Good Bye Deutsch Course

Yep, I've quit the Deutsch course. Not that now I'm already good enough in the language but it's the choice I made to give priority to some other things in terms of financial and time. No, the fee isn't expensive. Since January, Lukas only asked me to pay 100 Euro a month despite the full amount of 230 Euro. But with the travelling and miscellaneous costs, it is quite a substantial amount. And if we want to go for vacation, there would be no extra money for that purpose.

Anyhow, after 4 months in the course, at least now I can speak little Deutsch, understand and read better. Before coming to Germany, I didn't even know one single word in Deutsch, not even the simple 'Danke' or 'Bitte'. I didn't even bother to know because I thought I can survive in English!

But now when I go shopping, I can at least communicate with the sales girl or the cashier. The other day, I was paying the groceries at this Asia Shop and I had noticed the cashier had keyed in the wrong price for one of the items. Thank God I managed to tell her that she was wrong and she understood perfectly. At the butcher shop, now I can tell the butchery how many kilos meat/chicken I want to buy and how I want my meat to be cut. It is all the simple sentences but play important roles in my daily life.

The other day, I was waiting for the train to go home, a lady greeted me and we started having a conversation in Deutsch. Though I struggled to form the sentences, the lady said for someone who had just learnt Deutsch in 4 months time, I'm quite good. Hehehe...the comment really made me happy.

For that I thank Lukas for his great teaching skills. He's really a good teacher not only in his teaching skills but for his concern and kindness. I don't know if I go to another language institute, I would get the same discount I got here. I don't know if I can see again a teacher who would make a mug of hot tea for his sick student, or keep a box of paracetamol and offer them to the students who in needs. Or make sure that the pantry is always loaded with drinks and snacks (we only pay 1 Euro a month for Kaffee Geld but I doubt it covers all the various kind of tea, coffee, biscuits, bla...bla...).

I think I'm going to miss this course (except for those who annoy me!). I already made friend with several people in the class and I enjoyed being in their company. Especially with Zainab, a Jordanian lady who gave me a lot of cooking tips and recently gave me several hand-down children books. She even said since she's going back to Jordan next month, she would buy some iqra' books for my twins ( as I told her I'm planning to teach my kids to read Quran soon).

Well, hopefully I'm not going to forget what I have learnt in this course.

Me with Zainab, Nezahet and Leyla

Die Fastnacht & Sushi Essen

Suppose to blog about this entry much earlier but since blogging mood is not really there plus I keep fighting with cik HB to use the laptop (uwaa....I'm longing to have my own, tp duit xde lagi maa.... ).

Despite the not-so-good weather, that Sunday (which I had mentioned in the previous post), off we went to Frankfurt to watch Die Fastnacht Parade. It was quite interesting to see such a parade, people in their weird yet colourful and fascinating costum dress, with music bands, cheerleaders and so many other characters. From kids to elderly had participated in the parade. The most exciting part, these people threw chocolates and bonbons from their wagons to the audience along the road, so catching them was so fun.

Tgk la org2 berebut nak tangkap coklat, tadah ngan topi satu hal, siap ada yg tadah yg payung yg diterbalik!

Kesian betul tgk budak pompuan kat tgh2 tu, muka ngantuk...

Lagi budak2 comel...

However we didn't stay very long because it started drizzling. I was afraid the twins would catch a cold. After prayers, we went for dinner at a Japanese restaurant which serves sushi on buffet style. Sushi is always my favourite, sgt la puas hati dapat makan dgn banyaknya...hehehe.

My fav: Sushi and green tea

Sun please come out....

Kak Ina, Mat and Liza invited me and and the kids to go to Frankfurt today (cik HB not included sbb dia tgh exam, esok ada lg satu paper, so dok rumah diam2 study ye!). There will be a Fastnacht Parade, which wikipedia defines as follows:

"Fastnacht or Fasnacht is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and western Austria.
It is also known in parts of Pennsylvania Dutch Country as Fasnacht Day and is celebrated on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the last Tuesday before Lent."

Don't ask me in details what is it about, I don't know too, that is why I'm hoping to see the parade. Kak Ina said if it is not raining or snowing today, we'll go in the afternoon.

