Deutschland

For the first time in my life, I am thankful that I've been freezing for the past several days. Back in the states, it's fairly easy to hide from the near Amazonian heat that covers Kentucky, but in a country where A/C is not the norm, you're pretty much stuck with what you get in the summer. I've been wearing jackets in the middle of July and I'm absolutely thrilled about it!

As Kyle mentioned a few days ago, YES! He's training for another marathon! I'm so proud of him that he continues to push himself to crazy limits, even while we're still slightly unbalanced in our new living situation. He's considering other marathons in Athens, Budapest (I'm SUPER excited about that one), Dublin, Amsterdam, Switzerland (Jungfrau), the Medoc in Pauillac, Midnight Sun Marathon in Norway (starts at 8:00 pm, but the sun is out the entire time because it's so far north), and the Reykjavik Marathon. The best things about these races is that it's really easy for us to make a four day weekend out of any of them and be back at work like nothing happened. But first things first: the Friendship Marathon in Amberg/Weiden in September, which kicks off our first official European vacation, and then the Schwäbisch Gmünd marathon in October. (I'll save talking about our vacation for another time so I don't drive you guys crazy gushing over how excited I am about it--my new weekender bag just came and it's so nice, I just about pooped myself. I feel like such a fancy adult!).

So! Nuremberg! Kyle pretty much covered it. It was largely uneventful, but definitely felt good to see a new place. And it was absolutely critical to learn that we need a data plan for directions on our phones before we go any place else. We actually accidently stumbled upon the most prominent historical site in the area and didn't know exactly what it was at first. I vaguely recognized it and it wasn't until we went to the Nuremberg Museum that we realized what it was.

This is what we found:


And this is what it used to be:


Even without immediately recognizing the building at first, Kyle and I felt really uneasy about being there. It was such a stark contrast to the people rollerblading past us. Apparently, it's still 1998 in Germany.

Kyle keeps saying "Ask Elizabeth about this" or "Ask Elizabeth about that." He's not very subtle, is he? =P Well, he mentioned me visiting an English class with our German tutor. It's a corporate group of seven people who are learning English for work. Our tutor thought that it would be helpful for them to talk to a native speaker, and I agreed to tag along. I never realized just how much slang we use until I kept catching myself mid-sentence saying things like "hit and miss" and "ginormous" and "staycation." Even our tutor didn't know these words. Other than being a little awkward, the sessions were fun and I heard about a little Irish pub in Göppingen that has trivia nights every Wednesday. IN ENGLISH!!! (Kyle, we're grabbing all the ex-pats and totally doing this).

Kyle also mentioned that you need to ask me about my "teaching opportunities". I think that term is a bit strong. I think that perhaps our tutor is being nice in saying that she could use me to teach English, but I'm afraid that 1. I don't speak enough German to teach English (ironic, right?) and 2. I'm not as familiar with grammar terms as I should be (reflexive-genitive whatnow?). I think the job would be fun and I would like to contribute to our family's income, but... well. Yes. Ich habe angst, as our tutor so aptly puts it. But that would be a incredible opportunity that I would enjoy. Eventually.

Apologies for the long post! I swear I'm trying to keep them on point.

--E

This past week was jammed with goodies. Furniture, language classes, travels, driver's licenses, dinners, and long runs.

I'm going to start by patting us on the back: Elizabeth and I went to dinner with my coworkers on Tuesday! Well... we thought that was the plan. Someone at work arranged a dinner and invited everyone. However, when we arrived at Osteria, I only knew 2 of the 20 people there! Apparently no one else from my department was able to make it. It was still fun. I always enjoy fumbling around the German language more when I have Elizabeth to share it with.

Early this week, Elizabeth and I picked up our new, German driver's licenses! They stole our Kentucky licenses. I'm hoping we know enough German some day in order to figure out how to get those back. We also need to research KY license laws. We have German licenses... and we technically have KY licenses... so can we drive when we visit in December? Right now, my plan if I get pulled over is to act confused and speak only German.

