Mr. Furrington, in the envelope, Jyväskylä, Finland

Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Oct 29, 2011, 3:39 am	Meow! My name is Mr. Furrington and I am a highly stressed kitty! Instead of going to school, I've decided to take a bit of a vacation! Now I just need to find a nice host to show me a fun time so I can get unstressed! Here is a photo of one of my favorite trees!
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Oct 29, 2011, 3:40 am	Meow! My mentor has found a host and now I am heading to the United Kingdom for some fun! Bye bye!
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 9, 2011, 10:39 am	Hi Mum, You'll be pleased to know I've arrived safely in the UK and I'm now in the Norfolk countryside! Blinchick was here to greet me as well as my host... ...who said thankyou very much for the postcard by the way Well, just wanted you to know Im here and that Blinchick and I are already making friends. I shall post again soon, Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 13, 2011, 4:48 pm	Hi Mum, Operation Christmas Child Last week Blinchick and my host went shopping for a project called Operation Christmas Child. They told me it was an appeal where you fill an empty shoe box with gifts and the shoeboxes are collected locally and sent across the world to children who are less fortunate than us and would otherwise probably get no presents this christmas. I thought it sounded like a great idea so my host, her boyfriend, Blinchick and I packed our boxes together this evening. First we had to wrap the box and its lid in pretty christmas paper and then we had to fill the box with items from different categories including hygiene, educational and toys. This is my hosts shoebox: There was a little mermaid pen, a cuddly toy dalmation, a notebook, toothpaste and toothbrush, erasers, chalk, crayons, a flannel, hairbands and sweeties in our box amongst other things. The boxes have to be labelled with who we have made the box for, we chose a little girl between the age of 5-9 years old. Time to put a lid on it! My hosts boyfriend made a shoebox up too, he decided to do one for a little boy Well I better go mum, til next time, Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 15, 2011, 2:52 pm	Hi Mum, Baking Cherry & Coconut cakes Its starting to get quite cold outside now, my host said that they had been lucky before I arrived and still had sunny weather despite heading into Winter but now it is starting to get a bit chilly here - there is still sun but it is very cold too! So we spent this morning indoors and did a bit of baking. We found a recipe for Coconut & Cherry cakes that my host has never cooked before and thought we would give it a try (she says she isnt a good cook though so Blinchick and I were ready to lend a helping hand) First we got our ingredients out and opened our recipe book to the page we needed. They suggested we put the cake cases in the baking trays first so they were ready for when the mixture was... The first ingredients into the mixing bowl were caster sugar and butter.... ..followed by two eggs, flour and then the coconut and cherries.. Time for spooning out the cake mixture! ..then we had to wait for them to cook... ...and wait.. ...and wait.. ..until... ..and here they are.. We were planning to ice them but with the cakes texture and the flavours inside we decided to leave them as they are. Well I better go, its tasting time! Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 20, 2011, 11:02 am	Hi Mum, At the Movies Tonight we went to see 'Breaking Dawn' at the movies. We travelled to Norwich to the Odeon cinema to watch it. Here I am outside the building.. Our verdict? We loved the film My host apologises for not being able to take me out much this week but hopes to post some 'out and about' photos very soon. Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 21, 2011, 10:18 am	Hi Mum, Countryside Walk If there is one thing I've found out about Norfolk so far its that there is alot of country- side to see. This afternoon my host, her boyfriend, Blinchick and I decided to go for a nice walk around the countryside in the village of East Walton. As you can see here, the sun hadnt hit this part of the fields yet so the grass looked a bit of the frosty side....  can you see all the mole hills mum? I think they have been very busy digging around this area. ...Our little bit of November sun... ...stopping for a rest... We then walked into an area that was all misty and foggy.. but through that we could see something walking towards us.. ..some cows They let us get a bit closer... ...Then it was time for us to say goodbye and wander back through the gate and home again.... maybe next time we go for a walk we might have snow, fingers crossed! Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 25, 2011, 9:04 pm	Hello! Well Mum, yesterday we ventured over to the local town of Kings Lynn as the towns christmas lights were being switched on. My host hoped to get some photos to show you of this however unfortunately everybody else seemed to have the same plan to go to see them too and it was far too crowded so we had to leave and without photos in the end. My host was a bit disappointed but she has something special and christmassy planned for the first week of December so watch this space. 'Press Out and Make' Christmas Book Anyway, while my host was shopping today she found a christmas 'press out and make' book so tonight we have been getting into the christmas spirit with this.... We decided to make the rocking reindeer first.. ''I've got the reindeer head!'' ...putting the parts together... Blinchick pressed out the elves... ..Ready to rock? We then decided to make a more difficult one, the gingerbread house! We pushed out the pieces again... ''I've got the gingerbread couple!'' ..time to build the house for them.. ...and put the roof and chimney on! ..I think the gingerbread couple liked the house we made for them, im sure they would have invited us in if we could fit through the front door :s Have a wonderful weekend, Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 27, 2011, 8:15 pm	Hello! Sandringham Christmas Fair Today we visited Sandringham for their christmas craft fair. They were lots of hand made goods from small delicate pieces of jewellery to large heavy wooden furniture. This photo was taken in the area they were selling wooden chairs and sculptures - the bird pictured below was being carved from wood during a demonstration they had. Castle Acre - Castle Ruins In the afternoon we headed to the village of Castle Acre to see the remains of the castle there. This sign shows a drawing of how the area originally looked. Alot of the buildings outer walls are still in tact and due to the moat-like ditches around the castle itself there are lots of bridges to cross. We climbed to the top of one of the hills for the view.. This is the main bridge up to the castle ruins... Signs give indications on age and what parts of the building they originally were .. This is a sketch of what the main building looked like many many years ago.. This is what remains of that building now... ..I couldnt resist having a climb during our visit! Well that was how I spent my day I shall update again soon, hope you are well. Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Nov 30, 2011, 9:21 am	Hello Putting Up The Christmas Tree (no. 1) Me again. Tonight we decided we couldnt wait any longer and Blinchick and I helped my host and her boyfriend put up their christmas tree at his house... So we got the tree and all the decorations out of their boxes... First we started putting all the branches of the tree together.. I was on hand to test out the lights... ''yep, they all seem okay to me!'' The lights went on first, followed by the decorations... I really like this one.. My host and her boyfriend even have personalised decorations! All done, what do you think? Can you see me in the tree? Speak soon Mum Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 8, 2011, 11:47 am	Hello Putting Up The Christmas Tree (No. 2) So today we decided to put up the christmas tree in the family home which is a bit bigger than the christmas tree we put up at my hosts boyfriends house. So out came our tree..... which took quite a long time to put together! Then the boxes of decorations ... ..and lights... Mum, my host thought she was funny and hung me and Blinchick on the tree! ...we said that the baubles would be better for the tree and not us! ...look its santa! .....and the finished tree! Speak soon, Im off to see something very christmassy this week so will update again soon. Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 8, 2011, 12:04 pm	Hello again, Christmas Tree Festival Tonight we ventured over to a little place called Fakenham for their Christmas Tree Festival which is held in the church there. Here we are walking to the church, they had lots pretty christmas street lights....I spotted the sign to show us the way to the church! The christmas tree festival is made up of 75 christmas trees, each decorated by a charity or organisation. It is free entry to go and see them however you can bring a bag of change and donate money as they all have a collection bucket beneath each tree for each charity. This is a tree that the charity Barnados decorated .. We put some money in their charity bucket .... The last trees we saw were these which werent charity trees but prayer trees. The public were invited to write on a star and attach it to one of these trees Well, Im definitely in the christmas mood now I hope you received the post I sent you mum! Mr Furrington
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 16, 2011, 12:24 pm	Hi Mum, Im sorry for not updating this past week, Ive been spending some time indoors as the weather here has been quite rainy and very cold, so cold in fact that it is snowing outside as I type this! Unfortunately the ground is too wet for it to settle so there is no playing in the snow for us just yet though Advent Calendar So mum, my host has an advent calendar that we are using in our countdown to Christmas. ..She said that Blinchick and I could open todays door! Number 16. ...mmmm chocolate! ...It was only a very small piece of chocolate.. but luckily for us our host was a bit behind on her advent calendar and we opened the doors she has missed for her too... which meant we had four chocolates to share! I hope Blinchick will let me have the little star shaped one  Til next time, Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 23, 2011, 4:44 pm	Hello! Christmas Cards & Presents My host told me some post had arrived..  It was a christmas card... ..I read the inside of the card... ... mum, it was from you! Thankyou very much We havent been out much lately unfortunately.. its been very cold and rainy   .. according to the weather report we are unlikely to get snow for christmas too BUT I wont let that stop me from enjoying Christmas.. we are almost there now! ...My hosts family has been receiving lots of christmas cards...here are a few... ...the presents are slowly piling up under the tree too. Fimbo_Fimble, Blinchick & I have been a little bit sneaky and have been sitting under the tree looking at all the presents and trying to guess what they are! ..this present is for my host.. I wonder what it could be.. ..this present hasnt been wrapped though! Its a sweet hamper for my hosts brother who is coming up to Norfolk on Christmas Day.. I hope he shares his sweets with us too!  Well Mum, I'll post again soon. Wishing you a very merry christmas! Love Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 27, 2011, 10:46 am	Hello & Merry Christmas! Christmas Day Its Christmas...! We opened presents at home, watched christmas films on tv and then sat down for a yummy roast dinner - I helped to pull some christmas crackers! Here is what we got inside them.. a chocolate bar that squirts water, a whoopie cushion and a little santa tile puzzle After lunch my host and I went to see her boyfriend at his home in East Walton. We had lots more presents to open there! I helped My host is a big fan of Tim Burton, look what her boyfriend bought her! Well I better go mum but I hope you had a lovely day x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Dec 30, 2011, 6:57 pm	Hi Mum Hunstanton, Norfolk Today my host and her boyfriend decided to go for a walk and I tagged along too! We went to Hunstanton to walk along the beach there. My host said it isnt the most pretty of Norfolk beaches but it does have some interesting cliffs and it is one of the more local beaches for her to visit in the Summer months. I can see the sea mum! These are the cliffs - they are two colours, the lower is a reddish limestone known as 'red chalk' and then upper is a white chalk layer. On the top of the cliffs here you can see the lighthouse, it was built in 1840 but now is used for holiday letting. Well until next time Mum. Mr Furrington x
