3 Weeks!

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all well! I can't believe that I have been here 3 weeks already! It really seems like it's been longer, which is good. I feel very comfortable here so I am glad. I've been getting into the regular routine and it's working out. I've been waking up before the kids everyday, I have to get Charlotte's bottle of milk ready for her and I give it to her when she wakes up, it's like her cup of coffee in the morning, she won't function until she has had it. I get her ready, do her hair and bring her downstairs, then off to her daycare for a few hours. I wish she didn't have to stay at the daycare regularly, I feel like I'm getting paid too much to be doing so little. I have a lot of free time through out the day. I'm used to driving here and even though it's basically the same, there are some differences. All of the cars are SO tiny! The car I drive isn't too small, it's bigger than the others but if it were in the U.S., it would be considered tiny. I am also the parallel parking master! If you don't know how to parallel park in Europe, you're kind of screwed! They don't have huge parking lots like we do, only at a few places, a lot of grocery stores have parking garages and all that, it's weird. When I pick the kids up from the daycare, parking is always the biggest hassle. There is construction going on at a building right beside both of their daycares, so parking sucks. If a handicap spot is available people take it! It's nuts. I guess when cops don't have anything to do here, they don't try to screw people over and set speed traps and all that crap, it would be nice if that happened in Richmond Hill.. but anyway

The kids have been good.. lately Charlotte has been testing me more and it's killing me! Sometimes I think she hates me, but then again I don't know, I'm not mean to her or anything, but she is 3 so I guess it's the way she is for now. Sven was talking to me about disciplining the kids and not to be shy if I have to yell or use a really stern tone. Nicholas and Charlotte were chasing each other around the living room and he told them to stop a few times and they didn't, so then he yelled, and when he was done I told him that I'm pretty sure he said what every Dad would have said, but if I was ever yelled at in German, I'd probably pee my pants. He laughed and said he sounded like the typical German Nazi guard.

Today Graziella, Charlotte and I went shopping in a town like 3o to 45 mins away. It was in this huge mall that was pretty much like any mall in the states. It was unbelievably crowded! I got a little down though, it's no fun shopping alone I guess. I know Graziella couldn't really shop with me because she had to keep an eye on Charlotte, but I did get a little lonely. So I came home and took a 3 1/2 hour nap! I have this schedule that works for me and I love it! I wake up at either 6am or 7am, get ready, get Charlotte ready, take her to her daycare. I take a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon before I get her, so I can stay up later and talk to friends in the states and still be able to wake up on time. I'm happy it works. My Dad was worried I'd stay up all night and talk to friends, but I have it worked out :). I am also SO happy, it's been snowing here for the past 2 days and more snow is expected to come tonight and tomorrow. I love it, I haven't seen snow in a few years so I hope we get a ton. Well I feel like I am rambling at this point, so I'm going to end it here! Take care everyone!

Jess

Food

Hello Everyone!

I have been doing great so far. I can't believe I've been here a week already, I do feel at home here so that's good. I haven't gone out on my own yet. I am really nervous about interacting with people since I don't know the language well enough to have a decent conversation. I keep hearing everyone speaks English, but I'm still very nervous about it.
I've been sick the past couple of days but I should get over it soon. I'm learning a little German everyday and it's been sticking with me. I sound ridiculous with the pronunciation, but I've been told that it's better to sound so ridiculous so I learn from my mistakes I guess. I've gone grocery shopping with Sven and Graziella twice since I have been here and it's not too different. The selection of meat and cheese and bread is a lot larger than most of the grocery stores in the U.S. One thing that is different is there are no baggers at the grocery store. You either bring your own bag, buy some there, or you're screwed! You also have to pay 1 Euro to use a cart as well, but you get it back, you just stick it in a little coin slot on the handle of the cart to get it off of the chain. It seems like people are always in a hurry here as well. People are always rushing by, and on the road people are always in a hurry too. Well I have learned more words, mostly for food so here we go:

Pears: Die Birnen (Dee Beer-nen)
Orange: Die Orange but it is pronounced differently (or-anj-eh)
Raspberry: Die Himbeere (Him-beer)
Strawberry: Die Erdbeere (erd-beer)
I think the two easiest fruits are
Banana: Banane
Apple: Apfel

I only know a few veggies and they are:

Tomatos: Die Tomaten
Lettuce: Der Salut- pretty easy, sounds a little like salad
Peppers: Paprika

Oh, and jelly/jam here is called: Marmalade (marm-uh-lad-eh).

