22/03/09

A big HI to everyone:) Sorry to have not replied to anyone in a while- this being on holiday business means i don't get access to the internet very oftern, and when i do...its expensive!

So, I'm now in Helsinki, where i've been for the past two days. I arrived in Tampere on the 18th and had a minor panic attack..thining they wouldnt let me in since my visa for the shengan zone has expired...but the big burly guy just grimaced at me, stamped my passport and welcomed me to Finland.
Well, it was kinda funny, i flew with ryanair from Stansted that day (and btw holy crap travel in the uk is fucking expensive!!)- i decided worst job in the world would be to work for ryanair!!
there were people demanding extra tickets since THEY missed their flight, and i had to wait in line for an hour just to check in an extra bag- lucky a guy called people for tampere and i got to jump to the front and then they didnt charge me for the extra baggie, for which i was very happy!
Anyway, enough about ryanair!

My host in Tampere was so freakin swell! In his profile he had written he liked bicycles...but he had four and one was worth 1200 euro! He had awesome long blue dyed hair and gave awesome bone crushing hugs:) Haha, who said the northerners are cold!!
I did have the flu pretty bad, so he had to put up with me moping a fair bit for which i felt a bit silly. But the funniest part??
Sauna!
There was a public sauna in his apartment that anyone could book for an hour anytime, so we decided this would help my cold...well, sure, sauna thought i...what do i need? oh, nothing but a towel. Only, he wasnt wearing no towel! So uh, showering nudie and sitting down in a room at 70 degrees c with a complete stranger was certainly something new! After we decided to walk up the outside staircase, and ended up running around in nothing but a towel and our boots having a snow fight..
Crazy Finnish!!
Before leaving Tampere i also met two members from another bodymod site im on, but had to run away to catch my train after two hours- naturally just as the converation waas getting interesting!

So, Helsinki!
I arrived pretty late in a nearby town, and missed my connecting train to the area where my next host lives...and of course i have no credit on my german mobile and there are no public pay phones in finland! Lucky, if you ask anyone, theyre happy to lend their mobile, and i thought this was really sweet, since that would never happen easily in oz!
Yes, well, i did eventually get to my host, and hes pretty damn cool too:)
He'd posted on his profile he was into bodymods, so i had told him i would be getting my tongue split. Well, he came with me to Paradise Tatoo in town, where i will be getting the split, since he wants a frenum ring and wanted to talk to someone about this...
Anyway, since i have the flu still, we said we'd wait til wednesday, and lucky for me my host said i can stay with him for as long as i like, so i reckon thats well cool!
Its pretty damn cool to meet these people who welcome you like a friend, even give you the keys to their apartment not knowing you! and let you use their house like it was their own:)
To say thanks, ive been doing the cooking, and its awesome to be able to do this while on holiday! Since the past few weeks have really either consisted of eating take away, or not eating at all!

So, things are cool! Last night we went and saw some live bands, the headling act being Norweigen band Mortis...the accoustics sucked bad in the venue, but it was an alright gig... and all the awesome clothing of the crowd and band members were fair awesome;)

Anyways, i'm off to make pancakes!

17/03/09

Ahh, update!!
Wow! What a packed few days its been!
SO, let me start at the most recent...
The branding! First, my tattoist from oz relocated to london a few months back, and a guy shes working with has started to do brandings. Kat mentioned he may need some people to build up a portfolio, and i was vollunteered:D
Well, the guy was a super cool, and happy to do whatever i wanted (you can check the pics for an idea:)).
After redoing the stencil four times or so (we wanted them to be symmetrical...but my ribs are a funny shape:p), we finally staarted. ahh, now i dont really know how to descrine it, but the stench was pretty bad!
reminded me of a really bad drought we had a few years back where our livestock were just dropping dead left right and centre, and we had to collect the bodies and burn them...yes, a pleasant smell indeed!! but watching the smoke was somewhat hypnotising...
the pain was quite intense, and we were at it all together for just under an hour maybe. the one thing that suprised me greatly, that although the burning hurt, as soon as the element was removed the pain was gone. And i recall with the scarrification taking a shower kiled! but other than some tightness of skin, the healing is less painful that a tattoo (of course, i havent started to irritate it yet...)
I must say though, this branding was really so satisfying! I recall feeling such clarity of life at this time...

