Fasching

February 18, 2010
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On Tuesday, I showed up at home in a bit of a state.  There was powdered sugar on my tights and confetti in my hair.  I had spent the day chasing dancing women and dodging witches.  It was not Mardi Gras, not Carnevale, but Fasching time in Munich (plus Austria, the rest of Bavaria, and [...]

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City and See

February 12, 2010
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I have two longish but thankfully shrinking “to do” lists.  One is called Budapest, and the other Munich.  One is all about connecting:  schedule move-in date, translate driver’s license, learn German, set up bank account, etc.  There are also a lot of implied question marks on this one:  How do I choose a cell phone [...]

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Deutschstunden

February 4, 2010
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As an expat, the first question you ask and get asked is, “Do you speak the language?”  The conversation then follows one of two avenues.  You either discuss your innovative approach to learning said language, or you lay out a laundry list of reasons why you just didn’t bother at all.  Unfortunately (and embarrassingly), in [...]

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On the Autobahn

January 26, 2010
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I used to think the German Autobahn was an idyllic, über-special road located in some remote part of Germany.  In my mind, it was flanked by waving banners and teeming with Mercedes and the odd Lamborghini.  Anyone with me on this?  My understanding was that it was part of the highway system, not the actual [...]

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The Name Game

January 20, 2010
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Some European countries are big on what I call Name Lists.  These are actual or social lists of acceptable names that you can give children.  I don’t really understand how the system works, but it leads, inevitably, to Name Day.  Each name on the List is assigned a date, and when your Name Day comes [...]

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Photos from Idaho

January 13, 2010

I thought I would follow up last week’s sickly post with some photos from my sojourn in Idaho.  Here’s what I had time for once I got off the couch:  a 2-hour drive, a trip to the grocery store, and the wedding of my beeeautiful cousin.  This all makes for, as you can see below, [...]

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Home Sick

January 6, 2010
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I’ve spent the last two weeks in Idaho.  On the couch.  It’s my new Happy Place, actually.  A social place.  Where shingles had the opportunity to meet sinus infection and laziness got reacquainted with reality TV.  Everyone, meet Nyquil.  There is a real, stuffed mountain lion (shot by my dad) staring me down from the [...]

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Brand Poland

December 22, 2009
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If the financial crisis could be broken down into a single facial expression, I like to imagine that the Polish reaction was a big, collective yawn. Really guys?  You call this a crisis?  As an outsider, I am somewhat reluctant to comment, but my vantage point has been interesting.  I’ve seen time and again (without [...]

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Moving on, Two Years On

December 15, 2009
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Two things are happening.  First, we are moving to Munich.  Second, it is the 2-year anniversary of the debacle otherwise known as our wedding.  I won’t share that particular story here, though it—in all its disastrous glory—is always a crowd pleaser.  But the marriage/moving combo brings up a lot of familiar feelings.  As I sit [...]

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Japan Took the … Out of Me

December 8, 2009
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So, here I am, trying to look at cultural and ethnic differences openly but with the utmost sensitivity.  Then Lisa Fineberg Cook’s Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me crosses my inbox.  To be honest, just typing that less-than-politically-correct acronym makes me squirm – in fact it freaks the C.R.A.P. out of me.  And yet… [...]

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