All good things must end :(

Hi everyone, its Tom here.....
So officially the exchange has ended. In a matter of minutes I went from exchange student to holiday maker and now I'm sitting in bed at 12:00pm in wait of my family who will be arriving tomorrow morning. Yesterday we saw Jazz off at the airport and in about half an hour she will be arriving back home in Australia after a very long 21 hour flight. With any luck she won't have ended up in Africa :) Its extremely hard to believe that its been 2 and a half months since I've seen Australia. It only feels like a couple of days since we were in the airport ready to head off, and equally, it only feels like just yesterday that me and Jazz were informed that we had recieved the scholarship. In fact the whole year has seemed to fly by, everything has happened and gone by so quickly. And so much has happened, but the exchange has definately taken up the biggest amount of time. But it was time well spent, I will remember these days for the rest off my life.
   If you are reading this and considering going on exchange, what are you waiting for. Exchange is an amazing thing and you can only do it when you are young. I've gained so many things from exchange, things like life skills and I've seen so many things that some people will never see in thier lifetime. The experiences and knowledge you gain is incredible and all it takes is a little bit of courage and an open mind.
   Thank you to all those who make this exchange possible, you all know who you are and the amount of effort you put into this program is incredible. And finally, to all the people that I've met on this exchange, I will remember you always.

So this is Tom signing off for the last time.

Thanks for reading and following our journey along the way.

Tom S/V



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :)



The last Week!!!

This is second last time I'll be saying hello to everyone as this is our last official week of the exchange. On Sunday this week, Jazz will be flying home, the exchange will have ended, but I will be staying in wait of my family who are coming on Monday. Anyway, this being the last week of spring meant that all the christmas decorations started coming out all over the place, inside and out. Also on Friday all of the Christkindlmarkts opened, and they are basically in every town. So that will be a of my blog today but more a part of my blog next week.
   This week we had school as usual and on the weekend we did some more sight seeing of sorts. First of all, on Friday night we went to the Christkindlmarkt in Rosenheim. It was extremely busy being the first night but we spent a while there, bought some food and then headed home. Other than Europa park and Venice, that was easily the busiest place I've seen so far.
   And yesterday, we left at 9:00 in the morning and headed to Rosenheim to see an exhibition about the deep sea. That was pretty cool and interesting to see how all the exploration and research is done on the abyse. We then headed to Munich to see a festival/market called Tollwood. Again, that was really cool and interesting. Plus it was really cool to see the place where Oktoberfest is held but with nowhere near as many tents and stalls.
   So as the exchange draws to a close, only now is it starting to dawn on me that I've been away for 2 and a half months. It's gone so quick and now I see why people always say the longer the exchange the better. I had another enjoyable week and I'm hanging out to see what the last week brings.
Tom

The last full weekend :( :)

Jazz again for the second to last time!

So this week has been just the usual school, school and school. But this weekend has been all about Christmas markets and cold weather.

Yesterday on Saturday my host mum and dad, Jojo and I went to FlintsBach and went to the first of three Christmas markets; Weihnachtsmarkt. We didn’t go there until 4 so that way it was starting to get dark and it looks much nicer when its darker because it’s all light up with lights and candles. It was really nice and all of the stalls with the different bits and pieces they had were so cute and pretty. Some of this market was inside and the rest was outside. While being here i tried a warm punch drink, which I didn’t like that much and some Bavarian chips; they were potatoes cut into a swirl and then cooked in oil and covered in salt, super healthy! But they did taste good. After looking at everything it was 5.30 so Jojo and I decided it was too cold and we walked home. On the way home it was so cold that one of my fingers turned white and my face felt frozen. But we survived :)

Today, on Sunday My host mum and sister, Jojo, our friend Babsi and I went to Kufstein in Austria and we went to two markets here. The first one was at a castle; we walked up many many steps and saw a really nice view of Kufstein. The market was in a tunnel area around some of the castle and all along the sides were stalls set up with all different kinds of creations. At one of the stalls there was actually a vase and some candle holders made out of trees from Australia. After this section we went outside into a large circle area that is used as an opera type place in the summer, but for the winter it is used for the Weihnachtsmarkt, but they did still have a group of men singing some songs, which was really nice and made it feel like Christmas more. Once we had finished looking around at all of the stalls and the castle itself we took a 1 minute train/cart back down to the city. While we were walking to the car we saw another smaller market in the city area so we decided to have a look at this one as well. There wasn’t much to look at and it was mainly just for food stalls but it was still nice and they had a band playing; not too sure what kind but they looked like a school or family group. The girl that was singing looked about 16 and was so good and she sung Christmas songs to set the mood.

