Thoughtfulness of friends, warm fuzzies, and Moo

I love love love my expat life here in Germany. However, that doesn't mean that I don't miss my US-based friends and family, either. Thanks to things like Facebook and Skype, I can still connect with them, which bridges the gap a little bit, at least.

In addition to keeping up online, sometimes there is a wonderful physical reminder of home: a package! Friends and family have brightened the day by sending thoughtful packages. Often they are related to a fun event, memory, or joke we've shared.

Here are some things that people have sent, and seeing the photos makes me smile all over again. Moo is always helpful (well, as helpful as a cat ever will be) as a model so that I can send photos to the generous gifters to show us enjoying what they sent.

My friend H. sent me what I thought was a heart-shaped tooth fairy pillow and some vegan recipes as support during the vegan challenge. I took strength through this kind gesture and was all smiles when I saw the picture of her dog, whom I consider my special little dog friend. I spend as much time as I can cuddling him when I visit. H also included a lovely card, reminiscing about some crazy and hilarious adventures we shared, including accidentally being present during a riot (we had nothing to do with it, promise).

This photo shows Moo at a low point in his little cat life. Unfortunately, he has a little problem with catnip and is known to abuse the substance. My cousins enabled him in his addiction and gifted him with his "drug" of choice. He was a pleased kitty and I enjoyed the ornament from a German-style Michigan tourist town that I enjoyed visiting, some gingerbread in various forms, and even Peeps on a stick (I hate to say it, but...Peepcentipede). I was putting everything together to take a picture when I had to leave the room. Moo just couldn't help himself and set up the scene for himself.

I feel lucky to say that I have multiple families: my biological family; my second family (good friends of my parents, and parents of my best friend); my original German teacher's family who "adopted" me, and my family of friends, too. Imagine the delight in receiving some homemade pillow cases that my second family made from super cute bacon print fabric. Moo thought it was great too and has been sneaking onto the pillow every chance he gets.

These are just a few of the thoughtful packages I've received. It is so awesome of my friends and family to share such kindness. So, what reminds you of home? Do your friends and family send it?

The guacamole hitter

I saw this super cute video of a cat playing Whack-a-Mole.

Then I saw this even cuter video of someone (gently) using kittens as a live version of Whack-a-Mole.

I was telling my mom about these videos and she referred to the Whack-a-Mole game as the "Guacamole Hitter." I was incredibly amused by this.

What I've been up to: October 5 ed.

This week was a continuation of my vacation with my parents and younger brother. I hope to write more about it in detail, but for now, here's the short version:

-We stayed overnight in Kaiserslautern, after just barely catching the last train home from Saarbruecken since our bus from Paris was late.

-We traveled to Ludwigsburg and visited the palace there, taking a tour completely in German. As if I didn't know this already, the tour confirmed that my grasp of German is still very basic. The tour guide was running out of time so she spoke very quickly. I wasn't sure if Carl Eugen had 300 children or 300 pairs of shoes.* The latter made more sense to me but when I inquired what he had 300 of during a lull, I learned that it was children. I wondered how he was able to get anything else done.

-Then we moved on to Stuttgart, where we attended the Canstatter Wasen, or Volksfest. It's similar to Oktoberfest. It was okay but I'm kind of over big fests.

-We took a tour of the Mercedes factory. It was free and quite interesting.

-Moving on, we stayed in Nuremberg for two days. I've been once before for class, but that visit was limited to two museums so it was good to further explore the city. My brother and I made a new acquaintance, a local guy, who was awesome and gave us a lot of information about the area.

-We attended the wine festival at Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. This was more of my scene.

-On Sunday, we visited the Roteweinfest in Ingelheim am Rhein.



*Other sources I've briefly read don't mention that many kids so I wonder if I'm still getting it wrong!

My week: September 28 ed.

I'm quite a bit behind on my weekly updates, as it's been a super busy three weeks or so.

The end of September was a busy, exciting, fun, and tiring time for me. My parents and my younger brother visited for almost two weeks. I haven't seen them in almost two years so I was thrilled to have them visit.

