The country of coffee, pasta, pizza, gelato

This feels familiar, a foreign land, foreign language, though not-so-foreign food. Right now, for me, this is a land which represents the troubles which I've had so far. Though I must say that it is rather nice city, very interesting landscape, a combination of hills and the sea. (and I do so love the sea!)
Last week I visited the institute for a quick meeting and attended a symposium on Friday with interesting talks and good food. I really do like the department where I would (hopefully) do my PhD. There's been a new problem (derived from a misunderstanding) that could be a huge tripping stone in my PhD application at the university. Right now I can only pray that God will work a miracle so everything will work out ok.

I miss how everything works in Germany, their efficiency, my friends and also the bretzels that I've grown to love. And as always Singapore too. It is probably not so bad that I have to fly back home (at my own expense) to get my visa done because I would get another chance to see my family this year. Am learning to think of the positive things in this crappy situation.

I think it's lucky that my temporary accomodation is near the sea (there's a sea view!) and yesterday I went with some friends to get some sun and just relax. I am surprised to see the whole beach with copper bodies! Everyone's so tanned here! I got a little bit burnt because I didn't have any sunscreen with me (and neither did my friends) but luckily it wasn't too bad.

Think I'll go take a walk along the beach now. :) Hopefully I can update with more positive news in the next weeks.

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Posted by : Ping

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The way to 'Heaven'

I spoke too early. Almost everything that could have gone wrong on Friday (17 Sept) did. The plan was to pick up my translated documents from the translation agency in Stuttgart first thing in the morning then go to the the Italian Embassy to get it legalised. First, the agency charged much more for the translation (about 5 times more!) than what the agency initially said. Then at the Embassy, the old Italian lady said the translation cannot be recognised by the Embassy in Stuttgart because the translator was not one from the region of Baden-Württemberg, even if she is a certified translator. I think devastated was a good description of how I felt when I heard her say that.

Steffen had helped me along the whole process of all the idiotic bureaucracy, in the brginning with emotional support and now with calling all the translators in the Tuebingen and Stuttgart region and drove me all the way to Stuttgart to the agency then to the Embassy. Without his help and support, I would have given up on this a long long long time ago. One of the only 2 English-Italian translators we found in the region is too busy to do the translation and the other is away on holiday.

It was decided to use the agency for the translation because we couldn't find another person who could do it and the original price they quoted is quite cheap. He also told them a few times that we need this document for the Embassy so it has to be certified translators and if they could do that. They said definitely and we could then breathe a sigh of relief. But it turned out that that was not the case when we went to the Italian Consulate in Stuttgart. We had to then find the lady in Stuttgart who is certified (she was too busy to do the translation for us) and begged her to put her stamp and sign it again for us. We then called her and went to her address stated in the list of the embassy, but didn't see her name on the mailbox. We rang the bell, hoping someone might be home, tried calling her (but there was no answer) and waited fruitlessly outside her door until a thought occurred to us that with my luck (or rather the non-existence of it), she might have moved recently and didn't have her address on the list updated yet. True enough, when we checked her signature at the end of her email correspondence, it was a different address. Luckily, she didn't move too far away (her new address was 'Im Himmel' which in german meant 'in heaven') and after some wrong turns and asking around, we found our way to 'Heaven'. The envelope was dropped in her mailbox and we left, crossing our fingers that nothing else would go wrong. Thankfully, she rang later in the day and said we could pick it up the next day when we had time.

The next day, we made our way again to 'Heaven' and picked up my documents. I was to go on my own the next Monday to Stuttgart again to hand in the documents at the Consulate. The dreaded Monday came and Steffen's dad was kind enough to drive with me to Stuttgart to face the Italians. Amazingly after some discussion, the Italian lady said it's ok for now and she will send my documents over to Italy (I had to provide an envelope with the required postage) when it's done.

The next few days was packing up and cleaning out my stuff before leaving the land of wurst and bier for the coffee, pasta and pizza country.

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Posted by : Ping

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Back in the land of the wurst and bier

Brrrr... chilly... my first thought when I came out from Stuttgart airport. It felt both foreign but at the same time, familiar. Much like how I feel when I got home to Singapore, but in Singapore the familiarity is felt in my blood and bones, so to speak, much deeper.

The last weeks in Singapore was mostly enveloped in uncertainty and despair. Slowly I managed to get up, wobbly, on my feet. The decision to go ahead and fly back to Germany first was not an easy one. Not unexpectedly, as indecisive as I am, I am suspended half the time between delaying my flight till I get my visa or going ahead with the flight to Germany.

Now that I am here, it didn't seem a bad decision to come back here first I think. Seeing my friends in Tuebingen again was a pleasure and the spending time with the sweet family in Metzingen has been good too. I still miss my family of course and friends (and food! hee) back home.

There has been some hiccups while we were trying to get the translation for my Master certificate (ah ya, another hurdle!) but now it seems like it will be ok. (crossing my fingers!) And hopefully in a month or so I would be able to come home and apply for my visa. I think God is trying to teach me patience here. There were so many times I got tired of waiting and was upset and angry with life. But my friends who're much stronger have helped me realise that there's so much in life I should be grateful for and count my blessings. And slowly I learn that all I can do now is to pray and trust that all will end up ok. Nothing much else I can do except the best I can with the documents and stuff.

Hopefully I'll have better news in the future posts. :)

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Posted by : Ping

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