Our upstairs neighbor is learning and playing the Irish tin whistle at all hours - usually when Ben is asleep. Which is disappointing because the one person who would really enjoy such serenading is Ben.
So we invited our neighbor over for a jam session. Sunday morning at 9 am. A time we know he likes to practice. It is very hard to explain a jam session to a upright engineer of a German (much less not laugh when he calls it "the cham"): a jam session is where we play songs and sing and everyone is just going to do the best they can. So we got out our glockenspiel - which we got Ben for Christmas but that mostly George plays - and our other percussion instruments. Ben played the tambourine and the kazoo and I did my best to just keep a steady beat to keep us going together. And we set a specific time limit because there was a two year old involved and because if it is a complete fail you want to be able to know when your escape is coming.
Onkle Tom hat einen Bauernhof/Old MacDonald had a Farm was a big hit complete with farm animals. And we did Frere Jacques in French, German and English. And Scarborough Fair, Sally's Garden and some solo Irish tune were also featured. And we tried to finish with an open music time or free play accompanying a song on CD but our neighbor got nervous with such improvisation.
A worthwhile adventure! Ben got to play music and was facsinated by the tin whistle. Now we just have to explain we like to play music but are not going to attend a 3 day Celtic music celebration next month.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Nope - everyone got sick
We have recovered! Rarely does one get a stomach bug where the healthy adult needs to stay in the house to take care of the sick one for 12 hours at a time. We ventured out on Friday to restock food, money and to see the sun.
Celery root is declared safe again.
Celery root is declared safe again.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Celery Root?
Everyone here is suffering from some type of different stomach upset after eating matzo ball soup made with one of those soup combos (parsley, celery root, carrot, and leek in a little box) you can buy at the grocery. Everything was boiled and pealed and bought that day? What the heck?
There was high hopes of going to Trier today (maybe tomorrow?) but instead there will be just little explorations for who ever feel up to it, like the Wildspirale Hundretwasser haus. Here is a picture of the first time we were there:
There was high hopes of going to Trier today (maybe tomorrow?) but instead there will be just little explorations for who ever feel up to it, like the Wildspirale Hundretwasser haus. Here is a picture of the first time we were there:
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Happy Birthday to me
Yay for the many messages on Facebook. (Are the rumors true that you should un-friend anyone who doesn't wish you Happy Birthday?) And yay for a great birthday day filled with walks, visiting friends, a delicious dinner at Zum Grohe, and cake. And finally, yay for 33.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Off to KITA
Ben is at his first full morning of KITA (this is short for Kindertagesstätte: Children's Day Center) or preschool. He will be going 2 mornings a week. This a great way for all of us to culturally dive into Germany and German.
The first week, everyday he and I went in together and I would stay for a shorter amount of time (from an hour to 5 minutes) and he would stay later (from an hour to 3 hours). This process of acclimation is mandatory and a little rough. I was glad to not have to do it again today, instead sending George who just did a drop off.
Several things about the school that are different at least from when I went to preschool - he is provided with lunch and a 9 am snack and tea, his only responsibility is to play peacefully (and learn German), they have little red toilets (that Ben has successfully used) but he can still be in diapers, and after using the bathroom or eating the child washes his or her hands and wipes them with a provided cloth hand towel. There is 1 teacher for every 3-4 kids, kids of all ages are together in each group and the kids range in age from 2 months to 4 years. The building set up is similar to where my sister went to preschool: Ben will spend most of his time in one room, but there is an outside space next to the building, and there is an inside gym area, an art area and a music area (although the theme is quiet music not bang as many things as hard as you can). Also, the kids are sometimes taken to the park.
What is my worry? Just that Ben is a goofy kid - he makes a lot of word play or little kid puns especially if he is bored with the conversation and will tease you if you are being too serious. And the Germans are stoic and serious, especially about something important like kids' education and if they are adjusting. What cultural miscommunications may occur?