-The week got off to a rough start. By the end of the week prior, I was feeling really tired. I thought it was just from staying up too late. Instead, it was because I was getting sick! I had dinner with my German-English speaking partner and crashed once I got home. The next day, I was full-on sick so I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. I ended up missing two days of work, which was extremely frustrating. I had planned to tie up many loose ends before my vacation and wasn't able to.

-My family arrived two days after I got sick. I was feeling better, but not great. We hung out in Frankfurt for the day then went to Paris for the weekend. I saw my new friends, whom I had met in Brussels in August. It's awesome to spend time with locals and get their perspective on the city!

My mom gets in on the mannequin thing

My mom is funny (well, I find her funny at least, probably because we have basically the same sense of humor). She knows that I like to take pictures of mannequins during my travels, so she sent me a picture of one during her travels in Grand Rapids:

I asked her what was wrong with the mannequin. Apparently there isn't anything wrong with him; he doesn't look beaten up nor has his facial hair been drawn in with a Sharpie marker. I was almost disappointed (that's my m.o. for mannequin photo taking), but then I laughed because I love that my mom's getting in on the weird photos. I also think she composed the picture rather well; don't you? It makes one wonder what the mannequin is pondering. Good work, Mom!

The flowers are a-bloomin'

When I see forsythia flowers, I smile. They are the harbinger of spring for me (well, after crocuses and daffodils). Spring is my favorite season, for many reasons, especially considering that it ushers the end of cold and gloomy winter.

Forsythia also make me think of my family. My mom has it in her backyard in Michigan. My aunt, who lives in a different state, recently "forced" some forsythia. Even though her state is a bit warmer than Michigan is, it still has been cold there. She brought some forsythia inside and is coaxing them to bloom. She placed them in an heirloom vase, which is actually a shell casing sent by our cousins who weathered World War II in Holland! It's a strangely handsome vase.

I am seeing forsythia here in Germany, too. I went for a walk this weekend and saw a rather ratty-looking bush with flowers. Of course I had to share that picture with my family! It's been so warm here that they are blooming naturally.

Please don't touch me: a letter from a non-hugger

A non-hugger's worst nightmare!

I spent time with a friend last night and we had a fun girls' night out with plenty of chatting. She's a very warm and caring person. As we were talking, we got onto the topic of touchy-feely people and hugging. I have an appointment with a doctor whom she has seen in the past, and she mentioned that he briefly patted her shoulder to reassure her and she thought it was very nice. I told her that I sincerely hope he doesn't do that to me. I don't like people I don't know well to touch me when it's not necessary. Heck, I don't even like people I do know well to touch me! My friend and I had a funny conversation about this and laughed, but thinking about it more, I thought it might be somewhat interesting to give the viewpoint from a non-touchy-feely person

Even the dog is in on it!

First things first: in some ways, it's hard to say why I don't want people touching me. I have never been abused in any way. My family is a very normal, loving one (although we do get into huge grammar and Early American Furniture debates). I am not on the Autistic spectrum, nor am I am engineer (sometimes those can be the same thing!). While I do suffer from chronic low-grade back pain, that's not an actual physical reason for people not to touch me.

Here's a novel idea: I just don't like it! I also don't feel that it's necessary.

I probably have just blown the minds of touchy-feely people. I have found that it is almost unfathomable for them to understand this. In fact, if I tell them that I don't like hugs and prefer to just say hello to people, it seems to cause many of them anxiety. It is so strange to me! It's almost as if, by saying that I don't like hugs/being touched, the touchy-feely people want to do that to me more. I kid you not.

Even worse is the European version: the air cheek kisses! Oh goodness, do I ever not like this. How many air kisses does one do? How do you know if you're supposed to do it? Argh! I'm so thankful that in Germany, this is not common, and in business environments or when meeting new people, it's pretty much a no-no.

Also, to be clear: if someone does gives me a hug, it's not like I bat them away or go completely rigid. I do reciprocate, but it's not my favorite thing to do. When I meet new people, I will usually say hello or if it seems appropriate, I will shake hands (especially in a business setting).

