Final notes on the Seattle/Vancouver trip.
Well, then, been back in Germany since Sunday, but didn't have time/wasn't in the mood for a last posting on the vacation. So here we go now:
Friday was mostly filled with me going back to Seattle by Greyhound and meeting mackenziesmomma on the way there which was simply great. We really had four funny and interesting hours (and surprisingly didn't talk that much Kavan/Lorne... but we did share a few new plot bunnies ;)) and I don't regret getting off the bus and having to go looking for the hostel in Seattle practically in the middle of the night. It was definitely worth it.
So, yeah, hostel in Seattle... was surprised that it was actually very, very nice. All carpets, a fireplace burning, nice hosts... only two pet peeves were that it was not exactly close to the bus station and that the floors were open so you could hear practically everything that went on in the house (not good for someone like me who has a very sensitive hearing and simply hates snoring... honestly, how do people fall asleep with other people snoring in the room? How do they do that?). But yeah, for just one night it was really okay (and the breakfast was great).
Flight from Seattle to Paris was okay (though I really hate people who simply ignore the hint to shut off mobile phones and electronic devices during take off and landing... what's so hard about that, goddammit? And not even I feel the need to check my e-mails even on the plane on a night flight of 9 1/2 hours) and I saw "Marley & Me" (which made me cry several times... isn't that supposed to be a comedy? Oh, and it gave me another "Family"-verse plot bunny!)... and wondered what exactly critics found so "trivial" or "boring" about that movie. Really, it does deal with all the big issues in life, what's trivial about that (BTW, on the flight to Seattle I watched "Revolutionary Road" and found that one rather... um... blah to blergh)?
Anyway, if you ever have to fly via Paris Charles de Gaulles airport: Either make the stopover as shortly as possible or at leats make it long enough that you can see something of Paris. Don't make it about seven hours, which I had. It was just... blergh. I wanted to sleep so bad but the seats there are just... they make it practically impossible to find a comfortable position (unlike Frankfurt/Main for example... trust me, I've been there). Additionally I had to look after my bag because, you know, apart from half my souvenirs it also contained my passport and purse. So I suffered the seven hours there and then went to Berlin... after a one-hour-delay, though, because obviously CDG only has two take-off runways and one was closed. Why?
Fortunately, my mom could make it to Berlin-Tegel airport in time (poor thing had to wait two hours there for me... but then again, I had to wait seven hours for my plane and one more hour for it to take off :P) so at least there was someone picking me up (or, well, paying for the cab which was insanely expensive).
And now that I'm back again... I have a new quasi-boss which is... blergh, to be honest. I have no idea who made that guy the one responsible for managing the election campaigns we have here but I have the feeling that they only took him because all the competent people were either incapacitated or didn't want the job. At least that's my only explanation why anyone would want to make that guy an election campaign manager.
So... I guess that's just the last hint for me to get rid of this goddamn job and finally find something else for Heaven's sake. I'm thinking about Work&Travel in Australia or seriously searching for a job in Canada. Now would be the best moment for that since the contract is going to end in November, anyway and I have saved up a little money and am still young and flexible enough not to be bothered too much by extensive relocation. And I guess I'll try the whole Foreign Office thing again in July since they obviously even encourage people to try again if the first attempt failed. Anything to get away from here, even though I like the town and most of the people but I just... feel like I need a major change. The trip to Seattle/Vancouver just made that all the more prominent to me.
Oh, and look out for a picture post in the next few days. I'm not quite done with uploading them to PhotoBucket but once that's over I'll definitely post a few pictures here.
Another thing: I've been thinking about changing this journal's main language to English... what do you think? Do you want that (because, you know, my life is not that interesting after all) or are you fine with most of the postings in German and just a few selected ones in English (I would, however, not translate the old ones)? Honestly, I'm really interested in your opinion.
Friday was mostly filled with me going back to Seattle by Greyhound and meeting mackenziesmomma on the way there which was simply great. We really had four funny and interesting hours (and surprisingly didn't talk that much Kavan/Lorne... but we did share a few new plot bunnies ;)) and I don't regret getting off the bus and having to go looking for the hostel in Seattle practically in the middle of the night. It was definitely worth it.
So, yeah, hostel in Seattle... was surprised that it was actually very, very nice. All carpets, a fireplace burning, nice hosts... only two pet peeves were that it was not exactly close to the bus station and that the floors were open so you could hear practically everything that went on in the house (not good for someone like me who has a very sensitive hearing and simply hates snoring... honestly, how do people fall asleep with other people snoring in the room? How do they do that?). But yeah, for just one night it was really okay (and the breakfast was great).
Flight from Seattle to Paris was okay (though I really hate people who simply ignore the hint to shut off mobile phones and electronic devices during take off and landing... what's so hard about that, goddammit? And not even I feel the need to check my e-mails even on the plane on a night flight of 9 1/2 hours) and I saw "Marley & Me" (which made me cry several times... isn't that supposed to be a comedy? Oh, and it gave me another "Family"-verse plot bunny!)... and wondered what exactly critics found so "trivial" or "boring" about that movie. Really, it does deal with all the big issues in life, what's trivial about that (BTW, on the flight to Seattle I watched "Revolutionary Road" and found that one rather... um... blah to blergh)?
Anyway, if you ever have to fly via Paris Charles de Gaulles airport: Either make the stopover as shortly as possible or at leats make it long enough that you can see something of Paris. Don't make it about seven hours, which I had. It was just... blergh. I wanted to sleep so bad but the seats there are just... they make it practically impossible to find a comfortable position (unlike Frankfurt/Main for example... trust me, I've been there). Additionally I had to look after my bag because, you know, apart from half my souvenirs it also contained my passport and purse. So I suffered the seven hours there and then went to Berlin... after a one-hour-delay, though, because obviously CDG only has two take-off runways and one was closed. Why?
Fortunately, my mom could make it to Berlin-Tegel airport in time (poor thing had to wait two hours there for me... but then again, I had to wait seven hours for my plane and one more hour for it to take off :P) so at least there was someone picking me up (or, well, paying for the cab which was insanely expensive).
And now that I'm back again... I have a new quasi-boss which is... blergh, to be honest. I have no idea who made that guy the one responsible for managing the election campaigns we have here but I have the feeling that they only took him because all the competent people were either incapacitated or didn't want the job. At least that's my only explanation why anyone would want to make that guy an election campaign manager.
So... I guess that's just the last hint for me to get rid of this goddamn job and finally find something else for Heaven's sake. I'm thinking about Work&Travel in Australia or seriously searching for a job in Canada. Now would be the best moment for that since the contract is going to end in November, anyway and I have saved up a little money and am still young and flexible enough not to be bothered too much by extensive relocation. And I guess I'll try the whole Foreign Office thing again in July since they obviously even encourage people to try again if the first attempt failed. Anything to get away from here, even though I like the town and most of the people but I just... feel like I need a major change. The trip to Seattle/Vancouver just made that all the more prominent to me.
Oh, and look out for a picture post in the next few days. I'm not quite done with uploading them to PhotoBucket but once that's over I'll definitely post a few pictures here.
Another thing: I've been thinking about changing this journal's main language to English... what do you think? Do you want that (because, you know, my life is not that interesting after all) or are you fine with most of the postings in German and just a few selected ones in English (I would, however, not translate the old ones)? Honestly, I'm really interested in your opinion.