Back to School

I'm excited that next week I'll be starting my new course! It's very strange having to wait until October to start, as this is the first year that I haven't already started in September. Last Saturday I went to Bode Schule for an open day with my Auntie and boyfriend, and it was a really nice day. I've bought some stationary (my course is a third theory) and I'm ready to start!

Oktoberfest 2013

As I said earlier, the weather had turned to rain and it really did start feeling like Winter - until Oktoberfest started. The first day of Oktoberfest was last Saturday, and since then the weather's been great! (Okay apart from as I write this, in which case it is raining again). Yesterday me and Jorg went to have a look around and I got to wear my new Dirndl that I got for my birthday! I'm not usually a fan of any kind of place that has roller coasters etc but Oktoberfest is really different. It has such a great atmosphere and it's so fun to see everyone in Dirndls and Lederhosen!

My dirndl! I didn't realise that where you tie your bow has an actual meaning to it, in this photo (at the start of the day) I had it tied at the back; until I met Jorg and he told me that it means I'm a widow. If you tie it on the left (at the front) it means you're single, in the middle a virgin and on the right married/taken! I was grateful that I wasn't going into Oktoberfest as a widow :)

 Here I'm actually standing next to barrels of beer, which are brought into Oktoberfest by horses! I sadly didn't get a photo of them as just as we had taken this photo they started moving again, but I think it's such a cute idea to have all beer brought in by horses.

Jorg also bought me a "Lebkuchen Herz" that says Mausi, which is basically an affectionate name for someone, for example in English we use "Honey" and so on.

We managed to grab a place in one of the beer gardens and ordered some beer and an extra large pretzel! Excuse my wierd expression in this photo, the sun was right in my eyes! The beer wasn't for me, but for Jorg as I'm not such a fan for beer. However I did try it and even I could tell it is much stronger and nicer than normal beer!

I will hopefully be going back again in the next couple of weeks!

Tierpark

One weekend me and Jorg visited the Tierpark (the Zoo) in Munich. It was a great day, apart from all the wasps - which we later found out that the Zoo does actually have a wasp's nest on purpose (who ever came up with that idea?!) In this Tierpark you get to pet the goats, and Jorg said earlier you could also stroke rabbits, but sadly for some reason you can't anymore. Here are some photos!

Such an adorable goat!

A grumpy looking fish

A week in Zwiesel

In the middle of September my Mum flew over and we went to Zwiesel for a week, to visit friends and family and generally have a little holiday. As soon as Mum flew over the weather turned to rain (literally non stop) and so cold that in the evenings we could see our own breath! It was still a good holiday, despite the rain. On one day where it only rained a little bit, we went walking through a forest to Buchenau; on the way we decided to do a bit of mushroom hunting (although we found more poisonous mushrooms than ones we could eat)

 

Other than the walking, we did manage to eat a lot of cake and coffee - as usual and go shopping - as usual! On one of our walks home we came across lots of hand carved people out of wood. They were placed on a random bit of grass and they looked amazing; all unique and different to one another. Here are some photos

Cool idea for a bench

Having a drink!

My favourite

In the making!

I wanted to put a photo up of me and Mum, but didn't take any on my camera, so this will have to do instead! Here's Mum and a friend of hers, drinking home made liquor :)

Thanks for the holiday Mother!

Birthday in Munich

On the 6th of September (Sorry very late post!) I had my first birthday in a different country. Although I do see Munich as my second home, I have to say having my birthday without my (English) friends and family just wasn't the same! Nevertheless I still had a great birthday :)
As my birthday was on a Friday, my dance friends were in school and my boyfriend was at work; so I went out in the day and treated myself to some new clothes...

 

Late afternoon I met up with some friends from dancing and we went to a rooftop bar on top of TU University, lots of students and the view is amazing! Here is a photo I took when it was already dark, so you can only see the lights from the other buildings.

The next day me and Jorg went to his Mum's house where I got some presents, and then went to Greek Pub/Bar for the night with Jorg's friend :)

It might not have been the same if I had been at home, but it was still a good 20th Birthday :) !

Summer in England!

My Summer in England...

Bye Bye Dancing...

As some of you may already know, I have left Iwanson. There were many reasons: the school didn't think my body was "muscular" enough and although I did what they wanted and did extra sport - I started running, and cycled everyday and everywhere on top of 5/6 days of dancing; they didn't seem happy enough. I didn't enjoy dancing as much as I did before as I almost felt like I wasn't dancing for myself anymore, but to please someone else. I also had doubts that at my height (156cm) it would be harder for me to get jobs and would all the pain, money and time spent at the end of the three years be worth an unstable career? Injuries also come into consideration, small injuries that you have/had begin to get bigger when you have to train everyday as you don't have time to keep on resting them, which becomes a risk for your whole career.

A week after this decision I auditioned for "Bode Schule", a school that is also linked with TU (university) in Munich. Directly after my audition they told me that I got a place on their course, so in October I will begin a new 3 year course to become a "Gymnastik Lehrerin". This basically means a sport/dance teacher, including main dance styles, aerobics, pilates, various sport and also theory such as physiotherapy and anatomy. Although it's hard to let one dream go it is also a relief; dance is a hard career and I'm very happy to be able to have a more stable career choice that also incorporates dancing. I'm very excited for my new course and the fact that I can stay in Munich! The course enables me to have a wide range of opportunities of where I can work afterwards, here is a small list taken from their website:
Kindergarten,
Schools (including drama and dance schools),
Gyms,
Private Health Clubs,
Medical and Physiotherapy Clinics,
Retirement Homes,
Personal Training.

So fingers crossed that I will get on well with my new studies in a months time!
Larissa