The New News. Get up do date, folks!

Buenos Dias, Compadres...

We've had the first official snow! There's a snowman in our courtyard (and a mighty professional looking one, considering how little opportunity the kids here in Berlin have to practice), and our neighbors waged a rather one sided snowball fight with our bedroom window last night. At least...I think it was them. I was ecstatic to see the cars and the parking lot covered, and the terrace. It was a rush like a little kid. Whee! Berlin is, to put it mildly, outside the snow belt. You've got to get down into the Harz mountains or real deep down in Bayern before you get serious snow like I know it from home.

Anyway, weather aside, the stress of Black November hasn't killed me yet. One more week and I'll officially have it all behind me. I'm not so sure I'll miss it, to be honest. Hopefully I've learned my lesson in terms of biting off more than I can chew, in terms of work...but somehow I doubt it. Deep down, there's that fear that suddenly there won't be enough work, ergo money. I mean...it's not a problem now. My job at the kindergarten is pretty secure, and it pays definitely enough to live on, but not enough to move to a new place, pay the lawyers fees if we lose the lawsuit or pay for the laptop...

Which brings me to my next topic. Stephan and I are going to become Macpeople. It should be here on Tuesday...somehow I doubt I'll see it often, but it's just as well. It seems like we spent forever trying to decide which model, which brand, what features, how much, why...whatever. I'm glad everything worked out, I'm glad it's ordered and I'm glad it's done with. I'll tell y'all what I think of it when I've had some time to play with it. The good news is...I'll be able to chat with you all on WEBCAM!

In other news, last Tuesday, we had a look at a FANTASTIC apartment near where we live. It's about 30 sqaure meters more than we have now, fourth or fifth floor, balcony, hardwood floors, a nice big kitchen, gas stove...perfect. Really great. We've been rushing around like mad this past week, getting all our paperwork together to apply for it, and now we'll have to see if everything falls into place. Technically, we'd really need the settlement money to get everything squared away there. There are things we'd need to buy for a new place...like a fridge and things we'd need to sell, like our patio furniture (tear! it's so pretty!)...It seems like too much needs to happen in too short a time, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. I have a crush on an apartment. It's close enough to where we live now so that our commutes to work and school wouldn't change that much and although it's on the main drag, it's high up enough that you don't hear jack and the bedroom is faces the courtyard anyway. We talked to the couple that lives there now and they also said that the management company and the landlord are all reasonable people...not like the jackals we're dealing with now. One can only hope that they realize it's really in their best interest to let us get the @#$% out of here and move on with our lives. We're only spreading hate and discontent here and I mean, they would EASILY get this place re-rented at whatever their asking price might be. It's a plum location, the terrase is an extra bonus, it's calm, quiet and if you're a total sap, you won't notice that you're being taken for a ride by the management. I mean...hopefully they'll have learned their lesson and play it a bit straighter with their tenants from now on. Bastards.

We'll have to see. If everything works out, we'll be moving between Christmas and New Year's. It's the only time we'll both have time to really do anything. My school/work starts back up on the fifth or sixth--whichever the Monday is, and Stephan's Uni as well. So we'll have a bit less time then. Keep your fingers crossed that it works out for us. The judge was supposed to have sent out his official verdict on Friday...we'll get it from our lawyer sometime hopefully next week. Stephan was at the last hearing (on Halloween--har har har) and the judge said he'd decide in our favor, but he'd leave the opposing side the opportunity to appeal (although they shouldn't actually have it, because they've already appealed once). Stephan went to visit our landlord (he lives coincidentally in our street. Isn't that bizarre?) and said that he didn't seem all that motivated to go for the jugular. Apparently he kept saying that he was a victim of the management company as well, and that he just wanted the situation resolved. We'll have to see if the situation really turns out that way...after all the horseshit that's gone down, I'm not so sure I actually believe anyone. Like I said, keep you fingers crossed. I never thought I'd say this, because I do love this apartment, but it would be so nice to be out of here and to be able to put this whole mess behind us.


My whole early childhood ed program is also starting to pick up. I've got a round of papers and presentations in early December that I'm trying to get a hold on. I spent part of yesterday banging out a rough draft of an analysis of a paper on the various forms of media and their effects on childhood development. It's shite in all probability...it's been aeons since I've actually had to write something in any way scientific in English, let alone in German. Stephan's been very patient about reading things for me. I mean...so far the semester as a whole hasn't been that bad. They try to give us as much prep time as they can in-class, because so many of the people there have families. It's crap for me, because I do so much work/research for all this shit online and the one computer lab that they have there is usually booked or being ruled by the super cantankerous, very flaming Bernd. I haven't asked, but I can't imagine that they have WLAN or anything like that. Not that I'd be interested in hauling my laptop to work and then through half Berlin to school. I change trains in THE addict hangout in Berlin. Junkies would rob their grandma without qualms in broad daylight. I mean, okay...it's Europe--it's not like they're packing heat or anything, but still. There's an awful lot of them. Not the right place for our new baby MacBook, if you catch my drift.


Wie dem auch sei...
(How/Whatever the case may be)
this has turned into a monster post. I was a bit under the weather this week--and have blown through a whole bottle of Tussin to prove it--so we're skipping out on our Sunday run this week, which is crap, since I have the feeling that I'm getting soft and squishy all over and don't have the time other days of the week to do anything about it. Argh. We all know that dietary restrictions and/or willpower is not my strong suit, so exercise is really the only way to keep things under control. Which means it's time to finally join a new gym. I think that's a story for another day, though. I think I'm going to read a bit more in the fantastic book that Mer sent me (love yis, dahlin), the Time Travelers Wife. It's so good---I stayed up way too late last night reading. That's how you know you're getting old and sedentary, right? God!

Anywayyyyy, take care of yourselves, don't freeze yer bollix off and don't get too stressed.

love and silky pre Christmas kisses,
.mia.

Wow.

What times we live in, my friends!

I'm pretty excited, to tell the truth. I mean, for someone who got on the bandwagon relatively late. Living here, you see what kind of overwhelming support Barack Obama has on the international scene. It's such a great thing--although I think on a certain level, it's symbolic of the frustration not only of Americans but also of people all over the world with the Bush regime of the last eight years. I worry a bit, though that things will just be so catastrophic by the time Obama takes office that he'll have to be doing ridiculous amounts of damage control and won't be able to do half the great things he has the potential to achieve for America. But at least the potential to do good is there, unlike a certain other administration that comes to mind. Here's to hoping he can make good on the rhetoric, the enthusiasm and the good will that got him this far.

