It’s Not You, It’s Me March 9, 2012

My parents' backyard. See? It's so peaceful, one loses all interest in blogging.

Oh, blog. You’re like a poor, neglected toy that’s been shoved into the bottom of the toy box and forgotten all about. Actually, it’s not that I haven’t wanted to write on you, it’s just that I’ve been pretty busy these last couple of months, and, well, you know. You get a little behind and the next thing you know an entire month has gone by without posting. Or even longer. Excuses, excuses, right? I was never any good at keeping a diary, either, if it’s any consolation.

Anyway, what have I been up to that’s kept me so dreadfully busy that I didn’t post? Well, mostly it was a nice, looooong visit to the US. Like, for-a-month-kind-of-long. We had originally planned to fly back to Indiana for Christmas as it had been a few years since I had been home for that holiday, but in the end, we decided it made more sense if I were to just fly back on my own in January and celebrate a “late Christmas” with my immediate family. Although I’m sad I didn’t get to see more of the extended family that I would have seen had I made it our annual Christmas Eve celebration, I’m glad I decided to wait and go from mid-January to mid-February. It brightened up an otherwise depressing time of year for me, and meant that family and friends had more time to visit and were less stressed than around the holidays.

I ended up getting to celebrate two Christmases, of sorts. The first was planned and with my parents, my brother and his family. The second was totally unexpected. I got together with my best friends from high school and even though we were celebrating one of their birthdays, they surprised me with awesome Christmas gifts. I got a lot of awesome things because I have awesome friends and they have awesome taste, but the cream of the crop? Check these puppies out:

The most AWESOME mittens in the world.

My friend made these for me. Did you truly take in what I just wrote? She MADE them for me! We are all convinced she either uses magic or has superpowers, because otherwise workmanship of this level is inexplicable.

So apart from raking in goodies and visiting friends and family, my visit to Indiana also included a lot of television, playing Mexican train dominoes, baking, playing Scrabble, and watching movies. And while I’m sure I could have found things to write about regarding the above, I figured I had paid all that money to fly over and be with loved ones, so it made more sense to do that versus typing away on a computer.

My best Fasching look to date.

Back in Germany, we celebrated Fasching a few weeks ago. I wore a fantastic fascinator that was handmade by my artist friend Jennifer Herrold. (If you ever need a portrait, by the way, Jennifer is your gal; she does excellent work. Click here to check out her website.)

Fasching was good fun, just as it was last year, although we made a bit of a rookie mistake. We were feeling a bit lazy so we decided to go later in the afternoon and catch the tail end of the parade rather than start on the other side of town at the beginning. Well, the downside to this strategy is that you get waaaay less goodies, as most have already been given away. We still got some stuff, but not nearly the spread from the previous year. Ah well, you live and you learn!

Oh! And I almost forgot: I passed all of German exams! I passed the one for the language school in case I’d like to continue studying with them, the culture, history and politics test for the government as well as the language test for the government. We’ll now get a little less than half of the money back from the government that we paid for the entire course. I think at some point I’ll probably want to enroll in a class again, but at the moment I’m enjoying my free time and I would want to be really prepared to dive in aggressively if I were to study again as we’d now be paying full price.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. And now that I’m back in the swing of things, I promise I won’t shove you to the bottom of the toy box again. Although I have recently discovered Pinterest, another totally addictive and somewhat pointless waste of time, and it does have a mighty, mighty strong pull….

Recent sunset in Würzburg.

Back in the Saddle October 31, 2011

Wuerzburg in Autumn

Hurray, I did it! I managed to sneak a post into October before the month is over. (I’m sorry September…I really am.) I sort of feel like I’m cheating, writing this right now, as I’m technically home sick and not in my language class where I am supposed to be. You see, I got up this morning feeling not so great with a stomach ache, got ready, ate some breakfast, continued to feel not so great but was determined to go to class. I walked up to the bus stop (feeling not so great), waited for the bus (still feeling not so great), got on and decided when we got into town that it was silly for me to go to class when I felt so poorly and it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to miss. So I just stayed on the bus and went back home again. The funny thing is that within an hour or so, I actually started to feel pretty good and normal again. And to make matters worse, we don’t even have class tomorrow as it is a holiday. What holiday, you ask? Why, All Saints Day, of course! (I love it. The Germans aren’t even really into Halloween like the Americans are, but we still get a day off. And check this out: We live in the German state abbreviated “BY,” and apparently we get the most public holidays of anyone – sweet!) Anyway, I blame my stomach ache on the bad dream I had about zombies last night that must have caused  some serious indigestion. (And I blame you, NPR, for causing me to have that dream to begin with after I read this article!) Anyway, at least I’m getting to write an October entry.  Maybe I should make it a spoooooky entry? Eh, maybe not. The zombie nightmare was enough spookiness for me in one day.

