It's that time again...

American week at Lidl starts on Wednesday.

Although--since when do Americans eat hot dogs from a jar and sweet popcorn?

heather, where've you been?

"Making hay while the sun shines" - as my country family would say.
"Hustlin" - my city family would say.

Here's what I've been up to for fun:


I am very blessed to have a balcony with no overhead shade, so I get a full day of sun, from sunrise until about 18.30 these days, when the sun gets low enough to be blocked behind the building.

This photo was right before I repotted three of these fellows into larger pots.

If you're wondering about the fellow in the back. He's Dutch, from here. I bought two last year at my local Praktiker and had good success with them. This year, Praktiker didn't have them, so I had to go to two other local garden places before I found him.

They retail for around 5.99, so a little pricy, but it was the most (only?) productive item in my balkon garden last year, even with all the rain, so completely worth the cost.

A few secrets if you happen to buy one for yourself:
1. Replant it in the biggest pot you can find. It will be happier and thus give you more tomatos.
2. Trim often, as in every week. They say it will produce 40 cherry tomatos, I would say mine did double that last year. As long as you keep clipping, it will keep producing flowers, and then fruit. Due to its 'Dutch engineering', if it stops with either flowers or fruit, it dies off.
3. Water each evening, if it does not rain during the day.

grounded

My passport is 'in the shop' for my new Germany work permit (the fifth yearly sticker for those of you keeping track at home.) Normally this process takes a few days, and company J graciously takes care of the administrative aspects of it.

Prior to handing in my passport on Apr 1, I mentioned that I must travel to France on Apr 14, and I'm not taking the chance of leaving Germany without it. Yes, the chances are minimal that I would be checked. But have I been checked traveling between company J's Germany and France offices? Yes--so I refuse to chance it for work travel. Do I want to be stopped coming into Germany without appropriate ID? No way. I imagine vegetarian food in the Germany slammer isn't so great.

In the meantime, it appears 2 weeks is not possible. So the admin people who take care of this will retrieve my passport based on the company J letter I created which states why I need it back with a temporary extension so that I can go to a meeting in France next week.

And why Heather couldn't they get it back within two weeks as originally estimated?

My little corner of NRW is under a massive backup of paperwork processing. It was estimated to be completed 4-5 weeks (that's in addition to the 2 weeks it was already is sitting there.)

So I get a little extension paper to tuck in (no problems, I've previously traveled on one in the past), and then it goes back into the shop--for a month at least. Meaning--no shopping trips in Holland or Belgium, no last minute Lufthansa weekend flights, and no long holiday weekends outside Germany in May.

So much for German efficiency.

Sperrmüll it is!

Mausi is one smart cookie to figure that out the answer to this little quiz. Or maybe she just had a leg up on the topic since Mr. M is a flea market fan. A small prize is due to the lady, perhaps at the next Whiney Expat meetup.

(The answer would be 'trash-picking' for English readers. ;-))

I've tried to point out to D, it's not so bad, even the Wall Street Journal talks about this trend in Germany.

I happen to enjoy the selection in Wuppertal. I came out of Polish class just after 9 PM and it was 8 degrees and dark out. However, the streets were crawling like it was a warm summer day. People were hauling things out of the cellars and apartments, and people were going up and down the streets seeking the best prize from the curb offerings. Some had flashlights, some pull along carts, and some drove up in cars for precious big items.

I had some things to do and I don't plan to stay in Germany forever, so I really didn't need to acquire anything, except noticing the plant holders while walking past, I thought they'd be useful for my herbs, so I joined the mix sifting through the garganuan curbside mountains. If you're in the need of furniture, dishes, appliances, clothing, toys, absolutely anything in the world, find a good neighborhood in Germany and keep an eye open for the bulk trash day when everyone puts out anything and everything.

And more about the planters? I spent the week learning about the intricacies of West German pottery to figure out what I picked up. Seems my herbs will be in finer digs than I'd ever buy for them.

