Potpourri

Time has gotten away from me once again and here I sit, a good six months from my last post. Since Thanksgiving, Jerry has returned home from his deployment safe and sound (thank the Lord), Caleb has started playing on a German soccer league (very scary), Michael has decided he loves baseball (Phew! we thought we'd never find his sport) and I have been to ROME.

This is me in the Baths of Caracalla, just one of the three thousand shots I took. I was there for UMUC's Expatriates in Rome course (for a full THREE credits) and loved every minute of it. Now, the task at hand is to get the rest of the family there for a visit.

In addition to Rome, we went to Mallorca for Spring Break. It was a great getaway, half sun/half rain, but a relaxing time no matter what the weather was doing. Mallorca is one of the little islands off the coast of Spain. We haven't made it to the mainland yet, but plan to get a look at Barcelona and maybe even Madrid.

I'm currently pondering a volunteer project that would allow people to get a better idea of what kind of volunteer opportunities are available in the KMC. I've been finding that 1. there are fewer and fewer volunteers out there and 2. many people I talk to don't even know there are volunteer opportunities in the area. I am not sure of the best way to connect the two, but one idea is to put out a blog (that's updated more regularly than this one!) and make the address known via the newspaper, agencies that need volunteers, etc. The other idea was to simply write articles for the newspaper myself and hope they publish them. With my current volunteer schedule, Jerry thinks it's positively nuts that I'm considering taking on another project, but ultimately I can see this as something that would eventually ease my load and the loads of not only other volunteers out there but the agencies that so desperately need them. I will keep you posted on how it turns out!

I will be in touch if/when I get my plan up and running. I look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was reminded by Deanna, my English friend, that I've been rather lax in my postings. In her honor, I make this Thanksgiving post - even though the British aren't all that fond of Thanksgiving...

Well, as many of you now know, Jerry has been off to the desert for a little over 2 months now. He was cured of whatever enchantment he may have had with the idea of deployment within the first few days, I assure you. His glasses fogged over the first time he departed an air conditioned building and he has to walk in the blowing sand back to his room from the showers, creating the "sugar cookie" effect that we've all heard so much about. Anyway, he's doing his job, making us proud and we very much look forward to his return.

The kids and I are hanging in there and I think we've gotten past the hard part. You know, the part where you teach yourself to jump start a car using the Internet, get into a virtual shouting match with your son's teacher and lose both sets of house keys within a 24-hour period. All that's over now and mom's much, much calmer. (I'm sure switching to decaf didn't hurt.)

We're headed to Belgium for Thanksgiving with the Jeters, our old friends from South Dakota and California, who are now stationed at SHAPE. We're looking forward to getting away as long as the weather cooperates. Since I won't have easy access to the Internet on the road, I'm considering pre-planning and printing out instructions for various emergencies that may arise along the way.

December will bring another traveling adventure. The kids and I will be going back to the States for the first time since we left in April of 07. Jerry's been back multiple times, but the kids and I haven't been able to go yet. We're very excited and can't wait to spend time with family and do some clothes shopping. Clothing and shoe styles here are very different, so my goal will be to stock up for the remainder of our assignment.

Our most recent travels took us to the Snow Hall in Amneville, France. We were blessed to go with two other families who are currently "sans husbands" and we had a great time. The snow hall is an indoor, year-round ski/snowboard facility where you can rent all the equipment and enjoy winter sports whenever you want. (See photo above) Caleb tried snowboarding for the first time and Michael got to go sledding while we three moms watched our six boys go crazy in the snow. It was a fun getaway and I think we may have to take Dad next time.

The Christmas markets are just starting to open this weekend with the start of Advent. I can't wait to drag the kids out in the cold for roasted chestnuts, melt-in-your-mouth waffeln and hot gluhwein.

It's snowing again and I think the sidewalk needs some salt, so I'd better hang up and get moving. Enjoy your Thanksgiving and we hope to see you soon!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dad! He'll be 66 tomorrow.

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Facebookification

I'm a new user to Facebook. A friend convinced me I HAD to be on it, so I halfheartedly started an account. I'm slowly learning Facebook etiquette as I go along. I discovered all of my nieces and nephews there, not to mention my very own sisters. (who knew???) I'm just waiting for the day when I stumble upon my parents. You can do all sorts of things like post messages on your friends' walls, upload pictures and all sorts of things. Something I learned on the fly is that you can enter a little snippet about what you're doing right now. I just posted that I'm "updating my Facebook" duh.

