Berlin

I don’t know how to write about my trip to Berlin. It was fucking awesome. Pardon my French but seriously. It was. I’ve sat down and tried to write a detailed report on the weekend and I just couldn’t do it. Let me see if I can sum it up. I went on a road trip with three of my really close friends here in Munich and we drove five hours to Berlin where we met up with some other friends – people that we knew from Munich or our past and separate lives – Laura and Alison – and we spent the weekend clubbing, wandering the wild and vibrant streets of Berlin from 11 pm until 5:30 or 7 in the morning, drinking Berliner Pils (and Augustiner Helles, too!), and touring incredible German history sites. We took a four hour walking tour in the merciless east German heat and I stood beside the Berlin wall. The bunker where Hitler killed himself is now covered by a parking lot. I saw the hotel where Michael Jackson hung his tiny baby out of a window. Checkpoint Charlie is really overrated. The Berlin Cathedral looks ancient but it really isn’t that old. Communism was crazy. The sun was out the entire weekend and it was glorious. Karaoke is much more fun to watch when you’re in an outdoor stadium with three hundred other people. Flea markets sell super cheap friendship bracelets and a shitload of vinyl records. I went to the most fabulous party found myself surrounded by gay boys and never felt happier or more wonderful. Berlin helped me embrace my inner fag hag and brought me a whole gaggle of new gay boyfriends. I find that I can never have enough. I ate bratwurst from men that walked around and wore sausage grills over their shoulders. Have grill, will travel. I didn’t go to bed before 3:30 am on any night of the entire weekend. I ate the best cheeseburger I’ve ever tasted… twice. I didn’t have proper Berlin currywurst. Damn. I bonded with my skinny love. I loved Berlin. I absolutely loved it.

Yours truly at Brandenburg Tor
(I prefer the one in Munich, to be honest.)

30 Days of Germany: Day 5 and 6 (May 25-26)–Sweet Treats and Naked People

Two days in one… yes.

Yesterday my friend Anne and I had some delicious cupcakes that were absolutely delightful. In Germany, they don’t really do cupcakes on a widespread basis. In fact, I don’t even think they make frosting or use sugar in this country. Ha. Every cake that I’ve ever had is just… cake. So, needless to say, I was a happy girl with cupcake in hand. I had two – cookies and cream, with an amazing cream cheese frosting – and a vanilla cupcake with a freaking brown baked inside of the batter. Oh my God, it was like an orgasm in my mouth. Not literally. But you know… cupcake-sugar-deliciousness orgasm. *ahem*

Also, while we enjoyed our cupcakes, naked Europeans joined the sun all around us. Yes, I see leathery saggy boobs and old man penises pretty much everyday. Welcome to Europe!

A Final Weekend at Fruhlingsfest, Late Nights, Impending Endings, Employment Prospects, and the Joy of Being an Au Pair

This past weekend I went for a second round at Fruhlingsfest and I had so much fun. Beer festivals are one of the things that I will miss the most about Munich. And there are a lot of things that I will miss but beer festivals are definitely up there at the top of the list. I like it much better than Oktoberfest because there are less people and more available tables, faster service, etc etc. We had a table right up front, center stage to the band that played all night long. We danced and sang along and had a merry time, right up until they closed and kicked us all out. And I practiced great self control. It was my pay day and I only bought two beers. Instead of five like I did the previous weekend. After the festival, a few of us braved the rain and decided to go clubbing. We ended up at Cord, a club that plays some great indie music and even though I paid 6 EUR for the cover, I only stayed about an hour or so before I left to catch the last train home. I was ridiculously tired from all of the dancing that I had been doing that day. I made it home by 2:30, soaking wet and cold, took a long, late night bath, and then went to bed close to 4 am. The night before that, I'd stayed up until about the same time, drunk off of Friday the 13th festivities and two or so bottles of wine. Last night, on Sunday, I stayed out with friends at a shisha bar until 2 a.m. I definitely need to make this week one of early nights and catch up a bit. I'm starting to feel ill from only sleeping 4 to 5 hours every night. Personal challenge accepted! Unless I have plans (aka Shamrock's karaoke) I will be in bed at 10:30 and lights out by 11 most nights this week. Haha. We'll see how well this goes!

Happy German girl at the festival!

They had these lit up while they played “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash

Full Monty show on the Augustiner stage!

Q62, Shisha bar!

Paul taught me this trick and Cris tagged me in this photo. Thanks Cris!

Yesterday (the 15th) was the one-month mark to the end of my au pair contract. On June 15th, I am officially done being an au pair and I will be set free for five final says in Munich, unemployed and with approximately 225 EUR in hand. My friends and I have planned an epic going away slash birthday party for a collective few of us and that happens two days before I board my plane back to California. It will be a great party and I'll probably have a few drunken cries through most of it. I don't have a lot of pocket money (thanks Rome!) for the remainder of my time here so I'm limited in what I can do for the rest of my time here but I'm hoping to go to Berlin in June to visit my friend Alison and then she'll come to Munich and visit me here. It'll be good to see her before I leave, too, since she's become my best friend from the days working as a camp counselor. I have a lot of things to organize, too, as far as packing is concerned. I want to get rid of a lot of it - so many of my clothes got ruined by the damn washer and dryer and the shitty hard water in Germany so I'm going to throw most of them away. It still feels like I'll never get it all home again. Ah! I can't believe I have to leave this place... it feels impossible. It reminds me of the quote from Eat, Pray, Love:

“The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying;
the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.”

