30 Days of Germany: Day 2 (May 22nd)–Bamberg, Germany

This past weekend my friends and I took a Sunday day trip to Bamberg, Germany. There wasn’t any significant reason as to why we chose that particular city – we just wanted to go somewhere in Bavaria that we hadn’t been before. So, for my second day, I’m going to feature some pictures and travel adventures from our trip to Bamberg.

We met at Hauptbahnhof at 9 am on Sunday morning and the twelve of us split up three Bayern tickets. The traveling menagerie – me, Eric, Nuno, Ana, Dieter, Sara, Anne, Simon, Kiira, Elisa, Florian, and Kaja. Our train left Munich around 10 am so we bought some snacks and beer and we settled in for the three hour train ride to Bamberg. I love train rides – especially when I’m with my friends – so the fact that we had to sit on the train for such a long time was not a big deal to me at all. We listened to each other’s iPods (Backstreet Boys serenades!), played games (between two different iPads, Ana’s phone, and my iPod), drank beer, laughed, talked, gossiped. When we reached Nuremberg, we had to switch to an SBahn and take another hour long train ride into Bamberg. By the time we got on the SBahn, it was already 12:30 and it was HOT. We spent the next 45 minutes on the suburban train sweating and drinking even more beer to beat the heat. But, it was worth it when we got to Bamberg and stumbled off the train – half of us drunk and smiling, having just thoroughly enjoyed our long journey. We ambushed the McDonald’s bathroom and Florian let me sneak into the men’s rest room on his receipt code. Win! Then we journeyed out into the city with no real direction or travel intentions – just a desire to wander around and find stuff that was interesting.

Anne and I with our Helles on the train! It’s not a Bavarian train ride without ‘em!

Our trash can on the SBahn. Party machen!

The city of Bamberg was quaint and absolutely beautiful. It rained for the first hour or so that we were there but that didn’t stop us from enjoying it. I think the gray skies gave the city a bit of a menacing charm – and I got to dance in the rain. No big deal! It’s just water! We wandered from church to church – one of which was located on top of this massive hill with breathtaking views of the city. We took pictures on the numerous bridges that we crossed – Bamberg has the reputation of being called Germany’s Venice, for the rivers and bridges and buildings located on the riverbanks. After the rain and after we emerged from two hours worth of dinner, beer, and good company in a traditional Bamberg restaurant, the city was ridiculously beautiful and we got some great pictures.

Lighting candles in the church – thinking of my ma!

The whole traveling group (from left to right) – Florian, Elisa, Kaja, Sara, me, Anne, Simon (we made him crouch down! ha), Ana, Nuno, Eric, Dieter, and Kiira

We made our way back to the train station just in time to catch a 7:15 train back to Nuremberg. We loaded up on snacks and beer (seriously, we were drinking ALL DAY) and jumped on the train that would take us to our connection train in the next city. We were all so tired but we drank right through it and as the train traveled on – we got sillier, louder, and more ridiculous. I’m sure that anyone who was on the train with us didn’t want to be and by the time we got to Nuremberg, we had more stores and more beer to buy. So for the last three hour train ride that would take us to Munich, most of us managed two to three beers each, and we even got away with playing a deliciously entertaining drinking game that involves whispering predictions of who’s most likely to do what and a lot of irony, laughter, and extreme entertainment. We made it back to Munich at 11:30 and while everyone else decided to go home, Anne and I thought it would be fun to keep the night going and we ended up at our favorite cluster of hostel bars. It turned out to be an epic fail as Anne had her money stolen and I had to borrow 10 EUR from a hotel desk clerk near my house because I didn’t have enough change to pay my taxi driver. Epic fail, lesson learned. But, in the end, it was a travel day success. This trip was one of the best that I’ve taken since living in Germany and is almost up there at the top with our 22-hour adventure to Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein castle in August. With only 27 days left in Munich, it is the days like this that I will hold on to and hope for as my time in Munich continues to dwindle down. I will never forget these days and I consider myself extremely blessed to be able to share them with the people that have made my experience in Munich so much better. Next time, road trip to Berlin! Woo!

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.

