The older I become, the more fascinated I am of what happened in November 1989. I was seven years old on that evening when Egon Krenz announced that the GDR opened the borders to the Federal Republic of Germany, where I lived and still live. My brothers where 3 years and 9 months old. I don't remember anything about this evening. I just know that adults where discussing a lot for weeks. And I remember that just weeks or months before I had understood that there were two Germanies. And it had been hard to imagine that there was another country named Germany. What were these people there like? Did they speak the same language as we did? What did they look like? I thought it was really weird to have two countries with the same name.

To have a more objective view on November 9th, 1989, see jowinal.de.

Yesterday, a new star was born: Felicitas. She's the daughter of two friends of mine. For me, her birthday came all of a sudden. Till April, I hadn't even known about L. being pregnant - that was due to my Erasmus studies in Stockholm and the internship in Hamburg. In the last few - and most visible - months I've been home only a few times so we didn't meet each other. I hadn't been aware at all about how fast a pregnancy can pass by. And now there she is. :-) However, I'm glad that mother and child are fine, and I wish them all the best for the future! And I'm so curious to see the little girl...

For many Niederrheiners, Pentecost is almost a synonym for camping holidays at the Dutch coast. This year, Jens and me joined the queue to Holland. Our "reward" for the journey were two wonderful relaxed days at the sea. We camped for free (thanks to Jens' dad), enjoyed a lot of unhealthy but delicious Dutch food (frietjes, bami, poffertjes, hagelslag, vla...), had a chilly time with some of Jens' cousins and their friends, took a walk in the dunes - short: we had real holidays. :-)

Do you know what's worst about going away? Packing suitcases. I have to make so many decisions what to take and what to leave. Each decision makes me more aware of that I am leaving and how much I will miss in the next weeks.

This morning was full of nice surprises. First, I got up early. That's quite good because I have to learn a lot for my exams in March. Second, I went to the hairdresser. Now I look like a human being again and my head feels much lighter. Third, there is snow falling, and it is still there. :) All in all, everything looks nice again. Of course, my hair was totally wet after I had returned from town and my new hairdress was destroyed but the snow makes everything look brighter. Guess that will last maybe till the late afternoon. Snow in our region usually does not stay for more than some hours.

Hej friends!
Welcome at my new weblog. :) I am back home now for more than a week, trying to get used to Germany again. In the last days, I have tried to get everything in order again: my papers, the whole stuff I brought from Sweden, my knees which still hurt from Oslo. Of course, I have also contacted old friends again and enjoyed some time with Jens and my family. As I am going to Hamburg from February to April, I finally decided to have a new blog - I am no longer a "MeWi abroad". From now on, you can read about my adventures here.
Have a good time, whereever you are!
/Katrin