Quick Slice of Life- Almost Summer

Almost Summer
When Germans prepare for summer, you might expect them to think of San Troptez and the Côte d'Azur, or maybe the Italian Riviera, or in less stressful times between the nations, perhaps even Greece.  But, if their wardrobes are an indication, apparently what Germans actually think of is:  America.  Specifically, Californian and Hawaiian beaches- and a dizzying array of them at that!  Huntington may seem a pretty obvious choice given its Surfing History.  And, Santa Monica is big enough and splashy enough to be world known, I suppose. But, I wouldn't have expected San Pedro.  I have seen shirts from just about every beach I have walked on.  Which, given my heritage, is probably 90% of the sandy or rocky oceanfront patches between San Fran and San Diego.  I didn't take photos of any of the Hawaii-based offerings since they were both less-personally interesting to me and less specific.  Mostly, they just say "Hawaii" and leave it at that.

This one is for you, Aunt Leslee!

Another thing Germans (and, indeed probably all Europeans) seem to have on their minds right now is, of course, the European Soccer Championships.   I had been told you could watch them in the town center, but I hadn't realized how extensive the set up would be.  I imagine that old "repro-service" there must do a hustling business this time of year, since I do not think Offenburg is the only place treating its populace to a community-building spectacle about now!

There are rows of benches set up in the town square to watch this screen. 
I suspect the pubs and restaurantssurrounding the area are
enjoying the event as much as the soccer fans.

Everywhere you look there seem to be signs of the tournament.  We went to the pharmacy the other day and they gave us a free promotional bag made in the German flag colors.  National Pride is wagging everywhere- or perhaps it is "swishing".

Kids are encouraged to root for their country team by
eating a flag-colored #1 Popsicle. 

Funny translation: "Flutsch-finger" translates to "swish finger" or "I knit finger". And if you remove the dash it becomes "fingerbang".  To quote Mr. Takei "Oh My!".

DS assures me they are yummy, though.  Rasberry, Cherry, Orange.

Father's Day

With fewer social reminders around, I actually got confused this year and prepared all of David's favorite foods in celebration of Father's Day *last* weekend.  Whoops!  So, we had sort of a split celebration.  Today, though,  the kids outdid themselves with their Father's Day Card creations.  David was a bit over-whelmed.

DD wrote her entire card in German- David even had to look up a word or two.

The theme was about figuring out if you were supposed to be
celebrating Father's Day.

It came with exemplar cards with cute bunnies which could be
attached in the right locations to verify your Father's Day Status.

Are you Male?  Check.  Is it the 3rd Sunday in June?  Check.

DS on the other hand, noted the untimely arrival of a zombie  invasion force!

Zombie Chess!

Luckily, there was a solution included.

Your Pop-up Rodent Army. Woot!

The kids said that they had hoped to get him a sword, but
noted his actual gift was 5 times mightier.

Random Cooking of the Week-

I made Mock Oreos.  The Oreo packs you get here are 4 sets of 4 Oreos each.
I wanted... More!

Relief

Google Bike

One Really Great Day

Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting the mother of one of DD's friends for coffee in downtown Strasbourg.  For 4 wonderful hours I got to drink cappuccino, eat pain au chocolate, watch the street activities in a nice French city, and, most importantly, speak with another adult human being who was not in my family!  Truly, this was a great treat for me.  And as it happens, she is a fascinating and gracious woman who speaks 7 languages and has lived all over the world.  While we were sitting there, the Google Trike came along and photographed our area- presumably for the Google Earth street view.  So, I imagine at some point you will be able to see us having coffee when you check out the image of Paul Cafe near the Strasbourg cathedral!

Then, after we had spent the morning discussing our lives and children, we went to go pick the girls up from school.  As they came trotting out, they stopped at the board with the lists of new students at Hogwarts.  We had already seen it quite recently, so I was shocked when DD suddenly turned from her friend and shouted:

"Hey, Mom!  DS is on the list!"

