My German-Eritrean-American Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving, my expat UK friends joined me in Heidelberg to have dinner at my American co-worker's house for a proper American dinner with Germans and other European expats. This year, my co-worker and I were both stressed out, the UK friends have moved, and we didn't feel like putting a lot of work into it.

So, this year:

-I cleaned the stairs/common areas of my apartment building. We have no Hausmeister and both my neighbors and I have been remiss in keeping this up. I had a rare bit of free time when I wasn't exhausted so I used my time wisely, to clean.

-My friend and I went downtown; we stopped by the Weihnachtsmarkt where she had Wurst and I had reibekuchen, fried potato pancakes (which is more grease than I would normally eat in 6 months). We then made a circuit of the stores I visit when I have time, including the thrift store, the Tam Asian market, and the grocery market.

-We ate dinner at my favorite restaurant in town, Safari. It's Eritrean and Ethiopian and fantastic. John brought us some delicious food that his family cooked. It's far better than turkey, in my book.

-After dinner, C and I engaged in a German activity: we did some staring in a construction zone where a machine was running dirt (?) through it. I have no idea what that was about but took a video because it lasts longer ;)

So, all in all, it was a laid-back day. I was so thankful to have some time off since I'm tired from work, the Berlin trip, German lessons, and trying to get everything done. I'm thankful for good company and a peaceful day. I'll end the evening by Skyping my family. Life is good.

My Second Autofreies Lauteral Bike Ride

Bike riders on the B270. Photo by J.

Sunday was a great day! Some friends and I grabbed our bikes (or, more accurately, 2 of the 3 bikes were mine ;) and headed out for the car-free day on the B270 road from Kaiserslautern to Lauterecken.

I did this ride last year with some friends (read about it here) and loved it. It's a day to enjoy the two-lane highway without the threat of motorized vehicles. Most people ride bicycles but we also saw rollerbladers, skateboarders, and even some unicyclists! It's a great day for all ages; we saw everything from grandparents to children along the route.

Along the way, there are food stands, oompa music dance parties, rock music parties, plenty of town fests, sausage and meat stands (lots of them!), booths with community information, and even bike repair stations. It's basically a 20 mile-long party. That's right up my alley!

We began at the Gartenschau in Kaiserslautern, the first stop, and rode along the river to join the B270. In Otterbach, we had the friendly Technisches Hilfswerk people adjust the bike seat on my old bike that J was riding and add air to my bike's tires.

Our next stop was at the hippie corner. Okay, it wasn't called that, but it certainly appealed to my inner hippie with an organic snack stand and a drum circle. We enjoyed some Holunder schorles (elderberry-fizzy water mixes) from the friendly ladies at the Bund Freunde der Erde stand, then proceeded to play drums with the welcoming drum instructor. Everyone was jamming!

My friends were hungry after all that jamming so we made a meat-packed stop. M had saumagen, which is a very typical regional meat for the Pfalz (more info here). J. gleefully announced that Helmut Kohl, a former German chancellor who was from this area, always proudly offered it to guests. We snickered as it is not something that everyone would like; M's serving of it looked like a huge hunk of meat, but she did like it. I could imagine a few international guests choking it down and trying to appear to enjoy it.

Meat fest! From left, clockwise: steak, Rotewurst, and Saumagen. Photo by J.

The next stop was my favorite: we visited with a herd of Haflinger horses on the side of the road. I fed them some delectable grass that was just out of their reach and J played horse paparazzi.

A horse enjoying some of the grass I gave it. Photo by J.

We finished the ride in Wolfstein, stopping to eat some ice cream. Originally, we had planned to bike all the way to the end, Lauterecken, but a sudden downpour of rain divested us of that idea. We loaded our bikes onto the train (which became more and more cramped with bikers) and returned home. It was a great ride! Had the rain held off, we probably would have biked back for a total of 30 miles, but the 15 mile ride was also good. Even better yet was that I was barely sore afterward, a welcome change from last year.

Store Review: Jung Kunst Galerie, Kaiserslautern

http://www.jungkunstgalerie.de
Fackelstrasse 30, Kaiserslautern
Hours: M-F 1000-1800; Saturday 1000-1600

Kaiserslautern has a small selection of nice gift stores. Another one that I enjoy is Jung Kunst Galerie which is located on one of the main pedestrian shopping streets. It can be easy to overlook because its storefront is unassuming and one must climb several flights of stairs to reach it.

