Occupy Wallstraße

• Wallstraße... I had to occupy it to take the picture
• Autumn leaves are occupying the sidewalks of Wallstraße
• Leaves on car, sunshine, trees slowly become bare, etc
• Fruit-by-the-Foot colored leaves

Mainzer Ladybug

Guess who I just found hanging out in my room... Mr. Ladybug! I don't even want to know how he got in here or why, but at least he's not a spider. I rescued him from being squashed into my floor, put him on the drying little yellow wildflowers that I picked the other day, and put him outside on my window sill, a place much more proper for a ladybug. The carpet in my room just didn't suit this dignified little fellow. Does this mean I have good luck now? I think I already have droves of it, so I'm sharing the luck with you all  :)

A picture of a Nutella jar

I found this cell phone picture from last year. I miss my DC working life, but it's nice to live where Nutella is abundant :)

Macy, I totally found this picture with the caption "Macy and I ate spoonfuls of Nutella at our desks today". Ich vermisse dich!

I will not be defeated.

Moving is hard. Moving is so hard. I know from quite a few experiences in doing so that it always turns out OK. Everywhere becomes home to me, and so far in life I've always ended up loving wherever it is that I live. Even Laramie (that's right- I have a very special place in my heart for that windy, icy, snowy, freeeezing cold, high plains, slightly isolated, and completely wonderful town).

This is by far the hardest move I've ever made. In hindsight, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The funny thing is that it's not the language barrier or being on a different continent than normal that is difficult for me. I mean, yeah, my German language skills stink, but the German people are more than patient and I forever love them for that. No, what is most difficult is that I am battling homesickness for my working life. Isn't that weird? I missed it when I first got here, but everything was so new and fresh and I was constantly distracted by all sorts of adventures that I didn't really have time to think about how much I miss being an adult. How did this happen?

I don't feel old. I don't look old (errr?). I act like I've always acted. I don't feel like a kid either, and I shouldn't. What I miss is earning my way through my adventurous life. I get the greatest opportunities, I really do, and I'm so lucky, but I am out of my element here in Germany. So how do I create this life I love leading when I'm really starting from scratch? When I don't know how the society works? When I seem to be missing a vital piece of culture I'm living in?

I am the kind of person who, when I do something, I do it with all of my heart and all of my determination. And I like to do things well. No, I can't stand not giving what I do my full attention and effort. Probably to a fault, because sometimes this keeps me from attempting things at all when I am unsure that I can produce the best possible outcome. If I'm not sure of myself, I stop caring so that I don't have to justify a less-than-the-best result.

Example: We ran a 5k for charity in Radolfzell as a team (all 18 of us!). I am not a good runner, and I don't enjoy it, but I certainly was going to run. All that was asked of us was to run at least 1 or 3 laps (each being 1.33 km), but I'm not going to start a race and not cross the finish line. I also knew that I probably couldn't actually run a 5k (I know, I know... but put me in a pool instead...) so I treated it as though I didn't care about it, and therefore I could justify stopping to walk 3 times instead of pushing through the pain and making it to the end. Nothing wrong with walking, except it wasn't the best I could do. It wasn't the best of my ability. I didn't allow myself to attempt the challenge before me.

And I can feel the same thing happening to my German life. It's a challenge that's defeating me in the first quarter of the game. But I have some game changing plays in the book, and it's beyond time to make the call. There are still 3 more quarters to play, and I'm going to be in for every snap. I'm going to be back in the States before I know it, in the midst of earning my way, and wishing I had more time here. I will not let this move I've made become a defeat... when it comes time to leave Germany, I'm going to be leaving a piece of my heart here.

I walked home from school today, the long way, thinking things through and deciding how I was going to make a great life here while I could. I turned a corner, and there was a girl, probably about 9 years old, about half a block ahead of me intently picking up something from the ground. Curious, as I kept walking nearer down the sidewalk, I saw that she had a fistful of pretty little wildflowers that she was diligently collecting from the ragged grass along the sidewalk where cars park outside of houses. I had to smile. One of the joys of my childhood was picking dandelion bouquets on my walk home from elementary school to bring home to my mom. In the Autumn, I'd bring her bouquets of collected, fallen leaves (only the prettiest). I wonder if this girl's mom was the recipient of today's wildflower bouquet. I picked the next little yellow flowers I saw, and walked the rest of the way home with a smile on my face knowing that Germany was going to be just fine. It simply deserves my diligence and absolutely requires my hard work. But what good things come without a challenge?

