Archives for September 2009

German Food and the movies

September 28, 2009 filed under: food, friends, home, movies, my so-called life

Wednesday night my Mom made one of my favorite German dishes, which I always ‘request’ when I come home to visit: Reibekuchen (potato pancakes). We eat Reibekuchen the kölsche (colognian) way… with dark rye bread and sugar beet syrup and/or apple sauce. OMG, so freakin’ delicious!

Later, my sister, my BIL, my friend Ira and I went to the movies. We saw the movie “UP” in 3D. Of course, you can’t go to the movies without having nachos, which is somewhat of a tradition when we got to the movies here (although I had enough Reibekuchen beforehand to feed a whole soccer team, heh.)

Needless to say that I had a stomach ache afterward, but hey, you gotta enjoy life to the fullest while you can, right?

(A little) time with friends

September 27, 2009 filed under: friends, girl time, good things, home, my so-called life, photography

On Monday morning, my Dad took me to the train station at 6:30 a.m. because I was going to go to Bremen to see my friend Kim. The train was on time (almost!) and Kim picked me up at 10:30 a.m. We got some fresh rolls at a bakery and headed home to have some lots of coffee and breakfast. All the while we were chatting away. Although we hadn’t seen each other for a year, it always feels like we just hung out last week.
We relocated to the balcony later, because it was so nice outside and the sun was shining.

In the late afternoon, we went for a little drive to pick up Kim’s new bike and in the evening we went to a near-by restaurant for some yummy dinner.
When we got home we talked some more with Kim’s bf C and then headed to bed around 12:30 a.m.

The next morning we got up around 9 a.m., hung out for a while in our pj’s drinking coffee and having some breakfast and then it was almost time again to get packed and leave for the train station. I was only there for a little over 24 hours (minus the 9 hours of sleep) and it’s always too short, but I am glad we at least got to see each other at all.

I also saw my friend Sanni on Wednesday morning. I took the train to Essen and she, her husband and I went out for breakfast at a Café downtown. It was sooo good to see her/them and catch up.

(Please disregard my crazy hair ;))

Of course, four hours went by like a snap with a finger and I had to get back on the train to go back home where I had to visit some family in the afternoon.

If you’re only taking a short trip home, it’s almost impossible to see all the people that you’d like to see or that want to see you! Even though I hardly made any plans before coming here, my week filled up with ‘commitments’ rather quickly.
Therefore it was very convenient that my parents had a little birthday party yesterday (more on that later), which basically helped me to kill two birds with one stone and see a whole lot of people that I would otherwise have had to see separately or wouldn’t have had time to see at all. I know, it’s not the same as spending “one-on-one” time with somebody, but it’s better than nothing.

On some family time

September 25, 2009 filed under: about me, family, friends, holidays, home, my so-called life, weekend

Last Friday afternoon I finished up the workshop. The shuttle bus took me back to the airport and I started my journey to Germany.
The flight from Huntsville to Chicago on UA was quick and then I had to wait to check in with SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Before I went through Security again, I had some dinner at McDonald’s. I mean really, there was nothing else available, besides pizza and pastries. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Have I mentioned that I hate eating at the airport? Since airplane food is usually even worse, I wanted to eat something… anything before getting on the cross-Atlantic flight.

I talked to J for about an hour before we boarded the plane. I had an aisle seat (very important!) and sat next to a nice guy from Illinois. We talked for a little while until they served us dinner. I was really impressed with the “seat entertainment”… the seat in front of you was equipped with a touch screen monitor, where you could choose between multiple movies and music channels. There also were several games that you could play and a button with “flight information”. Not only could you see the flight route, but also activate two cameras (one down, one forward) to see the runway when we were starting and landing and the continent/ocean that we were flying over.
It was pretty cool!

I was able to sleep/doze for a couple of hours and we arrived in Copenhagen on time. I had about 45 minutes to change terminals/gates and then I got on the flight to Düsseldorf.

My suitcases both made it on the flight as well (even though I found out later that both of my pieces of luggage that been inspected by the TSA … just my luck, but oh well. That’s life.)
And then I finally walked out and there they were: my Mom, my Dad, Nina and Greta! It was so good to see them.

I handed my luggage to my Dad and headed straight for a hug from Greta. She wasn’t shy at all and stretched out her little arms towards me. So cute.

