Send in the Clowns

We finally move into our house in Martinshohe beginning tomorrow.  The trek is both exciting and bittersweet.  Although I'm SO DAMN TIRED of filling bags and boxes to shuffle from one place to the next, I will actually miss this little temporary apartment where Chris and I spent our first Christmas together. I love our dinners together, sharing some wonderfully cheap and delicious wine we discovered. Each night I cook, and we have dinner on the little table and discuss our day, then move to the sofa to watch videos on his tiny laptop that isn't even the size of a piece of paper. It's been cozy, quaint and very sweet.

It's frustrating and rather funny that our tiny fridge is so small that we have to scoop out ice cream from its container and put it into smaller ones that can fit into the freezer section, about half the size of a shoebox.  And, after three weeks of drinking lukewarm sodas or drinks with no ice, I finally broke down in near tears in the commissary last weekend, exclaiming "Holy crap I've gotta have a Diet Coke over ice!!! We're taking a bag home, even if I only get to have it tonight!"

Of course, Chris obliged and even concocted a way to hang it from a mesh bag outside from the kitchen window, where it hangs over the ledge. Call us white trash. Call us geniuses. In our 25F degree weather, WE NOW HAVE ICE!  

The new house has a small German fridge, too.  But we're fixing the situation by moving a larger, American fridge into the pantry. There aren't water hook ups for ice makers, so "ice trays" were the first thing on our shopping list Christmas eve. When I asked a German woman at the BX if they had ice trays, I think she told me no out of spite. ;) I don't normally listen to people anyway, and you guessed it, I found them. I kinda wanted to run down that fraulein and educate her, but Chris patted my bottom and laughed at me. Huh.

The househunt was so stressful, so we were truly blessed when we answered a classified ad for a house for rent with Gudrun as the agent. She is wonderful! Helpful, bubbly, lovely in so many ways. And funny as hell.  I love it when she calls me. "Ahhhhh, HALlo, JEAna! This is GUdrun...."

Chris loves her, too. You can just tell that she will remain friends with us after the business side of the transaction is over. I've mentioned that we have bikes and she tells us about wonderful trails, that she will get a map for me. I say that I want a tutor, and she says she'll find a teenager to work with me in the village, and she will write that down. Gudrun is so friendly, efficient, honest and kind. When she says she will call, she does. If the road is too slick from snow and ice, she'll just park and walk to meet you, never leaving you hanging.

Gudrun always hangs the phone up with a few German phrases that mean "Then it's all good" and "see you later."  One of those, although I don't know the true spelling, is pronounced "osclod" or "ossglad" or "ahsclaw." I finally asked her about the word, and she rattled off the spelling but her accent is still thick and I don't always know what she is saying unless she repeats it.

The other evening after dinner, I was sitting at the table, savoring my diet coke over ice, and Chris was talking to Gudrun. After he hung up, he casually laid down my cell phone.

"That word she says, you know ..." said Chris.

I nodded, and tried to say it. "I asked her what it meant," I added. "She said "everything is good" or "then that's that."

Chris sat down and picked up his glass. "Well, that's good. Because I thought she was calling us "ass clowns."

I nearly choked on my treasured ice. 

Freedom

TODAY marks a magnificent day. I HAVE A CAR TO DRIVE, WHEREVER I WANT. WHEN I WANT. FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE NOVEMBER 5!

It's been excruciatingly hard. Depressing. Daunting that I could not get out of this place and go very far. I tried one day but the 20 degree weather and lack of really warm coat had me coming home.  THEN my coat finally arrived in the mail.  And BAM a foot of snow came, forcing me to stay put when the hills became to slick to risk walking. So no Christmas shopping except on two occasions over a couple of weekends, where I found myself saddened when I couldn't find anything in the brief time we had shopping.

SO TODAY IS A MY FIRST TASTE OF FREEDOM!!!!

