Weekend Wanderings

I can imagine that most people who happen upon my little blog would find the idea of a weekend in Germany a grand sort of event. I remember my twenty-ninth birthday when I made my first trip across the border just to add another country to my list. It was the sort of occassion when everything was worth recording. Sitting on the train, which is quite different from a typical Czech train) was an event in and of itself. If you're bored enough to flip back through the pages, I'm sure that in November '07 you can find said pictures. Now, however, I find myself actually having family in Germany. This means that, rather than being a trip designed for exploration and sight seeing, heading across the border means spending time in a little flat full of people. It means hours of sitting at the table chatting while food is being cooked and watching tv. It means games of memory or Skip Bo. It means a set of twins gone wild. In short, these visits are now just another normal part of life. Granted, being able to sit on the futon where we sleep, looking out on the steeple of an old Catholic Church does add to the effect. German architecture is also different than the Czech variety, so you can feel those little cultural differences, not to mention the multiple language overload, but I just don't take so many pictures. All that to say, this post is going to be more a highlighting of events, rather than a photo filled extravaganza. It was quite a long weekend that we spent in the little village of Neunkirchen, Germany. We were driven over on Thursday at speeds that ranged all the way up to 180km, (yes that is more than 100 mph) which reminded me of the hectic ride Crystal and I once took with a random German man in his very fast Mercedes of BMW or whatever. Anyhow, we made it safely and spent the afternoon relaxing and watching a very stressful movie called 172 Hours. It was with Czech dubbing, but it wasn't hard to follow. That also means the title might be different in English, but I'm pretty sure that's right. Then in the late afternoon the house was filled with kids and noise and all that goes along with them. Friday the kids had school again, so the morning was pretty quite. Got to go shopping with the girls in the afternoon which was fun. I've spent enough time in the area now, that going into Weiden was all very familiar. Shopping is always enjoyable, and I got my fill of fresh clean packages, and a variety of products you just can't find in American stores. I had to pick up some Milka with Daim (which is a kind of toffee) because it's just that good. Saturday involved another trip to the ice skating rink. The husband was feeling under the weather and, therefore, avoided the outing. This meant I got to practice my "skills" without so much pressure. I didn't fall down at all, and also managed not to stick close to the wall the whole time. I even had Nathalie make a little video so I could prove to Mark later that progress had been made :) It was nice to feel confident enough that when I watched another lady clearly having her first experience on the ice, I felt like I could show her that it really does get better. On Sunday, we celebrated Nathalie's birthday at a huge swimming pool complex. A few of her friends were there, so the girls were well entertained. Again, Mark wasn't feeling well, so he only swam for the first hour or so, but I still had a chance to enjoy all the different pool varieties. All except the diving pool... There was a lap swimming pool that Mark and I were in for a little while. The water there was around 25C which would be like around 75 or so I think. It was pretty cold in comparison to the other pool that was 30C which felt like a nice warm bath. In tat second pool, there were different areas that bubbled or showered, or did any number of different things. It wasn't very deep, and it was where most people passed the time. It also had a place where you could go into an outdoor swimming pool of the same temperature. Keep in mind that outside it was about -7C which is like 10 or so F. Basically, really cold. It was fun though, and there was a rapids pool there, much faster than the one in Moscow. They also had a giant waterslide that I went down once. It wasn't super fast, but that suits me just fine because it meant no going underwater at the end. They had reserved a party area as well, so we were able to go back and forth and nibble on muffins and pretzels and watch the ice hockey practice going on right outside the window. It was really quite odd to sit there in a swim suit looking at snow and watching ice skaters. Monday morning we headed back hoome and since then things have fallen back to their usual routine. I'm working on the editing process for my novel right now. Trying to make sure everything makes sense and fits together before I seek out the next step. Perhaps it's my propensity to follow rules that makes it hard for me to know how to go about doing things for myself. I remember feeling so frustrated when I had a college degree and no idea what in the world to do with it. It's sort of the same thing now. I've got a book, so what. At least I've got something, now I'll just work hard and hope to figure out the rest.

