Sorry I haven't written since the wedding. Things have been crazy here - horse show 2 weekends ago, Leena & Larissa's birthday party last weekend, & me going to Oktoberfest Friday morning. Oh yeah, & the dissertation which is due in about 2 & a half weeks.
Overall things are good, but hectic. I'm up at 6:30am every morning during the week & usually working on the dissertation from 8am - 1130am, when Leena gets home from school. Then, if we aren't busy in the afternoons, I work on it some more. The girls are in bed by 8pm, so I usually get another 2 hours in. I FINALLY finished revisions on my first chapter, though I still need to cut about 500 words. I'm taking my 3rd chapter with me on the train tomorrow as I already have it printed out to edit. Plus it needs to be shortened considerably. The 2nd chapter needs loads of work, but in adding words. I actually really like my first essay ... I feel like I make a good argument & use plenty of critics to back up my claims.
This weekend, as I said, I am going to Oktoberfest in Bavaria (i.e. Munich). Freddy, the German guy who lived in the house with me in Wales, lives in Ingolstadt, about an hour from Munich. So I'm going down to stay with him until Sunday. I arrive at 3pm on Friday (checking the 8am train, ugh), so we'll hang out at the Oktoberfest in his town. Saturday we'll head south to Munich where we will sight see & partake of some fine German beers. Hopefully I'll find a krug (aka stein, but stein means stone in German) to bring back. Freddy says I can't steal one from the Biergarten because you pay a lot of money for the beer & then get some of it back if you return the krug. Figures. Sunday, his 83-year-old great aunt is cooking us brunch, which I thought was really sweet. She's making some turkey & rice dish.
I have pics from the horse show which I will post eventually (probably after my dissertation is finished). Dagmar & I are taking the girls to Bremen on Tuesday to go shopping because we don't have school Wednesday (yay for random holiday!). Oh & I'll also post Oktoberfest pics at some point as well ...
Anyway, it's past my bed time ...
27 September 2007
08 September 2007
My First German Wedding
Today, Katrin & Thomas were married. They live a few houses down the road from us & are a wonderful couple. Katrin is in her mid-20s (I think Dagmar said 25) & Thomas is 41 (yup, just a little age gap!). The wedding began at 3:30pm at the church in Otterndorf. This was the first time I had been in "our" church; we had been in the Osterbruch church the other weekend for Leena's school service. Anyway, the Otterndorf church is quite small & old. It was built 800 years ago in the 1200s when the village was first established. The ceiling & the altar are all hand carved & hand painted. Katrin did not have any attendants; she & Thomas walked in together. Now in Germany, you have to remember that church & state are not separate, so before you can marry in a church, you have to be married by the state. Katrin also was baptized during the ceremony, which I thought was nice.
Larissa & Leena, thrilled to be at church.
Now the wedding itself was not a "traditional" German wedding, according to Dagmar. First off, because Katrin did not have any attendants. Usually there are 2 bridesmaids & groomsmen. Typically these are couples who are dating at the time. We also went to the cemetery for part of the wedding because Katrin & Thomas had lost 2 infant boys (both were premature), so they wished to have part of the service done there. It was a little odd, but whatever. You can do what you want on your wedding day. For the flower girls, Katrin asked the children (about 6) to take part. They were given baskets of flower petals & walked ahead of Katrin & Thomas, theoretically throwing the flowers on the ground.
Outside the cemetery, Thomas had 2 bundles of coins & threw those on the ground for the kids to pick up.
It was quite funny when the older ones realized it was money! Then they were scrambling!
The reception wasn't until 5:30 at a restaurant outside of Osterbruch.
Leena & Larissa; Dagmar made the red dress Larissa is wearing.
The "adult" table that I happened to be sitting at when Leena took this pic. Dagmar is on the left in front of me. Christina, one of our neighbors who has a son in Leena's class, is across from her. Christina's husband is next to her, but I can't recall his name.
Emma, Jurgen's mother, is in the blue; she lives next door to us.
Jurgen
We had a full sit down meal. Spetz, the German version of champagne, was served (& was really good). They also drink beer with sprite, so I had a glass of that because Dagmar told me to. The food was really good - carrots, broccoli, red cabbage, 2 types of fish, some sort of beef, potatoes cooked 3 different ways (they like their potatoes here!), & salad. Oh & the appetizer was a sausage, asparagus, & carrot soup which is a region specialty.
And they brought the cake out surrounded by sparklers! That was a really neat thing to see.