I want to go home – God, do I want that. I miss my mom and I want to meet the dog that she bought to fill the void in her heart after I left. I don’t want to live with this family anymore – or any family, for that matter. I want to spent five hours in Target. I want to take peoples of people in Wal-Mart. I want to buy crossaints and muffins and pizza at Costco. I want to go to all my favorite college bars with my friends from home. I want to lay on the beach for eight hour straight. I want to see my nephews and my sister, Christy. I want to visit my family in Montana. I want to sit down and tell my grandma all about my year abroad. I want to drive around in my car for hours and hours and turn the music up really loud and roll all the windows down. I want to get my hair cut and colored and get a manicure and pedicure and have my eyebrows waxed. I want to have a wallet full of American bills and I want to pay tax again and use my debit card everywhere I go. I want to be a California girl again.

But I want to be a German girl, too. I want to stay in Munich. I want everyone that I love in Munich to stay here too. I want to sit at a shisha bar for six hours and laugh and gossip and take pictures. I want to go to beer festivals every season and dance to music that I can’t understand but love anyway. I want to spend every sunny Saturday in the English Gardens drinking beer and catching a Frisbee and singing along to Florian’s ukulele. I want to sing karaoke at Shamrock’s every Tuesday night. I want to eat Bavarian food and have sausages and leberkase available to me on every corner. I want to buy Bayern tickets and take trains to random German towns all over Bavaria. I want to drink Augustiner every day. I want to be German forever.

I’m completely torn between the two places. In the end, I am going home, that is just the way that it is and I am okay with that. but I am going to miss Munich so much. Not only will I miss all of the wonderful friends that I’ve made here but I’m going to miss the city and the culture, the food, the memories that I had while I was living here. Hell, I might even miss the kids. Haha. It’s all coming to end so much faster than I would like. I am going to be so sad to leave here. It really does feel impossible.

But, the good news is that I have a job lined up at home that I am 98% decided upon. Between the eight families that have contacted me about working for them, only two of them have really done any follow through. I’ve been discussing offers and options, back and forth, between both of them and I think that I am decided on the one that I want. They’ve offered me the better package and the most information concerning schedules, salaries, benefits, expectations, etc, etc. Plus, the one that I want is more reasonable as far as finances are concerned and it gives me more room to rebuild my life and get back on my feet. Also, it would mean that I would be living with my mom in Morro Bay and that I wouldn’t be going back to Monterey. I’ve been thinking about living there and in the end it’s more practical for me to live with my mom for the next phase of my life and then I can work towards moving back to Monterey with better financial results. Anyway, the job is great and if I decide to take it, I’ll give more details about it but for now, we’ll just leave it in a state of indecision. I should know by the end of the week what choice I will make once they give me official offers or employment that I can either turn down or accept. I will let you know, dear readers!

Speaking of being a nanny (or something of the sort), I had a lot of fun with the girls this past Friday while I was babysitting. We went to a playground after they came home from school and we played in the sunshine and put flowers in our hair. I’ve been teaching myself how to braid so I invented this whole new hairstyle on the spot and the girls each ended up with a super cool head of hair. Au pair Hezzah for the win!

My little cuties

Frühlingsfest: Bavaria’s Spring Alternative to Oktoberfest

I don’t think I would love Bavaria as much as I do if it wasn’t home to so many wonderful beer festivals. I’ve been to a few since I’ve arrived here – Oktoberfest, obviously and Starkbierfest – both interesting and unique in their own special ways. Oktoberfest is world famous and is absolutely worth visiting at least once in your life if you are a beer enthusiast and can throw back a few liters of beer on any given day. Starkbierfest (which means strong beer in English) was unique in its merchandise – beer that is loaded with carbs and a lot of potential to get you really wasted. I was lucky enough to attend both of these beer festivals (sadly I never went to the Dachau Volksfest and will miss it this summer) and, even better, I was able to attend in my tracht wear (aka dirndl) – a traditional Bavarian dress!

This past weekend, I rocked my dirndl once again and headed out to join my friends for a day of beer and sunshine at this year’s Frühlingsfest celebration. I was expecting something along the lines of Oktoberfest size but I was met with a much smaller reality. Frühlingsfest boasts only two beer tents – Augustiner and Hippodrom – and takes up about 2/8 of the space that Oktoberfest occupied. (I only fully realized this when I was ascending the crest of the Wasserbahn (log ride) and could see the grounds of Theresienwiese laid out below us.) The festival includes a midway and carnival rides and tons and tons of delicious food and drink.

Upon arrival, my friends and I first decided to have a good old fashioned race down the massive slide. I was overconfident that I would win and definitely did not. My fellow American friend, Dieter, managed to beat both Jennie and I in a race back to ground level. This carnival slide was very sophisticated – with nine slide lanes, furry bottomed slide blankets, and an escalator that took you to the top. German’s are so efficient!

Dieter in the lead, me taking second place, and Jennie taking up the rear.

Garmisch, Again and the Blessed Comfort of Family in a Far Away Place

This blog can’t keep up with real life! I am not giving it any justice. I have so many things I want to write about and then I find that I have all the time in the world to write it down but I just… don’t. I get distracted. I get going on StumbleUpon. I start  chatting on FB. I pick up my book. I clean my bathroom. Seriously. I scrub the toilet instead. It’s pathetic. Anyway, I’m going to start with my recent trip down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where I visited my Quasi-Mom, Christina, and my German Oma, Kathe for the weekend.

In case you missed the memo the first few times that I talked about it  – everyone in Christina’s family is pretty much mine, too. Neither one of us would have ever guessed that back in the fall of 2007, when she hired me to work at her candle store, that 3 1/2 years later, I would be hanging out with every member of her family in their motherland. I worked for Christina as both a candle store employee and as the babysitter for her adorable grand-daughter, Andrea, up until the summer of last year and became extremely close to her in the process. Christina and her husband, Barrie, have been like surrogate parents to me while I was living away from home and going to school and they have gone out of their way most of the time to take care of me. (Thank you for all of the tire changes, broken car door repairs, and home-cooked meals!) They’re wonderful! Christina’s older sister, Susie, I met through the family (she visited me in Munich during Oktoberfest!) as well and their mother, Kathe, who I met whenever she was staying in California and then, formally, after I’d found out that I would be going to Germany. More recently, I’ve become friends with Christina’s son, Dustin, as well, because he visited Munich back in February. I feel like he’s my big brother now, I love it! And, of course, there’s Drea in there, too. I’m her “Hairy” and I find myself missing her, too! Needless to say, I have been incredibly blessed with the comforts and consolation of family while I’ve been here in Europe and I couldn’t imagine how my experience here would have been different had that touch of familiarity been absent.

