Montag, 12. Oktober 2015
Short Week
durhamfamily, 00:56h
Hello again,
It feels like no time has passed since my last post. Nothing interesting happened most of the week. We had our first 2 German classes after a very long break. Don't worry: my German isn't any more ridiculously hopeless than it was before our vacation.
I started running again, lightly, every now and then. I should be in functional shape for my next race in 3 weeks. I'm running the Alb Marathon 50K as a relay with other Kyle. He and I are splitting the distance, so it's only 15 or 16 miles for each of us. I'd consider running it alone, if it weren't for the ridiculous elevation profile of the race. I don't think I could deal with that right now. Perhaps next year.
http://www.albmarathon.de/strecken-orientierungsplan/hoehenprofil-des-alb-marathons/
I started the week off sick, and Elizabeth followed right behind me. It made us a little less active... a little less ambitious. But it was over fairly quickly.
And right in time, too! Today Carole and Dave came to visit our apartment! They are our first American visitors. It was very good to see their familiar faces again. We took them on a short tour of the city and took them to eat regional foods they hadn't tried yet.
Lastly, some huge strides were made towards bringing the cats to Germany. My mom took the boys to the vet and got their certifications! I don't know what we'd do without her. We are excited to have them around again. The apartment can feel empty without our boys.
But yeah... other than that nothing happened this week. We'll work on being more interesting in the future!
It feels like no time has passed since my last post. Nothing interesting happened most of the week. We had our first 2 German classes after a very long break. Don't worry: my German isn't any more ridiculously hopeless than it was before our vacation.
I started running again, lightly, every now and then. I should be in functional shape for my next race in 3 weeks. I'm running the Alb Marathon 50K as a relay with other Kyle. He and I are splitting the distance, so it's only 15 or 16 miles for each of us. I'd consider running it alone, if it weren't for the ridiculous elevation profile of the race. I don't think I could deal with that right now. Perhaps next year.
http://www.albmarathon.de/strecken-orientierungsplan/hoehenprofil-des-alb-marathons/
I started the week off sick, and Elizabeth followed right behind me. It made us a little less active... a little less ambitious. But it was over fairly quickly.
And right in time, too! Today Carole and Dave came to visit our apartment! They are our first American visitors. It was very good to see their familiar faces again. We took them on a short tour of the city and took them to eat regional foods they hadn't tried yet.
Lastly, some huge strides were made towards bringing the cats to Germany. My mom took the boys to the vet and got their certifications! I don't know what we'd do without her. We are excited to have them around again. The apartment can feel empty without our boys.
But yeah... other than that nothing happened this week. We'll work on being more interesting in the future!
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Samstag, 3. Oktober 2015
Back in Business
durhamfamily, 21:06h
We are back in business, everybody!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTL5cbMPfyw
I have missed the last two weeks of blog posts due to our Prague vacation. I will try to make up for lost time here today. I will try to cover everything, leaving out as many unimportant details as possible.
Our first stop on the train trip to Prague was Weiden, Germany. Elizabeth graciously spent one day here so that I could participate in a random marathon, called the Freundschaftsmarathon. I wasn't exactly prepared, but I wasn't reckless either. I spent the last 3 months running 30 to 40 miles per week. My goal these next few years will be to participate in several European marathons without getting injured. So far so good.
In a pleasant twist, the Freundschaftsmarathon was primarily a team race. Most people were either in a 4-person relay team or they were part of a bike-run team (where you take turns running and resting on a bike). The distinct disadvantage brought out the more competitive side in me, and it kept me going strong throughout the race.
Huge thanks have to given to Elizabeth. While I was running, she was stuck hauling our luggage all around Weiden, waiting for me to finish. For the rest of our trip, I carried all of the luggage in return, but I don't think that we're even quite yet. I was surprised that no one stopped to offer her help!
We hopped back onto the train and arrived in the Old Town of Prague. Prague is a beautiful place. Too bad it's crammed full of so many people! We enjoyed our visit, but the large crowds really did a number on Elizabeth's anxiety. Look at that leer she's giving me in the Grand Cafe Orient.
We went on a city tour, which lasted 4 hours. We went on a ghost tour, which lasted another 4 hours. We went on a brewery tour, which lasted 6 hours. And of course I had us walking all around the city during our spare time. After 2 or 3 days of that nonsense, we looked as exhausted as this poor, chubby baby:
We took a brief trip to Kutna Hora in the middle of the vacation. It was a nice, relaxing break from all of the tourists. We stayed right down the street from the St Barbara's Cathedral, enjoying the silence. And, also, the skeletons. Good times.
We headed back to Prague after we recovered, this time to the Castle District. If it wasn't for the hilliness, I think this would have been Elizabeth's favorite part of the trip. All of the streets were old cobblestone. The giftshops were fancy, the food was super cheap, and there was plenty to look at. Take the Lennon Wall, for example:
I can't exactly say why it exists. However, it is busting at the seams with artwork, and there is always a person or two in front of it singing our Beatles favorites.