The cake was delicious as well - it was a 3-tier: a vanilla, a chocolate & vanilla, & a chocolate.
And we had ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. They also served wine with dinner. After you eat cake, then you do shots. One of the liqueors was a plum & another was a green "forest-something." Dagmar couldn't remember what it was called. I tried both, but preferred the plum. Oh, & when the guests start banging on the dishes, it means the bride & groom have to go under the archway & kiss & they have to stay there until the guests quit banging. And they always did it at the first minutes, like when they were trying to eat!
They also took "family" photos. Midway through the reception, a scrapbook was passed around that had each family's photo glued to a page where you could write notes to the bride & groom. It was really a cute idea! And some of the pics were really goofy, like the one of Jan-Axel, Jurgen, & Andreas!
Once we finished we eating, they cleared the dance floor. Now, Europeans can dance! Not the grinding Americans do, but proper ballroom. And you're not supposed to say no if you are asked to dance. Granted, when I was asked, it was in German & I just looked a little lost. I danced with Leena & Larissa - they just liked to spin because they had full skirts on. I danced with Jan-Axel, the 23-year-old who lives down the road from us, as well. It was the first time I had met him & he started speaking German to him - so I had to explain "Nien Deutsche" & we spoke a little English. His English is much better than my German!
Leena dancing with Jurgen.
Katrin dancing with Tim.
Leena & Larissa dancing.
By 11pm, the girls were fighting & Dagmar & I were getting tired. I drove Dagmar's car home which was a slight challenge since I had never driven it & it was dark out. Tomorrow we are to go to Katrin & Thomas's for more cake & coffee. Had we stayed until midnight, we would have eaten a midnight breakfast as well.
So my first experience of a German was quite fun. We did sing one song in church in English (& the pastor even made the comment that we were going to because there was an American present, so it must have been me he was talking about!). But I'm tired now as it is past my bed time & I woke up at 8am & helped Dagmar clean out the barn (my idea, & it looks SO much better now). Next weekend I'll have more stories to tell as we are going to a horse show.
And for those of you wondering about my dissertation ... well ... I'm working on it. Slowly but surely. I can't wait for it to be finished!
Larissa & Leena, thrilled to be at church.Now the wedding itself was not a "traditional" German wedding, according to Dagmar. First off, because Katrin did not have any attendants. Usually there are 2 bridesmaids & groomsmen. Typically these are couples who are dating at the time. We also went to the cemetery for part of the wedding because Katrin & Thomas had lost 2 infant boys (both were premature), so they wished to have part of the service done there. It was a little odd, but whatever. You can do what you want on your wedding day. For the flower girls, Katrin asked the children (about 6) to take part. They were given baskets of flower petals & walked ahead of Katrin & Thomas, theoretically throwing the flowers on the ground.
Outside the cemetery, Thomas had 2 bundles of coins & threw those on the ground for the kids to pick up.
It was quite funny when the older ones realized it was money! Then they were scrambling!The reception wasn't until 5:30 at a restaurant outside of Osterbruch.
Leena & Larissa; Dagmar made the red dress Larissa is wearing.
The "adult" table that I happened to be sitting at when Leena took this pic. Dagmar is on the left in front of me. Christina, one of our neighbors who has a son in Leena's class, is across from her. Christina's husband is next to her, but I can't recall his name.
Emma, Jurgen's mother, is in the blue; she lives next door to us.
JurgenWe had a full sit down meal. Spetz, the German version of champagne, was served (& was really good). They also drink beer with sprite, so I had a glass of that because Dagmar told me to. The food was really good - carrots, broccoli, red cabbage, 2 types of fish, some sort of beef, potatoes cooked 3 different ways (they like their potatoes here!), & salad. Oh & the appetizer was a sausage, asparagus, & carrot soup which is a region specialty.
And they brought the cake out surrounded by sparklers! That was a really neat thing to see.
The cake was delicious as well - it was a 3-tier: a vanilla, a chocolate & vanilla, & a chocolate.
And we had ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. They also served wine with dinner. After you eat cake, then you do shots. One of the liqueors was a plum & another was a green "forest-something." Dagmar couldn't remember what it was called. I tried both, but preferred the plum. Oh, & when the guests start banging on the dishes, it means the bride & groom have to go under the archway & kiss & they have to stay there until the guests quit banging. And they always did it at the first minutes, like when they were trying to eat!
