fabuleux destin de Beth

MR Martin Beth

2008-06-28T19:27:00.001+09:30

Why is it that in the past few weeks, Germany has cracked down on my gender? Apparently I am now an incompetent male who doesn’t know better and subsequently continually enters my name backwards. Last name? First name? All the same really aren’t they??

Last night as I tried to check into my hotel in Munich, I was told that I had booked incorrectly and that they couldn’t accommodate me as they were waiting for a MR Beth, first name- Martin. I pulled out the booking to prove that I had, in fact, entered my details correctly and that they must have changed them in the belief that I was a man... I was begrudgingly given a room.

As I tried checking into my flight back to Berlin a few minutes ago, I was told they had no record of me.. again even though I had my printed flight confirmation on me... No, they were expecting a Mr Beth also. Indeed, thereafter followed an embarrassing conversation for the woman at the checkin counter as she tried to politely tell the main checkin centre that passenger Martin Beth was standing there in front of her; “no SHE is standing here. No, No SHE is standing in front of me. Yes SHE.” Etc. Etc.

I need a decidedly more German name - any suggestions?

Absturz

2008-06-22T16:28:00.007+09:30

A recent fall saw me admitted into the German hospital system. Firstly I was taken down the many flights of stairs from my apartment not on a stretcher, but rather on a chair strapped to the back of the paramedics. Arriving at the Emergency Department of the hospital, we were greeted by a sleepy nurse, and told we could wait for the doctor... yes, in the whole hospital there was only one doctor. Visions of the many Australian ER's I visited full of bright lights and people running around made this tiny cubicle with devices I swear haven't been used since the second world war, seem more alien than ever to me. After not checking me for concussion, not attending to my nose (which was freely trying to bleed as much as it could), not really listening at all, I was taken to a ward... and left there. for a day and a half before any tests were done. It seems that the nursing staff were not amused with their jobs, sometimes coming past as little as twice a day and, if called, were extremely put out that we had "torn them from their card games" and "coulnd't you come to the nursing station if you had a question next time?" (yes I will get myself in my wheelchair, and drag my drip along behind me... nothing better for the circulation than a late night drip stroll.. .) At times I listened to the bell from others calling the nurses for up to 20 minutes, before they attended the patients... The photo is as I tried to get let out of the hospital, and had to wait for half an hour before a nurse was available to sign me out.

German humour

2008-03-25T07:46:00.004+09:30

So with nothing better to do than to fight over whether or not Tempelhof Airport should stay or be torn down (and let's face it, choosing between yes and no can get a little old...), it seems that the German baggage handlers developed a sense of humour between unloading and sending out the cello that Dave bought me from Italy... At least the cello was bestowed with German sobriety... no smiles for that poor thing!

gegen Nazis in der Mitte

2008-02-06T05:42:00.000+09:30

As the U-Bahn was striking, my feet had to take me towards Alexander Platz and I stumbled across this:

reminiscent of the pre-war signage throughout Germany.. but instead of Kauf nicht bei Juden (don't buy from Jews), this time it's Kauft nicht bei Nazis (don't buy from Nazis)

(no Nazis in our street - in Berlin - in Germany)

(We're against Nazis in the 'mitte' - area of Berlin)
and then found this telling me finally what it was all about - so a clothing store opened with brands that neo nazis like wearing and the whole people of Berlin are against it. Whole cinemas have stopped advertising their movies and instead have 'No Nazis in our street' plastered across their banners. Again this belongs to Berlin's fighting nature. The present and the past are so inextricably integrated.

three strikes...

2008-02-02T19:32:00.000+09:30

Walking Jakob home from Kumon the other day, we were forced to wait for 20 minutes before we could get to our U-Bahn station - reason? The police and fire services were striking. (A little ironic that the striking policemen had to be ordered around by.. well, policeman, who were working at crowd control). Thursday night I had to go underground to get to the shops I needed to for carnival costumes because of, you guessed it, a strike in Alexander Platz. Yesterday's strike ,however, beat them all as, without any warning (at least the DB let's you know in advance when they are about to cut all train connections), the BVG, Berlin's public transport system, entirely shut down. No busses, no trams, no U-Bahn. The city couldn't function and my feet are now very sore! I guess it is this fighting spirit that tore down walls and reunified countries, but sometimes I wish they would just go to mediation and talk it out..

As four year old Paulina put it: "Die wollen mehr Geld für wenige Stunden? Donnerwetter sind die Faul!"
("They want more money and less hours work? Man are they lazy!")

getting political

2008-02-01T05:46:00.000+09:30

"Where in the world has one ever seen a nation that erects memorials to immortalize its own shame?" said Avi Primor, the former Israeli ambassador to Germany, at an event commemorating the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz on Friday in Erfurt. "Only the Germans had the bravery and the humility."

And as you look around Berlin and see entire city blocks devoted to striking, thought and discussion provoking pieces, memorials to a past designed by its future, you can only admire the honesty in their recognition of all that has gone before. Is admiration enough, though, to wash away truth and replace it with feel-good-warmth? Can tonnes of concrete and stone, arranged artistically by talented artists truly depict forgiveness and not just glorify, beautify, make more interesting, something so utterly horrific? Do these monuments just become some form of a symbolic Mecca: once reached, forgiveness is granted for all sins gone before.

I watch Jakob as we take the tram from the Berlin Wall museum (school) back to our apartment block, as his eyes follow the TV tower, as we ride through the death strip, as we see the stones dedicated to escapees from the East who were shot, and I wonder whether any of this will strike him at all, or will he just see them for their aesthetic beauty and nor place any weight on their symbolic meaning?

oh no... :(

2008-01-18T17:19:00.000+09:30

I was just listening to the australian news online:

"I am still trying to get in touch with an official interpretater". Yes. Interpre-ta-ter. I guess this is indicative then of the studies about only 1 out of every ten Australian primary school teachers being able to correctly spell 10 consecutive words.

aussei aussie aussie

2008-01-16T17:24:00.000+09:30

I am glad to see that news.com.au is keeping up the high standard with the headlining article about our now most famous asset (apparently) Thank heavens wikipedia had other ideas...

oh Jakob....

2008-01-16T03:35:00.000+09:30

Two new Jakobisms from today:

The scene: Beth is practicing English with Jakob and after working through our favorite colours and what we would paint the walls;

Beth: I love your pirate ship
Jakob: Was heisst 'love'?
Beth: I love... I love blue and you love red
Jakob: oh!
Beth: Do you know what I love?
Jakob: of course! - Me. (said so seriously!)
Beth: um ok. and do you love me?
Jakob: umm Ok.

Ahh to feel appreciated!
it got better though:

Scene: Walking past the wall memorial near Jakob's school, there is a stone in the footpath to the memory of "Rudolph Ulrich" one of the many who were killed trying to get to the other side of the wall and escaping the east. Jakob asked me to read it to him:

jakob: Why did they kill him?
Beth: well he was trying to get away and they didn't want that
Jakob: well why didn't he fly?
Beth: umm I'm not sure.. I don't think he would have been able to
Jakon: but why not? He can fly
Beth: Maybe he couldn't that night?
Jakob: so how did Christmas take place then?
Beth: umm .. (then it clicked..) Jakob, Rudolph was a man! Not a reindeer..
Jakob: Oh! I thought you meant the reindeer was killed and that made me sad because then Santa must have had a very hard christmas.

Good to see that Berlin history is being rewritten with a festive feel..

complete method in my madness

2008-01-14T17:23:00.000+09:30

I knew there was a reason I stopped being a part of the surreality that is myspace: it was actually a preemptive cost saving initiative.

the parents in Berlin :)

2008-01-09T17:15:00.001+09:30

I just put my parents back on the plane :( I am very sad to see them go. I had a wonderful week with them here in Berlin. I learned so much more about the city, saw so much more than i have with any other visitors-it was a gorgeous week.

Mum and dad outside the Berlinerdom with SNOW ;)

Mum and I

Dad and I (breathing in the asbestos...)

The Pergamonmuseum will never be the same again....
more to come...

Glatteis Gefahr

2008-01-06T05:42:00.000+09:30

Tonight Berlin turned into the world's biggest Ice Rink. My parents and I were at a concert in the "philarmonie" and as we were coming out, there was an announcement to say we were to be careful of the glatteis through the whole of Berlin. Within five minutes there was the first woman down and the first ambulance was waiting to accompany the broken wrist and owner off. There began our crazy slide through Berlin as we tried to navigate the ice field. Funnier yet was when I finally got to my station - it would seem all my neighbours had decided now would be a good time to try skidding from one end of my street to the next. As I tried to walk from the station to my door I realised why: it was impossible to walk anyway, so we may as well make it fun :) I don't think I have laughed as hard in a long time watching others fall and skid and then fall myself. See how many bones I break when I go out a little later with friends

Christmas

2008-01-03T06:31:00.000+09:30

A few photos from my christmas time:
Marquarstein - the family's house was just left of this picture

The cubby house we built in the snow.

the new member of the family...she was helping me study

The Catholic Church in Marquarstein. My hotel was right next door

My walk from the hotel to the house in the mornings

new years photos!

