First couple of days

The view from my front door

For those of you who are not familiar with Schleswig-Holstein, the part of Germany I am from, let me describe it to you. This part of Germany is in the far north, on the North Sea. First, imagine Holland. Wide, flat land with lots of dikes, windmills and tulips. Now, replace the windmills with those giant, creepy modern war-of-the-worlds style windmills and the tulips with cabbages. Now you have Schleswig-Holstein. This is where I've spent the last couple of days.

My Boudoir

It's been a fairly quiet time so far, but to be fair this first week is really only supposed to be so I can get over my jetlag.
I'm currently staying at my cousin Jonna's house. Or more accurately, I'm staying in a little caravan in her backyard while they're renovating. It's surprisingly cozy!
So after visiting a friend yesterday and the day before I did my first real touristy thing today. Well, that is apart from walk around in a t-shirt, sunglasses and a giant backpack while everyone else is wearing heavy jackets and scarves. I find it interesting how, in a country that's supposed to be so much colder than Australia, as soon as it dips below 20 degrees and the sun isn't shining for 5 minutes everybody digs out all their warmest, heaviest winter gear as if they're embarking on an expedition to the antarctic. I think it has to do with the fact that houses here are all insulated and heated like the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, whereas in Australia houses are little more than cardboard boxes with windows. So in Australia when it gets cold peope freeze their balls off indoors as well as outdoors whereas in Germany people can stay warm most of the time. In short Australians are tough as nails idiots and Germans are clever pansies.
So today I looked outside and saw that there was a scrap of blue sky between the dark, ominous clouds. Perfect weather for t-shirts and bicycle rides.

Staff member looking for his wedding ring

The whole Seal Station complex

I hopped on my loaned bike and pedalled off to a little nearby town called Friedrichskoog. The town is known for its Seal station, where they take care of and rehabilitate seals for reintroduction into the wild. I'm a bit of a wildlife fanatic, having seen almost every David Attenborough documentary, so this destination was a must. I've been here several times before, but who can resist watching imprisoned wild animals performing for our amusement?
The station has about 6 permanent residents who, for one reason or another, can't be reintroduced into the wild. Instead they just live off the governement and hang around all day watching trashy daytime TV. But they provide a decent show, even when not appearing on Jerry Springer, so I don't have anything against them.
But the Seal Station is overall quite encouraging. It's easy to get the impression when watching TV that, despite all the efforts being put into conservation around the world, nature is generally going down the drain. However, looking at the Seal population figures displayed here, you can see populations, at least in the North Sea, have absolutely rocketed in the past two decades or so. It's just a shame not all wildlife and ecosystems are given the same level of attention and care as the Seals.