EuroLife: Day 69

We have our first visitors!!! Karen and Phil came to see us, some friends from Notre Dame, and we've had a blast. Here are some photos from today:

Breakfast at Einsteins! The best croissants I've ever had; the slowest service I've ever experienced.
Walking near the Napoleonstein in light snow.

Sheep, also walking near Napoleonstein in light snow.


Thuringian "XXL" brats from Grill Teufel. The bread's about 4 inches long, the brat's about 15 inches long, and it's delicious. Michael and Phil had two a piece, and later had smaller brats at another stand...and then went back to Grill Teufel, disappointed with the mediocre generic brats, and found that they had closed. Hard to tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

All in all a wonderful day!

Now, I'm sad to say, Eurolife 2.o is going on hiatus. We will return early by mid January, once I'm back in Jena.

Merry Christmas!

EuroLife: Day 71

Today I'm going to cheat a bit. Michael's been working so hard on finishing up his dissertation, he doesn't have much "writing energy" left for a blog at the end of the day. I am spending my days reading philosophy, though not nearly as much as I should be reading, and thinking about the next couple of days. Tomorrow I have another appointment, so we should get to see the baby again. I'm very excited about that. Tomorrow evening two of our good friends will be coming for a quick visit, and I'm also very excited about that! When they leave, we leave, and get to go back to the States for a while. That I am really, really, very excited about.

So I don't really have much to share today. However, I have long been meaning to include a link to my friend's blog, so that's what today's post will be. Rather than writing something interesting, I will direct you to something interesting! If you scroll down a bit, there's a great post about German greetings--and Jeff and Deanna's as-German-as-American 7 year old son. I highly recommend it :)

http://jndministry.blogspot.com/

Enjoy! I promise to start doing interesting things again once we get back in January; then I'll be able to share fun stories and photos again. For now, my head is already back in the States!

EuroLife: Day 70

Coming soon to the American Market!

A little tiny car. A "smart" car. A German car, as it turns out. I had heard a little about these "smart cars" before coming over here, but I did not know that they were German. Not only are they German, they're fairly popular; we see them pretty often. They will be available for sale in the US in early 2008, though there are some in the States right now. Apparently you can import them through a dealer, provided they are modified to meet US safety and emission standards.

So here's a little bit of information about the tiny car that's coming to America:

• It really is tiny. It's as long as a parking-space is wide. (More specifically, it's 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet tall and 5.1 feet wide.) The website claims that it is "small on the outside and big on the inside." If so, that's some impressive, Harry-Potter style technology.
  
• According to Wikipedia, the original plan was to make a car that was easy to park. Where most cars have to parallel park, the smartcar can park facing the curb. I've seen this done; it looks weird, but it fits.
  
• Also according to Wikipedia, the purpose of the car was "to transport two people and a case of beer." (Whether the creator was more inspired by the parking possibilities or the passenger & beer transportation Wikipedia does not tell us.)
• "Smart" is an acronym for "Swatch Mercedes ART".
• Yes, Swatch! The creator of the most excellent Swatch Watches of the 1980's is also the creator of the smartcar! Mercedes chipped in a bit in the end, I'm sure, but this car is Swatch through and through.
• It can be yours for a reservation fee of $99 plus the price--anywhere from $11, 590 to $16,590. (Remember, it's big on the inside.)
  

EuroLife: Day 69

We have often written about the German "coffee and cake" tradition, always with praise and admiration. This afternoon our church hosted an "Advents Feier"(an Advent Celebration.) At 3:30, the hour for coffee and cake, we all returned to the sanctuary to find a beautiful arrangement of tables filled with various cookies and cakes. The photo doesn't quite capture the feel of the sanctuary...picture about 2 dozen tables, each laid with nice china and platters full of cookies. It was really very nice.

Michael and I sat with a few of our friends, and there was one seat still available when we had all sat down. To our happy surprise, Reinhart (who I fear I previously called Reinhold) came and joined us! He and his wife Ulricha (I really must learn to spell their names correctly) were the ones who treated Michael and I to an outstanding lunch last Sunday. They had been sitting together at a nearby table, but each gave his (and her) seat up for some people who wanted to sit together. Once again, we all had a great time. The food was delicious--I particularly liked the pound cake with cherries in the cake and chocolate chips on top--and the conversation was great. I just love our church; it has made such a difference in our lives here in Jena.

