Hamburg

Some of you may remember Anni Ka, who Kathy and I met in San Francisco and I met up with again in New York! Well, she invited me to stay in Hamburg and how could I say no?! So I trained it from Berlin to Buchen where Anni Ka and her sister, Silvie picked me up. I actually only got off the train on a whim. Lots of people got up so I assumed it was a main station and when they said the next station was Buchen, it sounded kind of familiar. I was very lucky and grateful when I saw Anni Ka standing on the platform waiting for me!

So we drove to Anni Ka’s home town where she lives with her family on a farm!!!! They have lots of cows and even two calves! For dinner we had potato salad, sausages and curry ketchup (all so German!!) and then went to bed.

The next day we went into the city of Hamburg and spent the day checking out the city as well as the biggest Christmas markets in Germany! Then a snow storm hit and within ten minutes, what was before the streets and paths were now completely white! It came out of nowhere! Anni Ka and I thought that staying indoors would be a good idea so we went to the Miniature Wonderland. It is a place where they have built countries based around railways. The first country was Switzerland. There was also the Swiss airport which took six years to make! The planes actually took off and it took up a lot of space.

Of course there was Hamburg, as well as Austria and Sweden. And America! Namely, Vegas!!!

The trains were connected to all the countries and there was also day and night! At night, the lights would dim and the cars would put their lights on! It was very realistic! In conclusion, the miniature wonderland was totally awesome.

The next day, I went to Anni Ka’s sister's school for her ‘English’ class and talked about Christmas in Australia. So I realised that I don’t know much about Australian Christmas because we celebrate Polish Christmas on Christmas Eve. So I tried to think about what my friends do on Christmas and I told the kids that everyone goes to the beach. They laughed (a little too much) when I told them we have plastic Christmas trees and we put them up at the start of December. Then I told them about Polish Christmas and then they asked some questions, like if we have an easter bunny. It was awkward and I have never spoken such horrible, stilted English but I had loved it all the same.

As Anni Ka and I walked out of the classroom, a girl ran up to us with paper and a pencil and asked me to sign it for her! Celebrity! So I wrote, 'Greetings from Australia’ and then all of the kids came running up wanting their own signatures! Celebrity!!

That night, Anni Ka’s brother’s friends came over with their sleds and hooked them up behind their Dad’s tractor. Then Anni Ka’s Dad drove us around down a street and through a field a couple of times! I was really nervous at first, like going on a Royal Show ride for the first time, but then once we were going it was awesome! We couldn’t feel our feet or hands because of the cold but it was totally worth it! We even passed some cars and gave them a quick wave!

I had a great time in Hamburg with Anni Ka and her family so a huge thank you to the Deecken's for a fantastic couple of days and hopefully I'll be seeing you in soon in Australia!