I've got a little time to waste right now and I know my last post wasn't all that upbeat, so I thought I'd write a little something more for you guys. This last week and a half has been one of those crazy busy ones where just a ton of things happened. First of all, I made a lot of headway with my kids. J hugged me before I left the other night and it just made my night. We also spent a ton of time outside because the weather was gorgeous. It's much easier to get along with the kids when we're not all cramped up inside together. I worked last weekend, which is not the norm, but it was ok. I still managed to do some fun stuff. Friday Martina and I went to a concert for a band she knows called The Sunpilots. I had never heard their stuff before, but they were quite good and I really enjoyed it, despite there not being much of a crowd turnout.
On Sunday I took the kids to this Indiana Jones themed playground, which was pretty neat. It was also the farthest I've driven into the city so far. Driving is far less scary now, but I still haven't tackled filling up the gas tank. Later on Sunday evening I went to see The Hunger Games at the big theater at the Sony Center. Honestly, the movie was just ok, but this was still one of my favorite experiences since I got here. The theater was way cool. They draw the curtains in front of the screen before and after the movie, which gave it a really awesome old fashioned feel. You can also buy beer at the concession stand, because it's Germany of course. And I didn't get any popcorn, but I hear it's sweet, not salty. This is very strange to me. The thing that caught me off guard was that the theaters here assign you a seat when you buy the tickets. Luckily, we got excellent seats. And they were huge and plush and so comfortable. It really is a very nice theater. I think part of the reason I had such an awesome time at the theater though was that it made this city really feel like home. Going to see a movie is just something that we do all the time at home. It's not something you really do on vacation. Plus I went with my absolute best friends that I've met here, and we always have an excellent time together. So much laughter. I love them all to death.
This week has been my last real work for a bit. My host family is going on vacation and my language class is going to be closed for Easter break, which means I really only have to work at the Kita for the next two weeks. Score! I'm so looking forward to all the things we're going to do in that time. Martina also has the time off, so Berlin better look out!
I got a bit of a treat at the Kita on Tuesday. We took the older kids from our floor (the older kids being the 3 year olds) to the theater. It was a lot of fun piling all of the kids into the vans and going on an adventure. Plus, I understood the entire play in German! Granted, it was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and it was aimed towards toddlers, but I still think this is an accomplishment. And I've been trying to practice using my German more. I have noticed a huge jump over the last two weeks in the amount that I understand. This has really helped me to not feel so hopeless in my German learning.
Thursday was Martina's birthday and she invited me to have dinner with her host family, which was quite the honor. She loves them so much and is very protective of them. And I love that she is so happy with them. It's good to be around someone isn't constantly complaining about their host family. I think a lot of the au pairs forget that it is a job, and it's not always going to be easy. I appreciate people who realize just how good of a deal we are actually getting here.
Last night we went dancing for Martina's birthday. I had an awesome time. And only spent like €10. But I wore heels, so now my feet are killing me. It was definitely worth it though.
So, Martina is done showering now and we are going to the Hard Rock Cafe for her birthday tonight, which means I had better get a move on. I want to tell you about two things first. The Germans are smart people. They've had a lot of great ideas throughout history. But there are two things that they really just need to change. First of all, the streetlights. I don't understand why they don't put the streetlights on the far side of the street like in America. Honestly, it sucks being the first person in line at a street light because the lights are right above your head and you have to crane your neck up all crazy like to see them. I do appreciate that the yellow like comes on right before it turns green though so that you can prepare to go. I've been told it does this because Germans commonly shut off their motors at stop lights.
The second thing they need to work on is the doorbells. A delivery woman rang my doorbell this morning while I was asleep and I very nearly had a heart attack. It is the most terrifyingly aggressive noise. And so loud! Really, why can't it just ding or do a little song like at home? There is no need for it to be so crazy.
Today's song (and title) are in honor of Martina and her birthday. It's called Business Time by Flight of the Conchords. You can watch it here. It is absolutely hilarious and we sing it all the time. Loudly. At train stations or on the street. Because we are the loud, happy Americans and it makes the silent, staring Germans uncomfortable.
Life has picked up since the last post and I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better now. Which is the most important thing I've learned since moving here. Even when things are hard or not going the way you want, you just have to remember that life is essentially awesome and it always gets better eventually.
Love you guys! I'll make sure to post again about my free week adventures soon!
