StockholmBlues (Trivia about my Europe)

Happy Easter - already gone

Katrin P. — 2007-04-10T16:39:00Z

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.

Weekend thoughts

Katrin P. — 2007-03-24T10:47:00Z

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.

Flat mates - part 2

Katrin P. — 2007-03-20T18:14:00Z

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.

Who's that girl? - Flat mates

Katrin P. — 2007-03-19T20:50:00Z

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.

Thanks!

Katrin P. — 2007-03-18T21:36:00Z

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!

Springtime

Katrin P. — 2007-03-13T20:51:00Z

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! :)

News expected?

Katrin P. — 2007-03-01T16:14:00Z

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!

I did it

Katrin P. — 2007-02-21T19:01:00Z

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.

Like ice in the sunshine?

Katrin P. — 2007-02-18T08:58:00Z

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)

Hamburg impressions

Katrin P. — 2007-02-16T21:58:00Z

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.

Hamburg impression

Katrin P. — 2007-02-14T21:23:00Z

On my way from work I pass several media companies. One of these is "Verlagsgruppe Milchstraße", a publishing company I know from my traineeship in Kempen. I like it because it reminds me of good times and till now I am looking forward to my job every morning. :)

Finding my way

Katrin P. — 2007-02-14T18:55:00Z

Step by step, I am getting used to my work. Today I searched a lot of book covers for the literature news and of course also prepared the texts. We will publish them successively in the next days. The birthday portrait for a German actress that I wrote yesterday was quite good and will be published next week. I start to be able to work on myself - and I really like that. :-)

As there was not so much going on today, I finished work early and took a little walk through the city. I had left the map home, so I just followed some streets which looked nice. I found a big Thalia bookshop and discovered that I am currently quite keen on books. Okay, not so much on my textbooks. ;-) I would also like to see a lot of films which I missed in Sweden but I wonder how I shall find the time.

First day on the job

Katrin P. — 2007-02-12T19:15:00Z

This morning started a little stressful - I missed my train because the ticket machine didn't want the way I wanted. However, I arrived on the job in time and had a nice start. My boss showed me all around, from the fabulous news desk of Germany's biggest news agency to the cafeteria. My colleagues seem to be quite friendly, and the job seems to be fun although the first day with all its new stuff was of course a bit hard to take. But what do I do there? I edit agency texts so that they can be used for different webplatforms. More or less every text gets a picture to make it ready to use for the customers. That's what I know so far and what I can tell you.

Frosty welcome

Katrin P. — 2007-02-11T18:36:00Z

After having left Viersen rainy in the morning, Hamburg welcomed me with snow. Although the sky was cloudy, it looked quite beautiful. My room and my bike still looked like I had left them ten days ago. Now I've filled my little doghouse with things which are still searching for their right place and I've managed to get an internet-connection. :-) In the late afternoon, I went to town by train to find out where I have to go tomorrow. Unfortunately, it started to rain and the water is freezing now so I prefer to go by train instead of falling with my bike when I start to work tomorrow. However, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and hope it will become a positively exciting day. Wish you all a nice week!

Hanseatic

Katrin P. — 2007-02-04T13:15:00Z

Some things have happened in the last few days. First, I got to know my Hamburg-doghouse for the next months. ;-) It is a room in a studenthostel, 10 sqm, kitchen and bathroom on the corridor - more than 300 Euros! At least, it is clean and my flat mates seem to be okay. Compared to Stockholm, Hamburg seems very big to me. There are 1.7 million people living in the city, so Hamburg is the biggest city I've ever lived in. I've taken my bike with me so that I still can go by bike to work - one way might take about 20 minutes. I am looking forward to see Hamburg from its sunny side as it has always been cold and foggy when I was there. In a week, I will be there again and tell you more about my Hanseatic experiences.
On Friday, I had an expensive evening but thanks to Jens and his mum I didn't have to pay. We went to Mongo's, a wok restaurant in Düsseldorf's media harbour. Afterwards, we had some exorbitant expensive cocktails and finally saw The pursuit of happiness on the screen. The film was sad and beautiful at the same time. It reminded me in a way of "generation internship", as we in Germany call my generation, although Chris' situation is of course extraordinary. The son was portrayed excellently. He was so funny and brought some sunshine into the film.
Today is my youngest brother's 18th birthday. He's lucky that he is already allowed to drive alone, and he seems to be quite proud. Funny that he is already an adult now. I am going to fill 25 in March - what a huge and symbolic number. :( And I'll have to pay my own health insurance then. Such a mess... But now I'm going to enjoy some delicious cake.