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Google Translate

2010-04-24T17:16:00.000+02:00

As we end our days in Germany, I must give praise to an indispensable tool...Google Translate. Although she mis interprets my words, and makes me lazy with my limited German, I appreciate her help with emails and letters from natives. You have might life just a little bit easier, along with all of your other internet friends. Thanks!

To see what a mediocre job these translators actually do (although, to be fair, the computer code for these things must be gigi-normous....it will be a long way until the grammatic will be perfect), check out this site, which takes something you want translated, translates it into a language, and back to english and so on and so, so after 10 languages you can see what comes out of teh translator. For instance "thank you Google translate for all of your help while we are living in Germany" becomes..."Thanks to the help of Google Translator, living in Germany". Not bad!

Clear Skies

2010-04-21T21:04:00.000+02:00

The un-pronounceable spewing Icelandic volcano changed our friend plans a bit (along with millions of other peoples plans, it was an eerie feeling not seeing or hearing any planes for 5 days), but the skies are clear now and we are in for the home stretch. Our British friends the Tomlinsons were not able to fly over last week and their re-scheduled flight was also cancelled, so we were guest less last weekend. Such a bummer too because we really were looking forward to seeing them. It so happens that our great Czech friend Radim will be around form tomorrow, until Saturday, so we are happy to have him over. One of my regrets of the last 16 months was not seeing him while we were so close.

The weather has been warm, sunny, then cold and cloudy, changing all the time...but plenty of time to get outside and ride bikes and go out on the canals. We got a few boxes packed, all of our crappy furniture is up on ebay, and now that the volcano is stopped, we should be out of here as planned, on April 30. We booked a hotel near the airport for the 28th and 29th since our apartment will be void of furniture by then, and we need to clean up the place, so that we can get our deposit back (we better!).

Happy spring time!

Be All, End All

2010-04-09T15:21:00.000+02:00

Wow, it has been awhile since I have really updated this blog. Sometimes I get so far behind that it seems like a chore to do an update. Our visitor Tyson is back in the US now, and with him, is Oskar. I cant believe we will be leaving also, in only 3 more weeks...April 30. A great friend is one who would take a dog on a 11 hour flight to Portland for us, so we are eternally grateful to Tyson for doing that. It will make our move back a lot easier, especially since we have connecting flights and Tyson's flight was direct from Amsterdam to Portland. I imagine, as I type this, that Osky is curled up, happy as can be, on my moms lap, who will watch him until we arrive. We really appreciate their help. If (when?) we do something like this again, I think the dog will stay behind, as hard as it would be to be away from him. It has really limited us in transportation, apartments, and flexibility.

Another set of friends are visiting us now, my old school friend Steev Hoang and his wife Christine. They met us in the Netherlands. We rented a house for 5 days, where we enjoyed the tranquillity of the Dutch people, bikes, and relaxation. We were in the center of Holland in a part of the country called The Veluwe... basically, a huge, old recreational forest. Bike riding is a pleasure here, as all places in this country. Good times. We brought Mayzies small bike from Hamburg, and we also have a kinder seat for the back of our bikes, so we were very portable.

Our dear friends Pauline and Roger Tomlinson will be visiting next thursday from the UK, so this will be a long stretch of visitors. We have a lot to do for the move, but I think most things are under control. We will put most of our furniture and other valuable items on Ebay, we have organized a furniture pick up for the stuff we will not sell, we cancelled the contracts for phone and TV, we got the bike boxes so we will be able to take our bikes on the plane with us, and we will book a hotel for the last 2 nights here, since our apartment will be empty. It really feels overwhelming having to move again.

Jenna has been quite the social butterfly lately, and has made some great friends over here...I am happy for her, but sad at the same time, because she has to leave them now. It always happens that when you try leaving somewhere, it starts getting really good.

Back in Portland, we will take our house from our renter on May 1, fix it up, and start working soon after. Pay off our debts and see what happens next. Focus on health, music, friends, and being outdoors. In an amazing act of kindness, Jennas parents bought us a used car so we will have some wheels upon our return. I know Mayzie is excited to see all the grandparents.

I don't think I am quite ready to sum up our time in Germany. As readers of the blog, you know that it has certainly had its ups and downs. We have had some periods of quiet lately, and it helps to put things in perspective. One thing I do know, is that I do not want to have any big plans like this for awhile. Once I make a plan in my mind, I project myself into the future, forgetting about living now, and becoming obsessed with my new goal. Just as 9-5 is a rut, so is moving every 2 years. There has to be a better way to find happiness, and I know it starts with controlling my mind, being aware, conscious of big decisions, and not pushing myself blindly. For someone who's mind is incessant, this is a tough one to control.

On a nice spring day like today, the birds chirping, the outdoor cafes are full, biergartens are open, bikes are all over, parks are buzzing, people are cheery...I know I will miss Germany, and Europe. All of life is a journey....

Tourin'

2010-03-28T21:39:00.000+02:00

Having a visitor is great. My friend Tyson is in town and we have been showing him Hamburg and the surroundings. Having no work to go to and hanging out with Mayzie after kindergarten, drinking some great German beers, riding bikes around, going to the fair, and last night we even had a babysitter and stayed out until 4am. What a concept! So its been awesome. We leave for 5 days in the forests of central Netherlands next friday, so until then, more tourin'....

Romania

2010-03-28T21:35:00.000+02:00

Spent a surreal 4 days in Bucharest and Brasov, Romania last weekend. My good friend Tyson is visiting from Portland and we traveled to Transylvania for two very special shows of our friends band, Agalloch. It was simply an amazing weekend. A land of contrasts, Romania surprised us around every corner, and was beyond any expectations we had going in. A poor, but friendly country, I am glad we checked it out.

Mayzie's New Tat

2010-03-14T14:45:00.000+01:00

sporting the local flair

I'm All Out of Love

2010-03-07T16:38:00.000+01:00

I was surprised to hear Mayzie singing this, I put this on a CD for her a few months ago! OK, now we can move onto the metal.... :)

Today We Make Wellness

2010-03-01T22:43:00.000+01:00

The swimming pools are fantastic here. It seems to be one of the main ways for Germans to un-wind, and thought and design is put into the many pools in each city. One thing in common to all German pools we have visited...changing areas and lockers are tricky. Once you learn how the lockers and changing rooms work, they are comfortable places to visit, but its easy to get tripped up when trying to figure these things out. Unwittingly walking into the womens room or being unable to find your locker, is a common occurence to begin with. Now, I see the odd lost foreigner and sympathize..."we've all been there, dude".

We are lucky to have a beautiful pool (Holthusenbad) at Kellinghusenstrasse, a couple stops down the road on the tram. It was built easily over 100 years ago and contains a wave pool, a kids pool, an outdoor pool, and 3 large temperate pools, all within a historic cavernouse building. Sitting in a huge, bubbly hot pool, looking up through the ceiling of glass, to teh skies above, is a truly relaxing experience. One of the hot pools has built in seats to lay back in. Mayzie loves the wave pool and all the hot water pools, too. She is so cute with her floaty ring, swimming around, little miss independent. She was a good sport and agreed to go into the REALLY COLD pool, because I promised her a gummy bear treat. She would do anything for those, but she was sooo mad at me for putting her in there. I reminded her of her treat and she was fine. The health benefits of the cold to hot transition fell on her deaf ears.

The outdoor pool is great, too. The girls lasted 30 seconds, but at least they tried. Luke warm water, under the grey, drizzly skies of Hamburg. Its a refreshing change to teh chlorine soaked air inside. Woodsmoke and crisp air while swimming in winter time. Nice.

**You see this word "wellness" at the pools over here. Seems an odd english word choice, but I like it. I think they mean "health". I was joking with Jenna that maybe they put the German word for "health" (Gesundheit?) into google translate and "wellness" popped out, so they used that.

Snowblind

2010-02-14T12:17:00.000+01:00

OK, this is getting ridiculous. It has been snowing and freezing cold every day since December 18. Worst winter in 30 years, etc etc. Cant believe it. One day you think thats the end and boom it snows again overnight. I used to fancy the idea of living in the Arctic for 1 year, to experience the whole extreme daylight/darkness, but I know it would be tons worst than this, and I can barely handle being stuck inside this much. No parks, no throwing the ball for Osky, no bike riding. Been playing lots of card games, and watching movies, so its not all bad. Heading to the pool today. Also, being forced to focus on mind and soul has been a real blessing for us. We have been eating alot better lately and we are grateful to have the time to focus on our health...it's a lot easier to do it now before we become very busy again in the spring, and when we get home.

Outside is literally treacherous...they are pretty good about clearing the sidewalks, but they become very slippery quickly. I fell last weekend on my tooshy and elbow. Ice is not soft haha. Yesterday we walked across the frozen lake in Stadtpark. It was like eating frog or horse--it didn't taste very different, but it felt strange because you knew what was underneath. The inner fear is a product of all that Rescue 911 I used to watch, seeing them save kids that fell through the ice, or when George Bailly's brother Harry fell through it in Its A Wonderful Life. Plus, I am a big boy, so I expected the ice to break at any moment. I heard that some guy drove his Land Rover across the ice last week, so its pretty thick. Needless to say, Jenna had nothing to do with walking on the ice. There is a fine line between sensible and fearful and I stray towards the stupid side haha.

All together now.."keinen Schnee mehr!"

Falling Snow

2010-01-30T23:20:00.000+01:00

Lots of snow as of late...the canals and lakes are all frozen over, inviting us to partake in some ice lake walking. Here are some recent pics.......

clearing the ice for some skating

We did go bowling one day..it was just like being in the US (actually the place is called US Play!)....lanes, hot dogs, everything looked exactly like home.

I Am the Egg Man

2010-01-21T19:45:00.000+01:00

A man wants to buy a couple eggs for his breakfast. He walks to the Lebensmittel for 2 eggs. They have beautiful eggs there. The egg lady at the store asks him if he wants to pay now, or pay later, since he is a regular, and they know him. The man has no cash on him, so he will pay later. "Please send the bill to my home on Ludwigstrasse", says the man, joyfully. "Ok, no problem, have a nice day!" says the egg lady. The man enjoys a plentiful egg breakfast. Three weeks later, a bill arrives to the mans house on Ludwigstrasse. The bill states that the man owes the Lebensmittel for 200 eggs. "Oh dear", says the man. "I must go back to the egg lady and clarify this mistake." So, the man walks back to the store and approaches the egg lady. "Hi!It says here that I had ordered from you 200 eggs, three weeks ago", the man says with a chuckle. The egg lady answers sternly, "yes, that is right." The man says, astonished, but in a friendly tone, "No, that is not right, I ordered and received TWO eggs from you, not TWO HUNDRED!" The egg lady again looks at the paper, with mild annoyance as a line of customers is building up behind the man. "No, it says right here that you ordered 200 eggs, that is how much you owe us for." The man is getting more annoyed now. "But how can one person eat 200 eggs in one day?" The egg lady looks at the paper, not at the mans face. "I dont know. It says here that you had 200 eggs, so that is that." The man..."but dont you think you would remember me coming in here and ordering 200 eggs? That is a huge order!" The egg lady is very calm, staring at the paper "I dont know, sir, it says that you ate 200 eggs, the paper says so, right here. So that is all I know of the matter." The man storms off in disgust.

Such is business in Germany, where the paper is mightier than common sense.

Snow Daze

2010-01-17T19:54:00.000+01:00

It has basically snowed everyday since the new year. And damn cold, too. Today we got another couple centimeters. Its fun to see kids on their sleds being pulled by the parents on the way to school, and the cars slipping around. We haven't dared take out or bald tire car. A guy at work told me that not having winter tires over here is illegal and if you get in an accident, even if it wasn't your fault, you could be held liable. So we better wait until it melts. I haven't seen chains out here, only winter tires and lots of salt and grit on the streets.

So, we have retreated indoors basically. Bike riding is a no-no in the ice and Mayzie does not last long walking out there. Oskar pees within inches of the door and hastily retreats inside. Today we went to the nearby indoor playground, and we have been to the pool a few times. We found a most excellent pool that has an amazing kids area sculpted out of concrete to look like a jungle. Waterfall, dinosaurs, some nice slides, a cave with rain coming down from the ceiling and lots of nooks and cranny's. Mayzie loves that one. Other than that, Mayzie is addicted to the card game UNO, so we play that every night. Its fun being able to play her in a game and not have to let her win, or hold back because I don't want to beat her so bad haha. She really knows how to play.

Not too much else going on...hope the start of everyones new year is going well. We booked our flights home--April 30. Another transition, but the right one for us as of now.

2010!

2010-01-03T17:11:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year to all from Germany. The fireworks displayed around our apartment were a sight to behold... seemed like everyone around us had personal arsenals of very large, illegal-in-the US, bombs, bottle rockets, fountains, and very loud swirly things. It felt like the London Blitz here and we even had some close calls...one joker let off a bottle rocket sideways and it hit the bottom of our window...directly under where I was standing and watching the spectacle. It was crazy loud and it felt lawless..I think the the only time in Germany I have ever felt that way.

So we brought in 2010 in front of our TV and our heads out the window, just me and Jenna... Mayzie was passed out. Looking forward to a great year, and we are looking forward to seeing many of you guys. It will be a year to concentrate on friends and family and relationships and body, working through all the (my) cobwebs and demons! Thanks again for reading!

Peace

Nick and Jenna and Mayzie and silly ol Osky back there in the back

2009

2009-12-31T16:21:00.000+01:00

Looking upward to 2010

Now that was a crazy year. I was unsure of how to write about 2009—I could easily complain about all the crap that we went through in Germany, or I could write about all the great stuff we have done, how much we have learned. I think the best way to sum up the year would be to give a little of both sides.

There is no doubt this has been the hardest year for me and Jenna in our 15 years together. It is strange to say that, because one of my long time goals and dreams came true this year—living in Germany. But that is the root of the problem, it was MY goal, and sure, of course, Jenna wanted to come along and experience it, but we diverged from helping get her closer to her goals, instead moving further away from them. We spent way too much money and time trying to adjust to life over here, and in the process we discovered that it was not the place for us.

I had envisioned that Germany would lead us closer to where we wanted to be in our lives—a more relaxed society, where people take public transport, and shop locally, and are aware of the outside world, and appreciate and value non-working time more. Basically, we would experience a better quality of life and live like a European. I dreamed of us being comfortable here, settling in, and staying for multiple years, maybe even long enough to get a passport-- the greatest gift we could ever give to Mayzie. I thought I was more European than American.

I was wrong. In the process of discovering the errors of my ways, I have hurt us financially, and certainly emotionally. In hindsight, I pushed too hard getting us here, pushing too hard to get us out of our comfort zone, and this is what happens when you force change upon yourself, rather than going with the flow. My need for travel and “excitement” has evolved from a passion, to an obsession, and the result has been not thoroughly thinking through important decisions. We are now in debt, have no money to travel like we wanted to do (actually, the main reason we wanted to live in Germany), and are not living in the present…we are looking forward to getting home to Portland, so that we can get back on track in all ways.

But, as readers of the blog, you know that it wasn’t all that bad. Without this being a recap of the last year…I am grateful for the chance to learn a new language, meet people that have never met Americans before, and live in 2 completely different German cities. I am grateful for the bike riding opportunities, the busses, the trains, the autobahn, the cheap beer, and the amazing and atmospheric architecture surrounding us on all sides. I am most proud of this opportunity for Mayzie—she really has grown to be a smart, observant, and confident little girl. The way she interacts with her German classmates and teachers is precious. I am very thankful for learning and integrating into a culture I thought I knew before, but really had no clue whatsoever about. It has opened our eyes to what we want in our lives and how to get there more efficiently.

Lots of things surprised us about Germany…the people, the language, the bureaucracy, the working environment, the attitudes. There are some great things about Germany and some things that irritate me so much I don’t even want to think about them. Same as everywhere, I suppose.

I am worried about going home. Its earlier than I hoped, and I am concerned that we won’t find the quality of schooling around our area for Mayzie, as we have in Hamburg. I am concerned about working too much and not having any vacation time. About getting into a rut. But I have always worried about these things, and this is the part I need to realize…these things will never happen to me, no matter where I live. For us right now, the benefits of going home outweigh these silly negatives. My neurosis are the only things holding us back. Friends and family are more important to me than I ever realized.

So we are coming back to Portland, to our house, in spring 2010. No plane tickets booked yet, but very soon. Of course, the blog will continue, so I hope I can keep some of you as readers about the goings on of We Three Wusz… (but it wont be nearly as exciting haha).

We have no regrets, we tried our best to make this work, but I would certainly do some things differently next time.

2009 was interesting to say the least. I am stoked that we have 4 more months over here and then we will re- group, re-focus, and move on with our lives…who knows where or when or what will happen. That’s the best part. Prost!