P.S. A happy birthday shout out to Nichol! Love you miss!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Waiting and Fading and Floating Away
Today I rode a bike in Berlin for the first time. This may not sound like much, but it felt fairly significant to me. Bikes are a major mode of transportation here and I've been nearly run over by them more than once (particularly in my first couple of weeks when no one told me that the red sidewalk is a bike lane). It was also kind of special to me for two other reasons. One, J and I were riding to the park to play soccer together, which is a sign that we are getting along much better. And two, spring is here! I can't tell you how much the arrival of spring means to me. These last two weeks have been some of my more difficult ones here and the sunshine has helped me to stay positive.
I'm still absolutely in love with this city, but I've been dealing more recently with all of the problems associated with leaving your own country and distancing yourself from all of the things that you are familiar with and the people you are most connected to. Mentally, I've been through a lot since my last posting. I've had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes life shoves a wedge between two people who were once very close. I've also had to accept that my family is very far away and will now have to fill a different role in my life. I feel like I'm missing a lot back home (last week was my brother's 18th birthday and I didn't even get to talk to him), and sometimes it seems a little selfish of me to stay here. But I'm learning to take care of myself first and foremost, something that has not always been my primary motivation. And I'm also dealing with the little issues that come from living in a new country. We don't always realize how much information we pick up about procedures and rules and society while growing up somewhere. Here, even the facts that I take for granted can be different. I have to admit that laws are different and people think differently. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in all of the wonder of this city and forget all of the obstacles that I still have to face if I decide to make a future here. One particular hurdle I have had to deal with the last few weeks has been receiving mail from home. I got a box full of love from my mom, but I had to go to the post office and pay import taxes before I could pick it up. I was also supposed to get a box from my grandma. This box was sent through FedEx (the first one came through USPS) and so I got a letter from FedEx asking me to transfer the money for the taxes, and then they would forward the box to me. Unfortunately, after paying the taxes, I found out that the box was returned to the States for some reason. Now I've spent all week working on translating back and forth from German to English and getting FedEx to refund my money. I think it's finally working out, but it was a hassle that I didn't expect or appreciate.
I'm not trying to complain, so I hope this blog doesn't come off that way. I just want to offer a realistic picture for other people who are considering becoming expats. It's not always easy. And you really have to have a certain state of mind to handle it. I've seen several people fail at this lifestyle, often because they fail to assimilate into the new culture around them. It's not enough to live in another country. You have to be willing to change and become a part of it. You also have to have a pretty thick skin. I sometimes get a lot of crap here because I'm an American. Usually it's just in jest, and we all laugh and make fun of one another's accents and that's fine. Every once in awhile though, you get someone who is genuinely shallow minded. I met a girl last weekend who refused to respect me because I have shot a gun and my family owns guns. To her, this made me the barbaric American. She couldn't possibly see any reason that I should ever have had contact with guns. With people like her, you just have to let it go and not worry about why they can't open their mind to your point of view.
Sorry if this blog has come across as a little ramble-y. I'm very tired and have had a lot on my mind these last few days (obviously). I can try and tell you a little bit about what I've done since I last wrote, but there's not really much to tell. I've been working a little less, but I think I've been spending more quality time with my kids and I feel like we're doing really well. I've gone to two birthday parties, neither of which I really enjoyed. The first one I didn't enjoy because I had a rough day leading up to it with only a few hours of sleep and I was upset about some things going on. The second I didn't enjoy because I didn't know anyone and the birthday girl and her friend were snarky and rude. This last weekend I had a three day weekend, which I really got to enjoy. I spent some time relaxing and watching movies with some good friends. We watched Pirate Radio, which was apparently called The Boat That Rocked outside the US. I still have no idea why they change the titles. I would understand if they were translating it and didn't translate word for word, but why change it to another English title? Anyway, it was excellent, and I highly recommend it. Saturday was St Patrick's Day, so Martina and I went out. It was a decent night. We went back to Bahamas, the bar with the sand on the floors, because all of the Irish places were packed. And then we went dancing. I do love dancing. I can't believe I never realized that before.
I feel like this entry has all come across as a bit cranky, so I'm going to leave it at this. Hopefully when I write again life will have settled down a bit stress wise. I just wanna say I love my family and I miss you guys like crazy. I'll try to make the rounds with phone calls here again soon after I've caught up on some sleep.
