Happy New Year!

Brilliant! it's 2008, finally. I have been looking forward to this year, as the last 7 months of last year have been a bit strange and uncertain, what with moving about all over the place, and not really knowing how the future would pan out. OK, so we never really know what the future holds, but it's usually safe to say that you know where you'll be living and and whether you will have a job or not.

Now the place to live and the jobs are pretty sorted, I can get back to the important tasks of having fun and enjoying life in general again. Or at least I would were it not for this stupid Christmas cold that refuses to budge. I think I will stay in bed tomorrow in an effort to kill it once and for all.

I'm quite excited today as i just got my computer back from the shop where they've done it up for me so I can use my shiny new I-pod toy that Mr V bought me for Christmas. The poor thing was seriously out of date and starting to struggle with websites and things because it was so 'old fashioned'

For New years eve we went to 'the village' in Germany, and saw our old friends and sat in our old favourite pub. quite nostalgic, but most heartwarming. The midnight 'diy' fireworks were exciting, in a kind of 'war zone danger' way, and the dash back to blighty with a few hours sleep and a raging hangover was not Ideal, but really glad we went.

Dusseldorf - New Year

Not very handy

There are times in this land, when I still get caught out and infuriated by the over organised and officious manner of the place.
For example, I went into the T.Com shop the other day, where I got my mobile phone from. They call mobile phones 'handy's' here. Handy? why? because it's 'to hand', ie. in your pocket when you need it. I've always found it a very amusing appropriaion of English.
I wanted to cancel my contract because I'm leaving, simple, right? you tell them, and then a month later they cut you off? WRONG. Even though I have had the phone for 2 years which was the original contract I signed up for, now, because I didn't give 3 months notice to terminate, I have to have the phone for 6 more months. That is nuts. I'm sure it's all in the contract, but did I read that? ERRRR...NOOOO, something to do with it being in German, and me arriving in here 2 years ago and not speaking any German. All the Sausagelanders probably read their contracts in detail. This is, after all a nation where examining any kind of paperwork is a major pastime. Checking supermarket reciepts immediately after clearing the checkout is virtually a national sport.
Pah! to the phone company. I might just close my bank account so they can't have my money, ha! wow - I am so clever.
Oh, this reminds me of the on-going histoire with the GEZ...It's a long one so I might have to make a seperate post.

mobile phones - there is no escape.

All the fun of the Fair

It's called a Kirmes here. This one comes every year, and spends 3 weeks setting up on the banks of the Rheine, and is open to the public for 10 days. I've never been before, so I just HAD to go last night when some friends invited me. Someone told me it is the biggest kirmes in europe, but I'm not sure. It has apparently over 4 million visitors in it's 10 days of opening. It is also, I discovered, connected to the parade on Sunday (see my last post) celebrating the schutzenfest (shooting festival)
More info here (in german though!)



Not being an experienced fair-ride traveller, I chose to go on the 'Euro-star', the biggest mobile rollercoaster in the world and scareyest ride in the whole fair. Brilliant! Of my fellow riders, TI was unimpressesd because it was not as smooth a ride as the rollercoasters in her native Canada, Mr V loved it, and I was stunned into silence and just grateful that I could still walk and talk when I got off, come to think of it CP was also rather quiet, and mysteriously dashed off home after the ride...


Following all the excitement, we calmed our nerves with a beer, and found a nice 'push penny' arcade to play on. I won a haky sack and a toy motorbike, great! I did also go a bit crazy taking pictures, what with all the 'pretty lights' and stalls. you can see them here.

Altstadt Parade

Having spent the last three weeks afraid to leave my flat without an umbrella, I was most elated to see that this weekend the forecast was hot hot hot, with lots of sunshine. It was sweltering in fact, and on sunday mr V and I ventured into the Altstadt to sample the delights of the annual 'Frankreichfest', (french festival) which I have to say was somewhat lacking in frenchness. Granted there were a few stallholders from france, but there were also several Sausageland ones, masquerading as french............Shocking! so we ate 'brie' on bread, as it slowly melted onto the plate, and washed it down with 'pink' champagne, which was probably sekt, pah! such a hard life. We purchased some sweaty cheese, and turned our attention to the marching bands that were circling the town. Now, I do love marching bands, all the uniforms, the xylophones, drums and well, marching....i think it's great...and if there is one thing that they do well here, it's a parade.



