Trick or Treat!!

Hey all! I want to wish you all a very happy Halloween!! Make sure you eats lots of candy! :) I'm actually looking forward to seeing how they celebrate Halloween around here... I have noticed that they aren't as big on the candy aspect of Halloween, which is definitely a good thing! Brian and I are planning on attending the Halloween party put on by the English-speakers in the area... Being that most of them are not from the U.S. and have never celebrated Halloween, it should be interesting! We ended up deciding on our Halloween costume... I'm going as a painter and Brian is my "work of art"... it's cheesy, I know, (and let's just say that Brian isn't overly thrilled with the idea. :)) but, it was inexpensive and it'll serve the purpose. :) I will make sure to take plenty of pictures of our costumes and of tonight's festivities to share with you in my next post...

As for the upcoming weekend, we don't have too much planned... They have some sort of holiday here on Saturday, so all of the businesses with be closed, and then everything is always closed on Sunday. Therefore, I have to cut this post short so that I can make sure that I can get all of my errands and running around done today; otherwise, I'll have to wait until Monday. On that note, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and have a safe and happy Halloween!! We miss you much!!

** I'm leaving you with a few pictures of the cutest "trick-or-treater" you'll see this year... (I'm not a proud aunt or anything! :)) **

He's got to be the cutest dinosaur I've ever seen! :)

Traveling Carpenters...

Hey all! It's still raining here... It actually hasn't stopped raining for the past 3 days... Lovely! However, the weather forecast for this afternoon says that it's supposed to snow... So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get snow today! :) I would much rather have snow than rain... Plus, if it snows, then maybe we could head to the Alps for some skiing this weekend! How fun would that be?! :)

So, yesterday I met up with the English-speaking women for our weekly "coffee talk". As we were sitting there chatting, we heard a couple of really loud thumps on the floor and then a man, who was dressed kind of strange, started speaking very loudly (in German, of course) through the restaurant. Considering that many of the people at our table had no idea what he was saying, we were a little confused by the situation. :) Luckily, one of the women in our group has been here for 14 years, so she's pretty fluent in German... She quickly began translating what the man was saying for us...

We were informed that the man and his friend were carpenters and they've been wandering around through Germany for the past couple of years looking for work... We learned that this is a tradition for carpenters in Germany. They are required to complete an apprenticeship, and then if they want to open a carpentry business they have to earn a certificate. In order to earn that certificate, they must roam through the country for three years and one day looking for work. They wear a specific outfit (it's part of the tradition), they are only allowed to take two very small bags with them, and they do not take a vehicle. During this time, they are not allowed within 50 kilometers of the area where they grew up as they would have too many connections there to help them get work. They are also not allowed to get married, have a relationship, or have children during this time frame. They said that they find places to stay by exchanging their services... For instance, they can stay at someone's home if they help to fix a leak in the roof, etc. They get food by means of donations. They go into public places and explain what they are doing in the hopes that people will donate money to their cause... Hence the reason they were in the restaurant yesterday... :) After the three years and one day are up, they are able to receive their certification and can then open a business.

After the woman gave us a basic description of who the men were and what they were doing, the men actually came over to our table. Fortunately, the one man spoke very good English and was able to give us a little more information about this tradition. It was definitely interesting and something you don't see everyday! :) And, of course, me being the picture fanatic I am, I had to take a picture so that I could show you... I have to say, the guys were very happy to oblige to my request for a picture, and requested that I get into the picture with them... Great! :)


I have to say, that I seem to learn interesting tidbits of information about this culture on a daily basis. It's definitely been a learning experience so far and I look forward to what else is in store for us... :) Well, I'm going to head out... I have to finish getting our costumes ready for the Halloween party tomorrow evening and then I'm off to the gym... I really hope the rain clears up for a little bit, or at least while I'm out and about. :) I hope you all have a great day! Miss you!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head...

Today's been one of those dreary, gloomy, rainy days... It hasn't stopped raining at all and it's the type of cold rain that is more than a sprinkle, but not quite a downpour... ugh! And, from what I learned today, this is the type of weather that is common here throughout late October and all of November... Oh joy! Guess I should invest in a raincoat, rainboots (which, lucky for me, are currently in style! :)), and a much better umbrella if I'm going to have to endure this for the next month! :) Looks like I'm back to walking as well, because riding a bike in this weather is so not fun!!

