I knew I was going to have to learn how to cook eventually, and I figured I'd probably do some basic stuff here... but geez, this is getting a little nuts.
The first recipe I made from scratch was a summer zucchini stew. First of all, before coming here I didn't eat zucchini unless it was in zucchini bread. My relationship with zucchini quickly became intimate in Sweden when Esther's mom sent blue-ribbon sized zucchinis with us. In every meal, if there was room to add zucchini, we did. That was the first time I introduced the family to zucchini bread (which was love at first sight) and they taught me that all it takes is a little garlic, olive oil, and pepper to make zucchini delicious. When we came back to Germany we still had two HUGE zucchinis left, so Esther asked me to make lunch featuring zucchini. I did an allrecipes.com search and found the stew recipe. Not only did I not have trouble following the instructions, I even felt comfortable enough to adjust the spices to taste. I definitely still need to learn which spices I like the best and how to combine them- I can do alright, but I would really love to develop my taste palette.
New recipe no. 2 was chicken piccata (not sure what that means, but that's what it's called on allrecipes.com!) and also went well! The helpful thing about cooking websites is that the people who leave comments give recommendations on how to alter the recipes. I was able to take some of the suggestions and tweek the recipe- and it was successfully delicious!
When I was in Austria (and yes, I WILL eventually get around to posting about that), Margarita served the most delicious pumpkin soup. Again, I believe pumpkin should be in pies and cookies... but did you know it can be an ingredient in savory cooking?! CRAZY. I told Esther about the soup, so she asked me to make it.
Fun fact: The baking aisle in German grocery stores leave more than somewhat to be desired. Not only is there no brown sugar (unless you mean raw sugar, which I don't), vanilla extract (you have to use vanilla sugar), evaporated milk (stay tuned), or bags of chocolate chips (there was ONE brand of chocolate chips that came in a tiny little box labeled "Schoko Töpfchen"- I had to trust by the picture that they were, in fact, chocolate chips)... but there is no canned pumpkin.
Moral of the story: if you want to use pumpkins, you have to make your own pumpkin puree. So I found a homemade pumpkin pie recipe that detailed how to puree the pumpkin, and I busted out my iPod and pureed me sum' punkin. It's actually very simple, and it makes me feel like Holly Housewife: kitchen rockstar edition.
With the beautiful fall weather, I was missing Northfield's apple orchard and wishing I could get my hands on some hot cider. I asked Esther, but she said she's only heard of the hard cider. I'm actually not sure how these people have made it through life without hot apple cider and pumpkin carving (Halloween is not really celebrated in Germany... something about the origins being "evil" or something like that...) but I'd like to do my part and make the world a better place, one cup of cider at a time.
The cider process is long, but it doesn't get difficult until the end. It calls for a cheesecloth to strain the liquid through, but one place said you can use a pillowcase. Esther just happened to have a bite-sized white pillow case that was the PERFECT size. I put half through a strainer first, and what didn't strain through I put in the pillowcase. Although it takes a lot of patience (which I may or may not struggle with) to get the juice out, it is very effective. Unfortunately, the insides of the pillowcase look disgusting when you're done. In the three hour process, the apples (complete with peel, stem, and seeds) turn to mush and become a little brown from the quality time spent with the spices. All I'm saying is that, when I was done, the inside of the pillowcase did not look significantly dissimilar from the contents of a fiber-fed baby's diaper. I'm just saying.
While Esther, Frank, and Sara's kindergarten teachers all found it really tastey, the kids were less than impressed. I over-did it with the cloves, so now I know that next time around I will use half the amount. And much more cinnamon and sugar. Duh.
Ah yes, and the evaporated milk. Well, I'd like to make pumpkin pie at some point and I need evaporated milk! I looked, and the store doesn't have it (because that would be helpful- you just can't count on these grocery stores for anything that is in standard American baking and cooking) so I looked online to figure out what exactly evaporated milk is. Turns out, you can make it yourself... so it looks like next time I have four spare hours (ha), I've got me a date with milk and a saucepan.
