Linz - Austria's best kept secret

As of 20.40 tonight, I am back at home from Linz. All told, I must say that Linz was a pretty good choice, or maybe it's just that the options for Easter in Europe as I have previously mentioned, are limited. However, I took 133 photos of Linz and nearby as I was pretty impressed. I may treat you with a week full of Linz photos/commentary, so hopefully you too will be impressed by the end of the week to come, by the time I tire of Linz talk.

Here is Lake Pichlingsee, which is a 50 min bus ride or a 10 min regional train ride away from Linz's main train station. I stayed at a campsite about a 2 min walk from it:

There seemed to be one swan for the entire lake, but he was always near the coast hanging out for the photo op. The lake area was open all day. To walk around the entire lake, along the paved path, is 3.45 kilometers. It is open during the day but closes at dusk. April is still a little early, so only perhaps one third of the stands selling food and such were open, but still people were out. These men were there with model ships, controlling them via remotes from the shore.

Very close to the water were many of these brown pods, like half-tents. They were daily shelters for the people who fish. They put them up early in the day and sit there with their fishing rods and coffee. At the end of the day they take them down.



Here is my sad little tent. The ground was as hard as a rock, but fortunately the camping area is sheltered from the wind, so I was not worried that the lines were loose. One night there were two tents with older folks from Austria (early 60's) who were stopping over for a night with bicycles, but otherwise, I was solo, tent-wise. I was in a campsite with plenty of RV's however, with a locked gate after 20.00, as well as the campsite was next to the main building, so it was very secure. If you look closely at the fence behind, you'll see that it has barbed wire lining the top, so I was pretty pleased at the safety factor.

Tent people can be chatty, perhaps because we're the only fools sometimes in a place. The Austrians invited me to sit at the picnic table and also take my breakfast, but I don't really do breakfast, but still I talked a little with them as they were preparing theirs. They were nice enough to slow down their musical German for me.

They were asking if I was also on bicycle, the man in particular noted with pleasure that he's seen many of that tent it's a 'classic bicycler's tent.' In my world that would be a 'cheap, lightweight tent that doesn't look so great (which is part of the inherent security system--no one would bother trying to steal anything from such a sad little tent, obviously the owner has little.)

The campsite owner also commented on it, and how little it is and how does it hold up in the rain? Actually, it holds up quite well. In Iceland it poured rain and it went around it. Less floor space means less floor space to worry about getting wet. I know the trend these days is to go one size larger, so if you are a one person to get a two person tent, but with the amount of walking I do, I don't need the extra carrying weight, and really, I only sleep in it. However, if you are claustrophobic I imagine this small pod would be painful, so not recommended if that is the case.

Off to Linz - Easter 2007

I leave this afternoon for Linz, until Monday. I chose a Friday afternoon flight so that I could wake up late, do some laundry, etc. rather than having the hectic packing and rushing out of the office on Thursday before a four day weekend.

Linz seems to be somewhat of a mystery, so I am looking forward to it. People in the office usually ask what I'm up to, but not one single soul in my circle has ever been to Linz which is interesting to me.

My German teacher and I were discussing (in German).
K: Ah, you go to Linz? (puzzled look)
H: It's a cheap flight on a holiday weekend and there is a campsite and hiking options and a lake.
K: Ah, ok. I've never been. I mean, Austria of course, but Linz....Although did you know that Hitler wanted to make Linz the cultural capital of Europe? (laughs)
H: Did you know that Linz is a European Capital of Culture in 2009?
K: Really? 60 years later it comes full circle. Who would have known he'd be right about something?

'what is this squeeze?'

My German IT colleagues do some technical support on some orphan database. This database support involves reading and understanding commands in some other computer language than one that they know. They muddle through and get the job done with much help from google.

However, occasionally they hit a command that they don't know. And further, it seems to be based on an English word that they also don't know, so to them, it's like looking at some random letters, (like say, 'wtrenbg' or 'noxfor' to put together some random letters and give you a feel) and trying to figure out first what it means in English, and then to try to unravel what it is doing technically based on this meaning.

So here is how it goes....Heather is trying fervently to get some things banged out as she was out until noon in German class. So music was in ears to block out sound. I see my colleague wave, so earbuds come out. I missed anything prior they may have discussed, but I'm used to random English questions, as they are used to my random German questions.

IT 1: H, what is 'sqeeze'?
Heather: 'squeeze? s-q-u-ee-z-e?'
IT1: No. Quize.
Heather: huh? Quiz?
IT2: here, i ping it to you, maybe it's part of a word.-->quiesce
Heather: ah! perhaps from acquiesce? like to give in or or to agree, does that make sense for what the command does?
IT2: ah, yes....techical mumbo jumbo (that i zoned out, but apparently it made sense.)
IT1: (whose English is very good, mentally storing new word) hmm....'ack-quease'. 'ak-sqeeze'.
Heather: (thinking) what a half-baked database command.

Imagini and Visual DNA

Following Andrea's post, I gave it a try:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Then my computer crashed so I went to bed. Today I ran through it again while in a bit of a different mood, but realized that my previous version still existed. However, it makes for a nice comparison.
-the second time around I matched myself 84% (only two changes)
-I still match Andrea 23%
-my top matches both times were the same--hello Timo in Finland! But only at 53%.
-my matches were evenly split male/female, however, of the top 15 people who have age range listings, one is in my age group, the rest are almost all either the one above or the one below.
-five are also US people, the remaining 10 are from other countries.

