Happy May Day

May first is Labor day in Europe and so a holiday. But May holidays go back to ancient peoples and the residue of such rites are still seen today. In Bonn there are no Walpurgis fires as you find in the north of Germany but there are Maibäume. In the night before the 1st of May, boys bring birch trees to girls houses and decorate them with streamers. They stay up all month while the girls "guess" who brought them the tree. Then on the 31st the boys come back to take the tree away and reveal themselves to the girls.

We live in a city so the trees are tied to any upright fixture in front of the house. Since the houses have more than one family and so possibly more than one girl, the name of the beloved must be inscribed in some way on the tree.

This is a leap year, however, so it was the girls turn to leave trees for the boys. Two of the trees we saw were dedicated to Fred or Freddy. I had no idea this was such a common boys name in Germany.

Items

1. The scaffolding is gone from my windows.

2. Jenny and Derek's cat Bailey passed away today.

3. We booked out tickets to return to the U.S.

4. I only have 509 things left to do on my list. (Okay, I haven't actually counted but 510 seemed like a good approximate number).

5. We had a nice dinner with friends last weekend (the two in the middle).

6. We will gather with friends this weekend for the Rhein in Flammen celebration. It is fully dark here by 9:30 at night but the fireworks will start after 11:00. I hope I'm not too old to stay up so late.

7. We had a beautiful day on Sunday to walk around the Schloss in the neighboring town of Brühl.

8. I have two more articles to read and I will have read a complete German magazine.

9. The scaffolding was still up when the marathon passed right outside our window.

10. If you haven't yet seen our pictures of Paris, you should do so.

Paris2008

White Easter

We may not have had a white Christmas around here but we had a white Easter. Arlo thinks that I am possibly the only person in Germany that was excited about the snow. The way I saw it was that everything was closed for 4 days, we had no place we had to go, so snow was fantastically cozy. It even stayed on the ground long enough Monday for us to go out and snap some pretty pictures of Bonn. Here's my favorite:

Of course, we had to make the requisite snow man. I promise ... I'll make a bigger one next year when I'm living in snow country.

While it was snowing outside, we had plenty of color inside.

Using this for inspiration, Arlo and I painted eggs. Arlo painted Chester (who is my favorite). Of course we had to have an Easter egg with flow lines painted on it (keep any spherical-esque objects away from Arlo if you don't want flow lines painted on it). I was pretty happy with my heart flowered egg.





Arlo made a sweet Easter basket for me. Of course it had yummy candy in it and a pretty plant. But my favorite part was this Bunny "card."

The view from the back is pretty great as well.

We found the wrapper of the Lindt chocolate rabbits pretty funny.


I hope you all had wonderful Easter weekends as well. Unless you're a freak like me, I hope yours was warmer and more spring-like.

You may have noticed that I've given up on the post a day thing. It was too overwhelming for me. I found myself trying to find things to "feed the blog." Even when I though of something I wanted to post, I felt inhibited by the fact that I didn't have something for the previous day. So I didn't end up posting. Silly, I know. So, I've given up the idea. I will try to post almost every day.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Have a pint of the black stuff.


Watch out for leprechauns and other fair folk.


Erin Go Bragh!

Rainy Day Crafts

We had a perfectly cozy day inside while it rained ALL DAY. We pretty much stayed in jammies all day. I knit using these beautiful colors. Here is my progress on the baby blanket:

Can you see the frogs yet? Maybe here:

I made another necklace. It may be my favorite color combination yet ... but I don't like how it looks in pictures so I won't show you here. If I'm serious about selling these, I might need to get a tripod in order to take detailed photos. It might also be good to have a dummy neck to put them on. I'm also going to have to get creative with my naming abilities. Turquoise and Brown on Brown Thread is not the name I'm going for. Do they have color name books like they do baby name books?

I also made lemon squares. Mmmm ... a little taste of sunshine!

Further Signs of Spring

We took a walk down to Rheinaue Park and were fortunate to come across a baseball game. The Bonn Capitals were playing on two fields. One was a metal bat game (Arlo says he could blow them away) and the game we sat and watched was played with wooden bats. We picked up a schedule and it seems the season doesn't start until April so this must have been some sort of pre-season (Spring Training?) game. It only went 7 innings but this may have been due to it not being a regular season game.

