Cursed Be The One Who...

Cursed be the one who doesn't weight their grapes before getting to the checkout!

A little culture lesson today about German grocery stores is in order. First, free plastic bags don't exist. Plastic bags are available, but you have to pay for them. Really, you learn rather quickly to bring bags with you all the time (something my family already does in the States anyway...). It just makes sense to bring you own bags with you; you can fit way more in a re-usable bag than in those awful plastic bags, and you are living greener at the same time. Save the planet, people! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

There were a few things I needed at the grocery store today, so after work I got my iPod and took the walk to the store. Downhill isn't so bad, you just have remember not to buy too much so that you struggle carrying it back up the hills!

The things that I needed were bananas, raspberries (they didn't have any, so I got grapes instead), philadelphia cream cheese with Milka chocolate and toothpicks. Why these random things? I found a great recipe for "Raspberry Banana Bites" and wanted to make them for tomorrow's farewell party for the other two interns who have finished their time here at CEPA. "International Finger Foods" is on the menu, and as others were bringing savory dishes, I wanted to bring something sweet but not so calorie-laden. For this recipe you need to slice the banana, dollop a little of the chocolate spread on the banana and top with fruit. Toothpics only help it to stay together, and help with the whole finger food theme. We'll see how it goes. I think it sounds good, but we'll see.

I picked up a couple other things (you'll see below!) and headed to the checkout. I handed over my bottle return slip, all of 25 cents (though for one bottle, mind you!) and started packing all my groceries into my bag. At the end came the grapes that I bought instead of the raspberries. Now, in Germany, you pay for fruit and vegetables either by weight or by piece. Some are by weight (ie: the bananas I bought) or by piece (ie: the cucumber I bought). The grapes were in a nice little bag, and I checked to see if I had to weight them but it didn't appear so.

Fail. The cashier said, "Oh, you didn't weight these?" I said, "No, I didn't think I needed to." She said, no problem I'll go do it for you. So she went and then all of a sudden I hear this lady behind me say, "What is going on? What is taking so long???" The guy behind me said, "Yeah, she forgot to weigh something...." "Ugh, I hate it when people forget to weight things!" Cursed be those who forget to weight their grapes!!! Hello, I'm standing right here, lady. Thank you very much, and sorry that I forgot. Sheesh! But that's the way it is around here...so friendly and kind and forgiving people are sometimes. Please sense the sarcasm...

And for those of you who read my Wienna blog, you will appreciate this next part. When I arrived to Ingersheim I didn't have to go and buy toilette paper, thank goodness. Though I'm serious, it almost happened again!

It is amazing how fast an apartment of three girls can go through the stuff! I'm so sure you want to know all this. Sorry.

Anyway, here is the hilarious toilette paper I couldn't pass up at the store today:

Euro Cup soccer themed "good and cheap" brand toilette paper. And it even says "with the scent of grass", which I didn't see until I got home. I really REALLY hope it doesn't smell like grass.....!! And I really really hope it's not that cheap...!

Yesterday's Milestone

Yesterday, the 20th of August, marked a 'milestone' for me: I have been in Germany for one month!

It seems like I've been gone for longer than a month, I have to say. When your world gets turned upside down (not in a negative way...), your lifestyle and daily routine uprooted and changed, it can feel like time shifts from going at the speed of light to crawling along like a slug.

The past month has been full of highs and lows; the highs being reunited with some of my dearest friends, starting a job in the field I want to work in and traveling. The lows being the Sunday anti-fun day (when everything is closed, including grocery stores, bakeries, etc) and getting used to it, and the usual being away from home adjustments (homesickness). Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to be here. I am able to finally begin my career in the field in International Education, and I am enjoying learning everything the job has to offer. It always takes a little adjustment at the beginning to find your way, and navigate new surroundings. This transition has been one of the smoother ones, as every time I make a big move like this I get a little better at figuring out how to find my way.

I'll leave you with a thought of gratitude. I am thankful each and every day for my family, my friends, and the positive experiences that I have had on my journey thus far.

Prayer of gratitude:
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily.  The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.  ~Terri Guillemets

The Big City

Finally, after being in Klein Ingersheim for almost three weeks, I made it to the big city!

The best thing about studying in Sactown was that I got to meet so many great people, including some pretty awesome foreigners! (Shout out to YOU! Woop Woop!) One of those, is Katja! We got to hang out quite often in Sacramento, when she and Eva and the rest of the gang were studying there. It was really fun to hang out with those girls, and we made lasting friendships. Those are the best!

