Buying Time October 24, 2010

At "home" on my mom's front porch...

It’s been ages since I last posted, and I think it has something to do with the feeling of being on “vacation” while staying with my folks in the states. Hmmm…let’s ponder that thought…is this vacation? I suppose it is, but it’s also one of the many homes I consider myself to have.  Can one be “on vacation” at home?

Over the past year, my concepts of “home” and “vacation” have been turned upside down since I gave up full-time employment and moved to a new country.  To make matters even more complicated, I’ve actually spent almost as much time back in the states as in Germany since we left Scotland in February. And during the time that I have been in Germany, I’m not working so living there also feels a bit like being on vacation. Not that I’m complaining. I suppose this lack of routine (and obvious productivity) would drive some people mad, but for me I’ve relished the abundance of free time that comes along with unemployment. I always feel a little embarrassed to admit to people just how much I’m enjoying not working, but I console myself with the realization that I’ve had some sort of job – either part-time or full-time – since I was 16 years old. I worked part-time during high school, and had several part-time jobs during college. With the exception of one, maybe two, summer breaks during college, I’ve always been working. I once tallied up all the jobs I’ve ever had, ranging from barista, waitress, sales clerk to a news reporter (and loads more), and it’s enough to fill several resumes. I know I’m not unique and a lot of people could say the same thing, but I’m enjoying this break from employment and I’ve decided I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I haven’t spent this much time with my parents since before college, and I’ve been able to be around for important milestones in friends’ lives like weddings and births. It can’t last forever and I know it – change will come. But for now, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to make up for time lost that always accompanies living abroad.

So what have I been up to? Well, carving pumpkins for one. I carved and painted the pumpkin above for my mom’s front porch, and this little guy to the left with some of my close friends from high school during their annual pumpkin carving party. Even though The Mr. and I can’t be with them during most of the year, they always make sure we’re included and are excited to see us when we are in town. The Mr. left more than a week ago to go back to Germany for work, but yesterday I met the gang again for breakfast at one of the best joints around (I ordered my fave: chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter and veggie scramble….yum….) and we went to a viewing of Back to the Future. My friend Ray rocked a side pony and glitter socks and a multi-colored sweater, and I went for skinny leg trousers, leg warmers and a jean shirt. Good times. And they gave me some lovely birthday pressies! A CD, Animaniacs DVDs, a David Sedaris book, awesome socks that were hand-knitted…yep, these guys are the bomb.

Wonkers, now renamed Wanda

What else? Well, I worked pretty diligently for a week to find this kitty a home. She wandered onto my parents’ property and wouldn’t leave, desperate for food and love. Finally, one of my Facebook friends that I came to know through waitressing years ago offered to take her. I was so relieved. If I hadn’t found her a home, I would have taken her to the local shelter which is totally overwhelmed with animals and has a high euthanasia rate.  But I’m now happy to report she’s been spayed, is getting along much better with the other cat in residence (lots of hissing on both sides but no actual fights – hurray!), and seems to be settling in well to her new life.

I also got a haircut. This normally wouldn’t be so exciting, but I took the plunge and now have bangs after many, many years without. I’m really enjoying it. I’ve never been a particularly adventurous person when it comes to my hair, but I can understand why some people love getting a drastic new look. As long as you like how it turns out, it can be really fun to do something different. This is a photo of me on the day it was cut. It will never, ever, look this good again I’m sure, but thankfully I also like the way it looks when it’s just blown dry to its natural curly state.

And I’ve/we’ve (before the Mr. left) been up to loads of other stuff, too. We had a cookout with family (originally intended to be a weenie roast, but Indiana’s experiencing a drought), dinner with friends, visited a creamery and orchard, attended a family reunion….I held a good friend’s baby for the first time over a chili lunch and attended a “Welcome Home” party for a little girl adopted for China. And on Wednesday I’m going to Chicago to attend a close friend’s wedding and meet their new child for the first time. I’ve come to realize that these experiences are priceless, and frankly, no job in the world could pay me enough money to make up for missing them.