They also took "family" photos. Midway through the reception, a scrapbook was passed around that had each family's photo glued to a page where you could write notes to the bride & groom. It was really a cute idea! And some of the pics were really goofy, like the one of Jan-Axel, Jurgen, & Andreas!
Once we finished we eating, they cleared the dance floor. Now, Europeans can dance! Not the grinding Americans do, but proper ballroom. And you're not supposed to say no if you are asked to dance. Granted, when I was asked, it was in German & I just looked a little lost. I danced with Leena & Larissa - they just liked to spin because they had full skirts on. I danced with Jan-Axel, the 23-year-old who lives down the road from us, as well. It was the first time I had met him & he started speaking German to him - so I had to explain "Nien Deutsche" & we spoke a little English. His English is much better than my German!
Leena dancing with Jurgen.
Katrin dancing with Tim.
Leena & Larissa dancing.By 11pm, the girls were fighting & Dagmar & I were getting tired. I drove Dagmar's car home which was a slight challenge since I had never driven it & it was dark out. Tomorrow we are to go to Katrin & Thomas's for more cake & coffee. Had we stayed until midnight, we would have eaten a midnight breakfast as well.
So my first experience of a German was quite fun. We did sing one song in church in English (& the pastor even made the comment that we were going to because there was an American present, so it must have been me he was talking about!). But I'm tired now as it is past my bed time & I woke up at 8am & helped Dagmar clean out the barn (my idea, & it looks SO much better now). Next weekend I'll have more stories to tell as we are going to a horse show.
And for those of you wondering about my dissertation ... well ... I'm working on it. Slowly but surely. I can't wait for it to be finished!
28 August 2007
A Puppy & A Cake
This weekend was quite exciting for the girls. Dagmar, Leena, Larissa, & I took a 5-hour car ride to Neuss, just outside of Dusseldorf to visit Jurgen's younger brother & sister-in-law & their 2 sons. The weekend was loads of fun, but very frustrating at times because the oldest boy (7), Yannicke, didn't want to play with Leena (6) because she wasn't a "big" kid. We told Yannicke that Leena is actually bigger than him, physically, so she was a big kid. Hauke, who is 3, is absolutely adorable! I wanted to take him home with me because he is SO well-behaved, unlike his older brother who can act the part of the bully quite well.
On Sunday, Dagmar had promised the girls we would pick up a puppy, as their Doberman Venta passed away from a heart attack right before they left to visit the US. Dagmar had already picked out an 11-week old, female Doberman. The breeders lived about an hour away from Neuss, so we went & picked the puppy up & brought her back to the house to surprise the girls.
After much debate, we named the puppy: Brandy. And for those of you who remember how my cats, Tia & Bailey, got their names ... well, that's how it was decided.
So Brandy came home with us - slept all the way thankfully as it took us 5.5 hours to get home - & quickly made herself at home in the Seegemann's household.
While we were at Gant & Katia's, the girls found a really awesome kid's cookback with easy recipes that Yannicke had made. Katia allowed us to take it back to Osterbruch with us so we could try some of them. Because Leena was being picked on over the weekend, I had promised her that the 2 of us would have a pajama party, without Larissa if she wanted, in my room. We would watch whatever movie she wanted, I would make dinner or dessert, & she could sleep with me. Well, the girls decided they wanted to make this chocolate cake that looked like a bat.
Larissa is on the left & Leena is on the right.
I did most of the work. Dagmar had Larissa translate the ingredients & directions for me as it was written in German. Leena helped me dump ingredients into the bowl. Once the cake was cooled, they helped layer it with fruit (cherries & plums they had to pick out of the garden, though the recipes called for strawberries). The cake turned out surprisingly tasty as we used hot chocolate powder mix instead of cocoa powder.
The pajama party was loads of fun for all of us. We watched Kim Possible, Larissa's choice, in the living room because it was a DVD, then we migrated north to my room to watch The Swan Princess because I have an American VHS player & a large tv. Luckily, I have a big bed (queen, 7' wide) because all 3 of us slept in it. I was in the middle & didn't get pummeled death as Dagmar said the girls can be pretty wild sleepers. At 11:30, the movie was finally over & I was relieved 'cause I was tired! Sadly enough, we all woke up 9am today!
On Sunday, Dagmar had promised the girls we would pick up a puppy, as their Doberman Venta passed away from a heart attack right before they left to visit the US. Dagmar had already picked out an 11-week old, female Doberman. The breeders lived about an hour away from Neuss, so we went & picked the puppy up & brought her back to the house to surprise the girls.