And what do we all think about "rogue" Sarah Palin positioning herself for 2012? I love all of the fantastic hate that's come out of the McCain camp over how much of a joke this woman really was. For me, the Canadian prank callers were the icing on the cake. The fact that she didn't catch on, that she really thought she was talking to the real Sarkozy is astounding and insulting to the man himself...but then, her camp CONFIRMING this whole ridiculous incident...was unbelievable for me. If I'd worked for her, I'd've lied my FACE off. I mean, there are some things you don't necessarily need to admit to. People thought George W. was idiotic--at least he had half decent handlers. Don't get me wrong--I don't feel sorry for her, and it's not based in some kind of catty woman-against-woman horseshit. I don't think she's qualified and I don't think she understands or appreciates the difficulty the office of the Vice Presidency presents...let alone the Presidency. Otherwise she would have never accepted the nomination for a job for which she was so completely unqualified.

But anyway...I suppose that's enough political blather for today. I don't even really want to hear it anymore myself. I was so addicted to news in the months and weeks before the election, but now it's all anyone talks about and I'm sick of it. Bring me new news! I know that Barack Obama won the election, and while I am interested in who he decides to tap for his cabinet, I don't need to hear report after report based on whatever speculations the expert of the hour has to offer. I'd prefer an insightful analysist of the choices when they've been announced. Enough, though. Really.

I took today off from everything...slept twelve hours last night and had a fantastic hot bath today...all efforts to try and shake off last week/prepare me for the next one. It was Stephan's suggestion that I try to do as much nothing as possible. He grocery shopped yesterday, cleaned the apartment and washed dishes yesterday. It was awesome, because I wouldn't have been able to do it. This week shouldn't be so bad, though. At least I'll have Tuesday afternoon to get my house in order. It was nice not to worry about anything--whether it be the stupid translations of the Thanksgiving recipes or the course prep for next week's adult ed classes or the reading for school. I mean--it's all still there, subconsciously at least, but my powers of repression are strong, so it's working. I did sneak in a bit of productivity and did some pre-shopping for Christmas today, so that I know where to find what when my next paycheck rolls in. I've got to get Christmas presents sorted for the family--my goal is to have the package get there on time this year. We'll see.


Anyway...hope everyone's well! Take it easy.

Happy November! or "Hurray for procrastination"

Ahhh, Kinders--

How is everyone?

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to the Harz mountains to wish the Grandparents a preemptive happy birthday (although that's actually a HUGE no go here--brings bad luck, doncha know...). It was nice, and we got back relatively early this afternoon, so it wasn't too stressful. I hadn't been since May and there was snow on the ground, so I was excited all around. In light of all the upcoming insanity (KiTa Thanksgiving, My Thanksgiving, 3 different adult ed courses, school, exams and WORK) I should be doing about a bajillion different things other than updating this, but you know...vive la procrastination!
So anyway, the Grandparents are well, the Angie is well, the Max is well and it was really nice to be out of the city and in such a lovely quaint village like Schierke. It's one of my favorite places in Germany because it reminds me so much of home. Sometimes I think that one of my ways of dealing with being so far away is to find little pieces of home wherever I go. To be fair, however, there are definitely more conifers in the Harz region than in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern combined. And there was snow!!!! Not much, and we didn't go up the Brocken (weather was too foggy and craptastic) where there was allegedly more, but it was enough. In Berlin it rains. A lot. Last week we had four out of five days of constant.rain. I thought I was going to go crazy! I also had nothing to wear, because no one here has dryers. Everything gets hung out on the balcony on drying racks. But when it rains and is windy, nothing gets dry. And it sucks. In the depths of winter here is when I'm at my post patriotic. Wait and see.

In other news...the elections!!!
They're coming and I'm so excited. I voted about a month ago, but it doesn't matter. I absolutely cannot wait for Tuesday to see how committed America really is to being the change we want to see in the world. I mean, I'm not the hard core Obama fan that so many other people I care about are...and if I'm going to be honest, I would have preferred Hilary, but I think that Obama has the potential to take the US in a very fascinating direction, domestically as well as internationally. I don't have anything against McCain personally. I think it's a shame that he allowed himself to get strong-armed into making such poor and uncharacteristic decisions (choosing Palin as a running mate, abandoning his principles and giving in to negative campaigning). He's a good I guy, I think. He's certainly an American hero, and he definitely deserved a better campaign than the one he got. I think that's really only fair to say. However, as a result of one of his poor decisions in particular, I hope to heaven that he doesn't win. That woman is not fit to be president now, and she won't be fit to be president in 2012. I think she needs to go back to the hinterlands where she belongs. But I don't want to get too nasty here. I just happen to think that she speaks to the vilest part of America, really the bottom of the barrel of what we stand for as a nation. And no, I would not like to go out for a beer with her. Which is also, by the way, absolutely NO MEASURE of a person's ability to govern. I mean seriously, people. Whoever came up with that crap, anyway? Fortunately, as I heard James Carville say to Wolf Blitzer today, in times of trouble, America is less likely to vote based on likeability and more likely to vote based on capability.
Here's to hoping that's true.

Anyway, I'm going to pack it in for today. I've got some reading that I won't have any other time to do...so yeah. Take care of youselves and ROCK OUT ON TUESDAY!!!

New Look!

Hey all,
I thought I'd try my hand at pepping up the look of things around here. Hope you like it!

Rock/Jam out, respectively.

Bland October Update

What's up, y'all?

Things are moving along here...I got my absentee ballot in a timely fashion, thanks to the great folks at the Readfield Town Hall and VOTED which was a great feeling. Paying four Euro in postage wasn't so much the highlight of my day, but you know...even living aboad has a downside once in a while. I've also managed with the help of about a metric ton of lemons and gallons of sage tea to regain my health. Painful process, that--but fortunately unaccompanied by scarlet fever. That really would have put a damper on my Fall, since there's just so much going on!

