Life goes on… in Amsterdam!

Being the largest theme park in Germany and the second most popular in Europe, this is really a great place to go if you are still YOUNG! hahaha… Well, I don’t just capitalised the word "young" for no reason. Imagine a 50 years old grandma riding the Europe’s highest (73m) and second fastest (130km/h) roller coaster, will she survive??? If she does, her wig might not…   :p

Ok, now let me quickly introduce this park. It is located in Rust, south-east of Germany. The whole area is about 70 hectares, divided into 12 different zones, named after European countries (Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Greece, England, Russia, Holland, Scandinavia, Austria, Spain and Portugal). The mascot of this park is called "Euromaus", a grey mouse which reminds me of Mickey Mouse (maybe they are cousins, hahaha). The admission ticket for adults is 28.50 Euros, they have some packages for staying over-night visitors as well, and the price is quite reasonable.

Of course, roller coaster is the main atraction here. They come in all shapes and designs! it is going to take hours to explain about all I’ve seen, so I’ll just talk about some interesting ride I had. We started the day with Silver Star. Taking this ride is the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life! Trust me, my eyes were not open for more than 3 seconds since the ride started with "the 73 meters fall". I looked like a total chicken shit in the picture snapped by the special camera, as you can see below (pic 716). Vik is the only person who looked "happy" in that picture, Matthias and Frank looked as shitty as me, hahaha… and this is how I looked like after the whole thrilling experience… After that we went for something really slow and safe, the Swiss Bob Run, the highest speed is only 50km/h. Then was the Fjord-Rafting, all of us got wet, fun! After that the Tirol Log Flume, a medium speed water coaster (pic 1493). After lunch we did the Euro Sat, I like this one as everything is indoor and dark (I don’t get to see how high I was from the ground so it was not that scary for me), the ride made me feel like traveling in the space. Then the Euro Sat, only Vik and I went for this one, the rest of the gang already given up, hahaha… This is a high-speed spinning coaster, started with indoor spiral lifthill, and then outdoor spinning.

Anyway, this park is not only about roller coasters, they have shows running throughout the day as well, like magic show (the magician’s name is Marcel, he is quite cute), ice-skating performance, Gladiator show, and "Shakespeare’s Dream", a show with dance and artistry. The 4-D cinema is much better than I espected, as I was in Hong Kong Disneyland’s 4-D cinema before, and I thought it should be more or less the same, with water splashing and smell of perfume. But this one offers more than that, the seat moved and a tube hidden at the side of the seat "whipped" your legs and that was really a surprise!
Over all, I would say that that was a very fun experience, even though it made me realised how "not-so-young" I am anymore. I wish I could stay longer there, as we did not really explore everything in the theme park. My greatest regret is that I did not take the Poseidon and Atlantica Supersplash water coaster rides…

For more information about this park, please visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_park

More pictures can be found in my photo album. Check it out! :p

This is going to be a super short entry. Vik is still sleeping, I purposely got up early so that my biological clock can get used to waking up early for classes.
Went to visit my Malaysian friend yesterday. Like I mentioned before, SooLing stays just a few blocks away. I brought her the new Ferrero Rocher with Pistachio (green packet, so cute), then she served me green tea she brought over from Malaysia, with some nuts and raisins (later ice cream with whip cream she made herself). It was such a great joy to be able to chat with a friend who speaks my kind of Chinese, hahaha… We talked about so many things, from wedding dinner to matress for bed! She also gave me 2 lovely vases as my wedding gift, so sweet of her… Her chinchilla gave birth to 2 baby chinchillas last month, they are so so cute! Not to forget her 2 hamsters… Her husband Alex is truly an animal lover!
 
Looking forward to meet her next month on her birthday party! SooLing, I wish you all the best in life and have a happy everlasting marriage!

Yo! Rebecca is going back to school next Monday! Yeah!
Finally, after the sit in this morning, decisions were made. I am going to join the "super international class" next Monday! This class is so cool, teacher is cool, students are cool, hahaha… Other than Australia and Antartica, students in that class come from all other continents in the world! From the continent of Africa, we have a guy from Senegal, and 2 girls from Morocco; the continent of America, we have 2 girls from Ecuador; the continent of Europe, we have a girl from Poland, a girl from Spain, a girl from Romania and a guy from Turkey; the continent of Asia, we have a guy from China, a guy from Iran and finally me, the representative from Malaysia, hahaha… And, and, my teacher, she speaks French, Spanish and English, on top of German of course.
So starting next week I will be officially a student in that class, hope they won’t bully me, hehehe… happy learning Rebecca! :p

