Early to rise

Today we woke early to meet some friends for breakfast.  We ate what I would call a typical German breakfast, which was bread, honey and fruit.  I only knew one of the people we met and the rest were all new to me.  One of the persons spoke English, which was nice, though most of the conversations were in German.  I noticed I was able to understand more and follow the conversations better.  Maybe these classes are working after all??  Now we are home and having some coffee out on the balcony before leaving for Stuttgart.  We are going there to celebrate the birthday of one of Carsten's friends.  We will spend the night there and then return tomorrow.  More on life in Germany upon my return!!

Completed one class!!

Today was my last day of my first German language class.  Did you follow that?  The classes are divided into A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.  I just finished A1 today and will begin A2 on Monday, though I won't finish that class as I begin my integration course before the A2 ends.  I am happy you be done with this class.  I tend to get down on myself for not knowing more but then I need to remember I only had 2 months worth of classes.  Some things come easier than others and some things I wonder if I will ever fully understand.  But for this weekend I am a bit freer in terms of studying.

A funny story

This happened last week Thursday (2/19) and for whatever reason I kept forgetting to write about it.  It was during break from class and I was running to the store to buy some fresh bread.  On my way out of the school a student from another class came up to me and started talking in English.  She has spoke with me briefly on two other occasions.  Here is how the conversation went:

Her:  So, where are you from?

Me:  Chicago.

Her:  And what about that other girl you talk with?

Me:  Oh, she is from Mexico, but she has lived in the US for a few years.

Her:  That would explain the similar accents.

Her:  So how long are you going to be in Freiburg?

Me:  Probably for a while; a couple years at least.

Her:  Oh, your married.

And she just walked away without saying goodbye.  I have seen her since then but she has not said anything to me.  Of course my first thought was, "was she trying to come on to me?"  Of course I answered that in the affirmative.  And then this song came into my head for some reason.  Wow, do I ever need help :)

Going to the gym...maybe

Tonight Carsten and I looked into two gyms that are in our area.  Neither one is anything special and they both really, really smell like a locker room.  I mean, wow, is it ever overwhelming when you walk in.  Anyway, both gyms are small, one is a bit cheaper in price than the other, though neither one is really all that special.  On Monday we will go to the first one for a free trial and see how we like it.  I can't wait to start going to the gym again.  My hope is that with working out regularly I will be able to sleep better.

Another small success

Back in Munich most of my small successes entailed going to the dry cleaner and being able to communicate with the ladies there.  Well today I have moved up the corporate ladder and spoke to someone at the Post Office.  For some reason Carsten felt I was capable to mailing off his tax information; seriously I don't even have enough faith in me mailing off my own tax info.  Anyway, I was to mail it off in the morning; however, I could not find the nearest Post office.  Where I thought it was turned out to be a bank.  So during my break in class I found one near the school and was able to send it off without any problems.  Now, let's just hope it actually arrives :)

My newest guilty pleasure...please don't hate me!

It was either by accident or through Carsten that I obtained my latest guilty pleasure.  In reality, it was only a matter of time really.  Here is the turn of events that led to this.  A couple weeks ago, Carsten said he had something on TV that I should see.  He said he thought I would really enjoy it.  That it was how people see American life.  The show is called Next and is one of the biggest pieces of trash I have ever seen (three times).  However, this is not my guilty pleasure; yes, it gets worse.  After Next comes one of the most entertaining, laugh out loud series I have seen in ages.  It is called Paris Hilton's My New BFF.  Seriously, it is messed up but I have not laughed so hard in for-ev-er!!  If you want a good laugh this is the place to look.  Oh, and my comment about this only being a matter of time; for those of you who don't know...I own the Paris Hilton CD and the three Maxi-Singles released as well.

My week begins

Wow, did I need sleep.  I went to bed at 9:30pm last night and feel asleep right away, which is unheard of with me.  I slept until 12:30 and could hear Carsten in the other room.  I feel asleep again shortly before 2am and then slept off and on until morning.  Still the best sleep I have had in months!  Carsten and I took my bike tire into the shop today, so hopefully I can get that repaired tonight.  Carsten was nice enough to let me use his bike to go to school today, since we live close enough for him to walk to work this does make the most sense.  So far a pretty good day.  Let's see what the evening brings!

