October 30, 2010
October 25, 2010
A Chance of… What?
I screen capped this straight off my iGoogle about 5 minutes ago. 
iGoogle meteorologists need to find new careers.
Avant-Garde Performance Art in Munich, the Auer Dult Festival, a Sunday Trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and a Happy Birthday Shout Out to Baby Paxton!
I can’t believe that it is Monday again… and that it’s almost November. Time is going by so incredibly fast. I don’t like it. Of course, I am seriously enjoying the beautiful autumn colors (not so much the temperatures or the rain) and the amateur photographer in me is incredibly pleased with her surroundings. This entry will be full of photos – I promise – but first, a word on my first European performance art experience.
Remember that date I was telling you about? Well, Mr. Date got fabulous cool points for picking such a cool and eclectic event for our date, that should be said. He had tickets for a music/dance performance at Muffathalle im Muffatwerk here in Munich. It’s an art theater, performance theater of some sort that doubles as a night club and bar. It’s actually a pretty cool little place and I was glad to be somewhere that I’d never been before. Anyway, the show started out fairly strange – the ‘dance floor’ was reminiscent of a flash mob as everyone (or almost everyone) was doing some sort of choreographed dance number. There was some guy up top with a camera helmet on who was making strange noises into a microphone and video of his face was projected onto a giant speherical screen. So weird. There was Bavarian break dancing as well and we couldn’t be too sure if they were professional dancers or just people who showed up and started dancing. I was a little confused, anyway. A woman started dancing on the bar and then broke out into German opera singing and was soon accompanied by the guy who was making all the weird noises. Eventually, a stage appeared and a real show began but it was very weird and extremely creative. Lip synching, strange dancing, and vulgar choreography (at some points). There were roller-bladers and massive white balloons were being passed through the audience. Woman dancing with giant bottles of Sangria (or something) on their head. Very crazy stuff. It ended rather abruptly, I don’t think hat anyone knew what was going on. It was pretty cool though. Something I can safely say that I enjoyed! Especially since the venue was serving FREE BEER all night. I don’t have to tell you how that made me feel. :)
On Saturday I took it easy – was pretty tired from my night out – so I went over to Brittany’s and we got Pizza Hut (again – we love it here) and then Jessica came by. The three of us eventually went out into the city and ventured to the Auer Dult folk festival in Munich – a traditional little flea market type place with standls (aka vendors), food and a miniature midway. There was so much to look at! Hundreds of vendors selling everything – ShamWow, antiques (books, postcards, dishes, mirrors trinkets, etc), clothes, toys. One row felt very much like an infomercial aisle – German people trying to sell you crazy products. It was really cool, I’m really glad that we got out to see it before it packed up on Sunday and went away. Fortunately it comes around again in April so I can go again in nicer weather.
Saturday night I stayed in because I would be getting up early for a trip to Garmisch on Sunday. I ended up lying in bed reading for most of the night and fell asleep fairly early. On Sunday I met Eric, Catherine, Jessica, and Wing at Hauptbanhof at 9 am and we got ready for our 2 hour train ride to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was raining in Munich and through almost every city we passed through so it was no surprise to us when it continued raining once we arrived in GP. My family friend, Käthe, met us at the station and drove us to her house where she fed us delicious, warm chili with bread and cheese. Perfect rainy day food. Then she sent us off on our way towards the Partnachklamm. Even though it was drizzling rain, we still enjoyed ourselves. The Partnachklamm is a river gorge and it is incredibly beautiful. There are few things I’ve seen that compare to it. The entire journey was beautiful – from the road in the city to the gorge itself. Of course, now I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. (To be honest, the rain added a bit of a shiny charm to the whole experience.)
If anyone ever wants to spend a weekend in GP hiking (maybe in the spring) then please, please take me with you. Or maybe I’ll just invite you. It’s gorgeous and I can’t wait to go through the Partnachklamm again and hike all of the various side trails and then, next time, the mountains! I want to see the Alps again! And this time, with my camera.
