Schnitzel Thursday

Thursday evening is by far my favorite night of the week. I think just the idea that Thursday is coming, helps to sustain me through the earlier part of the week. Thursday is the lone evening, when we have no other activities. Our calendar is blank on that evening, and back in September, our tradition began. We don't really watch random TV over here, but we have found 2 shows that our family LOVES to watch. They must come on in the US on Wednesday, and we are able to watch them on Thursday (on our computer). We always pick up schnitzel sandwiches from a local "imbiss", and then we gather in the living room to watch "Modern Family" and "The Middle." We LOVE these shows, and the continuity kind of reminds me of watching "the Cosby Show" as a kid. It is a monstrous disappointment when the previous night (Wednesday) in the US,. was a Presidential Debate or State of the Union - our special evening ends up being not so special. I adore Thursday evenings, and I hope we always remember Schnitzel Thursdays.... 

Mia's school

I am really impressed with how quickly Mia has learned to write. Her penmanship is better than mine :-)  *this is her letter to the Christkind

I thought this was funny.... Mia had to memorize this entire poem (sorry that it is sideways :-)) The poem is about a boy who falls through the ice, and when he gets home he gets a spanking from his father - too funny - I don't think our kids be reading that in American school books :-). It was also kind of neat because she has learned the exact depth that the ice has to be frozen in order to skate, as well as many other rules pertaining to ice.

 
I am always amazed at Mia's school. She only goes to school until 11 or 12 each day, and I am so impressed at what her teacher does with them in such a short time. If you equate it in terms of hours in school, she would be the equivalent of 3/4 of her way through the American kindergarten year right now with the short time that she has had in the classroom. I really have been pleased, and more than anything, I love the fact that she is learning so much, while also having so much time to play and be a kid. *as you probably can tell, I am particularly fond of the idea of the shorter school day :-). The stress of being in school ALL day, and having tons of "busywork" / homework at night was a huge factor in deciding to home school Camden again. To me, the German system proves that you can have both a great education, while also enjoying "life" as well.

Sledding

Happy Camper

A few leaves with the snow - it still worked fine though...

Another happy Camper...

Our favorite sledding field... (Cam and his friend down below..)

View of the Dom (Cathedral) from the field

We haven't had very much snow this year, but we were able to get in a little sledding. Bailey was at a friends' house, but Mia, Camden, Camden's friend and I had a fun afternoon sledding together.

Wise words

We just heard about a friend of ours from college who died suddenly from a massive heart attack (a 39 year old female). It was/ and is shocking news - so unbelievably sad.... Camden and I came across this studying about Mark Twain. I couldn't resist sharing, as I found it a comforting reminder to live life to its fullest!

The Taste Test

The American Coke (purchased at the base, bottled in Atlanta)

The German Coke (bottled in Berlin)

One of the cute taste testers...

The results (o.k. this gives it away :-))

I read something recently that surprised me. I very rarely drink soda, so I never noticed this before, but apparently there is a BIG difference between the German "Coke" and the American "Coke". Both of the "Cokes" are owned by the Coca Cola Company, but I read that the German Coke uses real Sugar, while the American Coke uses High Fructose Corn Syrup. I thought it would be fun to see which one my family liked better, so we had a blind taste test (just something fun/silly to do with the kids). Since we informally have adopted Camden's friend into our family - he participated too. It is very interesting, as a side note too - Camden never used to be able to drink Coke when he was younger (he would become quite hyper and just really out of sorts), but every once in a while now (at a biergarten, as a special treat) he will have a German Coke, and it has not been a problem - I never realized it, but maybe it has something to do with the High Fructose Corn Syrup???? (or maybe he is just older) - Very interesting though.... Maybe a good thesis for a future Science Project (that is just the nerdy home school Mom speaking :-))

The results were overwhelmingly in favor of the German Coke. 5 out of 6 of us chose the German Coke, while one of us (not naming any names :-)) chose the American Coke. Who would have thought that Coke would be that different???

My German Girl....

Mia at Breakfast:  "Why do Bailey and Daddy not have school or work today?"

Me: "It is Martin Luther King Jr Day".... "Do you know who MLK jr was?"

Mia: "yes, we learned about him in our school." (I have to say, I was quite surprised that she would have learned about him in German school)

Mia: "We even had to draw a picture of him in Religion"

My reaction  ???????????? .... and then it hit me - she was talking about Martin Luther - big difference :-)

Me: You have MLK jr confused with Martin Luther.  MLK jr. was a black man who fought for equality

Mia: "Oh yes - I know him - he was one of the 3 Kings" (one of the 3 Kings was supposedly Black)

Me: Huge smile - trying not to laugh

* Such a sweet, innocent, and funny conversation at the breakfast table ....

