izziee_bee

Germany! (yes, that's the most original title I could think of)

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:26:11 GMT

Hello Ladies!

Warning : long message! Feel free to ignore it!

First, can I just say that I’m dying? Oh my goodness it is sooo HOT here! I feel like I might melt away soon! Luckily it’s supposed to rain for the next few days.

Now that I have that out of my system, let’s get to it! I’M IN GERMANY! Haha. Not sure how many days I’ve been here exactly… the time change is so confusing… and I’m much too jetlagged to allow for any logical thought that would help me figure it out.

Nevertheless how long I’ve been here, I’m having quite an adventure, that’s for sure. It’s like a completely different world over here! I guess I should start from the beginning.

So my flight left at 5:30pm on the 27^th of May and landed ten hours later in London, and that went pretty smoothly. I got a little lost in London though and nearly missed my connecting flight to Zurich… but let’s not talk about that. By the time I landed in Zurich I hadn’t slept in 30 hours (let’s face it… is there anyone who can fall asleep on a plane?) but when I saw my family waiting for it was goodbye sleep deprivation, hello excitement! They are so nice! The little girl had flowers for me and the little boy was dressed in a shirt that said Toronto Canada… so cute!

Here’s a bit more about my family: There is Stefan and Kerstin (the two parents), Matthias (11), Katharina (8) and Alexander (5). Stefan, Kerstin and Matthias all speak English very well. Katharina and Alexander do not. More on this later.

So the drive back to Germany from the Swiss airport took about 2 hours. The scenery in Switzerland is absolutely beautiful... lot’s of green farmland and trees. There is also a huge lake called the Lake Of Konstanz that is shaped like a bunny. Anywho, during that time I mainly talked to the parents because the children were still very shy around me at that point– and of course, could not communicate with me.

The town that we live in is called Oberturingen (I was mistaken earlier. Friedrichshafen is another town near here) and it’s about 4000 people. It’s so quaint and quiet… and kind of reminds of a town that you would see in a Lord of the Rings movie… like Edoras or something. It feels like I’ve gone back in time 100 years.

So when we got here I was given a tour of the house. Oh. My. God. Most beautiful house I have ever seen, no kidding. Even houses in the Highlands don’t beat this. And the garden is huge and had play equipment, swings, fountains, apple trees, etc. So beautiful!

But when I got to see my room I nearly fainted! HOLY CRAP. I’ll never be able to live in my Squamish room again. I have a fricken huge balcony with 3 glass windows… a gorgeous bed, desk, couch, table etc. It must be 3 times the size of my other room. (The roof above my desk is slanted though, so every single time I sit up I bang my head on it. guess nothing can be perfect! haha.) And I have my own bathroom…that I love almost as much as my bedroom.

Moving along now! So at this point, after arriving at the house, the kids and I hadn’t really talked and I was wondering how we were going to be able to communicate. And then the football came out (by football I mean a soccerball of course. I’ve got to speak the European lingo while im here!). Poof. Worries gone. After 5 minutes it was clear that the language thing wouldn’t be a problem. Any feeling or idea we could just say by a facial expression or pointing. And anything that we couldn’t Matthias – the oldest boy who had learned English in school – could translate.

Random other fact: they have a cat that just had 5 kittens. It is CUTENESS overload here in Izzy-land.

Can I again stress how HOT it is? There’s an inversion going on here right now… so all the hot air is trapped in. (right, sam?)! Needless to say playing football/badminton/running around and everything else we did that first day was tough!

When suppertime rolled around, well, here’s where the cultural differences get interesting! It’s always a nice sitdown dinner with all of us there, and often we eat outside. The food is (as expected) completely different. For example, we drink carbonated water (no joke… I was looking forward to a refreshing glass of water and nearly chocked in surprise when I took my first sip. I still haven’t gotten used to it but obviously it would be incredibly impolite to say anything. Same with the white wine). We often eat watermelon as an appetizer, and then have things like sausage, tomatoes with cheese, salads, chiscobobs (sp?), pasta, beef, etc. for the main course. Breakfast, too, is different. No eggs/bacon/toast for Izzy! We eat these weird ball things made up of meat and eggs with herbs on top. And when I thought it would be safe to drink a nice glass of orange juice, I found out that they put carbonated water in their orange juice as well! Anyway, so there’s some possibly interesting food differences. Wow I just re-read that paragraph and it really sounds as if I’m hating the food… but nope it’s actually the contrary! I really do like most of the stuff we eat and trying everything that im not familiar with.

Back to that first night… oh man it was a good thing I was so tired, or else I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep in the terrible heat. But of course, even being jetlagged could keep me from jumping awake at the sound of DING DING DING DING from the church next door at 6am in the morning.