Anyway, every now and then, notifications come in that someone wants to be my "friend". I'll go on and if I recognize them, I'll say "sure, why not" and take a look at their site. An old friend found me today and I was so glad to see her I immediately checked out her site.

In her little blurb describing what she is doing right now she said that she's currently dipping into the grocery money and shopping on www.etsy.com. Funny, I thought...I've never heard of that! My friend has good taste, so I was really interested in finding out more.

Up until now I've been an Amazon.commer or even Eddie Bauer-ophile. But I must say, as soon as I typed in the URL, I became an Etsy-an! I had no idea there was such a place. Etsy is a site where crafters and people who like crafts (but can't make them, like me) can buy and sell handmade items. There is something for everyone. It is a well-organized site with beautiful stuff priced very reasonably. They have absolutely gorgeous original art and in my quick perusal I didn't see one piece for more than $60. The handbags were great fun and inexpensive too. I haven't made it through the whole site yet (it's much too large for just one sitting) but it sure will be fun to take the time to discover everything they have to offer. Maybe you'll become an Etsy-an too!

Edelweiss in Garmisch, Germany

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First Day of School

The first thing Michael said to me this morning is, "I don't feel so good." He had been preparing me all weekend for this feeble attempt to dodge the first day of school by warning me that he wouldn't feel good on Monday. I asked how he knew this and he said he just knew. Being thusly prepared, I stood at the ready with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes in one hand and a pile of bacon in the other. He guessed he didn't feel so bad that he couldn't eat a few pancakes and there was no reason to let the bacon go bad soooo... Before long, he was dressed and ready to go. I drove him to school on this first day of first grade along with the thousands of other off-base parents who refused to relinquish their cherubs to the bus system just yet. Caleb, however, decided to take this opportunity to establish himself as the Lord of the Bus, so we dropped him off at the bus stop. He was happy to get Algebra and the homeroom he wanted so we're hoping for great things from him.

I stayed with Michael in his classroom for a few minutes because he said he was worried that Frau Trefftz, his new German Immersion teacher, would speak only German and that he wouldn't understand anything. Well, he was right. She spoke not a single word of English to the kids and rather than translate for them, she demonstrated the things they didn't understand. She has a reputation for being strict and since the German language sounds very strict to begin with, the kids were on their very best behavior for her. This might be their second year of German Immersion, but we've obviously come to the big dance. They must greet her every morning with a firm handshake and a "Guten Morgen, Frau Trefftz" One girl slapped her hand instead of shaking it - whoah, boy, you should have seen the Frau's reaction! "Nein! Nein! Nein!" While she corrected the errant child, I surreptitiously slid my phone up to my ear so as to not irritate her any further and as stealthily as possible called Jerry. I used my panic whisper and told him that he'd better hightail it over to the school for lunch today to make sure Michael doesn't go AWOL.

I hope your back to school time is going smoothly and that you're able to get your house in order after the crazy summer. Speaking of which, I have some laundry calling my name. Enjoy the silence!

KFC (and I don't mean Kaiserslautern!)

Boy do I wish I had a picture for you today. I guess you'll just have to believe me on this.... We found a Kentucky Fried Chicken! It's in Saarbruecken, about 30 minutes west of here near the French border. We spotted it from the Autobahn and decided to zero in for a closer look. Sure enough, it was a genuine KFC, so we stopped for lunch. It's no exaggeration when I say walking in there was like walking into the U.S. again. It was a carbon copy of an American KFC, except, of course, for the semi-German language menu. There was a mixture of English (for example, "Chicken Wrap" and "cole slaw") and German (once we figured out that "Kartoffelpuree" is mashed potatoes we had no problem ordering everything our greasy little chicken hearts desired.)

Having spent a little time in the local German McDonald's, we've come to expect that the seating will be limited and the menu will incorporate non-McDonald-like food items (Jalapeno Poppers? Really?) The KFC, however, takes the Beaver Award for staying true to the original. The food was good, the chicken crispy and the service was friendly. For what more could one ask?

I have to add one more thing about our KFC side-trip, though. You might want to sit down for this one. They used real silverware and glass dishes. Yep, it's true. They may get our award for staying true to the original, but they can't circumvent Germany's commitment to the environment. There was very little to throw away other than our drink cups and a couple of paper wrappers. Everything else went in the stack for the dishwasher. Amazing, huh? We wondered as we walked out of the restaurant if the United States could ever change its ways so drastically as to trust customers with real silverware and glass dishes at fast food restaurants. Just think, McDonald's alone has 30,000 restaurants worldwide; the amount of trash they could prevent from going to the landfills would be enormous if they did away with the paper packaging and offered everything on a plate. It would be a big change, but wouldn't it be worth it?