After much debate, we named the puppy: Brandy. And for those of you who remember how my cats, Tia & Bailey, got their names ... well, that's how it was decided.
So Brandy came home with us - slept all the way thankfully as it took us 5.5 hours to get home - & quickly made herself at home in the Seegemann's household.
While we were at Gant & Katia's, the girls found a really awesome kid's cookback with easy recipes that Yannicke had made. Katia allowed us to take it back to Osterbruch with us so we could try some of them. Because Leena was being picked on over the weekend, I had promised her that the 2 of us would have a pajama party, without Larissa if she wanted, in my room. We would watch whatever movie she wanted, I would make dinner or dessert, & she could sleep with me. Well, the girls decided they wanted to make this chocolate cake that looked like a bat.
Larissa is on the left & Leena is on the right.
I did most of the work. Dagmar had Larissa translate the ingredients & directions for me as it was written in German. Leena helped me dump ingredients into the bowl. Once the cake was cooled, they helped layer it with fruit (cherries & plums they had to pick out of the garden, though the recipes called for strawberries). The cake turned out surprisingly tasty as we used hot chocolate powder mix instead of cocoa powder.
The pajama party was loads of fun for all of us. We watched Kim Possible, Larissa's choice, in the living room because it was a DVD, then we migrated north to my room to watch The Swan Princess because I have an American VHS player & a large tv. Luckily, I have a big bed (queen, 7' wide) because all 3 of us slept in it. I was in the middle & didn't get pummeled death as Dagmar said the girls can be pretty wild sleepers. At 11:30, the movie was finally over & I was relieved 'cause I was tired! Sadly enough, we all woke up 9am today!
23 August 2007
Guten What? 5 Days in Berlin
Friday morning, Dagmar & I left at 6:30am to get me to the train station to catch a 7am train to Hamburg-Harburg. From there, I would connect to Hamburg & then on to Berlin where I would meet Dr. Egner & Henning & their grandson Jaiden.
I had no problems catching the train out of Otterndorf, though we ended up driving to Cadenberge to catch that train as it had just come through Otterndorf. From there I rode to Hamburg-Harburg where I had to connect to a small Metonom train to get to Hamburg & then on to Berlin. My train to Berlin was on time & off I went, but right outside of Berlin, we stopped. Now, my lack of German knowledge kicked in as I had NO clue what was being said. I managed to figure out that we would be delayed another 30 minutes. The only reason I know that is because Henning called me & told me. About 45 minutes later, I was greeted on the platform by Kathy & Jaiden. Henning had walked farther down to look for me.
The Egners, I have to say right off, are the most hospitable people ever. I had never had Kathy in class while at Transy, so I wasn't really sure how it would go since I didn't know her as well as some of the other education professors. Henning is absolutely charming - by birth he is a German &, thus, a non-native English speaker. I love listening to him speak because his word order is sometimes different that what I normally use. And he rarely speaks English to Jaiden, so Jaiden is somewhat fluent in German, for a 2-year-old. Then there is Jaiden who is the absolute cutest 2 year old you could meet. He & I hit it off instantly. He was so excited that I was staying with them & he kept pointing out the S-Bahn & the U-Bahn to me & told me all about taking them around the city.
Jaiden, who I might just adopt!
We went to the Egner's apartment which was at Schohauβe Alle in the former East. We were right around the corner from an S- & U-Bahn station as well as the trolley stop, so everyting was quite easy to navigate. After a short nap, which was much appreciated on my end!, we met up with a couple from the Egner's church in Lexington. The Hoods had decided to visit Berlin to see the church that their church, Faith Lutheran, sponsors. So Jim & Judy, Kathy & Henning, Jaiden, & I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The next day, Henning & I met up with Jim & Judy for a walking tour of Berlin. Henning lived in Berlin from 1975-2000, so he was an excellent tour guide when it came to answering questions & telling us about the war & the Wall. He explained how Berlin was rebuilt following the war, how he & his friends communicated with one another with the Wall still in place, & about the time when he married Kathy (1989?) & brought her to Germany to live. He showed us the Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag, the TV Tower, & several other sites in Berlin.
Brandenbur Gate
The Lutheran Church is huge!