The German DMV

2009-12-29T15:07:00.000+01:00

The US DMV is a complicated place full of disgruntled employees and impatient people. The German one is not much different at all. We visited the LBV (Landesbetrieb Verkehr) today to update our license plates on our car to Hamburg plates (we still had the Stuttgart ones on there). Every time you move to a new county you need to get new plates. It was a pretty efficient place. First step is take a number and wait...we waited 10 minutes or so. Then we were called up, presented all the paperwork necessary (any missing documents and you would be told to come back...we had to show house registration, car registration, proof of insurance, some weird car documents, the emission documents), showed them our old plates (which we had to take off our car and present to the lady), pay her for the registration fee (28 euros), she gave us our new license plate number, and she charaded to us (no english, and we dont speak car German), where to go next...to get the new plates. There are 4 or 5 businesses surrounding the DMV buildings that make your plates for you. We chose one at random (are they any different to eachother???), and got our new plates made...(20 euro for front and back plates). Little feeder businesses. So, new plates in hand, back into the main building. This was the strangest part. After asking a few strangers what to do, we were told we needed to take our old plates to 2 table drills sitting in the corner. There, you take your old plates and use the power drill to scratch and drill at the plate, so that the old registration is taken off the plate. This is so that someone cannot use your plate again, since it was still valid. Felt very strange to be using power tools in a government building like this....I took the picture while Jenna risked metal shards in her arm haha...

With our demarked plates and our new plates, we marched back up to another window upstairs and the lady inspected our drill job and put new stickers on the new plates. And we were done. Took about 1 hour total. Not bad.

While we were at the license plate makers, I had them make another plate for me....

Stolpersteine

2009-12-29T14:43:00.000+01:00

When walking around Hamburg, chances are pretty good that you will come across little square gold blocks. It is easy to miss them, but once I figured out what they were, we started seeing them all over. These are called Stolpersteine (I had to google this, its an expression meaning stumbling blocks, or obstacles), and are the work of a German artisit. Each block commemorates a Jewish person that lived at a house, or what used to be a house, in front of the block during WWII. The one I took a picture of shows that a family named Bezen lived here, and when they were born, when they were deported from Germany, where they ended up (Lodz was a concentration camp in Poland), and what happened to them ("murdered"). Crazy.

Frohe Weihnachten

2009-12-24T19:14:00.000+01:00

Hope you all have some good holidays. The streets are quiet, and all is dark, time to sit around and eat some food!

BONUS!!!! For your listening pleasure, I present you with 2 very limited and special offerings from the Nick and Mayzie Wusz Experience christmas album entitled "Morning Star? What the Heck is That?" First up, is the long lasting holiday favorite Jingle Bells....

And next up is a German favorite, which Mayzie calls "Tanya Baum"...

Look for our CD release sometime in the next decade...

Love Nick, Jenna, Mayzie, and good ol Oskar!

Christmas in Hamburg

2009-12-20T17:41:00.000+01:00

I am off work now until January 5...feels good to relax and sleep in. No plans for the next two weeks, just some day trips and hanging out around Hamburg. It is very very cold today, and snowing non-stop...I think it was -1deg F and the wind is blowing, too...so any adventures outside are short lived. We still have managed Christmas markets and playing in the park. Oskar the dog cant handle the snow, he ends up shivering uncontrollably after a few minutes, poor little guy. So he poops and pees RIGHT OUTSIDE the door and books it back in. The atmosphere and non-commercialization of christmas is a relief, although for my Polish workmate, he was complaining about how consumerism is thrown in your face over here, but I was quick to tell him this is nothing compared to the US. That is interesting. The outdoor markets, alcohol in the street, smell of fresh roasted nuts, and walkability of the city all make it for a unique experience. Although it gets dark at 4:30, I really think this is the best season to visit Germany...though it is hard to justify a cold place for vacation when we live in a cold place at home, but still.

For proof that we are off our rockers and into this christmas more than any other (maybe this also has to do with Mayzie's first awareness of the holiday)...here are some pics of our flat, plus some others from around town.

Our lil xmas tree

Advent wreath...you light a candle for each week before xmas (please forgive me if this is super obvious to most of you, I am a xmas decorating amateur)

Jenna bought this wooden man from a xmas market...after placing a incense cone in his lower half, the smoke travels up and out through his mouth.

Can you see the smoke?

My polish friend Tomas.

Hamburg Rathaus in the snow...

Jenna with her favorite xmas drink, the Feuerzangenbowle.

Curry wurst and ice, what a combo.

Hamburg Christmas Markets: Ganzemarkt

2009-12-12T14:24:00.000+01:00

This market is great, just outside the center of town....smaller, less crowded, and they had Feuerzangenbowle....a gluhwein drink that has rum added, which has been filtered through a big chunk of sugar. It is served in ceramic, handle-less mugs. A more traditional drink, it is much smoother than gluhwein, and tastes perfect on cold, wet nights like we have been having. A perfect accompaniment to the drink are some Schmalzkuchen...basically fresh, hot powdered donuts. Oh man.

German "Efficiency"

2009-12-11T21:11:00.000+01:00

Sure, the trains run on time, everything is orderly, but people here are used to waiting for things to get done, which is fine, but it seems that the their threshold for waiting times far exceeds my threshold. Is patience really a virtue? Also, this attitude is inconsistent. I am still confused, so this post might make no sense at all.

At work, at the Arbeitsamt (work permit office), at the Auslandsamt (foreigners office), bank, post office, things take a ridiculous amount of time. Processing, obtaining a receipt, paying, and book keeping are all done with annoying meticulous-ness. You would think that people would be more pissed off, but it is me, the "mellow American" that gets mad and frustrated, while the German throws up his hands, shakes his head, and says, "well, thats just the way it is" when things do not go smoothly. But, on the other hand, you have people huffing and puffing in line behind you, as you are doing a very normal transaction on an ATM, or glancing nervously at their watch if the train is 1 minute late, or yelling at you if you cross the street on on a red. See---it is confusing!

Here is an example of the "thats just the way it is" mentality. At work, we need to do some online training for a new software package being introduced at the beginning of next year. The training is supposed to take place Dec 10. Of course, you need a login and password to access the training materials. According to Airbus, it should take up to 3 days to be granted access. Knowing that 3 Airbus days is more like 21 real days, I applied 3 weeks in advance. A week before the training course, I emailed the password people, and they said all is in order, you will have the login in the next few days. OK, so I wait a few days, and then I email back..."I need the login access by Thursday". The reply back--"If you dont have access by friday, then let us know." Thanks for that! So Dec 10 came and went, no access. Just waiting. Perfectly normal!?!

I think that people over here think they have no control over government and beuracracy, so thats where the "thats just the way it is" attitude comes from. But in their own personal life, on the street, on the train, in the bus, they try and maintain control, which is not always possible. This leads to becoming laughably upset over the slightest detour in their plans, and being wary of any slight sponteneity that may occur. In the US, if we dont like something, we become vocal, we complain about it, even if its with the government, or at the bank--places where we are not in control. It feels like maybe our vocalizations will change something, and sometimes it does (maybe that is an illusion of freedom? To think we have control ...ie the government, when really, we don't?)---you might get re-imburesed at the bank for some crazy charges. But this wont happen over here. You are on your own when it comes to beauracracy, because the Germans have put faith that someone smarter, higher up, has figured it out for you. So its your fault if something goes wrong. Or they are seemingly not caring about your problem, assuming that it is you that screwed up, Not them. "Thats just the way it is". Suck it up, weakling!

I wouldnt survive the beuracracy in an island nation, or in Cambodia, or in Egypt, where, from experience, things REALLY happen slowly...my blood would boil over day one. I guess if you are an expat in these countries, there is someone, a local, who takes care of all the business stuff for you. Or maybe I am fragile. Luckily alcohol, pretzels, and candy are cheap over here...I can forget about all this stuff very easily...German distractions :)

Wusz Archives: What was it like before HER

2009-12-08T20:51:00.000+01:00

Jenna came across this today. I wrote this in February 2006, after having Mayzie for only a few months...a good read, and everything in there is still relavent...nice to know I havent changed ONE LITTLE BIT in almost 4 years! Sad but true :)

http://bozoville.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-was-it-like-before-her.html

Hamburg Christmas Markets: Luneburg

2009-12-02T11:42:00.000+01:00

Thirty minutes by train, is the old medieval town of Luneburg. We took a day trip out here in August sometime, when it was pouring rain, but this time we timed it right with a beautiful winters day. This whole town is basically a Christmas market. In the beautiful medieval town square is where the main market is, but along the narrow side streets are other small markets, gluhwein stalls, and small, animated Fairy tale displays for kids. By the time it got dark, it truly was a magical place, something like you think Old Germany must have been like. Car free, atmosphere every corner, beautiful colored lights, churches and town squares shining, like something you would imagine in Brothers Grimm stories. Pauline Tomlinson was with us, and I am glad to have experienced this with her...we almost talked ourselves out of going out here, since we were tired and the forecast was rain.

We had some gluhweins, an obscene amount of christmas goodies (a nutella filled waffle pocket, roasted nuts, gummy coins etc etc etc), and the ladies enjoyed hot cocoa and coffee, while I had a beer at a local brewery. We also tried the Eier Punsch (egg nog with rum of course), but none of us could drink that...too rich and thick and chewy and sweet...uugggh....EGGS.

Hamburg Christmas Markets: Jungfersteig

2009-12-02T11:20:00.000+01:00

Just around the corner from the Rathaus is another Christmas market, at Jungfersteig, which is the area right along the Alster lake in central Hamburg. The market is more modern, with modern tents instead of wooden sheds holding all the stalls. There is less crowds here, and more room to spread out. Right now, this city at night is when it is at its most beautiful. Most main streets are lit up and inviting, which is important in the cold, dreary, rainy days we have been having. Feels good to be here at this time of year, and after a few more gluhweins down the gullet(you tired of me talking about this yet?), I really appreciate Hamburg.

Hamburg Christmas Markets: Rathaus

2009-12-02T11:10:00.000+01:00

The markets have all opened now, and we are thoroughly enjoying them. The atmosphere at the markets is quite remarkable, even I can get into Christmas like this. Wreath-decorated stalls selling everything from wooden craft toys, glassware, decorations, candy, holiday treats, sausages, and of course gluhwein, the staple of German christmas--hot spiced red wine. All of this under the shadow of medieval buildings and above the cobblestone of the market square. The Rathaus (town hall) is the most classic of the Christmas markets around here, with workers dressed up in their traditional garb, spreading their holiday cheer by taking your money. There are carollers, and huge christmas trees, and rides for the kids. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially after a few gluhweins.

More Biking With Mayzie

2009-11-14T21:22:00.000+01:00

I know, I know...more bike videos? But this is a good one, taken at Stadt Park a couple of weeks ago. Mayzie is progressing like a champ...

Patriotism

2009-11-14T20:34:00.000+01:00

Because of Germany's recent past (that whole war thing), showing any outward signs of patriotism is not something you see anywhere. I am sure it is frowned upon by the current government, for the obvious reasons. But patriotism is shown in different ways, not in the flag flying, pledge your allegiance chanting, QVC selling crap flag pillows, etc etc that we see in America. One way Germans show patriotism is in their cars. Seeing a non-German made vehicle is rare. Its their flag, saying "We are German, and proud". In America, you see US flag magnets on a Toyota. In Germany, the car is the flag. Another way is the whole following of rules thing, the orderly, law abiding way that things are done over here. This makes them very proud, and I know that this is a sign of patriotism, because they know that no other country in this world waits at the red crossing light when there are absolutely no other cars around.

Trailer Hitches

2009-11-14T20:22:00.000+01:00

Back home, it seemed that mostly trucks and larger vehicles had trailer hitches installed. Not over here...they are dime a dozen, on the smallest cars. It is crazy seeing a (what we would consider) smallish vehicle, towing a big ass trailer...check it out...

Advent Calenders

2009-11-14T20:15:00.000+01:00

Sure, we have some Advent calenders back in the states...each day in December the kiddies get a lil treat out of the flap on the box. But over here, they are crazy about these calenders...there are Lego toys for every day, Star Wars themed toys for every day, some with candy, of course, but many have toys and even health and beauty products?!? There is one with little alcohol samples in each day. Classic! Weird, but cool....we got Mayzie a Playmobil one, with little figures and trees and squirrels and stuff (shhh dont tell her, its not been unveiled yet!).

Hamburger Dom

2009-11-14T19:17:00.000+01:00

Hamburg's winter festival is in full effect from November 6-December 6, filling in the cold rainy days until the xmas markets start at the end of November. It is normal German festival fare--pickle stands, corn on the cob, bumper cars, beer tents, crazy amounts of candy and fun foods, wursts of all kinds. The regional differences are more fish stands up here, and the seasonal differences are Gluhwein...basically hot red wine mixed with rum, served in a ceramic cup. It tastes really good on a cold night like we had when we went to the Dom. We hit the ferris wheel, all the small kid rides (no teacups for me), and had some beer and German quick food like the fish sandwiches and XXL Wurst in bread. Not a bad night! Wednesdays are family night, so some things are cheaper, so we will go again, I am sure, before the thing ends. Mayzie loved it! It is merely 8 quick stops on the U-bahn from our house, too, so its easy to get to.

Schön Wochenende

2009-11-08T16:51:00.000+01:00

Well, it's 4:30pm and dark already...a cold, mellow weekend in Hamburg. We explored the area by bike for a few hours today and are now at home, staying warm and relaxing. Mayzie is awesome on her bike...we rode for quite a distance today and she hung in the whole way. We tired her out big time, because she is zoned out on Scooby Doo (thanks to the english cable tv package we now have! We have BBC, National Geographic, and even ESPN...wow, the novelty of it all!)

Things have certainly calmed down and having a patch of smooth sailing has been a relief. Everything is stable, a feeling we have not had in quite some time. Job is good, Mayzie's kindergarten is good, our apartment is great, and Jenna has been quite the social butterfly...hanging out with at least 3 different people each week. All ladies she has met through the American Womens Club. (I must say that this is against her nature, to seek out Americans to hang out with, but becoming friends with locals has been difficult and we are just trying to enjoy our time here, to make it as easy as possible...so forget all that.)

Because of barely scraping by with money, we have no travel plans right now. We are looking forward to the christmas markets and endless holiday activities around here. Mayzie's kindergarten had a lantern festival on friday. We are not sure what the symbolism is, but all the kids made lanterns at school and walked around the neighborhood, singing and swinging the lanterns. Pretty cool experience. Especially seeing Mayzie sing all these German songs. She has learned alot of the language, more than we have!

So life is good over here...actually having some moments to read, relax, and focus more on things besides all the BS that has been distracting us from enjoying our time over here. Is that vague? :) Otherwise, I would write 4 times more than what is on here. For all the regular readers, I guess there is still something to talk about, whenever we see you again.

"American" items

2009-11-04T21:44:00.003+01:00

Here is American pizza...

McEnnedy's! And guess what type of bread is American bread? Yup, pure white sliced wonder style bread. SAD.

This leads to a discussion of some interesting topics. Because of the media coverage of the US and all the movies and crap sitcoms that come from the US and are shown over here, many people that have never visited the US have a vision and knowledge of the states that is slightly skewed. Of course, their vision is stereotypical and really has no basis on the realities of how normal people are living. But isn't that what we do with countries we don't know about, but hear alot about in the news--mainly Middle East? Its a huge relief to travel and realize that the stuff you thought you knew was all misconceptions, that people are basically the same...we all want the same things and are good hearted. Travelling and exploring this world is a great pleasure, and if we let the news and media dictate where we should go, than we would all stay home in fear. And we would think Americans love white bread and McDonalds....well, maybe we do?!

Halloween German style

2009-11-04T21:34:00.002+01:00

Here was Mayzie's costume...Scooby!

Halloween is a young holiday over here. The commercialization of the holiday is nothing...basically you would not be aware of the day unless you saw the few kids wandering around the streets, asking bakeries, grocery stores, fruit stores, and any store that is open for some candy. Kids didn't really have costumes...mostly face paint and some Scream masks every now and then. It was weird and awkward, walking down the street at 7pm, hardly a dressed up kid around, walking up to the counter of a bakery and not knowing the german phrase for Trick or Treat, but them not caring, handing over a lollipop. We are surrounded by apartment blocks, so it would be silly to ask the guy on the 5th floor to come down and give some candy...I guess thats why only the stores were handing out.

There will be bigger and better Halloweens in the future, Mayzie, dont worry!