Mystery photo

I still owe a posting to answer the quiz I posted way back, as well as some answers to where I've been.
In the meantime, the plant pot fairy didn't bring these, so today's quiz:

Where/how did these lovely items sitting on Heather's floor come from?
(Hint: It involved Heather in some way, they didn't just magically appear. But what could be the source of such loveliness?)



For info on future use: they will be put to work shortly housing two plants in the office and the rest at home. The terra cotta ones in the back will hold tomato plants once spring really comes.

The two matching flower ones on the left are stamped 'West Germany' on the bottom and the one front and center is from Italy.

Put your answer in the comments if you think you know of the source/activity...

If you were in my English class...

Your homework for next Tuesday would be to take the 60 school/classroom related vocab words that I gave to you and we reviewed, and to write each one that you own on your choice of supplied, colorful post-its and stick it on the item.

I am partially afraid that I will get a post-it with the word 'teacher' smacked on my forehead next week as 'teacher' was one of the words, and I explained that the object is to use as many words as possible.


*I'm not an English teacher, nor do I play one on TV. Every Tuesday evening as a favor for a colleague I spend some time with his 10 year old to give her a bit of a basis for when she starts English class for real in school in a few months.

A quick trip to Luxembourg

I had a whirlwind trip to picturesque Luxembourg. It's a small place, so a short trip is ok. I found the people to be lovely and very helpful, although the weather was grey.

On the drive back to Germany I was listening to Luxembourgish radio. Read about the Luxembourgish language if you'd like. Or listen to this Luxembougish lesson to hear it.

I listen a lot to Dutch radio since I pick up Dutch station 3fm here in Germany, along with other Dutch stations, and I can follow along so-so. So I was curious to see how much Luxembourgish I could understand. I was following along with the weather, the traffic, and then they started an interview...

The interviewer was talking about the upcoming Easter weekend, and asking, "why do you always see rabbits bringing the Easter eggs, instead of the hens, who logically should be bringing the eggs?"

I thought hmm...that's very true, especially in Germany, I always see the rabbits transporting Easter eggs--they're like the DHL or Deutsche Post of Easter, hauling those decorated eggs everywhere with carts, trucks, wheelbarrows etc. You never seen a hen doing that.

At which point the interviewee started on an extensive answer...with lots of words in Luxembourgish that I could not understand in the slightest.

(Sigh.)

travels - Oh Canada!

March - This week a short trip down to Luxembourg, then to Austria for the long Easter weekend (Fri-Mon).

April - A work trip to Strasbourg.

late May - A work trip with a nested in trip home to Philly which looks a little like this:

Duesseldorf - Toronto - Philly
I was given a choice on the work flight of getting to Philly via Paris (too hectic), Frankfurt (schlepping myself on the ICE train down there, and then on a US carrier), London (way to hectic), or Toronto on Lufthansa.

Philly - Orlando
4 days for a conference there, then a weekend in Tampa with friends.

Tampa - midwest city of company J
a week at HQ

midwest city - Chicago - Duesseldorf
(return in early June)

Interesting exhibit in Germany

If you happen to be near one of these cities, D caught this exhibit when it was in our neck of the woods and recommends it. He mentioned that all explanatory text was pretty much in German, although there were some photos, so it could perhaps still be interesting even if your German is minimal.
http://www.zug-der-erinnerung.de/fahrplan.html

still here....

but working on some things on the side.
back again soon...

Why I love where I live in the tiny town of B

I've heard so many stories from so many people in Germany about their awful neighbors or the over the top rules. However, I must live in the Bermuda triangle of Germany apartment life. My neighbors are so very nice. Granted, life in Tiny town of B is in general nice, but it's like Disney World Germany here in my building.

I spent all day Saturday saying hello and good day as I run down to the laundry room or to take out the trash, as everyone else is also out and about. Perhaps because I am the one foreigner in the building I get a little extra leeway. In particular, when one of my expat friends was with me on the balcony and the downstairs neighbors are always chatty, I had internally cringed when expat friend used the informal 'you' in the conversation, as that is usually what he is using and it slipped out. (The more formal 'you' would have been preferred as they are older and we don't really know them, and it's also what I have heard other neighbors use this this couple.) However, they never blinked twice, and never corrected his usage or seemed in any way offended.

