After a week...

Life couldnt have been better for me ever since I touched down! I realised I havent really put on much weight after eating 28++ scoops of ice cream, three big pieces of cafe insel cake and lotsa lotsa german food! In fact, I dont think I put on any weight at all!! Imagine eating all the yummy chocolates and ice cream without any opportunity cost! Thats like UUUNNGGLLLAUBLICH!

RIght now, I am listening to some Deutsch football song. "Its coming home, Its coming home, its coming, footballs coming home". Haha! What sweet nostalgia! Am missing the world cup period so much! But oh well. I am slowly readjusting myself to the Singapore Momentum even though a large part of me is still left in Muenster and the western part of Europe.

I can really say with conviction that the 42 days have been the best-est period of my entire 20 years of life!

But home's good as well.
I love everyone here and I get to do the things which mean the most to me.
Going for weekday mass, playing for mass, being together with people who TRULY care for me.
"This is home. Truly. Where I know I must be" (:

God's really Great.

You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You

I will sing to You, Lord
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
Im carried in everlasting arms
Youll never let me go
Through it all

The lost luggage will be delivered to my doorstep between 10-1030a.m. tomorrow. They are en route to Singapore.

Today, I told You how much the luggage matter. I would be devastated if I were to be deprived of the pictorial and physical memories. The souvenirs and my photos are the most precious to me; the clothes and toiletries come secondary.

Being the almighty You, you have never left my prayers unanswered.

You kept me under eagles' wings during the past 42 days, shielding and assisting me physically, emotionally, spiritually. You sent guardian angels from above to guide me as I walked on the different pathways; you sent lovely friends to make my immersion programme a memorable one; you put the ever cherished heartlanders in my life to make me feel welcome in Singapore. And how can I ever forget my one and only travelling partner? Thank You for her, cause many things wouldn't have been possible and so fun without her.

You delight me in so many ways. I feel loved by You, my friends and family. I just want to thank You for giving me all these people and for answering my prayers so faithfully. I don't deserve all these good things, but in Your abundant mercy, you still love and provide for me.

Thank You, Jesus.
-My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God-

I am feeling so full. I cant sleep. It is 930pm in Muenster and I wonder what my family is doing right now. The dad should be talking to the mother in the garden or on the couch. Since it is Saturday, Esther's boyfriend should be staying over as well. Arghh. I am still thinking about that place even though it has been 11 hours since I touched down.

Singapore's great, but its not the utopia land. I love everyone here, but I love my life there better. No offense to anyone.. But its just a preference kinda thing lah. Thankfully I didnt feel like that when I was in Paris. Being home sick really sucks.

Hopefully it'll be a better day tomorrow as Im slowly adjusting myself to the Singapore Momentum of doing stuff.

I want my luggage damn badly.

Although I feel germany sick and am missing the people and the food there, I am really happy to be back in Singapore. I love the warm welcome and the great food. The only bloody thing which happened was beyond imagination..... I. lost. my. luggage. Yes. That includes all the souvenirs for you guys. Apparently, I heard the luggage are still stuck at the Frankfurt airport. But then again, its only a probability. Its not confirmed at this point in time. Sq is so damn bloody screwed up. So much for being renowned as the best.

But there are so many other things which made my day.
- Eating Singaporean food. I had a bowl of Laksa and a bakchormee. One after another.
- After raiding my house's fridge, I had an entire box of durians.
- My nicely decorated room
- The phone in my room. I have been dying for that!!!
- Coming home at 1145 today. Not that I enjoy coming back late, but I was really glad I could do more stuff.
- Knowing that I will be going to the car carnival tomorrow.
- I love how my mummy always switches on the aircon before I reach home to keep this freaking hot room cool.
- The lovely welcome home message
- Smses from friends
- Just being in Singapore makes me really happy.
Meeting people who truly matter to me lifts my spirit!

Perhaps reality hasnt struck me and I am still in my lala land, thinking its germany time. I guess come Monday, I will have to start losing weight. Some said I put on weight haha! And I know I did. But oh well. How could I resist the barchormee and the laksa today? I am deprived of Singaporean food.

I havent really spent much time with my family. Reserved the entire day for them tomorrow. I hope SQ wont spoil my day too much by declaring a "confirmed lost baggage".
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Leaving Muenster has been way too touching for me. I am so glad to have made such nice friends there! I will never forget the happy moments as they slowly seep through the memory spaces and plant themselves right in the heart of the things I hold true.

Muenster and my friends. Muenster and my family. Muenster and the place. Muenster and the food. I love them all.

My last night in Otto Hersing Weg, my last night sleeping on the bed, my last night typing on this keyboard, my last night in Münster. Come tomorrow, I will be rushing to pack all my stuff into that 60litre backpack, climbing stairs upon stairs, changing trains at different stations, finding my way around Frankfurt airport, praying my heart out for a smooth custom check in and enduring a 12 hour plane journey.

Home. Singapore. It seems so strange and far now. I feel so attached to Münster and my life now, I can scarcely remember what it is like to be in Singapore. Maybe I am exaggerating, maybe I am not, but I will definitely miss everyone here.

I felt really sad (apart from the terrible headache) during the grillabend. Elmar (this teacher nicknamed Santa. I usually make fun of him.. and he knows it) came up to each one of us to bid us goodbye.. I felt really touched (yes, yes, I am acting like a true blue girl right now). For three weeks, he has been this 'integral' part of my life.. Bringing us around different parts of germany, explaining the political system and education system, and waiting long hours for us all because we wanted to shop, stuff like that. I'll really miss him and his humour.

