Blogs from Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe

Kiel has been one of the traditional homes of the German Navy's Baltic fleet, and continues to be a major high-tech shipbuilding centre. Kiel is an important sea transport hub, thanks to its location on the Kiel Fjord (Kieler Förde) and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal). A number of passenger ferries to Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and other countries operate from here. Moreover, today Kiel Harbour is an important port of call for url=https://en... read more

Today's final comedy word: Erklärungsnot (n.): This is nothing to do with a running nose but the state of having to quickly explain yourself.Erklärungsnot (lit. Emergency explanation) refers to the exact moment you are caught with your hand in the till and forced to think on your feet. Unless you're a good liar, the results of Erklärungsnot are usually unbelievable and silly, like the old favourite: "My dog ate my homework" Only use this excuse if: a) you have a dog and b) he's a bit partial to Maths or History GCSE coursework!! From St Petersburg we headed straight down the Baltic. The day after St. Petersburg was a day at sea or as they refer on board, a navigation day. We did see land briefly around tea time. This would have been the Swedish Island ... read more

Hamburg, Germany--Saturday, May 17th We had the large buffet breakfast again at the hotel and then took a taxi to the dock/port to embark on the ISE Explorer for the enrichment voyage. We needed to be on board by 10:00 and settled a bit before Valerie had an orientation meeting to learn her duties that day. We then had lunch with the staff and other lecturers before Valerie had to assist with the boarding of the passengers. Before dinner, when everyone was aboard, we had the usual long safety drill. I don’t know how this could be more efficiently done, but we spend a long time standing on the deck by the lifeboats waiting for everyone to muster and then respond to the roll call. Kiel Canal, Germany--Sunday, May 18th We were awakened by ... read more

Jetzt ist meine Tour schon fast ein Jahr vorbei und ich wurde schon von ein paar Leuten gefragt, warum in meinem Blog eigentlich das letzte Stück fehlt. Tja, weiß ich auch nicht. Vorgenommen hatte ich es mir die ganze Zeit, auch das Ende aufzuschreiben. Und nun ist es endlich soweit, mit einem gewissen Abstand. Mein Rückflug nach Frankfurt am 30.3. war noch ein passender Abschluss von Indien. Meine Nachbarin war Deutsche und für ein paar Monate in einem Ashram. Sie war sehr spirituell und ist auch sehr häufig in Ashrams. Ich konnte ihr aber schwer folgen, von dem, was sie erzählt hat. Sie hat von ihren voherigen Leben erzählt, dass sie auch schon mal ein Ashram in Indien geleitet hat, oder so. Dass sie immer Rollen zugewiesen bekommt, die sie nicht will. Sie kannte die Leiter ... read more

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be living in Germany in a few short months I would have looked at this person and said "Really? Awesome." I had been looking for work abroad for some months and it was about time something came up! Anywho, my move to Northern Germany was swift. I was interviewed, offered a position and relocated in about a month and a half. It was my first "real job," I had very little experience and I had not spoken a work of German in my life. I had never even heard of Kiel until I got an e-mail asking for an interview. I hadn't even remembered I had applied for a position there! But here I am, doing what I've always wanted. I have wonderful students, I've ... read more