Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The crepes of Paris
Monday, July 6, 2009
To be or not to be a Roman
When I was in Thailand, I was becoming more and more "Thai-like" everyday. The Thai way was fulfilling and helped to make me what I thought was a more grounded and peaceful person. Then I enter the Deutsche kingdom where people walk around with frowns, snap and get angry at the littlest things, are constantly impatient and monitoring their watches, and keep wide distances from strangers. People avoiding people.
Just the other day, a lady actually got mad at me because I opened the door for her and motioned for her to go ahead of me. I was met with hostility and frustration because as she told me, "I can do it myself."
Of course while I live here I don't want to be the fish-out-of-water, but I also don't want to become so much of a German. I would like to preserve my friendly character and not to forget how to smile. I would like to keep enjoying the small things in life, like a cute dog or pretty clouds in the sky. I still want to be American-Thai.
But, I live here.....How much of this world do I let consume me? How can I make sure that I don't become sharp and edgy like most of the population here? How can I still be me, when "me" doesn't translate???
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Grandpa Gordon
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Necessary skills needed for surviving German grocery stores
There are absolutely no Costco type stores here in the Big G. There is no possible way for anyone to "stock-up", just as we do in den USA. You cannot find things in the Family Size, Value Package, or buy things in bulk. It's not done that way here. Also, grocery stores are closed on Sundays and close early in the evenings; esspecially on Saturday.
Remember when people were freaking out about Y2K? Everyone was building their own bomb shelters and piling up canned foods........This is the feeling I have when I go shopping at the local Aldi.
It's utter chaos. People are fighting over bread. People are racing shopping carts. Everyone's panicing. Naturally, if you're surrounded by dozens upon dozens of crazy people, you begin to go crazy yourself. I have learned how to cope with this and how to survive the Aldi experience.
Rule number one: You must be fast.
Not just quick.......But really very fast.......Mostly at the register. This is how it goes down here......You quickly throw your food onto the conveyer belt and promptly grab the divider to barracade your items. If you don't other Germans will hate you. Yes. Hate you.
Immediately after your things are out and ready to be scanned you must already being pulling out your wallet while simutaneously preparing yourself to catch the food when it is thrown off of the conveyer belt by the cashier.
And truly, your food is thrown. This is no exaggeration. It reminds me of tennis practice when I was a kid. There was that machine that shot the balls out at you and I would hit them from the otherside of the court.....Instead, it's food.
You don't get paper or plastic bags here unless you buy them. So everyone brings their own bags (you also bag your own food). The bag is like the tennis racket. It's what you use to catch the food.
Meanwhile, your ears are filtering out the "beep, beep, beep" from the scanner and readying yourself to hear the grand total of your purchase. For me, I have to listen extra carfeully because I still need to think about what I hear auf Deutsch. I'm still translating in my mind. And there is a little something special about saying a number in German. We say "twenty-three", the two and THEN the three....Not here! They say "three and twenty". It's not that the concept is any way difficult to understand, but for a non-native speaker it's just the same as saying the alphabet backwards. You have to think about it.
So my total is: six and thirty, one and ninety. 36.91
There also is an element of math here and if anyone knows me well.............
Ok, so we are holding out our money, catching food, moving out of the way so that the next person can que themselves at the cash register, accepting change and then literally evacuating the area. Once you have received your change, there is no reason whatsoever to see your face anymore. You no longer have any reason to be standing anywhere near the register. You must leave. Talk about customer service.
I have my food now balanced on every part of my body and I carry it to the "food arranging area" where people organize what they just bought and caught. The shopping trip has come to an end.
Being fast is really the only rule to surviving an Aldi shopping trip on your average Saturday afternoon. I typically try to fit in my shopping during the week to avoid getting pushed by old ladies and shouted at by frustrated mothers in the dairy aisle. But shopping during the week does not mean you can be any slower, if anything you have to be quicker! Even if you're the only person in line. Makes no difference.
I have found the Aldi experience to be quit comical. And simply ridiculous.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Finally.....The Easter blog..
It was really my duty to learn what I could so that I could be able to communicate with them. I could see the relief in Rolf's mom's face when I opened my mouth to mutter the little that I learned in the two months. Since I have been here in Germany, I haven't been able to practice my speaking and listening much. Sure, I go to the store and bakery; but I relay only words and I hardly ever get the chance to exercise conversation. The weekend was the real intensive course. I was concentrating on grammar and the proper cases (which makes the German language incredibly difficult) and I was understood! That's the most important part!
Besides the language immersion, I love Rolf's parents. They were so welcoming and open which really made me feel comfortable and at home. We had all sorts of activites that we did together. Lots of cooking and eating.....
It was so interesting for me to see the home that Rolf grew up in and see the streets that he walked as a kiddo. I was able to meet his former heavy metal band members from back in the day. They still have the long rocker hair, dress in all black....I was trying to imagine Rolf dressing the same way......We got to know one another through discussing politics and culture. Ya know, just typical heavy metal talk. It felt as though they were brothers to me. I had already learned so much about them through Rolf and it was so wonderful to have finally met them now. They still have their own band and even now they play some of the songs that Rolf wrote back when he was 17 years old!
One night we went up to the attic to pull out the ol' photo albums and humiliate Rolf looking a pictures of him as a toddler. Rolf's dad even dragged out the home videos......I haven't laughed that hard in awhile...The selected video was an old, grainy, first-ever-video-camera clip of Rolf having his diaper changed....He was fussing and crying......And then, his mother had the curteousy to give the audience something to talk about and then showed the dirty, loaded diaper to the camera.....I was crying I was laughing so hard. I was teasing Rolf that I was so thrilled to come all the way out to Germany to see his poopy diaper. Classic.