Last but not least was our day-trip to Stuttgart for the Cannstatter Volksfest! We chose to take Germanwings from Prague because it was cheaper and (supposedly) faster. Unfortunately, our first flight was delayed an hour, causing us to miss our second flight. We were pushed to the next available flight, which was 4 hours later than the original. And then, of course, that flight was also delayed an hour. Needless to say, that was a day lost to the airport. At least now we can say that we've eaten airport sushi before!
Our day in Stuttgart was wildly fortuitous. Lydia, from the US, just happened to be in Stuttgart that day. She met up with us in a local dirndl shop, and then took us out for a quick drink. We were lucky to have her around. She even taught us how to properly ride the subway, haha.
Anyway, we got changed and ran out to the fest (which was amazingly close to the hotel). We walked into the first giant beer tent we saw... and walked right back out. At 4:00 pm on a Monday, we weren't expecting much. However, this place was particularly dead.
So we tried another. "Sonja Merz". This one at least had a live band playing. We sat down and ordered our enormous beers. The beers only come in 1-liter glasses, and they aren't exactly are favorite types. After finishing them off, we were still convinced that we could do better. So the search continued.
Our 3rd place was a success. "Göckelesmaier". There were lots of people but still some tables on the edges that were empty, which kept Elizabeth from getting claustrophobic while she warmed up to the big party idea. You can see her here with a look of reserved excitement:
Still not completely satisfied, we made one last attempt at finding the best party. We walked into "Schwabenwelt" and were blown away. The place was packed, and everyone was already standing on their tables and singing along to the band (it's not a party until you're standing on the tables!). Two beers down, we were in the perfect condition to jump right in with the festivities.
Yada yada yada, we got back to the hotel safe and sound, with takeout döner and Thai food in hand.
Elizabeth planned everything in this trip, and it was a total blast. But we have learned that we are not made for these European vacations! They just sooo long. It took all of our willpower to go outside before noon towards the end. Still, I can't wait for the next one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTL5cbMPfyw
I have missed the last two weeks of blog posts due to our Prague vacation. I will try to make up for lost time here today. I will try to cover everything, leaving out as many unimportant details as possible.
Our first stop on the train trip to Prague was Weiden, Germany. Elizabeth graciously spent one day here so that I could participate in a random marathon, called the Freundschaftsmarathon. I wasn't exactly prepared, but I wasn't reckless either. I spent the last 3 months running 30 to 40 miles per week. My goal these next few years will be to participate in several European marathons without getting injured. So far so good.
In a pleasant twist, the Freundschaftsmarathon was primarily a team race. Most people were either in a 4-person relay team or they were part of a bike-run team (where you take turns running and resting on a bike). The distinct disadvantage brought out the more competitive side in me, and it kept me going strong throughout the race.
Huge thanks have to given to Elizabeth. While I was running, she was stuck hauling our luggage all around Weiden, waiting for me to finish. For the rest of our trip, I carried all of the luggage in return, but I don't think that we're even quite yet. I was surprised that no one stopped to offer her help!
We hopped back onto the train and arrived in the Old Town of Prague. Prague is a beautiful place. Too bad it's crammed full of so many people! We enjoyed our visit, but the large crowds really did a number on Elizabeth's anxiety. Look at that leer she's giving me in the Grand Cafe Orient.
We went on a city tour, which lasted 4 hours. We went on a ghost tour, which lasted another 4 hours. We went on a brewery tour, which lasted 6 hours. And of course I had us walking all around the city during our spare time. After 2 or 3 days of that nonsense, we looked as exhausted as this poor, chubby baby:
We took a brief trip to Kutna Hora in the middle of the vacation. It was a nice, relaxing break from all of the tourists. We stayed right down the street from the St Barbara's Cathedral, enjoying the silence. And, also, the skeletons. Good times.
We headed back to Prague after we recovered, this time to the Castle District. If it wasn't for the hilliness, I think this would have been Elizabeth's favorite part of the trip. All of the streets were old cobblestone. The giftshops were fancy, the food was super cheap, and there was plenty to look at. Take the Lennon Wall, for example:
I can't exactly say why it exists. However, it is busting at the seams with artwork, and there is always a person or two in front of it singing our Beatles favorites.
Last but not least was our day-trip to Stuttgart for the Cannstatter Volksfest! We chose to take Germanwings from Prague because it was cheaper and (supposedly) faster. Unfortunately, our first flight was delayed an hour, causing us to miss our second flight. We were pushed to the next available flight, which was 4 hours later than the original. And then, of course, that flight was also delayed an hour. Needless to say, that was a day lost to the airport. At least now we can say that we've eaten airport sushi before!