I have also fallen in love with German Bread! I love waking up every morning and having a slice of bread from the bakery with some butter and Himbeere Marmalade!

Well, that's it for now. Talk to you all later!


-Jess

Ramble?

Hello Everyone!

I hope all of you are well. I'm doing great here. I've been a nervous wreck all morning! Mainly because of elections. I don't think anyone has been this excited about a Presidential Election, I think it's great that so many young voters are involved in it. I am ready for this to be over though. I'm tired of all the hype, and mostly all the hostility. So many people think that I'm a bad person for being on Team McCain, which makes me mad. I don't think less of anyone for voting Obama/Biden, it's their own choice. I wonder what wil be a bigger upset for me... The Patriots losing the Superbowl, or Obama being President? I hope that it's the Superbowl, but we'll see. One thing I hope doesn't pass today is Proposition 8 in California. I'd say I'm mostly conservative, but I do support Gay Marriage. I have a hard time understanding why people think they don't deserve the rights that everyone else in this country have. Sure, people argue that marriage is between a man and woman, but that's our definition of marriage, I think anyone who is happy and in love should have the fair chance and opportunity to do what they believe is right. Being in love is so wonderful and I couldn't imagine someone denying me the right to marry because I am different. It's just not right. To me, it's almost like before African-Americans had the right to vote. Our country wouldn't let them have the right just because they were different. Same situation here. I was actually upset that I recieved newsletters from the LDS Church about voting yes on Proposition 8. I'm not against the church, but I don't think this was right. I know our church is not the only church doing this, but I do find it hurtful that they go this far to destroy and prevent happiness and equal rights. They said that families would be destroyed and all that.. bullcrap! People said the same thing when women had their rights and began working and being independent and as far as I can tell, we still have families today, so that was also bullcrap.

Finally Here!

Guten Morgen! For those of you that don't know any German, like myself, it means 'Good Morning.' I am happy to say that I arrived in Germany on Friday morning. The weather here is great, even though the temperature is pretty low, I think it feels great, and they think I'm kind of crazy for loving it so much.

