A friend of mine from nursing school shared this wonderful blog earlier today on Facebook, and it made me tear up just a little bit. Kateri's blog post served as a perfect reminder to me of why I do what I do.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Day Trip: Gamescom in Cologne, Germany
Yesterday, Greg and I took another road trip to Cologne, this time for Gamescom. I never thought in my life that I'd be going to a gaming convention, but it wasn't too horrible.
We didn't pre-order tickets since we decided to go pretty last minute, so instead we had to wait in line for close to 2 hours before actually getting inside. It started drizzling towards the end, but not so bad as to make it miserable. Once in, the Koelnmesse was filled to the brim with nerddom and angst and we were probably the oldest people there who weren't someone's parents, but it was an interesting experience. I was surprised there weren't more people dressed up. I've never been to Comicon or Dragoncon, but I know it's pretty typical for people to dress up like their favorite game/comic/TV characters.
We found the Nintendo area pretty quickly, which was the main thing Greg wanted to see. I wouldn't say my husband is an avid gamer, as he probably only plays video games for maybe a few hours a week and frequently falls out of interest with them for long periods of time. Also, unlike much of the male population, he's not so interested in fighting games. We don't own an Xbox or Play Station, but we do have a GameCube, WiiU and matching Nintendo 3DS XL's. Obviously, Greg is a big fan of Nintendo.
The layout was extremely confusing and we constantly ended up walking in circles. We missed probably 75% of the conference because we had no idea where we were going, but ultimately Greg was happy just seeing the Nintendo games and eating a wurst.
It's hard to come up with things that Greg enjoys doing around here because he isn't a fan of sight-seeing and doesn't enjoy traveling just to look at things. Most of the places that he would like to visit are too far for us to just take a short trip, so having one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world an hour and a half drive away every year is nice. The drive is very beautiful and scenic as well.
Today, it is cold, dreary and rainy, just like everyone told us it would be in Germany. It's the kind of weather that makes it difficult to get out of bed. In celebration of this wonderfully messy day, I finally replaced my camera! You may recall from my previous posts that my beloved Elph that I've had for years now started leaving white lines in my photos several months ago. I'm extremely money conscious and it's almost impossible for me to buy anything without thoroughly considering all of my options. I've spent months reading reviews of every camera in my price range, but was having a hard time making a decision. I had narrowed my options down to the Nikon D3100 or the Canon Rebel T3i. The PX was having a sale on Nikon cameras this weekend and offering the D3200 for $150 off, making it much less than the Rebel T3i with more features. I finally broke down and invested the money in it. Considering I've had Canons for years with no issues, I can only hope for the same from my Nikon! Now I just need a good trip to test it out!
We didn't pre-order tickets since we decided to go pretty last minute, so instead we had to wait in line for close to 2 hours before actually getting inside. It started drizzling towards the end, but not so bad as to make it miserable. Once in, the Koelnmesse was filled to the brim with nerddom and angst and we were probably the oldest people there who weren't someone's parents, but it was an interesting experience. I was surprised there weren't more people dressed up. I've never been to Comicon or Dragoncon, but I know it's pretty typical for people to dress up like their favorite game/comic/TV characters.
The layout was extremely confusing and we constantly ended up walking in circles. We missed probably 75% of the conference because we had no idea where we were going, but ultimately Greg was happy just seeing the Nintendo games and eating a wurst.
 |
| I'm going to be so over this by the time we leave Germany. |
It's hard to come up with things that Greg enjoys doing around here because he isn't a fan of sight-seeing and doesn't enjoy traveling just to look at things. Most of the places that he would like to visit are too far for us to just take a short trip, so having one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world an hour and a half drive away every year is nice. The drive is very beautiful and scenic as well.
Today, it is cold, dreary and rainy, just like everyone told us it would be in Germany. It's the kind of weather that makes it difficult to get out of bed. In celebration of this wonderfully messy day, I finally replaced my camera! You may recall from my previous posts that my beloved Elph that I've had for years now started leaving white lines in my photos several months ago. I'm extremely money conscious and it's almost impossible for me to buy anything without thoroughly considering all of my options. I've spent months reading reviews of every camera in my price range, but was having a hard time making a decision. I had narrowed my options down to the Nikon D3100 or the Canon Rebel T3i. The PX was having a sale on Nikon cameras this weekend and offering the D3200 for $150 off, making it much less than the Rebel T3i with more features. I finally broke down and invested the money in it. Considering I've had Canons for years with no issues, I can only hope for the same from my Nikon! Now I just need a good trip to test it out!
