on vacation in Mainz and Ireland

hello there,
after working for 90-some days straight I am finally on a two week break.
the first week i am currently spending with my family in Mainz before heading to Ireland for 5 days next week.
so i've been relaxing, meeting friends, catching up with people, going shopping and to my hair technician... it feels great and i am very much looking forward to Ireland next week.

Speaking of Ireland... I stumbled across this song by an Irish band called Bluetree again. I'd heard it for the first time while the band was performing at the Christmas Rock Night last year.
It's called 'God of this city' and was 'born' in Pattaya, Thailand while the band was performing in one of the most notorious bars in Pattaya as part of church mission trip. It simply takes my breath away and gives me hope at the same time. Hope for Pattaya & Thailand, but also for your and my hometown..
you can hear it on youtube

just one more week

before I turn 29. Strange... where has the year or more like the past 10 and some years gone to? Just this past month my parents had their 30th Wedding Anniversary! WOW! What an example...



We just arrived in Budapest again last night. Which means only one more cruise before I can go on a two-week-break. Yeah! I am just hoping and praying that none of my colleagues get sick during this time. For they almost had to cancel my colleagues vaca - who is going on break now. But someone from our departement got sick and until we knew for sure what it was - she was afraid, that they might cancel her vacation.
Other than that I am still doing good dand am very excited about some plans for next year... aah, it sure never gets boring - life with God. But I'll tell you more about that some other time.
I have to get back to work.
love, Hanna

second time in budapest

which means - another cruise completed. or at least almost. The guests are leaving tomorrow morning and I've already talked to a few of the new guests arriving tomorrow throughout the day.
This means that I have only two more weeks (or 1 cruise) left of my probation period.
If I pass, I'll get my vacation at the end of September (sept 27 - oct 11).
so right now i am spending a lot of time on the internet looking for that perfect place to just chill out, relax and do nothing for a couple of days and then i am probably also spending one week at my folk's place.
I am also busy making plans for next year... I am beginning to get excited again, you know, about all the things that God has still in store for me.
xoxo
love, hanna

TalentShow

one night last week we had a talentshow on board, you know as part of the nighttime entertainment. Of course we also had to have a representative of the crew - which as you might have guessed already - turned out to be me. Our HotMan(HotelManager) had found out, through varios channels, that I sing and before I knew it I was being dragged to our piano player to find a song we both knew well, that we could play+sing together. We couldn't quite settle on anything that time, but I kept searching a little and so two nights later just before the 'big night' I finally managed to meet up with the pianist again.

well, to make a long story short - it turned out to be quite a success besides simply being a lot of fun. I had people coming up to me for the remainder of the trip congratulating and thanking me... and I am basically booked as the crew rep. for the rest of the season.

On top of that I now get stuck with all the commentaries. ;-) Like today we'll be traveling through the Rhine gorge from Koblenz to Bingen/Rüdesheim (btw one of my favorite parts of the entire trip). And we'll be having a running commentary on the sundeck, explaining the different castles, fortresses and any other sights we might be passing...
2-3 hours non-stop chatting. yey, for me
love, hanna

the first four weeks

It’s hard to believe. But I have been living on this ship for four weeks already. The Viking Legend.
Four weeks without a single day off. Four weeks of 10 to 16 hour days.

The great advantage of that is that I hardly get to spent any money which enables me to actually save up the money I’m earning here!

Still, it is an odd feeling. Sometimes like a sailor of old who just hired onto some ship and then spent months at sea. Of course, this isn’t nearly as dramatic. But it still has this feeling of work-food-sleep and without much contact to the outside world or to friends and family. There is hardly any time for anything else. Anyway it gives me a quite different perspective of life, of God and of myself. I get to test new limits.

Even though it is very exhausting at times, I am really enjoying it – because it combines three of my favourite things – people, travelling and English. This may sound silly, but sometimes it feels like English is the only thing I ever had any talent for. (And even that isn’t at its best at the moment.) Which I know is not true, but you know, there are some uncertainties or insecurities that are just sooo hard too shake off.

But it is fun sometimes to hear some of our guests trying to figure out where I am from.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Nuremberg which will mark the half-way point of our second journey already.

