Gone for a month

Hi!  Well, once we leave Munich, we will be without a phone or internet for roughly 4 weeks.  So, no blog activity until we are back on-line.  Bye for now...

Another day of cleaning

After another sleepless night, the day was spent cleaning.  I don't think I have ever spent so much time scrubbing a shower before.  Carsten cleaned the floor and now we only have a couple more things to do (including painting) before the apartment is ready to be turned over to the landlord.  I must say, I can't wait to be at the new place and begin to settle into life here in Germany.

It's time to roller disco

I was on the phone last night with a friend of mine and I mentioned how my naked apartment looks like a great place for a roller disco and how I should have a dance party in my place.  so, that's what I did.  Now, I don't have a stereo here so I had to use my I-pod.  Yes, I am sure I looked like an idiot dancing and singing around my apartment, shaking my money maker all about, but it was fun none-the-less.  Oh, and this is the song that kicked it off.

My day today was quite productive.  After a terrible night's sleep on the hardwood floor, using the term sleep loosely, I got up and cleaned my little heart out!  It was a lot of floor scrubbing, cleansing the kitchen and dirt and grime, cleaning the windows inside and out (apparently i do do windows) and now I can get ready to paint.  Oh, and that dang bathroom.  That is my least favorite room in this apartment.  Those dang tiles kill me.  But I digress; apparently all our stuff arrived in Freiburg today and it appears that nothing broke, so that is good.  

Now the real work begins

So the movers have left.  They were here for three hours though I think it could have been less if they had fewer cigarette breaks.  Anyway, I helped out, I think it might be a control issue.  I took care of all the clothes, coats, shoes, CDs and bathroom items.  That left books, DVDs and the kitchen for the movers.  Overall it went pretty smooth.  One of them spoke no English and the other very, very limited English.  The one who spoke no English kept whistling the Pink song "So What," so he was a winner by me.  Anyway, they will deliver our stuff to Freiburg tomorrow evening and Carsten will deal with it on that end.   Now the real work begins here in Munich.  I plan to spend much of Friday cleaning the apartment, scrubbing everything down.  I think we will paint on Saturday, depending on what time Carsten arrives.  And then Sunday we will drive to our new home, where I can unpack and arrange the new place.  Thankfully I enjoy doing that and Carsten doesn't; it works out quite well.  Oh and if you are wondering what I am sleeping on since the movers have left, it is a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor.  Basically I am camping indoors.  

Tomorrow's the big day!

The mover's come tomorrow to pick up my stuff and take to Freiburg.  They are to deliver our stuff on Friday after 5pm.  Boy I can't wait for this move to be over with.  I am feeling quite anxious at the moment, but I think that is mostly due to my fear of being ale to communicate with the movers.  Maybe that is why I am so organized with this move?!?  Oh who am I kidding, i would be this organized even if the movers did speak English :)  Anyway, once the movers leave I will be left with a sleeping bag, the cats and the computer.  Carsten will return on Saturday so we can paint and finish cleaning the apartment before turning in our keys on Sunday and saying good-bye to Munich.  Speaking of Carsten, he stated his new job today.  He phoned me tonight and said he liked it very much and sounded mostly optimistic, though he made sure to point out the negatives he has seen so far.  In my opinion the negatives weren't a big deal, but what do I know.  

So, since I have everything basically ready for the movers I had some free time today.  Thus, I finished reading the book Written in Bone.  Again, if you like murder mysteries this might be a book you would enjoy.  

Carsten's gone

Well, Carsten has officially moved to Freiburg.  He left in the middle of the afternoon, later than he hoped, to begin his 5 hour drive there.  He is staying at a hotel tonight and after he begins his new job tomorrow he will go to pick up the keys to our new place.  Speaking of our new place, as I look around at my neat piles, the boxes I have packed and what still needs to be dealt with I am wondering if our new place is big enough.  Sure, in theory it should be large enough, but looking at all of our clothes, shoes, books and CDs I can't help but wonder how this will all fit into our new, much smaller, apartment.  It looks like it is time for me to become creative with organizing the new place.  But I am getting ahead of myself here.  I need to wait two more days for the movers to even come.  For the next couple of days it is just me and the cats waiting patiently for the next chapter in this adventure.  

Monday, Monday

Today was a more relaxed day.  A bulk of the day was spent organizing and packing, especially for Carsten since he will move out tomorrow.  He also took care of unhooking the washing machine...thank goodness.  I am good at packing and organizing but dealing with machinery is just not my thing.  As with most of my moves I am beginning to feel a bit anxious.  I am not exactly sure what worries me but then again it isn't clear what doesn't worry me at this point.  My hope is that once the move is done and things feel more settled the anxiety will subside.  Of course once I return to school and have other things on my mind that will also help.