The beauty of the vineyards

Instead, I think I’ll share with you some photos and a little information about a walk we did here in Wuerzburg last Saturday through the vineyards to Randesacker. I was a little surprised to find it already so cold when I arrived back in Germany last week, as Indiana was enjoying a lovely Indian summer when I left. Still, the chill snap in the air and bit of hazy fog makes for some lovely autumn photos.

The walk began the way we usually do it, which is to start off in the vineyards near Wuerzburg University’s campus, and then make our way down into the neighboring town of Randesacker. The two weekends he was here on his own, the Mr. did 18-mile hikes on each of the Saturdays going in a similar direction to how we walked, but he then continued on to a further-away neighboring town before making his way back on foot. I’m not sure I can manage 18 miles going up and down hills in one day, so we only did a slightly longer version of the walk we usually do, which meant that instead of walking down the hill into Randesacker and then making our way back home along the Main River, we instead walked down into the village and then back up again on the other side of the valley into a natural preserve area, and then back into more vineyards. We went back down the hill from there into Randesacker, and then took a bus home.

Plucked fresh off the vine

One of the things I love most about doing this walk is that from early spring all the way until late autumn, you can forage fruit from all of the old orchard trees. We plucked a couple of apples fresh off a tree and enjoyed them as part of our lunch, and also pinched a few grapes from the vines (though we tried not to be too greedy…we know those, of course, actually are owned by someone and harvested!)

We stopped at the church just above Randesacker that you come to before walking down into town and had a bite to eat for lunch. It was a great place to enjoy the view.

Walking up to the church

This walk to Randesacker has become one of our favorites as it’s always beautiful, no matter what season, and it’s never too crowded.  Next to the church is where the huge, old mulberry tree grows that is totally ignored by passers-by, and offers some of the most delicious fruit available to forage in summer.

Off on our way after lunch

After lunch, we took the path from the church shown in the picture here next to the tree .

There were some beautiful things to see along the way:

Fall foliage

Stone marker in the vineyards

Randesacker

I promise I won’t be away so long now that I’m back in good ‘ol Germany. I have lots of entries I’m planning to write about all of our adventures in September and October. Until then, hope you have a fun and safe Halloween wherever you are!

So Oui Meet Again…. August 20, 2011

Strasbourg, France

Last weekend was a long weekend here in Würzburg with the Monday being a holiday. I think it was technically a religious holiday of some sort, but as with many of the “religious” holidays here in Germany nowadays, that connection is mostly in name only. So the Mr. and I decided it was time for a short mini-break somewhere.

We decided to take the train to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is just over the border from Germany into northeastern France, in the Alsace region. It was historically a German-speaking city and area, so you find signs in both French and the historic version of the German language that was once spoken there. It makes for an interesting mix as it “feels” like a German city to me in many ways; the architecture looks German, they offer flammkuechen in many of the restaurants (which apparently originated in this region, but I know it only from Germany) and it’s full of German tourists. In terms of language, however, it’s most definitely French these days. Many of the shopkeepers and restaurant staff did seem to know a bit (or maybe even more than a bit) of German, but French is the primary language today. Still, knowing some German came in handy. I had a moment of triumph when I went into a Nespresso shop and wanted to ask whether they had a limited edition coffee I had ordered off of the website a few months ago. I asked the woman if she spoke English, and she said no. Before I had taken my intensive language course, I would have probably left the shop defeated. Instead I asked if she spoke German….bingo! I then proceeded to ask her in my (albeit rather crappy) German if they had this coffee I was searching for, and she understood – double bingo! Understanding her was a little tricky, but finally I got the gist of what she was saying. I felt pretty darned good at that moment, like maybe the intensive language course isn’t such a bad idea!

