November 2010
1 post
October 2010
1 post
It's been a while...
since I updated. It mostly happens when I’ve been busy and a lot has happened since my last post. I went to the U.S. for vacation this summer to attend my brother’s wedding and visited some friends and old co-workers back home. After returning to Germany, I landed two job positions, one full-time salaried design position and the other a 6-month paid internship marketing position. I...
April 2010
1 post
March 2010
2 posts
A little preoccupied
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. As it stands, I have been busy with double language classes during the morning and nights. I currently attending B2 classes and have most likely passed my B1 exam. I haven’t received my results yet although that was a month ago. Heh. I’ve also manage to throw myself into karate events and blackbelt classes. It has helped me...
January 2010
1 post
December 2009
3 posts
2 tags
Jenny's Cupcakes Review
Having frequent the forums of Toytown Germany as an idle member, I’ve noticed from a few other Americans’ posts their disappointment at the lack of cupcake bakeries in Germany. Personally, I haven’t missed cupcakes too much. I’m not exactly a sweet tooth. On our way to an Asian Supermarket, we spotted Jenny’s Cupcakes. My husband and I made a mental note to visit it...
Weihnachtsmarkt in Frankfurt & Friedberg
There’s a lot to be said about Christmas in Germany. When the Germans are in holiday mood, they start as early as the beginning of October which was a little sad for me because I missed out on all the great Halloween and Thanksgiving festivities. Well, I can’t be too sad with all the Christmas happenings here and it isn’t all too different from the traditional American Christmas....
November 2009
1 post
October 2009
1 post
6 tags
Not exactly Oktoberfest but good enough
Late September always marks the beginning of the annual Oktoberfest in Munich. What many foreigners are unaware of is that several cities in Germany have an autumn festival of their own and which aren’t as heavily crowded and hectic as the more popular Oktoberfest. As someone who isn’t overly enthusiastic about bumping shoulders too many times with drunken people, the Herbstmarkt in...
September 2009
2 posts
Bleh @ Deutschkurs A2 Part 2
Well, it appears that my new Deutschkurs has been combined with another class due to lack of enrollment. What can I say? It’s a lot slower and boring on Monday’s and Tuesday’s when the new teacher is leading the class. Luckily, we still have Ina, our old teacher, teaching on Thursday’s and Friday’s. There are also now 16 of us in the class and the international map...
August 2009
2 posts
Adventure in Kiel/Laboe
Last week, my sister-in-law, Mel, and I made a trip to the north, to Kiel and Laboe. Apparently, it’s a German/Scandinavian/Danish tourist destination unknown to most foreigners outside of Europe. What did I find there? A lot of blonde hair women in H&M. A LOT. And, seagulls, ships, and sand. No really, just a few days before we headed up to Kiel I was looking a graph on a postcard...
July 2009
7 posts
Makeshift Tamagoyaki
Well, I don’t have a tamagoyaki pan. Nonetheless, I attempted to make it using a Japanese recipe book written in German. And, let me tell you it isn’t easy rolling that big piece of omelette in the pan. Lol. One thing I’m not going to add as I usually do is the recipe for one simple reason: I’m not yet satisfied with its taste. It was good but it could have been better. I...
Strange Flavor Ice Creams
Well, I grew up in Japan and therefore, I’ve heard of both green tea and fish ice cream. I didn’t think I’d encounter another weird flavor. Two days ago, my sister-in-law took my hubby, mom-in-law, and me to an ice cream shop a few villages away from Friedberg. I entered the shop and there, I saw it. Popcorn ice cream. I thought to myself. Oh okay, there is bits of popcorn there....
Transformers 2 and Harry Potter
No, this isn’t a movie review but it is a review of my movie experience in Germany thus far. I first went with Soeren to Hamburg to visit some of his friends who are involved in an open source project together. First off, let me tell you, it’s not easy finding a movie theatre in Germany that plays original versions. Most theatres show German dubbed versions which according to Soeren...
