So the Thursday before last Cecilia had her Kindergeburtstag which is the kids birthday party. This couldn't have come on a better day for me personally. I had the worst head ache I have ever had in my life and being there to clean up after little kids while they literally pounded wooden sticks on pots made this one of the best days ever. I can't really tell you much about the party because I was cleaning up after everyone the entire time. I'm not even exaggerating. The kids ate their cup cakes and then went to play games, then I had to clean up after them and wash the floors and dishes by hand. After that I had to start their dinner which was french fries, chips, and little mini hot dogs that came in a jar. Once they came into eat I went into the living room and cleaned up the mess in there and then it was back to clearing the table, doing the dishes, and washing the floor again. All I know about German birthdays is that it involves alot of cleaning.
On Friday we had a good bye party for Eugenia. She left for Italy on Monday. We had the party at Jess' house because her host parents were gone for the weekend and they took the baby. We made actual food, listened to Christmas music, drank wine, and watched movies in English. It was alot of fun.
Saturday morning Katie, Jess, Eugenia and I had to wake up early. We had an Au Pair trip to Wuppertal through our agency. We got to the train station a little after 9 and we got to Wuppertal at about 10:30. Inge, the woman in charge of us told us to be back at our meeting spot at 2:30. By about 11 everyone was ready to go home. It was a nice little area but there was not that much to see, we went around the Christmas market there in about 20 minutes. It was also very very cold there. Inge found everyone and told us all that we would be leaving Wuppertal at 12:30, apparently everyone was miserable.
After we walked back up the hill and through a scary tunnel we waited for about 45 minutes for a bus to come to take us to a train. It was so cold out that I couldn't feel my feet. No one was happy at this point.
The train that the bus took us to was actually really neat, it is called the Zwebebahn. Its tracks are up above it instead of underneath so it hangs in the air. I got yelled at a few times by the conductor for taking pictures...none really turned out anyway.
We got back into Düsseldorf at about 2:30 and Katie, Eugenia and I went and got something to eat. I went back home at 5 to put on warmer clothes before going back out. When I got back to the house the kids were all there but their parents were gone. Maximilian said that their parents had gone golfing. I felt bad just leaving the kids there alone so I stayed with them until Dirk and Susanne came home which was only about an hour.
I met Jess at Mississippi (which is an "American" style bar) once I got back into town. She was with her friend Sebastion whom she had spent the day with. We were there for happy hour so we ordered drinks. None of us thought that there was any alcohol in our drinks so Sebastion went and complained to the waiter (he's German so he can do that apparently). The waiter said that we should bring our drinks back and he would put some more alcohol in them. Sebastion brought our drinks back to the waiter and he filled them with rum, we all had different drinks, but he filled them all with rum anyway. Then the waiter told Sebastion that this was happy hour, drinks were half price because there was supposed to be half the alcohol ( a concept Jess and I had never heard before) and if we wanted to have drinks that strong again we should find another place to go. Needless to say I'm glad I only had a little drink because it was really strong.
On Sunday we met in town at about noon because we had gotten a gift for Eugenia seeing as Sunday was the last day that we could spend with her. She suprised us by telling us that she would be coming back in February to work for her host family again. I am really happy that she is coming back.
The rest of my week was very very uneventful. I drank tea at Macloughlin's and watched some soccer games. On Thursday everyone came out because it was the night before everybody leaves. Katie is going to Switzerland for a while to stay with friends, a bunch of the Irish are going back home for the holiday.
Today is Sunday. I am sick. I have been sick all week but today it somehow seems the worst. The kids were sick earlier and now I am sick and I think Dirk and Susanne are coming down with something too....children. The family went skiing in an indoor ski park today. I was supposed to go but I woke up this morning ( 10 am) feeling awful. I thought it would be best not to go skiing considering I don't have a hat, or neck warmer, or a healthy immune system at the moment.
This week should be pretty easier I am hoping. German's celebrate Christmas on the 24th and not at all on the 25th. This actually works well for me because I am going to a Christmas dinner on the 25th so I wont have to skip anything with my host family and feel guilty. Katie and I are trying to think of something to take to the Christmas dinner/party. We are thinking egg nog and maybe cookies. I have to figure out a time to make the cookies though. Katie doesn't get back until late on the 24th.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Germainglisch
So I have started speaking this language, I don't know if any of you have ever heard of it, but I like to call it Gerainglisch (don't ask where the 'ai' in the middle came from, I honestly don't know it just seemed right). This is the name I have given to the language I have started speaking. I have started getting better at speaking German with the kids, but my vocabulary is not perfect. Instead of asking the girls what a word is ( they wouldn't know anyway because they don't speak English) I put an English word in instead. The girls have also started speaking this language as well, instead of telling me that they would like me to change the channel on the television they tell me " Ich want this nichts". I in return will respond 'Warum mochtest you this not?" (German grammer is awful by the way).
So I had the girls all by myself again this weekend. It was another reminder as to why I am never having kids, I think they are run on batteries. I don't think I slept more then an hour on Friday night/Saturday morning. Susanne gave me a baby monitor so that I could hear the girls if anything went wrong. In theory this was a marvelous idea. In reality it sucked. The baby monitor beeped loudly literally every five minutes. When I say every five minutes I actually mean it, this is not me exaggerating at all. Then every so often if would make a loud crackling noise. I kept waking up thinking that one of the children was going to be dead or crying or something like that.
I finally got out of bed at 5:00 in the morning ( I didn't want to sleep in to late or anything). I figured I wouldn't wake the girls up until about 7:30, afterall they deserved to sleep in they do lead a difficult life of birthday parties and playing Uno. I went up stairs a little before 7 and both of the girls were already awake and sitting at the table in the dark. Kids are so weird. I had told them the night before that if they woke up earlier they could come and get me. Oh well.
I ran out of things to do with the girls by about noon. They didn't want to do anything but look at my computer. I couldn't think of any games that all three of us could play on a computer that they would understand so I played some 'My Little Pony" videos from the 1980's for them. Let me tell you, that show was scary.
At about 1 Katie came over to help me out with the girls. We were going to the aquazoo and I knew there was no way I would be able to handle the two girls all by myself. It amazes me at how very seldom they have been out of the house in a public setting. You can tell by the way that they act that their parents do not take them places other then sport or school and of course church on Sunday.
After we got back from the aquazoo we played some games back at the house, red light green light was a big hit. Of course you can't really do anything very long with the girls because they either start fighting or whining or crying for no reason.
For dinner I made Pfannkuchen which is just thin pancakes. For the kids I made them with bananas and chocolate sprinkles and for Katie and I, salami. I got the girls off to bed early which was nice. Usually they fight me when it's bed time because they want to stay up later. They had had a long day and I am not surprised that they fell asleep so quickly.
My host parents and Maximilian got back to the house a little after 10. Dirk was nice enough to drive Katie and I directly to the alt stadt. They insisted on driving us there because they were so grateful to be able to go away for a couple days and not have to worry. The thing about being taken somewhere in a car here is that it is like being taken in a limo somewhere back in the States. Katie and I are both so used to taking the public transport that it was really nice to be taken somewhere in a car.
So I had the girls all by myself again this weekend. It was another reminder as to why I am never having kids, I think they are run on batteries. I don't think I slept more then an hour on Friday night/Saturday morning. Susanne gave me a baby monitor so that I could hear the girls if anything went wrong. In theory this was a marvelous idea. In reality it sucked. The baby monitor beeped loudly literally every five minutes. When I say every five minutes I actually mean it, this is not me exaggerating at all. Then every so often if would make a loud crackling noise. I kept waking up thinking that one of the children was going to be dead or crying or something like that.
I finally got out of bed at 5:00 in the morning ( I didn't want to sleep in to late or anything). I figured I wouldn't wake the girls up until about 7:30, afterall they deserved to sleep in they do lead a difficult life of birthday parties and playing Uno. I went up stairs a little before 7 and both of the girls were already awake and sitting at the table in the dark. Kids are so weird. I had told them the night before that if they woke up earlier they could come and get me. Oh well.
I ran out of things to do with the girls by about noon. They didn't want to do anything but look at my computer. I couldn't think of any games that all three of us could play on a computer that they would understand so I played some 'My Little Pony" videos from the 1980's for them. Let me tell you, that show was scary.
At about 1 Katie came over to help me out with the girls. We were going to the aquazoo and I knew there was no way I would be able to handle the two girls all by myself. It amazes me at how very seldom they have been out of the house in a public setting. You can tell by the way that they act that their parents do not take them places other then sport or school and of course church on Sunday.
After we got back from the aquazoo we played some games back at the house, red light green light was a big hit. Of course you can't really do anything very long with the girls because they either start fighting or whining or crying for no reason.
For dinner I made Pfannkuchen which is just thin pancakes. For the kids I made them with bananas and chocolate sprinkles and for Katie and I, salami. I got the girls off to bed early which was nice. Usually they fight me when it's bed time because they want to stay up later. They had had a long day and I am not surprised that they fell asleep so quickly.