Now I’m back in Munich – enjoying the daily grind. The week holds promising things. Seeing The Social Network with friends (FINALLY!). A few nights out. Good German fun. I’m looking forward to this weekend especially. My au pair family is going away on an autumn vacation and will be gone until Tuesday. I’m going to enjoy some good mornings sleeping in and taking advantage of the kitchen. On Saturday a few of my friends (only Laura, Eric, and Brittany so far) are coming over for an all day Harry Potter movie marathon. Movies 1-6, all in one day. We’ll figure out some kind of drinking game (Every time they use their wands? Or say a certain spell? What?!) and probably get ridiculously drunk, alone in my house, together eating junk food and pizza and trying our own homemade Oreos and butterbeer recipes. This is, of course, a preparation for the new movie which releases next month but I don’t have to tell you how excited I am for that.
Of course, our HP movie fest will be followed with Halloween shenanigans. I’m going for a zombie Bavarian this year and will make use of my dirndl for the first time since Oktoberfest ended. Parties all weekend long! We’ll try to find some good ones. Anyway, until next time!
Oh, and HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY to Paxton Gabriel, my good, good friend Kristy’s new baby boy! Kristy, I am so happy for you – he is beautiful! I hope I can meet him someday soon. Happy birthday, little Paxton!
October 22, 2010
Harry Potter Nerd Fest and Cold Weather Whining
I know that I already put this on Facebook but, as of last night, I am now the proud owner of an advanced ticket to the opening night show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1).
If you know me, you know that this makes me very, very happy. Plus, it comes out two days earlier than it does in the States. Which makes me infinitely cooler than everyone back home, obviously. Haha. Needless to say at this point, I am pretty much a Harry Potter nerd. Ask Eric. He’ll tell you. And then he’ll make a graphic to prove it.
I really am obsessed. I can’t stop watching new trailers and TV spots and I’ve been fanatically browsing Harry Potter Tumblrs every day. It’s like this for me before every movie is released. Kind of like when I’m getting ready to attend a Hanson concert, too. I freak out and turn into the 11-year-old fangirl version of myself for two weeks. It’s unhealthy. Of course, after the movie’s been seen, I’ll calm down, I promise. So Eric can stop worrying about my mental state.
Anyway, that was the highlight of my evening last night. Kind of a quiet Thursday night. HP tickets, drinks, and delightful conversation with Catherine and Eric at Euros cheap hostel bar. Livin’ the good life, I tell you! Now the three of us (plus Laura!) have our tickets for opening night. SO EXCITED. I know there are a bunch of people who wanted to go to opening night and I kind of feel bad that we’re not all going together but it’s practically impossible to organize everyone to do the same thing on the same evening at the same time. Unfortunately, the theater where we’re seeing the film creates seat reservations (which is nice for an opening night, to be honest) but it makes things difficult for late comers who want to come along. Fortunately, I can guarantee that I’ll probably want to go see the movie AGAIN so hopefully no one hates me enough to reject me. Ha. I can’t wait to see the movie, obviously. I’ll be back in California for Part 2 next summer and I can’t believe I have to wait that long! Anyway, here’s a pretty kick ass TV spot from WB – my favorite of the 3,000 TV spots that are floating all over YouTube:
In weather related happenings, I walked out of the UBahn station last night to discover that my bike seat was covered in a sparkly layer of frost. My ass was freezing by the time I got home. Brrrr. It’s cold here in Munich. There’s talk of snow and below zero weather (in Celsius, anyway). No snow! Please! Not yet! I’m not quite ready for it. Already my fingers freeze inside my gloves and there’s nothing falling from the sky but rain and apparently, sleet. I am not looking forward to this cold weather business. I am a California girl and my winter days in Montana have been long forgotten and the memories repressed. Admittedly, I am looking forward to ice skating and learning how to ski (again) and making snow men and maybe even snow ball fights but can I do it all in one day and get it over with? Ha. I woke up this morning and the whole world outside my window was covered in frost. The leaves, the cars, the house. Please just a few more weeks, Munich. Work with me, won’t you?