Germans are amazingly eco-friendly
Well, some of them, anyway. Yesterday, Soeren and I went grilling with his mates in celebration of their end of exams at their university. The grilling took place at his mate’s parents’ home. Aside from the beautiful flowers that decorated their backyard, it was also a feast of raspberries, tomatoes, strawberries, and cucumbers. Gardening is one of those activities I wish to become...
Summer Vacation
Yesterday was my last day of Deutschkurs A2, Part 1. I said my goodbyes to those who wouldn’t be joining us in Deutschkurs A2, Part 2 after the six week summer break. It sort of reminded me of high school mainly because our teacher had assigned us some homework over the break. I thought it was pretty amusing considering I had to do the same thing when I was a teenager except I read 3 books...
“Ich liebe Rita und Rita liebe Torte. (Literally: I love Rita and Rita loves...”
– ~ Berlin Platz, Day 13 of my Deutschkurs, sounds like a quote Soeren and I would use to poke each other. (I love Soeren and he loves cookies, I love Mayen and she loves unagi, etc…)
June 2009
21 posts
What you won't miss from America, Part 1
You definitely won’t miss some American chocolate candy bars here in Germany. It seems like we have a fair share of them here, at least, the more common popular brands. I did a supermarket run at our local REWE in Friedberg. I don’t know if other supermarkets outside of Friedberg carry these brands because there used to be an American Army base, Ray Barracks. It recently closed. It may...
“Ich meine, dass ich toll bin. (Literally: I think that I’m great.)”
– ~ Me, Day 11 of Deutschkurs. Now, we’re learning to have some opinions in German.
“Auf dem Tisch die Kerze
gibt uns warmes Licht
Wir sehn uns in die Augen
Wir...”
– Berliner Platz 2, day 10 of my Deutschkrus A2. That was the cheesiest song…EVER! I’m embarrassed.
“Du bist blöd. (Literally: You are stupid.)”
– My classmate Molly, Day 9 of Deutschkurs A2, reading off our student books. Thanks, just what I needed to learn how to say.
Altstadtfest - Old City Fest
The annual Altstadfest took place in Friedberg. Originally, I did not intend to go. In fact, I was in my German language class when my teacher made me aware of this event and asked each of us students if we were going. Well, I nonchalantely and perhaps, boringly, said, ‘no’. I assumed it would be a standard beer garden event. I assumed wrong. It was an actual fair with fun rides, games...
“Wenn ich mit mein Mann streite, bin ich traurig. (Literally: When I with my...”
– Me, Day 8 of my Deutschkurs A2, (Welcome to relationship counseling!)
Day 7 of my Deutschkurs A2
I had a two tests today and I now understand what it means by German strictness in schools. They are rigid in their grading. Hehe. Upon finishing the first test, I had thought I did pretty well but it turns out that if even one word is mispelled or if there is a very slight grammatical mistake, the entire sentence is marked as wrong. -1 pt out of some 30 points. This significantly affected...
Expatriates in Germany →
I thought it’d be fun to experiment on. So, I created a new social networking site for expatriates in Germany. I’m hoping to grow it into a small, friendly community. If not, that’s okay considering there are already a good number of established ones out there.
“Du bist mit deinem Kater verheiratet? (Literally: You are with your cat happily...”
– Me, Day 6 of my Deustchkurs A2. Of course, my answer was ‘no’.
8 tags
Japantag in Düsseldorf 2009
While it could never be as fun as a real festival in Japan, Soeren and I still had fun at Japantag. Surprisingly however, there weren’t really that many Japanese people in traditional costume besides those who were vendors and performers. In fact, more Europeans were dressed up for the occasion. After all, most Japanese are, by nature, subtle…something that outsiders and foreigners...
3 tags
Day 5 of Deutschkurs, Politically Incorrect
Well, this is a bit too hard for me repost in German even though I did understand the entire context of the situation that happened today in class. Ms. Kasper, my teacher, was going around the room asking everyone to greet a person for a certain occasion. For example, Molly has a birthday tomorrow. What do you say? And, all the students respond with German birthday greetings. Or Rod has an exam tomorrow. What do you say? "Good luck!" And, so on! This is what happened in class.
My Teacher: Everyone, tomorrow is Easter for Ansam!
Ansam: Eh? *giggles* I have no Easter.