2008-01-02T03:28:00.000+09:30

A few photos to whet the appetite:

The Crowd in the direction of the Brandenburger Gate.

Mark, his Ferris wheel halo and me

The crowd in the direction of the Siegessäule!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2008-01-01T10:19:00.000+09:30

New Year Berlin style...
I braved the sub zero temperatures, dodged the firecrackers being thrown out the windows into the street (seriously landing on spots where my feet had been not 30 seconds before), joined the one million... yes 1 MILLION people who were gathered between the Brandenburger Gate and the Big star (siegessäule) (yes this beat anything the world cup had to offer), joined the cues for Berliner Pilsner (beer), watched the others enjoy their jägermeister, met random people who are now going to be staying in my apartment.. it's all good, they have the same accent as me ;), watched the 20 minute fireworks display which was almost outdone by the personal ones surrounding the whole area being set off in the Tiergarten, watched the majority of Berlin males managing to pee standing next to each other.. trying to avoid getting hit, seeing the war monuments being lit up by fireworks, seeing the streets littered with streamers and bottles, watching people climbing the wall leading to the Brandenburger gate and being reminded of a similar wall they managed to overcome not so long ago.
This city is many things, but I am glad to call it home.

I wish you all an amazing new year filled with love and happiness

pictures are to follow

2007-12-23T10:10:00.000+09:30

HAPPY CHRISTMAS - FRÖHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN

I will be out of touch until the 31st of December (sigh it's a hard life being forced to ski and eat lots with counts and countesses/dukes and duchesses!)
Love to you all at this special time xo
p.s -thanks Mark for the picture

Christmas in Berlin

2007-12-16T22:13:00.000+09:30

It has begun... the freezing temperatures, the falling over at whim due to the ice on the pavement, the no feeling to my fingers and toes...but also the glühwein, the Magenbrot, the amazing metre long bratwurst.. hmm sad that all the good things still are food :) I guess some things never change.

Christmas always brings back a lot of memories..the storms of Christmas in the tropics, making candles listening to the samichlaus parade through the old town of Fribourg, listening to Feliz Navidad over and over in California. I stare at the three Christmas tree branches that constitute my tree this year and think of the tree made of tinsel that accompanied all my childhood Christmases, the amazing trees of all the families I lived with and visited in Switzerland, my electric tree that doubled as a nightlight for the 6 months after Christmas in my last apartment in Berlin. Christmas this year seems to have come around too fast. I am not ready! I leave with the family for christmas on Sat. but will be back in Berlin on the 31st.

My parents arrived in Germany this morning after only one instance of my father taking the wrong passport with him to check into his first flight, missing the flight and having to take the next one almost 12 hours later! I am excited to see them in January

The longer I am here in Berlin, the more I am confronted by the impossibilities of living in a city like this surrounded by limitless possibilities but without the right colour passport, without the right box to tick for nationality. I am surrounded by people with degrees from Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford, who are working here as Chefs, kindergarten teachers, and secretaries in language schools because that was the best we could come up with in order to support ourselves, that was the one thing we managed to slip past the Ausländerbehörde and their predilection for stamps, official signatures and wanting to make all of us 'ausländer' disappear just with the threat of advertising our jobs for german citizens to take. We become the people we have been warned against in our own countries. We suddenly have this profound understanding for the people we never understood. but.. titles - illegal alien? even legal alien.... maybe no green antlers, no spaceships, but just as conspicuous, just as mistrusted. At the same time, I can imagine no other city to meld into. And my love affair with Berlin continues...

swiss medicine

2007-11-22T03:35:00.000+09:30

Switzerland was exactly the medicine I needed.

Seeing all my friends again was fantastic. Staying with Philipp did me good. Today I hung out with my friend Michel, we went together to see my friend Pascal who is in hospital at the moment, I saw my host mum Christiane and I saw my old Rotary counselor and his wife. I finished both Stanford and Berkeley applications. Slowly getting things together and am feeling MUCH happier. Yay for escaping 'home'

quote of the week

2007-11-20T20:23:00.000+09:30

To set the scene - Jakob and I are walking home, we walk past a poster advertising a satirical play. The picture is of a man hanging himself but with scissors held to the noose and a gun held to his head.

Jakob: BETH BETH!!! That's a picture of Adolf Hitler!!!
(Did I mention that this kid only has one tone: VERY loud)
Beth: Shhhh!!! That's not Adolf Hitler Jakob
Jakob: Sure it is!
Beth: jakob why do you think it is Hitler?
Jakob: He's shooting himself in the head. Hitler shot himself in the head too right? That is how the war ended.

...kids!...better yet - kids in war scarred Berlin!

flüchtling

2007-11-20T20:05:00.000+09:30

Firstly - a HUGE thanks to all of you who have been there for me in the past few weeks - I couldn't have done any of this without your support and love.

The GREs were not the best in the world- 4 hours of staring at the screen with my eye just about sent me crazy.. nonetheless, I have rescheduled and am resitting them on the 6th of December.

My Uni exams were really hard and I had so much going on in my life that I hardly had time to study which disappoints me a little. I don't think I am going to have a problem passing though.

I have escaped as of yesterday to Switzerland - back to where my 'family' and friends are - Most of you know what I am escaping and it has been a very hard decision and an extremely hard weekend. Being here is doing me a lot of good though. Already I am feeling calmer and have just been able to rest, which is so important.

it's been a while

2007-10-29T17:27:00.000+09:30

So to start with I thought I would put my favorite BVG quote in:

"Current traffic hints and disturbed lifts" - the BVG is the Ubahn and Sbahn people and they give information about possible disturbances to travel.. I love the idea of disturbed lifts though - they mean lifts that are out of service.. oh the poor little disturbed lifts.

In other news - Lara is now called Carlotta - I get around this by just calling her 'her' and being done with it.

GREs are a week today - my other exams two weeks from today. I am completely burned out which is why I spent 6 hours yesterday at the Berlin children's museum teaching Jakob how to multiply and paulina how to ride in a wheelchair :)

Our favorite way of getting home, pretending we are all planes and flying as fast as we can to the door is starting to backfire.. the first "absturz" (crash) that we had was fixed with "Kussheilung" (kiss healing)... now they spend more time crashing than flying.

My favorite moment of yesterday was in the train on the way home from the museum as Paulina fell fast asleep on my lap. And started snoring. And MAN can that little kid snore! The whole carriage full of people was just staring and i could not stop laughing! She wouldn't wake up when the train arrived at Alexanderplatz, so I had to carry her to the next train... it was the most ridiculous thing I think I have ever seen (and I soo wish I had been seeing me instead of being me.) me laughing so hard carrying this (amazingly heavy) kid in my arms who is snoring her head off... it was fun.. my back is still sore!

babies babies everywhere...

2007-10-09T15:10:00.000+09:30

The baby's name is Lara :)

Yesterday -
Jakob: But Beth, what I don't understand is what the bad guys think is good about war. Can you explain it?
me: (crap!!)

I tried to be my diplomatic best (me, diplomatic? since when???) The main thing I keep trying to get through to him is that is is not normally a whole population but some leaders who make decisions and that all countries are full of people just like us who feel and hurt just like we do as well.... although I don't know what kind of deaf ears I am preaching to considering he still believes Noam is not a German because he is a Jew...

FINALLY

2007-10-09T02:52:00.000+09:30

The baby arrived this afternoon - 4kgs.. as yet no name.. although Paulina is calling it Clara. That meant that this afternoon I had to pick up Paulina from school then catch the tram, then the bus then the tram again then walk for 10 minutes, pick up Jakob, catch another tram then the train. it was good that she kept herself amused and the rest of berlin annoyed as she sang "Heute kommt das BABY!!" (the Baby's arriving today!) at the top of her voice the entire way :)

On saturday night I went to the BEST concert from Broken Social Scene at Lido, this big concert place. I am so so glad that I got to go. It was so much fun! The music was just awesome and the atmosphere was phenomenal. I met some really interesting people and really enjoyed myself! I can't wait for the other concerts now!! The band played for 2.5 hours which just rocks and did some cool improv too. Be jealous - it was awesome! The guy who played before them was also phenomenal. Reminded me of Mal Webb who I got to see and hang out with in Australia. This guy did a lot with repetition and different harmonies building over each other. It was really just so interesting to watch.