A low key day and early to bed

Watching the Oscar's really took it out of me.  It didn't help that I woke up after only about 4 hours of sleep and I think I ate some bad pizza yesterday, as my stomach is not too good.  However, since today is basically a holiday for me (I know some of you are thinking "he doesn't even work now, what does he mean holiday"), I decided to spend much of my day studying.  Actually, I spent the same amount of time I would have been in class, plus my 2 hours of studying and did that.  Yes, I'm a nerd, what about it?!?  I made too much food for dinner tonight and now I am pooped, so I am off to bed.

Rosenmontag

Today in Germany is Rosenmontag.  It is part of Karneval and is similar to Mardi Gras in the US.  To learn more about Rosemontag, click here.  What this day means for me is that I don't have class, which is great since I was up late last night watching the Academy Awards.  It also means I have an extra day to study and just be,with my cats, in the apartment.  Carsten unfortunately has to work today, which meant he was not able to stay up and watch the Oscar's with me.

Dedication

It is 6am here and I just finished watching the Academy Awards.  Yes, I stayed up the entire night to see who won and what everyone was wearing.  If you missed the show and want to know who won or you don't remember, click here.  I must say that although I am a bit biased since I do love this show so much that I thought tonight's show was really quite nice.  I was entertained and thought that the changes made were nice.  I am already looking forward to see next year's show!! Good night :)

Favorite day of the year

Today is my favorite day of the year.  No, it is not my birthday and no I don't get gifts today or anything like that.  It is the Academy Awards.  I have loved this day since I was young...younger that is.  This day historically has been spent with friends.  

Back in Madison I would go to my friend Laura's place and we would have pizza delivered and spend hours watching and "observing" the dress choices of the stars. Then in Arizona I did the same with my friend Amy, though I think ice cream was added to the mix.  In Chicago the event was celebrated with my friend Alica and then in recent years an Oscar party was added to the mix with my friends Mike, Rob, Ron and Chris, and of course Alica.  

This year, while in Freiburg, I have no friends to celebrate it with.  However, Carsten has informed me that it will air here, at 1am in the morning.  So, I will be watching it and though I won't be with friends or ordering pizza, I will be "observing" what people are wearing.  

ECHO Awards 2009

Tonight we watched the Echo Awards, which is basically the German version of the Grammy Awards, but with no commercials and more/better live performances.  Even though I didn't understand it all, it was quite entertaining and I was able to see one of my favorite bands perform.  To see their performance, click here.  I also thought Katy Perry did a great job as well with her acoustic version of Thinking of You.  To see her performance, click here.  The show ended with a Lifetime Achievement award and performance by The Scorpions, though not my kind of music in general, they sounded fantastic.  My new favorite band didn't win anything, but you can watch their videos by clicking here and here.  And although this song, Scheiß Liebe, was not nominated, I really like this band, LaFee, and their sound.  To see the video, click here.  By the way, the song title in English is Sh*t Love for those of you wondering.

Another movie review

This evening we watched another movie.  Carsten had wanted to rent Wall-E, but it was all checked out.  So instead he rented Tropic Thunder.  It was really quite funny.  I was shocked at how many curse words were in it and was impressed with the lack of CG special effect and the fact that they had real explosions, etc.  However, the best part of the whole movie was Tom Cruise.  Wow, I never thought I would type those words :)

A funny thing happened on the way to the market,

my tire blew.  Picture it, we are riding to the city centre to go to the "nice" store (which really means it is over-priced but sometimes has things on sale).  I am having a hard time peddling my bike and am thinking to myself "If I say anything to Carsten he will either make a comment about a). my age or 2). being overweight" (yeah, he's like that).  So I say nothing.  A little bit later I go to slow down and then it popped.  Carsten continued on to the store and I made the walk back home with my bike.  After roughly 30 minutes I made it back home and then saw that the boots I was wearing cut into my ankles while walking home and I now have blood on my white socks.  I'm gonna guess it is going to be one of those days :)