My host parents and Maximilian got back to the house a little after 10. Dirk was nice enough to drive Katie and I directly to the alt stadt. They insisted on driving us there because they were so grateful to be able to go away for a couple days and not have to worry. The thing about being taken somewhere in a car here is that it is like being taken in a limo somewhere back in the States. Katie and I are both so used to taking the public transport that it was really nice to be taken somewhere in a car.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Plätzchen, Pläztchen, und vieles mehr Plätzchen
First off I have to appologize for not writing anything for such a long time. I have been really busy lately. With Christmas coming and everything there is alot more to do. I have also been helping out more while I am off work instead of coming to my room which has also shortened the amount of time I have to sit at my computer. With that said I'll try and fill you in on as much as possible.
It is Christmas here in Dusseldorf. Actually Christmas started the week before Thanksgiving. The town is now full of tourists and the Weinachtsmarkts. The Weinachtsmarkt is the Christmas market ( Weinachten=Christmas, markt=market, easy). They are little stands that are set up all around. In the stands you can find various Christmas food such as Pfannkuchen, Damfnudeln mit Vanille, Speckpfannkuchen, Lebkuchen, various flavors of Mandeln, and a lot more. One other thing that you can get at the Weinachtsmarkt is Gluhwein, this is a hot mulled red wine. I think it is really good, Katie thinks it tastes like cough syrup. They have booths that sell Gluhwein everywhere. When you buy a cup you get a mug with it, if you return the mug you get your Pfand back which is like a deposit. I can't say I have kept a mug yet, I don't really know what I would do with it.
Another thing that the Weinachtsmarkt brings is tourists. There are buses that come over from Holland and bring tons of people just for a day to these markets. Susanne gave me a heads up about the Dutch people coming every weekend from now until the markets closed. She said if I heard people that sounded like they were speaking German but I couldn't understand them at all they were probably the Dutch.
The weekend before Thanksgiving it snowed here in Dusseldorf. On Sunday there was a good 3 inches from the whole day. I really appreciated the fact that everyone told me that it never snows in Dusseldorf, all of my friends said that it wouldn't snow. One friend said he has lived here for 5 years and has never seen it snow. Well let me tell you, it snows in Dusseldorf, maybe not a lot I mean we are not in the alps, but it snowed and it was really cold. The temperature is cold here anyway though. It hasn't gotten much above the low 40s. 43 degrees is a warm day here. Even when it rains it is freezing.
Thanksgiving wasn't very eventful. I would however like to thank you all for your Thanksgiving day wishes. I had to work on Thursday and also baby sit at night. My friends and I were going to go out to dinner on Thursday in memory of the holiday we were missing, but because I had to work they were nice enough to postpone the dinner until the following Friday. We went to an Italien restaurant, the food was ok.
On Saturday I worked alot, but I got an extra 10 euro which was nice. I took Carlotta and Cecilia into Kaiserswerth for Carlotta's ballet class. After that we went to the International Library so they could check out some books. Some woman there asked me if they were mine, I told her no I was their babysitter ( you never say nanny because that is a legitimate career and people over here know the difference, if you say au pair they give you a blank look). She told me how much the girls looked like me and that they could easily be mine. I told her in return that they could easily be mine if I was an unwed mother who started having children when I was 15. She didn't push the 'they could easily be yours' thing again.
After we left the library we went back to the house and I helped making Plätzchen. These are Christmas desserts, just a broad term that I think mostly means cookie types of things. I don't understand why they are called Plätzchen instead of Weinachtkekses which would literally mean Christmas cookies. Who knows maybe that is one thing I will never know. We made a type of sugar cookie on Saturday. I made the dough ( I'm getting good at reading German recipes) and the girls helped me roll out the dough and cut out shapes. Cecilia the youngest kept smushing her cookies when she tried to pick them up. The cookie smashing would be following by an "Ach nein!" and she would put her hands to her face. By the time we were done with the cookie dough her face was entirely white with flour.
After we were done with the cookies we all went out for a walk along the Rhein. Dirk rode with us there but then went for a run and ran home. The girls had bikes and Susanne and I chose to walk, quickly. It was really cold out on that day. By the time we got back to the car I seriously could not feel my face.
I had to babysit that night so I was able to have Katie come over again and stay the night. We decided to order pizzas because we had never done so in a foreign country. So I found the number and Katie called it in ( her German is better then mine). We had the money ready to go 11 Euros for two little pizzas and litre of cola, seemed like an ok deal to us, we of course were starving by this time. We started worrying about the tip though, we didn't know if you were supposed to tip pizzamen in Germany, sometimes that kind of thing is just included. So Katie made me text one of our other friends to ask him if you tip a pizza man. I'm sure he started laughing at that, the two clueless American girls not knowing what to do when ordering a pizza. In the end we decided to tip him 1 euro, the drive wasn't that far after all and he was 5 minutes late.
On Sunday Katie and I ate breakfast at my house and then went out to shop a little. Completely forgetting that everything is closed on Sundays. Luckily the Weinachtsmarkts were open. We wandered around them for a while before getting bored and heading into Starbucks.
At 4 we were supposed to head over to some friends of ours apartment so that we could practise German. The friends, Shane and Steffanie are a married couple not too much older than Katie or I. The wife is German and the husband is from Dublin. The German practise was not only for Katie and I but also for Shane.
I couldn't believe how nice this couple was. They invited us into their home and made us tea and had chips and salsa (actual spicy salsa not German ketchup salsa). They were also very nice about helping us with our German. We had two hours where we could only speak German. I didn't really add much to the conversation, but I understood everything and at least I am absorbing it right now. Maybe by next Sunday or possibly the one after I will be able to add a little more then stories about my host children.
After our German 'lesson' we all headed to Macloughlin's for the Sunday night quiz. The four of us decided to play this week. The questions in the quiz are difficult. Anytime there is a question concerning America everyone always looks to Katie and I. Most of the time we have no clue though. I guess right before I came there was a question asking which state Salem was the capitol of. Everyone guessed Washington...if only I had come a few weeks earlier...haha.
On Monday I helped make more Plätzchen. This kind Susanne had made the dough for on Saturday and it was in long rolls. I cut the rolls into little circles (like the premade cookie dough back home that you just cut and cook.) then cooked them. After they were a little cooled off you dipped them into a sugary mixture. The mixture had vanilla sugar and regular sugar in it. I am not really sure what the vanilla sugar is. The cookies kind of looked like snickerdoodles, but tasted different.
Tuesday was eventful. I worked the normal schedule then headed off to Mac's. Jessica met me there. Going to Macloughlin's is not like going to a bar or a pub in America. It is like going to your friend's house. On Tuesday there was no one there besides Damo, Trevor, Jess, and I so we decided to play Wii. I beat Jessica at bowling and then got beaten by Trevor at everything else.
Wednesday was a busy day as well. This was cake day. Cecilia's burthday was on Thursday so we had to prepare cakes on Wednesday. We made 3 of them. Two for her to take to Kindergarten and one for her birthday at home. She told her mom that she wanted a cake that tastes like chocolate but looks pink on the outside. I thought this was funny. She is all about pink, everything has to be pink. After the cakes were finished I was off to Mac's. I had promised the guys that I would be there to help decorate the pub for Christmas.
I walked into the pub and it looked like someone had chopped down a forest and left it in the front room, there was a tree lying there and tons of green garland type stuff. There was also a pile about 3 feet high of Kügen ( i think that is how it is spelled?) I am not sure what we would call these things in English. Boughs maybe? They were tree branches and we hung them up everywhere.
My first job was to put the lights on the tree. I was corrected on the proper way to do it by Katie so I let her put the lights up. After she was done though the guys made fun of her and re-did it themselves. I am starting to think that the only reason they keep us around sometimes is for entertainment. My next job was to hand Trevor presents while he stapled them the the ceiling. After that I put up snowflakes on another ceiling but hit my head hard and was told to tend the bar. I've gotten pretty good at tending the bar I must say. Granted I can't take people's money, but I can pour a mean Guiness.
After decorating for a few hours we decided to take a break. The pub was getting busier and I don't think Damo was trusting my bar tending skills with that many people. After the other bar man got there we decided to go to another local pub called Spinnstrube. Anyone who comes and visits me will get taken to this little place. It is a little whole in the wall place that is decorated with traditional Swiss decor. There are also giant fake spiders hanging on the ceiling, this I don't know why. This place is also run by a little old man who is always wearing a colourful vest. They have a drink there called a Löffel (that is German for spoon), you served a little shot of something that tastes like cinnamon on a big spoon.
The rest of the week as been uneventful so far. It is Friday today and I have the girls all by myself from noon until 10pm Saturday evening. I will write on Sunday or Monday to update you on how my weekend went. Katie is coming over on Saturday to go to the Aquarium with us and for dinner, and to help me out, and give me some sanity.