The Reichstag Government Building
The River Memorial, recalling those victims who died trying to cross the river from East to West
Following the 3-hour tour, Henning & I went back to the apartment for lunch & a nap. Kathy & I had decided the previous night that we would go to the Anne Frank House. Lauren Covert, a Transy senior, was also in Berlin at the same time as I. She was interning with an organization whose primary goal is to encourage small businesses to come to Germany. She decided to meet us at the AF House as well. The museum itself was quite unimpressive, but the 30 minute film we watched was very well made & quite moving. We invited Lauren to dinner as we were meeting Henning's daughter Katerina & her husband Stefan & son Fynn for dinner at a Greek restaurant between the two places. Along the way, Henning pointed out holes in the sidewalk which resulted from the bombings.
Lauren & I made plans to meet up on Sunday, so after church at the American Church of Berlin, we ate brunch & walked around. She showed me these huge see-saws that were loads of fun!
Lauren on the giant See-Saw
And we also came across the mini-United Buddy Bears which represent each country in the United Nations. There are larger ones that have traveled throughout the continent & have also been auctioned for charities. We found a great little Thai restaurant for dinner that night - only spent 4 Euros!
This is the Cuban bear, complete with Cuban cigar!
By far my favorite bear - the Irish!
On Monday, I spent the morning wandering around the city. My goal was to visit 3 museums, but after 2, I had to stop! (I am not a museum person by any means.) I visited the Jewish Museum which was okay, but Lauren thinks I missed part of the exhibition & that is why I found it lacking.
The Memory Void section of the Jewish Museum
I also went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum which was overpriced & way too crowded. The museum, itself, contains loads of interesting information but is not worth the 5,50 I paid to get in as a student.
And of course I saw parts of the Berlin Wall.
Information about the Wall
A Wall Marker
I had planned on visiting the DDR Museum which documents life in the GDR, but didn't have time/feel like it by mid-afternoon. After a short nap, I met up with Lauren again. She took me to KaDeWe (pronounced Caw-Day-Vay) which is the largest department store in Europe. It was FABULOUS! The top floor is all foods & by far my favorite floor! There was fresh fish (literally, in the water), homemade pastries, chocolates, wines, (expensive) American food, & loads of other things. I bought some chocolate because it was reasonably priced, but everything else was quite expensive because it is top quality stuff. The American food was extrememly pricey as well - i.e. a box of Saltine crackers was 8,50 & a bag of Hershey's chocolate chips was 6,00! So if you want to send me any American food, I'd love it because it is so expensive here! I had my first experience with a döner which is a flat bread with chicken (or lamb), an herb sauce, salad (tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce), & feta cheese. It was huge! And so much food that I couldn't eat it all ... & all for 3,00! Then we went for ice cream. :-)
On Tuesday, my last day, Kathy wanted to take me to one of the bigger bookstores in Berlin. It had 6 floors! And I was in heaven. They even had books printed in English, so I bought 2. :-D Afterwards we went to lunch at what Jaiden called the "Butterflies," which really has dragons hanging from the trees & serves indian food. Afterwards, Henning took me to the train station to catch my train back to Otterndorf. Right at the start, they informed us that the train to Berlin would be 30 minutes late into Hamburg because they had to divert us through another city. Apparently the tracks were cut the day before! So I missed my train to Otterndorf & had to call Dagmar to let her know. I arrived an hour later than planned, but everything turned out okay in the end.
I had no problems catching the train out of Otterndorf, though we ended up driving to Cadenberge to catch that train as it had just come through Otterndorf. From there I rode to Hamburg-Harburg where I had to connect to a small Metonom train to get to Hamburg & then on to Berlin. My train to Berlin was on time & off I went, but right outside of Berlin, we stopped. Now, my lack of German knowledge kicked in as I had NO clue what was being said. I managed to figure out that we would be delayed another 30 minutes. The only reason I know that is because Henning called me & told me. About 45 minutes later, I was greeted on the platform by Kathy & Jaiden. Henning had walked farther down to look for me.
The Egners, I have to say right off, are the most hospitable people ever. I had never had Kathy in class while at Transy, so I wasn't really sure how it would go since I didn't know her as well as some of the other education professors. Henning is absolutely charming - by birth he is a German &, thus, a non-native English speaker. I love listening to him speak because his word order is sometimes different that what I normally use. And he rarely speaks English to Jaiden, so Jaiden is somewhat fluent in German, for a 2-year-old. Then there is Jaiden who is the absolute cutest 2 year old you could meet. He & I hit it off instantly. He was so excited that I was staying with them & he kept pointing out the S-Bahn & the U-Bahn to me & told me all about taking them around the city.