Today has been a pretty low-key day... I ended up going downtown and meeting up with Eva (who is on a holiday break from school this week) for coffee, which was a great way to warm up on a dreary day like today. I then wandered around the downtown area for a bit looking for accessories for Brian and my Halloween costumes. (And no, I'm not going to tell you what we're planning on going as... You'll just have to wait and see the pictures! :))

I was also quite proud of myself as I braved the public transportation system (i.e. the bus) to get me to and from the downtown area, so that I didn't have to walk so far in the rain... And I managed to make it back and forth, safe and sound... woohoo! It's amazing how the smallest things around here can feel like such big accomplishments... :)

Well, I'd better get going... Brian and I just got back from rock climbing for the past three hours and I think it's about time I head to bed. (Plus, my hands are a little raw from climbing, which makes typing slightly uncomfortable at the moment... :)) Before I go, I'd like to leave you with the following picture. I took it of myself yesterday after I went to the grocery store. I always end up buying too much and then I get stuck lugging all of it back home. And it never fails, I tend to attract alot of stares from strangers because I look like such a "bag lady". Will I ever learn?? :)

Hope that put a smile on your face! :) Have a great day! Miss you!

Night Grooving and Sky Diving...

Hey all! I'd like to start today's blog off by wishing a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad!! I've been thinking of you and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! :)

I can't believe that it's already Monday... The weekend seemed to just fly by! We originally thought that we would have a relaxing weekend with no plans; however, we ended up keeping ourselves pretty busy. On Friday night, we went out to dinner with Katrina and her boyfriend... and yes, I managed to get the apartment looking presentable. :) On Saturday, Brian and I decided to go to the Kletterhalle to go rock climbing, and we ended up climbing for almost 4 hours... And, I was able to get up some of the walls that I haven't been able to before... yay! :)

Saturday night proved to be quite interesting. We were invited to an event called "Night Groove"... The restaurants, coffee shops, and bars in the downtown area all participated. Each location hosted a different type of band... The bands played a variety of music, ranging from Hard Rock, Pop, Latin/Salsa, Reggae, etc... Basically, you purchased a ticket and you could go to each of the locations to listen to the different bands.... Pretty fun! The bands played until 2 a.m., and then they had DJ's playing music at two different dance clubs until 4 a.m. (And just to clarify, their bars/dance clubs can stay open until 7 a.m.... yikes! :))

The evening turned out to be pretty fun! I ended up running into a few of the women that I've been meeting for coffee, so it was pretty nice to see them out and about... We went to a few restaurants and bars and listened to the different bands. We noticed that the bands primarily played American music from the 80's and 90's... And it was funny to see the difference in culture... Most of the people there would get REALLY excited when certain songs came on (i.e. the song "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky, etc... )... Meanwhile, you would most likely not hear those songs at a bar in the U.S. and if you do, people definitely do not get excited about hearing them! :) So, it was just interesting to watch the difference between the two cultures on Saturday night... We definitely had a few good laughs! :)

On Sunday, we went to a skydiving facility with Eva and her boyfriend, Dominic, to watch him skydive. It was quite interesting, and it definitely peaked my interest, so now Brian and I are plotting a skydiving adventure for next year... We'll see if it actually happens. :) Brian actually got to go up into the plane with the skydivers (I was very jealous about that... especially considering that I had to sit on the ground and watch everything! :( ) Apparently, after all of the skydivers jump out of the plane, the plane does a nose dive and and does some crazy flying techniques so that it can get to the ground before all of the skydivers land... Brian claimed that it felt like he was on a long roller coaster ride... How fun! If we would have had more time, I definitely would have tried it out... Maybe next time. :)

Well, I'd better get going... It's almost time for bed. I hope you are all having a great Monday! Miss you much!

Brian and I at "Night Groove"... The night is still young. :)

Larra, me, and Katrina... The Americans at "Night Groove". :)

After Brian's flight on Sunday...

Brian sitting in the plane, ready for take off... He's kind of hard to see, but he was wearing the headset and everything... He looked like a professional! :)

That's Dominic on his way down...

Outdoor Movies? Not Exactly...

Happy Friday everyone! We don't have much in store for us this weekend... We figured we'd stick around here and be low-key this weekend, since we were fortunate enough to spend last weekend in London. :)

Yesterday I met up for coffee with some of the English-speakers I've met here... They used to only meet monthly, but we've decided to try to get together once a week for lunch, coffee, or even a walk. We've agreed that it's a good way to break up the week and, in a way, it's therapeutic... It's been really nice meeting with these women, because we're all kind of in the same boat. Their husband's have been transferred over for work, and they've all had to uproot their lives to come over here. It's been helpful to talk with them because they've all experienced the same things I'm experiencing (some have been over here for up to 14 years, while others have been here for 8 months). I guess it just helps to know that I'm not alone, and they've also been through the same type of emotional roller coaster that I've been going through... Because, let me tell you, there are some days where I feel like I've completely lost my mind! There's days where I wake up and I'm really happy to be here, and I feel adventurous and extremely thankful for having this opportunity, but then there's those days where I'm cranky for no reason, or I cry all day because I'm so homesick. Needless to say, it's definitely been quite a ride... And being able to talk about everything with these women has really helped! :)