England - Our Second Home

2009-10-29T20:27:00.006+01:00

Went over to dear old Blighty for a week. We underestimated the impact of arriving in our first english speaking country in almost 11 months. It was great to speak with anyone and everyone...I chatted up strangers and was able to read signs and we just felt very relaxed and easy, not having to worry about struggling through purchases, able to ask directions, played with kids in the park, and to speak at a fast pace...it felt like a weight off of our shoulders. Mayzie would look at us numerous times, in astonishmenet, with her eyes big ..."Nick, Nick...they are speaking English!" "Yeah, I know Mayzie...you can say whatever you want over here, and they will know what you are talking about!" What a novelty. When we lived here, I remember being a little shy about my american accent, but now, it doesnt matter...you speak my langauge!

Another shock were the prices...the pound to the euro is almost at 1 to 1, so things were a bargain. I didnt think I would ever say that London was cheap, but it was for us on this trip...we had lunches, dinners, had beers, and bought stuff, without even breaking the bank, which wouldnt happen in the past. Its good to be on the euro right now.

We spent 3 days in London and 4 days in the Midlands, where we attended a wedding of our old friend Mike Tomlinson, whom our family have known since I was like 7 years old...we met the Tomlinsons in Singapore back in the day and have stayed in touch all these years, visiting eachother many times....the Tomlinsons are our second family at this point. Our days in London were great..we stayed with our friend Megan (Jenna nursed with her in London) and her 2 kids Ollie (5.5 years old) and Sebastian (1.5). Mayzie and Ollie got along marvelously...it was really great seeing Mayzie talk to another kid with confidence, singing together, sharing, and conversing, all in a language Mayzie can understand. We went to the park, watched some british cartoons, went into London on the double decker busses, on the tube, and to the Tate Modern, one of our favorite museums. We all felt very comfortable in London, and hardly needed the map...guess my London skills havent deteriorated too much. The city is alive and fun, and overly crowded and congested...but very vibrant. Megan cooked us some fabulous meals, and we really just hung out with the kids. I think they will remember eachother for a long time. Thank you Megan, for your wonderful hospitality..she even let us go out after the kids went to bed. We headed for one of our all time favorite pubs, the Jeruselem Tavern....a classic old, weathered, wooden London pub. Also, spent an evening with my old friend Trevor Earis, and his family...great to see them as always.

Train up to Birmingham...it was non stop socializing. As soon as we arrived, we had lunch with Pauline and Rogers friends and family, whom we have not seen in 5 years. It was good to catch up with everyone. The wedding was held in a church in Cheltenham, 45 mins south of Solihull, where the Tomlinsons live. A very british church wedding..traditional and very well organized. The reception was in an old pub called the Green Dragon. This place was beautiful..up in the Cotswalds, greenery all around, and with the changing colors of the trees, made for a fantastic setting. Had some real ales, some good food and socialized. There was only one other kid there, a 9 year old, who graciously played with Mayzie for many hours, thankfully, so mommy and daddy can get their drink on. Good times.

It was an exhausting trip, and again, one in which we are grateful to Mayzie for letting us drag her around...planes, trains, automobiles, pubs, meals, weddings...all adult things, but she managed very well. In a mad rush at Euston station, trying to get to the tube, she actually fell down some stairs...people all around, crying her head off...poor baby. We push her pretty hard.

In hindsight, maybe We should have moved to England...things would have been alot easier for us. But we wouldnt have known this, of course, unless we moved to Germany. I wouldnt be surprised if we end up there again in the future. We truly love british people (especially the Tomlinsons!), their humor, their music, the scenery, and of course the pubs. There were some things that surprised us, though, in comparison to Germany. The most for me, was how difficult it is for bikes in the UK...there really are very sad attempts at bike lanes and infrastructure is non existant. There seems to be alot more people there, and things are crowded all over. Mayzies kindergarten in Hamburg would blow parents away over in England...that is one thing the Germans have done very very well. So, it is not perfect, but would have been drastically less stressful for us.

England will always be there (until 2012 at least haha).

Großheidestraße 9

2009-10-17T18:48:00.001+02:00

Here it is, the video of our new place....

Training Wheels are for 3 year olds.

2009-10-11T17:41:00.003+02:00

Big day today! It took about an hour, but Mayzie's first tries without training wheels were a great success....she is a natural!

Back Where He Belongs

2009-10-08T23:36:00.004+02:00

Osky is back! He is fatter and his skin is shinier...guess we were starving the poor guy. They were feeding him soft dog food, which we never did, and it looks like he didn't get much exercise. Back to starvation and running, for you, Osky! (and abuse haha)

Falls Firm Grip or Rocktober

2009-10-07T21:51:00.004+02:00

The seasons have changed quickly it seems, and it is cold and rainy now. We are moved into our new apartment! Damn, that was a huge push...here is the address and the map.

View Larger Map
So write us a letter, because we are not going ANYWHERE else for awhile. So tired of moving, it is ridiculous. The next move we make will be home.

Mayzie turned 4 on the 1st of October! Which also happened to be one of the busiest days of our lives--movers came with all of our furniture, Mayzie's first day at her new kindergarten, Oskar was returned to us, and it was our first day at our new place. So, she had a crappy birthday. We had some cake, and she got a new scooter, which she loves...

Mayzie is sick with a cold and cough now, and has not had a full day at her new kindergarten yet...hopefully by next week, she will be back in business. The kindergarten that we got her into is directly kitty corner from our apartment, and we can see her playing in the garden at the place. Its a great kindergarten and we are stoked that it is so close. There is a british kid in her class, and they have been playing together, so that makes things easier. Hope she gets well quick so she can become good friends.

Not too much else going on, just trying to get our new place organized and up and running. The location is awesome...inner city life. Restaurants and busses and grocery stores and canals and everything is directly at our doorstep. We are happy to be here right now.

Just a quick update....hope all is good in your lives...

Sehr Billig or Hurry up and Pay Us. NOW!

2009-09-26T22:28:00.003+02:00

In a land of taxes, fees, deposits, and fines, it is nice to know a few things are cheap here in Germany. Here is the list so far:

1. Beer (50cents a half liter bottle, on average)

2. Ice Cream (70 cents a scoop with cone)

3. Car vacuum at gas station (50 cents for 5 minutes, at least)

A good example of the illogical way that things are done here is the apartment deposit (or kaution as they say here, but I say "caution" as in "watch out, these bastards are going to screw you!"). When we moved to our apartment in Tamm, we needed to pay 2 months deposit, which was 1700euro. They were very antsy and pressuring us to give the money to them ASAP. "Where is the money". Ok, here is your deposit money. Now, flash forward to the present. We have been out of the apartment since August 9. Where is our deposit now that we moved out? I have to pull teeth to get anything from them. Then when I do bother them about it, we get the answer that it is standard in Germany to give back half of the deposit right away (we still do not have it, and it is almost October), and give back half when all of the bills have come through--AT THE END OF THE YEAR, or even later. They are telling me, late January, for the second half of the deposit. IN the meantime, our new apartment needs 3 months deposit, or 2034euro! So we are waiting waiting for the half of the old deposit to be returned to us, and then we have to scrounge money together for the rest, to make the 2034euro, all this by October 1. YOU JERKS. "Thats standard procedure in Germany". Whatever.

So we take anything cheap that we can get over here. Thats my rant for the day.

Groningen, Netherlands

2009-09-26T21:57:00.007+02:00

We rented a house in Groningen, at the very north of Holland, a mere 3 hour drive from Hamburg. 5 days of relaxation and bikes. Basically that is it. We were lucky to have scored a rental house, just outside of the city, in a overgrown bamboo and palm tree laden yard. It felt like being in Thailand, it was so green and lush. The house itself was like a cabin, plenty of room for the 3 of us, recycled wood look, stone floors, it was really a cool place, and somewhere we will return again.

Groningen is a college town and is home to the highest rate of cycle use in the western world. Over 60% of all trips are taken by bikes here. It was scary and breathtaking and awe inspiring all the same time. We had ridden in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities before, but this was insane. At one point, we were in the 5pm rush hour near the city center, and we had to wait for a two cycles of the lights to turn before it was our turn to go through. Takes alot of balls and guts to get used to the crowds and the speeds of the cyclers. A couple times, we stopped and just watched the variety of people on bikes...young, old, fat, small, tall...everyone rides a bike, and the infrastructure can handle all of the traffic. The train station had 3 floors of bike parking, which each floor was double decked. Bikes rule this place, and trying to drive, or even walk anywhere is a challenge, because you have to be constantly aware of bike paths and people whizzing by. One thing we learned very quickly was that busses do not stop at a crosswalk, I was almost hit as I triued to cross...in Germany all drivers yield to cyclists. But in Groningen, if the busses were to stop for cyclists crossing, they would never get to their destination on time...there are so many of them, they would just sit there.

The house had 4 bikes for us to use, but I wanted to rent a bakfiets again, so we did that. This time it was a 3 wheeled bakfiets. Mayzie loved it, and we cruised out to the countryside and through the city, very slowly. The ride from our house to the city was through a beautiful, peaceful park. All is flat. Everytime I go to Holland I want to move there...it is a place I could enjoy and be happy for awhile. People actually said Hi to us on the street, on the bikes. The quality of life ooozes goodness here. The TV is even in English, which was a nice, since we do not watch TV in Germany at all. We watched some movies commercial free and even Little House on the Prairie. Damn you Germany and your over- dubbing!

Cantillon Brewery, Brussels

2009-09-26T21:30:00.005+02:00

On the way out of Ghent, we drove into Brussels, which I do not recommend (the driving part). I had no idea the Cantillon Brewery would be right in the middle of the city, but after learning that it is over 100 years old and is the last traditional brewery in the city, of course it is close in. Luckily, we had our navigator get us there without too many troubles. We were freaking out trying to drive among the chaotic traffic and one way streets, at the same time tripping out on the diversity on the street. Felt more like Italy...the dilapidated buildings, the ignoring of traffic laws, and the store fronts, displaying goods from all over. Makes sense, since near by Antwerp is a majorly huge port city. Lots of people from the Congo. We got a parking spot right near the brewery and wandered in.

"Traditional", in regards to brewing in Belgium, means that the beers are spontaneously fermented...meaning that the beer is left open in a room, in winter, and wild yeast from the air lands on the beer and ferments it. This creates a style of beer called Lambic--a tart, sour beer that takes some getting used to. From the lambic that is brewed, a few different years are mixed together and re-ferments in the bottle, creating a style of beer called Gueze. Cherries are added to the Lambic, to create a Kreik beer. Cantillon brewery continues to make the best, and most authentic versions of these beers in their old building. We had the pleasure to tour the building and try some samples. These beers are special, and the equipmnt that is still in use, is ancient, wooden, and run by hand. This is a beer mecca, up there with Guiness in Dublin, Heineken in Amsterdam, and Wusz Brews in Portland, Oregon. haha.

It was really cool seeing how these beers are made, and to realize that the beer tastes the way it does, because of the local strain of wild yeast. If the vats were left open even 10 miles down the road, there could be a different yeast strain in the air, and the beer may taste very different. The old wooden casks were filled with Lambic, ageing away, getting ready to mix in a few years. There were spiderwebs everywhere, but they leave them alone, because they kill all the other bugs that may hurt the beer. They only brew in the winter time, to avoid molding and high temperatures, otherwise the building is open for visitors. Two guys were working on the botteling line, but other than that, the place was pretty dead. A really cool, unusual brewery tour.

If you are in Portland, Belmont Station has some Cantillon beers...I suggest a bottle of some Gueze instead of wine at your next dinner party or drinking session.

Ghent, Belgium

2009-09-26T19:17:00.011+02:00

We spent 2 nights in Ghent, Belgium after spending one night in Apeldoorn, Holland, on the way down. Our goal--to explore a new area of Belgium, and try and buy as many beers as we can afford. Mission was accomplished.

Coming from Holland, Ghent felt like Hollands dirtier, scruffier, orphaned, seperated-at-birth, twin brother. Traffic was insane, there were hardly any bike lanes, and the lack of organization and signage struck us as unusual, being the neighbor to the overly ruled Germany, and the well organized and clean Holland. Our hotel was in the red light district area, so we saw some characters. Ghent is a beutiful medieval port town, and has some amazing buildings to look at while you drink the best beers in the world. We wandered all around and encountered some cool, hip markets, and an outdoor festival, and ate some great dinners right on the water. At the outdoor festival, they set up an area for kids to spray paint...awesome. Teaching them to tag so young!

OK, so the number one reason to come to Ghent (for us) is for the beer. Ghent is central in Belgium, so it is a perfect place to base yourself while finding the beers. Every market, store, or crappy convenience store in Ghent has beers that we pay big money for in the US. Bums are drinking Duvel, even! We went to a beer store sent from God above. It is called HopDuvel. Check out their website for their beer list. It was a hazy dream trying to keep all the beers straight in my head as we walked around this warehouse size room. They have nearly every beer that is made in Belgium, and for very good prices. I had a list of beer that I wanted, but I very quickly got disctracted by the variety and started piling them in. They had a staggering collection of Belgian beer glassware, which is necessary when drinking these fine elixers. We walked out of there with 80 euros of beer and glassware. I had some great helpers...

Sorry about that rotation on that pic...couldnt get that one to turn for some reason. So, yeah, it was a cool experience, and we have been slowly going through the beers. Lots of rare beers never seen in the US. A refreshing change after many months of German beers, which are good, but are nothing compared to the Belgians. We had a good time wandering the medieval streets, and going to the beer cafes. We did some long days of driving and walking around, and it really solidifies how lucky we are to have a good traveller like Mayzie. With the promise of a treat, she will do anything :)

Losing Friends and other random updates

2009-09-17T22:56:00.004+02:00

It has been awhile since an update, we have been super busy and we leave for a 10 day trip to Belgium and Holland tomorrow morning, so before I fall way behind, I will just list some recent going-ons.

--We are not moving to the countryside, after all. We had planned for a move south of the city on October 1, but near the last moment, we have decided to stay in the city. We found a nice apartment near to where we are now...it is a really great location, close to everything, and is a good price. We really are enjoying Hamburg and feel we should stick close in if we are going to get the most out of our time. We move in October 1.

--Because of this, we really pissed of Lena and Dagmar, who have been our helpers with all of the beuracracy and business stuff, and whom found us our place in the country, that we now do not want. They took it very personally and have pretty much not been in contact with us since we have told them about this. We feel very bad and have emailed and apologized, but they are being very German and inflexible and a little bit un-business like about the whole thing. Hopefully time will heal this wound and it will not be awkward when we meet again. They are great people, and really, our only German friends here, so it would suck if they do not want to help us anymore. Lena still has Oskar.

--Also because of this, Mayzie will have to move kindergartens again. There is a kindergarten, literally, across the street from our apartment, and we are meeting with them tomorrow, so hopefully we can get in. This would be a convenient 2 minute walk from our door. Poor Mayzie though! We feel terrible about moving her again...I hope she doesnt hate us. 3 kindergartens, 4 moves to different apartments, all in less than 10 months. She is doing very well at her kindergarten in the country (if you dont follow all of this, we completely understand...it has been a crazy year, and we can barely keep up with the changes. I like change, but this is too much change) and we know that this will be the last move of any kind for awhile.

--My cousin Darren graced us with his presence for 4 nights during his European vacation. We had a great time exploring by bike, boat, and ship. We drank beers outside, on the bus, on the ferry, and came across an awesome outdoor rave, punk rock street festival. I cant explain it, it was amazing. We found a 100 year old car tunnel and took the elevator up the highest church steeple in Hamburg. We ate hamburgers and turkish food and even some schnitzel. Took lots of pictures of graffitti and German cars, this guy is a car freak. Darren is a great guy and we had a most excellent time...he is in Amsterdam now, back home on the weekend. Mayzie loved having someone else besides us to hang out with....

--I bought beer for 15 year olds! Me and Darren saw these kids in the Getrankemarkt and they awkwardly approached me in perfect english to ask if I could by them beers. Of course! So they hand me 5 euro and a 6 pack of Becks Ice--2.5% alcohol. Why are you drinking this crap?? 16 is the drinking age over here...I bet their dad would have bought them that stuff. Like drinking flavored water. They were stoked.

All else is good...we are really enjoying Hamburg. We went out to a Pakistani restaurant tonight with a friend of Jennas from the American club, and her German husband--our first time out with locals since we have been in Hamburg. We look forward to settling down now....as long as I dont piss off any more Germans (like this crazed swan), we should be OK.

Who Is This Kid?

2009-09-05T23:53:00.006+02:00

Too old to be my baby. SIGH. Growing up so damn fast, hope we can stay in the moment.