I am back at the books. With three weeks till the GRE's, my finals and 2 assignments due. It is no small task I have set myself this semester. Oh and Turkish is still so much fun! Met some interesting people through it as well!

WOOHOO!!!

2007-10-06T03:09:00.000+09:30

Jakob: This is my friend Noam! Beth - Noam isn't a German! Noam is a jew!!
me: What?? no no Jakob, Noam is a German! his religion means that he is jewish. You can be ajew and be german.
Jakob:no you can't! He even eats different food from us at school!

and so it continues it would seem!

I have been hanging out with Noam and his mum a lot. They are lovely.

My family is moving!! They have bought a house in the same street as Jakob's school - I will have my own nanny flat in the garden. We won't be moving till sometime next year.

Jakob's school and our new home is right off Bernauer strasse. This is where the wall ran. it is kind of stilla little shocking to see that there are such lasting impressions of the war (even places that my kids don't love as their playgrounds!!) when the wall went up, the east tore down the front houses of apartment blocks to make the death strip. Now I ride the tram along where the wall once ran, where people were shot, across the ground under which people dug tunnels to escape to the west.

Tomorrow night I am going to see Broken Social Scene, then I am seeing Interpol, Blonde Redhed and the National all within the next month! how exciting!!

2007-09-26T03:41:00.000+09:30

Senefelderplatz - on the corner of where live :)

Jakob and I at the tram station today waiting to head home.. After finding out all the things in the world that begin with 'B' and that the sound 'buh' has the name Beee. and after I made a bet that he couldn't run 10 times around the playground really fast :) he he.

Right near Jakob's school is the site of a church that was behind the wall (east Berlin). It was a stunning church that was left all the way up to 1984 when the DDR decided it was time to destroy it too.. This is a statue on the site where the church once stood.

Jakob in front of the remains of the church

In other news - I am involved in research projects now at the FU-Berlin which is going to be exciting, I start Turkish classes on Thursday night, work is going really well, weather is colder, am happy...

Since when?????

2007-09-24T01:44:00.000+09:30

I am officially at home in East Berlin.

Something has changed since I used to live here and enjoy my forays into the gentrified Zoologischer Garten/Friedrichstrasse areas of Berlin dressing to fit in, snubbing the tourists and their maps... then today happens.. A beautiful sunny day where I go and hang out at the Teutob.platz park where there are more hippies than the whole of Berkeley can offer, and feel that I fit in perfectly considering the state of my clothes, the unbrushedness of my hair, we won't even get into my legs ;) I felt more at home here with the man sitting in the middle of the park shouting that "Deutschland has come to this! THIS! yes this! this is Deutschland now. Oh Deutschland!" with the kids being told to be nice to the grass because it has feelings too, with the man near me on the (oh so sensitive) grass laughing out loud about once every 5 mins (still not quite sure what at), than I did later when, needing to do shopping at the only supermarket that stays open on Sunday, I braved Friedrichstrasse. Feeling rather free, I didn't go home but wandered into the gentrification sunburnt and hippy-influenced. I realised I was getting those looks! the - hmm-student-east-berliner looks. I realised that me and my unkempt hair were happier walking through Alexanderplatz. where there was a line of 5 men standing urinating in a happy line into the park, than through Friedrichstrasse where each little cashmere sweater is tied sweetly around the necks of the tourists out to see "Berlin".
and I wonder when it happened.
Maybe I should have realised when I got to 1.5 weeks here and had only left my immediate area once.. and without actually wanting to at all! I love where I live and all that goes on here. I am slowly finding the best bakeries, the best markets, the best fruit stores.. and I am fast becoming a happy east berliner hippy ;)

I predict a riot

2007-09-17T20:12:00.000+09:30

So what makes Berliners stay up till midnight, fight police and each other, break down doors, push over riot fences etc?? The anniversary of the wall falling perhaps? some big demonstration? no no... it was the opening of Alexa Berlin's biggest shopping centre.

I went there yesterday with my friend Katja. Aside from being the ugliest salmon pink monstrosity you have ever laid eyes on, it was indeed something as completely un-european as they come. Exploring it with Katja who is 6.5 months pregnant was fun though- we unfortunately had to keep stopping for icecream or pizza :)

Yesterday afternoon I also spent a while wandering Kastanienallee which is a very cool part of the city. On the way there I passed a bunch of people who had taken their sofas and chairs into the middle of the street because that was where the sun was and their balcony didn't get any that late in the afternoon, as well as passing a market where you swapped something you could do (ie painting toenails, cutting hair) for something you wanted (ie. a piece of cake (???!!)) it was all very interesting :) and just goes to show I live in a cool part of town!

ah Berlin!

2007-09-16T22:18:00.000+09:30

I know I am back in Berlin when, at 11.30am as I am walking towards Alexanderplatz from my apartment, 2 boys stumble out of a bar and straight into me with shotglasses full of Jägermeister and say "take one for the team young Frau. Here! Jägermeister is good!!"
me - "it's a little early isn't it??"
them-"that all depends.. for me it is getting a little late. this will be our last drink before we go to bed.. come on! join in!"

I left them to their Jägermeistering but felt that I was at home again :)

Yesterday Ferdinand's TV channel went to air in Poland (sorry I can only find articles about it in Polish). The whole family was up at 5.30 to go to his office and celebrate with a big breakfast. It was fun but I was exhausted. Later the kids and I went to the Köllowitzspielplatz in the middle of this really cool area of cafes and markets and things. I was astounded by how many english speaking nannies (all male!!!) and kids there were and by how well behaved they all were - turns out they were all jewish kids and there is a big synagogue right round the corner (found out after talking to one of the nannies after Jakob decided he wanted to throw sand in all the other kid's eyes.... sigh!). Afterwards the kids wanted to go to their favorite "spielplatz" (playground) - the wasserturmspielplatz. I have been there with them before and it really is the rich kids playground (ie none of the deadly (literally) play equipment you'll find in Neukölln) -there was a big sign up in front of the entrance though about the wasserturm and it turns out it was a small concentration camp.. and that there were lots of people killed there. Never ceases to amaze me how crazily close the history here is and how strangely it all fits into the present.

The Nanny Diaries

2007-09-15T01:53:00.001+09:30

Today I officially started work although I have been playing with the kids since I got here. And I officially had my first big mix up J I had been to Jakob’s school the first day I arrived (rather jetlagged and out of sorts) so I knew what the building looked like but that was it. I was given hurried instructions this morning about a way to get there but was given the wrong house number (they are thinking of buying a house in the same street but there is a big difference between 36 and 178… especially when you are walking… and they are on the same side of the street) So I ran most of the way back up the street (past some amazing looking parks, churches and the berlin wall memorial centre which will all have to be visited at some stage!) and arrived to find a rather dejected Jakob rolling on the floor convinced no one was ever coming…oops… he got me back though. He insisted on bringing his bike with us. Awesome idea! It is a police bike and has this wonderful flag that is almost sideways and constantly runs into people, trees, animals, me… another great thing about taking the bike with us was getting the bike (and damn flag) into the tram… then up the three flights of stairs to the U-bahn (yeah contradiction having to go UP to get to the Underground rail J) then almost have to bash a mum with a pram out of the way to get me, bike and grinning Jakob into the train. We got home safely though and I was then allowed to read Thomas the Tank Engine.. over and over and over he he.
There seems to be a whole culture of nannying here and I keep getting these smiles from girls about my age who I am sure are in this with me as they drag along kids they really can’t be old enough to have had.

Thanks to Bec and Joe I now have GORGEOUS flowers in my apartment and they make me so happy. You can smell them through the whole apartment and the world’s happiest flower delivery guy came to give them to me. I heard the doorbell ring, and he was jumping up and down with excitement that someone was getting flowers. He couldn’t stop grinning and was offering to fill the vase with water for me and to show me how to care for them properly. He said happy birthday – then I told him it wasn’t.. so he just kept repeating “Viel glück.. viel glück und alles Gute. Alles Gute und viel Glück“ I must now be the luckiest, most well wished person in the whole of Berlin. It has kept a smile on my face all day.

In sadder news, my beautiful new ipod (yes be semi-jealous.. ), though not a week old, has gone the way of its forefathers. It froze all day and then somehow ran its battery flat in 2 hours (great for a 40 hour battery life!) so… maybe hold out on buying them – fingers crossed he realises that it’s either get better or I ship him back off to America to be swapped!