The store offers costume jewelry that is quite nice with lines from Konplott and others. One of the main features of the store is knick knacks and holiday decorations. I stopped by to buy holiday gifts for my family and saw cute Santa figurines, Christmas dioramas, nativity sets, wall hangings, etc. The store even has some really cute metal robots; some wind up and move! Sculptures and art items are available as well.

I really like the employees there too. I've visited several times and they've always been very friendly and helpful. English is spoken.

Flea markets, racing, and more

Today was soooo busy, but fun. Now I'm tired and sore, sore, sore.

This morning, I strolled downtown to check out the farmers' market. There was both curly and flat leafed kale this week -- score! I couldn't resist buying some curly leaf kale, even though I don't really have room in my fridge right now. That's an entirely unusual situation, but the lack of fridge room is because I'm having 20 people over tomorrow for a potluck.

In addition to the farmers' market, I checked out some "flea markets" that were set up as well. They were run by various charities and clubs. I wonder if they were set up because it's the Kaiserslautern kerwe week, since they are not a permanent feature.

A sweet lady at one of the flea market booths was telling me about stuff for sale after I asked her a few prices (we were both speaking German). I picked up a candy bar because it had Raphael's angels on it and I didn't realize what it was. I put it down, then she said something which I didn't catch/understand, and she smiled and dropped it in my bag. This is what tends to happen when I speak German with people: I do okay for a bit, then get confused, and then the person helping me gives me something or does something nice for me (usually). That's pretty good reinforcement and really kind of the person helping me, isn't it?!

After that, I hurried home to get ready to head out for a community 5K run/race. I'm not in shape but I knew I could at least walk that far because I trek that much or more almost every weekend during my travels. It was a super family friendly event; people even brought their dogs, which was cool (but seeing so many dogs in prong collars was not so cool). It was really fun and I was impressed by the work put into it. There were tons of community booths, a live band, a haunted house, pumpkin decorating, temporary tattooing, and even zombies to harass runners. 

Look! Star Wars peeps. The costume of the guy in black was funny because his "tank" on his back was made from an old suitcase or vacuum cleaner.

?? Mile Run. At the starting gate.

 The race itself was very enjoyable. The weather was just perfect with a sunny sky and a temperature of somewhere around 20 degrees Celsius. There were a lot of dogs enjoying the race too. I talked to one guy about his dog, who was really interesting looking -- something that was a Chow mix but didn't have the blocky Chow head or thick body. The owner told me that they purchased a DNA test on the dog for $50 and found out this huge list of mixed breeds he was. I didn't know that such a thing was available so inexpensively at the consumer level; it's really cool!

I also saw another guy walking a Pomeranian who was so tired that he had to pick up the dog (who looked really relieved after that!). It was pretty funny to see a tough, muscly dude carrying a fluffy little dog. Seeing all those dogs made me miss having a dog somewhat. However, I then snapped back to reality and remembered that I wouldn't be the right person to own a dog because I work/go to school/travel so much. Even poor Moo the Cat doesn't get as much undivided attention from me as he'd like.

One of the many dogs in the race.

 Toward the end of the race, I stopped for a wine tasting. Man, do I ever love living in Europe! I don't know that US races would do that. Even with stopping to try wine and talk to a dog owner, I did the 5K in 45 minutes. That wasn't too bad for someone who's totally out of shape, didn't practice ahead of time, and took time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

I had volunteered to help with clean-up. I was already a bit sore from the race and after an hour of stooping to pick up trash, I was really sore. However, it was quite awesome to enjoy the view of my work (and the work of others, of course!) when it was all cleaned up. Better yet was that there were two leftover pumpkins who needed a home. I happily scooped them up. I hope to have a friend who's from the UK over to try her hand at a really American activity. I'll carve the other pumpkin; I want to give it and some candy to my neighbor's daughter. They're German, so I'm not sure if they celebrate Halloween. Even if they don't, I'm sure she'll enjoy the treat.

