I am thankful for the many blessings in my life, big and small. Health and safety to all this holiday weekend!
Love from Germany,
Kerby
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
From Klein Ingersheim to you - Happy Thanksgiving!
I am thankful for the many blessings in my life, big and small. Health and safety to all this holiday weekend!
Love from Germany,
Kerby
I am thankful for the many blessings in my life, big and small. Health and safety to all this holiday weekend!
Love from Germany,
Kerby
A Little Spaziergang!
Spaziergang = a walk
Myriam, one of my colleagues and one of the room mates who lived here in the apartment when I first got here, and I have been weekend buddies. She is really nice, and we get along great. It is nice to be able to go out and do things with friends on the weekends, when Ingersheim seems to sleep.
On Saturday, Myriam and I went to Bietigheim-Bissingen (where the big grocery store is and where the next closest shopping is) to take a walk around. I wanted to thank Myriam for often taking me with her to the store, as she has a car and often offers to take me with her when she goes, so we went to Bi-Bi to a cute coffee shop and got chai teas to-go. Their Tiger Chai is so tasty! I am a fan of chai tea anyway, and this is absolutely delicious. Lets not think about the calories. And besides, we took a stroll around the park and up through the old part of the city, so surely I burned some of it off!
Here is part of the old city, the city hall, covered in yellow and white flowers (yellow and white are the colors of the state of Baden-Württemberg, where we live and work). The clouds had lifted over the day, and it turned out to be a nice beautiful sunny albeit chilly day.
As we were walking around the park, I came across this statue of a horse. If anyone remembers my blog from AGES ago, ie my first blog that I did in Mainz, you would remember seeing a similar picture of a horse, but in a much bigger proportion, outside the building I studied in called the Philosophicum. The horse and the philosophicum are synonomous with one another, and to see this here in the middle of the park in Bietigheim-Bissingen was kind of cool...shows that Mainz is never far away from me.
Being able to get out and enjoy the surroundings is something that I want to try to do more often. Sometimes it is too easy to just be content catching up on sleep and runs on the weekend. Not to mention the tv series episodes I catch up on. There is just no time during the week to even want to turn the computer on after having looked at the screen all day long! I know some of you know how that feels! Days where I sit at my desk really make me miss the aquatic center, and dancing around on deck teaching water aerobics!
Here are some photos from my little Spaziergang with Myriam!
Myriam, one of my colleagues and one of the room mates who lived here in the apartment when I first got here, and I have been weekend buddies. She is really nice, and we get along great. It is nice to be able to go out and do things with friends on the weekends, when Ingersheim seems to sleep.
On Saturday, Myriam and I went to Bietigheim-Bissingen (where the big grocery store is and where the next closest shopping is) to take a walk around. I wanted to thank Myriam for often taking me with her to the store, as she has a car and often offers to take me with her when she goes, so we went to Bi-Bi to a cute coffee shop and got chai teas to-go. Their Tiger Chai is so tasty! I am a fan of chai tea anyway, and this is absolutely delicious. Lets not think about the calories. And besides, we took a stroll around the park and up through the old part of the city, so surely I burned some of it off!
Here is part of the old city, the city hall, covered in yellow and white flowers (yellow and white are the colors of the state of Baden-Württemberg, where we live and work). The clouds had lifted over the day, and it turned out to be a nice beautiful sunny albeit chilly day.
As we were walking around the park, I came across this statue of a horse. If anyone remembers my blog from AGES ago, ie my first blog that I did in Mainz, you would remember seeing a similar picture of a horse, but in a much bigger proportion, outside the building I studied in called the Philosophicum. The horse and the philosophicum are synonomous with one another, and to see this here in the middle of the park in Bietigheim-Bissingen was kind of cool...shows that Mainz is never far away from me.
Being able to get out and enjoy the surroundings is something that I want to try to do more often. Sometimes it is too easy to just be content catching up on sleep and runs on the weekend. Not to mention the tv series episodes I catch up on. There is just no time during the week to even want to turn the computer on after having looked at the screen all day long! I know some of you know how that feels! Days where I sit at my desk really make me miss the aquatic center, and dancing around on deck teaching water aerobics!
Here are some photos from my little Spaziergang with Myriam!
The horse!
Myriam - double-fisting chai teas so I could take the picture!
Beautiful town hall in November
P.A.
P.A. = Pretzel-holics Annonymous.
Hi, my name is Kerby, and I am in love with......pretzels.
One of my favorite things about being in Germany is stopping by the bakery and picking up a nice warm pretzel. I just can't resist them! And for about 75 cents, how can you pass it up?
My room mate of course knows this, and her Mom is so good to us, she brings home pretzels every Sunday night for us to share. And whenever we are out shopping (which is quite often!), Svenja will say to me, "Kerby, do you want a pretzel??" And of course the answer is yes!!
I love that my room mate (and her Mom) feed my pretzel addiction!
Hi, my name is Kerby, and I am in love with......pretzels.