Snow Rules

They have sidewalks everywhere here. I don't think I have ever seen a house that didn't have a sidewalk in front of it. Even in the smallest towns, they have sidewalks to walk on. When we first moved here, and it snowed, we had no idea that it was our legal responsibility to keep the sidewalk in front of our house clear .We also are required to put salt or dirt down to prevent people from slipping. Today, it just seems normal, but as I was out shoveling the sidewalk this morning, I thought about this law. It would be almost impossible to have the side walks cleared by the city. There are sooo many sidewalks, and there is no way the job could be done before the commuters (bikers, walkers, students etc) started their trek in the morning on the sidewalks. It makes sense to require the citizens to perform this task. The problem though, comes from the situations that don't make it so easy to clean the sidewalks from snow. Examples being; elderly people, when you are on vacation, if you are at work all day and the snow is accumulating outside your house. The nice thing is that neighbors help neighbors, and it all seems to work out. I think it is a nice thing to require citizens to do simple things for the common good - not a bad idea at all (in my opinion :-))

Walberla - "Table Mountain"

I thought this sign was so cute! We were surprised to see so many families (both young and old) hiking too!

This is was at the beginning of the hike...

2 over dramatic kids....

Our destination: the top of the rock!

A Gorgeous Day!!! - (half way point)

Are we almost there?

We made it!!!

The sky darkened a bit once we were at the top...

My cute hiker! (She loves to hike - the other two - not so much :-)))

"Carry God in your heart" This statue was outside a little church at the top

The church at the top of the mountain - you can see B, C, and M at the TP on the right...

Spectacular Views!!!

Bryan at the top - notice no snow down below...

After the hike we went to a typical Fronconian restaurant for Schnitzel and Sauerbraten - a Great day!!!

Yesterday we found a really cool hike to go on. The hike was up to a Mountain called Walberla, which is also nicknamed, "Table Mountain," because of its unusual flat top. I had no idea that it was only about 30 minutes from our house. I love finding these new treasures! After being unusually warm for quite a while, the last few days have hovered around freezing, so it was quite cold. The sun was out though, and it wasn't bad at all to hike. The snow has all melted on the ground here, but at the top of the Mountain there was a little surprise for us - snow!!! I think the snow added to the fun for sure! It was a fun hike with incredible views, and an adorable church at the top of the Mountain. Definitely a fun day!!!

Geschichte (History)

We went out to dinner last night with some friends. The only way I can explain it, is that it was like something out of a book. The sky turns dark early now, and so when we parked our car and were walking toward the restaurant, we saw the candles already shimmering in the window, and the natural decorations were glowing in the reflection of the light. It was very cold, and we were bundled up with warm clothes. As soon as we walked in though, you could feel the heat from the wood stove. The restaurant is dated back to the 1300's and the food was unbelievable (and as always, more than reasonably priced). It is hard to even fathom that something can be that old. You also wouldn't know that it was dark and quiet outside, because inside the building, it was lively and bright (the decorations were very basic, but the people were bright and lively). I love history, and I could envision the restaurant like an old tavern, where people would ride their horses to get there. Honestly, it would not surprise me at all, if you still have a few horses - Seriously!! Sometimes I feel like I've stepped back in time, and I love the simplicity of it all. The trust in people, the character, and the tradition are all amazing.  The weird thing is that these places are everywhere here. Kind of like a time capsule. I think the older generation here worries about the next generation changing, and losing some of the characteristics of the culture.  I guess they have been able to hold onto it for this long, so they have a fairly good track record.

Can't forget the wine and beer....

I thought this was absolutely hilarious... Back on December 21st, when the world was supposed to end, our local newspaper had the above picture on the front page of the paper. If you look closely, it is picture of our skyline (with St. Michales Monastery) blown up - definitely not a very politically correct picture in this day and age...The really funny thing to me though, was the bottom right. You can see the brewery machinery, wine barrels, and beer being saved above all else. I guess if it is the end of the world, people need to try to preserve the really important stuff :-) Oh yeah - and they cook up the bratwurst too! Priorities!  So funny!!!!

Funny, Fun, sweet, happy and interesting photos....

Gutes NeuJahre (Happy New Year!!!!)