Following the race and pumpkin rehoming, I drove home and worked on cleaning the house and cooking for a potluck I'm hosting tomorrow. So far about 20 people have RSVPed. I'm rather excited about that; I always enjoyed having people over to my house that I owned in the US. I love a party atmosphere and I'm looking forward to recreating it here in Germany. A small snag is how small my apartment is; we'll just have to get cosy.

Getting a massage at the German massage place: hilarity ensues, or it doesn't

Whenever I get into a situation that spirals out of control in a way that's so ridiculous that it's funny, the music below plays through my head. I had such an experience earlier this week.

On my day off, I decided to get a massage by someone recommended by a friend. My friend didn't think that the guy really speaks English, but said I should go anyway. Since I've been working on my German a bit, I figured I could make an appointment without too many troubles.

Imagine trying to make a massage appointment with a man who's basically like a hyperactive squirrel. He doesn't really speak English and I am halting in German. I said that I needed an appointment (in German) but I think he was so freaked out about dealing with an English speaker that he asked for help.

He enlisted the help of one of his clients who speaks better English. Said client is in the middle of a massage so I get waved to the back of the practice and ask a man who's laying on the massage table and only wearing underwear if he can help me make an appointment. We all agreed on a time.

I don't think that I would have seen a client in situ in the US (at least I don't think it would have, or at least the masseuse there would have probably had me talk through a cracked door and I wouldn't see the other client). Though honestly, if the masseuse just slowed down what he said and listened to me a bit more I think we could have made the appointment without help. I'm thankful for the other client's help. He didn't seem phased by this at all. At least he was wearing underwear! I'm trying to adjust to the German lack of hang-ups with partial/full nudity. However, I just wasn't expecting the situation to happen this way. I had practiced the phrases I would say in German before I went there. After all, how hard is it to make an appointment; I'm almost at the A2 level. That got shot out the window. Doesn't that make you think of the adage, "it takes a village?" I thought it took a village to raise a child, but apparently it also takes one to make an appointment.

As for the massage itself, it wasn't really what I prefer. When it was my turn, the masseuse utilized a client who was in another room as an interpreter for a bit. I told the masseuse, "wenn Sie sprechen langsamer, ich verstehe mehr" (when you speak slower, I understand more). He had left the curtain to my room open and was going to commence working on me. I knew the other client was in another room, and I am still a bit prudish/American, so I told Mr. Masseuse, "bitte mit die Tür nicht öffnen" (please with the door not open). Yes, that's not the most grammatical way to put it, but it still makes sense and I couldn't remember the word for closed. See? I know enough German to communicate my wishes, just not in an elegant way.

I was on a table under this crazy heat lamp thing; I almost felt as if I were at a tanning salon! After turning off the lamp, he draped a heat pack over my back. I have a feeling that Lucifer did him a solid and let it heat up on his sidewalk a bit before handing it over. It was rather hot, especially on bare skin. I have a reasonably high pain tolerance so I just dealt with it. 

I couldn't believe how fast he did the massage strokes. At one point, there was disco music playing on the radio and I swear that he used that to keep time! So, while it wasn't the worst thing ever, it was still a rather odd situation so I think one visit there suited me just fine. The awkward thing is that I ran into Mr. Masseuse two days later when I was out with friends. He hollered to me to ask how I was feeling and I spoke German back. See, dude? If you just listen, I can tell you what needs to be said.

My other favorite drink of the summer/upcoming posts

I had Eisschokolade about three times this summer. I enjoyed another drink far more often: iced tea! I made it myself with many different varieties of fruit/herbal tea and it's quite lovely.

I just brewed a large vat of tea the regular way and stuck it in the fridge (well, I let it cool down a bit first). I don't add anything extra to it but it certainly is possible. Since I'm from the northern part of the US, I don't get into that cloyingly sweet tea that is so popular in the southern US, but I would imagine one could dump sugar in it if one wanted ;) 

I found a new tea that I really like, and it is quite tasty as iced tea: pomegranate mint. I know, it sounds like an odd combination, but it's really quite good. The mint is not overpowering and adds some nice notes. I bought it at TeeGschwendner; they had a sample available of it made as iced tea. I ended up buying a bag of it. Darn! Usually I try to not submit to advertising, but I'm a bit of a sucker for herbal and fruit teas.