Christmas in Bayreuth

Christmas markets are a pretty big deal around these parts. They are especially popular in Germany. On numerous occasions I have made it over to Nurnberg to visit one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Europe. I'm not going to act all overly educated and pretend I know exactly how old it is or anything, but it's been around for a long time and is seriously huge. It's also a wee bit far away. So this year, Tammy and I decided to try a market we'd never been to that was also a little closer and still in the cheap zone. (Note: I lived over here for several years and the prices of things never really went up much, but after a year of being gone suddenly everything is more expensive. From food, to train tickets, and even the local ML bus. Inflation is not my favorite. Now let me ask you, should a ticket for a train with a heater that looks like this:

really increase? I think not.) Anyhow, we headed out on Sunday to check out the market in Bayreuth, a town just slightly farther away than Marktredwitz. We had a street map with a vague direction to go, but no real idea where to find what we were looking for. Thankfully, being the expert European travelers that we are, we managed. On the way we passed sights like this:

We passed through an ancient archway and spotted the drink booths, which let us know we were definitely headed the right direction. And then we were there.

I always love checking out the little booths and seeing what the popular ornaments are for the year. Being in Germany, and having prices in Euros, it was a bit out of my comfy range, but it's fun just to look. There are also the architectural gems that make it even more interesting.

We also discovered that they don't get a lot of American tourists around these parts. When we were looking for a hot drink, some men working in a booth tried to woo us with their wares. When we explained that we didn't speak much German, but English instead, they were very curious to learn where we were from and what brought us to their little town. When we half way explained, the older man who spoke some English decided that we should have a free sample of their special Christmas brew. It was a unique concoction that mixed red wine, rum, and citrus juice and I believe some cinnamon, all warm and toasty in a cup. I'll admit, I was rather glad it was a free sample, and there was no further pressure to buy, which was nice. It also did really warm me up all the way through, which was very useful on such a cold wintery day. Tammy needed her traditional market sausage, and I decided on a baguette with garlic butter, tomatoes, and melted mozzarella cheese. Tasty little snacks to help us along our way back to the station. The market was rather smaller, and much less crowded, than we had anticipated, so it only took us a couple hours to feel like we'd done the town. We jumped the next train back to Marktredwitz and when we arrived there we learned we had a while until the next train back to Cheb. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, we walked around through the streets of M. It was actually quite snowy there, but we were still able to enjoy the market they had there, as well as visiting a cafe. (Note: in Germany everything is generally closed on Sundays, especially in smaller towns. Despite Christmas being only a week away, even the shopping malls are closed.) The cafe we found open was one my friend Nicole and I visited several years ago on another day waiting for a train. It's a bit of a stuffy place in a hotel. The set up is odd and if you order a pastry you have to pay extra to sit inside and eat it. The usual set that takes a coffee there on a Sunday afternoon is rather cautious of strangers. The elderly ladies either ignored us or looked at us as though we had clearly stumbled into the wrong place. Ah well, at least the cappuccino was tasty.

It's only about a five minute walk back up to the station, and we thought we were doing just fine, but when we arrived we watched the train pulling out. The very train we were supposed to take. If we'd realized we should hustle it would have been no problem. Instead, we had another 45 minutes to spend in Marktredwitz. So how did we spend that time, you ask? Well, we went and had our photo taken with Santa. Isn't that what all the 30 something women you know do on a Sunday afternoon? Seemed reasonable enough to us. There is joy in being able to just enjoy life sometimes. And believe, the Santa and photographer greatly enjoyed our amusement. The picture is supposed to be e-mailed to Tammy, so I don't have it just yet, but when it comes I'll try to post it too. We did finally make it safely back to Cheb, where all things remained as they should be. We had pizza at Jakubska, and spent the night relaxing in her Skalka flat. Come Monday morning, she still had to go to work. The school system here isn't quite as set on always giving a two week holiday, so I think she works until the 23rd and only has off until the 3rd. Not so cool. My walk back to the train station was quite lovely. I decided to go down by the river and enjoy the place I've walked so many times. I wasn't disappointed.

And who knew there would be a tribute to me right there on the graffiti wall?

It was like it was my special day or something :)

Jiste Jedno, Noch Einmal, Once Again...