With that being said, Kathe lives here in Bavaria, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, so I have been visiting her a lot since I’ve arrived here in Germany. I now have pictures of Garmisch through the seasons. It’s been really cool, this little town is so beautiful and it has so much stuff to do and look at. This time around, however, I went there to see Christina who I hadn’t seen since I’d left California last June. Kathe and Christina picked me up at my house, met my host-mom and the girls, and then we drove from Munich to G-Pa, which was about an hour’s drive. It was nice to catch up with her gossip a little bit, which we’re soooo good at. When we got to Garmisch, we stopped first at the commissary, since Kathe works for the Army. I stocked up on American goodies – macaroni and cheese, blueberry bagels, Ranch dressing, French’s mustard, an industrial size bottle of Treseme conditioner, Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. Oh man, I love cheating on German culture sometimes! After our shopping excursion, Christina and I went into the heart of the city and had a delicious Bavarian dinner – schnitzel for everyone (I ate mine and half of hers! D’oh!) – and we had beers and walked home. It was a beautiful twilight!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen after dark

Back at Kathe’s house we had a Skype video call with Barrie, Dustin, and Andrea and we all got an earful from that little chatterbox. She is getting so big and is talking so much since the last time that I saw her and I couldn’t stop laughing at the cute things that just came out of her mouth. It’ll be nice to play with her again – I hope she’s missing me! It was nice to see Barrie and Dustin, too, of course. We all went to bed after that and woke up slowly in the morning. After breakfast Christina and I decided to go to Ludwig’s Schloss Linderhof. I’ve been to nearly all of King Ludwig’s castles now! I feel accomplished. Linderhof was beautiful – and it’s the only castle that he ever fully completed (and it’s one of the smallest!). He didn’t even finish the Disney castle. Linderhof comes with Ludwig’s grotto and so that was really interesting to see. It’s the largest man-made cave in Europe, by the way. It was raining and it was a bit cold but I enjoyed the scenery and the castle itself and Christina and I had fun just hanging out, the two of us.

Mountain scenery from the path to Linderhof
I absolutely love this country! How can I ever leave?!

Schloss Linderhof

The view from the front side of Linderhof

Me with Neptune’s fountain

Painting in the grotto where Ludwig present Wagner’s opera

The castle, down below

We finished touring Linderhof and were back in G-Pa by 3 o’clock so we decided to walk into the city and check out the street market that was going on. The walk to the city is picturesque and there is a little field with about six sheep in it and they wear cow bells on their necks so you always know if they’re coming. We would stop and talk to them, pet them, and feed them dandelions. They were adorable! The market itself was so cute – very small town German and just adorable. And so many good aromas coming from all that delicious food. Christina and I ended up eating the 1/2 meter bratwursts and taste testing all kinds of yummy foods. It was a good way to pass through the afternoon and once we return home – we made a plan to send me back to Munich and Christina took me to the train station. We said our good-byes and then I settled in for the 90 minute train ride back into the city. I read my book the entire time (I’m in love with Lisa Gardner’s thrillers!) and snacked on all of my guilty pleasure American food the whole time!

Ultimately, it was a great weekend in Garmisch and I had so much fun with Christina – I really had missed her a lot and I can’t wait to spend more time with her once I’m back in California NEXT MONTH. Geez. It’s gone by so fast. Holy cow.

Next up on my blog-frenzy-agenda…

• The joys of spring and all that it brings – beer festivals, warm weather, sunburns, hay fever, bugs, an over abundance of work, and all kinds of other stuff.
• My job hunt back in California and how awesome I am as the future Mary Poppins.
• Books, books, books… and my GoodReads.com literary goal!
• Resuming my “52 Things in Munich” bucket list – I’m so behind!
• My thoughts and reflections on the last six weeks of the best year of my life. Can I even put it into words?!

This (not so) new German girl is finding out that
home really is where the heart is.

Karneval! Karneval!

In 2006, I was lucky enough to visit New Orleans for the start of the new year but, unfortunately, I missed Mardi Gras by about a month and a half. It would have been really cool to have been in New Orleans for its famous, crazy holiday but someday, I hope to get a second chance at that. But for now I’m happy to be able to enjoy the equivalent here in Munich.

Carnival season is upon us. Or Karneval, as it is called in most parts of Germany. It’s also referred to as Fasching. It’s a Roman Catholic and Christian Orthodox celebration that officially begins on November 11th on the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour. But, for the most part, things stay pretty quiet until February or March. The end of Karneval falls at midnight on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday), just before Ash Wednesday. So, the week leading up to that is when the festivities really get going and people all over Germany (it’s the most enthusiastic Karneval location in Europe!) start dressing up and causing trouble. It is, after all, described as a time to “break the rules.” Officially, it’s just a way to have a massive celebration before the fasting of Lent.

I snagged this off of the Interwebs:

In Germany, particularly in the Rhineland area, the tradition can be traced to medieval times where many countries existed under harsh rules. Kings, princes and even smaller potentates maintained their own courts. In doing so, they flaunted before each other their own pomp and splendor at the expense of their population.

During karneval time, the common people took a chance at 'living it up" and "talking back to their rulers". They would make a mock government of eleven people, as well as other officials. A price and princess were selected to rule the country during the Fasching season. Political authorities, high placed persons and sovereigns were the target of ridicule, and featured in humorous and satirical speeches. To avoid persecution and punishment, these antics were played out from behind masks and costumes. Parades, dancing in the streets, masquerade balls and comical skits filled the days and nights.