It’s the “Little Things,” Part 2 August 20, 2010

Let’s be honest: I’m a fairly lazy person. I’ve never been a workaholic in any context (professionally or personally) and I have no problems having a (or many) lazy day(s) sitting around the house and faffing about. Sadly, these lazy tendencies also extend to my ambition in the kitchen.

I’ve never had much interest in cooking, even from a young age. I used to do baking projects in 4-H, but to be honest, it was more about getting to eat whatever my mom and I made rather than enjoying the actual process of learning to cook something. At some point, I realized why bother making it yourself when someone else can make it just as well (if not better)?

Of course, I’m not 10 anymore, and it’s a little pathetic that an adult of my age is so absolutely rubbish in the kitchen. The excuse I’ve used for the past few years is that I’m too exhausted to do anything in the kitchen while working full-time, which I guess is sort of legit only if I don’t consider that I have lots of friends who also work full-time and somehow manage to concoct culinary masterpieces in their free time. Now I no longer have that excuse as I’m a Hausfrau, but for a limited time I can trump the “full-time employment” problem with the “we have no oven or stove top” problem. And hey – THAT’S a pretty good excuse, isn’t it? I have ambitions that once we do have a real, fully loaded kitchen again I will have the time, energy and desire to do some more cooking, but we’ll see.

So here’s the thing…as someone who historically hasn’t done much cooking nor who can try to do anything more at the moment, figuring out what to eat is a challenge. We’ve been getting by with a rotation of bread, sliced veggies and cold cuts, or Asian noodles with added frozen vegetables. And that’s about it. Having a microwave and kettle is great, but there’s only so much that can be prepared with those things. And that’s where – historically – I would look to the wonderful world of take-out food to add some variety to life. Sadly, Würzburg doesn’t want to provide this for me.

My guess is that had we moved to Hamburg, I wouldn’t be lodging this particular complaint right now because there’s undoubtedly more options, but here in Würzburg, the take-out food options are very, very limited. The Mr. tells me that, in general, Germans don’t have take-out food the way that Americans and Brits do on a regular basis. I didn’t want to believe him until I googled it and discovered just how dire our take-out food options really are:

Option 1: Pizza Express

Before all my UK friends get excited for me, this Pizza Express is nothing like the one back in the UK. No, imagine instead that you can get just about every different type of food available (Italian, Asian, Mexican, etc.) all from under one roof. Sounds great, doesn’t it? And if the food was good, it would be. Sadly, this is not so much the case. It’s like they’ve tried to fill a gap in the market with every type of take-out food that is usually available, and as a result, none of it tastes particularly good. We’ve only tried a couple Asian dishes and pizza from this business so maybe the Mexican food is fantastic and we just don’t know it, but somehow I doubt this is the case….

Option 2: Other pizza places

There are two other take-out/delivery places in the city that have pizza. One of them is close to us (I don’t actually know whether or not they have delivery – we’ve always picked it up) and it’s so-so. The crust is pre-made and tastes a bit of cardboard, but if you put enough fresh veggies and cheese on top of anything it’ll become reasonably edible. The other joint, Joey’s, definitely delivers but we haven’t tried it yet. I don’t have very high hopes.

And that’s it, as far as I know.

Back in Edinburgh, I used to gorge myself at least once a week on Harvest Chinese food one street over from our flat (miss you, Tommy, and your delicious Prawn with Cashew Nut stir fry!), or get a green curry with tofu and vegetables from Silver Bowl a few blocks away. Or I’d go for Papa John’s pizza. We had TWO branches of Papa John’s pizza in the city – so delicious.

I’m trying to look on the bright side of what I’m feeling so far is a depressing discovery: that perhaps this lack of take-out food options will give me the swift kick in the you-know-what that finally motivates me to learn how to cook.