In "Petite-France," in Strasbourg

According to Wikipedia, Strasbourg’s city center, known as the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, apparently the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Walking around, it’s not hard to see why it was the first city to be awarded this status; it’s a bit like stepping back in time. Today, Strasbourg is also the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union.

Apart from just taking in the atmosphere of the city, what I loved most about Strasbourg was how it really catered to its tourists with live performances of all sorts taking place from the morning until late at night, giving the city a festive feel. One of the best was a light and sound show that happened every night on the facade of the cathedral. It was dramatic and beautiful, and it didn’t hurt that there was a gelato shop right there that served up the best ice cream the Mr. and I have ever tasted.

A narrow cobbled street in Strasbourg

What I also loved about Strasbourg was the great shopping. Or, at least I think it would have been great shopping had I actually been able to go shopping. You see, I have class on Fridays until 2.15 pm, so the Mr. and I debated whether we should leave immediately after my class on Friday and come home late Sunday afternoon, or leave on Saturday morning and come home late Monday afternoon. I was in favor of leaving Friday as it would guarantee a whole day that the shops would be open, but the Mr. thought it was better to wait until Saturday morning so that we’d have a little more time altogether in the city. He reasoned that I’d have at least a couple of hours on Saturday evening after we had arrived, and then all of Monday morning. On Saturday, I made a mad rush to try to hit at least a few places (bought some amazing macaroons and chocolate), and was super excited about the all the other places I would check out on Monday morning. Well, come Monday morning, I realized that the small boutique shops I had been eagerly anticipating browsing were still closed. I had a closer look at the signs and discovered that some weren’t going to open at all on a Monday (hello! seriously?!), while most would open at 2pm. Well, better late than never, I figured. Then I started noticing signs for shops that said they should have been open by 9am on a Monday. Uh-oh….suddenly, it became clear to us that it was pretty likely nothing was going to open that day because apparently, it was a holiday there, too. Goody. The Mr. swore up and down he hadn’t planned this all out so I couldn’t go shopping and spend money, but I’m still pretty  suspicious of how it all turned out….If we ever make it back to Strasbourg, I will first of all check that there are no public holidays, and secondly, I’ll make sure we avoid the tail end of a weekend.  On a side note, I have to say that shops being closed on Sundays in Europe is one of my biggest pet peeves living here. I’ve heard the argument that it keeps at least one day when families can spend time together, but that doesn’t entirely hold up because restaurants and cafes are still open which means the staff working there aren’t spending time with their families. And given that much of Europe isn’t terribly religious these days, the argument of “keeping the Sabbath Day holy” also doesn’t really hold up. From my point of view, considering that most people work a 9-5 weekday job, it makes no sense to take away an entire day on the weekend where people can go shopping if they need or want to.  But I doubt the system is going to change just because one cranky American doesn’t like it….

Inside the Cathedral

Anyway, back to Strasbourg, I think we most definitely will go again. We’ve discovered that we have a real advantage with where we live here in Germany in that we’re in the state of Bavaria, but we’re also very close to the border of another state called Baden-Württemberg. That means that we can take advantage of cheap travel tickets in BOTH states, meaning we can go all the way to Munich, for example, for 28 euros one way (with the Bavaria ticket), or all the way to Strasbourg in France (with the Baden-Württemberg ticket) for only 28 euros. Our entire trip to Strasbourg – an almost six-hour journey – cost us only 56 euros both ways. If we had driven a car the petrol alone would have costed more than that. And actually, up to three more people could have travelled with us for that same price. It’s cheap, dependable and far-reaching public transportation that’s pretty darn awesome.  And you’ll never hear me complain about that!

Sweet and Sour August 1, 2011

As predicted, I don’t think my test today went so well. I try to console myself with the knowledge that it “doesn’t really matter,” but knowing this doesn’t help me feel any less frustrated with the hours I spent over this past weekend reviewing. It wasn’t enough. I knew it wasn’t enough (having not spent the recommended TWO HOURS every day outside of class they tell you should be learning),but I still hoped I wouldn’t find the test too difficult. I took a practice A2 test from another language school online and didn’t do too badly on that one, but it seemed a lot easier than the one I just took.