Overall all of the Weihnachtsmarkts were reeaally nice and I enjoyed seeing all of them; also just for our luck today it even snowed while we were at the castle Weihnachtsmarkt! It was really pretty.

On Tuesday I am going to the Rosenheim one with Jojo and our friends. It should be nice as well.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back for my final one next week!

Von Jetz, Jazz :)

Market at the castle.

Outside at the castle market.

City market.

Inside the tunnel.

Entrance to the stalls in the tunnel.

Still enjoying the good life :)

Hello everyone, Jazz again!! :)

As you may have seen on Toms blog we now only have two weeks left.., this is soo sad but it makes me want to enjoy everything and take it all in more than usual.

On the weekend my host mum, Jojo and I went to a market in Bad Feilnbach. Everything there was handmade by women and sold by them too. It was so nice and all of the women are so creative and talented to be able to make all of the stuff they were selling. There was everything from clothes, soaps, food and drinks, little bits and pieces to put around your house, jewellery and even some drums. It was really cool.

After this we went back home and had some lunch. Later on in the afternoon Jojo and I went to Lukas and Tom's house and played Just dance 4 on the X-box and watched a movie. It was so much fun and watching each other dance was hilarious. Overall I had a fun relaxed day. (:

On Sunday my whole host family except my host sister and I went back to Bad Feilnbach and went to see the Moor’s. We stayed here for at least an hour and it was really nice and refreshing. A Moor is translated into English as a swamp but it was more like a wetlands; this area where the Moor’s were is sooo big and open. Surrounding the area are mountains so it is such a nice view. The Moor’s are there because many years ago people dug large trenches, for example maybe 5metres deep and they were filled with mud so people could sit in them to relax and the dirt/soil in this area is special for the human body and helps to relieve body aches and cleanses skin. It has all washed over a bit now so you can see why it is called a 'swamp' but it still looks and feels like it’s a wet land.

Once we got back to the car we drove to Rosenheim to see an exhibition about the deep sea. It was very interesting but there was so much information to take in. I enjoyed my days again and by the end of it my head was full of information about mud and life in the sea. :)

I’ll be back again on Sunday! Ciao. :D

The lady at this stall made jewellery and other things out of forks and spoons.

These toys were made from wool.



Half of the Market, there was some indoors aswell.

These hats were made from wool also.



Just because he was wearing a Bright P-12 College jacket on the weekend.



The Moor



The moor' view.











2 weeks left!!!

Hello everyone, its Tom again.......
   Now that we are coming into the last two weeks of the exchange, it's starting to get to the point where I'm trying to savour every moment more and more. And not only that but I'm also starting to reflect on everything that has happened in the past two and a half months, and also what the next two weeks will bring. It's hard to believe all the things I've had the opportunity to see and experience all thanks to having the opportunity to go on exchange. I think these memories will be with me for the rest of my life.
  
This week we had school as usual but Wednesday was a student free day so I had a sleep in and later Lukas and I went to a city called Kufstein in Austria to look at the castle there and the city itself. Sadly, we were too late and the castle closed 15 mins after we got there and wasn't worth the money to go in for probably what would end up being five or ten mins. So we just got some food and ate it down on the river, and then bought a dance game for the X-Box Kinect.
  
Saturday was much the same, I had a sleep in and didn't do much for the morning, and then in the afternoon, Jazz and Jojo came over to play the dance game and watch a movie. That was pretty fun and we had some laughs.

Today we went for a drive up through the mountains above Oberaudorf, all the way to a ski resort called Sudelfeld. Along the way we saw some massive waterfalls of the creek that runs just behind our house called the Auerbach. They were pretty cool. Once we got to the top we had some good views of a mountain called the Wendelstein, of the valley we drove up and the mountains surrounding the Sudelfeld. So I got some good pics and then we headed home.

Later in the afternoon we went for a swim in Kiefersfelden at the outdoor/indoor heated pools. I had a pretty cruisy week this week, but that was good for a change and it gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep and also some time to reflect. I can't wait to see what the last two weeks will bring.