Confessions of a German Hausfrau July 19, 2010

It’s been a little more than a week since I arrived back in Germany, and I’ve officially begun my new job as a German Hausfrau.  Hausfrau, or housewife, might not sound like a very glamorous or rewarding new position, but I have to admit that I’m rather enjoying it so far. It has a lot of perks. I get to sleep in every day, watch movies in the middle of the day if I want, and go shopping for food while everyone else is slaving away in the office.  The only downsides are tasks like scrubbing the toilet and removing limescale, but my mother has introduced me to the wonders of vinegar so I can cope.  The real challenge at the moment is trying to “keep up” a residence with no kitchen and boxes (i.e. mess) everywhere. But I think I’m maintaining some semblance of order vacuuming like a madwoman and washing dishes in the bathroom sink. Yes, the bathroom sink. I used to think doing all our dishes by hand at the kitchen sink was time-consuming, but that was positively dreamy compared to washing them individually in a bathroom sink. Still, it works and it means I’ll appreciate a kitchen even more once we have one. And a dishwasher – gasp – now that would really tickle me pink.

I thought I’d share a few photos of the domestic domain I now rule. I know many people are dumb-founded when I describe the “no kitchen” situation, so I thought it might help to include a couple of photos showing what our current set-up looks like:

Table, microwave and kettle....

And fridge. And that's all, folks!

With the fridge, the kettle and the microwave we’re getting by. I’m not a great cook, anyway, so it’s not as if we’re used to having fancy-pants meals every night, but it will be nice to have a stove and an oven and a kitchen sink again at some point. And I do have ambitions that my new role as a Hausfrau will inspire me to want to cook more. Honestly!

Bathroom sink, AKA "dishwashing zone"

The bathroom sink above is where I do the dishes. Yeah, it sounds kind of gross but keep in mind that our toilet is separate from our bathroom, so it’s not too bad.

And I know many of you are curious what our “sitting shower” looks like:

The "sitting shower," in all its glory

Thankfully, the Mr. managed to buy the equipment to make it into a “real” shower and it works great. The floor gets a little wet so we’re debating whether to get some sort of barrier around the side facing the sink so it’s more contained, but mopping up afterward also works pretty well.

I also had my first communal task to complete for the house. As is usually the case in Germany, all parties in the house have to share tasks such as sweeping the walkways, taking out the garbage, and in the wintertime, clearing away snow and ice. My job this past week was to sweep the walkway to the door, as well as the back pavement behind the house. It was a relatively cool day, but it still took me more than an hour to clear away all the dead leaves and pine needles and it made me kind of sweaty and gross, to be honest. It was really the pine needles that made the job so arduous as we have very large pine trees that seem to shed copious amounts of needles. I always thought evergreen trees were less hassle than deciduous ones because they don’t lose their needles in the same way. Silly me.

In addition to upkeep both inside and out, I’m also familiarizing myself with the new neighborhood grocery store I shall be visiting on a regular basis. It’s fairly well-stocked, and I took my handy Ikea shopping trolley there a few days ago and bought quite a few things.

Oh, Ikea, how I love thee

At the grocery store, I was proud of myself for understanding that the cashier wanted to know if I had a Euro so she’d have to make less change. Ah, it’s the little things that bring joy….The good news is that although I’ll miss our shopping trips to Toom with the car, I think this smaller store will cover all the bases until opportunities arise when we’ve either rented a car or have signed-up for car-sharing and can go to a bigger supermarket. And they still have a pretty awesome chocolate section despite the limited size, which is most important of all. I’ve also discovered a new favorite treat:

A little bit of heaven in a plastic cup

You can choose between, 40, 60 or 75% cocoa content. I went for the 75%, and it was de-lish. The higher the cocoa content, usually the safer it is around the Mr., too. He prefers milk chocolate, so I cleverly purchase things he won’t like. Does that make me an evil German Hausfrau?