One of my favorite things about being in Germany is stopping by the bakery and picking up a nice warm pretzel. I just can't resist them! And for about 75 cents, how can you pass it up?
My room mate of course knows this, and her Mom is so good to us, she brings home pretzels every Sunday night for us to share. And whenever we are out shopping (which is quite often!), Svenja will say to me, "Kerby, do you want a pretzel??" And of course the answer is yes!!
I love that my room mate (and her Mom) feed my pretzel addiction!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Bloom is Off The Rose....
Usually I can sleep pretty well, but here in Ingersheim I haven't been sleeping all that great. Maybe it is due to the couch bed I have been sleeping on for the past 3 months, maybe it is because of being in a different place, no feng-shui, I don't know.
Last night however, I was sleeping pretty well. Until precisely 3am, when my boss' step-son decided he was going to have a rager with his buddies in the hot tub. Fantastic. Cue loud music with annoying bass, loud laughter and talking, and the whirl of the hot tub. Again, at 3am. You. People. Suck. is what I wanted to yell out the window. I wanted to go down and punch them in the face (ok, who's grouchy at 3am? Me.). Finally, FINALLY at 4am they were done, turned off the music and presumably went to bed.
When I woke up this morning, bright and early thank you very much, I didn't make any effort to walk lightly or not accidentally drop things every few minutes. Seriously, 3am? Seriously.
The bloom is off the rose. Seriously.
Last night however, I was sleeping pretty well. Until precisely 3am, when my boss' step-son decided he was going to have a rager with his buddies in the hot tub. Fantastic. Cue loud music with annoying bass, loud laughter and talking, and the whirl of the hot tub. Again, at 3am. You. People. Suck. is what I wanted to yell out the window. I wanted to go down and punch them in the face (ok, who's grouchy at 3am? Me.). Finally, FINALLY at 4am they were done, turned off the music and presumably went to bed.
When I woke up this morning, bright and early thank you very much, I didn't make any effort to walk lightly or not accidentally drop things every few minutes. Seriously, 3am? Seriously.
The bloom is off the rose. Seriously.
New Oven!
For those of you who read my blog when I was in Vienna would remember the super super old (and broken) washing machine we had in our bathroom in our apartment. And finally, after a much heated debate, the owners of the apartment had bought us a new one. That was once great day when it was delivered.
The theme continues here. This time, we had only three working hobs on our stove, and an oven door that permanently fell to the floor, creating an awkward time cooking on the stove, and an even more awkward time trying not to burn yourself getting things out of the oven!
I mentioned this to the boss, and she said that after the job in Heidelberg, that our renovation guy would get us a new stove. Finally, after two weeks of the oven sitting in our hallway, it was finally installed this past week. I told my room mates that under all circumstances are we to keep extra good care of this new oven, and it needs to immidiately be cleaned after each use. No ifs, ands or buts about it! Keep it clean!!! By the way, did I mention that I am pretty much the only one who cleans around here? Svenja helps sometimes, but not even the Putzplan (cleaning plan) that I made helps keep people accountable. I don't want room mates anymore. And I don't want to add Putzfrau to my resume.
So, here is our shiny new oven and stove. It is so nice! I love getting new things!
The theme continues here. This time, we had only three working hobs on our stove, and an oven door that permanently fell to the floor, creating an awkward time cooking on the stove, and an even more awkward time trying not to burn yourself getting things out of the oven!
I mentioned this to the boss, and she said that after the job in Heidelberg, that our renovation guy would get us a new stove. Finally, after two weeks of the oven sitting in our hallway, it was finally installed this past week. I told my room mates that under all circumstances are we to keep extra good care of this new oven, and it needs to immidiately be cleaned after each use. No ifs, ands or buts about it! Keep it clean!!! By the way, did I mention that I am pretty much the only one who cleans around here? Svenja helps sometimes, but not even the Putzplan (cleaning plan) that I made helps keep people accountable. I don't want room mates anymore. And I don't want to add Putzfrau to my resume.
So, here is our shiny new oven and stove. It is so nice! I love getting new things!
Christmas, Christmas Time is Here!
Who wants to start thinking about Christmas in August? September? October? November? Ok, after Thanksgiving, sure. The day after, as a matter of fact. Because then, you are allowed, in my opinion, to start playing Christmas music. Not before. Separating Christmas from Thanksgiving in my opinion is appropriate. Therefore, no Christmas music here till November 23.
However, when the clients your company works with are (mainly) all located in the United States, and your company wants to send them Advent calendars this year as a gift, you have to start thinking about Christmas is August. Advent calendar research and ordering, envelopes, Christmas letterhead, the text (that I wrote...), packing, labels, mail merge, excel, contacts, postage, etc. etc. etc.!
Welcome to Christmas.
After writing the Christmas letter that will be going out to all of our clients this year (260 and counting...), I began preparing the mailing labels (with Christmas stars, etc) and the mail merge. When the Christmas letterhead came, I finally printed the letters, and then finally this last week the calendars came. Once they came, it was all about packing, and folding, and stuffing, and sealing, and organizing. We decided that the date they needed to go out would be the 12th or 13th in order for them to arrive to the States before the 1st, because what good is the chocolate advent calendar when you don't have it on the 1st!?!
