ok! So I am officially the worst blogger in the world. My blog has become like a houseplant that I forgot to water. Doh!
But since my wonderful husband bought me a new very portable laptop for my birthday I am going to attempt to revive it. Now if I could... onlz...only get used.... öäöä.... to the German...ßßß,,, keyboard!
In my defense, it has been a very busy 9 months since I last posted. Apparently, my immune system was not well adjusted to Euro bugs and I was sick quite a bit this winter and spring. AND I finished the second German course I took since I have been here in July. I must say I am not missing the daily 4 hour classes + the nightly homework. But the classes have helped. I can understand about 75-80 percent of most conversations and can express myself on simple subjects. All I can say is it takes alot longer to learn German than I was hoping. Rats! But it is a good way to exercise my noodle and fend of Alzheimer's.
We had some visitors in the last months too! My parents visited over Christmas which was a beautiful thing. Then my brother came to visit us twice(!) and I was hoping I had snagged him for a return visit during his sabbatical but alas he bagged a fellowship in Hong Kong instead. Congrats Kendall! My friend Kate came to visit in March which was a breath of fresh air in the dark German winter and her husband Mike stopped by a few weeks later during his business trip which was nice too! Then in June our friends Ralph and Andrea came to visit us from Ireland. So we have had lots of nice visits from friends to keep our spirits up during this busy time.
Lukas is growing like crazy! He is very cute (but I'm biased) and he is learning to speak new words in German and English every day! At the moment, he is also facinated with the guitar and always wants Rene to play it for him. Very cute!
Other than that I joined an english speaking creative writing group in Berlin. It has been a really nice way to meet other english speakers and so far I have met a few other Ami's (which is Euro slang for Americans), some Aussies, and even one guy from New Zeland. And I have been having fun writing.
I'll be trying to post more often and I hope this post finds you all in good health and good spirits. We are planning a trip back to Michigan in September. Hopefully, we can catch up with all the Michigan crowd then!
Til next time here's your funny German word for the day: der Dudelsack= bagpipes
Much love from Berlin,
Steph, Rene, and Lukas
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Some Cultural differences...
Hi Everyone!
I just realized how long it has been since I last posted anything on our blog! Too long! But I loaded a recent pic of Lukie to soften the lack of blogging. :o)
Lukie has learned how to climb now and in this picture he is peering over at Rene from on top of the piano bench. He has started at his daycare over the last few weeks as Monday I began my German Integration course. This is a course offered to spouses of Germans and people that are from other countries. The main focus is to help you learn German but it also offers some information on German government and politics. It is 4 hours everyday mon-fri. It starts Oct 8th and ends in April! So hopefully by then I should be able to effectively communicate with the natives ...or least lessen some of the cultural differences.
Yep so this is going to be a blog where I discuss some of the cultural difference I have noticed. (code phrase for complain so sensitive readers beware!)
Allow me to indulge in a few moments of pointing out cultural differences. First, everyone here smokes. Public health bans for smoking have not yet made it here, there is a little label on the packages that says "Smoking can kill you" but nobody seems to listen. Therefore I deduce... Germans like to live on the edge! Why do I say this? An obvious example would be the Autobahn. No need to explain that one. But if you are looking for more evidence then that brings me to my second point.
Second big difference there is a generalized lack of interest in consumer safety. There must be some sort of Darwinism at work here. I mean people understand what things can cause bodily harm here but no one would ever think to sue someone over it. It is sort of a "responsibility of the user" society. So if a pregnant woman wants to ride a bike, while listening to her Ipod, without a helmet, while smoking, she can do that here. And no one will stop her. And it happens! And another example, the stove front in our apt. is hot enough to cook an egg on when you are baking but there is no protective cover. Lukas already burned himself on it when we thought it had cooled down. In general I would have to say a healthy skeptiscism about safety is good to have here. In America there is some sort of general sentiment out there that
"Oh, they couldn't produce something if it weren't safe so don't worry." That does not hold here. If something looks too hot, too steep, too dirty, or too high that's because it is. So buyer beware!
Which brings me to my next big culture shock of customer service and German grocery stores. So maybe it is because this is a big city but customer service in most stores is fair to mediocre at best. It is often the case that store clerks will look annoyed if you ask them for help finding something. Or several times I have been bumped or scooted out of their way while I am shopping as I happen to be in their way for stocking purposes! HA! Gone are the days of friendly cashiers, who offer you coupons, have small talk, and help you bag your groceries. Here you have exactly 2 seconds to remove you groceries from the bagging area after they have been scanned before the clerk looks over at you with some sort of reproachful look for slowing the line down. To think that in Ann Abor someone actually bagged my groceries and helped me get my groceries to the car when I was 9 mths pregnant! Here they will only watch you struggle with your bags. Oh and if you forget to weigh your produce. Big problem! You have to run all the way back to the nearest scale and weigh the item while the clerk waits for you. Try that with a 14 mth old! German grocery store clerks you are officially off my Christmas Card list!