Oh, well.

I consoled myself after the test with a scoop of Tiramisu ice cream and walking around the town’s biggest bookstore for an hour. Bookstores never fail to cheer me up. I even looked at a few books with German words inside.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from a recent foraging adventure where we looked for blackberries, or brambles, as the Brits like to call them. They were some of the most delicious I’ve ever had.

Run for your lives! July 30, 2011

I’ve been m.i.a. for a while, and I’m sad to say that it’s not due to me being busy with all sorts of exciting things. Rather, it’s because the mean, nasty German language monster has taken over my life.  I have a test on Monday, and rather than spending my time studying right this minute as I should be, I thought it would be way more constructive to illustrate for you exactly what is going on:

Me and the nasty German language monster. Not sure why I look like a blow-up doll....

Moving in for the kill, as a German language monster does.

Yup, that's pretty much how it's going.

Hello…is it me you’re looking for? May 5, 2011

Greetings, all! It’s been a while since my last post, but happily my absence has been due to good things like vacations and friends visiting (yay!), not illness or apathy (boo!)

Since I last wrote, LOTS of things have happened:

1. I began my two-month long break from language class (hurray!), during which time I had planned to spend several hours a day EVERY day memorizing past lessons so I’d be totally ready for when class resumes in a couple weeks’ time. Well, apart from me answering basic queries in Spanish or French with my basic German (go me, right?!), not so much German has been practiced (uh-oh…).  I keep telling myself I still have a couple weeks’ time so all is not lost, but yeah…still not so much studying German so far. One thing I am feeling good about (but that was totally useless on vacation) is that I realized I actually do know waaaaay more German than Spanish or French. Every time somebody asked me something, I pretty much wanted to blurt out the answer in German or tell them I didn’t understand in German. Not particularly useful in France or Spain, but made me feel good all the same. (What also made me feel good was the Mr. was totally rubbish, too; he often said ‘oui’ in Spain and ‘Si’ in France.)  I’m starting to think there really might just be too many languages in Europe.

2. We went on vacation. Hurray! It was lovely. I think I shall write (a) separate post(s) as there is so much to say.

3. We celebrated Easter with the family. Hurray! I felt it went better this year as I did understand a bit more, at least when the conversation was nice and basic. I started drifting off and staring at ceiling cracks, however, when the conversation strayed into politics and I couldn’t follow. No bother; it was better, and that’s what counts.

4. We had good friends from Edinburgh visit us for a few days. Double hurray! A few days spent with friends and showing them the sights does wonders to help with homesickness, or in my case, more of a “friendsickness.” (I actually really enjoy living in Germany; I just wish my family & friends did, too.) Well, to be honest, I’m discovering that it somehow helps AND makes it worse all at the same time…because I’m reminded of just how much I miss having friends around.

5. I’m baking again. Hurray! (for my tummy, anyway, not so much for my waistline.) I baked American chocolate chip cookies again, and this time the Mr. helped as we only have a hand mixer and I find that once it gets to the “adding flour bit” my poor right hand (damaged from years of waitressing) can’t really cope. He kept asking me “when do we add the milk and water,” or something like that. To which I replied, of course, that you don’t add milk or water to chocolate chip cookies.  Now you need to imagine his snobby German accent: “What?!” he gasps. “You mean there’s only sugar, flour and fat in these things?! They’re like heart-clogging artery bombs! No wonder America is fat!!” Yeah, whatever. See if you get any of MY cookies, Mr. Poo-Poo Head. I seem to remember you scarfing down quite a bit of the last batch….That being said, this batch actually came out pretty flat and pancake-like, which really annoys me, especially as these are actually for guests. I’m hosting a sort of afternoon tea tomorrow and have baked the cookies and will shortly head to the kitchen to bake some cupcakes. The cupcakes should prove interesting. I bought a German cake mix in a box, so I’m going try and convert that to cupcake form.  Not sure how they’ll turn out, but at least I have the flat cookies as a back-up plan

So yeah…that’s pretty much the update. What’s new with you?