Shhh, they're protesting. and other pictures.

This jolly statue has been dubbed "Bürgermeister Burger Meister"

There was a protest in Mainz today! The most quiet group of people I've ever seen, really. From the looks of this dude, airplanes make you miss your beauty sleep and then you turn into a godzilla beast.

Protestors cheerily getting yellow balloons at the Hauptbahnhof, not saying much of anything and minding the rules nice and quietly, just happy to be there. Weird and funny.

Since it was freezing cold today, I had to duck into stores to keep warm while walking around town. Look-- Christmas candy spotted! I refuse to buy it until after Halloween, but after that, try 'n stop me.

The protestors found me in the Altstadt across from the theater. They were a little noisier at this point because 4 people were quietly blowing whistles. You could hear the airplanes passing by overhead over the sound of the protest because there was no sound, really.

The Mainzer Dom is under construction, yo.

Oh, hi pretty Mainz building with two pointies on top! Happy Saturday!

 

After buying a beautiful pumpkin for 2 Euro in the market this morning, getting a free apple from a smiley and friendly apple-seller in the market, and seeing my first German protest (after realizing they weren't "Occupy" people but in fact very happy, normal, and quiet opposers of nighttime air traffic, it was even funnier), I happened upon this little quartet. I don't know what their outfits mean (are they military? or like, former Eastern block military?) but I do know that the guy was a good singer and that I appreciated the total randomness of their being where they were, doing what they were doing, and wearing what they were wearing. Enjoy the tune, dudes, and have a good rest of your weekend.

What a day what a day!

What a day I have had! The connotations of that statement all depend on the inflections and intonations of one's voice while saying it. Version #1 of this phrase, when I say it out loud, emphasizes the "day", and "what a" are in a lower pitch than the rest of the sentence. One can hear the smile and joy in my voice exclaiming it's thrill and unbelievably rockin' day I've had! On the other hand, Version #2 of this phrase emphasizes "what" and "day" and "had" and is almost proclaimed as such: What. a Day. i have HAD! and it's meaning is more along the lines of, "You will never even begin to guess how flippin' unbelievably, ridiculously wrong my day has gone". Well, right now I'm straddling the fence on which Version fits my yesterday. I'm leaning toward #1, but there is just a bit of Version #2 that I must vent about first. I just can't shake it, and the frustration has been building since... well, since I got to Germany. Normally I try not to complain on here, and I certainly try to approach my German life with "it's not good, it's not bad, it's just different" as my motto, but here goes. And to make up for it, I'll put in extra good things about Germany afterward.

Traffic flow. Come on, Germany. It really doesn't have to be so completely, infuriatingly "every man for himself". This first starting getting to me in the aisles of grocery stores. Hello, fellow shopper. Do you even see me here? Can we move through the aisles in a manner that shows we acknowledge each other's presence and respectfully share the space? No? You would rather just not even see that anyone is here except for you? Ok. Sounds nitpicky and like something that couldn't even really in real life exist to be any kind of problem, but I promise you, the traffic flow in grocery stores took some getting used to for me. Speaking of walking alongside people, don't even get me started about pedestrian traffic flow on sidewalks. Seriously, don't, because I'll never be able to stop, and this rant I'm on is already unbecoming.

Well, turns out, traffic flow is also a major problem in swimming pools. In swimming pools for lap swimming, where when you are sharing a lane with fellow humans, you swim like you would drive (unless your British or South African) and you go down on the right side of the lane, back on the left- always swimming on the "right side of the road". Pass on the left, but make sure the oncoming lane is clear before you attempt to do so. Signal your pass with a slight tap of the foot if you need to. If someone is really tailgating you for a long time, pull over and let them pass. Rules of the road. Common courtesy. Extreme challenge, too, apparently. Does this stem from driving on the Autobahn? The further left your lane is, the faster you're going, correct? Traditionally right hand lanes are for slower traffic. Do drivers on the Autobahn take their Trabis in front of Porsches? COME ON. If a driver did that, I'm willing to bet that the Porsche driver, going heavenknowshowfast, would be so pissed. And guess what, when you swim like that (not calling myself the Porsche of swimmers here) I get pissed. So please please please, for the betterment of lap swimming across this otherwise really nice country, organize yourself. Be aware of your surroundings and follow the rules of the road.