Ok and so here is my last tyrate on German grocery stores. I think they send all the crazy people to the grocery store at the same time here. ( Please note I am willing to include myself in that). So first off you have these grocery carts with unfixed wheels (meaning the wheels slide in all directions not just forward and back) this makes them very difficult to steer. Then add some groceries to the cart and make it heavy and now you actually have a nice dangerous little rolling cart that is difficult to steer and heavy. But as I said I am coming to find Germans like to live on the edge a little so I think this must be part of the appeal here. Next put a bunch of people in the store that are all in a hurry, that do not slow down for people in their way, and have an urgency about them that says, "This is the last food available in the whole world." Rene and I actually saw a little old lady get bumped into so hard that it knocked her glasses off and the offender just ran by and yelled "excuse me" over their shoulder! Poor Oma (grandma)! But don't worry the Omas get their turn. Remind me to discuss the whole German interpretation of "It takes a village to raise a child." I'll save that one for another blog. :o)
Well enough complaining...er... I mean discussion of cultural differences and now here is a picture of some of the best parts of Germany... family!
This is a picture of us celebrating Rene's grandpa's 84th birthday. We had fun!
Hope all is going well by everyone there across the Atlantic. We think of you all often and miss you! Take care. And say "Hi"to the cashier at your local grocery store from this homesick Amie (short for American).
Love, Steph, Rene, and Lukie :o)
Monday, August 13, 2007
One month later...
Hello Everyone!
Well we are finally starting to settle in here in our apartment. Our container with all of our stuff arrived last thursday and we also had our cable internet hooked up on that day so we finally have internet access. Yea! We are really starting to create a little home and can finally start to communicate with people again with our internet.
Our new place is just great! We have easy access to a tram that takes you straight into the heart of Berlin within 20-30 min depending where you want to go. Rene takes this tram everyday to work. We also have easy access to smaller grocery stores and the groceries here a cheap! But the bigger grocery stores are like a combat zones! Like christmas time at the mall! But that is for another Blog entry. :o) Also with a little walking from our apartment you can reach several restaurants, cafes, and even an independant movie theater.
We are also starting to get to know the personality of the little area we live in which is also very interesting. Around the corner and 8 floors below us there is a small but frequently visited pub. We have not personally had a chance to check it out but we are already starting to recognize a few regulars just from walking past it. Also we live directly across from an auto wash center and have a great view of the German car enthusiasts as they care for their treasures. It's actually very entertaining coming from a person who's old car only got washed everytime it rained! The place has over 30 spots to clean out your car and it is often packed. Sometimes their is a line outside the place waiting for it to open in the morning! Many Germans are notorious for loving cars and this is a great place to catch a glimpse. The longest we have seen is someone vacuuming their car out for over an hour! Then of course their are those who drive up with outfits that match their cars for example head to toe violet and a matching car hue. Hey who needs a TV?!
They only neighborhood hazards by our place so far are the wide variety of doggie doo on the side walks and the occasional noisy conversations from the neighborhood senior citizen gang that likes to hang out by the cut through and drink beers together. They are also fairly entertaining and often seem like characters out of a German version of the Simpsons with a scene from Moe's bar.
Rene started his job on Aug 1rst and is in the orientation phase at the moment. Although the workload promises to be heavy he is optimistic about his new job and seems to like it so far. I have also been settling into my new job as full time mom and "house manager". :o) Big change of pace but also very fun and also makes me a little crazy at times. I am also in the process of trying to find a spot in one of the German language/culture integration classes that are offered to spouses here.
Lukie is doing great! He is growing like crazy. He has about 7 teeth now. He is walking (almost running most of the time) all over the place. He says a few words but I think because of the huge change in environmental exposure to the German language he is not very wordy. He says mostly the same words he said about 1 month ago. Mostly, num-num= food, da da= dad or anthing he is currently pointing at, up= up, and off= meaning off or maybe it's auf in German I haven't quite figured that one out. He also gives high fives now upon request and learned the German equivalent of "Listen!" complete with the index finger pointed in the air to get your attention and the slight head turn saying " Horch!" Actually it sounds more like Horsh! It's pretty funny. :o)
Well when we have more time we will post pics. Hope all is going well by everyone!