But now at 8.15 am, it's very cloudy and gloomy. Looks like it's going to rain soon. If today suppose to be a good fine day, by now the sun is shining brightly. But I doubt it will be, hence looks like we are not going to see the parade.

Ok, need to get going with my housechores. I still hope sun will appear soon....

Turki2 yang sengal...

Sgt racist kah bunyi?

Oh! Tak kira...aku geram! Mcm biasa, seperti zaman aku keje dulu, rasa x puas hati aku luahkan dalam blog. Dan lagi best tulis dalam bahasa Melayu la kan...

Ingat mamat Turki yg aku penah cerita pasal dia kutuk the way aku ckp Jerman? Mmg dia ni ari2 buat hal dlm kelas, samada dia kutuk org lain terang2an atau dia bg statement perkauman yg sarcastic tanpa mengira perasaan org lain. Dan nasib dia baik sbb Lukas seorg yg baik, anything yg come out sarcastic dr dia, Lukas akan cepat2 make it as a joke or tukar topic. Aku rasa kalau aku jadi cikgu, aku sound dia, huh!

Alkisahnya ari ni masuk seorg student lelaki baru asal dr Rusia. Tp dia dah kira boleh faham dan bercakap Jerman. So mamat Rusia ni pon amik la tempat si mamat Turki ni. Mmg kitorg xde specific tempat pon dalam kelas ni but those yg dah lama dok dlm kelas tu inofficially tau la tempat duduk sapa and sapa. Pulak kelas tu mmg full, though ada yg dah quit or baru masuk, then quit pulak. So yg baru dtg, mana la diorg tau. Tempat aku pon selalu kena rembat ngan these newcomers but most of them tak stay long. And kalau nak sgt tempat tu dtg la awal kan...

Ni si mamat Turki tu dah la dtg sejam lambat, then boleh bising2 pulak tempat duduk dia kena amik. Tapi sbb semua org tak layan dia, nak tak nak terpaksa jugak dia duduk tempat lain, which was directly belakang aku. Pastu tak abis2 memekak lg pasal tempat duduk dia kena amik. Aku ni dah la mmg tak suka dia, tambah2 dia memekak mcm mak nenek belakang aku, aduss...tercabar sungguh la! Then masa dictation test, asik2 suh Lukas repeat (which is mmg kebiasaan dia la). Sebelum ni aku x kisah sgt, sbb yg lain2 pon sama. Kalau aku jadi Lukas, aku baca 2 kali aje, then pepandai la ko nak eja camna (tu pasal kot aku tak sesuai jadi cikgu?) Tp sbb dia dok belakang aku dan tak abis2 "wie bitte" or "noch einmal", annoying sungguh aku rasa!

Then sorang lg minah Turki ni, tak tahu la apa masalah dia tp asik kepanasan. Peliknya aku time winter camni dia boleh rasa panas. Heizung (heater) on at Level 2 pon dia kata mcm dalam sauna, end up dia asik gi buka pintu balkon which is mmg sgt sejuk la especially sapa2 yg dok directly depan pintu balkon termasuk aku. Selalu la Lukas tutup balik tp sekejap aje pastu minah tu pi buka balik. I mean kalau ramai yg kepanasan satu hal la, tp dia sorang2 aje...pulak tu xde ke fikir org2 lain kesejukan bila dia buka pintu tu? Haiyah...sikit pon tak fikir orang lain!

Kisah di Kinderbetreuung (nursery) pulak ada satu babysitter(BS) Turki jugak. Tp dia buat part-time aje. Cuma ada pd ari Isnin, Rabu dan Jumaat. Cuma babysitter dr Rusia tu aje yg permanent dan ari2 ada. Dgn BS Rusia ni aku mmg sgt selesa ngan dia sbb dia mmg sgt baik, sgt motherly dan sgt mesra ngan budak2 termasuk la si kembar. Tp ngan BS Turki aku notice dia mmg garang ngan budak2 then asik nak mengemas aje keje dia. Kalau ari2 yg dia ada, budak2 mcm x leh main apa2...semua dia pi simpan balik. Kalu time Pause (rehat) aku and other mums akan pi situ bg anak2 kami makan. Nanti dia tak abis2 kutip serpih2 makanan yg kecik2 tu...kalau dah abis makan tu lain la, ni kitorg dok tgh makan! Lgpon bukan makan nasi ok! Makan roti, buah, biskut...bukannya bersepah mana pon! Ada satu ari tu dia cakap ngan aku "Schokolade ist verboten in Kinderbetreuung" (coklat adalah dilarang di Kinderbetreuung) so aku pon percaya la, jadinya instead of bawa coklat or apa2 makanan berunsurkan coklat, aku bawa biskut kering aje. Then ada satu ari ni (bukan pd ari si BS Turki ni bekerja), aku nampak si BS Rusia dok bg coklat kat budak2. So aku tanya la kat BS Rusia ni, bukan coklat dilarang ke? BS Rusia ckp, oh! tidak pada dia, dia x kisah. Apparently si BS Turki yg buat rules tu sbb dia x suka tgk budak2 comot makan coklat! Ceh....patut la!