It is Christmas here in Dusseldorf. Actually Christmas started the week before Thanksgiving. The town is now full of tourists and the Weinachtsmarkts. The Weinachtsmarkt is the Christmas market ( Weinachten=Christmas, markt=market, easy). They are little stands that are set up all around. In the stands you can find various Christmas food such as Pfannkuchen, Damfnudeln mit Vanille, Speckpfannkuchen, Lebkuchen, various flavors of Mandeln, and a lot more. One other thing that you can get at the Weinachtsmarkt is Gluhwein, this is a hot mulled red wine. I think it is really good, Katie thinks it tastes like cough syrup. They have booths that sell Gluhwein everywhere. When you buy a cup you get a mug with it, if you return the mug you get your Pfand back which is like a deposit. I can't say I have kept a mug yet, I don't really know what I would do with it.
Another thing that the Weinachtsmarkt brings is tourists. There are buses that come over from Holland and bring tons of people just for a day to these markets. Susanne gave me a heads up about the Dutch people coming every weekend from now until the markets closed. She said if I heard people that sounded like they were speaking German but I couldn't understand them at all they were probably the Dutch.
The weekend before Thanksgiving it snowed here in Dusseldorf. On Sunday there was a good 3 inches from the whole day. I really appreciated the fact that everyone told me that it never snows in Dusseldorf, all of my friends said that it wouldn't snow. One friend said he has lived here for 5 years and has never seen it snow. Well let me tell you, it snows in Dusseldorf, maybe not a lot I mean we are not in the alps, but it snowed and it was really cold. The temperature is cold here anyway though. It hasn't gotten much above the low 40s. 43 degrees is a warm day here. Even when it rains it is freezing.
Thanksgiving wasn't very eventful. I would however like to thank you all for your Thanksgiving day wishes. I had to work on Thursday and also baby sit at night. My friends and I were going to go out to dinner on Thursday in memory of the holiday we were missing, but because I had to work they were nice enough to postpone the dinner until the following Friday. We went to an Italien restaurant, the food was ok.
On Saturday I worked alot, but I got an extra 10 euro which was nice. I took Carlotta and Cecilia into Kaiserswerth for Carlotta's ballet class. After that we went to the International Library so they could check out some books. Some woman there asked me if they were mine, I told her no I was their babysitter ( you never say nanny because that is a legitimate career and people over here know the difference, if you say au pair they give you a blank look). She told me how much the girls looked like me and that they could easily be mine. I told her in return that they could easily be mine if I was an unwed mother who started having children when I was 15. She didn't push the 'they could easily be yours' thing again.
After we left the library we went back to the house and I helped making Plätzchen. These are Christmas desserts, just a broad term that I think mostly means cookie types of things. I don't understand why they are called Plätzchen instead of Weinachtkekses which would literally mean Christmas cookies. Who knows maybe that is one thing I will never know. We made a type of sugar cookie on Saturday. I made the dough ( I'm getting good at reading German recipes) and the girls helped me roll out the dough and cut out shapes. Cecilia the youngest kept smushing her cookies when she tried to pick them up. The cookie smashing would be following by an "Ach nein!" and she would put her hands to her face. By the time we were done with the cookie dough her face was entirely white with flour.
After we were done with the cookies we all went out for a walk along the Rhein. Dirk rode with us there but then went for a run and ran home. The girls had bikes and Susanne and I chose to walk, quickly. It was really cold out on that day. By the time we got back to the car I seriously could not feel my face.
I had to babysit that night so I was able to have Katie come over again and stay the night. We decided to order pizzas because we had never done so in a foreign country. So I found the number and Katie called it in ( her German is better then mine). We had the money ready to go 11 Euros for two little pizzas and litre of cola, seemed like an ok deal to us, we of course were starving by this time. We started worrying about the tip though, we didn't know if you were supposed to tip pizzamen in Germany, sometimes that kind of thing is just included. So Katie made me text one of our other friends to ask him if you tip a pizza man. I'm sure he started laughing at that, the two clueless American girls not knowing what to do when ordering a pizza. In the end we decided to tip him 1 euro, the drive wasn't that far after all and he was 5 minutes late.
On Sunday Katie and I ate breakfast at my house and then went out to shop a little. Completely forgetting that everything is closed on Sundays. Luckily the Weinachtsmarkts were open. We wandered around them for a while before getting bored and heading into Starbucks.
At 4 we were supposed to head over to some friends of ours apartment so that we could practise German. The friends, Shane and Steffanie are a married couple not too much older than Katie or I. The wife is German and the husband is from Dublin. The German practise was not only for Katie and I but also for Shane.
I couldn't believe how nice this couple was. They invited us into their home and made us tea and had chips and salsa (actual spicy salsa not German ketchup salsa). They were also very nice about helping us with our German. We had two hours where we could only speak German. I didn't really add much to the conversation, but I understood everything and at least I am absorbing it right now. Maybe by next Sunday or possibly the one after I will be able to add a little more then stories about my host children.
After our German 'lesson' we all headed to Macloughlin's for the Sunday night quiz. The four of us decided to play this week. The questions in the quiz are difficult. Anytime there is a question concerning America everyone always looks to Katie and I. Most of the time we have no clue though. I guess right before I came there was a question asking which state Salem was the capitol of. Everyone guessed Washington...if only I had come a few weeks earlier...haha.
On Monday I helped make more Plätzchen. This kind Susanne had made the dough for on Saturday and it was in long rolls. I cut the rolls into little circles (like the premade cookie dough back home that you just cut and cook.) then cooked them. After they were a little cooled off you dipped them into a sugary mixture. The mixture had vanilla sugar and regular sugar in it. I am not really sure what the vanilla sugar is. The cookies kind of looked like snickerdoodles, but tasted different.
Tuesday was eventful. I worked the normal schedule then headed off to Mac's. Jessica met me there. Going to Macloughlin's is not like going to a bar or a pub in America. It is like going to your friend's house. On Tuesday there was no one there besides Damo, Trevor, Jess, and I so we decided to play Wii. I beat Jessica at bowling and then got beaten by Trevor at everything else.
Wednesday was a busy day as well. This was cake day. Cecilia's burthday was on Thursday so we had to prepare cakes on Wednesday. We made 3 of them. Two for her to take to Kindergarten and one for her birthday at home. She told her mom that she wanted a cake that tastes like chocolate but looks pink on the outside. I thought this was funny. She is all about pink, everything has to be pink. After the cakes were finished I was off to Mac's. I had promised the guys that I would be there to help decorate the pub for Christmas.
I walked into the pub and it looked like someone had chopped down a forest and left it in the front room, there was a tree lying there and tons of green garland type stuff. There was also a pile about 3 feet high of Kügen ( i think that is how it is spelled?) I am not sure what we would call these things in English. Boughs maybe? They were tree branches and we hung them up everywhere.
My first job was to put the lights on the tree. I was corrected on the proper way to do it by Katie so I let her put the lights up. After she was done though the guys made fun of her and re-did it themselves. I am starting to think that the only reason they keep us around sometimes is for entertainment. My next job was to hand Trevor presents while he stapled them the the ceiling. After that I put up snowflakes on another ceiling but hit my head hard and was told to tend the bar. I've gotten pretty good at tending the bar I must say. Granted I can't take people's money, but I can pour a mean Guiness.
After decorating for a few hours we decided to take a break. The pub was getting busier and I don't think Damo was trusting my bar tending skills with that many people. After the other bar man got there we decided to go to another local pub called Spinnstrube. Anyone who comes and visits me will get taken to this little place. It is a little whole in the wall place that is decorated with traditional Swiss decor. There are also giant fake spiders hanging on the ceiling, this I don't know why. This place is also run by a little old man who is always wearing a colourful vest. They have a drink there called a Löffel (that is German for spoon), you served a little shot of something that tastes like cinnamon on a big spoon.
The rest of the week as been uneventful so far. It is Friday today and I have the girls all by myself from noon until 10pm Saturday evening. I will write on Sunday or Monday to update you on how my weekend went. Katie is coming over on Saturday to go to the Aquarium with us and for dinner, and to help me out, and give me some sanity.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
And English is my first language?
Apparently not only I am not able to speak German, I am also unable to write in English. I must have deleted part of my last post because it really makes no sense. I know that most of you are wondering about this amazing chocolate fountain that I began to talk about . Let me fill you in on the detail so you can put your troubled minds at ease...
The girls and I (the Americans that is) went looking for this dream-like chocolate fountain that we believed would be surrounded by tables of assorted things to dip into the chocolate. We thought that there would be fruit, cookies, and tons of other things.
After walking through the entire museum without even so much as a whiff of chocolate we climbed back up to the third floor and found the fountain. Boy were we suprised. Not only was the fountain not gigantic, it wasn't even large at best. This was probably one of the smallest "fountains" of chocolate I have ever seen ( not that I have seen many in my day, but still). The fountain was about 3 feet tall on top of a table. There was a fence between the visitors and the fountain. There was also an angry German woman who passed out miniscule waffers with chocolate on them from the fountain. You were only supposed to have one ( Nur Eins!) but Katie, Jess, and I found a way to sneak around and get extra chocolate.
