Bier > Wasser

I've made two pretty funny (at least to me) observations regarding the importance of beer in Germany in the past few days. Here goes:

I got online recently to check the opening hours of our favorite grocery spot, Viktualenmarkt. It's a fantastic 5-acre, open-air market near city center selling produce, olives, pastries, meat, cheese, flowers, etc. In bold letters under the market operating hours, reads a somewhat apologetic statement that while the market itself opens at 8:00 every morning, the beer garden doesn't open until 9AM. Well, that just blows my plans right out of the water!! No liters of Hoffbrau for me until 9AM?!? Who do these people think they are?

Secondly, I was skimming the local paper this morning and came across an article about how the federal police were investigating claims of passenger abuse on a recent high-speed regional train. We've had unusually hot weather here in Germany and apparently several of the long-distance trains experienced air-conditioning malfunctions over the weekend. The heat became so intense that passengers began breaking out train windows to get fresh air and 9 people were eventually admitted to the hospital for heat-related issues. The article mentioned that DB (Deutsch Bahn) officials had admitted to halting all buffet service onboard due to the heat but had supplied passengers with emergency provisions, which included crackers, water (vasa), and beer. Now, folks, there's something to be said for a country that considers beer an emergency provision!

The universal language of 'dog'

A couple days ago, Scott and I headed into Munich city with the lamb to run a few errands. We stopped off at Deutsche Bank in Marienplatz and Scott ran inside to the ATM while the lamb and I waited on the front steps. Opposite from us, stood a burqa-clad Islamic woman with a sweet little pre-school aged girl. She seemed very interested in lamb and eventually drug her mother over to us to to say hi and give a pet. A few seconds later she ran around the corner and came back with three or four other little ones who also wanted to get in on the puppy action. Before I knew it, not only did I have at least ten little ones clambering for a chance to touch lamb, but I also had now four or five burqa-clad women with their iPhones whipped out taking photos and video of all this. The best came when Scott emerged from the bank and looked down, jaw dropped, to see me laughing hysterically in the midst of all this chaos. We managed to disrupt foot traffic on one of the busiest sidewalks in all of Munich and, despite the language and cultural barrier between us, that may always be one of my favorite moments in our new home.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

It is amazing the trouble one must go to in a foreign country to accomplish the simplest of tasks when one doesn't speak the native language. Scott and I have really struggled with learning German due to a combination of working & schooling full-time prior to the move and then devoting any extra time to the task of moving itself. Add to this that we are both conversational (I wouldn't go so far as to say fluent, though) in Spanish and, thus, everytime I attempt to formulate a German sentence, three or four spanish words inevitably get thrown into the mix. What a jumbled up bunch of gibberish we can produce!! I don't want to give the impression, though, that I'm pompous enough to think that everyone in the world should be expected to speak my native tongue. However, every once in awhile, it would be so nice to not have to think so hard about everything that comes out of my mouth.

Regardless, here we are in Deutschland with the proper vocabulary to order a bier, ask for directions, and ask "Sprechen Sie englisch?" Other phrases and vocab have been easy to pick up just by listening to the way locals greet each other, by translating word by word various newspaper articles, and by listening to German TV whenever possible. We are indeed catching on but we have a long way to go!

I spent an hour and a half on the Amazon website (all in German) trying to decipher which type of dogfood we should buy for the lamb and then another fifteen minutes figuring out the proper way to enter our German address and billing info so that it actually got to us (By the way, it's incredibly difficult to find decent dog food here. I've yet to find an actual pet store even with Google's help.) It's taken me four days to get my hands on oil-free facial moisturizer, too. Things that require zero thought in your native country become monumental when you're out of your element (and, in my case, too stuborn to ask for help because I know fighting through it myself will be the quickest way to learn).

I've come to depend on several websites devoted to native English-speakers now living in Germany and I came across the following little story, which hit way too close to home:

"My integration course teacher told us about one of her former students. The guy's wife gave him a shopping list to pick up on the way home. After wandering around the store for awhile, he couldn't figure out where to find chicken. He picked up an egg, went to an employee and said 'wo ist mama?' She laughed and took him to the chicken and said 'I dont know if it is mama oder papa but here you go.'"

So with that, I'm off to look for apartments and meet with landlords who I'm sure speak very little English. Ahhh, here we go again!

Newlywed/Newly-Nomadic

First of all, my apologies for a 6-week hiatus on blogging. We've crammed a lot into that time and I've barely been able to form a cohesive thought (much less put one on paper). This is my account of the last 6 weeks and be forewarned, it's wordy.

Our May 30th wedding on Sanibel Island, FL, seems now like something that took place years ago. It was a perfect affair with many friends and family there to celebrate with us, and that many more celebrating in spirit. I can't say enough about how perfect it all was. The eerily calm moments when my mom was helping me get the dress on were some that I'll always cherish. Most certainly, I'll never, ever forget the expression on my dad's face when he saw me in my wedding gown for the first time. I'll also never forget standing at the beginning of the aisle (sandy path through the dunes) a mere 60 seconds before walking down to meet Scott and suddenly realizing that I had no idea where our rings were. Ooops! Thank goodness for my quick-witted dad and close friend/bridesmaid, Jenny, who burned a trail back to the cottage and found them just in time! The best, of course, was slipping that ring on my best friend's hand. He was just as handsome and cute as the first day we met and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

Fast forward a few weeks to June 15th, and we've managed to liquidate a 1000 sq ft of furniture and other belongings in the first city I called "home" since I left my true "home" in Tennessee. This was a particularly hard goodbye for me. Leaving behind our home, our beach, our friends, and perhaps most difficult, our little brother Dorian & his family. Dorian and I have been "matched" through Big Brothers Big Sisters since August of 2004 and we've spent several hours a week together ever since. Scott joined our match back in 2008 so that we technically became a "big couple" to Dorian. In reality, we're all just family and it's really hard to say goodbye (in this case "see you later") to family. Thank goodness for Skype and Facebook!