I already feel a cold festering inside of my head. My throat hurts, my sinuses are sensitive and all agitated. I’ve found Vitamin C capsules in the house but no cold medicine. I’ll have to wander to the Apotheke and see if I can convince them to give me some good drugs. I’m thinking NyQuil. Oh God, NyQuil. What I wouldn’t do…
Ah, ahem. ANYWAY. I’m going out tonight – I have a date with a very nice American man who works at the US Consulate. Hopefully it goes well. And then I’m meeting up with friends for dancing! I think I’m going to skip the drinks tonight – that won’t help my cold at all! And get some good sleep. And figure what to do this weekend. Where should we go? Maybe Garmisch is actually a good idea…
October 21, 2010
The Blog is Back in Business
You might have noticed that my blog went private a few days ago. I got a lot of messages from very important people asking for me to put their email addresses on the reading list but, truth be told, I wasn’t writing anything new. A reading list was quite unnecessary. I’ve spent the last week or so (maybe not that long…) going through my blog and editing. Why? Well, it was brought to my attention last Friday by a wonderful and trusted source (thank you!) that this blog was turning into something a bit more than I’d originally intended it to be. I was using it as a vessel for venting my frustrations and wasn’t really thinking about the content that I was publishing… publicly… for the whole world to see. Including people who could use it against me – like current and future employers. I took a step back, thought about how important my experience is here and how important it is for me to be a professional, working adult – even if I’m still a world away from having a grown-up, real world job. Someday I will and I won’t want this blog to be used against me now or in any future employment situation. Therefore, I’ve been doing some editing and have taken out a lot of content that could be used against me – complaints, frustrations, harmful words and biases, and pictures – things that shouldn’t necessarily be published on such a public space.
And since I’ve been missing for the last week or so, here’s a recap of what’s happened:
On Friday night Lauren, Brittany, Eric, and Paul and I went clubbing until 4 am. I don’t care what anyone says. Sometimes that’s just what you need.
that require nose adornment and shooting with your teeth.
On Saturday it was Fio’s birthday so we celebrated. (After I stayed at the house all day waiting for the movers to bring my new bed and other various furniture pieces.) The lovely Irish ginger turned 21 and we wandered around aimlessly for a while before we ended up at Sugar where we had reserved a table which came with a vodka and Red Bull package. We danced for most of the night and then Brittany and I tried to make the trains but missed them by five minutes. We tried to catch a cab but failed and ended up walking home in the cold, rainy weather at 2:30 in the morning. FAIL.
On Sunday, I spent most of the actual day inside. I had lunch with my host-family – homemade schnitzel and some pasta of some sort with mushroom sauce – and then the Frau helped me with my plane ticket to England. It’s all booked up! December 29th I fly out to London for a week! Yah! In the evening I met up with Eric, Brittany, and Jessica and we went to Fio and Laura’s house for Fio’s birthday. We started watching their room mates handball game. Very weird sport. It’s like basketball and soccer all in one. We ordered pizza, I found Dr. Pepper at the gas station, and we had cake and the kickin’est garlic bread you’d ever eat. Yowch. Made it home by midnight, crashed in bed.
During the week sometime I went out with Brittany and we went to the Munich Readery. I got Stephanie Klein’s memoir, Straight Up and Dirty, which I’ve been wanting to read FOREVER. And also got The Nanny Diaries. Which I’ve already read but love, nonetheless. Also got some new headphones (AGAIN!). I’ve been through like four pairs here – they keep breaking or they go missing. Annoying. I’d love some iPod headphones for my birthday, yo. The kind with the remote control. Yum! Also got another plug adapter. I spent one evening raking leaves in the cold and the wind. THAT was fun. Fortunately, Eeine helped me there at the end and it went much faster. Had sweet potato soup for dinner one evening – so good! Went out with Helen for Pizza Hut and beer. I hadn’t seen her in a while so it was nice to spend time with her again and have someone to vent to who understands exactly where I am. Today I spent the morning with Brittany and we watched The Lion King and ate hot dogs and French fries and were generally just lazy.