What?!  How is that possible- they had already told us twice that there was no room.  But, sure enough, there he was on a new paper they had just added.  Apparently, space had opened up and he got in on the second round of applications this year!  I didn't notice at the time, but many of the new names had a notation saying they must pass a test before being admitted (as DD had to do).   DS's name was just admitted free and clear.  Woot!

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far it hasn't.  DH went to the office this morning, and they should have the paperwork ready for me by the time I go for pick-up this afternoon.

DS was excited and pleased when we told him.  His immediate response was "YAY! (I think)"  His main concern just being that be was able to stay in contact with his new Durmstrang friends.  Of course!  We aren't moving, so that should be doable.

DH wants to make sure that German is still a focus.  He doesn't like the idea of everyone else in the family speaking French while he is stuck dealing with all things German.  Understandable.  But, given, again, that we are not moving, that should also be quite doable.  We still have to go shopping, talk with locals, etc.  Being in a border area, we largely need to be able to have some basic understanding of both languages, regardless.

DS will be starting at the first year of secondary school, which is pretty much perfect. It will mean that he will be coming up with all the other kids who are Newbs at the upper level of Hogwarts.  He will need to learn French, but that was on the agenda for Durmstrang next year as well.

I can't tell you what a relief this is to me.  It will cut our driving roughly in 1/2, allow us to plan family vacations, and give DS the opportunity to stay current in his core classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, English) while he is learning his two other languages (German and French).  After that last meeting with Durmstrang, it seems clear that they have realized that they aren't really set up to handle his situation.  So, even though we think it is quite a nice gymnasium with some excellent kids and teachers, I honestly think this will be a much better option for all of us.

Other little things:

Many Many cars in town have German Flags on them.  This is
for the EM- European Meisterschaft.  AKA, the
European Football (soccer) Championships!

They mean that they have lowered the price.

There are so many strawberries around that I actually had more fresh
than we could eat, so I baked a cake!  It came in handy on the night
David needed to eat and eat and eat!

Coming Soon: DS goes to School Camp, and Friends Come Avisiting!

A rather French Week, or Au feu rouge, je m'arrête

Canapes at DDs Drama Club performance.

"What was so French?" you might ask.  Well.....

Let's start with Thursday, which was actually a very German and a very French day.  It was German because it was Corpus Christi.  This is a largely-Catholic holiday (celebrated by some other christian churches, though, apparently less... religiously?) that takes place 60 days after Easter.  In Baden-Württemberg it is a state holiday, but in the less Catholic areas for Germany, it is not.  Nor is it one in France. So, DS (who was already on his second Spring Break) and DH both had the day off.  But, DD, in school in France, did not.

So, around 3:15 David and I set out from Offenburg to pick the girl up.  Plenty of time to get to her school by 3:45 when she would be out.  Only, as we got off the freeway in Kehl, things started getting sticky.  Or rather, they got *stuck*.  As in not moving.  After 10 minutes at the same signal, we knew there must be something significant up.  After 20 minutes of sitting in Kehl (a town all of 1 km wide) we were fairly convinced that there must be some sort of major border activity going on.

Usually the borders between France and Germany here are not subject to any restrictions, but occasionally officials from one of the two governments will stop rows of cars to check them for contraband.  This is most often the French police checking for things like fireworks around New Years.  I have only seen the German police stopping cars going that direction once, that I recall.  Since this was, in fact, a holiday we could only venture that there was something similar in the works- and, given the lack of movement, we were guessing they must have uncovered some sort of super firework smuggling ring.  How exciting!

But, when we got across the bridge to the area where the police usually conduct searches, we noticed that while there were a few police cars, there were no vehicles from the general public pulled off beside them and the cops were just sort of milling about, looking... well, bored, really.  Something else was afoot.

As we continued down the main road into Strasbourg, I glanced at the traffic alert sign that doles out the usual platitudes and good-citizenship reminders along with its traffic info and the phone numbers to report issues.  Today it read "Ne jouez pas avec les feux"   Don't play with fire.  Ok, good advice, thanks.  It poured rain most of the week, but that's no reason to let your guard down.

