2013 - Year Of My Life!

A Review Of The Year 2013

Today "finally" is christmas. That's the time life shocks me by making it inevitable that the year is OVER.

And you know what? Even if I said this a few times before: 

The past year - 2013 - was definetly the best year of my entire, short life!

No doubts, no regretting. 

Here I've listed a few of my best and worst experiences and moments.

January - Clubbing night 

Way back in my hometown Reutlingen, Germany we have a club/barnight once a year.

When we went there this year we had such a great time by barhopping through the whole town, meeting a lot of new people and friends.

I remember that this was one of the best partynights I had! 

We went to almost all events which were included on the flatrate partyticket 'til the last club closed at 6 in the morning. My best friend Nina and me decided not to go home and to keep the night going.

Soo we went with some newly made friends to a recording studio, where their private aftershowparty took part. It was insane! After dancing for 5 hours in the clubs we continued stepping to electronic music with random people. It was like the night started again. There was barely space for the 20 people of us on 10m^2 but who cared? Huge speakers, a stroposcope and the atmosphere of a never ending night made it perfect.

Nina and me came home at around 10am with hurting feet and blacked out for the rest of the day...

A night I'll never forget... In the middle of the coldest winter...

February - Supplimental Maths Classes

Since it was one month before my final exams in school started, I had to do something about my worse math grades. So me and my parents decided that I'll take part in supplimental maths course - the whole of my holiday. Seven days, each day 4,5 hours of maths in the neighbourtown Stuttgart. 

Me and another girl from my grade were put into the class for the 0-4 credits (worst grades - failed). 

In this class we kinda started maths from the beginning with fractions, variables etc... You should have heard the awesome dumb questions of people in this class, it made me feel like I'm a genious in maths - for real! :D

I was announced with 3 credits, the same as the other girl from my grade. 

The next maths classtest, the last one before the final exam we felt so confident as never before after taking the supplimental.

When the grades came out we both made it to 4 credits! So we paid a lot of money, went through all this agony to upgrade our grade for one single point - which still didn't let us pass the test. :D / :(

At least we still had one month to improve our mathematical skills 'til the finals.

Btw: In german highschools the last two years (form 3 & 4/std. 11 & 12) are fully counted into the final mark. Each and every class test counts, which makes 2/3. The exams at the end are "just" 1/3 of the final grade.

March - Sweet 18th Birthday!

To me it was clear from the beginning my 18th birthday is gonna be BIG! Go big or go home!

In this year my birthday fell on a saturday, the first of the 2 1/2 weeks easterholiday before the final exams started. The best time to celebrate myself the last time before I had to get serious and a perfect occasion to throw a party for all of my friends, which also had to start preparing. 

The plan I made up perfectly worked out:

We celebrated on Friday night in the old driving school of a friends of mine, which was gonna be teared down soon. Surprisingly even old friends from the boarder to France and Switzerland came to stay over for the weekend and made this evening perfect. At 12 o'clock I had all my closest and oldest friends around me, which made me so happy that I started crying. Thank god my friends stopped me from making use of my overage right away to get a tattoo.. ohh Tequila..

On Saturday morning my house was full of people k.o.ing. Which had the effect that we started preparing the big party very late. There were people at my party before I even went there. 

The party took part in the motorbikeclub of my dad, who sponsered the party (what he better shouldn't have done...). It was a good night with all kinds of my friends. There were people from other cities I went to Kindergarten with, friends from camp when we were kids, my physiotherapist as DJ and even a Jehova's Whitness :D Hehehe that party was crazy, there was a fire outside, so huge you couldn't even get close to it, an extended smoking zone (everywhere?!) and alcohol which wasn't supposed to be drunken because it belonged to the club.

In the end PEOPLE WERE WASTED and too many. It was like the most expensive party I could imagine :D I had to write letters to the club and to neighbours afterwards to apologise and pay for stolen wood, demolished fences and snacks/alcohol, which seemed to be hidden.

And still! It was the best party I've ever had for my birthday! Exactly the way I wanted it to be. Chaotic and BIG! :D

Sunday was the day of cleaning up and the aftershow-coming-down with my best friend.