The flight

2007-09-15T01:52:00.001+09:30

It was a sad morning leaving Berkeley and I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be getting on any plane.. and the plane seemed to feel the same way about letting me on board. There were technical problems and they cancelled my flight. I knew from when I had done the bookings that this was the last flight I could take which would still get me there in time to check in. Part of me wondered if I would have to stay (he he) but the wonderful Southwest-ers found me a different flight and I was packed off to LA. LA was one big line… everywhere you looked. I checked in and then, using the cunning that Shane and I had discovered on our flight from the US back to Berlin two Christmases ago, I left the check in line with my bag nicely weighing in under 20 kg’s and then proceeded to repack the whole thing in the middle of the walkway so that all the heavy stuff from my carry on was in my suitcase after all – they don’t weigh it again and I didn’t have to bother with all that tricky heavy business!

LTU is cheap for a reason (to all of you who I had convinced to buy tickets!) There are no movies (they do have cartoons) you can purchase headphones (for 2 euro – much better off saving for a beer once you get to Germany) and the food leaves a great deal to be desired (thank goodness I went last minute oreo and butterfinger shopping before I left ;)) but seats are comfie and it got me here in one piece –so I am all for it!

Berkeley

2007-09-15T01:43:00.001+09:30

The beautiful people at Shane and Joe's labor day weekend BBQ.... fun times huh Brandon?? that is ... can you actually remember being there? :)

Me in Capitola.. mm margaritas and mexican food - SUCH a good night!!!

Scott and I on our last night in Berkeley...

first day.. relearning my Berlin

2007-09-13T06:12:00.000+09:30

It seems in the two months I was away, my city has changed - alot!

The weather has turned and I am now required to wear three layers to go outdoors, the sky is an angry grey and the leaves don't have long left on their branches.
My kids have grown up and have developed entirely new characters. Jakob started school and is now a 'big boy' and my little paulina is speaking so much more but is feeling a little left out and wants to start school too.. wait until she becomes the middle child in a few days!

Berlin is on alert... (but isn't the whole world??) A change is that on all the boards at the U-bahn stations, there is a constant alert warning everyone to look out for suspicious packages, to not let a single owner-less bag go unannounced. There are new 'anti-terror' numbers to call and new ways to make us all the more scared...

So on my first day back, hunting for a kettle and a pillow, I head back to my old stomping ground of Kreuzberg. I am currently reading a really interesting book.. and was happily reading it in the train on the way there until I realised people were looking at the cover... I guess I really should have considered it a little better before I held up a book with the word "ARABS and MUSLIMS" in big red letters on the cover :) I will surely get used to being here again soon!

I am happy in my apartment, am happy back with my family, am happy back in this insane city.

and sigh....

2007-09-12T00:04:00.000+09:30

I am back in Berlin as of a few hours ago. I will post more as soon as I have my internet connection up and working at home.

flights were flights. Jetlag is the same no matter which continent you are on...

My time in Berkeley was beautiful and has me wanting to be back there.

Hope you're all well

the plans

2007-08-26T19:47:00.000+09:30

Okay :

I leave Darwin Monday night 27.08

I have the 28th in Sydney (see you soon Sydneyites)

Wed. 29th.08 I fly sydney-Auckland - San Fransisco.
Half an hour after I took off.. and 14 hours later, I hit the US. All customs officials willing, I should be in Berkeley mid wednesday afternoon

the plan is to leave San Fransisco again 11.09 heading straight to Duesseldorf - Berlin arriving the 11.09

I am really really excited about all that is to come and especially about my new life in Berlin! Thank you all for the love, prayers, and support that have got me here.

solong farewell aufwiedersehen...

2007-08-26T02:40:00.000+09:30

My Farwewell : Thanks to all of you who made the time. It was great to see you in the "winter wonderland". Thanks for the desserts. Full marks go to Lisa's car for getting greedy and stealing all her hard work, to Jess' dipping chocolate that used to be Mousse in some vegan past life, to Ian and his amazing apple crumble (you'll have to give me the recipe ;)), to Niki and Adam for bringing such a caring dessert (it likes to be close to everyone and everything- it especially liked the front of my dress:), and Andrew and Brendan? You guys are just too wonderful. Very impressed by the baking/child-proof baking respectively!

Dad and I

Adam tries to outdo what Niki is carrying ;) (He had it easier! I don't kick as much and would never make anyone eat healthily!)

Andrew and I - I'll need photo updates on the progress of the hair! I think it's kinda like a ram's horns though, just keep circling round and round and will never actually look any longer...
Me and Mum :) She thought selt portraits were meant to be nice photos ;) hmm I guess I was letting the team down a little... although at least we are both in the shot in this one. Apparently the top of my head likes getting it's close up time too...

Jess, me and Andrew (who looks oh so happy to be near me)

Me, Lisa, Lindy and Ben (before the wild turkey took Ben's power of speech away)

The wedding of the year (well this year at least)

2007-08-13T20:56:00.001+09:30

Allana's Dad, me, the brother Robbie, Allana, Andrew, Allana's sister Sarina

the signing. The service was fantastic. The minister was really funny and said some amazing things just to Allana and Andrew.

Me and Grandpa (mum's dad)

Me and Tophie (Christo) - outside straight after the ceremony

Andrew, Dad and I at the "reception".

The view from Chris and Sharon's apartment at the coast. not half bad hey? :)

okay - THE WEDDING :)

I had a great time. I got there Thursday and was able to help my brother a ton with the preparations. Friday Allana, Sarina and I went and did bridesmaidy things including eating huge plates full of pancakes (SOO good) as well as manicures etc. Saturday started very early getting people haired and made up! The service was great, it was fantastic to see the family. I learned so much about them all :)

more at some stage :)

perth

2007-07-31T01:16:00.000+09:30

I am safely in Perth although that was an effort in itself! There were crazy winds here landing and I have honestly never been so scared. The life rafts popped out of their holds in the ceiling and came down the aisles because of how bumpy it was. We touched down once, were buffeted back up in the air and touched down again on the opposite side of the runway, went back in the air, almost scraped a wing on the tarmac because of how we were tilted and then finally managed to touch down properly!

I have spent the evening reading and catching up with Grae. I am so lucky to have a friend like him here in Perth.

Tomorrow I start at the hospital which I am a little nervous about. Thoughts, prayers, crossed fingers and all the rest would be most appreciated

PHOTOS

2007-07-25T20:13:00.000+09:30

Back in Berlin :)

Kreuzberg/Neukölln... back where I used to live.

sandcastle building competition near the hauptbahnhof, Berlin

me in the new area where I am now living

The breakfast table at the villa in Tuscany

The view from the main house at the villa in Tuscany

The closest village to us, Cetona. I loved walking around this quaint place

Back in Berlin... right near where I live, on the boarder of east Berlin. This is so typical of Berlin which is covered in the most amazingly political street art. I promise more photos will follow.

me at the Berlin open air last Saturday
The rest of Berlin at the open air :)

home again home again jiggity jig

2007-07-21T21:12:00.001+09:30

I leave Berlin tomorrow morning :( See you all soon either in Australia or back here in Europe :)

wandering berlin (Oh Berinl!)

2007-07-20T19:12:00.001+09:30

Yesterday I was so excited to be back in Berlin!! I decided I was going to walk the majority of the city (yes I was over bored. had so much pent up energy from Tuscany :)) I now am the proud owner of about 10 new blisters. But it was worth it! Yesterday was the most perfect summer weather Berlin has put on show for us yet. I walked from where Shane and I used to live down to one of the canals and i think I got gloriously lost a few times. I got there in the end though (I think it helps that sometimes you cannot cross the canals so you HAVE to go in one direction :)) I felt so at home in the city where people wear their pyjamas to bars. (no joke. I saw three different people at three different bars wearing their PJ´s!) They have decided to go offensive with drugs here and there are now sniffer dogs on the trains. Wait, did I say offensive? I think I mean they like showing off their big pretty dogs. Every time the dogs bark, the officers just tell them to shut up and sit down :)