There was only one slight downside to the service this evening: something that, I suspect, would never have worked in the States. After we all sat down to our cake-filled tables, we were told that there would be a number of musical pieces and readings before we were to begin eating. The music was really very good--there is a classical guitar player in our church who can't be older than 14 or so and who is exceptionally talented. The difficulty, of course, was that there were platters full of cake sitting tantalizingly near. We all braved the trial, and eventually were rewarded for our patience. The rest of the service was also very nice, with more music, some singing, and a few seasonal readings.

In the second photo above, left to right, you see: Kirstin (from England), Ulricha, Reinhart, Michael, me, and Rose (from Kenya). We asked if we could take a picture for the blog and all gladly obliged :)

EuroLife: Day 68

The Nicer Side of the Weihnachtsmarkt

I did a bit of Christmas shopping with my friend Laura in the Weihnachtsmarkt this evening, and it was lovely. (The center of the market is set apart from the area with the abominable beast of steel, so all was well.) There was live music throughout our time there--sometimes a choir, sometimes an instrumental group--and stands selling all sorts of crafts and Christmas decorations.

Gluhwein is perhaps the biggest attraction at the Weihnachtsmarkt. It's a kind of mulled wine, and people wander around drinking it out of glass or ceramic mugs. It's not uncommon here for an outdoor stand to sell beverages in nice glasses with a deposit, rather than paper or plastic cups. I cannot attest to the gluhwein, but I did have some delicious roasted almonds with a sugary coating. Laura got a Jena specialty (though I can't remember the name right now), and that was also quite good. They start with something that looks like pizza dough and tastes quite garlicy, fry it, and top it with salt and whatever else you want on it. (Laura had one with cheese.) In the end they look like oblong mini pizzas without the sauce. Chocolate covered fruit is big as well--apples, bananas, skewers of strawberries, all dipped in nice German chocolate. Michael brought me a chocolate covered apple while I was in the Frauenklinic; it was a lifesaver.

Just before we headed home, I caught this picture on the left. If you look closely, or click on the photo to zoom, you should be able to see various horn players leaning out of the windows. They were playing through the windows out over the square; it was great. Earlier there was a quartet playing from a rooftop terrace.

I'm not sure I've really succeeded in capturing the markets, but there you have it! On an unrelated note, Michael and I went out for pizza tonight--our first attempt at getting pizza in Jena. We found a restaurant run by a family from Venice. The restaurant itself was very nice, and the pizza was pretty good. It wasn't great, but there are plenty of pizza places to try yet. There is a very large Italian population in Jena, so surely we will find the perfect pizza at some point in the next three years. Fortunately, the restaurant tonight had Italian ice cream, and that was delicious.

EuroLife: Day69

Lobeda Ost

I've heard that around a third of the population of Jena lives in one of the southern suburbs, a place called Lobeda Ost. Most of the students, apparently, live here as well. Pictures don't really do justice to the tedium and anonymity of the place. Imagine thirty more buildings like the one pictured here. Imagine them scattered around in rows and at strange right angles. Then you have a sense of the place. Its vintage communist era.

Of course it still looks beautiful compared to parts of Chicago's South Side. Or compared to some parts of South Bend, for that matter. A friend of ours just pointed out an ad on Craig's list. Apparently someone is trying to sell one of the uglier bars in town. I looked at the picture and thought -- did I really live in that town for six years. Just for the sake of comparison, here's the photo:





Really, I should include the ad, too, because its pretty humorous.

"Fantastic location near Notre Dame! Unlike anything that you've seen! Full bar (w/ liquor license) and kitchen includes: bar, all equipment, pool table, tables and chairs, stools and much more...Call for list! Studio apartment above bar for extra income. Also separate parking lot (57 parking places). Busy Notre Dame clientele for new owners!!! A must see!"

And how much do they want for this gem? $695,000!

