Babe in the Woods

Hey all wieder! (again!)

It is the end of the week, and the end of my work day...just thinking about the walk home makes me freeze. Brr...it is really ironic, the sun shines like hell (as in hell in German, which means bright) here but it is freezing. I can't even jog anymore because because the cold is just too much...my nose simply freezes. When I go home, all I want to do is to cuddle up in my bed and shiver under the blankets (I exaggerate a little here, not all the time, but always when it gets dark.)

I went for a walk in the woods two days ago, and it was really breathtakingly beautiful. The ground is just covered with lots and lots of moss, so you get really soft ground to walk on, and the entire forest is full of pine trees. Because it was rather late in the evening, the sky was turning grey, and the forest looked almost...magical. I could imagine a dragon coming out from the trees. I have always wondered when I was little, how Hansel and Gretel could get lost in the woods. I mean, the woods I have seen back home always have maps in the middle of them, kinda takes the adventure out of wandering in them, don't you think? And here in these woods, I want to get lost in them, crazy though that sounds, so that I can feel like Gretel (always thought that Gretel was the cleverer one who outsmarted the witch).

This reminds me of a new term I have learnt today: Frauen Bewegung. To those who learn German, this does NOT mean Ladies' Exercise (I was standing up to do some stretching when my boss/colleague Jochen remarked Frauen Bewegung) but Women's Liberation Movement. I got the pun only about 30 seconds later, and thought it was very funny, but since it would be dumb to laugh at seemingly nothing in the office, I kept the laughter in. Hmm..everyone prob thinks I am some humourless gal=P

My boss/colleague Jochen really knows so many languages...he knows namely English, Deutsch, Japanese, and can even read some Chinese/speak it! Plus Korean (he has a key to how to read it) which is really amazing. He was relating an experience he had in a Chinese restaurant, and complained how you cannot tell the ingredients in a CHinese dish just by looking at the name, like how 'Toder Hund im See' can even be the name of a dish! (dead dog in the lake) HAHA!

I will be teaching a greek girl called Ioanna (like ee.yo.han.na) how to speak Mandarin, and she must master it within 2 weeks to win a bet. Don't tell me how that can be done...it just can't be done. She needs to know the four tones and all, within one day at least, so that she can learn enough words to converse in Mandarin in 2 weeks. I get to learn Greek in return=) I have been thinking of learning a German Dialect (over here they speak Frankish, but there are hundreds of other dialects, like Kölsch from Köln, Schwäbisch from Schwaben, Baden-isch or something from Baden-Württemberg, etc.) And guess what wonderful advice everyone has for me to learn a dialect? -get a German boyfriend. Hey, as if they hang on trees ready for harvest!" *incredulous*

Just realised that I missed home when I read the blogs of my friends and buddies...so many things are happening but I am just not there to chat with them and all...sorry gals! I will get a German Phonecard tomorrow...don't know if I would be able to make cheaper calls, but anyway, please contact me at my new company email ok?

Am leaving for home soon...wondering if I should have dinner. The girls here eat peanuts (not literally!) for lunch, while I eat comparatively humongous portions...the cold really gets to me=( Maybe I would balloon before I go back to Singapore, terrible, isn't it?

Alright, no one else is left but for me, gotta go!

Loveya lots, Tings