I realize that this probably makes me seem antisocial or really weird. I'll totally own the being weird thing (I'm not super interested in being normal as that's often boring), but I don't think that people find me antisocial. When I tell people that I'm in introvert, many do not believe me. I've heard, "but you're so social! You talked to everyone at the party! You're always creating events or having people over." Um, yes, of course! It is completely possible to be both an introvert and to still want to hang out with people and enjoy their company. It just means that after I've been out doing a ton of things, I also want to come home and relax by myself by reading a book or taking a walk alone. I've taken myself out to dinner or to a movie alone and you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed it! If I've been at a work conference, it might mean that after 10-12 hours of being surrounded by my colleagues, I might not be super interested in going out with them every night afterward for drinks. Instead, I might want to explore the city a bit on my own or even just veg out in the hotel room.

I will say that I'm not totally against physical contact. When I have been in relationships, it's been totally fine with my partners; it's not like I'm some frigid person! We'd hug, hold hands, etc. I guess I just think of physical touch as an intimate thing. This needs to be separated from a sensual thing: by intimate, I mean that I prefer to save hugging for the person I spend a lot of time with and who knows me very well/vice versa. I don't prefer to share that with others as I don't think it's necessary or wanted on my behalf.

I have wondered why I'm like this. Again, there is no physical, mental, or emotional problem, as far as I can tell. I have read and enjoyed Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages, and I feel like that book gives some clues. Chapman believes that people have different ways, or languages, to express love and affection. Physical touch is one way; the touchy-feely people fall into that category. Then there are people who like to give gifts/buy things for others. Words of affirmation is for those who like to say kind things to build the other up. Quality time is for those who love spending time with loved ones and giving them undivided attention. The last love language is acts of service, and that is the love language that resonates with me, and I also believe that is the love language of my nuclear family. We might not hug often, but the time I was at home in the US and incredibly sick at midnight, my mom was willing to leave immediately and drive two hours to take care of me. To me, that resonated loudly as an act of love. I know that my family will do anything they can to help me when needed -- and vice versa. I feel incredibly loved and protected by my family (and lucky to have them!)

The main point here is: don't worry about people who don't like hugs. They can give and receive love in many different other ways!

December's Adventure: Day 1, Frankfurt am Main

Saturday, December 14

On day one of our epic journey, I met my cousins M and D at the Frankfurt am Main airport to begin the trip. They were lucky enough to have direct flight in from Detroit (thank you, Delta!). As we were leaving the airport through the parking garage, they were immediately struck by the Fraunenparkplatz. Of course, it's not hard to miss at the airport because it's painted this crazy Pepto Bismol pink, maybe to drive home the fact that it's parking reserved for women.

The first order of business (in my mind, at least) was to ditch my car and get on the public transportation, which was available at the Stadion Park and Ride lot just a short drive from the airport. We grabbed a Gruppentageskarte, which allowed us to take the train into town and ride the public transportation in Frankfurt for one rate.

Our first stop was Römerberg and we visited the cozy (reproduction of the original) square. Since I have been to Frankfurt once before in the fall, I cheated and took my cousins through the same tour that I wrote about here, except I skipped Sachenhausen. I also started to tell them about the "very special" local drink, Apfelwein, talking about how the locals are so fond of it. M and D were keen to hear more about it. However, I don't want them to make the same mistake that I did and try to drink the bitter stuff so I came clean and told them that it doesn't taste good at all. Even my German colleague, who lives in the area, has agreed how unpleasant we find it. With a name like "apfelwein," it brings to mind a sweet, fruity wine. It's definitely not! It's a bitter cider. Be warned!

After we cleared up the mystery surrounding apfelwein, we enjoyed the Christmas market in the Römerberg square and then moved on to Paulskirche. I also mentioned that in the linked entry, Paulskirche is where the first constitution of Germany was written. Luckily for us, it was actually open that day so we took a look around inside. There are displays on the walls (in German and English) that tell the history of the building and the German struggle for democracy.

We continued with a visit to the Kleinmarkthalle and then on to the horror of all horrors: Primark on a Saturday. It's a clothing store chain that sells excellent warm leggings. I prepared my cousins and told them that my plan was to get in, grab some leggings and pay, and get the heck out. As I had expected, it was pure chaos but we managed to complete the errand (though I screwed up and bought tights instead of leggings, but they're still warm so it was okay).