LittleBlogFrog Posted Jan 2, 2012, 7:55 pm	Hi Mum, Well the time has come to move on.. Im getting prepared to leave England this week and head off to my next destination.. ... see you soon! Mr Furrington x
MA_17 Posted Jan 11, 2012, 11:20 pm	Hello Mommy, I arrived in the capital of Germany! Somebody opened my envelope with a scissor. I was a little bit afraid, but Joe did a good job! I gave all the sweets to Joe, Greeny and Crawfish. They liked it. I showed them some lovely cards and my presents from Santa. Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 11, 2012, 11:30 pm	Hello Mommy, today Greeny left us! He'll go back home to Munich. Crawfish, Joe and I cuddled him a lot. They all were really sad. They've been together for Christmas and New Year's Eve. Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 16, 2012, 8:26 pm	Hey Mom! Today it's Sunday and I had to get up at 4.30 am!!! Can you believe it?!?!? My host had to work and so she decided to take us with her. Here you can see the famous Ku'damm (short form of Kurfürstendamm)! It is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard is full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants. In particular, many fashion designers have their shops there! The avenue with four lines of plane trees runs for 3.5 km (2.2 mi) through the western Berlin. As you can see there isn't anybody on Sunday before 6 am except ME! When my host finished work in the afternoon, the sun was shining and we did some sightseeing. First we went to the Victory Column. It is a major tourist attraction to the city of Berlin. Berliners, with their fondness for giving nicknames to buildings, call the statue Goldelse, meaning something like "Golden Lizzy". This is the Spree. It is the main river of Berlin. It is approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) in length. Here you can see the Haus der Kulturen der Welt ("House of the Cultures of the World" ). It is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European Visual Art and culture. This building is a gift from the United States, designed in 1957. John F. Kennedy spoke here during his June 1963 visit to West Berlin. To Berliners it is also known as the Schwangere Auster ("pregnant oyster" ). This freestanding tower behind me is called "Carillon". It is built face to face with the Reichstag building and next to the house of the Cultures of the World. Most of the tourists don't see it, but I did. It is a large, manually played concert instrument, comprising 68 bells weighing a total of 48 metric tonnes (almost 106,000 lbs.) connected to a keyboard spanning 5½ fully chromatic octaves; the largest bell weighs 7.8 tonnes (almost 17,200 lbs.). It is one of the largest instruments of its kind in Europe and approximately the fourth largest (by number of bells) in the world. Behind the Carillon we found some statues made of stone. They look really strange! Then I walked to the German Bundestag which is located in the Reichstag Building. The centrepiece of the building is the generously glazed chamber that is crowned by the dome. A funnel with panes of mirror glass reflects the daylight from above into the chamber. This is the Soviet War Memorial in the Tiergartenpark. It is one of several war memorials in Berlin erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate its war dead, particularly the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces who died during the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945. My last stop was the Brandenburg Gate. It is one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. I heard that I'll go on a big adventure soon! Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 18, 2012, 9:06 pm	Hello Mommy, Joe left us today. He is going to the south of Germany. Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 24, 2012, 10:43 pm	Hello Mum, today we did a short stopover in Frankfurt/Main. Frankfurt is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a population of 688,000 inhabitants. It is the financial and transportation centre of Germany and the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It was raining the whole day. Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 25, 2012, 2:51 pm	Today we woke up on a virtual fireplace in our hotel. My host got a message that one of the guys from our trip is ill, so everything is cancelled now. So my host decided to do a one day trip to one of the cities we wanted to visit.
MA_17 Posted Jan 25, 2012, 3:25 pm	Hey Mum, we stopped in a city called Cologne (German: Köln). It is Germany's fourth-largest city and is the largest city in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is located on both sides of the Rhine River. First we visited the famous Cologne Cathedral. It is a Roman Catholic church and it is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day! The cathedral was built between 1248 and 1880. It is 144.5 metres (474 ft) long, 86.5 m (284 ft) wide and its towers are approximately 157 m (515 ft) tall. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spire and largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio of any medieval church. We also saw the Rhine river. It is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at about 1,233 km (766 mi). Here you can see the view above the river and a part of Cologne taken from the Hohenzollern Bridge. This bridge is famous for its love padlocks! There were so many! WOW! Most of the day it was raining, like every day. Yours Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 26, 2012, 2:30 pm	This is all I collected on my trip. Two tickets for Frankfurt and a flyer of the musician we wanted to see in concert.
MA_17 Posted Jan 26, 2012, 2:47 pm	Hello Mom, today we baked a cake. First we needed some butter. I added all the flour and sugar. We added some eggs and Crawfish also added some cocoa. Then everything had to be mixed. We also needed some cherries. We put the dough into a spring form and put the cherries on top. It took about 1 hour until we could take the cake out of the oven. Ouhhh it looks tasty, but it was still really hot. At least we added some frosting on the top of the cake. Hmmm delicious! I would send you some cake, Mom, but I'm sorry, me and Crawfish ate all the cake! Love, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 26, 2012, 3:44 pm	Hey Mum, today it was beautiful weather outside! No rain and lots of sun! But it was coooo-brrrrrr-ooold! I walked around the small village. As you can see it is winter outside - without snow. The ground was frozen! I stopped next to a solar power station. Looks interesting. There was a way to one of the lakes. The sign says something like rowing club. As I know, they need water to do their sports. Ok, so it was the correct way! Have a look to that lake. It's huge. The official name of the lake is "Abandoned quarry Golpa II" but everybody just calls it "Gurke" (eng: Cucumber). I heard that there are lots of people go swimming here in summer, but now, there was nobody! I can walk on water - whooohooo!!! First I was afraid to fall into the water, but nothing happened. Hmm that sign says that the area could be slippery in case of algaes, but I think nothing is more slippery than the ice on the water! Now I'm back where it is warm! I still can't feel my feet. I think I'll take a hot shower! Love, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 28, 2012, 2:19 pm	SNOW SNOW SNOW whooohoooo  Hey Mommy, when I opened my eyes this morning the whole world was totally white! Me and Crawfish jumped out of the bed and went outside. The snow looks interesting. And it is really cold!!! I think I froze my ass off! But I really enjoyed the time outside! I had a walk around the village again. Here you can see me in the tiny park with the tiny church. Look, everything is white! Also the streets are white! I wonder how the cars can drive on it! I think I know how a snow covered tree feels like. When we were back inside the house we jumped on the heating. It felt so good! Both of us were really hungry from our adventure in the snow, so we decided to cook something. First we put some meat into the pan. Then we read the instructions for "Chili con carne". Ouh, we also needed some kidney beans! We added everything into the pan. Our host's Mom cooked some spaghettis. Doesn't it look delicious? I think I ate too much. I'll take a nap for a few hours... Love you, Mommy! Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Jan 29, 2012, 2:58 pm	Another funny day in the snow! Some animals left their marks in the snow. We tried to find out, what kind of animals... The first ones could be a fox or marten. Or maybe a wild cat! Who knows?! The other marks looked like birds. Lots of birds!!!  Today the weather was perfect for going sledding. It was fun!  We also built an igloo. I caved a hole into the snow, but I think it was too small for Crawfish.
MA_17 Posted Feb 3, 2012, 8:05 pm	Hello Mum, there's still snow around... Today we did another walk through the small village. Here you can see me at the Walther-Rathenau-Square. If I would walk to the end of the street, I would reach the old power station. Maybe I've some time to visit it in the upcoming weeks. We went into a store where they offer the post office, stationery, lottery and gifts. We had to wait a while, so we had time to take a picture. This building is called "Platanenhof". It was built in the 90th and when it was about 2 years old, it startet to collapse. There are tiny breaks at some walls. Look at this beautiful sky! This is the new fire department. This is the old clubhouse. It was a famous building in the 70th and 80th, but now it looks more like a ruin. All these buildings were renewed in the year 1999. All are yellow with red roofs. This is the old secondary school. My host's Mom worked there until they moved to another village few years ago. Now the elementary school is housed. Can you see the white building behind us? This is the old elementary school before they moved to the other building. I had to walk to the end of the street. Really long way for a tiny toyvoyager! Do you remember this building? I've been here a few days ago! It's the tiny catholic church. And have a look what temperature we have!!! Do you think it is cold? We are going back to Berlin the upcoming week!  Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 4, 2012, 8:10 pm	Today we jumped into the car and went to the neighbor city. We took some pictures in the car and at the train station. Later we had some fun in the snow, again. Pictures will follow!
MA_17 Posted Feb 4, 2012, 8:51 pm	Hey Mommy, as I told you before we went out in the afternoon to have some fun in the snow! First we built a snowman. It wasn't easy. The snow is not perfect for making snowmen! Then we saw that big hill! We decided to go sledding. It was so much fun last time. I tried it first. Then Crawfish nudged me. She sledded directly behind me on her butt. I was a little bit too fast, so I fall off of the sleigh and Crawfish fall on me. Happily nobody broke a bone! Later we found some icicles. It's nice enjoying the sun and licking an icicle. When we went home, I wanted to sled again. I fall off the sleigh very badly so I could sit on the sleigh while Crawfish moved it back home.  You'll hear from me soon! Love, Mr. Brrr-furrrrrr-brrr-ing-brrrr-ton PS: I didn't broke anything when I fall. I'm still fine!