EuroLife: Day 68

What you see here is the bane of my existence. Just to be sure that I was using the expression correctly, I looked up "bane". Dictionary.com defines it as follows: "a person or thing that ruins or spoils." So, I can now confirm, this is the bane of my existence.

December is the season of Weihnachtsmarkts, or Chrismas markets, here in Germany. Nuremberg is supposed to have the best one, but we have our own here in Jena as well. There is an abundance of new little outdoor shops and stands selling delicious food, mulled wine, and all manner of Christmas decorations. One of these days, when the sun is shining, I will go and take some nice pictures to try to give you a sense of the finer aspects of the Christmas markets...but the darker side has to be noted as well.

A giant carnival has descended upon the center of the city. By "giant" I do not mean to imply that there are very many rides--there seem to be only about a half a dozen--but rather that it is a very tall, loud, and worst of all perpetually spinning eyesore. (Though the bumper cars look kind of fun, and I'm intrigued by the "Geisterhaus".)

I should confess at this point that "morning" sickness seems to have finally taken hold. For a while there I really believed I'd be one of the lucky few that escaped it, but alas it was not to be. It's not terrible, just a nagging nausea that comes and goes throughout the day. (There is nothing "morning" about it.) As I said, I think I have it pretty good in this department because it really isn't that bad at all--until I have to walk past this abomination.


I like this picture a lot, because it captures the contrast between the beautiful church and the spinning, flashing, hurling hunk of steel that has recently moved in. So, here's how it works: There's one giant arm with six little offshoots, as you can see. Four people get strapped into each offshoot, and up they go. The thing swoops up and down like one of those Pirate Ship rides while spinning. And flashing bright lights.

It's nearly impossible to get anywhere in town without passing this ride, which means I see it a few times a day. There I am, minding my own business and trying not to be sick when I am assaulted by something that could only have been put there in ORDER to make a person sick. I have to stare straight ahead, resist the urge to look when I hear screaming, and pretend not to have any peripheral vision. It is not an ideal situation.

So there you have it: the bane of my existence. I am very happy to be pregnant, and very happy that things are progressing well--even if it means nausea. Still, it seems a bit much to expect a person to deal with this contraption while fighting nausea. Don't you think?

EuroLife: Day 67

People often ask me what its like to live in a Hinterhaus. I tell them its not really like anything else. You just have to try it. For those of you who may never get to live in one, I thought I'd included a picture. This is a picture of our apartment. It's in the middle of a block, surrounded by buildings. To get to the street we have to pass through one of these buildings.

As you can see, the architectural style might euphemistically be called minimalist. The first window looks into our bathroom. Thats why the blinds are always down. The second window is for our bedroom, and the last two windows look in to our living room/dinning room/kitchen. Oh, we're on the bottom floor.

And what do we see when we step out of our door in the morning? Well, right now we see some barren trees, a clothes line, lots of windows, and a few balconies. It has a certain charm. There is some talk of cutting down the trees so the Hinterhaus gets more light. When the leaves are on the trees, they do block some of the light. Of course the buildings help with that as well. One virtue of the arrangement, though, is that all our windows face south. Anyway, Dolores is steadfastly against the killing of the trees. Where would her birds eat, if we couldn't put the feeder in the trees?

EuroLife: Day 66

Big blog news today: we reached over 1000 hits! That's pretty cool. I'm sure we'll be picked-up any day now by some corporate sponsor--most likely the New York Times Travel section--and paid vast quantities of cash for our musings. We'll just have to be sure we ask for our paycheck in Euros.

Today I thought I would show you all my Mutterpass. Yes, here in Germany, pregnant women are given a special "mother pass!"
Now, when I first heard that I was going to be given a Mutterpass, I got pretty excited. I thought that maybe it would get me all manner of discounts and special treatment--cheap fares on the strassenbahn, for example, or discounted soft drinks .(After all, I can't drink the cheap beer!)