Holiday planning - Lithuania in September

This year my aunt is venturing over from the US to join me on the family pilgrimage (my 4th year going there). Since this is her first trip there (and here too for that matter), I'm making the most of it. Fortunately she's up for anything...

heather says: just a small question--are you ok with a few hours on a bus?

Aunt R says: sure...as long as I dont drive it

...blah blah...

heather says: are you ok on prop planes?

Aunt R says: love 'em

heather says: last one-->20 hours on an overnight ferry?

heather says: don't worry, you would get a bunk to sleep in though.

At this point Aunt R is probably re-thinking this proposition.

Saturday morning view

A little over a week ago, it snowed. However, haddock was right, now that the snow has melted, the daffodils do look better. And in the meantime an Easter Egg tree went into full bloom.

(BTW--Can you tell that my neighbors are newly retired with abundant energy and no grandchildren nearby? The neighbor immediately below me has a similar space but a simpler layout since she works full-time.)

photo flashback - Turkey

When I was recently at the Barcelona meetings, I met a work colleague from Turkey. She was sweet and warm and reminded me very much of my dear friend from Turkey whom I visited there in 2004. I flew on Turkish Airways from Duesseldorf to Istanbul. I found Turkey to be a wonderful place with warm and vibrant people; and it was then that I discovered Turkish tea. Turkey remains on my list of top 10 favorite places visited. Here are some of the photos:

Some images from the Barcelona market

An expat's Easter in Germany

Often when my US office colleagues hear that we have both Friday and Monday of Easter weekend off as office holidays, they start the good-natured commenting about how Euros have it so good, and that they will be working hard one of those days, blah blah bah.

What they do not understand is that Easter in Europe, and in particular Germany, is not like Easter in the US. First of all, everyone gets the days off, across the board--offices, supermarkets, etc. So everyone has a four day weekend with all businesses shut. You can imagine the chaos that ensues on Thursday evening when the entire world is in the supermarket picking it clean. Because the supermarket will be shut for four days, they're not exactly loading up on stock. If you get a can of beans to hold you over, consider yourself lucky.

For those who have family here, it's a perfect family visiting time.
For those who are religious, there are plenty of religous activities.
For those who have gardens/yards, the weather is just starting to get nice, and with four days off you can get some serious work done.

For the rest of us, what to do? TRAVEL. However, that is not as easy as it sounds.
--First of all, you're up against Germans who regularly schedule their holidays a 51 weeks in advance, so flights to all the warm sunny places are ultra expensive.

--All the cheap airlines as well as the trains know the traffic patterns, so you're up against it to find a cheap mode of transportation out. For those of us who love traveling and the planning of travel, it can be considered the 'ultra challenge'.

--Finally, you must take into account that many things that you may like to visit such as museums or shops will be closed, so you need to adjust your plans to take advantage of things that will be open.

Here's my track record since being here:
Easter 2003 - Belfast, Northern Ireland with Flybe. I was working in the UK, so I took a cheap flight up to Ireland. This city remains as one of my top five favorites. It's much less touristed than Dublin and you can get a real feel for the life there.

Easter 2004 - Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland with German Wings. We flew into Stockholm and spent a night/day and then took the overnight ferry to Helsinki where we spent another night/day. Both cities are expensive, but the ferry was great, in particular watching Finnish karaoke. However, Helsinki is so shut down on Easter Monday, we had problems to even find someplace to eat, so bring along rations.

Easter 2005 - Malaga, Spain, with LTU. I was feeling that winter too hard and needed to go South. Malaga was a nice city, mainly filled with Spaniards on holiday. In the evening people created religious scultures in the sand and surrounded them with lighted candles. My other major memory of this weekend was seeing what looked to be someone in a KKK get-up, pointed hood and all, but all in purple instead of white, and then seeing more of them on a televised Easter religious procession. I later found out it's a costume worn in that region of Spain for Easter week celebrations. Scroll halfway down this page to see an example: http://www.carnaval.com/spain/semanasanta/

Easter 2006 - Katowice, Poland with German Wings. What's there you ask? It's the closest airport if you want to visit Auschwitz. That was something that should be visited by everyone, once. In addition, Katowice has a megamall that is open on Sundays until 21.00, including Easter Sunday and Monday. Glad to see that the Poles can embrace Catholicism and capitalism simultaneously.

Easter 2007 - will be Linz, Austria with TUIfly (formerly HLX). Why Linz?
-It is a cheap flight and thus far I've not really visited Austria, unless you count the time we took the local bus from Lichtenstein.
-Plenty of camping possibilities.
-I am extremely impressed with what they have put together for visitors. http://www.linz.at/english/tourism/default_630.asp I filled out their online form and less than a week later I received a large envelope filled with the free maps and such as I had requested, as well as a signed welcome letter in English. In addition, they had a comments box when requesting maps/brochures, and I requested any camping information that they have, and they kindly sent me a beautifully detailed map with camping sites marked. This is the most impressive tourist office I have seen so far in Europe.
-Planning is currently underway!