I am home in Darwin on the 24th. I get to spend the 22/23rd in Brunei. I leave again for Perth on the 29th. Andrew´s wedding is on the 11th of August at the Gold Coast - so I will be around in Queensland then for any potential visits :)

back in berlin

2007-07-19T20:03:00.000+09:30

I am safely back from my time in Tuscany. We were staying at a villa outside of the city of Cetona. It was an amazing set of houses and a pool. I am now an italian shade of brown from the sun and from teaching kids how to swim (yup beth the swimming instructor). Actually this week I managed todo a fair bit... Taught Jakob how to read, how to write and hold his pen properly, how to swim, how to tell the time, how to bake bread (funnier stories about the family´s complete incompitence when it comes to cooking or even warming things :)) i swear I am about 5 kg´s heavier thanks to the AMAZING cooking and desserts! Aside from that, I am really happy to be back in Berlin. Working tonight for the family then I am free. Leave Berlin on Sunday morning. Sepnd the whole of Monday in Brunei and am home in Darwin Tuesday afternoon :)

prenzlauerberg: healthfood capital of the world

2007-07-08T05:55:00.000+09:30

As I have been wandering slowly around my new home of Prenzlauerberg, I have begun to realise that it has to be the healthiest place in Berlin if not the whole world. On the corner opposite us is the Biomarket (organic market/shopping centre), then you have the Biodrogerie (organic chemists), the Biospot (organic food shop) and, my personal favorite, the Bio pommes laden (organic fries/hot chips shop!: I kid you not - apparently germany´s healthiest french fries :).. I can attest to their yummy-ness but am not sure of much else). I was so grateful then when, as I was walking down the road towards alexanderplatz, I came across the (no joke) "White Trash Fast Food" restaurant. I somehow let out a sigh of relief that I truly was in Berlin after all!

funny conversations

2007-07-07T19:24:00.000+09:30

Lately I have taken to writing down conversations that I have overheard. the day before yesterday on the train, this is one that I had the pleasure of listening to :) There was this one VERY obnoxiously loud german guy who decided he needed to annoy the whole carriage. He was travelling with a veritable harem all who seemed infatuated with him. In any case:

man: And this one time there was this woman who was looking for her train carriage, you know how they are numbered. she suddenly said "oh man I am looking for carriage number 2 but there are so many of them, I just don´t know which one is mine!" (insert raucous laughter) she was looking at the sign that said 2nd class!!!
woman: (said very seriously) oh that has happened to me before too!
(Laughter abruptly stops)
man: oh.. umm. I see.. well.. umm..

yesterday I was talking to Jakob who said suddenly:

J: Beth (Bess) I had imagined you so differently!
B: Really? How did you imgaine me then Jakob?
J: Na... I imagined you would be so sad. But you laugh all the time!
B: Why did you think I was going to be sad?
J: Well you only have one eye that works! I would be sad if I only had one eye.

I had to laugh. Then I was able to tell him that I wasn´t sad at all :)

This morning I had only just woken up and the doorbell rang. I jumped up and ran to the door.. I could only see the top of a head through the door... It was Jakob who had come to see if he could wake me up :) He wanted to invite me to take him to Legoland today! Instead I went to breakfast with the Habsburgs. It was a really really lovely restaurant. The whole family is just so lovely. We talked a lot. The kids wanted me to go with them to their country house this weekend (apparently the kids had a "bethomania" session this morning where they didn´t stop talking about me and wanted to see me.. hence why Jakob was allowed to come and wake me up this morning!) I have decided not to go though. I wanted to have a moment for myself before Italy. I love Prenzlauerberg, where we live. It is an amazing area!

interesting facts...

2007-07-05T07:43:00.000+09:30

At Dinner tonight, I learned alot about Switzerland and the Swiss:

e.g that in summer you can go mushroom picking (just the plain variety kids) - anywhere, where it is written. The only catch is that, per person, you can't take more than 2kg's a day. ok a little strict perhaps but you know this is a swiss story when they then start saying that there are police who control the weight of people's baskets. Not leaving the mushroom picking site...no, afterwards, in a narrow part of the road where you can't turn around. Better yet? you get to pay 200 Franks for being so rude as to have picked over your allotted 2kgs, thus depriving the other pickers of their rightful mushrooms.

when talking about the paper I had just written on the differences between Swiss and Australian manners, I started a major discussion about the swiss youth of today. Not the usual, drugs, sex, rock and roll business. No. The heads were shaken, sighs were heard - The youth of today put their feet on desks during breaks in class!!! They leave their jackets on the floor in the lecture halls and (the worst of all) they have forgotten their table manners. (Which has been attributed to the western style of eating on the go all that "fast foods und Hamburger!" and not eating lunch at home with the family where all youths belong). I was then informed that "naturally" the swiss all knew what was the right thing to do when it comes to manners. They have all have "knigge" training in the back of their minds when they are out. Oh Yes indeed they are trained. I seem to remember elbows being smacked off the table, stern looks reminding me my plate would be empty before I was able to get up but nothing like this.

thursday

2007-07-05T01:21:00.000+09:30

merci viu mau a aui, wo sech d zit gno hei mi z gseh - es het mi so gfröit wieder z fribourg z si u euch z gseh!! Es tuet mir leid, dassi nid aso lang ha chönne bliibe, aber ds nöchscht mau bliibini länger oder dir chönnet abe ou uf Berlin cho (würd mi nämlech fröie)!

Tomorrow I leave Switzerland and head to Berlin again - this time with 4 times as much as I came with. But at least Philipp's cellar is empty now! Tomorrow night I am going to be moving into my new apartment and i am really really excited. A new chapter will finally be beginning and I can't wait. I leave for Tuscany on Sunday

so many books too few bags...

2007-07-03T21:35:00.000+09:30

After 8.5 hours in a train yesterday, I finally made it to Fribourg where, excepting the continual road works, nothing much has changed :) It seems I yet again bought the amazingly cold weather with me! It really is like being home again though. It was great to see my friends and'family' again.

My biggest find for the day is that all my textbooks, written by australians and published in australia, are cheaper here in switzerland. My scary moment for the day was realising that Switzerland was cheap in comparison to Euros and the rest of Europe.

I am now sorting through four years worth of books and clothes. The red cross in Switzerland is going to absolutely love me. Except for the fact that everything still smells like it used to when it was still wet from the washing machines in Berlin, most things are just too old to bother keeping. Thanks to the small library shane and I collected last year though, I am going to have to take about four bags full of books home again!! A lot of things seem to have gone missing as well somehow during the past year. Friends have already thanked me for things that they found in amongst what I left here. I guess it is good that I could share?? :) In total though, for those of you who saw me arrive last year with a whole moving van, I should be leaving with four small bags... oh the discipline!!! (and eternal love affair with the ridiculous amount of H & M's on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin :))

FACISTS

2007-07-02T04:47:00.000+09:30

Last night Shane and I were at a Blues/Jazz/Funk concert with a band from Tokyo...

At one stage the lead singer stood there and said "Buy my cd!..Now! By the cd! I mean now! You will buy the cd now! You will!". He then proceeded to start cheering and with one hand in the air started shouting things that the crowd were to repeat and which the crowd was repeating until...

(and only in Berlin will you suddenly hear): "FACIST! You think you can control the masses!"

I think I have been laughing ever since.

Tonight is my last night in Berlin - tomorrow I go to Switzerland for four days and then I come back here again for a few days before heading to Tuscany with the Habsburgs. I moved a few small things into my new apartment today which was fun. The area is just amazing. There are so many cafes and small shops, playgrounds and parks. I will definitely feel at home there.

Berlin Berlin

2007-06-27T20:44:00.000+09:30

Up to day 4 of the Berlin experience.

Yesterday I met the Habsburgs. They are wonderful people and I had a lot of fun with them. We talked a lot about me now and about what I am doing during my stay in Europe. We have decided that I am going to start working for them already. I start tomorrow. I am only going ot be doing a few hours a day and helping out with the kids. They still really really want me to go with them to Tuscany next week and I think that I am going to (Joe I am so sorry. Meet in Switzerland??)
I am going to take them up on their job offer and I will be back here in September to start work for them. I have seen my "small" apartment, which is just incredible! 2 bedrooms, my own garden access etc. And I just can't say enough how wonderful the Habsburgs really are. THey have started looking into German doctors for me here inGermany and also in Zurich in case we can get me in anywhere before I leave again.

So my new plan? I move into the Habsburgs house next week. possibly Sunday night? I will fly to Switzerland next week and be there for the 5th (gaetan!) and the 6th (Mögu und Phippü) then I will fly to Tuscany with the Habsburgs on the 8th. I am so sorry there is no email but Gmail, or the turkish internet cafe's connection aren't working, I will talk to you all soon xoxo

Berlin Berlin

2007-06-26T01:03:00.000+09:30

I am back in Berlin and having an awesome time.

Reasons why I love Berlin:
I don't have to ever pay more than 4 Euro for a meal :)
I can flirt with a mobile phone sales guy and get my phone for 20 Euro (instead of 70)
It is WARM (nothing like that Darwin chill!!)
It is Berlin and has some of the most amazingly ecclectic people and architecture.