Oh...sudah la cik Neny...kalu nak cerita pasal perangai negatif org2 Turki kat kelas Deutsch aku ni mmg tak abis....Bukan aku nak jadi racist kat sini tapi yg dok buat perangai2 pelik setakat ni mmg org2 Turki aje though ada ramai lg bangsa2 asing yg lain dalam kelas aku.

Takpe la, aku pon tinggal minggu depan aje attend kelas Deutsch ni....so sabar aje la...

Snow Again

When I thought winter is about to come to the end, this morning I woke up to a white scenary. There must be heavy snow downpour last night. And I contemplated, whether to go to school or not. But then thinking that in 2 weeks time I would quit this Deutsch course, I chose to go.

The twins were happy to see the snow and refused to ride in the kinderwagen (stroller). So walking to Bahnhof (train station) took such a long time with them stopping several times to play in the snow. The result, I arrived to class one hour late than usual...hmm...

After the class finished, it was still snowing but maybe it wasn't cold enough, the snow turned into rain before it touched the ground. Snow, when it falls in the heavy, flaky white forms, looks so beautifully white but when it becomes rain, and falls on the already snowy ground, it creates watery, slippery and dirty road. So dragging the twins in this condition, is an absolute challenge to me. Luckily dear cik HB came back from his school early and when I came out from my school, he was there waiting.

And I'm relieved that starting tomorrow to Friday, I'm not taking the twins with me. CIk HB will be at home....yeay!

Sleeping Arrangement

I am now trying to make the twins sleep in their own room. Our bed could no longer occupy the four of us comfortably.

So far the mission is still not accomplised....

In order to convince them to sleep in their room, after the before-sleep routines (reading story books, singing, talking, saying doa) I sleep with them too and then would quietly walk out from the room in the middle of the night (kalau aku sedar la...kalau x berlayar la sampai pagi).

The problem is, Nabilah (who mmg the clinging type since she was a baby) would always wake up after I leave and when she notices that I'm not around, she would cry. Some tips I got; just ignore her cries and instead of going to her, let her come to me.

But Nabilah is the type who cries with her high-pitched voice and wouldn't move unless I come to her. So if I let her be, she would wake her sister up (Nabihah normally sleeps soundly throughout the night unless she is disturbed) and worse, probably would wake the neighbours up too!

So parents, tell me....how can I make this work out?

Of Negative Feelings

Of late I have noticed I don't really have shield over negative feelings. I am easily annoyed over small issues; people unpleasant remarks, don't get domestic help (guess who's to blame?), the twins's tantrums, failed recipes.....

Hmm...am I getting cranky?

Of course when I'm annoyed, it doesn't mean I will throw a tantrum as well (like hempas brg2 or membebel yg bukan2) , but it does affect my mood and mind. And that surely is not good for one's health, right?

Take for an example; there's one guy in my Deutsch course (a Turkish to be exact) who always make fun of me whenever I speak in Deutsch. I don't understand why he teases me when he himself is not good enough in Deutsch. Just because you are popular in the class, it doesn't mean you get the credit to make fun of other people, you turkey! (please understand correctly: Cambridge Dictionaries define 'turkey' as a stupid or silly person, not because he's from Turkey!)

And his female companion, who also thinks she's the best in the class because she speaks fluent Deutsch compared to others (yeah, she's been living in Deutschland for more than 10 years, but only now she takes up the course) made a comment that although I'm quite good in writing and grammar lesson (yep, I'm not bragging but Lukas had said the same thing in the class) I couldn't speak the right accent of Deutsch. I was dumbfounded....if only I could talk back in Deutsch. Too bad these two turkeys can't understand English, otherwise I would slash back at them.....but that would make me equally stupid, huh?