A block further on, and we finally reached the cause of the disturbance.  Dozens of people were standing about wearing bright yellow day-glow vests, These are standard issue for drivers here to make them visible if they break down.  Most of these folks seemed to be upward of retirement age and were walking about through traffic distributing brochures of some kind.  David understandably thought the circus (a senior circus?) was in town.  But, once I spotted their banner, I knew what it was: another strike!  Or at the minimum, a strike-like demonstration.  How, very, very French! Again!  I couldn't actually read what the banner said- it blew in the wind and seemed to be mostly made of acronyms.  But, there was no other explanation.  Unfortunately, the folks handing out the papers stopped just in front of us and we never did figure out what cause was being touted this time. Later inquiries of locals indicated that they are so bored with the multitude of these events, that they didn't even bother to pay enough attention to know who was out and about stopping traffic through town.  It is just part of living in France- like lingerie ads and butter.

We had been warned that sometimes during more major events French truck-drivers will actually drive their trucks onto the borders, turn off the engines, take the keys and leave.  Luckily no one had done that this time.  But, they were still managing to snarl traffic into some sort of undulating mass of barely-damp clay.  Not only was traffic slow... it was French traffic.  So it was slow and unpredictable.  Sometimes a car would dart to one side as if it could go around the blockage by force of will- or perhaps dematerialization.  Other drivers literally just threw up their hands, drove onto the sidewalk and *parked* there.

As we inched along, we arrived at a second traffic alert sign.  This one declared "Au feu rouge, je m'arrête".  At the red fire, I stop myself.   Umm.  Ok, very poetic.  Thanks for that, too. 

Looking to the right, I noticed a long line of bicyclists also wearing the yellow vests.  It was then that I remembered that my camera was in my purse.

I only managed to get the last few in the row, but you get the idea!

We did eventually make it to DD- about an hour late.  Luckily, we weren't the only parents coming from Germany, so she knew about the delay.  By the time we headed back, the protesters were heading out, so all their signs were furled and many were removing their vests.  The traffic took a nice long time to recover, though.  David, who never likes driving in France, was pretty much beside himself by the time we got to DD.  So I offered to drive on the way back.  I had some idea of exploring a bit and trying to work my way around the blockage.  But really, that just raised DH's blood pressure higher.  You may recall similar results the last time we attempted this.  DH was definitely not designed to be French.  He criticized the way I ran a red light (seriously, it *was* the French way!) and didn't like it when a bus turned into our lane and nearly hit us at a signal.  He also wasn't fond of turning around 2ce to eventually find a short cut.  But, I *did* find a short cut- and, it was even, well, short!  Or, at least, as soon as traffic moved enough for us to make any progress, it was short.

Upon reaching home, I went ahead and rechecked the translation on the two alert signs.  It turns out that "feu" (plural "feux") can mean both fire and light.  So, "feu rouge" is probably red light.  Thus, the second sign was pretty clearly trying a sort of indirect reminder "You know, *I* always stop at red lights, but, well, if you don't want to, I guess.. Eh.. (French-shrug)"

But, now I am not sure what to make of the first sign.  Was it actually imploring us not to play with light instead of fire?  Maybe they don't want us to race the stop lights?  Not that that is particularly easy to do in most of Strasbourg.  Traffic is generally heavy in the city itself.  But, on the other hand it did always seem a bit odd that an area so wet and green would be overly concerned with fire safety.  Of course, this is BBQ season....

Mind you, Germans don't mess around with vague imagery- verbal or otherwise.  Here is a fire safety sign spotted in Germany on the very next day:

Seriously, y'all, DON'T leave your BBQ unattended or
the fire elementals will reach out
and GRAB your baby!  And, as the poster
warns, Help Often Comes Too Late.

As long as I am on the subject, a few other German things:

My new German Reading Glasses
Severe, but fun!

Sunsets have been gorgeous this month!