MA_17 Posted Feb 6, 2012, 11:04 am	Hello Mommy, today we went to work with our host. She's working in a hotel near the famous Kurfürstendamm. First we charged some credit cards. I think I charged a little bit too much! We also had some fun with all the paper clips. Crawfish and I marked all places on a map where we have been. Crawfish showed me where she has been and met some of her relatives. We both got a keycard for our own room! Crawfish wanted to call her Mom, but she didn't answer. She's sure she used the correct number. So we called the pizza service and ordered something to eat. Hmmm delicious! Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 7, 2012, 11:48 pm	Hi Mommy, today I've been to the Central Station. It is the main railway station in Berlin. 1,800 trains call at the station per day and the daily number of passengers is estimated to be at 350,000! From here you can do non-stop travels to Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Novosibirsk (Russia) or Astana (Kazakhstan). As you can see, there are many shops inside. I've also been to the river Spree again. Do you remember? I've been here few weeks ago. Now there's no river. Just ice, ice and more ice! You can nearly walk on it! But I'm a cat, I'm a little bit afraid of water.  Tomorrow we are planning to go to another famous place in Berlin. Love, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 8, 2012, 10:33 pm	Hey Mum, once again another update.  Today I've been to Alexanderplatz. Berliners often call it simply Alex. It is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the tv tower. In the center of the square there's the much-graffitied "Fountain of Friendship between Peoples" (Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft). On one side of the Alex you can find the "Worldtime Clock". It is a clock which displays the time for various cities around the world. Next to the Alex there's the famous tv tower "Fernsehturm". It was constructed between 1965 and 1969 and with its height of 368 meters, it is the tallest structure in Germany. There is a visitor platform and a revolving restaurant in the middle of the sphere. The tower is part of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT). Then I went to an "East Germany store". When Germany was devided into West and East, it was not possible to travel a lot. So relatives sent packages from one country to the other. This store still offers German product which can't be found anywhere else. Here you can see something we bought as a gift for a friend of our host. That red chicken is a typical eggcup. The red beaker is a toothbrush tumbler for journeys. When you are travelling you put it in your bag and it looks like the mirror.  And also some sweets: Lutherbrot (bread of Luther). That's all for today. Yours Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 10, 2012, 8:09 pm	Did I told you that there is the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) at the moment here in Berlin?! The Berlinale is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. We saw a camera crew. I'm sure they were searching for us, but me and Crawfish are really shy! Exciting!
MA_17 Posted Feb 12, 2012, 7:31 pm	Hello Mommy, here are some more updates of the Berlinale. Today I went to Potsdamer Square again. First I show you some of the buildings around here. This is Sony Center, also a part of Potsdamer Square. The roof looks really interesting! This is the theater of Potsdamer Square. Normally there's a musical inside, but at the moment it is the main place for the Berlinale Festival. There's a red carpet in front of the building! So many people are waiting to see any famous people (I heard Brangelina and Meryl Streep are here, too!) This is the bear of the Berlinale. It looks the same every year. Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 14, 2012, 8:14 pm	Hello Mum, today we did another tour. It is not as cold as it has been last week, but now it is really wet! First we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial. It is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It consists of a 19,000 square metres site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stelae are 2.38 m long, 0.95 m wide and vary in height from 0.2 to 4.8 m. Once again I stopped at Potsdamer Square. Did you know that Meryl Streep will be here tonight? And Robert Pattinson will be here on weekend! I also went to the river Spree again. There is not as much ice on it as it was last week. And I stopped at Checkpoint Charlie. It was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. Happy Valentine's Day!!! Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 16, 2012, 8:39 pm	Today our host told us to eat some fruits because of all the vitamins! So we did! First we peeled an orange. Then we also needed a banana and some kiwis. We cut the kiwis into slices. Everything had to be on a plate. And we also used some chocolate. Hmmm, looks tasty, doesn't it?  And it feels a little bit like holidays.
MA_17 Posted Feb 20, 2012, 11:49 pm	Hello Mum, today I did a walk to the river Mulde. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and 124 km in length. I stopped at the river just 3km south of the place where it flows into the river Elbe. Near the river is a big area called "Tiergarten". Every year this area is flooded. There's still some water left as you can see, it's just frozen. Behind me you can also see the town hall on the right (white tower), the Marienkirche with its red roof and behind the trees you can also see the small tower of the castle. I think I fullfilled one of my life missions later in the evening. I met some cats. Ok, only Alexis is with me in the picture, the other cat was too shy. Alexis is a beautiful girl, I think she likes me! Love, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Feb 21, 2012, 8:07 pm	Today we welcomed some new tvs of our host: Charly - he's waiting for a host; Josie - she' taking part in the GTVT 2012; Philly - he's also waiting for a host and Alex - he will welcome all new tvs at his Moms home.
MA_17 Posted Feb 22, 2012, 11:41 pm	Today we said goodbye to one of our hosts new tvs. Josie is the first who is leaving home. She is taking part at the GTVT. My host told me that maybe I'm going on a big world tour without using a plane or something else. What could this be?!
MA_17 Posted Feb 24, 2012, 10:28 pm	Today a new tv arrived. We just saw 2 black eyes looking out of the envelope. It was Pieksi. We gave him a warm welcome hug when he left the envelope.
MA_17 Posted Feb 24, 2012, 10:29 pm	Today a new tv arrived. We just saw 2 black eyes looking out of the envelope. It was Pieksi. We gave him a warm welcome hug when he left the envelope.
MA_17 Posted Feb 25, 2012, 10:48 pm	Today the postman gave us a big envelope. The envelope had a hole where an eye was watching us! Spooky! The eye noticed us and whooop an arm came out of the hole. We decided to help that creepy creature! It was Woozy. He takes part at the GTVT and will stay for about one month. I hope he'll never scare us again the way he did today!
MA_17 Posted Feb 27, 2012, 9:06 pm	Hello Mom, I'm still tired, because the last night was a little bit too long! We watched the Academy Awards on tv! What an amazing show! In the afternoon we decided to walk a little bit through the city. We stopped at the East Side Gallery. It is an international memorial for freedom and it is a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin Wall. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world. Next to the East Side Gallery we saw the O2 World, a multi-use indoor arena. With a capacity of 17,000 people, it is home to the Eisbären Berlin ice hockey club and the ALBA Berlin basketball team and is used for other ice hockey, basketball and handball matches as well as concerts! Mommy, did you watch the film "Run Lola Run"? Then you will know the bridge on the next picture! It's a double-deck bridge crossing Berlin's River Spree called Oberbaum Bridge (German: Oberbaumbrücke). It links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former boroughs that were divided by the Berlin Wall and has become an important symbol of Berlin’s unity. Look! A train of the underground is crossing the bridge! And once again the River Spree! I've been to this river many times before: when the sun was shining, when it was covered by ice and now while it was raining! That's all for today! Good night! Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 2, 2012, 6:34 pm	Hey Mum, today I've been to Bernauer Straße. When Berlin was a divided city, the Berlin Wall erected in 1961 ran along this street. Bernauer Straße became famous for escapes from windows of apartment blocks in the eastern part of the city, down to the street, which was in the West. Several people died here when the border was first enforced. As the street itself belonged to the French sector of West Berlin the entrances and windows of the houses on the southern side were successively bricked up by the East German border guards and access to the roof was blocked. After the Wall came down, Bernauer Straße was the location of one of the longer preserved sections. Part of it was turned into a memorial park in 1999 with a recreation of actual border fortifications. This is an old watch tower and a tiny part of the wall. I also had a look through a small hole in the wall. Can you see the houses on the other side? These are some paintings from different periods of the street next to the wall. This is the Chapel of Reconciliation. It stands on the site of the old Church of Reconciliation (Versöhnungskirche), which was destroyed in 1985 in order ‘to increase the security, order and cleanliness on the state border with West Berlin’ according to the official justification by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) government. Here you can see the park with some old original parts of the wall. Meeeow, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 7, 2012, 3:54 pm	Hello Mum, today was a really long day! We started at 5 a.m. and took a picture with some Buddy Bears. They look like the Quadriga on the top of the Brandenburg Gate! Later the day we went to the airport. First we thought we are going to fly to a nice place, but we just picked somebody up. Look at the big plane! And then we did a sightseeing tour by night! First we went to the Sony Center. It is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz. There you can find shops, restaurants, a conference centre, hotel rooms, luxurious rented suites and condominiums, offices, art and film museums, cinemas, an IMAX theater, a small version of Legoland, and a "Sony Style" store. I've been here in February, do you remember? This is the giraffe of Legoland. Huge! We also stopped at the Brandenburg Gate. I've also been here about 2 months ago. We met a statue of an Ampelmännchen! Ampelmännchen is the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany). Prior to the German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally male figure wearing a hat in the east. The Ampelmännchen is a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany, "enjoying the privileged status of being one of the few features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain with his popularity unscathed." After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Ampelmännchen acquired cult status and became a popular souvenir item in the tourism business. It's after midnight, I think I have to go to bed! Love, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 7, 2012, 4:29 pm	Hey Mommy, today I've been to the famous wax museum Madame Tussauds! There were so many sculptures and they all looked so real! First I met Winston Churchill. I told him that I've been to England before I came to Berlin. He was really impressed and called me a good kitty! Then I met The Beatles. Yeah, I really did! And I was allowed to play a song on the guitar! It sounded horrible! In the evening we went to the cinema and watched the movie \"This Means War\". Really funny! You should watch it, Mom! Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 8, 2012, 10:25 am	Hello Mom, today I visited the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm. The central Wörlitzer Park lies adjacent to the small town of Wörlitz at an anabranch of the Elbe river. It was laid out between 1769 and 1773 as one of the first English gardens on the continent. According to the ideals of Duke Leopold III the park would also serve as an educational institution in architecture, gardening and agriculture, therefore large parts were open to the public from the beginning. Most buildings were designed by Erdmannsdorff, while the gardens were laid out by Johann Friedrich Eyserbeck. The gardens are protected from floods of the Elbe river in the north by a dam which is also a belt-walk offering numerous views along the park's sight lines. Wörlitz Palace finished in 1773, residence of Duke Leopold and his wife Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, was the first Neoclassical building in present-day Germany. The palace and its interior with valuable cabinets from the studio of Abraham and David Roentgen as well as a large collection of Wedgwood porcelain were publicly accessible. Louise had her private home in the adjacent Graues Haus (Grey House). At the eastern rim of the palace's garden stands the Wörlitz Synagogue built in 1790 as a rotunda modelled after the ancient "Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy. The Neo-Gothic St Peter's Church in the west with its 66 m (217 ft) tall steeple was finished in 1809. The philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the aesthetic of Johann Joachim Winckelmann underlie the design of the park. Wörlitz Lake featured an island atop which was a model of Mount Vesuvius. The duke would stage fireworks that seemed to issue from an erupting volcano to entertain his guests. At the foot of the mountain on the island was a building intended to suggest William Hamilton's home at Pompeii. Few years ago my host worked as a tour guide in the castle and the park.  This is the Wörlitz Palace. Here you can see St Peter's Church. This is the rock island with the volcano Vesuvius and Villa Hamilton on it. On our way to the island we saw this amazing gate. Can you see us? Behind us you can see the Pantheon. Not many visitors see it, because it is at the end of the park. Most people take the short way by ferry. The river Elbe is about 6km away from here, but look, behind the dike is still some water from the flood left! This lake is called "Tiny Walloch". On the other side you can see the White Bridge. Once again the Palace. Can you see it? Look at the temple of Venus. We were allowed to pose for a picture in front of her. Under the "Cliff of Luise" are many underground tunnels. Spooky! We walked through all of them! This is the Chain Bridge, from bottom and top. It was funny to run over it. Under the Chain Bridge we found a nice place to rest. Behind us you can see the High Bridge. This building is the flora temple and in front the flora garden. But there are no flowers at the moment. It is still too cold. And once again the White Bridge. Isn't it beautiful? Look, some flowers are already awake!!! This is the Gothic house. It looks different from both sides! We climbed on a tree to fulfill one of Pieksis Life Missions! Normally there are many peacocks sitting on the tree! The house in the background is the palm house. In winter all palms are "sleeping" there, because the winter is too cold for them! At the end of the park there was a tunnel, again. There was also a labyrinth made of stones and bushes. With some unknown statues in it. Can you see us? This is the map of the whole park. It is so big! My tiny feet hurts! But it was a wonderful day! Love you, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 11, 2012, 7:18 pm	Hello Mummy, another day with wonderful weather. We had a walk through the city. First we went to the place where the "West Port Canal" runs into the river Spree. This is the Spree. After crossing a bridge we went to the garden of the Charlottenburg Palace. It is the largest palace in Berlin and the only royal residency in the city dating back to the time of the Hohenzollern family. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during the 18th century. It includes much exotic internal decoration in baroque and rococo styles. A large formal garden surrounded by woodland was added behind the palace, including a belvedere, a mausoleum, a theatre and a pavilion. During the Second World War, the palace was badly damaged but has since been reconstructed. The palace with its gardens are a major tourist attraction. First we had a look to the map. This is the tea house "belvedere". The gardens of Charlottenburg Palace. The carp pond. The Mausoleum was built as a tomb for Queen Luise between 1810 and 1812. The woodland. Charlottenburg Palace in the background and the Orangerie in the foreground. We left the Charlottenburg Palace and went to the Großer Tiergarten which is simply known as Tiergarten. It is an urban public park of Germany located in the middle of Berlin, completely in the homonymous locality. The park is of 210 hectares (520 acres); and among urban gardens of Germany, only the Englischer Garten of Munich (417 ha/1,030 acres) is larger! We walked through the whole garden, from east to west! This is the memorial of Goethe, a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. This is the memorial of the composers Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. In the Tiergarten you can find many trees, ponds and small lakes. Then I arrived at the Victory Column. It is a major tourist attraction to the city of Berlin. Berliners, with their fondness for giving nicknames to buildings, call the statue Goldelse, meaning something like "Golden Lizzy". Next to Lizzy I saw the Bismarck Monument. It's really big! At the end of the walk I saw one of the watergates of the Landwehrcanal. But this time there was no ship. I think I walked a little bit too much! I'm so tired! Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 11, 2012, 9:08 pm	Hello Mom, today I've been on a journey around the world!!! First I went to Baltimore, USA. It looks really nice. Then I went to Canada. I really enjoyed it! As a souvenir for you I got 2 pins. I'll take them with me until I'm back home. (Btw, I just went to the world's largest tourism trade fair - ITB.)  Yours, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 12, 2012, 1:38 pm	Nothing to do, so we did a ride by car to Dessau and back. The weather was really bad!
MA_17 Posted Mar 13, 2012, 4:27 pm	This late evening we got an envelope. We opened it and a tiny giraffe came out. It's Kirin. We gave her a warm welcome hug. She gave us a card, some sweets and a little present. Pieksi was allowed to open it. It was a rooster magnet. Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 13, 2012, 7:58 pm	Hello Mum, today Crawfish told us to go to the park. So we did. When she arrived she had a new tv with her. The little lady is called DuDette. We just did some group pictures today. First a "boy"-pic with Pieksi and Woozy. Later we all climbed on a tree. Behind us you can see the new "Total"-tower. When we were back "home" the girls started to talk and talk and talk, you know that stuff girls do. We boys prefered to take a nap. See you soon, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 14, 2012, 7:21 pm	Hey Mummy, I'm in the middle of the city and there's so much nature around! Also near the central station! Last time I've been here it was really cold! There's Potsdam Square (somewhere behind me you can see Sony-Center), where I visited the Berlinale festival! And once again river Spree with a nice bridge. I've been to the House of the Cultures of the World and I found a funny sign. It is written in German and Turkish! In some areas in Berlin you have stores where everything is written in Turkish, can you believe this??? Btw the sign means: "Don't climb on the roof! Danger to life!" Across from this building you can see the "Federal Chancellery". The inhabitants of Berlin call it "Waschmaschine" (washing machine). Have a look, the Reichstag looks the same as it does the last time I've been here! My last stop was the Mauerpark. The name translates to "Wall Park", referring to its status as a former part of the Berlin Wall and its Death Strip. Today the park is one of the most popular places for young residents of Berlin, especially from the fashionable district of Prenzlauer Berg, and attracts basketball players, jugglers, musicians, and many other types of people. It is a crowded leisure ground and a site of sustainable improvised nightlife, especially in the summer, and has also become notorious for Walpurgis Night riots in recent years. There are two stadiums next to the park. Meeeeooow Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 15, 2012, 7:13 pm	Hi Mom, today we walked a little bit through the districts Wilmersdorf and Schöneberg. First we saw a playground. We all wanted to play, but we were too young. Hmm... This is a park which crosses both districts. There are many people, kids, dogs etc. esp when the sun is shining and it is warm outside. Can you see the golden deer in the left upper corner? It is part of the deer fountain. That's all for today. Love you *meow* Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 18, 2012, 7:56 pm	Hello Mommy, today we went to one of the flea markets in Berlin. It was really strange to see what people are selling and buying! Then I went to the Gendarmenmarkt. It is a square in Berlin with 2 cathedrals and the Konzerthaus between them. During World War II, most of the buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Today all the buildings are restored to their former state. On my picture you can see the French Cathedral. It is the older of the two cathedrals and was built by the Huguenot community between 1701 and 1705. The cathedral was modeled after the destroyed Huguenot church in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, France. And I finally got a better picture of the famous tv tower! Love you, Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 20, 2012, 10:24 pm	Today it's the 1st birthday of Crawfish! We all cuddled her and shared some candies. There won't be a big party yet, but weekend is coming! Later Alex decided to take some professional pictures of us. He didn't show us the results yet. Crazy cat! I hope I'm going to have a good picture! Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 22, 2012, 9:14 pm	Today it was Crawfish's birthday party as we couldn't celebrate it before. But first Alex finally showed us the pictures he has taken! That's me! We also took some group pictures. We built a pyramid, but as you can see we are no artists! Then we started with the party. First Crawfish got our birthday card which we all signed. We gave her our present. It was a passport with all her informations inside. Then we organized some drinks. Delicious... aIiii Wuaaaandt soooam moooooure! Hiiiks. Mr. Furrr-hiiiks-ring-hiiiks-ton-hiiiks
MA_17 Posted Mar 24, 2012, 5:29 pm	Hello Mom, the weather was so beautiful! We all had a hangover from last evening, but some fresh air should help. First we crossed a nice bridge. We stopped at a lake which is called "Gremminer See", a lake created as a result of the redevelopment of the former brown coal strip mine of Golpa-Nord. At the end of the lake you can see Ferropolis. "The city of iron" is an open museum of old huge industrial machines. It's an open air museum which contains machines from the mid-twentieth century. They can measure to 30 meters high, 120 meters long and weigh up to 1980 tons. Moreover, the area is used for several events like opera or music festival like the Melt! festival or the "Ferropolis in Flammen". Yours Mr. Furrington