What did I get to do? It all by myself, until Svenja was nice enough to help me out. Otherwise it would have taken far too long and I wouldn't have managed to get it all done by the 12th. I actually got it all done on Friday, thanks to Svenja's help, and it will indeed go out tomorrow. I am thankful for that!
Here is a look inside Santa's Shop, aka CEPA Christmas Chaos.
However, when the clients your company works with are (mainly) all located in the United States, and your company wants to send them Advent calendars this year as a gift, you have to start thinking about Christmas is August. Advent calendar research and ordering, envelopes, Christmas letterhead, the text (that I wrote...), packing, labels, mail merge, excel, contacts, postage, etc. etc. etc.!
Welcome to Christmas.
After writing the Christmas letter that will be going out to all of our clients this year (260 and counting...), I began preparing the mailing labels (with Christmas stars, etc) and the mail merge. When the Christmas letterhead came, I finally printed the letters, and then finally this last week the calendars came. Once they came, it was all about packing, and folding, and stuffing, and sealing, and organizing. We decided that the date they needed to go out would be the 12th or 13th in order for them to arrive to the States before the 1st, because what good is the chocolate advent calendar when you don't have it on the 1st!?!
What did I get to do? It all by myself, until Svenja was nice enough to help me out. Otherwise it would have taken far too long and I wouldn't have managed to get it all done by the 12th. I actually got it all done on Friday, thanks to Svenja's help, and it will indeed go out tomorrow. I am thankful for that!
Here is a look inside Santa's Shop, aka CEPA Christmas Chaos.
I will take a picture of the finished mailing tomorrow, when all of the packages of packages are sealed and ready for the post man. He is going to looooooooooooooooove me.
Half-time : Halbzeit!
On Halloween, I reached the half-way point of my internship here in Germany. Can you believe it? If you would have asked me in the beginning, I would have said that time was inching by at snail speed. Now, the weeks are just flying by like nothing. It is even almost half way through November, and Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away! And Black Friday is as well! And the sock sale at Fred Meyer!!! I guess it is nothing new; I have missed the sock sale before. But there is just something about getting socks for half price, and even getting new socks in particular that makes it so good. Not fighting everyone and getting slammed by someone's cart;that is not the fun part. But the prices sure are worth it!
It seems as though each time I sit down to write a blog post, my mind goes to something else. Like this exercise my English teacher had us do in the 9th grade (yes, I still remember that!): take some time and jot down everything that comes to your mind, sentance after sentance, regardless of what it is. Where you mind goes, how it strings thoughts together, is an amazing thing. Digression at its best. I guess the point would be to write with a purpose. But this is MY blog. See? Mine. Of or belonging to me. Therefore, I can do what I want and say what I want. That is the beauty of this blog!
Half-time. It is actually kind of interesting to look at what I have done so far, how quickly I have learned many tasks, and how having things to look forward to help in the transition as a whole.
The other exciting thing that happened this past week is that I finally, FINALLY, got to pick up my work permit; the little card that offers me the right to legitimately work in Germany. For that, I am thankful. Finally to have it in my hands is something that I appreciate. At least I'm legal, that's all I can say!
And since it was Halloween, I took some chocolates to work, and offered my colleagues the change to trick-or-treat. No one came.
Half way though, half way to go!
It seems as though each time I sit down to write a blog post, my mind goes to something else. Like this exercise my English teacher had us do in the 9th grade (yes, I still remember that!): take some time and jot down everything that comes to your mind, sentance after sentance, regardless of what it is. Where you mind goes, how it strings thoughts together, is an amazing thing. Digression at its best. I guess the point would be to write with a purpose. But this is MY blog. See? Mine. Of or belonging to me. Therefore, I can do what I want and say what I want. That is the beauty of this blog!
Half-time. It is actually kind of interesting to look at what I have done so far, how quickly I have learned many tasks, and how having things to look forward to help in the transition as a whole.
The other exciting thing that happened this past week is that I finally, FINALLY, got to pick up my work permit; the little card that offers me the right to legitimately work in Germany. For that, I am thankful. Finally to have it in my hands is something that I appreciate. At least I'm legal, that's all I can say!
And since it was Halloween, I took some chocolates to work, and offered my colleagues the change to trick-or-treat. No one came.
Half way though, half way to go!
Blog Neglect....
Yes, again, I have neglected my blog. For no good reason. The weekdays are stressful enough, and with Christmas coming up, I have been in charge of the Christmas mailing that we are sending out (more to come on that later), and now I know what people mean when they say that they look at the computer screen all day and don't want to anymore when they go home.
However, I have been up to a few things, so enjoy! Hope you are all doing well, my blog readers.
Thinking of you!
Love,
Kerby
However, I have been up to a few things, so enjoy! Hope you are all doing well, my blog readers.
Thinking of you!
Love,
Kerby
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