Update!

So yeah...it would appear I haven't been so good at keeping this blog up to date! I can't actually believe that February was the last time I wrote a post! Time has gone so fast here and a lot has happened in the past few months! I'm not going to bore you with every tiny detail, but I will try to give you an idea of what I've  been up to!

So, I think I'll start with the places I've been and the people I've visited. The first trip to mention is our trip to Berlin for Charlotte's 21st all the way back in March! Seven of us Bangor students met up in the capital to celebrate Charlotte's birthday and we had a lovely time. It was so nice to spend the weekend with friends and the visit definitely confirmed that I would like to be in Berlin for the summer if possible! The weekend after, I decided to travel to Saarbrücken, where Charlotte is spending her year abroad. Phil, Ryan and I were all staying with Charlotte for the weekend and, again, we had a wonderful time. We spent the Friday evening cooking and baking a cake, then on Saturday we decided to travel to the Saarschleife. It was a bit of a mission getting to the Saarschleife because after getting the train, we found out that the bus we had planned to take didn't run on a Saturday (despite it saying it does on the website!) So...we started to walk. When the pavement ran out and we were walking up a steep, winding road, I got a little dubious! We decided to walk a little further, but eventually stopped at the side of a road and decided to call a taxi (which isn't so easy when you don't know where you are!). We did eventually get to the Saarschleife and the view made the journey absolutely worth it! We spent the evening celebrating Charlotte's birthday again with her friends from Saarbrücken and I made the nine hour journey back to Plauen the following day!

Six of us (plus Idris the dragon) by
the Brandenburg Gate

Four of us (and Idris!) at the Saarschleife

Shortly after my trip to Saarland, it was time for the Easter holidays. As Sachsen had already had a 2 week holiday in February, we only had 1 week for Easter (whereas most of the other states had 2) I managed to convince my family that I was going to be spending the week with Jon in Scotland, however this wasn't the plan at all! I landed in Edinburgh on Saturday evening, and after spending a day in Scotland with Jon, we both made the journey home on Monday morning. Needless to say, my family were surprised to see me turn up on the doorstep later that afternoon! I had a lovely few days at home and spent the week visiting friends and family. Jon and I also went to Chester Zoo with my Cousin Sam, her partner Kyle and their baby and we had lots of fun before I had to come back to Germany the following day!

Chester Zoo. Still kids at heart!

The next trip I went on was to Passau to visit Amy, Rach and Ellie. It's so nice to have Bangor students dotted around the country- it means I get to explore more of Germany and see friends at the same time! Again, we had a really good weekend. The Passauer Dult was taking place the weekend I got there (this was a festival with a fairground, beer tents and bands etc). The atmosphere was fantastic and having everyone dressed in Dirndls and Lederhosen, dancing on benches whilst drinking their Maß of beer really conformed to Bavarian stereotypes! Whilst in Bavaria, we also went on a day trip to Munich where we went shopping, visited some churches and went to the olympic village. The weather took a turn for the worst when we arrived at the olympic village, so we took shelter in the olympic tower and although the weather wasn't so good, we got some nice views of the olympic village and BMW World. After a nice day of exploring Passau, it was time for me to return to Plauen after yet another lovely weekend with friends.

I think they're the main trips that I've been on. At the beginning of May, I had to go back to London for the second half of the UK-German connection conference, but it was a whistle-stop, one-day trip so there's not much exciting to say about it! I also went back to Cologne and spent a lovely weekend with Phil and Rebecca for Phil's 21st. Other than that, I've not been up to a huge amount apart from going to the theatre a few times and also to the cinema. I'm now finished at my school, but I am still in Plauen at the moment. Life without school is a little on the dull side! I had a really good nine months at the school and was a little sad to be leaving! I am hoping to spend the summer in Berlin, but have had no luck finding a job there up to now. I think I'll give it a few more weeks, and if nothing turns up, I'll go to Scotland to spend some time with Jon.

I think I've rambled enough now. If I do manage to find a job in Berlin, I will keep you updated on my year-abroad adventures!

Tschüss! :)