Thankfully, my Early Childhood Ed program has started picking up. We've got articles to read and presentations to make and the dates for the first exams have already been set. It's a neat feeling to be learning new things, like German custody/family law and sensory disorders. My challenge at the moment is time management and making sure that I distribute my time and energy relatively equally. We're celebrating Halloween at the KiLa this year and of course, as the resident American, I'm expected to be spearheading the whole shebang. One of my colleagues came up to me yesterday and was trying to share her fanastic ideas about a puppet show for the kids and I was completely unreceptive. Ugh. I felt bad for a minute, but firstly, she was telling me shit I already knew and secondly, I had just spend two and a half hours trying to get my monsters to take their afternoon nap--unsuccessfully. Whatever. It was also Friday. I'm sure by Monday I'll manage to have an opinion. Or some ideas. Or something.
The adult ed classes are fun and cool and interesting...but it's definitely a drain. I'm on the fence about whether or not to tell my boss next week to cancel one of my courses for next semester. I mean...having the money is great, and since the exchange rate appears to be levelling out, we'll absolutely be able to use the dinero for our Americana Extravaganza. Ugh. I hate having to make grownup decisions of this kind. I hate it almost as much as I hate cleaning out food debis from the little thingy in the kitchen sink. And I hate that an effing lot.

So yeah...that's what's up here. November is going to be even wilder, since I'm probably going to wind up with 3 evening classes, plus KiLa work, plus school. Don't expect to hear too much from me, then...it's hard enough surviving the week, let alone having a social life or any other extracurricular projects of any kind (blog included). I'd love to go out more often, but by the time I get home from my Friday adult ed class, you might as well stick a fork in me, cause I'm done. I suppose it comes with the territory and getting older and having chosen to combine multiple careers--all of which require a certain amount of take-home prep work. So I can't complain. I guess. Pardon me for doing so anyway...

I'm thinking about saying to hell with lesson planning (I can do it tomorrow after yoga ANYWAY...providing I get there. I haven't been to the gym in so long, it's practically criminal.) and making some apple sauce. We got a ton of pears and apples and corn from Stephan's family while we were there, and we've been keeping them out on the terrace...I'm pretty sure the corn isn't good anymore, but the apples and pears should be fine. It's been about fifteen years since I've make apple sauce from scratch, though...so I'm a bit nervous. Oh well. If I remember correctly, it's not that hard. I could also make a cake, though. Germans have all these great recipes for apple cakes. H'mmmm. We'll have to see how motivated I feel/how many apples we still have. And how quickly I get tired of peeling and coring them.

But since it's already four, I should get moving, otherwise I'll be standing in front of the stove all evening, and I'm not a 1950's housewife.

Hope everyone's well.
Love.

German Unification Day

Happy Unification Day, folks!
So far, I've celebrated by going our for nachos, taking a eukalyptus bath and drinking about a gallon of hot water with lemon slices. It's really too bad, actually. The weather's the best it's been in days, and I'm about to drown in my own phlegm. I mean, I should have seen it coming. Usually it hits even earlier--I suppose I should count my blessings that it was early October and not early September when my festering pestilence hit. The timing's actually great. I had to tough out work and Vo-Ho on Wednesday, the I cut classes on Thursday and spent the entire day on the couch. If I keep this routine up, there's no way I won't be cured by Monday. I hope.

Anway, not too much is new at the moment. This week school started "officially" and the idiotic project month finally came to an end. From the one day of classes I attended, it'll be interesting. It's also odd to be back in a classroom setting where I know I'm going to be held accountable for the information I'm being presented with. I mean, so far it doesn't seem too overwhelming, but I'll have to get back to you on that, I guess. I don't have too much to go on at the moment.

As I was walking back from La Cucina Latina today, I saw an older man who looked really fantastic. He was wearing a nice little tweed hat and a cape...but not Sherlock Holmes-like. This thing really looked much more like a garment bag, or a normal trench without any form or tailoring whatsoever...basically a garment bag with a collar. I wish I'd taken a picture with my phone, because it was so modern, but at the same time totally classic. Yeah. That was the streetwise fashion report of the day. Thanks ladies and gents for your time.


In other news...Stephan and I were up in Le Schwies last weekend to celebrate Max's eighteenth birthday. I think it was my dear Angielein who infected me with her pestilence to begin with, but getting there at one in the morning on Friday (or Saturday if you want to split hairs) didn't help much, nor did the ridiculousness which ensued on Saturday night.
I get along pretty fantastically with Stephan's Mum and the other women in the village. When we go up there, it really does feel like I'm visiting part of my family that loves me and looks after me in it's own special way. It's also a great way to really intensively experience the culture of the north east. But anyway, these women DRINK. Not with the desperation of the English, not with the carelessness of the Americans...they do it as methodically and precisely as Germans seem to do everything. They always made sure my glass was full--that everyone's glass was full. Constantly. There was fig vodka, wayyy too much sparkling wine, white wine, red wine, beer...and I forgot that my golden rule is not to mix my booze. God. Those women torched.my.shit. With impunity. Not only did I have red wine stains on my Tillys, I had one of the most godforesaken hangovers EVER. Wret.ched.


But...you know me. I recovered. I made it back to Berlin. With Stephan, a bag of corn, a bag of pears, a bag of apples, a bag of chestnuts, other nuts...and all our other kit. It was a schlepp of epic proportions. We made it, though. But barely, as one notices by the fact that I've been wearing my OSU scrubs for the last 48 hours straight. Anyway...I would say enough geschwaetzt for now. It's time for another hot lemon toddy and a short nap on the couch. Maybe with a side order of James Bond?


Find time to vegitate, kinders. It regenerates the soul.
(brought to you by YogiTea and My favorite pink blanket.)

Crime and Punishment on a Saturday Afternoon

It seems like Fall is finally here. Not that I've been waiting for it with baited breath or anything, but temperatures have taken a crisp drop in the last 48 hours and it made me think of...closed shoes. You know, not sandals. My feet haven't seen the inside of anything since May (yes, they do look disgusting as a result--but I'm okay with that) and yesterday I started to really feel the chill.

So I was out and about with my trusted shoe-expert/fetishist looking for some trainers. We had some limited success in our Kiez area, so we thought we'd stop by and visit Kalina and Bernhardt who run a fantastic boutique called Episoda ( www.myspace.com/episoda ) and ask them if they knew of anyplace else we could find some hot little euro-trainers for me. Bernhardt was running some errands, so Stephan and I are chilling, talking to Kalina and examining the new arrivals (effing goettliche jeans from Kuyichi and really lovely scarves from Erfurt) when this guy comes in. He tries on a pullover for a pretty penny and says he wants a larger size. I was in the other room, playing with the amazing scarves, so I only registered this on a marginal level. This guy tries the L on, which was on the rack, and before he even has it all the way on, he's asking for an XL. Kalina thought it was weird, but she's super-friendly and open, so she went into the back to get him an XL. I came into the front room a second before she did and saw this guy heading out of the store at a pretty brisk clip. I didn't think anything of it, except that in Germany, EVERYONE says "Hi" and "Goodbye" when entering and leaving a store or other public place. I thought it was weird that he hadn't.

