Hello from Hamburg!

Yesterday my sister and I went to a day trip to Hamburg. There hasn't been any special reason for that besides the fact that we have summer holidays and wanted to do something exciting. So why not visit the second biggest city in Germany?

And I would say getting up (how it felt) in the middle of night was totally worth it. It was a good day - a little bit of sightseeing, a little bit of shopping (what else?)..

Only one thing irritated me. I hadn't been there in while and we got totally lost once, walking from the harbour to the city.

In the end my sister and I came to a conclusion. Hamburg is not bad. It is beautiful indeed. But Berlin is way better. I know some people don't like to hear that. But at least I don't get lost there.

But I have already said it: I also like Hamburg. Still it is the most beautiful city of Northern Germany. Don't you think it's pretty?

At St. Pauli Landing Stages

The narrow canals in Hamburg HafenCity (Hafen is the German word for harbour.)

Hamburg's old brick warehouses

The town hall

I have found the paradise

Finally summer! And with summer I mean real summer. With sun and blue sky.  With beach and holidays.

Yeah, I know. I have already had summer holidays for five weeks but now the feeling is different.

My situation last week: I’m sitting inside the house watching the grey cloudy sky. Suddenly the sky opens up. I see something blue! So I take my jacket, go outside. I want to enjoy this tiny bit of sunshine. But at the very moment I step out of the door there is a heavy cloud cover again and it starts to rain. Is there anybody who understands the confusing weather in Germany?!

 But now it’s different! I guess I’m maybe a bit too optimistic saying “The summer has finally arrived!” because it’s actually been only the second sunny day.

Whatever.. I have been to the beach. For the first time this summer! And on the beach I have found the paradise.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

And I have been swimming in that blue water!

I have totally forgotten how beautiful it is. I live at the most beautiful place in the world! (That’s what I’m saying now.)

But honestly, there is no better way to spend a summer day than chilling on the beach.

Beloved reality

Looking at my first post, I feel guilty. This blog looks like everything I have once started: my journal, my novel, my homework… Maybe I’m just not good at concentrating on one thing.

But that was a promise. A promise of letting you know what’s going on with me.

I have been back in Germany for almost a month now, to be precise, for 26 days. I want to try to describe my situation.

I arrived at home and I felt something I had never felt before. I came home to the place where I grew up, to the place I know so well but it felt strange. Had the house grown bigger?

Then I met all the people again. I met my relatives and I went to school to see my friends. There I got the biggest surprise of all. I had always thought we all had changed so much during the ten months of my absence that it would be hard to meet each other again. I had even thought that we might not end up being friends anymore. But actually none of us had changed a bit. There are still the same kind of jokes everyone laughs about, there are still the same talks. I love you all for that!

Now after 26 days I hate the fact that nothing had changed. Yes, it’s fine that the people are still the same. It’s more than fine. But why had NOTHING changed at all?

It feels like I had never left last August, exactly 11 months ago. It seems like I had been here all the time. (Even though sometimes I just can’t get into the conversation when there are stories told about things that had happened during the last months.)

The first morning I woke up in my bed. (I can’t describe my happiness having slept in my very own bed again!) I felt a bit hungover. There it was: the social hangover. What else did I expect after months of great adventures and experiences? But what was even worse, suddenly Finland and the exchange weren’t real anymore. It was like waking up from a long dream and the more time goes by the further everything is away.

Once I was seriously wondering if I had just dreamed something really, really awesome. Maybe it was just dream. But one that has changed my life and still influences me a lot.

But on the other hand, there are all these photos, letters, postcards, journals and facebook friends.

This is all evidence I have. I didn’t dream.

But sometimes awesome things like my exchange feel so unreal compared to the dull normality. 

Doesn't it look like a dream? But how canI have photos of it then?