Gosh, this Christmas hasn't felt like Christmas at all. One of the reasons is that I've been so busy that I haven't been able to even think about Christmas before we got to Germany.
Originally I had planned to take this one exam in November but in the end I kept postponing it till I realized it was almost the end of the semester. However, I'm glad I was able to take the exam before the Christmas holiday because now I don't have worry about that and can concentrate on the homework I got. The exam was on the Dec 16th and after the exam we met with my sister in a hotel from which it is only half an hour to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We decided to stay a night before our flight to Germany in a hotel since I happened to get one night for two for free and we had to wake up early.
Because of early flight we had to wake up around 4 am. I felt quite awake in the morning but as the day went on I got so sleepy I felt like I could have slept for few days. The hardest part of our journey to Freiberg (Saxony, Germany) was when we had to wait for roughly four hours in Frankfurt (am Main) airport to catch the flight to Dresden. After couple hours we simply couldn't figure out what to do since there wasn't that much to do in the airport. Somehow the four hours went by and we continued our journey to Dresden and so to Freiberg. Though I have learned German for 8-9 years back in school in a few years of university I've managed almost completely to forget the language. Luckily, most people seemed to speak at least a little bit English so that we were able to buy the train tickets to the Freiberg and arrived in our hotel safely.
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| Christmas decorations in Dresden Hauptbahnhof (central railway station) |
My friend had been studying as an exchange student in Freiberg and we knew she was coming back to Finland in the Dec 22nd so we had promised to "pick her up". So we had her as our "local" guide for the trip. It was so nice to see her after few months. I wish I hadn't been so tired after the long trip to Freiberg but it couldn't be helped. I am sure she knows how much I had missed her. (Love you!)
Anyway, on our first night in Freiberg we had a quick dinner with my friend. The food was so delicious!
There are so many things I could write about in here but I think it's for the best to keep this short. What surprised me the most was the genuine kindness we experienced in Germany. We would always get help, sometimes even before we asked for it. This one old man tried to give me some instructions on how to get around in Freiberg. Apparently, he saw me opening the map and there he was smiling and asking me where were we going. And of course in German. It was on the first day so I still had recalled basically none of the German lessons from school. I simply tried to say we are okay and thanks for the help though I understood nothing.
In Finland it is really rare that someone is offering their help so I am used to asking for it. So in Germany sometimes I found it a bit annoying when people were simply trying to be polite and kind. Sorry, if glanced you badly. It was just I am not used to it.
What I was really thankful for was that this one couple we met on a tour to Petrikirche kindly translated us all the things the guide was saying. Though I could understand a lot there were too many words I hadn't heard ever before.
Since I haven't gone through all the pictures I took during our Germany trip I think it is better to leave this for now. I'll make another post as soon as I've got time to sort out all the pictures I took and explain things then. Sorry, it'll take some time since I'll be working and also studying but I'll try my best.
The Christmas preparations failed this year. Usually I am that type of person to prepare everything early so that there is no gift shopping stress just before the Christmas eve. Also usually, I help my mom to clean up the house and decorate it but this year I wasn't able to do it because of our trip to Germany. Even my mom said this Christmas was kind of a failure because she was feeling too sick.
The weather in Finland has been really lacking this year when it comes to seasonal changes. Usually around this time of year it should be a bit frosty but even on the Christmas Day it was like it would normally be in October so... it was a bit disappointing.
Despite the lack of Christmas spirit we managed to get the presents ready on time. The 23rd was a really crazy day. People were dropping by and leaving immediately. We were baking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping the final presents.... It felt like we were doing everything in one day for what we usually use an entire week. Even now I'm still a bit amazed how quickly Christmas was over.
Sorry for this messy post. I've tried to summarize my December which has been quite a hassle from the very start till the very end. There is a one post I'd like to get finished before the New Year's Eve but I am not sure if I can make it because I'll be working till 22pm Mon-Thu this week. So yeah, working on New Year's Eve! Hopefully next year is going to be a bit less of a hassle because I feel like I have done nothing right this year.
Anyhow, till next time!
xxx
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| First morning in Freiberg. The person in the picture is my younger sister. |
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| View from our hotel window |
In Finland it is really rare that someone is offering their help so I am used to asking for it. So in Germany sometimes I found it a bit annoying when people were simply trying to be polite and kind. Sorry, if glanced you badly. It was just I am not used to it.
What I was really thankful for was that this one couple we met on a tour to Petrikirche kindly translated us all the things the guide was saying. Though I could understand a lot there were too many words I hadn't heard ever before.
Since I haven't gone through all the pictures I took during our Germany trip I think it is better to leave this for now. I'll make another post as soon as I've got time to sort out all the pictures I took and explain things then. Sorry, it'll take some time since I'll be working and also studying but I'll try my best.
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| Strolling around in the old town of Dresden |
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| More Christmas decorations in Dresden Hauptbahnhof |
The weather in Finland has been really lacking this year when it comes to seasonal changes. Usually around this time of year it should be a bit frosty but even on the Christmas Day it was like it would normally be in October so... it was a bit disappointing.
Despite the lack of Christmas spirit we managed to get the presents ready on time. The 23rd was a really crazy day. People were dropping by and leaving immediately. We were baking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping the final presents.... It felt like we were doing everything in one day for what we usually use an entire week. Even now I'm still a bit amazed how quickly Christmas was over.
Sorry for this messy post. I've tried to summarize my December which has been quite a hassle from the very start till the very end. There is a one post I'd like to get finished before the New Year's Eve but I am not sure if I can make it because I'll be working till 22pm Mon-Thu this week. So yeah, working on New Year's Eve! Hopefully next year is going to be a bit less of a hassle because I feel like I have done nothing right this year.
Anyhow, till next time!
xxx