The day after involved more playing with the kids, taking them to their lessons (flute, choir singing), walking around the town etc. It was funny, I was the new person in a very small town, so everywhere they took me people kept starring and (at least I suspect) talking about me in German once Matthias explained that I was completely hopeless in the language.

Looking back I find it funny that I was actually worried the language thing would be a problem. Katharina, Alexander and I talk to eachother without speaking the same language which I am so relieved and amazed to find that it is possible to do. In fact… I think the kids like me a little bit toooo much now. I had to pretend to be going to sleep in order to get them to leave me alone long enough to have time to write this message haha.

Today i learned how to make marmalade! (and by marmalade, I mean all kinds of jam. in german marmalade means more than just orange). We also went fishing and I CAUGHT A TROUT! haha. We ate it and the other fish we caught for dinner. YUM. this weekend we also visited a lot of the surrounding cities, like Ravenbourgs (yes, the boardgame maker city of the world) and Friedrichshafen (where the zepplin was invented). gorgeous gorgeous country side cities.

Anywho, all-in-all, I’m having a great time so far. My only complaint is that the wireless rarely works, meaning no internet for izzy after all! (which is why it took me so long to post something... this is the first time in the whole time i've been here that the internet has worked!)

Well, i'd like to write some more, but i'm scared that the internet is gunna go away again... and i'd like to check my facebook before that happens haha! hopefully tomorrow it will work again... *fingers crossed*

Love izzy

ACHOOM!

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:03:36 GMT

Golly it sure has been a while since I've posted anything. I apologize! Work had been overwelmingly time-consuming.

Some things that have happened since my last update:

-reunited with my lovely friends Sam and Mayo, who I've missed dearly over the past semester!
-saw the Howe Sound High School Musical with said friends (WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER)
-met up with my cousin Seb, whom I haven't seen in over five years! (And met his very hot, buff friend from Manitoba)
-went clubbing with Raman and Otilia to a gay club called Celebrities
-learned to wake up at 5am five days/week for work
-developped an obssesion for crossword puzzles (but unfortunetely, not talent)
-said goodbye to my mommy who temporarily left for Montreal yesterday (consequentially, I prepared for many weeks of take-out and fastfood dinners. Neither my dad nor I have much patience for cooking).
-received my school marks. Oddly enough, the results were the opposite of what I expected. I somehow did decently in ethics (90%), but very poorly in the english/writing course (82%).
-and finally, became sick with a cold! Ack!

Anywho, I need to get up at - you guessed it - 5am for work tommorow. Bedtime!

Love love Izzie.

A GG-Themed Entry

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:02:26 GMT

Hey lower BC-ers. Izzie here. Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Squamish's elite.

(AHAHHA. I couldn't even type that with a straight face)

Anyway! Hello! Can you tell Gossip Girl can back on tonight? Hurrah for losers like me who enjoy this mindless crap!

Time for an update in the very boring life that is my own! :D

Spotted: Izzie at A&W

So I finally figured that I could no longer put off working, I mean, it's already been a week since I finished exams and my bank account is continuing to painfully spiral downwards (ohhh, the curse of being a student). Granted, it's not like I lazed around all week, I diiiiid re-do my room after all. (Can you tell I'm trying to justify this to myself?).

Anyway since I highly doubt there's a place that will hire me for less than a month - considering training procedures are usually like, two weeks anyway - I of course went back to good old Adub. I had my first shift yesterday, which was 10 hours long and done on two hours sleep. Then I had another one today with roughly the same criteria. (I haven't gotten up before noon in ages, so working at 6:30am will take some getting used to... sleep-schedule wise. Still, I'm not complaining! I know Mayo's endured a lot worse at McD's this year! Right Meana? Nevertheless, I can't help being a little disoriented! :O)

Anyway, I have another shift tomorrow and I should try to see if I can increase those snooze hours. Away I go!

Thus concludes the Izzie update. Exciting huh?

Oh, one last thing before I go: make sure you girl look up the new MTV clip about the Twilight movie! It's amazing!

You know you love me,
XOX, Gossip Gir-- Izzie.

From Aubar to Cellar to Tonic to Dennys to Tonic etc...

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:56:32 GMT

I had one of the most random (and awesome) girls night yesterday.

After greyhounding it over to the city I met up with Becky and Raman at Metro and we did a little shopping. (Note to you girls: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me that someone wants to come to Metrotown for a shopping day with me! They have all their new summer dresses and it looks amazing! And no, I don't have any money either, but that shouldn't stop us from going! =D)

Then Raman and I went back to her place, got all prettied up... and pretty wasted (we finished up four alcohol bottles that she had in her fridge). Then we took the Skytrain - I can only imagine how loud and drunkenly obnoxious we were being... I feel bad for the people around us! - to Granville, and spent the next half hour or so wandering around looking for this club called Aubar before realizing that it was right next to the skytrain station in the first place.