Of course it's not going for shopping. I'm loading up my dog Sushi and taking her to a vet's office. She has an ear infection.  Again.  And her eyes are still bothering her.  And they have been bothering her since we arrived, Nov 13. All this time of not being able to get out and then watching her rub or "noodle" as Chris and I call it, has driven me crazy with guilt. Then, she started throwing up again. And then not eating very much, if at all (well, chicken and cheese treats always perk her up, but I worry she'll upchuck them).  So I woke up today with a start, realizing that her ear is probably causing her enough pain and the nausea ... and I'm using my one day of freedom with a car to do what?  BE A GOOD MOM to my dog.

It's beginning to look a lot like Weihnachten!

Christmas in Germany, or Weihnachten, is celebrated a little differently. It's relaxed yet exciting, beautiful yet simple. Their Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas markets, are world famous and open during the four weeks of Advent. Chris and I have visited five of them now, one including an old castle.  The markets are great for visiting with friends, sharing a little grilled sausage and gluhwein. And, some Weihnachtsmarkt can leave you with one hell of a hangover, like I had last Monday.  It's all Chris' fault. He just kept grinning and kissing me when I said I wanted more gluhwein. And quickly refilled my cup. Cheeky bastard.

It was a beautiful market, to say the least. And last Sunday was a gorgeous, cold yet perfect day to venture out. Sunshine in the morning had me bouncing around our apartment, (have I mentioned that I have felt like a prisoner in our apartment?  No car, no way to really get around and see much -- so these weekend excursions have been the highlight of our stay so far) and I convinced Chris that we needed to find a new place to go.  Thankfully, I married a man who loves spur-of-the-moment adventure more than I do.  So I pulled out a map of Germany and pointed at the biggest city near us, Saarbrucken. Oh, and did I mention it's on the border of France?  I have a love affair with France, but that's another story, another blog. :)

We zipped off in our rental car and found ourselves in downtown Saarbrucken in only 25-30 minutes. I'm sure Chris hit the Autobahn at maybe 110 mph in one spot ... I try to be busy looking at my phone and not the traffic around us.  I become "Bitchy Backseat Driver" when I get a little frightened, and he's an amazing driver. So why not let him have his fun?

Saarbrucken is a very pretty city, steeped in history and culture, with French influences and a big university population.  I'm very excited to be living nearby for frequent visits. I just wish I'd not had that extra mug of gluhwein ...



I had just gotten started.  Mmmm it was so good, with a little Williams added to it ... a liqueur made from pears.  Tasty!

They served it from a giant Christmas pyramid ...

and you should have seen Chris' dancing eyes.  He was all smiling and happy.  He LOVES the little Christmas pyramids, found in Germany.  Made of wood, they have small propellers that when candles are lit beneath them, the radiation from the heat makes them turn, thus causing each level of the pyramid to turn in clockwise and counterclockwise motion, and the little people turn, too.  I just wish they weren't so expensive, nor so fragile, or I'd buy one for him. Maybe next year, once we are moved and into our permanent home. Santa might still have one up his sleeve, too. :)

emember how I said Saarbrucken has French influences? We came across this wonderful little sausage stand from a French fella. They sold sausages with walnuts, pork and ... DONKEY? Eeek!

 

Well, the Germans sure do love their sausages ... and they start them out young.

Chris and I wish you a Merry Christmas! Love to you all.

Willkommen!

Ah, yes. The new blog I promised to write, to keep you all included in this crazy life I'm leading.  And I try to keep my promises.

Why the wait, this long month of no posting? It's not that I didn't have anything to say ... it's just, simply, I hit a mental snag.  The snow, the stagnation, the long hours with no television (except CNN and German soaps), no husband, a pukey dog, poor internet reception, this saga of NOTHING, had all done a little number on me and I was sad.  And, I just couldn't bear to start off the post with a long list of sadness.

But here I am. In this crazy, slow yet quick, ever-changing life of living abroad, being married and co-habitating with my husband (the first time to ever do both -- be married, be living with a man, who is in my bed, ALL THE TIME, snoring, hogging) -- and you know, it's pretty amazing. And awesome. It's really, really good to be loved. Even with all my wobbly bits. A word to the wise, schnitzel is not healthy. I don't even really like it that much.

So willkommen to this little blog, my journey starts now.