It was quite an interesting mix of German and English. Instead of "good eye, good eye" after a batter waits through a "ball," the team would shout "gut gesehen!" But when telling a teammate that he needs to slide, the team would shout "get dirty!" or "get down!"

Cherry Blossoms

First come the cherry blossoms. Then there is a green haze to the chestnut trees as their spring leaves come into bud. The puffed out boy pigeons are all trying to impress the ladies. Soon it will be full blown spring here. I find myself wanting to wear dresses and open-toed shoes but we're not quite ready for that. I satisfied myself instead with buying some sort of fruit tree branch that will hopefully bloom in my house and some daffodils that will open overnight. I was excited to find the daffodils for a Euro for a bunch of 10 unopened stems. It was just like shopping at Trader Joe's.

The New View out my Window

Earlier this week, we decoded a message left by out landlord saying that our roof would be worked on and the outside of the building would be painted. Somehow, I was still surprised when men with scaffolding showed up on Wednesday. Now they've gotten past our windows. I was worried that the scaffolding would block the waxing Spring sunshine ... but this does not seem to be the case.

It is disconcerting to see people standing outside our 4th floor (3rd floor European) apartment.

Isn't My Bed Beautiful?

I have a bit of a cold today. This is my first bit of any sickness since we arrived in Germany and it isn't that bad. But it is making me miss my bed. I really want a nap but I don't like our bed in our apartment (an our couch is not long enough to lay down on). I want MY bed ... the one my husband made for me. Preferably, I would like to have a cat or two on it as well.

Okay, that is all for my whine. I am loving our experience here and we do have a very nice apartment. I am such a home body and I've worked hard to surround myself with things that have meaning to me. So it makes me grumpy every now and then to not have MY things.

New Baby Quilt

I just found out that another friend of mine is expecting a baby soon. So I've started on another baby blanket. Look closely, what do you see?

The IRS Thinks We Are Transients

I can't figure out where my tax home is let alone where I want it to be. According to one publication our tax home is not in Germany because we came here for work that is temporary in nature (i.e. at the onset we expected it to be completed in one year or less). It turns out that temporary or indefinite are all a state of mind. If you think that you are going to be in a foreign country for less than a year but you end up staying longer ... you're temporary until you realize that you are staying past the 12 month mark. If you think that you are going to be in a foreign country for more than a year but you end up returning to the U.S. before the year is up then you are indefinite (and your tax home is abroad) until you realize that you will be going back to the U.S. early (at which time you will be temporary). Your status actually changes. You can have a tax home in Germany for 8 months (thinking you will be there for 2 years) and then in the 9th month you find out that you will be leaving in month 11. For the last two months you now have a tax home in the U.S.

Okay ... by this publication we clearly have our tax home in the U.S. But we have no home in the U.S., nor do we do any business in the U.S. so according to another publication ... out tax home is NOT in the U.S. Where is it?

There is actually a formal definition of itinerant worker (the publication clarifies this means transient) but we don't quite meet that definition either.

Baths in Germany Have a Long Tradition

A few weeks ago, we went to Trier, a city established in the first century by the Romans after they conquered the Treveri. The picture above is of the ruins of the roman baths in Trier. This weekend, we went to the modern equivalent: Aqua Land

One area had about 20 different saunas plus 4 hot/cold tubs and various showers. My favorite (to view, not to use) was the cold shower that filled a bucket with a string which you then pulled to dump water over your head ... for those that like their cold shock the old fashioned way. As the pictures above show, there was also a series of interconnected swimming pools and hot tubs under a huge atrium. They had a couple of slides as well. There were grottos where you could lay on warm rocks or on sea salt. The sauna area is "textilefrei" but people wear swimming suits in the main pool area.

I was really nervous about going, but I don't know why. I have been to clothing optional hot springs (namely Harbin Hot Springs in California) but somehow not speaking the language and not knowing the protocol was really scary for me. It was better that we went with people who had been before and that could speak German and I was of course fine once we got there.

I tried a couple of saunas but I am just not a person who enjoys being hot. I definitely do not like to sweat. I do really like sitting in warm/hot water though. One of the hot tubs in the sauna area is filled with salt water. It is outdoors and only heated to about 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit (below body temperature anyway) so it was a bit cold ... maybe in the summer.

Hair Cut!