Oh goshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I feel so much better. Thanks for letting me put that out loud. Enough whining. Really. Here are some things that made my day more like Version #1, and for all of them I'm so thankful:

• In the afternoon as the ominous clouds loomed over Mainz, Ginny and I met for a walk around the Altstadt with no particular agenda. We happened upon a toy store where I found a fun gift for a friend (oh yeah, glows in the dark!) and (though I didn't buy it because it was 50 Euro) MONOPOLY Mainz edition. Not even kidding. If I could even begin to explain what role the game of Monopoly has played in my life... it's like I found my childhood and my current life packaged into the best box ever.
• We also happened upon a sporting goods store, which I've been looking for because, for whatever reason, I didn't pack most of my swim gear like paddles and stuff. Don't worry... paddles acquired.
• I felt better in the water more so than the day before (is this what progress feels like? I'd forgotten.)
• Bread with butter. Lots of it.
• I rented and watched the movie Restrepo. Have you seen it? It is a documentary that is powerful, heart-wrenching, and inspiring. I give it all the stars and highly recommend checking it out.
• I applied to be a volunteer! Cross your fingers, because this would be such a fun gig!
• I got off my duff and finally got cards to send to 3 newly wed couples. Easy peezy but took me a month to do it. What the heck.
• With help from Betti, my Washington, DC friend who is a German native, a Masters swim team in the area has been found (could these be the circle swimming people of my German dreams?)
• I totally got ice cream after my swim and walked home in the cold eating it. I was bundled up and must have looked a little kooky, but it was 100% delightful. In other news... I might be getting sick.
• My plans for New Years are starting to look very phenomenal. VERY.

It even sells on Amazon.de (where I found this picture)

So you can see, the good always outweighs the frustrating over here. And that was the good stuff just from my yesterday-- I could make a huge list of things that I adore about Germany. What is your today like? Version #1 or Version #2 of "What a day!"? (I dare you to make it a Version #1)

SACHERTORTE

I found it! Oh dear readers, the Torte (cake) in Germany I hold in higher regard than beer. AH yes, I just said that. Don't get me wrong, the beer here can be positively phenomenal, plus it's all brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot (purity law, and thank you Wikipedia for the link), but I'd rather have a piece of Torte any day over a beer. I've been searching for Sachertorte. It's a pretty standard variety of Torte, originally from Austria. It's chocolate cake, not too sweet, with a layer of apricot marmalade in the middle. However, it has so far proved elusive. Until yesterday!

Ginny and I went to Café Blum in Mainz. The original Café Blum is in neighboring Wiesbaden, and I have fond memories of outings there with my family in years past. When I visited their website yesterday to see if the café was still in the same place, I discovered that one other location had been opened-- one in Mainz! Holy smokes, it was meant to be! The weather was nice enough to still sit outside, too. Not only did they have Sachertorte, but so many other gorgeously created treats and cakes. There will have to be other visits to Café Blum for me. It was truly lovely (and delectable!).

Interesting Guesses

“But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don't want to know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.” 

-Bill Bryson Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe

This pretty well sums up my every day over here, more or less. Also, if you're looking for a good, entertaining read, this is it! While reading this book, I'd literally chuckle out loud. Often while reading in a coffee shop, probably to the dismay of those around me. Check it out- I promise you won't regret the read!

Makin' a splash

Today I'm going   S W I M M I N G   for the first time since July. Swimming. With lane lines. Flip turns. Laps. My water bottle on the edge. No lake muck that I have to put my toes into in order to get in the water. Regulated pool temperature. You guys... I have been waiting for this for months! And it's here! It's time to make a splassshhhh!

It's time to make a splash elsewhere in my German life though, too. I've enough time now in these first 2 weeks in Mainz to play and nap and be relatively irresponsible with my time, and I really appreciate that I've had this time. When you're a grown up, it's not often that you get such time like I have right now. And it's time that my time went towards something better than sipping coffee and not using my new German language skills enough. That's right, it's time to find somewhere to volunteer so that maybe someone else will benefit from all this time I've been using for myself. The program that sent me to Germany asks that we participate in volunteer activities in our communities here, and I'm glad they do. I'd want to anyway. But where do I start? It's seemingly not such a big thing here as it is in the US. Once you work full time, it's assumed that there is no time to volunteer. But really, I have no idea where to even start looking for opportunities. In German. Any ideas you all have, please send them my way! Do people here go to elementary schools (Grundschule) and read to the little kids? Can I volunteer as an assistant coach for age group swimming? Is Special Olympics also in Mainz, and if so, do they need volunteers in the same way as the US program does?

