Month: March 2008

‘How was your holiday?’

Whenever one comes back from extended leave, people always ask, ‘How was your holiday?’

On my first day of work today, I answered this question (and variations of it) about eight times. It was a challenge to give a different yet meaningful reply every time.

Usually, I started with ‘It was great’ or ‘Really good’.

Then I focused on one or two of the following.

‘Germany was cold and it snowed most of the time. I wasn’t prepared for it and didn’t have any thermals. It was fine, though, once my legs got numb.’

‘It was a real pleasure, travelling around on German trains. They’re as punctual and reliable as everyone says they are.’

‘I liked — well, ‘like’ isn’t the right word, probably ‘was fascinated by’ — learning about World War II, the Nazis, the Berlin War, the Stasi, Jewish persecution… I feel a bit bad that I didn’t know much at all about this history. I don’t remember when the Berlin Wall fell. I wish I did. It would have been… very emotional, I think.’

‘My favourite thing was being able to eat lots of fast food because it was a ‘cultural experience’. I ate Belgian chocolate and waffles, potato fries, currywurst, brotwurst, kebabs and boreks.’

‘They have really good bread in Germany. For kebabs, bread isn’t just something to hold the food together. The bread itself was really tasty.’

‘I liked visiting the castle at Nuremburg. I didn’t get to visit the Disney castle in the Black Forest, though. I’ll have to go back one day to see it.’

‘There were many grand old buildings in Germany. But after a while, I found out that lots of these ‘grand old buildings’ are actually recreated to look like ones that were bombed in the war. It was Disneyland.’

‘We stayed in hostels. I think that I’m getting to that stage, though, where I don’t really want to do the hostel thing. We had some good ones, which I can recommend, but there were one or two that I didn’t feel comfortable in. Cleanliness, it wasn’t always there.’

‘The trip was about history, architecture and food. After two weeks, it did become a bit of a blur — “Oh, another old building, another chocolate shop.” I’m looking forward to a holiday that’s more about mountain views, clouds and moonrises.’

Back in from the cold

It was very cold for most of the two weeks we were in Germany. No one warned us that it could snow in March. March should be the start of spring and last year, there were record high temperatures. I guess the Germans were taken by surprise as much as we were!

Coming into the St Pancras Eurostar terminal yesterday, London felt balmy in comparison. It was sunny, almost warm, as I went about the neighbourhood today to restock my bare pantry cupboard.

Tomorrow, I’m back at work. Two weeks ago, I left team mates with three big reports to finish off. I hope there weren’t any hitches!

I feel newly inspired to improve myself. I think that being on holiday gave me time to think about what I have achieved so far, and what I want to do next. I haven’t made a formal resolutions list or wish list. I just have a vague notion of wanting to be ‘better’. Perhaps I will start by slowing down so that I can think more before speaking or making a decision.

The train platform in Dresden.

Travelling from Leipzig to Nuremburg.

Someone who must be quite cold in Bonn.

Damjan and I are Aussie battlers, tough as nails. We eat ice-cream even when it’s snowing. This photo shows me eating delicious mango and macadamia ice-cream from a European gourmet food chain called ‘Australian Homemade‘. Weird, eh?

Lessons from Germany

I have discovered an unexpected benefit of having visited Germany. I now have a greater understanding of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which is on TV at this moment i.e. the Nazi book burning rally, Adolph Hitler signing Indiana’s book when he assumes it’s Mein Kampf…

In Germany

I’m in Berlin now. Mo and Ulli are hosting us. I met Mo in a delightfully random way at Cambridge and am reaping the rewards of my willingness to talk to strangers on a whim.

I will be travelling around Germany by train for the next two weeks. I will post photos and stories eventually. I already have one — Damjan and I got on an overnight train in Brussels and nearly had to leave because I had bought tickets for the wrong date! I was horrified. It could have been a disaster. I’ll let you know how it turned out in a future blog entry.

Somehow you get there

Chris, my workmate, is cycling from London to Paris for charity.

He told us, ‘The ride take three days and covers 234 miles — and I’ll be trying to do it on my single speed. No gears!’

‘Wow, Chris,’ we marvel.

‘I might have taken on more that I can handle,’ he admitted. ‘Especially on the last day, when I have to do 85 miles.’

I nodded. ‘I remember one time that I bit off more than I could chew. I had just learned to ski and found a nice flat blue run. I soon found out it was steep, too steep for baby Joan skiier. But it was too late. I was now on the slope. I spent the whole time falling and crying, falling and crying, falling and crying, all the way to the bottom.’

I made a sad face.

‘So don’t worry, Chris. Once you start, you’ll get to Paris, one way or another.’

‘Thanks, Joan.’