I woke up this morning and decided I wanted my hair lopped off. So my kind, brave husband, that CAN see in a straight line, cut it for me. I've never been particularly fond of going to the hair salon ... strange, I know. I'm really not good with idle chit chat but it always seems awkward to just sit there. I never really know what I want done with my hair and I always hate how it looks as I leave the salon. None of these make for an experience that I want to repeat very often. Every now and then (once a year or so) I decide that this is the time that is going to be like a make-over show. I will go into the salon and say "Make me beautiful" and out I will come, a swan with a glorious hair cut. The last time I did this, the stylist poked me in the eye with the scissors. (I mean literally, my contact lens came out of my eye.) Arlo thinks that as girly as I am, I should like going to a hair salon to primp (or whatever it is that girls do) every 6 weeks or so like other women. Maybe I'll become a grown up one of these days and become a regular at a salon. I'm sure that would help keep my expectations reasonable and probably give the stylist a fighting chance at helping me choose a style that I like.

Punk Sheep

Since sheep are grazing animals that tend to wander, ranchers need to mark the sheep in some way so that they can be differentiated easily (from a neighbors herd or even within their own herd). Thus the spraypainted blobs on the sheep. This one has a lot going on. You can see the blue behind her head and the pink on her butt. I seem to recall that she had a few other blotches as well that didn't show up well in the picture.

Some days I think it would be fun to have my own sheep for wool production (feed the habit) and I really want chickens. But then I think I must be crazy to want farm animals. Who am I and what did I do with the real me. I don't know ... the more I hear about self sufficiency and eating local produce and shopping from hand-made, home grown businesses the more it sets off my day dreams. I guess we'll just see where life takes me.

Pining for Pets

I have to say that I am a bit tired of my pet-free existence. I have to admit that I've been checking out the Indiana animal shelters looking for the next kitty in my life. I have also been reading the House Rabbit Society page and found this adorable guy. As a kid, I was allergic to bunnies but then I was allergic to cats too and I've never let that stop me.

Wherever we go we end up taking pictures of animals ... often people's pets. Since Arlo often has the camera when we're together we have photos of every stray cat that I meet and pet along the way. I already showed you the restaurant cat that we met in Utrecht. This is evidentially a thing in the Netherlands since we had a restaurant cat in Amsterdam as well.

By the way, you should take a closer look at the sign in the photo:

This was outside the restaurant that we ate lunch in Amsterdam.

Beaded Necklace

These beaded necklaces are my latest craft venture. I make them by knitting crochet thread on which I have strung beads. I love how it twists up so that you can see the two colors (one on the "front" and the other on the "back"). I can't seem to get a good photo that shows them off as much as I want to. I think this is partially due to our north facing windows and low winter sunlight. But I think I am also not using the right settings on my camera. I'll keep trying ... then maybe I can see if they will sell on Etsy.

Here is the first one I made:

Bike Riding

Or maybe I should title this post "Unflattering picture of happy, proud Kat."

At some point in my childhood, all my friends started riding bikes that had the seat level with the handlebars. I did not like how this felt and so stopped riding bikes altogether. I think I was about 12 years old. I tried once more when I was about 15 and visiting my Aunt and her family in Oregon. I actually started to cry I hated it so much.

I've noticed several people in the past few years riding bicycles that allowed them to sit upright. Hmmmm .... This is especially prevalent in the Netherlands (my friend says Dutch people are born riding bicycles). I've been thinking that I would like to try riding again ... upright.

While we were in Killarney, I wanted to go out to the Muckross house which is in the Killarney National Park. The house is about 5 km from town. This is, of course, walkable. But we had limited time (we needed to catch an afternoon bus back to Cork). I surprised Arlo by suggesting that maybe we could rent bicycles and ride out there.

I made the bike rental guy lower my seat ... he thought I was nuts. This wasn't optimal since the bike was not made to be ridden this way. My butt was too close to the pedals which put some strain on my knees. This made going uphill quite difficult as well. But I was nearly upright and so much happier. I didn't like riding in the street but I was comfortable on the dedicated bike lanes and once in the National Park where there were no cars.

We ended up riding about 17 km. I'm not sure my sit bones will ever recover. I loved that we could see so much more than if we were walking. For instance, it would have been quite a long day to walk out to this waterfall:

Perhaps when we get back to the States I can find a touring bike that is actually meant to be ridden upright.