Thursday morning

Yep, it snowed again. This is the view from my window, overlooking my below neighbor's yard. If you look closely you can see their many daffodils, which fortunately perked up again once the snow melted.

expat meme

Christina said to do it, so off I go:

Name five things you love in your new country:
1. The ability to take public transport everywhere.
2. The ability to feel safe as a single female traveling alone, no matter where/when.
3. Being 32 and going somewhere with my camping backpack and tent raises no strange looks here. In the US I would be considered either too old or quirky when doing the same. Here, it's considered normal and no one blinks an eye seeing you en route somewhere with bus or train.
4. In smaller restaurants, how serious the serving staff reacts when you say you are vegetarian and nothing is on the menu but a salad. Normally they go off with a serious expression and consult with the chef and come back with something written on their little pad of paper to recommend. In some cases the chef has later come from the kitchen to make sure that the veg fare was agreeable. (duh. Even if it was the most awful veg meal in the world, the careful consideration given earns it a rave review.)
5. How it is common to split the bill and only pay for what you ate/drank directly with the waitstaff.

Name four things that you miss from your native country:
1. Doritos (The actual US kind, the Dutch ones don't count)
2. Oreos (US again, Spain ones don't count)
3. Packaged food/frozen dinners. Who wants to always cook?
4. The ability to shop on Sundays or anytime in the middle of the night as the mood strikes.

Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:
1. The ever-present smoke everywhere
2. The constant dour and angry expressions and negative attitude here.
3. Adherence to structure and strict rules and the inability to think beyond or question them.

Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:
1. German employees from work don't socialize or go out for happy hour together.
2. How cheap it is to post a book to within Germany book rate (only 85 cents!)

Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it:
1. The availability of fresh, local, in season, organic produce at a low cost

I think I'm the last one to do this one, so I tag no one. :-)

30 hours after returning from warm and sunny Spain

Yep, it snowed this morning in the tiny town of B:

On a positive note, i was fully expecting to wake up to a rainy, wet Monday, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Back in Germany from Spain

After five days in sunny Barcelona, I returned back to chilly D'dorf at 22 last night (Saturday). The purpose of the trip was work, and the days (and nights) were packed with work talk/activities.

Here are some seaside views. The top is the view from the hotel room where I stayed for the work conference. I didn't get much time to enjoy this view.

Here is the beach I went to on the last day. It was gently crowded with Spaniards relaxing. It was warm enough as the sun was so strong that many were laying out in bathing suits. However, the water was frigid, so only the hearty were in the sea.

And currently I'm looking out my window in Germany watching the sleet fall. (Sigh.)

A typical Monday

I wake up to German radio.

I get in the car for my 5 minute commute and listen to Dutch radio. (A softer way to ease into the morning, and they play good music.)

I spend the day surrounded by German in the office (Along with French, Dutch, Spanish, and various forms of English).

I have a meeting in another building so I chat in Polish with the Polish receptionist.

I drive to Polish class listening to French radio.

I sit 1.5 hours deep in Polish that is supplemented by German when my Polish teacher cannot think of an English word.

I drive home listening to Spanish radio.

This is why I live here!

And tonight I pack, because I go on a business trip tomorrow through Saturday night in Spain. I won't be posting again before Sunday. I'll be cavorting with work colleagues from throughout Europe with a sprinking from the Middle East and the US, most of whom I run into only once every six or 12 months if that, or some only via phone, or some never before, so it promises to be a fun time.

A tale of a vegetarian lunch or two

After yesterday's crankiness at the weather, I woke up today to full blazing sunshine so things are looking up. Since I have a business trip from Tues to Sat this week, I didn't go food shopping, but was instead clearing out the fridge of anything fresh that would go bad while I'm gone.
Saturday's lunch:
A fake chick'n fillet from a Belgium shopping trip covered by brussel sprouts and given a quick fry in a Nando's Sweet Chilli Satay sauce, also from Belgium.


Sunday's lunch:
Same as the above, but substitute fresh spinach for the sprouts.

I had already experienced Nando's sauces, they are absolutely yummy if you are making something quick from a jar. This particular sauce is vegan (no dairy).

However, I knew nothing about Tivall (their UK website), the maker of the vegetarian chicken fillet, beyond that it was a meatless thing made of soy. The package details were in Dutch, French, and German (in that order), with an Antwerp address

I was trying to find either the Dutch or Belgian site additionally, because the UK product line is geared toward UK eating, with things like breakfast sausages and fake meat products covered in breading, not 'naked' like this yummy item was, and I wanted to see what more they offer.

I spotted this on their website, but interestingly, not on the package.
"At its state-of-the-art manufacturing base in Northern Israel Tivall is dedicated to extensive Research & Development."

This blurb led me to search for "tivall vegetarian boycott" which produced at least 40 websites in English about places in Europe that are refusing to stock Tivall products due to political reasons in connection to Israel/Palestine affairs. (At this point I'm absolutely fascinated, as veg fake meat products tend not to elicit controversy, but instead a garden variety of websites offering recipes.) Maybe it's my background of American consumerism and the almighty dollar, but someone refusing to stock a vegetarian product on political reasons almost seems laughable.