I asked Esther if I could make a traditional dinner on Thanksgiving, so I'm really looking forward to that. I'm not too worried about mashed potatoes, but learning how to cook a turkey is a different story. I'm actually not sure where I'll be able to get a turkey... I hope I don't have to go farm fresh- Simon has already figured out that the chickens we see on farms are the same ones we eat, and sometimes he eats around the chicken because he feels guilty. Which I find frankly impressive that he put that together himself.
Oh, and last night I whipped up 1700 grams of pumpkin puree so I can make pumpkin cookies when I have time and still have some left over for soup or something else pumpkin-y delicious.
You have my permission to be impressed.
So remember that time when I didn't post for over a month? Yeah, my bad.
I find that when I am in the habit of doing something, it doesn't seem tedious or like any extra effort is necessary... but the longer I put something off, the more I don't want to do it. I enjoy posting and keeping a record of things that happen (preferably when they happen) but the longer I wait to update, the more I convince myself that it's an inconvenience... which is not at all true, but when there's a whole world of American television to be caught up on online, it's seems like a pretty good excuse at the time.
So a LOT has happened in the past month, including three notable trips to Munich, Austria, and the Baltic Sea. In the interest of self-preservation, I will be tackling each trip in separate posts. I started this blog entry this morning while letting apple cider cook, but apparently cooking cider is a day-long process and I am now, more than 13 hours later, still nowhere near done writing. DANG IT. On the plus side, it will hopefully be easier to read in segments than in one big tangent... and I think I can safely say more interesting, as well.
Munich
So, as a complete answer to prayer (see prayer requests from last legitimate post) I was able to get very cheap train tickets to and from Munich. I left on a Friday and traveledfor TWELVE HOURS. Munich is usually only a 6 hour ride away, but because I'm po' I bought the "Deutschland Spezial" which is code for transport solely by commuter trains. I left the house at 7:20 in the morning, took seven trains, and got to my hotel room by 11:30 that night. I was also having trouble getting ahold of Emily, which was a little nerve wracking. There was also a friend from high school who was in Munich that weekend but I couldn't seem to find a way to connect my German cell to her Italian cell... so unfortunately that didn't work out to meet up.
Anyway, the morning of my first full day I took a cab to the hotel where Emily and her friends were staying, and as soon as I get there Emily said "So, we're going to Dachau." I was like "Great... what's Dachau?" Well, a concentration camp just somehow didn't seem to fit my pre-concieved notion of Oktoberfest's celebratory atmosphere, but I decided it was a good idea to go. I had been wondering if I would be emotionally capable of seeing one, and I had come to a half conclusion that unless there was a blatant opportunity I would probably not try too hard to go. Well, Somebody knew better than me and provided me with a blatant opportunity, so I warned the people I was with that I'm an easy we took the U-Bahn out to Dachau.
When we got there, there was a lot to see and not a lot of time to see it. We started on the right side of the camp with the barracks, which was host to medical experiments, interrogations, and torture. In Europe I love that you can physically touch the history around you, but this was certainly some history I didn't want to make contact with. They had several post-war accounts from prisoners who survived, and to give specific voices to the experiences was terrifying. It's bad enough knowing that millions were tortured and killed, but to know the individual stories magnifies the monstrosity of it. Of course we know that every single person has life and personality, but I think sometimes we look at the larger group and forget the individual stories. I found it to be fascinating and devastating a the same time. I then moved on to the main hall which was the main source of information. I tried to look at everything, and in doing so spent the rest of my remaining time there. I went from trying to read everything, to reading the titles and deciding which ones to read, to walking briskly through and just reading titles. There was a section about music and poetry in the camp, and I was reminded of Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" which he composed while in a concentration camp. We studied the third movement, specifically in Music History and I found the solo clarinet absolutely enchanting. Dr. Hanson described the clarinet as the nightengale, which is mythologically believed to be the last creature living when everything else in the world has already been destroyed. The melody is haunting and serene, and is yet another beautiful example of the power of music. Whoops- I just got lost there for a minute in the thought of the music. Hey, at least it shows I learned something in college, though, right?! YESSS.