Enjoy your day and think of us the next time you see that big red and white bucket in the sky!

Germany's "Obamamania"

I'll say it up front: I'm no political analyst. I've even done my best to avoid all teachings of history and/or government in my long and addled college career. So it stands to reason that I've been kind of baffled by the fact that German friends and acquaintances have asked me a number of times over the past year how I feel about Obama and whether I think America will vote for him. (I must add that they originally asked me about Hillary up until she mercifully called it quits.) I'm still baffled, but this article gave me a few thoughts to ponder on the subject.

The article refers to a German opinion poll saying, "72 percent of Germans would vote for him over Republican John McCain in the Nov. 4 election if they could." Which isn't all that strange given that this is a rather liberal country (they support same-sex marriage, they have socialized medicine and they are extremely environmentally conscious.) While the ones I talk to seem to be pleased with their own (female) selection of Chancellor Angela Merkel, they nevertheless tend to recoil from any government leader that might bring on that rock star feeling (understandable, given their history.) So why are they so supportive of Obama?

I'm not sure the article fully explains it, especially since it quotes only one German and one American living in Germany (how's that for a cross-section!?) Even so, I think it does serve to shed a little light on why my neighbors are so interested in our election this year.

Independence & Funnel Cake Go Hand in Hand

The 4th of July brought very little "independence" for Jerry and Caleb since they were kind enough to volunteer to work the Funnel Cake booth for Jerry's shop. They signed up for 4 hours of schlepping flour, breaking eggs, measuring sugar and stirring thoroughly- and they didn't even get to take a bite of the fried goodness! Not to worry, Michael and I did, and we can report that it was positively scrumptious! What's 4th of July without Funnel Cake? I'm not sure, you'll have to ask Jerry.

Just as the big boys were crawling home from their shift at the House of Dough, our German/American neighbors began an amazing, permit-requiring fireworks show in their backyard. We were magnetically drawn up the street and spent the rest of the evening getting to know all the other Americans in the 'hood. You'd think we would somehow already know all the Americans, but there were way more than we realized! Some were contractors, some worked for DODDS, and very few were actually active duty, so I guess our paths don't cross too often.

I hope you all enjoyed your independence on Friday and that you didn't give up on the Funnel Cake booth just because there was a long line. It was totally worth the wait.

Jetting to Italy & Other Quick Trips

Jerry's jetting to Italy as I write. It's just an overnight work trip, but it still counts as a first visit to a new country for him. We're all green with jealousy and the weak protest that he didn't even want to go in the first place only makes it worse. Really? You don't feel like going to Italy today, dear? I didn't feel like having my teeth cleaned today either, but not only did I go through with it, I opted for the additional fluoride treatment, thereby precluding me from eating or drinking for the next thirty minutes.

The one trip we've taken recently that proved to be fun for the whole family was visit to the emergency room at Landstuhl Army hospital. Michael's latest living room acrobatic maneuver went terribly wrong and the coffee table softened the landing. He ended up putting his tooth through his lower lip. On the way to the hospital Michael made me promise that I would inform the doctor that he had already determined that he did not want to get stitches. So, while the doctor was totally welcome to give us a second opinion, it had already been determined we would not be requiring any actual medical services and, just between you and me, I'm not really sure why we're even here. Dr. Michael was overruled and here's the result:

Long Time No See

Every time I sit down to update the blog the computer takes forever so I go to refill my coffee and I spill some on the dishwasher which reminds me that I need to empty it and while I'm emptying it the phone rings and while I'm talking I remember that I have a paper due and when I sit down to write my paper, I am reminded that I was going to update the blog! So it goes. I still have that paper due, but first things first.

We've done a ton of traveling since I wrote in April, all starting with a trip to Dublin, Ireland. What a great place with wonderful characters. We didn't understand a word they said, but they sure seemed nice! If you ever go there, I highly recommend going to the Long Hall in Trinity College. It's a huge, long hall (hence the name) full to the ceiling with old books. In a room off to the side were people cleaning the books with tiny vacuums, page by page. It was crazy to watch. You can look but you can't touch or even take pictures. (I didn't sneak a shot, the picture here of the Long Hall is not mine, it was copied from a brochure.) Everything is completely roped off and there is a guard to keep you in line, but it was amazing nonetheless. This is the same place that houses the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript written (a word that seems lacking in this case) by monks in 800 AD. Beautiful.