Katja lives in Stuttgart, and works in the Human Resources Department at Daimler. She has been living there for a couple of years. It worked out that I could take the train to go visit her in Stuttgart on Saturday. The weather was super warm, and we had a great day exploring the city. I even tried on a Dirndl! My goal this time around is I WILL get one. Every good German girl has one, and that means I should, too! :)

After Katja met me at the train station (a 50 minute jaunt from KI), we saw the main parliament building, the shopping street (yay!!) and the old town. We had a nice lunch at a German restaurant in the old town that served flavored ice tea (peach and orange for me!) and was really neat and walked around a flea market. Needless to say there will be many more adventures in Stuttgart! In one of the department stores there were all kids of British and American things to buy. Including Oreo cookie pie mix and Chips Ahoy cookie pie mix. I was tempted, but thought better of it. My spin instructor Bill will be proud of me. Shout out, Bill!

We went in to a few stores, walked around quite a lot up and down and up and down the shopping street, enjoyed some ice cream on the lawn at the central park, and had an overall great day! Here are some shots of Stuttgart (not quite the romantic city, as it is very industrialized)...

Part of the park

Former stock exchange building that they turned in to a mall

Old Town

People enjoying the park, including the two girls on the left, who brought a mattress to lay on...

Katja and I in Stuttgart!

A Little of the Klein Ingersheim Life

The area in and around Klein Ingersheim is famous for its wine. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see, and so many people tending to their fields in great detail.

 

In this panorama you see Gross Ingersheim in the distance there (if you can see it, the thing with the steeple is the city hall)

I had gone for a run on Friday morning, and Christine, one of my room mates, came with me. It was supposed to be hot, so I wanted to get it done before going home from work. I knew that if it was hot, there was no way I was going to get out there and pound the pavement after work. So, we went in the morning. Bright and early at 6am! Go us! After our 3 miles, we had a nice day at work. The weather turned out to be not as hot as anticipated, so after work I donned my second pair of workout clothes for the day, and went for a brisk walk through the wine fields. Another 2.5 miles, not bad!

Besides the many wine fields, there are also corn pastures (Christine isn't convinced that the corn is actually edible, she thinks it is just to feed the animals. I want to try it, but we'll see...) as well as many fruit trees. Mostly apple trees, but there is one lovely little plum tree as well. The fruit looks lovely! Tempting, very tempting!

YUM!

I Don't Like Bugs

I hope you can see this little guy/girl, because I really want to share with you who is outside my window at work (with no screen, mind you). As long as he/she stays put, I have no problem. Once I find that he/she is gone, I'll be on spider watch!

Saturday, One Week and a Day Ago

So I just haven't connected my camera to my computer to get some of the photos off of it that I took last week, but this weekend I actually have more than one picture to load, so I get to back-track on my posts just a little.

Last Saturday, my room mate Christine and I went to a lake that is about 25 kilometers away (about 15 miles), near Horrheim. Everything around here ends with 'heim'. Klein Ingersheim, Bietigheim, Besigheim, everything heim. :)

This lake was beautiful. The weather was pretty hot, so we enjoyed most of the afternoon there at the lake. I took my lovely Hawaiian Tropics sun screen, which of course attracted all the bugs...but it was still enjoyable. The lake was really clean, and there were HUGE fish swimming all over in there. Wouldn't be too hard to get a fish on your pole in that lake! Though I'm pretty sure it is not legal to fish there. And thus, I did not go "swimming with the fishies". I like my MHAC 50m pool, thank you very much, where I can see the bottom, and if there are other things swimming around in there. Sometimes. :)

It was nice to sit and relax a little, which during the week I don't get much time to do. I even completed 4 sudoku puzzles, torn out of an In Touch magazine. This is the life...

The lake, near Horrheim

Panorama from our nice little spot by the lake

Klein Ingersheim Fun Fact

The Columbia River Gorge is famous for wind. Wind surfing is one of the major sports. Heck, even former presidential candidate John Kerry stopped by for a little fun.

Hence the lead in to this post. Klein Ingersheim (emphasis on "klein"...) is fully electrically self-sufficient thanks to this baby:

German word for wind turbine: die Windkraftanlage. (three separate words technically: wind. kraft. anlage.).
While no, it isn't the most striking architectural thing in Europe, it is supporting Klein Ingersheim and Gross Ingersheim all by its little (big) self. I see it on my run, and just haven't gotten up toooooo terribly close to it. But it's pretty cool to know what we run off of wind power from our own backyard.

Am I In The Hunger Games?

If you haven't read the Hunger Games trilogy, I highly recommend it. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is one of the most inspiring heroines in any of the books I have ever read. The movie on the other hand, was awful. I hope that whoever directs the next two movies does a better job. Seriously disappointing after reading such a good book. Anyway, I digress...