I Have Not Forgotten About You–Resuming Life in Munich and the Daze of Spring

With all this talk of my Italian vacation, my life in Munich has kind of been overshadowed and I haven’t really been giving it much justice, have I? I am down to seven weeks here and the thought of that blows my mind. I have been having a horrible time balancing it out, too. I want to be home but I want to be here. I can’t keep myself from being in both places and, for a while there, the homesickness was eating me alive and turning me into an emotional mess. I think I’ve pushed past it though, I’m feeling better and more balanced. I’m not missing the days of vacation and I have so much to look forward to over the next few months and so things are good. All is well with this German girl. :)

The last week went easy on me, where both work and my social life were concerned. The girls were not in school so they had the week off and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t have to work until 3 pm everyday of the week. We watched a lot of movies (Nana is absolutely terrified of Tangled, next time I will let her watch it in German to take the edge off), played a lot of Angry Birds (the six year olds have surpassed me on the levels), and ate a lot of pasta (what else is new?). The weather was beautiful so my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the sun either at the English Gardens or BBQing at the Isar. Munich in the spring is absolutely stunning – the trees have all turned green and are flourishing with the rain and sunshine. Lilacs are blooming (my favorite!!), birds are singing, the sun is shining. Everyone here is happy!

Down at the Isar with friends

Sunset on the Isar

Bruno Mars in Munich?!?!?

Lilacs in a Bavarian approved vase

A little bit of home has found its way to Germany, too – my good friend, Christina, who I used to work for in Monterey, has come to Germany to visit her mom, Kathe, who I have mentioned before in this blog. I went to Garmisch this past weekend to visit her and had such a relaxing weekend full of family, food, and much needed relaxation. I will make a separate post about the weekend, of course, but for now, let’s just say it was incredibly wonderful to see her and even though I had to say hello and goodbye to a piece of home, I was grateful to have her here! Hopefully I get to see her again before she leaves.

On that note, darling Jennie is returning to Munich today! If you haven’t read her blog, Too Hard to Find a URL, go do it. She’s witty and intelligent and Canadian so obviously she’s worth knowing. I met her last summer, here in Munich, and she’s returning now for an internship at a law firm here in Munich so I’m excited to have her back here while I enjoy my last few weeks in Munich. I am going to meet her at her new apartment in a few hours, too! Fresh off the airplane!

Now that Easter vacation is over, it’s back to regular scheduled programming. The girls are back in school, the Frau is filling up her spring social calendar, I am back to being overworked, and life goes on. For seven more weeks (to the day), I will live my German life to the fullest possible extent. Frühlingsfest commenced on Friday so I hope to take advantage of that soon (but more on that later!) and it is now officially May! This time last year I was polishing off my Capstone project and presentation, preparing for graduation, leaving most of my jobs, and getting ready to move out of my apartment. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since then or that I’m even this close to the end of my experience here in Germany. Sometimes, especially now with the spring weather and the nostalgic scents of the season, it feels like I just got here. Hopefully, I can make the best of my remaining time and leave Munich with a heavy but happy heart.

When In Rome: Easter Vacation (April 20th) Part 3

This past Easter I was able to visit Rome on vacation and I had an absolutely wonderful experience. I spent four days and five nights in Italy and was able to see so many unbelievable and breathtaking sights – things I never thought that I would ever be fortunate enough to see with my own eyes. I was also fortunate enough to meet a handful of really awesome travelers – people who I may never see again but will never forget! For blogging purposes, I’m going to break the adventure down into numerous installments so that I can include everything. This is the third part of my vacation, which includes a day trip to Naples and Pompeii and plenty of complaints about Rome's horrible public transport.

(Not So) New German Girl: Nine Months Down, Three to Go

March 20th marked the nine month “anniversary” of my arrival to Munich. And on this date, last year, March 28, 2010 I started this blog – Diary of An American Au Pair slash New German Girl. It’s been one year since that first post and nine months since I first arrived and guess what? I’m not so new anymore!

How can I explain to you just how much my life has changed over the last nine months? You’ve been reading this blog (I hope) so you have an idea of how far I’ve come and the things that I’ve seen but how could I really explain it to you in words? I’m not even so sure that I can do that for myself. What I do know, is that the girl that I was when I left California is not the same girl that will return in June. I have changed, my life has changed, and my eyes are wide open. I may not have seen very much of the world but what I have here – I absolutely love and to be quite honest, I wouldn’t ask for a do-over even if you paid me.

The months leading up to my German adventure were busy, busy, busy. Of course I had Germany on my mind but I was so preoccupied. I was trying to finish my Capstone and was looking forward to my college graduation. I was organizing all of my material possessions, moving out of my apartment, walking away from my numerous jobs and co-workers, saying good bye to friends and loved ones, and preparing myself for the unknown. When I first arrived, after nearly 13 hours of travel with swollen feet and a weary smile, it didn’t feel that different. I couldn’t understand how to get through the airport, not because of the language – everything was written in both English and Deutsch – but because Franz Joseph Strauss airport is a ridiculous mess of signs and signals and moving sidewalks. Eventually, I found a taxi in some shady back corner and I gave my address to the driver and although he barely understood me – I was hopeless back then – he managed to finally understand and we were driving away. My adventure was right in front of me. It was about to begin.