A vacuum

No, not a space void of matter, but something that cleans and we finally got one!!  Yes, it is the little things.  It is not nearly as nice (or as expensive) as our vacuum cleaner in the US, but it should work fine.  I am letting Carsten use it first, which he is doing as I type this, since he is the one who paid for it.  I know, I know, you are thinking "Wow, he is so generous and thoughtful.  Carsten really is a lucky fellow."  And I would say back to you "That's for damn sure!"  

Lack of sleep is making me crazy

Last night was another sleepless night.  I had gone to bed at 11pm but was still laying wide awake at 2am.  So, what's a boy to do?  Well, instead of studying or working on my German I decided to log onto 'facebook.'  Though I was sucked in and barely made it out alive,  on the upside my cousin and his family were also logged on and we were able to chat for a bit.  We tried to do the video chat but I am too electronically challenged for that.  Maybe next time though.

I know you are curious as to what time I finally went to bed.  Well, at 4:10am I went back into bed.  At 5am I was still not asleep.  I dosed off for a bit and at 6:44am Carsten's alarm went off.  I slept off and on then for a couple of hours and then had to get up to study some more for my test.  On the upside. I thing I did pretty well on it, though I won't know for sure until Wednesday.  

As part of the class today we took a tour of the city, which seemed silly to me at the time as I have seen the city centre and this course isn't cheap (meaning I would rather be working on learning my German than walking).  However, in the end it was quite nice and reminded me of how much I love Freiburg.  It is crazy that things we notice when we go out of our routine.  After the tour we stopped for some coffee, though I had a beer, since German beer really is the best you can find.  Now I am home, doing laundry and cleaning a bit before making dinner.  Cross your fingers, say a prayer, do whatever you can to help me get a restful sleep tonight.

A thing about Fridays

So, every Friday I have a test in my German class.  I have done well, though with each passing week my score declines...I know, it isn't suppose to happen that way.  What this means is that I study all week, do homework, etc and then on Thursday night and Friday morning cram/try to memorize as much as possible.  By Friday afternoon my brain is warped and all I do is clean to have a release.  Tomorrow is Friday and I am in no mood for another test.  So, I am off to bed instead :)

Finding respect

Last night when I couldn't sleep I was thinking of respect and respecting oneself.  It had occurred to me that I found respect, value, worth, etc. for myself from my work.  My colleagues respected me, my clients seemed to respect me and through them I seemed to respect myself.  Here in Germany I am not working and will likely never work with my degree, which is something I need to move past before it consumes me.  As such, I need to find alternative methods of finding respect, value and worth within myself.  I think this will be easier once I feel as though I am integrated in the Germany culture and society, i.e. can speak more coherently with those around me.  I guess I took for granted that I could feel valued by people around me and never really had to rely solely on myself for this.  Ahh, always learning and growing.   

Finally, some sun

It seems like ages since I was able to ride my bike to school in the sun.  Okay, maybe only one week, but seriously the snow and rain are a pain to deal with.  I was so thrilled to see the sun out this morning, but don't go thinking it was warm here.  I would guess it was in the low 30's (F) and about 1-2 (C).  But I was dry and that is all that matters to me at this point in time.    

My My Time Flies

I have noticed that since moving to Freiburg, the days and weeks go by rather quickly.  The weekends are over before they begin and I no sooner finishes my breakfast dishes and it seems that I am doing the supper dishes.  I am in no way busier here than in Munich, though I do have a lot more homework here-but I do much less cleaning-by my standards (hard to believe I know).  I don't seem able to keep up with my emails and phoning people as much as I would like, which is partially due to the time difference.  Again it boggles my mind that I was able to accomplish so many things in Chicago while working so much and have the commute I did.