MA_17 Posted Mar 24, 2012, 6:17 pm	Today we went back to Berlin. First we passed some nice villages. Can you see the trains next to the car? And the beautiful churches? Then we used the freeway. Did you ever drove about 115 mph? It felt like flying. Whooaaaa. So we decided to use the seat belt. Back to Berlin the others had to say goodbye to me. I'm going to Canada! I'll miss them a lot. They all cuddled me. Then I wrote a note for my Mom, swapped some meow meow with Alex and crawled into my envelope. Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 8, 2012, 6:08 pm	Hello Mom! Guess what! I have arrived in Canada today! My host mom's cat was already excited to see me. There aren't any other TVs being hosted here for now, but there were still some toys to welcome me! Can you see me? Here I am! My previous host also sent a beautiful postcard from Germany! How nice! Here is a picture of me with my new friends! There is also the postcard, some delicious candies and a card from Alex Band. My host mom listened to a few songs from this group and she liked it too! I'm happy to finally be in Canada! I think I will have a lot of fun here with my new friends. I hope you are having fun at home as well mom! I will try to post some more pictures and updates soon, so look forward to it! Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 8, 2012, 7:06 pm	Hey mom, Today my host decided to show me where Canada is on a map! She didn't have any paper map, but she showed me on Google Maps. Canada is actually right above the United States! Which means I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice now, can you believe it? I was surprised to see how big Canada is! My host mom says it's the second largest country of the world, after Russia. My host lives in the Province of Québec, which is the only French province in Canada. Can you see the dot that says "Montreal" here? It is a big metropolis! It is located in the Southern region of the Québec province. My host says there are a lot of fun places to visit and activities to do there, and we should be able to go there soon! I'm looking forward to it, it sounds nice! The capital of the Québec province is called... Québec city! You can see it at the top right corner on this picture. My host lives in a town called Saint-Hyacinthe. Here you can see the distance between Montreal and Saint-Hyacinthe... It looks far but she says it's only about an hour away. And this is Saint-Hyacinthe, with the Yamaska river! I asked if we could go to the river some day, and host mom said yes, but we can't swim in it though! It's still too cold to go swimming, and anyways the river is too polluted now, how sad. This is Saint-Hyacinthe on satellite mode! As you can see, it is located in a mostly rural area, with a lot of farms and fields. My host says we might get to go see some cows and horses soon... and maybe there will be some cats too! That sounds fun! So this is it for now, I hope you are doing well! After Easter my host says she will take me around the city to take some pictures and visit a bit. I'm sure it will be fun! xxx Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 8, 2012, 8:10 pm	Happy Easter mommy! I hope you had a good day! Look what my host mom gave me! They look so yummy! Even the Easter bunny hid some eggs for me so I had to look around to find them. More eggs... Even in the cat's bowl... how silly! There were some eggs on top of these books. Can you see them? But I was to small to reach up there. Fortunately one of my new friends offered to help me! And I was able to get the eggs thanks to him. I shared the eggs and said thank you! Then we put all the eggs in a small bowl... ...and added the chocolate bunnies. It's so colorful! I wanted to eat them all but my host mom said I shouldn't eat too much if I don't want to get sick... I guess she's right! So I decided to be more reasonable save some for later. I had a great time today. I hope you has fun too! And try not to eat too much chocolate. Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 13, 2012, 8:19 pm	Hello mommy! Today was a warm and sunny day, so my host mom and I decided to go to the shopping center! It's about 50 minutes of walk, so we visited the city a little at the same time! First we walked by this building. My host mom told me it is the Veterinary Medecine Faculty of the University of Montreal! It is the only faculty of the UdeM that is located in Saint-Hyacinthe. My host mom has a few classes there, since she is studying to become a vet technician! The faculty is also a veterinary hospital. The sign behind me is blurry, but it says "Hopital des animaux de compagnie", which is the small animals hospital. This sign indicates the way to the equine hospital, farm animals hospital, Necropsy (autopsy) and merchandise reception areas. The university is bigger than I thought! There is even a small farm behind the university's main building. This is another school, called "Institut de Technologie Agroalimentaire", which mean "Agri-Food Technology Institute". We went through a small park, and suddenly I noticed it smelled like burnt chocolate... I asked my host mom why, and she said this big building in the back is actually a chocolate factory! We followed the path in the park... And then we went through a tunnel, which is actually a bridge for the trains! We continued walking... This is the city's hospital (for humans this time ). It looks big! This is a strange sculpture that looks like an arc. Then we saw a map of the surrounding areas! Can you see the yellow sun-shaped icon? That's where we were! My host mom said the shopping center is just on the other side of the Casavant boulevard! Almost there! Here we are! We went inside to do a bit of shopping. Look mom, I'm on a carousel! Can you find me in this picture? I also got to ride a horse... And an elephant! We sat down to rest a little... All that walking was tiring! Then I saw this arcade. There were so many toys! There is even a cinema in the shopping center! We were tired, so we decided to start walking back home. We had to go through the tunnel again. Follow the path... And through the park! I had a fun day today! It was exciting to walk around the city and visit. And the weather was so nice! I hope you had a good day too! Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 25, 2012, 7:10 pm	Hi Mommy! Today my host mom decided we should make dinner together... because we were going to eat fish! She saw that one of my life missions was to eat a fish dinner, and thought she could help me complete it! So we bought some tilapia and started cooking. We weren't sure what we should eat with the fish... I suggested broccoli so we cooked some! What would be good to eat with fish and broccoli? Do you think rice is a good idea? It's easy to make with a rice cooker, so why not! I think it's ready to eat now! It's all done! It looks so yummy, don't you think? Time to eat! It tasted so good! I hope we can make more dinners like this soon. And now I have completed a second life mission mom! I'm so happy!!
Cheshire Posted Apr 25, 2012, 7:50 pm	Hey mom! Guess what I did tonight. That's right! I slept in a tent outside! There were a lot of other people there, it was really fun! What you see in the background is what they call the "Mayor's Gate". There is a big illuminated clock on the top of the right column, and foutains at the bottom. The fountains weren't working though... I guess the city is waiting for the weather to be warmer. Don't you think they are a bit scary? And we were right beside the Yamaska river! My host mom said we could come again during the day sometime to take better pictures, but we still took a few because it was nice. I had to be careful not to fall! Don't you think it's pretty with the reflection of the lighted houses on the river? And this is the tent we slept in! I'm sorry the picture is really blurry! I had a fun night, even though it was cold! The temperature dropped below zero during the night... But fortunately we had a lot of hot blankets with us to warm up. Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Apr 25, 2012, 8:04 pm	Hello mom, Today I asked my host what this strange box was... She said she will show me. What do you think it could be? She gave me a coin... And told me to place it on the little fish there and press on it. And then it moved! What is this? Hey, it looks like a white cat! What is it doing? Mommy! It stole my coin! Thankfully my host mom said we can get it back if we open the bottom of the box... What a strange piggy bank! I hope you are doing well mom, Mr. Furrington xxx
Cheshire Posted Apr 25, 2012, 9:24 pm	Hello mom! I had a good surprise this morning when I decided to go check the mailbox! There were two big envelopes! I wonder if these could be the two TV companions we were waiting for! I gathered some other toys. And I started opening the first envelope. I was so excited! I peeked inside... And a TV came out! It was Viper! I gave him a welcome hug. And he gave me a flower! How nice! I thanked him. Then we decided to open the second envelope together! Is there anyone in there? Can you see anything mom? Ah! There she is! Viper and I welcomed BineHH! Viper brought some candies with him so we shared them! Do you want some mommy? I'm excited and happy to have new friends to go on adventures with! I'm sure we'll all have lots of fun together!
Cheshire Posted Apr 29, 2012, 9:51 pm	Hello mommy! This morning we decided we should do some activities outside today... but then we looked out the window and saw that the sky was covered in dark grey clouds! We waited a bit to see if it would rain... and it started snowing! So we decided to go out anyway! It was a little bit cold but not too much, so we went to the park. We decided to go play! I think this is a pig... It looks weird! Oh look! There was a tic tac toe game! Bine accepted to play with me. It was a draw... Oh well, it was fun! It was really fun to come play today! I hope we will come again soon. Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted May 10, 2012, 7:53 pm	Hello mommy! The weather hasn't been very nice lately, it's raining all the time. But today it was sunny and warm so we thought it would be nice to go outside! Host mom said we should go downtown Saint-Hyacinthe to visit. It's an older part of the city, so there are a lot of small boutiques and restaurants and old-looking buildings! We invited one of my host mom's friends and took the bus! And we got off the bus to go walk downtown. First we decided to go to the library to look at the books. There were a lot of books! We even met a friend that lives in the library! Then we decided to go to the market, so we continued walking down the streets. And finally we saw the market! It's the red building at the back. In the summer there are farmers who come here to sell all sorts of fruits and vegetables, but for now the weather is still too cold. So we went inside to see the other sellers. We stopped at the bakery... Everything looks so yummy! Look at all the cool cupcakes! We didn't want to eat anything though because it was almost dinner time, but we took a hot chocolate with Belgian chocolate! We sat at a table to rest for a while. We went back outside and saw a small fountain! Then we decided to go somewhere for dinner. We didn't want to go somewhere too expensive so we went to a small fast-food restaurant and host mom ordered a French-Canadian dish, called "poutine". It's simply french fries and cheese with brown gravy. After dinner we continued to walk around for a while. Then we decided to stop at a bistro to have a smoothie for desert! It was really yummy but now I'm full! The view from the terrace was nice! After that we went to a small park. And we found this memorial for the people who lost their lives during the war... It says "In memory of our glorious who disappeared during the wars". There was also the City Hall beside the park! The sky was getting cloudy again and we were tired so we decided to start walking back to the bus stop to head back home. And we took the bus again! I had a lot of fun today! My host mom said we should be able to go to Montreal next week-end... I'm looking forward to it! Love, Mr. Furrington xxx
Cheshire Posted May 17, 2012, 8:06 am	Hey mommy! Guess what! We finally went to Montreal today! I was excited to visit a new, bigger city. We were supposed to go earlier, but sadly we had to wait a few more days... But we visited a lot of places and took a lot of pictures! We were lucky because it was sunny and warm today... It's been raining a lot lately. We had to take the bus first to go to Longueuil, which is a city located on the South Shore, close to Montreal. The mountain in the background here is called Mount Saint-Bruno. Finally, after about an hour long ride, the bus arrived at Longueuil, so we got off and walked through the station to go to the subway station. We went down the stairs to wait for the subway. And finally it arrived! So we got in. We got off two stations later, at the Berri-UQAM station in Montreal. Here is a map of the subway stations. The subway line we had taken is the yellow one. And here is a map of Montreal! As you can see, it's a big island. We had to take another subway to get to our location, so we went up the escalators and followed the signs to the next subway we had to take. We got off at Peel station. And finally we went outside! We went to a library to look at the books and then we went to an underground shopping center. We were a bit thirsty so we stopped at Starbucks to get a frappucino. It was really yummy! The shopping center was bigger than it looked! There was a big fountain on the first floor! Then we walked through the Eaton Center... which is another shopping center! There was an old-looking telephone booth. The Eaton Center is quite big too! Then we decided to take the subway again to get to another part of the city. We got off at the Place-des-Arts station. The "Place des Arts" is a place where there are a lot of shows and plays, so there was a long corridor with posters of all the upcoming shows and events! And there was another corridor with animations displayed on the walls. It was pretty! Then we walked through the Desjardins Complex... Which is ALSO a shopping center! We got