“Spring Break” in Cologne: Part II

Saturday in Cologne started around 12:30, seeing as we didn’t get up and out of bed until then. We had a late “brunch” and then headed into the city, intent on enjoying a bike ride adventure. It was a nice day – blue skies and a gentle breeze and warm weather! Everything Munich wasn’t. It took us a while to get through the city and find the bike rental station but eventually we managed. We only paid 5 EUR for a three hour rental – it was perfect. We got our bikes and headed out. Fio had done the bike ride before so she knew what she was doing. We had an hour down the right ride of the river and then we’d find a little boat that would take us to the other side. From there, we could ride down the opposite bank and get back to the city. The bike ride, each way was about 10 kilometers or 6 miles! So we rode about 12 miles on Saturday. But it was awesome and so, so, so beautiful. It was probably the best thing that came out of the weekend. I had such a good time and enjoyed the weather and scenery of Cologne from the seat of that horrible, malfunctioning bike. Sigh. Haha.

Nine Months Gone By (I Could Have Cooked a Baby By Now!), My Impending Adulthood, and All the Things and People That Make My Life

I can’t believe that it’s already the 1st of March, that’s it already spring. Where the hell has this year gone? I started this blog almost a year ago. It’s been almost nine months since I started this adventure in Munich. Time goes by so fast. This time last year I was working diligently on my graduation capstone and was taking care of Baby D five days a week. It feels so far away. So much has happened since then and my life has changed in every way possible. I have been so blessed to have this experience and I wish that there were more than just three months left to enjoy it. Unfortunately, that is all that I have left – 110 days, just a little over three months. There is still so much that I can do in that time – I’m going to be traveling this spring (budget-willing!), visiting Barcelona, Spain and, hopefully Verona and Venice, Italy. I’m going to Cologne on the 11th of this month. And in May, I’m going to Berlin to visit friends who live there. There’s another beer festival coming up in March – the Starkbierfest – which means that the dirndl is coming out again and my girlfriends and I can feel like real Bavarians. I’ve fallen short on my Munich bucket list but I’ll pick up on it again – I have a lot of stuff to catch up on that I haven’t even posted yet. Bear with me. I’ll get through it eventually.

Life has been good. Things in Munich are wonderful, I have no complaints. My social life here far outweighs my au pair responsibilities. Last weekend we completely exhausted ourselves partying. One going away party after another and two 6 am returns in a row. Club nights, bars, beer, tequila. We take it all in stride and we look out for each other whenever and wherever we can. I spent all day Sunday in bed watching How I Met Your Mother. It was glorious. Then my lovely friend, Ana, fed me a delicious pasta dinner and we talked for hours about everything going on in our lives. I love weekends here – I live for them. I will miss this when I go home to live in my mom’s basement and start my grown-up life. I will miss this last chance that I’ve been given to really just be young and carefree. It doesn’t have to stop after this but it will. I’m making that choice. I’m choosing to grow up and take on a more responsible adult role. Which is fine with me. But, for now and in spite of my near and not so distant future, I choose to enjoy the time that I have left here and to just live my life as it comes.

My favorite picture of the week:

My best girlfriend, Fionnuala. I LOVE HER.

Other things I’ve done in the last week or so:

• I watched 127 Hours about the guy who cuts off his arm. Incredible.
• Called my mom, twice, over the course of five days and talked to her for over an hour both times. I miss her. A lot.

I can’t wait to hang out with my mom and Ruby Tuesday.

• Earned 80 EUR on the side. It’s a secret! :) And then spent it all. Another lesson learned. Sigh.
• Played at the spielplatz with the cutest twins in all of Munich.

Das ist alles. Danke. Tschüs!

52 Things Challenge: #26 Host Visitors During Oktoberfest

I did this! Three times!

Oktoberfest is in September and October and it lasts for two weeks – 16 days, I believe. It’s pure madness, I can’t even describe it in words. Just beer and millions and millions of people. Revelry, beer, and people. Drunk people. I experienced it a few times in a drunken stupor (and a few more times I was clear, don’t worry!) because when you go to Oktoberfest… you go to Oktoberfest. You start drinking at 11 am because you have to secure your table at 10. And then you’re often home in your bed by 8:30 at night and you’re completely smashed, thinking it’s got to be at least 3 am. It’s ridiculous. But it was fun! And I was really, really lucky to have some wonderful people visiting me to share in the Oktoberfest shenanigans.