So, keep your eyes open from wherever you are. If you think of a good place to look for a volunteer opportunity in German, lemme know! In the meantime, wish me luck with my swim today. This is going to be no fun. That first swim always makes me feel akin to cement. Must. Push. Through. It.

love always! and happy Friday :)

Bubble Dishes

Have I ever told you why this blog is called Bubble Dishes? No? Well, circle 'round and listen up. When I started this blog in August 2010 (shucks, I totally didn't do a "happy one year blog-iversary to myself" post in August!) I was in serious need of some sort of creative outlet. I had gotten so swept up in the events of my life that summer, and I realized that I was in dire need of a place to think out loud. Yes, yes, I know... that's what friends are for. But that's not the only thing friends are for, and friends deserve some respite from their roles as listeners sometimes. It's important to me to be able, as best I can, to lift myself up by my own boot straps and not wear down the people in my life... having fun is of utmost importance, always! (Though it must be noted that my friends and family are spectacular listeners and fun-havers, and I appreciate them MUCHO!) So, after a particularly lovely day in my life (see blog post numero uno), I started this here little blog. But what to call it?!

Maybe the hardest thing a person will ever do online is name a blog. All the good names are taken! Seriously, you have to get pretty stinkin' creative. Unless you have been blessed with an incredibly abnormal name (did you get beat up as a kid for it?) or you have a particular mastery of words, your chosen blog name will most assuredly already be taken. It didn't take long for me to realize that any name that made any sense to anyone else was going to be nearly impossible to obtain. So, I thought about what in my life is a sweet memory. What are things I do that make me smile, even though they're really nothing to smile about? I strive to see the small things in life from which I can derive happiness... and then it hit me.

Bubble dishes!

When I was small, I would help my mom with bubble dishes. You know, after a home cooked meal, the pots and pans haven't washed themselves. So what do you do? You put a stopper in the sink, pour in some soap, and turn on the warm water. And what do you get? That's right! A sink full of bubbles! And what do you put in that sink? This dishes! My mom calling them "bubble dishes" was so much more alluring and fun than what they actually were: dirty dishes that needed the grime scrubbed off of them. But wouldn't it be great if we always tried to look at things that way? Even the grimiest days can have a little spark of fun in them. So I went with it. "Bubble Dishes it shall be!", I thought. And it was so.

And last night after dinner when I was staring at my stack of dishes to be washed (like always because I don't have a dishwasher), I had to smile and plunge straight into that sink full of bubble dishes.

love always <3

Mainz, while it was still warm

I still haven't really figured out what this building is. But it's cool.

Chagall window - St. Stephan Kirche

Roman ruins: spotted!

I don't even know, but it was a cool view

Some grapes hanging out that managed to escape harvest season

Bridge from Mainz across the Rhein River into Hessen

"Baaarges, I would like to go with you, I would like to sail the... Rhein River blue?"

More Roman ruins! And a train station! And modern buildings! This place has it all.

aaaand now it's rainy and cold. I'm told it will be like this here for the next... well, forever, it sounds like. But you know, that means that Christmas markets are right around the corner (kind of), so I'm just going to stay really excited about that. Also, I'm really reeeeaaalllyyyy wishing I'd packed any of my fantastic boots that I normally wear in Fall and Winter. What exactly made me think packing high heels was a great idea and leaving the boots was genius?

Oh yeah, good news. Well, good news for me personally. More specifically good news for my hair. I bought a hair dryer. It only took me forever to do that. Maybe I'll start looking normal and put-together-ish now. But probably not. In other news, real quick, Starbucks here doesn't do the Pumpkin Spice latte, so for all of my people in the US of A, please drink one for me and love every Autumn-y sip of it. Dankeschön.

Schönes Wochenende!

Guten Morgen!