We didn't really take any notice of it and were both trying on various items and chatting with Kalina, until all of a sudden she says, "The cash box is gone!" They're not a big store--they don't have a register or anything, just one of those little lockboxes with a key. And like, 700 Euro. At first, I thought maybe she'd just misplaced it--but no. That bastard had really robbed them. We were all kind of in shock and Kalina was trying to serve the other customers like nothing had really happened. Stephan and I volunteered to have a look around the neighborhood, because he hadn't had any kind of bag with him or anything, so he must have at least theoretically wanted to get rid of the box as soon as possible. We searched our hood up and down, but the problem is that on a Saturday morning, so many people are up and about running errands and shopping and walking their dogs and sitting in cafes and whatever that if you're some guy throwing a lockbox off a moving bike, people just might notice.

Anyway, by the time we got back, Bernhardt was there and had called the police, who were then also there and took statements from Kalina, Stephan and I. I'm an official witness to an official crime. Weird. No one has too much hope of the guy getting caught, and that's the worst part. I mean, Bernhardt and Kalina are the greatest. They sell only things that they really think are cool, that they can stand behind. They're just a small business. I can understand people who
steal from huge facist corporations like Wal Mart or Old Navy or shit like that, but not from two people just trying to make a living selling organic jeans and hipster fair trade pullovers. My God!

It's frustrating when shit like this happens to good people. And it's unfair. I've never really been able to cotton much to the phrase "life is unfair"--it might be true, but it shouldn't be. I mean, I'm sure this guy had a reason to steal--a habit, a pressing debt--but damn it, it sucks for Bernhardt and Kalina. Living here in Berlin as an American, I have always had a certain feeling of safety. The knowledge that in an American city of comparable size, the crime rate is much higher. In the states, this guy would have had a gun. That doesn't really give much comfort, though. You still feel angry and violated. What I'm not going to forget is the first thing Bernhardt said to us when we came through the door. He was like, "I don't know if I should be sad or pissed off." He eventually decided on pissed. I think I'm sad.


Play safe, Kinders.

As if there aren't enough other things in life to get angry and hateful about...

So I was sitting on my couch, relaxing with Henry who was visiting at the time, planning our coup of the Berlin nightlife scene when John McCain drops the bomb of Sarah Palin on my unsuspecting self.

Can we talk about this?

There are so many things about this nomination that get me unbelievably riled. It's like for the first time the GOP has noticed that there are a ton of Americans out there who'd like to see women in higher positions in government--the Hilary phenomenon isn't really explainable any other way--and they thought, "Oh, okay--we want a piece of that action. Women who would have voted for Hilary will indiscriminately vote for another vag as well. Who can we take who'll pose no threat whatsoever to our heinous agenda? H'mmmm..."

...E voila, ladies and gents, that's how Sarah Palin and her charming family were catapulted out of their Alaskan obscurity and into the national (and international) limelight. Oh boy!

Okay, to be honest, I was pumped for about a minute until Henry swiftly Wikipedia'd her ass. After that it was pretty much all over. Initially I thought...well, maybe it's the start of something. Maybe, regardless of their motivations, both the Dems and the GOP are rising above themselves and allowing American politics to ascend to a whole new level. It didn't take long for the wonders of modern technology to send me hurtling back down from cloud nine with a reverberating thud.

It hurt.

According to her Wickipedia entry, she also didn't seem like the antichrist. You know, with all her alleged anti-pork-barrelling and all. And honestly, I'm sure she's terribly nice, and certainly a great mom. I respect her "values" and all that jazz--more on that later--but what bugs me I think, about the whole kit'n kaboodle is that people are forgiving her things that no man would EVER get away with. I mean, she's trying to trump up PTA experience as a qualification for the American executive branch! Sorry, but I'm not okay with the post of VP for an aged potential president being filled via affirmative action. A woman so close to becoming the most powerful PERSON on Earth should be impeccably qualified. Or amazingly intelligent. I am offended by her being held to what appears to be a completely different standard than everyone else in those echelons of politics. It upsets me. She's a GOP poster child--or should I say pin up--and little more.

As a feminist, I've got to be honest and say that I don't want the first female president of the USA to get in the back door like this--as a pawn in the hands of the same old half dead white male elite. I want it to be REAL. I want her (whoever she may one day be) to run and win a REAL campaign, win the popular vote, win over the establishment and go in there and kick some ass! What's happening here is a sham. This woman might just manage to win over conservative voters who fall for the "Oh, she's just like me!" line of campaign logic. It might sound arrogant and condescending but the American president should NOT be just like you and me. What did that get us the last time?! People voted for GW because they thought he was accessable and down to earth and just an all around nice guy. Didn't really help him run the country, though. Did get us into the PR/IR/Ungodly disaster that is Iraq. Didn't help the economy any, or the national debt.

Let's sum up: THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE A POPULARITY CONTEST!


I just sighed. Deeply. I know how things are, and I know that in all honestly, despite whatever Barack Obama is promising, they probably aren't going to change in the near future. I just had to get my frustrations out there, though. I just can't stand people mistaking this woman for a feminist and a role model. Okay, she's a role model in that she's a working mom. I respect that. And I respect the fact that she wrangled with some gut wrentching decisions regarding her youngest son, and most recently her daughter. Before things get all pro-choice-y up in here, I just want to say that whatever decisions a woman makes regarding her reproductive system are just that: personal, sometimes painful decisions and should not now, not EVER be misconstrued as politics, a litmus test or a qualification to hold higher office.


Anyway, I hope everyone's doing well.
Fight the good fight, guys.

Saying goodbye to Markus...

Today was my colleague Markus's last day. Ohhhh, Markus. I want to post to do him justice, but that's just difficult. Somehow work won't be the same without him. Or certainly not as gossip-filled. I think I'll share my top 5 favorite Markus stories and -isms with you all...just because he's gone.

Number Five: Markus the steak-eating Buddhist

Markus is a practicing Buddhist. Buddhism's great! Now, I don't know how much y'all know about the various paths of Buddha and the different tenets of Buddhism, but one of the basics is "hurt no living thing". There are monks in parts of the world who walk around with brooms to sweep insects out of their path that they might possibly otherwise tread on. These folks take love of nature and her creatures very seriously. I had the good fortune to be around when our intern, Linda, started asking Markus about Buddhism. Markus was saying how he doesn't kill mosquitoes and since he adopted this kind and accepting stance to all of Earth's creations, he's noticed that bees and wasps don't sting him, and mosquitoes are no longer a problem. Linda eventually reaches the inevitable conclusion that Markus must be a vegetarian. Surprise! Of course not! According to him, it's perfectly okay to eat and also to purchase meat as a Buddhist, as long as you do not know where the meat comes from or who killed it.
I mean, I've heard very different things from people I know who have a great interest in or who practice Buddhism...but you know, whatever helps you sleep at night, right?