Friday, August 23, 2013
Rants & Raves: Volume One!
I mentioned in my post about expectations for our blog that I would include rants and raves about all the things we love and miss while here. Here is the first installment of what I love and hate!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Local: Rheingau Wine Festival
Today marks the last day of one of the biggest festivals in our city. Rheingau is an area of Germany around the Rhine river known for it's Riesling. I'm not a fan of Riesling because I think it's entirely too sweet, but considering we live in an area known for a particularly wine, it felt necessary to go to the fest.
When I try to describe German festivals to friends or relatives back in America, it's almost impossible. In America, a festival is generally more of a craft fair dedicated to selling random overpriced homemade trinkets in a park or maybe based around a parade. Food served at an American festival is mostly deep fried sweets of some kind that cost about 20 cents to make and are sold for closer to $5. In America, everything is catered towards families and festivals are usually overly "kid-friendly" in that they often center around some sort of entertainment for children, are completely alcohol-free and end by 7 pm. I've never heard of anyone between the ages of 12-40 being excited about going to a festival in America. And why would they? American festivals are boring.
In Germany, when a town is having a festival, it's typically positioned right in the downtown of the city and often requires closing down several main streets for days or weeks on end. Vendors will be out most of the day and pretty much all night. German festivals are almost always centered around food and drinking. Whole squares and streets will be filled with tables and surrounded by places to buy fresh made wurst, pasta, pizza and kettle cooked chips. In certain areas, you can sit and be served like a giant outdoor restaurant. There will usually be a stage with a band covering some American music with thick German accents. Children are welcome and free to play in the open grassy areas, but you won't always find much entertainment for them. Some festivals will have areas with fair rides, but not always. People go all out for these events, too. You'll usually see them dressed as if they are attending a wedding or church service while they're maneuvering through the huge crowds of people who turn up for the fest. When you show up in jeans and a t-shirt, everyone knows you're American.
I don't think Americans can wrap their heads around the concept of German festivals for a vast number of reasons. The main one being that this kind of event would probably be in some way illegal in America. People drinking and smoking in public around small children seems outrageous in the States. Closing businesses for what's deemed as a "party" is practically scandalous. One person would complain because it was too loud or not safe enough, and the whole event would be cancelled. Americans aren't taught to control themselves. They don't teach their children how to behave in what is deemed as adult situations. We cause this separation in having a family and enjoying yourself. I remember living near Savannah, Georgia in college and every year when St. Patrick's Day came around, Savannah's streets became flooded with drunk college students partying along the river to the point of throwing up or blacking out. There were areas of the city sectioned off as almost a "family friendly" zone. You could take your kids to one area of the city to have their faces painted and ride a little green train in a circle or you could go down to River Street and drunkenly throw up into a dyed green river (so long as you weren't double-fisting, because that's still illegal). There's no middle ground. Festivals, especially ones dedicated to a particular kind of alcohol, will never work in American culture, so we have to enjoy them in Europe while we can. As I've heard others here say, "Americans would take something wonderful and ruin it."
Aside from the wine fest, we ventured out even a little more by getting sushi. It seems ridiculous that we would consider that venturing out, but ordering food is always a terrifying experience for us. I've picked up on enough words to know when something is beef or pork and I know how to recognize if a dish is made with salmon or tuna rather than shellfish. That seemed reason enough to try ordering sushi! It wasn't a total disaster, but it didn't go very well either. We thought we were going to a place that a friend recommended which was more English friendly, but we were wrong. After lots of pointing and confusion, we got something that we didn't mean to order from a very sweet waitress who was trying her best to please us. So, we ate it and felt like idiots for not being able to communicate better. I've picked up a little bit of German, but I doubt I'll ever feel fully comfortable walking into a restaurant and ordering food.
In other news, being back to work has been great. In February, I'll be starting a program to become a certified lactation consultant. I wish I could be working full time rather than part-time, but anything helps at this point. I'm happy to be able to keep my skills up and continue to learn new things while also living abroad. We are definitely much luckier than most!