Alas, it was not to be. It turns out my Mutterpass is a little booklet in which they record everything relevant to my pregnancy. When I told my doctor (during our first visit) that we would be heading to the US for Christmas, she said something to the effect of "Well, you're not going anywhere until you have your Mutterpass!" She made an appointment for the following week for me to come and pick it up. Unfortunately, I had to go to the Frauenklinik before I had received it. That led to some confusion, and many disconcerted faces, at the clinic. "Boy", I thought, "Only 8 weeks pregnant and already I feel like a bad mother. What kind of a mother goes around without a Mutterpass?"

Despite my jokes, I think it's a great idea. It has my blood type, family history, the results of the blood tests that they have done, a record of the medication that I'm on, my due date, the details of each ultrasound result...in short, every piece of information that might be medically relevant to the pregnancy. I suppose the idea is that, if anything should happen, I should always have that information on hand. As I said, this makes sense to me. Of course, in the States, it may not be of much use;it is, after all, written in German. Still, I like the idea.

EuroLife: Day 67

A Little Perspective

3 December 2007

City.................. Sunset................. Hours of Daylight
Atlanta .......... 5:29...................... 10:02
New York.........4:28.......................9:26
Jena...............4:13.......................8:13
Moscow...........4:01.......................7:23
Stockholm.......2:54......................6:32
Fairbanks........2:56......................4:31

Murmansk.....DOWN ALL DAY.......

It's always good to have a little perspective. So from now on when I think about winter daylight, I'm going to think about Murmansk. The people of Murmansk last saw the sun on the first of December, when it crested the horizon from 12:15 until 12:57. They will see it again on January ll, when it makes an appearance at 12:49. Despite the darkness, a lot of people live there. At 325,000 people, its the largest city above the arctic circle. By way of comparison, there are only 82,000 people in Fairbanks. Murmansk even boasts a university with 4,458 students. I hear they may be looking for a philosophy professor soon.

Other interesting facts about Marmansk:
1) Because of the Gulf Stream, the port remains free of ice all year.
2) In WWI the US, the British, and the White Russians controlled it.
3) In WWII the US and the British supplied Russia through this port.
4) The city has the only fleet of nuclear powered ice breakers in the world.

EuroLife: Day 66

This is becoming something of a theme. Sunday rolls around and it's Michael's turn to write the blog, but I have such a lovely Sunday that I convince him to let me write it! So here we are again. The picture above was taken a few evenings ago in the center of the city. December is the time of Christmas Markets here in Germany, and Jena is no exception. The whole city has been extravagantly decorated, and there are dozens of new shops, stands, and cafes set up throughout the city center. Soon we will take pictures in daylight and write a post on our Christmas Market, but not today.

I am continually impressed by the people we meet in our church. This morning we slept-in a bit and went to the second service. As soon as the service ended, the man in front of us turned around and introduced himself. He, Reinhold, is a recently retired business-management professor, and was familiar with the project on which Michael is working. Within minutes he had invited us to lunch. He and his wife Ulricha drove us to their beautiful home up in a part of town that had somehow not yet seen. Reinhold, Michael and I sat in the sitting room while Ulricha went to prepare a lunch. In what seemed to be an impossibly short time, she returned to seat us in the dining room. There we all sat and had Roast Beef (fresh out of the oven) with a mustard cream sauce and a horseradish dressing, in addition to rice and salad. It was absolutely delicious. I tell you, ever since complaining about the food, I have been inundated with treat after treat. After lunch, we all had vanilla ice cream served with chocolate shavings and homemade cherry jam. (I'm pretty sure the meal in its entirety must at least come close to my mother's ideal meal; I thought of her with each course!) Then they practically forced us to have seconds. (By which I mean, they offered us seconds.)

Enough about the food. These were some of the nicest people I have ever met. The conversation was constant and incredibly interesting, and I felt so at home with them. The first half of the afternoon we spoke German, which I was able to understand almost completely but in which, of course, I cannot say very much. We switched to English during the meal, occasionally reverting for a few phrases but mostly remaining in English. It's difficult to capture exactly why the afternoon was so wonderful, but I believe that if you met these people you would want to spend the day with them. The only reason we eventually left was because we were due at Jeff and Deanna's house for coffee and cake! (It's a difficult life I lead here in Germany.)