I carried her for a little bit, until she found out that “riding” on top of my suitcase was far more fun. (I think I have mentioned that I bought a new suitcase with four wheel underneath and I already love it! It’s so easy and convenient to move it around and we were able to push it with Greta sitting on top of it.)

My aunt, granddad and great-aunt and BIL came over a little later to say “hello” and we had potato salad, tomato-egg-platter and fresh bread, cheese and deli meats for dinner. It tasted so extraordinarily good. I can’t begin to describe the tingling of my taste buds ;)

I talked to J for a while to let him know that I made it home safely and I think I went to bed around 11 p.m.

I was up the next morning around 8 a.m. because Greta had stayed over night and she, of course, is up usually before 8. We snuggled a little bit and I think I dozed for another hour, until we got up and had breakfast at 10 a.m.

My sister came over a little later and we sat outside in my parents’ new “beach chair” for a while (the weather was sunny and warm and the beach chair was so comfy that I took a little nap in our backyard.
Then we decided to get dressed and take a walk downtown and have some ice cream at an Italian café. I had “spaghetti ice cream” (OMG, I haven’t had that for ages!)… Greta of course took advantage of the situation and had all three of us, Nina, my Mom and I, feed her :)

At 5 p.m. I went to see my friend Ira and we went for a walk to talk and catch up. It was so great to see her. In the evening we had dinner at my parents’ house. My Dad made Roast beef, Rosemary potatoes, and wax been salad. It was delicious.
Later I went to Nina’s place for a little bit and snuggled with Emma, their cat. I held her on my arms for about 10 minutes, which is unheard of and I suspect that she’s been feeling a little bit neglected since Greta was born ;)

It just feels so good to be here with my family. I am sad J is missing out on the good time.

Yes, I am alive…

September 22, 2009 filed under: about me, career stuff, friends, fun!, good things, my so-called life

… and doing well absolutely fantastic here in Germany.

I know, I know. I owe you an update.
The last week just has been so insanely busy, what with the workshop and travel that I didn’t really get the chance to write something down. I am trying to catch up a bit today, but I unfortunately know already that I won’t make it all the way up to today. It’s way too late already and I have way too much to talk about.

So here’s last week’s summary: The workshop last week went really well. I am so, so glad that my supervisor let me attend the training, because I learned so much! I am usually very good with the “do-it-yourself” approach, but I really shouldn’t be paid for figuring out a software, but for using it on our projects efficiently. That’s why I think training is very important most of the time. My supervisor will be very happy about all the information I’ll be bringing back to office.

I had a very good time with the other attendees as well. I thought it would be kind of embarrassing to admit it, but we talked about work-related stuff most of the time, even in the evenings when the workshop was over. (Kim called it my own personal “geek-week”. Heh.) It was just so interesting to talk with people who do the same things that I do and to talk about the different work strategies and approaches.
I won’t go into it, because I don’t want to bore you to death, but I want to say this (once again): I really have a very cool job!

I spent most of the evening with the other two girls women that I met at the workshop and we went out to dinner together both Tuesday (Sushi) and Wednesday (Chinese) night.

Thursday afternoon, we went to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which is located in Huntsville and which is probably the most exciting and important attraction in a 50 mile radius.

The company who had organized the workshop had also organized a free event at the Space & Rocket Center including a dinner and a presentation. It was really cool. I am not really into spaceships and that kind of stuff, but the exhibitions were very interesting and they had some rides/simulators.

I went on the G-Force Accelerator which spins you around really fast and you experience three times the force of gravity on your body. It’s a pretty crazy feeling. Some others went on the Space Shot, which rockets 140ft straight up in 2.5 seconds. Ah yes, I skipped that. It was a little bit too crazy for my taste.

I bought myself a T-shirt at the gift shop as a souvenir, because you know, I have NO IDEA when or if I will ever come back to Huntsville, AL. ;)

I have to say it was almost kind of sad when the workshop came to an end on Friday. I had a great time, really met some nice people, but hey, I didn’t have much time to be sad, because I was heading off to Germany from there…

… and sadly, I will have to tell you about the reunion with my family in my next post. Hopefully some time this week.

Stay tuned.