Anyway, I was pretty bummed to think that I wasn't even going to see the normal bunk houses or the crematorium. However, some of our group was late to catch the bus (which came every 20 minutes) so Emily and I power-walked our way to the OPPOSITE side of the camp to see it. The outside was super creepy in that it looked completely normal... almost like a little cottage or something. The thing about the camp as a whole was that it was eerily quite, I think out of a certain reverence and respect for the severity of what happened there... but the silence in the crematorium was deafening. I was really a pretty small room with three or four ovens. Just like the exterior, the ovens themselves were deceivingly innocent in appearance. Honestly, they looked like pizza ovens you would find in a local pizzeria... which to me is all kinds of disturbing. Then I went to a room on the side and read something that said "this room is where all the bodies were stored before burning"- in which case I ran out of there as fast as possible. Things I'm not interested in: standing in a room previously occupied by thousands of dead people. Thanks.
Unsuprisingly, the rest of the trip was much more festive.
That night we managed to get into the Hofbräuhaus, one of the biggest and most famous beer halls in Munich. The energy was unbelievable! Something I noticed even on my last train into Munich the night before was that EVERYONE was wearing a dirndel or lederhosen. I had assumed that the traditional outfits would be primarily for bar wenches, but it seemed like they were everywhere you went- which was AWESOME. Needless to say, the Hofbräuhaus had it's fair share of festive apparel :) At first we tried to stand in line to get in, but in that mob scene playing nice wasn't going to get us anywhere. We decided just to bum rush the place, and actually got in! The tricky part after that was to actually find a table- especially one that would fit nine people. We were lucky enough to find a table on the balcony outside, which appeared to be the last available spot possible. I asked the people next to us if we could have their extra chairs in German, but when they looked at me with total confusion I tried English- and wouldn't you know, we wound up next to a group of Irishmen! I think their time in Munich was a mobile bachelor party for one of the guys, so the group was... rowdy. They were fun to chat with throughout the night, though, and it was fun to meet people from another country and actually be able to converse with them (as opposed to meeting someone from a non-English speaking country, persay...)
Everyone at the table ordered a beer, but being the girly drink drinker that I am, I looked at the "Spirits" section and saw something that said Apple & Pear. In my cocktail-oriented mind I thought, great! A fun little mixed drink to go with dinner! It wasn't until the arrival of said drink that I learned the significance of the 2cl that was printed next to it in the menu. 2cl is two centiliters... so instead of a nice little sweet drink, I got a shot. GREAT. That also meant I was going to have to buy another drink to go with dinner, so I decided to try a light beer. I used to say that with both beer and indian food, people always insisted that the reason I didn't like it is because I haven't had "good" beer or indian food. Well, I'm warming up to indian food now, but the beer is still a lost cause. The menu said it came in a half liter, but the waiter said I could only have the full liter. Everyone in the entire restaurant was downing multiple liter glasses of beer, so I decided to go for it. After finishing half of it (which was a feat in itself) I decided that it just wasn't tastey enough to justify making myself drink the rest of it, so I let somebody else finish it for me. I did, however, receive a free drink from the boys at the table next to us... so that made me feel a little bit less left out.
After the Hofbräuhaus, we took the U-Bahn back to the general area of the group's hotel and found a strange little Spanish/Mexican restaurant (I have no idea how a Spanish restaurant would be different from a Mexican restaurant, so it was either reasonable Spanish or not so Mexican Mexican). We had a little loud music, a little margarita, a little chips & salsa, and called it a night.
Speaking of which, I just can't go on any more right now. Esther will be gone the next two days for a seminar (but will be back in the evenings) which means that I am looking at two SUPER full days with the kids- including a trip to an apple orchard which Esther volunteered me to chaperone for. No sneaking a little extra sleep in for me :(
I will, however, post Munich: Part II TOMORROW and hopefully some bits of Austria, too...
Congratulations if you made it this far. I promise it was hard for me, too.