As "anyone" can plainly see, I've been in Germany again. I must admit, I always tremble a bit when I enter tri-lingual situations. Hard to know if I can possibly be up for the challenge. The truth of the matter is, I know one language. Sure, I've dabbled in this and that in the lingual sense, but most people don't consider being able to count to ten and say I love you sufficient evidence of language mastery.

Surprisingly, speaking to four year olds in German ins't quite the daunting task one might think it to be. They're used to people asking them the names of things to test their brilliance, and see nothing wrong with this practice at all. They also speak simply, if not exactly slowly or clearly. You know, you get used to being called "Sigh-ya" and "Mall-ek." Of course try to repeat these words in the way they say them and they'll look at you like you're clearly lacking something in the intelligence category.

But there was more to the trip than just wracking my brain for the right word. I've discovered that I can speak German more easily yet I understand Czech better. I think this is partly because I actually studied German so I have a good feeling for the sentence structure and while I might not always have the vocabulary I can wiggle around it a bit more than I can in Czech. As far as the understanding part goes, I've been listening to Czech a lot more often, be it in conversation or on television, and that has definitely helped with my comprehension. Just don't ask me to string words together because I'm certain to put them in the wrong order and with totally incorrect endings. Thankfully, I was able to pull it off well enough that the twins probably don't even realize I don't speak German, the girls at least felt like I could follow what they were saying and make basic replies, and I was able to carry on a conversation with my sister-in-law during which we both communicated successfully. Granted, I might have occasionally agreed to things that weren't exactly true, but what's life without a few micommunications, right? Even when both parties are fluent in a mutual langauge they don't always get the whole story straight, so I'd say we did pretty well, all things considered.

Of course, there was more than just talking that took place. Saturday morning I had a completely new experience. I'm not sure if this is cultural or what (probably some health regime I've just never heard of) but we had garlic soup for breakfast. That's right, a nice water garlic soup with a few random chunks of potato on the bottom and little crunchy balls of some time sprinkled on top. Considering the fact that my husband thinks eating syrupy waffles in the same meal as bacon (especially for dinner) is the strangest combination ever, I have to say that I've never heard of anyone having garlic soup for breakfast.

After that odd start to the day (well, actually the day started much earlier, seeing as how we still woke up at - gasp - 5 AM, but that's beside the point) Mark left me to fend for myself. This is when I not only impressed myself with my ability to cope, I also learned a new cooking skill. First I helped the kids a bit with putting jam in the middle of sandwich cookies (not nearly as complicated as it sounds unless you're four and think that you should lick off the excess around the edges...). Then I was called upon to make cinnamon sugar coated almonds. I've often bought these tasty little treats at holiday and festival markets in Czech, but this was definitely my first attempt making them. While I did have a large amount of helpful supervision in the form of my sister-in-law, I think I could actually produce said nuts again on my own. I even went so far as to use my iPad skills to document the process and translated the recipe from German to English. Nice.

Later in the afternoon, after the men returned from their shopping trip (oh the joy of electronics stores) the entire crew headed to the ice skating rink in Weiden. Now let me first say that I've only been ice skating once before. It was either Junior or Senior year of high school, some sort of youth group event I believe. I spent the entire time just barely not clinging to the wall. Much as I hate to admit it, 16 or 17 was a long time ago. I won't say quite how long, but suffice it to say, I can basically call this my first time ice skating for all the good that prior trip did me.

For those not in the know, ice skates are really very painful contraptions. My ankles are bruised just from strapping them on. And there is really nothing natural about the stance you have to take in order to drift across the ice. Perhaps, once you really get into the swing of things, your body naturally bends to the point that the skates are somehow comfortable, but I never got there. I just did my best to stay standing. By the end of our outing I felt just about confident enough to allow for several feet to separate me from the wall, and I even got to the point where I would actually lift one foot completely off the ice for more than the briefest of moments. I wasn't about to start trying a triple sow cow (yes I'm quite certain that is not how you spell it, but that IS how it sounds) and my one nasty fall was enough to make me think that being even a little bit daring was a little bit too much, but I still managed to have a good time, and even let Mark take me out into the middle for a couple fast loops. Note: I was clinging tightly to his hand the whole time.

