It’s good to be back in Brisbane. The exhilaration of coming back to my adopted city was too much for me to contain; I actually found myself smiling as the plane took flight. And then, of course I squealed & jumped around like a 13-year-old when I finally met my girls, after they got home from work. It was a moment of jubilance, finally being in the same country with both of them. All 3 of us together, AT THE SAME TIME.

We spent my first night here watching State of Origin, a simple pleasure I’ve missed so greatly ever since I went back to Singy. It’s always more fun watching sports with friends & unfortunately, I’ve never managed to find anyone else in Singy who shared a passion/interest in Rugby League. Over the last few years, as I cheered for Queensland by my lonesome self at home, I’ve longed umpteen times to be transported to Brissie so I can watch it with my dear friends. Even if it was just for that one evening. So finally being able to watch the game live, with all these folks, was a moment I couldn’t help but relish.

The next day, it was just a whole day of shopping & getting myself reacquainted with the city, in particular Queen Street Mall. It was SO comforting to see everything right where I remembered them to be (except a few new shops here and there). Walking down the street, I kept wondering why I’m not living in Brissie already. Then I realised that while I could go on and gush about how much I love the lifestyle & culture, I was also unwilling to let go of everyone back in Singy. It was a wretched feeling.

This evening, we had a good steak at Breakfast Creek Hotel, which incidentally is not a hotel by the way. Apparently, many pubs/restaurants here called Something Something Hotel are not actual hotels, while the real ones (e.g. Hilton, Sheraton) all don’t have “hotel” in their names. Go figure. Anyway, tomorrow, we’re heading out for lunch at West End. I’m sorta feeling rather touristy at the moment as I’ve never been there & the girls are specially arranging a trip there for me. Heh. :p

I can’t believe I’ve only got about 4 more days here. Yes, one week is too short, but I’m glad I’m able to spend whatever time I have with my girls. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Ahhh… Berlin. How interesting were you, in ways that we didn’t imagine.

Hello everyone. Yes, I’m back. And judging from the time that I’m posting this entry, you can imagine how early I slept when I got home yesterday. 8:30pm to be exact. I can safely say the jet lag is no longer an issue.

So after Prague (and yes, Dia – it was a detour to Prague but it was because we wanted to show the students the difference in development after WWII) we headed straight to Berlin, the main attraction of our trip. It was completely surreal seeing the remains of the Berlin Wall, walking through the Brandenburg Gate, going into the Reichstag, crossing Checkpoint Charlie, and visiting Humboldt University, where I felt completely mocked as I walked past the portraits of all their Nobel Laureate Winners (including one Albert Einstein). We also visited a few rather notorious sites, including Hitler’s burial grounds which is now a car park, and the hotel where Michael Jackson (RIP) dangled his kid from the balcony. And as though all that wasn’t already enough, the city also “gifted” us with a naked woman, who walked calmly through the park beside the Berliner Dom and Altes Museum and right past our bus. Naturally, everyone (especially the boys) was very excited and stole as many pictures as their fingers could click.

We visited a couple of museums where we could experience the life of Berliners during the GDR at the DDR Museum, and the Jewish Museum. The DDR Museum was extremely charming and interactive, and the Jewish Museum was particularly interesting. I was quite upset that we couldn’t spend more time wandering around. I would’ve loved to learn more about the life of Jews in Berlin, and how they overcame the challenges faced due to the War. There was also a special exhibition about the Jewish Dimension of Comic Art, which I knew Nessa & Dia would approve of and appreciate. From Berlin, we also went down to Potsdam (where we drove past a former KGB prison!) and dropped by Sanssouci Park and the Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference was held.

We had a couple of very good guides in Berlin. I’m a real sucker for Brit humour and two of the Walking Tour guides that we had (Barnaby and Nigel from Insider Tours) were extremely engaging and witty. The students were very enamoured by them and we always found them rushing to stay in front of the pack and close to the guides, rather than their usual habit of trailing behind. It kinda got me thinking that personality really counts when one’s trying to teach. I just hope I have enough of it.

I definitely need to go back to Berlin (and Germany). There was just not enough time for me to see everything in detail and enjoy the full offerings of the sights. And now that I have greater knowledge of the history of the country, I feel that I’ll be able to appreciate its culture and beauty even more.

Pictures coming soon!

I knew this trip was going to be tiring, but I didn’t realise how much my aging body would agree with me. Sucks being old, y’know?

Anyway, we’re in Prague now, after a night’s stay in Dresden. Just to get everyone up to speed, we’ve visited the Dachau Concentration Camp, the BMW Museum, the Nuremberg Documentation Centre, and did a walking tour of Dresden. All in all, we’ve had a pretty damn good time.

Being someone who has no personal experience with any of the World Wars (or any war for that matter, thank God!) I honestly didn’t think I’d be affected by the visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp. But right after walking through the gates and looking at that cold, barren courtyard, I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with grief. Overwhelmed with sympathy. Overwhelmed with inner cries of injustice. I simply could not fathom how mankind was able to allow such atrocity to happen. Were people that consumed by hatred? Hatred that, from all angles, didn’t seem justifiable at all?

After experiencing something as chilling as the Concentration Camp, we were brought to the BMW museum where we learnt about the history of BMW and saw many proud moments being exhibited in the museum. The students had a lot of fun roaming around the clinical-looking museum and ogling the cars on display. I personally think they were just happy to get away from us and do something non-WWII related.

Day 3. We headed to Nuremberg and Dresden after we left Munich. Nuremberg was a great learning experience for us all as we visited the Nuremberg Documentation Centre, saw the site of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, and learnt more about the Nuremberg trials. At this point, allow me to say that I love my students. I was extremely heartened to see them having as much fun as they did learning about this important piece of history, even though it wasn’t exactly a relaxed day. Travelling from Munich to Dresden via Nuremberg was slightly demanding as we were on the road A LOT. All of us were really impressed with their tenacity and lack of complaints.

Day 4. Today. We finally got a more relaxed (and not to mention, touristy) schedule as we took a walking tour of Dresden (which is super gorgeous by the way!) and found some time to shop at the local mall, before heading to Prague, but also not without stopping at another local mall (this time, in Prague) before dinner. So yes, that meant a whole lot of retail therapy for all of us. :p Me? I’m most happy that I’m back in Prague. Gorgeous, gorgeous, Prague. Can’t wait to go on the walking tour tomorrow.

So that’s it for me for now. We’ll be heading out to Berlin tomorrow afternoon and I’m praying that we’ll continue to have perfect weather and the students will continue to be wonderful. Will post again soon!