A dead Giant European Hornet in front of the apartment.
Yeah, they are large.  And yeah, they have invaded the US.
Keep your eyes peeled.

The weather, as I mentioned, has been wet.  But, that is typical this time of year, and it is a warm wet most of the time.  DS has taken to going for daily scooter rides around the neighborhood, so, these days, like the locals, he just throws on a jacket and heads out in the rain.

Granted, his pants don't really repel water that much....

More French

DD has participated in an after-school drama club throughout the year at Hogwarts.  Tonight was their drama recital, if you will.  An evening of Sketches- done in English, by mostly non-native English speakers.  It was quite charming, actually.

Apparently we weren't supposed to enter through the main
gate, but we didn't read the sign and an administrator
let us in anyways... Getting out, though was trickier!

DD's skit was about being "In the Army"
She wore her great-grampa's Navy flight jacket,
and, um... a hat.

Their darling drama coach.  The poor thing was
bright red anytime she had to speak to anyone!
To be fair, it was rather warm in the basement
where the recital was held.

Seven Skits

Did I mention that the event was held in the basement of the P building?  That means, I swear to you, the room is numbered "P00".

It took me several minutes to figure
out what this is.  Do you know?  I am still
not sure why it is bolted to the wall!

Left Right Left Right!

The tall guy is Sgt. Small, The short on Sgt. Large, and the guy in red
was filling in for their absent Private Potter

DD did the entire thing with a decent English accent- only she didn't know she was doing it.  It was just the character she had in her mind.  Too fun. Actually, she frequently slips into an English accent when she returns home from Hogwarts.  I think it sounds mysterious and enchanting.  She thinks it is a bit ridiculous.

'Giovani'

These two were really funny hamming it up as love birds

The stage crew almost dropped the TV, but DD jumped in a grabbed it.
Later, she and one other girl muscled the thing into a new position and then
removed it without assistance.  WTG DD!

Best Costume Goes to - the Old Guy in Shakespeare's House

Best unexpected moment- at one point in the script, a character knocks on the
door- this toddler from the audience answered it!!!

Flowers & presents for the drama coach!

Challenge Week: Reading, Durmstrang, Partings and Taxes

DH the Ettin.

Challenge Week: Reading, Durmstrang, Partings and Taxes  ...and some Russian Grannies to take the edge off!

I guess we will call this a Quick Update and just hit the highlights.

Reading  - Monday I confessed to David that I could actually see some small print on my screen better without my glasses than with them.  I have been getting frequent headaches and know that my close vision is fuzzy at best.  So, David did what any thoughtful caring husband would do: He kidnapped me!  I got in the car to go with him to pick up DS from school, and, since DD wasn't due home for several hours, he simply drove me to town after the pick-up.  He figured the less time I had to think about it (and potentially chicken out) the better.  We wandered a bit until he could locate the optical shop that he remembered would accept walk-ins.  The optician (optometrist?  I wouldn't know the distinct certifications to look for here, but the guy seemed to know how to outfit eyes with glasses which is what I needed) spoke a little English, but not much.  So, it was slow-going.  It was the usual routine of testing my old glasses, dropping down little lenses into a rig and discovering what made things clearer or less clear.  As usual, the last couple choices were a coin toss and I was pretty sure I was picking wrong whichever one I chose. 

Once the gentleman did the exam he tried to explain our options, but the communication just wasn't there.  He left the room for several minutes, then came back with a chart.  That helped!  Basically, he explained that even though I am a little young, I definitely need reading glasses.  I could opt for multi-focals, but that would limit my field of vision and force me to tilt my head up and down a lot.  There was an option for a  straight close-lens that would only really show reading distance.  But, we opted for the middle option, which would cover everything out to about a meter.  This would be good for both my reading and my computer work.  And, since those two activities take up about 10 hours of an average work day, it seemed like the way to go.

It was fun picking out frames from among the various relatively severe German styles.  I could have gotten something rather like what I have now, but I thought it might be good to find something that was easy to distinguish so I could keep the near and far sets less confused.