I've been pleasantly pleased in the past, at least four different neighbors in my apartment building have accepted packages on my behalf. It probably helps that three of them are retired so home all day when packages are delivered, but still.

Then tonight, I was out late, I had to zip down to Cologne for something. 10 minutes after I'm home the doorbell rings. My neighbor had accepted a flower delivery for me. She overlooks the parking lot, so she was peering out periodically until she finally spotted my car. She said had been worried that she would perhaps miss me tonight. How very kind.

Saturday lunch - Lemon and Ginger Tofu with Beautiful Sauce

I had stopped by my local Aldi Sued on Friday on the way into the office, I decided in the morning that I was in a salad mood. While there, I bought some of their bio Tofu. Big props to Aldi Sued--they are the only 'mainstream' store in my area to carry fresh tofu. Their tofu is firm and holds up well in cooking. It is highly recommended, in particular when compared to its closest competitors: the 'non-refrigerated Kaufpark tofu in a glass jar and some kind of oil designed to last years', or the 'slightly pricy Bioladen which has limited hours' tofu.

On Saturday I was in the mood for something coconut. On a whim I tried this recipe and wow was it spectacular, even if my photo was not so hot. I'd say it rivals my old standby, General Tao's Tofu.

I followed the recipe exactly as it is written (except for putting it over noodles instead of rice), and the next time I make it, I'd make it exactly the same. Beware, however, you may have the desire to scarf down the whole batch, which sorta sucks when you were hoping to get two lunch meals during the week out of it. ;-)

Allergy sufferers unite!

The trade-off for the nice spring-like weather is that I'm sniffly with a low grade headache all day. Fellow bloggers, I see your lovely photos of your early sprouting flowers, but I could deal with a little less of that and a little more of the cold, white, heavy, white stuff instead. ;-)

However, during my recent travel for planning for Innsbruck, I came across Kuetai, which is in the Innsbruck region. It is selling itself as a summer destination for allergy sufferers, due to its high altitude, thereby offering an escape from pollen in these months. Here is their English page on the topic, where they beckon me to come for 'an allergy vacation.'

Let the summer holiday planning commence...

Easter 2008

It's getting around that time again, and this year Easter is early. In case you're keeping score, here are my previous Easter holiday destinations. This year's pick-->lovely Innsbruck. Why?

- I enjoyed visiting Linz, Austria last year, so I'd like to see more of Austria.
- I've heard only good things about the skiing there from my work colleagues
- Availability of open campsites. Yes, I will camp outside in March. Crisp, fresh air promises me a good night of sleep every time.
- Cheap flights on TUIfly.
- I feel like we didn't really get a winter here, so somewhere cold is in order.
- As any expat in Europe will tell you, it's a four day weekend and Europe is shut down. So one may as well take the opportunity to take a 'nature focused' holiday rather than something involving museums or shopping.

Another sign I've been in Germany too long

I was talking to my German colleague (GC) who now lives in the UK.

GC: Hold on, I need to grab my Coke.
H: Skip the Coke, too much sugar. (Knowing GC is trying to be more healthy.)
GC: It's ok, it's diet.
H: That's even worse. Chemicals. Aspartame.
GC: It's the new Diet Coke with Vitamins. And you're sounding like a German.
H: (ahem) The chemicals, they're obviously going to your brain already.

Saturday in the tiny town of B

Yes, Karneval weekend is in full swing, even in tiny town of B, nestled between Koeln and D'dorf. However, something much more exciting to me today--I woke up to 3-4 inches of snow, something I haven't see in at least 3 years here.

Such a perfect day for it. I didn't need to drive into the office, so I didn't need to shovel out the car. Instead, I could go play:

(my snowshoes, from America, who were feeling very unloved up until now)

the eye dr, part 3

second verse, same as the first,
a little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

So I woke up at 0655 this morning, in order to start the eye drop regime- 07.00, 07.20, get in car, pull over at 07.40 for 3rd set, arrive at 07.50, into the office at 08.00, for another set of drops at 08.10.