Our day in Stuttgart was wildly fortuitous. Lydia, from the US, just happened to be in Stuttgart that day. She met up with us in a local dirndl shop, and then took us out for a quick drink. We were lucky to have her around. She even taught us how to properly ride the subway, haha.
Anyway, we got changed and ran out to the fest (which was amazingly close to the hotel). We walked into the first giant beer tent we saw... and walked right back out. At 4:00 pm on a Monday, we weren't expecting much. However, this place was particularly dead.
So we tried another. "Sonja Merz". This one at least had a live band playing. We sat down and ordered our enormous beers. The beers only come in 1-liter glasses, and they aren't exactly are favorite types. After finishing them off, we were still convinced that we could do better. So the search continued.
Our 3rd place was a success. "Göckelesmaier". There were lots of people but still some tables on the edges that were empty, which kept Elizabeth from getting claustrophobic while she warmed up to the big party idea. You can see her here with a look of reserved excitement:
Still not completely satisfied, we made one last attempt at finding the best party. We walked into "Schwabenwelt" and were blown away. The place was packed, and everyone was already standing on their tables and singing along to the band (it's not a party until you're standing on the tables!). Two beers down, we were in the perfect condition to jump right in with the festivities.
Yada yada yada, we got back to the hotel safe and sound, with takeout döner and Thai food in hand.
Elizabeth planned everything in this trip, and it was a total blast. But we have learned that we are not made for these European vacations! They just sooo long. It took all of our willpower to go outside before noon towards the end. Still, I can't wait for the next one.
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Montag, 14. September 2015
Cooling Down
durhamfamily, 09:21h
The days are growing shorter and colder. I'm feeling super tired. Running is winding down as I prepare myself for my first German marathon. Our Prague vacation begins next week, too. So, this week will likely be entirely spent catching up on sleep. Again, today's German lesson will be disappointing for my teacher - as I sit comatose across from her. But, just maybe, I'll come back from Prague actually able to participate and learn again.
Saturday we went to another festival! This time it was the Reichsstädter Tage in Aalen. Aalen is such a quick and inexpensive trip, we should go there more often.
The first half of our day was spent with the Seegers. They met us right away and showed us around town. We toured the festival (it was really big complex - for someone not familiar with Aalen), listened to the music, and ate some great food (including a heart-shaped waffle that I will never hear the end of, haha).
Being at the festival early (we arrived at noon) was quite nice. There weren't big crowds yet. After the Seegers left, we waited around for Kyle and Chrissy, who planned to come after 4:00.
We killed the time by having a fashion show! Elizabeth found a street vendor selling dirndls, and jumped right in. There were no "dressing rooms", so she just stepped behind the booth with the old German lady. I never knew Elizabeth could look so German. No pictures were taken... but we will definitely be taking some in 2 weeks at the Cannstatter Volksfest!
http://cannstatter-volksfest.de/de/landing-page/
In all hopes, I'll also be wearing something German of my own. I'm fairly certain it is illegal for me to drink 1 liter beers in German public streets if I'm not at least wearing some sort of plaid.
Kyle and Chrissy came as scheduled, and the party started all over again. Elizabeth took a picture of us with our 1 liter beers, but I'm still sad she didn't have one and join the picture. We need to learn the phrase "Please take a picture for us" in German. Maybe we can ask that in class today...
Anyway, now we're back to the usual weekday grind, with some souvenir mugs and a kitten balloon to remember the fun (all except for the not-so-fun memory of being yelled at on the train for having a helium balloon?).
I've missed a lot of points from Saturday, and I have basically said nothing about any of the other days. So maybe Elizabeth can fill you in if she finds time to write a blog this week!
I don't know if I'll be able to write next weekend, since we'll be traveling. Until next time!
Saturday we went to another festival! This time it was the Reichsstädter Tage in Aalen. Aalen is such a quick and inexpensive trip, we should go there more often.
The first half of our day was spent with the Seegers. They met us right away and showed us around town. We toured the festival (it was really big complex - for someone not familiar with Aalen), listened to the music, and ate some great food (including a heart-shaped waffle that I will never hear the end of, haha).
Being at the festival early (we arrived at noon) was quite nice. There weren't big crowds yet. After the Seegers left, we waited around for Kyle and Chrissy, who planned to come after 4:00.
We killed the time by having a fashion show! Elizabeth found a street vendor selling dirndls, and jumped right in. There were no "dressing rooms", so she just stepped behind the booth with the old German lady. I never knew Elizabeth could look so German. No pictures were taken... but we will definitely be taking some in 2 weeks at the Cannstatter Volksfest!
http://cannstatter-volksfest.de/de/landing-page/
In all hopes, I'll also be wearing something German of my own. I'm fairly certain it is illegal for me to drink 1 liter beers in German public streets if I'm not at least wearing some sort of plaid.
