There was a public holiday in Germany called Christl Himmelfahrt. With my amature German, i think it means something like The Resurrection of Christ. Anyway, I had nothing planned on that day actually because the day after is a Friday and is also normal working day (That's intolerable cruelty!). So, it makes no sense for me to get out of regensburg just for one day. But thank goodness steffen invited me to a traditional celebration at his hometown in Pfalz (near border of France) on this day, where he had to help out with the logistics.
That's because he is a voluntary Fireguard.
( I have all along heard from him about voluntary fireguards but i was under the impression that they are just an briefly trained support team to the actual fireguards during any disaster. I was so surprised when i realised that they are trained like a full time fireguard, and some of them are actually trained and certified to handle chemical catastrophes too.
Wow, R E S P E C T. )
Anyway, back to my first experience away from Bayern....
Wednesday was a mad rush for us as we grabbed our stuff after work and hit the road 15min later. (actually, itz 45mins later... Cos this xiao jie over here dilly-dally dilly-dally, and then decided to bathe.. Such a troublesome woman! hahaha)
Steffen driving us back to his hometown. It was a 4 hours drive... Butt pain pain arhhh.. =X
Lots of Greenery along the all famous German Autobahn. Moving at 140km/h at this point of time and all the cars are overtaking us like nobody's business!! The best way to describe the cars on the Autobahn - Now u see it (a car), now u dun! =S
A few observations by this first timer:
1) Who says there's no maximum speed limit in Autobahns? Max limits varies between 80 - 120 km/h on some parts, but as usual, people dun really follow it. heh. On the average, people move at 140-160km/h. That's almost twice the speed of ours!!
2) Jams can go up to 25km along the Autobahn. Avoid at all cost unless u are driving automatic cars and has too much time to spare. BUT provided u know ur way around it cos...
3) Once u miss a turn somewhere, especially on motorways, the next exit could be half an hour later...... = (No wonder so many continental car producers are integrating navigation systems into their cars!)
4) There are NO Street lights on the Autobahn. We could only depend on our two good 'ole headlights at night. (Thank goodness the sun only set at 9.30pm nowadays. )
5)The car audio volume turns up(and i mean UP) Automatically whenever the radio station is announcing the traffic report. This is of course to catch the attention of the driver. But it shocks the passenger at the same time.
Fire Station Pic 1
Fire Station Pic 2
Time to set off ! Steffen the Fire Engine Driver.
Sitting in a fire engine makes me feel like a road tyrant! haha... cos the vehicle is so big, and when cars normally stop at the side, and lets it pass if the road is too narrow! And when the siren goes off, I feel like I'm on for some action! (haha, the siren was only on for about 5 seconds to warn the cars near it that it needs to U-TURN! haha..)
Inside a Fire Engine... This is SO CooL! They can pack so many things into such small space! I wonder if the fireguards can remember where everything is during times of emergency. If that's a pre-requisite to be a fireguard, then I can forget about being one. haha =)
Time to start work... Steffen was in charge of grilling the steak which was to be sold. It was delicioussssss..... yum yum! And me ? I'm in the BKL group... Bao Ka Liao group. Heh. Clean clean here, wipe wipe there.... And of course, eat here eat there ... free of charge somemore! =D
People starts to come in despite the rain. As u can see, the people that came are mostly from the grannies club or the granddad club...
A cute junior Fireguard. Too bad only 14 years old, i think.
Start of Church service. This church service is the coolest one i have seen throughout my 21 years of catholic life! Itz actually combined service by the protestant AND the catholic church in the town. The protestant pastors are in black robes and the catholic one in white. Talk about tolerance and harmony =)
Lots of Cakes too! Yum yum yum yum yummmmm...........
Gen is a Fireguard too!!!!! The coat belongs to that nice guy in the photo. Cos is was drizzling and very windy that day, so i was kinda trembling under my thin windbreaker. But i look cooL rite?!?!? =D
2 Fireguards! Yar i know... The jacket is WAY too big for me.
Horses on the way back... Nice =)
Moving around Germany without a car is near impossible unless you are willing to pay up to 180Euros (S$360) for a return trip train ticket. For this reason, I had all along thought i wouldnt have the chance to get out of Baveria. But alas! Thanks Steffen! =D
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