One Week On...

It's been one week since I left the Funk family and their home in southern Germany. As Margit kept telling me on my final day "Schnell! Schnell!" Yes, the time had gone fast!

When I look back on the two weeks I had in Oberndorf I feel a tinge of sadness and nostalgia for it was a time when (and this sounds daft) that I genuinely felt I was doing something worthwhile with my life.

If I wasn't re-evaluating my life before I WWOOFed then I certainly am now. I know how I want to spend the summer and that is most certainly heading back to mainland Europe and setting off on a journey traveling from farm to farm. I have my eyes set on farms in Germany and Denmark and potentially The Netherlands and Sweden.

Travel and being out of your comfort zone, if you set your heart to it, can open your eyes and allow you to learn so much about yourself. It is because of this that I want to travel and WWOOF for a much longer period of time. The journey is of course fun but I believe you can get so much more than just enjoyment out of such a trip. I've had glimpses of it but now I want it for the long run.

In the two weeks I was in Germany I met some fascinating people with some brilliant travel stories. These people further inspire me to pursue WWOOFing long term. Friends and family in England say I am "crazy", "random" and "brave" for heading off to a foreign country to live and work with a family I had never met before. However listening to some of the people I had met in Germany minimizes the significance of my trip to dust. All these people were massively open minded, friendly, generous and self-assured - qualities I respect so much. And all these people had traveled - a lot.

About two years ago I Inter-Railed around Europe for about 18 days and comparing that trip with my WWOOFing experience, I have to say that WWOOFing was the much more rewarding of the two. The advantages to live and experience the life of genuine locals can not be over exaggerated and the chance to do so must not be overlooked.

My next task is to complete my TEFL course. I have the 3 day course to attend to in London next Monday and I have about 150hours to complete online. That is, genuinely, the only thing holding me back from jumping back on the WWOOF website and finding a new host that needs work.

Exploring some local places...

Friday night ended up being a lot of fun. Last week Matthias and Margit allowed a heavy metal festival to be hosted on part of their land. Apparently 500 people turned up, some from as far as Canada. As a thank you gesture the heavy metal fans who organised the festival hosted a BBQ and party on their field. Was pretty awesome as we watched the sunset while drinking Unterbaarer (a beer) from a keg and enjoying the BBQ.

Got talking to one guy and he invited me to a pub called Hamlah after the BBQ. Jumped at the chance, so soon after we drove about 5-10 minutes to this pub in the middle of nowhere. The pub was simple awesome. Met some incredibly friendly and interesting people (including one guy who had traveled around the world working as a carpenter). There was a DJ playing typical 70's rock music and there was a wonderful friendly vibe about the place.

 Donauwörth

Saturday I spent the day looking around two local towns. The first, Donauwörth is a 5 minute train journey from Mertinger and sits on the confluence of the River Wörnitz and River Danube. A pretty and quiet town but there wasn't much to see or do so I only spent a few hours here. Did have Roast Deer for lunch though - something I'd never tried before.

I then headed to Nördlingen. This town is a bit more unique as it has a very old wall built around the town. You can actually walk on the wall and around the whole town in about an hour or so. Seems to be a lot of history there and it was certainly worth visiting. 

 

Nördlingen

Today (Sunday) I spent the day in Augsburg - a city 30 minutes from Mertinger. Here I visited the Fuggerei. The Fuggerei is a small and enclosed housing estate in the city. The houses (about 140) were built about 500 years ago and cost less than a Euro per year to live in. They were originally built to house innocently impoverished people of the time - hence the low rent. The low rent remains today but the population are generally much better off than what they once were. Residents are requested to say three daily prayers to Jakob Fugger - the founder. Here there was a museum and an old World War II air raid shelter to visit and of course you could wonder around the estate and see the houses from outside.

Tomorrow it's back to work on the farm... 

Time Flies...

Lots of things happen in a short amount of time here. People, food, drink, conversations and work come and go so quick that it becomes hard to remember everything. And time flies. It's currently 17:00 here in Oberndorf but it feels like midday - although my legs would tell you different, they are ready for bed.

Here on the farm I have fallen into a routine, so my average day is as follows...