a little lost because we couldn't find the signs that indicated where the subway station was... But fortunately we found a map! And we found our way! We didn't take the subway yet though, we decided to go outside first to walk around and visit more than just shopping centers and subways. :P So we go out from the station, which is beside the Montreal Congress Center. The trees we full of flowers, it was beautiful and it smelled good! And we met some pigeons... There are a lot of them in Montreal! We continued walking. And suddenly I noticed there were signs written in Chinese everywhere... So I ask my host mom, had we been walking so long that we were now China?? She said we were actually in Montreal's Chinatown! Which shouldn't really be called "Chinatown", because not all the restaurants and boutiques are Chinese, some are Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, etc. There was a cute graffiti! There are gates like this with foo lions on most of the streets you can take to enter Chinatown. As soon as you cross the gate you get back to the "normal" town... It's strange but it's fun! I wonder what Asia really looks like... maybe some day I will get to travel there! We walked back to the subway station to meet with some of my host mom's friends. We got off at Berri-UQAM again to wait for them. Then we decided to go to the "Quartier Latin" (literally translated it would be "Latin Neighbourhood" ) to find a restaurant for dinner. This is the "UQAM", which is the University of Quebec in Montreal. There were all kinds of boutiques and restaurants. Then we saw a really big statue! We finally decided to go to a restaurant called "La Bulle au Carré". It's a French restaurant. There were comic books and games on the tables to read an play while we waited! We looked at the menu. It was hard to choose! There were mostly hamburgers and crepes but they all sounded so good! We decided to play Connect Four while we were waiting for our orders to be ready. Bine agreed to play with me! And I won!! We still had to wait a little bit though. And finally our plates arrived! Dont you think it looks yummy? Well, it was! Then we ordered a crepe to share for desert. It's not really visible on the picture, but the waitor set the crepe on fire after he put it on our table! My host mom told me it was a "crêpe flambée", so it's normal... that reassured me! It was good but now I was really full! After dinner we walked again a bit, and stopped in a park. And finally we got to our final destination: the "Café Campus"! It is a small showbar, and we were going to see a humorists show! We took pictures during the show, but unfortunately they were all dark and blurry because we weren't allowed to use flashs. The show was funny though! It ended late, so we walked back to my host mom's friend's car and went back home to get some rest. I had a really fun day overall! It was nice to visit a new city and we were tired from walking so much but it was worth it! Maybe we can try to go to Montreal again soon... My host mom says there are a lot of other places to visit since it's so big! She also said we will most likely be going on a trip to Gatineau, a city near Ottawa, the capital of Canada, next week-end... It would be fun! I hope you are doing well, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted May 18, 2012, 11:31 pm	Hello mom! Today we found a big envelope in the mailbox! We decided to open it together... It was Shooga, another TV travelling to Canada! We gave her a group hug! She had brought candies with her so we shared them. Then we played with Gaby, one of my host mom's cats! I'm sure we'll have fun with our new friend! Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted May 31, 2012, 6:45 am	Hello mom! The weather was warm and sunny today so we decided to go outside! We went to Mount Saint-Hilaire, which is about 30 minutes from my host mom's house. There are a few trails that go to the top of the mountain. We chose to take the "Rocky" trail, which is the longest. It takes 4.8km! After a while we saw some water... it was a lake! It's called the "Hertel" lake. I didn't think there would be a lake on a mountain! It was nice. We decided to rest a little. I wanted to stay longer but we had to leave if we wanted to get to the top! Hiking up a mountain is tiring! We had to take a few breaks to be able to keep going. Only 0.5km left! And here we are! Isn't it nice? It's so high! We can see the Yamaska river and all the houses and fields from up here! It looks like we're closer to the clouds! We rested a bit because we were tired... And decided to make our way down. ...And we were finally back down the mountain! It was a lot faster to go down than up. Time to go back home now! I was glad to get back home and rest though, I was so tired! And we had a lot of fun. Love, Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Jun 13, 2012, 3:47 pm	Hello mommy, Today our friend Bine had to leave us to travel to her next host. We were sad to have to say goodbye to her, but I hope she will have a lot of fun in her future adventures.
Cheshire Posted Jun 14, 2012, 3:53 am	Hello! We decided to do a cake today! So we looked through some recipes and my host said we should try making a mayonnaise chocolate cake. It sounded really weird to put mayonnaise in a cake! But she said it didn't taste weird and it makes the cake really moist so we agreed to try it out! We started gathering the ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, chocolate chips, mayonnaise, water and an egg. Then we gathered a bowl, utensils, measuring cups and a measuring spoon. Now we were ready to begin! First, Viper preheated the oven. Then my host mom's new TV, Axel, started with the flour. Then Shooga got to add the sugar. Viper put some cocoa powder. And I decided to add the baking powder. Shooga added the baking soda. And then she had to mix all these together before we added more ingredients! Axel took some mayonnaise to add it to the mix. And I poured some water. Shooga added the egg... Almost done! Viper mixed the ingredients again. And then Axel added the last ingredient: chocolate chips! I mixed everything one last time. My host mom poured the mix into the mold and then we added some more chocolate chips together! It's ready to go into the oven now! It's cooking slowly... And... all done! It looks really yummy now! But it's late now, so I think we should wait for tomorrow before we eat it!
Cheshire Posted Jun 30, 2012, 3:23 pm	Hello mommy! Today is Quebec's National Day! We couldn't go to the celebrations yesterday night, but we decided to go to Montreal today. We had to wait for the bus to arrive. And finally we got on the bus! Then we had to take the subway again. We got off at the "Champ-de-Mars" station. We had to go through a tunnel to get outside the station. Then we followed the signs to go to the "Old Port". On our way, we walked by the Montreal City Hall. We got up the stairs and saw a lot of people were resting beside a fountain. It was refreshing! It was a hot day so we found a spot in the shadow to hide from the sun a bit. We continued walking and got to a plaza. We saw some street performers! There was a mime, and kids were trying to copy him... it was very cute and funny! There were also other talented street performers. And finally we got to the Old Port! This is a big anchor! Can you see me? I'm so small compared to it! We walked through some parts of the old port. There were a lot of boats! And there were horse with carriages on the streets. The horses must be hot, working at such a high temperature! At least they get to rest. There were a lot of small streets full of stores and restaurants. It was nice! We took the subway again because we decided to go watch a movie at the theater! On our way we saw a small cathedral. And finally we got to the theater! We saw the movie Dark Shadows. It was really good! Then we decided to go home because it was raining and we didn't have an umbrella. I had a fun time in Montreal though! And my host mom bought a Quebec flag to celebrate the National Holiday. I hope you are doing well mommy! xxx - Mr. Furrington
Cheshire Posted Jul 2, 2012, 3:34 am	Hello! Remember I said last Sunday was the National Quebec Day? Well, today, July 1st is Canada Day! Happy Canada Day!! We thought we could do something special today... My host mom suggested we go to the zoo! It's not related to Canada Day, but it's fun so we agreed! So Viper and I went to the Granby Zoo (with our host mom of course!) today! Look mommy, I'm a lion! We decided to go see the African animals first. We saw a big rhino! But the elephants were even bigger! Such a big skull... Flamingos... They're so pretty with their pink feathers but they quack just like ducks. It's funny! There weren't many zebras... they were probably resting somewhere in the shadow of the trees. The baboons were funny! And the bats were eating. The fruits seemed to be very yummy because they all liked them! Look! I'm on a gorilla!... Not a real one of course. These are the skulls of a chimpanzee, a gorilla and a human! Such a big tortoise! And she lives with a nice goose. Now I'm riding a plane! What's this? It's a hippo! They have large skulls too! Then we decided to try out the train ride! Then we found a picnic table to rest and eat a bit. Do you want some radish mommy? Now... where should we go next? Let's go see the Asian animals! This Asian black bear is resting quietly on a rock beside the waterfall... It must be refreshing! We saw some lory birds! And a Przewalski's horse. Then we went to see the Siberian tigers! A tiger's skull: Tigers have larger paws than mine! And there was a fish pond in the tigers' enclosure. There were also some Amur leopards. They are so nice! I was almost eaten by a hippo! Then we got to see some snow leopards! They were really beautiful. After that it was almost time for the zoo to close, so we went back home. It was tiring, but it was so fun to see all kinds of animals! I really enjoyed my day. Love, Mr. Furrington
Mausbären Posted Aug 22, 2012, 10:27 am	Hi! It's me again. Today I've arrived in Vienna, Austria. I was welcomed by Joe, the bear, who isn't a traveler himself, but enjoyed to hear about my adventures. I also met Barney, the cat. First, Barney couldn't believe his eyes -  I really just look like him (except for the color - but never mind  ) Who would have thought that I would met my look-alike in Austria?!?! Well, after the first initial shock, Barney hugged me, and we immediately became friends  I then decided to enjoy the sun a bit, because it is really hot in Vienna right now. I couldn't believe it  - it is hotter than on the Greek Islands or than in the south of Italy here! I expect to get a nice tan in no time
Mausbären Posted Aug 22, 2012, 10:32 am	In the evening we went to see the Stephanskirche (St. Stephan's cathedral). It took over 100 years to build it. On the first picture you can see the South Tower of the Cathedral, the North Tower has never been finished. I wanted to know why and was told the Sage of Hans Puchsbaum. (I then wanted to know what a Sage is. They explained that it was similar to a tell tale. It is typical fopr Vienna, or even for Austria as a whole.) Well, here is the tell tale of Hans Puchsbaum: He was a young man, who worked as an architect for St. Stephan's cathedral. He was very talented, and his boss was impressed by his work. Then he fell in love with the daughter of his boss. His boss was only willing to allow their relationship, if Hans proved himself to be the best architect of the city by finishing the North Tower of the Cathedral. Hans was devastated - this was an impossible task. He didn't know what to do - and that was when he met the Devil and made a deal with him. He was promised to be able to finish the North Tower in no time, but wasn't allowed to speak the names of the holy family for one year. The North Tower was nearly finished, when one day Hans saw his beloved standing in front of the Cathedral. He called her name"Maria", so that she would see him. That was when he fell. All the work on the North Tower was immediatly abandoned, and hasn't been continued until today.
Mausbären Posted Aug 22, 2012, 10:57 am	I have to damit I was a bit frigthened by this story. But it was also very interesting. I hope to be able to walk the city hearing all the legends there are about the different buildings and place- apparently there are loads! Well, in reality St. Stephan'S Cathedral probably was never finished, because the gothic style in which it was build went out of fashion while it was built. I cannot really understand this, as I think that the details of the Cathedral look beautiful. Finishing it would really have been worth it.