So off we went to Jeff and Deanna's. Their youngest daughter was dedicated in the first service this morning, and they had a gathering in celebration. There, too, we had a wonderful time. (I had a little too much sugar, or perhaps a lot too much sugar, and I'm paying for it now. It's very hard to turn down homemade treats!) There were quite a few students at Jeff and Deanna's, most of whom we know, and all of whom speak English. It was just a great way to spend the afternoon. Jeff and Deanna have a blog as well, I meant to include the link yesterday but forgot. You can see them, and many of the students, at: http://jndministry.blogspot.com

And now we are spent. I've been laying low since being "released", so this was quite a lot of activity for me! Our plan for this evening is to watch "So I Married an Axe Murderer", a (very likely dated) American comedy that was included in the stack of DVD's I got from Jeff and Deanna. We have to return those one of these days, and neither of us have seen this movie. Here's hoping it's funny!

EuroLife: Day 65

Blessings Beyond Measure!

Some of you may remember my grumblings about comfort food from a few days ago. Well, this morning we received a phone call from Deanna, a friend from church. She was calling to see how I was doing, having been away last week while I was in the Fraunklinic. "Also," she added, "I'm making some homemade chicken strips. Would it be ok if I brought some over?"

By way of back-story, Deanna and her husband Jeff have been in Jena for 2 or 3 years now working in campus ministry. We met them at church, where we were very surprised to learn that their hometown in the States is about 10 minutes away from Michael's hometown! They have been wonderful about welcoming us to Jena. In fact, Jeff drove us to the Emergency Room last Saturday. We don't have a car, and they have repeatedly offered to help us if ever we need it, so they were the ones we called.

So, Deanna saw my post about comfort food--having also been disappointed by Cheers, it turns out--and boy did she fix that problem! She and her daughter Georgia came by with a bag full of goodies. In addition to the homemade fried chicken and collard greens, there was jasmine rice, black eyed peas, ranch dressing, tortilla chips, salsa, taco seasoning (from the US!), instant peach tea, and even Skittles! Not one of those items, except perhaps for the rice, have I had since arriving in Germany. We had the chicken, rice, beans and greens for dinner and it was absolutely delicious; it totally hit the spot. (I know my New York readers might be surprised by the collard greens, and maybe even by the black-eyed peas, but Michael won me over to both ages ago and we used to make them all the time! You just have to trust me; they're delicious.)

It was such a wonderful way to start the day. In addition to the incredible food, it was just very nice to feel so cared for. Actually, Jeff and Deanna are also the friends who loaned us the stack of American DVDs. They have really been a blessing to us!

Since we're on the topic of blessings, I thought I'd include the most recent ultrasound picture too. The ultrasound itself looked incredible, but the printed picture looked a little less clear. (When the baby was moving around, it was super easy to see what everything was.) A photograph of the picture only makes things worse, but at least it's something, so here it is:
The head is on the right, and you can see (or at least I can see :) an arm and the legs sort of tucket up. (The baby is facing towards the bottom of the picture.)

All that to say, Michael and I are feeling incredibly blessed. I'm getting pretty nauseous, I'm exhausted, and I have the sense of smell of a superhero (not a very useful superpower), but I couldn't be happier!

EuroLife: Day 64

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

Actually, the sun shone for three days in a row when Dolores was in the hospital. Unfortunately, I was fighting a cold so I slept in most mornings and missed half the daylight. I visited Dolores twice a day, most days, and I worked away feverishly on my dissertation, which must be handed in on January 15th.

Today I thought I would talk about all of the little mistakes that foreigners (like myself) make. We'll that's too broad of a topic, so I'll limit myself to linguistic mistakes. You've already heard about Dolores' house battle. Unfortunately, I don't have anything quite so funny to report. But anyway, here they are.

1) On our first day in town, I went up to a rather attractive young waitress arranging tables at a sidewalk cafe, and I asked, "Are you open?" She said -- thankfully with a smile -- "No, I am not open. But the restaurant...something...something...blah,blah...opened." I wasn't sure what my mistake was. At first, I thought my mistake stemmed from using the word "you" to refer to the restaurant. Of course, we do this in English, but the Germans are often more literal or exact than we are. It turns out, however, that this was not my mistake. My mistake was using the verb "to be" instead of the the verb "to have," and using the word "open" instead of "opened." I should have said: "Have you opened?" Unlike in English, however, this question asks about a current state, not about a past event. So one can also ask: "When have you opened?" to find out what the general hours are. So what had I actually asked the waitress? I asked if she was frank or direct. Apparently she is not. Strange that in all my years of German class and my time in Munich, I never learned how to ask if a restaurant is open.