The fun part about being here is that I get to run outside through the beautiful wine fields. I have switched up my training from spinning 4 times a week, running/lifting two times a week and swimming, to only running. While I would rather be spinning, I haven't had the time to call the gym for a trial yet. With the weather being so nice, and the path just outside my front door, I have chosen to run instead. But trust me, I will spin again! It's just too much fun and such a good workout! Again, I digress...

On my running loop, at the top of one of the small hills, is this random little cave that has been built into the wine fields. I run past it every day, and it didn't hit me until this week that it totally reminds me of the cave that Katniss and Peta stayed in during the first Hunger Games book when they are trying to stay alive (seriously, if you haven't read it, you should. And this post will make way more sense!).

Whenever I run past this, I totally expect Katniss and Peta to be hunched down in there, waiting for their little medicine from Haymitch to drop from the sky. Maybe if I go in there, a special little package from the USA will drop out of the sky...!

Thus, I am (fictitiously) in the Hunger Games. I am Katniss. Complete with braids and all. And cute boots. :)

"Wraps"

On Thursday I had signed up to cook for the Lunch Club. I was debating on what to make, and finally decided on tacos. I thought it would be easy enough, and that way people could add toppings as they wanted.

Needless to say the tacos didn't go over very well. They tasted quite good to me, but I just think the European idea of "tacos" a.k.a. "wraps" as they call them (and refused to call them tacos, no matter how many times I told them these were not wraps!!) is too far different than the typical American version. That, and usually everything is already divided up into portions when we're at lunch, and this time you had to do it yourself. In this case, I don't think my colleagues knew what to do. Hence they all stared at me when I made mine, and kept staring at me as I ate (consequently ruining my appetite...).

Next time I will make something more European. If you have any ideas, please feel free to send them my way!

And here: a pic of my day cooking for the lunch club.

My Commute To Work

Just for you, I shot a video yesterday of my commute to work. My 3 minute commute! Enjoy!

How About A Little Starbucks?

Since I have been in Germany, I haven't really had anything I really miss, other than family and friends, and the gym and spin class....

Yesterday Isabel said she needed to go to Breuniger Land, the big shopping mall that I blogged about the other day, to have her cell phone checked out. She invited me along, and also offered to take me to the store to get the groceries I needed for cooking tomorrow. I happily accepted and went along for the ride. We walked in and took the escalator up and all of a sudden it was like the seas parted and bells started ringing! It was Starbucks!! Yes, there is Starbucks now in Mainz (super cool!), but I didn't go there once when I was there, because I didn't feel like I needed it (other than to do a check-in with free wi-fi on Facebook! Haha!). Oh but yesterday, I needed it!

I've been working long hours (most days I'm in the office until at least 5:45pm and am there a little before 8, with about half an hour lunch) and I've been having to adjust to working and operating in another language and culture all together. So, who isn't up for a treat now and then! And because she's been such an awesome help and such a great person and fun friend to have, it was the least I could do to treat Isabel to Starbucks.

Yum! 

We walked out and I felt as if I was in a mall in the States. No kidding. I had the feeling that I was there. Probably the sights and smells combined, but seriously, it was kind of surreal! We walked around all the floors of the mall happily drinking our Starbucks, going in to stores, and having a good time. I'm thankful for Isabel's friendship, and am glad to have a fun colleague like her to work with and to do things with outside of work. Hooray for new friends!

The Lunch Club

In our office in the castle, there are mostly young professional women. There are a few men, but they somehow never seem to be in the office (except George, who hails from Issaquah, Washington but has lived in Germany for 20+ years and is our resident IT man, and even he isn't in the office but once or twice a week).

Upon my arrival, I was shown the white board where people sign up to cook for our lunch. As the closest grocery store is a mile and a half away (I know it doesn't seem like much, but when you live and work at a castle high upon a hill, the way back is llllloooonnnnngggg...) and there is only one restaurant in Klein Ingersheim (some kind of schnitzel place....hey, I thought I wasn't in Vienna anymore...?), and most of the girls in the office live farther away, they created this "Lunch Club". It is actually quite good, because that is one less meal you have to think about cooking. Downside: you don't always like what the person has cooked. Yes we have a list of the things people don't eat (for me: bacon. Eeeewww.), but it doesn't guarantee that what the person makes is something you actually want to eat (Right David and Caitriona??!!).

On today's menu: Schwäbische Maultaschen. 