Cologne, Germany has one of the most popular Karneval celebrations. I’d really hoped to visit Cologne for the weekend of Karneval but I mixed up my vacation weekends and so my friend Fionnuala and I are traveling the weekend after Karneval. Oops.

But here in Munich – the festivies carry on! Less crowds, more friends, and blessed familiarity should we get drunk and need to find our way home. Donuts are the official food of Karnevale/Fasching or krapfen auf Deutsch!

Munich’s Carnival Timeline

Thursday, March 3rd: Women’s Carnival Day
In Cologne, it’s the date of the opening parade at 11:11 am and women, even in Munich, have the benefit of kissing whomever they like after cutting off his tie. ONLY, his tie. ;)

Friday-Sunday, March 4th-6th: Faschings Weekend
Parties all throughout Germany in celebration of Fasching. Here in Munich it is no exception! We will be out in fun and silly costumes! Pictures will be taken, don’t worry.

Monday, March 7th: Rose Monday
This is the day of the official Fasching’s parade – marching bands, dancers, and floats and people dressed in all kinds of costumes flock through the city. In Cologne there is a massive parade. In Munich, a parade marches through Viktualienmarkt.

Tuesday, March 8th: Fasching / Shrove Tuesday
Costume balls! Or just general costumed merry-making all over Germany!

Wednesday, March 9th: Ash Wednesday
A quiet day to take a break and Lent begins.

Deutsch oder Spanisch? Das ist die Frage.

I have a confession to make.

I have been cheating on the German language with Spanish. I know, I know. It’s really weird. I’m in Germany, trying to learn all about the German culture, but I’m learning Spanish instead. (Actually re-learning since I’ve already spent four years of my life studying it.)

I decided that, after spending (and surviving through) seven months in Germany and being completely immersed in the language, and with only five months left of my time here, it doesn’t make much sense for me to go on to a German language course. I’m not going to use German later in my life (unless I happen to come back to Germany someday) and I didn’t want to spend my money on it. I know enough to get by, it’s fine. I’m not worried about not knowing the language. It was a decision that I made a few weeks ago and, so far, I have yet to regret the decision.

After finding out about LiveMocha.com through a Blog Carnival a few months ago (I got 30% off LM prices for participating!), I looked into it as a resource for online German language lessons. I didn’t go through with it – it would have cost me more than I could afford at the time – but I kept Live Mocha in the back of my mind for future reference.

As part of my preparation for my return to reality in June, I’ve been researching the jobs that are available in California and that’s when I made up my mind to get back into Spanish lessons. 95% of all the jobs that I’ve come across in the area of education or child development have a bilingual requirement. And if it’s not a requirement, it’s a suggestion and that means that if I am bilingual – I’ll be chosen for the job over someone that isn’t. So, therefore, I thought… I am going to do this again. I studied Spanish for four years over the course of high school and college but I never became fluent. I can’t speak it and I can barely understand it. So, hopefully, over the next few months while I have nothing to do during the day I intend to continue with my Spanish lessons and hopefully gain enough fluency practice to be able to use it when I search for jobs this summer. German Schmerman!

I’m finding that LiveMocha is a really, really great program. I am very satisfied with it. I think that the success of LM comes from the fact that it’s based on social learning – you join a community of people who are all learning a language. Native speakers of the language you are learning help review your lesson submissions in writing and speaking and then, in return, you do the same for those who are learning your native language. LM translates their critques to your lessons but I find that the further I go through my lessons, the less and less I need to translate. Within the review submissions, the reviewer can provide audio comments so that you can hear how it is supposed to sound in a native tongue. I find that I can’t get enough of it. Last night I spent about two hours straight just going through the English language lessons of people from all kinds of places – Brazil, Portugal, the Middle East, Mexico – and I couldn’t stop reviewing. I’m not a master at the English language but I like to think that I have a pretty good idea about what’s going on. I don’t know the details but I love helping people correct their grammar or provide them with audio so they can hear the pronunciation. It sounds crazy but it’s kind of instilled in me the desire to be an ESL teacher. I think I would LOVE to do that. I’m going to look into it the more that I learn and interact with LiveMocha and get better at Spanish. Fortunately I already have a BA in education and have taken courses in Spanish, linguistics, and teaching so becoming an ESL teacher would not be very difficult for me. I am very excited to have a goal ahead of me that I can see!

I was talking to one of my best friends about this and I mentioned that Germany is opening all kinds of doors for my self-renewal. I feel like I’m this brand new person with a big, wide open heart for the world and all of the possibility within it. That’s corny, I know, but I have really embraced the self-discovery of this whole experience and I am so excited to live my life everyday from now on.

Vielen Dank, Germany!

Six Months In: A Proper Update of The Experience Thus Far

I have officially been in Germany for six months. I am halfway finished with this crazy adventure and it’s hard to believe that there’s still half of the experience left to explore. It feels like it’s all gone by so fast and before I can even comprehend what has transpired, I feel like it will be all over and I’ll be on that 10 AM flight back to California. The last six months of my life have been incredible and I wouldn’t trade this experience for any other. I hope that the next six months will be just as amazing.

I sometimes find myself thinking back on my first few days here, and even the days before arriving in Munich, and it feels so far away. It was all so surreal – I couldn’t believe that I had actually done it or that any of it was even real. As long as I’d been alive, I’d never saw myself as the girl who got to go to Europe to live this big fancy adventure in a foreign place. I always believed that my life was average, mediocre, uneventful. It turns out that your life will be this way if you don’t do something to change it. When I was 17, I was that girl who thought she wasn’t smart enough to go to college but then I took a chance and tried and six years later, I graduated cum laude from a four year university. This decision worked the same way. I thought I was just going to be another college graduate, out there swimming in a sea of indecision, but I thought, “You know what? Not yet.” And I did something about it. I researched, I followed through, I paid attention. And now, I’m here, living one of the greatest adventures of my life.