In the evening, the girls made dinner for us all. They were very cute about keeping us all out of the kitchen while they prepared it all. There were name cards set for everyone, and all the makings for sandwiches were spread out on the table for us to enjoy. Very fun.

I would also like to note that the two reptiles - Gary the turtle and Gary the chameleon - somehow met their demise over the past year and were replaced by two rodents. One is a rabbit (okay a bit better than a rodent, but still a nocturnal creature in a cage) and the other was some sort of creepy albino sort of something. The rabbit seemed to be allergic to something and kept sneezing all the time, and during the night the other thing kept making sounds like it was trying feverishly to escape. Not the most encouraging sound to hear when you're trying to sleep.

Overall, it was a really great weekend. Even though I'm still not sure what language to speak or even think in at times, I'm doing my best to get a hang of things :)

Wake Me Up...

When September Ends...hahaha. It seems it's come to that. Quoting Greenday of all things. But also stating a fact. September is rapidly coming to a close, and most of it has been like a dream. A strange dream full of children and noise and a mix of languages that still has my head spinning a bit, though I've been back in Czech for several days now.
I won't bore you with all the details. As it is, I got a wee bit behind in the quest to journal every single hour of every single day of my life (far too big a task to really take on) and it's more of a mish mash of events by this point. Games of Skip Bo and a game like Sorry. Being the captured "princess" tied up with a rope. Hide and Seek, a game that definitely transcends language. And collecting treasures from the ground. It was three weeks in another world for sure. While I can't say that I ever gained the status that Uncle Mark has (nor would I ever attempt to since he's so amazing with the kids) we did get to the point where they accepted me as a part of the crew.
Kids are kids in any language. It was really great to have the chance to get to know them a bit better. To play their wild games and learn how to decipher something of what they were saying in German. Really tested my skills that are rather rusty after a number of years I don't really want to mention since my high school classes ended.
Besides all the time spent with the kids, once they were in school Mark and I also had some chances to explore the town of Weiden. It was about a 4 KM walk into town, but the weather our third week was so fabulous that it was well worth walking there and back. We enjoyed wandering around the old parts of town, as well as the great McDonalds coupons that we got. They made me think of Hong Kong but they didn't have any seaweed flavored Shake Shake fries here. Although there is something called the Nurnburger that has little bratwursts in it. We weren't too keen on the idea of trying that, so we stuck mostly with Big Macs :)
So here are some views of the lovely town of Weiden. Mark even got into the idea of me being a poser and took some fun shots :)






On one day Mark and I also went down to the little airfield in Latsch which is really close to the little village we were staying in. We had a great time watching the gliders flying and enjoyed a helicopter flight lesson in progress as well. It was a fun day and I even got a few fun photos in as well.




And the last set of pictures are from the little village of Neunkirchen where we were staying. It's a pretty little quiet place and we really had a good time there.




The tree in the middle picture was the source of the nuts in the picture below it. The girls were very excited about these nuts. They had Mark throw a stick up at the tree to get them down. They rained down around us, the thick green casings falling off and the nuts spilling out everywhere. Apparently in Czech you can sell these to farmers who feed them to their animals, but in Germany we only collected them and made our own little animals out of them using toothpicks. Unfortunately I forgot to ever take a picture of our creations, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. It's good for you after all :)
And now, the truly last pictures are for Rowan. A little tribute to his love of big machines. Let me just tell you, this was a serious beast.


The time spent with the family was definitely well worth it. Now it's time to see if we can really get the ball rolling so we can head to the US. Hopefully even by the end of October. That's my dream at least :) We'll have to wait and see...

Kinderbazaar...