3 days partying hard - that was exactly what I wanted and what I got.

Unforgetable 18th birthday!

P.S.: 3 days after my birthday I went for my tongue piercing, which I've been wanting for 4 years. Evertime I asked my parents: "daaaad, mooom can I have a tongue piercing?" They went like: "Yes of course you can!" Me: "Oh cool!!! When??" -"When you're 18!" -.-

And when the day came I turned 18 they started realising how serious this unnecessary and still so undestroyable wish was. So they started trying to capture me with offers like "I'll get you a festival ticket or whatever you want if you don't get that god damn piercing. Please just don't!!" 

- Hahahahaha parents. No way! :D

(To their amusement it got swollen very, very badly for a week so I was hardly able to speak and eat.. ._.

Life's kinda fair?!)

April - The Final Exams

Whoop incredible feeling. Finally they were there! After 12 years of schooling us guys had to show our un- ähh knowledge. The exams themselves were nice and very patient. I was prepared: enough food, energy drinks, nicotine chewing gums, chocolate. What (except of maths) should go wrong? 

German exam - fair, but not as good as expected. Maths - fail... I went back to my 3 credits I think. English - Easy goooing. It even made fun going through the exam. Politics - I don't know why but most of us didn't do as good as usually, so did I. 

After this exam most people were finished! That was it! Almost the whole grade went to the traditional after-exam-party/drinking in a park. Nearly every pupil from the 6 highschools of my town was there to celebrate and freak out. We've been waiting for that day for soo long!

Now there was just the very final, oral exam left, which was gonna be in June...

Scream Abiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! (Shortform for Abitur = A-Levels)

June - Last Exam + Bonobo Concert

My last exam was in geography about "urban gardening". It was a very interesting and awesome topic the teachers chose for me. And even though I started preparing it 2 days earlier and the hathred and fear of holding marked talks I got 13 out of 15 credits (like an A).
My neighbours unrolled the red carpet for me when they saw me coming home from celbrating that day.

So touching...!

Bonobo

A very good friend of mine gave me a ticket for the concert of one of my favourite artists for my birthday.

The artist, called Bonobo, makes the greatest, let's call it, "composed electronic music" I've ever heard. 

After I've been waiting for so long that artist to come close to my town for he finally was there! 

The friend of mine was the one, who first introduced me to his music and made me really fall in love.

So this open-air-concert in the nicest mid summer was one of my biggest highlights and gifts this year!

It made my heart jump, for real. Some people know how to make me happy.. 

Magic moments.

July - Prom

Prom always sounds so pompous. Ours even looked pompous in our newly built cityhall.

However it wasn't. Instead it was the most boring prom I've ever been to.

Big disappointment... People had to get drunk to stand the whole rigmarole.

At least me and my best pals of the past 4 years got a pretty picture!

People I really miss :(







August - Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival!


After I had worked for 6 weeks in a salad-factory (stupid assembly-line work) I had saved enough money to go to the biggest european reggae festival in Spain.
Two of my pals and me decided to do a roadtrip through France all the way to city located in the south of Barcelone.

It took us three days to get there and when we arrived I thought I've landed in hippies' paradise!
If YOU think you've been to the greatest festival ever, then let me tell you: You haven't!
Forget about beachlife, forget about Ozora, forget about Tomorrowland! Screw them!
If there's any place, which is close to heaven then it's the Rototom Sunsplash Festival.

People from several countries travel there: France, Italy, Marokko, Portugal, Brasil, Jamaica, Palestina, UK, Hungary etc. etc. etc.
You don't need a phone.. You almost don't need clothes... You don't need a tent.... You don't even need a watch!
Just carry a hammock, it's too hot to sleep in tents. If you reaaaally wanna know what time it is -> look up to the sun and guess!