Next in line, Sunday! I actually arrived in london saturday, then took a train to Reading where my cs host is. (Actually its quite funny, in paris i stayed with an indian guy who offered his couch, and here in london i am doing the same thing!)
So sunday, i took a train to Worcester (pronounced Worse ta lol, i kept saying worchester), which is where bmod member freckled20 is studying! Haha, it was mega cool to meet her, and we had an awesome lunch:D haha she was totally right, Worceter is nothing special, but im glad i went to meet her! I think we both yakked the afternoon away very quickly, haha, so much so, i totally wasnt watching what i was doing with the trains when i was leaving..and went int eh wrong direction! So, i went for some walk in teh country side, which was really pretty:) and then sat by the train station for the next hour talking to a kid who said he was 16, but really could have been as young as 12!


Oh, so, now i have to write about my last night in Belgium...because, it has to be written about!
you will never guess..this belgian guy, whod been stringing me along..had a gf! and how did i find this out?? because i was hosted by this gf in Brussels!! i knew her housemate, so it wasnt completely random. but, holy fuck!
it was, not the ideal situation. anyway, i feel bad for her. shes a great gal, a very emotionally charged one on a bad run, but a great person none the less. weve both been stooged. lucky for me, this already feels a life time ago, and not just last week. the joys of travel!! when i pass through again, she invited i should stay with her again. i may just do that. i think i should supply the booze.

ok, so, a bit of a recap thats all over tha place- but this writing on public pcs is annoying! ill upload some pics soonish...im off to visit my old tattooist!
yay:)

13/3/09

13/3/09

heyyy!! sittin in an internet cafe in paris waitin for my train back to brussels and thought id make a bit of a recap of the past week! and well what a week it has been...

ok, first thing, leaving frankfurt was big fucking let down and a very disappointing end to my year there... the boss drove me to the train station, then when i went to leave, told me i had ruined our friendship and reduced it to money. i had let her down and we were no longer friends, and that i needed to learn the lesson to value my friendships and i was choosing people on the internet who i didnt even know instead of being loyal to her...
it was a shock. this lady was like a mother to me, but she said nothing about her feelings on me not staying an exra week before this. and how the fuck am i supposed to explain the value of the friendships i have made on here?? i d met both ralf and jojo before, and i speak online to jojo al,ost every day of the week online! i consider him a true friend! and i had met ralf before, and he offered a long time ago for me to visit and i had looked forward to this for some time!!!
basicly, i feel extremely let down by this woman i worked for in germany, and cant believe i stuck around for 12 months!!!

anyhow, arrived sat morning in hamburg bus station without a wink of sleep and a stuffy nose from crying all night, to be greeted with a hug and chocolate cake from ralf- it was really so sweet!
he had been sick the days before so we both took it easy and watched some films and took some sight seeign by the beach:) he even cooked dinner for me that eveing when he didnt eat anything himself:p
hes a great cook:D
i hada great tile, and cant wait for him to come visit me in oz eventually!!!
monday morning i met jojo for breakfast, and i felt so stupid because we had such a short amount of time and i felt a bit rude for this:/ he bought me brekkie and then i had to sprint in under three minutes not to miss my train to utrecht so i didnt even get to say goodbye!

the train to utrecht was ( hrs long, and when i got there it was pouring rain, so i decided i would go back to brussels since i knew ppl there and it wasnt raining...

