St. Nicholas Day

Since we are bringing up Alani bilingual and with two cultures are we trying to introduce her to holiday traditions from Germany and the States.  Today was Alani’s first St. Nicholas (Sankt Nikolaus) day.  Traditionally in Germany children put their shoes out before they go to bed and when they wake up in the morning the shoes are filled with candy.  Since Alani is too little for both shoes and candy we decided to get her a couple toys.  She really seemed to enjoy playing with them this morning so that was a lot of fun to watch. 

We also have an Advent Wreath that we light the candles on each week.  Generally I light them when I feed Alani dinner at night and on the mornings that we are all together for breakfast we also light them.  To also prepare for Christmas and recognize the Advent season Valentin purchased an Advent calendar that we look at every night with Alani.  You open a picture for each day before Christmas; it is a very nice tradition that his family had and it is a similar idea to the Advent calendar my family had.  Alani loves looking at the calendar because it is so shiny, I’m sure as she gets older she’ll love these little Christmas traditions from both cultures.

We also went last Sunday to a beautiful Christmas Market; the only mistake was trying to take the stroller there on a weekend.  Trying to push our way through the crowds was no joke!  However, it was a beautiful market and Alani and I are going to revisit it during the week when it is less crowded.  There are so many wonderful artists at the market selling everything from handmade leather-goods, beautiful cutting boards, Christmas ornaments, paper lanterns, and much more!  Of course, there are also all the food stands selling traditional German Christmas cookies, which turned out to be the majority of our purchases.  After we were at the market for awhile we decided to have dinner out and went to a beautiful restaurant that Valentin had heard about.  It is in an old bank building and was very, very nice.  Luckily Alani behaved beautifully and enjoyed eating her bread more than anything else. 

Just an Early Morning Hello

Everyone is sleeping in so I have a few moments of peace to sit and write this morning.  It has been a busy week here.  Unfortunately it started with Alani getting a cold and me getting the stomach flu.  We have both recovered now though so we are looking forward to getting back to our usual activities.  Alani has her two top teeth coming in now, making a grand total of four teeth!  She is all over the place these days and is loving trying to get into all sorts of things she shouldn't.
This week we also had our first big snow of the winter.  Alani was really loving watching it come down when I was carrying her around outside.  She couldn't really figure out what to do with it so she looked at the sky, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.  It was really fun to see her enjoy snow for the first time.  I enjoyed the snow as well and it really does beat rain.  However, this is the first time I've had to put "snow tires" on a stroller.  Talk about a workout!  Pushing Alani through the snow is tough, my leg muscles are actually sore.  I might come out of this winter in better shape than I went in. 
We are getting ready for our trip back to the states for the holidays.  We will be spending Christmas with my family in TX, New Year's in CT, then we will be in NYC for a couple of days.  We are really looking forward to the trip, although I'm dreading the flight over and all of the luggage! 

In Germany stores are closed on Sundays, which means that we generally have to do all of our shopping on Saturday for anything we might be need on Sunday or Monday morning.  However, during Advent, the stores are open for a couple Sunday's to give people more time to Christmas shop.  The best place to shop though is at the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market).  These are usually set up in the city center or, in a large city like Berlin, there will be several of them.  We have been to a couple of them now, but today are going to head over to one of the better ones.  Last week Valentin took Alani when I was sick and they went and bought our Advent Wreath.  Today we are looking for Christmas gifts as well as an Advent Calendar for Alani, this should be some fun shopping. 

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!

