A very late pre-christmas London post - part1

Sorry for being so inactive again v.v
As my apology I give you some pictures of Hannas and my pre-christmas London trip.
It all started late in october when I bugged everyone about wanting to go to London in the christmas time. Most of the others wanted to go to but sadly they didn't have the time.
In the end (one week before my depature) it looked like I actually had to go there all on my own. I was anxious and afraid to get lost in the big city. In the end I was lucky as Hanna decided to go with me =D yay ^.^
We booked the hostel and our bus tickets (cheaper than train ;-D) and decided to take the busses in the night.
So at 1:15 a.m. we met in front of our hall and went off to the buis station to catch our bus at 2 a.m. As anticipated we were way to early and we were afraid to be at the wrong bus station as nobody else was there and we couldn't find the right bus slot.
Thanks to a very nice security man at the bus station we found our bus slot and waited for the bus to come. At that point we realized that we might have a different way to tackle uncertainties: Hanna plans everything through (to the minute!) and checks everything twice to be sure it's okay. I am more of a lazy person and let things just go the way they are XD So while Hanna makes sure we get somewhere I make sure she doesn't go crazy with worrying.
When the bus came (10 min. late and Hanna close to a panic attack) we got onto it and finally could get some sleep until we would arrive in London (scheduled at 7 a.m.). As soon as I sat down next to a nice girl I didn't know I fell asleep. Later on one of the most funniest moments of my life happened though I couldn't appriciate it in that moment. It roughly went like this:

Thym: *snore*
Girl (next to me): Excuse me. We're in Birmingham.
Thym: *half asleep* Oh that's nice. *Turn around*
Girl: No please. Excuse me. We're arriving in Birmingham.
Thym: *Cracks open eye* Yeah. But I have to get off in London. *Turns around again and falls asleep*
Girl: *shakes my shoulder* No. We're in Birmingham and I have to get off here!
Thym: *half awake* Oh sorry. *stands up and falls over to the person on the other side of the aisle (who luckily is Hanna having a laughing fit)*
Girl: *somewhere between annoyed and amused* Thanks. 
Girl gets of the bus and I sit down on her place. Hanna sits next to me and I just fall asleep again.


Thinking about it know makes it seem pretty funny but I still feel sorry for the girl that sat next to me. She must have believed me to be so rude...
Finally at 7 am we arrived in London! =D It was great ^^ even though it was super cold!  So we started our adventure at a coffee shop XD
After that we went to the Big Ben and other tourist points so we would be there before the main mass of people would come. It was so great! Blue sky, nearly no people and all the time we wanted!! =D
Here are some pictures of our adventures:

After wandering around a little bit we decided to got to the tower of London and the Tower Bridge. It just is a must do on a London trip XD
At this point I was so glad that we got ourselves some underground tickets! The walking would have killed me otherwise XD
When we arrived at the back of the Tower we were quite hungry an decided to take a little breakfast break. At this point I was so glad that Hanna thinks things through and actually had some sandwiches and they were delicious! =D Lucky me XD
Afterwards we took of th the Tower Bridge which I faintly remembered from my last visit in London.
The Bridge was very impressive and I long to see it actually open one day! Next to the stairs that led up to the bridge I saw a sign and decided to read it (go figure XD) and it has potential for a horror or criminal book O.o It was about the Dead Man's Hole and well.. just read for yourself:

After walking over the bridge and back again we toured around the Tower of London. When I saw the entrance prices I tok my wish back to enter it and we decided (or more acureatly I wanted) to got to the Buckingham Palace to see the guards. But first some pictures of the Bridge and the Tower:

A small door we found right on the bridge. It was even smaller than I XD

These lions looked strangely real O.o Whoever made them really captured their movements perfectly.

After finishing the tower we went through the underground to the Hyde Park to take a look at the winter wonderland there.

 

It looked really impressive but we decided to come back later to enjoy it without our luggage which we still had with us at this point.
While we discussed if we should take the tube or walk to Buckingham Palace we spotted a parade of horses. And not jsut ordinary horses but something like a royal group of riders on their way somewhere. Forgetting about Buckingham Palace we decided to follow them. I mean really. Who can resist the sight of this:

Sadly a pedestrian is not as fast as horses so we lost them after a few minutes (helping them was the fact that they got to ignore traffic lights) but we tried to follow at a distance and viola XD we ended up at Buckingham Palace. I think Hanna knew where we were going but was so considerate not to destroy my excitement about folloowing some horses somewhere unknown XD. On our way I found this:

I love it XD
When we arrived at Buckingham Palace I saw the guards and felt sorry for them. It was so cold and they had to stand there for most of the time and just be bored. Honor or not. That must be pretty boring. Funnily enough we met some germans in front of the palace and talked for a little bit XD I think I have some kind of aura around me that screams foreigner or german. How else could people always know?

