Thanksgiving German Style

Well it has been a busy couple weeks here in Germany for us.  I have been working hard trying to learn German, looking for a school for Alani, taking care of things around the house, and trying to have a life outside of the apartment!

Last week was my 30^th birthday, a bit hard to believe!  Valentin gave me a wonderful sweater (that was a bit large, which means fun shopping) and TWO pairs of boots!  I guess all my complaining about walking so much sunk in.  He also made a wonderful cake, which according to our family birthday tradition we ate for breakfast.  Alani also got me a beautiful planner and a very nice pen.  They both got me flowers which was very sweet.  I took the afternoon “off” on my birthday and finally used the spa gift certificate my sister-in-law gave me last July.  It was wonderful!  I had a body scrub and massage at the Adlon Hotel Day Spa.  This is located right next to the Brandenburg Tor, one of the most iconic sites in Berlin.   Valentin took the afternoon off to spend with Alani so once she went down for a nap I was out the door.  Then when I came home Valentin had prepared my favorite meal, stuffed zucchini.  Overall it was a fantastic day and I could not have asked for anything more.

But there was more!!!  On the same day our Thanksgiving Care Package arrived from Phil, Hayley, and Baby O.  What a wonderful surprise!  It included some of my favorites like Cheerios, Mac ‘n Cheese, and Cheez-its; as well as Stove Top stuffing and canned cranberry sauce!!  Alani also received her first magazine subscription from Mia Jean—called Babybug.  She loves it and has been dragging it all over the apartment.  I also got two wonderful sweaters from my parents and my Nene.  A great birthday to say the least.

Another project that has been absorbing my time here is finding a school for Alani to start next year.  This is not easy in Berlin, many times you just get on waiting lists and have to cross your fingers.  Most schools don’t start until August so that is when I wanted to find a place for Alani at one of the bilingual schools.  I went on a school tour at the Be Smart Academy last Friday and we found out Monday that she got in!  It is a great school and there is a native German speaking teacher and native English speaking teacher in each classroom.  Kids start when they are about one and then will continue there until they go to first grade at age 6.  I’m so glad Alani got in so that is one less thing I have to worry about.

In my efforts to become more proficient at German I have hired a teacher to come to my apartment once a week and work with me and a few other moms.  It is nice since the babies have fun playing around while we work on our lessons.  It is still an uphill battle though since most of my conversations all day are with Alani.  She and I have also been going to fun baby classes and getting out around the city.  This week we are planning to check out the newly opened Christmas Markets.  I will let you know how those are in my next post.

Today is Thanksgiving, our first one here in Berlin.  Valentin purchased a HUGE turkey from the farmers market, about 14lbs.  German refrigerators and ovens are a bit smaller than their American counterparts.  Valentin had to force the turkey into the freezer, which made it freeze into the drawer.  When I wanted to thaw the thing I had to put the whole drawer in the fridge.  It seems to have thawed ok though and is now cooking in the very tiny oven.  I’m hoping it all turns out! 

I think that is all the news from here in Germany.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home!

My Dad’s Visit to Berlin

This last week my Dad made the trip over the Atlantic to visit us in Berlin, what a treat!  We all had a wonderful time hanging out with “Cappy” and baby Alani.  Alani loves to play with her grandfather, especially the glasses she can always snatch out of his pocket.  It was great just to hang out at the apartment and chat, but we did manage to get out and see a few Berlin sites together. 

We all took the short trip over to the city center were we went by Check Point Charlie.  After a break at Starbucks (you really can get it anywhere) we went on to a section of the wall that is still standing.  This part of the wall was actually built over the bombed out headquarters of the SS.  They have a very interesting pictorial time line there of the rise and fall of Hitler as well as the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall.

Alani, “Cappy”, and I also made our way over to the German Historical Museum to see the exhibit about Hitler.  This exhibit has raised a lot of controversy in the press across Germany and Europe so I was very curious to see it.  There is still a lot of sensitivity here regarding Hitler and the Nazis, understandably, so this is the first exhibit of its kind here.  The museum has actually not been able to advertise its exhibit because of the law here that forbids the showing of Nazi symbols.  The exhibit was very interesting depicting the way in which Hitler and the Nazis used the allure of popular media to capture the people’s support.  They made their agenda the nation’s agenda and used their influence to then attempt to demolish entire groups of people by first demonizing them.  The exhibit had very interesting articles from the time including toys of Hitler and popular products of the time that were branded with the Nazi party symbols.  There were also a lot of pictures showing the way that Hitler could capture crowds.  With the development and availability of the 35mm camera around the same time there were also lots of pictures from everyday people.  Two of the most touching displays, in my opinion, were by children on opposite sides of the controversy early on.  One was a set of drawings school children had made to wish Hitler a happy birthday.  The other set was a group of drawing by children who had been displaced from their homes and were either on the run or in concentration camps.  It was a very touching and interesting exhibit that made it easier to understand how this terrible person could capture the support of so many.  I really do recommend this to anyone who visits Berlin, however I didn’t notice until halfway through that there were also headsets available with more information, I’ll get those next time since translating the signs was rather difficult.