~Julia~
So I'm only going to write to say that, for those who follow and are interested in my life events, I will eventually get around to posting about my life the past month (has it been that long?)- including Oktoberfest in Munich and the fact that I'm currently in Austria visiting the parents of my brother-in-law (finally, Roman being Austrian has paid off! ;)
So, hopefully it will be tomorrow or the day after. But I WILL get it done. However, it's currently after midnight, so it won't be right now. My bad.
So you would think that after two months of bike riding my legs would get stronger... apparently NOT. They are SUPER sore right now! I'm telling you, no matter WHICH direction you happen to be riding your bike, the wind is always blowing against you. I mean, I know that anytime you're riding there's gonna be wind in your face... but seriously, this is ridiculous. We're only about thirty minutes from the North Sea so it's perpetually windy, and it's flat so there are wind tunnels. Sometimes it's so strong that I feel like I can barely keep peddling forward! It is somewhat discouraging.
A few news updates:
I have officially booked a hotel room in Munich for Oktoberfest! Apparently Emily is traveling in a group of 8 and they have two rooms. I tried to find something for two people (she offered to stay somewhere else with me so I wouldn't be alone) but apparently Oktoberfest is popular or something and practically everything even sort of reasonably priced was taken. The only hostel left was called "Hangover Hostel" and cost €70 a night. Um, NO THANKS. Almost everything else was at least €110 a night and outside of the Munich city limits. I was very frustrated, and definitely called my grandma crying (when Mommy and Daddy are out of cell range, one can always count on Grandma!) Apparently God felt sorry for me, so he gave me a hotel room that was €110 for BOTH nights! Yay! That's about $150 and an answer to prayer. Yay God! Also, there's a girl that I went to school with since I was a kid (who is a year younger than me) who is spending this semester in Florence, Italy. She and I were never close, but are friendly enough that we will hopefully meet up in Oktoberfest. I'm definitely hoping to take advantage of the fact that there's someone I *sort of* know in another country so maybe I can visit later :)
I started an evening language course this last Tuesday which will be two nights a week through January (ugh). I'm not SO excited about more school at the moment (I thought graduating meant I was done?!) but it will hopefully help me with articles, cases, and vocab... and all the other stuff I don't know. The first night we got into groups of four and two of the other three girls were Au Pairs- one from Indonesia and one from Hungary. All three were really nice, and I'm crossing my fingers for potential friends.
*Warning: Tangent Approaching in T-Minus Three Paragraphs*
Thursday was an unfortunate night, however. I had a question about the word "einziehen" which means to move (as in from one house to another). I asked if a TV could "einziehen" because I figured, in English, we move ourselves... but we also move our stuff. We can say "Saturday I'm moving into another house" and "Saturday I'm moving my stuff to another house." I wasn't sure, so I asked. The teacher was almost indignant that I thought anything besides a person could "einziehen" move... she said things can only "bewegen" or "transportieren", not "einziehen". I started to explain that I only wondered because I think it's different in English, and then she started a good five minute tangent on the fact that German is different from English, and things are going to be different, and it won't work to directly translate English to German because it doesn't make sense, and the sooner I accept it and get over it the better, and blahblahblah. I had already perceived her to be mostly nice, but a little too snappy in response to things that didn't rub her the right way. She said this to the whole class, but it was obviously directed at me since I was the one who had brought it up. I tried to say "You didn't give me a chance to explain, you didn't understand me correctly" but she was too busy hearing herself talk.
I was so frustrated and embarrased that I looked away, shielded my eyes, and started to cry. Not a lot, but I just couldn't hold it in. Another girl caught my eye and gave me a sympathetic look, while the girl next to me handed me a tissue. This happened in the last fifteen or so minutes of class, so I just kept my head down until it was over, and then bolted. I saw the girl who gave me a sympathetic look and she said that she understood, and that it was really hard with Polish, too.