Amusingly, the optician was so short that trying to get the focal points right proved to be a mild challenge.  I kept thinking I had to stoop down so he could see my eyeline, but he kept correcting me and having me stare at a wall.  Eventually the requisite black dots were marked on the sample lenses.  But, I am crossing my fingers that it works out OK when they arrive over the next couple days.

Unfortunately, he explained that since 2004 the glasses are not covered by our insurance.  So, its an out of pocket expense.  And the prices were higher than we would have liked.... like close to $1000 US for some lower-end frames and the two lenses.  Ouch!  But, if I can see, this will be a very good thing, and when balanced out with other medical expenses which have been very light, I am sure we still come out ahead. I opted for a bit of a Naughty Librarian look with some dark plastic frames, so at least they should be a bit fun.  For that price, I really felt like they ought to be Fun!

Durmstrang- This was really the defining and least-comfortable feature of our week.  DS's teachers and principal called us in to discuss his progress.  It was tense.  It was a bit awkward.  There were cultural things I don't think either side understood.  The long and the short of it is that they want him to have learned German already.  I brought along studies explaining that it takes 4-5 years for a well-equipped English Language Learner in an ESL program in the states to reach 50% proficiency in English under ideal circumstances.  I tried to share some of my experiences working with ELL kids in the states.  But, they didn't want to hear about it.  They need grades and test scores to validate his matriculation, and they have no clue how to get them.  It doesn't help that he went through a pretty major emotional upheaval a couple months ago and cried a couple times in class.  He has turned a corner since then and seems a lot happier, but clearly his un-German emo-ness put them off-kilter.

So basically, they are stumped and unwilling to bend any further for just one student.  And, he really is just one student.  He is only the second non-fluent German student they have ever had at the school!  Definitely not in California anymore.  Someone was telling me the other day that it is a bit of a dirty little secret that the vast majority of the Turkish immigrants they get here are simply shuttled off to the lower schools and not encouraged to attend the Gymnasiums (the college prep track).  But, everyone in the room did agree that the gymnasium is the place DS should be- it is just that his German isn't good enough to meet the standards, yet.  So, in the end they put him on a form of probation so he can stay with his class.  He will need to show a lot of improvement in German and pass a test next February to keep from being dropped back a grade.  We are looking for a new tutor and possibly some extra-curricular activities he can participate in.  I am not sure how we can fit it in during the school year, but maybe come summer he will be able to participate with the Pathfinders (German Scouts) or perhaps join a soccer club or something else fun where he can hang with more German kids in a lower stress situation. February is a long way off and who knows what will be happening then.  But, for now, at least, things are a bit more settled. 

Still, that definitely left a bit of a harsh aftertaste in my mouth.  After all the school issues we have had with DD over the years, this is a challenge we aren't really eager to face.

DD on the other hand, had a rather fun challenge this week- but more about that in a moment- first...

She wasn't quite sure how to respond when I admitted
that I Beep in my sleep ;-)  But, then, who would be?

Wednesday was Kerstin Fondue Day!!! One of the reasons they held the meeting Tuesday is because DS's dear and wonderful tutor, Kerstin, will be returning to the US this month and they wanted us to make plans to support his learning without her.  Her grant has expired and she has to go back sooner than she would like.  We were just getting to know her better and we are just as bummed as she is that she will need to leave before the end of the school year.  But, we decided to have one more dinner in her honor before she had to go.  She opted for fondue, so we had way too much bread and cheese and fruit and chocolate and rice crispy treats and brownies and marshmallows!  I admit, the stress of the week left us a wee bit more manic even than usual, but she seemed to weather it with good enough humor.  Hopefully, somewhere mixed in with the 'socially horrified' and 'confused', she also felt 'appreciated and well-fêted'!

What Foul Sorcery Is This?

Thursday was Rube Goldberg Day!  DD's physic's class at Hogwarts worked in small groups to design a long chain reaction machine.  DS was very helpful in giving DD ideas and suggestions and they had fun cloistering together and designing up a storm.  In the end, the amount of time to prepare was pretty short, so all the groups had to scale back a bit.  But, it was still a fun and really educational experiment! 