annyyway; stayed with spunky belgian guy...which i knew was a bad idea before i even got there. but i was past caring. thought i was feeling ok, and monday evening was the expected romance, before i uh, packed up my bags when he was in the shower tuesday morning, yelled gooodbye and ran out the door.i really dont know why i did it..i just felt like crying and i didnt want him to see me acting like that, and didnt want to complicate things when i know i cant expect any type of relationship from this guy when thats what i really want from him...
havent heard anything and dont think i will...got as far as the corner and threw up everywhere. certainly very classy.
found a cheapish hotel in brussels centre since the hostels were booked out and even got a free upgrade. put my bags away before coming down stairs to ask the desk guy where an open chemist might be. he tells me to sit down, disappears and retunrs with two beers. i stare without reacting for a few seconds before he tries to stick his tongue down my throat.
fucking gross. i thought it would be nice to throw up all over him but lucky for him there was nothing left in my stomach. so i went to bed.
i really dont see how anyone stinking like vomit could be found attractive but i certainly made sure the management knew what a sleeze this guy was.

so, i decided, i needed to get out of belgium! and jumped on a train that after noon to paris!!!
i had written in the couchsurfing forum if anyone would like to meet up for drinks or something, and was so stoked that i got heaps of last minute couch offers and had peole to meet me at the north train station of paris

aaaand i just realised i gotta get my train it leaves in five min will write more later but will say paris is awesome and jussi is gonna split my tongue next week in finland!!!!!!!!!

peace out

Update Updates!!!

Since it does seem I have severely neglected this blog- I decided it was high time I update it!

These are the following entries (obviously for no ones pleasure but my own lol...just to keep track of the travels, rather than have all my entries saved in my bodymod account!). The following entries are from the past 12 months that I'd saved elsewhere:

The Months Gone

First thing to recap on, New Years! Since i still had some days left over on my pass from the christmas holidays, and had such a blast with the awesome people of belgium, on a whim, i decided to head over for the evening! It was only three hours by train, and luckily i had made up my mind to go just in time for me to get the last train there for the evening:)
I knew of an after party a cs friend was hosting, but had nothing to do until 3 am..so wandered around the city centre of brussels. And man was it crazy!


It was absolutely crazy downtown! The fireworks were very pretty, and there was a laser show for good measure...the place was also extremely crowded! whole little alley ways were blocked for one way human traffic by police officers to try and keep some control, and people were setting off firecrackers and all sorts of small fireworks, a lot of the time directly into the crowds, causing people to scatter this way and that. Oh, not to mention the fact drinking on the street is totally fine in belgium...so there were botles everywhere to be crushed under foot!


Despite the craziness of it all, people were in good cheer, and it wasn't long befre i was yelling out happy new year in horrid french like the rest of the crowd, and swinging back the odd beer when i felt like it of course.
It wasn't too long before three hours were up! and i slowly made my way towards where i knew this party would be (i love google maps!), and after a bit of confusion with the metro and then the street names (my map was in dutch, the street names i saw were in french...until i figured out the dutch signs were usually ont he other side of the street to the french ones).
Anyway! good times were had at the party once i got there, with many fellow couchsurfers, and eventually our host;) It wasn't long before i was running off to catch the first train home!

Hmm, next travel was a random trip back to belgium some weeks later for a party in Bruges, which i ended up getting a lift to with a cser from the frankfurt community- rocking ralf. and let me say- i was certainly angry at myself for not getting out to the frankfurt community a bit more, cos this dude really did rock!! I spent the friday night with my awesome cs host who i had the previous time i was there over christmas, and then on the saturday went out to Bruges for this huuge party held by two csers to celebrate their birthday:)
The night ws epic! and at 6 am a big group of us ended up heading back to the lovely lady whos bday it had been, and crashing in various rooms/places. this lady was a pro! she even had rooms set aside just for csers^^

To use up the two final days of my rail pass that still had some time left on it from the chrisie holidays, i decided to visit my Austrian friends in Wien one last time. Only they had a better idea- Linz had recently been named the capital of culture in Europe, so we decided to meet there for an evening!
Linz really was gorgeous! But not really a place i would live...It was a cross between a city and a town, and what i loved most was once you hit the edge of the tall city buildings, yu were surrounded by beautiful mountains! The old town was also incredibly beautiful... and we spent our night with a cs dude we met walking from bar to bar trying to find some decent music!
Konst and Linn were super cool, and it was great to meet a local from Linz:)

Few, so, thats the most exciting part of the last two months...now- the next leg of my european journey (for now)...i finish my job here in Frankfurt in just two days! And have six weeks of travel before i must catch my flight back to oz!! Incredibly excited to be out on my own again!

updates!!