Last night, Brian and I, along with Brian's coworker, Dominic, went to Ravensburg for the "European Outdoor Film Tour". Now, when I originally found out that we were going to this, I thought that we were going to watch European movies while sitting outdoors... Granted, I though it might be a little chilly, but it sounded pretty fun... Well, I quickly found out how wrong I was! Instead of sitting outside, we sat inside of a very old Opera House (which was gorgeous, by the way!) and instead of watching European movies, we watched movies about people who do extreme sports in Europe and in the U.S.... Not exactly what I originally expected, but, nonetheless, it was quite fun and pretty interesting! And, fortunately, portions of the movie were in English, so we were able to understand half of what was going on! :)

One more thing... thank you to everyone who posted ideas for Halloween costumes! There were some very original ones! :) I'll let you know what we decide on... :)

Well, I'd better run... I have to run some errands, go to the gym, and then finish cleaning this apartment... We're going to dinner with Katrina, the other American who Brian works with, and her boyfriend and they're meeting us here, at the apartment... This will be the first time we've had anyone over to this place, primarily because we're both so embarassed with what it looks like! :) So, I'm currently in the process of straightening up and attempting to make it look "presentable"... Wish me luck! :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Miss you much!

The Postal Service...

Hey there! I hope you're all having a great Wednesday! I have to tell you how annoyed I am with the postal service in this country... I sent a package to my family about two weeks ago, and they still have not received it. Now, when I mailed it out, I had a slight communication problem with the postal workers... They didn't speak English and I don't speak German! So, we had to communicate primarily through the use of our hands... Lovely! Either way, I managed to let them know that I wanted to send the package to the U.S. and I wanted it to get there quickly... and I was pretty confident with the fact that they understood what I was saying... I mean, it's pretty self explanatory... or so I thought!

Now, two weeks later, I'm still waiting for the package to get to my family. I've been quite concerned considering that I've mailed things out from here before, and I've also received mail from the U.S., and it's taken about 1 week to get to where it's going... So, today I decided to find out what happened to the package. This time when I went into the post office, there was a woman working there that spoke a very small amount of English... So, I showed her my receipt and told her that the package still had not arrived. She then looked at the calendar and told me that it was ok... Why, you ask? Well, apparently, the men who helped me the first time decided to just ship the package to the U.S. instead of telling me that I could have it flown over to the U.S. (Now, being that I am from the United States, I just assumed that they always flew the mail... I quickly found out how wrong I was!) From what I learned today, the package that I mailed two weeks ago, is sitting somewhere in the middle of the ocean and it may not arrive in the U.S. for another 3-4 weeks... Great! Needless to say, when my family finally does get the package, the food may not be so tasty! :)

On another note, I'm looking for a little advice in today's blog... Brian and I were invited to a Halloween Party and costumes are required... Well, those of you that know us, realize that neither of us is too keen on the idea of dressing up for Halloween, and the costumes that we do have are at home, in Michigan... And being that they just recently (within the past few years) started celebrating Halloween here in Germany, their costume selections are very slim... You have your choice of Vampire, Witch, Princess, or Devil and they are outrageously expensive!! So, I'm now trying to come up with ideas for simple, easy-to-make costumes that we can wear to this party... Any ideas??? If so, please feel free to let me know... :)

Well, I'm off to bed... I hope you all have a great day! Miss you!

Our Weekend in London...

Hey all! I'm happy to report that we had a wonderful time in London this past weekend!! London is quite an amazing city, and it is filled with so much history! Brian and I spent the past few days wandering around and taking in all of the sights and sounds the city had to offer...

We arrived in London on Friday evening and had to try to figure out how to get from the airport into the city, which was an hour away... That was interesting... I was able to see, very clearly, the difference between men and women when it comes to getting directions... Being that neither Brian nor I had any idea as to where we were, I wanted to ask people how we could get to places, whereas Brian wanted to figure it out on his own... Great! :) Well, after a while, we finally called a truce... I asked for directions as to how we could get into the city and onto the subway, and from there Brian figured out how to navigate the subway system. :)

After about two hours of riding on trains, the underground subway (called the Tube), and walking, we finally arrived at our hotel. I have to say that I was quite impressed with our hotel! It was in a great location (it took less than 10 minutes for us to walk from our hotel to Parliament/Westminster Abbey), it was very modern/contemporary, and each room was equipped with an imac computer to use! :) After we got settled in our room, we decided to see if we could find a place to get something to eat. So we set out to explore the city, and we ended up finding a small pub/restaurant right up the road from us. Being that we were in England, we opted to order authentic English fare... fish and chips, of course. :) We also decided to order the beer on tap, which was called "London's Pride"... After tasting it though, I have to say that I'm amazed that they take any pride in it... yuck!!

