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So after something in the region of 13 years I finally decided it was time to head back to New Zealand.  This was a fairly difficult decision, I had been unwell for quite some time in Germany by the time I decided I should give in and go home.  But it was also a decision based on being so far from my family and my father who has been sick, and also because I missed being able to engage in random conversations with strangers.  (Yes this was technically becoming possible through my German classes, but not quickly enough)

It has been a little strange to be here, this is the first time that I have been unemployed in almost 15 years, and living on the government assistance that I receive is just awful.  I have no idea how anybody does it.  I am just lucky that I can live with my parents for awhile as well.

I have mostly been enjoying the time to relax, feel better (yes my health has been great since coming home), and to just enjoy my home country for a change.

Right now I am actively looking for jobs, there are some prospects but nothing certain for now... will I end up staying in New Zealand? I am not certain yet... but everything is being handled one day at a time for now.

And what about this blog? Since I have walked back home.... I am actually going to keep it up, there will be a post about the Aurora Australis, and one about Seaward Bush a neat little bush walk near my house.

I don't aim for my travels to be over either, I want to visit some friends in America within the next two years, and I still have things to see in Europe and some cherished people there who will be overdue for a hug by the time I can get back there.

Love,
Abigail

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial license.

*BONUS* London for Christmas

This is not a real post, since there is zero tourism, it is just a way to show that I didn't spend Christmas entirely alone crying into a microwaved pizza or anything like that.

Christmas Eve I flew to London, and visited with my friends Eden, Marie and Sara for an Orphans Christmas, it was beautiful, we all wore cheesy Christmas jumpers, had stockings full of candy, and amazing food.

Christmas Eve was wines and catch up chats, Christmas morning we had a nice champagne breakfast then headed off to mass at the local Catholic Church (bit different given I hadn't really been to a church of any denomination in awhile)

Then it was time for amazing Christmas lunch, exchanging presents, and inevitable shenanigans involving far too much red wine.

 

 

And then back on a flight home... before I head to Edinburgh for New Years!
Which will be my next REAL post... hopefully sometime in the next few weeks.

Schützenfest, Hannover, Germany

So here we are again, the blog post that I should have had finished weeks ago which has been repeatedly delayed by my obsessive editing of an ebook collection instead of productive writing time!

So a few weeks ago now, I went to the Hannover Schützenfest with Ben and Steffi, I guess the first thing I should attempt to explain is what a "Schützenfest" actually is.
Many moons ago, when the city required such a thing there were the town guard, and of course as times moved on the town guard eventually became riflemen.
Each year they would hold a marksmens festival or "Schützenfest" and prizes would be awarded to the competitors, and of course beer and nice foods would be on offer.
Nowadays the festival is basically a giant fair with beer gardens, food tents, rides and attractions.

There are still certain elements of the original concept alive however, there is the "Marksmans Parade" which is where each of the contestants, several bands, and a bunch of festival carriages form a parade.

I don't believe there is ever a bad time to have your picture taken with a dangerously plagiarized mouse

The festival includes most of the usual rides, this was from a haunted house...

The next few shots are from atop the giant ferris wheel we rode on

We also rode the rollercoaster pictured below, it was fantastic, it had loops which basically form the Olympic rings, so it basically started by throwing you through each of those, and then really rather calmed down after it, quite intense for a local funfair though

 I included this next one just because it had a bunch of German flags flying

From the top of the ferris wheel, so you can see we are right near the new Town hall which is in one of the first blog posts

Steffi and I were down for a log ride since it was disturbingly hot out that day, Ben hung out and took this awful picture, I swear I was much more calm in reality

And that wraps it up for this week kids, tomorrow we are going to one of the local castles, so I will take more pictures there!
A lot more information can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzenfesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover_Sch%C3%BCtzenfest

BONUS! Also, as a little follow up on my piece about the zoo, this local news article was quite funny:
https://www.thelocal.de/20120712/43705/