Saint Nicholas and His Book of Sins, Moulin Rouge and an Elephant Love Medley, Karaoke Nights, Munich’s Incessant Snowfall, and Boring Student Loan Crap

Monday, December 6th

Today is a holiday here in Germany. Happy St. Nicholas day! Apparently, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. I never knew that! On the eve of December 6th, he goes around to all of the houses with a book of sins and if the kids have been good, he leaves them goodies – if they’ve been bad, they get twigs. But no one really leaves twigs because that would just be mean. Instead, kids (and au pairs!) all over Germany wake up to a plate (or boot) full of candy, nuts, oranges, and other goodies. Which was not so good for me because I heard the girls awake and downstairs at 6:35 am – ten minutes before I was even supposed to be down the and almost a half an hour before they usually wake up. But I guess it was all okay because I got some goodies myself – they were on the stairs when I came home from my trip to Chiemsee.

Where’s a nutcracker when you need one?

Monday was an altogether unproductive day. But what else is new? It rained all day and let’s face it, nobody wants to go out in that. Especially when there’s still snow outside which has most likely turned into ice and that’s not a good combination. I did finish season 5 of Desperate Housewives though. Too bad I already know who Mike marries. I organized and cleaned my room – put my summer clothes into my suitcase and stashed it away. Washed my bras. Haha. Organized my desk and found all of my unwritten postcards that still need to be sent out into the world.I have a postcard from Starnberger See that I still haven’t sent out and I went there in June. Geez! I didn’t really have much on my agenda today, otherwise.

The girls returned around 4 and I helped with their homework – math and reading. I made dinner around 6 – ravioli with salmon and sautéed zucchini. After dinner I got them ready for bed which is always an orchestrated event. They don’t go down quietly and they always seem to be at their silliest right after they’re in their beds. I read them some Christmas books and tried to get them to settle down but Vee just kept trying to ask me question in German and laughing when I couldn’t answer them. Silly girls. I really need to get into a language course.

After the girls were down, I settled in for the night with Moulin Rouge (which only reminded me of the time that Harry and I busted out the entire Elephant Love Medley at the Seehaus biergarden back in September and embarrassed all of our friends).

Moulin Rouge - Elephant Love Medley - MyVideo

Tuesday, December 7th

I should have written it down earlier because now I can’t remember what I did on Tuesday. Obviously nothing important. What I do know is that I made calls to all of my student loan lenders and got the applications for my deferments. Economic hardship for the win!

In the evening I ventured out to Shamrocks to meet my friends for karaoke. Which is always a good time. I chose not to drink that night and bought a Coke instead but in the end, I think Nathan felt bad for me that I was surrounded by ridiculously loud and obnoxious drunk people so he bought me a beer. Cheers, mate!

Benji, Laura, Bria, Helen, Catherine, and Fio

Catherine and I singing “Naive” by The Kooks  

Wednesday, December 8th

Lauren came by in the morning to visit me, I can’t remember what for, I think just to hang out, and she stayed for an hour or so. We gossiped and gabbed and then she left again and I ventured out into the city to see Jess. It was strangely warm and so most of the snow melted and had pretty much all the way disappeared by late afternoon. Jess and I worked on our loan deferments together at the coffee shop and then I headed home to ready myself for the evening. The girls were at their grandparents for most of Wednesday evening so I didn’t have to work and was able to go out early with some friends. We started at Marienplatz and worked our way down Leopoldstrasse until we ended up at Peaches where we had a Super Zombie and stole some free popcorn for the UBahn ride to our favorite hostel bars. I stayed up waaaaaaay past my bedtime but had a good time playing pool with friends and drinking delicious German brew.

Me, Jess, and Wing and our Super Zombie

Thursday, December 9th

The snow came back overnight and it was cold outside but the sun was out for most of the morning. By the time I headed to the girls school to pick them up for their recorder lessons, it was freezing outside. I had to walk most of the way to get to the school and then we had to walk to the building where they have their lessons. And while one twin did her lesson, the other came with me. Vee didn’t want to go sit in a warm cafe so we stayed outside and took pictures of the snow. Crazy kid. We were frozen! On our way back to switch twins, we came across a little Chihuahua mix dog who was lost and was shivering cold and frozen. He had a doggie sweater on but my heart broke for the poor little guy. He wouldn’t come to me so I couldn't’ do anything for him but I just wanted to hug him and make him warm again. I hope he found his mama!

Schneekind!

Let it snow…

The  snow outside the house

I had to babysit the girls that night and right before their mom left for the art gallery she was going to, the poor kids really did me in. They were super, extra bratty and weren’t listening to me at all. They were taking their baths but Eenie had the shower and Vee had the tub. Vee wanted the shower but I told her that she didn’t need to use both of them and that she could have the shower the next time. Of course, she doesn’t like to hear the word no so she started whining at Eenie to hurry up and finish so they could ‘switch.’ I told her to stop but she kept doing it. I kept telling her to stop and so then she started crying for her mom. Who wasn’t responding because she was the shower somewhere else in the house. Eventually Vee started screaming and yelling for her mom and I told her to knock it off about ten times before she just started hysterically crying. I told both of them that they needed to get out of the shower/tub but neither of them would listen to me. Vee just cried and screamed for her mom and Eenie just told me, “No. I do it with mommy.” So I just let the water out of Vee’s bath and asked her to get one more time but she stayed in and cried until her mom was finally able to respond. Then her mom yelled right back at her and the whole ordeal sounded extremely more dramatic in German. It was ridiculous. Then they were both crying as they got dressed and dried their hair. These children are insufferable sometimes. Jeez. Fortunately, it gave them a bit of a head start on bedtime because they wore themselves out. They were asleep by 7:15 and personally, I think these kids oversleep. They get about 12 hours of sleep every night. I really wish I’d retained anything that I learned in my child development classes. Ha.