Airbus

2009-09-05T23:14:00.005+02:00

Once a year Airbus opens its gates to a few friends (like 50,000) and those lucky enough to have a ticket (I scored some from work...tickets are limited) can see the plane assembly lines and flying machines on display. I work at a sattelite office, away from the headquarters and airfield, so seeing these things up close is something I do not get to do. Although, 2 weeks ago, me and my work mates had a tour of the A380 (big, double decker passenger plane) assembly line to see for real what we are designing. My work is on the A350, which is an extra wide body plane, made from carbon fiber structure, and is the rival for Boeings 787 Dreamliner. I am working on the rear section of the plane, designing the Hydraulic systems that supply power to the horizontal and vertical tail fin. The 350 is far from being built, but the systems we are working on are very similar in the 380, so it was really amazing to see how this gigantic beast of a plane is built. You really get a feeling for how much work is involved in a plane, how many things could go wrong, and why they are constantly delayed. It is intense.

For the 380 (and the 350) in Hamburg, only the rear sections of the plane are built. The center is built in Toulouse, France, the wings are built in the UK, the cockpit in Spain, and it is all brought together in Toulouse, for final assembly. Then, it is brought to Hamburg for interior design and installation. As you can imagine, this is a logistical nightmare. When the rear section is finished, it is put on a boat to the west coast of France. From there it is transferred to another boat (more like a canal barge), to float down the river towards Toulouse. It clears bridges by a hair (like 1 meter). Remember this plane is 3 stories tall! About 150km from Toulouse, it is put on trucks, which have to go in the middle of the night, because they take up the entire road. For the wings, from the UK, Airbus designed and built a plane specifically for the sole purpose transfer them easily and quickly between the factories. It is called the Beluga.

Thats a funky looking plane. From my office, I can see it land in Hamburg from time to time, and it looks awkward and unsure in the air, like a teenager. Up close, it was gigantic. Its short little wings make it look impossible to fly. On teh contrary, when it is unloaded, it is very difficult to get the plane to land since aerodynamically it is off balance and wants to stay in the air. A strange bird, and the highlight of this Family Day thing.

We saw some of the A380's being finished, just after painting, ready for delivery to the customer. Standing below the tail, these planes are so big, it is quite a treat to see them up close.

We missed the flyover of the 380, earlier in the day.

Of course they make other planes here...we saw the assembly line of the single aisle passenger plane, I think the A330. They make 1 per day in Hamburg, and have orders for 3000 planes, so if you ordered a 330 today, you wouldnt get it for almost 10 years.

I am glad to get the opportunity to see these planes like this. Mayzie and Jenna were excited even. The Family Day was like Oktoberfest on an airstrip, it was weird. Beers everywhere, sausages and candy, and things for kids to do. Only in Germany.

Back to School

2009-09-05T09:26:00.002+02:00

Mayzie is back in school now, and she is loving it. She already has a friend, named Tino, and Jenna saw some girls chasing her around the playground yesterday when she was picking her up. I went with them one morning and the teacher said something in German to Mayzie, and she nodded, and said yes. We could hardly understand the teacher, but Mayzie did. Awesome.

Looking Forward, Part II

2009-08-31T21:41:00.003+02:00

Forgot to mention the impending arrival of one Darren Seeman, cousin of mine and purveyor-of-many-comments-on-Nick's-blog. We welcome him to Hamburg for his first ever trip to Europe! I think he comes Sept 10 or 11. Should be awesome...we have lots of ideas of where to take him, and many fine German brews will be consumed (wanna babysit dude? haha just kiddin)

Also, I forgot to mention our Czech friend Martina (SORRY MARTINA!!!)...I hope we can see her, too, before too long...I know she would want to meet Mayzie, and we havent seen her since 2002.

Here is a good pic of Jenna in Hamburg Rathausplatz...

Summer Twilight

2009-08-30T22:19:00.003+02:00

I hope summer is not over yet, but this weekend was all rain and clouds. There is a large, open park near us where they had some huge swinging structures and zip lines. We attempted to fly a kite that we bought recently here, but the winds were not constant enough, or the kite is too cheap. Probobly the latter. Today we went to a neighboring town called Luneburg, but the rain drove us back to the train after 1 hour of wandering in the cold and rain. I have a monthly discounted train pass through work that allows me to ride all the trains in Hamburg, and on the weekends the family is free, so for 40euro a month, its a great deal. The busses and trains here are super efficient, of course.

Life has slowed down a bit and we are getting more into a routine. Most days after work are taking walks, eating some cheap dinner (had some great Turkish food in Altona, and found a frozen yoghurt joint, and we had a real BURRITO this week!), going for bike rides, and watching movies after Mayzie goes to bed. Work is going well, its busy and the people I work with are nice. This week I had some MORE Airbus training...it really is ridiculous how many training sessions they put you through...just waiting for the "How to Properly Use the Bathroom Facilities" 3 day training seminar. I met a couple guys from China, a guy from Kazakhstan, and another from India. I think the thing I like most about being here, is that I feel closer to the world. Closer to other cultures and different persepectives.

Mayzie started her kindergarten on friday. The place is up by our apartment that we will be moving into in October, a 30 minute drive from home now. So Jenna will be doing that everyday until we are moved closer. Mayzie seemed to enjoy it--she is in the Elephant group, and Jenna was planning on being there with her for her first day in the new environment, but Mayzie settled in quickly and Jenna left after 30 minutes. Most kids are 3-4 years old.

We attempted to sign up for our language classes, which start Spet 7, but all classes are full, so we will have to wait until November. Gotta be on the ball in the big city, I guess. So that sucks, but it gives us more free time, so its OK. Oskar is doing good with our friend Lena...we were going to go see him, but we agreed that he may be depressed if we had to leave him again...guess it took him a few days to be normal, so I think thats the best decision. We are enjoying our freedom, I must admit. It is much easier to go out, or on the train, without worrying about Oskar.

Should have my payraise come through on the September 1 paycheck, so we are looking forward to some extra cash flow. It has been very tight here, which makes it even harder, since there are tons of things we would like to do and buy. We shall see if anything changes.

Looking forward to a week in Holland/Belgium in late September, and a week in England in October for our good friend Michael Tomlinson's wedding. Cant believe we have been here 8 months and not seen the Tomlinsons, or my friend Radim in the Czech Republic. Hopefully we can see him soon, too.

Bathing in the Baltic

2009-08-24T22:40:00.007+02:00

Rested our bike-sore buttocks on sunday and headed out of town with the car, to the northeast of Hamburg....destination Schwerin. On the drive there we passed the former border into East Germany, in place from 1945-1990. So this was our first visit to the East so far on this trip. Schwerin is a beautiful little town, which has a castle that sits on an island, surrounded by lakes and a harbor. We toured around the grounds, and had a picnic...too cheap to go in the palace...more old furniture and paintings of people we dont know, so it was easy to pass up. We have seen too many damn palaces and castles for it to make much of an impression anymore haha. Its the outside of these places that are more intriguing, anyway (watchout--all cheap asses have justification ready!).

Just 30 minutes north of Schwerin is the Baltic Sea, so we headed up there to check out a German beach getaway. We came across a beach on the island of Poel, just outside Wismar. Heres a map...

View Larger MapIt was a blast. Before we knew it, Mayzie was naked just like all the other kids in this water, nothing but a tube to keep her decent.
The sand was sandy, the water was pretty cold, so we just hung out on shore and watched Mayzie. There were tons of naked kids, kids peeing freely in the shallow water, which was kinda disgusting but kinda cool, in a west coast hippy kinda way. Many people were just changing their clothes right on the beach, no barriers or anything, so much T&A was on display. The Germans have invented this interesting beach chair thing, called the Strandkorb (beach basket). It is basically a little shed that unfolds and becomes a covered lounge for 2.

After exiting the water we had the obligatory fish and chips and ice cream. The weather was perfect--75 degrees or so and partial clouds. I know Mayzie would like to spend more time at the beach, so maybe we will hit another one this weekend...this time on the North Sea coast...sounds damn cold!

Horizontal Hamburg

2009-08-24T22:17:00.004+02:00

Our bikes arrived safely from Stuttgart last week, so on friday, we went out to the warehouse to pick them up. Riding the train and bus out there, we were way out of town. But after hopping on the bikes and heading in the general direction of home, the pavement melted under our rubber tires. This place is FLAT. Within an hour, we arrived back to our flat (Flat in Flat town). It really is an ease around here. Bikes are seperated from most major roads with red bricks, and sign posting is generally very good.

That pic shows (from left) the street, the parked cars, the bike path, and the pedestrian area. People are very conscious of the bikes and are rarely in the path, so its smooth sialing as long as the traffic lights dont slow you down. You can easily cover the whole city in less than an hour, and it is great to see all the people out on bikes...next to the Netherlands, this is the most I have seen, and is certainly the flattest place we have ever lived.

On Saturday, we took a ride from our place, down the canals, into the center of town. We rode by the double walled security up the ass American embassey, we saw a traditional German parade in the city center, had a picnic in a Japanese style garden, encountered some psychedelic Mali-an jam band playing at an African festival, came across a Ska/Punk street fair, watched a hot air balloon take off from a park, and had Lebanese food for dinner. All without even trying. We had no idea any of this was going on. Thats what happens in a big, busy city, I guess. Still cant believe the differences to Stuttgart.

Rode my bike to work today...felt great to be back in the saddle. Took less time than the bus and train, even though I got lost. We need a map, for sure...none of these roads are straight! Flat maybe, but not straight.

Bharat Matrimony

2009-08-17T21:38:00.003+02:00

Warning, this is epic, but I really wanted to write about this...

I was in Airbus training all last week, and my computer partner was an Indian guy named Lakshi. For the first 2 days, we didnt say much to eachother...I learned he was from a town in Southern India called Salem, near Bangalore, he had been in Germany for 3 years, and is getting married in January. I asked him of some good Indian restaurants in Hamburg, and of his one year spent in Toulouse, France. He had nothing good to say of either. And my deutsch skills are better after 8 months than his 3 years...so I gathered from his information that he is here to make as much money as possible. In my American curiosity and small talk leanings (bordering obnoxiousness, I hope not!) I asked him what he was doing with all of his money. His mom had been an IT teacher in India for 30 years and he is helping her start and run a college in Salem. Starting a college seems weird to us, but I guess there are many people needing IT and engineering education in that area, so it is monetarily worth all the beuracracy to get it going. He said they had 400 students already. This guy is 27. One morning he asked me "What is the proper response to the greeting 'Whats Up?' ? I googled it and could only find 'Nothing Much'....is that right?" I tried to answer that one without laughing too much. I asked him about his fiancee, and the real story began. First he wouldnt tell me about how he met this girl--I wasnt sure if he thought that I thought that the Indian way of relationships was ridiculous, or if he was embarrased because of the way he met her. Either way, he delayed, and after I asked him again, we found a block of time at lunch for him to tell his tale.

I have known many Indian people in my life, and was fairly versed in their ways...the culture, the food, the arranged marriages, and all that. But Lakshi's story and his life took me off guard. The best part was how willing he was to tell me all of this and open up to me. I get the feeling that he doesnt talk about it very much, and was willing to spill all the details to a westerner who doesnt care about all the things that an Indian would judge him by.

Southern India is a traditional place, and this guy plays by all of the rules. People get married between 24 and 28. Any older and you are too old to marry. There are some days every month that are considered auspicious dates (for mainly astrological reasons), and are to be avoided for a wedding day. There must be a calender somewhere of auspicious days. If you were born on a certain day, you were considered a "Manglik" and it would be wise for you to find a mate that is also a Mankglik, as a single Manglik marriage is not balanced.

Lakshi met his future wife on the internet. He was embarrased of this, but stated right away that it is becoming more popular to do it this way. Traditional methods include parents finding you a family friend to marry, or hiring an agency to find you a match. There are many websites catered to Indians looking for a match. The one he used is this one. You should check it out. Search criteria is crazy to me....along with the standards (age, sex, marital status) is Caste/Division, sub-caste, family values, astrological information, education, annual income, body type, complexion and manglik status. All modern internet drop down menus and tick boxes. Please read some of the descriptions. Many of them plain.."need a good natured man" etc etc, many of them written by parents "she is smart, intelligent, and excels at everything she does", and most simple..."I need a man who is caring and loyal."

Onto Lakshi's story...he went on the website in March, to start looking for a girl...it sounded like his family had been hoping for some action, since he was getting older now. After putting in all of his criteria and wants, the list of available girls shrank from thousands to around 40. Out of these 40, he discussed each and every one with his mother, his father, and his brother. Together, they all agreed on one, and he emailed her. It is custom to not respond within a day or two, but Lakshi had no reply from the girl after 1 week. He later found out that the girl he emailed had only the day before put her profile on the site, and had been propositioned 23 times. He emailed her again after the week, saying things like "I would appreciate it if you would not post your profile if you are not serious about getting married," stuff like that. I guess she liked his agressivness and go getting-ness, so she emailed him back, and they began corresponding. The girls mom did not like this one bit, since they did not want their only daughter moving to Germany. So the emails stopped, but only to begin a few days later. Lakshi was relieved...this is the girl he wanted! The emailed and chatted online for 1 month...slowly falling in love with eachother. Again, after 1 month, the emails and chats stopped. The girl was going behind the back of her mother this whole time! Like a Bollywood movie. Around this time, one of Lakshi's friends in India told him that people were asking about him, asking all his friends if he was a good person, if his character was that of an upstanding citizen. The girls brother had asked frineds, who asked frineds, who finally asked Lakshi's frineds. All of the reports were good (one bad remark and it would have been over), so the brother went to the mom to tell her of his findings. The mom was still appprehensive of sending her daughter to Germany, but agreed to meet Lakshi's parents before she gave her approval. So the parents got together, and got on very well together. Its all about an alliance...the whole family is getting married, basically. Now the mother let her talk freely to Lakshi. They continued to chat for another month, before Lakshi went over to India to meet her in person.

Soon after flying back home, he gathered with his family and headed to a local temple. It is tradition to first meet the girl you will marry in a temple. The families gathered and the two finally set eyes on eachother. Giggles and blushing and awkwardness were displayed. They do not touch eachother....just say hi amongst the family and go to dinner with everyone. Lakshi was in town for only one week, and during this time, was alone with the girl for only one date...they saw a movie and walked around a mall. The other days, they were together, but with family all around. One time Lakshi was showing his girl some pictures on the computer and he brushed up against her accidentally. Her mother saw this and chewed the girl out. I guess on their date, they actually held hands! Thats like 3rd base for us.

So he is back in Germany now, awaiting another visit to India in September, whiuch will be an engagement ceremony. There are lots and lots of celebrations in India, and the engagment party is almost as big as the wedding itself, which will only have 500 people in it. This is the most important date in all of theri lives. The divorce rate is basically zero in India, it just doesnt happen. All families involved are shamed, bride or grooms fathers could lose jobs because of it, and it is virtually impossible to re-marry. I asked if people tried to hide it if they got divorced, but he said there are detective agencies setup to find out about this, if you are suspicious. Lakshi told me of his fiancees friends who was going out with someone that the parents did not approve of--wrong caste, wrong religion, whatever...it doenst matter if they are nice people or not. Of course that helps, but it is a marriage of like people. Anyway, the dad of this girl told her he would kill himself if she did not break up with this lover. Of course, he probobly would not really do it, but to shame your father is the worst thing you can do. These girls are coddled and raised to be a respectable wife, to have a perfect wedding, they are smothered all their lives for this day. It is for the parents more than the kids.

So we started talking about our systems of marriage..him not touching his future wife before a wedding, 8 months after meeting her online, versus our 5 years of going out, having sex, living with eachother before getting married. Ours is as strange to him as his is to me. He thinks the US lacks respect for marriage, and he has a point. But to have the family pressure and the expectations piled on to provide and to not dissapoint would be too much for my western ness. Family is so much more important to them than it is for us..we are raised to be independent and free and to do what we want. Lakshi learned to swim last year and never played sports..he was raised to be an IT guy since he was 10 years old. From my eyes, the Indian cultuer is assembly linig people, same as their exported goods. Of course, he is not sad about it or anything, this is how life is for him. It is natural. He wants nothing more than to live back in India and start a family. Living in Germany and France is just for the money. I am just as freekish. "Are there not any jobs in the USA?" why else would anyone come over here, but for work, and to make money. He is very surprised when I told him I quit my well paying job and brought my whole family over here, basically so that we could travel, not really caring about work too much. This is crazy talk to him.

I am super stoked that I met this guy...I hope I blew his mind as much as he did mine, but I doubt it, since he is so very happy in his ways that he has blocked out all other new thoughts to creep in. I must admit some enviousness to know that your life is planned out, to know what is next year, and the year after...that would provide a large level of comfort. He would be dishonoring his parents and his culture if he stepped out of line, however, and that is one trait for why I am very thankful to be a Westerner..I can basically do whatever I want... I just have to stay concious of the fact that we are also in a glass prison, except ours is constructed of slightly larger glass panes.