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.... (although a very gorgeous sky to start the day off with )

My sweet Fussballerin (Bailey)

Bailey noticed this one... In almost 5 years of living in Germany, I have never met or seen another family that has adopted from China. We assumed this advertisement must be  Dutch, because it is the closest country that we know of that has an agreement with China to adopt. It made us smile :-) It even looks a lot like Mia, but with longer hair....(can't you see the resemblance of Bryan and I too - JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!)

Camden's team came in 2nd place out of 8 - Great job Cam!!!!

Had to post a picture of the kids giving public thanks at the tournament.... (see last post)

When Bailey and I were walking home the other day from shopping, we saw this photo of a Bicycle built for 2 - it doesn't get much cuter than this....

Happy early 3 Kings Day!!!!! The C,M, and B DO NOT stand for Camden, Mia, and Bailey....

Ordnung (order)...

Over the last 2 days, I have spent the morning at indoor soccer tournaments. Bailey had hers the first day, and Camden's was the 2nd day. Ironically they both started at 8:00am and were also held at the same place (even though they play for 2 different clubs). Both of their clubs were hosting their tournaments the day of their events. This post might be a little rambling, but there is so much tradition and organization that amazes me, and I wanted to share. I know this organization and tradition goes far beyond just my kids soccer clubs, because I have friends who belong to other clubs, and it is the same. Let me begin with the food. The tournaments are all day events. My kids only played in the morning, but other age groups come and continue throughout the day. They have to have food, and lots of it. As I was helping at the food counter, I explained to my German friends that I had never seen such consistency and organization as I have at the food counters at these tournaments. Today they sold pizza (not Papa Johns, but pizza previously prepared and cooked right then - by us - in a pizza oven). They have hundreds of bulky rolls that are prepared (by us) with salami (pepperoni), cheese, pickles, and other meats, they have crates and crates of soda bottles, giant pretzels, cake, hot steak-type sandwiches, hot coffee, two types of bier on keg (of course) etc. Often they might sell french fries as well (cooked by us). It seems like such a procedure, but every club has all of the necessities to make it happen quite easily. Their kitchens are fully stocked with everything you need. They even have the drink trucks come and pick up the recyclables and drop off new bottles. As a side note, they also do not use plastic anything - everything is real (real plates, real cups, real spoons, knives, forks etc) and all is washed (by us).  You would think this would take the coordination of half a year to organize, but it doesn't, and still all comes together like a well oiled machine. I think the reason it does is because of tradition. It is what has always been done, everyone does it, and everyone knows how it works and what to expect - at every club - at every tournament. It is quite amazing. The other thing, is that these; tournaments, games, practices (both indoor and outdoor) etc. cost us nothing - it is all about the kids enjoying the sport, and not about making a profit. Another tradition at these tournaments comes at the very end. Each team (no matter which place they come in) receives a soccer ball for the team (not the player, but the team). Extremely practical for sure! The top few teams win a soccer ball, and a little extra cash for their team fund. The team fund is sustained on a larger level through the sale of food at the games/tournaments. This fund goes to buying the kids a Christmas gift and end of the season gift (usually a cool team jacket, bag, jersey etc...) When the individual teams "place standing" is announced, a couple of the team members come up to the microphone and say a few words (usually a "thank you for the invitation... type speech). It gives these young kids confidence in public speaking and also makes them appreciate all of the work that has been put into it (very well thought out, and part of the tradition...). The last part that I think is so funny, and goes along with the societal part of things is the fact these tournaments were held on a Thursday and Friday. Most people have to work these days (including Bryan), yet everyone else was in attendance - coaches, parents, kids etc. It is still school vacation, so the kids have off, but this is the benefit of having 6-8 weeks of paid vacation (plus holidays) in Germany. When parents have these obligations, it is no big deal to take off because they have plenty of time. I love these traditions and think the society works so well, and the kids truly benefit, as a result!
****One last funny thing... Bryan and I always joke that I am the one that ends up helping at the counter, taking orders, and receiving money. It definitely helps me with my German vocabulary, and by the end I have mastered several new words. The poor customers must think I am an idiot, but I guess it is all for a great cause :-)

Gutes NeuJahr / Happy New Year!!!!!

Sylvester (New Years) is the one day a year in which fireworks are legal in Germany. It is really hard to explain how unbelievable it is here - like nothing I have ever seen. For hours, the fireworks can be heard and seen all over the city. I always post pictures of our little street on New Years, but Bryan found this video from youtube over looking Bamberg, and I thought it better explains the intensity of it all (there are no public fire works shows, instead it is all individual people shooting them off all over the city). - Amazing!!!! Here is the link (you may have to copy and paste...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnniTp_LLWQ