I think this is going to be a continuing story throughout the trials and tribulations of my lessons.
I love driving. Driving in New Zealand was never a problem for me (had the occasional cracked light/mirror/hubcaps but no majors). I love the left hand side of the road, I agree with all the road rules (even the one that they're changing - much to my disgust) and I happily get infuriated with people who don't know how to indicate properly at roundabouts (it's not that hard, seriously people!)
Plus a 6-7 hour drive across windy roads where you have to keep reducing to 50km/h everytime you drive through a town I enjoy - especially with a fully functional radio/CD/mp3 player of some sort. I don't know if I'm that great of a driver... Point being, you would think switching to the other side of the road would be a case of 'ok, so this is how it's done, sweet! and off we go'.
For a lot of people I think that is the case, I know Ingo didn't have any lessons to transfer from the right to the left side of the road. But for me, the confidence on the wrong side of the road just isn't a happening thing :/ I feel all nervous and stupid, and if I can get out of it I will :s
In fact I feel the same way I felt when I started having driving lessons with my dad and mum... Plus I have that similar feeling of 'the person in the passenger seat reeeeeeally doesn't feel to great about me driving right now' which does nothing to increase the confidence levels :s
At least I get told "that was good!" at the end of each little outing :) That helps!
Well onwards and forwards! Haven't crashed - yet - and practise makes perfect (and all those other sayings)
On a more information is helpful to others note: You can drive in Germany on your NZ drivers licence for up to 6 months. After 6 months you can either extend it for another 6 months (but you have to prove that you're only going to be in Germany for another 6 months) or you can do the Germany theory test and get a brand spanking new German "Führerschein" (and you'll be giving up your NZ one if you do this) Otherwise there's the option of an internation licence - not sure what's involved there!
Happy driving!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
My first Haircut
History:
In New Zealand, I had finally found a hairdresser I could rely on. No matter what he did -even if it was the complete opposite of what I'd asked for- I knew it was going to be OK. No tears for me after a haircut! Ridiculously overpriced, but I was happy to pay for the security, the way my head felt afterwards, and the a-mazing head massage always received at the conditioning side of life.
So needless to say, I was a teeny bit nervous about finding a good hairdresser and being able to convey the importance of the moment to them in German.
Thankfully, Ingo also needed a haircut, so I put my wussy I-can't-cope-on-my-own boots on again, and went with him to a nice little place in Morbach.
Also good tip: take photos! and use lots and lots of gestures: "here, and here, short here, long here...." and don't sit down until you're quite sure they know what you're talking about!
I was quite happy :) Not only was the hairdresser very lovely "your German is really good!" "no really!" (thanks, but I'm not stupid ;)) she was also very competent. Only 2 things that I found a little bit wrong hehe
1. Conditioner people??! where was my massage!? (at a quarter of the price of my NZ hairdresser I'm not really too surprised though ;))
2. I realise having thick hair is something many people would love to have (and I DO love having thick hair) however that doesn't necessarily mean I want to have BIG hair. Mousse + hairdryer (without a narrow attachment) + some contraption that puts more air in the hair while flooffing it up more + wax + hairspray = 80s disaster.
But because the cut was so awesome it just took a wash (with conditioner) and a little bit of straightening to get it looking pretty ok :) First haircut experience overall rated pretty high!
In New Zealand, I had finally found a hairdresser I could rely on. No matter what he did -even if it was the complete opposite of what I'd asked for- I knew it was going to be OK. No tears for me after a haircut! Ridiculously overpriced, but I was happy to pay for the security, the way my head felt afterwards, and the a-mazing head massage always received at the conditioning side of life.
So needless to say, I was a teeny bit nervous about finding a good hairdresser and being able to convey the importance of the moment to them in German.
Thankfully, Ingo also needed a haircut, so I put my wussy I-can't-cope-on-my-own boots on again, and went with him to a nice little place in Morbach.
Also good tip: take photos! and use lots and lots of gestures: "here, and here, short here, long here...." and don't sit down until you're quite sure they know what you're talking about!
I was quite happy :) Not only was the hairdresser very lovely "your German is really good!" "no really!" (thanks, but I'm not stupid ;)) she was also very competent. Only 2 things that I found a little bit wrong hehe
1. Conditioner people??! where was my massage!? (at a quarter of the price of my NZ hairdresser I'm not really too surprised though ;))
2. I realise having thick hair is something many people would love to have (and I DO love having thick hair) however that doesn't necessarily mean I want to have BIG hair. Mousse + hairdryer (without a narrow attachment) + some contraption that puts more air in the hair while flooffing it up more + wax + hairspray = 80s disaster.
But because the cut was so awesome it just took a wash (with conditioner) and a little bit of straightening to get it looking pretty ok :) First haircut experience overall rated pretty high!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Ordering my first Macca's meal
After a step aerobics class with Ingo's sister Karolin and her friend Sabrina, I was invited to go shopping with them on Saturday! YAY! Girl-time and shopping :D
I was a little bit nervous about going out without Ingo as my "translator-safety-net" but it turns out I didn't have to be worried at all :)
Everyone has been really good (and super patient!) with me. And I'm trying hard to just concentrate on understanding the gist of what's going on (as opposed to getting worked up over individual words that I don't know) Anyway, the girls were really good at "erklären auf Deutsch" (explaining in German) which means that I don't have to keep switching German-English-German - very stressful on the ole noggin!