On Saturday, we spent the entire day exploring the city. It was amazing!! :) We saw Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace (where we also watched the "Changing of the Guards" ceremony), Hyde Park, the Queen's Royal Guards, the site of the Tyburn Tree, the original Hard Rock Cafe, Piccadilly Circus (which is like Times Square in NYC), the British Museum, the London Eye, Marble Arch, the Duke of Wellington Arch, the Princess Diana Memorial, and a variety of other places and monuments. It was like a whirlwind and the day flew by so quickly!

We spent Sunday doing pretty much the same thing... except we explored another side of London... We started our day by going to the London Dungeon, which is like a mini-amusement park where they take you through the gruesome parts of London's history (i.e. Jack the Ripper, the Great Plague, the Great Fire of 1666, Sweeney Todd and his barbershop, etc... ). Very fun! From there, we went to see the London Bridge and I have to say, we were quite surprised with what we found... We were expecting this grand bridge; however, when we arrived we found that it looks exactly the same as every other bridge... Definitely not the most exciting thing we saw! :) We also went to the Tower of London, which ended up being much more than we were expecting... It was amazing! It was a huge fortress which dated back to about 1000 A.D. and it was full of so much history! We saw the suit of armor that Henry VIII wore, the torture chambers they had used, the Crown Jewels, Roman walls which dated back to 200 A.D., etc... After the Tower of London, we headed to the Old Bailey (the old courthouse... and it was also in the movie "V is for Vendetta") and then on to St. Paul's Cathedral (where Princess Diana was married). St. Paul's Cathedral was beautiful! I was completely mesmerized as I stood inside! :)
By Sunday evening, Brian and I were very tired... We had spent two whole days wandering around the city and trying to take in as much as we could... It was like a whirlwind! :) There's so much to see and do there...

Overall, we had such a wonderful time, and it was definitely a great way to celebrate a birthday!! :) It was quite an experience to be in London, and to see and experience all of the history that it has to offer. After being surrounded by so much history, it makes you realize how small you really are in the scheme of things... I definitely look forward to going back again sometime... :)

Here's a few pics of the trip... I'm also posting all of them onto our photo site, so feel free to take a look! :) I hope you have a great Tuesday!! Miss you much!!

London's infamous phone booths... And if you look closely, I'm holding a Starbuck's cup... How happy was I?! :)

Parliament Building...

Westminster Abbey... This is where the Kings and Queens of London's history are buried...

Big Ben... This is my favorite monument! :)

The Queen's Royal Guard... He was literally sleeping in this picture! :)

Buckingham Palace...

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace...

At the National Museum...

A view of Parliament and Big Ben across the Thames River...

The most exciting part of London Bridge was the sign... :)

The White Tower...

At the Tower of London, with Tower Bridge behind us...

The Old Bailey courthouse...

St. Paul's Cathedral...

London at night...

The Packing Dilemma...

Hey all! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this upcoming trip!! I've always wanted to go to London, and now I finally get to! :)

I'm currently in the process of doing all of the last minute packing and running around that comes before every trip... However, I have to say that packing for this trip has been significantly more difficult than I imagined... See, the airline that we're using only allows passengers to bring 15 kilograms (about 30 pounds) with them... Anything after that costs extra. Well, when we booked the tickets, Brian thought it would be ok if we just packed one suitcase for the both of us... which means that we're only allowed 15 kilograms of clothing and shoes between the two of us... yikes! (At that time, neither of us had any of our clothing here so it wasn't that big of a deal... but, now that all of my clothes have arrived, that's another story! :))For those of you that know me, I'm notorious for overpacking! I mean, I take a large suitcase AND a duffel bag with me when I just go to Chicago for the weekend! My philosophy has always been to overpack, because you just never know where you might end up and you always have to have the right outfit to wear for every occasion. :)

Needless to say, packing has been a struggle... I originally had six outfits (two for each day we will be there) but then I realized that Brian also has to put clothes into the suitcase... So, I had to downsize. At this point, after a couple of hours and big mess of clothes in the bedroom, I think I'm pretty much set... I only have three outfits packed (one for each day that we're there), a dressier outfit (just in case we go anywhere that we would need to dress up.. :)), and four pairs of shoes (you can never have too many shoes! :)). And there's still room left in the suitcase for all of Brian's things! I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with myself at the moment. :)

Well, I'd better go so that I can get all of my running around done... We promise to take LOTS of pictures so that we can share them with you when we return! :) I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! We'll be thinking of you! Miss you much!