The line seemed way too long though, so after all that we went to The Cellar instead (and got in for free using Raman's uber jedi mind trick). It was really nice there but it was British Rock Music night or something which was no fun to dance to, so after one drink we left and went to... Tonic (of all places).

After about 15 minutes in Tonic we realized we wanted to go to Dennys (figures). But since we didn't wanna have to pay for coat check a second time when we came back, we left our coats. Dumb idea of course! It was freezing outside!

At Dennys we stuffed ourselves silly, then went back to Tonic for about an hour or so, left, cabbed it home.

And then of course this morning was amusing... looking through all the random videos and pictures we took and being all "oh my... what the hell were we thinking?"

So yes! Even though we didn't stay at one place for very long it was still one of the most fun Girls Nights yet! Apparently we have much more fun wandering around outside than in actual clubs!

*Completely exhausted*

My Room Echos Right Now

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:03:59 GMT

What have I been up to since I got out of school you ask? Well, certainly not working. I at least wanna take a little break before I get into that again. Oddly enough, I haven't had a spare moment despite the not-employed state, because I've been painting! Well, not exactly painting. More like moving furniture out of my room (hence the echoing), plastering (is that a word?), and sanding (Mayo's nightmare) for the past few days. Today I finally get to paint though, now that all the boring prep stuff is done!

Izzie needs to vent...

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:50:00 GMT

I just had THE most unfair exam in existance! We had 3 hours to get it done. There was 140 multiple choice questions. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY! So basically you didn't even have time to read the questions all the way through or else you had to worry about running out of time. But that's only the beginning. THEN we had to read this 6-page paper... and write a 1000-word essay on it. ALL IN THREE HOURS!! How is that even possible??? I'm soooo choked!

One down, one to go

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:50:36 GMT

I had my first exam at BCIT today! It was a typical english-style exam... sit there, write as much as you can for three hours, and have a major hand cramp for the next two days, you know, the basics. (Pesonally I think the essay-type exams are complete wastes... let's face it: there's no time built into them to properly think about an argument! They just want to you write write write! What's the point of that?! There isn't one!)

Only business ethics to go and then it's summer break time! Hurrah!

Update on the concert situation...

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:55:04 GMT

So my friend and I were talking tonight and we decided that mediocre tickets to an Oasis concert are better than no tickets at all! So yes, we bought plaza tickets!

And now that I have the idea of seeing Oasis live stuck in my head... my first [english] concert... well, it's hard to be sad, even if we don't have the spots we wanted!

OMG I'M GOING TO A CONCERT, YAAAAY!

My Feud with Ticketmaster

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:20:58 GMT

Okay, so one of my friends from SFU and I were so stoked because of the upcomming Oasis concert and we were determined to get tickets. They went on sale this morning and I was at my computer ready to buy them the minute they were available... yet even at 10:00 exactly (when they went on sale) somehow there were NO floor tickets available at all! It's so incredibly frustrating! Have you guys ever had any trouble buying from ticketmaster?

Whoooosh! That's the sound of my sanity going out the window.

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:59:19 GMT

Exams are coming up (critical reading/writing on the 8th, ethics on the 10th), meaning that I am in full study-mode now and for the next week and a half. So far it's all going fairly well... I've pretty much adopted the library as my second home.
Oh, and I'm also at the point where the nightmares start kicking in. You guys know what I'm talking about: the ones where the alarm doesn't go off the day of the exam, where you can't find the right room, where the exam is actually written in Chinese and everyone else but you can read it, etc. Gotta love exam time!

An insight into Izzie's mind...

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:22:09 GMT

I found out today that I will never ever be at risk of getting breast cancer. See, I saw a commercial on TV that said that women have a 1 in 9 chance of getting it. Coincidently, roll up of the rim at Tim Hortons also has a 1 in 9 chance of winning something, and since I never win at roll up the rim, I figure I'll never get breast cancer! The logic is perfect!

Music game!

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:59:15 GMT

Each is the first line of a song that came up on shuffle mode on my itunes! can you guess what they are? :O btw, go do mayo's becuase I stole this from her!!