Adventures in the Ausländerbehörde -- Part 1

As part of moving to Germany Valentin and I first had to go register with the local authorities here in Berlin.  We took care of this when we first got there and are officially residents of Berlin.  The next step was to go to the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office) to apply for my residence card.  I had heard horror stories from many of my ex-pat friends here so we got up early this morning with the baby and headed over to the Ausländerbehörde to be in line early.
The office opens at 10 on Thursdays, we arrived at about 8am, but we were still not the first in line.  What a nuthouse!  We were about 4th in line for our door (the line for students was already much longer).  Alani fell asleep on the way there so I kept walking her around while Valentin stood in line holding our spot in the freezing cold.  It was a good thing he did.  As the line grew people would all of a sudden just show up first or second in the line, even though there were twenty other people that got there before them. 
Also, to add color to the situation, there was a complete nut job wondering around the place.  She was telling everyone her life story and pushed her way to the front of the line.  While I was in the snack-bar around the corner feeding Alani she also came in there and kept telling the lady that she wanted 3 espressos.  The cashier pointed repeatedly to the self-service bar and tried to explain to her to get it herself.  The crazy-lady then began to take all the chocolate bars of the rack and put them in her purse while telling the cashier "Ich mache Schokolade" which translates to "I make chocolate".  Finally, a good Samaritan in the shop paid for her chocolate and got her espressos.  It certainly did add interest to an otherwise tedious process.
Once the doors finally opened at 10 it was a mad dash in to figure out where to go.  I took the elevator upstairs with the stroller while Valentin sprinted up the stairs.  On a sign it said we had to go to Z6, however this did not exist upstairs.  I found C 3.6 (or something like that) with a sign that said "last names H-Z here."  So I hopped in that line and waited for Valentin who asked someone working there where we should be.  This person was extremely rude and told him to look at the signs.  He explained that even though German is his first language he could not make any sense of the signs.  Annoying!  Turned out I was in the right place, despite the confusing signs.  I'm not sure how I would have managed without him though, what a lifesaver in all that confusion!
Finally we were told to go, one applicant (plus family) at a time, into a small room where a very nice and helpful lady made sure we had everything we needed.  After checking through our paperwork we had to run downstairs and make copies of our passports and some other information and bring it back to her. 
We now have an appointment for the interview and processing on November 1 at 7:30am.  A letter confirming this should come in the mail this week.  Hopefully this will go smoothly now that we know where to go.

Water Water Water

Now that we have been here for a few weeks I am hoping that I will be able to make a more dedicated effort to blog about everything that is going on.  I said that I would write about the new experiences here, even the small day to day stuff that is different, so I will start with that today.  It is nothing terribly exciting, but I do hope you will enjoy.
Extremely hard water.  So hard that I cannot believe there is enough liquid components in the water to actually make it through pipes to come out in our sinks, showers, and toilets.  I cannot even explain adequately how annoying this is to me.  Hard water is definitely not good for your skin, but that can be helped with lotions.  Cleaning the dishes, the floor, the shower, etc. is another story.

I used to see the JetDry commercials and laugh at them thinking the spotty dishes coming out of the dishwasher were a huge exaggeration.  I take it back.  The water here leaves spots on everything!  And the German equivalent of JetDry does nothing.  The glasses still generally come out looking dirtier than they went in.  If you leave tap water sitting around in a cup overnight a white powder will settle in the bottom of the glass! 

I knew from past visits that Germans never drink tap water (I have seen many Americans confuse waiters at restaurants trying to explain that they want to have water from the tap) and now I completely understand.  At home the only tap water we drink is from the water cooker for tea or coffee.  We have had our electric kettle less than a month and there is already build up on the bottom! (see photo) 

Any suggestions on how to deal with this problem would be appreciated!

Germans literally buy cases of water at the store.  You can either get "spudel wasser", this is water with bubbles like seltzer, or "natural wasser".  We go through a lot of water bottles in a week.  You also do not throw these bottles away, that is a huge waste of money and resources.  Instead you save all of your plastic bottles and when you go to the grocery store you take them with you and deposit them into a machine that then prints out a receipt for you to take to the cashier and get your money back.  While I find this system good for the earth and your wallet, it really is a pain to remember to drag all the bottles back to the store each week.  Sadly I have forgotten this last week so I have a giant bag to take care of today.