Now, the weekend is ahead! And I am all caught up and back to blogging. Enjoy! :)
October 14, 2010
What’s a Girl to Do?
Everyone here knows that I am living the life here in Munich; watching movies all the time, catching up on my favorite TV shows, writing fiction and five hundred blogs (or so it seems!), and wandering around a cool German city. My favorite thing is the music… I’ve never listened to music so much as I have since since I arrived in Munich. Therefore, I’ve created a Tumblr (kind of like a blog and a Twitter all mixed into one) that is all about my thoughts/cravings/insights into my music experiences. It’s more of just a hobby for me, something to do, and somewhere to channel all of my music appreciation so if you’re willing check it out (picture is linked). :)
October 13, 2010
Frustrations & Misunderstandings, Attack of the Cluster Flies, Return Flights, and the Root of All Evil
It would be an understatement to say that I’ve spent the last few days in kind of a funk. I’ve been all off center – dreading days spent with my au pair family, resenting my host-mom, missing home and wanting to go back – and, as a result, have been acting very much the part of a recluse and staying well contained within the four walls of my attic bedroom. I think that most of this had to do with the fact that I was stressed out about money stuff (what else is new?!) and that I was having that horrible monthly affliction known to and cursed by most, if not all, woman (and probably men, too).
Things around the house have been somewhat stressed. Relations with my host-mom have made me a little stressed but that’s to be expected when you’re dealing with cultural differences and misunderstandings and especially so since I’m living in this woman’s house and have to go by her rules. Pretty normal au pair concerns, I suppose. There’s a lot of stuff that bothers me but it’s not very professional or moral of me to complain about my employer on a public blog. It’s human, normal, expected to have complaints but… you know, unprofessional. I’ve thought about this a lot lately and I really wouldn’t want a potential job (or this job, even!) jeopardized because a future prospective employer was concerned that I might bad mouth them on my blog. I suppose I should just try to talk to her about it but I don’t even know where to start! So, I’ll try to cut the her some slack and if you’re in my real life posse or if you’re my Skype or Facebook friend, consider yourself blessed (or not!) when I use you as a vessel for venting my frustrations.
Anyway, on to bigger and better things. Or not. There is a cluster fly infestation in my ceiling. On a daily basis I vacuum up about 40 flies. I swear they’re all just flying around inside my vacuum bag having an annoying pest party. Cluster flies (I Googled them!) don’t really do anything other than come in through your window and roof on warm winter days and then hang out on your sunny window panes, they’re not really bothering me but they’re just GROSS. They’re doing this activity in the hallway just outside my room by the stairs so I have to walk by them a million times a day. And at night, they all die and RIP on the floor so when it’s dark and I’m not thinking about them, I step on little fly carcasses. Nobody should have to do that. Hopefully they’ll leave. But I don’t think they will. It’s a winter thing. Hopefully we can get an exterminator up in here and flush them out.
I’ve added a new skill set to my resume: gardener. On Monday and Tuesday I spent a few hours raking leaves and bagging them. It wasn’t so bad because I had my iPod and good playlists but it’s just annoying because I’m going to have to do it at least twice more because fall isn’t over just yet. I should have raked all of the leaves into one big pile and jumped into it but I wasn’t feeling very young at heart, I guess. Hopefully we get a really windy day and all the leaves fall off the trees at one time. But then what would I have to take pictures of? Naked trees, I guess!