Jaiden, who I might just adopt!
We went to the Egner's apartment which was at Schohauβe Alle in the former East. We were right around the corner from an S- & U-Bahn station as well as the trolley stop, so everyting was quite easy to navigate. After a short nap, which was much appreciated on my end!, we met up with a couple from the Egner's church in Lexington. The Hoods had decided to visit Berlin to see the church that their church, Faith Lutheran, sponsors. So Jim & Judy, Kathy & Henning, Jaiden, & I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The next day, Henning & I met up with Jim & Judy for a walking tour of Berlin. Henning lived in Berlin from 1975-2000, so he was an excellent tour guide when it came to answering questions & telling us about the war & the Wall. He explained how Berlin was rebuilt following the war, how he & his friends communicated with one another with the Wall still in place, & about the time when he married Kathy (1989?) & brought her to Germany to live. He showed us the Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag, the TV Tower, & several other sites in Berlin.
Brandenbur Gate
The Lutheran Church is huge!
The Reichstag Government Building
The River Memorial, recalling those victims who died trying to cross the river from East to West
Following the 3-hour tour, Henning & I went back to the apartment for lunch & a nap. Kathy & I had decided the previous night that we would go to the Anne Frank House. Lauren Covert, a Transy senior, was also in Berlin at the same time as I. She was interning with an organization whose primary goal is to encourage small businesses to come to Germany. She decided to meet us at the AF House as well. The museum itself was quite unimpressive, but the 30 minute film we watched was very well made & quite moving. We invited Lauren to dinner as we were meeting Henning's daughter Katerina & her husband Stefan & son Fynn for dinner at a Greek restaurant between the two places. Along the way, Henning pointed out holes in the sidewalk which resulted from the bombings.
Lauren & I made plans to meet up on Sunday, so after church at the American Church of Berlin, we ate brunch & walked around. She showed me these huge see-saws that were loads of fun!
Lauren on the giant See-Saw
And we also came across the mini-United Buddy Bears which represent each country in the United Nations. There are larger ones that have traveled throughout the continent & have also been auctioned for charities. We found a great little Thai restaurant for dinner that night - only spent 4 Euros!
This is the Cuban bear, complete with Cuban cigar!
By far my favorite bear - the Irish!
On Monday, I spent the morning wandering around the city. My goal was to visit 3 museums, but after 2, I had to stop! (I am not a museum person by any means.) I visited the Jewish Museum which was okay, but Lauren thinks I missed part of the exhibition & that is why I found it lacking.
The Memory Void section of the Jewish Museum
I also went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum which was overpriced & way too crowded. The museum, itself, contains loads of interesting information but is not worth the 5,50 I paid to get in as a student.
And of course I saw parts of the Berlin Wall.
Information about the Wall
A Wall Marker
I had planned on visiting the DDR Museum which documents life in the GDR, but didn't have time/feel like it by mid-afternoon. After a short nap, I met up with Lauren again. She took me to KaDeWe (pronounced Caw-Day-Vay) which is the largest department store in Europe. It was FABULOUS! The top floor is all foods & by far my favorite floor! There was fresh fish (literally, in the water), homemade pastries, chocolates, wines, (expensive) American food, & loads of other things. I bought some chocolate because it was reasonably priced, but everything else was quite expensive because it is top quality stuff. The American food was extrememly pricey as well - i.e. a box of Saltine crackers was 8,50 & a bag of Hershey's chocolate chips was 6,00! So if you want to send me any American food, I'd love it because it is so expensive here! I had my first experience with a döner which is a flat bread with chicken (or lamb), an herb sauce, salad (tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce), & feta cheese. It was huge! And so much food that I couldn't eat it all ... & all for 3,00! Then we went for ice cream. :-)
On Tuesday, my last day, Kathy wanted to take me to one of the bigger bookstores in Berlin. It had 6 floors! And I was in heaven. They even had books printed in English, so I bought 2. :-D Afterwards we went to lunch at what Jaiden called the "Butterflies," which really has dragons hanging from the trees & serves indian food. Afterwards, Henning took me to the train station to catch my train back to Otterndorf. Right at the start, they informed us that the train to Berlin would be 30 minutes late into Hamburg because they had to divert us through another city. Apparently the tracks were cut the day before! So I missed my train to Otterndorf & had to call Dagmar to let her know. I arrived an hour later than planned, but everything turned out okay in the end.