I have no Idea what the parade on sunday was all for, or who the groups were, or why they were marching, and strangely I can find no reference to it in the local events magazine. Perhaps it was just an oppourtunity to get dressed up and show off a bit while there were lots of people in town, who knows...but i enjoyed it. I think my fascination for these parades stems from rememberance day parades in the village where I grew up. We always went and marched with the guides or brownies, or whatever organisation we belonged to, and there was always a really big parade since we had a large army base just next to the village, who came out in force, with bands and everything. It was kind of exciting and serious at the same time.



Dispite the 30+ temperatures, the 100% sunshine, and lack of breeze, these guys soldiered on with their formations from 1 till 6pm, marching about all over the place. I think a few snook off for a glass of the local altbier, but who can blame them really?!

Demolition

they are knocking down the block at the end of my street. there is some kind of strange satisfaction about seeing the insides of a building as the outside is stripped away. It was a perfectly good building before.

Curry night

Well, I somehow, and at very short notice got myself involved in cooking curry for 8 people on Saturday night. I read a recipe book, trapsed around all the finest foodstores I could find, looking for the right ingredients, and came up with a selection of dishes to offer my friends. I did also manage to use up some leftover Sharwoods curry that I'd made earlier in the week (CHEAT!)

One of the major drawbacks of sausageland is that they, as a nation, are not curry lovers. They do have a favourite dish known as 'currywurst' but anyone who has sampled it will know that it is a very poor form of curry, most probably made using curry powder ketchup and water, pored over a chopped up 'wurst' (sausage). I refuse to eat it, and as a result me and my rostbeef friends are resigned to cooking for ourselves or going to the very expensive "shalimar" restaurant.

SO, after a MAJOR stressful saturday cooking and shopping, dinner was served at 9pm, and everyone enjoyed it, thank goodnes, and as yet, no reports of food poisoning. hoorah! The dinner was followed by the customary visit to Fatties Irish bar. my memory ceased to function beyond my first drink, which was certainly felt the next day, as I spent to whole day in bed watching the second series of Monk. I've not been so sick in ages, and, as usuall...I'm never drinking again!

Fatties!
all the pics

Post office drama

Being the generous sort that I am (some might call it "mug") I offered to post a rather delicate shadow puppet back to the Uk for my dear friend RV. Having beautifully wrapped it in a rather individual way, which I thought made the package much more exciting, I set off down to the 'postbank' to send it on it's way. Whilst walking through the park, a chirpy 'nordic walker' woman made some comment to me as I passed her. Understanding not one word she said I just smiled stupidly, and went on my way. On arrival at the post office, the lady behind the counter looked rather pained when I produced my 'paket', firstly I think it was incorrect by her estimation, that it should be refered to as a 'paket'....she queried me, and I appologised my my inadequate language, as is customary in these situations. Then there was the question of the 'corner', or rather lack of it. I had fashioned my parcel rather like an oblong shape with one corner missing. This shape was clearly not conforming to the post office's regulations of handling. I was aghast, mostly at the thought of having to return home with the parcel and 'build' a corner onto it. I mean REALLY? The woman cross-referenced her doubts with her colleagues, and they all agreed that, I could by all means send it, but it would probably be rejected by the sorting office, due to being the 'wrong shape' leaving me in all sorts of trouble, what with having to collect it and then re-pack it and re-send it and so on. Classic tactics for deferment of descision making. I was cornered by their logic, and had no choice but to return home and make it a boring oblong shape for the boring sausageland postbank. I trudged off home, praying it didn't rain on the way, and hoping that I didn't see the Nordic Walking lady on her second lap of the park, after all she'd probably been trying to warn me about my dangerous parcel shape when I passed her earlier....