1. Lately I can't breathe... waiting they're chasing me
2. If I could break this spell I'd run to him today Sammy!
3. Scratching out the surface now and I'm trying hard to work it out
4. It won't be long yeah yeah yeah it won't be long yeah yeah yeah
5. I heard there was a secret chord that david played Sammy!
6. You and I got something but it's all and then it's nothing to me Mayo!
7. This has been said so many times that I'm not sure if it matters
8. I see the lights are turning and I look outside the stars are burning
9. They're gunna clean up your looks with all the lies in the books Mayo!
10. All my life I've been waiting for you to bring a fairy tale my way
11. What a fine mess I got myself into this time
12. Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du I backed my car into a cop car the other day
13. Over the sea and far away she's waiting like an iceberg
14. Dancing where the stars go blue... dancing where the evening fell
15. Pay close attention don't listen to me from now
16. Na na na na yeah you are the music in me
17. Et si tu crois que j'ai eu peur, c'est faux Mayo!
18. Lips are turning blue... I can't stop calling you
19. Nightmare, lying here in the dark ooohhhhh scared.
20. We're soaring, flying, they'res not a star in heaven that we can't reach
21. Blackbird singing in the dead of night... take these broken wings and learn to fly Leany!
22. Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth, still a little bit of you laced with my doubts
23. One day more another day another destiny in this neverending road to calvery
24. Welcome to the planet, welcome to existance
25. There's no time for us, there's no place for us
26. Wanted single f under 33 Sammy!
27. And It's been awhile since I could hold my head up high Mayo!
28. Every single day I walk down the street I hear people say baby so sweet
29. I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house, that don't bother me
30. Where are we? what the hell is going on? Leany! (No sammy, it isn't a kidnap song)

Mayo wins with a grand total of four songs!!
Sammy steals second with 3 songs!!
Leany gets honourable mention for getting songs I was sure no one would!!

Here are the songs that no one could answer:
1. Blisters by Our Lady Peace of course! (Tsk tsk on Mayo and Sammy)
3. Say it to me now from the Once Soundtrack (wasn't expecting anyone to know this song)
4. It won't be long by the Beatles/Across the Universe movie
7. Get Busy living of get Busy Dying by Fall Out Boy
8. Say It's Possible by Terra Naomi
10. Left Outside Alone by Anasatacia
11. All About Me by Matt Dusk
12. Float On by Goldspot (best first line ever: Du Du Du Du Du...)
13. The Other Side of the World by Kathun Tunstall? *Can't remember her name*
14. When the stars go blue by Tyler Hilton/Bethany Joz Lenz (From One Tree Hill Soundtrack... where was Amy when I needed her?)
15. Must be Dreaming by Frou Frou (I'm pretty sure you guys have all heard this song)
16. You are the music in me from High School Musical 2
18. Sing for Absolution by Muse
19. Never ending NIghtmare by MSG
20. Breaking Free from High School Musical
22. Cannonball by Damien Rice
23. One Day More from Les Miserables
24. Dare you to Move by Switchfoot (I was sure someone would get this one!)
25. Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen (I though for sure sammy would get this one!)
28. Take me or Leave me from Rent Soundtrack
29. What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts

Californiaaaaaaaaaa here we cooooooooome

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:36:55 GMT

Today was my mommy's birthday! I got her a 40$ bouquet of flowers and this Pierre Lapointe thing that you non-frenchies wouldn't understand =P. Apart from that I spent the better part of the day doing homework and watching OC reruns... wow, sometimes it scares me how much I haven't changed since high school.

Peace out!

Boing Boing goes the Izzie Hair

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:21:25 GMT

I spent the better part of my afternoon today at the hair dresser's. I prefer long hair by a longshot, but my hair sooo desperately needed to be cut (the bottom four inches were approximately 100% split ends). So yes, I got all of that chopped off. I now have shoulder-lengthed hair with a couple highlights. Ah yes, highlights. That was fun... having an entire roll of tin foil on my head for two hours, how could it not? Oh, and it was my first time getting them done and I think they look really good; kind of subtle in a they-could-almost-pass-off-as-natural way!

What else? Well, I went around today reading a bright pink book called "Can you keep a secret?" Anyone ever hear of it? It's like my 10th time reading it... the only chick lit book I can stand/adore.

Ciao!

Fun Fact

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:01:17 GMT

Did you guys know that wine is one of the main ingrediants in cheese fondue? I had no idea until today! No wonder I always feel a little tipsy after our family has it for dinner...

Anywho, just thought I should share that dandy little fact... figured it would be more interesting than a discussion of how today I finished my tasers-are-bad-and-should-be-banished-to-the-eternal-pits-of-hell essay.

Overall I had phenomenal day because I realized that I only have two weeks of school until summer! Boo-yah!

And Mayo: I ADORE the collage you made!

Here we go again...

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:09:00 GMT

Tonight as precisely 10:11 PM, Izzie was invited into an MSN conversation with Leany, Mayo and Sammy. (Ironically, the only three friends I have on here!) The conversation turned from stolen Easter chocolate to Sam's expensive car repairs and finally to Livejournal. I had an LJ from 2004-2006... with a diminishing amount of entries every year until I eventually completely forgot about the thing. Until tonight that is! The four of us had fun re-reading said journals and talking about their contents, and how different/similar we are now from four years ago. Apparently this nostalgic conversation triggered an Izzie desire to start writing on this site again... so here goes...

Feel free to take bets on how long it'll be before I get bored and stop writing... personally I'm thinking a week tops.