Today you get two songs! Sort of. The first is a song that we're teaching the kids in my group at the Kita. It's called Die Raupe Ursula (translated: Ursula the Caterpillar). It's kind of cute but mostly it just GETS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD FOREVER! Enjoy :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XE53oR9rI
The second song is another that's been stuck in my head and is also the namesake for today's blog. It's called Panic Switch by the Silversun Pickups. You can watch it here.
I'm still absolutely in love with this city, but I've been dealing more recently with all of the problems associated with leaving your own country and distancing yourself from all of the things that you are familiar with and the people you are most connected to. Mentally, I've been through a lot since my last posting. I've had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes life shoves a wedge between two people who were once very close. I've also had to accept that my family is very far away and will now have to fill a different role in my life. I feel like I'm missing a lot back home (last week was my brother's 18th birthday and I didn't even get to talk to him), and sometimes it seems a little selfish of me to stay here. But I'm learning to take care of myself first and foremost, something that has not always been my primary motivation. And I'm also dealing with the little issues that come from living in a new country. We don't always realize how much information we pick up about procedures and rules and society while growing up somewhere. Here, even the facts that I take for granted can be different. I have to admit that laws are different and people think differently. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in all of the wonder of this city and forget all of the obstacles that I still have to face if I decide to make a future here. One particular hurdle I have had to deal with the last few weeks has been receiving mail from home. I got a box full of love from my mom, but I had to go to the post office and pay import taxes before I could pick it up. I was also supposed to get a box from my grandma. This box was sent through FedEx (the first one came through USPS) and so I got a letter from FedEx asking me to transfer the money for the taxes, and then they would forward the box to me. Unfortunately, after paying the taxes, I found out that the box was returned to the States for some reason. Now I've spent all week working on translating back and forth from German to English and getting FedEx to refund my money. I think it's finally working out, but it was a hassle that I didn't expect or appreciate.
I'm not trying to complain, so I hope this blog doesn't come off that way. I just want to offer a realistic picture for other people who are considering becoming expats. It's not always easy. And you really have to have a certain state of mind to handle it. I've seen several people fail at this lifestyle, often because they fail to assimilate into the new culture around them. It's not enough to live in another country. You have to be willing to change and become a part of it. You also have to have a pretty thick skin. I sometimes get a lot of crap here because I'm an American. Usually it's just in jest, and we all laugh and make fun of one another's accents and that's fine. Every once in awhile though, you get someone who is genuinely shallow minded. I met a girl last weekend who refused to respect me because I have shot a gun and my family owns guns. To her, this made me the barbaric American. She couldn't possibly see any reason that I should ever have had contact with guns. With people like her, you just have to let it go and not worry about why they can't open their mind to your point of view.
Sorry if this blog has come across as a little ramble-y. I'm very tired and have had a lot on my mind these last few days (obviously). I can try and tell you a little bit about what I've done since I last wrote, but there's not really much to tell. I've been working a little less, but I think I've been spending more quality time with my kids and I feel like we're doing really well. I've gone to two birthday parties, neither of which I really enjoyed. The first one I didn't enjoy because I had a rough day leading up to it with only a few hours of sleep and I was upset about some things going on. The second I didn't enjoy because I didn't know anyone and the birthday girl and her friend were snarky and rude. This last weekend I had a three day weekend, which I really got to enjoy. I spent some time relaxing and watching movies with some good friends. We watched Pirate Radio, which was apparently called The Boat That Rocked outside the US. I still have no idea why they change the titles. I would understand if they were translating it and didn't translate word for word, but why change it to another English title? Anyway, it was excellent, and I highly recommend it. Saturday was St Patrick's Day, so Martina and I went out. It was a decent night. We went back to Bahamas, the bar with the sand on the floors, because all of the Irish places were packed. And then we went dancing. I do love dancing. I can't believe I never realized that before.
I feel like this entry has all come across as a bit cranky, so I'm going to leave it at this. Hopefully when I write again life will have settled down a bit stress wise. I just wanna say I love my family and I miss you guys like crazy. I'll try to make the rounds with phone calls here again soon after I've caught up on some sleep.
Today you get two songs! Sort of. The first is a song that we're teaching the kids in my group at the Kita. It's called Die Raupe Ursula (translated: Ursula the Caterpillar). It's kind of cute but mostly it just GETS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD FOREVER! Enjoy :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XE53oR9rI
The second song is another that's been stuck in my head and is also the namesake for today's blog. It's called Panic Switch by the Silversun Pickups. You can watch it here.
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