All and all the chocolate museum was kind of a bust. We did learn however that 1 ton of chocolate costs 1.200 Euro, so if any of you are wondering what to get me for Christmas...just kidding. But speak of Christmas my told me to put my mailing address on here in case some ones doesn't have it, so here it is:
Alexandra Frank
Schluesslerstrasse 27
40474 Dusseldorf
Germany
The girls and I (the Americans that is) went looking for this dream-like chocolate fountain that we believed would be surrounded by tables of assorted things to dip into the chocolate. We thought that there would be fruit, cookies, and tons of other things.
After walking through the entire museum without even so much as a whiff of chocolate we climbed back up to the third floor and found the fountain. Boy were we suprised. Not only was the fountain not gigantic, it wasn't even large at best. This was probably one of the smallest "fountains" of chocolate I have ever seen ( not that I have seen many in my day, but still). The fountain was about 3 feet tall on top of a table. There was a fence between the visitors and the fountain. There was also an angry German woman who passed out miniscule waffers with chocolate on them from the fountain. You were only supposed to have one ( Nur Eins!) but Katie, Jess, and I found a way to sneak around and get extra chocolate.
All and all the chocolate museum was kind of a bust. We did learn however that 1 ton of chocolate costs 1.200 Euro, so if any of you are wondering what to get me for Christmas...just kidding. But speak of Christmas my told me to put my mailing address on here in case some ones doesn't have it, so here it is:
Alexandra Frank
Schluesslerstrasse 27
40474 Dusseldorf
Germany
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Koln, Cologne, and the Kolnerdom
Yesterday was the big Family Services trip to Cologne. Family Services is the au pair agency that I am a part of. They plan trips and meetings monthly for the local au pairs to attend. I had been looking forward to this trip since I got here. I haven't been out of Dusseldorf so I thought that a free trip to Cologne would be great. We would get to see the famous church, the Kolnerdom, and go to the chocolate museum.
Katie, Jessica, Eugenia and I were all really excited about the chocolate museum. Jess is from Pennsylvania and has been to the Hersey museum, and Eugenia has been to a chocolate place in Italy that I guess was similar. We all went in with high expectations hoping to get a lot of free chocolate samples. Eugenia didn't eat before we left Dusseldorf because she wanted her stomach to be empty for all of the chocolate that was to come.
The train ride from Dusseldorf to Cologne was about 30 minutes, we couldn't sit together because it was so crowded. Once we got their our group leader from the agency told us that we were going to walk the 30 minutes to the museum, which was ok with me because it would give me a chance to walk off the calories from the chocolate I was about to eat. We got to the museum and luckily were paid for by the agency. It cost 10 Euro to get in! As soon as we started the tour all of our dreams about free chocolate were shattered. You get a tiny piece of chocolate at the beginning of the tour which is no bigger than maybe a quarter....maybe. That was it. There was also this chocolate fountain that everyone had told us about. We were all expecting a wonderful giant The top of the church was ok. It was covered with a fence and everything like most tall structures in Europe...except Italy of course.
After we got down from the tower we went and walked around Cologne for a bit. It was really crowded. At 4 we all met up again and boarded a train back for Dusseldorf. I was glad because it was starting to rain. The ride home was not as nice as the ride there. I had to stand the whole way because there were no 2nd class seats left. It wasn't that bad except this weird german guy in a trench coat kept trying talk to me.
After getting back into Dusseldorf Katie and I of course decided to stay in the Alt Stadt. Neither of us really felt like going home and coming back even though Jess and Eugenia did. We went to dinner with another au pair Elena from Russia. She is an au pair for an american family but she speaks no english. Her german is very good though. She was talking about how right now where she is from in Siberia it is -12 degrees, in Dusseldorf it is 12 degrees....I think it's freezing in Dusseldorf. Thank God I didn't ever want to be an au pair in Siberia I dont think I would last a day.
After dinner we went to Mclaughlin's to watch the Ireland vs. New Zealand Rugby game. It was in Ireland and Katie and I had some friends that had gone to the game this weekend. Ireland lost horribly. Our Irish friend would be sad, but our New Zealand one will be happy, he was most likely wearing his New Zealand flag to the game (he had worn it around the bar the week before).
Jess and Eugenia met up with us after the game and we went to the Budweiser bar with real Budweiser from Czech. It sort of tasted like American Bud but alot less watery. After that we went to another pub but I am starting to catch a bug so I came home early.
This is the view from the top of the tower.
This is the bell in the tower. It was about half way up. It was nice to take a little break and stop climbing stairs.
This is the church from the outside. I couldn't really get a good picture. It was raining and really crowded.
This is a nativity scence that was a few meters outside the church.
Katie, Jessica, Eugenia and I were all really excited about the chocolate museum. Jess is from Pennsylvania and has been to the Hersey museum, and Eugenia has been to a chocolate place in Italy that I guess was similar. We all went in with high expectations hoping to get a lot of free chocolate samples. Eugenia didn't eat before we left Dusseldorf because she wanted her stomach to be empty for all of the chocolate that was to come.
The train ride from Dusseldorf to Cologne was about 30 minutes, we couldn't sit together because it was so crowded. Once we got their our group leader from the agency told us that we were going to walk the 30 minutes to the museum, which was ok with me because it would give me a chance to walk off the calories from the chocolate I was about to eat. We got to the museum and luckily were paid for by the agency. It cost 10 Euro to get in! As soon as we started the tour all of our dreams about free chocolate were shattered. You get a tiny piece of chocolate at the beginning of the tour which is no bigger than maybe a quarter....maybe. That was it. There was also this chocolate fountain that everyone had told us about. We were all expecting a wonderful giant The top of the church was ok. It was covered with a fence and everything like most tall structures in Europe...except Italy of course.
After we got down from the tower we went and walked around Cologne for a bit. It was really crowded. At 4 we all met up again and boarded a train back for Dusseldorf. I was glad because it was starting to rain. The ride home was not as nice as the ride there. I had to stand the whole way because there were no 2nd class seats left. It wasn't that bad except this weird german guy in a trench coat kept trying talk to me.
After getting back into Dusseldorf Katie and I of course decided to stay in the Alt Stadt. Neither of us really felt like going home and coming back even though Jess and Eugenia did. We went to dinner with another au pair Elena from Russia. She is an au pair for an american family but she speaks no english. Her german is very good though. She was talking about how right now where she is from in Siberia it is -12 degrees, in Dusseldorf it is 12 degrees....I think it's freezing in Dusseldorf. Thank God I didn't ever want to be an au pair in Siberia I dont think I would last a day.
After dinner we went to Mclaughlin's to watch the Ireland vs. New Zealand Rugby game. It was in Ireland and Katie and I had some friends that had gone to the game this weekend. Ireland lost horribly. Our Irish friend would be sad, but our New Zealand one will be happy, he was most likely wearing his New Zealand flag to the game (he had worn it around the bar the week before).
Jess and Eugenia met up with us after the game and we went to the Budweiser bar with real Budweiser from Czech. It sort of tasted like American Bud but alot less watery. After that we went to another pub but I am starting to catch a bug so I came home early.
This is the view from the top of the tower.
This is the bell in the tower. It was about half way up. It was nice to take a little break and stop climbing stairs.
This is the church from the outside. I couldn't really get a good picture. It was raining and really crowded.
This is a nativity scence that was a few meters outside the church.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Finishing up the week
This week has been fairly easy and uneventful. Thank goodness. Most days that I work I start at 11:45 and either wait for Carlotta to come home or go and pick up Cecilia. After that I help with lunch and do the dishes afterwards. Next comes play time with the kids which usually consists of playing Uno. This card game is by far the children's favorite. I suggest has other things that I think kids might like and all I get it Nein! Uno spielen! I have given up trying to offer other games. I have also given up trying to win at all. I have that the best strategy is to never play any of my trick cards. If I do play this cards the 3 year tells me that I can't do that and then she gets upset. If I have one card left and am about to win the 3 year somehow has a magic invisible card that allows her to play all of the rest of her cards even if they don't fit without giving me a turn. I think that this is really funny, she is a typical little kid in this sense. It seems like all little kids I know cheat at Uno.
On Tuesday night I had my first language course. I was put into the beginners because it was the only one that started now. If I wanted to be in another class then I would have to wait until January or later. The class was easy. We learned how to say where we were from and how we are called. Most of the other people in the class seem to speak a little German. The instructor thinks that the class should more quickly. After going to both of the classes this week I think that it may be too easy for me, but it gives me a good practice speaking and practicing my pronunciation. I don't have to worry so much about what the words mean or how they are said. It is also nice because the teacher can tell that I speak more German than the others so I am always picked to read out loud and I am the first to lead an exercise.
On Tuesday after my class I decided to meet Jessica another American Au Pair out in the Alt Stadt. I was planning on going out anyway to watch the Liverpool Atletico Madrid game. I've decided that I like Liverpool, not for any reason in particular just because everytime I wear red or my Beatles shirt ( they are from liverpool) Liverpool seems to be playing. So far they have done well while I have been cheering for them. Jess came and met me at Maclaughlin's and we left to go find a place for good wine. Apparently there are very very few places for wine in the Alt Stadt. I am glad that I prefer beer anyway. We gound a place that had decent wine and stayed there for awhile.