Number 4: "I won't work with another man"

I'm not sure if we all knew what we were getting into when we set out to fill the job of Sandra, our MIA caretaker with a jolly good fellow named Roland. Well, actually we were planning to fill the slot with Julia, and Roland was only a substitute until Julia could leave her old job, but whatever. In the beginning, there was Roland--and I think that was the beginning of the end.
One day during this process, my boss takes me aside and asks me if I would be okay with maybe switching into our other group for a month or so. I'm flexible--I don't care, and at work, we don't do too much work in our separate groups anyway, so I said sure. My boss explained that Markus approached her about the hiring of Roland and said that he refused to work in a group with another man. I was like...ummm...okay...wait, WHAT?! Who makes demands like that of their boss?! That's not normal. I asked my boss if Markus had given a reason--apparently not. That was when I realized that something wasn't quite right.

Number 3: "Just do what I tell you to, okay?"

The stage is set--my boss is on vacation, Markus and I are working the early shift with Roland in his first week. Roland is getting on well with the kids and making a general good impression. However, on that day he'd been running late and hadn't had time to eat his breakfast. He takes out his tiny German mini sandwiches at the breakfast table in front of all the kids, explains his situation and starts to unpack them. Markus looks over and was like "hey man, you know we we're not supposed to bring stuff from home here because some of the kids have allergies. You can just eat some of the stuff we have here." but in a tone where one would have thought 'oh, okay--I'll not do it again'--which was Roland's reaction. However, he continues to unwrap his sandwiches. Markus then does a 180 and was like "Put your sandwiches away!" Roland looks at him like he's crazy and doesn't do anything. Markus then ASKS HIM TO STEP OUTSIDE. All the while, I'm sitting at the table, looking from one to the next asking myself if they're going to start yelling at eachother in the hallway. I didn't hear any blows or screaming, and eventually they both came back in. Later, Roland told me Markus had said Roland just needed to do what he said and not question him in front of the children. Needless to say, relations between the two were strained after that.


Number 2: "If you don't like the way I'm doing it, then do it yourself!"

I had the wondrous good fortune to be chosen to co-lead the year-end KiLa trip with our "big kids" (5 kids ages 3-5). My boss had chosen the period of time and the location, and Markus and I were responsible for planning, packing, supervision and whatnot. During the planning period, one of the mothers made the suggestion that we take a day trip over to the island where their family had a camp. Markus and I were thrilled with the idea, but hadn't really planned anything, when word started to get out. During the run-up to the trip, my parents were here and I had vacation time and to put it simply, I wasn't often there. Apparently, some parents, my boss included had gotten the idea that this boat trip was set in stone, without of course, consulting them. The parents I work with REALLY like to be consulted, and my boss was starting to get a bit of flak. So she mentions to Markus totally offhand that he might want to maaayyybe run off some permission slips for this little field trip within a field trip with some extra information, seeing as boats, small children and deep water were going to be involved. Upon hearing this, Markus flips his shit and starts yelling at my boss, threatening not to do the trip at all if she didn't back off and leave him to do as he saw fit.
...Charmin' fella ain't he, folks?


Number 1: Giving up, Markus style

So remember the aforementioned boat trip? Permission was granted on all sides, slips were printed and signed and on the predetermined date, we woke up to drizzling rain. However, we went ahead with our plans, packed food, the kids, life-jackets, towels, rain gear...the whole shebang, and took the bus 15 minutes to the next village to meet up with this mother.
So. Now, we're standing with five very excited small children in a boat house at the water's edge, waiting for the rain to let up. It does, and the mother asks Markus if he would mind rowing one of the boats over to the island. Markus said he would, and he gets into one boat with Linda, our intern, and two or three kids. I'm in the next boat with the mother, her friend, her daughter and two other kids. We're busy loading up and shoving off, and all of a sudden, we notice that Markus and the boat are nowhere to be seen. We row over and find them--they've drifted into a little cove on the shore and Markus proceeds to have a fit. It's too unsafe, the weather is terrible, he promised the parents we wouldn't go out if the weather was like this, it's HIS responsibility, and he refuses to be a part of it. The two women try to reason with him and they manage to draw the discussion out long enough that the rain really does let up and Markus finally agrees it's "safe enough" to row over. However, he graciously allowed the friend of the mother to take over and row for him. Later, our intern Linda told me that he never even touched the oars. He got into the boat, let it drift and began to say over and over again "This is too dangerous, we're going to have to break it off, it's not safe..."
I mean, anyone with a grain of common sense knows that in a situation which might even remotely be construed as dangerous, one does not share one's fears with any small children who might be present. Even after the weather had cleared up, the kids were scared out of their wits. My boss's son greeted her with the words, "I didn't drown!" when she picked him up. True story.


So yeah. Those are my favorite episodes of Markus-mania. Stay tuned, we're getting an Australian starting in September. His name is Matt. Hopefully he'll be half as entertaining.

Mellonade!

So yesterday, because my budget is relatively limited and I had nothing else to do, I decided to go to the turkish market at Kotbusser Tor. You can get fabulously fresh produce there at prices my beloved vietnamese greengrocer can only dream of. It's also the only place I know of in Berlin where you can get a whole lamb. I'd just been on Friday, but in a fit of summery gluttony all my mangoes had disappeared...and, like I said...there was nothing better to do.

One of my favorite things about summer has always been lemonade. Delicious, refreshing, not at all nutritious...I used to drink it by the gallon. I started out with Countrytime, then moved on to Paul Newman's virgin lemonade. However, due to either its complete lack of health benefits or it's inherent American-ness there is no lemonade to be found in these parts. Although products like Fluff and Oreos and Swiss Miss cocoa have long since started to deck the shelves in forward thinking German supermarkets, lemonade remains an outsider. So on my way to market, I thought to myself, in addition to buying mangoes and figs...why not get a dozen lemons or so and see if you can make good on that old English proverb?
...And that's exactly what I did. A friend of ours is doing an internship at a clinic outside Berlin and came over yesterday afternoon to help me out. Considering that I don't even have one of those hand-juicers, things went pretty well...albeit a tad on the sting-y, citrucy and sticky side. Marleen, who is studying medical biotechnology explained to me in great detail why this combination of citric acid, water and sugar pretty much created the fatal trifecta of doom for my teeth (btw--does anyone know a good dentist here in Berlin?) but the end result tastes all right.