For an impatient person, the time spend on waiting for someone or something to happen can be really torturing. Thank goodness I somehow got use to this, infact I learn not to just wait, but to do something else while waiting. After waiting for 2 months plus, I am still not sure when can I start my language course, hahaha… God is really testing my patience ya…
Actually I was at this language school called Berlitz last Friday, the receptionist told me the day before I have to attend a briefing regarding this course. On Friday itself after the short briefing they gave us a test (felt like pop quiz back in school)… Anyway I was there with a Columbian women, and a family of 3 from Chile. So I did the test, submitted and waited for the person in charge to call me back and let me know when can I start schooling. Before I continue, let me explain a bit about this course. It is actually called "Integrationskurs", literally means integration course in English. Unlike the normal language course, this one is subsidised by the government, 630 hours (300 hours Basiskurs, 300 hours Aufbaukurs, and another 30 hours Orientierungskurs). But how much the government subsidises is depending on my income or my husband’s income. If Vik is unemployed and he is living on the government’s support, I can get this course for free. Since he is not, I am required to pay 1Euro per hour, meaning about 100 Euros per month, as compared to 220 Euros for the normal language course. In other words, we get to save about 50%, thanks to the government. However, due to this reason itself, the course is always full.
So, today I called the language school, the lady in charge told me my test results are very good, and they would like to have me directly in the "Aufbaukurs", instead of the "Basiskurs". Unfortunately, the class is fulled. She left me with 2 choices, either I wait until next year January and join the "Aufbaukurs" by then, or I can try another language school. I was stunt for a while, then I asked her if it is possible for them to just put me in the "Basiskurs", since it is starting in September, and my patience is gradually running out. But she said no, as she believes I would be bored learning things I already know. So I have no choice but to try another school, and I am really confused now… If there is going to be another test tomorrow, shall I pretend stupid and flunk the test to make sure I get enrolled in the "Basiskurs", or shall I do my best and get into "Aufbaukurs", which might already have sufficient students like the previous language school? Vik’s advice is, just go there and do what I think is right.
So, got to keep my finger cross, and hopefully I will get what I want tomorrow. By the way, I am getting "more and more courageous" lately, as I am starting to speak German to people I don’t know… hahaha… I don’t care if I say it right or wrong, I just have to keep practising!  :p

It took us approximately 2 weeks to finally get an appartment, that is if there is no problem with the contract Vik is going to sign tomorrow. I learn a lot throughout the whole searching process, from terminology to some daily practices.
Initially I was like a totally stupid person, I had no knowlegde of how a good appartment is in this country. I didn’t understand why Vik said we need at least 2 rooms, because for me 1 room is enough (I thought the room is referring to bedroom). Then only I found out a "2 rooms appartment" means an appartment with one bedroom and a living room. Living room is considered as a room, yet kitchen, toilet and bathroom are not included to the count.
Then about the flooring. Tiles or hardwood? Better go for hardwood, parquet is better than ceramic tile. This is because other than July and August, you better make sure your floor is warm the rest of the year, hahaha… As wood is warmer on the feet than a tile floor, choosing tile means you need to put carpet all over the floor (lots of work, measurement, cleaning, and after some time they stink). But if the appartment has floor heating, then this is not a big problem. Yet it does not mean wood flooring is the best, as tile flooring works better for kitchen and bathroom.
The next thing is the heater. This is something which is completely new to me, because back home we don’t need a heater at all! Just like how people here do not need an air-conditioner. Hmmm, I do not know how to explain this, but Vik said better get a normal electric heater, and not the old model kind of heater which consumes more electricity. The old model heater has got stones inside and it is extremely heavy… Generally all houses come with heaters. That is all I understand till now, somehow I just refuse to know more.
Then about kitchen. I don’t know about other countries, but here in Germany, you can buy "a kitchen" and "move" the kitchen when you move to another appartment. Yes, I mean you bring your kitchen to your new appartment and set it up there. Isn’t that amazing? They called it "Einbauküche", or fitted kitchen. You can buy your fitted kitchen online, choose the design, layout, shape and colour you like, and they will send it to your doorstep! Another amazing thing is, people here knows how to fit the kitchen themselves! In fact most of them like DIY kitchen! Vik’s dad is expert in this, haha…
Ok, this is getting a bit too long… I guess I’d have to stop here now. Will continue about the appartment tomorrow, after everything is confirmed. At this point of time, I can only pray that things will go on well tomorrow!

Sorry people, this mission is still not completed yet, but I have new information about Maike which I MUST share with you all here. This is a piece of very crucial information, whether I will or I will not complete this mission, it is all up to this.
Maike went on vacation this morning, until next week (wooohooo, can you feel how happy I am? hahaha…) Anyway, not long after she left the appartment, I saw this little note on the notice board outside her room, stating her name, address bla bla bla… then one thing stiked me, geb am: 06.09.81. I was like, wait, "geb am" means "geboren am" which means "born in" in English, ohhhh no, she has the SAME birth date like me! "Holy Crap", that was one of my friends’ reaction upon hearing this. I mean, of all the people in this world, why must we have the same birth date? I’d rather have the same birth date as Vik’s sister (she has 07.09.1983), but Maike? Man, what a coincidence, or shall I say what a catastrophe?

Vik can’t help laughing at me seeing my reaction, he came up with his "theory" to analyze the "catastrophe" (Vik’s brain is full of theories from his thesis, so pardon him). Anyway according to his theory, many couples choose to have sex during new year’s eve, because they are usually happy celebrating the coming of the new year. Since they are all happy and excited, they think it is worth to risk making love without contraception. Then after 9 months, you get a baby. That explains why many people are born in the month of September… including me and the girl next door, and Vik’s sister, and my sister and many many more…
So now I am thinking, if we have the same birth date, then we might celebrate birthday "together"? I do not want to celebrate my birthday with her but well, it falls on the same day, bummer… Ok, if we do celebrate it together, then perhaps it is ok if we take a picture together? That means mission will be completed on my birthday? Sounds not too bad as well… Will think about it…

Yay, it is August! Summer is not too hot anymore, following that I am very happy again.
Today is the first day of August, I want to wish you all and myself a happy August ahead. This month Vik and I will be busy looking for appartment to rent (actually it already started last month). I truly hope we will get a nice appartment, around 50 square meters, 2 to 3 rooms, and has a balcony. Of course, hope to get it at a reasonable price as well, preferably near the city, as I will have to start schooling soon I think.
This month I also have to get my VISA done, decide with Vik where to move, and register for German language course. I have decided to be "not-so-lazy" too, meaning that I want to be more motivated on learning German at home, stop unnecessary surfing and chatting too much.
Rebecca, your new life requires new language, it is time to face it, show some progress and no more silly excuses. Be strong and courageous! 加油！