7:10 - wake up and shower
7:30 - breakfast - typically continental (bread, ham, cheese)
8:30 - cycle (yes, cycle) five minutes to the farm and start the days work
12:00 - Essen Zeit! - lunch time, changes every day but always fresh and healthy and most of it grown at the farm or nearby farms
13:30 - back to the farm for a couple more hours
15:00 - free time
19:00 - Essen Zeit! - dinner, same as what was for lunch

Yesterday evening, after dinner, various friends of the family visited. First came Andy and with Andy came some bottles of Unertl Weißbier. Cheers Andy. Andy chases and captures turkeys for a living. He was telling me, using English and actions, how he grabs the turkey by one leg and by the neck, turns the turkey upside down and flings it into cages in the truck. The truck then drives to the slaughterhouse. Matthias is a vegan. Perhaps it was good that Matthias was not in the room during the explanation. Andy also told me how the cages in the trucks need to hold 5 turkeys each and that sometimes it is hard to squash them all in because they are, obviously, trying to escape. So Andy needs to put a huge amount of momentum into chucking the turkeys into the cage so they all fly to the back. I just sat there nodding and sipping my beer.

Andy went and two more men came. A bricklayer and an electrician. The bricklayer spoke good English so we made some small talk but most of the evening it was Matthias, Margit, the electrician and the bricklayer having conversations in German. I just sat there nodding and sipping my beer.

It sounds a bad experience but it was one I really enjoyed. It was very surreal as the evening got darker and the only light in the kitchen came from a single candle near me. The light switch was right next to the bricklayer but I don't believe anyone even thought of flicking it on. I could barely see the electrician as they got up to leave.

So last night was my best night here so far and today has also been very good. I helped Matthias in the greenhouse. The greenhouse is full of tomato plants that will be ready to pick in June or July. In the meantime the plants need monitoring and working on so I had some small jobs around them. It was a good chance for us to get to know each other a bit more. Matthias speaks very little English and my German, I have noticed, is really not good enough at all. Despite the language issue we seem to get on quite well and it is good working with him.

I need to start planning my weekend. I will go to one town on Saturday and somewhere else on Sunday. I am tempted to go back to Munich for one of them and maybe Donauwörth for the other day. Both are easily accessible by train so they are good options.

Bis später

Settling In...

Didn't have much of an opportunity to blog yesterday. Being the first day I was very tired and with so much going on it meant this website went on the backburner. Today, however, I have more time. I'm currently chilling out in my room watching Germany vs Poland on the TV and this is a good time to reflect on the last two days.

So I'm now living with a wonderfully welcoming German family in a brilliant house and in a peaceful and beautiful town. I couldn't have asked for a better host family. Despite their lack of English they are incredibly kind, generous and warm-hearted. They live a very organic life. Most of them are vegans or vegetarians and they generate their own hot water via machinery in the basement. The majority of the food we eat is grown off their own land and is very tasty and healthy. Home made jam, home made cake, home made bolognaise source, home made yogurt has all gone down very well so far. They try to waste as little as possible. Even a half finished mug of coffee will be given to the plants rather than down the drain!

My room is one of many rooms in the Pension, something they also run to earn some extra money as the farm is not massively profitable. Matthias, the father and owner of the farm land, works solidly throughout the day but he tells me there is little money in the work however he enjoys it and says he is living the dream. And I can see why. This part of the world is very beautiful, very peaceful and everyone is very friendly. They have a wonderful house, passed down through generations, and they have raised a very friendly family. Just two days into WWOOFing and working with Matthias I have grown a lot of respect for him and his way of living.

My German is also improving a lot from being here. Just being surrounded by consistent German conversation is very helpful and I notice myself understanding more and more. I still find it hard to express myself in the language but we can get by and we understand each other.

Today I worked in the greenhouse, basically weeding a section of land that will eventually have vegetables growing from it. More tiring that it sounds and after 4-5 hours of work today I still have a section to complete. Something I hope I can do tomorrow.

That's it for today. Photos may appear soon when I can get them onto my laptop. For now, tschüss!