We decided that we would head back home at about 12:15. When we got to our platform we saw that all of our trains had already left. We had to take a night bus. I was not sure about the night buses so Jess told me that I could go with her and stay the night at her host parent's house. I was ok with this because I did not feel like riding a scary bus all alone at night.
The bad part about staying the night at Jess' was that I had to work at 7:30 in the morning. I would have to leave her place at about 6 in the morning if I wanted to make it home in time. Needless to say I was a little tired on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night I had my first language course. I was put into the beginners because it was the only one that started now. If I wanted to be in another class then I would have to wait until January or later. The class was easy. We learned how to say where we were from and how we are called. Most of the other people in the class seem to speak a little German. The instructor thinks that the class should more quickly. After going to both of the classes this week I think that it may be too easy for me, but it gives me a good practice speaking and practicing my pronunciation. I don't have to worry so much about what the words mean or how they are said. It is also nice because the teacher can tell that I speak more German than the others so I am always picked to read out loud and I am the first to lead an exercise.
On Tuesday after my class I decided to meet Jessica another American Au Pair out in the Alt Stadt. I was planning on going out anyway to watch the Liverpool Atletico Madrid game. I've decided that I like Liverpool, not for any reason in particular just because everytime I wear red or my Beatles shirt ( they are from liverpool) Liverpool seems to be playing. So far they have done well while I have been cheering for them. Jess came and met me at Maclaughlin's and we left to go find a place for good wine. Apparently there are very very few places for wine in the Alt Stadt. I am glad that I prefer beer anyway. We gound a place that had decent wine and stayed there for awhile.
We decided that we would head back home at about 12:15. When we got to our platform we saw that all of our trains had already left. We had to take a night bus. I was not sure about the night buses so Jess told me that I could go with her and stay the night at her host parent's house. I was ok with this because I did not feel like riding a scary bus all alone at night.
The bad part about staying the night at Jess' was that I had to work at 7:30 in the morning. I would have to leave her place at about 6 in the morning if I wanted to make it home in time. Needless to say I was a little tired on Wednesday.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Pictures from Halloween
I haven't really gotten the hang of posting pictures yet...so they are in another post! Hope you enjoy, there really aren't that many.
This is Katie and I at Mac's
Katie and Eugenia with the girl who was dressed as a dead body in a pond.
Eugenia, Katie, and I.
Katie and Eugenia with the girl who was dressed as a dead body in a pond.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Pumpkin Soup and Quiz Night
I am amazed at how quickly the time is going by here. This coming Thursday I will have been here for 3 weeks already. I still feel a little clueless when someone starts speaking to me in German, but I am getting a little bit more confident. Tonight is my first night of my German language course. I got tested into the 2nd level but there were not enough people enrolled so the class got cancelled. There is a class that starts today that is from the very beginning. I am going tonight to see if the class is too easy for me. I guess I'll find out when I get there.
I'll start out by going back over my previous week. Last week was kind of a pain because Carlotta the middle child came home early from school on Wednesday and stayed home all day on Thursday. Tuesday night after I had left for the Alt Stadt the kids were running around the house chasing after one another. Susanne closed the door to the kitchen (every room has a door) and when Carlotta ran towards the kitchen she ran right into the door. She did not have a concusion and there was not much you could do for her. She said she had a headache the next to days and still felt woozy. This meant that she was unable to attend any of her sports so I got the stay home with her. For a child who feels woozy and has a splitting headache she seemed perfectly fine to me, but who am I to say? I'm sure a big part of it was the extra attention she was getting from her mother.
So Wednesday and Thursday were fairly uneventful. I had to watch the kids a little bit on my own one night so that Susanne could go shopping, but it was not a big deal.
Halloween was on Friday. It was so strange being in Germany on Halloween. This is one of my favorite holidays and it is by far one of Germany's least favorite holiday. The children did not really know what it was about. For lunch Susanne made pumpkin soup. I thought that the soup was really good. She made this because of the holiday which I thought was very nice of her.
After lunch I was asked to make a cake with the girls. Susanne was going to take Maximilian to his hockey practice and stay in town.
The recipe that I was going to use was all in German. Susanne helped me translate it before she left. I made sure to measure everything out before hand and put it in bowls so that I would not have to do that while I was alone with the girls. I figured this would save time and would help keep the children from getting bored (like in the great pumpkin carving fiasco).
Instead of flour the cake called for crushed Zwiebacken which are hard little pieces of toast, I think maybe like Melba toast? I'm not exactly sure. I decided that giving each of the girls some toast, a big bowl, and a cup to smash the Zwiebacken with would be a good idea. They both thought that this was fun even though they weren't very good at it. They each attempted to grate carrots too, but that didn't work out so well. The making of the cake went surprisingly well. It's amazing how well behaved kids can be when you can bribe them with frosting covered spoons.
At about 5 Susanne and Maximilian returned and the cake was just being frosted by the girls and I. I was given the rest of the night off so that I could go out with my friends. I appreciated that because I had to go and get ready. I was going to be an angel for Halloween. There was a little store in one of the train stations that sold angel wings. I bought a pair and some christmas garland for a halo. I figured this would work well for a costume back home, so it should work just fine here right?
My friend Katie had decided on being Waldo from the "Where's Waldo?" picture books. Neither of us realized that Waldo not only has different names in other countrys he also doesn't appear in the same red and white striped shirt. It was difficult trying to explain who Katie was dressed up as.
While I was walking to the train station near my host family's house I thought that it was so strange not to see or hear any little kids running around trick-or-treating. People don't do that here.
Apparently in America we also celebrate Halloween incorrectly. If you do not have blood on your costume and all of your limbs are intact then you are not dressed properly. I had gone to the Irish pub Macloughlin's for Halloween. Katie, Eugenia, and I were not dressed scary, but everyone else there was. I didn't really mind however. I atleast wouldn't have to spend an hour and a half washing stage make-up and fake blood off of my face when I got home at night. It was really interesting to see other people's costumes though. Most people were some version of a dead body. We met a girl who was dressed as a dead person who was in a lake. I have a picture of it below. I thought it was interesting.
Saturday was a very uneventful day. Susanne did however take me on a tour by car of Dusseldorf. It raining very hard so we decided to stay in the car. It was nice to get an idea of what the city was like. I didn't do much else during the day. I had found the English library so I had a bunch of books to read. At 7 I had to start work again. I would be babysitting the children while Dirk and Susanne went out. They ended up not leaving until about a quarter to 8 and the children had to be in bed by 8:30. I didn't have to spend too much time actually babysitting. This was nice because I have noticed that kids on weekends are crazy. They know that they don't have to go to school the next day so they will push and push to stay up later.
Sunday was my day off. I didn't really have a whole lot to do during the day. The stores where open however due to them being closed on Saturday for All Souls (saints?) Day. I went to the Alt Stadt a little before 1 so that I could be there when all of the stores first opened up. I had bought a pair of boots on Friday and the zipper was broken on one so I had to exchange it. The exchanging process went much smoother than I had thought. I think due to the fact that the store was already packed wall to wall with people and it had only been open for 10 minutes might have helped. I showed the man at the counter that my boot was broken and gave him the receipt. He went into the back, brought me a new boot, and I was on my way.
I went straight back to my host family's house after my exchange. The weather was nice and all of Dusseldorf had decided to venture into the Alt Stadt for the day. There were so many people it was ridiculous. After I got home I got a call from Katie asking me if I wanted to meet her back in the Alt Stadt in 30 minutes. I had nothing better to do so I figured 'why not?'.
We went and ate a traditional German restuarant/brewery and then went to Starbucks to meet Eugenia. After sitting in Starbucks for awhile we decided to go to Maclaughlin's. They have a Quiz night every Sunday and so far it has been pretty fun.
Once we arrived at Maclaughlin's the guys that work there/live there reminded Katie that she had said she was going to mark the quizzes and collect the money. She didn't really want to so I offered to help out. My job was to collect money from everyone participating in the quiz. After I got their money I would give them a ticket. Simple enough right? It would have been easy if I had known European money better. All of the coins look the same to me and the money wallet I had did not have enough change in it. I managed to get everyone's money though.
After the money collecting I had to go and sit by one of the bar tenders at the front of the bar. It was his job to ask the questions to the quiz in English and in German. My job would be to score the quizzes after each round. There were 8 rounds. I actually thought it was kind of fun. It was nice to know the answers to the questions before everyone else did too. It was also a good chance to practice my German reading, not to mention I got free drinks for helping out. The only down side to scoring the quiz was that after the halfway point after the scores ahd been announced people would start coming up and telling me I scored their card wrong. I just said that I was sorry, but I knew how to count. Maybe they had been mistaken. I was told not to take any crap from people and that they try that every week.
