This weekend introduced me to some fantastic things:
- Kunstmuseum Stuttgart: first, let me preface this by saying that for a relatively artsy person, I am not the biggest museum fan. Unless there is a particular exhibit I am interested in, it is not usually on the top of my list of things to see. However, I had heard good things about this museum in general, so I decided to spend my free time on Saturday there. One of the main exhibits right now is a collection from Heinz and Anette Teufel in a particular genre of Abstractionist art called Concrete Art (not actually made from concrete at all). One of my favorite artists, Bridget Riley, had a painting in this collection, as well as several new artists which I discovered and fell in love with. Here is a link to the museum's description of the exhibit (with the Bridget Riley painting that I love):
http://www.kunstmuseum-stuttgart.de/en/index.php?site=1&page=2&actualSel=35
Here are some links to my fav artists. I would post pics, but I don't want to cross any copyright lines...so check them out for yourself. :-)
http://www.galerie-la-ligne.ch/--herzlich-willkommen/kuenstler/kubiak-uwe.html
http://www.trocadero.com/griffintrading/items/591534/item591534store.html
http://www.regio-kunst.de/regio-kunst/druckansicht/konkret.html
http://www.spielvogel-galerie.de/html/bilder-brandt-liste.html
http://www.galerie-hoeppner.de/kuenstler/fruhtrunk_gunter.php
A lot of the paintings had very intense colors or very stark lines which are naturally hard to capture in pictures, but I thought I would give a little a flavor of the exhibit, and what I spent hours studying. It was wonderful to go in to the museum and simply lose track of time. Good times.
Last night, I was introduced to a couple new German games, and my competitive spirit was delighted to be able to be expressed. :-) One is a game several of you are probably familiar with - Die Siedler von Catan (Settlers of Catan). For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it is a game of establishing towns and streets and strategic land holdings and all other sorts of things that I just barely scratched the surface of in our one simple game (and also learning all of this in German made things even MORE interesting). I am a little hooked already, so all of you Settlers fans out there, be ready - I want to play and I want to learn more...my competitive spirit just can't resist it. :-) We were actually playing with the original version of the game, in the original German (since it was created here...go figure). Pretty awesome.
Finally, here is a teaser for the next post: While in Stuttgart, I saw the beautiful craziness that is a German Weihnachtsmarkt (or Christkindlmarkt). Unfortunately, because of the stomach virus mentioned in the last post, I was unable to enjoy the full experience, i.e. Glühwein (mulled wine) and all the awesome German confections. So, I plan to make a return trip to the huge market in Stuttgart (as well as to our local market in Waiblingen) and give a full report. Stay tuned...
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
What a month!
And November isn't even over yet! I knew going into this month that it would be crazy. Now that it is almost done, I'm thankful to have made it this far still in one piece...but just barely. :-) Just in the last week I have baked 2 cakes, 1 pie, and 1 dish of stuffing; celebrated a kid's birthday...twice; helped prepare for a thanksgiving meal for 18 people; and been attacked by a stomach virus not once, but twice. Also in the last week I passed the two-month mark of living in Germany. Though I have been up to my nose in the craziness of this week, I am really thankful for the joy it also held. Moments like making sour cream coffeecake with the older of my two girls, carrying a bit of my family tradition with me here, and passing it along as well. Or, being able to celebrate the younger girl's birthday with the family, and see her face light up over a box full of duplos. (oh! the memories it brought back!) Or, sitting down to eat some of my favorite Thanksgiving foods with friends nearby, kids clamoring in the background, and laughter abounding. Or, being able to share stories with friends of my family's Thanksgiving traditions which made me feel a little closer to my family back home. And now, here are some of the highlights, in pictures:
After a full day of baking: my pumpkin pie in the front, the sour cream coffeecake in the back.
The happy birthday girl (with cake for breakfast! but you must know, she didn't even finish her whole piece before asking for "brot und leberwurst". Leberwurst over cake...I will never understand that.)
The whole family getting involved - "new" duplo's aren't just for kids. :-)
When every possible table and anything that could pass as a seat is used, you know its going to be a good party. (I stand in the back...in the vicinity of the kid's table, of course).
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
a first time for everything
In the last week, I have had several "firsts". Last Thursday was my first time driving in Germany. Yes, it was on a little-used back road, and yes, I never went higher than 3rd gear, but I drove! Reacquainting myself with a manual transmission will take a while, as I drove a car with an automatic transmission since getting my driver's license, and it has been a long time since my brother first taught me how to drive a stick-shift. Thankfully, the road laws are not too different here - soon I hope to be out on the road and holding my own with the German drivers. :-)
On Friday, I went to "Turnen" with the girls and their mom. This is an exercise class for kids - they get to run around a gym, walk on balance beams, do somersaults, climb over obstacles, and jump on a trampoline. When the weather is cold and wet, Turnen class is a fantastic outlet for all that pent up energy. With the kids, parents, (and au pairs!), it's always a big hit.
Saturday was my first entire day with the kids, from waking up to going to sleep. Occasionally there are weekends when both parents have to work or be in class. Usually this happens once a month or once every two months...however, a schedule change meant that I had two of these weekends in a row to start out November. During the first, I was taking care of the kids only while the mom caught up on sleep from a night shift, and then there were two of us around. This weekend, however, I was on my own for the whole day. It was good to see how the routines from the weekdays carried over to the weekend, making the day go by a little more smoothly.