2) I just realized the other day that for the first two months I've been pronouncing the word "euro" as "your-o" rather than "oy-row." (I just mentioned this difference to Dolores, because I was only 90% sure that "oy-row" is actually correct. After some reflection, we both think it is. Still, how many times have we heard this word? And we still kept saying "your-o."

We'll there are plenty more mistakes, but I'll save some for later.

EuroLife: Day 63

I'm home! I can't tell you how nice it is to be back in our little apartment. I was released this morning at around 10:30am. Michael and I walked home, stopping for an errand at the University, and walked to the Mensa for lunch at around noon. After all that fresh air and walking, I was totally wiped out and took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. Freed from bed rest, and it's back to bed I go. I felt like one of those kids who wants to play "school" on the first day of summer vacation. (No offense, mom :) In my defense, they wake you up well before dawn in the hospital and that is something I am not used to! (Nor is it something I approve of it, or condone in any way. I am Irish, and we like to sleep.)

After 4 or 5 days of hospital German food, I was desperate for a change. The food wasn't bad; for hospital food it was actually pretty good. It's just that I was already getting a little tired of the local cuisine before I went in to the hospital, and in the hospital it was all German food all the time. I needed something a little more familiar; I needed comfort food. That is how landed at Cheers this evening.

That's right, Cheers--you know the song. Jena's own "American Sports Bar." After looking at some pictures on facebook from a friend's barbecue, I was desperate for a cheeseburger. Rumour had it that Cheers was the place to go.

When we first walked in I was so excited. It smelled like an American burger joint, which is to say it smelled like greasy goodness. We ordered a basket of onion rings and two cheeseburgers and did our best to ignore the exorbitant prices. Michael got a Becks and I had a Fanta--the one German touch to the meal. If you've never had an orange soda in Europe, you don't know what you're missing. It's the most delicious beverage, quite unlike orange soda at home. It has juice it in, and it's nowhere near as sweet as, say, Orange Crush. I'm a big fan. Still, we paid about as much for the Fanta as we did the Becks. I'm still not used to that

We had been told by several German friends that they serve fries and such in giant baskets. Our onion rings did come in a basket, but we have been spoiled by American decadence (or gluttony--hard to say). This would have been a small order back home. It was plenty, of course, especially since our burgers came with fries, but it was interesting to compare our notions of a "giant" basket of appetizers.

Then came the burgers! We were given two condiment containers when we sat down: one red and one yellow. This was the first time in Jena that we have been given unlimited ketchup, and I quite appreciated it. The "mustard", however, was another story. It was not mustard. It was either dill-flavored mayonaise or some kind of butter, we really couldn't tell which, but we left it alone. The burgers, as you can see, looked a lot like American burgers. Alas, they did not taste so much like American burgers. They were not bad, they were just very different; kind of like a meatloaf sandwich with some interesting extras thrown in. (The fries were good too, but they come with Paprika on them, so they are also not quite like what you'd get at home.)

All in all, we had a lovely evening. I am very happy to be out and about again, and extremely thankful for the baby's health. A weird cheeseburger was still a very nice change, and the onion rings made me feel like I was back home for a few minutes. And now, once again, it's back to bed I go :)

EuroLife: Day 62

Just a very quick note to say that all is well, and regular blog programming should return tomorrow! I had another ultrasound today and the baby looks great. In fact, today it looked much more like a baby than a gummy bear; it was very exciting.

One more funny hospital story: Yesterday I was permitted to walk around a bit inside the building. I walked up and down the (single) hallway some, and took the elevator to wander the hallway in the other 3 floors. It was very exciting. Today they told me that I could go outside, and I was actually very excited about that. It was a sunny and beautiful day, and the hospital is right downtown. Alas, when Michael came by and we set out for our walk, they told me (via Michael) that I couldn't leave the hospital grounds. It was pretty funny, we wandered around outside within the confines of the grounds. I felt a little tiny bit like a prisoner, looking over the wall down to the lovely trail that runs along a stream...