Still reading? Compare their 'about us' section in English, vs. their equivalent section on their German website. The German site includes more content, in particular mentioning Kibbuz Lochamei Hagetaot, which I'm not sure why would be on the German site, but not the English site.
http://www.tivall.de/content.asp?id=14
http://www.tivall.co.uk/content.asp?id=14

I also saw a bit from a Czech site, that they are opening a manufacturing facility there. Hmm. Interested in seeing their products in Germany? Limited availability, find out stores selling them here.

48F (but feels like 43F)

Is the current weather in Cologne at lunchtime. Here in B. it's one or two degrees cooler so let's say 46 but feels like 42. For my Celsius counterparts, that translates into 'freaking cold for a perfectly good Saturday in March'.

Overnight low tonight is predicted to be 36 for Cologne, so maybe 34 here. Last weekend, I took this photo in the center of B, I think they need to take this down so the cold weather will go away:



I also took this photo last week in B's 'Ugly as sin park'. I'll get some photos when I can be bothered of said park. This park looks like it was designed by someone trained and highly skilled in 1960's industrial park design, so I tend to take other routes which are nicer. It's the only negative I can point to in connection with living in B.

Normally, when the weather is even remotely warm and the sun is out, the Germans all come out and flock to open spaces like parks which end up jam packed. However, ugly park remains desolate, no matter what the weather.

"Yes, Heather, but the flowers are nice, no? So don't be so negative about ugly park."
"Sure, and be sure to notice the mud in the bottom left of the photo, which I was later scraping off my shoes from ugly park."
However, these are the first spring flowers I've seen blooming outside this year, and very nice at that:

Germany cemetery visit - part 3

After crossing the covered bridge, we went up a hill and ended up in front of a directional sign. This side of the bridge is the newer section, including the Muslim burial section.

We realized we didn't want to be in the newer section, that what we were seeking could not be there, so we headed back toward the older section, this time not going over the covered bridge, but via an alternate route. Next to the cemetery seems to be a fish farm. It's hard to see in the photo but the pond on the right is covered by netting.

Back into the old section, we thought perhaps we found it, but not yet. We were guessing this is a memorial for those killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall.

After a trip back to the map at the main entrace, we backtracked and finally found the memorial mentioned in the book. Part of the reason we missed it is because it is in the middle of a wall of trees and schrubs facing the service parking lot where the main dumpsters are and various machines and piles of dirt, bricks. However, the book mentions that few citizens of the tiny town of B know about this memorial, so we went looking for it.

It commemorates 44 Russians who were killed under the Fascist regime here in the tiny town of B and who are collectively buried in B. The book mentions that it was commissioned by a Brisith commander in 1945, with the inscription on the bottom half in Russian. It looks like the top half, the German inscription, was added later as it is on a granite plate that is attached to the main base by screws. (As opposed to the Russian which is carved directly into the granite).

Thus ends our tour of the B. cemetery.

Germany cemetery - part 2

Things that caught my eye while we were walking:


In Germany it seems that very much attention is given to upkeeping grave sites, perhaps because the buried people are not so long gone.

To explain further, something different for me in Europe is the concept of "grave rental" here. The exact amount of time varies, but the basic concept is that you pay for a period of time and then perhaps renew it, but ultimately, 'your' grave will turn over to someone else at some point. Occasionally as we were walking we'd see the little stick marker with a phone number in a plot, indicated that it was 'available'.


As always, gotta love the Germany recycling attitude. The green bin is for biodegradable items.

Am hoping someone can explain this one. A little stepping stone path was leading up to this structure. It is like an upsidedown U. In front of it were a lot of temporary cut flowers. There was no sign or markings at all.

This covered bridge connected one side of the cemetery with the other.

Still up, more photos as we continue our search. By the way, we're looking for a granite obelisk. The map at the front entrance put it somewhere in this area.

A visit to a German cemetery

While reading this book, it mentioned a memorial in the cemetery in the tiny town of B. Both D. and I have independently visited this cemetery, but neither of us have seen this memorial, so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather on Sunday and take a stroll over there.

Because it was Sunday around lunchtime, church had just let out so it was quite full of people taking their post-church stroll, but I took a few photos when no one was around. Here is one of the main walkways.

Here is where the watering cans are located. They work like the shopping carts at the supermarket, you put in your one euro deposit and you can release the chain and use the item. Then, when you hook the chain back in when you are finished, you get your deposit back.

Here is the WW2 graves, every cemetery here seems to have a little section like this tucked away somewhere.

Here is a big monument near the entrance. (Not the one we were seeking, but still interesting.) It mentions Wilhelm 1815 and 1866.

This is the back of the same monument. It's the same eagle you see on the one on the front, except this one's head was chopped off and the red cup next to him is a candle that looked to have been burned in the recent past.

Obviously what we are seeking is well hidden. More photos from the adventure still to come.

the tiny town of B in 1945.

A few weeks ago, I bought a book from the local bookstore here in the tiny town of B. It was published in 2006 by the local government and is about the end of WW2 and after in the tiny town of B. I can understand most of the German to follow along, but have been reading with a dictionary to really grasp the full meanings of many words.