Still on holiday

Yes, it is still the holiday season here in Germany.  Some people will return to work tomorrow (Monday) but most won't go back until Wednesday, like Carsten.  Why you are wondering?  Well, that is because it is some holiday on Tuesday-I don't know what exactly so I just call it the day everyone takes down their Christmas trees.  

So how did we spend today?  Well, being hyper-organized (or anal-retentive) I put our belongings on the first floor in neat piles to make it easier for the movers on Thursday.  I am getting pretty good at this moving thing and living out of boxes!!  Other than packing and organizing, we watched the other two movies we rented.  One of the movies, which was quite successful in 2008 and was highly recommended to us, neither of us liked it as much as we had hoped.  The music in it was fantastic, but that was obvious going into it.  To find out what we watched, click here.  The other movie we watched was the recent rendition of The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton.  Carsten saw the preview for this with one of the other movies we saw recently and thought it might be fun to watch.  In the end, it was pretty disappointing.  Probably still better than the last Hulk movie, but that isn't saying much.  Of course it was left open for a sequel, but what isn't now-a-days.

For those of you reading this in the US, have a great day back at work tomorrow.  

3 for 1

Today was a pretty relaxing day; aka-preparing for the storm of the upcoming move.  Slept in a bit, ate some brunch, finished reading the book Chemistry of Death (would highly recommend if you like murder mysteries) and then some grocery shopping.  Afterward, we rented three movies for the price of one.  The first one we watched was The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.  The movie is somewhat entertaining, but no where near as good as either of the first two.  The plot was ridiculous and though it tried to be funny, it really wasn't most of the time.  However, the best line was in the very beginning by Maria Bello.  Anyway, it was entertaining but not memorable.  Plus, we watched it first assuming it was the worst of the three.  Looks like Sunday will be filled with movie breaks in between packing and getting ready for the move.  

Tonight we also got together with our friends Sven and Kathleen for dinner and drinks.  It was a nice time, though it went later than I had anticipated.  I am sure we will come back to visit them from time-to-time once we move, as I know Carsten will miss them quite a lot.  So many changes all the time!

Out on the town

Today Carsten and I went to the Deutsches Museum, which is the museum to go to in Munich and with us leaving next week, we thought we should go before it is too late.  It is the biggest museum I think I have ever been to.  In some ways it is similar to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, but much bigger with cooler exhibits.  My favorite was the mining exhibit and I think Carsten probably liked the physics section the best...shocking I know!!  I was looking for the fashion and entertainment exhibits, but apparently a museum dedicated to science and technology has no space for these important contributions.  

A movie for the ages

Okay, so that is a bit of an exaggeration, but in the end a pretty good film.  This time we watched the movie Wanted.  It was the action thriller filmed in Chicago staring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.  Let's start with the acting.  James is good, but was better in The Last King of Scotland.  I believe Morgan can really do no wrong in terms of acting.  And Angie, well, in my opinion she can't act her way out of a bag.  Plus she was so damn skinny in this.  If she is ever in Munich I can take for a burger now that I know where to get a great one!!  Anyway, the movie had a lot of action and was a bit bloody with a high body count.  So, if you like that kind of film, as I do, then you might enjoy this little flick.  

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2009!  I hope everyone had a fun New Year's Eve celebration and is ready for whatever 2009 has to bring.  On a big scale, change is coming to the White House in the US and hopefully things can begin to improve in the states regarding the economy, unemployment and morale.  

My New Year's Eve rang in as expected.  Carsten and I had dinner with our friends Gary and Klaus.  We went to Dillinger's Chicago Bar and Grill.  Yes, you read that correctly, we went to a "Chicago" restaurant in Munich.  It was the best bloody burger I have had and the weiß beers were going down smooth.  After dinner we made our way to Olympiapark to watch the fireworks.  This was my third New Year's Eve in Germany and my first in Munich.  All three have been filled with fireworks and let me say, it is quite the spectacle.  On the 4th of July in the US, towns will put on firework shows and it is typically a disappointment.  However, it appears that here in Germany it is the individual people and not the town who put on the fireworks and apparently no firework is illegal here.  So picture hundreds of thousands of people, most have likely been drinking, lighting fireworks.  One word people... ARMAGEDDON!!!  To see what I mean, check out our pictures from the night by clicking here.  Or a video of what it is like in one of the neighborhoods within Munich.

It was a great time with good food, lots of fireworks, too much champagne and great company.  Plus, once I finally got home (4am) I called Alica and was able to catch up on our holidays. By 6am I was in bed.  I tried to stay awake until 7am, when it would be midnight in Chicago/Wisconsin, but was unable to make it that late.  Maybe next year :)