In short, I am really really loving being back here and am having so much fun.
Yesterday saw me at exhibitions and parks and today i walked the whole of the city. Tomorrow I meet the Habsburgs so wish me luck.

Here is my phone number in Berlin in case you want to get in touch:

+49 175 9088 944

leaving on a jet plane (*has to be THE most used line!!!)

2007-06-22T20:11:00.000+09:30

So I am off tomorrow - for those I didn't manage to see - SORRY I will see you back in Darwin on the 24th of July. (I have my flights booked now to Perth on the 30th of July for the specialist appointments)

I land in Berlin Tegel Sunday morning 10am. I have a fair bit planned that I want to do in Berlin and am excited! I will be buying a German Simcard as soon as I can and will post the number here. as of the 2nd/3rd of July I will be in Switzerland and you can contact me on +4176 455 1571. I will also try and check in on my emails as much as possible - so let me know how you are all going.

will keep you all as updated as possible.

Love and hugs to everyone.

ALL DONE

2007-06-20T15:34:00.000+09:30

Just finished my last exam :) It went ok I think. so that is it done! First semester over. And what a Semester! Being offered my honours to fast track me into a PhD, figuring out exactly what I want to do, all that health rubbish that was going on (;-)), everything else on top of it all. I am glad it's over, I am really looking forward to my holidays!! And seeing most of you soon!

sigh

2007-06-19T17:07:00.000+09:30

my mantra of the week? - I ROCK :)

(and am extremely modest!!)
I just got asked if the German Department can keep my last assignment on Ancient Mythology and modern German Literature because it is the best assignment they have read and they like to keep the best examples to show other students.

Today I made further plans. So at the moment Europe looks like:

24.06 - arrive in Berlin
26.06 - meet the Habsburgs
27.06 - going to the Sonic Youth concert, Berlin
30-2 - potential weekend with Habsburgs/Potential weekend in London (LIS?!!)
02-09.07 -Fribourg (party with Gaé le 05.07)
NOTHING SOLID PLANNED (Potential trip to Austria/Slovenia)
18-20.07 - Sommerpalast Kulturfest, Stuttgart
21.07-22.07 - Frankfurt
23.07 - Brunei
24.07 - Darwin

let me know if you want to steal me any other times :)

general

2007-06-18T21:16:00.000+09:30

So on the night before my biggest exam - what does my brain do? yep - shuts off completely and decides it's time to update everyone on the goings on here!

I am one exam and all my assignments down, but tomorrow is my major Linguistics exam, Wed. German exam and in between are a million and one Dr's appointments. And not only mine :)

I am now official Taxi for my mum who has broken her kneecap (again - although the last time was over two years ago now). She is doing ok but still in pain a fair amount of the time (I think she just likes crutches ;))

Thursday I have appointments all day but Friday I am free so, Darwinians, I think it is time to actually let me out in public and I think semi-farewell drinks are in order :) Europeans? be warned - I am there as of Sunday morning. Plans are still fairly up in the air. I meet the Habsburgs next Tuesday and we will be discussing me going with them on a weekend then.

My friend Joe and I are talking about meeting up and potentially going to Slovenia/Austria/Italy/.. who cares, it's Europe and it will be fun ;) I am still open to any suggestions of meeting anyone :)

I am getting really excited to be going.. but I am kinda scared too. It will be hard and good? Here's hoping that the insane butterflies that have been residing in my stomach and heart stop once I finally get over there. (and just to let you all know how excited I must be? I am already packed - Since when have I ever done packing before the last minute?? he he)

Meine Seminararbeit/ My Paper on the surveys

2007-06-15T12:18:00.000+09:30

a HUGE thank you to all of you who filled out my survey for my linguistics paper! They helped me so much in writing my paper.

I got it back this morning and... I got an HD+ (yes they put a plus on there - never knew they could:)) and I owe a lot of it to all of you so THANK YOU SO MUCH xo

ON MY WAY TO BEING DR BETH :)

2007-06-14T11:50:00.000+09:30

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Today I got official word:

"we're happy to accept you into Honours
in 2008 (assuming that you continue
on the stellar path you've trod up
till now)"

They've reshuffled the whole program to make it work for me so that I can get the right amount of credit points for the right things. I am jumping in little circles again because they said some really great things about my work and about how I have been performing. I guess all my hard work really is paying off. Out of a subject with 250 students, I got a special mention in the professors end of semester remarks for all my input and help througout the semester. So I am happy.

And now well on the way to becoming Dr Beth :) so be warned! :)

FINALLY :):)

2007-06-08T12:10:00.000+09:30

so here it is FINALLY - my update about life in general and my plans for the next few months. Sorry, I have been waiting till I had everything organised and decided before I wrote anything - or there would have been seventeen posts a day!

SO:

Firstly EUROPE:
I leave darwin Saturday 23.06.2007 at 1700.. and arrive in Frankfurt, Sunday 24.06.07 and then fly to Berlin on the same day and arrive at 1010 (berlin Tegel). As yet I have nothing organised for Berlin. The Habsburgs want to meet me and I would love to spend a few days with them but otherwise my time is free.
After the 02.07.07 I plan to head towards Switzerland and maybe spend a week and a bit there? after that I am planning to head towards Italy.
MY PLANS ARE EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE - please let me know where you are going to be and when. I leave from Frankfurt again on 22.07.07 and head to Brunei where I will be spending a few days.
(Butterball - should I come to the UK? or will you meet me somewhere?,
Dave - Italy? France?
Michel, Phippü - Martini night II??? :) Bis baud!
Felix, Isa - sagt mir bescheid, wo ihr die Ferien verbringt!
Gaé - on se verra à Fribourg?
Maria, Tobias, - Ich würde euch super gerne wieder sehen! Vielleicht in Berlin? Oder sonst wo in Deutschland? Ich käme euch gern besuchen. Es ist ja gar nicht so weit von der Schweiz entfernt.)

ok so now THE EYE:

this week my eye got a lot worse (I have a form of Lupus/Vasculitis but they have no idea what is setting it off or how to actually cure it). My doctor was very worried and I spent just about every afternoon this week at the hospital having more tests done etc. There is one specialist in Australia (in Perth) whose specialty is inflammatory diseases of the eye. She is very hard to get into. I have an appointment with her on the 31.07.07. I have been told to expect to stay down there for a month because of all the testing etc that is going to have to happen. Depending on how things go in Perth, I may have to go to Portland Oregan (USA) for a further consultation with the leading specialist for inflammatory diseases.

OTHER PLANS:

Andrew's (my brother) wedding is on August 11. And I will be going to Southport, QLD for that.

My offer with the Habsburgs is still standing (which i am just so excited and happy about) and I am hoping to be well enough with my eye to take them up on their offer at the end of August/beginning of September, which will see me heading back to Berlin.

Uni is going really well. All my assignments are in and I have my exams starting next week. I am currently deciding whether to do a double degree BA/Blang (languages) or BA Grad dip.Ed (education) at the same time as my honours year next year... see what I come up with.

TAKE CARE AND ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOVE, PRAYERS AND SUPPORT - I am so blessed to have you all in my life. xo

The Ball!!

2007-05-27T12:22:00.000+09:30

Me, Brigid (the Rose of 2006) and Nic - my Cue girls, aren't they gorgeous?? Brigid was wonderful and almost has me convinced to try the whole Rose thing next year..

The ball was so much fun! will post more intermittently but wanted the photos up first.

Mum, Dad and I - don't they scrub up well?? :)

Me and Ian - he doesn't scrub up half badly either ;)

Paula (another Cue girl) me and Nic out later.

the birthday

2007-05-23T23:03:00.000+09:30

Mum and I 24 years on :)

I have had a lovely day - Thank you so much for all the beautiful messages and thoughts that I have received all day! It has meant so much to know that you are all thinking of me! it really touched me! This morning I got up and did breakfast with my parents. I have actually been rather sick today :( so I ended up sleeping through most of the afternoon but then went out to dinner to one of my favourite restaurants tonight. It was a really lovely evening!

Mum and I before the dinner

The parentals and me.

Ian and I after the dinner... a lot fuller he he. Practicing for Saturday night!
and yes - I made everyone dress up! he he. Thank you all once again. xoxo

let the greying begin :)

2007-05-23T00:45:00.000+09:30

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Although I am sad to leave my 23rd year (being born on the 23rd it was kinda cool ;)), 24 seems to be fitting me just fine.

may the rest of my day continue as the first hour of my birthday began :)

can't leave my hair alone :)

2007-05-18T15:52:00.001+09:30

as the weather gets 'colder' my hair gets shorter.. guess there go the plans for wearing it up for the ball ;)

back to the beginning

2007-05-17T17:32:00.000+09:30

Dr's visit:
Everything is as bad as it was pre-injection. I will be on steroids on and off for the next forever. I will need regular injections to just try and alleviate the swelling - even if only for a few days. I don't know that I will be able to survive the nausea and headaches of the injections though.
The doctor said at least there had been some reaction to the steroid, so at least it isn't all dead in there - yet.
I am getting so sick of having even small amounts of hope taken away again.