After that, we were all quite worn out from our wanderings and my cousins were tired from jetlag. I attempted to get us back to the Park and Ride. Though I've visited Frankfurt before, I won't lie: I found the Hauptbahnhof incredibly confusing (am I just dumb, or do others find it that way, too?). It seems like I always stumble along, trying to find the U-Bahn within the confluence of the S-Bahn, buses, and long distance trains. Getting back to the Stadion stop is confusing, too, because of the number of lines that stop there and getting the right one that actually makes the stop. After fumbling around, I finally got us back and we drove to Kaiserslautern and took a much-needed nap so we could attend the House of Sustainability's Christmas Market in the forest. There is more about that to come...

December's Adventure: a Christmas market trip

Two weeks ago, my cousins from the US visited me in Germany. I was excited to see them; after all, they're always fun travel companions and they're my first visitors of family/friends from the US!

I arrange a whirlwind 8-day tour for us. Below is our itinerary. Most of our focus was on visiting Christmas markets in each town. As I get time, I'll blog about what we did in each city and add pictures.

Saturday: Since they arrived in Frankfurt am Main, that was our first stop. Without giving them pause to catch their breath, I drove us back to Kaiserslautern and went to the House of Sustainability's fantastic Christmas market in the woods.

Sunday: we took a trip to Heidelberg. Though I've been quite a few times in the last year, this time I played tourist, too. My friend lives there so normally I play the role of semi-local.

Monday: we took a trip to Strasbourg, France. It's less than two hours away from where I live and is quite pretty, too!

Tuesday: we made our way to Cologne and stayed there until Thursday morning. Our main focus was the cathedral, or Dom.

Thursday: we stopped in what I call the "chicken strip" part of the Netherlands (seriously, it's just a small strip of land!) to see the Valkenburg caves and the Christmas market inside. We then continued to Brussels and stayed there until Friday night.

Friday: we continued to Liège and stayed at a ridiculously bad hotel. On Saturday, we wandered around town and then concluded the trip with dropping my cousins off at the airport so they could fly home.

After all of this, I came home and slept for 10 hours on the evening of my return. I was tired!

Merry Christmas, Howdy Partner: What I'd Want in a Western

I'm hanging out with the family (Merry Christmas to those who partake, by the way!) and we're watching (well, they are - I'm working on the computer!) a Western from the '60s. It's amusing to me to see women in pioneer style clothes but who have '60s style somewhat beehive-y hair.

One geezer "merchant" in the movie said that he deals in whiskey and women. I commented that I prefer men and Merlot, myself ;)

--

It's not a white Christmas here at my family's house in the west side of the state, but based on the police scanner Facebook page for where I currently live, it is there -- and it sounds as if the roads were nasty last night! I hope that they're cleared up and my friends over there are enjoying the white Christmas.

From my Western to yours, enjoy the holiday!

Only in my family

From November 8, 2008
I decided to call my parents on Thursday night because I haven't really been in contact with them lately and I was curious if they wondered if I had perished (I hadn't). In doing so, I got into a 20-minute debate/discussion/argument with my dad about Early American furniture. Something like this would only happen in my family, I think. After all, we have had all out grammar fights at the dinner table over prescribed usage for such things as "Jewish rabbi," "Easter Sunday," "completely destroyed," et. al.

The whole Early American furniture debate got started when my dad told me that he had bought some Early American furniture for my niece's bedroom. I told him it was ugly and wanted to know what little girl would want such hideous furniture. She'd want princess or Dora stuff, not Early American four poster bed and matching dresser. I told my dad that the popular style now in general furniture is either modern or post-modern and you can barely even buy Early American any more, except at garage sales (where he bought the furniture for my niece).

He wanted to know where I got my information, because he had talked to "people in the industry" and they said that Early American furniture represented 25% of furniture sales. We got diverted into a huge discussion of who the heck he knew who was "in the industry." I also wanted to know when he talked to people in the industry and he said it was the last time he bought furniture. I decided that it didn't count because it was 30 years ago and people were still celebrating the bicentennial. At this point, I couldn't stop laughing. My dad was slightly annoyed because he was trying to make his point, but he was cracking up, too. I ended up staying awake until midnight on a work night debating this with him.

