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.

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!