I'll start out by going back over my previous week. Last week was kind of a pain because Carlotta the middle child came home early from school on Wednesday and stayed home all day on Thursday. Tuesday night after I had left for the Alt Stadt the kids were running around the house chasing after one another. Susanne closed the door to the kitchen (every room has a door) and when Carlotta ran towards the kitchen she ran right into the door. She did not have a concusion and there was not much you could do for her. She said she had a headache the next to days and still felt woozy. This meant that she was unable to attend any of her sports so I got the stay home with her. For a child who feels woozy and has a splitting headache she seemed perfectly fine to me, but who am I to say? I'm sure a big part of it was the extra attention she was getting from her mother.
So Wednesday and Thursday were fairly uneventful. I had to watch the kids a little bit on my own one night so that Susanne could go shopping, but it was not a big deal.
Halloween was on Friday. It was so strange being in Germany on Halloween. This is one of my favorite holidays and it is by far one of Germany's least favorite holiday. The children did not really know what it was about. For lunch Susanne made pumpkin soup. I thought that the soup was really good. She made this because of the holiday which I thought was very nice of her.
After lunch I was asked to make a cake with the girls. Susanne was going to take Maximilian to his hockey practice and stay in town.
The recipe that I was going to use was all in German. Susanne helped me translate it before she left. I made sure to measure everything out before hand and put it in bowls so that I would not have to do that while I was alone with the girls. I figured this would save time and would help keep the children from getting bored (like in the great pumpkin carving fiasco).
Instead of flour the cake called for crushed Zwiebacken which are hard little pieces of toast, I think maybe like Melba toast? I'm not exactly sure. I decided that giving each of the girls some toast, a big bowl, and a cup to smash the Zwiebacken with would be a good idea. They both thought that this was fun even though they weren't very good at it. They each attempted to grate carrots too, but that didn't work out so well. The making of the cake went surprisingly well. It's amazing how well behaved kids can be when you can bribe them with frosting covered spoons.
At about 5 Susanne and Maximilian returned and the cake was just being frosted by the girls and I. I was given the rest of the night off so that I could go out with my friends. I appreciated that because I had to go and get ready. I was going to be an angel for Halloween. There was a little store in one of the train stations that sold angel wings. I bought a pair and some christmas garland for a halo. I figured this would work well for a costume back home, so it should work just fine here right?
My friend Katie had decided on being Waldo from the "Where's Waldo?" picture books. Neither of us realized that Waldo not only has different names in other countrys he also doesn't appear in the same red and white striped shirt. It was difficult trying to explain who Katie was dressed up as.
While I was walking to the train station near my host family's house I thought that it was so strange not to see or hear any little kids running around trick-or-treating. People don't do that here.
Apparently in America we also celebrate Halloween incorrectly. If you do not have blood on your costume and all of your limbs are intact then you are not dressed properly. I had gone to the Irish pub Macloughlin's for Halloween. Katie, Eugenia, and I were not dressed scary, but everyone else there was. I didn't really mind however. I atleast wouldn't have to spend an hour and a half washing stage make-up and fake blood off of my face when I got home at night. It was really interesting to see other people's costumes though. Most people were some version of a dead body. We met a girl who was dressed as a dead person who was in a lake. I have a picture of it below. I thought it was interesting.
Saturday was a very uneventful day. Susanne did however take me on a tour by car of Dusseldorf. It raining very hard so we decided to stay in the car. It was nice to get an idea of what the city was like. I didn't do much else during the day. I had found the English library so I had a bunch of books to read. At 7 I had to start work again. I would be babysitting the children while Dirk and Susanne went out. They ended up not leaving until about a quarter to 8 and the children had to be in bed by 8:30. I didn't have to spend too much time actually babysitting. This was nice because I have noticed that kids on weekends are crazy. They know that they don't have to go to school the next day so they will push and push to stay up later.
Sunday was my day off. I didn't really have a whole lot to do during the day. The stores where open however due to them being closed on Saturday for All Souls (saints?) Day. I went to the Alt Stadt a little before 1 so that I could be there when all of the stores first opened up. I had bought a pair of boots on Friday and the zipper was broken on one so I had to exchange it. The exchanging process went much smoother than I had thought. I think due to the fact that the store was already packed wall to wall with people and it had only been open for 10 minutes might have helped. I showed the man at the counter that my boot was broken and gave him the receipt. He went into the back, brought me a new boot, and I was on my way.
I went straight back to my host family's house after my exchange. The weather was nice and all of Dusseldorf had decided to venture into the Alt Stadt for the day. There were so many people it was ridiculous. After I got home I got a call from Katie asking me if I wanted to meet her back in the Alt Stadt in 30 minutes. I had nothing better to do so I figured 'why not?'.
We went and ate a traditional German restuarant/brewery and then went to Starbucks to meet Eugenia. After sitting in Starbucks for awhile we decided to go to Maclaughlin's. They have a Quiz night every Sunday and so far it has been pretty fun.
Once we arrived at Maclaughlin's the guys that work there/live there reminded Katie that she had said she was going to mark the quizzes and collect the money. She didn't really want to so I offered to help out. My job was to collect money from everyone participating in the quiz. After I got their money I would give them a ticket. Simple enough right? It would have been easy if I had known European money better. All of the coins look the same to me and the money wallet I had did not have enough change in it. I managed to get everyone's money though.
After the money collecting I had to go and sit by one of the bar tenders at the front of the bar. It was his job to ask the questions to the quiz in English and in German. My job would be to score the quizzes after each round. There were 8 rounds. I actually thought it was kind of fun. It was nice to know the answers to the questions before everyone else did too. It was also a good chance to practice my German reading, not to mention I got free drinks for helping out. The only down side to scoring the quiz was that after the halfway point after the scores ahd been announced people would start coming up and telling me I scored their card wrong. I just said that I was sorry, but I knew how to count. Maybe they had been mistaken. I was told not to take any crap from people and that they try that every week.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thank God for Starbucks
So first off I have to say how much I appreciate corporate American chains at the moment. It is really nice to be able to go to a familiar place where speaking English, or at least understanding a little is a requirement. I know that going to Starbucks and ordering coffee in English is definitely not the best way to practice my German but it is comfortable. Today I got off work at about 3 o' clock so I went to go kill time in the Alt Stadt. I didn't really have anything in particular to do except buy my monthly rail pass but I wanted to be out of the house. So once again after I wandered around for a bit I went into one of the Starbucks in the Altstadt, ordered a coffee and a sandwich and went upstairs to enjoy my meal by myself.
So to go back a little bit, yesterday my host family decided would be a good day to carve pumpkins. Susanne bought two, which I must say is never a good idea when there are three children, either one for each of them or just one. Anyway, I laid out newspaper and got out all of the necessary things; a big bowl, a knife, and a couple spoons. First I cut the tops off of the pumpkins. I figured that the kids could help me clean out the insides, of course they didn't really want to do that. They also got upset when they couldn't draw on the pumpkins or cut out the faces. Instead I had each kid draw what they wanted the pumpkin to look like, I figured we could sort of combine them and come up with two faces. Of course this resulted in a screaming, crying, war that I had no idea how to stop because I had no idea what they were fighting over. Apparently Carlotta drew a dot on Cecilia's paper. Cecilia was bawling, Maximilian was yelling at Carlotta and then Carlotta started crying....I am never having children.
After the children would not stop crying Susanne came back into the dinning room and I was scolded for not keeping the children occupied. I guess I don't remember perfectly, but I'm pretty sure when I was little and it was time to carve pumpkins I didn't really have a big part in it either. I remember my dad always doing all of the cutting. Well Susanne decided that it would be a good idea for the children to be able to cut the pumpkins themselves until she tried it herself and realized that it is harder than it looks. So she gave each of the children a knife of their own and they began cutting up pieces of pumpkin. I guess it hadn't occurred to me to give a 6 year old let alone a 3 year old a sharp knife to use on their own.
All and all the great pumpkin fiasco was not that bad, but was definitely something I am glad I will not be here to do again. After the pumpkins were finished the children took them outside and lit the candles. It also had not occured to me that 9, 6, and 3 year olds would be allowed to light matches.
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I started work at 7:30. I got Cecilia ready for school then took her on the 15 minute walk to Kindergarten. On the way there you have to cross this walking bridge that goes over the freeway. It was so cold this morning that the bridge was a little icy, I don't want to think what the bridge will be like in January or February. I think I will be driving her to school at that point most likely.
After coming back from taking Cecilia to school I didn't have to work until 11:30. Susanne was having a few friends over for breakfast so I thought it would be a good chance to listen to some of my "learn German" Podcasts. (*A Podcast is something that you can subscribe to on the internet for free. In my case I have subscribed to a Podcast that is supossed to help me learn German by Audio tracks. You get Podcasts through iTunes and they can go onto an Mp3 player so you can listen to them anywhere*). I listened to about 20 minutes before I fell asleep...I think I will have to go to bed early tonight!
At 11:30 I went and picked up Carlotta from school. I had to take the dog, I still hate that dog. Then I cleaned up the kitched from Susanne's breakfast while she went and got Cecilia.