Hello from Alabaaaaaama

September 14, 2009 filed under: career stuff, my so-called life, travel, USA

My first impression of Alabama: damn, it’s hot and humid here. I am not used to this anymore, thankyouverymuch, I am here from California, the hot, but dry Central Valley.
I can easily stand an average summer temperature of 95°F without breaking into a sweat, but I get to 85°F Alabama and I am instantly soaked stepping out of the airport. Just lovely. The four pieces of luggage, that I was lugging around with me, did their part to help with that. Damn it, can you imagine how freaking heavy a laptop bag with TWO laptops (one personal, one work laptop) is? And how much heavier it gets if you have to schlep it through two airports? I ask you, where is this razor-thin, featherlight MacBook when you need it? (Note to self: I have to look into that.)

The first sign that I was entering “the South” was the guy on the plane next to me who pulled out “A Christ-Centered Life” and a bible (you know, to cross-reference!) mid-flight. I was slightly amused to see the typical “stereotypes” thrown at me so early into my trip.

The next indication wasn’t long in coming when the people at the airport pretty much sounded uniformly like “Bubba J” to me. Heh.

The flights yesterday were nice and uneventful (that’s the way I like it). On the first flight (LA-Houston) I watched “Before Sunrise” for the umpteenth time, I just don’t get bored with this movie. On the second flight (Houston-Huntsville) we had our own little major sheet lightning show right outside my airplane window. Sweet baby Jesus. I was a little scared. There was this monstrous cloud that was hardly visible, because it was so dark outside already and then the lightning lit the whole sucker up from behind and from all sides. It was breath-taking. I was glad though that we were a safe distance away (it wasn’t even a bumpy ride at all).
Here’s my amateur attempt to capture the spectacle with my cell phone camera (timing it right was pretty much impossible):

I got into Huntsville around 9:30 p.m. and met two of my fellow workshop attendees on the shuttle bus back to the hotel (one of them I had previously emailed with, how funny is that!?). I think the shuttle driver, a sweet young kid, was a little taken aback by my inquiry about traffic conditions for Friday afternoon.
You know, my Californian-programed mind was planning ahead, thinking: Friday afternoon = rush hour =allow at least 1 hour, when it usually takes 15 minutes, to get to the airport. He was shaking his head and said, slightly amused, ” there’s no traffic in Huntsville.” My response, a little embarrassed, “ah yes, of course. That’s good to know.” ;)

I have a pretty sweet two-room suite with a king size bed and the first day of the workshop was great (except for the fact that my laptop was pretty much useless, because I couldn’t run the software for which I am taking the training, and it’s a little frustrating to not be able to do a ‘hands on’ training, to say the least.)
I’ve been frantically working with our IT guy from the office, who’s been a life saver so many times before, but we have not yet figured out what the problem is. I am hoping to have better luck tomorrow.

I am leaving for my trip in three days

September 10, 2009 filed under: excitement, family, my so-called life, travel

Do you want to know something? I am getting really giddy with excitement!
I know, I have a couple of things to do before getting on the plane on Sunday morning. Isn’t it strange that at first you feel like you have all the time in the world and then, all of a sudden, time speeds up and you feel kind of rushed at the end? It’s like that every single time, but I am pretty sure I will get everything done; I always do.

I am really looking forward to both parts of the trip, the workshop next week and the visit with my family after that. The hotel in Huntsville, Alabama, where the software workshop will be taking place, is really nice and I plan to pamper myself a little bit while there (I’ll update – no worries!).
There will be a cook-to-order breakfast every morning (I like when hotels include this in their nightly rate!) and we’ll be served coffee, refreshments and lunch during the day. Dinner everyone has to get for themselves, but that’s fine because I get per Diem and will most likely not need all of it for dinner (which means some extra pocket money!).
I am also kind of excited about seeing a part of the country – the South – that I have not yet explored at all. The hotel is located in the downtown area and I am hoping to be able to explore the city a little bit with my camera, in the late afternoon when the training is done.

Next Friday, I’ll be heading on to Germany then. I’ve realized in the last couple of weeks that I am in desperate need of a vacation. I can usually tell when it’s time for some time off , when I start getting anxious at work. I still love what I do, but I notice more and more how I yearn for the weekends in a more-than-usual-kind-of-way.
I’d like to think that I find it particularly hard to work extended periods of time without any substantial breaks, because I can’t enjoy the occasional weekend with my family and friends. They’re all much too far away, so on top of feeling overworked at some point, my battery is obviously also low on family time. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the hair salon and will run my last errands. I am already contemplating of not taking any clothes, besides what I need at the workshop, and just borrow from my sister while I am in Germany. It’s so nice to be able to do that (we basically can wear the same size) and it would make packing so much easier :)
But no, I know myself, I won’t completely rely on that (although she might have to lend me a jacket – depending on the weather in Germany. Since I moved to California, I am really not prepared for real fall temperatures anymore, clothes-wise.)