After this we went to our hostel and left our backpacks there so we had more space to move ^^
Then we went to Harrods. Harrods..... I don't  know what to say about it. In my opinion it is above most descriptions so I won't even try it but show you some of the pictures I took:

cupcakes *__*

After a lot of shopping (in my opinion) we went back to the hostel, dropped of our shopping bags and went to the museum. I am sorry but I love museums XD I just hope that Hanna was not all to bored in there as I went straight to the medical history section. Sadly we only had half an hour before the museum closed so we had to rush through but it was still a lot of fun for me. I really hope to get the chance to got there again!
After the museum we just walked through the evening London and let it do it's magic on us =D Here, I'll share some with you ;-D

After walking through all this we were knackered and just wanted something to eat and then go to sleep. After looking for what felt like forever we got some japanese curry and sushi and basically way to much food but we felt so starved XD

This was just my share. Lots, and lots of rice with even more tofu curry (not spicy according to the employee but she lied. It was super spicy for me -.-), sushi (which was great!), an onigiri with something in it (I forgot) and pancakes filled with anko and green tea (one each). It all tasted good but was way to much food XD Hanna had the same problem and in the end we actually had to through some away. That really felt bad.
Afterwards we went to bed and that's how our first day in London ended. =D

University Life

Hello again ^^ after my friend reminded me that I haven't written anything in forever, I give you this post about university life in Germany and in England. Please note that these are all my experiences and things may vary in other universities, other parts of the countries and with other teachers. Oh and I study at a university of applied science, which in Germany is different from a normal university because of some entrance requirements. But more about that later on.

Lets begin with the german site of this story ^^

University life in Germany is different depending on the province (german: Bundesland) you are in. Some are taking fees and some are for free and of course there are the private universities which are very few but very expensive.
I am studying in Hesse which is pretty much in the middle of Germany XD But my friends study in other provinces so I might include some trivia from there ^^
Lets begin with the fees.
In generel education in Germany is supposed to be for free (according to some old law or so I heard). But a few years ago some provinces started with fees ranging from 400 to 500 euro per semester. Some charged these fees for longtime students (longer than a specific semester count) and others for all students. A few provinces never charged fees and still remain for free. Some get rid of the fees now and change backto the fee free system.
Adding to these fees, if the uni charges them, there is the semester fee which ranges from 50 to 290 euro and ususally includes student parliament fees, administration fees and a semester ticket for the area of your university. For my university this is basically the whole of the province Hesse in which I can therefore ride busses and trains and tubes for free. Sports clubs and societies (if they exist) cost extra.
Enough of fees now on to the student life ^^ German students mostly live in private appartements. Some alone and some in flats, I don't know the ratio but I think more students live in flats wich 2 to 5 people in there.
University halls are few and most of the time not really close to the uni. Because of their rarity they are nrealy always full and to get a room you have to apply really early.
Oh and to apply for a uni in Germany you have to have an Abitur (A-levels in England). To apply for an university of applied science you only need a specific Abitur which does not include all of the classes from a normal abitur but some more specific ones to the area of study you are interested in. The difference in the Abitur and specific Abitur is sometimes very important and sometimes nearly unimportant and due to its connection to the german high school system a whole other topic ^^
Okay ^^ now really on to the lecture part =D
First of lectures are not compulsory to attend and most of the time no attendance is taken (some seminars are different).
Students take 3-7 classes per semester. And thanks to the bachelor and master system you have a standard period of study of 6 semester (bacherlor) and 4 semester (master).
All lecturers are by default addressed by their surname and title (if they have one). It is also normal for students to be addressed by their surname.
Classes vary from course to course and the subjects vary too, of course ;-D