They are like ravioli, but filled with things like spinach, onions, ground meat, ground bratwurst and spices. People around here rave about them, and people just go nuts for them. I, on the other hand, do not. Not my cup of tea, but it is good to try new things and to experience new cultures through trying different foods. At least now I can say that I have eaten the specialty dish from this region. However, once was enough. :)

 Guten Appetit!

On tomorrow's menu (a.k.a. my day to cook!): Tacos!!!!

Backtracking: My First Evening in Ingersheim

In all of this blog-posting-madness, I forgot to share some pictures of my first evening in Ingersheim. After meeting some of my colleagues and room mates, we decided to go for pizza at this new restaurant in Gross Ingersheim (I forgot to mention, Gross = big, and Klein = small). My room mate Christine, her friend and I walked from our place in to town through the wine fields.

A fun view while at dinner was this hot air balloon flying over us, here in this picture with the Gross Ingersheim City Hall in the background.

My colleagues/room mates: Silke, room mate Myriam, Myriam's sister, room mate Christine, her friend and front right-Isabel, who picked me up from the train station. Nice, friendly faces! Welcome to Ingersheim!

Adventures in Ingersheim/Ludwigsburg

There are some beautiful wine fields all around the castle and between Klein Ingersheim and Gross Ingersheim. The other day, the other American girl, Anni, and I walked to the grocery store in Gross Ingersheim. The way to get there is through the wine fields on the path that I go running on. It takes about a half an hour to walk to the store, and believe me, the way there is much much nicer. It's practically all down hill! The dreaded part is the way back when you have the groceries you bought, and the walk back up the hill is pretty brutal. That is a workout in itself!

Here's a little peek at the grapes that are going to be turned in to wine:

On Saturday I made the trek to IKEA in Ludwigsburg. I needed a pillow, a clothes drying rack and wanted to get my own duvet cover and blanket. There is a duvet here I can use, but it is super thick. And with this hot weather, I would roast if I had to use that thing! Plus, the duvet isn't the most inspiring, so I wanted to just get my own. I would feel more comfortable anyway. So, off to IKEA I went.

I walked up to the bus stop, got on and took a ride through Gross Ingersheim to the train station in Freiberg am Neckar (not to be confused with the other famous Freiberg...). I got on the train and one stop later got off, walked to another bus stop, and got on the bus to IKEA. It wasn't so bad really. The coolest thing though is that there is a huge mall right next to IKEA. I went in and had a look, and it is seriously huge. There were so many people inside it was crazy. At least now I know how to get to the mall if I need anything!

The shopping trip to IKEA was a success. There was only one thing I wanted to get that I didn't, and it isn't crucial (ice cube trays). I came home with a super cute duvet cover, two pillows, a clothes drying rack just like my one at home, a new duvet and some postcard flowers to put on the walls to make this place a little more "homey". All the comfort things to help stave off homesickness (which is inevitable).

 Hello, IKEA!

Hello, big shopping mall! I'll be back!

My IKEA haul...

At least I know where the mall is and where IKEA is. It cost me 7 euros there and back, and three transfers on public transportation, which isn't so bad and all of the things I bought cost 33 euros. Not to mention that I've successfully found my way all by myself. I'm glad I did it!

Welcome To My Office!

How about that! I survived my first three days on the job. It wasn't without a little stress, naturally, but all-in-all it was quite a good three days. My colleagues all speak English, but because of my German language skills, all of my training and work is done in German. This is the slightly stressful part, as I don't know every single word, and a lot of the specific terms for the copy machine, telephone, database system I don't know (but I sure do now!), make my brain tired after 8 hours. I do know that if I didn't understand something, I could always ask or say it in English. So far, things have gone smoothly.

I feel that the following pictures will be able to say more about my new office than I ever could, so here is a little tour!

The laundry room and kitchen (the washer and dryer are shared between about 10 people...)

Stairs leading up to the office (after this year, I'll surely have buns of steel!)

Welcome to my office! I sit across from Antje, and we are the marketing department!

Antje's desk, and another desk that is not in use, and...

 

My desk! (Already piled with work, haha!)

 

This is the view from my office window. Not bad!

Soon I will do pictures of my room, the house I live in, and my walk to/from work. I hope to do a video of it as well. Stay tuned!

Destination: Ingersheim

It has been a very warm two weeks in Germany. I would say it has been in the 80's or higher most days, and the humidity is outrageous. These temperatures made for a quite hot trip from Mainz to Ingersheim.