(I'm not quite sure how the US can have drops that dilate your eyes within 10 min and only last maybe 45 min after that, while in Germany this is a hella long drawn out process.) It's now 11 PM and my eyes still look dilated. I had brought along my coffee as I remember being there until 10 AM last year. Unfortunately this year was a repeat, even with my three times in the seven o'clock hour.

More drops: 08.30, 08.45, 09.10, 09.20, and 09.30. Finally a set of yellow drops at 09.45, and in to see the cranky pants dr at 09.50. He goes through his measurements. I ponder the use of eye technology in America. When I lived in California, for an extra few bucks my eye dr would do a digital thingy, so you could see your actual eyes on the computer screen, and even print them out. Then they would save them each year in order to run computer comparisons of changes.

What do I get here? I thing it was a glass magnifying glass plonked on my eyeball with a lot of drops and shifted around from here to eternity while he glared under his special magnifier.

Then, the official opinion. "I have measured your eyes, look here on your chart (complete with dr scrawl), and they have not changed. However, when you were wearing your contacts you could not read the smaller letters properly, so I thought you needed a stronger setting. Or maybe it's that the contacts are not good for your eyes."

"The office is on holiday the next three weeks, come back after that, and we test you wearing your glasses to see if you read the same as with the contacts"
(handshake)

They are booked up immediately after their holiday so I'm not in again until the first week of March.

On a slightly odd note, I was asked three times whether I needed a dr note, to excuse me from the office. The last time I received a dr's note, I was 14 and getting my braces off so late into school that morning. In retrospect, I should have accepted it as a nice souvenir of the whole experience.

More comments on the eye dr trip

Since a few of you had things to say and the comments box is too small for me to respond...

Having been here almost five years, I am no longer shocked or frustrated by the attitude or actions of anyone in this country. (Not sure if that's a good thing though!) Three years ago I would have been appalled, and would not have told the story as it would have been too painful to re-live. Interestingly, I told the same story in the office, and here were the German colleague responses:

colleague one: (in the middle of doing something but half listening, mumbles) private insurance....doctors in Germany....more appointments....pfui....make money...

colleague two: (never lived outside of Germany, but has locally dealt with a lot of things for non-Germans so tends to see things as such, and was the one who set up this appt). This is why I don't like doctors here. They think they're gods.

colleague three: (also never lived outside of Germany, but used to my occasional rants on living here, so he no longer takes it personally, but earnestly tries to educate me when he thinks I've missed the boat) This is how you know that German doctors are serious about your eye health, when they are serious with you. Only a good doctor would take the time to say such things.

I found colleague 3's thoughts to be most thought-provoking, as it is something I never considered. I dread this appointment weeks in advance, in general because I don't like people poking around my eyes, especially cranky ones who seems to be bent on bringing a dark cloud into everyone's day. Although based on the #3 above, I imagine the guy spoke to me like he speaks to every other person visiting his office, (although I think he's perhaps an extra bit curmudgeonly in general, even by German standards).

If you're not living in Germany you may wonder why I don't just switch drs. A few simple reasons I guess.
1. There are no 'American-style' doctors within 20 minutes from where I live. I consider it a win when I get one who can speak some English words.
2. The guy seems competent in measurements. He picked up that one eye is slightly weaker this year without me mentioning it.
3. The office staff is superb. In particular when they are explaining something unfamiliar that we don't have in the US, they have no problems repeating their instructions a second time with different German words and then listening to me repeat them back. (One drop of these special drops in each eye every 20 min for one hour prior to coming here next?)
4. I don't consider this to be a life-long relationship, as I don't plan to stay in Germany forever.