I am perfectly aware that it doesn't work to directly translate, and I HAVE accepted it. That being said, it isn't any easier!! I've been doing pretty well with thinking in German, but when it comes to a subject that I don't know the words for, my head goes back to English! I've spent 22 years speaking English, and no two months or year in Germany will change that! 'Accepting' the fact that English and German are different is irrelevant- it's not like accepting it will all of the sudden make it easier. What?! It's DIFFERENT?! Now I understand it PERFECTLY! This woman has clearly never spent more than a two-three week vacation in a country with another language. She might know English or French from school, but I can promise you that if she had ever tried to LIVE in a country with another language, that "accepting that languages are different" would get her a whole lot of no-where. The trick isn't knowing they're different- it's figuring out HOW they're different. I tried to ask a question to find out how the words were different, and in return I got an embarrassing lecture. Awesome.
Now that I've officially vented it, I'm going to do my best to let it go. I don't know if the teacher saw me crying, and hopefully most of the class only saw that I was frustrated. My guess is that her responses to me will continue to be a little snappier than I would like, but that as far as she's concerned it basically was a non-incident.
All I'm saying is that I may be 22 years old, but I'm a new student in a new country with a new language and my skin is about as thick as a five year old's right now... and she could've tried a little patience.
On a much lighter note, today at church I saw one of the people I met at the church's youth service (the one with the Bono interview) and she invited me to come to the youth group that night. I had seen it in the bulletin, but thought it was for high schoolers. She said it was for people around age 20, give or take a few years... so even though tonight was also another English church service, I decided to go to the youth group since I had already had some mild success with people there.
Well, in a group of probably 16-20, there were ages 29 (Samantha, the girl I had previously met and kind of conducted the group), 24, 23, 22 (me), 21, 20, and then the rest between 16 and 19 (we went around and introduced ourselves, ages, and whether we were students, working, etc). They had a guest who was going to lead us in theater games, and who I had actually just met earlier during the regular church service. There were also two girls from Gospel Choir, so that was good to at least recognize people. I tend to be an outgoing person, but teenagers make me about as nervous now as they did when I was in high school. Thankfully, everybody was really friendly.
We did a few activities that involved basic interaction, but then the interactions progressed and I felt thoroughly awkward. They knew each other, for the most part, and were able to be really outgoing and themselves. We then did a few things in pairs, and presented them. That was a little rough, because I definitely went twice out of three times. I was pretty self conscious of my German, but I think it went well over-all. The second time I was paired with Samantha, and she went out of her way to be friendly and helpful with me. She had asked me if I had lost something, and I said "Oh yeah, I guess I lost an Euro" but it was really only a penny, so when she was like "Oh, and Euro" then I said "Oh, not a whole Euro, only 1 cent... I'm from the USA and I still find German money really confusing." People laughed, in a good way, so that made me feel good.
The last game was with participants where everyone else watched. It was improv, so it was good that I had the excuse of not knowing the language well enough to participate. I find improv incredibly intimidating and happen to think that I'm AWFUL at it, so then I got to just sit out. We did the game twice, and while the first one was about as entertaining as improv for beginners tends to be, the second one went really well. I couldn't understand almost anything that they said, but I understood the situations and the dynamics of the skit from tone of voice, body language, and a few words here and there. I was definitely impressed with some of the people- they were actually acting, and not like the kids in my theatrics class when we do skits :)
Afterwards, the guy who led the games (Micha) asked me how much I understood (he translated a bit, but most of what he translated was what I already understood...) and I said "Well, really none of the words... but I understood the situations." He was really kind, and said that I was "gifted" with acting. I mean, I know I'm not bad or anything, but it felt good to hear such a nice compliment :) He said it was good that I was outgoing and made some contact with the other people, and I told him that I'm really trying to put myself out there and meet new people. He said he'd be willing to get coffee sometime on the weekend, so we exchanged emails. It's a little sad that the only information I've exchanged so far has been with people ages 35+, but I'm happy to meet with really any people. Plus, I find it less intimidating to talk with people older than me. I'm always worried about making a good impression with people my age and hoping for validation and approval, but for some reason I'm much more confident and myself with people who are about ten years or more older than me.
In short, tonight was a successful night :)
Lastly, this next weekend we'll be going to Bremerhaven, which is a nearby port town. It is of particular interest because a) I will meet Frank's parents (and maybe brother & family?), and b) my mom and grandpa are SUPER into genealogy and our German ancestors left Germany from Bremerhaven to come to America. Mom, don't worry- anticipate pictures.
