This time next week Tracey will be here! (I hope the sun STAYS shinning for you while you are here, we seem to be rationed to 2 hours everyday here in Stuttgart, but no more than our 2 hours).
I am, as you can imagine, beyond excited and I can’t wait to take her to see our castles and to eat chocolate together in Switzerland (the realization of so many childhood dreams are summed up in that sentence!). And so life in Europe is going better than ever, now that I have passed my 2 year mark and the cycles of homesickness and adaption have run their course. So the only moving boxes in my future would be of the changing apartments rather than countries variety.
And to show you just how much I have embraced my new home, I LOVE this video. Whenever I am introduced to a new German, they are compelled to break out into Cheri Cheri Lady, a wretched song that should never have been produced. However watching Spongebob work it has even changed my mind on it.
I have not escaped to the likes of Outer Banks rentals, (although really, really tempting). I am not even working full time at the moment and I am still incapable of getting everything I need to get done. So I have decided to finish the last module of German needed before taking the B1 proficiency test. Summer time means less courses, so more time to be a student, and since Iceland has officially been canceled (or postponed depending on how you look at it) I should get my butt in gear and at least have a certificate to show off.
It has actually happened, the polo is no more!!! For the first time ever, Patrick has bought a car and allowed the ancient Polo the rest it so deserved. We checked out auto insurance quotes, found the one we wanted, and handed over the keys. (Having said that the entire drive over he was complaining the car still had at least another few years in it. And although if we all thought that way there would be a lot less STUFF polluting our world, there is a limit).
On a side note I have found my calling. I want to be a hobby farmer. Let me rephrase that, I want Patrick to be the hobby farmer (read do all the work, particularly the 5 am stuff) and I want to coo at the cute baby farm animals. On our ride home we had the misfortune on Monday to be caught in a downpour. FREEZING. We had the most excellent luck however to find a farm on the Belgium border that allowed guests to stay overnight. It was really cheap and LOVELY. A lovely apartment, a nice balcony with outdoor chaise lounges and a fantastic view, and runaway cows! (One of the cows had a baby that day and somehow the baby ran away. They didn’t find him till late at night!) But the baby cows that were 4 or 5 days old and with big brown eyes made me want to go vegetarian!!!
And for bearing with me while I test it out, pictures of my orchids that I bought this weekend in Amsterdam (3 for 10 Euro!!!!!) For the record you CAN strap them to the back of a motorcycle and they will make it flowers in tact! Even when they fly off the back at 100 kms an hour.
So we are now packed and ready to leave! Patrick’s sister and her partner are returning from their year long
motorcycle trip through South America. So we will meet them, hang out for a few days, and then ride the last few kilometers of their trip together! I am really looking forward to seeing them and hearing their stories, even if it means gagging with jealousy. The 5 months I spent in South America on the back with Patrick were unbelievable. Modern day cowboys! And for those who are still horse lovers, check out equestrian apparel. For myself I still prefer my engine. This horse had a mind of its own!
Just working like a mad woman and going to German class. But as of tomorrow I am taking a break from the craziness and only working. And of course by only working I mean next week we are going to Amsterdam for 5 days. I am quite enjoying this every weekend a trip thing. Even if it means that Iceland has been canceled, I accept more mini trips!
So I promise to attempt to update more regularly! But as I am back to my free roaming ways its harder!
I am still here! We spent the long weekend in Austria, so again no time for emailing. (and if you contacted me through my work email the server was down and Im a little afraid of what Imay have lost). But again, some pics to wet your appetite until I get around to posting!
The real reason why we insist on using textbooks in our language classes (especailly English, given the immense amount of free resources on the internet), is that on Sunday, when we are tired, and thinking to ourselves “I really should invest some time in developing lesson plans at this moment,” and then you think, that is what textbooks are for.
In fairness I normally lesson plan Friday morning and photocopy like a madwoman on Friday so I DONT have to spend my weekend thinking about it. But this week I slacked off. So tomorrow is a text book day.
I just found this story over on Flickr, and I really like it so I thought I would share it:
A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself.
He said, “It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The boy took this in for a few minutes and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf is winning?” The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one I feed.”
Rather true that!! In other news I really want a PS3, but Ive been told games or travel.
The newest podcast is out, with the bridge of death in it! I keep thinking these episodes get better and better every time, and you know that you are doing something right when you are jealous of yourself! it is also great fun (though admittedly a little embarrassing) to watch myself on the bike. Remember at this point I had my license for just over a week, and so yes, driving through deep grass (even while trying to keep to the trail made by others) inspired deep pride!
