last days

Hello from Hamburg.

Because today is our last Sunday in Hamburg, we decided to go to the Fischmarkt for the last time. We got there almost at the same time last week, but did'nt see much interesting. Because for a long time we all have wanted to go to the Elbe Tunnel, that was our next destination. After long search we found something to eat and decided to go to the tunnel. Kairi & Elina wanted to go see soccer, so me and Merilyn went on ahead. The tunnel is 1200 m long and under water i-don't-know-how-much. Like always, we took A LOT of pictures and i'll make a mass-post of pictures when we get back. The internet connection here is terrible. When we came here there where some times that we could'nt get a connetcion. But now it's sometimes we get a connection. For today is Sunday, we have about 4 days left here.

Tomorrow we are going back to school. Literally. Kairi & Elina are going to a Berufschule (community collage/kutsekas)for their speciality and me & Merilyn for ours. The school-system here is quite different from ours, so it shall be interesting.

Sunday

Today we went to the fishmarket. Because it is opened until 11, all of us were up at 8 o clock. Excpet Merilyn, who said that we are crazy. We drove two stops with the U-bahn and walked a lot. The market was crazy. People everywhere, dealers shouting and screaming, a lot of seaguls and beggers. We got almost 15 kilos of fruit for 10 euros. The dealer made the baskets and then sold them. In them there were pineapples, papaias, tangerines, limonettes, oranges, bananas, apples, pears, plums.. We actually went there for the cheap fruits and were amazed of it all. Because today is Sunday, most places are closed. And because at the moment there is wetter, that we in Estonia call "crappy skii weather" we are staying in. Eating, sleeping and overally resting.

Time we have left here is quite short. 12 days, to be percise.

Arrived

So we have arrived in Hamburg. Actually, a week and two days ago. I could'nt get an internet connection, but here I am now. Our trip here was.. Interesting. For me, Merilyn and Elina this was the first flying experience. And the plane sounded like it's gonna crash and burn every second. But what do you know! We lived. By deathplane we went to Poland. (I left my scarf in the Riga airport and after many calls and letter it appears that it has found a new owner). Then we waited for about and hour and boarder the plane for Hamburg, Germany. This was a much better plane than the last one. But they didn't have ear-plugs(I discovered that I can't stand the air pressure while landing).

At the airport, Sandra came to pick us up. We went to St. Pauli region, to our accomadations. It's called St. Pauli's Lodge and there are four of us in the same room. When we arrived here, it turned out that they only have three beds and one pull-out bed. Kairi and Elina were the first ones to come in to the room so they got the double bed. I was the second, so i got the single bed. Because Merilyn was a bit late, she got the pull-out bed. There is a shared bathroom/toilet and a kitchen on our floor. We shared the kitchen with the people downstairs. They also use the kitchen for smoking. So when someone smokes in the kitchen, our room reeks of smoke. So we have started to stuff the space under the door with towels in the night. 

The next day we went to Arbeit und Leben and met the team there. We also got some communications tips, tourism tips and etc. We also learned that prostitution is legal in Germany and the main part and "business" street is Reeperbahn. We had language animation with Mr. Böker. He was awsome. After some learning we went on a city-tour and he showed us around. 

St. Pauli is some sort of a football center. They have their own team and all. So we have seen a lot fans and fan-goods.We have also been to Altona, which is interesting too. Even though Reeperbahn seems.. Weird, it was really awsome. There where so many sex shops that you could faint. Out of pure curiosity we went in and we almost fainted. So large choice of everything(and i mean EVERYTHING) and everyones so open about it. Back home it's a tabu(very bad). When someone sees you coming out of a shop, by two hours most your mother shall know because your mothers friends uncles sons daughters friend saw you coming out. We have started to call Estonia our little sweet frogpond (konnatiik) because we discovered how small it really is.

Last Thusday we all went to our internships places. Mine is Mobilcom dabei, Merilyn has Addiwan and Kairi & Elina have Globetrotter. Merilyn has the shortest route, Elina & Kairi have the longest. Mine is in the middle. 