Nothing else ever seems to change either. I just keep getting presented with the same situations dressed in slightly different clothing. I have some fairly weighty decisions to make and am not feeling anywhere near up to making them. If you know me at all, you will know what my automatic reaction to situations is. This time I just don't know who/where I am running to or from anymore.

and the verdict is:

2007-05-12T16:59:00.000+09:30

Today I had the follow up appointment with my doctor. I am really really lucky I think. I don't know in which other 'capital city' my doctor would turn up on a saturday just to see me (resplendent in gardening clothes ;)).

I CAN READ 4 WHOLE CHARTS!!! which is huge considering till now I have managed the first two letters and that is it! Unfortunately he said that this improvement will be extremely short-lived ie. about 2-3 days. What they were trying to do was just get the swelling down enough that some blood could get through for a minute. He hopes that the veins won't swell up as quickly again this time. He told me more about the drug too. It is something used normally on patients whose brains have swollen and are about to go down the spinal column ie. from car accidents etc. He has never used it on an eye before. It is also not to be injected -ever (the pharmacist washed his hands of us) But he saw this as his one chance. It has left me not sleeping (what a wonderful storm we had at 4am :)), constantly nauseous (Morning sickness can have nothing on this) and slightly short tempered (sorry!!!). My headache is also fairly constant. So it's not all fun and games but I am glad to have it behind me.

I finished all my assignments, worksheets and exams (although thanks to my drugs yesterday, I managed to completely forget actually sending any of them off and thus gave myself a minor heart attack). Today I also found an amazing ball gown! (I am going to the Rose of Tralee ball on the 26th with Ian to see Brigid (my friend and co-worker at Cue) hand over her crown) So I am excited about that too!

The needle

2007-05-11T18:42:00.000+09:30

OUCH!

I went there this afternoon and got drugged up.. so crazy how much panadeine forte does to my warped body :) I was also on mum's "relaxants" he he nothing was going to get me stressed! I thank you all so very much for your thoughts and prayers and love. It helped me no end and I knew that it just had to be ok with all of you thinking of me!

The actual procedure was indeed painful. Mum told me to scream so that I'd stop whimpering... he he But it was over after about 3 minutes. The pain wasn't but the drugs had me barely walking out of there! So that was a bonus. Apparently though I am not going to have such an easy time of it in the next few days. For anyone who knew the sideeffects from the tablets, times that by 3.... So those two hours sleep a night I was getting by on? Maybe I can count on 15 mins now ;) I hope that it is not that bad but in essence it was an injection of 150mgs of Steroids straight into the back of my eye. ie. right next to my brain (The highest tablets I was on were 50mgs). So tomorrow I go back to the hospital and they do a major check up to see what it has doen to me so far BUT I am positive that this is going to finally change things and going to help me be alright! Fingers crossed and once again -
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOU LOVE, THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.

mindil markets

2007-05-11T18:33:00.000+09:30

last night was the first time I'd been to the mindil beach markets since 2004!! The sunset was awesome- this photo is of Chris, my since forever friend, and I

My friend Jess from DEC and I - it was her first market experience :) we had fun!

Ian, who i met a few weeks back at DEC and James (anyone remember his visit to Switzerland?) who was randomly driving through Australia for a month and happened to be in Darwin!

All in all it was fun and I may be shooting for Parap on Sat. if anyone is interested!

AND - Ian wins hands down for the damsel in distress award ;) Damn Nightcliff Foreshore for locking the gates early and thanks to the bunch of delinquents he convinced to help him lift boulders out of the way so we could get the car down the bike path .. he he never a dull moment.

please pray, send love, positivity, happy thoughts etc.

2007-05-10T12:29:00.000+09:30

I just got back from hospital:

The injection is happening tomorrow at 1.30pm. I am really feeling scared. It took them a week to get the drug into the country and up here. Everyone has seemed amazed at the high dose. The doctor was really sweet today and is just fitting me in whenever I feel comfortable tomorrow. I only get to take 2 panadeine forte and then have local anesthetic to the eye. my Doctor says I will feel as if someone has punched me in the eye - hard - for the next day and a bit. I also have to have daily pressure check ups etc. So here's hoping that it does something amazing and this will be the only one I have to do. The very thought about it really freaks me out... blagh. So I would greatly appreciate any happy thoughts.

1 down

2007-05-06T00:07:00.000+09:30

SO one major assignment down (70 pages later :)) and 2 to go! So to celebrate I went out to the seabreeze festival tonight. One of my good friends from DEC, Andrew, is the publicist for the whole event so I got in for free :) Tonight Neo were playing. Not sure how many of you remember my rock climbing days, but these guys were part of the first gig I organised down there and I was part of their photo shoot - getting hoisted up the wall as one of them fell seeing as I was so small and they, well, weren't! It was a really fun night -that's something I love about darwin- all the outdoor concerts and bands.

FOR ALL DARWINIANS- SPAGHETTIFEST IS NOW ON THE 01.06.2007!!! See you there :)

ha ha

2007-05-01T16:02:00.000+09:30

I am over hospitals, dr's and all the rest.

The specialist from Adelaide was really nice. He asked a lot of questions, did a lot of looking and poking and prodding and reading. And then, as all have done before him, said - you have GOK disease.. ha ha - get it? God Only Knows. In any case, between the two of them there today, they came to the conclusion that I have to have something done drastically and quickly - They are ordering a drug in to Australia for me. We don't have it here. It is a very very high dose steroid. and yes, I am going to need it injected. Afterwards I am not allowed to do anything because the pressure in my eye will be so great. it will be to the back of my eye socket and will happen as soon as they can get the drug. They are ordering enough to give me four shots of it before I leave although they are very worried about what effect that could have on me seeing as they are giving me 2 mg's per Kg of me. which is unheard of. The specialist has only done this once before - for an old woman who had been in a car crash and was dieing. umm.. what else... I have to have surgery later because of the way the veins are building and because the occlusion won't budge.

I am really down about this. I had thought that it was going to get slowly better - that I had made it through the worst. Obviously this year is still laughing at me. But I'll get there.

I got an email from my new family in Berlin today saying how excited they are, how they can't wait for me to be there with them, how they have so much planned for us for the summer and they are just so excited - and it is catching! I can't wait either! SO I will focus on my PJ's, my plane tickets, my new life about to begin again and I'll be happy.

thanks for the love, support and prayers

I HAVE A DATE

2007-04-30T12:38:00.000+09:30

well here we have it! I have finally booked my ticket to Berlin:

I leave Darwin at 1700 on the 23rd of June and get into Frankfurt and subsequently Berlin on the 24th of June.

To celebrate I bought myself more winter PJ's :) Anyone who knows me will know that they are my favorite article of clothing.

So I am now in possession of my two favorite things - plane tickets and PJ's - I am a happy Beth!

In other news, this morning I received two assignments back and am really happy with the results. So far I am at a HD average. I am especially proud of one of my High Distinctions - out of a class of 250 there were only 6 HD's and I was one of them. I think all my work is paying off. I have been accepted into a special honours style extended research program for Linguistics at my University in Australia and, because they are interested in my cross cultural Swiss/australian work, I have been given permission to work across both the German and Linguistics departments which is a first for my Uni.

So back to it...

mongolian BBQ's

2007-04-29T23:48:00.000+09:30

THANK YOU to all who came to my mongolian BBQ on Sunday :)

To all who didn't - you missed out!!!

pool (and perfect weather for swimming), food (the best amount of stuff to randomly stirfry), amazing lighting effects (care of Dad), a clean snooker table (!!!!!!! the last time I saw it was for my farewell party in 2001!!), my Dad's incredible coffee (thank you to all who didn't drink it - this is going to be a crazy study week with three assignments due and now I have enough to keep me going!) and great people (Thank you for trusting me even though you all didn't really know each other!) - I had a lot of fun and can't wait now for the birthday spaghetti fest! (which will be on the 25th of May at my house.)

This week I am going to be semi out of contact- I have all my assignments due, all my applications for Berlin due and am now working afternoons as well as nights at DEC. (in the box office and as Bar staff).