Baby Blanket

Our friends Laura and Cam (back in Arizona) are having a baby this month. I usually make baby quilts for friends but since I didn't move my sewing machine across the Atlantic, I though I would knit a quilt. This is the Modern Baby blanket from Mason Dixon knitting.

I hope they like it. I'm getting it out in the mail this week.

Cork, Killarney, Ring of Kerry

Ireland must have had a much more mild winter than Germany. There were Daffodils EVERYWHERE!! Peeking through these is Blarney Castle (a bit outside of Cork ... in, of all places, Blarney). Arlo kissed the stone. I declined as I had done so once before (more years ago that I care to think about). Something about kissing this stone where lots and lots (kerjillions of lots) of people have place their lips gave me the heebie geebies last time. I asked Arlo about it and he agreed.

We spend the weekend in Killarney which is in county Kerry. We took a bus tour along the famous Ring of Kerry. I love the ocean.

Amsterdam

I've become fond of canal cities and the Nethelands in particular. I like that everyone speaks English and seems to be happy doing so. I thought I would feel a huge amount of guilt that I wasn't even trying to learn Dutch (Nederlands) but I rationalized that I couldn't try to learn two languages at once ... particularly not for one or two day trips here and there.

We were in Amsterdam last Wednesday because Arlo was invited to talk at University College Cork (in Ireland). Bear with me here, this does make sense. The university would pay for a direct flight into Cork on Aer Lingus. The two nearest options were Amsterdam or Berlin. We chose Amsterdam this time ... no particular reason.

Karneval

I think I jinxed us with my post about our beautiful weather. The sun never came out today. According to the weather website I check it should be like this tomorrow as well but then beautiful on the weekend.

It is a bit strange to talk about the weather on a blog post. But I find that once you actually have weather you end up talking about it. I suppose we shall have no end of conversation topics once we move to Indiana this summer.

The gray skies today made me think about the festivals that are held throughout the winter months, trying to warm us up and bring color into our lives. We just finished with Karneval, here in the Rheinland area of Germany. There were too many pictures to post on the blog so I am providing links to two Picassa web albums. I think you will be impressed with the amount of color involved in the 6 day festival.

Karneval starts in November (11/11 at 11:11) but other than a kick-off event, most of the Karneval events are held in private residences. It really starts on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. We were still in Utrecht at the time of the official start (11:11 of course) but we traveled back to Bonn that evening, changing trains in Köln. We were possibly the only people on the train not in costume.

On Sunday, the people of Bonn stormed the Rathaus (see photos here). After being turned away several times and returning with more and more soldiers, the prinzenpaar (royal couple) finally succeeded in winning the keys to the city until Wednesday when all would return to normal.

On Monday, we went to Köln to see the huge Rosenmontagzug (see photos of Monday's parade here). It was extremely cold and it rained off and on while we were there. We watched about 2 hours of the parade and then I asked someone how long the parade lasts ... 5 hours or so was the answer. Arlo and I decided that we were cold and hungry enough to be satisfied with what we had already seen. All through the parade, people throw things into the crowds. We came home with a large bag of candy, a small stuffed Karneval clown and several flowers. (No roses even though it was Rose Monday ... I got tulips and a carnation).

We've discussed Karneval at length in my language class. I learned that this is, historically speaking, a time when a person could say anything they wanted without fear of recrimination. This explains the predominance of politically motivated floats in the parade.

During my last language class, we had a debate as to whether Karnaval is good or bad. On the negative side, were arguments about the excessive alcohol consumption and the greediness of people when it came to gathering the throws from the parades (to the exclusion of looking out for children), the amount of trash that is on the streets during this time period and the extra workers needed to police the streets and man the hospitals, and the lack of meaning of the festival seeing it only as an excuse to exhibit behaviors that would be otherwise socially unacceptable.

I couldn't help but see this as a "Bah Humbug!" argument. There seems to be a similar argument regarding all of our winter holidays: Thanksgiving is just about food, Christmas is too commercialized, Valentines Day is a "Hallmark Holiday." I've been reflecting on this a lot and I think that we get out of any holiday or celebration what we put into it. I hear people talking about the commercialization of Christmas and, after having it explained to me, I can see what they are talking about. But somehow it doesn't affect me. I enjoy putting myself out there for people and I get a lot of reward. I saw the same in the German people at Karneval. These rather stoic and reserved people were friendly and outgoing to an outsider (me).