Kyle and Chrissy came as scheduled, and the party started all over again. Elizabeth took a picture of us with our 1 liter beers, but I'm still sad she didn't have one and join the picture. We need to learn the phrase "Please take a picture for us" in German. Maybe we can ask that in class today...
Anyway, now we're back to the usual weekday grind, with some souvenir mugs and a kitten balloon to remember the fun (all except for the not-so-fun memory of being yelled at on the train for having a helium balloon?).
I've missed a lot of points from Saturday, and I have basically said nothing about any of the other days. So maybe Elizabeth can fill you in if she finds time to write a blog this week!
I don't know if I'll be able to write next weekend, since we'll be traveling. Until next time!
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Montag, 7. September 2015
Weindorf and other things
durhamfamily, 00:48h
It is the weekend once again, so here I am to report on all of the most important news of the week.
Saturday was spent entirely at the Stuttgarter Weindorf. Weindorf is a large wine festival (45 different booths) held in Stuttgart every year. We walked from booth to booth trying different wines and eating various German treats. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of any of the wines I drank, but they were all pretty good. More importantly, I got a GIANT pretzel. It was very fancy, with an extra braid in the front. Elizabeth took pictures, so she'll need to post one for you. All in all, it was a festive, fun adventure. However, I think next time we should try something a little less expensive, haha.
We went to the festival with our American friends, Kyle and Chrissy (being the only two Kyles in Germany, it makes sense that we should hang out together). We have a lot in common, so it's nice we're all in Germany at the same time. On Sunday they adopted two adorable kittens! It sounds like we will be potential cat-sitters, so that will be fantastic. I wonder if they will get to meet Ozzie and Riker one day?
It was finally chilly enough Sunday for us to turn on our heat in the apartment. We should have turned it on much sooner than we did (Elizabeth has been wrapped up in a blanket for several hours). I'm not positive that I'm using the radiators correctly, because they sure don't get very warm.
On Tuesday, other Kyle and I went for a run. I can't remember the last time that I've run with someone else. Being the younger and fitter Kyle, he gets me to run faster than I'd run on my own. Kyle is a triathlon racer, so he's basically good at everything. It looks like he might join me in a few of my European marathons down the line.
Our first European vacation is coming up soon! I'll be away from work for nearly two weeks! I've never been away from a job that long before. It will be fantastic.
There isn't much else to report from last week. It feels like I am developing a good reputation at work. My German skills are still terrible, and I wish I had more time to work on it. One big problem is that I'm only able to study German at night, after work, when my brain is already mushy. I feel awful in German classes (typically 6:00 to 7:30) because I hardly participate whatsoever. I just glaze over like a potted plant. It's a good thing that Elizabeth is also there to pick up some of the slack. Practicing German during the day could potentially yield much better results. Too bad.
We miss everyone. I hope you are all doing great!
Saturday was spent entirely at the Stuttgarter Weindorf. Weindorf is a large wine festival (45 different booths) held in Stuttgart every year. We walked from booth to booth trying different wines and eating various German treats. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of any of the wines I drank, but they were all pretty good. More importantly, I got a GIANT pretzel. It was very fancy, with an extra braid in the front. Elizabeth took pictures, so she'll need to post one for you. All in all, it was a festive, fun adventure. However, I think next time we should try something a little less expensive, haha.
We went to the festival with our American friends, Kyle and Chrissy (being the only two Kyles in Germany, it makes sense that we should hang out together). We have a lot in common, so it's nice we're all in Germany at the same time. On Sunday they adopted two adorable kittens! It sounds like we will be potential cat-sitters, so that will be fantastic. I wonder if they will get to meet Ozzie and Riker one day?
It was finally chilly enough Sunday for us to turn on our heat in the apartment. We should have turned it on much sooner than we did (Elizabeth has been wrapped up in a blanket for several hours). I'm not positive that I'm using the radiators correctly, because they sure don't get very warm.
On Tuesday, other Kyle and I went for a run. I can't remember the last time that I've run with someone else. Being the younger and fitter Kyle, he gets me to run faster than I'd run on my own. Kyle is a triathlon racer, so he's basically good at everything. It looks like he might join me in a few of my European marathons down the line.
Our first European vacation is coming up soon! I'll be away from work for nearly two weeks! I've never been away from a job that long before. It will be fantastic.
There isn't much else to report from last week. It feels like I am developing a good reputation at work. My German skills are still terrible, and I wish I had more time to work on it. One big problem is that I'm only able to study German at night, after work, when my brain is already mushy. I feel awful in German classes (typically 6:00 to 7:30) because I hardly participate whatsoever. I just glaze over like a potted plant. It's a good thing that Elizabeth is also there to pick up some of the slack. Practicing German during the day could potentially yield much better results. Too bad.
We miss everyone. I hope you are all doing great!
