Rhine in Flames" - fireworks at the Rhine shores in Cologne, Bonn, Koblenz etc. in summer). But why not? Shouldn't we have a little Erasmus meeting in summer? I'll probably have some places to stay in my flat in Trier then.

My direct neighbour must be a ghost: I have never seen him and he tends to be noisy at night.
Strange things are happening in this house. I got to know Frederic, my neighbour in room B, today. He's from Belgium, and he's studying aircraft construction in Hamburg for one semester. His German is excellent, maybe he's actually German? I will ask him. If I should ever see him again.

At the beginning of March, I told you that I wanted to get to know my flat mates. Of course, I got to know them in the last two weeks and now I can tell you a bit about them so that you can imagine what life is like in our flat "community".

Four Russians moved in, two boys and two girls. Their names are really cliché-like: Vladi, Boris, Olga, and Vicky. Sometimes, I try to talk to them but it's not so easy because I don't speak a word Russian and they don't speak German. English seems to be the best conclusion although they hardly speak the language and I really have to slow me down and pantomime the things I say. However, the boys are nice and have already invited me for a grilled sallad. Quite an exotic but delicious experience. The girls are a bit more shy so I just got to know that all four Russians are from the same town next to the Ukrainian border and knew each other before they came here.

At least two German guys are staying with me. Alex is doing an internship at a big weekly newspaper, and Jan is doing a practical semester as accountant. They are always good for a conversation if I meet them in the kitchen. My direct neighbour must be a ghost: I have never seen him and he tends to be noisy at night. E.g., he obviously likes to move his furniture and watch movies at highest volume. Fortunately, I am used to noisy neighbours at my right sight from Solna (btw - how are you doin', Carles?). :D

I am sorry that I can't tell you anything about the other three inhabitants. Actually, I don't know more than their names and that they're male. Try to find out more.

A nice weekend is just finishing. Actually, it began already on Wednesday. In the evening, Jens came as a birthday surprise and we enjoyed some more time together than I had originally thought. During daytime he discovered Hamburg by feet, and for the evenings we met again. Yesterday we had a harbour tour by boat and visited Miniatur-Wunderland, a model railroad layout - or rather the biggest in the world. We also saw Music and Lyrics, the new Hugh-Grant-movie, and had a great laugh. I'll tell you more in the next days and show some pics.
Last thing for today: I just want to say "Thanks" for all the nice wishes and presents I got for my birthday. Good night!

The last days were beautiful. Sun was shining and spring definitely seems to arrive. It was quite warm, people were sitting at the water and eating icecream. Crocusses are blooming. trees are budding, and the water mirrors the blue sky. Biking is fun in these days, and I am really enjoying Hamburg from its most beautiful view - and through my camera. On Friday, Jens is going to visit me and we will celebrate my birthday. By the way, I changed the picture ahead, you might have recognised that. Enjoy the beautiful Hanseatic view! :)

When I went home today, I was expecting new room mates in my appartment but instead there was - nothing. No new list with new names, no new faces in the kitchen, no new noises. How disappointing! I had been so curious. In fact, I'm quite happy that still there haven't any new rude guys arrived to destroy the ideal of clean kitchen and bath room and a calm night. Would be nice if it stayed like that. But some nice buddies to discover Hamburg are welcome. By the way, I got to know the Thursday market just around the corner from my job. The ecological soup was quite tasty (and definitely healthier than cafeteria food). And from the 12th on, I will start to report from Hamburg properly. Now I am seriously struggling to get my learning things done. Wish me luck on Tuesday and Thursday!

What he is doing in front of the picture is actually (and fortunately) not what I am doing at my internship. Instead, I wrote my first film review about "Bridge to Terabithia" on Monday, and if I am lucky you can read it in one or the other German newspaper next week. I am quite happy how my job is developing, and my colleagues seem to feel comfortable with me, too. What I really have to do more, is learning, learning, learning. And that's what I'll do now.

The sun is still shining here in Hamburg, and yesterday I saw people eating icecream at the Alster lake - at about 10°C! I tried out my way to work by bike and it took me about 25 minutes. Probably it will take less when it's less windy. This morning, the sun woke me up at 8 am and I had a slow comfortable morning. For breakfast, I discovered that I had accidentially made icecream out of the fruit juice I got as gimmick on Friday. The cool stuff tastes actually quite good, otherwise it would be very sweet. In the afternoon, I can go to a press preview of a fantasy film. But first, I will have a walk through the sun. I wish everyone celebrating carnival today a lot of fun - don't get drunk to much, there's another day tomorrow! :o)

Today, I saw sunshine in Hamburg for the first time. As I finished my job early today, I could catch some more Hamburg impressions. The church around the corner from work reminds me of Uppsala cathedral - or am I just "homesick"? I also like the water, especially the Alster, that I see everyday. Now my first weekend in Hamburg has arrived and I am going to spend it with some sightseeing and looking into my textbooks.

Find some more Hamburg impressions on my flickr-page.