Giraffes and good ol' boys, oh my!

I decided, somewhat last minute, to trek down to Cincinnati this weekend for a trip to King's Island with my brother. He's working on the road for three weeks and seemed a bit bummed out about that so I decided to visit. Originally we were going to visit King's Island on Saturday but the weather was lousy so we found ourselves in need of something to do.

We were right by Traders' World, which is this crazy "palacio del flea," as they call it. I didn't really need any velour Jesus throws for my house but I figured it would be better than sitting around so I agreed to go. Plus, we were trying to figure out just how many life-sized, poorly-executed-in-fiberglass giraffes were present on the property. Seriously, it's freaky, folks; they're on the roof, inside, along the drive, etc. If you have a need to visit fiberglass giraffes, that is THE place to go.

Also, the complex has a recording of animal noises playing. The scary thing is that one of the noises sounds like a person moaning during a certain act. We were horrified by that one, even though it was probably supposed to be a hippo or something.

I am so glad that we visited, in spite of the weird noises because the people watching was absolutely amazing and we found Goonies t-shirts for $2 each. My brother especially enjoyed the shirt inspired by Data, with a patch that read "Booty Trap Specialist" on it.

We ended up spending three hours there, which blows my mind, but the time flew. I even bought two gnome yard ornaments, which is the beginning of my downward spiral (I'm not a yard ornament-owning type of person but apparently now I am a gnome-owner). If you're looking for Jesus-themed inspirational items, bumper stickers of a famous cartoon character relieving himself on various logos, military surplus, or some excellent yard ornaments, then Traders' World is where the action resides.

*I don't care that they don't know how to punctuate it correctly and they don't include the apostrophe; I'm adding it because it would bother me otherwise.

Market Forces

From Oct 4, 2008

My brother: "Hey, is ICP coming into town soon?"
Me: "Um, I have no idea. Why?"
Brother: "Well, Faygo is on sale."
Me: "What does that have to do with anything?"
Brother: "Every time ICP comes into town, Faygo goes on sale. I'm serious! All the stores have it on sale right now!"
Me: Rolling eyes.

Get it right!

This is one of the favorite stories my mom has told me:
One of her co-workers was very excited about some cookies she was going to bake and bring in. She raved about these cookies and my mom asked her what type they were.
"They're anus cookies!" the coworker crowed.
That gave my mom pause. "ANUS cookies?" she asked.
"Yes, anus cookies! They're quite good."
At this point my mom thought that the coworker had taken leave of her senses but she can think on her feet.
"Wait, don't you mean anise cookies?" my mom asked.
The coworker gave her a confused look, so my mom continued, while trying to keep a straight face: "You mean anise; trust me on this one."

Say what?

From Oct 1, 2010

I'm visiting my family and am working on the computer while my mom's watching Hoarders in the other room. I heard someone on the show speaking and commented that the woman sounded like the mom from Big Love.*

My mom asked, "What? The mom from Big Lots?"
Me: "No, from Big...never mind."

*Bill Paxton's character's mother

Kids say the darndest things

From Oct 4, 2010

I was visiting my parents this weekend and my brother dropped off my almost two year old niece while he took the older niece to soccer practice. My parents were grilling her -- erm, I mean, talking to her. They were asking her where daddy went; where was mommy; does mommy work; where does mommy work?
I could tell that my niece was sick of being on the witness stand so the final question, where does mommy work? did her in. She finally said, "I don't want to talk about it."

We laughed so hard because she's not even two yet and is already saying things like that. I hypothesized that it may be her take on working mothers.

My favorite place

Of all the places I've visited in the world, my favorite place is still one of the simpler ones and is relatively close to my home I've made as an adult.

It's the family cottage, painted in white and what my grandpa Toon (pronounced "tone") called a "restful green" (in other words, forest green). I'm not sure what's so alluring about the place; it is, after all, very rustic. It doesn't feature heat, a shower, or even hot water. However, it does feature many happy memories of lazy days at the lake and family adventures. Or maybe the allure is that as much as we want to own it, it's something we can't buy but we can enjoy.