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Samstag, 29. August 2015
German Stuffs
durhamfamily, 23:50h
We have a kitchen!
Sorry, did I blow the biggest news upfront? Should I end the blog already? Clearly I couldn't have anything more important to write about for this week.
It was so crazy: Rieger called Elizabeth on Wednesday, out of the blue, telling her they were coming on Friday. It's really weird that they operate on such short notice. If I was alone, I would likely need several days, if not weeks, in order to schedule time (an entire day!) away from work for them. Luckily, of course, I have Elizabeth here to take care of everything for me. I truly believe it would be impossible to manage all of it alone.
As you can see, it looks great. And Elizabeth had to sit around with them the entire day... from 8 am until 5 pm. I failed to get home early, so she had to deal with them alone. When I got home, she was in the process of signing the papers and handing them the cash.
Side note: I'm very uncomfortable about paying them cash. They supposedly checked a box that indicated they received cash from us, but it was all in German words that we weren't familiar with. I fully expect Rieger to come knocking down our door in a few weeks demanding a few more thousand euros.
BUT, who cares about a kitchen? This week my sister announced that she's pregnant! I will be studying up on the German family words. I will be an "Onkel", and they will be either my "Nichte" or my "Neffe"! After years of my sister telling me to hurry up, it looks like she has gone ahead and beaten me to it! She even sent us a letter about it (with suspiciously little postage...)!
In other news, no more long runs for me. My first European marathon is in 3 weeks. I am not ready in the slightest, so I won't be bragging about my results, haha. Regardless of pace, I fully intend to participate in as many marathons as humanly possible while I'm here.
Today I made an honest attempt to run to another mountain, but it was much much farther away than I expected. I will pencil it in for another day. As of this blog post, I have not identified this mystery mountain. Rest assured it will be found and conquered before I am done here.
That might be all that I have for you today. No new information about our speeding ticket, but we'll let you know when we know more about that subject. Elizabeth baked a cake today, so that'll be how I'm spending the rest of my evening.
Bis bald!
Sorry, did I blow the biggest news upfront? Should I end the blog already? Clearly I couldn't have anything more important to write about for this week.
It was so crazy: Rieger called Elizabeth on Wednesday, out of the blue, telling her they were coming on Friday. It's really weird that they operate on such short notice. If I was alone, I would likely need several days, if not weeks, in order to schedule time (an entire day!) away from work for them. Luckily, of course, I have Elizabeth here to take care of everything for me. I truly believe it would be impossible to manage all of it alone.
As you can see, it looks great. And Elizabeth had to sit around with them the entire day... from 8 am until 5 pm. I failed to get home early, so she had to deal with them alone. When I got home, she was in the process of signing the papers and handing them the cash.
Side note: I'm very uncomfortable about paying them cash. They supposedly checked a box that indicated they received cash from us, but it was all in German words that we weren't familiar with. I fully expect Rieger to come knocking down our door in a few weeks demanding a few more thousand euros.
BUT, who cares about a kitchen? This week my sister announced that she's pregnant! I will be studying up on the German family words. I will be an "Onkel", and they will be either my "Nichte" or my "Neffe"! After years of my sister telling me to hurry up, it looks like she has gone ahead and beaten me to it! She even sent us a letter about it (with suspiciously little postage...)!
In other news, no more long runs for me. My first European marathon is in 3 weeks. I am not ready in the slightest, so I won't be bragging about my results, haha. Regardless of pace, I fully intend to participate in as many marathons as humanly possible while I'm here.
Today I made an honest attempt to run to another mountain, but it was much much farther away than I expected. I will pencil it in for another day. As of this blog post, I have not identified this mystery mountain. Rest assured it will be found and conquered before I am done here.
That might be all that I have for you today. No new information about our speeding ticket, but we'll let you know when we know more about that subject. Elizabeth baked a cake today, so that'll be how I'm spending the rest of my evening.
Bis bald!
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Dienstag, 25. August 2015
Just a little late
durhamfamily, 00:49h
Hello Everybody!
I'm sorry this is a little late this week. The weekend was pretty full, and I knew you wouldn't mind waiting as long as I came back with some good stories.
First and biggest news of all: I got my first speeding ticket this weekend! Rewinding a little bit...
Our German teacher is unbelievably nice. Her husband was not using his car this weekend, so out of the blue she offered it to us.
On Friday we drove the car to the Seeger household. For anyone who doesn't remember: the Stefan worked with me when I first started at ZF. We had a delightful evening with them in their home... speaking English, playing with their children and their dog. It is a shame that we are not able to do it more often.
Here in Germany, traffic is monitored by completely by cameras. It's a very fair and reasonable system. You know that speeding equals ticket, so you don't speed. Well, we were caught by a traffic camera on the way home from the Seeger house. You know when it catches you because it flashes a blinding light in your eyes (smart, right?). I'm not thrilled about it, though, because I maintain that I was following the speed limits to the best of my knowledge. You could almost say that I was obsessive over them (yeah - I don't want to cause trouble if I'm literally incapable of communicating with law enforcement).