I've encountered something new. A sort of sub-culture. In America we have garage sales. A place to take the things we've spent time on, but somehow outgrown, and to assign it a value. To share it anew with someone who might value from it as well. I've never been a big-time garage saler, the type that gets up early in the morning to scout out the best bargains. I'm more of the casual stroller, looking for some small deals, something I could likely live with out, but for a low price it might be worth while.
Here in Germany they have something a little different. It's called a Kinderbazaar. Instead of people sitting around outside their homes they bring all their used toys, books, and kids clothes and deposit them in a school gym or community center. And then come the mother's. It's really quite spectacular to watch the rush which often resembles a Day After Thanksgiving sale in the US. They all stand around the doors, pressing tighter and tighter, until at long last they open and they can begin to fill their jumbo sized Ikea bags with treasures that will benefit their families at a bargain.
I've been to quite a few of them during the past couple of weeks, most quite small, but still well attended. Yesterday, however, we went to the jumbo deluxe edition. We arrived an hour before opening time, and were able to purchase baked goods and coffee (fortunately made quite weak because they didn't leave much room for me to add milk) to tide us over before the doors opened. It was an international crowd as well. Germans, Czechs, even some other English speakers all began to crowd around the door half an hour before it opened. At first it was a loose sort of group, but soon it began to resemble the Chinese New Year market in Hong Kong. Not as much black hair, but the press and the crush was there, the feeling that, when the doors opened, you would have no choice but to move along thickly with the masses.
Fortunately, once we were finally let inside everything opened up and we were able to move around freely. Since I don't have any children at the moment, there wasn't a whole lot that I was looking for, but it was still an interesting experience just to be there in the midst of it all.
I've been here in Germany for two weeks now, and it looks like we'll be here for one more. It's a nice change of pace to be certain, and I've definitely enjoyed getting to know Mark's family a bit better. I still have trouble telling the twins apart, but even they are warming up to me, which is really good to see. It's hard not being able to just talk to them, or to understand everything they're saying, but I feel like more and more is coming to me as the days go by, and I can at least follow along for the most part.
Hard to believe September is already more than half way over. I certainly had not imagined I would still be on this side of the world by this point, but there are still experiences to be had and a bit of time yet to spend before the next chapter will really begin.

Ja Mam Gulas Im Mein Kopf!

So I'm in Germany, enjoying the crazy things of life with kids. I had no idea we would be here this long, but it has been refreshing and mind straining all at the same time. We're staying with Mark's sister and her family and so I'm having to keep up with conversations in Czech, German, and English and it's quite a challenge. We came on Sunday the 5th of September, so it's been quite a run and definitely good fun. There are four kids here. The girls are 9 and 11 and the boys are 3, so there's a lot of energy and excitement when everyone is around. The boys are in daycare during the week, but the girls were still on holiday last week so we were able to spend a lot of time really hanging out with them. It's definitely frustrating to have such a low language level. I can understand quite a bit, but any sentence formation is patchy at best, and just plain despicable most of the time. But it's all good for me, right? This learning and growing and oh so slow going...
It's been nice to have some fresher air to breathe, just something different from the routines I'd been living in. I've fallen horrendously far behind in my journal, and let internet connections dwindle to the point of freaking people out a bit because I was no longer on top of things in my Lexulous crazed lifestyle, but it's been good for me.
I've also been taught how to make Czech bread dumplings, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the right kind of flour in the US, and I'll have to reconvert the measurements. I also made chocolate chip cookies, but I'd done gram conversions and it just didn't really work. We're talking solid grainy sugar pools instead of the lovely perfect ones I made in ML a couple weeks ago. But the kids don't mind. After all, it's a bunch of sugar and Milka. What's not to love? I've forced myself through quite a few as well, just to make up for the fact that they aren't really what they should be. Ah well. Nothing like a few more pounds gained to make me feel better about life. Of course, if I ate all the food people around here seem to think I should I'd be a balloon, so at least I'm still working toward protecting myself on some counts.
I also was quite pleased of my jump roping prowess. The first day we were here the kids had me jump while they turned the short rope and in the process I believe I'm now supposed to have 58 children...I also managed to jump 114 times without a missed step on my own, which was pretty impressive to me considering how long it's been since my personal playground days.
Speaking of which, I was randomly remembering my stint as a cheerleader this morning. Don't ask how it ended up in my head, but I found myself trying to recall the moves and wondering if the video still exists when our little Klamath River squad managed to get a third place trophy both in Cheerleading and Basketball. Of course, at most I think there were five teams competing, but we never had a chance against Grenada and Big Springs who had at least triple the number of students we did. But at least we were able to overpower Hornbrooke. Just thinking the names conjures so many memories. Suddenly I was recalling the Castle Rock Basketball tournaments and sitting around late at night at Castle Rock Elementary school playing Murder and eating gummy bears and listening to the classic scary stories of Diane Oliver.
Perhaps it's partly being here with the kids that draws me back to those old days so long gone by. As the girls have been preparing for school I've been basking in the glow of fresh school supplies. The pens and folders and notebooks of fresh paper. It's interesting to see how different even their school supplies here, and yet the kids are still so much the same.
I've even found myself missing the idea of going to school. Odd, considering how stressed I get just thinking of tests, and how it fills me with dread to think of having to retain all that information again. But I was good at school. I worked hard, but I could do it. I guess that's part of why I've always been frustrated when it comes to finding new jobs. I know I can do whatever people need me to do. It's that way with cooking too. Okay, I'm not any sort of expert in the kitchen, but if I have to do it I can. The main problem is that I don't enjoy it. There isn't this feeling of joy and accomplishment, but more of, what if I boil the rice too long and it ends up a soggy mess - thus I read the package fifty million times during the 15 minutes it takes to boil 15 minute rice just to be sure I'm REALLY doing it all right.
So for those patient enough to make it to the end of this sloppy mess let me say that the title refers to a Czech saying. When they are feeling all messed in the head and can't think straight they say they have goulash in their heads. So the first half is written in Czech and the second half in German since those are the main languages I've been trying to manage around this place.
I guess that's probably enough of an update for now. We'll likely be here at least til the end of this week, so I'll try to share more once I'm back to my normal turf.