Moving Along

2009-08-16T09:47:00.003+02:00

We are in a different place now, an environment not so German, a place that smells of youth, not decay. A place certainly more European. In the last week we have had authentic Thai food, and authentic Indian food. There are boutique shops and Hawthorne/NW 23rd style area in Hamburg. We found Bierland, a store full of rare German beers, but even better, a small stock of Belgian beers that I miss very much. There is a world famous redlight district (the Reeperbahn) that gives the city some grit, that we like. We have obtained a video membership (yes, even this can be a challenge), and we hear many languages, including English, spoken everywhere. The small station near our house even announces the stops in English. We met our neighbor downstairs, who's wife is from Wyoming. I bought a soda in the shop yesterday and I motioned for another guy in line to go ahead of me, but he said "no, thankyou, you were here first." He must have heard me speaking to Mayzie. We relaxed on a beach while Mayzie frollicked in the Elbe river. We rented a canoe and paddled around the canals near our apartment.

This is a strange place--still Germany, but not the Germany we know. We have much to learn.

See the link for the latest pictures.

Thick Milk

2009-08-16T01:27:00.002+02:00

Hey, I thought it was funny!

Orchideensteig 10b, Hamburg

2009-08-16T01:19:00.002+02:00

Here is a video tour of our furnished apartment that we are in until October 1.....hope its not too shaky for you!

Life Up North

2009-08-12T22:02:00.004+02:00

So, we are up in Hamburg now! Wow, what a whirlwind it has been. I flew back to Stuttgart after work last friday, and headed straight to a going away dinner at our friends Annette and Mattias, who we will miss very much (and of course Mayzie will miss her playdates with Lara Joy). Annette cooked her world famous Saurbraten...my favorite German dish. Saturday was spent packing up the house...we wore oursleves out doing that. And Sunday, we left the house at 7am, for the drive up North...got here at 4pm! Mayzie and the car did great. We are in a furnished apartment just north of the city center, in a beautiful area called Eppendorf. We are surrounded by trees and the river trail is just out our door. So nice. The only bad thing is that there are no dogs allowed. So we sold Oskar. Just kidding haha. A friend at work, Lena, agreed to watch him for us until we move to our more permanent place, October 1. Mayzie is coping surprisingly well, and we are thankful to not have him here, since taking him to go pee from the 3rd floor, gets tedious, we should know. Lena says he is doing OK...he is a little nervous in the city, but is getting lots of love from her and her boyfriend. Awesome.....but, Lena is making me get dog insurance for him! 80euros a year for who knows what, damn germans love their insurance, but it will be for her peace of mind, I suppose.

Hamburg is not the tradional Germany that we envision. No pretzels, no castles, no biergartens. But it seems more liveable...it is not as clean, as conservative, and is certainly more cosmopolitan and cultural than Stuttgart. There are a huge variety of restaurants that you would never find in Stuttgart, and the people are younger, trendier, and happier (in a German happy way). I am eager to explore the North of Germany and I am thankful (in a weird way) to know a place in the North as well as I know the South...will help with my perspective and attitude towards the Germany we think we know.

Work is good, my project is interesting and we are busy, so that is a nice feeling. I have met some cool people through work. The public transport up here is really good...through work I have a cheap monthly pass, so I can go anywhere and not have to worry about buying a ticket. It is cheaper to travel around up here. We have a great park near our apartment, too, and we have taken Mayzie there the last 3 nights. I think Jenna likes it better up here, so far, at least. She is going to a knitting get together with American women next week. I hope some friends come out of that...I know she is bored around the apartment. We have to get our Deutsch classes started again and Mayze into kindergarten...all this will come in time.

Maybe things are getting better for us now.....

Naked!

2009-07-29T20:25:00.005+02:00

I am in a cheap internet cafe, feels more like Turkey than Hamburg, with the dialects and decor (they sell hookahs here too!). It has been a whirlwind the last week or so. I have been in Hamburg during the week, and then back to Stuttgart for the weekend. Last weekend, we drove to a spa resort town on the French border, in the North of the Black Forest, called Baden Baden. BATH BATH in Deutsch. Its a cool town, main industries are cleaning tourists and taking their money in the casinos, but the town itself is very French Riviera looking and is pleasant enough. It was especially pleasant after 6pm when all the day trippers went home. We had a great Italien meal for dinner and wandered aroudn the town. The next day we had our first Thai meal since being in Germany. Our hotel had a mineral bath spa and pool, which Mazyie loved, and we also enjoyed the spa and foot washing station and misting room that was in the hotel.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Baden Baden was to take part in the traditional Roman baths that they have here. The one I went to, called Friedrichsbad, was built 130 years ago... to be indentical to the Roman baths that once resided here back in the good ol days. It is an all naked deal. And on sundays, when I went, it was mixed. Dont worry I didnt see any women that would make things uncomfortable in the nether reagion hahah that joke was for you Jenna. Jenna didnt want to go, her American insecurities said ``hell no!`` so she watched Mayzie, while I roamed in my birthday suit for 2 hours through 15 rooms of varrying water, steam, and air temperatures (plus a scrub down massage kinda thing from a guy who has a sister that lives in Corvallis), with the finale being an ice cold water plunge. One room was 68degrees C (160 degrees F!) . That is inhuman. I could hardly breath. They wrapped me in huge warm towels afterwards, and it was invigorating. Havent been this clean since I was born! I think I had said this before when we got the scrub down in Turkey. This was comparable to that, except I was naked this time. There were a few other naked men around but it felt fine and not uncomfortable at all. I think I am a natural naturist haha. So Euro of me! A cool experience, one that I had to have some balls to do, and one that I had to show them off abit haha.

On the way back to Stuttgart we stopped at an alpine slide. You know, you sit on a small wheeled carriage sled thingy, have a hand break in front of you and whizz down the hillside on a steal track. For €4.50 Mayzie and I had the ride of our lives. The ride down wasnt the scariest part, either. We sat on the sled at the bottom and an attendent attached a ski lift wire to the back of our sled and this thing dragged us up a VERY steep hill to the top, where we got off and got back on our sled to ride it down. It was intense and something that would not be up to code in teh US. I dont have the pictures here, but it was technillogically primative and a bit scary. Bit the ride down was awesome and Mazyie was yelling for more speed. Glad she digs this kind of stuff.

So back to Hamburg this week, for 2 weeks this time, because I am attending the world famous Wacken heavy metal festival, north of Hamburg this weekend. I had planned this festival for awhile, so I am glad it all works out with work and all. Sucks to be away from home for so long. I am doing some more Airbus training this week, so our project should be full force next week. So I looked at that apartment in the countryside and we will take it! Its kinda dirty inside so it was hard to tell how big it all was, but it will be perfect for us. Huge backyard with treehouse and swingset, very beautiful surroundings. We will move in there on October 1. Until then, my work is finding a furnished place for us in town. I will be back in Stuttgart on August 7, and on the 9th we will all drive up here. So it begins...look forward to the new adventure of the adventure. All of our stuff is being taken by a moving van on the 18th of August, so its all happening quickly.

Yup, a crazy week of flying, naked, apartment hunting, Hamburgy, hotel-y madness.

In the Middle of Difficulty, lies Opportunity

2009-07-22T16:28:00.006+02:00

I think Einstein said that.

Thought I should post an update of what has been going on. I am up in Hamburg now for the second week in a row. Been flying back to Stuttgart on the weekends. The bad news is being away from Jenna and Mayzie, but we have full intentions of getting them up here as soon as possible. The good news is that I have a real job, and that it is interesting, and I will actually be learning something new. I am excited to be doing some Aerospace work, I have always been interested in how airplanes work, but for some reason, most of my engineering has been on the automotive side, so I am eager to learn as much as I can. Specifically, I am working on a project for the Airbus A350, which is a new plane (it has an extra wide body) that will rival the newest Boeing 787 plane, and is set for launch in 2013. I will be working onsite with a 3 man team, at Airbus, designing the hydraulic system (hoses, fittings, brackets) that supply the rear cargo door, the rear rudder, and the rear flap on the tail (called the elevator). Oil goes through these hoses at 5000psi! If the pace of work that I am doing now is any indication, this project will be pushed back by a few years. Lets just say that the gears of one of the largest companies in the world grind very, very slowly. In the past 2 weeks, we are still waiting for computers, passwords, and Airbus authorization to begin the project. But the deadlines do not seem to be moving, so we will be having to work quickly once all the approvals go through. Seems like everything needs to be requested, even moving some desks around, badges, oh man, things go slowly. The chain of command is Anaconda -size. But, it will be good once we start. Lots of waiting around right now. The project is expected to last 6 years, with the majority to be 1 year, at least. Of course, we won't be staying that long, but I am glad that this is something that will last, and will allow us to feel settled and to get in a grrove.

I am looking at an apartment tonight, that a lady at work told me about. She lives in this quaint, historic village, 15 mins drive South from the city and she has a neighbor that is moving out of the ground floor of a house, and will be renting it out. I drove out there last week, and the area is beautiful. Flat, perfect trails for bikes, countryside, thatched roof houses, brick houses, horses. Near to the train station, grocery stores, kindergartens, and it has a huge backyard. So I am hoping the the inside is as nice. The only problem is that it is not available until the end of September. My work said they will find us a furnished place until then, so that the family can move up. I will find out more tonight as far as dates go, so I will update.

Hamburg is a very nice city, and I am looking forward to showing Jenna and Mayzie around. I think they will like it. There is lots of water around, and it is more spacious than Stuttgart, and it oozes culture and diversity..I even saw what looked like a legitamite Vietnamese restaurant. Not even one piece of schnitzel on the menu!

Better Watch Out!

2009-07-22T16:07:00.002+02:00

Back in Portland, when you ride the MAX light rail, the ticket checkers are very obvious---usually wearing bright orange vests and looking like cops. If you happen to not have a ticket (sometimes you dont have time to get a ticket, or you have to run for the train, or the machine is broke) and you see these guys, no big deal. Step off at th enext stop, by a ticket and get on the next train. In Germany, these dudes are undercover. You will have no clue that they are checking tickets, until they are right on you, asking to see it. Regular clothes, regular looking people, only a fanny pack on, to take your details and your money. I havent been caught yet, but there are a few times when I did not have a ticket. It is amazing to see the ticket guy walk through the whole train and not bust one person. Everyone buys tickets, all on the honor system, imagine that. The fines are 40euros in Stuttgart and I think they are 60euros in Hamburg for not having a ticket, so I guess that is scary enough. I bet 20% of the MAX riders dont have tickets.

I love to J-walk as much as the next guy. I don't like having to stop when I am on my way somewhere in any city, and if there are no cars around, I will walk right through the red hand. It feels like its the only law I break, so I do it with pride. In London it was easy, in Portland, it was easy, and in Asia, nobody cares anyway. Not here though. Even after 7 months, I still have not figured out how the crossing signals work, they are seriously complicated. Sometimes there are 2 sets of signals, with a rest area in between the 2 lanes. One will turn green, and the other will stay red, so you must stop in the middle. Why are they not both green? Sometimes, all sides of the intersection will have a green man at the same time! That is crazy. Every intersection is different. I have waited at a corner with a group of people, no cars around. I was so tempted to cross, to DEFY THE LAW, but I also felt the German Pressure (the GP), and have no doubt I would have been scolded if I crossed. Like I have said before, inside every German is a Policeman. I think Mayzie is turning more German than us, because if the signal turns red while we are crossing, all hell breaks loose--''Nick, it was red!! Why did you do that? It was Red!!!!'' ''Yes, Mayzie, I know''. Geezus! But, I digress. So, if you are in Germany, go ahead, try to cross through the red man, you will probobly end up scolded (maybe by Mayzie while you are baby sitting!) or worse yet, dead.

On Top of Europe

2009-07-11T17:36:00.002+02:00

I want to write about our time in Murren but I really do not know what to say. My vocab skills are lacking...so I will post this video of Mayzie. We took a venicular above Murren and did some walking around there, it blew my mind. In a place where every corner you turn can blow your mind, we managed to find this valley. The weather was perfect (it completely POURED a few hours after this) and we found a trampoline in the fields next to a restaurant up there (you will always find someplace to eat in Swtitzerland...this makes it seem like there are lots of people around, but it was very quiet up here). Mayzie did some jumping and we enjoyed the serenity and beauty. I COMMAND ALL OF YOU TO COME HERE ONE TIME IN YOUR LIVES!!!! Bill has travelled a bunch and he said that this is in his top 3 favorite places he has been, so that made us feel good about coming up here. For people travelling Europe, the tendency is to hit the big cities and the cultural things, while the Alps are overlooked. Trust me, pictures do not do it justice.

Happy 6 Squared

2009-07-10T14:05:00.003+02:00

Dear Jenna,

Today you are 36. It has been a pleasure to celebrate your birthday with you since the 22nd one. Of all the years we have been together, I think the days surrounding this birthday are the most stressful. There have been some good ones---we celebrated your 29th birthday on board a boat off the coast of Southern Turkey where a cake was hand delivered from a small row boat to our boat, we drank in pubs for many of them, hiked for a few, camped for a few, enjoyed the peacefulness of our farm in Terrebonne, and we visited Victoria last year. Most of them we were surrounded by friends (at least they were close), and that is the difference with this one. I know you are lonely and you feel like our time in Germany has been like pushing "pause" on your life. The things that are most important to you--family and friends, and commradarie amongst co-workers and other mellow, friendly people, to be challenged intellectually and stimulated by your outside envirnoment...well, none of these criteria are being met right now. Of course, these things are very difficult to control, and I felt going into this Germany thing that we would be both be happy--me with travelling and seeing new things, and you with meeting interesting people and being in a new interesting place. I feel very guilty about your unhappiness, and I am sorry that it turned out this way. It is not enough for you to just be in a new place--you are attached to family and friends more than I am. I really didnt understand what that meant until now. It seems we have always been surrounded by a support group, but now we are not, and it shows. You are not the Jenna you want to be right now. But I feel helpless, like this whole adventure is laying on my shoulders....it is up to me if it succeeds or not. I am pushing and pushing, not knowing when to give up my dream of living in Germany. I know now that Germany is not the country for us, and I doubt 10 years here would cure that notion. But I find it very hard to give up and go back to Portland right now. So here we are, at a stalemate. No stability, hardly any money...a situation we did not want to be in. I start my new job on Monday, up in Hamburg, away from you and Mayzie for 4-6 weeks, the last thing I wanted to happen. We will move up there probobly, but it will be more of the same. We will not be any happier up there. It is still Germany.

I don't know what I want anymore. I know that I want you to be happy, so something will need to change. I do know that I love Europe and am thouroughly enjoying travelling around, but you are much more important to me than that. I know we have talked this topic to death, there needs to be some action...but I have no idea what that will be. It's almost like I have no control. The practical side of me wants to stay here and make it work because of the investment we have made--furniture, car, paperwork, etc. and the fact that this was my dream for so long. The emotional side is ready to throw the towel in so that we can be happy again, in a more stable environment, because I am tired of feeling like this. But is that in Portland, or where? I think it would help if you are working (in an english speaking country) so that new friends can be made. So...England again, Oz, NZ, or where? Who the hell knows. Seems overwhelming trying to get all the paperwork done and to push you to move somewhere else when you would rather be back in Oregon. But if we can be patient, we can do it any of this fairly quickly.

This is by far the biggest test our relationship has been through in almost 15 years. But I know that the whole cliche "what doesnt kill us makes us stronger" thing will apply when we look back on this in a few years, wherever we are. I know that we are a great team and we can get through this bout of temporary craziness.

I love you more than ever and hope my tendencies to push push push to make things happen and work in my favor don't push push push you out the door.

Nick

Teacher/Parent Meeting

2009-07-08T20:59:00.004+02:00

Today was our first ever teacher/parent meeting at Mayzie's kindergarten. Jenna and I sat down with Mayzie's teacher Simone at the little table, on the little chairs, just like the kids do. It felt a little weird and awkward at first, like we were in trouble, but it was informative. Simone speaks enough English to get her point across, and we speak enough Deutsch, that we only needed the German-English dictionary for a few words. The meeting started off with Mayzie's history--"how was the pregnancy"--huh?, "how do your parenting skills differ from eachother"--Very different haha, "what are Mayzie's favorite things"--candy and TV, "does she get sick alot", "how do we discipline", "what are your favorite things about Mayzie", "what are your least favorite things about Mayzie" ....kinda like a job interview for a summer camp counselor or something. She later told us that this information will be passed onto any other kindergartens we may go to, so we wont have to do this everytime.