Anyway, because I THINK I was going the speed limit, I have no idea how much I was speeding. At least if a cop pulled me over, I'd know what kind of trouble I was in. That's my first issue. Secondly, it wasn't our car! Now, because of this camera system, we must explain the ticket to our German teacher... when the police mail it to her house.
Needless to say, I refused to drive the car on Saturday. Instead, I used my long run to climb a few of the big hills in the neighboring cities. I've spent weeks looking at these hills from afar, wondering exactly what and where they were. It is very rewarding running to something that you can see far off in the distance. I should keep track of which ones I've visited.
On Sunday we drove to Bartholomä (pron. bar-toe-loh-MAY) for a giant horse festival! Elizabeth posted several videos on Facebook. Germany seems so much like America... except for the times when it totally doesn't. She has some pictures, too. I'll tell her to post them on here this week.
That's a random picture of our tower. There are five of them along the outer wall of the city, but this is the one right next to us (and it is the reason why we'll never need to purchase a clock for the apartment). I'm fairly certain that we have the best one.
Before I say goodnight, I want to apologize for any current or future grammatical errors. I find that I am losing both my German and my English and a fairly rapid rate. To make matters worse, the German keyboard has a few critical differences to the English keyboard. I'm actually comfortable with them now... but that means that I make all sorts of typos when I'm back at home with this keyboard. It's just a mess, haha.
Macht's gut
I'm sorry this is a little late this week. The weekend was pretty full, and I knew you wouldn't mind waiting as long as I came back with some good stories.
First and biggest news of all: I got my first speeding ticket this weekend! Rewinding a little bit...
Our German teacher is unbelievably nice. Her husband was not using his car this weekend, so out of the blue she offered it to us.
On Friday we drove the car to the Seeger household. For anyone who doesn't remember: the Stefan worked with me when I first started at ZF. We had a delightful evening with them in their home... speaking English, playing with their children and their dog. It is a shame that we are not able to do it more often.
Here in Germany, traffic is monitored by completely by cameras. It's a very fair and reasonable system. You know that speeding equals ticket, so you don't speed. Well, we were caught by a traffic camera on the way home from the Seeger house. You know when it catches you because it flashes a blinding light in your eyes (smart, right?). I'm not thrilled about it, though, because I maintain that I was following the speed limits to the best of my knowledge. You could almost say that I was obsessive over them (yeah - I don't want to cause trouble if I'm literally incapable of communicating with law enforcement).
Anyway, because I THINK I was going the speed limit, I have no idea how much I was speeding. At least if a cop pulled me over, I'd know what kind of trouble I was in. That's my first issue. Secondly, it wasn't our car! Now, because of this camera system, we must explain the ticket to our German teacher... when the police mail it to her house.
Needless to say, I refused to drive the car on Saturday. Instead, I used my long run to climb a few of the big hills in the neighboring cities. I've spent weeks looking at these hills from afar, wondering exactly what and where they were. It is very rewarding running to something that you can see far off in the distance. I should keep track of which ones I've visited.
On Sunday we drove to Bartholomä (pron. bar-toe-loh-MAY) for a giant horse festival! Elizabeth posted several videos on Facebook. Germany seems so much like America... except for the times when it totally doesn't. She has some pictures, too. I'll tell her to post them on here this week.
That's a random picture of our tower. There are five of them along the outer wall of the city, but this is the one right next to us (and it is the reason why we'll never need to purchase a clock for the apartment). I'm fairly certain that we have the best one.
Before I say goodnight, I want to apologize for any current or future grammatical errors. I find that I am losing both my German and my English and a fairly rapid rate. To make matters worse, the German keyboard has a few critical differences to the English keyboard. I'm actually comfortable with them now... but that means that I make all sorts of typos when I'm back at home with this keyboard. It's just a mess, haha.
Macht's gut
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Samstag, 15. August 2015
Yada yada yada
durhamfamily, 22:54h
Hello again internet people.
Some weeks it is difficult to summarize the important points. For the most part, everything was completely normal. I rode my bike to work, worked, did some running, watched X-Files, and comically failed at learning German.
Today was the typical long run. Thanks to a tip from a colleague, I ran to Lorch where there is a nice little fitness trail. It was difficult to enjoy it fully since I had already ran for 50 minutes before I found the trail. Next time I'll ride my bike there.
Have I talked about our pigeons yet? Of course there are a lot of pigeons around our apartment... we live directly above an outdoor restaurant and a fountain. It is strange because most of the time these fellas don't sound like the pigeons I grew up watching in films. Don't get me wrong, every now and again I'll hear their trademark "cooo". But it's not their primary noise. No... their favorite noise to make is sound of someone dry-heaving. All day, every day.