Mausbären Posted Aug 22, 2012, 11:11 am	After having seen St. Stephan's, we went for a little walk. We passed the Manner Schnitten store (popular Austrian Sweets), where they also sell Mozart Kugeln (even more popolar Austrian Sweets). When I learned that Austria has so many famous sweets, I was very happy. I expect I get to try all of them soon  We also passed a clothing store in which they sell traditional Austrian clothes. I was a bit disappointed that I saw no one actually wearing a Lederhosen, but was told that you would rather wear them in the country than in the city, and mostly for formal or festive occassions. Last we saw the Ruprechtskirche- which is one of Vienna's oldest church. Legend says that it was build in 740, and the first evidence that it already existed dates back from as early as the 1200s. That is really impressive, don't you think. Unfortunately it was getting very late by then, so we had to return home.
Mausbären Posted Aug 28, 2012, 11:49 am	Today the weather wasn't very nice. Actually it was raining cats and dogs ;-) So we stayed inside. Because I got bored first I also tried to annoy Barney a bit- you know just for fun ;-) - so i tried to pull his tail- but he got me before I could even do so. We then had lots of fun together  blowing some bubbles
Mausbären Posted Aug 28, 2012, 12:00 pm	You will never guess what happened today to me! I had to go to school My host mum had to teach there, and I had to come along. Well, when I got there it actually wasn't that bad, as I found some means to entertain myself First I drew my favourite meal - fish yummy!!! But when I had drawn fish all over the blackboard, host mum told me that I wasn't allowed to go on drawing onto the walls Well so that was that. But then I found a copier, and decided to use it on myself. I really had loads of fun doing that PS:host mum loved the copy I did of myself - So I was even more pleased of myself
Mausbären Posted Aug 28, 2012, 7:35 pm	Hello! Today we decided we should do some sight seeing. So we went to the Parliarment, which is on the Wiener Ringstrasse. The Ringstrasse is a circular road which is full of historically important buildings. It was build by a king, well actually by one of the Austrian emperors. He was quite jealous of one of the previous emperors, who had build many famous buildings in Prague and was therefore called Karl the Great. So he decided to do something similar in Vienna, and built the Ringstrasse, which used to be the place where the Vienniese city wall was standing So, as you can see the Parliarmant looks Greek. On the fountain in its front you can even see Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.
Mausbären Posted Aug 29, 2012, 2:05 pm	Hi there! Today we went for a short walk on the Ringstrasse again I saw a statue of the three men who reigned Austria when it first became a republick. Then we went on to the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History. They are build opposite from each other and resemble one another very closely. In fact I still don't know how to distinguish them, but I guess when you enter you will know if you are in the natural history museum, or not. As we wanted to go shopping, we had to pass a few other interesting museums, namely the Museumsquartier, which houses the Leopoldmuseum, the Museum of contemporary art, and the Kunsthalle, in which concerts take place. Finally we arrived on the Mariahilferstrasse, which is Vienna's biggest shopping street.
Mausbären Posted Sep 3, 2012, 1:09 pm	Hi there! Today we went to the Technical University of Vienna, and I have to say, that the building is really amazing- as are its surrounding buildings. First we took pictures in front of the building, where an alley out of statues of famous professors was built. I took a closer picture with the professor of chemistry, as my host mum studies this subject. In front of the building there is a statue of Mister Ressel, who was one of the inventors of the marine propeller. From the Resselpark you can also easily see the Karlschurch, which is especially famous for its roof. The roof was in a goldenish color, when it was build, as it was made out of copper. Yet over the time copper gets a greenish color, which is called Patina. I really liked the fact that there were so many plants there, to make everything look nice.
Mausbären Posted Sep 7, 2012, 5:13 pm	Hi there! Yesterday we went to a place where a famous film was shot. Namely the vienniese Underground System. The third man was shot all over the system during the time it was build- Now it doesn't look as spectacular as in the movie anymore (because the building work has of course been finished by now), but it's cool to go there nevertheless  I took pictures of the station, and of inside the "train". Inside they have lots of pictures of who should be given a place to seat. Like pregnant women should be offered a seat, if it is possible. But the greates suprise was that they have swings in the wagons. I've enjoyed these the most, even though I don't know why they were put in there
Mausbären Posted Sep 8, 2012, 4:28 pm	Hi! We went to a game store. It is only about a game called warhammer, and well worth a visit, even though my host family doesn't play it. People can build the scenery for their games, and color their pawns in the play themselves, right in the shop. You can also play the game directly on the scenerys they exhibit there- and I couldn't resist, and took part in the games myself  I even used the biggest weapons they had there
Mausbären Posted Sep 8, 2012, 4:42 pm	Later on we went to explore a little bit, and met two other travelers, wo were sitting in a car. They told me that they - just like me - have travelled around a lot- Yet unlike me they have never travelled in a plane, or been to another continent. I recommended becoming a toy voyager- it's just the best thing to do Then we took some pictures at a stairway to another district. It was very nicely built, and I enjoyed seeing it. (In the last picture you have to look really closely to find me, I'm standing on the left side right on the wall)
Mausbären Posted Sep 10, 2012, 1:34 pm	Hi there! Today we went to a vietnamese restaurant. It was very nicely decorated. There was even a statue of a green buddah. As I heard that rubbing a buddah's belly, makes you lucky, I immediately tried it- and it worked. I know for fact that it worked because I couldn't understand any item on the menu, so I just ordered something. But all my dishes were with fish - so yummy
Mausbären Posted Sep 11, 2012, 4:53 pm	Hi! Today we went to the harvest festival. In Vienna it takes place at the Hofburg (that's the residence of our president). The Hofburg itself is a very historical building and surrounded by the Heldenplatz (place of heroes). I expected to meet some superheroes like Superman, Ironman, or the like, but in fact it was called like this to honor all soldiers who died fighting for Austria. On the Heldenplatz there is one statue of archduke Karl, on his horse, and opposite of him, there is a statue of prince Eugen again on a horse
Mausbären Posted Sep 11, 2012, 5:02 pm	The harvest festival itself was so much fun  I met many animals wich live in the mountains that Vienna is surrounded of, like a boar. Actually the boar told me, that I could meet his kind in Vienna. They live in the Lainzer Tiergarten, a forest in Vienna. Hostmum told me that she had met them herself several times. When she was younger, one boar even tried to get away with her cousins backbag, as it smelled nicely of the apples he had to carry. However, her parents were able to get it back savely in the end.  As it was really hot that day I decided to first look around a bit(I was even able to take a picture with me and the city hall in the background), and try the local dishes-yummy! and then to enjoy the sun a bit
Mausbären Posted Sep 11, 2012, 5:08 pm	Then I made butter!!!! by Myself!!  I went to one station at the fair which looked quite similar to a house on the mountains, and they told me that if I wanted to I could make butter myself there. I started by milking a cow, then putting the milk into a jar. Then I had to shake the jar so much I got quite exhausted  when I opened the jar again- the milk had turned into butter  i was even alloed to try it on a piece of bread spiced up with some salt  I liked it very much!
Mausbären Posted Sep 11, 2012, 5:16 pm	When we left, hostmum explained to me that the building shows a lot of Roman influence. Therefore you can see some statues of Hercules and also of other Roman Gods. It also houses several museums, among them the Sissi Museum, and the treasure chambers.
Mausbären Posted Sep 16, 2012, 4:33 pm	hi you! Today a new toy voyager arrived. His name is Drescher, and I liked him immediately (I'm hoping to get him to play hide and sekk with me in the woods, and it's really very likely   ) I even met him before hostmum did. He was waiting in the letterbox for her to pick him up. Well, because I was already there to help, I came up with the idea of getting him out early and suprising hostmum in the flat with his arrival- we would just have to get him through the opening of the letterbox. The opening was quite small I have to admit, but due to my strenght , I knew it would be no problem to get the fellow out. So I started pulling him- and really got him through the opening Yet something wasn't right...   The poor dude was so embarassed, because his pants got stuck in the opening. I told him not to worry about it- I mean I don't even wear them in the first place He then stopped being embarrased and we had the funniest evening ever
Mausbären Posted Sep 19, 2012, 6:39 pm	Hi there! I guess I still owe you the story of the first evening I spent with Drescher. Well, here it is (although it is a bit blurred ) We found this cool barrel, and a cool guy, Mr. Awesome, a rhino. He wanted us to party with him- so we did- and it was great- I really loved it.
Mausbären Posted Sep 19, 2012, 6:49 pm	At the weekend we went to Vienna's largest flea market. We had to go there with the S-Bahn which is kind of a train- but rather a underground...well it is somewhere in between. It's really funny to look at the signs inside of the train, because they say that one should keep their voices low, but the train itself is sooooooooo loud When we arrived at the flea market, we saw that it was really full of people who looked for all kinds of stuff. Hostmum looked for baby stuff, as her sister is expecting her first child. We took some pictures of all the antiques (well, old stuff) they sell there    It was really nice and interesting to see all the things they sell there On the way back we discovered that the stop of the S-Bahn was located most beautifully. It really looked as if you were in the middle of the country, whereas you were actually in the middle of the ctiy
Mausbären Posted Sep 28, 2012, 4:40 pm	Hi everyone! Lately host mum was very busy with studying for exams, but as she has finished with some at least, we went to celebrate to the nicest little cupcake store in Vienna. We were so lucky because the sun was shining today, and we were able to enjoy it outside. We simply loved it there (I hope we can go soon again)
Mausbären Posted Oct 4, 2012, 3:14 pm	Hi there! Today we went past a little flea market - it seems that now is the season for them in Vienna, as there are really quite many around there. There were many stands where you could buy clothes, or bags, but what I liked most was a little "shop", where they sold all kinds of music boxes. I was fascinated by a huge advent calendar, which would play a different christmas carol every time you open another door to get your present for the day  I also really liked that they had a little piano, which was exactly the right fit for me
Mausbären Posted Oct 12, 2012, 6:05 pm	Hi there! As today it is really cold outside, host mum suggested to bake something - I immediately wanted to help. So we made a nice dough, for which we were even allowed to use the "big machinery" they have in their kitchen  The dough had to rest a bit before baking, so we started to make a frosting - well it was a frosting that would go inside the buns we would make out of the dough.-..you'll see what i mean. For the frosting we first had to prepare the gelatin, which has to stay in  water until it is all soft and soaked.  Then we put together sugar and one egg, and mixed it above a double boiler, until it got all creamy. Next, we mixed it with whipped cream. That was all it took to finish the frosting  Finally we were allowed to put the buns into the oven. When they were done, they had grown so much, I wasn't even sure if I could eat one all by myself (well, I'll try my best.... I guess I will be ok  ) We then cut the buns in the middle and put the frosting in it, and decorated them a bit more. In the end we had a lot of little monsters - as it is Halloween really soon I liked them a lot  I even ate more than just one in the end
Mausbären Posted Nov 1, 2012, 10:51 am	Hi there! Today we went to the Bisamberg. This is a small mountain, which is really next to Vienna. We first checked out on a map which way we wanted to take, to explore the mountain, and then read about the historical significance of the bisamberg. We had loads of fun climbing trees, and just enjoying the woods, even though the weather was already quite "halloweenish."