The part we were waiting for was Simone's observations and assessment of how Mayzie is doing. Mayzie does not hang out with any girls...she doesnt really play pretend or dress up too much, would rather be outside running around playing with the boys, or playing with blocks. She has two friends there that she constantly hangs out with, Finn and Fayn. Finn hasnt been there all this week and we found out that he moved to a different kindergarten so that he can stay there all day, since his parents both work, so now Mayzie has one friend, Fayn. Fayn hits kids alot and doesnt speak any German, so unfortunetly he is not the best playdate for Mayzie, but she likes him. Mayzie is on the dominating side, so she picks friends she can boss around. Simone told us that Mayzie hits kids sometimes also, not too much, but that she does. When Mayzie gets in an argument, she does not back down easily, and when other kids argue and fight, Mayzie will be right there telling them to stop it and telling them to be quiet. So she likes to be in control of all situations. Mayzie loves to sing and she is a good listener. She joins in very well with the group and gets along with all of the teachers. Simone was impressed with her Deutsch skills and said that Mayzie is fitting in well and said that the things that are bad about her are OK, but that we should know.

So thats that. Nothing we werent aware of already, really. She has always been agressive and strong willed. I like the independent part, but that could also lead to being overly strong towards others, which is no good. She is observant and learns from the other kids' behaviour, which is how she is learning hitting and Deutsch. Raising a 3 year old amongst a stressful and fluctuating environment like we are in is not the most ideal situation, but we need to try and stay aware and balance her out.

So to the dungeon she goes!

She looks even more like a boxer, with her first black eye! She hit her head on the sink at our hotel in Murren, barely cried and this is what she has to show for it:

Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau

2009-07-06T21:59:00.003+02:00

3 days in the Lauterbrunnen valley. Hiking, eating expensive food, hiking some more, seeing the most beautiful alpine setting possible. Glad to show this area to my mom and Bill...I think they loved it as much as we do. Already planning on going back when we are rich haha.

Grandparents

2009-06-30T23:00:00.004+02:00

So our 2nd set of Mayzie's grandparents are in town. My mom and Bill arrived 10 days after Jennas parents left. It is great having visitors... we are enjoying seeing new places and showing off some of the stuff we like around here. Also, its nice to have some help with Mayzilla. It is super hot and humid right now in the Stuttgart area. I took Mom and Bill for some walking and sightseeing this morning and by 1pm we were sweaty and exhausted. Our friends the Linke's said this was unusual weather, so hopefully it wont last. We are heading out tomorrow for a 4 day trip to Switzerland....back to the Alps. Can't wait. Hope the clouds stay home because we need some fine Alp views in our future. Regardless of that, it will be "amazing" up there...hah I use that word a lot. After that, M+B leave us for 1 week to Salzburg, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and back to Stuttgart. So they are packing it in.

I got word from my boss that they want me to start in Hamburg on July 13. So, it seems like this moving thing is really going to happen. I would not be surprised if something changes, but for now, I know that much. Its supposedly a 1 year contract, so they can garauntee the work for that long. I feel like a bull with his head down just plowing through all the obstacles until I reach the open green fields. "We shall see" is a common phrase right now and it holds true until we are settled, whenever that is.

Forget all that crap, I have a bunch of time off before the 13th (but no money haha), some visitors, going to Switzerland.... so we will try and enjoy it the best we can.

PROST

Strasbourg

2009-06-30T22:29:00.011+02:00

Strasbourg, France, right on the German border, 1.5 hours west of our house. Don't know why we waited so long to check this place out. It was a well needed EFG (Escape From Germany). So close, yet so different. The French cafes, mellowness, and architecture all made it a very relaxing day. We walked around the town, went into the stunning cathedral, had some crepes, and ate some local desserts. Jenna wants to live here. Anywhere but Germany :) Here are some pics.

Inside the massive cathedral.

Some medieval graffitti.

This was built the same year Bill was born ;)

Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber

2009-06-30T14:58:00.011+02:00

This place is 1.5 hours drive from our house and is CLASSIC Germany. Small, medieval town, cobblestones, so quaint and cute you just want to eat it up. Hard to believe that alot of it was destroyed in WWII. My Mom and Bill are here, so we all went out there for a look-see. Our visit coincided with a parade, too. The entire town is walled in, and the wall can be walked on for nearly the entire perimiter. We also hit up the Medieval Torture Museum here...check the pics. A highlight of Germany so far. I hope we can return for an overnight stay.

From the tower in the center of town

Shame mask

This Executioners Axe says "When I Lift My Axe, I wish the Sinner Eternal Life"

King: "Put them in the Iron Maiden." Bill and Ted: "Excellent!"

You would be put in this thing for your collar being too big or dressing out of your social status....right in the market square for all the village to see.

Mayzie LOVED the torture museum. :)

Even in Germany

2009-06-21T20:51:00.003+02:00

We thought this was funny...I can understand not liking Ford or Dodge or whatever is on the trucks at home, but Mercedes? Classic.

Porsche Museum

2009-06-21T00:32:00.009+02:00

Before Jenna's parents left, Jennas dad Jack and I went to the Porsche Museum, which is 10 minutes drive from our apartment. Newly opened earlier this year, this place was built by aliens.

All the classic cars are in there and lets just say that the architecture of the building is representative of the forthought, design sense, and ingenuity of Mr Porsche. This guy dreamt up the VW Bug and the first and classic shell of the Porsche, not to mention all the components and engines and hardware. All from some farmhouse in Bavaria. A genius and his kids were geniusess and now the company hires the smartest people in the country and puts out beautiful driving artworks and also design many things we dont even know about, like airplane cockpits. The epitome of German Engineering.

Hamburg

2009-06-20T23:53:00.005+02:00

There is a pretty good possibility that we might end up in Hamburg. Who knows, I sure as hell don't! I have spent the last 2 weeks there and I think its a pretty cool city. It is a major port and there is a constant drone of harbor activity with ships unloading and loading their shipping containers. The inner city area is sandwiched between the Alster lakes and the Elbe river. There are typical German things here...cobblestones, pedestrian shopping streets, and huge, beautiful cathedrals and city halls. I went up to the top of one of the cathedrals and had a great view of the city...it is very flat, so you can see a long ways. Seems to more cultural and gritty than Stuttgart, and it was a relief to see a building like this, complete with a vegetarian chill out bar inside and a skate park in the back. You would never see this in clean, practical Stuttgart:

Hamburg is famous for the Reeperbahn/St Pauli area, which is the huge bar, red light district area that gave the Beatles their start in the early 60's and was the de-virgining spot for many young sailors. It's overrun with seedy people now, but I am sure it is a great place to party at night, which I was not able to do. It was cool to stroll through here, again, something that would not happen in Stuttgart.

I have met people from all over the world at work, which is one of the main reasons for living abroad. I like to think that I am not the stereotypical American and hope that after hanging out with people from France, Turkey, former Russian territories, Morroco, and Afghanistan, that I have helped dispel the stereotypes of what they think Americans are. A majority have never been to the US, but definitely have opinions and it is fun to talk about them. I know that my mind is opened more after hanging out with 5 French people over some beers.

I was a hotel mate with another employee of High End, a guy called Alex from Kazakhstan, who moved with his family to Germany when he was 13. We spent alot of time together because we shared a car and were 3 doors down from eachother. He speaks zero english and I speak so little Deutsch, it was classic trying to talk and find out more about eachother. It for sure took longer than normal, but with my limited deutsch vocabulary and sign language, I was able to answer all of my questions and we even talked politics, movies, etc. After a few hours, I stopped thinking about what I was going to ask or say, and would just blurt out a couple key deutsch words or sign something. 2 nights in a row, we bought a salad, some bread and tzatziki at the store, along with 3 beers each and found a bench in the local forest and sat and ate and talked. Hadn't done that since high school haha. Alex has a dream to holiday in America and he is obsessed with cheesy American action films and guns. This guys eyes light up when we talk about guns, especially after a couple beers. He wants to go to the sporting goods store and buy a gun. That's his dream. Just like in the movies. Classic. I didn't tell him that he probably wouldn't be able to do that, but I did mention that there are hunters and gun clubs that would gladly take him out or at least take his money. Maybe even Jennas dad can take him out if he visits Oregon someday. I told him that I had shot an AK 47 in Cambodia, and it wasn't until we were going to the airport 2 days after I told him that, that he realized that Cambodia was not in America. He was sooo excited to shoot an AK or an M16. Sorry bro. He has signed up for English courses and hopes to be over in 2 years.

Miniatur Wunderland

2009-06-20T23:30:00.008+02:00

I was up in Hamburg for work all last week. Not alot of work in Hamburg, either, but I am showing my "flexibility" so hopefully that impressed someone. It was a waste of time, really, except that I saw a most amazing tourist attraction--Miniatur Wunderland. My good friend Matt Kenney drew my attention to this attraction a few months back, before I even knew I would be in Hamburg. This video, complete with creepy German narration, is basically what it is all about.

I spent 7 Miniatur Wunderland days (every 15 minutes it gets twilight, then dark, and then the sun rises) in the exhibit and this place blew my mind. So much detail and work went into these displays, and every model tells a story or is connected to the larger picture. From afar, the displays look great, but the closer you look the more little scenerios are played out. The cars are all stopped on a road...oh, I see, there is an ambulance coming. They are all there for a reason. Only in Germany would you find an exhibit like this--one where so much time, detailed effort, and thoughtful construction...all for a tourist exhibit. It's really cool to see them working on future exhibits and employees fixing any issues, running around the place checking and maintaining. If any of you are ever in Hamburg, I suggest you check it out. Here are some pics I took....

Cherry Way

2009-06-14T16:01:00.002+02:00

We live on Kirschenweg street, which translates to Cherry Way and now we know why. There are cherry trees up and down the area and we have 2 in the front yard and one in the rear of our apartment. They are sooo good on a hot summer-y day like today. Juicy and fresh....

State of Our World

2009-06-12T23:20:00.003+02:00

Been blogging about trips and stuff, but there has been some other things going on too. It has been great having Jennas parents out here to help with Mayzie and for travelling around with, they are pretty easy going. Jack did a whole bunch of work in the front and back yards...the landlady loved that haha, so did we. We are driving them back up to Frankfurt in the morning, so they will be gone and we will get back to our routine.

Work is still up in the air. They announced 10% pay cuts for those without a working contract (me included) and those came through so we are even shorter on money than before, when we were short on money. So that sucks. The company is trying its best to hang onto everybody. Something like 20 out of 28 employees have had their contracts terminated, but High End is trying its best to hold onto everyone. The work has been sparse but I had been going into the office nearly everyday, working from like 9-2. Easy, BS work. They sent me up to Hamburg for this whole week for some training, specifically to get certified to work for Airbus. It seems that Airbus is still hiring, so Hamburg is still a possibility. There is no job for me yet, but High End wants to train me up for the possibility of working for them, either up in Hamburg, or Switzerland and Munich have been thrown around. So we shall see. My boss assures me that he will not make me move anywhere until I have a longterm contract in hand. He knows that a 3-4 month stint somewhere is not possible for the family and all that. Would suck to make Jenna and Mayzie go through that. So thats where we are at. Next week I have my certification test in Hamburg, plus some more training, so Jenna will be on her own for that time. She is uneasy about all of this, everything feels temporary, but I think she is on board for a move, as long as we wont have to do it again for awhile. I am eager for us to feel more settled and for me to have a real job so that we can calm down and get on with our lives for the short time we are here.

Jenna is in her Deutsch course now, so that is 3 mornings a week. Mayzie's kindergarten has been sporadic as of late because of holidays and a teachers strike, so she has missed a few. Next week the teachers are striking for 3 days, that makes a total of at leats 10 days, I would say. Crzay Europeans. haha. Its ok for us (Jenna only misses her language course), but I cant imagine working families trying to juggle that...kinda sucks. Mayzie is coming up with some crazy German skills and we don't know what she is saying, or singing. Its pretty cool. She has a couple of friends at the school that she always talks about and the teacher is talking to her alot, so she says some funny stuff to us that she hears. She says "Guten Appetit" at every mealtime. Classic.

The car has been great. We have driven her all over the place, Switzerland, Belgium, and alot of Germany, and we have not had one problem. I need to get the oil changed and this is not something that the common German does, it seems. There are no Jiffy Lubes and no Schucks where you can buy the filters and oil all in one place. Alot of places sell the oil, but I have yet to find the filter. I guess most people take them to the dealership for a pro job, but its like 60 euro for an oil change? Rip off. So I have to figure that out soon. My mom and Bill come out on June 25 so I know we will be driving some more, so I hope I can do it before they arrive...just park her up on the curb, drain the oil into the gutter and fill her back up with some new stuff haha (joking about the gutter part, I think that would get you firing squadded).

We are both gaining confidence in the language and that is helping our time here. I know Jenna feels isolated and frustrated with our situation. I hope a job comes through soon. There alot of days we are ready to pack it in and go somewhere else, but we dont know where or how, so we are going to see this out, wherever it goes. I dont think there could have been a worse time to move over here, but we are still doing fine and trying to make the best of it.

Germany has alot to offer, but being a tourist and living here are so completely different that we are not out of the adjustment phase yet, I think. There are so many restrictions and being in this social bubble is a little hard to take for a "free spirited" west coast American like I think I am. It is interesting...in America we have more freedoms, less rules, but it seems like it is very easy to fall off the cliff and fail, or the sky is the limit. Here in Germany, there is a social bubble and government network that will take care of you if you lose your job, you get injured or sick, but there is a lack of freedoms to do what you want and when you want it. No system is perfect, but I always had it in my mind how great it was in Europe, not realizing what that really meant. I think a mixture of both would be great, but there is nowhere like that in the world, even the Netherlands has it's problems.

I will leave you with this video of Mayzie singing Bicycle Race by Queen....

Belgian Booty

2009-06-07T20:15:00.004+02:00

Too tired to blog, but we spent a couple days in the Ardennes area of Belgium (map here), drinking beer and touring Battle of the Bulge sites. A beautiful area that requires much more time than we spent. We came to La Roche, a town completely destroyed in WWII, but today was busteling with activity. There was a brew fest on the river. 30 Belgian beers to sample? Dream come true. Here is the booty as it is in our kitchen upon our return. More later.

Article 24

2009-06-04T01:17:00.000+02:00

Red Flag with White Cross

2009-06-04T00:33:00.015+02:00

Spent a couple days in Switzerland, specifically the Interlaken area. To describe the scenery around here is pointless, I would end up using my limited vocabulary and silly adjectives like awesome and beautiful and amazing and breathtaking, etc. But it really is. Interlaken itself is an amazing (there is that word again) place, but once you leave the town and head up the valleys towards the big mountains, it becomes other wordly. Like fantasyland. Adult amusement park. Waterfalls, huge cliffs, epic cable cars, the greenest fields you have ever seen, and the most quaint little villages and houses this side of heaven. I will stop with the describing. See the pics below.

Me and Jenna fell in love with this area when we first visited in 2001. You know how you romanticize a place and have a vision in your mind of what it was like, even if you know your memories have been skewed by time and distance? Well I was worried that I would be dissapointed upon our return here (Interlaken is more touristy than I remember), but I wasnt. We visited a small village called Murren, as we did in 2001, and it is so peaceful. Carfree, the only way to get up there is by cablecar. Just birds chriping, 360 degree views of enormous Alp-y mountains and hikers. No motors, no noise (well, there was Mayzie wanting some Ice Cream). Clean, fresh air and perfect drinking water pouring out of spouts all over town.

OK I have said enough. My mom and Bill will be here late June and we will be spending 3 nights in Murren...CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK. Things are pretty spendy around here, it is basically a huge tourist area, so they really get you with the cable cars, food and accomodation prices. But it's worth it. Due to trains, cable cars and busses, this whole area is super accessible...pretty rare that a place is so easy to get to and enjoy and it has not been ruined by tourists. Some would think it has, I would guess. All I know, is that we got up there high in the mountains with a dog, a 3 year old and 2 seniors without any issues and were able to walk around, enjoy the countryside and hop back on a cable car when we were done. Awesome (thats my favorite adjective).

The hiking signs (yellow) show walking times to destination. Signposts are everywhere and make it very easy to roam around mapless.

even the local shopping center gets into the signposts haha..."sek" means seconds.

love the shot above

stayed here in 2001...seemed pretty empty at this time of year.

the cable cars are huge and modern...50 people in each, I would say.

DAMN YOU SWITZERLAND! WHY MUST YOU BE SO BEAUTIFUL? AND YOUR TUNNELS PLENTIFUL?