Heather's trip to the eye doctor - year 2

If you were Heather today, it went something like this...show up at the eye doctor's office. Tell the nice desk person who you are and what you're there for (an annual appointment--right as rain), and have them squint at a book of tiny handwritten printed names...and ask for your name again....and peer at the book, and finally say, well, no matter, that may have been you right there erased...go take a seat.

eye dr: (handshake and then reading the chart) you were last here in march last year. i told you to come every six months. it's important. the eyes are like windows, we must take care.

heather: (once a year does me fine in the US) uh, yes..

eye dr: you're wearing contacts...(back to chart, frowning)...you only wear these only 8 hours a day?

heather: actually, no, i wear these (putting box on table) for a month at a time.

eye dr: (multi-tasking by peering with some magnifying thingy into my eye) no, no, I told you last time. (break from multi-tasking for direct lecture in German) You must not wear them more than 8 hours a day.

heather: but they're made to be worn always.

eye dr: (loud sigh.) I told you once, I tell you again...(then I get the same as previously, a second time in German, then in English also for good measure--except for words unknown in English, like 'oxygen', are kept in German) You cannot get these from a place that sells glasses, only an eye dr can say...if it gets to the point where the glasses seller can say don't wear, then it's too late, your eyes are damaged for good.

These 'all the time ones' (finally looking at the box)--they are for old people or small children, people who cannot put in contacts well (somebody better inform the Ciba marketing team)...and people like that need to come to an eye dr every month (oh really).

heather: (well actually, they came from plus.de not the glasses seller, and the whole point is not to have to take them out every night) um, yes...

eye dr: (grudgingly) but if you are going to wear contacts, these are better than most. more oxygen to the eye, less dirt--but you must not more than 8 hours wear! 8!

heather: yes...clear..windows...8

eye dr: come back on Monday to dilate the pupil. then i see if my measurements just taken are correct. and don't wear contacts the day before. or until one day after that is done or else your contacts will turn yellow. and your world will be yellow, and a yellow world is not good. (handshake)

-->Well, a yellow world seemed to work a while back for Bono, as I recall...

English movie theaters in Cologne

I went to see a film over the weekend, The Darjeeling Limited at Off Broadway which is a theater that is very close to the tram stops of either Zülpicher Platz or Barbarossaplatz. Most of the English speakers that I know go to The Metropolis, but I personally think Off Broadway is actually a better theather (for me anyway) than the Metropolis for a few reasons:

- they show both the mainstream + independent films
- more film times rather than more films. (Nothing irritates me more than when the film I want to see is offered only once daily, at 21.50.)
- ticket prices are less expensive by a few euros (unless you go for the 4 euro Thursday Metropolis special)
- the lobby is much more spacious with built in window seats along the entire length of the lobby, and as a result, I do not end up squashed in the middle of a throng of 30+ people.
- tickets are sold with assigned seating, which you choose when you purchase your ticket. It seems to alleviate the stampede that occurs at the Metropolis, when the doors are opened and the throng rushes forward. The last time I was at the Metropolis, someone was so close behind me holding a tray of nachos that I ended up with nacho cheese in my hair.
- it's close to two restaurants I like: the all veg go! vindam and the very veg friendly Habibi at Zuplicher Strasse 28.
- there is a resident cat who sleeps in one of the windows, so I imagine the place is rodent free.
- In general, it's a lot cleaner than Metropolis inside the theater.
- The area is much more lively, so leaving the late show on foot seems safer as the area has plenty of people, as opposed to the area around the Metropolis, which is a little more desolate late in the evening.

Before you swear off the Metropolis, however, a few negatives for Off Broadway:
- Sometimes seats for the film you want will be sold out, especially on a Friday or Saturday during evening hours when you walk up 5 min before showtime.
- It's a little on the non-mainstream side, so instead of Coke, you can only get Afri-cola which seems to smack against years of American marketing, associating a movie with a cold Coke.
- It doesn't show as many different English films weekly as the Metropolis

Want to find other English movies showing in Cologne? Try here, keeping an eye out for the ones marked OmU or OV, but check that it's not an original in another language, like French. :-) Here: http://www.choices.de/heute.php or here: http://www.koeln.de/ausgehen/kino/kinokalender/index.php