My problem is that the longer I live here, the more subtley German my tastes become. I HAVE a little plastic package of the Countrytime lemonade powder in my cupboard here. I've made it several times...and every single time I think to myself 'Dear GOD, this is disgustingly sweet.' So the home made stuff is ungodly bitter in comparison, but I'm happy. It's far more refreshing that way...and at least it's citric acid gnawing away at my tooth enamel and not sugar. Because that's better...right?


Anyway, that's the view from here. I should hang up the laundry before it starts to stink in the washing machine...and translate my driver's license...but that's a story for another day.

Play safe guys, and fight the good fight.

Of vacations, spoons and immigration services

Hi folks,
how're things?

I'm still on vacation, using the time to catch up with friends, work on forming some new good habits (for a change). My trainer saw me at the gym twice today and I thought he was going to fall over in surprise. We'll see how long my latest wave of motivation lasts, or how long my impending hectic schedule of doom will let me keep at my workouts and pilates, but I'm hoping to get the best out of the time that I have. In other news, I was at immigration services about a week ago and officially got my visa extended for two years with unlimited and unrestriced access to the german job market. I'm elated...mostly because technically I'm not even eligible (love your caseworker and she'll love you back is all I've got to say about that one...) and because when you've experienced having to check in with a government agency before even thinking about changing your job, knowing that your potential employer is going to be hunted down and grilled by the german department of labor regarding why they want YOU to work for them instead of a perfectly good, out of work German...well, it's just nice not to have to deal with that.

Not that I'm thinking about changing jobs. I've been listening around and for most Kindergartens and nursery schools aren't half as employee-friendly as ours is. My boss is fantastic and hardly ever plays the Boss Lady role and my co workers are mostly pretty cool. We all know what the odds are of those conditions cropping up in most places of employment. A lot of friends of mine who also work in "the business" can't even take vacation days during the first six months on the job. I know, I know...in the states it's normal, but I've gotten a trifle spoiled where I am now, I guess.

Let's see...not too much has been going on recently. The annual Beer Mile was this past weekend a few blocks from our place. We went down there Friday and wound up throwing a spontaneous party for some random people Stephan knows from school cause it started to rain. I drank a Polish kid under the table at a game of spoons...the poor bastard is still mad at me, I think. Oh well. He kinda had it coming.

Anyway, I just spent a fantastic hour skyping with Colleen (all y'all who have skype can search for me under tyler.margaret) and now I think I'm going to go dig into the leftover tiramisu. I mean...why else was I at the gym twice today?

Take care guys...I'm thinking of you!

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/dreams.png

I don't know if the link is going to show, but I saw it on xkcd and I thought it was awesome.

I'm on vacation! It's pretty fantastic--I spent the last week in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with Stephan's Mum. There was lots of getting up early, bike riding and lake swimming. All in all, it was nice to have a break from the city. However, planning my ATM visits days in advance was kind of annoying. The weather started off kind of weak, but we're now in the middle of a fantastic heat wave and my tan is coming along. I've got my appointment with Immigration Services on Tuesday and I'm kind of excited about it. It's looking like I might actually get a three year visa. We'll see.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to get down to one of the lakes here in the area as long as the weather's good. For whatever reason, I can't think of anything terribly witty or entertaining to write, so I'm just going to cut for now.

Take care, all.

Older and Wiser?

Hey folks,
hope this post finds you all in great health and spirits. Here in Berlin, we're enjoying temperatures warmer than those in Rio and I'm lucky enough to have collected enough overtime at work to have had the majority of this week off. It was a great chance to recover from the stressful yet utterly fantastic combination of my parent's visit, my uncle's wedding and my 25th birthday. Celine was here for a short visit, which consisted mostly of wandering through my neighborhood and drinking tea on my terrasse. Next week, I've been tapped to take the four and five year olds on a week-long trip with Markus, my sometimes difficult colleague. I'm mostly excited, we've checked out the accommodations, and our intern Linda will be coming too (she's pretty cool) and I've got some pretty great stuff planned. My only worry is that Markus is going to somehow manage to botch the packing (because I'm not there this week) or somehow otherwise submarine my input. We'll see. I'll actually only be staying until Thursday evening because our negotiation hearing in court is on Friday. I'm hoping that we'll get the issue with our ridiculous landlord and his cohorts settled once and for all. Our lawyer is also of the opinion that we have nothing to negotiate, as we have done nothing wrong. Our demands--to put it frankly--our pretty basic. Our landlord needs to stop treating us like idiots, reduce our rent and preferably (my addition here) apologize for their ridiculous behavior.
We'll see...keep your fingers crossed for us.
My parents were here, like I mentioned--and I think things went swimmingly. No one got food poisioning or any other strange diseases, everyone tried new things, my parents got to meet Stephan, Stephan got to meet a big chunk of my family at Steve's wedding and we got to spend a lovely few days in an utterly charming Czech hamlet. I can only reccomend it. The people are friendly, the castles are imposing and beautiful, the landscape is breathtaking and the exchange rate is favorable for the dollar (places like that are getting few and far between these days). My only tip: do not drive through Poland. The roads are being renewed from the center of the country out to the boarders. This is unfortunate if you don't plan to drive through the center of the country. I thought the rental was going to bust an axle on some of those craters! Stephan narrowly escaped getting charged an exorbitant five euro for a sausage (polish sausage is good, but not that good), my sister got chased after for stiffing the bathroom watchman twenty euro cents and we got our windows forcibly washed by some cracked out guys with squeegees...while it was raining. A very colorful trip. I don't think any of the parties involved will forget it any time soon.
The rest of their visit was relatively uneventful--except that my Mum's bank card didn't want to work and the hotel reservations got botched somehow. It was a bit stressful...but rewarding.
However, all these events left me no time to plan my quarter-century birthday party. I managed to send some chaotic texts to a few friends, and Stephan did what he does best (shopping like he invented it) and when I came home from the kindergarten overnight (a preparatory measure for our trip next week) I had a fantastic birthday breakfast waiting for me--complete with my very own kiwi plant. A bunch of people came over in the evening for grilling and whatnot and it wound up being quite nice, despite the lack of planning. One of the coolest things I got, other than the kiwi plant of course, was a dvd box set of all the James Bond films with Sean Connery in them. I've already managed to watch From Russia With Love, and while I'm writing this, You Only Live Twice is running. I was ecstatic when I got them. All in all, I got to celebrate four times--once with my parents before they left, once with my kids at the overnight, once with Stephan and once with all my German friends. All in all, I can't complain.
The only bummer in recent weeks has been my bad spell with my bike. I bit it twice in as many weeks, hitting the exact same places on me and my bike. The last time was with substantial speed and I've gone through that from having nine speeds to having three...and because it's my own fault, there's no way it's going to be covered by my warantee, no matter how nice my bike guys are. So I'm hoping to get there either today or tomorrow and get things straightened out so I don't have to buy a transport pass for this month.