More crap weather

Honestly I don't know how people do it.  I had to ride to school today in the rain again.  It isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but man do I hate having wet pants (shut it) while sitting in class.  Thankfully they dried pretty quickly, but 3.4 hours later as I go to leave for home, my hat and gloves are still wet.  I get soaked driving home, but at least here I can change clothes.  I can't wait to see what spring brings and then the heat of summer.  However, this is still way better than paying the extreme price for gas and dealing with parking.  I think of my 1.5 hour commute while living in Chicago and am grateful for what I have now in terms of a commute.

She's 80

Today is my grandma Bertha's 80th birthday.  She is a young 80, at least in my opinion.  The picture on the right is from a few years ago at Christmastime, though she basically looks the same.  When I spoke with her on the phone today she was cheerful and jolly, as she usually is when we talk.  She is a great person and I love her dearly.  If you can, tell your loved one's how much they mean to you; trust me, in the end both of you will be better for it :)

Making plans

Next week is my last week of my current German language course, so Carsten and I are trying to figure out what I will do next and it seems that we may have made a decision.  I will do one more month at my current school, taking me until the end of March and then in April, after the Easter break, I will begin an Integration Course at another school.  This is 645 hours of learning, 45 covers German politics and 600 is all about the language.  Look at me being a learnin' fool!!

The weekend's almost over!

The Valentine's Day dance last night was a lot of fun.  Though while in line for the coat check I missed being able to dance to Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap and What is Love by Haddaway.  I made it for the end of Mr. Vain y Culture beat and then the next song took me back to, well let's just say back a few years to this song.  The music did improve some, thank goodness.  The downside of the night was that it was really cold and I mean REALLY cold.  So riding there and back on the bike was brutal.  Today I now feel like crap.  I am cold and achy and keep sneezing. My guess is that the cold weather did a number on my immune system.  Of course that didn't stop me from doing some laundry and learning some German vocabulary (verbs) today. Now, let's hope I can sleep well tonight and feel bright eyed and busy tailed for my class tomorrow.  

New Hair

Hello!  On this Valentine's Day, I got my hair cut.  The lighting in our office is not too good, but this was the best picture I had of the new look.  Maybe during the day tomorrow I can get a better shot.  

Tonight it looks like Carsten and I will go to some celebration here in Freiburg.  From what he told me, we will be drinking champagne and dancing.  I will write more on what this was all about tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with lots of love and affection.  

Watching TV

One of the things that has been recommended to me by one of my teachers is to watch more German television to pick up some of what is being said.  Of course he also mentioned something about reading a German newspaper, but that sounded a lot less entertaining.  Anyway, I have found one show that I watch with near regularity.  It was popular (I might be generous with that) in the US in the 80's.  To find out what I watch, click here.  I never said I had good taste in TV :)

A snowy day in Freiburg

While I was awake at 4am revamping my blog page, it was a clear night with not a cloud in the sky.  However, when Carsten woke up around 7am he commented that we had roughly 4 inches of snow on the ground.  Now, my first thought was "I am not going to school today; I will stay in bed."  However, I did get up and looked outside and thought it wasn't that bad.  I mean, coming from Wisconsin if the snow is below the knees it is basically spring outside.  Thankfully I was accident free going to school, though it was iffy at times since not all the bike paths were cleared of snow.  I had thought of taking a picture of the snow on the ground and in the trees, but since most people (though not all) who read this are either in Chicago or Wisconsin and they have seen plenty of snow this year I thought I would pass.  

Another sleepless night

This is so crazy to me.  I can't believe how tired I am and yet I still can't seem to sleep.  My thinking is that I can't turn my brain off enough to relax and thus fall asleep.  I am always reviewing German in my head, how to ask or say things, what certain words mean, etc.  The other thing that won't leave my brain is how I am going to file my taxes this year since I am not in the USA.  I have tried looking into what my options are but to no avail so far.  Hey, at least my sleepless nights aren't wasted :)

The weather outside is frightful!

