Hey guys! My internet is not doing the best. I wrote half of the post intended for today about the Berlin Trip, but I didn't save the progress along the way, and the internet cut out and I lost it. It is getting later here and I have school tomorrow, so I am sorry, but the first
Hey everyone! As I said in my previous post that I just reposted (sorry again about that not uploading for some reason), I'm back from Berlin! I intend to write posts about each day, starting tonight or tomorrow morning (because so much happened that I couldn't begin to cover it all in one post - and I have a lot of photo's to share!). But this post is simply a story I started writing when I was in Berlin, and finished this morning. I think it is my first story set in Nova Scotia, so I am quite happy with it. It is only the second draft, so it probably still needs quite a bit of editing, but I felt like sharing it with you guys anyways. It's less of a story and more of a glimpse into a small period of time. Anyways, enough of my yammering on about it, here it is. Hopefully you enjoy it, and I will see you in my next post!
-Jason "Paris," he thought, "Paris would be an extraordinary place to visit." This he thought, not of the famed city of love, but rather of his small town of Paris, Nova Scotia. Gunter thought this while sipping on a large steaming mug of peppermint tea, not so hot that it burned, but instead a gentle heat, one that radiated warmth as he felt it travel the journey to his stomach. He had always enjoyed a good mug of tea in the early morning while gazing at the ever-changing tide from his back deck. The sky above was the crystal blue, the clear, imperfection free blue that can only be found in Nova Scotia. The heavens above were dotted by clouds, and he didn't have to search hard in order to see the almost dream-like moon being hinted at, hanging low over the ocean, still faintly illuminated by the sun that was now lazily crawling through the sky. All of this, and more, was observed by Gunter White as he cautiously sipped his peppermint tea. He was both enjoying the combined warmth of his drink and his surroundings, and not worrying about the rapid cooling of his morning tea. Instead, he focused on the nature around him. A cool breeze swept across him, rustling the thick trees that were to his right, and racing through the wide open fields off to his left. Gunter watched the water lap at the beach behind his house, heard the slight rushing of the water, moving both gently and powerfully, making progress. He didn't know which way the tide was running - he had a tide chart, but rarely paid attention to it, preferring instead the constant spontaneity that could be found in the ocean tide. He felt that the Bay of Fundy was too great, too magnificent, that it deserved more respect than to be simplified down into a small chart of dates, hours, and heights. As he watched, he saw a fishing boat bobbing it's way to sea for the day, and watched the slight pulse of the water, a little back, a little more forwards, and then a little more backwards. While the steadily rising sun glinted off the waves, he decided that the tide was heading out with the small red and white boat. He knew that it would come back and greet the land that evening, similar to the fishermen, with new gifts and with a weary, aged and ancient form of life. Something that proclaims at once the Siren-like qualities of the water, both the beauty of it and the danger of it. The ocean practically sings to all who see it. It captures many hearts, including that of our Gunter White. By now, his tea had grown cold, but Gunter had found that, as usual, he didn't mind. As he sat perched in his reclining lawn chair, the sun continued it's constant ascent, tracing it's way through the sky. Gunter had a watch loosely clasped around his right wrist, as well as a thin, worn out, light brown leather band. Despite the presence of the watch, Gunter rarely felt the need to hurry, and now was no exception. Rather than check the hour, he purposefully turned it around on his wrist so that the face of the timepiece was looking away from him. He paid temporary attention to the weathered leather bracelet, the thin leather lightly held between his thumb and his forefinger. He then turned his gaze back to the ocean, knowing that soon his day must begin. He didn't dread it, no, he looked forward to it, but he also took a silent joy in the old and wizened peace of the Nova Scotian nature surrounding him, looking out onto the Bay of Fundy. Gunter found his mug to be empty, and after tipping the mug back to try and drink whatever last few drops of peppermint tea that might remain, he took his empty mug as a cue to start his day. Gunter took one last gaze out at the receding waters which were now beginning their daily unveiling of the mud flats. At low tide, these would stretch for miles, to have their beds searched for clams by those who made their living off of them. Gunter White ran his right hand lazily through his sandy blond hair, and regretfully returned to the interior of his house, placing his mug in the sink, already longing to go back to his porch, to be among the trees and he fields and the coursing water. He swung his light backpack on, and began the short walk down his driveway, accompanied by his small calico cat. As he walked, the cat twisted it's way affectionately around and between Gunter's legs. The mail lady drove by in her car, and they shared a friendly wave as she went by. When Gunter's bus came, the cat had long since meandered off, as as he stepped onto the first step of the bright yellow school bus, the sun glinted off of the curved roof. As he made that first step he had his back turned to the ocean - but before he'd even left, he was already promising to return. EDIT: I wrote this a week ago, and posted it, but aparrently it did not post correctly. Sorry for not realizing this! So everything in this post is old info, but still. I am back from Berlin, I did successfully keep a journal of it, and I intend to over the next week write a post a day about each day in Berlin. Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well! Sorry that it has been 11 days since my last post! I don't know if I'll be able to make a post next week either, since my class is heading on a week-long trip to Berlin! I'm pretty excited for that, I think that it is going to be great! From what I understand, I am among the only people - actually, I think I am the only one - in my class who is actually and completely excited for this trip. Don't get me wrong, I think my class is thinking it is going to be fun, but I just think they're not quite as excited as me. This is probably because of the places that the other grade 10 classes are going for their week long trips - places like Northern Italy and Prague. And I realize that going to either of those places would be cool, but for me, someone from away, Berlin is equally as cool and exciting. I guess this something that I have come to think of as the Niagara Falls Syndrome over the last while (I'm sure there is probably a fancier name out there for this, already by someone else, but this is all from my thoughts, so I don't really know). I used to live near Niagara Falls, in Ontario, Canada, before I moved to Nova Scotia. I saw either the Niagara Falls or something advertising the Niagara Falls, or something that was related to Niagara Falls almost everyday, so it seemed ordinary and unexciting. It wasn't anything all that much of interest to me. I knew that it was famous world-wide, but it didn't really matter that much to me. Now, it still seems a little ordinary to me, but I also think that it is beautiful. My point still remains though. I think it is like this everywhere, for everyone. We all become so adjusted to whatever treasures are surrounding us that we either don't take the time to appreciate or acknowledge it. You might be reading this thinking "There are no 'treasures' near me, nothing big, nothing extraordinarily beautiful," and I might not know where you live, but I'm not afraid to say that I think that those of you thinking that are wrong. In fact, that is precisely what I am talking about. For example, in Nova Scotia, many locals don't regard the Bay of Fundy as anything that spectacular - aside from having the worlds highest tides, many people don't see the greatness of it. And yet it is beautiful, and everyone who comes to see it falls in love with it. Here in Hamburg, sure everyone acknowledges that Hamburg is beautiful, but they don't recognize Hamburg's beauty that can be found everywhere, that can be found even in the small things. And I have a feeling that Niagara Falls Syndrome is the exact same situation with my class and Berlin, magnified by the factor that they are going to Berlin, and not Italy. I think that it is fascinating to think about. Anyways, I'm excited for Berlin, and from the schedule that we have for the trip, it looks like we are going to be doing and seeing some pretty interesting things! I will try to keep a journal (more on the journal later on in this post, actually) during the trip, and I will do my best to take as many pictures as possible, so that I can write a post all about after it is done. Something else that is pretty exciting for me: I don't know when it started, but two or three days ago, I noticed that when I am counting something, and am not really thinking about it, I am now doing it automatically in German! It was pretty cool when I first realized it - and it is a step in the right direction! I'm also finding that German is creeping into my English, and is starting to do a takeover of my thoughts. And honestly, I don't mind. It's kind of exciting, really. Often, I will be thinking a quick sentence to myself, and I will realize that I just thought it in German. And when I speak English, sometimes German words like aber (English: but) will slip out, sometimes without my realizing it. I have SnapChat, which is really helpful for staying in contact with most of my friends in Canada - I can just quickly send them a SnapChat, or they can do the same to me. Anyways, I will often reply to them, accidentally typing it out in German initially, realize my mistake, and rewrite it in English. Also, I'm able to have more substantial conversations in German with my host parents, sometimes even without any help from my host siblings (all of whom speak really good English, which I am very often thankful for) or from a translator of any sort. Last night I was making Apfel Kuchen (translates as apple cake, aber it turned out to be somewhat similar to apple pie, which I was happy about) with my host mom, and although I know that my German was far from good, we were able to talk about many different things, which is the whole point of language - communication. So I am very, very, very happy! The day before yesterday, I went for a bicycle ride (which I like to do a lot - it is fun to explore the area on a bicycle). I went down a path that I have been down before, but I decided to go further than usual - and am I glad I did! It was so beautiful! Hamburg has this old beauty to it, even in it's new things, that is hard to explain. But I love it. This is another thing where Niagara Falls Syndrome comes into play, but I find it beautiful. I took so many photos, that my phone battery went from half-full, to only 1% battery. Everywhere I turned, there was something else that was cool. At the end of this post are a few of my favourite photo's I took on the bike ride. And finally, the last thing (I think....) that I was wanting to mention is that I am wanting to try and post more often. One of the many reasons I started up this blog was to chronicle everything that happens here in Germany, so that others (and in the future, me) can live and relive what I am doing here. Right now, I feel like I am giving more like brief retellings of stories, and like I might be forgetting things about them, or other stories entirely, since I am writing the posts a few days after the fact. I am very busy (in the absolute best way), so even when I have nothing to do, it is kind of like "Thank goodness!!", and I can't gather the energy to write a post. So I started a journal a week or so ago, so that I could better remember everything that happens, but since then I've written one entry. An introduction entry. I guess journaling isn't my thing! However, I do plan to write in the journal during Berlin, and after Berlin I am hoping to write a post once every two or three or four days, so that they can be more in depth about the everyday, so that I can in the future have this blog to remember my time in Germany better (because I will be honest - my memory is horrible). Anyways, that is all for now. I hope you are all doing well, and I will talk to you after the Berlin trip is over! Bis bald! (See you later!) -Jason |
JasonFollowing a sixteen year old Canadian in Hamburg, Germany for a year on high school student exchange. Archives
January 2017
Categories |