It includes historical reminiscing by some local residents as to what life was like here towards the end of the war and immediately after it. It includes a section from 1955 of memories that were published in the local newspaper 10 years after the war. It includes a timeline of important events locally, and where bombs fell. It has a copy of information that was produced by the town in 1945 for distribution to the citizens. The Americans military was in this area, so these instructions were in German and English.

It also includes photos that people submitted who were telling their stories, such as a young man in his Hitler Youth uniform or a group at the swimming pool. It includes many details that I did not know about the tiny town of B, such as the factory that produces automotive components today was actually a part of the war machine producing something for submarines (if I followed the dictionary correctly). In fact, it was such an operation that it employed 2000 forced laborers and was bombed.

It includes details about a local man who managed to keep part of the Jewish population from being deported by getting special government permission to keep his Jewish workers. His factory made leather coats and this permission was granted. Deep in B. there is a street named after him. Other streets also went through a re-name according to this book. As of May 11, 1945 Adolf-Hitler Strasse became Blumenstrasse (Flower Street).

Q. The best way to celebrate the completion of tax week activities?

A. Falling asleep last night at 21.30 and sleeping for 11 hours straight.

i am the poster child...

for death warmed over.

Tax weekend went well. By Sunday night I was 95% complete and I had assembled a list of things I needed to check while in the office during the week, mainly that I had filled in the right numbers in the right German boxes. Papers were all assembled and ready to be copied in the office.

A few stray pieces of paper had to be tracked down and checked up, but everything is ready to go as of tonight after I completed my calendar of 'where I have been working and on what days' for 2006. Tomorrow the intelligent accountants the company provides are on-site to collect the pieces of paper, and answer any stray questions. So after I meet with my two ladies at 10.30, I can then click the button to submit all the stuff to them and hand over my papers and consider it done.

Then I came home tonight and my Gemany 2005 prepared returns were in my mailbox awaiting signature. What a wonderful time of year.

February 27, 1933

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

LAMA GREEN ELK

tax preparation day has been loads of fun, and apparently there are only a few brain cells left, because i find this online anagram maker (an anagram is mixing up letters to produce other words) amusing. the above title is an anagram of--> angela merkel.

even more enticing, this tool lets you choose to create anagrams in another language, or to choose a 'candidate word list,' which shows you what words could be found within your text, without generating the whole anagram for you. for example, by inputting angela merkel and choosing 'candidate word list', it tells you that words found within angela merkel are:
-allergen
-germane
-general
and on and on...

by choosing my own first and last name and asking for a candidate word list, i now know that words that can be found in my name include among others:
-terabytes
-theatres

(Yeah, I was an English major who was a graduate fellow for a statisics professor. I'm not sure either why such things amuse me to no end.)

the glamorous side of expat life

For those of you sitting at home in the US thinking that my Euro life is oh so sexy...this weekend I am sitting with a pile of paperwork and filling in boxes with numbers so that I can then give it to the intelligent accountants who will put it all in order and file my tax returns for both the US and Germany. Double the pleasure, double the fun!

I don't find it hellish so much, but rather painfully boring with the filling in of mundane details like how far my office is to my home and how I get there and that each time I get a question like that, I have to research the mundane answer because I feel the need to be exact since it's my taxes and it's the government and who knows what will happen if it's wrong! (1.4 km and by car). I spent an hour on it tonight, getting assembled and at least opening everything.

I bought a lovely bag of coffee from Keyna to kick off tomorrow's marathon session.

all together now

I talk rarely about work because i spend 8+ hours there, so I see no need to further 'prolong' my work day by blogging about it. However, I know that some of my American readers like to know a little about life here, working in Germany.

There is currently a big project going on with heavy American involvement. My German colleague leading the project speaks decent business English, but has been worn out recently by having to work with the Americans, as he normally doesn't spend 80%+ of his workday with them, and he has never worked outside of Germany, so it's an effort for him to constantly be 'on'. Couple that with our Americans who have never been outside of America and can never bring in enough casual phrasing guaranteed to confuse a non-native speaker. "Let's levelset this." Um, ok.

So we're sitting three of us on a conference call here in Germany, with this worn-out German colleague in Belgium, and five Americans in the US. The purpose was to discuss a proposed agenda for a big meeting that is upcoming. The worn-out German is doing his best to lead the discussion, but the Americans are brainstorming. (*giggle*) I forget sometimes that as annoyed as the Germans can make me, the Americans can annoy/confound the Germans in an equivalent amount.

My boss and I on the call have it on mute for side discussions when he isn't jumping in as he's trying to blow over some of the storm and herd the cats but they just bounce off track in another direction and Mr. Worn Out in Belgium is tired. At the same time we're both on the edge of getting sick as sickness has been floating around our office for two weeks with various colleagues in and out, and it was after 5 PM, so overall we were so loopy.

The Americans, bless their little hearts, aren't 'German direct' and won't give an order per se, so they are couching suggestions softly, such as 'not sure if it would work, but maybe you could blah blah' and 'well, this is what we did, perhaps that is helpful?'. And on and on, with the Germans politely acknowledging because they won't go on the offensive with such a light approach, but getting more and more stymied by what to do with this deluge of ideas when they already put their ideas on this agenda, so why are there more ideas?