Friday, December 10th

Another slow day, which is fine with me seeing as a blizzard is pretty much on its way through Munich. Snow, snow, snow. It’s ridiculous. I’m over it already. Sigh. I spent the morning catching up on blogs, cleaning, and my student loan deferment applications. I just have to write up a letter of my economic hardship status and then send them off (hopefully by fax) and I will be done! Loan payments deferred. Hopefully. The whole process has been kind of annoying. Necessary, of course, but still annoying. I have three different loan companies to answer to so I had to do the same thing three different ways. One of the companies allowed me to fax the information over but for the other two, I needed to send them by mail. I had to make copies of my au pair contract and write a letter describing my work load, contract hours, and income source and hope that they believe all of this, because, to be honest, saying that I work for a private employer and that I get paid cash in hand sounds kind of shady. So, cross your fingers and wish me luck! And because my life is so interesting… I took a picture of even the most minute detail.

Taking care of business!

I took all of this business to the post office near Munchner Freiheit and of course, something had to be wrong with it. German post is so weird. The envelopes that you use have to be a certain size or your letters cost 6 EUR or more to send. I wanted to send my applications in straight, simple letter sized envelopes (as pictured) but I didn’t want to spend 12 EUR to do that. So I had to go to the retail section, pick out envelopes that are the right size – about the size of a greeting card – and open the package, fold my applications into a fat, bunch of ugliness – stuff them into the tiny little envelopes and then bring them to the postal worker for send off. Between the two letters and the package of envelopes, I paid 7 EUR. Which is still saving me 5 EUR for something else later on. Hopefully ACS and the Department of Education don’t mind the bad packaging. I’ll blame it on the Germans this time.

Back at home, I made chocolate chip cookies for the girls and waited for them to come home from their Christmas music performance. I had wanted to go but didn’t come back from the post office in time. The rest of the evening was spent with the kids – the Frau went out again that evening. Eenie, Vee, and I watched Peter Pan and ate cookies and I put them to bed just before nine. My Friday night was spent perusing Facebook, stalking blogs, and reading. I am, essentially, the most interesting person on the face of the Earth. Officially. ;)

Hans im Glück Burger Grill, Mini Pizzas and Old Fashioned Cartoons, and A Last Minute Trip to the Chiemsee Weihnachtmarkt

Saturday, December 4th

I had a somewhat uneventful Saturday. Unless you count being entertained by your hungover, probably still drunk, and somewhat irritable Irish friend eventful. Then I had a very eventful Saturday! Haha. I kept the poor girl company while she moaned and groaned about the previous nights imbibing. We both had the hots for cheeseburgers so we found a new restaurant and ventured in that direction and were delighted to find that it was worth every penny. And the restaurant itself was really cool, great design!

I had the avocado burger. You know me. I love me some avocados!

Loved the trees on all the tables!

After lunch, Fio returned home to sleep off the rest of her hangover and I attempted to enjoy the Christkindlmarkt but I found that it was not fun and would definitely not be enjoyed. There were a million people walking in every which direction, pushing and being touristy and rude. I wasn’t down for that – I hate crowds – and so I just got on the train and went home. The markets will be better enjoyed on Wednesday mornings.  I was supposed to meet up with Jessica this day to make snowmen in the English Gardens (cool, I know!) but the girl is ridiculous when it comes to making plans and getting in contact with her. Haha. To make matters worse, she lost her phone and so I couldn’t get a hold of her. Instead of showing up at my house at 12 like we’d planned the night before, she came at 3 pm, while I was across town eating lunch with Fio. Silly Jessica. We tried to meet up with her again but lost her in the hustle and bustle of Marienplatz and that was the end of our attempts. Crazy girl!

Once I arrived home I had a few hours to spare before I had to babysit die kinder but, like always, I didn’t do much with my spare time. I chatted with a new friend, did some blogging (do I really even have any other hobbies?), and watched more Desperate Housewives. (You’d think that I would eventually run out of episodes to watch, wouldn’t you? Good thing there is still an entire season left for me to catch up on.) Around 8 I went downstairs to look after the girls as their parents went out to dinner. We made mini pizzas and stayed up late (for them, anyway) watching old cartoons. They passed out and were asleep by 9:15.

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf? 

While all of my friends went out on the town again, I stayed in (for work purposes, of course) but it’s always nice to have a good excuse to stay in every once in a while. Money flies - I am horrible at saving (especially when a 44 EUR train ticket and 15 EUR phone credit take up a good chunk of it). When I was back in California, I was working three jobs and had enough money to get by, pay my rent, cover the bills, gas up my Stratus, and still entertain myself. It’s really hard to come down from those habits and I’m learning that the hard way with every pay period.

Sunday, December 5th

Originally I’d planned to go on the Erasmus trip to Nürnberg with Eric and Helen but Helen bailed on me and I figured that Eric could use a little trip without me. Ha. Last time we were attached at the hip - I’ll give the boy some space. Since a few of my friends were planning a trip to the Chiemsee Weihnachtsmarkt on the same day, I decided to go there with them instead and would save Nürnberg for the following weekend. Chiemsee is south of Munich, accessed by the train, and located on a little island. Incredibly quaint and absolutely adorable.