On Wednesday, Elizabeth went with our German teacher to one of her English classes. I don't know much about it, but it sounds like she had a lot of fun (she's going back again tomorrow). If I were you, I'd ask her about it. Also ask her about her potential teaching opportunities.

Our TV stand arrived on Friday! As far as I'm aware, this is our last piece of furniture. It looks really fancy, and it matches our kitchen sideboard. It feels wonderful not having any more furniture to assemble. I was getting tired of using a butcher's knife as a hammer and screwing everything in by hand like a caveman. It would have been wise to buy tools, but I think that ship sailed months ago.

I've started running weekly long runs in preparation for all of the European marathons. My Saturday run was just over the 2 hour mark (I have absolutely no idea how far). I ran back up to Bargau, where we used to live, and up to Bargauer Horn like the good ol' times. It was so windy! I'm sure the German villagers all had a good laugh at the sweaty tourist moving in slow motion.



And, lastly, on Sunday Elizabeth and I took a day trip to Nuremberg for a classical music festival in a park. Nuremberg is less than 2 hours away by train, so it's similar to a quick trip to Louisville. We got pretty lost at first... we walked around for an hour and a half before we found it. For a while, we followed a large group of people only to find that they were going to a DIFFERENT concert (in hindsight, we should've taken the hint and gone to this other concert).

Long story short, we got to our concert so late that it was already over by the time we found it. But we're flexible. We ate lunch on the lake, toured the Nuremberg museum, and walked across the Zeppelin Field (despite its age and dilapidation, it still felt creepy). We didn't make it over to the castle. Maybe we'll make it back there some day.

I hope everyone has a splendid week!

The heat has FINALLY broke a bit. It's only supposed to reach the mid-80s for the next few weeks, which we can totally handle. My windows are wide open and the constant smells of meat roasting on a spit from our downstairs Döner shop are relentless and enticing. I have "discovered" the Döner Box, which is a little Chinese take-out box of Döner meat and french fries and some sort of variation of tzatziki sauce. You're supposed to eat it with a fork, but in case you haven't met me, I'm not a big fan of eating utensils when the food is especially delicious. The meat is somehow crispy and juicy at the same time and the french fries are a little soggy and perfectly seasoned. For some reason, the Döner Box reminds me of my brother and how much I miss his food. Kyle and I have made friends with a couple of the younger guys from the Döner shop, whose English is surprisingly good.

I think I've finally settled into satisfaction with living in a foreign land. I've discovered that doing Yoga daily (or at least, almost daily) makes me a happier person and I'm starting a Tai Chi/meditation practice next week. We are exploring more of our surroundings; going out to restaurants and bars with new friends and hiking on Sundays. Last Sunday I demanded to see Das Kastell Freimühle (or "The Castle Free Mill" is the best I can translate), which is a part of the Deutsche Limes-Strasse, a path that follows the borders of the Ancient Roman Empire. This "Strasse" is marked with historic Roman ruins of forts, towers, etc. Freimühle is about a 3 mile hike from where we live. I always forget to look at the weather before we leave for a hike and 90+ degrees seems to follow us whenever we walk for more than two miles. I just about died and took Kyle with me on this six mile hike last Sunday. It's ironic that the prettiest photos I took were about a two minute walk from where we live.









Kyle and I have officially started planning monthly mini-vacations--we go to Nuremberg for a classical music festival on Sunday and will probably go to the Black Forest or Neuschwanstein Castle in August. WE'RE GOING TO PRAGUE, KUTNA HORA, AND OKTOBERFEST IN STUTTGART IN SEPTEMBER!!! AND Kyle is running his first marathon in Weiden/Amberg to kick off the trip (it's called "The Friendship Marathon." Adorable, right?) Super stoked about all that business.

Things are starting to feel almost normal for us. Our last piece of furniture arrives tomorrow, our temporary kitchen only sucks a little bit, Mama and Dave are visiting us in October. Things are pretty great.

But seriously: that Döner shop is driving me crazy. It's pretty dang awesome.

Tschüss!

--E