16 August 2007
The Nanny Diaries
This post begins what I jokingly call "The Nanny Diaries" though I'm not really a nanny, but a big sister to Larissa & Leena. I have been in Deutscheland more than 24 hours & have already done loads of stuff. But before I could get here, you must read about my adventures in the USA.
On Tuesday, Mom & I drove to Evansville to catch my flight. That flight took off 20 minutes late, thus landing at 1pm instead of 12:30. My flight to Munich would take off at 2:10, meaning I had an hour to get from one terminal to the next & to the ticketing counter to receive my German tickets. I flew into terminal 2, asked one of the airline workers where I had to go to catch my Lufthansa flight to Germany. The guy sent me to the international terminal 5. Well, I had to go to terminal 1! So I get to terminal 5, don't see Lufthansa ticketing anywhere & ask the welcome centre guy where it was. He informed me I was sent to the wrong place & needed to go back where I had come from! By now it is about 1:15 & I'm starting to freak out because I was supposed to meet up with Dagmar & the girls. I get back on the train to go to terminal 1. I find Lufthansa, & have to wait in line. I convince the next couple in line to let me go ahead since my flight was leaving before theirs. The Lufthansa lady was telling me I might not get on the plane because ticketing had already closed. Well, they managed to get me on. Then I had to go through security! I tried to see if they would let me cut in front of people, but the security people were not very nice at all! I managed to get my passport & boarding pass checked & beg a guy in front of me to let me go on through security since my plane was technically boarding. He does, thankfully, & off I go through. My cell phone was in my pocket & set off the alarm. So I throw it through the xray machine & get through. I then sprint down to the gate which was NOT boarding! I found Dagmar & the girls, called mom to let her know I had made it, & waited for them to call for boarding. We waited about 5 minutes & we got to pre-board (which is SO nice) since we were a party of 5 & had 2 kids under 10. Plus the plane wasn't full so I got to sit with everyone.
We managed to get to Munich a little early & had plenty of time to catch our flight to Bremen. We cleared customs perfectly though the guy interrogated Dagmar & the girls! We didn't even have to recheck our luggage; it went straight through to Bremen. In Bremen, Jurgen picked us up & we drove back to the house. At the house, we didn't even bother unpacking but took a nap. I slept from 10am to 2:30pm since I hadn't slept at all on the plane. We ate lunch - rice & a broth with sausage (I ate the broth, no sausage) - & then Dagmar & I took the girls to vaulting lessons. Afterwards we came back for dinner & then went to bed.
At 930am, I rolled out of bed & took a shower. We rode bikes down to the little grocery store to get food for lunch. After we got back, it began pouring down rain. Complete with thunder! The girls were supposed to have a riding lesson at 3, but the instructor canceled. We ended up taking the horses to the arena anyway just to ride. Dagmar had me hop on Holly (pony) first to make sure she wouldn;t try to run off with the girls since she hadn't been ridden in a month. Then we got Tabas (friesian) & I rode him while Dagmar walked with the girls. Once the girls were tired, Dagmar & I rode. She rode Tabas while I played around with Holly.
It's now a little after 5 & still pouring down rain though it comes & goes on intensity. We'll eat dinner at some point & then head to bed as I am leaving at 7am Friday to go to Berlin. I'm meeting up with Dr. Egner (Transy prof) & her husband & staying with them until Tuesday. I may meet up with Lauren Covert (TU student) over the weekend as well & go to some museums with her.
Oh & I guess you want to know the living situation. The house is a 2 storey farmhouse. It is where Jurgen grew up. His mom lives next door. The girls & I are upstairs. I have a good size room with a queen bed, dresser, tv/dvd, & desk. Dagmar's organ is up here as well as her exercise machine (it's not a bike or treadmill; not really sure what it is). I've got plenty of space though. I also have my own bathroom which is painted blue. I am at the end of the hall whereas the girls are across the hall from the bathroom in their own rooms. Larissa's is a fuschia red color & Leena's is blue with Disney Princess everywhere. Downstairs is the master bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, living room, sun room, mud room. The house connects to one of the barns so we can cut through to the stalls where the horses will spend most of the winter.
The girls are great. Hyperactive, but to be expected at that age. They're both excited about school starting soon. Leena's english is a little better than Larissa's. They get along really well too. We've already played basketball when it wasn't raining & they were great about unpacking their suitcase today. They sorted their clothes; I folded; & they put them in their dresser drawers. We also bowled last night in the hallway, which got really interesting when the ball came close to rolling down the stairs!
