OMG. I just survived a whole weekend without any possibility to access the internet. Trust me when I say I was kickin' and screamin' the first few hours and then I settled for silent sulking the rest of the time for my DSL just wouldn't budge not even for a friggin minute of pure online bliss...ah keep breathing. Nah I'm not holding a grudge. Maybe it was even for the better because too much stuff to do in definitely too less time.

Right now I'm sitting admist a dozen of banana-cardboards with all my stuff neatly packed, my arm muscles are sore from moving up and down and down and up (don't think dirty of me now just keep reading)...and I am still high from all the wall paint fumes (see nuttin' dirty at all :D).

Yeah, my stuff is packed, hopefully the last "Farewell" shots emptied and many hugs gladly received and given. Tomorrow is the big day where I lose one key and get a shiny new one. Hope there won't be any problems because I'm running on a tight schedule here.

So don't think I'm not keen on posting anymore with you guys when I'm a bit quiet within this week. That won't happen any time soon, I really missed tv.com just after one day of not being able to visit the site. I so hope the W-LAN thingy is working in my new home. Two more weeks before I start my new job and I'm excited excited excited (read it with some melody and you get just how excited I am) But no fun without some work first and the thing I dread the most next to pack all my stuff is to unpack it again. It will probably take me days just to sort through my media collection.

And I sure hope my parents don't mind me planning to unload at least half of it in their attic for a start. No way I can take all of it with me right now, first I need to settle down and then I can look unhurriedly and without any stress for a bigger flat that can hold all my precious belongings. Probably won't take me any longer than a few years to afford a bigger place ;) better not share that fact with my parents too soon. They're still a bit mad about the stuff I crammed their attic with when I moved out for college. But it's so freakin hard to throw stuff out or give it away. And I love my books; I plan to have my very own library some day.

Okay, just wanted to make sure you now I'm not a deserter or anything like that and I hope it won't take me long to be back and posting again. I'll try to make up for the days to come and post like crazy tonight. After my extended cold online turkey I sure have to catch up a bit.

See you all later :D

An alternative blog title could be...

The confirmed words of a smalltown chick while walking her first steps in the metropolis Hamburg:

"What the f***?"

Yeah, Hamburg's big, busy and chaotic, and I started my first hour in the city by getting lost in it while looking for my hotel. Yay! It's huge...no matter if millions of Hamburger will tell you the opposite. I kept hearing "it isn't that big" from each corner. Ironically, the same people that laughed at me clutching my maps were the same that stared at me with a blank expression on their face when I asked them for directions. Pah.

I hate being lost somewhere, not knowing my way. It never happened in the town where I spent the last seven years. That's probably coz there isn't much chance you could get lost, no matter how hard you try. Here's a picture of Jena, taken from my favorite spot in the small hills that surround the city from all sides.

The higher buildings in the center belong to the city's university area where I finished my studies a while ago. As one can see the city is well-arranged and most important tiny. Here I enjoyed a close circle of friends and lovers and hell yeah the narrowness sucked more often than not, but I got my little secret spot in the hills to flee from it when necessary.

Now I found a new job in Hamburg and soon I trade my comfy comfort zone for the busy life of a metropolitan. Which also means I'm going to trade hills for tons of water, coz Hamburg's practically built on it. That's a change for sure. The Alster river flows freely through huge parts of the city, meets with the bigger Elbe river at its outer parts, which again connects the city with the North Sea.

That's one reason why the Germans call this city "gateway to the world". Huge cargo ships are docking daily at its port and cruise ships start their world tours from here. Here's one harbour shot.

Hamburg has exactly 2485 bridges, more than Venice, London and Amsterdam combined have...whoah...and every single one just invites you to cross over, what you shouldn't do when you're new in town, under a tight time schedule and a geographical slouch like me.

I'm not really used to be surrounded by so much water so close to home (get the Carver reference?), but I admit it has a certain flair. The old warehouse district is built upon wooden pegs (oak) for the lack of better materials a few hundred years ago. They still stand straight and the buildings are solid and still in use, which in my eyes is really incredible. The following picture shows a glimpse of this district close to the ports.

What I always have connected with Hamburg the most were the wild stories about its infamous red-light district St. Pauli. No way I even risked getting lost among those streets on my first days here, but I had a quick look over there from the safety of a boat. Didn't exactly look as dirty and wicked as I imagined it to be.

Alright, I think those few pictures already prove the dimensional difference between the cosy still-home Jena and my soon-to-be home Hamburg.

Time to cut my smalltown roots for good and take a brave dive into big city life. I guess it will take me some time to settle in but I'm already excited about this personal reboot.

Hope the pictures aren't that bad :D Kathleen

So today I traded in my ill-paid name tag for my last check in the fruit and veg stall at the local supermarket (at least it paid the rent during my study) and now I'm quite busy packing stuff for a few days home with my parents. Time to get spoiled a bit before I have to head out for a brand new chapter of my life in a city where I've never been before. So much stuff to prepare, it's awesome and freakin' terrifying all at the same time. Which means I seriously have to calm down before the end of next week and I know just the perfect place to do so. Home..the smallest town you can imagine, bordering Poland and enclosed by such exciting things like woods and fields. People there seriously suffer of the infamous boredom-syndrom but I happily join their ranks this time to get some work done.

The only reason for me to blog this is cause I'm not sure if I can properly communicate with the ouside world once I'm there. We'll see if I can get my hands on the necessary equipment. If not... I'm back in just a few days, I usually betake myself to flight as soon as my stream of consciousness reaches the audibility level of eight in my head and starts giving me headaches. A vicious circle. But I'm excited to see my parents again, I so worship the ground they walk on and after I finished my degree I hadn't really time to visit them as often as I wished too.

Okay enough said. I'll be back soon or if possible you'll never know I'm gone in the first place.

See you all soon. Kay