In future news, I bought my return ticket to California yesterday. $530 for a June 20th return to Los Angeles. Five days after my contract ends and three days before my au pair visa expires. It would be really nice to be able to travel the world after my au pair gig or even live in Munich and live some cool and fancy European lifestyle but, if the last four months are any indication of my financial status and worries for the coming eight months, then I’m in no position to extend my stay. I really need to head home and get my shit together. I have student loans and credit cards and personal IOUs to attend to. I need to work on a car loan and saving up for an apartment. I guess I just need a real life? Hey, everybody has to start somewhere and I’m glad I did this before I tried to take on reality. Because now that I’ve actually done it, it is more likely that I will return. And even if I don’t, then at least I did it and here I am and I’m going to enjoy it as best as I can and live my fancy au pair life to its highest potential. Starting with a practical budget and a bit of a semi-prohibition lifestyle. Less beer = more money. Because if I’m not drinking but still going clubbing with my friends, I’m only paying for the cover charge and not an additional 10 EUR for some overpriced drinks. I can do it. I swear. I will.
Money, money, money. You are the root of all evil. Without horribly suffocating my everyday experiences here, I also need to save money and budget for my (maybe!) birthday trip to Italy next month, my winter trip to England for the New Year, Lauren’s visit to Munich in early January, a higher level language course in February, a two week Eurotrip (I’m thinking Ireland, Scotland, France, and Belgium!) in the spring, and, of course, the constant budgeting of credit card and medical bill payments and my 44 EUR train ticket every month. Oy vey! Wish me luck.
To relieve stress (and it’s been working!) I’ve been going on jogs and walks nearly everyday this week. Every morning at 8:15 I put on my coat and my gloves and turn on my iPod and I venture into the English Gardens. I try to keep a consistent jog to walk ratio by jogging through every other song but some days I just don’t have the energy and I jog the beginning and end of the adventure and walk through the middle. Haha. My favorite part about these morning walk/jogs (wogs!) are the dogs. Dogs are plentiful here in Munich and especially so in the English Gardens. And they are incredibly well behaved. Hardly any dogs walk on leashes and they never bark or run up to you. They’re incredible. Today I witnessed two dogs who thought they were man enough to carry sticks five times their size as they walked along with their owners. And one dog, a Newfoundland, I believe, was walking behind me with his human as I headed home and he was just la-di-da walking along with this MASSIVE stick in his mouth as if it were just another day in the life. Ha. It was so cute. I’ve never wanted a dog so bad until I lived here and when I can afford and take care of one, I’m definitely getting on and then turning to German methods of dog training for its proper upbringing. Haha.
Speaking of animals… here’s the only picture I can provide in this blog entry today, coming to you from last Friday. Eric was petsitting some cool cats (not people, Brittany! ha) and this feline dude got to share my wine with me. Actually, no. We didn’t give him any. But obviously he was interested.
And that’s all, folks!
Just kidding. I just wanted to shout out to my darling girl, Chelsea (aka CHESTY!), for always answering the phone when I call her at 3 in the morning. My time, not hers. I really appreciate your company from 3 hundred million miles away. I love you!
October 8, 2010
I’ve Fallen In Love With the Colors of Fall
I went for a wog this morning (half walk / half jog) and the best part about it (besides finding out that No Speak Americano is an excellent jogging song) was the fact that I was wogging (ha!) in the most beautiful garden that I’ve ever seen. I don’t care what anyone says, the English Garden in autumn is the most wonderful sight. I wish that descriptive imagery came easily to me. I’ve contemplated numerous times how I might explain to you what I’m seeing here as the season changes into a blustery, perfect wonderland of falling leaves and subdued skies. I know, I know. I speak as if I’ve never seen fall before but unless you’ve lived on the coast of California anytime between early September and late November, you’ll understand my fascination. Seasons don’t change where I come from.
Monterey is a beautiful place, one of a kind, with beautiful beaches and remarkable sunsets on ocean horizons. But there are approximately two seasons in Monterey – fog season and sun season and they run parallel to each other all year long. Summer can often feel like fall and sometimes winter even has a bit of summer in it’s bones. The fog rarely lifts. October and November typically see some of the warmest weather and December through March it just rains and rains and rains… every day, all day.