A summary flowing into Spring...

I've belabored the point. I've allowed business to get in the way of my straightforward reporting, and I've gotten so far behind that it hardly seems any point to write about those past days I've passed up. But I feel that I really ought to finish up Mom and Dad's trip here. In my vast catalog of photos (I don't really want to think of exactly HOOOOW many photos I have!) I have far too many stories to tell. So best to pick a few that sum things up, and move along into the new season that has taken Cheb by storm - only not exactly "storm," because the weather has been perfect and sunny and beautiful and I want it to continue regardless of what meteorologists seem to be saying at the moment...
So we'll begin with an ending. The end of the freedom to drive. Anyone who has ever been absent from this freedom, having first been accustomed to having it, will understand how hard it was to say goodbye to our little Skoda friend. While she wasn't exactly the top of the line sort of auto what with the front passenger door that would only open from the inside, the electric front windows that wouldn't roll all the way, and would never roll down, and the little engine that only barely could, our Felicia Fabia got us there and back, and we really couldn't have asked for more, especially for the price we paid ;)
The visit with my parents ended with a final weekend in Prague. As mentioned before there were lots of other moments I could go on and on about, like the fun and endlessly complicated dinner we had with Mark's parents, but there really isn't time, so I'll just post a few of my favorite pictures of our time together in Prague before they headed back to the US.


Then I'll briefly say that I had a positively glorious time with Malin when she came to visit. It was sooooo great to have her here. We reminisced about old times and dreamed of Hong Kong, as well as looking to the future and making the plans. In the midst of all the talking, we managed to take in a few great sights as well. She came just as castle season opened, so on April first we were able to enter Cheb castle on the first day that it was open.
On Good Friday we headed out to Regensburg in Germany. We were disappointed that all the shops were closed for the holiday, but the churches were all open, and we saw a lot of really beautiful old buildings and we thought about the significance of the day. We also found a nice cafe where we were able to sit and chat and look through magazines. Great time for sure :)

Malin's trip also ended in Prague. Our hostel was excessively dodgy, but fortunately we only slept there one night, and the rest of our time we spent seeing the sights. Mark also made sure we experienced some Czech culture, and he borrowed the little Easter whipping wand from a guy working at the Mucha museum and very gently beat us. What a great guy he is :) He didn't want us to be "dry" or unhealthy, but he was also nice and didn't hit us hard as I've heard some people are fond of doing.


Now I just wanted to end this post with some of the signs of spring that are popping up all over the place. I've been on some lovely walks with Mark in Marianske Lazne, and some peaceful walks alone here and Cheb and have enjoyed making memories of the things I've seen in the amazing Czech nature.





So now I say, a very happy spring to one and all, and here's to hope I see some ducklings soon :D