I’ll update when I can.
So long.

On a good thought about being married

September 8, 2009 filed under: about me

Reading some recent blog posts about dating in the age of FACEBOOK, TWITTER and the like, I realized: I am so glad I am not dating anymore.
J doesn’t have a Facebook or Twitter account, mind you, so maybe it would have worked out with us anyway, but I see the stress that this kind of extreme-social-networking can bring along these days.

Even though I have come to love Facebook, Twitter, and – still my favorite – the old-fashioned email for keeping in touch with people, I definitely would not like to use it as way of communicating with potential boyfriend material. Oh, the possibilities of misinterpretation and misunderstanding are endless and, even worse, the whole unfolding love story tragedy is potentially publicly pursuable for my whole list of friends!

He sent me a drink! Do I accept? What if I don’t? He might think I am boring, but if I keep accepting drinks, he might think I am a drunk. What to do!?

Now he poked me! Does that mean he wants to have sex? (Seriously, I read somewhere that it could mean just that if you get poked by some guy! Actually, that’s kind of silly, right? But who knows? Who knows the social ins and outs of the ever-evolving online networking?)

See the problem? How do you read between the lines tweets/status updates?

I am totally talking at large here, because I have no dating experience which includes new media-devices whatsoever, but I can only imagine what huge amount of headache those social networking sites can cause for potential and/or young relationships.

Although on second thought, it might expose people that are dating multiple people at the same time and who are not careful with covering and/or managing their online-traces.

But I digress.

Why not just pick up the phone and say “Hello”?

See, when I started dating my first boyfriend, we didn’t have computers, let alone cell phones. (Does that make me sound old? It hasn’t been THAT long ago, I would like to assure you. A while, yes, actually half my lifetime, but whatevs.) He actually had to call my parents’ house to talk to me (oh, the embarrassment to potentially have to talk to somebody else on the other end of the line first, before you could get to your girl/boyfriend). You really had to work up your courage. Do you think you could do that these days?
Isn’t it so much easier to just send a text message or send someone a “hug” on Facebook? Sure. But it’s less effort, too. You just click a button. It’s less creative than coming up with your own words to express what you feel for somebody else and therefore much more impersonal.

J and I, we actually wrote letters to each other. GASP. Just imagine. Letters. On real paper. Sent by the postal service. We drew little hearts and stick-figures, too, even though we were both no good drawers.
Does that sound old-fashioned and cheesy? Maybe. But to be honest, it was much less confusing and a little more honest and sincere than the online-communication, don’t you think?

And even though I am absolutely guilty of sending out hugs through Facebook myself, maybe next time you want to hit that button, you stop yourself and opt for sending a more personal message (even to a friend-friend) this time.
Or, you know, just pick up the phone and say “Hello”. That cannot be misunderstood.

No news is good news?

September 4, 2009 filed under: family, good things

Not in my case. In my case, I have news and it’s not only good news, but FANTASTIC news.

Something I’ve been wanting to share with you for, oh,.. about a month or so, but couldn’t because I wasn’t allowed to talk about it yet, is:
MY SISTER IS PREGNANT AGAIN!
She’s officially reached the end of the first trimester and it’s safe to say: the baby is doing great!

Ok, wait a minute. Before you start digging through the archives, wondering if your memory is working correctly or if I hadn’t just told you barely eleven months ago that I had become the aunt of a beautiful niece, let me say: This is correct. The new pregnancy wasn’t just a surprise for me, but also for the expecting parents. After it had taken my sister and her husband quite a while to conceive their first child, they didn’t expect it to be easy the second time around, not THAT easy (and so soon) anyway.
After the initial shock, (my sister has just started working again) I think she’s beside herself with joy now. She’s definitely prepared for a second child and by the time the baby is born, Greta will be 17 months old. That is not a bad age difference for siblings, I think.