Growing up in western Montana, I experienced the four seasons and fall was always my favorite. When I moved to California, I didn’t get to have fall anymore. I didn’t think much of it though because I was in California. I didn’t realize how sad missing fall made me feel until I came here and was able to experience it again. It’s true what they say - you don’t realize how much you love something until you’ve been away from it for a while.
I love the smell of fall, the smell of leaves and earth. I love the leaves on the ground, the sound of them crunching beneath your feet. The colors are more vibrant than you could ever imagine – gold, green, yellow, orange, deep red, crimson, goldenrod, russet. Fall makes me feel nostalgic for my childhood – for Halloween nights spent trick or treating, Thanksgiving holidays, scarves and mittens and warm jackets. My favorite part about being here in Munich this fall is watching the leaves as they fall from the trees. Even the gentlest breeze can take the leaves away from their naked branches and when they fall, it’s the most serene sight. And the sound! It should be on a noise maker machine. I can’t really explain it. I wish it were possible.
For the latter half of the afternoon, I spent another handful of hours in the English Gardens (my third time that day – I went for a walk again in the afternoon) but this time I was on a bike ride with Brittany and her au pair family (who, at the moment, I love a little more than my own). The morning started out very cold and dreary but by 2 o’clock, the sun had come out and it was blue skies for miles. We took advantage of the gorgeous fall day and Brittany and I, her host-mom, and the two girls, Lena and Fanny, all went on a bike ride to the Isar river and enjoyed the fall afternoon.
These are the pictures that I’ve collected over the last week or so and as the days go by, Munich is plunged deeper and deeper into the season. I’m going to be really sad when winter takes over… or maybe not because then I’ll have beautiful pictures of the snow. If I can stand walking around in the cold. Anyhoo, here are my favorite pictures. More below the cut. :)
October 6, 2010
Listography: The Little Things That Make My Life Absolutely Worth Living
Reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for
the third time and finally understanding the plot.
An iPod stereo, sent with love from California,
to be used at the most appropriate times.
The colors of autumn.
Avocados.
Julia Stone’s solo album, The Memory Machine.
Augustiner.
October 4, 2010
Money Is the True “Sturm und Drang” of This Experience
Due to all of the financial drama that I’ve been dealing with lately, I’ve officially made the decision to return to California next summer. There had been lofty talk of me staying here in Munich and living a fancy European life but I have so many financial obligations back in the States that I have no choice but to return and sort them out. I have credit cards, one that I pay and one that mom pays, which totals to about $7,000 and a dental bill that is somewhere around $1,200. When I first arrived to Germany, I was paying them off with my graduation money (bummer!) but since that’s run out, I tried to resort to my au pair money but that fell through due to outrageous bank transfer fees. So now I’m begging both of my parents to help me out until I can figure out how to do it on my own from all the way over here. It makes me feel really irresponsible and stupid for not having a definite plan but I’m really grateful for their help, wherever and whenever they can give it. Right now, I’m dealing with monthly payments of about $180 and come November, my student loan payments ($41,000 total!) will start up. So I need to call them and put them in forbearance. Not that I have any idea how to do that…
So, in total, at (almost) 24 years old I am nearly $50,000 in debt. Damn. Being a grown up is hard to get used to. I guess I won’t officially be a grown up until I’m done with my European vacation from reality. That’s what next summer will be then… a fast track back to reality and a crap load of catching up. Fortunately, I have my mama and a home to go back to that is virtually rent free (give or take some compromising) so that I can rebuild my credit score, get a job, and work my way back to independence.
The hardest part about planning to go back home right now is figuring out when to return and buying the plane ticket. Because I only bought a one way ticket to begin with, I now have to buy a return ticket and I’ve been having trouble finding anything under $900. Fortunately, Air Berlin has gone online with their cheap ticket prices and I’ve been able to find Thursday departures for $660. Which is pretty good considering. Unfortunately, I can only leave on a Thursday. There are Monday flights for $700 as well but we’ll see if prices go down over the next few months. (And where is the money for this plane ticket going to come from? I have no idea. Hopefully the Frau, if I’m lucky.) My contract with the family is over on June 15th and my au pair visa expires on June 23rd so I figure I can return home just before July and celebrate the 4th with my friends and family. It’d be nice to travel and see other parts of Europe (hopefully I’ll do that before summer comes around) but I don’t know how much money I’ll have or what my situation will be. It’s smartest for me to just buy my plane ticket now and work my life around my departure. Anyway, I plan to do a two week Eurotrip in the spring, so hopefully I’ll have had my fill of traveling. By then, I think I’ll be ready to go home come the end of June.
