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Hello Everyone, and welcome back to your favorite weekly German blog (in English, obviously).

This week, I was co-leading the "New Controller Start-up Training" at work. Sixteen Bosch employees from around the world came together to learn about the company (Hungary, Brazil, US, China, Germany). It was a really fun week, despite being long and exhausting. It takes a lot out of me to interact with new people. Three days lasted until 21:00 or later. So of course I didn't do any running at all. It was quite shameful.

It wasn't entirely the fault of the training. On Thursday, a few of us voluntarily went to the Mexican restaurant for happy hour (we invited everyone, but only had a few takers). I'm not usually a cocktail-drinker, but they turned it into a game that no one could resist. With each drink, the waiter handed you a die. Whatever number you rolled was how much you paid for the cocktail. Of course, it's a little less fun when Elizabeth rolls two 6's!

Elizabeth and I went to our first Weihnachtsmarkt on Saturday! We also rode our first German bus!! And it was the first snow of the season!!! It was a big day for us.

The Christmas market was in a little town, Wissgoldingen. We were invited there by one of the members of the training (Anika). Unlike the market in Gmünd, it only lasted one day. It was so much smaller than I could've imagined, haha. There were a few booths selling various Christmas-themed items. And others selling the typical German market foods. However, the main attraction was the Glühwein (hot, spiced wine). It was sold by the local fire department, and was very inexpensive. Each glass cost only 1,5 ‎€. We also learned about Glühwein variations - which are far superior to standard Glühwein.

"Nikolaus": Glühwein with Amaretto and whipped cream.
"Feuerwehrmann": Glühwein with vodka.

The afternoon quickly grew cold and dark, but the Glühwein kept us toasty warm. And then it started snowing!



Snow was forecasted this weekend, but it didn't seem possible. I guess weathermen are correct every once and a while.

Anyway, the bus was super easy. Apparently it only costs 1 ‎€ on Saturday. We should take the bus more often. Maybe to Heubach so we can hike up the popular hill. I'll try to talk Elizabeth into it next weekend.

Needless to say, today was the ONLY day that I ran this week. I made it longer, but it still doesn't feel like enough. But it'll have to be because the rest of the day is to be spent with Elizabeth for her birthday! Today she turns 1 German year old!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

First of all, I must apologize to everyone. I have no new photos to share with you. While several new pictures have been taken of our cat visitors, I don't feel the need to share them with everyone. Anyway, these cats will be leaving us in a few days. It will be sad to lose the extra life in the apartment, but it won't be very long before we bring our own cats over here.

Running is becoming difficult over here. It grows dark by 5:00, making running on the trails much more treacherous (with or without a light). Besides, sunlight itself is a strong motivator. Without it, it's hard just to get out of the door. I'm experimenting with leaving work early, with limited success so far.

Elizabeth is still eating healthy! It's very impressive. Sadly, it meant that I had pizza night while she had beans. She deserves a medal for her restraint!

I finished book 3 of The Codex Alera series. 3 more books to go. It's a delightful little tale with well-rounded characters in an intriguing setting.If I can convince Elizabeth to read it, then I'll be able to talk to someone about it!

I fell off my bike this week! It doesn't compare to getting into an accident, of course. I'm just limpy and embarrassed. I was on a paved trail, which had developed a thick layer of leaves. I was approaching a tractor and began mimicking its path. And you can guess the rest of it.

My wheels slipped off the hidden curb. Catching me off guard, I took none of the appropriate actions. I flipped off into a front roll, looking up just in time to see the tractor staring back at me with wide eyes. Of course they (father and young son) stopped and asked me if I was okay. It was ridiculously embarrassing. I confirmed that I was fine (in German... so they likely suspected minor brain damage).

I banged instead of scraping, so everything is intact! My clothes have no holes. And my laptop is completely untouched (holy crap that was frightening). My bike is wonky right now. It makes squeaky and crunchy noises from various places. But it'll work itself out.

Das Wetter ist wunderschön. Es regnet nicht. Es war warm und sonnig (bis 17 Uhr). Das ist gut, weil ich keinen Regenmantel habe. Nächste Woche führe ich eine Schulung. Die ganze Woche. Drückt mir die Daumen!

Greetings everyone!

Nothing happened over here this week. Sorry to say, we won't always have exciting stories to share. It will likely be the case more and more as we settle in. Our surroundings lose their magical qualities, and our lives fall into routines. We still will travel on occasion, but the truth is that vacations are very draining on our resources, so we must do it sparingly.

Elizabeth was vegan again this week, and I was vegetarian... except for Monday. What started as a temporary "challenge" has relaxed into a no-pressure decision. I prefer it that way: I chose today to eat vegetarian, but it's not who I am. Success/failure in doing so has no effect on my self image.

We still have the kittens. They will be here for another week or so. It is wonderful having life in the apartment (I'm certain Elizabeth feels that to an even greater extent than I), but those boys sure can cause trouble. Since they are only a few months old, every day they are growing. Every day they learn something new. And every day they can jump just a little bit higher than the day before. That is an especially dangerous situation. Our once cat-proof apartment on Tuesday becomes a deathtrap by Thursday. But regardless of their shenanigans they are fun to have around.



I am officially signed up for the Netherlands marathon, but anyone could have guessed that. I especially want to take this race easy, so nobody say anything about my pace, or I'll be encouraged to push my limits!

We are still 4 weeks away from learning if we are going to the Berlin marathon next year. If we are accepted, it will be a genuinely difficult decision how to train... because today I consider myself in a much more relaxed and noncompetitive state of running. However, Berlin is perhaps the fastest course around. It will be hard to not train for the best race that I can run (and then to be horribly disappointed because my 2013 running achievements are an unrepeatable phenomenon).

I have a new boss boss at work. It's a new position, so I'm not entirely certain what role he will play (they probably explained it, but the explanation was in German). He reminds me of a younger brother to Benedict Cumberbatch. He has only spoken to me in German so far. I'm afraid to disappoint him and tell him that I'm stupid.

Speaking of: I attended a ridiculous, 3-hour meeting on Friday. The room was stuffed with 14 other people, all higher up than me and all German. No fewer than 15 times were conversations interrupted but the phrase, "Let's switch back to English so Kyle can understand". Besides the fact that I clearly become a burden... the switch to English is made with complete disregard to other people in the room. What if someone in the room isn't comfortable with English? That question is never brought up, even though it's painfully obvious that some people are less than comfortable with the switch. I don't like it.

It's time to study German. As always, our teacher will be here tomorrow evening, and I'm tired of disappointing her. She is very nice, and we should at least attempt to meet her halfway.