Honestly, I AM THRILLED. I am thrilled for many reasons;
a. that I am going to be a new aunt again,
b. that my sister will have her dream – of having to two children – fulfilled, and
c. that I am going to see her very, very soon, will be able to touch her new baby belly, and see the happy sparkle in her eyes.
Aren’t pregnant women the most glowing people on the planet?
The downside is that it looks very likely that she’ll have to deal with gestational diabetes once again. She developed it during her first pregnancy and was treated with insulin for the better half of the pregnancy. Fortunately, it went away after Greta was born (even though there was an increased risk of subsequently developing a Type 2 Diabetes.) I am hoping that it’ll be the same this time around.

Of course, I’ve already rummaged through the baby department at le Target again. I just can’t help it. I bought some things for Greta to take back home and I’ll definitely be back to pick out some stuff for the new baby, as soon as we find out the gender. My sister and BIL don’t have a preference, I suppose, (the most important thing is that (s)he’s healthy!), but as much as I would like her to have another girl, because then the two sisters could share clothes and stuff, I think it would be really cool if she had a boy. Just for BIL’s sake (who is he going to play soccer with, otherwise? Although I am sure Greta will be good at that, too, what with her athletic parents!) and to mix it up.
I’ve always wanted a little brother growing up and Greta could have that then! Although I am pretty sure, if she had a little brother, she would probably want a little sister, and vice versa. Human minds are twisted like that.

Hey, but I am sure we’ll take what we get. I am fine with another niece or nephew; either way.

On some activities and the weekend

September 1, 2009 filed under: about me, friends, fun!, my so-called life, sports

First of all, I would like to apologize for the two protected blog posts back to back. I usually try not to do that, but as you know, there are certain things that I just don’t feel comfortable talking about publicly on the Internet (mainly work-related stuff).
If you are a regular reader of my blog and you don’t have the password, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d be happy to give it to you.

Ok, now that I got this out of the way, let’s move on to something else.
I completely forgot (haven’t got around to) tell(ing) you that we went to a Baseball Game at Raley Field (the home of the Rivercats, our local Triple-A-Baseball team) last week.

More photos here.

It was “German Heritage Night” and what better excuse to get together with the German group to drink beer, eat hot dogs and watch the game! Precisely.
Now, just bear with me for a second and try to imagine wandering into a Baseball Stadium and (bad) German folk music blaring out of the loud speakers. Doesn’t that sound just wrong? Honestly, people, GERMANY IS NOT JUST BAVARIAN FOLK MUSIC, DIRNDL AND LEDERHOSEN . But I assume, that cliche goes either way because we Germans only think of Americans as people with Cowboy hats and boots! Heh. Obviously. So much for cultural stereotypes!

No, but to be honest, it was fun! There was German beer (St. Pauli Girl and something else, I think), “German sausages” (mostly HUGE hot dogs with sauerkraut and mustard/ketchup) and lots of German chatting. It does indeed feel good to speak German every once in a while.
Besides that I REALLY love watching Baseball. I might have mentioned that before. Once. Ahem. It’s always great to got out and see a game.
I even might have attempted to explain the game to some of the other Germans (“you know, it basically is similar to “Brennball“, which every German student should know from PE classes in school!“)

The weekend was pretty quiet and laid-back. Actually sleep has taken over half of my weekends lately, to be honest. It’s ridiculous really, but I sleep an average of 10-11 hours each night on the weekends, if you let me. I think I am one of those people who operate best on an average of 8-9 hours of sleep and since I usually only get about 7-7,5 hours during the week (which I am constantly trying to improve, but…), I obviously have to make up for it on the weekends.

Revelation of the weekend: J is a list-maker!

Ok, this doesn’t come as a surprise to me (since I’ve known him for a while), but isn’t list-making generally thought of as a female trait?
Correct me if I am wrong.
But J makes lists all the time and I love it. The most satisfying thing about a list is, of course, that you can cross things off your list; see tasks disappear in front of your eyes, so to speak. I think that is J’s favorite part (and who could blame him. It gives you a real sense of accomplishment.)

Our list for last weekend:

Post Office (sending off yet another written complaint to get my refund back. Sigh.) Check.
Grocery shopping. Check.
Laundry. Check.
Paying bills. Check.
Shopping for stuff to take to Germany. Half-check (not done yet).

It’s a new week, so bring it on!