We had more hot days this week. It is a new experience, sitting in an office covered in sweat. In the afternoon, when walking past coworkers in the office, you get a strong whiff of body odor. You immediately think, "oh my gosh, they smell so bad". BUT... it quickly hits you... that smell could just as easily be me! I'm not blind - I can see sweat stains on my armpits, forearms, back, and butt. There's no way of knowing where the smell originated! All you can do is keep your head (and arms) down, and leave for home as quickly as possible.
Speaking of the office... coworkers of mine were discussing the movie Office Space recently. One was recommending it to others. He called it a great example of the absurdities of the American workplace. I had always watched it and thought, "that's funny... that's totally a typical workplace". It had never occurred to me that Germans could watch it to "learn" about Americans. It's brilliant.
Lastly, I was discussing fast food with a young, poor college student. We have McDonald's and Burger King here in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The quality and prices are all the same as in the US. While he likes the food well enough, he says he never eats there. He says it's TOO EXPENSIVE. I think that is beautifully hilarious. I'm sorry... if you can't convince college kids that your terrible food is worth the money, then you are dead in the water.
And that's the biggest lesson I will take back from Germany. Everywhere I look, everyone is emphasizing the importance of personal time, of family, and of health. It's very inspiring. I will always work in a place where I can leave on time, spend time with Elizabeth (and maybe some kids), and be healthy. Otherwise, what are we working so hard for?
Until next week.
Some weeks it is difficult to summarize the important points. For the most part, everything was completely normal. I rode my bike to work, worked, did some running, watched X-Files, and comically failed at learning German.
Today was the typical long run. Thanks to a tip from a colleague, I ran to Lorch where there is a nice little fitness trail. It was difficult to enjoy it fully since I had already ran for 50 minutes before I found the trail. Next time I'll ride my bike there.
Have I talked about our pigeons yet? Of course there are a lot of pigeons around our apartment... we live directly above an outdoor restaurant and a fountain. It is strange because most of the time these fellas don't sound like the pigeons I grew up watching in films. Don't get me wrong, every now and again I'll hear their trademark "cooo". But it's not their primary noise. No... their favorite noise to make is sound of someone dry-heaving. All day, every day.
We had more hot days this week. It is a new experience, sitting in an office covered in sweat. In the afternoon, when walking past coworkers in the office, you get a strong whiff of body odor. You immediately think, "oh my gosh, they smell so bad". BUT... it quickly hits you... that smell could just as easily be me! I'm not blind - I can see sweat stains on my armpits, forearms, back, and butt. There's no way of knowing where the smell originated! All you can do is keep your head (and arms) down, and leave for home as quickly as possible.
Speaking of the office... coworkers of mine were discussing the movie Office Space recently. One was recommending it to others. He called it a great example of the absurdities of the American workplace. I had always watched it and thought, "that's funny... that's totally a typical workplace". It had never occurred to me that Germans could watch it to "learn" about Americans. It's brilliant.
Lastly, I was discussing fast food with a young, poor college student. We have McDonald's and Burger King here in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The quality and prices are all the same as in the US. While he likes the food well enough, he says he never eats there. He says it's TOO EXPENSIVE. I think that is beautifully hilarious. I'm sorry... if you can't convince college kids that your terrible food is worth the money, then you are dead in the water.
And that's the biggest lesson I will take back from Germany. Everywhere I look, everyone is emphasizing the importance of personal time, of family, and of health. It's very inspiring. I will always work in a place where I can leave on time, spend time with Elizabeth (and maybe some kids), and be healthy. Otherwise, what are we working so hard for?
Until next week.
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Samstag, 8. August 2015
Hallo Freunde
durhamfamily, 23:16h
Another fantastic week behind us. Everything is beginning to feel very normal for us. Of course, we don't communicate with anyone yet... but we're making progress. Our next step should be to make some friends. In the meantime, Mulder & Scully have been pretty good friends of ours.
First, the biggest news: I got a haircut! Oh my goodness I don't like it. It is not typical American at all. And I suspect that it will require some sort of hair product to look normal. But that is beside the point. I got my hair cut! It's more expensive here, but it's nothing terrible. No, she didn't speak any English. Good thing I have easy hair.
As you know, I'm not satisfied with my German inadequacies. Well, this week I found a 3DS game with a German option! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for the next few weeks I will be playing Pokemon Ruby completely in German. The language is all too complicated for me. It will certainly result in my missing a lot of useful in-game information. Whenever I'm feeling spunky, I try to translate the sentences/words that I don't recognize. My hope is that I will absorb some language subtleties. But why in the world do all of the Pokemon have new names? I always considered them to be proper nouns.
Last weekend we saw fireworks! Did I talk about that already? First, we went with our German teacher to watch her friends play jazz. They were very good, but they are brand new, so their set was a little short.
