Weekend Up North

This past weekend, Alfons and I went to visit our MBA friend Peter and his family at the very northern tip of Germany in Glucksburg.  It's Autobahn all the way, so I let Alfons drive since he drives a lot faster than I do, and we got there in about 7 hours...most of which I slept thanks to the Dramamine.

Alfons went to a conference on wind energy Thursday while I went shopping in Flensburg for the day.  We had dinner with Peter's family and they have a cool little house in their backyard that's a Finland tradition.

This is the inside where there are seats all around and a large fire pit in the middle to keep you warm in the winter.






On Friday, Peter took us out in his awesome boat on the East Sea where Germany and Denmark meet.

These were cool water houses built right in the fjord.

A German Army building for training.

Hello, Denmark!!!

We also had lunch at a marina where I learned to get the fish off the bone!

Then on Saturday, we went to Hamburg...

We hung out at this beautiful park for a while.

Meet the Parents (Take 2)

I met Alfons' parents at Christmas, but I knew VERY little German then so Alfons' sister Angela and her husband Wolfgang translated everything for me.  For this visit, they weren't going with us and Alfons doesn't like translating everything that happens like Wolfgang does.  If his mom tells a big, long story at the dinner table and I ask "what did she say?"  Alfons says "Some new neighbors moved in."

His mom wanted to show me her garden so I grabbed my pocket-sized German language book and headed out back.  As she pointed to the ground she would say vegetable and fruit names, so I would look them up to figure out what she was growing.  We were both pretty excited to be able to understand one another since I could describe the colors of each thing to be sure I knew the right food.

His dad doesn't say much, but he liked my iPad.  I showed him the fishpond where he could make waves in the water, the paper toss game where he could throw wads of paper into a trash can, and a translation app that has German/English flashcards.  He thought those were pretty cool.

The Cooking Disaster

I hate cooking.  Remember that!

So I'm trying to learn to cook here in Germany, so mostly I watch Alfons cook and when he's not here, I use the internet to translate the back of food I buy at the grocery.  Tonight, Alfons wanted to make goulash, so I carefully watched as he chopped the onions, put the special pepper and tomato sauce in with a certain amount of water, and put the lid on the pressure cooker.

I am scared to death of pressure cookers and always will be.  I've heard horror stories of people putting a hole in their ceiling when the lid pops off and since I know I suck at cooking, a pressure cooker just isn't a good idea for me in the kitchen.

What I can do is boil water.  So Alfons tasked me with cooking the noodles that go under the goulash.  Once the water was boiling, I put the noodles in the pan and set the lid on top.  Then Alfons decided to let some of the pressure out of his contraption and I was in awe!!!  This this was making crazy noises and squirting out of holes I didn't know it had.  And just then, the water from my noodle pan poured over the edges!  And I mean POURED!

Alfons and I grabbed towels and tried to clean it up before the stovetop started burning, but then he told me to get away quickly!  I don't know how European appliances work, but I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to see steam coming out of the oven when you just spilled water on the range.  So I got out of the kitchen and watched from afar as he tried to figure out how water got down below and how much damage it had caused. He then realized the wiring for the stovetop was right where the water had seeped in, and he ran to the circuit breaker to shut off all the kitchen power.

He grabbed a screwdriver and took some time getting the entire over out from under the built-in range and sure enough, there was water puddled where the four burner wires connect to the main unit.  He used the vacuum and a hairdryer to dry out the area.  Whew!

And as if that weren't enough cooking excitement for one meal, by the time we got that all cleaned up, Alfons was more than ready to eat and was a bit impatient with his goulash.  He let most of the steam out and then assumed it was okay to take off the lid of the pressure cooker.  WRONG!  As soon as he unlatched the handle, the goulash burst out in 360 degrees!  Red sauce went all over the stove and floor.  I couldn't help but laugh knowing this one wasn't my fault (not directly anyway)!

I hate cooking.  Remember?

Speaking my language

Thank goodness for the Internet.  My American friend in Amsterdam recommended that I try to find some ex-pat groups online to make friends.  Ex-pats (or ex-patriates) are folks who are on a contract in their home country, but have been assigned to a job in another country (or something like that).

So I checked Facebook and sure enough, there's an English-speaking group of ex-pats here in Stuttgart that meets regularly.  They go to English movies on Mondays, have dinner on Tuesdays, play pool on Thursdays, and then hang out downtown on Friday and Saturday nights.  What fun!

Last night I went to my first event with these guys and had a blast!  I met lots of great people from all over the world...most of whom speak at least 3 languages.  Several were Americans too, from all over the States.  You feel an instant connection when you meet someone who not only speaks English, but who knows where Indiana is!  Ahhhhh.