We also made a quick trip to Belgium to see our friends the Jeters who are newly ensconced there. It was good to see them again! We got a good look at Waterloo from a very, very tall mound of dirt with a lion on top and ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant and introduced them to the Doner Kebap. (I'm having trouble digging up the picture of the lion on the hill, but when I do I'll be sure to post it.)

I have much more, but my coffee cup is empty and you know what that means! I guess I'll have to finish this later.

Rock Band and Living on the Edge

I have a confession to make. Making the most of our stay in Europe has kind of taken a back seat lately to our addiction to the game Rock Band. We don't even own it. Nope. We're one of those families that fell for the Wii while our American neighbors were the smart ones getting the PS3. They were also one of the few able to acquire Rock Band and, thusly, we are their new best friends. We bring brownies and Nutella (but not at the same time!) while Caleb and his drumsticks park themselves on the coffee table, Jerry ties his signature scarf to the mic stand and our friends' daughter tunes up the plastic guitar. We're such Rock Band Losers that we have T-shirts for our virtual band, which by the way, is named Stir Fry. Now all we need is a virtual record contract.

Now that I have that off my chest, I can share other stuff with you. For example, over the last year (yes, it's been a year now and have you come to see us? I didn't think so) we've noticed that Europeans harbor little concern for the safety of any human being old enough to walk. When I say "little" what I really mean is any shred concern is completely non-existent. Oh, they love babies and puppies just like everyone else, but it's not uncommon for a protective hand railing at the top of a sheer drop to be hanging by a single thin nail. And rather than complain, you're probably better off just being thankful that the hand rail was even installed sometime between Napoleon's defeat and the moment in 2008 your six-year-old decided to use it as a balance beam. So, when we went to the museum in Speyer it shouldn't have surprised us to be given the opportunity to imagine what kind of horrors could be wreaked with this contraption.

Here are Caleb and his friends trying out the boat ride at the museum. Yes, they're getting air. No, those aren't life jackets they're wearing, but you may be comforted (as were their mothers...NOT) that there was a thin metal lap bar provided. What more do you expect for a Euro?

What you're not seeing here is that every ride in this little park was completely self-operated. Meaning, there was no one (other than the aforementioned mothers) ensuring that they even used the lap bar. It was soooo self-operated in fact, that once they were ensconced in this floating death trap, they simply pulled a cord dangling over their heads to activate it.

Silver lining? We can always be thankful that Lawsuit-Fever never made it all the way to Europe.

Easter in Deutschland

We thought Christmas was big in Deutschland, but we hadn't seen Easter. We weren't counting, but I do believe they took more days off (however, our favorite bakery was open for brunch on Easter Sunday ... very American!) for Easter than Christmas and they really enjoy those little egg trees. You know the ones that are all twiggy with eggs hanging on them? They were everywhere. I thought it might be fun to find out where everyone is getting these cool hand-painted eggs, but alas, I was thwarted in my search. One person I spoke to said she made them herself. Now, that's just not useful at all.

A Tale From the Willage: Jerry took his watch in to a German watch repair shop in a village called Huetschenhausen (yes, it really is pronounced Hoochen Housen) and the man called to let us know it was ready. I answered in my usual American manner and the man said, with an extremely thick accent, "This is the watch repair shop in Huetschenhausen, your watch is ready." Now, we rarely get calls from Germans unless they are polling us, asking for donations or are our neighbors, so my knee-jerk reaction is to say in reply, "Sprechen sie English?" anytime I hear an accent. Well, it turned out that this particular gentleman WAS spreckin' English and I just didn't understand him. Es tut mir leid!

Over the last three or four days, the snow faucet has been turned on and off at least twenty times over our little pocket of Germany and every single time the kids get their hopes up that there won't be school the next day. School has yet to be canceled so the kids are amping up their efforts by resorting to stomach complaints and random ankle twists to persuade the issue in their favor. Thankfully Spring Break is only a week away!

Spring is Here?

Spring arrives on Thursday, but somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature. We recently had a nice, wet, heavy snow and the kids thought they were in heaven. Caleb went around the neighborhood like an urchin, shoveling sidewalks for money and Michael got right down to the business of making the perfect snowball to put down Caleb's pants. By the way, say hello to Michael's little friend with the totally original name of "Snowy Man". The detail may be lost in this picture, but yes, those are barbecue grill scrapers that we're using for arms.