Things to pray for!
-making friends from church and the language course (and really anywhere!)
-that things will be normal and not weird at my language course because of last Thursday
-that I will be able to buy a cheap train ticket to Munich
-that my leg muscles will get stronger so I can ride my bike against the (ever-present) wind
-that I will have enough energy for the coming week- it's gonna be a doozy
Feel free to let me know how you are! I am always eager for contact of any kind, and would love to hear how it's going back home- especially with those patient enough to read my blog ;)
LG,
~Julia~
Yesterday after the church service they offered coffee and tea, so I went to get something to drink. I wasn't really trying to interact with people because I was feeling a little shy. I tend to be pretty outgoing, but sometimes it can be tiring - especially when you feel like you aren't getting anywhere. But there wasn't a spoon where I got my tea so I went to another table to grab one. While I stirred my tea, a woman said hello to me! Yay! She asked me how long I'd been coming to church, and when I told her I was an Au Pair from America she got excited and said that her friend was from America. When her friend was done talking with another person, I introduced myself and then the three of us chatted for a while. They were women I'm assuming were in their thirties or forties, but they were very nice and I really appreciate that they were willing to say hello to me. I told Angela (who had lived in California, Nebraska, and Colorado) about an English service I had gone to and that the next one is on the 13th, and if she can she's going to go with me! I exchanged numbers with both of them since Heika said that she has three kids ages 20, 19, and 18 and that her daughter(s?) might be interested in meeting me. Honestly, I'm taking any opportunities I can get.
Yesterday evening they had their once-monthly youth service. Esther went with me in the beginning but had somewhere else to go halfway through. We watched a video interview with Bono of U2, which was REALLY interesting. I had no idea he was a Christian and that all of his humanitarian efforts are really scripturally based. Anyway, afterwards we sat around the tables to discuss which was PERFECT. The age groups really ranged and there were mostly teenagers, but I had seen a table of college-age looking people which I quickly joined. They were really nice, as well, and complimented my German :) I had trouble following the conversation, but was mostly able to get the jist. After the Pastor formally closed the service, they sat around chatting for a bit, so I stayed, too. I left before they did, though, because it was getting dark and 1) I didn't know how to use the light on my bike, and 2) I hadn't ridden my bike so far alone yet. I'm really glad I went to the youth service, and really hope that I'll be able to develop friendships with some of the people I met there :)
In other exciting news, today we got a new bike for me! A new store opened and had lots of SUPER cheap stuff, including a bike for only €100. We had talked to one of Esther's friends about maybe taking her old bike, but she has mysteriously dropped off the face of the planet and isn't responding to phone calls or emails. We also saw a bike at a repair shop that would cost (according to Frank) about €60. I told Esther I would be happy to get the cheaper old bike, but Esther told me that she and Frank thought the new bike was a really good deal, since it was about the same cost as getting an old bike fixed... and it's new.
I tried to ride it, but the seat was WAY too high and we had to wait for the guy with the key to come back. They set it as low as possible and I think it's just right. I can't put my foot all the way on the ground, but I can actually steady myself with my foot while seated! YAY! It's also much lighter and easier to handle - I can actually turn with it!
Unfortunately, the pedals have brakes so I can't readjust the pedals like I would prefer, but when you move it back and forth (only for about a foot or so) the pedals go with so they're easier to adjust. It also doesn't have gears, so I guess that means my legs are just going to have to get stronger. DANG IT. Also, my brother once said about the old bike that the seat looked like it was pointed a little upwards... and after riding the new bike, I think he was right. Now I feel like I'm going to slip off! I think I'll easily get used to it, but it was kind of funny at first. Also, you have to lean over more when riding (my other one was meant for more leisurely riding) so now my arms are actually involved in the process. Weird.
Although the picture is blurry (from my already replaced old camera), please note my frowny face of dissatisfaction with the old bike.
My face isn't in the picture with the new bike, but it is assuredly more satisfied looking.