And next time you take your car to the car wash think of us! :o)
Take care! We miss you all!
Love, Steph, Rene, and Lukie
Well we are finally starting to settle in here in our apartment. Our container with all of our stuff arrived last thursday and we also had our cable internet hooked up on that day so we finally have internet access. Yea! We are really starting to create a little home and can finally start to communicate with people again with our internet.
Our new place is just great! We have easy access to a tram that takes you straight into the heart of Berlin within 20-30 min depending where you want to go. Rene takes this tram everyday to work. We also have easy access to smaller grocery stores and the groceries here a cheap! But the bigger grocery stores are like a combat zones! Like christmas time at the mall! But that is for another Blog entry. :o) Also with a little walking from our apartment you can reach several restaurants, cafes, and even an independant movie theater.
We are also starting to get to know the personality of the little area we live in which is also very interesting. Around the corner and 8 floors below us there is a small but frequently visited pub. We have not personally had a chance to check it out but we are already starting to recognize a few regulars just from walking past it. Also we live directly across from an auto wash center and have a great view of the German car enthusiasts as they care for their treasures. It's actually very entertaining coming from a person who's old car only got washed everytime it rained! The place has over 30 spots to clean out your car and it is often packed. Sometimes their is a line outside the place waiting for it to open in the morning! Many Germans are notorious for loving cars and this is a great place to catch a glimpse. The longest we have seen is someone vacuuming their car out for over an hour! Then of course their are those who drive up with outfits that match their cars for example head to toe violet and a matching car hue. Hey who needs a TV?!
They only neighborhood hazards by our place so far are the wide variety of doggie doo on the side walks and the occasional noisy conversations from the neighborhood senior citizen gang that likes to hang out by the cut through and drink beers together. They are also fairly entertaining and often seem like characters out of a German version of the Simpsons with a scene from Moe's bar.
Rene started his job on Aug 1rst and is in the orientation phase at the moment. Although the workload promises to be heavy he is optimistic about his new job and seems to like it so far. I have also been settling into my new job as full time mom and "house manager". :o) Big change of pace but also very fun and also makes me a little crazy at times. I am also in the process of trying to find a spot in one of the German language/culture integration classes that are offered to spouses here.
Lukie is doing great! He is growing like crazy. He has about 7 teeth now. He is walking (almost running most of the time) all over the place. He says a few words but I think because of the huge change in environmental exposure to the German language he is not very wordy. He says mostly the same words he said about 1 month ago. Mostly, num-num= food, da da= dad or anthing he is currently pointing at, up= up, and off= meaning off or maybe it's auf in German I haven't quite figured that one out. He also gives high fives now upon request and learned the German equivalent of "Listen!" complete with the index finger pointed in the air to get your attention and the slight head turn saying " Horch!" Actually it sounds more like Horsh! It's pretty funny. :o)
Well when we have more time we will post pics. Hope all is going well by everyone!
And next time you take your car to the car wash think of us! :o)
Take care! We miss you all!
Love, Steph, Rene, and Lukie
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Our Berlin Apartment
Left: The guest bathroom
Lower: Storage room
Our new kitchen
(view from winter garden) View into the living room+wintergarden
On the left: Luki's room with connection to winter garden 2
On the right:
Our bed room with wintergarden 2
Down: Master bathroom with shower + tub
Saturday, July 14, 2007
We made it!
Wow! So I can't believe we have already been here for almost 2 weeks! Time sure does fly.
These first couple weeks has been a whirlwind of activity. The flight was pretty stressful and started off with a glitch in the check in involving Lukie's passport. We were at the counter for almost 1 hour before we had everything finalized. But thereafter the flight went without a hitch. No missed planes, no long delays on runways. Thank God! We only had the challenges of trying to entertain a little constantly moving person and keep him from pulling the hair of the lady sitting in front of us or kicking and throwing his pacifier at the man next to us. That was challenge enough!
So on July 3rd we arrived in Berlin. Rene's parents and Alex met us at the airport. It was just great to see them! Lukie was tired but also very happy. :o) Rene's parents have been so helpful and wonderful. They had already picked up our temporary apt keys and even bought us groceries. So first we took all the bags to our little temporary apt which is on a street called Am Iderfengrabben in the district Pankow. It is a nice little place that is surprisingly quiet in the midst of this big city. We share a small apartment with the owner Herr Geisler (everyone here calls people by there last names and people rarely use their first names unless they are friends) who is very nice and also has a wife and two children 7 and 2 years old. His wife is a krankenschwester or nurse! I will have to ask her some questions about how things work here.