Kufstein Castle



Eating on the River

One of many Auerbach waterfalls



The Wendelstein (on the far left)



The view to the west from Sudelfeld

Hello Everyone, Jazz again! :)
I am now in my 3rd to last week here in Germany and it is starting to get so cold!
On Saturday it was Jojo's Oma and Opa's 50th Anniversary and the family went out for the day to a nice Bavarian restaurant. There were only about 14 of us so it was a nice and quiet day.
To start off this celebration we had our first entrée; we had a pancake soup with some other 'foods' in it but I’m not 100% sure what but it was very yummy. After this we had our second entrée; this time we had a salad with orange and walnuts. Once we finished it was time for our main, for this one we had 4 options to pick from, I had a piece of fish with some fettuccini noodles and vegetables; it was really yummy but after all the food I could only manage to squeeze in the fish and some noodles.
After everyone had finished it was time for dessert, most people had some ice cream or chocolate mousse but it was too much for me so I saved room for the cake later on.
My host mum, dad, Jojo and I then went for a nice little walk around the town to get some fresh air and walk off a little bit of the food, but it was so cold so Jojo went back to the restaurant before us because she was in a dress. This was a nice time for me to talk to my host parents together and they told me about traditional Bavarian weddings and how they start drinking and celebrating at 4-5am and stop later on and then the bride goes away and gets dressed and prettied up and then they have the ceremony and reception. It sounds much different to a traditional Australian wedding but just as much fun.
When we returned to the restaurant we had coffee, tea and cake. We had three cakes to choose from; one of them Jojo and I made which was a cream cheese sponge cake with peaches in it. There was also an apple cake with cream and a chocolate and cherry cake. Jojo and I had half a piece of our cake and the apple cake each, they were both very yummy.
It is such an amazing thing to reach 50 years of happiness with someone you love and their day was very nice and all of the family was happy and sharing love all day. (:
The day after on Sunday was Jojo's Opa’s 86th birthday, so in one weekend he had his 50th anniversary and 86th birthday :)
To celebrate this my host dad, brother, Jojo and I went to her Oma and Opa's house and had coffee and cakes with them and her other Oma and Opa. This was very nice and so cute; it was like having a little tea party with loved ones.
This time I had the cherry and chocolate cake and Jojo had ours again. By the end of this day there were only a few pieces of the cakes left.
After coffee and cakes Jojo's Oma had made dinner for us so we stayed for that. They had Leberkäse with breads, sweet and savoury mustard, grapes, cheeses, salmon and garlic bread. But I didn’t like the Leberkäse so I just had some grapes, cheese, breads and sweet mustard.
This day was also nice and spent with fun loving people. Over my time here I have got to know most of Jojo's family pretty well and it is so nice to spend time with them. :)
Over all I had a fun, happy, loving, full of food and smiles weekend and I enjoy it very much. I also got to try some foods I hadn’t tried yet, which most of it I liked.

That’s all for now, but i will be back again soon! Ciao, Jazz (:

The three cakes!
Top right- Mine and Jojo's cream cheese sponge cake with peaches cake
top left- apple and cream cake
and bottom-cherry and chocolate cake.

Jojo's Opa with a traditional 50th anniversary sign. It gets hung above the couples front door for them to see when they leave their house.  



My host mum with her parents on their 50th anniversary.

Salzburg and Mountain hike

Hey people it's Tom again...
This week it was back to normal classes and the good thing was that we had all the teachers back again and therefore no free classes. Also this week, Jazz and I started a class with one of the teachers to learn some things about working in an office, and that will continue for the next three weeks. And again, this weekend I did some things with the family.
   On Saturday just after lunch, Lukas, Klaus and I went for a mountain hike of sorts. Where we went was in Austria, about half an hour from Oberaudorf. The walk took us up through a valley between two huge mountains called the Wilder Kaiser and the Zahmer Kaiser. We walked for about an hour and ended up at a little church that had its 300th birthday last year, so that was pretty cool. Whilst walking we had some pretty amazing views of the valley and of  the two mountains. This valley is not accessible to the public by car because to get there you either go through a tunnel which is strictly for the use of rescue services and the residents that live up there. The only other way in is to climb up 316 steps (I counted them myself), straight up an almost vertical ridge. So it was relatively quiet in the valley and on the walk.

And today Lukas, Klaus, Lukas's friend Marco and I went to Salzburg. Salzburg was amazing, as with a lot of the cities I've been to since getting here in Germany. We went staright to the old city where all the sight seeing places are and started to have a look around. We went to the Salzburg Dom, a huge cathedral there, Mozart's birth place and then to the Hohensalzburg, Salzburg's biggest castle. This was seriously cool, from there we got some of the best views od the city and got to see what a real castle looked like. But getting to see the views of Salzburg was definitely the highlight of the day.

The little church



View over Kufstein from the ridge



The old city of Salzburg

Hohensalzburg