All in all, I'm VERY happy and excited! I think now we can put an attachment on my bike so I can take the kids in the "fahrrad anhanger" (I am drawing a total blank as to what it's called in English). Yay!
Lastly, odds are good that I'm going to Munich for Oktoberfest!! One of Jenny's good friends from Carleton, Emily, became a friend of mine, too (due to our mutual awesomeness, duh) and she's going to be there the weekend of September 25-27. She said she thinks they'll have room for me in their hotel room, but if not I will just have to get another one! I really was wanting to go to Oktoberfest (since I can't really go to Germany for only one year and NOT go) but was wondering who I would go with since I don't know anybody yet. Plus Esther will be taking the kids to visit her parents that weekend and Frank will be gone for a few days then, too. If that isn't the hand of God, I don't know what is! Emily will be flying into Prague, and while I'd love to go there, too, it will be there all year and Oktoberfest... well, won't.
So, pray that things will work out and Emily will let me come with :)
And that this bike works out well.
And that I'll make friends soon.
Okay, thanks!
LG,
~Julia~
First of all, the power cord on my computer no longer works and as a result my laptop is dead. LAME. I called HP and they gave me a number for HP Germany, but when I called yesterday they were CLOSED!! Something about resting on the weekends or some other ridiculous notion like that. Ergo, I am typing on Frank & Esther's laptop. A few big differences to consider:
-the Y is in the Z spot and vis versa
-the apostrophe is in a different place (replaced by an Ä) AND you need to use the shift key
-the shift and enter keys are in the right place, but are smaller and result in me hitting the <>
Update no. 2, and the one that is currently of greatest significance: Frank, Esther and I sat down and spoke together last night. Although they really hadn't discussed it together (since Frank was literally gone for the whole evening), Frank said that he felt that they had given their word to have me here and that he feels very strongly about keeping his word. So really, I believe the question of whether I will be moving families or not is officially answered: I WILL be staying with the Beckmann Family. I think the question still remains, however, if it will be for the whole year or slightly shortened (I'm thinking maybe until the end of January or early April - after my birthday.) It's something to consider, but I'm not sure if that will be necessary or not. I'm really hoping that Camp Crescendo will return this next year, and if that happens maybe it's a God thing for me to come back early... but we'll have to see. They did look at the letter from Germany (saying she needs to pay back her tuition fees) and they won't need to start paying back until next June at the latest. There we can praise God for working that out, because I believe it is a huge relief for Esther!
My bike riding really IS much better. My butt now only hurts WHEN I'm riding (and not every time I sit down) AND I can successfully get on and off almost without it tipping at all. Almost. I really do think that I should get a new bike, however, for the following reasons:
-it doesn't have any gear shifts, and when the wind blows in the opposite direction (which it already does when riding a bike) it is really difficult for me. I think they would be very helpful.
-the main brake is on the peddles and not with the hand, making it so that I can't adjust peddle position to make getting on the bike easier. If I don't remember to set the peddle positions before I dismount, then it is really tricky (and embarrassing) to get back on.
-the handlebars curve over my legs instead of sticking out to the sides, which makes turning surprisingly difficult.
-my current bike is rather heavy.
-it doesn't have a kickstand, but rather a weird thing that goes over the back tire and props it up... which is unfortunately prone to tipping.
Lastly, tonight Frank and I rode our bikes to a new English church service. Esther found out about it and thought it would be a good place for me to meet friends, which I have yet to do. I found it very encouraging and comforting since the structure was much more like what I'm used to and I knew the music. However, we got there only four minutes before it started (we left too late) and had to leave early because the speaker rambled (on and off his chosen topic) and we had to be back because Esther had an engagement elsewhere at 7. So I didn't actually meet anyone tonight, and because it's a new program from a local church it won't be offered every week. The next one is in three weeks, and I plan on coming back- though perhaps lacking in superb speakers, I think it will be a good place to meet people and worship God :)
So, in terms of prayer:
-That God will lead us to whatever solution he has for us in regards to me staying here.
-We're still establishing boundaries of my place in the house, like my authority with the kids and my roll as a family member in general.