The point of this post however is that when we arrived in Trier (the city closest to Hundheim for shopping and other city things) we decided to get something to eat.
You may think that ordering Macca's in another country is pretty straight forward (it is) and you may also be wondering the importance of a post such as this, but I find it extremely rewarding to have achieved SOMETHING relatively by myself ;) You see if Ingo had have been with me, he would have just gone up and ordered for both of us - terrible I know! I'm relying far too heavily on him at the moment! So I couldn't ask one of the girls to order for me (how pathetic would that look) so it was suck-it-up-Verity time, and up I went.
Again, it's super easy to order Macca's in any country, for one thing there are at least 1 or 2 burgers that will always have the same names, and if worst comes to worst you can just point. I asked for a combo (I can't remember which one now) and here is where I made my first mistake: the girl at the counter asked me a question, I didn't hear properly and flustered myself, just said yes, all was ok! Then came the food, and it was a large!
Tiny mistake, turns out the question was something like "do you want a large?" but I'm already eating waaaaaay too much, and not wanting to be wasteful tried my hardest to get all the fries down, not to mention the coke (why oh why is it sooo hard to drink more then 250ml of coke?! Probably a good thing!
Lesson learnt: Don't always say "Ja" You'll probably look less stupid if you just ask them to repeat the question - makes for a happier tummy all round ;)
I was a little bit nervous about going out without Ingo as my "translator-safety-net" but it turns out I didn't have to be worried at all :)
Everyone has been really good (and super patient!) with me. And I'm trying hard to just concentrate on understanding the gist of what's going on (as opposed to getting worked up over individual words that I don't know) Anyway, the girls were really good at "erklären auf Deutsch" (explaining in German) which means that I don't have to keep switching German-English-German - very stressful on the ole noggin!
The point of this post however is that when we arrived in Trier (the city closest to Hundheim for shopping and other city things) we decided to get something to eat.
You may think that ordering Macca's in another country is pretty straight forward (it is) and you may also be wondering the importance of a post such as this, but I find it extremely rewarding to have achieved SOMETHING relatively by myself ;) You see if Ingo had have been with me, he would have just gone up and ordered for both of us - terrible I know! I'm relying far too heavily on him at the moment! So I couldn't ask one of the girls to order for me (how pathetic would that look) so it was suck-it-up-Verity time, and up I went.
Again, it's super easy to order Macca's in any country, for one thing there are at least 1 or 2 burgers that will always have the same names, and if worst comes to worst you can just point. I asked for a combo (I can't remember which one now) and here is where I made my first mistake: the girl at the counter asked me a question, I didn't hear properly and flustered myself, just said yes, all was ok! Then came the food, and it was a large!
Tiny mistake, turns out the question was something like "do you want a large?" but I'm already eating waaaaaay too much, and not wanting to be wasteful tried my hardest to get all the fries down, not to mention the coke (why oh why is it sooo hard to drink more then 250ml of coke?! Probably a good thing!
Lesson learnt: Don't always say "Ja" You'll probably look less stupid if you just ask them to repeat the question - makes for a happier tummy all round ;)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Registering
I am now registered!!! Whoop!
Who would've thought it was going to be so easy? Not me. Just in case anyone else is wondering what registering is (as I had no idea) It's basically telling the State (capital's show importance) where you're living while you are in Germany.
It would be nice to have some simple guidelines out there somewhere -anywhere!- telling a person whether or not they're supposed to register, in fact at the same time as you get your visa would be a nice idea, send you your passport back with a wee little "steps you need to take" booklet...
I digress, my point being, if you are in Germany on anything more then a tourist visa, you need to register at your local council.
And after some helpful hints from a friend that's been-there-before turns out registering is not even that hard! One form later (that the lady we were dealing with filled most of) I am now registered.
Germany knows exactly where I'm living! I can't hide!
I've also had recommended to me this book: Living and working in Germany which I've decided to purchase and will hopefully find very useful!
Who would've thought it was going to be so easy? Not me. Just in case anyone else is wondering what registering is (as I had no idea) It's basically telling the State (capital's show importance) where you're living while you are in Germany.
It would be nice to have some simple guidelines out there somewhere -anywhere!- telling a person whether or not they're supposed to register, in fact at the same time as you get your visa would be a nice idea, send you your passport back with a wee little "steps you need to take" booklet...
I digress, my point being, if you are in Germany on anything more then a tourist visa, you need to register at your local council.
And after some helpful hints from a friend that's been-there-before turns out registering is not even that hard! One form later (that the lady we were dealing with filled most of) I am now registered.
Germany knows exactly where I'm living! I can't hide!
I've also had recommended to me this book: Living and working in Germany which I've decided to purchase and will hopefully find very useful!
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