Next, we stopped at the local Döner shop. We ate way too much, like always. But isn't she cute anyway:
We walked our food over to the city garden. There was a large outdoor (free!) concert. There were good bands and some neat decorations.
It literally seemed like everyone from the city was there. The event ended with a big firework show. Elizabeth will have to show you pictures of that one.
And now it's Saturday and ridiculously hot. But it's okay... being in the top floor of an non-air conditioned apartment in 95+ degree heat builds character.
So, I'll be building character over here. You all have a wonderful Saturday afternoon!
First, the biggest news: I got a haircut! Oh my goodness I don't like it. It is not typical American at all. And I suspect that it will require some sort of hair product to look normal. But that is beside the point. I got my hair cut! It's more expensive here, but it's nothing terrible. No, she didn't speak any English. Good thing I have easy hair.
As you know, I'm not satisfied with my German inadequacies. Well, this week I found a 3DS game with a German option! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for the next few weeks I will be playing Pokemon Ruby completely in German. The language is all too complicated for me. It will certainly result in my missing a lot of useful in-game information. Whenever I'm feeling spunky, I try to translate the sentences/words that I don't recognize. My hope is that I will absorb some language subtleties. But why in the world do all of the Pokemon have new names? I always considered them to be proper nouns.
Last weekend we saw fireworks! Did I talk about that already? First, we went with our German teacher to watch her friends play jazz. They were very good, but they are brand new, so their set was a little short.
Next, we stopped at the local Döner shop. We ate way too much, like always. But isn't she cute anyway:
We walked our food over to the city garden. There was a large outdoor (free!) concert. There were good bands and some neat decorations.
It literally seemed like everyone from the city was there. The event ended with a big firework show. Elizabeth will have to show you pictures of that one.
And now it's Saturday and ridiculously hot. But it's okay... being in the top floor of an non-air conditioned apartment in 95+ degree heat builds character.
So, I'll be building character over here. You all have a wonderful Saturday afternoon!
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Dienstag, 4. August 2015
Normal Week Stuff
durhamfamily, 00:00h
There weren't too many big things this week.
On Wednesday, Elizabeth went to the library with our German teacher. Elizabeth got her very own library card! And yes, I talked her into going with me on Saturday. We went to the very top... to the small children books. It is upsetting how difficult all of the "6 year old and under" books can be. There's not a single book out there that I feel comfortable with. Against our better judgement, we checked out a Calvin & Hobbes book, haha. Anyone familiar with those comics should know that it's a terrible choice for beginners like us.
BONUS! The library was having a sale of old books that day. We bought "Ramona" for 50 cents!! I dedicated about 30 minutes to it on Sunday and almost got through 2 entire pages. I hope this German version lives up to my childhood memories. Next I'll need to find "Superfudge" for sale. I have fond/nauseated memories of that book, rocking back and forth on a boat on the way to Canada with the family.
It doesn't look like I'll be getting my own library card, but I think it would be fun to make library trips a regular thing on the weekends (since it isn't open when I get home from work). That also is a very strong memory from my childhood. I hope they don't mind me writing in their books :)
Lastly, I ran an uneventful 15 mile run on Saturday and I still haven't gotten a haircut. Elizabeth keeps hinting that I have a mullet... which I strongly disagree with considering the hair on the top of my head is much longer than the hair on the back. It looks quite terrible. I might stop going outside soon.
Later!
On Wednesday, Elizabeth went to the library with our German teacher. Elizabeth got her very own library card! And yes, I talked her into going with me on Saturday. We went to the very top... to the small children books. It is upsetting how difficult all of the "6 year old and under" books can be. There's not a single book out there that I feel comfortable with. Against our better judgement, we checked out a Calvin & Hobbes book, haha. Anyone familiar with those comics should know that it's a terrible choice for beginners like us.
BONUS! The library was having a sale of old books that day. We bought "Ramona" for 50 cents!! I dedicated about 30 minutes to it on Sunday and almost got through 2 entire pages. I hope this German version lives up to my childhood memories. Next I'll need to find "Superfudge" for sale. I have fond/nauseated memories of that book, rocking back and forth on a boat on the way to Canada with the family.
It doesn't look like I'll be getting my own library card, but I think it would be fun to make library trips a regular thing on the weekends (since it isn't open when I get home from work). That also is a very strong memory from my childhood. I hope they don't mind me writing in their books :)
Lastly, I ran an uneventful 15 mile run on Saturday and I still haven't gotten a haircut. Elizabeth keeps hinting that I have a mullet... which I strongly disagree with considering the hair on the top of my head is much longer than the hair on the back. It looks quite terrible. I might stop going outside soon.
Later!
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Mittwoch, 29. Juli 2015
More German Fun
durhamfamily, 00:55h
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!
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!
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