As I have written in earlier posts, Freiburg is a cycling city.  That being said, the wild gusts today made it nearly impossible to ride; however, both Carsten and I braved the weather.  Thankfully, I did not have accident number three and Carsten was safe as well.  However, while I was trying to make it home from school in the wind and rain I couldn't help but think of The Wizard of Oz (no, I don't know why my mind works like this) and kept picturing Dorothy.  And then, out of nowhere, I thought "hmm, since I am on a bike I would be the Wicked Witch."  Of course this then led into a stream of consciousness where I debated with the facts that yes she does die but it was only because she wanted that sparkly pair of red shoes Dorothy stole from her sister.  In the end I made it home and realized that, oh who am I kidding, I didn't realize a thing!

Another Monday

Today was mostly low-key.  My schedule has changed here in Freiburg than what it was like in Munich.  Here is how a typical days looks for me now:

*  Carsten's alarm goes off between 6:30 and 7am, upon which he hits snooze for about 20 minutes.

*  Carsten leaves for work around 8:15am and I go back to bed.  My sleep here in Germany is worse than it was in the US, and for those of you who don't know, my sleep in the US was awful.

*  I get out of bed at 9:30am and make coffee.  While drinking my coffee I review my homework and prepare for class.  I get ready and all that and if I have time I might do a load of laundry or some cleaning.

*  Around 12:15pm I get on my bike and head for school.  

*  At 4:30pm I head back home from school.

*  Once home I have a snack and spend the next 2 hours (minimum) on my homework.

*  Carsten arrives home at 7pm and I prepare dinner.  

*  The rest of the night is spent relaxing, doing homework or reading.

*  Midnight is bedtime or at least the time at which I try to fall asleep.

Carnival

Today we had a Carnival celebration outside our apartment.  "What is that?" you ask.  Well, click here to read more about this tradition.  And if you would like to see some pictures from it, click here.  

Movies reviewed

In the last month Carsten and I have watched a few movies.  The first one was a movie we rented titled Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.  It was much better than I had expected and the music wasn't half bad.  I am not saying I would run out to buy the soundtrack, but in the end quite the entertaining movie.  The next movie we saw was in the theater.  It was playing in English so I could understand what was being said.  It was a fantastic movie that I would highly recommend, though definitely not the feel good movie of the year.  Anyway, it was titled Revolutionary Road.  The last movie we saw was another rental titled The Astronaut Farmer.  I did not have much desire to see the film, but I really liked it.  It was a sweet story that had some really good acting, though the camera work was nothing stellar.  I would like to point out that none of he movies we have seen in the last month have been a horror film...see I do watch other things :)

Count them...2 accidents

So, Freiburg is known for being a biking city.  That said, I ride my bike everywhere, nearly everyday.  Carsten "pimped my ride" meaning that he bought me a headlight, taillight and some mud flaps.  Oh, and a bell...cute huh?!?   Rain or shine, snow or sleet, day or night I am on my bike.  This of course leads to some unfortunate events.  My first accident happened around 11:15pm on a Friday night.  Carsten and I were on our way out dancing.  He was riding his bike in front of me and as we were crossing the street, he swerved to the right to miss a street sign.  However, I was following too close behind him to see the sign in time to move.  As a result, I hit the sign.  It broke off the metal pole and hit the left side of my face.  In the end it was only a small cut with minor bleeding that hurt like the dickens.  The second accident happened just under a week ago while I was riding to school.  It has snowed lightly the night before and the roads were slippery.  My bike lost control and slipped out from under me.  Needless to say, I fell and the movie we rented and my cell phone went flying out of my bag.  My right hand was really sore (thankfully I am left handed) and I had only a small scrape on my right knee.  

The apartment

As I wrote in an earlier post, the apartment is really quite perfect.  Our windows face south so we have sunshine all day long in the apartment, which is one of the best features, along with a fantastic balcony.  What would make it even better would be to have some furniture.  For example, we are still without a bed, have nothing to put our clothes in, no coffee table, dining room table or a vacuum cleaner to assist with my neurotic cleaning.  But all that aside, it feels really homey and comfortable.  I never had this feeling in Munich, so at this point in time the move here feels like it was the right thing to do. Anyway, to see some pictures of the apartment, new kitchen and refrigerator click here.  One room is not in the pictures and that is the office, as I was in the room updating my blog and the picture taken was photo shopped as evident by me having two chins.  Clearly that picture could not see the light of day.