--
I'm still super busy with three classes and work, but someday, I hope to write about:
-the conclusion of the trip to Mechelen;
-what it is like to take a German class at the Volkshochschule;
-the trip we took to Ghent;
-autumn in Germany (and maybe how I haven't gotten much chance to experience it);
-going to the American doctor whose practice is on the German economy (yeah, slightly confusing);
-going to the American dentist whose practice is on the Germany economy;
-more about going to the German Apotheke;
-why my credit card won't work any more if I go to the last three businesses I just mentioned;
-a further review of AHRN and the Kaiserslautern Housing Office;
-more about my August trip/class to Berlin with plenty of historical information;
-renting bikes from Deutsche Bahn;
-a review of some other thrift stores in Kaiserslautern;
-the most awesome, vegan cauliflower recipe ever that makes me want to just hippie out, eat a ton of it, douse myself in patchouli and burn incense (well, all except for the last one because I can't breathe around incense);

and, going even farther back, because I'm just that far behind:
 -Long Night of the Museums in Heidelberg (oops, from April!);
-Strasbourg;
-the Maimarkt in Mannheim...

...and even more. Phew! I don't see that I'll have a lot of time until my online class ends. That class has taken more time than any of my other classes were in-person had taken. I could totally slack in the class and not spend so much time on it, but I also really do want to learn the content. The end (of the class) is in sight; soon I'll be a (somewhat) free(r) woman.

And why is it that I do this to myself?

Since I work at a foreign entity that is almost a world of its own here but live outside of it, I feel as if I'm caught in the middle of two worlds. I have dollars and cents and euros and...euro cents in my wallet. I know the euro cents reasonably well at this point, but I always have the moments of panic at the grocery store when I'm trying to sort out the various euro coins as an impatient German is breathing down my neck and I'm simultaneously trying to pay, bag my groceries, pretend that I can speak German, and still remember to breathe all the while.

It certainly doesn't help that I also have American money in my wallet, as well, for use at work and I accidentally grab some of those coins in the mix when I'm trying to pay at German stores.

Even worse is the time when I grabbed a really weird coin out of the mix and realized that, for some reason, I had a Canadian loonie in the wallet. Recently I even got caught up when I realized that I have a car wash token, as well. Why on earth do I do this to myself?

I know I have Czech Koruna and Hungarian forints somewhere at home. Maybe I should throw those into my wallet, too. It might liven things up even a bit more!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Street Crossing Turtles

This one is almost more like Around the Block. I was on my way to a riding lesson when I saw a petrified turtle, cowering in the middle of the road. I was already running late and there was a stream of traffic behind me, so I avoided running over him but felt guilty that I hadn’t stopped to escort him off the road.

On the way home from the riding lesson, there was an opportunity to redeem myself: I was flying down the road when I saw another turtle (on a different road home). I couldn’t stop in time so I navigated over him, my tires then kicking up dust as I skidded to a stop past him. Poor Mr. Turtle was so shocked by the experience that he was leaking. I tried to wait for that to be over, because even though I have a soft heart, I have no interest in Teenage Mutant (non-Ninja) Turtle urine coming into contact with me.

I determined that Mr. Turtle was indeed a pond turtle, evidenced by the green slime coating the top of him and the proximity of the pond from which he probably originated. I then grabbed a winter glove for my car (here is evidence in support of not cleaning out one’s car often), gloved up, and picked up Mr. Turtle. There didn’t seem any good way to get him into the pond without getting myself sopping wet, so I went over the other possible options in my head. The only workable one was to toss him into the pond. I hesitated, because I was wondering if Mr. Turtle was still shell shocked (har har!) from the experience of a car hurtling over him. Would he be so shocked that he wouldn’t swim when he hit the water? Was it just instinct to do it? If I chucked him into the water, would he pass out when he hit the water?

In one decisive motion, I launched Mr. Turtle as hard as I could throw him into the pond since it was set back so far from the road. He hit the water and disappeared. I’m not sure what happened to him; I only hope that it was better than getting run over by a car and that he went on many other turtle adventures after the harrowing experience. What could he have possibly thought about having a huge mechanical thing fly over him, then having a hand like the Hand of Insert-Deity-Name-Here pluck him out of the road and chuck him into the pond? It must've certainly been life changing.