We finally get through the agenda and they have even more overall helpful suggestions such as 'adding interactive components to the various sessions'. (cackle) We have 80 people coming to this shindig, and the Germans are already stressed about getting all ducks in order and in the same direction and the Americans are suggesting 'break-out sessions' and 'interaction'.

We're on mute and I make the sarcastic comment to my boss, 'if you really want to impress them, why don't you tell them, in addition to the break-out sessions we also have some icebreakers planned'.
'Some ice-what?'
'Oh nevermind, I'll tell you afterwards.'

Sure enough five minutes later, one of the Americans offered the question--so...do you have any icebreakers planned? And this was the point in the call where we finally lost it. There was dead silence on the phone line as we were on mute with laughter that could not be contained. We managed to scrape together an answer. If only they knew.

"Don't tell them to grow up and out of it"

I work at a company where a good chunk of the business (and profits) comes from the manufacturing line. As a result many manufacturing related practices appear on the business side, such as Six Sigma, are utilized. Another facet is that people operations are very compartmentalized and modular as opposed to other companies where people changes would require a softer touch.

In my first three years with this company we moved offices four times. One time, I knew we were moving again in four months, so I did not bother to unpack. I just packed carefully so that they things I would need for four months would be at the top of the box. Once my colleague went on a three week vacation knowing that we would be moving in three months. He came back to find us long gone. He had to call someone to come fetch him at reception as he didn't know where to find us.

This time we're at it again as they juggle space to maximize usage. However, it currently looks like the threat they've had for a long time, to get us out of this office complex is finally coming true. Officially we belong to another business unit than the one we sit with, so it makes sense that we would be the easiest to pick off. Therefore, they are not so particular about where they send us, it's not like someone else wants us to bring us somewhere, just that we're being asked to leave.

Interestingly, perhaps because I'm not German and I do not plan to spend my entire life here, or maybe because my local friends/family is non-existent, I don't really see this as a bad thing. There is a lot of office stress right now, and this info has only been released in a limited circle in the hopes that the move can be alleviated and unnecessary stress avoided.

The two options currently being kicked around (where we have other offices with extra space):
1. W - to the northeast of B by 30 min, a large city of around 350 k people and its own main train station, although the office is a 10 minute busride from there. The commute from D'dorf hbf with train and bus would be 35 min.
2. G - to the northwest and further away (one hour), a city that is actually smaller than the tiny town of B. it has no local train station and is 45 min by car from D'dorf.

Perhaps interestingly, if given a choice from the above, G is actually more interesting to me. Primarily because it is only 15 minutes from the Dutch border my trips over the border would become easier. Even further, I could actually live in the Netherlands and work in Germany instead of live and work here. It's also close to some of the off-peak airports, which means those that get the cheap flights, as from RyanAir. Hmm, perhaps THAT isn't an advantage. ;-)

Some images from Cologne this weekend

Most of Cologne was heavily celebrating Karneval this weekend, but I wasn't in that sort of mood to be surrounded by loud, racous, drunken party-making.

Here is my favorite bridge in Cologne on Saturday evening. I especially like it after dark once they turn the lights on. At a certain late hour in the early AM, they turn the lights off so you can't see it from the distance--not sure if they're saving electricity or what. If I'm seeing it on the way home on a Friday/Saturday and the lights are out, that's a signal that I stayed out too late. ;-)


On Saturday I went to our hole in the wall corner bar in the Cologne Deutz neighborhood near where I used to live. I refer to it as the Twilight Zone bar because people there are friendly. Often in my little corner of Germany, when you walk into a bar here, people don't recognize you so they turn around and stare. When I would go into a bar with my Spanish colleague and we would be speaking Spanish, this really baffled them so it would go silent, mouths open staring. Blah.

However, at the Twilight Zone bar, it's a strange little mixture of neighborhood people and always people start to talk to us, and I always learn very interesting things about life in Germany. Last night two ladies were on one side of us, and two single gentlemen so it was a group of six generally chatting and one of the women exclaims (in German), "a-ha, such an international group!" while pointing to each of us and saying the person's nationality. We were 2 Germans and 1 each: American, Australian, Dutch, and French.

On Sunday we watched a little bit of one of the parades. It was a little too chilly to be standing around outside for hours though.

a day late and a buck short

but oh so appropriate. Go see Mausi for a kinder, gentler version.

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love.You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourcandyheartsayquiz/

Henri-Chapelle American military cemetary and genealogy

For a change, occasionally on a weekend I take off over the border to either Belgium or the Netherlands, because either one can be reached in 55 minutes. About a month ago we went to the Henri-Chapelle American military cemetery which is not actually in Henri-Chapelle, but that is the closest large town. Since it was pouring rain when we arrived, here are some photos when I was there previously two summers ago when the weather was better:



We went inside the small hall when has a large map of the war movements as well as printed information in English, German, Dutch, and French. While we were reading a group of school children and their chaperones came in and the US caretaker (I'm sure there's a better word for him), came out of his office and gave a five minute talk to them in French. As we were still there and he saw us reading the English wall, he asked where we were from and upon hearing I was an American he said, 'ah, a taxpayer, we have something for you' and brought out a color brochure about the American Monuments Commission.