Last week, I suggested to an evening babysitter that if he whined too much ("Where's Mommy?") she could just ask him back teasingly ("Where is Mommy?" Usually he answers correctly and then you can go on, "Where is Ben? Where is Ben's nose?" etc). Not only was she shocked and appalled that I would make light of his suffering but I could tell she was worried about what other terrible tricks I used on Ben.
And finally, this is forcing us to buy Kinder Matschhose! Children's Waterproof pants! It seems like all German little kids have these crazy pants: suspenders attached to waterproof pants with extra knee and butt fabric (like a roofer's pants) and more elastic for under the feet (think '80s dance pants). They look ridiculous but are probably amazing and I cannot wait for ours to show up.
The first week, everyday he and I went in together and I would stay for a shorter amount of time (from an hour to 5 minutes) and he would stay later (from an hour to 3 hours). This process of acclimation is mandatory and a little rough. I was glad to not have to do it again today, instead sending George who just did a drop off.
Several things about the school that are different at least from when I went to preschool - he is provided with lunch and a 9 am snack and tea, his only responsibility is to play peacefully (and learn German), they have little red toilets (that Ben has successfully used) but he can still be in diapers, and after using the bathroom or eating the child washes his or her hands and wipes them with a provided cloth hand towel. There is 1 teacher for every 3-4 kids, kids of all ages are together in each group and the kids range in age from 2 months to 4 years. The building set up is similar to where my sister went to preschool: Ben will spend most of his time in one room, but there is an outside space next to the building, and there is an inside gym area, an art area and a music area (although the theme is quiet music not bang as many things as hard as you can). Also, the kids are sometimes taken to the park.
What is my worry? Just that Ben is a goofy kid - he makes a lot of word play or little kid puns especially if he is bored with the conversation and will tease you if you are being too serious. And the Germans are stoic and serious, especially about something important like kids' education and if they are adjusting. What cultural miscommunications may occur?
Last week, I suggested to an evening babysitter that if he whined too much ("Where's Mommy?") she could just ask him back teasingly ("Where is Mommy?" Usually he answers correctly and then you can go on, "Where is Ben? Where is Ben's nose?" etc). Not only was she shocked and appalled that I would make light of his suffering but I could tell she was worried about what other terrible tricks I used on Ben.
And finally, this is forcing us to buy Kinder Matschhose! Children's Waterproof pants! It seems like all German little kids have these crazy pants: suspenders attached to waterproof pants with extra knee and butt fabric (like a roofer's pants) and more elastic for under the feet (think '80s dance pants). They look ridiculous but are probably amazing and I cannot wait for ours to show up.
Friday, January 6, 2012
EXPANDING
We picked our word for the year: Expanding. On the trail of last year's word "exploration", we are becoming imperialists. Expanding vocabularies, expanding horizons (what are we doing after this?), expanding our concepts of home, expanding Ben, (how fat will we get on wurst and potatoes?).
Do you pick a word for the new year? If so, what is it this year?
Do you pick a word for the new year? If so, what is it this year?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Bye Bye Christmas Books and Songs
We just cleaned the whole apartment - almost as satisfying as the New Year's Eve clean that makes us wake up on New Year's Day feeling beyond resolutions - of all the Christmas books and Christmas songs books. I am so ready to say good bye! Ben likes every Christmas song on repeat except Silent Night. Now we just have to figure out how to properly dispose of our perfect tree.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah/Bright Solstice
We have been entertaining family and ourselves with lots of celebrations of light! All the traditional foods have been made - spinach cheese ravioli with a red and white sauce for Christmas, breads for Solstice and latkas for Hannukah. The focus this year has been on experiences instead of presents - we just did stockings and lots of day trips (more pictures later). It has been lovely.