So for sure i neglect this blog..i either write in my myspace one or bodymod site, but i do want one blog kept purely for my travels so here i go on the updates!
Spent xmas travelling, and was oh so greatful to get away fromt the host family for a while...
Started off in Hamburg and stayed with a member i'd met off a bodymod site,,he was sweet and bought me dinner and took me on the whole tourist thing through hamburg (which was absolutely freaking freezing and rainy!!).
Luckily there were enough stalls for mulled wine, and christmas markets for applewine and sweets to keep us warm:)


After two days i left for amsterdam...but now, i think i am the only person who goes to amsterdam and stays in a christian youth hostel to get started on an essay due in three weeks time?? (hey! its my first since i left school so i'm freakin gout a bit..)
But the i surely appreciated the no drugs/alcohol policy cos i had no absolute peace and quiet^^
the dorms were named after bible characters and i was invited to bible staudy,,,but this i could live with because the staff were friendly (i got free candy and xmas dinner^^) and the showers were clean:)
Next stop was Brussles. Now, although i was only gone for a week. I was absolutley broke, and by this time (four days in) i was pretty damn lonley. So, i decided coucsurfing was a goer!
Now, i wasn't really expecting any replies,,usually people like a weks notice, and it ws xmas day! but i had quite a few offers, which i was just plain stoked about, and took the couch closest to brussels, in Asse:POnly, cos it was xmas eve, obviously he couldnt meet me til late..like 11pm late..so i was wondering if he was gonna show, and our meeting point was at an old creepy church. I sat in front of some sleeping bums, and was relieved to have the company of the security guard who stood with me til rob arrived. Can't say how relieved i was when he showed up!(the pic is of my host Rob, haha hes trying to hide from my camera:P)
He was a real sweety and let me stay two nights there..(i'd only planned one but loved brussels too much!!)

So, while i was there in Brussles, I also took a side trip to Brugge, which is an absolute beauty of a town to vist! Plus i had exceptional weather^^ (look at that sky!!)

I think the best part of my trip there though, was my last evening! Not wanting to stay at robs for too long, also since he had another surfer coming, i was happy to recieve an eamil from a chick id met from another bodymod site, inviting me out with her and a group of couchsurfers.
They were all just so damn sweet! We went out to a techno club and although the music wsan't really my thing..the company made it great! I'd thought to leave in the morning by tram to the main train station to get on the IC, but then nico gave me a lift there and they all came with me to the train station, carried my bags bought me coffee and hung around til my train left!!
I mean shit, i would never expect that of my closest friends let alone a bunch of strangers. So, yeah, it was rad to have them around^^Aand finalyy (sorry can't be arsed flipping the pic as i have the wrong program open:P), my last stop was Köln! Another bodymod member i'd been chatting to offered to show me around the city (with me stinking like cigarette from teh club..and generally lokking like crap from having no sleep!). Needless to say, it was a great way to end my holidays:D and ralf and i spent the whole afternoon walking the city, chatting and drinking tea^^ The pic is the cake a friend of his gave us for free in one cafe..and damn was it goood:D

Schneeeee!!

So the weekend just gone, I spent in Marburg with the couple i mentioned in the previous entry. They were soo nice, and i was even able to stand an hour at the oratorium listening to bach (ok, my mind was really on the incredibly crazy looking conductor and the ceiling...). We spent the weekend sight seeing,eating at the christmas markets and sledding...i feel so jaded being stuck near frankfurt when theres other german towns as pretty as Marburg!




No european afternoon is complete without kuchen, weihnachts buscuits and glühwein!




On the sunday we drove to some nearby ski slopes(winterberg) and went sledding^^ there was more snow then i'd ever seen in my life, and was so awestruck by it all i went a little snappy crazy:P


Yeah, look at that grin:P i was impressed.

And yes, i was spoilt so much, i didn't even have to walk back up the slope^^