Btw. Our church just got the green light from the bank to purchase the building we’ve been after for the last two years (at least).
THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Be blessed by our almighty and yet merciful God

Hugs,

Hanna

greetings from budapest, hungary

hi there everyone!
just very briefly before i have to rush back to the ship... we made it! Despite some very exciting moments along the way, like one of our engines blowing out just as we were passing the Lorely - in the Rhine valley we made our maiden voyage and arrived save and sound in Budapest three days ago. In fact in about two hours we are already heading out again with the second group of guests now going the opposite way from Budapest to Amsterdam.
I'd love to tell you more, but I really have to get back. talk to you soon... love, hanna

hello again...

beautiful Amsterdam!
I just received a call from work - they seem to be having some technical difficulties with 'our' ship.
So instead of starting in Duesseldorf on Thursday I don't have to start until Sunday -in Amsterdam. I am sooo excited.
And from what I understand I'll be stationed there (Javakade) most of next week as its the starting point for the first cruise on July 5th.
Although the christening is supposed to be in Cologne July 2nd...
ah well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

keep in touch
love,
Hanna

new job

after sending dozens of applications and being at several job interviews I finally managed to land a new job. Technically I landed this job already a month ago. Since this company experiences a lot of personnel turnover they regularly recruit new people on a stand-by basis. Well, that's how I got in and then about two weeks ago I received the go ahead and now I am starting next week (thursday, june 25th) as a Program Manager aboard the MS Viking Legend the latest cruise ship of the Viking River Cruises Fleet. The route I'll be on leads from Amsterdam to Budapest and vice versa.

I'm telling you - I am so excited.

And for once my 'vagabond lifestyle' is a bonus, an advantage rather than a disadvantage. :-)
They actually prefer people with travel experience, people who've lived in other countries, different cultures, preferably one of them being the US. This is due to the ship only being promoted on the North American and British market. Luckily for me, I've lived in both in the USA as well as in the UK.

I even get to be at the ships christening! sooo cool!

love, Hanna

El Medano, Tenerife

that's where my friend Anna and I had a wonderful week of vacation during the last week of April.
El Médano is a small town only 15 minutes drive from the southern airport.
For some reason it's been spared by mass tourism and managed to obtain much of its original character...
If you're into wind- and/or kite-surfing, El Médano is a small El Dorado for you.
It also sports a bunch of tiny little boutiques - just the thing for a little island/ souvenir shopping.
But the best of all are the little cafes and restaurants - with papas arrugadas and delicious fish and seafood dishes...
we also made trips to Los Cristianos and El Teide Nationalpark. From Los Cristianos we joined a whale-watcher-tour... gorgeous! Here are a few pics...

Made to love

vacation's been over for almost three weeks and I'll tell you more about it in a bit... but for now I wanna share this song with you... it's one of my all-time-favorites and it touches me every single time:

The dream is fading, now I'm staring at the door
I know its over cause my feet have hit the cold floor
Check my reflection, I ain't feelin what I see
It's no mistery
Whatever happened to a passion I could live for
What became of the flame that made me feel more
And when did I forget that...
I was made to love you,
I was made to find you,
I was made just for you, made to adore you
I was made to love and be loved by you
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
and you said you'd keep me never would you leave me
I was made to love and be loved by you
The dream's alive with my eyes open wide
Back in the ring you've got me swinging for the grand prize
I feel the haters spitting vapors on my dreams
But I still believe
I'm reachin out, reachin up, reachin over
I feel a breeze cover me called Jehovah
And Daddy, I'm on my way
Cause I was made to love...
I was made to love you
I was made to find you
I was made just for you, made to adore you
I was made to love and be loved by you
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
and you said you'd keep me never would you leave me
I was made to love and be loved by you
Bridge
Anything I would give up for you
Everything I give it all away
Cause I was made to love you
I was made to love you.......

I was made to love you, I was made to find you
I was made to love you, was made to adore you, made just for you
I was made to love you, I was made to adore you, made just for youI was made to love you, I was made to adore you, made just for youI was made to love you, I was made to adore you,
I've been loved by you
yeah, I've been loved by you

farewell alps...

and hello Tenerife!
I just finished my job at the Kinderhotel Muchetta in Wiesen, Switzerland two days ago, returned to Mainz late last night and tomorrow I am of to
El Medano, TENERIFE!!!
Together with my dear friend Anna I'll be spending a week there on vacation.
summer, sun and beach for a whole week. yiiihaaa!!!!!
xoxo
Hanna

snow, snow, snow

as far as the eye can see.
I am telling you I'm really getting tired of it and I can't wait for spring to arrive and start melting this endless snow away.

Other than that I am doing great.. it feels good to actually earn and have some money for a change. and whats even better is that by now I am almost debt-free! (which was one of the main reasons for me to take a job in the first place) one last payment and I am FREE!!! It's intoxicating!

As for a job - I am currently looking for a new one for the summer season. Not that work is that bad here in Wiesen. It's only that I wasn't made for life in these far and out of the way places... I need a city or at least a town of some sort. Plus there is a lot of psychological stress here. Our bosses (a married couple and their three kids) tend to be very moody and can't cope with stress of any kind. So whenever things get a little busy or don't quite work the way they're supposed to they start shouting at everyone in sight and even worse at each other... and since their office is attached to the reception me and my fellow receptionist tend to get the full blow of it.

so during the course of the next 2-3 weeks I have three job interviews and hopefully one of them will work out. i'll keep you posted on how things work out.

love ya,
hanna