May: *laughs*
She's Muslim.
German Holiday & Vacation Time
Today is another holiday. It is certainly something to be envied if you’re…say…an average American worker. In the three months that I’ve spent here, there must have been already 15 official holidays…paid holidays for the working class German. I wonder what the rest of the year will be like. In addition to these holidays, all Germans receive a minimum of 6 weeks paid...
5 tags
International Classroom
When I first saw Berliner Platz and their illustrations, I thought to myself, “Wow, this language book is politically correct!” It featured students really from every part of the globe. I didn’t know the illustrations would actually become real life.
A couple of months ago, I thought going to school and living in Okinawa was diversed! I’ve been fortunate enough to...
“Warum magst du dein Mann? (Literally: Why like you your man?)”
– Me, Day 4 of my Deustchkurs A2, I was running out of ideas for asking “Why…”
“Er ist nämlich eigentlich gar nicht mein Typ. (Literally: He is namely, strictly...”
– Me, Day 3 of my Deustchkurs A2, So, are we being taught to date in Germany? ‘Cause you see, I have this husband whom I love very, very much.
Mikuni Restaurant in Frankfurt
So, Soeren and I finally went to the Mikuni Restaurant in Frankfurt with somewhat higher expectations. According to the German reviewers on Qype, Mikuni was the place where 95% of the customers were supposedly Japanese. Still, I couldn’t be too sure. As we first stepped into the restaruant and sat down, there were already a few good signs that the place would serve authentic Japanese food.
...
“Dann habe ich gefrüstückt. (Literally: Then have I had breakfast)”
– Me, Day 2 of my Deustchkurs A2, früstückten = the verb for having breakfast. Heh.
Baking until Midnight
Yesterday, Soeren and I baked up a storm in the kitchen right after we had cleaned it spotless. It can’t be helped. With the strawberry pickings from Monday and although we had already eaten nearly a basketful, we had no choice but to come up with some strawberry recipes to spice up the menu.
In between, we made some homemade pizza. My favorite combination is tomato/basil/mozerella with...
“Day 1: Ich habe Spaghetti gekocht. (Literally: I have Spaghetti cooked)”
– Me, Day 1 of my Deustchkurs A2, I’m finally learning and remembering some German grammar.
May 2009
20 posts
Bizzl Party in Bad Nauheim
Melanie and I went to a bizzl party last night. It was fairly interesting and crowded. The group Face To Face played and it was pretty apparent that they were stuck in the 1980’s. By the third song, “Like A Virgin” by Madonna, I knew I was going to take a litlte trip down childhood memory lane. I think my own parents would have had a blast attending the event. Although there was...
“Die wunderbarsten Dinge im Leben kann man nicht sehen oder gar berühren, sie...”
– Helen Keller (English Translation: The most wonderful things in life one cannot see or hear, they must feel it within their heart)
Currywurst
Well, if you lived in Germany for a while, chances are that you’ve tried some of the local fast food favorites such as Turkish döner kebabs and German currywurst or bratwurst. In the past, my husband and I would occasionally encounter a currywurst booth between home and the nearby university. The aroma of curry filling the air was enough to tempt me into buying this delicious fast food more...
I have my aufenthaltstitel ^_^
Basically, an aufenthaltstitel is the document provided to me stating that I now have “permanent” residency or rather a 3-year residency permit to stay in Germany. I am also now allowed to work. Unfortunately, the job that I applied to a couple of weeks ago required that I speak more fluent German. =( Oh well… I’ll keep my eyes open if any opportunities arise.
The current...
Solution to Einstein's Riddle →
I was surprised to come along this because this actually was the exact thought process I had and did.
Yay for Logic!
My mom-in-law showed me this riddle yesterday. Luckily, I’m among the supposedly top 2% who can solve it. Can you? No cheating! I’ll post the solution another day. Hehe.
ALBERT EINSTEIN’S RIDDLE ARE YOU IN THE TOP 2% OF INTELLIGENT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD? SOLVE THE RIDDLE AND FIND OUT. There are no tricks, just pure logic, so good luck and don’t give up. 1. In a...