I flew out of BWI (Baltimore Washington International) airport, and that wasn't so much fun. I had some problems checking in at the Delta desk... I only bought a one-way ticket to Germany because there didn't seem to be any reason to buy a round-trip ticket since plans could change. The attendant told me I wouldn't be able to fly without a return ticket, so my mom and I almost had a panic attack, but the attendant checked again and she was wrong, so I was able to go still. I went through security fine too. I really don't know why people complain so much, I mean you take your shoes off, big deal. It was kind of funny and weird, on my first flight from Baltimore to Atlanta, I sat by the window and I had 2 carry on bags, one went up in the overhead compartment, one by my feet, well the woman sitting next to me moved my bag down to fit hers in, so she moved my laptop to the front of the plane, which then freaked me out because I was nervous about someone taking it. That flight was miserable just because of the stress, I didn't know if I would be hasseled in Germany because of the whole return ticket deal, and then I had the laptop situation piled on. We arrived in Atlanta about 2 hours later and my laptop was still there and I just over-panicked. I had a couple of hours to kill before my plane to Germany departed, so I tried to find a seat near an outlet, but people already snatched them up and used both plugs, so I was out of luck for using my laptop. Thankfully, the time passed quickly. I had a window seat on that flight too, which was nice, but the man next to me was odd. He was german and for those of you who have seen the movie Heavyweights, he looked exactly like one of the characters, I'll post a link. Man on the tree is the guy .All he did was take up the leg room and even the armrest, and he drank a TON of beer and burped a lot... lovely. I did catch some sleep on the flight which was great. I woke up a few times through out the night. On the overhead screens, they would show a map of the plane and where we were. I woke up and saw we were over Nova Scotia, and then a few hours later near Greenland and then later Iceland before I fell asleep again. When I woke up for good, we were over Ireland, so we didn't have too much time to go before we reached Stuttgart. At that time, I started thinking.. oh my God, what am I thinking? What gave me this brilliant idea to come do this? Why am I so stupid? blah blah blah! I don't really feel that way, it was just nerves, I'm actually very happy it is working out! We landed and surpringsly, I kept my cool, went through passport control with no problems! The woman asked how long I planned on staying and what my reason for being in Germany was, so I told her I was visiting friends in Tübingen and I wasn't sure how long I planned on staying. Our plan was for me to come to Germany on a tourist visa, which is valid for 90 days, and then get a work permit and visa within those 90 days. So I went through customs with no problems and and everything was good. I only had a little problem then, I didn't have a chance to get a cell phone number for Graziella so I was a little worried. They also knew about the situation with my ticket, so I am sure they were just as worried. I got all of my bags and waited outside the baggage area and looked around for Graziella, I thought I saw her but then again I wasn't sure. I kind of pondered if I should have gone up to her and asked or not, so I decided to. If I embarrassed myself, oh well I would never see them again, right? Well I was right and we were both relieved, so we went to the car and stopped by a bakery on the way home. It is such a beautiful little town, I love all of the fall colors and all of the building look so cool compared to what we are used to back at home in the U.S. I will post some pictures soon, but most likely after Christmas, hopefully I'll get a new digital camera from mom or dad.. hint hint.

The family has been very kind and patient with me, which is great. I still don't know much German at all, but I have been picking up on smaller things. I start taking a Beginner's German class in the beginning of January, so that will be great. I did bring along a couple of German Language books, one is a guide called, 'German Phrases for Dummies.' It has actually been great. It helps with memorizing the words and with pronunciation, which is pretty difficult for me, but I am getting there. There are many words in both languages that are similar and alike, so that is nice. In a section of the book, they have a list of words that are very similar, almost the same as American words, but are pretty different. For example, 'After' in English and 'After' in German are two very different words. In German, 'After' means 'anus' so I hope I never get that mixed up, it would be pretty embarrassing if I used it in a conversation with someone. It's like in Spanish, 'Embarrassed' and 'Embarazado' look alike and even sound similar, but they don't mean the same thing. My Dad told me that when he was on his church mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a sister missionary was speaking in church and said 'Soy Embarazada, Soy Embarazada.' She felt embarrassed because her pronunciation and vocabulary was poor, so she thought she was saying she was embarrassed. Well she should have been because in Spanish, 'Embarazada' means pregnant. So she was basically telling everyone in the church that she was so pregnant.

The kids in the family, Nicholas who is 8 and Charlotte, turning 3 tomorrow, are very fun. Nicholas was a little shy at first but now he was warmed up to me and plays with me. Charlotte is hilarious. She kind of runs things around the house. We have a decent way of communicating since they don't know English and I don't know much German. They probably think I'm crazy with all these silly gestures I make. I always ask what something is in German so I know the word and Nicholas has been nice about it and tells me, I hope he doesn't get annoyed by it soon. On my second day here, Nicholas and I watched 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.' It was really nice. The movie was dubbed over in German, but we put on some English subtitles so I could read along. It's kind of weird not hearing Harrison Ford's voice in German but who cares, he's still nice to look at :) I learned a few words in the movie. Nicholas was a little scared by the skeletons that would pop out at times, so skeleton in German is: Skelett, kind of pronounced like skillet, but more of an 'eh' sound than the 'i'. I also learned that snake in German is Schlange, pronounced shlong-uh. I thought it was kind of funny because I realized that must be where we got the nickname for an area of the male anatomy haha.

Well I think this is all I have to say for now, I'll update a few times a week. I hope all of you are well and keep in touch! Tchüß (tshuuss) Goodbye!


-Jess