You also get to see our awesome first campsite in Bulgaria, and though the plan is to never stop traveling and even when a little too old for the bike to switch to rv parks, for now motorcycle travel with our tent is the life for me!
Just to give you an overview of why I am not writing as much (and that includes the emails I have been ignoring, so sorry!!!) my day starts with German class everyday from 830-12 45. Then I normally go grab lunch with a friend (and remain in city center away from my internet connection) before heading to teach. Depending on the day I get back around 5 30 (In which case I go directly to the gym, as mentioned, the Cuba pictures have made me cut out chocolate and pushed me back into the gym, 3 pounds gone so far!), but most days I dont finish until 7. then I come home and cook (I have the talent in the kitchen, the other one would just heat up leftovers for months) and then I do my homework and then I plan my own lessons. In the end: exhausting. Plus I work Saturday mornings (but totally worth it as its actually my favorite class)/
However while lesson planning today I came across the cutest lesson about a cat burglar, who is literally a cat on the prowl stealing other cats cat supplies. Mostly in the form of soft toys. I love it, and I just need to figure out a way to work it into a lesson on banking…..
Since I really do not see myself having time in the next few days to update the travel stories over on Journizer (and I know that pretty soon no one is even going to want to read them as they will all be old news!) I will try to ply you off with more shots, including one where I get violated by seafood:
Its all fun and games until the dolphin gets a little frisky.
Then when it’s your turn to get your picture snapped you shriek with terror as the thing lets you know it likes you. A lot.
I never should have rubbed his belly.
And though it was a fantastic experience, the water was pretty nasty. You wanted to scrub yourself with industrial supplies to make yourself feel clean again! And this was in the ocean!
As always I am so much slower than anticipated! But at least all the pictures have been uploaded on Flickr, so anyone who wishes can cruise those, including this one:
What are the bride and I looking at???? The fact is it looks like I am being sucked into the ground (at best, and at worse that I really, really have to pee).
And of course shots from what I call the chicken dance, but what they call the knee pump:
I actually found on another photo site pictures of Sean and Tanja doing the leg pump, and its labeled “A Strange Newfoundland Traditional Wedding Dance.” What the poster got confused about was the fact that the leg pump is a thing my brother’s friends do, but the all woman circle around him was the traditional part.
On a side note: An honest Colonix review, which considering the sensitive nature of what its cleansing, hurray!
It is crazy, this time last week we were home from our Cuba trip and already asleep. As if in solidarity with last week I came home and fell into bed for a 3 hour nap as well. It has been one week and each and every day it becomes just a little bit harder to wake up. Plus Ive been hitting the gym almost everyday (and the 2 days I missed I did the Yoga podcasts, I find as long as I stay active I don’t need chocolate, but as soon as I slow down my body craves it.) Having said that while checking out Stemulite I found that true healthy products have chocolate pieces that are healthy for you.
I was checking out Stemulite because a friend here mentioned it when I complained about my lack of sleep (or maybe not so much lack of it as feeling I am lacking it, I get at least 7 hours every night, and most I get 8). But it’s a training product that helps build muscle and lose fat, but when carrying out the studies on those who use it they also discovered that they were getting more restive sleep. (and women were losing belly fat but keeping their boobs.) BRING IT ON!
Ok so this is not Saturday, and not only do I not have the stories written, I dont even have the pictures up (except for an edited version on Facebook), but I do have mom and dads pics up on Flickr. (Not mine yet, or any others). But I thought I would appease the masses, let everyone know I am home tonight, and except for a phone call from my mom I have no other plans than writing and posting!
But first I am off to the gym, as much as I talk about diet pills like Apidexin, and my complete lack of will power, and needing to get into bathing suit shape before the wedding, I did nothing of the sort. I thought the wedding would be motivation in and of itself. It wasn’t. HOWEVER, after seeing all the pictures I am vain enough to care that I dont look cute I look pudgy. The week of travel around Cuba meant I dropped the 5 pounds I put on at the all you can eat and drink all inclusive. Since coming back Ive been hitting the gym and I have yet to eat cake or chocolate. (This is a record people, Ive never gone 5 days before, and one of those days was at Oma’s where she tried to convince me the Strawberry shortcake was ok because it had strawberries in it, and was a small piece besides). I will lose those10 pounds Ive been yo-yoing off and on since coming to Germany!!!
But some pics for now to tide over the curious:
and lastly me, far from fat, but just enough chubby cheeks to spark my ass into gear. (I rarely wear makeup, or do my hair, when I do buy new clothes its on sale, give me one small piece of vanity please, and that is I dont want to look overweight in my pictures!)
Confessions of a Wandering Gypsy Princess