Upon arrival at the train station in Mainz (which Eva took me and my million pounds of luggage to, and even helped put me on the train--thank you, Eva!), there was already a 10 minute delay for my train. We went to the counter and asked what the next train was so Bietigheim-Bissingen. The attendant offered to call ahead and ask if they would wait for my train to arrive in Vaihingen (where I had to change to a regional train).

As we were nearing my stop, I got all my stuff together, got to the doorway (in Germany, you practically have to get up one stop before you actually need to get off, otherwise people start lining up and you'll never get off in time...). Once the train stopped, I pushed the button to open the door. Nothing happened. I pushed it again, nothing happened. By that time I had seen the other doors open at the other end of the carriage. Great, now with all my stuff, two huge suitcases etc., the door won't open! Luckily I moved relatively quickly to the other door, and a nice man who was also getting off helped me with my other suitcase, and I was able to get off the train. Whew. That was difficult!

Then a train came in on the track across from where I had just gotten off the train, that was a regional train. Ok, is that my train or not? I didn't hear what the conductor said (she said she'd make an announcement if the train was going to wait or not, which she never did). I didn't want to risk getting on the wrong train, and knew that in about 20 minutes another train would come, so I didn't get on. In reality it probably was my train, but there was no way I was going to get on and end up in who-knows-where Germany.

Finally, after a minor delay, I arrived to a smiling Isabel (one of my new colleagues) at the Bietigheim-Bissingen train station. Since there is no train station in my town (or a grocery store, or a bakery! GASP!), I got off in the next biggest town and we drove to (Klein) Ingersheim. **Side note** There is "Gross Ingersheim" and "Klein Ingersheim". The two are separated by about a mile and a half to two miles. Gross Ingersheim is where the grocery store is, where a bakery is, and a pharmacy. Outside of that, not a whole lot else....

We arrived in Klein Ingersheim, and to the castle at around 4:30pm. I met Frau Leibrecht, who is my boss' mother-in-law, who lives on the third floor of the castle. She was quite complimentary about my German, and was very very friendly. **Side note** The Leibrecht Family (who I work for) owns the castle that I work in, a Chateau is Strasbourg, France where we have another office, a castle in Heidelberg where in September our company is opening the European Study Center among other buildings across Europe.

Isabel took me to the top floor (4th floor) where our offices are, and I was able to meet some of my colleagues, see where my desk would be and where other people within the company work. On the ground floor of the castle is who-knows-what. There are so many hidden doors, rooms, etc that you don't know what is behind them (and have no right to look, really). On the second floor is the laundry room, a kitchen and dining room. The third floor is where Frau Leibrecht lives, and the fourth floor are our offices.

The other young women in the office have set up what is called the "Lunch Club". The Lunch Club is for anyone who wants to participate, and cook lunch for the others in the office. There is a sign up, and depending on who is in the office, who is on vacation, etc... you end up cooking about once every two weeks, for about 5-10 people. It is really nice because it is one less meal you have to worry about cooking, and you get to spend time with your colleagues not talking about work. This past week we've been able to sit outside on the terrace and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, rose garden and view over the Neckar River.

I'll leave you with some shots of the castle grounds. Enjoy!

From the terrace, looking out over the wine fields and Neckar River

Schloss Ingersheim

View towards the terrace

The Best Things Are Home Made

It is summer. Summer is berry season. Berry season; in particular, strawberry season. And boy, do I love strawberries! Strawberry shortcake, strawberry lemonade, strawberry ice cream and most of all, strawberry jam! Home made of course, by the hard work (ok, not really that hard!) of two good friends. So, here are the preparations and final result:

Prep

Stir

Final Result! 

The Great Strawberry Jam of 2012 went perfectly with some of Caitriona's home made scones. It doesn't get much better than this! Yum! 

Last but not least, we also made some home made pizza last Sunday to cap off a perfect weekend hanging out with friends.

I am blessed by the friendship of some pretty great people, and am glad to be in the same time zone (and in some cases, the same country) again! Here's to more adventures!

Party in the Park- By The Rhein

Who doesn't love a party? I know that one of the most fun places to get together with friends and hang out is along the Rhein River.

A dear friend of mine from Spain was also visiting Mainz at the same time that I was, so it was a perfect time to get together with old friends and reconnect! The fun part is also meeting new friends, and getting to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Throw in some food, a guitar and some singing and you've got a fun night!

Over the next few days David and I got to hang out, Eva and David finally met (two of my best friends had never met up until this point, though probably knew more about each other anyway!), and I got to enjoy Mainz before heading to Ingersheim. Here are some pics! Enjoy!

Sunset by the Rhein- looking towards the Theodor-Heuss Bridge

Guitar and singing by the Rhein

 

Good friends and the Mainzer Dom