The Forest that is Black

2009-06-03T23:55:00.009+02:00

Spent some time in the Black Forest with the in-laws...specifically Triberg (Pronounced TREE-burg, whaddya know), home of Germany's largest waterfall (lets just say it is not even close to Niagara or Multnomah, but pretty nonetheless), and cookooo clock central. The town is very pretty, surrounded by forested hills, but very touristy. We wandered the shops and the falls and had some heavy german food (pork knuckle...including hair.... and fries, uhhg... getting burnt out on German food). I dont seem to be gaining too much weight over here, so the walking and biking must be balancing me out. hah, maybe I am delusional. The cookoo clocks are really awesome...the good ones are upwards of 500 euro. All handmade in the area. Of course I am too cheap to buy anything but a postcard.

It's a beautiful area and the curvy roads through villages are CLASSIC Germany. We stayed at a youth hostel in town. I think it was Jack and Rae's first youth hostel! They are the cheapest way to go in Germany (bunk beds, shared bathroooms) and cater to families and people of all ages, not just youths. I think they are mainly for school groups and such, but we always feel welcome in them. This one was OK, the worst part was that they didnt have any towels and since this was Germany, every store was shut after 8pm. We ended up using shirts and paper towels. Usually towels are included, not sure what that was all about. Not such a good intro to the hostel world.

Here are some pics:

My Doitch Skillz

2009-05-25T11:51:00.003+02:00

I am proud of myself, and must tell the world...I can read signs now (not all, only if they are written for children under the age of 10)! I was walking along the road, looked up at a billboard that I would normally glance over, but realized I could read the thing! Must mean my Deutsch skills are improving.

"Sitting on the train, rather in traffic. Gain more, ride the S-bahn."

Our courses are taking a break until June 8, so I hope I dont forget it all by then hah

Ticks

2009-05-25T11:36:00.002+02:00

UGGGGH we have ticks in the backyard! We had heard about them being common around here, but didnt expect them so soon. Totally gross. Found 2 on Oskar the other day. Hopped on the google and read removal horror stories, ranging from using sterilized tweezers (dont have any), your fingernail between its jaws and the skin (nasty) and burning them off (dont think Oskar would stand still for that). I read about not leaving the head in the skin because it may become infected, how these little bastards give Lyme disease. Then I stumbled on this article. Couldn't be that easy--just molest the little beast, make him dizzy, and he loosens up?? Had to try it. So I pinned Oskar down on the back terrace, fondled the tick in a clockwise fashion for about 10 seconds and you can see him loosening his grip. Then I just plucked him off. DONE. I am tick removal master! Luckily we havent found any on our bodies yet, just on Osky's. I felt like the knight in shining armor who saved the day...Jenna was sure not going anywhere near these vermin.

There are lots of bugs here...we have heard that it is because of the lack of pesticide use. Interesting. What are the signs of Lyme Disease? Is it hyper activity and licking you when you least expect it and lunging at your face for a lick and snoring and peeing at sight of visitors and excessive gas? Oskar for sure has it then.

Tourin'

2009-05-24T15:20:00.012+02:00

A relaxing sunday afternoon, Mayzie is being entertained by the in-laws, so I have some time to blog. Jenna's parents arrived thursday morning...the drive up to Frankfurt was successful although we managed to keep them waiting since we were a little late. Their flight from Portland (Lufthansa, Portland to Frankfurt direct) actually arrived 20 minutes early! Good ol German efficiency. After the hellos, we headed back south towards home, driving through Heidelberg and the amazing countryside around that area. Everything is so green and lush right now...I think they were surprised by the large expanses of forest, farmland and other chloriform-filled goodness. Driving around, we came to a classic car ferry crossing over the Neckar river. 2.50 euro, never done that before...

Before the jet lag completely consumed them, we had lunch at our favorite biergarten, near our house in Marbach. It is difficult to avoid meaty dishes in Germany and we had pork and more pork (with tzaziki on the side) for lunch. It was good, but a bit heavy. Beers and heavy food.....Jack and Rae were soon zombified and fell asleep in our apartment at 5pm or so, and not waking until 10am the next day! Amazing. I thought for sure they would be up at 3 or 4 in the morning, ready to go.

The next morning Rae wanted to see a castle, so we drove down to Berg Hohenzollern, which we visited back in February. This castle is everything your mind pictures in fairytale land. And on a fine spring day like this one, it was a great destination. Jack was super into the history of it all, even though we couldn't understand the German language tour, it was still fascinating to look around inside, which we didn't do last time (cheap ass alert!). The views over the countryside and the sun hitting the castle made for some nice pics.

The Ritter chocolate factory was in a nearby town, and we are all chocoholics, so we made that a must see. There was no tours or anything going on, but the shop was open, so we were able to buy the mixed packs and every variety possible. This is some damn good German chocolate...I think I had seen it at Trader Joes in the states, but had never tried it before. Try it if you see it (although it tastes better in Germany, I bet, like a Guiness does in Dublin). After gorging on chocolate we headed up to Bietigheim (10 mins north of Tamm) for a brewery/classic German meal at Rossknechts brewery. These guys brew some good beers and we were able to sit outside amongst the cobblestones and enjoy some fine (HEAVY) grub.

The next day we headed toward Munich to see the Dachau Concentration Camp and to visit (eat and drink their beer, at least) the brewing monks at Andechs Monastery. Dachau was the first concentration camp setup by the Nazi's in 1933, and is a sombering experience. Jenna and I had been there back in 2000, but it was high on Jacks list so we had to get him out there. The place had changed a little bit (new visitors center) but the effect was the same. You can see the cellblocks, the execution wall, the "Work Brings Freedom" gate, the crematorium and a very vivid video explaining the history. Free entrance!

A beer was essential after that place. Andechs should be on the list of any beer geek, because these monks brew the best beers in Germany (in my opinion, of course). We had been here in 2000 as well, but I had wanted to return (I never wanted to leave!) since we left that fateful day. The setting is awesome...rolling green Bavarian hills surrounding a hilltop monastery. We had some beers (Dopplebock, Helles, and Apfelweiss) and even a pork knuckle out on the terrace, overlooking what seemed like a Monet painting.

2-1/2 hour drive back home and we were tired. Our Ford kombi has turned out to be a great car! Super reliable and we almost got 30 mpg out of her. Driving on the autobahn requires complete focus and we topped her out at 130kph (80mph) but were always in the slow lane. ALWAYS. Its crazy out there...on an unrestricted stretch, you would see cars going 150mph easy. And at night too. Better take it easy with our car...its not able to hang with the big boys. She starts quiverring at high speeds hah.

So that was a fun weekend...I am excited to have the car, and feel more at ease about our travel restrictions. Back to work this week, so we will be hanging around Stuttgart. We have 2 nights booked next weekend in Interlaken, one of our favorite places that we have ever visited (back in 2001... we shall see if it is still as great), and a night booked at that hostel castle that we stayed at back in February, on the Rhine.

Its nice to have visitors--we are seeing the best of Germany, stuff that normal tourists see. The stuff that sucks about Germany a tourists doesnt see, thats how we fell into this trap haha.

Ferien in Deutschland

2009-05-20T22:22:00.002+02:00

Holidays in Germany. There are alot of them. Seems like every other week there is another one. Tomorrow is a holiday, and because it is on a thursday, there is no work on Friday ("Bridge Day"), so 4 day weekend. I am not sure what holiday it is. Jenna's parents are in town tomorrow, so we will be driving up to Frankfurt to pick them up (1.5 hours drive). Hope the car makes it! I asked for some days off of work when they are here, and one of the days I asked for (June 1) is a holiday. Should have know. Of course, all shops and stores are closed, but its a good reason to hit a biergarten or a restaurant, unless you prepared and stocked up the night before.

Happy Whatever Holiday this is!

Pferdemarkt und BrauTage in Ludwigsburg

2009-05-17T20:17:00.009+02:00

Ludwigsburg was going off today! Strange to see a familiar place overtaken with people and tents and events. A parade, a carnival, horse shows, tons of craft and crap stalls, and a brewfest. Awesome weather, too. Within minutes of arriving to watch the parade, we were handed free alcohol (local red wine and some Ouzo!). I love German parades!

We are not sure why the festival and parade, but the horses and the traditional dress were out in full force, so its some kind of farming festival. Had some beer from a local brewery that was special for the weekend, and it was a surprisingly hoppy NW-style IPA (it was not an IPA but tasted like one). Brought me back to Portland beers. I was not expecting that. It was a good day...here are some pictures.

Fast and Furious

2009-05-15T21:48:00.006+02:00

In the land of fine German automotive machinery, we ended up with a 1995 Ford Escort:

They are made in Germany (in Cologne), so I guess it's ok. My friend Matthias and I looked at alot of cars in the last 2 weeks, and this is the one that fit our criteria the best, regardless of make (we mainly looked at VW and Opel, this was the only Ford).

The important things that we looked for and what the Ford has:

Style: Kombi (stationwagon)

Low kilometers: 96000km (60,000 miles)

Current smog and inspection reports

Single owner (older guy)

Detailed maintenance records

No major body damage

No accidents

It runs great

...and the best part is the price...1100 euros!!

There is nothing fancy with the car...no auto windows, no A/C, nothing special inside, but it is perfect for our needs. It has a sunroof even (hand crank style, but whatever)! The muffler vibrates loudly at about 2800 rpm's but it's tolerable. There is a tear in the seat. We had seen some cars that were 1700 euros that were not as nice, so I am happy. We will need some luck for sure to get through 2 years of travelling and driving without it breaking down, but thats the case with any old car. Gotta get the AAA equivalent so we dont get stranded anywhere (better learn "help, we are on the side of the autobahn" in Deutsch).

I could never have done this without Mattias' car knowledge, german and people skills, this guy has gone way beyond in helping us out. I gave him some gas money :)

I do not have my german drivers license, but I can use my Oregon one for up to a year. I dread the beauracracy invloved in getting a new one. I have to take a theoretical test and pay a bunch of money.

Car insurance is 181 euros a year! That blew my mind. Why is it so expensive in the US? I was thinking maybe because everyone is covered with health insurance over here that the insurance companies dont have to pay any medical bills. I bet that is it.

There is a law over here that you must have a first aid kit, one of those orange triangles for the road to put around your car when it's injured, and a bright orange saftey vest. So we got all that tonight at the German Wal-Mart (Real its called, but its just like Wal Mart). We had never been there because it was in the boonies and away from public transport, but now we can! Lots of cheap stuff. You should see the beer, chocolate, meat, and yoghurt aisles...I must take pics next time. I did get one pic of the 5L mini keg stand:

So now we have wheels. I am daydreaming of another pilgrimage to Westvleteren. Need some belgian beer back in my life. Jenna's parents are here in less than a week, so we will do some travelling around, for sure. It will be nice to have the car, but we will still be using our bikes, the trains and busses for short journeys and to work and school, etc. Makes no sense driving around Stuttgart. There are some lakes in the black forest that are perfect for swimming, so i hope to hit those in the near future. I feel free again! Just pile the kid and the dog and all our crap in the car. EASY.

I dread the "our car is broken" blog posting :)

Kindergeld

2009-05-15T21:19:00.002+02:00

Kindergeld (kid money) is the money you get in Germany when you have a kid. It comes to about 164 euros ($221) a month per kid. The idea is that the government helps with school supplies, school tuition costs, food for the child, etc. We applied for the money when we first arrived in January and we got notification last week that we would finally be paid. I was shocked to learn that they will pay us for the months up until now, from when we applied, and I looked at our bank account and we were 820 euros richer! Thank you German government and socialization! They also gave us a 100euro "kinder bonus" which I have no idea what that is for.

Better have another kid so we can get more free money! Seriously though, this helps us out alot. Mayzie's kindergarten is 100 euro a month (including lunch everyday) so a little extra cash is nice.

Here is a great article about how Germany is softening the blow of the economic crisis on it's citizens with built in aid for all...pretty cool stuff. They talk about the kurzarbeit, which is the shorterm working pay that I am on now....:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30363790/

and while I am at it, if you have time and want to know why the Netherlands kicks so much ass and makes for the happiest people in the world (and the most free, in my opinion)...where it's ok to get taxed alot, because you know you will be taken care of in ill health and when you are old....check this out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html

Taste Test: Oettinger's Bier Cola

2009-05-15T21:13:00.002+02:00

Oettinger Bier Cola

Stats: 0.5 liter bottle, 36cents (euros), 2.5% alcohol.

Going along with German fascination of mixing beer (see Berliner Weisse, radlers, etc) with sweet drinks, I bring you the Bier Cola. Surprisingly good, basically tastes like a cola, but with a tiny bitterness of beer. One for the kids....16 is the legal drinking age over here, but I can see Mayzie enjoying one of these on her next birthday (under my strict supervision of course). HA

Marbach--Beer and Cobblestones

2009-05-12T00:27:00.003+02:00

This little, quaint town near us has the best biergarten. Right on the river Neckar, chill out music, a playground, lots of shade under the big trees, and of course good beers and greasy German food. The perfect biergarten. There is even some whine in there (courtesy of Mayzilla)....click the pictures for the videos....

...and the town aint too shabby either. Here it is on a quiet saturday afternoon.

(the uploaded video quality is pretty crap...sorry about that.)

Car Hunting

2009-05-11T23:38:00.003+02:00

So we are on the prowl for a car. Jenna's parents are going to be visiting us for 3 weeks in late May, and my mom and Bill will be here in late June. Both were going to rent a car, plus it will be super nice to have a car for weekend outings and such, so we felt now was a good time. Things are a bit settled at work (at least there is no word of them sending me to Hamburg right now), so I have some time to think about it. Our budget is around 1500 euros. There is a government plan right now that says if you have owned a 9 year or older car for the past 1 year, they will give you 2500 euros towards a new car. It's a good idea that seems to working, at least it seems to be keeping the auto industry from completely buckling over here. But this means that there are not many older, cheaper used cars around. So it is taking awhile to find the right one, and they go quick.

What do Bon Jovi, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Steffi Graf all have in common? They have thier names on a German car! Couldn't believe it. Guess in 1993 when Pink Floyd had their big reunion, VW sponsored them. Bon Jovi is huge over here, especially 10 years ago. Genesis sold thier souls to car compaines in the 80's sometime, soon after Phil took over. And Steffi Graf was a big stud in tennis for while, so she gets her own car. Wonder if there is a David Hasselhof car haha. KIT! Glad they didnt make a Michael Jackson car, nobody would want that now. I just set up a bad joke about Michael Jackson seat covers, but I won't go there. The funny thing is that the cars arent anything different from their normal versions. The Pink Floyd is just a VW Golf with "Pink Floyd" on the trunk. No Dark Side of the Moon roof art, or Pipers at the Gates of Dawn steering wheel. Nope, just a plain ol car.

Visiting a used car lot over here is much different than in the US. At home we would be approached immediatly and pressured by multiple salesmen with baited breath. Over here it's the opposite. You have to seek out somone to help you and then they don't even care if you buy it. So strange. We had to convince one salesman to let us take the car for a drive. Like he is doing us a favor.

Doppelgänger

2009-04-30T23:25:00.002+02:00

You ever think you see someone you know? This is happening to us all the time. On the train, in the park, at the Rathaus. I have seen my friend Steev's girlfriend Christine, I have seen Doug Timms, my friend Chad, I have even seen my mom. All German versions. But then I think to myself--"cant be, we are in southerm Germany. What are the chances." One of these days, it will actually be that person. That would be a trip. Ever expectantly run into anyone in a far away place? Of the top of my head, the closest we have come is this chick we met in Thailand a few years back...like 6 months after we saw her, we were on Hawthorne in Portland and there she was. That was weird.

If you ever see John C Reilly at the mall...it might be me! (I dont think I look anything like the guy, but people have told me that). Actually I would probably not be at the mall...maybe you will see me/him at a 50 cent show.

The Checkout Line

2009-04-30T21:16:00.003+02:00

Bagging your groceries at a German supermarket has to be one of the most stressful things about living over here. It is INTENSE. Actually the entire shopping experience is something you have to plan for. Back home, we would just roll up to Fred Meyers or whatever, not worrying about needing money for a grocery cart, or having bags with you. Money for a grocery cart? You heard it right. You have to have a 1 euro coin to release a cart from the other carts....

its a cool idea--people don't steal the carts, but damn, it's tough to always have a 1 euro coin. There is a black market for little plastic pieces that are the same size as a 1 euro coin, so luckily I have procured one of these (dont you dare ask me where I got it), so I don't have to worry about it anymore. But Jenna does. She ends up having to grab a handbasket if she doesnt have a coin with her.

Shopping is fun--the cheese, yoghurt, and meat areas are huge compared to home. The drink aisles have to be seen. You have never, ever seen so many different varieties of water--mineral water, still water, mineral water with bubbles, fruit water, I dont even know. Its insane. We have been drinking the tap water so I walk right by to the beer aisles, which are just as impressive.

