Well the last two days have been very tame work days and very rainy. I
had to leave my bike at home today since an umbrella was needed!
Monday afternoon was scorching hot then the rain, thunder and
lightening started that night and has yet to really give up for more
then short periods of time. With the rain I was thankfully able to get
some laundry done and catch up on my reading.

Work was a bit slow today compared to yesterday. I was busy working on
a lab and doing nanoscans but today no one had much for me to do other
than to continue nanoscans. So I took the time to organize my head
onto paper a bit with some to do list and planning for school and
proctor programs. Some how the day did go rather quickly so it was nice.

Tonight was another rainy day so after work I went to the train
station to cancel my bahn card (you have to do it 6 weeks early) and
they said they actually send my my plastic card in the next few days
as I haven't received it yet (that was because I didn't know about
needing your name on the box..). After that I headed home for some
supper, shower and packing as I am off to Paris for the weekend!

Emily Colin and I are flying in tomorrow night and Erin, Jenn and
JOrdan arrive by train on Friday morning. It hopefully should be a
great weekend! We fly back in on Sunday but I am going to stay in
Stuttgart for the afternoon so I can see the new Harry Potter movie in
ENGLISH! yay I think I'm in for a great weekend. So with that I say
good night and will fill you in more on this crazy Canadian's
adventures next week! Chow:)

Dresden Weekend Adventures

The weekend started off as an early morning of being to work by 7am so
I could leave early for the weekend. I was impressed that I made it on
time and was fully awake! There however was an interesting situation
when I arrived. A few people from the building were all standing
outside looking at something in doorway to the office. When I got
closer I found out that it was a boy my guess is about 13 or so asleep
in a ball... I never did find out where/who he was as my German is
still not there. There were enough people to look after him without me
and my lack of communication so I continued on with my day.

Work went by very fast on Friday it usually is one of the longest days
since I am waiting to go somewhere usually. I spent the day running
nanofocus pictures and started taking inventory and sorting the
chemicals in the chem lab.

Once the time arrived I headed out. We were driving which means the
autobahn in this country! I am however getting use to it I think as at
one point I asked why we were going so slow and we were actually going
120 km/h. I am not driving and was driving with someone who has driven
many many times so no worries. It took us about 5 hours to go from
Heidenheim to Dresden but the drive was great and very beautiful. At
one point we were literally driving on the Czech boarder. Another
point in time you could clearly tell where the old boarder between
East and West Germany was so it was an interesting drive.

Once we arrived cleaned up and dropped our things off we headed out
for supper. We went to a great place to eat and I once again confused
the waiter by speaking different languages each time they came to the
table. After dinner we headed to down town as it is gorgeous in the
dark with all the lights. There was a concert going on as well on the
water front so we could hear it form the bridge which is one of the
things that Dresden is famous for. After this we took the tram home as
it was getting late and we were tired from the day of traveling.

For Saturday we were tourists for a good part of the day and I learned
a lot about the city's history and different aspects of how it was
affected by the war. One of the churches that was almost completely
destroyed was just finished being rebuilt in the past 5 years. After
a short nap and some supper (found chicken wings!) We headed back to
the river to meet some friends for the evening. It was really great we
all took blankets drinks and snacks and relaxed by the river listening
to music (there was another concert) and ended the night with
fireworks. As the steam boats that run the river were 175 years (just
a bit older then Canada but hey)

For Sunday it was so nice to be able to sleep in as it seems I have
been running non stop lately. Then after a late breakfast the last bit
of my Dresden trip was spent walking around just taking things in. My
camera died so there are not a whole lot of pictures but I promise
some from Paris for those of you who are my Facebook friends.

We arrived back late last night as we wanted to avoided the heaviest
traffic on the autobahn. We also ran into some rain so we left the
autobahn until it cleared. So this morning at work was hard to get up
to but I made it. The day was a hot but quick one though. I was able
to finish the sorting and inventory of the chem lab so that made the
day fly.

Those are the updates on the latest escapade stay tuned for more. Nighty night

Off to Dresden for the weekend stories when I return :)

Well things are getting back to a little less crazy schedule. Today
and yesterday were a bit slow at work because apparently I finish
things faster then they think I can! All the same itäs better then
reading all day. Today I also had a phone call with my prof from UNB
so that took up an hour of the afternoon. I should be getting new
project tomorrow so I'm not worried.

Tonight was stammtisch at teh Piazza cafe where there was free dinner.
After that I made another sucessful trip on my bike and am calling it
a night. Sleep is required as I am off to Dresden this weekend and
Paris next weekend :)

Munich Adventures

This weekend I ventured off to visit Hanna and her family. They live
just outside of Munich but we spent most of our time in the city.

Friday was Canada Day and now the German's really think that I am
crazy. I wore my red to work and was excited about to Munich. Every
time I said morgan Happy Canada Day! the respone was what?..... after
I got some odd looks. They don't celebrate Germany like this anymore.
They were nice enough to print and make a flag for me when I was in
the lab. I came back to my desk to have a nice flag attached to my
computer! Once work was over (well I left early) I hoped on the train
and headed on my way.

Hanna and her mom and dad were at the station to meet me. We then gave
my bags to her parents as they dropped us off at Tollwod. Which is a
festival where there are all kinds of vendors, entertainors, music and
beer gardens of course. Hanna and I spent the night here celebrating
Canada day. We got odd looks not only for saying happy canada day but
speaking english. After it was getting a bit cold so we caught a train
back to Hanna's town and called it a night.

On Saturday morning after a breakfast with the family Hanna, her mom
and I grabbed the train back into the city. It was raining a bit on
and off so we decided to do a bus tour of the city which worked out
perfect as there was one leaving the main station just as we arrived.
The tour was great and we saw a lot of the city and learned some of
the history. After the tour we explored the city by foot before
meeting Hanna's Dad at a beer a beer house for supper. Where I had a
real Bavarian meal aka a hunk of meet and potato dumpling. For the
rest of the night Hanna and I met with some of her friends in her home
town for another festival. Here I had a giant pretzal with my beer and
found out I was the only Canadian in the crowd..... turns out one of
the bands was Canadian and asked if there were more. I was the only
one who was and happened to be standing by the stage.

For Sunday we spent the day at the museum in Munich. It was a since
and technology museum that was fabulous! We were there for a few hours
but I think I could have spent days there. Sadly after grabbing some
supper I boarded the train and headed back home.

Today I was back in the swing of things at work and was busy all day.
I even managed to ride my new bike safely to and from work with no
issues!

That's the latest in my life but there is more to come :) nighty night

Stories from the adventures in Munich tomorrow