When I try to describe German festivals to friends or relatives back in America, it's almost impossible. In America, a festival is generally more of a craft fair dedicated to selling random overpriced homemade trinkets in a park or maybe based around a parade. Food served at an American festival is mostly deep fried sweets of some kind that cost about 20 cents to make and are sold for closer to $5. In America, everything is catered towards families and festivals are usually overly "kid-friendly" in that they often center around some sort of entertainment for children, are completely alcohol-free and end by 7 pm. I've never heard of anyone between the ages of 12-40 being excited about going to a festival in America. And why would they? American festivals are boring.
In Germany, when a town is having a festival, it's typically positioned right in the downtown of the city and often requires closing down several main streets for days or weeks on end. Vendors will be out most of the day and pretty much all night. German festivals are almost always centered around food and drinking. Whole squares and streets will be filled with tables and surrounded by places to buy fresh made wurst, pasta, pizza and kettle cooked chips. In certain areas, you can sit and be served like a giant outdoor restaurant. There will usually be a stage with a band covering some American music with thick German accents. Children are welcome and free to play in the open grassy areas, but you won't always find much entertainment for them. Some festivals will have areas with fair rides, but not always. People go all out for these events, too. You'll usually see them dressed as if they are attending a wedding or church service while they're maneuvering through the huge crowds of people who turn up for the fest. When you show up in jeans and a t-shirt, everyone knows you're American.
I don't think Americans can wrap their heads around the concept of German festivals for a vast number of reasons. The main one being that this kind of event would probably be in some way illegal in America. People drinking and smoking in public around small children seems outrageous in the States. Closing businesses for what's deemed as a "party" is practically scandalous. One person would complain because it was too loud or not safe enough, and the whole event would be cancelled. Americans aren't taught to control themselves. They don't teach their children how to behave in what is deemed as adult situations. We cause this separation in having a family and enjoying yourself. I remember living near Savannah, Georgia in college and every year when St. Patrick's Day came around, Savannah's streets became flooded with drunk college students partying along the river to the point of throwing up or blacking out. There were areas of the city sectioned off as almost a "family friendly" zone. You could take your kids to one area of the city to have their faces painted and ride a little green train in a circle or you could go down to River Street and drunkenly throw up into a dyed green river (so long as you weren't double-fisting, because that's still illegal). There's no middle ground. Festivals, especially ones dedicated to a particular kind of alcohol, will never work in American culture, so we have to enjoy them in Europe while we can. As I've heard others here say, "Americans would take something wonderful and ruin it."
Aside from the wine fest, we ventured out even a little more by getting sushi. It seems ridiculous that we would consider that venturing out, but ordering food is always a terrifying experience for us. I've picked up on enough words to know when something is beef or pork and I know how to recognize if a dish is made with salmon or tuna rather than shellfish. That seemed reason enough to try ordering sushi! It wasn't a total disaster, but it didn't go very well either. We thought we were going to a place that a friend recommended which was more English friendly, but we were wrong. After lots of pointing and confusion, we got something that we didn't mean to order from a very sweet waitress who was trying her best to please us. So, we ate it and felt like idiots for not being able to communicate better. I've picked up a little bit of German, but I doubt I'll ever feel fully comfortable walking into a restaurant and ordering food.
In other news, being back to work has been great. In February, I'll be starting a program to become a certified lactation consultant. I wish I could be working full time rather than part-time, but anything helps at this point. I'm happy to be able to keep my skills up and continue to learn new things while also living abroad. We are definitely much luckier than most!
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Day Trip: Burg Eltz and the Moselle Valley
Greg had a four day this weekend, but since tomorrow is my first day of work, we wanted to take it easy. There is a huge wine festival in town this week that we almost went to, but changed our minds late on Friday night when Greg decided we should check out some castles instead. Next week, we'll probably head over to the wine fest. Saturday, we took a very scenic drive through the Rhineland countryside and visited one of the oldest and never destroyed castles in Germany, Burg Eltz.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Day Trip: Cologne, Germany
Today, we took our first real adventure outside of the comfort zone of our city or a neighboring military installation. We packed up the GTI and headed to Cologne!
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