Anyway, I'm going to get started on dinner and whatnot. Hope everyone's doing well. Keep fighting the good fight.

Euro Cup, Vo-Ho free Fridays, etc...

Hi folks--
Now that my computer's back among the living, I've resolved to update this thing more often. The big news around these parts is that the European Cup kicks off tomorrow night. In honor thereof, Stephan and I are playing in a fun soccer tournament tomorrow...I'm actually kind of psyched for it, considering that I haven't played soccer in about...ten years. It could be cool. Germany totally transforms during big, international tournaments like this one--the World Cup in 2006 was like Christmas, Easter, Passover and everyone's birthdays all happening at once. The traditionally anal-retentive and whiny Germans (okay, they're not ALL like that, but there are days when you really think that complaining is the national passtime) were happier than fat kids with a lifetime supply of free cake. So I'm looking forward to the atmosphere first and the actual games second, although they're not too bad, either.
Let's see...what else? I've got my German taxes about 9/10 filed...only a week late. I mean, I say "I've" got them almost filed, but I haven't gone near the damn things. This is one of the many moments where I'm glad I'm dating a "host country national" who has a vague idea of German tax law.
I also got some new plants! I replaced the oregano and the thyme that didn't survive the winter, got some strawberry plants and a banana tree. Don't ask about the banana tree. Wasn't my idea, but we'll see how it goes.
Aaaanyway...in other news, the rental still isn't reserved for my parents, because Stephan refuses to make an executive decision (ford or volvo) and insists on asking my dad, who checks his emails about once every three weeks. H'm...
Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on here. I'm going to sign off and enjoy not being at work. Yay!

My Laptop Liiiiives!

Huzzah!
After months of senseless procrastination (one of my strong suits), I finally managed to shell out the 15 Euros and replace the power cable to my lovely old Dell. The graphic card on the desktop has kind of bitten it, kind of not, so we're living with a technical situation whose precariousness makes me realize how dependent on all this stuff I actually am. All my lesson plans and resources are backed up on an external hard drive, but when the computer isn't working AT ALL, that doesn't really help me get any work done. But enough of that, because things are good right now...

The short list of beautiful people to have graced my couch since I last posted is short but illustrious--Ms. Andrea Danielson stopped by to kick off her whirlwind European post-peace corps adventure and taught me an amazing amount about Africa and the Gambia...and we figured out how to make her ATM card work (PS to those of you intending to visit, a tip: Visa IS everywhere you want to be). All around a fabulous time. Then came the ever lovely Germanophile Mlle. Julia Follick for a jam-packed ten days of Germanic fabulousness, including but by no means limited to drinking gin at the kitchen table, helping me survive vicious stomach funk and going to bizarre garden parties. Also a rockin' good time. Next up....


The Fam.

(Dunnn Dunnn Dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn)

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad stressed. Technically, I should be scouring the city looking for distilled water for my Mum's anti-snoreilator. Or doing about eight bajillion other things. Like looking for a wedding present for my unlce and his bride-to-be, or writing up the protocol from our parent night, like...over two weeks ago. Or filling out invoices for work. I also don't have a dress. You know, for the wedding. In the Czech Republic. The rental car has also not yet been reserved. I mean...I'm wicked excited that they're coming. They get to check out my whole life here, which is equal parts stressful and fantastic. Two weeks ago, we started using organic cleaners around the house so that no one gets an allergy attack from any freaky euro-chemical cleaners. Like I said...there's a lot going on.

The awesome thing is the weather, though. Berlin has had incredible sun and like, ninety degrees for the last two weeks. It's been wonderful. We take the KiLa kids to the garden every day for the whole morning, feed them breakfast, hose them down with sunscreen and let them go. Today it got a little intense, so my boss decided to put up a tarp over part of the garden. Guess who was in charge of climbing up all the different trees and securing all the corners? ...You guessed it. Yours truly. If that's not full-body enthusiasm for one's job, I don't know what is. The downside is, it's too hot to cook, to run or to do much of anything...but from being outside every day I'm getting a helluva tan.

So the motto of the story, Kinders? ...book yo' flights! My parents are going to be occupying my time until the beginning of July (inlcuding the necessary preparation and recovery time--all y'all know how it is...), but after that it's open season.



Anyway, that was a blitz update from here. Hope everyone's happy and healthy.

First post in aaaaaaages...

I'm a miserable blogger.
I'll skip the excuses--you know, the tried and true "I've been really busy" (I mean, not that I haven't been), or "I've had guests" (I have and you know who you are), or "My boyfriend tried to "fix" my power cable and instead completely destroyed it, so now we have to share a computer and he LOVES his internet poker" (also true)...none of these of course are any excuse for the neglect being suffered by my poor, forgotten blog. And those who by some obscure twist of fate still read this thing. Love you guys!

Be that all as it may...

I'm fine. Berlin is fine. Work is good, and sufficient. Easter was nice.

Let's see...what else is news...?

I bought a bike! It's all white and graceful with lights and a basket and stuff. Unfortunately, Berlin is in the middle of a cold snap, which makes it easier for me to be lazy and take public transportation. This will soon pass, however and I'll be speeding around. spreading terror and risking life and limb. Not that Berlin isn't bike-friendly or anything. It's just that I'm a bad biker. Balance was never really my strong suit...but practice makes perfect.

For Easter, Stephan's mum came down with his brother and an aunt for a few days, which was nice, but a wee bit on the stressful side. I mean really, when mothers come to visit, they're generally ideal houseguests. They clean up after themselves...they clean up after others...they cook things...they bring their own sheets and towels...and butter...and eggs...and duck...it's when they start to reorganize your refridgerator that you might want to intervene. I mean...I'm speaking from experience. Once someone else gets in there, you won't find your goat cheese ever again. Until it walks out by itself, that is. No, but seriously, it was fun. We spent six hours shopping on Saturday. I can now say that I've been to every single store in the Alexa shopping complex. For those of you who don't know it, it's freaking huge. I also learned a new Easter-appropriate German saying, "She who looks for eggs at Easter gets a nice surprise at Christmas" (Wer am Ostern Eier sucht, hat am Weihnachten Bescherung). In order to get this, you have to know that in German, the slang word for "balls" is "eggs".