Rolf lived along the coast and the weather allowed us to enjoy the sun, walking along the Suedstrand eating bratwurst and pretzels. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to visit the "Ship in a bottle" museum.....Why?........
Monday, April 6, 2009
The weather has been changing how I feel and how the city feels too I think. People are eating outside the cafe's, drinking more beer, and giving themselves reason to wear the traditional Dirndls. I got one myself! Rolf and I were in the store browsing the options and he was laughing because I was lecturing him about what was traditionally German and what was not. This is all in preparation to become a professional beer drinker. When in Rome......
We walked through the park on Sunday afternoon with some friends where I was able to get more of a feel for German culture. Good weather makes for good Germans.
Maybe good weather also makes for good German speaking abilities. I'm still studying, five days per week and three hours per day. I can read and write much better than I am able to listen and speak which is frustrating. I have been pressuring myself about where I think I need to be in terms of proficiency, but Rolf continues to remind me that it's only been two months and going on three. I feel edgy.
That feeling fades by the weekend when Rolf and I go salsa dancing. We have found places to tear up dance floors, but we have not been able to find a decent place for climbing. My arms are getting weak! So our new ambition for a hobby is rollerblading. I remember the last time I was on skates. I fell. In front of my university. At 5pm on a Thursday. On my butt. One lady's reaction: At least you fell gracefully. Sweet. Rolf says that I will need knee pads, wrist guards, elbow pads, a helmet, insurance, and a mouth guard. Sooo Munich.Overall, things are looking up and smoothing out. We have completely moved into our place. The boxes are unpacked, Rolf has his poster map of America taped on the wall, and I put a bowl of oranges on the table. We have a huge balcony that overlooks a little stream, the hills, AND the Paulaner brewery. Our neighborhood smells like hops. How many people can say that????
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Not all is bad
First thing. I got the chance to meet up with my uncle here in Germany! He is an international airline pilot and we arranged the time to meet him in Wiesbaden for a weekend. And what a weekend it was. Due to all the stress, we really needed to get away as they often say and my uncle helped to make for a very relaxing retreat.
I have always adored my uncle. I rarely get to see him because of the industry he works in. The last time I had seen him was two years back at my going away party when I escaped to Thailand. Needless to say, we had a lot to catch up on.
(We had just come back from our run in this photo....We don't wear this gear out and about...Just to clarify.)
The conversation lasted seven hours. Seven! It's not that I was counting or anything but I only realized after when we were going to bed that the dialoge was steady to say the least. We started with coffee and then traveled to another coffee place and then ended up at a very classically German restaurant. Since my uncle often flies to Germany, we were able to share our cultural impressions of the culture with one another and how they differ from what we're used to in the States. One thing that we both agreed on was the fact that Germans are so quick to take off their clothes! Not in any sexual way, but just to casually change clothes in public or catch a tan during lunch break. From suit to nude.
I thought that I've always "known" my uncle; who he is and what he does, where he lives. But talking to him personally I began to learn things that I never knew and vice versa. First off, he has been practically everywhere on this planet except for Prague. He would continuouslly ask Rolf: Have you been to...? I was amazed at how much of the globe he had covered and with stories to share also! It made me think about how your life is really your own and you make of it what you want. If you want certain things or desire to have things, they really are there for the taking. You just have to have the courage to step out and seize opportunities. I love you Uncle Pete! Thanks for such a great weekend!
It was esspecially nice to have that quality time with him that I had never really had before and also I was thrilled to have him meet Rolf. At one point, Rolf had left for a bathroom break and my uncle leaned in to let me know how much he approved of him. It was the last family member of mine that Rolf had not yet met.
It's my turn now to meet his family now that we are in Germany. I already have had the pleasure of meeting his sister and spending time with her. Next month in April for Easter we will be going to Rolf's hometown to meet the rents! I'm anxious to show off my newly acquired German skills and see the home that Rolf grew up in. They both don't speak English (his dad really tries and knows some vocabulary)but, I think it will be better for me to communicate in their language. This is surely a new ballgame for me. (Rolf too.)
This past weekend in Erlangen, my friend Kuba who I had met while I was living in Thailand, came to stay with us for a night. I had not seen him obviously since I had left the Kingdom of Thailand and he by chance was working temporarily in Germany. We went salsa dancing and out to a couple of bars to witness Germans getting drunk. How unusual.......It was quite a struggle for him to arrive in Erlangen because he accidently forgot the directions and instead of a 3 hour drive, it took him just about 6. He was happy to finally arrive and take a beer back.
We also got the chance that same weekend to take the high speed train up to Bamberg to visit Rolf's friend, Yvonne. I had actually met her before when she visited us in the States back in November. Bamberg was a great little city. Just what you would imagine a typical German city to be like. Old buildings and restaurants that date back to the 1500's, a river that runs through the city and the castle up on top of the hill. The weather was nice and not too cold, so we spent our time walking around and window shopping. Which is actually fun here and what people typically do. In the States, you don't often see people walking around just to stand in front of windows and point to things that catch their eye.
Even though the move across the Atlantic didn't prove to be as smooth as one would hope, we are still managing to fit in all the things that we want to do. Seeing friends, going out and visiting new places. I have to say that I'm lucky and fortunate to have this opportunity. Although, I could never have done this or gotten through this without the help of my man...Rolf. Thanks, sweetie! You're the best!