Onto the checkout. Its a 2 person job. If you are by yourself, you are for sure going to piss someone off because you are taking too long. The first thing is that there is usually only 1 or 2 lines open. Did you bring bags?? Don't worry--you can buy a few bags (pastic ones are 9 cents each, cloth and paper more). We have a collection of cloth bags now. The unloading areas for the groceries is much smaller than home--so small that sometimes a whole grocery shop doesnt fit on the thing...you have to wait tell they scan some things for the conveyor to move a bit. The cashier has no regard for your speed of bagging--you have to bag at the speed of their scanning or the items will get all backed up at the end. Sometimes when I am alone, I just throw everything back into the cart so that I dont get behind. I hate that because I feel like I am handling the items more than I need to. Gotta be efficient here! If you get backed up, it doesnt matter--you have to pay your bill when they are done scanning, else you will get stares and uncomfortable silences from the cashier. And then the worst part--they will start scanning the next person even if you arent done!! Oh man, thats stressful. Its a rush job. And I was not built to be a bagboy--lettuce and eggs on the bottom, right? Whatever, as long as I get out of the store.

As crazy as it is, we are getting better at it, and I know I will use cloth bags more at home when we return. I will probobly give the bagboy tips, too---- HURRY UP, MAN!

Fünfzig Cent

2009-04-30T12:05:00.002+02:00

Back at work this week. My boss is trying his best to keep me in Stuttgart, but there is no word either way...we are playing the wait-and-see game. The radio is playing while we work and a 50 Cent (fitty cent) song came on the radio and they called him ´´Fünfzig Cent´´. HA. I guess he is half a euro over here. More expensive than 50 cents!

Yes, German radio is as bad as US radio. There are some interesting German hits that we would never hear, but it is basically the same western pop music we would hear at the mall back home.

I gotta lighten this up...

2009-04-25T00:57:00.001+02:00

what better way than to watch a dog ride a bike.

Kindergarten mornings

2009-04-25T00:01:00.003+02:00

Another lull in work means that I am home everyday, so I am around in the mornings while Mayzie is at kiga (thats what they call it!) from 8:30am - 1:30pm monday through friday. It's a very relaxing 5 hours that we both have been thouroughly enjoying. A perfect time for a bike ride together, or grocery shoppping with ease, or watching a movie, or doing yoga, or going to the bakery and hanging out. It's a win-win situation...Mayzie is loving her school and we are loving the time while she is away. At 1:30pm all the moms are at the school entrance, waiting for their kids, and we usually bring Mayzie's bike and Oskar for the short 10 minute walk home. She loves that. Then Mayzie has been having a quiet time in her room for an hour...she is loving the routine and we are stoked she has taken to it so well. She hasnt told us about any friends in particular, but we have been near the school on an outing so we spied on here as she is playing out in the schoolyard--she is fitting right in. Her gibber gabber german is slowly becoming words, too...she is picking things up quickly--just words or songs here or there--basically learning to speak again with baby gibberish, but in German. Pretty cool.

We love that kid, but she can drive us crazy!

Hamburg

2009-04-24T15:32:00.004+02:00

We were hoping that this wouldn't happen...as soon as we are feeling settled into our new place, my boss drops me the bomb: there is a job in Hamburg for me if I want it, and if I do not take it, I will not be paid anymore.

I am not as emotional or frustrated as I was when I found out on tuesday, so I think now is time to write about it all.

I know now that our only choice is to move to Hamburg, or to move back to the US. I feel that moving to Hamburg will be harder...we are just now feeling settled in Germany, but it has taken 3 months. I cannot imagine going through all of the paperwork, bureaucracy, and awkward German skills necessary to get Mayzie enrolled in kindergarten, finding a new apartment that suits our needs, registering in the town that we move to, starting up with language classes, even trying to get garbage cans to our house(which frickin took forever)! It is overwhelming just thinking about it and I feel very reluctant to put Jenna and Mayzie through all of this again. We found this flat in Tamm only 1 month ago and now we must leave it. I know that the situation right now is difficult and I trust that my company has done all that it can do to keep me in the Stuttgart area. I pride myself on being flexible, and a "team player", but moving here has been such a huge push for us. Things were getting easier by the day, but now, I feel like they are getting more difficult with my assignment in Hamburg. We really want to keep this German thing going, if only because we have so much more to learn and see and do. I have read that Hamburg is a nice place to live, and we are eager to discover a new place. But to pack up all our shit, take Mayzie out of school and move again? BRUTAL.

BIG SIGH. Even for a naivly optomistic person like myself, it's hard to stay positive with another setback. Jenna is about at breaking point. There is no one to blame, it's just a bad combination of the current economy, our timing, and our just getting adjusted. My company will pay for our move, and any costs that may incur, and will pay for 3 months accomodation for me while I decide if Hamburg is good for us (job-wise and liveability-wise). This means 3 months away from Jenna and Mayzie, which is completely un-acceptable for me and her. I am not one of those career before family kind of guys and it would be difficult to be away and not helping out. Hamburg is around 400 miles directly North, so a 5 hour train ride, or an hour flight. It is feasible for me to visit on weekends, but that will become expensive. But we go home to no jobs and the dashing of my dream (I am calling it my dream now...this is in no way Jenna's dream anymore, if it ever was).

Some minutes I feel like pressing on, pushing against the flow, others I feel like throwing in the proverbial towel. We have been to Hamburg before, but didnt really spend any time there. It's more cultural, a larger city, closer to Holland, Berlin and Denmark, so geography isnt an issue...it would be great to discover that area. It's flat, so would be awesome for bikes. It really is just dealing with all the legwork of uprooting, moving, and knowing that it will be months before we are settled again. But it would be silly to say no to an OK paying job, to go home to no job at all. We are excited for Mayzie being here, and I am enjoying my language courses (I can tell the time now haha). I am tired of these tough decisions.

So we told my boss that we would take the job in Hamburg. I was told the job was for 1 year at least, doing CATIA design for Airbus (airplanes) in High End Engineering's office. Would be nice to get some aerospace experience, and to use CATIA again..thats why we came over here (job-wise). The plan, as of today, is for me to go up there when I get the call (I am not sure when I will be starting...probobly a couple weeks), figure out as quick as possible if the job is any good, if we could afford Hamburg, etc. We are toying with the idea of sending Jenna and Mayzie home for 2 months while I get everything in order (apartment, kindergarten, language courses, etc). That way, she is not alone, and they can come back to Germany and ease into it a little bit. That is one option. We'll see what we come up with here...we are not even sure if it's possible to break the lease on our apartment (which we are really enjoying, DAMMIT). Hopefully a job transfer is a good enough excuse to not get charged up the ass.

The continuing drama of our life in Germany...why can't it be easy!???!?!?!?!? We are due for some ease. Maybe Hamburg is the answer...here it is on the map, with Stuttgart:

View Larger Map

Damn Germans! Pt.2 ....Family Day at the Movies...Spoiled by the SYSTEM

2009-04-17T15:26:00.003+02:00

A rainy, dreary day in Southern Germany. A good day for a family day at the movies, right? There is an English cinema is Stuttgart that is playing Monsters vs Aliens, the latest Disney movie. I went onto their website to find the time and how to get there and I notice the rating of the movie...FSK 6. Further perusing of the site and I found this:

German Movie Rating

The American PG is quite similar to the German FSK. In Germany, an Organization named 'Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle' passes each movie with an individual Rating, based on child protection laws.

FSK 6: no children under 6 years are allowed to see the movie, not even with their parents.
FSK 12: children older than 12 are allowed to see this movie. Children between 6 and 11 must be accompanied by an adult.
FSK 16: no person under 16 is allowed to watch the movie.
FSK 18: no person under 18 is allowed to watch the movie.

For FSK 16 & 18 you may be asked for a document to verify your age.

NOT EVEN WITH THEIR PARENTS! No way, I say to myself. There is no chance that they actually enforce this. But to make sure, I went to our trusty english speakers in Germany site, Toutown and I found this posting about it. It's a good read. Basically....they enforce this rule! So I can't take my own kid to a movie that is (I am sure, it's frickin Disney here) violent or nudity or whatever else these raters think is bad for kids. Wall-E and Ice Age had this same rating! And these are a couple of Mayzie's favorite movies. Insane.

So no movies for us until she is 6? Luckily she's a big girl...maybe when she is 4 we will try it. I would try it now if my Deutsch was better...don't feel like trying to argue with sign language and broken German skillz.

LAME. #1 rule in Germany? Have patience. With EVERYTHING.

Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest

2009-04-16T23:17:00.018+02:00

We headed downtown to Stuttgart's spring festival, the Frulingsfest (I can't type the umlats for the U on my keyboard ! lame! watch out google here I come.... Nope couldn't find it) on wedensday after work. Wedensday is family night, so rides and food and such are cheaper. Basically the place is a mini-Oktoberfest. We are talking rides for kids and big kids alike (ferris wheel, log ride, etc etc), carnival games (failed miserably to win Mayzie a stuffed pink unicorn on the dreaded "pop the balloons with the darts" game. She got a pen out of it. You can see it in the pictures. Sorry Mayzie), tons of food (if you call tons of food wurst and brezels), 4 huge beer tents...all spralwed out along the Neckar river.

I am about to say something bold. This comes from experience. Oktoberfest in Munich is awesome, an experience that must be experienced(the atmosphere), but the Stuttgart Spring Fest beats it out!!!! I know, I know, this is blasphemous, but there are reasons...mainly 2. No tourists (Aussies, I am looking at you haha), and it's waaay less crowded. Granted on a saturday or friday night it is probobly very crowded, but why travel to Munich when you can have all the beer, rides, and games, crazy food...all right here. If any of you are going to visit, may I suggest during April (it runs until May 3), and we will hit it up. Preferably bring someone that can babysit and hates these kind of festivals, so we can thouroughly enjoy the offerings(no kids in the beer tents after 6pm). It's fantasy land--beers always at arms length, fatty German food, killer rides, corn on a stick, German people to laugh at....it's great! I am sure with beer goggles on, it would be even better. Mayzie loved it, too (we bought her a unicorn balloon, to ease the dissapointment). Here's some pics. Notice the 1/2 meter Bratwurst and the very German ride names.

(feeling self conscious....) Do I write about beer too much? Man, I bet those of you who do not know me that well must think I am an alky. I have a passion for beer, don't forget. The flavors and the traditions. This does not mean I drink it all the time. Only 4 a day :)

Half 9

2009-04-15T12:50:00.001+02:00

I was an hour late today for work. I was told to come in at "halb neun" (half nine). To me, this is 9:30. To the Germans, this is 8:30. D'oh! Am I delusional, or in the US if someone says half nine (which they never do), this is 9:30, right? It wasnt a big deal, but I thought it was funny. I couldn't explain it properly to my work mates and it felt like a lame excuse when I was trying to describe the situation. The ironic thing is we are learning about time in my Deutsch class...I should have known.

You want a tour of our apartment?

2009-04-13T22:47:00.002+02:00

OK...check it out below. Notice the great parenting skills on display. PARENTS OF THE YEAR!!

WORK...comment on the comments

2009-04-13T22:33:00.003+02:00

Thanks everyone for your advice, kind words, and even job offer. I really appreciate the comments and they help get a grasp of the larger picture. Jenna and I have decided the wisest decision right now would be to stay over here, with the hopes that things will improve soon. I need to find out this week if my rasies will still come through. If so, I don't think we will have any problem surviving the GERMAN DREAM, even with the 10% paycut. If my raises are not valid because of the situation here right now, then we set a date for the end of the year for a new job, or some additional influx of money (possible Jenna work--as my spouse, she is able to work wherever she wants. A few of you asked if Jenna can work as a nurse...the answer is yes, they need nurses bad over here, but the language barrier will be tough for at least a year, I would think). If that doesnt happen, than we will have to come home.

So our minds are eased for now...we shall see how this all unfolds. Now back to our regular scheduled programming of dorky posts.

Vielen Dank! Thanks alot!

WORK

2009-04-11T10:53:00.003+02:00

I have been reluctant the past few days to post about work and my new job, because it is all a bit depressing. Depressing in the fact that it is a "busy work" type of job and not why we came over here. I should be thankful that I even have this crappy work, because there is absolutely nothing going on for engineering in the Stuttgart area. We had a team meeting on tuesday, like 15 people that work for High End Engineering out of 20 have lost their contracts and are now jobless (but still being paid, like me). Everyone has family and friends around here and houses and such, so it is a tense situation. Alot of contracting compaines are going out of business. So, the management is proposing a 10% paycut for everyone so that the company can stay afloat and still afford to pay everyone. I am assured that no one will be let go. This may have been ok in a year from now, when I have had all my raises come through (supposed to get a raise after 6 months and another after 9 months), but for this to happen right now, would truly sink us. Yes, we are living that close to poverty based on my current pay and things that are out of my control (taxes, bills at home, buying furniture, etc). I will not get the paycut as long as my current term of work lasts. They say it will last 2 months. But it's so boring! Checking drawings (actually pictures/scans of drawings, I am not even using CATIA) for Airbus. Tedious work that they usually send to Turkey and India, but because of the jobless here, they have brought it back. So I guess I stole a Turk or Indian job. Sorry about that, dude. Damn. This situation sucks for everyone, I guess. After 2 months and the project is ended, when there most likely will still be no work (my boss thinks the joblessness here will last through all of 2009), I will get the paycut, and will probobly not get my raises. I need to find out about that, though. If that happens, we will be screwed, since money at home is dwindeled to near zero and we can barely make it through the month with my payrate as it is. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Time will tell. Our only Plan B at this point is to go home, which I am reluctant to do based in the investment we have made to this adventure and the huge push it took to get over here. We would be scrwed at home too---no jobs and nowhere to live (our house is rented for a year...I think it's kind of a big deal for us to want to kick them out before a year). I know that if we went home it would be awhile before a.) I convinced Jenna that we have to move overseas again, b.) we had enough money to do it again and c.) we would even think about doing this all again. I should have slaved at some huge corporation and waited for the day for them to decide to send me overseas, pay for everything, but no, we had to try and do this independently. You certainly don't hear about this happening alot--you are in the Military or your company transferred you--thats how normal people move overseas.

Mayzie is the perfect age for this. I love/hate many things about Europe and Germany, but my passion for travelling and thirst for new sights and people is quenched right now, and I long for this to continue. I feel it is way to early to give up on this dream. Even if it means we are in some debt. But how much debt is too much? We hardly have enough money to travel. At what point do we cut our losses and go home? Is it any better in Portland? Jenna might be able to get a nursing job, but engineering is dead there too. Might as well stay where I am being paid, right? At least we would have family and friends around back home, I suppose. But we would be back in the US which I am not thrilled to do yet. You have no idea how long I daydreamed about living in Europe again, and now to make it a reality, and it not working out so good....frustrating. I know if I left now I would have huge longing for travel. It's a curse! I have always been very employable and I could quit and get hired at ease, since I graduated in 2000. Now things seem different and I am clinching to a job that I dont even like, waiting for things to get better.

This is the train of thought as of late. A see-saw of "yes, we will stay no matter what" to "we have to go home, because we are going to be financially screwed if we continue this way." It is exhausting. Typing it all out helps.

Thanks for reading.

Multiple Choice:

What would you do?

A. Live the dream--travelling and working in Europe. Screw the money...don't worry about it, dude!

B. Oh man, you will be broke as hell if you stay...you better get home where you have some support and a free place to crash for awhile.

C. Wait at least 1 year to see how everything turns out. If you are in debt, you go home. If you managed to get a raise or a better job in that time, you stay.

D. Stay in Germany but be poor. Real poor.

E. Apply for every job in Holland so that we can move there.

It's Official

2009-04-10T22:57:00.013+02:00

Spring Is here. Had a nice, relaxing day in Stuttgart, enjoying the sunshine and outdoor European cafe culture...easy to forget your problems on a day like this. Friday and Monday are holidays for easter over here so everything is shut down, which was nice, because it wasn't overly crowded downtown. Here's a picture diary of our day...

Preparing for Oktoberfest

2009-04-10T22:52:00.004+02:00

...as seen at a mall in downtown Stuttgart. Wonder if they come in Big Kid sizes? I imagine my legs would look pretty damn sexy in these.

Our First Biergarten....

2009-04-03T19:47:00.004+02:00

...was on our back terrace. So nice to be able to sit out there and enjoy the sunshine. It has felt like old man Winter punished us this year.

Good news! (or is it bad news?)

2009-04-01T22:03:00.002+02:00

I have mixed feelings about this, but I am starting work on monday! After 2 months of paid vacation, I guess they are ready for me now. I will be working in-house at High End's office in south Stuttgart (50 mins by train. DAMN) doing drawing check's on CATIA. I think so anyway. There will be 2 weeks of training and then the work begins. That's what I am told. We shall see. It is a temporary job until the real gigs come back in. So 9am on monday..... the sleep ins end.