Frau Seedorf is one of the kindest souls I have ever met. Really enjoyed the time associating with her and listening to what she has to share with us. Initially, I didnt quite like her. But time changes everything. Her goodbye hug was extremely warm, and once again.. I was damn sad. I didnt really know how to say goodbye.. So I kinda gave a big smile and walked away.

Münster- Its always gonna be a place of memories. The new friends I have made, the company, the knowledge gained, my family and how I have learnt to appreciate them over time, the food, the travelling, the care, the love are so priceless!

On one hand I am looking back to returning to Singapore. Yet, I really cant bear to leave this comfort zone. But I know I have to. People are looking forward to my return in Singapore. Thats my reality and I have to face reality sometime somehow.

At some junctures during the past 42 days, I know I have so often looked forward to this day. All I wanted then was to return to warm old Singapore. But now, when this day is finally arriving in a matter of hours, I feel like I dont want it to come. I wanna stop time.

Sigh. But oh well. On a brighter note, I'll be going home. Singapore, I am going home. And home is where the heart lies.

I'll be going for my last official lesson soon. I've a project presentation tomorrow and after that, it marks PLAYTIME! I am kinda sad that clubbing is off, but well.. Its good on the other hand cause I think I need to sleep early on thursday. I'll need lotsa energy on Friday to carry that shit load of stuff. See. I have loads of things to pack and I have this strange feeling I will have a hard time fitting everything into the bag. Schieße!

Ok. That was a paragraph of incoherent ramblings.

Bier garten- Ok.
Biological farm- Ok.
Yesterday in general- Ok.

I have to be back home early today to do some translation for my project. I have yet to start writing my german diary. Am supposed to write about the day when Argentina lost to Deutschland. How am I supposed to do that? haha! Anyway, its my last 'family' dinner with my host family. I have a grill evening tomorrow night. I think I will kinda miss them. But oh well.

Im coming home soon.
And I am looking forward to that (in one way or another)...

Guten Tag! I just reached home two hours ago from my swim in the canal. Had lagsania for dinner and fries with curry sauce for dinner. One and a half portions of lagsania to be exact.. Not that I really wanted to eat that much but its more of an obligation.

At first, I took a really small slice of lagsania and my family seemed to be shocked (or displeased). something like that. They termed my portion a 'baby portion'. So I felt quite pai seh and took another 'baby portion'.

I helped myself to a bigger portion, and horror of horrors.. They said I eat really little once again!!! I felt really bad.

Initially, when I came to Münster, I spent much more time with them. However, as time passed and as I gradually had more activities in the night (whether they were school oriented or not), I realised I havent been spending much time with them. At one stage, I even treated the house like a hotel.

So feeling really bad, I took helped myself to a really large portion of lagsania for the third time. Wah lao. Do the addition can! Its like I ate one and the half portions or even close to two portions. Now I am really full and I am feeling quite uncomfortable.

Just yesterday in Bonn, you wouldn't be able to imagine the amount of cheese, pizza, lagsania and whats not I had in the cafe. The food there was really good so all of us ate like oh so much. So much cheese to be exact. Same goes for me.. And I am like okay whatever. I am sick and tired of italian food now.

Strangely, even after staying in Germany for so long, I haven't had many proper german meals. I am quite disappointed actually.

Anyhow. Period. I'm done with dinner.
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In four days' time, I will be flying back to Singapore. As I reflect on my stay in Münster (esp with my host family), I guess I am really thankful to be given such a big room with unlimited internet access, tv, and so on. The private bathroom just outside my room is unbelievably spacious. And the best part of all.. Unlike Liz, I dont have to clean up after I bathe. I would have dreaded it to the core if I had to.

Although I dont have the privilege of being chauffeured to the train station or to school and stuff like that, my host family have been really hospitable in their own way. For this, I am really thankful. I dont think I have been a great guest, and I dont think I have been very sociable as well. I mean, I would rather hide in my room to blog and stuff rather than talk to them. Hope they arent too disappointed with me.

Thank god for the world cup. That really helped me to grow much with the family. That's one of the few things that we share in common. Now that the world cup has ended, it gets quite boring and I dont feel like talking and associating much.

I hope they arent too pissed with me. Sighh. From now on, I suppose I will start eating more. Gee. I am putting on so much weight. Its unbelievable. I dont even want to step onto the weighing scale when I am back. Dont ever tell me I look damn fat. Haha!
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Swimming today was undeniably damn fun. The company I had was damn great. Hmm. Wait. I think that's an understatement. I don't really know how to describe it.. But I absolutely loved it. The experience- Priceless! Can you ever imagine how it is like jumping from the bridge into the canal? From the second you jump off till the time your body is fully immersed in the water?... You just feel damn high. Haha!

The three of them really made my day! Haha! More so, I thought it was really nice of the weihan and kevin to jump off the bridge with Liz and I. And getting wedgy? Haha!!!!! Thinking back makes me smile so much. The memories are for keeps man. I will never ever forget how Liz looked before she jumped; I will never forget Kevin's 'counselling' (hes such a nice guy la, really), I will never forget how 'badly' weihan treated me(!!!! haha in a joking way of course). I will never forget today.

Had an ice cream thereafter. Obviously. How can I not have my daily scoops of ice-cream? I had after eight today. The taste is comparable to my big ice cream palour's, but I still prefer eating at the usual big ice cream palour. It's much bigger and it offers more varieties.
Sigh. More food again.
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Beer garden and biological farm tomorrow. I cant wait. Sounds rather interesting!