Now that “Cappy” has gone back to the States Alani and I are back to our usual routine.  Wednesday we had fun at a local spielcafe and Thursday we went to class where she had a lot of fun playing with toys and watching the other babies.  Of course Alani is also hard at work trying to chase down her favorite thing in the world, Schnuckel.  The poor dog has to get her food put on the counter during the day and can't turn her back to the baby for one second or she will have her tail snatched bald!
Today Valentin took Alani out for "daddy/daugher breakfast" so I could get things done around the apartment.  They ended up not finding a place to eat since the place I told them to go was packed with a party.  It was nice for me though because then they came home to eat and after Alani went down for a nap I headed out to the gym.  In the afternoon we all went out for coffee/tea and cake followed by a family trip to another spielcafe.  We then had dinner at an "American" restaurant.  I can't say it was really authentic, but it was a nice effort.  We'll have to find a place that is actually owned and run by an American next time.

General Update

OK, so I have been thinking about blogging...it just hasn't happened!  So here is a general update on how things are going and what we are up to. 

Monday we went to the Auslanderbehorde again for my appointment.  It went surprisingly quick this time and we got my visa so I can work here the next three years.  However, they did say I have to take an 'integration course'.  We thought this would be no problem, just a few hours of class and then done.  WRONG!!!  It is 630 (yes you read that right, six hundred thirty) hours of class!  Valentin was so mad about this since neither of us had heard of it before.  Apparently it is up to whoever gets your paperwork if they assign this or not and she decided that I should have it (lovely woman) and so I have to do it.  We are trying to get out of it though, because I'm not sure who has this kind of time, but I certainly don't.  So Valentin has been working hard to get a solution...I'll keep you all posted.

Alani is doing great here.  There are so many places for little babies to play; it is really wonderful.  We go to class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings where she loves rolling around with the other babies.  She is starting to crawl now which has terrorized Schnuckel.  She also has two bottom teeth coming in so she is chewing on everything.  We also spend a lot of time at Speilcafes where I can sit and have a coffee and cake and she can roll around in the play area with the other babies.  This is also a great way to meet other moms and practice my German.
Last weekend was Alani's first Halloween and unfortunately we did not do much for it.  We tried driving out to a pumpkin farm outside the city, this was a mistake.  It was funny to see the pumpkin 'sculptures' though.  And of course Alani did not know she was missing out on being forced to wear a silly costume.  I missed it though.  However, kids dress up here at carnival in February so hopefully we will get it together for that and will have a cute costume for her then.  I did manage to make her a jack-o-lantern this year, which she really liked taking the top off of and looking inside.  It was difficult to find an American style pumpkin though, the pumpkins here are for eating-not carving.  In honor of her first Halloween the Jack-o-lantern only has two bottom teeth.
We are already starting to get what we need for Thanksgiving though since this will not be easy here.  We have ordered a turkey that will be at the farmers market for us the Saturday before Thanksgiving.   And according to rumor I can find pumpkin mix at KaDeWe.  Now I just need to find a bag to cook the Turkey in and some canned cranberry sauce (I just love the Ocean Spray jellied sauce--just like Mom used to make). 

Speaking of KaDeWe, we also went there last weekend.  This is a shopping wonderland!  It is the largest department store in Europe and truly has something for everyone.  Valentin is in love with the food floor where there are apparently 5,000 different types of sausages available.  They also have a great international food section there.  I was actually able to buy some Carrs water crackers and American peanut butter.  Of course both were ridiculously expensive, but it was a fun treat for me.  For anyone that visits Berlin this is a must see sight, boys and girls alike. 

Valentin has been working hard.  He really hates that some days he doesn't get to see the baby because he leaves before she is awake and comes home after she is in bed.  However, we have been taking advantage of the weekends and doing as much as possible together.  Hopefully this weekend my Dad will be coming to visit us if he makes the flights.  We are really looking forward to having our first houseguest from the States (more to come soon I hope!). 

This morning we had a visit from a social worker.  Here in Germany a social worker (this is optional) comes to your home after you have a baby and helps you with what you need.  For example she wanted to make sure we understood vaccinations were important and that Alani had gotten hers.  She also gave us a list of all the preschools in our area and suggested a few that might be a good fit for us.  She also gave me recommendations on where to take Alani if she ever got sick on a weekend.  It was actually nice and she was a very helpful woman.  She didn't speak any English though so we also had to have the entire converstion in German, which I think I managed pretty successfully. 

I am currently trying to organize a class at my apartment for moms with babies around Alani's age that want to learn German.  I interviewed a teacher yesterday and it looks like we will get this started pretty soon.  I'm hoping this will help make day to day life easier, but as well not take away from my time spent with Alani. 

We are missing you all and hope you are having a safe and wonderful autumn!