For lunch Susanne made a traditional German meal. We had Bratwurst and potatoes and apples. It was really good and seemed really easy to make. I'm hoping to remember how to cook some of this stuff for when I come back home. We used a mustard for lunch that was really good. Susanne said it was really really hot, but I didn't think it was that hot. The mustard apparently is made in Dusseldorf. She told me I would need to bring some of if with me when I went home.
As for the rest of my day I pretty much covered it up above. I went to Starbucks and killed sometime. It was nice to be out of the house for a little bit. I also went and ventured into some of the clothing stores. I really like the clothes here, and I found a pair of boots that I think I might get. I also remembered to take some pictures. I was just walking along the Rhein, they don't have me in them because I was by myself. Next time I'll try and post some with me in them, I know how you all must be missing seeing my face!
This is just in the Altstadt, the building on the right is O'Reilly's. It's a really old Irish pub here, not the one that I have been frequenting though.
This is a statue in front of O'Reilly's. I'm not sure what it signifies, everything is in German.
This is a picture of a church and another building. That is the Rhein off to the left of the picture. It was getting close to sunset at this point.
This is a walkway along the Rhein. You can also walk below next to where the umbrellas are to the right. The walk way is tree lined it is really pretty.
This is classic Dusseldorf at sunset. The media tower is on the left and the post for one of the bridges is on the right.
So to go back a little bit, yesterday my host family decided would be a good day to carve pumpkins. Susanne bought two, which I must say is never a good idea when there are three children, either one for each of them or just one. Anyway, I laid out newspaper and got out all of the necessary things; a big bowl, a knife, and a couple spoons. First I cut the tops off of the pumpkins. I figured that the kids could help me clean out the insides, of course they didn't really want to do that. They also got upset when they couldn't draw on the pumpkins or cut out the faces. Instead I had each kid draw what they wanted the pumpkin to look like, I figured we could sort of combine them and come up with two faces. Of course this resulted in a screaming, crying, war that I had no idea how to stop because I had no idea what they were fighting over. Apparently Carlotta drew a dot on Cecilia's paper. Cecilia was bawling, Maximilian was yelling at Carlotta and then Carlotta started crying....I am never having children.
After the children would not stop crying Susanne came back into the dinning room and I was scolded for not keeping the children occupied. I guess I don't remember perfectly, but I'm pretty sure when I was little and it was time to carve pumpkins I didn't really have a big part in it either. I remember my dad always doing all of the cutting. Well Susanne decided that it would be a good idea for the children to be able to cut the pumpkins themselves until she tried it herself and realized that it is harder than it looks. So she gave each of the children a knife of their own and they began cutting up pieces of pumpkin. I guess it hadn't occurred to me to give a 6 year old let alone a 3 year old a sharp knife to use on their own.
All and all the great pumpkin fiasco was not that bad, but was definitely something I am glad I will not be here to do again. After the pumpkins were finished the children took them outside and lit the candles. It also had not occured to me that 9, 6, and 3 year olds would be allowed to light matches.
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I started work at 7:30. I got Cecilia ready for school then took her on the 15 minute walk to Kindergarten. On the way there you have to cross this walking bridge that goes over the freeway. It was so cold this morning that the bridge was a little icy, I don't want to think what the bridge will be like in January or February. I think I will be driving her to school at that point most likely.
After coming back from taking Cecilia to school I didn't have to work until 11:30. Susanne was having a few friends over for breakfast so I thought it would be a good chance to listen to some of my "learn German" Podcasts. (*A Podcast is something that you can subscribe to on the internet for free. In my case I have subscribed to a Podcast that is supossed to help me learn German by Audio tracks. You get Podcasts through iTunes and they can go onto an Mp3 player so you can listen to them anywhere*). I listened to about 20 minutes before I fell asleep...I think I will have to go to bed early tonight!
At 11:30 I went and picked up Carlotta from school. I had to take the dog, I still hate that dog. Then I cleaned up the kitched from Susanne's breakfast while she went and got Cecilia.
For lunch Susanne made a traditional German meal. We had Bratwurst and potatoes and apples. It was really good and seemed really easy to make. I'm hoping to remember how to cook some of this stuff for when I come back home. We used a mustard for lunch that was really good. Susanne said it was really really hot, but I didn't think it was that hot. The mustard apparently is made in Dusseldorf. She told me I would need to bring some of if with me when I went home.
As for the rest of my day I pretty much covered it up above. I went to Starbucks and killed sometime. It was nice to be out of the house for a little bit. I also went and ventured into some of the clothing stores. I really like the clothes here, and I found a pair of boots that I think I might get. I also remembered to take some pictures. I was just walking along the Rhein, they don't have me in them because I was by myself. Next time I'll try and post some with me in them, I know how you all must be missing seeing my face!
This is just in the Altstadt, the building on the right is O'Reilly's. It's a really old Irish pub here, not the one that I have been frequenting though.
This is a statue in front of O'Reilly's. I'm not sure what it signifies, everything is in German.
This is a picture of a church and another building. That is the Rhein off to the left of the picture. It was getting close to sunset at this point.
This is a walkway along the Rhein. You can also walk below next to where the umbrellas are to the right. The walk way is tree lined it is really pretty.
This is classic Dusseldorf at sunset. The media tower is on the left and the post for one of the bridges is on the right.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Lost in Translation
It is Sunday morning right now. I just made it through my first actual weekend. I'm not counting last weekend because I was in such a state of shock that I didn't really do a whole lot. This weekend I didn't have to work Friday or Saturday night which was really nice. I think most weekends in the future I will have to work one night or the other just staying in the house while the kids are asleep to make sure everything is ok. Easy work.
So I am beginning to notice that there is a lot of things lost in translation when Susanne and I talk. I also am starting to think that she thinks I am dumb because she doesn't realize that many things are not done the same way where I live. For instance we don't use anal thermometers on 9 year old kids in the United States. Which by the way was definitely not in my job description so I will not be doing that.
So at lunch on Thursday Susanne asked me if I liked fish, if I ate it. I said yes I really like fish actually. She said good because that is what we are having for dinner on Friday. So I, being the presumptuous American that I am assumed that I would be eating something other than a piece of bread for dinner.
Friday came along and Carlotta had her friend over and her friend's mom over for lunch. Susanne had made two little pizzas. There really wasn't enough for everyone. I swear I have never seen children eat more than the two oldest Carlotta and Maximilian. I had one piece of pizza that was about a 2 by 2 square. I was ok with this because I knew their was fish and potato soup coming for dinner.
At 6 Susanne told me to start getting the children's bread ready. I did not take out a piece for myself simply because there was only one piece left and I didn't want to be the last and I was still under the impression that I might be having something else for dinner.
Susanne came back into the kitchen and asked me where my bread was. I didn't want to tell her that I had assumed I would be getting grown-up food so I told her that I had told Katie that I would eat dinner in the Alt Stadt with her. I guess I can't really blame her because she didn't exactly tell me that I was going to be able to eat with the adults. It turns out they were having a dinner party. I hate asking questions about every little thing just because I really do think that Susanne thinks I am slow. It is frustrating because I know I am not, things are just really different here.
Friday night I met Katie, the other Au Pair from the U.S., out in the Alt Stadt. We went to McLaughlin's the Irish Pub that she practically lives at. We stayed there pretty much the entire night. We left once to go get some pizzas because by this point I was starving. This pub is nice to hang out at because it is not to loud and their isn't usually a huge crowd. The people there are also very friendly and Irish so they all speak English, well at least I think most of them are speaking English, some of the people I still can't understand. On Friday night I met the Irish UN member, or something like that, I don't remember his exact title I just know that he has gray hair, is living in Bahgdad, and is apparently a pretty big deal in the world.
I left Katie at McLaughlin's and went home at about 12. I was getting tired. I had been sitting at the bar for the past hour making origami things for the bar tender out of blank order form papers. Katie had been in the smoking room for the past hour so I thought it was good to head back at that point. I also had to get up at 8 to take Carlotta to ballet the next day.
On Saturday I took Carlotta to ballet in Kaiserswerth. This is a small town about 15 minutes north on the U-Bahn. I really like this little town. It is really old looking. There are cobblestone streets. I sat and read my book while Carlotta was in ballet, the rest of the family had taken Maximilian to a school. He is 9 years old so that means he must choose what type of school he wants to go to next year. There are sessions starting now through most of November I think. I am thrilled, more one on one time with Carlotta or Carlotta and Cecilia together.
Carlotta is the middle child and she is definitely the stereotypical middle child. She will try and cause problems with everything. She will throw things she will hit and yell. She is even worse when Cecilia is around, the two cry at the drop of a hat. Carlotta cried at lunch the other day because Cecilia would not give her one of her potatoes because she was going to eat it. Carlotta still had like 3 potatoes on her own plate. Annoying.
Carlotta and I went up to her room to play and I had to follow her around like a hawk because she will climb on her desk or her spinning chair and I can just imagine her falling and hurting herself. She is horrible at listening.