He seemed like a very nice fellow, so I took the opportunity to ask if I could pick him brain about my great-uncles buried in American military cemeteries in Italy. He's a bit of a history buff and maybe the day was slow, so he invited us into his office and did some research. He was very helpful and informative and when I mentioned a certain unit in the military, he went to the file cabinet. As some members of the unit are buried there, he has had connections with members of the unit who have visited, and he mentioned that they have an 'alumni association' of former members and their families. He gave me two emails and suggested that I contact them for information about the one great-uncle (GU) who was in that group.

I sent off an email not expecting to hear much and was pleasantly surprised when I received a response two days later. The fellow mentioned that he did not know GU, but there was another former member who is heavily involved in the troop history and continued in the military for another 30 years so maybe he would have known him and here is his email, chop chop.

I sent another email out to 'the Colonel' and again set the expectations low, partially because emails change and people are busy, and partially because if someone was in this group in 1942ish, then someone must be at least 80 years old or so, and how many 80+ year olds are so connected to the internet and email? Apparently this one, big time.

The Colonel emailed me back within five hours with a lively and lovely response that he did, indeed, remember this GU and the accident when he died and he also had a photo of him in his military jumpsuit (he was a parachutist), and would I like a copy, and oh, he'll do some more research for me to see what else he can find as well as add me to the group's email list. Wow. Further, there were recommended books to read and a book about to be re-printed about the group's activities and if I want a copy he'll reserve one.

The Colonel and I went back and forth as he is a very quick emailer. He then informed me that a group does a march in that area to re-trace certain military routes and it goes past a memorial to GU's group. It's a combination of US military members who were involved, their families, and people who live in the area, so I can go if I want. It's four days of activities, so I'm just going over for Saturday, and the Colonel has suggested that I contact a certain Belgian fellow while there, that he would be interesting to meet. Even further, there is a different, but similar commemorative activity that takes place in Germany so he'll be sure to connect me to that one as it's in the summer and attended by other interesting people.

On the negative side, these activities in Belgium are actually this weekend. Also, it's this weekend which is Karneval in Germany. I'm not such a big Karneval fan, I never take off of work for it, but I do usually go out on the Saturday night and to the parades on Sunday, because I do enjoy when the Germans relax and have fun. So it puts me out of commission, really, for Saturday, but I'll still get to go to the children's parades on Sunday.

I am really looking forward to Saturday. Having done genealogy research now for over three years and to have just fallen into this is fantastic.

what a great valentine's present

Join Israel's nationwide bone marrow donor recruitment drive on Wednesday February 14, at testing station throughout the country! --> http://www.ezer-mizion.org.il/e/310/94.htm

Country-wide. I just cannot begin to fathom. What a powerful change of focus to this commercialized Hallmark holiday.

I come upon this point because one of my friends from my California days--a Canadian who currently lives/works in Israel, sent this over:

• A friend of mine is trying to find a matching bone marrow donor for her 8 year old nephew who has leukemia. There is a (in Israel) country-wide campaign to get folks to register their blood samples in the hopes of finding an exact match. Chances of finding someone in Israel are higher than finding abroad, however, it never hurts to ask all over. Thanks so much for your consideration! Please pass on to anyone who may be interested. This will help other cancer patients as well to find life-saving transplants.
  If you are outside of Israel, you may register your blood at any registry and ask to be matched to needy recipients anywhere in the world.Anna
  More details at this website: http://www.ezer-mizion.org.il/ (english)

When I lived in California, I registered through: http://www.marrow.org/ so I stay registered, until such time as I would like to remove myself from the list.

Why she mentions "chances of finding someone in Israel are higher than finding abroad" is because tissue type is inherited, so you will more likely find someone who matches you based on race/ethnicity. That's not to say that you cannot find your match far away, just that the odds tend to be better, closer. You have the ability to say that you will donate anywhere in the world. That tends to make sense for us mobile, immigrating, transitory expats.

When I lived in California I actually knew someone who donated. She was Filipina, her parents emigrated from the Phillipines to California, like many Califonians. She was a match for a little boy who was also Filipino and living in California. How small the world is.

Making popcorn in Germany

When I was in the Netherlands a few weeks back, I couldn't resist buying this:

In particular, I bought it because D. was with me, and one of his favorite topics, is noting how Americans display the flag on everything. When we're in the US he must point it out at each instance--in front of the bank, the post office, the school, on a car's bumper sticker, on a kid's t-shirt, etc. (OK, maybe we do display the flag a lot.)

But this is different, because it's the Dutch displaying it.

Also I bought it because here ready to eat popcorn is just different. First, I find the majority of the popcorn sold in the supermarket to be 'sweet' instead of 'salty' (so microwaveable popcorn bags like in the US but with sugar instead of salt inside--um, no), or at the movie theaters I frequent it tends to be stale, dry and like cardboard, like it was made five hours ago with sub-standard corn. Orville Redenbacher would die a second death if he were to step into a certain theater frequented by English speakers in Koeln and try their popcorn.

After you've bought your popcorn, you need to have a place to pop it, something with a lid. Here is my wok from Aldi Sued, but you can also use a deep pot with a lid. The wok is better because then you can watch it popping and better monitor progress. Also, because the popped kernals fly up and then deflect off the top onto the sloped side rather than the bottom, they are out of the hottest heat and oil, leaving the unpopped kernals at the bottom to get their turn, thus minimizing burning.