On June 15th, we managed to get everything we owned into a rented dodge minivan and my Hyundai and we headed north to Tennessee. It was an emotional drive out of town for me but the adventure ahead made it somewhat easier.

A day and a half later we arrived home in Tennessee. It's always good to come home to the country. It was our dog, Kaya's (henceforth known as 'the lamb') first experience outside of a city and she had a ball running across the yard unleashed. We couldn't keep her out of the pool, either, which came as quite a suprise. Time with family was sweet but, as always, too short. We spent time supporting my dad in his campaign for Humphreys County Executive, shopped with my mom, and drank a LOT of sweet tea. It doesn't get much better than that!

On June 30th, we said tearful goodbyes and made our way to the Nashville Airport with all the essentials for our European life crammed into four pieces of luggage. It was liberating, overwhelming, exciting, and scary as hell...all at the same time. Lucky for us, we've got friends in high places (literally). The mother of my best friend, Amy, is a flight attendant for Delta and we were greeted onboard with champagne and the goodie bags from first class (a big deal when faced with a 9 hour flight). Husband, wife, and lamb landed safely in Munich, Germany, at 8:20 am local time and the adventure officially began. I'll close this (winded) blog at this point just by saying that Germany is beautiful. It's everything I expected and so much more. Details to come soon on falling in love with one of the most beautiful places in the world. In the immortal words of the Grateful Dead, "What a long, strange trip it's been."

Coming Full Circle

No matter how outlandish my ideas have been, I have always marched to the beat of my own drum. From the time I was little, I have always taken an interest in creating, building, and working on my own random art projects (fireworks and things that are really dangerous). Many of you may not know this, but I hold a special place in my heart for George Romero films like the original Dawn of the Dead or even Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies. Nothing fascinated me more as an 8 year old than some zombie getting his arm wacked off with a chainsaw or better yet when actor Bruce Campbell cuts his own hand off and straps a chainsaw to his arm. For some reason that scene sticks in my mind. I remember how real it looked but it never really frightened me. I was actually intrigued and knew that one day I could and would create art like this. As I got older, I thought I was destined for a life in LA writing and directing film. After 6 months and a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, I decided that wasn't such a great plan. I then returned to New York City to complete culinary school and become a chef trained in classical French cuisine. Whether it was cooking something, writing, or making my father look like Freddy Krueger for halloween back in '88, I have always considered myself an artist. Almost 3 decades later I figured out what I was destined for. What I do now not only looks like some of the props they use in film, but I can now go home knowing that I have restored someone's life. If you are interested in seeing what I will be doing in Germany, check out the link below. Click on "Orthopädietechnik", then click on "Company profile".
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A Big Weekend for the Auerbach's

We're in celebration mode down in sunny St. Pete this weekend! Graduation is upon us! After years of juggling a full-time job and school, Scott will get his Bachelors Degree in Orthotics & Prosthetics from the J.E. Hanger School of Orthotics & Prosthetics at St. Petersburg College on Saturday morning at Tropicana Field. This is a particularly huge milestone for us as a couple because the first three years of our relationship were spent with textbooks between us. It's hard to believe that from this point forward, the words "I've gotta study" will no longer put a damper on weekend plans and evening outings. I almost can't fathom what it will be like to spend whole evenings together for weeks on end but I can't wait to try my hand at it! Don't get me wrong, though. I'm so proud of his dedication to and love for O & P. Scott's passion for the field is truly inspiring. My year-long break from science has been a good and more than necessary one. However, watching Scott take such pride in his work and enjoy every second of it has me ready to hit the ground running again with my own career interests. Scott will do great things for the O&P industry and the patients who rely on it for maintaining their quality of life. His intelligence, experience, compassion, and perfectionist attitude will take him far...about 5,000 miles to be exact! I'm just so proud to call him my partner in crime! Congrats, Scott!

They're Only Things

Well friends, we're officially two months out from our big move! Two months seems like a long time until I look back on the last two months and realize how fast they flew by. With that in mind, and considering that our move isn't the only big milestone headed down the chute between now and the end of June, we've begun the process of selling everything we own. It all seemed fun and exciting when we were taking inventory of everything we'll keep and everything we'll sell. It was more fun when we priced the sellables out and realized the profit potential. It was even fun when I officially listed it all on Craigslist yesterday. However, within 6 hours of posting the ad we'd received over 80 inquiries and several people had stopped by and bought things before I even got home from work. The realization that mine and Scott's first "home" together is literally disappearing in front of us was truly bittersweet for me.

I keep reminding myself, though, that they're only things. It's amazing how attached we get to "stuff"! Half the world will go their entire lives without owning a sofa or a real bed and yet I'm sobbing over an opportunity to sell my stuff and move to Europe...where I can easily get more "stuff"! It's ridiculous when you really think about it.

On the other hand, the idea of being able to carry all of mine and Scott's belongings in 4 suitcases is somewhat liberating. I don't want to be the kind of person defined by my things. I've become one of those people who feels that leaving the house without a cell phone is much like leaving the house without pants on. I'm almost ashamed of that but I know half of America would agree with me. This adventure will be an (extended) exercise in simplicity. Every dollar not spent on "stuff" will instead be spent on train tickets...to places like Portugal and Greece and Morocco. I'm sure that ultimately, when it's time for us to return to the States, I'll find leaving Munich and all our memories there to be just as bittersweet as this. I just hope I never forget that they really are only things and that my friendships, family, and my Scott will be with me no matter where the next adventure takes me!