The last month in a nutshell.

Things wrapped up quite nicely in Munich.  The cleaning and painting of the apartment went smoothly and the actual move was also quite smooth with no real problems.  Everything arrived in Munich safe and sound and then the unpacking could begin.

THE FIRST WEEK IN FREIBURG ~ 12 Jan - 18 Jan

My first week in Munich was Carsten's second week at his job.  He seemed really happy with the position and the company (which is still true).  It is conveniently located to our apartment.  He can walk there in 15 minutes or ride his bike and be there in 5 minutes.  I spent the first week unpacking our stuff and trying to organize the apartment as well as find a school to attend to continue my German language lessons.  Though I initially had some concerns about the size of the apartment, it has proven to be quite perfect for the two of us and the cats.  

THE SECOND WEEK IN FREIBURG ~ 19 Jan - 25 Jan

The second week in Freiburg began with me starting my new language course  I did not care for my teacher the first two days and then on day three I had a new teacher.  What I learned was the one person teaches the class on Mondays and Tuesdays, with a different person teaching the course Wednesdays-Fridays.  In the end, neither of the teachers is as good as my teacher in Munich and the class as a  whole is quite disappointing.  Most of the class speaks Spanish as their native language, which also seems to be spoken through much of the class.  So, I am not always sure if what is being said is German or Spanish.  Maybe I can be tri-lingual by this time all of this is done :)  Also during this week our kitchen was installed.  It arrived earlier than expected (or at least most of it) and it looked terrific.  Now, all we need is a refrigerator.  At the end of the week, Carsten decided we would go out dancing.  We went out on both Friday and Saturday night to what I would label "gayapalozza."  On Friday night, I had a little accident on the way there (more on that in another entry).  The song that got me out on the dance floor can be heard here.  Once out there it is nearly impossible to get me off.  On Saturday we went to an event that was sponsored by the University.  It reminded me of the 10% dances that UW-Madison has periodically.  Anyway, the song that got me out that night can be heard here.  

WEEK THREE IN FREIBURG ~ 26 Jan - 1 Feb

This week consisted of more of the same.  I attended classes Monday-Friday from 1pm-4:30pm. This week also brought the arrival of our new refrigerator.  Wow, Carsten really went all out on this thing.  And for once I am not being sarcastic.  It looks amazing and is really quite a piece of machinery.  This week also brought the rest of our kitchen being installed, meaning a second room is completed.  The first was the bathroom, which was done before we arrived.  Pictures of the apartment will arrive in a separate entry.

WEEK FOUR IN FREIBURG ~ 2 Feb - 8 Feb

This was the last week we were without telephone and Internet, thank goodness.  My mood was clearly impacted with my inability to have contact with my friends and family back in the US.  This week began with my second accident.  It was nothing major, just angst producing.  But, I will talk about this when I do the entry for my first accident.  This week was mostly uneventful, with wild mood swings and feeling disconnected from my loved ones.  On Saturday night we had drinks with our friend Andrea, which was quite pleasant.  The first bar we went to had a band, which was one of the worst I have ever heard.  So, we left shortly after and went to another bar, which was more enjoyable, or at least quieter.  Since Carsten and Andrea spoke German for about 80% of the night, I was unable to participate in most of the conversations, but that seems to be how things are here for me, at least for the time being. 

  

Reunited and it feels so good!

After nearly one month I finally have phone and Internet access.  To say it has been a long month would be an understatement.  I don't think I actually realized how much I depend on the Internet; not only to stay connected with family and friends, but to deal with Sallie Mae and other financial stuff.  However, all that is taken care of and I can return to my life in Germany, which pretty much entails writing this blog, trying to learn German and cooking.  Prepare to read the long, and sometimes boring, entry of the last four weeks.