-Please ask God to make his will for Esther clear, and that he will comfort her as she deals with money worries and depression. Please pray that she will find peace about ending her teacher's training, and hopefully find a solution that is pleasing to God and restores her joy.
-That I will make friends soon!! I haven't really had any opportunities to meet people my age, but I will start an evening language course to improve my German... so pray that I will meet new friends there! And hopefully also at the new English church service (even though it will be infrequent).
-That we will find a better bike at a good price!... SOON!
Okay. To bed.
Liebe Grüße (at least I can type that easily with this keyboard!)
~Julia~
First off, no new developments on my situation... so keep praying!
Today I FINALLY got to make cinnamon rolls! I'd thought about trying to make some for Simon's Geburtstag when the ones they made turned out a little dry, but then Esther said I could make them the following Saturday. I woke up on Saturday all excited to do it, but then Esther pointed out that since the weather was so great we should enjoy it outside. We went to a beautiful little lake with clear water that wasn't too cold and had a really nice afternoon (although now Simon is echt krank (really sick) and Esther is convinced it was because he got too cold in the water on Saturday... schade). Anyway, then I was going to make the cinnamon rolls on Wednesday, but that was the morning that Esther told me about her depression and that they don't really need me... so needless to say, I didn't get it done.I ran into one glitch while making my cinnamon rolls (and by my cinnamon rolls, I obviously mean Shane Maxey's cinnamon rolls)... they don't have brown sugar in Germany. I mean, they have raw brown sugar, but they don't have sweet, delicious, molasses brown sugar. SCHADE. Instead, they have this weird fluid brown sugar that is like molasses, but lighter like brown sugar. It tasted about right, and it was all I could use since you have to find brown sugar in a specialty store. It turned out okay, but it was pretty weird. When I rolled the dough it was really tricky because it was heavier than it should be and it was leaking out butter and the brown sugar goop.
Regardless, they ended up tasting just fine (a little drier than normal... any thoughts, Shane?) and we served them for an afternoon snack when Sara's friend Tim and his mom came over. (Tim fun fact: Sara is a little obsessed with all things babies at the moment, and has said before that she will have babies when she's 18. I told her you also need a husband to have babies, and she said "Yeah, and I thought maybe Marcel, but probably Tim. FUNNY :D )
I also had an small adventure in Combi, the closest grocery store to us. I happen to really like Combi, as it was the only store that I found that had Dill when I wanted to cook salmon, plus it's organized like a normal store!... as opposed to Lidl and Adli, which feels like alike items are barely grouped together.
Anyway, I thought it would be nice to make a good old-fashioned American pancake breakfast (aka pancakes made with buttermilk and eaten with maple syrup, NOT jelly). Unfortunately, the syrup was playing hard to get. I looked up and down EVERY isle (okay, except the pet food isle, I felt pretty safe there) and then I finally asked a stranger to help me. He was really nice, and though he also looked hard, he couldn't find it either.
When I finally gave up and checked out, I asked the lady and when she was like "Meinst du Nutella? Oder Zimtzucker?" I had to explain "syrup dass kommt aus ein Baum" "Ah, Ahornsirup!" and one lady in line said "Maple?" YES! ENGLISH! So the lady took me back to find it - it was with all the Bio products which I had passed already. I mean, Bio products! When I passed by I looked at them and thought "oh, this stuff is all healthy, it isn't here." WRONG. When I was walking back to check-out, the guy who had helped me saw me so I told him it where it was, and he showed me some other syrup he found with the marmalade... it was like zuckersirup or something like that, definitely not what I was looking for, but it was "sweet" (ha!) that he kept looking. Moral of the story, tomorrow morning we will be having buttermilk pancakes... once I get the recipe from my dad...
Lastly, I am now able to get onto a bicycle by peddling to get boosted onto the seat, but only if I have the peddles in JUST the right position and I straddle the bar first. Next goal: to begin peddling off to one side (aka from a NORMAL position and not only when I straddle the bar).
LG,
~Julia~
I knew I was going to have to learn how to cook eventually, and I figured I'd probably do some basic stuff here... but geez, this is getting a little nuts.