That's all for now. I won't have internet access while I'm in Berlin so I'll write & post pics once I return.
On Tuesday, Mom & I drove to Evansville to catch my flight. That flight took off 20 minutes late, thus landing at 1pm instead of 12:30. My flight to Munich would take off at 2:10, meaning I had an hour to get from one terminal to the next & to the ticketing counter to receive my German tickets. I flew into terminal 2, asked one of the airline workers where I had to go to catch my Lufthansa flight to Germany. The guy sent me to the international terminal 5. Well, I had to go to terminal 1! So I get to terminal 5, don't see Lufthansa ticketing anywhere & ask the welcome centre guy where it was. He informed me I was sent to the wrong place & needed to go back where I had come from! By now it is about 1:15 & I'm starting to freak out because I was supposed to meet up with Dagmar & the girls. I get back on the train to go to terminal 1. I find Lufthansa, & have to wait in line. I convince the next couple in line to let me go ahead since my flight was leaving before theirs. The Lufthansa lady was telling me I might not get on the plane because ticketing had already closed. Well, they managed to get me on. Then I had to go through security! I tried to see if they would let me cut in front of people, but the security people were not very nice at all! I managed to get my passport & boarding pass checked & beg a guy in front of me to let me go on through security since my plane was technically boarding. He does, thankfully, & off I go through. My cell phone was in my pocket & set off the alarm. So I throw it through the xray machine & get through. I then sprint down to the gate which was NOT boarding! I found Dagmar & the girls, called mom to let her know I had made it, & waited for them to call for boarding. We waited about 5 minutes & we got to pre-board (which is SO nice) since we were a party of 5 & had 2 kids under 10. Plus the plane wasn't full so I got to sit with everyone.
We managed to get to Munich a little early & had plenty of time to catch our flight to Bremen. We cleared customs perfectly though the guy interrogated Dagmar & the girls! We didn't even have to recheck our luggage; it went straight through to Bremen. In Bremen, Jurgen picked us up & we drove back to the house. At the house, we didn't even bother unpacking but took a nap. I slept from 10am to 2:30pm since I hadn't slept at all on the plane. We ate lunch - rice & a broth with sausage (I ate the broth, no sausage) - & then Dagmar & I took the girls to vaulting lessons. Afterwards we came back for dinner & then went to bed.
At 930am, I rolled out of bed & took a shower. We rode bikes down to the little grocery store to get food for lunch. After we got back, it began pouring down rain. Complete with thunder! The girls were supposed to have a riding lesson at 3, but the instructor canceled. We ended up taking the horses to the arena anyway just to ride. Dagmar had me hop on Holly (pony) first to make sure she wouldn;t try to run off with the girls since she hadn't been ridden in a month. Then we got Tabas (friesian) & I rode him while Dagmar walked with the girls. Once the girls were tired, Dagmar & I rode. She rode Tabas while I played around with Holly.
It's now a little after 5 & still pouring down rain though it comes & goes on intensity. We'll eat dinner at some point & then head to bed as I am leaving at 7am Friday to go to Berlin. I'm meeting up with Dr. Egner (Transy prof) & her husband & staying with them until Tuesday. I may meet up with Lauren Covert (TU student) over the weekend as well & go to some museums with her.
Oh & I guess you want to know the living situation. The house is a 2 storey farmhouse. It is where Jurgen grew up. His mom lives next door. The girls & I are upstairs. I have a good size room with a queen bed, dresser, tv/dvd, & desk. Dagmar's organ is up here as well as her exercise machine (it's not a bike or treadmill; not really sure what it is). I've got plenty of space though. I also have my own bathroom which is painted blue. I am at the end of the hall whereas the girls are across the hall from the bathroom in their own rooms. Larissa's is a fuschia red color & Leena's is blue with Disney Princess everywhere. Downstairs is the master bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, living room, sun room, mud room. The house connects to one of the barns so we can cut through to the stalls where the horses will spend most of the winter.
The girls are great. Hyperactive, but to be expected at that age. They're both excited about school starting soon. Leena's english is a little better than Larissa's. They get along really well too. We've already played basketball when it wasn't raining & they were great about unpacking their suitcase today. They sorted their clothes; I folded; & they put them in their dresser drawers. We also bowled last night in the hallway, which got really interesting when the ball came close to rolling down the stairs!
That's all for now. I won't have internet access while I'm in Berlin so I'll write & post pics once I return.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)