On Sunday, I was here once again with the children, but that evening, our church here had an evening for the families to have fun and spend time all together. The evening was celebrating St. Martin's Day (which just so happens to be today!), which celebrates a Roman soldier who became a monk and offered help to the poor. It is celebrated with paper lanterns which the children make in kindergarten, then light up with candles for the Latenernlauf. The origins of the lanterns is unclear, though some say it symbolizes the hope that St. Martin brought to the people he served. When I went with my church, there were a ton of kids there, and as we walked through the dark, deep woods, with only lanterns and torches to light our way, it definitely had a festive, magical feel. That night was even more special to me, because of the way everyone took care of the girls and me. We always had an extra hand to hold, when my hands were full, an extra pair of eyes to look out for us, and new friends to talk with along the way.
Finally, here is one small thing that made my day. With the kids, I only speak English, so that they have another input of that language (their dad also speaks English with them). They mostly speak in German, especially the younger one, with a few English words thrown in. Last night, when we were brushing teeth, the little one looked out the window into the night and spontaneously said "It's dark outside." It was a phrase she has heard a lot, but its rare that she uses the English words, not to mention an entire sentence! That made my night. I'm learning so much from these kids. I'm glad that they are learning a little bit from me as well. :-)
On Friday, I went to "Turnen" with the girls and their mom. This is an exercise class for kids - they get to run around a gym, walk on balance beams, do somersaults, climb over obstacles, and jump on a trampoline. When the weather is cold and wet, Turnen class is a fantastic outlet for all that pent up energy. With the kids, parents, (and au pairs!), it's always a big hit.
Saturday was my first entire day with the kids, from waking up to going to sleep. Occasionally there are weekends when both parents have to work or be in class. Usually this happens once a month or once every two months...however, a schedule change meant that I had two of these weekends in a row to start out November. During the first, I was taking care of the kids only while the mom caught up on sleep from a night shift, and then there were two of us around. This weekend, however, I was on my own for the whole day. It was good to see how the routines from the weekdays carried over to the weekend, making the day go by a little more smoothly.
On Sunday, I was here once again with the children, but that evening, our church here had an evening for the families to have fun and spend time all together. The evening was celebrating St. Martin's Day (which just so happens to be today!), which celebrates a Roman soldier who became a monk and offered help to the poor. It is celebrated with paper lanterns which the children make in kindergarten, then light up with candles for the Latenernlauf. The origins of the lanterns is unclear, though some say it symbolizes the hope that St. Martin brought to the people he served. When I went with my church, there were a ton of kids there, and as we walked through the dark, deep woods, with only lanterns and torches to light our way, it definitely had a festive, magical feel. That night was even more special to me, because of the way everyone took care of the girls and me. We always had an extra hand to hold, when my hands were full, an extra pair of eyes to look out for us, and new friends to talk with along the way.
Finally, here is one small thing that made my day. With the kids, I only speak English, so that they have another input of that language (their dad also speaks English with them). They mostly speak in German, especially the younger one, with a few English words thrown in. Last night, when we were brushing teeth, the little one looked out the window into the night and spontaneously said "It's dark outside." It was a phrase she has heard a lot, but its rare that she uses the English words, not to mention an entire sentence! That made my night. I'm learning so much from these kids. I'm glad that they are learning a little bit from me as well. :-)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Berlin, and back again
Greetings, friends!
It has been quite the adventure over the past couple of weeks: leaving for a week-long vacation to visit my friend Liesl in Berlin, experiencing what big city life in Germany is like (as opposed to small quiet town life where I am in BW), and going full speed through life without much rest. It was fun for a while, but I'm ready to calm down and catch up a bit.
My trip to Berlin was amazing. My friend Liesl's roommate let me borrow his bike, so we rode ALL over Berlin, saw many different sides to the city, mostly avoided the tourist traps, hung out with her friends, and ate some great food. We actually cooked a lot - and every morning had a fantastic breakfast - we share a love for that meal. For me, it was fantastic to just live life with her for a while - to see the school where she works, meet her friends, party in real Berlin style, bum around when it was rainy and cold, and share stories about the respective kids in our lives. I didn't take a ton of pictures, since we were on our bikes and enjoying the time without stopping every 3 seconds. But, I captured a few highlights. Here a couple favs, and then a link to the whole album (with captions and wiki links for the landmarks).
It has been quite the adventure over the past couple of weeks: leaving for a week-long vacation to visit my friend Liesl in Berlin, experiencing what big city life in Germany is like (as opposed to small quiet town life where I am in BW), and going full speed through life without much rest. It was fun for a while, but I'm ready to calm down and catch up a bit.
My trip to Berlin was amazing. My friend Liesl's roommate let me borrow his bike, so we rode ALL over Berlin, saw many different sides to the city, mostly avoided the tourist traps, hung out with her friends, and ate some great food. We actually cooked a lot - and every morning had a fantastic breakfast - we share a love for that meal. For me, it was fantastic to just live life with her for a while - to see the school where she works, meet her friends, party in real Berlin style, bum around when it was rainy and cold, and share stories about the respective kids in our lives. I didn't take a ton of pictures, since we were on our bikes and enjoying the time without stopping every 3 seconds. But, I captured a few highlights. Here a couple favs, and then a link to the whole album (with captions and wiki links for the landmarks).
Tiergarten
Liesl and I, at the Brandenburg Gate
Der Löwe
If you'd like to browse the whole album, you'll find it all right here:
 |
| In den Ferien |
Much love from Deutschland.
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