Here it is completed. Well done Aldi Sued wok!

Next step, scoop it into a bowl and add whatever you want on top. It's a little difficult to scoop out of the wok without dropping a few pieces, so that's why you don't want to add your melted butter or whatever before scooping.

While you could add butter or salt, I prefer to sprinkle on some nutritional yeast, a vegetarian staple. I discovered nutrional yeast a few years ago when I was a vegan. It's an interesting item for cooking, because it is a powerful source of Vitamin B12, as well as adding a bit of a nutty flavor to any recipe.
Enjoy!

A dog with a job - part 2

In the tiny town of B. where I live, it's a little like Mr. Rodger's neighborhood. Everyone knows everyone else, and people stop to chat when they see each other. I lived 15 months in Koeln and knew only the people who ran my local bar; otherwise, I was just a face in the crowd in the supermarket, the dry cleaners, the fruit/veg market, pizza place, etc. Not here in B.

Here in B. everyone has a role and they are known by it, just like in Mr. Rodger's neighborhood. Hello Turkish Pizza shop owner! Hello Seamstress! Hello Retired Neighbor! My role is to be the American foreigner. I actually go into shops here and people say 'hello American!' Apparently I am the only American in B. which may very well be, although there are quite a few foreigners of other nationalities here working for the company where I work.

One of the highlights of my day is seeing Mr. Dog who I have written about in the past. It's now pretty regular, each morning when I scrape into the office at 08:45 it's just the time that the Post Frau is completing her morning route and about to leave company J. She always gives a friendly wave and a hello as we pass or a toot of the horn and wave if she is in her delivery vehicle and I am on foot en route to the office.

Recently, I have noticed that Mr. Dog has not been accompanying her on the route. I passed by her in the main entrance and of course she stopped to chat because everyone stops to chat in B. I asked about Mr. Dog and she explained he has a bit of 'Verzagtheit'. OK, outside my German vocabulary. So she takes the time to explain in simple German--the weather outside--it's bad, it's cold, it's rainy, it makes him tired and it is not fun for him to come along. And further, the couch inside is warm and comfortable, so he prefers to stay at home and sleep.

Later, I asked Leo, the best online German dictionary in the world. It seems that Mr. Dog is despondent, disheartened, down-hearted, and of weak spirit. Oh dear! Such is a dog's life in Germany.

say what, eh?

In the office
Heather: How do i save a voicemail?
-->(nevermind that's she's been using the same phone for three years--she's phone techonology inept.)
German: Moment
--> (efficiently whipping out the magic instructions from hiding place in the office. Nevermind that the same German has also been using said phones for three years.)
Heather waits 30 seconds.
Heather: I think I can just hang up, it will auto-save.
German2: Yes
German: Press star 7 6.
Heather: No, that's delete. That's the only one I know.
German: Star 7 6.
German2 now looks over the shoulder of German.
Heather: Nevermind, I think it timed me out anyway.
German: A-ha! Star 7 6 to un-do a delete.
Heather: Swell, the same thing to delete and un-delete. But what's a save?
German2: Just hang up. (Keep in mind German 2 has only been here six months, so he's running circles around our phone knowledge here.)
Heather: Why must this phone system be so complex. I'm glad you--a German--can't figure out the German phone.
German: This phone is not German; Nortel is American.
Heather: Nortel is not an American company.
German2: It's Swedish.
German and Heather (simultaneously): No, it's not.
German starts fervently typing. Heather knows very well that he's looking for Nortel online.
German: Ha!
Heather: OK, so what is it?
German: Toronto, Ontario. (pause) That's Canada?
Heather: Yes, that's Canada. So not America. (smirking because she's got him.)
German hating to be wrong.
German: Well, close enough, it might as well be America.
Heather: I'm not sure our neighbors to the North would exactly see it that way since they are their own country.
(Heather makes mental note. Maybe this is the equivalent of me mixing up the Germans and Dutch.)

Movie Review - Unser Täglich Brot

I rarely watch movies, (no matter where I am), but today D. and I saw Unser Täglich Brot at Filmpalette in Koeln. It's a documentary without commentary about industrial food production in Europe. STOP reading HERE if you plan to see the movie and don't want to be tainted by my below thoughts until after seeing it. ;-)

Overall, I found it to be very honest and neutral in its presentation. If you look at the film's website link above, don't be put off from the film that on first glance it seems like a PETA advert with the meat preparation photos shown. The film probably spends 60% of the time on cows, chicken, and pork, with 10% on fish and the remaining 30% on fruits/veg processing, and all is presented in a daily, matter of fact way, not sensationalized.

I would be interested to find anyone who does not learn something new from this film. D. and I were discussing post-film, there are many food preparations/methods/farm machines, that we did not know existed; as well as trying to comprehend the vast amounts of food that is prepared on a large scale. When you see how Aldi, Pennymarkt, and Plus sell fruit and vegetables in their shrinkwrapped packaging, it's easy to make the connection to this film when you see the women packing them into the containers of six, just like they sell it there.

If you live in Europe, I'd call it a must see.