For the next few days we stayed there in the apt. in Pankow with Rene's parents. We visited the city hall to register as residents, applied for kindergeld or state assistance provided to all parents, started the paperwork to register me as a foreigner in Germany, and also visited 2 apartments. It's a good thing we started all these things sofort (right away) because the apts we had been searching online started to disappear fast and the paperwork often requires appointments that are difficult to arrange since this is the peak vacation season for most Germans and sometimes the offices are closed. We then spent the weekend in Chemnitz at Rene's parents apartment and visited briefly with Rene's aunt and uncle. Then back to Berlin.
That was all last week! This week we secured an apartment. Our new address is Am Steinberg 18. But we don't have the keys yet. We also continued with all the paperwork we need to fill out and register, Rene signed his contract at the Charite, and we also managed to visit with a few friends! :o)
Overall our first 2 weeks have been packed with appointments and adjusting to the time change, new food for Lukie, different sleep schedules, and trying to adjust my ears to hearing German all the time. On average I feel like the adjustment is going pretty well. I sometimes have a headache from trying to think of what to say next or from translating what is going on in my head. But most times things " geht gut!" (go well) I still feel like I am on vacation. I haven't had any real chunk of time to let things soak in that we are actually moving. That is because Lukie is source of constant action! But I bet in a month or so I will start to realize that either Ann Arbor looks a whole lot different OR that we actually moved. But it is probably a good thing because I don't have much time to get homesick. Although, I do miss everyone! :(
Germany has been fun! But I also miss the airconditioning, the screens in the windows, and I miss the long American showers but the weather has been nice and mild until yesterday and the heat is drier here. The evenings cool off quite a bit so the heat is managable. I have always been told that Germans are less socially interactive with strangers. So I was not expecting too much small talk with any of the locals. However, it seems that Lukie is a people magnet. Quite a few people have stopped to say hello to him and pinch his toes or tickle his belly and then of course say "Hallo!" and most times ask a few questions to me too. I am pleasantly surprised especially given that Berlin is a big city. :o) Yesterday, we went to IKEA (which I guess is correctly pronouced EEE-kay-ah for all you American's saying EYE-kee-ah like me) with Alex and Karen. We were getting ideas for our apt. but have yet to purchase anything big. I haven't had too much other interesting experiences yet but I am taking it all in day to day. One thing I did notice that was interesting is that this song by Pink ' Dear Mr. President' is on heavy radio rotation here. I have never heard it in the states. Anyone else heard it there? I think it is pretty good and was just curious if maybe I hadn't heard it because it is too controversial there? Well better run! Take care all and many greetings from all the Bernards!
Much love til next time, Steph :o)
These first couple weeks has been a whirlwind of activity. The flight was pretty stressful and started off with a glitch in the check in involving Lukie's passport. We were at the counter for almost 1 hour before we had everything finalized. But thereafter the flight went without a hitch. No missed planes, no long delays on runways. Thank God! We only had the challenges of trying to entertain a little constantly moving person and keep him from pulling the hair of the lady sitting in front of us or kicking and throwing his pacifier at the man next to us. That was challenge enough!
So on July 3rd we arrived in Berlin. Rene's parents and Alex met us at the airport. It was just great to see them! Lukie was tired but also very happy. :o) Rene's parents have been so helpful and wonderful. They had already picked up our temporary apt keys and even bought us groceries. So first we took all the bags to our little temporary apt which is on a street called Am Iderfengrabben in the district Pankow. It is a nice little place that is surprisingly quiet in the midst of this big city. We share a small apartment with the owner Herr Geisler (everyone here calls people by there last names and people rarely use their first names unless they are friends) who is very nice and also has a wife and two children 7 and 2 years old. His wife is a krankenschwester or nurse! I will have to ask her some questions about how things work here.
For the next few days we stayed there in the apt. in Pankow with Rene's parents. We visited the city hall to register as residents, applied for kindergeld or state assistance provided to all parents, started the paperwork to register me as a foreigner in Germany, and also visited 2 apartments. It's a good thing we started all these things sofort (right away) because the apts we had been searching online started to disappear fast and the paperwork often requires appointments that are difficult to arrange since this is the peak vacation season for most Germans and sometimes the offices are closed. We then spent the weekend in Chemnitz at Rene's parents apartment and visited briefly with Rene's aunt and uncle. Then back to Berlin.