Now on to the english uni ^^

I study at a university in the north west of England and so my experience comes from there. I have not heard of any big differences in other party of the country (Scottland and Wales have other uni systems as far as I heard).
The fees vary from 3000 to 6000 english pounds per year and include administration fees, student union fees and other such things but they do not include a train/bus ticket or anything like that nor any fees for sports clubs or societies (those cost extra).
For housing most first year (first and second semester) students live in university owned housing (student halls) as you have a right for a room in student halls as a first year student. These student halls can be pretty expensive but mostly are right on campus and you just a to walk a short way to any campus building. Student halls are mostly flats shared by around 5 people.
To enter uni here in England you have to apply, have your A-levels done and, if you're accpeted, pay the fees fo the year.
For classes. All classes are compulsory and attendance is taken every day. In our uni you even get an online attendance list to see if you are signed in for every class you attended and how many you missed.
In computing (which I am doing) we have 6 classes and my friend how studies literature has 3 classes per year.
Lecturers are addressed by there given name and address the students by their given name too (took me some time to get used to...)

All in all I must say uni in England seems more cozy than in Germany as in Germany you are expected to plan and prepare more stuff by yourself whereas in England there is always someone there to help you.
I am still undecided which system I like better as you grow up faster with the German system but you are more supported in the english one.

Tadaa ^^ you reached the end of my post ^^
If you have any questions feel free to ask I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities ^^

Love
Thym

Manchester and curry-a-thon

About Manchester XD

Well our trip there was really short as it was only a day trip for shopping ^^ Hanna actually planned the whole trip and Oli was so nice to drive us there with his car, which he actually brought from Germany! It is really funny seeing the way people react when the steering wheel is on the other side of the car XD
On the way to Manchester I fell asleep pretty fast as I can just never manage to stay awake in a car XD It was still pretty funny and after nearly getting lost in Manchester after some driving around in circles we finally found the Arndale Shopping Center. I have to say it is huge O.o The structure itself is pretty easy to understand (it's a square) but just the amount of people and shops baffled me! People everywhere XD
After walking around for a few minutes Hanna mentioned that, by chance, our friends Katy and Ashley were at the Arndale Center, too! I phoned and texted them and after a few tries we got in to contact with them and could decide to meet outside a store ^.^ Of course we wouldn't just wait around like that so we decided to hit the first store while waiting for the others ;-D Sorry we're just girl ^^ (well and Oli but he was really patient, and I think he actually had a good time too while we both made fun of the clothes in the stores XD)
After meeting the others we decided to just walk around a little and see where the shopping gods would take us XD
We went into quite a few shops, looked around a lot, split up, meet up again and spilt up again XD It was really nice to just go with the flow and see what happened XD Well... it was fun until I got hungry XD But then we got some delicious Ben and Jerry's Ice cream and just walked around some more.
In Arndale Center there are, as I said, quite a few great shops but for germans there are also two shops that are really funny XD

druckers actually means printers in german XD

Bhs means is an abbreviation of bra in german XD

As you can guess both shops had nothing to do with their german meanings XD But it was still really funny to see XD

After walking around some more we went outside the shopping center and walked a short way through Manchester. I have no clue why we started walking but I was really happy when I got myself a burger on the way back XD Finally some real food ^.^ We spilt up again outside the shopping center and Hanna, Oli and I decided to get back to the car and drive home. 

When we got into the car and drove down the parking center we realized at the end that english parking centers are not build for german cars XD The slot to give the card back is on the side of the front passenger XD 

On our way back out of the city I managed to stay awake and while we took and extra tour around Manchester (yes... sooo planned XDDD, we totally didn't get lost again XD) I took some pictures from around the city. I just love the way the old buildings are intermingled with new ones!

here are some pictures from around the city:

just gotta love christmas decoration in october XD

Just before we got back on the motorway I saw this sign and I have to say it is probably the most disgusting thing I ever heard about... But it sounds like something truly british XD

After we got back to Preston Oli was so nice to cook a curry for Hanna and me and we just hung around and talked that evening =D It was really nice and funny and one of the evenings I'll definitivly remember =D

The next day we met up again and this time we cooked our own curry ^^

We did a japanese curry rice and some mocchi for desert ^^ I think everyone pretty much liked the curry but the sesame mocchi weren't everyones thing XD As I am addicted to both I just loved that meal XD

That's pretty much everything about Manchester and the following curry marathon (which I like to call curry-a-thon ) xD

Love
Thym

Sooo long

since my last post... I sincerely apologize for that but uni is really taking up lots of time right now XD
I will write some more posts today and the next few days ^.^ One about a really short trip to Manchester and one about  the uni system here in England. It really differs from the one in Germany.

Love
Thym