So, to all my friends and family members back in California… I’ll see you in 8 months! And to everyone who resides here in Germany or England or wherever… I have the rest of my life to come back and I promise you that I will! If I’ve done it once, I have no reason not to do it again. Don’t worry. My life has only just begun.
October 2, 2010
Crayola Imports, Au Pair Overnight, Autumn, and New Friends
My darling dearest Lauren recently went on a 4-day vacation to California for a friends wedding and she brought back some Crayola crayons for me. Well, they’re not for me – they’re for die kinder but damn, they smell so good. I love crayons. Before I gave them to the girls, they were just sitting on my desk taunting me. If I’d had a coloring book I don’t think I would have been able to resist. 128 glorious crayons in such beautiful colors. Germany, you really need to catch on to this American crayon phenomenon. Your native children will be so happy with you! Fortunately, I spent the rest of the day coloring with die kinder in the Disney coloring books I’d sent them back in March. “Hezzah, can you help me?” Which actually means, I color an entire picture by myself and the child in question colors the one next to it. As of right now, it’s been one day since I gave them the crayons and they’ve already broken three or four of them and pretty much all of them are dull. Which means that I gave them a great gift. :)
As of this very moment, I am two hours into my 30-hour babysitting gig. An overnight with the girls while Mr. and Mrs. Frau are in Frankfurt. The girls are watching Robin Hood right now (I love early morning movies!) and afterwards we’re going to have lunch. Probably go on a bike ride later and then make muffins, carve a pumpkin, maybe watch another movie, eat dinner, color with our new crayons, go to bed, wake up, go to the aquarium, go on a bike ride. I’m exhausted from just writing it down. Damn. If I ever blog again, you’ll know I’ve survived.
Okay, so this isn’t my picture. I got it from Google images via a really cool website. But it’s a photograph of Munich in the fall and it perfectly captures how beautiful this city is right now. (I really need to find this bridge, by the way.) It’s October now (oh my God…) and fall is thriving. The leaves fall from the trees as you walk beneath them, the air is crisp and you can smell the changing season. It’s time to take out warm coats and gloves. I love fall and especially right now because I haven’t experienced the season since I was fifteen and living in western Montana. My favorite part about it so far is riding my bike in the evening, wearing my newly purchased fleece coat and gloves, with leaves falling all around me, and the sun slowly leaving the sky. It’s incredible. I love it. Last night I came home from a friends house who lives nearby and I was riding home at midnight and I almost kept riding past my house because I didn’t want to go inside. Even if it was pretty cold and dark and late. I just wanted to hold onto the feeling of fall. Good thing it’s not going anywhere for at least another month!
Last but not least, I’m giving a blog shout out to my new friend, Brittany. Mostly because she’s new to Munich and the au pair experience and I want her to feel welcomed and loved. She’s come from Alabama and works for a family that is close to mine. Her little girl is best friends with mine so we’ll stay close throughout our collective experience here in Munich and I’m okay with that. She’s such a sweet girl and I’m enjoying her friendship. She’ll probably pop up in this blog from time to time so keep up! Last night the two of us went to Pizza Hut for delicious dinner (it’s so much better here!) and then Eric met up with us and we watched Kill Bill at Brittany’s house. Quite the successful (and cheap!) Friday night. Sometimes a lazy, low key weekend is just what you need. Except when you have to entertain six year olds the whole time…
Which reminds me, I have lunch to make and children to entertain. Ciao!
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