I've Got Mail!

So on Tuesday before Alfons left for Hungary, I asked him how to open the locked mailbox to check for the mail each day.  He (jokingly) said, "Don't worry about it.  You won't get any mail."  To that I responded "I will get mail!  My mom loves me and she said she's gonna send me a letter!!!"  He laughed and took the mailbox key off his keyring, so he could leave it with me.

I know it usually takes a week or two to get mail from home to here, but I've still been checking the mail each day hoping something will have my name on it.  It's like being a kid when you haven't learned to loathe the mail because it's only bills and junk.  When kids get mail, it's always something positive...never tax information.

Well, today's the day!  I just checked the mailbox and WOO HOO!!!  It's got my name on it!  And I can spot my mom's handwriting a mile away!  The card says "The shortest distance between two points is a leap of faith.  So keep believing the best is on its way!  Love, Mom"  Will do, Mom.  Will do!

My First Few Days

Where to begin...at the airport.  While I had a luggage scale at home to ensure my bags were all under 50lbs before leaving, Alfons assured me that the folks at the Delta counter wouldn't care if there were a few extra pounds in each bag.  Well, they did!  So on the floor I sat trying to rearrange my clothes and shoes from one bag to another so I could get each one to the proper weight.  After putting on my new hiking boots, sending two things home with Mom and shoving a bunch of stuff into Alfons' carry-on, we did it!  Note to visitors: 50lbs means 50lbs.  :-)

Arrived on Sunday and had balloons, a welcome sign and dinner waiting for me, thanks to Alfons' wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Angela and Wolfgang.  They are so sweet and are really happy that I'm here.  They say I make Alfons more fun!  Ha!!!  Angela is my age and her English is great.  She does purchasing at the manufacturing company Alfons works for, but she's here in the German office, so if I need anything, she's available...thank goodness!

I got my first driving lesson on Sunday (because Alfons didn't want me to sleep due to the time change).  Only one car honked at me because I took a turn too slowly, but Alfons said he was just a jerk and that I didn't do anything wrong.  The weirdest driving difference is that in neighborhoods, there are no stop signs so the person coming from the right has the right-of-way every time.  That's going to take some time to remember.  A friend in Amsterdam said she just assumes she NEVER has the right-of-way and that works out pretty well for her.  I think I'll try that!

My second driving lesson took me onto the infamous Autobahn, where there's no speed limit (at least not outside the city).  I floored my little Yaris and got up to about 90mph before I had to slow down to make my exit.  Maybe next time we'll get a chance to see what that baby can really do!!!

On Tuesday I had an interview for an English training job.  It was awesome and the girl who interviewed me was from Michigan.  That helped!  I got the job, but to make a long story short, there are lots of hoops to jump through with the paperwork so I'm still working on that.  It'll be a few weeks, at best, before I'm actually working.  I don't mind the free time though.

Alfons left for Hungary on Tuesday evening, which left me home alone.  For those who don't know,  I have NEVER lived by myself.  I'm just not a fan and I like having others around at all times.  (Big shocker, I know!)  So I slept on the couch that night since Alfons has no TV, radio or night-light in his room.  Ha!  It's a comfy couch...especially with my favorite pillow I squeezed in my luggage from the States.

Wednesday I went shopping with Angela and Wolfgang.  We went to a store that's just like Home Depot, except everything is European style...cool!  My mom will love that place.  We went to some gardening stores too, which is where I picked up my new "Home Sweet Home" rug.  I thought it would be a nice touch for the entry way.  I like hanging out with A&W because they both know English very well, but have different vocabularies, so they always ask each other what certain words mean in English.  That helps me, because I hear the word in German and English.  Alfons just speaks English to me, so that's not so helpful for my learning!

It's very strange that I can't read anything here.  Driving down the street, I don't know if a building is a town hall or a restaurant.  When I was done with my interview on Tuesday, I tried to walk out the main door but it was locked.  There was a sign on it that said something in German, but I had no idea what it said.  I pushed a button by the door and a light came on.  Ugh!  Then I turned around and saw another button with the same sign above it.  Thank goodness that did the trick!  I didn't want to be stuck in that hallway all day.

So, it's been a busy week already and Alfons gets home tonight at midnight-ish.  I cleaned the house, finished the laundry and went to the grocery store all by myself.  I suppose I'll get pretty good at the domestic duties around here until I get a job.  Then we're splitting them 50/50, okay honey???

Welcome to my blog!

While many folks don't want all the details of my German adventure, I know there are a few crazy souls who are interested in hearing the funny, unusual and culturally different experiences I'm having...and will have...here in Germany. Well, here goes. Hope you enjoy it!