We took the Deutsche Bahn (trains) like we always do when we travel Bavaria and used a Bayern ticket which is 28 EUR for up to 5 people to share. I get to the central station (Hauptbahnhof) and run into Jess and Kymbat just before we met up with the others and was told that I would be able to jump onto someone’s Bayern ticket. But after we meet up with everyone and get on the train, we discover that  we have 17 people and 3 tickets – enough for 15 people. So myself and another girl would have to get our own Bayern ticket but pay 14 EUR each for it. Instead of the 5 something EUR paid by everyone else. So that sucked! They didn’t actually check it on the train ride there but we bought the ticket anyway once we arrived in Chiemsee and then had to pay another 9 EUR for the round trip travel ticket for the bus and the ferry out to the island. So there went an unexpected 23 EUR. But then Jess bought me a 3,50 EUR bratwurst mit semmel lunch so I guess I couldn’t complain too much. In the end, we split it up anyway and everyone gave us an extra Euro or two until it was all even.

Our trip to Chiemsee was ultimately a success. I didn’t even know what I was in for, seeing as it was such a last minute trip for me, but it turned out to be a good choice. We went to see one of King Ludwig’s castles (he has so many!), the Herrenchiemsee, and to get there we had to take a hike on this little wooded path and it was so pretty and serene. Jessica and I made it even more fun by using the soles of our shoes as ice skates until I fell on my ass on the cold, hard snow packed ground. But it was funny and I didn’t land on my camera so all is well! When we got to the castle we immediately started a giant snowball fight which was fun because I’ve been wanting to do it since it started snowing. I definitely lost but we got the boys a few good ones, don’t worry!

Yours, truly.

Jessica and Kymbat on the way to Herrenchiemsee

Herrenchiemsee

The island that this castle is located on is different from the island where the Weihnachtmarkt is located. That’s because the two islands are meant for men - “herren” or gentleman’s island – and women - “frauen” or the lady’s island.  There is also a nunnery on the lady’s island and the markets are known as the Frauenchiemsee Christkindlmarkts. Interesting little fact for you about the Chiemsee islands. :)

While at the Weihnachtmarkts (aka Christkindlmarkt) we drank the customary mulled wine (aka glühwein), ate pommes frites (which were surprisingly, hard to find), spent at least 10 minutes every half an hour trying to get our group together, took a million and a half pictures, and enjoyed new friends, warm clothes, and good German culture.

Chiemsee

Most of the group, at the see side.
(Thanks, Ana for the picture!) 

We found a fire!

 

Dankeschön, You Lovely Germans. DANKESCHÖN.

Well, now I really want to stay here in Germany.

The mail man needed me to sign for a package but when I asked him if he spoke English, he scowled at me and asked, “You live here? In Germany?” I responded yes and he says, “And you don’t speak German? That’s terrible.”

Stupid jerk. But I guess it’s just the same for all of the stupid Americans who argue against the immigrants living in the United States and not being able to speak or understand anything other than Spanish. You don’t see me going up to the ESL children that I worked with in California classrooms saying, “You live in America and you don’t speak English? You’re a disgrace. That’s horrible.”

I’m not living here forever and our charming mail man has given me a reason to be happy to leave.

Thank you, VERY MUCH.

Lazy Mondays, Desperate Housewives Obsession, A Promise of Snow, Miscommunications, and a Tollwood Double Shot (Nov. 22 – 24)

Monday – I woke up at 6:30 and carried on with my regular morning routine, which usually consists of emptying the dishwasher, making the girls school snack, eating breakfast, and trying not to lose my cool over a child’s dramatic daily tantrum. This happens every morning. Give or take. I cleaned up after the girls weekend mess – I hope they learn how to clean up after themselves someday, for their futures sake, anyway. I didn’t do much of anything else after that. I read my book – I’ve started reading Summer Sisters again (for the 12th time, I swear…). I watched two discs of Desperate Housewives over the course of the day. I’m obsessed with this show. I can’t believe I never gave it a chance. I’m halfway through the 4th season and I cried when I saw the tornado episode. I know that Lynette’s family would survive but the emotion of her discovery that they were buried under the rubble was jarring. I ached for them as if they were my own. I started writing some post cards but only got through one and a half out of 12. One for my grandma and half of one for my mom. I “worked” which means that I made dinner (salmon grilled over butter, white rice, green peas, and lemon butter sauce), played board games with Eenie and Vee, and wandered around aimlessly trying to get the girls to get ready for bed but they don’t listen to me so I had little purpose or desire to be there at that particular moment. I then cuddled warm in my bed and fell asleep to another episode of DH. Uneventful Monday, to say the least.

My new favorite ladies!

Tuesday –  Followed my usual morning routine and then I read my book for most of the morning.  Jessica came over around 11, after she’d braved the crowds at H&M’s one-day only Lanvin sale. She tried to convince me to join her but when I don’t have any money, shopping is the last thing that I want to do (and in Europe, trust me, this sucks because the clothes and the shoes are amazing and I can’t buy any of them). I get cranky and irritated and the crowds start to piss me off. I couldn’t convince her of this and she begged and begged but I did not relent. I opted to get out of the house today anyway. Sans shopping, of course, and in spite of the weather which is getting colder and colder everyday – and Jessica and I ventured into the city for aimless wandering. We managed to go to Tenglemann (grocer) to see if we could find some variety of turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. We found some small birds (baby turkey, duck, and goose) but they’re all incredibly expensive and we’re thinking we may have to pass on that particular novelty of American tradition. After we met defeat, we wandered into a little eclectic store on Leopoldstrasse and oo’d and aww’d over their delightful Christmas displays and adorable ornaments. I love Christmas time for this reason. The stores turn into beautiful, Christmasy wonderlands with fun stuff to look at.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

One postcard purchase later, we ventured down the street a ways to Karstadt (department store – kind of – with a bottom floor grocery store and food court) to get out of the cold and sit down and eat our homemade lunch but they kicked us out and so we ended up back on the UBahn and, eventually, at Odeonsplatz where we wandered into San Francisco Coffee Company and stayed for 2 1/2 hours. (By the way, I’ve never even seen a SFCC in the actual city of San Francisco.) We didn’t buy anything but instead took advantage of their comfortable chairs, free wireless and convenient bathrooms and we played Words With Friends (Jess is winning) and I read my book while I waited for her to find her words. At 3, I returned home to regroup before the twins came home at 4:15. During my walk home from the UBahn station, I encountered my first snow fall – which was, to be honest, pretty pathetic. It was kind of like a rain-snow hybrid and it melted as soon as it hit the ground or my outstretched (gloved) hands so I guess it’s not really snow but it was exciting and left me wondering if one of these mornings I will wake up to a winter wonderland outside my window.