Finally Susanne came back with Cecilia and came upstairs to tell me that I was free. I started walking down the stairs when Carlotta ordered me to come back and play with her. Her mom told her that I was free and I was no longer working but Carlotta kept yelling no and telling me I had to come back right now. I just smiled and said I would see her later.
I went into town to do a little shopping. There are so many things that I need or would like to have but I have to idea where to go to get them. A straightener for instance. You have to go to a specialized store for this and I have no idea where one is. Also notebooks. They have notebooks at the department store but they are the expensive pretty ones. I just need a cheap notebook so I can keep track of things. I have been using my planner but have started running out of blank pages.
My trip to the department store was not a total loss, although I did not find a straightener or a notebook that I would buy I did find a purse. I really needed a small purse. I had been using my wristlet but I feel like that would be to easy to steal. I also have this huge purse I took on the airplane, but it kind of looks like a briefcase to me and it is a pain on the U-Bahn because it always hits someone.
Well this is all that I have for right now. I'm sure I will post again soon. Sorry I still don't have pictures. It is harder than you think to take pictures. I finally have a purse that I can put my camera in though, so at least I can take it with me now!
So I am beginning to notice that there is a lot of things lost in translation when Susanne and I talk. I also am starting to think that she thinks I am dumb because she doesn't realize that many things are not done the same way where I live. For instance we don't use anal thermometers on 9 year old kids in the United States. Which by the way was definitely not in my job description so I will not be doing that.
So at lunch on Thursday Susanne asked me if I liked fish, if I ate it. I said yes I really like fish actually. She said good because that is what we are having for dinner on Friday. So I, being the presumptuous American that I am assumed that I would be eating something other than a piece of bread for dinner.
Friday came along and Carlotta had her friend over and her friend's mom over for lunch. Susanne had made two little pizzas. There really wasn't enough for everyone. I swear I have never seen children eat more than the two oldest Carlotta and Maximilian. I had one piece of pizza that was about a 2 by 2 square. I was ok with this because I knew their was fish and potato soup coming for dinner.
At 6 Susanne told me to start getting the children's bread ready. I did not take out a piece for myself simply because there was only one piece left and I didn't want to be the last and I was still under the impression that I might be having something else for dinner.
Susanne came back into the kitchen and asked me where my bread was. I didn't want to tell her that I had assumed I would be getting grown-up food so I told her that I had told Katie that I would eat dinner in the Alt Stadt with her. I guess I can't really blame her because she didn't exactly tell me that I was going to be able to eat with the adults. It turns out they were having a dinner party. I hate asking questions about every little thing just because I really do think that Susanne thinks I am slow. It is frustrating because I know I am not, things are just really different here.
Friday night I met Katie, the other Au Pair from the U.S., out in the Alt Stadt. We went to McLaughlin's the Irish Pub that she practically lives at. We stayed there pretty much the entire night. We left once to go get some pizzas because by this point I was starving. This pub is nice to hang out at because it is not to loud and their isn't usually a huge crowd. The people there are also very friendly and Irish so they all speak English, well at least I think most of them are speaking English, some of the people I still can't understand. On Friday night I met the Irish UN member, or something like that, I don't remember his exact title I just know that he has gray hair, is living in Bahgdad, and is apparently a pretty big deal in the world.
I left Katie at McLaughlin's and went home at about 12. I was getting tired. I had been sitting at the bar for the past hour making origami things for the bar tender out of blank order form papers. Katie had been in the smoking room for the past hour so I thought it was good to head back at that point. I also had to get up at 8 to take Carlotta to ballet the next day.
On Saturday I took Carlotta to ballet in Kaiserswerth. This is a small town about 15 minutes north on the U-Bahn. I really like this little town. It is really old looking. There are cobblestone streets. I sat and read my book while Carlotta was in ballet, the rest of the family had taken Maximilian to a school. He is 9 years old so that means he must choose what type of school he wants to go to next year. There are sessions starting now through most of November I think. I am thrilled, more one on one time with Carlotta or Carlotta and Cecilia together.
Carlotta is the middle child and she is definitely the stereotypical middle child. She will try and cause problems with everything. She will throw things she will hit and yell. She is even worse when Cecilia is around, the two cry at the drop of a hat. Carlotta cried at lunch the other day because Cecilia would not give her one of her potatoes because she was going to eat it. Carlotta still had like 3 potatoes on her own plate. Annoying.
Carlotta and I went up to her room to play and I had to follow her around like a hawk because she will climb on her desk or her spinning chair and I can just imagine her falling and hurting herself. She is horrible at listening.
Finally Susanne came back with Cecilia and came upstairs to tell me that I was free. I started walking down the stairs when Carlotta ordered me to come back and play with her. Her mom told her that I was free and I was no longer working but Carlotta kept yelling no and telling me I had to come back right now. I just smiled and said I would see her later.
I went into town to do a little shopping. There are so many things that I need or would like to have but I have to idea where to go to get them. A straightener for instance. You have to go to a specialized store for this and I have no idea where one is. Also notebooks. They have notebooks at the department store but they are the expensive pretty ones. I just need a cheap notebook so I can keep track of things. I have been using my planner but have started running out of blank pages.
My trip to the department store was not a total loss, although I did not find a straightener or a notebook that I would buy I did find a purse. I really needed a small purse. I had been using my wristlet but I feel like that would be to easy to steal. I also have this huge purse I took on the airplane, but it kind of looks like a briefcase to me and it is a pain on the U-Bahn because it always hits someone.
Well this is all that I have for right now. I'm sure I will post again soon. Sorry I still don't have pictures. It is harder than you think to take pictures. I finally have a purse that I can put my camera in though, so at least I can take it with me now!
Friday, October 24, 2008
My first week in Germany
So I made it. I finished my first week in Germany. I've had some laughs, some tears, and a whole lot of confusion. I think that I am finally starting to get more adjusted to things here. I like being able to go off on my own and explore the city.
Duesseldorf is alot like Portland I think. It is a fairly large city, but it is still very green ( in color, not in the means of energy). The family that I am working for, the Meisels, live about 3 minutes away from the Underground train station. The U-bahn. The Rhine is about a 15 minute train ride away.
I haven't seen too much of Duesseldorf yet, it is such a large city. I have been to the Alt Stadt a few times. I like it there. That is where I go to meet up with a couple of the other Au Pair girls. It is a central meeting point for us. There is also an Irish Pub there that some of the girls like going to.
My job here so far is pretty easy. It can be tiring just because there isn't really a definite schedule. I should have expected that, I am working with children. There is hardly a definite schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays seem to be the busiest days. On these days as well as Tuesday I have to start working at 7:30 in the morning. Other than that so far I do not have to work until about 11:30 to start getting everything ready for lunch and to be around when the children come home. Somedays I have to pick either Cecilia or Carlotta up from school. Cecilia is 3 and is attending Kindergarten and Carlotta is 6 and is attending a school that is very close. Maximilian is the oldest, he is 9 and is able to find his own way to and from school.
The only for sure things that I have everyday is to set the table for lunch and do the lunch dishes. At six I begin dinner which is a small meal, just slices of bread with butter and then the children tell me what to put on them. After dinner I do the dishes and read a story to the children. Then I start to get the chldren ready for bed. They all have to wash their faces, brush their teeth, and get into their pajamas. I am supposed to brush their teeth for them after they have done it. I can tell Maximilian does not want me to do this and I am not going to fight him. He is 9, he has been brushing his teeth on his own for 6 years.
Duesseldorf is alot like Portland I think. It is a fairly large city, but it is still very green ( in color, not in the means of energy). The family that I am working for, the Meisels, live about 3 minutes away from the Underground train station. The U-bahn. The Rhine is about a 15 minute train ride away.
I haven't seen too much of Duesseldorf yet, it is such a large city. I have been to the Alt Stadt a few times. I like it there. That is where I go to meet up with a couple of the other Au Pair girls. It is a central meeting point for us. There is also an Irish Pub there that some of the girls like going to.
My job here so far is pretty easy. It can be tiring just because there isn't really a definite schedule. I should have expected that, I am working with children. There is hardly a definite schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays seem to be the busiest days. On these days as well as Tuesday I have to start working at 7:30 in the morning. Other than that so far I do not have to work until about 11:30 to start getting everything ready for lunch and to be around when the children come home. Somedays I have to pick either Cecilia or Carlotta up from school. Cecilia is 3 and is attending Kindergarten and Carlotta is 6 and is attending a school that is very close. Maximilian is the oldest, he is 9 and is able to find his own way to and from school.
The only for sure things that I have everyday is to set the table for lunch and do the lunch dishes. At six I begin dinner which is a small meal, just slices of bread with butter and then the children tell me what to put on them. After dinner I do the dishes and read a story to the children. Then I start to get the chldren ready for bed. They all have to wash their faces, brush their teeth, and get into their pajamas. I am supposed to brush their teeth for them after they have done it. I can tell Maximilian does not want me to do this and I am not going to fight him. He is 9, he has been brushing his teeth on his own for 6 years.
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