3 Days til WWOOF

Tomorrow is my last day of work for about two weeks as Monday morning I head off to Germany to start the WWOOF journey.

I am pretty much ready to go. Boarding passes printed, clean clothes ready, DSLR packed and my German hopefully capable.

I've been learning German for almost a year now but Monday will be my first proper test of the language in a real life environment. I feel like I could understand simple and basic conversations but that's only when it's spoken in a slow and clear manner. Native speakers will, naturally, talk at a faster pace than the audio on my language learning guides - but that's part of the fun of it and is certainly a challenge that could take my German to the next level.

Or, it could be a disaster, and I go back to furiously pointing and foolishly acting out what I want to say. We'll see.

I expect to touch down in Munich at about 9:30am German time. From there I will hop on a train to Munich Hauptbahnhof and from there take another train to Mertingen - which, I believe, is only about a mile or so from the town of Oberndorf where the farm is located. That much I'm pretty sure will happen. After that, I really don't know. I have no idea what to expect from the trip but it should be a great experience and hopefully a lot of fun.

My intention is to regularly blog what I've been up to while I'm out there - whether that actually happens remains to be seen. At the least I'll chuck some photos and words in here when I get back.

Koningdag in Amsterdam!

I spent the last four days doing what you do in the mad place that is Amsterdam. I always leave the Dutch capital with a tinge of sadness - leaving the liberal, chilled out Dam experience and returning to the strict and stressed United Kingdom.

Having said that I do believe that, during the process of this visit and previous visits, I have done all I can in Amsterdam. Of course there are endless amounts of marijuana, alcohol and prostitutes to battle through and I'm sure that if I were to return, it would be for those attractions. However in terms of experiencing the city and it's sights I feel I have done all I can unless I set up shop there. Amsterdam has given me some fantastic memories, stories and experiences but it's time for a break from the canals and bicycles.

As for my recommendations of Amsterdam...
- If you're after marijuana or prostitutes book your accomodation just south of the Amsterdam Centraal train station.
- If drugs and the Red Light District aren't your thing then maybe look to book your hotel about 3 miles south of Centraal station - perhaps near the Vondelpark landmark.
- Coffee shops generally close at 1 or 2am - so plan for the night.
- Vondelpark and canal tours are a great way to chill and rest your feet.
- Heineken Experience, Science Museum and Van Gogh museum are interesting and fun attractions.
- At peak times you'll be waiting one to two hours to get into the Anne Frank House and then when you do get inside it'll be very packed - perhaps get up early for this one.
- If you don't mind paying quite a bit more on your flights or accommodation then visit the city during the annual "King's Day" (or "Queen's Day" when they have a Queen). The streets all around the city's heart are filled with markets, live music with one of the most fun-filled, party like atmosphere's I've ever experienced. Meanwhile on the canal's are parades of small party boats - each with their own DJ's playing the latest Dutch electronic dance music. It is quite some experience!

Routine pint of Estrella at Gatwick Airport

"Lads on Tour"?

A traditional Dutch meal - Poffertjes

Netherlands to Germany to Asia to Australia

Today I received an official invitation to one of my best mate's wedding. Not just any wedding though. A wedding in Sydney, Australia. Not a bad excuse to visit the 'land down under'. Especially as I've been made a Groomsman for the occasion - I almost feel I have an obligation to attend. What a shame. 

 

However that event is over a year away and in the mean time I need to satisfy my itchy feet. A trip to Amsterdam with some friends awaits at the end of April (we decided to opt against wearing matching pink t-shirts with 'pussy patrol' emblazoned on the backs). It just so happens that the weekend we spend in The Netherland's capital coincides with the countries national holiday - King's Day. Naturally our hotel and flight prices have inflated which, at first, left us a bit down. A quick read up on King's Day rekindled our excitement as it seems the event could be worth the extra buck as carnivals, festivals, music and waves of 'oranje' flood the streets.  

A couple of weeks later I'll head of to the small German village of Oberndorf to take on two weeks of WWOOFing. Two weeks of volunteering on a small farm in exchange for accommodation, food and cultural experience.

And after that? Potentially Asia if I can find a job out there teaching English.

Then Sydney.

And it'll all be blogged here.