Mausbären Posted Nov 1, 2012, 11:02 am	HAPPY HALLOWEEN! As today it is Halloween, Drescher and me decided, we wanted to make jack o'lanterns. We soon found pumpkins to work on, we cut them open, and started to hollow it out. - I didn't like that part especially, because it was such hard work, but somebody had to do it Then each of us cut a face into the pumpkin - mine looked spectacular The rest of the pumpkin was used to make a soup. We also made other lanterns which I liked a lot.
Mausbären Posted Nov 23, 2012, 9:07 pm	Hi there! Today it was really not nice outside- nevertheless, we decided we wanted to see some more of the city and visited Schönbrunn- this is a castle and a parc quite similar to Versailles (only much smaller). The emperor and empress of Austria once lived there. We went to visit the gardens, which are really beautiful. The fountain, that you can see on the pictures is called the Fountain of Neptune. It represents Austrian's rule over the seas (at that time Austria still had a coast  Actually Schönbrunn is full of statues of roman gods and goddesses, because Austria was once an empire quite similar to the Roman empire. Nowadays it'S small and cosy, and full of culture and wonderful landscapes- which is also quite perfect The yellow building is the Schönbrunner Castle. Actually it was meant to be pink- but I think it was actually lucky that they accidently ordered the wrong colour- it looks much nicer that way  The Gloriette (the building on the hill) was once the breakfast room of the emperor, nowadays it is a viewing point, and also a restaurant. I really liked Schönbrunn a lot
Mausbären Posted Dec 5, 2012, 6:14 pm	Hi! While I am travelling to Finland, where I'll be spending Christmast (sooooo looking forward to it), I want to tell you about the last trip my host mum took me on. We went to a very small city called Weitra, to look at their Christkindlmarket. In Austria most people believe in the Christkind bringing the presents instead of Santa Clause. Therefore before christmas there are several markets in Austria, called Christkindl Markt, where you can buy ornaments and other Christmas stuff. The city itself is also well worth a visit, as it is very old (it was founded in the 12th century) and therefore has many nice sights (like a castle, and the city wall) Well to get into the city Drescher and me went through the city gate, which had a really nice historical air to it. Right after that we immediately saw the huge christmas tree in front of the city hall. It was all surrounded by several retailers, where you could buy typical christmas drinks like punsch
Mausbären Posted Dec 5, 2012, 6:24 pm	Of course, this wasn't the whole trip.  Next we had a look at various advent wreath- which all looked really really nice, and then went to see the castle- in order to get there we had to enter another city gate- well I guess I should rather call it a castle gate, and then we had to walk up a very steep way- which was quite exhausting, but also very nice, as it was getting us warmer (it was really cold that day) While we were walking we could see right above the roofs of Weitra, which was a really nice view and reminded us of Mary Poppins- which is why Drescher and me started singing Chim Chim Cheree
Mausbären Posted Dec 5, 2012, 6:34 pm	Then we finally arrived at the castle, where I found a little fire where it was really warm and cosy. When I was warm enough, we started to look around, at the castle and the Christkindlmarket inside it. I will start by telling you about the castle itself which had some interessting rooms. One of it was the Flüsterkuppel, which translates to whisper dome. In this room I stood in one corner, while Drescher was standing in the other. I whispered in a really low voice- and yet Drescher was able to hear me like I was standing right next to him. The other thing I really liked about the castle was the theatre. It simply looked magnificent. At the Christkindlmarket I met some Snowmen, who wer really nice.
Mausbären Posted Dec 5, 2012, 6:42 pm	We also went to an exhibition of nativity sets, which I all liked quite a lot. Last we saw the carp fountain, where several carps are waiting to be sold for Christmas- they looked quite yummy, but host mum stopped me from jumping in to get a bit  I really like Austria, but I am also looking forward quite a lot to my time in Finland
mmm105 Posted Dec 5, 2012, 7:10 pm	Hi mommy! I'm just want you to know, that I'm in Finland now. I'm so tired after travelling so many kilometres, that I'm going to have little sleep now. But see you soon, mom!!! Love, Mr. Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 6, 2012, 10:01 pm	Hello! My first night here in new place went fine. I already got many new friends, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy my time here! Today is a special day, because it's the independence day of Finland. It's a national public holiday held on 6th December to celebrate Finland's declaration of independence from Soviet Russia. Finland's independence started in 1917. Now I'm going to show you how we celebrate this day. Look the pictures! I went outside and hold the flag of Finland. By the way, the colour blue in the flag symbolized the blue sky, and the colour white symbolized the white snow, and the shape of blue cross symbolized the Nordic country. Others were there, too. And then we decided to bake cookies. Yummy!  We made cookies with the shape of Finland. MMmmmmmmm.... they smell already so good!!!  After cookies came out off the owen, it's time to put jam between two cookies... ...and then we decorated cookies with the colours of Finland: blue and white. Yummy! Now the cookies are ready to eat!!!  In the evening, we watched the TV show about the Presidential Independence Day Reception from the Presidential Palace. This event is Linnanjuhlat in Finnish. Famous or well-known Finns are there, dance, small talk, little snacks...etc. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, FINLAND! HYVÄÄ ITSENÄISYYSPÄIVÄÄ, SUOMI! Love, Mr. Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 22, 2012, 8:27 pm	Hello! It's 12th December today. Hih, it's so funny date: 12.12.12  I started my day with advent calendar. Hmmm... where is number 12?  Oooo, there it is! I found it! Today's picture looks like this: Look! There's the funny date again in the local newspaper! Look, there's the headline about 12.12.12 date! It says that someone has 12th birthday in 12.12.12. That must be so fun! Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 22, 2012, 8:28 pm	Hi! I was walking outside today. And I found such a beautiful place!!! Soooooo beautiful place!  It's the river of Tourujoki, and the river goes through the Jyväskylä city. Do you like this view, too? Isn't it magical? Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:07 pm	Hello! Look, I saw Santa Claus and his elfs preparing the Christmas!!!  Now I'm really looking forward to Christmas...  Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:11 pm	Hello! We are going to visit hosmommy's parents to the Eastern Finland, and we are going to spend Christmas there. How fun!!! Look the views outside! So snowy! Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:19 pm	Hello! Today is very exiting day: Jouluaatto (Christmas Eve).  We did some piparkakku (Christmas cookies). And then we decorated the joulukuusi (Christmas tree). Hihii, this Christmas tree is outside We went to joulusauna (Christmas sauna). And there I met the saunatonttu (the elf of sauna). And then we eat jouluruoka (Christmas food). There's for example ham, chicken, fish, different kinds of casserole, Karelian pies, cheece etc. Yummy!  And in the evening we went to joulukirkko (Christmas Church). Then we eat joulupuuro (Christmas porridge). It's rice porridge, and we eat it with socker, cinnamon and milk. And very exiting thing is that there's one almond hidden in the porridge, and the person who got the almond to his plate, this person will have good luck the hole next year. (it's one kind of myth or magic thing... ) ...and we eat also some Finnish Christmas desserts: joulutorttu (sweet tart made by puff paste and plum jam on it) and piparkakku (Christmas cookies). Then I really met the joulupukki (Santa Claus)!!!!  It was really awesome day! I'm feeling so lucky to was able to spend Christmas in the homecountry of Santa Claus!  I hope you have had a great Christmas, too! Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:30 pm	Hello! I think this lantern is nice, and it has Christmas feelings in it. I had little walking this evening. It's already quite dark. I went to see the Orthodox Church of Ilomantsi. It has buildt in 1892. Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:37 pm	Hello! Today I was walking outside again. Now I want to show you some places of Ilomantsi. Ilomantsi is nice small village with about 5000 inhabitants. This building is the City Hall of Ilomantsi. This is the main street, and there's almost all shops and groceries. I like those red street lambs. It was -17 degrees Celcius today. This is "the water tower" of Ilomantsi. I don't know, what is the current English word for it. Look this view! Do you think it's beautiful? Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Dec 28, 2012, 8:42 pm	Hello! Today I want to show you the City Hall of Jyväskylä.    It has buildt in 1899. On the wall of the building, there's the coat of arms of Jyväskylä.  Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Jan 2, 2013, 9:09 pm	Hello! Guess what I did today? I was so happy, because I was able to join in postcrossing meeting in hostmommy's hometown Jyväskylä. I met there some new toy friends, but also many nice people, who wrote lots of postcards. Maybe I can tell you a secret... Take a look at your mailbox very carefully during the following few days. You might find something nice from there...  (But first, refresh my memory and send your address to my hostmommy, please...) The postcrossing meeting was in the postcardstore named Harjun Paperi. So, I was curious, and I went to see the store, too. There were so many beautiful things selling in the shop. I wanted to buy everything. Today was really nice day. Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Jan 4, 2013, 8:50 pm	Hello! Here you can see me in front of the Church of Jyväskylä. This church has buildt in 1880, and the architect was L. I. Lindqvist. The building material is red brick, and it was the first stone church in Central Finland. Love, Mr.Furrington
mmm105 Posted Jan 22, 2013, 7:38 pm	Hello mommy! Look mommy, I was skiing today!!! It was so much fun!  Hihii, I had great day! Love, Mr. Furrington
mmm105 Posted Jan 26, 2013, 5:50 pm	Hi mommy! Today I said goodbye to my friends, because I'm coming home! It's so nice to meet you again, mom! I wish I'd be there with you already... I have so many stories to tell you! Love, Mr. Furrington
mmm105 Posted Jan 26, 2013, 5:53 pm	Mommy, I'm coooooooming!!!

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