When I was 13, my friend Katie and I went off to summer camp for two weeks in Minnesota. This wasn't your average summer camp though. Oh no. We ate rolls with Nutella for breakfast because the Müsli tasted like icky grown up food. We sang songs about... well, I don't really know since they were all in German. One was about an elephant in a spider's web though. I do remember We went and visited the neighboring Norwegian summer camp, and we attempted playing poker with gummy bears as chips with our cabin mates. Yes, we went to German language summer camp! We learned words and phrases like "Veranstaltungstunde" and "Ich möchte fünf Mark, bitte" (I'd like 5 German Marks ($) please). With this DM5 everyday, I could purchase delectable ice cream, gummy bears, or whatever German junk food cuisine my little heart was set on. The counselors speak nothing but German, so it's kind of like a language immersion deal, except that the other few hundred kids around you are speaking English. So, you know. We also tried our hand at yodeling. Now that I'm in Germany, I wish I had put more effort into the yodeling seminar. I think that's something that could come in handy. Then if I ever get into trouble here, I could yodel for help!

So life here isn't really like German summer camp was. I mean, I can totally go get fresh rolls everyday, and I could buy a jar of Nutella except for that I'd eat the whole thing and then the fact that I don't have the metabolism of a 13 year old anymore would surface in a way that I don't want to see. I seem to have plenty of Freizeit (free time) but there are no choices that someone else has arranged on behalf of my happiness... like a canoeing trip (ok there were leaches like WOAH in that lake, so I didn't canoe anyway), pottery hour, or hide and go seek at night oh GOSH that was so fun. At least as Europe slowly slips into recession, my exchange rate is getting a little better.

This is turning into quite the ramble of a post. I guess I'm just celebrating my new found internet access! Let's all cheers to that real fast. Now, I'm going to continue with my free time and sip my freshly pressed coffee out of my oversized Mainzel Männchen mug and appreciate the fact that today I woke up on my own accord and not to camp counselors giggling, singing, and yelling into the cabin window... "GUTEN MORGEN HAUS LINZ!!!" And then proceeding to sing Britney Spears songs until our entire cabin was awake. No no, this morning I am choosing to listen to German radio, which for me as a non-native speaker (and I use the term speaker lightly here) is really kind of a lot like a morning greeting of the same manner, actually. Ich möchte... genau was ich habe.

Guten Morgen, Welt!

Acquired:

Hi long lost readers/loves,

I've been MIA because I've been in the wild process of moving. Again. But this time it's a really good move to Mainz, Germany! And I'll permanently have internet starting Wednesday. This is big news, guys. Big news.

In my new place, I've inherited a variety of objects.

Acquired:
-A hilarious assortment of mugs including one giant mug with the "Mainzer Männer" on it, I found out yesterday.
-One very large table with a sticker on it that says, "Miguel Aguirre Pascual Universidad Complutense de Madrid". I plan to leave it on there mostly because, like the person who left it there, I can't get it off of the table.
-2 mirrors that I know came originally from IKEA because I had the same exact 2 mirrors in DC before I moved. Hello, little piece of home. In DC I accidentally shattered one of the mirrors though, so it's nice to have 2 functional mirrors again.
-A hotel-style black radio. I have tuned it to a German station and am amazed that I can understand the DJs. Thanks, Carl Duisberg Centrum!
-900 million fitted sheets
-A microwave. Ancient, but coveted! The microwave isn't such a big thing here in Europe. But I have one, suckers!
-3 cans of diced tomatoes. Ok.
-A Lufthansa pillow. That's right, fellow American travelers, there are still airlines that exist that provide comforts to their customers and make your flight an enjoyable experience. I know! I was amazed at this, too! I already took the pillow from my Lufthansa flight though, so the extra one can be used with the sleeping bag I've inherited.
-This might not seem important, but I have a shower curtain. Unfortunately, I have a very small shower, and I wasn't clear thinking enough to make sure that the curtain stayed in the shower with me and didnt drift outside of the base of the shower while the water was on. My first attempt at using the shower created Lake Elisabeth in my bathroom. Live and learn, folks. And what I've learned was that clean up is hard with no supplies on hand.

So, overall, all is well here. I saw St. Stephens church here yesterday- a building blessed to have Chagall windows. The sun was out, and the whole church inside shines a beautiful blue through the calming stained glass. Really quite something. I'll be seeing you more often around here now.

Love always, me.