My lovely lady friend, Susie Q, came to visit me first, on opening weekend. Susie Q is a family friend and if you’ve ever heard me talk about my Oma Kathe on this blog, then it is worth it to know that Susie Q is Kathe’s oldest daughter. Susie’s sister and Kathe’s daughter, the crazy, candle lady Christina, is our connecting point. I used to work for her in Monterey, selling candles and running around after her grand-daughter, and we built an incredibly close employer-employee friendship that has, thus far, been incredibly beneficial to my heart and soul. Christina and her hubbie, Bunny Buttons (okay, that’s not REALLY his name), have been like a second set of parents to me and so their family is very important to me. So, THAT is how I know Susie Q and since their entire family is German and once lived in Munich, it was only natural that one of them had to come visit me. Susie Q was the one! She spent an entire day with me and my friends, watching the Oktoberfest parade, eating grilled hendl, and drinking beer from at least five different tents. Tourists in the tents would constantly ask if she was my mom and we just went with it. Who wouldn’t want to party with their mom at Oktoberfest? Haha.

On the very same day one of my best girl friends from college, Miss Kate, passed through Munich for the night with her friend, Kari. I somehow managed to find her at her hotel and then spent an hour, maybe 45 minutes, drinking with her and Kari in one of the tents before I became so drunkenly confused (I thought she went outside so I was waiting for her out there for 20 minutes but she was inside the whole time, right where I left her) and then I was just so lost that I ended up going home. But, even so, it was so nice to see her, if even for an hour, and I’m sure I was equally as entertaining. Haha.

The following weekend two of my friends from England flew down to Munich and joined me in the city. I met both Alison and Helena while we were working together at a summer camp in Pennsylvania, the summer of 2007 (and 2008!), and have kept in touch with them since. Being in Germany meant that I was incredibly close to both of them so getting them to come down to Munich for a weekend was really easy! They came in on a Friday and stayed until early Monday morning. We did Oktoberfest twice (both times were wild) and even went to Salzburg, Austria for a day. We had so much fun, it was so good having them here and I wish we could do it again!

Alison, Helena, and me at Hacker Pschorr

Best Quote Ever

(I found this draft in my Windows Live Writer and I can’t remember when she said it but I intended to and needed to post it. Just because I love her and the crazy shit she says.)

My best friend, Sarah, commenting on the difference of time zones between Montana and Germany:

You are from the future… literally!

Lauren Devine!

Not only am I going to London TOMORROW but I’ve just realized that I get to see my best friend Lauren in less than a week! Besties from college, me and LD have been friends since we were 18, almost six years now! It’s going to be so nice to have a little bit of home here in Munich with me and I can’t wait to see her. Look forward to the millions of pictures that we’re going to have from this adventure! It’s going to be so hard to have her go when the week is up but I know I’ll get to see her this summer. Seriously, so excited for the next two weeks! 2011 is going to be awesome!

Me and LD, freshmen year. Five years later, and it’s Germany!

A Little Christmas Gift From Me To You

Christmas morning has arrived and here I sit in Germany, alone and somewhat blue about it. I did have a worthy Christmas Eve celebration with some good friends. I tried a new recipe – salmon fillets baked in brown sugar and lemon – and it was delicious. I really hit it out of the park with that one and I’m pretty certain that next summer, my mom and her boyfriend are definitely going to reap the benefits of my newfound love for kitchen domesticity. I also made mashed potatoes, sautéed some zucchini (always good!), and Candice, bless her heart, brought corn and Pillsbury biscuits.  My friend Moxin (aka JOKER!) brought this Chinese dessert, I don’t even know what it’s called, but it looked like little rabbits and tasted like amazingness. Not a very good description but believe me, it was good! The night was a success, my friends, especially because I managed to drink an entire bottle of Riesling all by myself. Also, about three inches of snow dumped over Munich yesterday so dreams of a white Christmas definitely came true.

Delicious salmon!

We did good!

Candice and I about to enjoy our delicious Crimbo (thanks, Risha!) meal

Bunnies!

Now, without any real plans for the day, I hope to do laundry, eat left overs, go see Little Fockers by myself, and then have a phone/Skype date with my family members. It’s definitely not how I expected to spend Christmas this year but I’ll take it. I’m in Germany, after all! So, Merry Christmas to you! And now, I have a present for you. Please enjoy!

Merry Christmas, friends and loved ones!

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.

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!