10 DAYS full of Peace, Love, Unity and extremely beautiful people!
The daily schedule mostly looks like:
-Waking up at 9, because it's too hot to sleep. -> Go for a cold shower (unisex-showers)
-Walk to the beach.. Stay there until 4 or 5 or 6... There's also a stage/dancing classes/acrobatics/(half)naked people/coktails. Siesta - catch some sleep, go swimming, dancing
- Cook supper... There are large cooking tents with about 50 hotplates. People of all nationalities cook next to each other, help each other with ingredients, smoke up during cooking. A wicked place to socialize and getting invited for international dishes ;)
- Concerts start at 8pm. On the festival area are like 10 stages. 10!!! E.g. There's a Ska stage, Dancehall, Dubstation, Mainstage, African stage, Juanita stage, Black music stage etc..
The curfew is at aroung 6am. Sooo there's no sleeping before because the music esp of the Dubstage is too loud (which isn't a bad thing, not at all :) ).

And after? You'll decide if you go sleep, watch the sunrise or visit your random neighbours, who make their own music.
Some carry guitars, ukulele's, rattles, mini trumpets, harmonicas etc...

This festival is not a music festival. It's a culture festival. You'll find  a meditation area, an art exhibition, a circus, the debating reggae university, acrobatics, massages, shopping... - everything there!
Just feel free as a human being, respect your neighbours, share love.

Four of our friends came later, after they've heard how great this festival is...

This was our whole Rototom crew on our way back in France.

Thank's guys for having made this the greatest holiday in my life!

September - Au Pair In China: Disapproved

Before I decided to come to Kenya after clearing school I had planned to go to China as an Au-Pair for 6 months. 

Many people told me that it would be really tough and I'd have to brave to fit in the traditional chinese family hierachy. Many people told me I'd be insane wanting to live out of my own will under a dictatorship. Many people said I'd struggle with the understanding of the culture and food.

I did not care.

Once I made up that idea of going into this very different country I wanted to try.

I was ready to take all this difficulties as a challenge to widen my perspective.

The application was a lot of work. Almost more work than preparing myself for the final exams.

The application recquired: - school certificates, full medical check, references from the headteacher, the mothers of the kids I've babysitted, the exact number of hours I've ever taken care of children, my criminal record, 2 motivation lettes, 18 pages of application questions, a personal interview and last but not leat an application video.

I did all of these... My application was finished and perfect. My interviewer recommended me with best references and characteristics.

What happened last minute?

I got a call. The german Au-Pair organisation told me they can't take me into the program.

Why?

Because the chinese partner organisation mentioned that people with black skin color don't have (any high) chances to get chosen by chinese hostfamilies.

Bam. It was like - in your face!

This people are racist?

And (most) people in my country don't even know??

Instead of having a lot of anger (which I still have) I'm even more eager these days to find out more about this chinese culture. To understand why they think the way they do.

How can for example Germany work so close together with China and the population doesn't even know about their racial motives?

Anyway it's okay the way it is now, because I'm in Kenya!

And I'll go for an exchange program with China when I'm in Uni.

This might be a different story..

September: Driving License - Gotcha!

Driving a car was one of the most terrifying things to me.

Me and driving? No way this is gonna end in a good way for me or any involved parties.

I tried to slow down the process of handling a car practically as long as possible. 

In the end I  had to take the driving lessons in such a hurry, because of my departure for Kenya.

On some days I took lessons twice a day...

Under pressure. I had exactly one try for the theory exercise and the practical driving test. 

For the theory I even studied more than for some exams in my finals Oo

And I passed! Both!

Not with flying colors but I passed!

Just the day before I came to Kenya :D

September - Niko home: Kenya

The rest of the story is obviously known.

My whole blog tells the story about me being back in Kenya, the country I love.

Each and every single day.

My year couldn't end better than here, with my relatives, friends and a bunch of lovable children.

Thank you for making me feeling comfy!

I'm looking forward to seven more months in Kenya and a  new year 2014. I'm sure it can top year 2013.

I still need to find the big love ;)

But first I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Actually today's christmas (25th) here.

Can't wait to see the whole of my family later for celebrations.

Wherever you are, be blessed!

One last thing: Mum, Dad, thank you for making all this happen!

I appreciate it more than I can tell in words..

I love you folks!