I thought it was funny.




Anyway, I know that all of you on the other continent have already switched to daylight savings time. Or back from daylight savings time. Whichever. We switch at the end of the month, but already, there's a noticeable difference. When I get up for the early shift at the KiLa at 6:30, it's already light out. I know it's pathetic that this is a source of shock, amazement and joy for me, but the winter in this part of Germany gray. Entirely. So increased daylight has the potential to one day become increased sunlight and that, I think is what has me so excited.

Let's see...what else?
I don't know. Come visit and find out. May is full, but the beginning of June is good, as are July and August. I know the dollar's in the toilet, so I understand, but you know y'all are welcome!

Take care.

Hey all,

One of these days, I'm going to get around to posting some of the adorable pictures from the KiLa Christmas party (although I think under German law, it might be just a tiny bit illegal...I won't use full names.)...it's been an interesting first two work-weeks of the year. We got a new colleague Roland, and he and Marcus have been barely getting along. The male ego is such a fragile and amazing thing. Marcus has made comments in the past that have made me think "...ummm, okay, bizarre individual...", but I thought he would be happy to have a new team member helping us out.
Apparently he views Roland as competition for the pseudo-daddy role in these kids lives. I mean, I don't delude myself. I love "my" kids, but they're not mine. I teach them words, I change their diapers, I sing them songs, but only for five hours a day, max. I think that the unlimited trust these kids and their parents give us can lead to some types of people having serious power trips. I mean, sure--it's the most amazing thing I've ever felt to hear a child say my name for the first time, or to use an english word all on their own. Some of them are so cute, I wish they were mine. But they're not. I'd never say to any of my colleagues "I think that I'm a really important person for Tommy right now" because it's not true. Kids are fickle--their needs change daily, if not hourly and different people are better at meeting different needs than others. It's also not good for a child to get too attatched to one person or another in the Kindergarten setting. The goal of the whole Kindergarten concept in Germany is that small children become little independent, socially competent mini-Germans. Anyway, the long and short of it is that my boss is now dropping serious hints that Marcus's contracts will not be renewed in August when it runs out.
Aside from the male bitch-fest, things are cool at work. Most of the kids are readjusted from the Christmas vacation. I'm putting together my application for the early-childhood education training program. The deadline is March, but it's a private school and an overly punctual application=a slot in the class. As soon as my degrees from the US have been officially recognized in the Bundesrepublik, I'll be able to hand the whole shebang in.

In other news, I paid our "outstanding debt" to our landlord this week. I say that with great disgust and utmost irony, because they actually owe us money. However, before we take the matter to court (again), our lawyer advised us to sort things out, so that they don't have any grounds to evict us. Bastards. I'm so not impressed. But yeah. Not too much I can do about it.

Upcoming events in the Hauptstadt include a visit from a friend of Jordy's next week and Jeffy sometime in early March. And the Spring Semester of my adult ed classes starting. Is it bad that I'm crossing my fingers that they don't fill up? I've got enough stuff going on without working 5 nights a week. I mean, the money is good, but it's not that good. So we'll see. Keep your thumbs pressed, as the Germans say. After all, all work and no play makes for a very sad Mia.

So, I'm starving--which is a class A sign that it's time for me to sign off. I think I'm getting tandoori pork tonight...if all goes well.

Take care and stay healthy!

Merry 2008!

So team,
here's what's up: I haven't posted in months. In that time span, my laptop was briefly revived and then subsequently semi-permenantly put to rest by a certain cohabitant of mine, some scissors and a small incision in a slightly defective power-cable.

BE THAT AS IT MAY,
we survived the holidays relatively healthy and harmoniously. Presents were given and recieved, mammoth quantites of homemade rum punch were consumed, along with about a metric ton of red wine, some rabbit, duck, tons of pig and goose. Stephan's Mum is a bad influence on me. Or something. Kai is now officially 30, I saw the fireworks at the Brandenburger Gate for the first time aaaaaaaaaaand I've made a few decisions about how my life is going to progress.

Okay, maybe one.

For those of you who don't get regular emails from me (hahahaha--good one, huh? no one gets regular emails from me!), I've really been loving my job at the nursery school. My boss is pretty cool and my little kids are hilarious. It's not really a "grown up" job, but I'm not really sure I want to be a grown up, either with quotation marks or without. My professional goal for the new year is to try and be more involved and make more suggestions--just generally take a more active role in my group with the kids, as opposed to watching/assisting/observing. It's not that I haven't wanted to before, but I wasn't really sure of my role in the partnership with my co-group-leader, who also happens to be my boss with about 10-12 years of job experience on me. We've talked that out and I've been working on a list of projects, crafts, songs and games to do with the kids in the next few months. So yeah...we'll see how that goes. I've also got to apply for my Ausbildungs-slot--I think the deadline is next month, or maybe March, and the courses start in August. I'm excited. It'll give me a concrete qualification to do something I love anywhere in Germany or in the EU. Other than that, things are moving along. My adult ed classes wrapped just before Christmas, and I've got few loose ends to tie up there (someone forgot to file the paperwork for the certificates of participation...oops), but all in all, things are going well.

In other news, my parents and sister have booked their flight to Berlin, arriving June 17th and leaving the 26th, so if any of you were thinking about swinging by in that time frame, I'll be otherwise occupied as tour-guide/hostess. Wish me luck getting my parents to a wedding on the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They'll also be meeting Stephan for the first time. Allllll kinds of insanity, folks. Hopefully I'll have time to keep you posted, because I'm sure it's going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Let's see...is anything else interesting happening? Not really. I start work again on the seventh, which I'm actually looking forward to. It's a completely different feeling from last year at this time, where I really would have done just about anything to be able to leave my old job. Mission accomplished. I think I can say with relative certainty that last year was a bit rough, but ended with positive trajectory. I'm on the upswing, I think. It's just hard to tell from the inside.

Anyway, I know it sounds nerdy, but I got the Joy of Cooking 75th anniversary edition for Christmas and I'm reading my way through it. Out of interest. I know, it's sad, but I love it. I'm going to make me a melange and continue reading about different types of citrus.


Take care of eachother.
oxoxo
.mia.