By now we have gotten used to the big city buzzing like a hive of bees. Even thought the city is quite filthy and dirty, it's nice. Multicultural, people are friendly and help you when you are lost. Also there is so much to see. It's currently +5 degrees Celsius. When we left Estonia, it was -24 degrees Celsius. So it's a nice change.

Food is mostly cheaper here than back home. But the meat prices are so high that you could as well start being a vegetarian.Clothing prices are quite low here too, comparing to Estonia

We have all made progress in learning German. Also we can make it here with English. Like i said before, people here are friendly. That means that you can stop anyone and ask for help and probably they shall answer and help you. One day I was trying to go somewhere and was standing under a street sign with a map, trying to figure our where the hell am I now. Without asking a young lady stopped and tried to help me. That kind of situation has repeated many times now. Also, I have been stopped to ask for help. Usually in the U-Bahn (subway/metroo), asking where the U2 gate is or is he/she on the right side. The subways are awsome, by the way. They drive underground and on the ground, over the buildings and over the canals. 

That's it for today, I shall write again soon. When I go back home to Estonia, I'll try to upload the videos I made in the U bahn. 

Auf wiedersehen und schönen tag. 

Third?

So.. As from today there are two weeks left until the flight. At the moment there is about an hour left until our german lessons start for today, so some breathing-time.

A for news from the matter at hand, we have required the knowledge that we shall be flying to Hamburg by two planes. The first from we take from Riga to Warssaw (not sure if spelled right) and the second from Warssaw to Hamburg. Back the same ways. The flight from Riga leaves in 2pm at 6th of February, so i am not very sure that the countdown timer is right.

With the current knowledge we shall be staying in a hostel(which is supposed to be like a group home of some sorts?). From 4 girls, 3 have gotten the practice place.  This leaves the question, who has what. (:

When talking to Merilyn about it, we concluded that we don't want to be split up, because there is courage in numbers. But also we figured that problably the ones to be split up are us.. But no worries, we shall manage.

For now, goodbye. (:

Second

Welcome back. 

Progress at learning German is quite good. For I have studied it a bit before, it's a bit easier to me. Basically We have learned the common courtesies, ordering food and in case of problems, asking for help. The easiest way to to the latter is to stand in one place, raise your hands above your heads and say "Helfe mich!" we were told that in case we get lost, always ask for help. The people are said to be quite friendly and used to tourist. But let's hope, we don't get lost. 

I looked up Hamburg from the map and it seemed quite large. 1.8 million people take resident there what is.. Larger that the population of Estonia, where I am from. Looking from the map it seemed quite far from the sea. As for I have lived by the sea for all my life, it shall be an interesting experience. hamburg is situated on the river Elbe and the port of Hamburg is the third largest in Europe (the first two are Port of Rotterdam and Port of Antwerp). As for we are going there in February, I looked up the average temperature. The max. is 4.4 degrees Celsius and the min. is -1.2 degrees Celsius. Coming from a Nordic country, that has degrees minus 15-30, I'd say that it's nice. At the moment there is +1 degrees outside and the snow hasn't come yet. Which is a shame. 

We have found out the almost exact date on which we are flying to Hamburg. It is the 6th of February. Also we have found out that the practice instructor from Hamburg has dealt with exchange students before and is quite strict. And from the present information, there should be other students from other countries there at the same time too. Gonna be exciting. 

For now, auf wiedersehn. 

First?

So hello!
I am one of the four people to go to Germany. My name is Brit, I am 18 years old. I have red hair and am quite short. I am a shop-assistant for my profession. From my course there is an another girl coming, her name is Merilyn.
Today was our first German lesson. For the first time I met the other people in the program. There are two warehouse operators, on cook and one baker. There should have been two sales-person more, but they were absent at the time. We recived little book called "15 minutes of German" from the program. They are both in estonian and german, so we could learn german on our own too. We are using textbooks too, "deutch im tourismus". Basically it's a textbook for beginners. Seems very practial and easy to learn on my own. But we shall see.
Today we learned the basics. Hallo, ich heiBe Brit, ich bin achtzehn Jahre alt.
Also numbers from 0-100.

When I find out when exactly we are going, I am going to put a time-counter to one of the sidebars.

Auf wiedersehen.