The scene had bothered me for the rest of the day and caused the lack of my attention to the lesson. I know theoretically I should have just ignored what they have said. As a long as I know what I have achieved and want to achive, I shouldn't be bothered, right? But I failed to do just that....

To other Turkish, if you happen to read this, please don't get annoyed with the above writings ok! I don't mean to be racist, I know there are other good Turkish out there and this kind of behaviour doesn't mark by the race or the citizen.

I guess I should learn from this quote:

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."

–– Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's good to be positive, eh?

Do you miss something you thought you would not be missing?

I do. I miss my job.

Yesterday I helped cik HB preparing his lab report and having to read and analyse the electrical single line diagram made me missing all the works I've done before.

Well, I guess it is just human being's attitude; when you were doing the same thing everyday, you find it boring and uninteresting. And when you don't get to do it anymore, somehow you miss it. How strange it is, isn't it?

Or is it just the sympton of career-woman-turn-into-housewife?

Family Extension

Recently we have received so many happy news of our family back home.

First of all, my elder sister is expecting her fourth child. Then we were informed that cik HB's sister (one of the twins) got engaged on the CNY holidays. Her wedding will be on this coming June. So we are going to miss two family weddings this year. His another sister is also getting married in December.

My younger sister who was so darn worried that she was still not pregnant after, hmm....7 months of being married (and planning to see a gynaecologist to check whether she's having problem conceiving, despite she has been married less than a year!) has popped the news last week that she too, is expecting!!! Guess my mother is going to be busy this year.....

Oh! My MIL will be much much busier! Along with the two weddings take place this year, my other SIL (one of the twins who got married last year) is going to deliver her first child sometime in June too!

And to top-up with all the above great news, my BIL's wife (what do you call biras in English?) is five weeks pregnant. She and my BIL have been married for 7 years but have yet to be blessed with any kids. If I'm not mistaken, she had two miscarriages before. So hopefully everything is going to be fine with this pregnancy.

Well, year 2009 is indeed an extension year of our families. 4 new babies and two son-in-laws....hmm, what a recruitment!

Too bad we are not there to join the merriment.

New Therapy

I found a new therapy when I'm angry, or upset or stressful......

Go for a walk!

Walk as much as you can while tending your anger or stress or sadness. It really channels the negative feelings into energy. And after a while, those feelings subside and you get some exercise. Good eh? It saves you from negative behavior like 'nak pecahkan pinggan ke' or 'mengamuk kat anak2 ke'.

But make sure the neighbourhood is save enough for you to walk alone la!

Desperate Housewife?

No, no...I'm not talking about the tv series.

I'm talking about me being a housewife now. A new career I've ventured since 6 months ago....and how I have realized now that being housewife is not that easy.

While I was working, I longed to be at home full time, spending time with my kids, having my house in organized manner and super clean, foods are home-made (we used to eating out that time), gardening, you know... like Bree Van de Kamp of Desperate Housewives.

Now I am a housewife but I'm not exactly of the housewife type I thought I would be.

Yeap, I clean, I cook, I wash routinely but it is just never ending task. The living hall is neat in probably half an hour after cleaning....then it'll mess up again. The laundry basket is full all the time, though I do laundry every two days. The sink probably is shining for a day, then it'll always full with dirty plates and cups. Not to mention the never-ending demands of the two girls asking for various things.

And I haven't start any home-schooling with the girls......

Basically the thought that by becoming a housewife I would have more leisure time, is definitely NOT true, ok!

Most of the time, by the end of the day, I'm feeling so exhausted.

My friend has complained how seldom she sees me on YM or even if YM shows I'm online, I'm not exactly online.

Last week, I tried baking chocolate cake, I ended up having the batter thrown. It happened TWICE! I didn't know why, it's the same recipe I've done in Malaysia, but it just didn't work out. I almost gave on baking but on last Sunday, I made the third attempt using another recipe I got from Internet and thank God, it came out ok! I'm just grateful it turned out ok or I would definitely think that I'm a loser.

What does it take to be a Martha Stewart?