That was all last week! This week we secured an apartment. Our new address is Am Steinberg 18. But we don't have the keys yet. We also continued with all the paperwork we need to fill out and register, Rene signed his contract at the Charite, and we also managed to visit with a few friends! :o)
Overall our first 2 weeks have been packed with appointments and adjusting to the time change, new food for Lukie, different sleep schedules, and trying to adjust my ears to hearing German all the time. On average I feel like the adjustment is going pretty well. I sometimes have a headache from trying to think of what to say next or from translating what is going on in my head. But most times things " geht gut!" (go well) I still feel like I am on vacation. I haven't had any real chunk of time to let things soak in that we are actually moving. That is because Lukie is source of constant action! But I bet in a month or so I will start to realize that either Ann Arbor looks a whole lot different OR that we actually moved. But it is probably a good thing because I don't have much time to get homesick. Although, I do miss everyone! :(
Germany has been fun! But I also miss the airconditioning, the screens in the windows, and I miss the long American showers but the weather has been nice and mild until yesterday and the heat is drier here. The evenings cool off quite a bit so the heat is managable. I have always been told that Germans are less socially interactive with strangers. So I was not expecting too much small talk with any of the locals. However, it seems that Lukie is a people magnet. Quite a few people have stopped to say hello to him and pinch his toes or tickle his belly and then of course say "Hallo!" and most times ask a few questions to me too. I am pleasantly surprised especially given that Berlin is a big city. :o) Yesterday, we went to IKEA (which I guess is correctly pronouced EEE-kay-ah for all you American's saying EYE-kee-ah like me) with Alex and Karen. We were getting ideas for our apt. but have yet to purchase anything big. I haven't had too much other interesting experiences yet but I am taking it all in day to day. One thing I did notice that was interesting is that this song by Pink ' Dear Mr. President' is on heavy radio rotation here. I have never heard it in the states. Anyone else heard it there? I think it is pretty good and was just curious if maybe I hadn't heard it because it is too controversial there? Well better run! Take care all and many greetings from all the Bernards!
Much love til next time, Steph :o)
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
First posting.
Wow!
Here we are joining the world of the BLOG. My wonderful husband René set this up for me and I suppose if I am really going to use it I might as well start now!
But I am really a rookie at this so please excuse any novice errors or unedited rambling. :o)
Well, you might be asking yourself... why does Steph have a blog? Well in lieu of the fact that my small family will be relocating to Germany in exactly... 35 days I think it will prove to be an effective way to communicate my goings on with my family and friends here at home in the USA. In light of the 6 hour time change, having a baby, the frenzy of activity that will come with the move, and having very busy friends and family here is the USA this might be a nice outlet to catch up with many of our loved ones whom we will miss so much rather than trying to talk at 3 am or catching everyone here at 6am. Have said that we are always available and once we have a phone please never hesitate to call even if it is 3am.
# 2 reason is it might prove to be a nice remembrace for us some day of our travels.
I don't plan on it being a political journal nor do I plan on having it become an endless session of venting. But rather a nice forum to keep in touch. Although I am sure the occasional political jab or newest and funniest joke I heard might creep in so please try not to get offended if you are a sensitive reader. :o)
SO there you have it, my "mission statement". Hopefully there will be many more postings to follow!
Take care til next time!
Steph
Here we are joining the world of the BLOG. My wonderful husband René set this up for me and I suppose if I am really going to use it I might as well start now!
But I am really a rookie at this so please excuse any novice errors or unedited rambling. :o)
Well, you might be asking yourself... why does Steph have a blog? Well in lieu of the fact that my small family will be relocating to Germany in exactly... 35 days I think it will prove to be an effective way to communicate my goings on with my family and friends here at home in the USA. In light of the 6 hour time change, having a baby, the frenzy of activity that will come with the move, and having very busy friends and family here is the USA this might be a nice outlet to catch up with many of our loved ones whom we will miss so much rather than trying to talk at 3 am or catching everyone here at 6am. Have said that we are always available and once we have a phone please never hesitate to call even if it is 3am.
# 2 reason is it might prove to be a nice remembrace for us some day of our travels.
I don't plan on it being a political journal nor do I plan on having it become an endless session of venting. But rather a nice forum to keep in touch. Although I am sure the occasional political jab or newest and funniest joke I heard might creep in so please try not to get offended if you are a sensitive reader. :o)
SO there you have it, my "mission statement". Hopefully there will be many more postings to follow!
Take care til next time!
Steph
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