I must say that even with all the cold weather, the fields and lawns are still green and there are people with flowers still blooming in their window boxes. I'm sure it's because of all the rain we got this winter but still, it was so strange to see green grass in December!

Speaking of green grass, we recently stepped out and took a short road trip to Heidelberg. Wow. I can't believe it took us this long to make it over there. It's only about an hour away, but the difference between there and the area where we live is astounding. This is the castle we visited, but we only walked around the outside this time. We're saving the inside for later (this will force us to go back, right?) Maybe you'd like to come see it with us! In addition to this great castle, we found a Starbucks (our first in Germany) and a fabulous pedestrian shopping area loaded with tons of bakeries, chocolate shops and restaurants.

Don't let Caleb's lack of jacket fool you. It was a windy 40 degrees when we went and he was secretly freezing the whole time. Apparently, jackets aren't cool when you're twelve going on twenty.

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Junking Day

It's Junking Day in our village! It's the day when people put out their large trash items (see one of my first posts at www.jerryandbobbi.com regarding the trash process) on the street for the large trash truck to pick up. As a rule, we hang onto any odd-sized trash until we can put it out on one of two Junking Days each year. As an American I can say I'm not really used to hanging on to my trash (other than the golf clubs, etc. that I can't get Jerry to throw away!) so this has taken some re-training.

Everything starts pouring out onto the sidewalk at least a day or two early. Old bookcases, hideous couches, broken toilet bowls, stained rugs and sometimes even genuine antiques hit the street, which is why this week we are also inundated with white cargo vans, stopping suddenly at every decent-looking pile. More often than not the license plates indicate that the vans hail from Poland and they are out for anything worth saving. I hear they take these things back, clean them up and sell them as antiques. Yesterday I put out an old rug that we got second-hand at a rummage sale at Vandenberg and it was gone within hours! It's a living for these people and it seems as though the Germans are used to it. I just wish it came more often!

Super Bowl Sleeper

The Super Bowl will air live here and the Americans are scheduling nap time for it. Naps, you say? In case you're not a math whiz, LIVE means Midnight. Yes, midnight. On a Sunday. Here's the schedule, it's not real clear, but it's there - NFL, 12AM until 4AM.

The school declared the following Monday a day off, probably after learning their lesson the year when all the teachers showed up at work wearing wrinkled jerseys stained with cheese dip.

So, we're banking our nap times, hoping it will help us make it through the night of one of the biggest Super Bowls we've ever wanted to see. Unfortunately, my usual guilty pleasure - the commercials - will not air since we don't see any American commercials. We're counting on the Patriots to make up for any disappointment with a big win! Go Pats!

Free Rice

Caleb has been playing this Free Rice game at school and of course I was a little skeptical (computer games at school? What exactly are my tax dollars paying for??) ...until I got hooked on it too. It's a vocabulary game where you improve your language skills and help feed the hungry at the same time. Click the banner and try it out. You don't have to sign up, give your e-mail or anything, just play the game and they will donate 20 grains of rice for each word you get correct. My highest level is 42. Caleb's is 22. There are 50 levels. Report back and tell us how high you get!

The Foolish Season

Now that Christmas is over, the decorations are down and the Bx has promptly installed all things Valentine-ish, it's time for the German community to prepare for Fasching, their name for the time leading up to Lent. It is something like Mardi Gras and also can be called Karneval, but I like this explanation best: die närrische Saison ("the foolish season"). They party, wear masks and costumes and have another excuse to eat, drink and be merry.

Along those lines, I have heard from two German sources that there is a day during Fasching (which lasts about a week and will end the night before Ash Wednesday, February 6th) in which the women and men party separately. Both of my sources indicated that men are aware of these groups of women partying alone and hence, there is a baby boom of sorts nine months later. (Note to self: watch the German baby announcements in November.) So, I guess that means that they're not really partying separately so much as they are partying separately from their significant other. I'm trying to think of a celebration in the States where things like this happen...hmmm...maybe bachelorette parties?

Promised Pictures

A few pictures from Jackie's visit over New Year's:

1. Jerry and Jackie at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.

2. The kids waiting outside McDonald's near the Louvre while the adults fight the crowds for burgers.

3. After the famous Go-Kart races. (Bobbi came in last.)