DD and her poster describing acid-base reactions

Setting up- domino launcher knocks over book, weight swings and knocks
over bottle filled with vinegar into balloon with baking soda,
inflating balloon tilts tube, sending a shuttle down the ramp and setting
off the next section.

 DD says that pretty much every section needed some tweaking as they did their actual run-through, but I figure on-the-spot engineering is a pretty useful skill to have!

Looking down the line

Finishing Touches

Aftermath- note the inflated balloon.

Friday- Recovery Day!  Just. Normal. Stuff.  Phew!

Saturday- I got a bug in my bonnet and decided it was time for me to actually do our US taxes.  (No, we aren't late- ex-pats get an automatic 2 month extension and grace period). Here is what I learned: It is a pain in the tush.  Really.  Normal taxes are a chore.  Taxes in a year when you moved to Germany?  Whooboy!  Also, most of the tax software isn't really set up for it.  I tried three different programs - and yes, that means I did the majority of our taxes three times before running up against flaws each time!  Finally, I gave in and purchased Turbo Tax.  I had had an issue with them some years ago and sworn not to use them again.  But, as it turns out, they were really the only program I could find that was able to easily deal with things like foreign addresses, employers without a Federal Identification Number, and the fact that we pay German taxes.  Also, even with all the stuff we wound up giving to charities etc., and the many other itemized deductions we had, the fact that we did not have much mortgage interest last year meant that none of it really mattered at all.  Standard Deductions are Back, Bay-bee.  Not sure that is a good, thing exactly, but it was about the only simplifying factor, so I guess I will take it.  So, as it turns out we owe a bit since I am self-employed, and there is one piece of paperwork we are still trying to track down.  But, otherwise, I think the 2011 Tax Year Ritual is pretty much DONE.  Woot! 

Er... well, at least our US Tax Ritual.... This week DH gets to fill out some German forms, so keep your fingers crossed that it is a simpler process!

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Saturday was also a European Traditional Day of Kitsch.  The Eurovision Song Contest can best be described as sort of an international combination of American Idol and The Gong Show.  Basically, each participating country goes through a selection process and sends an act to compete.  This year there were 26 participating countries.  Viewers and judges watch and may cast their votes for any country OTHER than their own.  Yes, their are politics at play.  Yes, there are some really goofy costumes, songs, acts, dancers, etc.  It is a spectacle on a grand scale. I was totally looking forward to it.

And. We. Missed. It!!!!

I had been hearing about it all week, so I wanted to watch.  I sat down with the TV on Friday, but I couldn't find the channel, and DD was watching something, so I figured I would just wait and find it Saturday.  But, Saturday when I went to find the right channel not only was I unsuccessful, but 1/2 through my scanning process we lost our satellite connection!  DOH!  Luckily, the Internet is our friend.  We looked up some of the more talked about acts, and scanned through the amusing costumes and some of the wonderful history.  It is an odd mix of professional performers (Englebert Humperdink represented England this year, and Jedward were there for Ireland) and quirky little specialty acts- like this year's number two group, the Buranovo Grannies who sing in Udmurt- with a little English punch.  (Their Party For Everybody! really needs to be seen to believed, I encourage you to turn up the speakers and dance along)  Loreen, the Swedish singer who won the competition with her song Euphoria had already had that song on the international charts for a couple months before she performed it in the finals!

Learning
So, what this week has taught me is that we are learning, but we aren't Home yet.  We have been here long enough that we know how to live, but living well in our new country is still an unattained goal. We can get through day to day.  We can get glasses (knock wood), and engage in difficult conversations with schools.  We can get food, clean our house, buy clothes and go on an occasional fun outing.  But, it is still a lot harder than it was in our Native Land.  And, there are still many little things that we just haven't a clue how to handle.... like finding the right channel to watch Loreen in a cage match with Russian Grannies!  Ah well, maybe next year.