For Christmas day we were worn out of cooking, but not of eating, so we went to Frankenstein's Castle (an inspiration for Mary Shelley's scary story) and had a huge German Christmas feast. Below is our attempt at a family picture - Ben did awesome for the whole dinner (there was lots of playing outside in the castle between courses) - but when the camera came out it was all screams!
For Christmas day we were worn out of cooking, but not of eating, so we went to Frankenstein's Castle (an inspiration for Mary Shelley's scary story) and had a huge German Christmas feast. Below is our attempt at a family picture - Ben did awesome for the whole dinner (there was lots of playing outside in the castle between courses) - but when the camera came out it was all screams!
Monday, December 12, 2011
romantic fire lit date night
Feeling brave and Christmas-y, George and I set out for a Christmas market with a vague location that was advertised as just ONE day, in the middle of woods, with the biggest gingerbread cookie in the area, and a genuine St. Nick. We took the tram to the end of the line and with our trusty map set out into the woods as the sunset (16:30).
Our meandering and uphill walk - full of promises to ourselves to come back maybe in the spring, maybe when it is warmer, or maybe when it is light - took us up to lookout tower, a brass band, lots of merry makers, beer and gluwein tents, St. Nick handing out chocolate and the typical German countryside restaurant serving nothing but wurst and salat. The proprietess gave us a talking too about coming to dinner so late (17:30?) and expecting the oven to be on. So, I asked her to suggest my dinner because she knew what was good but she declined saying it was all good because it was local and she did not know what I liked. So, I asked her to suggest my dinner because she was the only one who knew what was actually available. This is why I ended up with a Frankfurter, which is a large hot dog. But our fellow patrons reassured us that the food was "Made in Germany" and therefore the best, as they continued full of holiday beer and cheer and song.
(This is for another time, this "Made in Germany." Usually when I am most frustrated with the price or the options or the situation, someone will chime in and say in English "Made in Germany." It is a phrase that to Germans is about pride and economic security and so on.)
After dinner, we wandered around eating candy covered almonds, admired the view of the cities lights, and being very happy we did not have to keep track of Ben in the dark.
But how were we going to walk back through the now dark woods? Luckily, for sale there were huge fire sticks with a long wick of paraffin dipped muslin and a beer mat to protect your hands from dripping wax. We tentatively followed another group down the hill and, in spite of my fears they would lead us to no-where and we would end up begging for a ride or walking for miles, we actually ended up next to a different tram stop. Germany, is your public transport really that good? And we made it home, but 10 minutes late.
Our meandering and uphill walk - full of promises to ourselves to come back maybe in the spring, maybe when it is warmer, or maybe when it is light - took us up to lookout tower, a brass band, lots of merry makers, beer and gluwein tents, St. Nick handing out chocolate and the typical German countryside restaurant serving nothing but wurst and salat. The proprietess gave us a talking too about coming to dinner so late (17:30?) and expecting the oven to be on. So, I asked her to suggest my dinner because she knew what was good but she declined saying it was all good because it was local and she did not know what I liked. So, I asked her to suggest my dinner because she was the only one who knew what was actually available. This is why I ended up with a Frankfurter, which is a large hot dog. But our fellow patrons reassured us that the food was "Made in Germany" and therefore the best, as they continued full of holiday beer and cheer and song.
(This is for another time, this "Made in Germany." Usually when I am most frustrated with the price or the options or the situation, someone will chime in and say in English "Made in Germany." It is a phrase that to Germans is about pride and economic security and so on.)
After dinner, we wandered around eating candy covered almonds, admired the view of the cities lights, and being very happy we did not have to keep track of Ben in the dark.
But how were we going to walk back through the now dark woods? Luckily, for sale there were huge fire sticks with a long wick of paraffin dipped muslin and a beer mat to protect your hands from dripping wax. We tentatively followed another group down the hill and, in spite of my fears they would lead us to no-where and we would end up begging for a ride or walking for miles, we actually ended up next to a different tram stop. Germany, is your public transport really that good? And we made it home, but 10 minutes late.
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