Kind of like this (which are all photos of past winter wonderlands here in Munich):

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(Okay maybe I’m a little bit excited for the snow…)

Once the girls came home at about 4:30ish, I attempted to entertain them (and myself) for 3 1/2 hours. They were throwing tantrums right from the get-go – high pitched screaming, hysterical crying, hitting, and yelling – you know, the usual. I don’t know about what but it’s starting to really grate my nerves. We had dinner early – or they had dinner early, seeing as I wasn’t interested in dinner at 5 pm. Then we all kind of wandered around the house without purpose or direction. I don’t understand why they don’t just go off and play together – it can be very strange sometimes how they just wander around the house with no aim. Vee even talks to herself sometimes. Weird little kids… They took a bath for about 45 minutes and then got ready for bed. I read them two books and then was dismissed. The Frau is going out but not until 9 so going out to karaoke tonight (the usual Tuesday night event) would have been rather pointless. I tried to watch Sex and the City 2 but I quickly realized how ridiculously stupid that movie actually is (for the second time…) and I fell asleep instead.

Wednesday – Repeat of the morning routine and just a few frustrations. Miscommunications or something between me and my host-mom about some laundry business. Because I had to use the drying rack which had all of the cloth placemats on them, I opted to bring all of the placemats upstairs to put them away in the kitchen. I left them on the kitchen table and intended to put them away after breakfast but when she came into the kitchen she immediately questioned me about why they were there and then very rudely stated that they were not ironed and that we’re not using them anymore so they need to go back downstairs. And then suggested that I iron them. Well, ironing placemats isn’t part of my job (sorry!) and I don’t appreciate being criticized after I’ve tried to be helpful  so I just nodded and agreed, “Okay, okay. Yeah. Okay.” I put the placemats downstairs in a nice and neat pile, un-ironed and tried not to be too angry about the exchange. I’ve gotten to the point where I just concede and nod to whatever she’s saying when things like this come up. I used to smile and nod but even that’s getting to be hard to do. I think it’s just a cultural thing, to be honest. Or a clashing of personalities or lost expectations. I really don’t know. I honestly don’t think that she means to come across as rude – at least I hope she doesn’t – but it’s very hard for me to keep high spirits when I feel as if I’m constantly doing things wrong, especially five months later. It happens more than I’d like to admit and it’s a huge part of why I’m starting to resent this job. But alas, I will suck it up. In the end, I do get to leave so I’ll chin up and manage. I know that I should try to talk to her about it but I’m terrified. I hate confrontation and who knows how it will end so… I probably won’t and will just hope for the best.

After all of this, I did my laundry and cleaned my bathroom – took out my garbage – took a shower. I went into town around 9:45 to meet Helen for the morning. She and I are both in a similar situation – we’ve been working with children so long that we’re in dire need for a new perspective but neither of us can really come out of it. So we spent the morning venting and complaining and getting it all out. Sometimes that’s just what you have to do. We both agreed that we’re tired but that we’re starting to take it out on the kids and it’s not, in the least bit, fair to them so I hope that the two of us can get some kind of clarity. I really do love having this experience, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t expect it to be sunshine and roses all the time but I just wish that it wasn’t so taxing on my emotions. I am so stressed out and with everything else that I’m dealing with, this resentment and frustration certainly doesn’t help. All I can do is hope that Christmas brings glad tidings of joy… and stuff.

Anyway, after Helen went off to work, I tried to go to Tollwood (winter folk festival) but it wasn’t really… open. Even though it’s supposed to have started today – it definitely wasn’t so I just wandered around the streets of Munich until I stumbled onto an UBahn station at Sendlinger Tor. I was approached by some Mormons (one of them from California) and they tried to get me to tour their church and then invited me to a Thanksgiving feast on Saturday. I told them I was busy but thanked them kindly. I couldn’t really figure out what to do with myself so I took pictures of random wintry stuff and then headed back home where I finished my laundry, made lunch, and watched yet another episode of DH.

Random observation but whenever someone starts talking to me in German or whenever I am too overwhelmed to try to speak German myself I say, “Sprechen sie Englisch?” And no matter what, 98% of the time, the German person always says, “A little bit.” It’s cute because they always know more than they give themselves credit for.

Come late afternoon and I’m back with the girls and I’m still trying to figure out how to entertain them in a way that works for all of us. Today I went with a Thanksgiving theme, trying to explain to them how important the holiday is for me and why it’s so hard for me to be away from home and how they can help me feel better. I sat down with them and told them about Thanksgiving and how it’s all about celebrating the things in your life that you’re grateful for and I told them that I was very grateful to spend the year as their au pair, learning from them, loving them, and growing together. I gave them some coloring pages of turkeys and pilgrims and stuff and I asked if they could color me a picture for my wall so I would have reminders of my favorite holiday to keep close to me while I’m far away from home. Of course, they obliged. There’s nothing these little girls love more than coloring.

Not colored by a 6-year-old… but a 24-year-old. Ha.

In the evening I decided to give Tollwood another go and Eric and Helen joined me for the evening. We enjoyed ourselves as we sipped our glühwein and checked out all of the Tollwood vendors and did a bit of “window shopping.” There is so much cool stuff there. I can’t wait to get Christmas presents. Between Tollwood and the Christkindlmarkt, I’ll be set!

Hey, dad! It’s me and my  glühwein!