My appointment with the eye specialist from Adelaide is on Tuesday - I will keep you all posted.

WOOHOO -(eye update)

2007-04-24T17:25:00.000+09:30

there was NO injection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU for all the prayers, support and positive energy that must have gone into today's appointment. You've all been fantastic.

So it was with great trepidation that I went to my appointment this afternoon. I had been so scared about the injection. At the start I was so surprised! Until now I had only been able to read part of one of the letters on the biggest size you can get on the charts. but today I could read two whole lines!! The biggest and the next down. Admittedly the biggest are about 20 cm's big.. but there was an IMPROVEMENT!

The specialist looked into my eye and said, although there is still more inflammation than he has ever seen, it is slightly reduced and he is happy with that! He also said there is more debris in my eye which explains the fact that I have been seeing small black things EVERYWHERE lately. Seriously, I am constantly swiping away non-existent ants, silverfish etc. because I can see these black things running across walls, chairs, tv's :) So no injection. AND to top it all off, my specialist has invited a specialist from Adelaide who is the best in southern Australia in the field of Neuropthomology to come up here and look at my eye (I am interesting to certain people at least!) So he is flying up here at the beginning of May. So two positives out of today!!

Thank you all again just so much for all the thoughts and prayers. It is obviously working!!! love to you all and THANKS

insomnia...

2007-04-22T20:07:00.000+09:30

What a crazy weekend that was!!!

This week has been a ton of fun. I had been working day and night at DEC last week. Then I got to do some Uni work again on Monday and Tuesday. Thursday night a friend invited me to go and see a play that he was in. It was a lot of fun and I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen for a long time.

Friday saw me working at DEC for a cabaret style show. Afterwards I went out with the people from work and got to play taxi for everyone there. between hanging out with a friend afterwards and uni work, I ended up getting about three hours sleep.

Last night I was on the Bar for the symphony Orchestra's concert. Work didn't finish till 1am!! afterwards I went to a birthday party with a friend and stayed till about 4.30am.. we didn't see the point in going to bed, so we stayed out to watch the sun come up over the ocean (It has been SO long since I have done that!) then we went to McDonalds for breakfast (the only place open on Sunday mornings...and the only place I know of that would sell me greasy enough hashbrowns) bed sounded ridiculous at 8am... so instead, we drove out to Berry Springs.

This week should be a lot easier! (I hope!) Tuesday I have my next appointment with the eye specialist so I would appreciate any prayers and thoughts on that day. They are planning to do the steroid injection to the eye socket.

I am booking my tickets to Berlin this week. My last exam is on the 20th of June here in Darwin and I can leave anytime after that although I want to give myself a few days grace. I am shooting for the 24th of June. Irma found me this website of the mum off the family I will be with in Berlin. I will be in Tuscany then from the 8th to the 18th of July.

I will post the results from my cultural survey here soon :)

First time for everything

2007-04-17T19:21:00.000+09:30

I just had my first little frog come and visit my bathroom :) I walked in and found him sitting on the toilet.. it then took dad and I 10 minutes to get him out of the house. It appears he really liked to jump - everywhere. He also decided that under the fridge was a good place to avoid the stampeding humans after him. I have to be the only person in the world who manages to scream when a frog jumps though. At one point he conveniently landed on my foot but my foot didn't conveniently manage to move him towards the door seeing as it was too firmly attached to a shocked Beth.

and yes, that was probably the most exciting moment of my day!

study, a wedding and one exhausted beth

2007-04-16T22:30:00.000+09:30

Today I received an email from the head of admissions at the Uni in Berlin. They are going to take me straight into their new MA program instead of the old European one because it is more streamlined and is exactly comparable to the US and Australian systems. They are taking me in in good faith that, before graduating with my MA, I will have received my BA (which is happening next year anyways). So yes, I will be enrolled in my MA before i have finished the BA :) They are letting me do English and linguistics studies and attend german courses to compliment my intended focus. The admissions guy also said he would be putting my name forward for admission to the PhD program! (Did it help that the head of admissions is an expat aussie?? more than likely but there are no gift horses being looked in the mouth here!)

Today my brother decided to make his engagement official and they are now looking forward to a wedding sometime in the middle of this year. So my family gets a wedding after all... I have been asked to be a bridesmaid but I am not sure that I will still be in the country.... today they tried to pick a date - they stated the free days they have in the next 6 months, stuck them on the wall and then threw darts - the first one to hit was the date.. so as it stands at the moment we are looking at the end of July.. he he.

This weekend saw me working three jobs again and pulling 12 hour shifts. Something I haven't done for a long time. It was a lot of fun though. Ended up laughing more than serving anyone! Working hard through my 'holidays' to get all my assignments and readings done. Thank you to all who have been helping me with my Cultural survey!

the eye 1

2007-04-10T19:46:00.000+09:30

so today was my next eye appointment.

the prognosis is less than cheery.. although I'll be damned if I let it bring me down.

the doctor said that both he and the brisbane doctor (confirmed once again as being the best in australia for neuropthamology - the subcatagory of opthamology...) concurr that chances of me ever regaining any sight in my left eye is slim to none. So hey instead of no headlights, I might be able to see one! or.. instead of just the edge of the TV screen, I may be able to see the people ON the screen!!

ouch

and the even ouchier thing? I am now scheduled to receive an injection of steroids in 14 days time. I can't take any more steroids orally or I will end up getting really sick. The side effects from my last dose were getting pretty horrific. So the next step is injecting a slow release, high dose steroid...into my eye socket. If my condition worsens considerably in the next two weeks, it will have to be straight into the eye ball although they do that as an absolute last resort. They can't put me under full anesthetic so I can only take panadeine forte and then have local anesthetic . Apparently it still hurts a lot.

I am not quite sure what to think. And once again I am floored that something like this can just happen without rhyme or reason. And I am still completely positive that it will get better.

Prayers and positive energy are so welcome right now...

guys and dolls revisited

2007-04-10T11:29:00.000+09:30

Last night saw the remaining cast come back together for a semi-reunion.

The way we were:

The way we are now :
Now I want to get on with my planning for a new york trip :)

Easter day

2007-04-09T09:25:00.000+09:30

Easter morning- the parentals... Easter was great - LOTS of chocolate (be still my beating heart) and just plain fun. Church in the morning (the tomb looked awesome - I think the two workmen aka dad and marcel, just needed a sleeping muse to help them with their creativity.)
Afterwards Mum, Dad, Marcel and I went out to lunch - hat's off to Marcel for surviving my mum on wine :) It was a really really funny lunch and was followed by an amazingly interesting game of trivial pursuit - interesting because Marcel didn't understand much (and still got more points than me? :)) and because they were old-ish questions. (is anyone really meant to remember which two cricketing legends in 1979 had the same first name?) . I did however, learn something which made me very happy - James Joyce also wore an eye patch :) so I am amongst the best when it comes to being a part time pirate!

An hour after we got back from lunch, I was picked up to go to Easter dinner with friends. It was a really fun night involving the cutest little puppy in the world, and way too much food. I think I proved why I don't get let out in public much... spent most of the night blushing because my mouth spoke before my mind kicked in :)

Hope you all had a great easter too!!

HAPPY CHOCOLATE FEST

2007-04-07T16:34:00.000+09:30

Easter Darwin style...

Dad and Marcel in the pool after having worked for hours up at church doing the lighting of the tomb (oh so normal :))

Today I learned that a whole carton of beer actually can bounce on tiles with only 4 casualties but spectacular spraying, and that sudafed leaves me asleep on the floor of the church for 2 hours... yay for change of season.

HAPPY CHOCOLATE EATING!

my 'sliding doors' moment

2007-04-05T13:29:00.000+09:30

With all that's been going on lately, I thought it was time for a change. so this is me this morning... although you may not believe it .. looks very different from the back ;) Personally I think I beat Gwyneth hands down. he he

Der Anfang

2007-04-04T17:14:00.000+09:30

Well kids, here it is! The way to save you all from group emails!!

Am currently still melting in Darwin, heading off to Berlin at the end of June for the next two years to work for a family there (more about that later). I will be living in Prenzlauerberg (for all of those who are going to come and visit me!) and also studying at the FUBerlin..

Currently working here at night (alot) and here part time again as well as trying to make sense of my dad's office.

I am a full time student again (part time procrastinator) studying Linguistics and German externally through UNE and am loving it. I had forgotten how much of a complete nerd I love to be.

Easter is approaching and the weekend will see me helping to put up the tomb at church (what used to be the Sewer of the Les Miserables set up here :)) and handing out easter eggs to unsuspecting children (will it be the tail or the ears that give me away?)

There will be recent photos soon!