I'm mostly kidding, of course. I am bored beyond belief, but only because I feel so well. I am very thankful that things are going so well, and a little boredom is not the end of the world. And now, in about 15 hours, I get to go home!

EuroLife: Day 60

Hello again! Sorry that we abandoned the blog for a few days, things have been pretty crazy. The short version of the story is that everything seems to be OK, but I'm on bed-rest in the Frauenklinik for another couple of days or so. I had some bleeding, but they have been doing regular ultrasounds and the baby appears to be perfectly fine. The heart-rate is perfectly normal, and the size is exactly what it should be. (He/she also resembles a Gummy Bear, as the ultrasound tech pointed out to me this afternoon. I laughed out loud, she was exactly right! Well, except for the ears.) I also feel fine, apart from being tired and a bit bored. I've been tired for weeks, so that's nothing new, and the boredom was helped significantly when Michael brought me this laptop and a stack of DVDs with American TV shows.

I thought I would do a quick post on how different hospitals are here. I first suspected a difference a few weeks ago, when reading a brochure about giving birth in Germany. If you have the baby in the hospital, the first 7 nights are free. Yes, you read that correctly, 7 nights. After that, you have to pay 10 Euros a night. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a bit more expensive at home :) My stay here shouldn't cost us anything at all. Here in the Frauenklinic, the atmosphere is incredibly laid-back. Michael comes and goes as he pleases, as does my roommate's husband. I imagine they would eventually kick them out, but there aren't any real visiting hours. When he first came to see me, he tried to check in and they said "yes, hello, she's in her room" and that was it.

There are upsides and downsides to my being in Germany right now. I would never be held overnight in the hospital for this in the States, certainly not for several days. It seems I would be told to rest, take it easy, and maybe told to stay in bed for a few days. Here, I am (so far) only allowed out of bed to go down the hall to the bathroom or (and I'm only mostly sure this is OK) to take a shower. They bring me my meals in bed. I think, starting tomorrow, I'll be allowed to walk around the hospital some. If all goes well, I hope to be able to home the next day. All of this can make my condition feel more serious than it actually is. There is one glorious upside though--they do ultrasounds here all the time. I had one the night I came in (Saturday) and one today. I think they will be daily during the week, and then I see my doctor on Friday (a visit we had already scheduled) and she will do one as well. Apparently, they do them routinely for the first 12 weeks. It is an incredible comfort to see that little baby with its tiny beating heart.

Well, I suppose I'll watch another Law and Order. We will be our regular blogging-selves in a few days again! (Michael has very generously offered to let me keep the laptop, our only access to the internet, here with me. Otherwise, he would be writing!) In the meantime, we really appreciate all of the prayers that our friends and family have been offering for our tiny baby. I was really very moved yesterday while praying for our child; it occurred to me at once just how many people I knew to be praying for this unborn child and it was was a real comfort.

Ok, since we've never had a post without a photo before, it seems I should include one. Given the somewhat heavy nature of today's post, I have chosen my favorite picture from Girls Week 2007...I know Karen and Steph won't mind. We had just seen the most recent Harry Potter movie at an IMAX theater in 3d. It was extremely cool. The 3D glasses were not.

EuroLife: Day 58

Success! We had a lovely American Thanksgiving here in Jena. Laura, Michael and I arrived at about 3:30, and somehow dinner was on the table at about 7:10. Thanksgiving dinner is significantly less difficult when you have 3 additional people willing to chop, peel, or do whatever is necessary. It also helps to have somebody deliver a hot, cooked turkey.

We made an enormous vat of stuffing with sourdough bread from a local bakery, which you can see in the first picture. It was great, we didn't have quite enough onions and we needed some sage so our host, Waldene, ran out to the garden and grabbed some of each! I thought that was very cool.

We did hit one snag. The lovely pie crust that Michael had made last night somehow didn't make it into our backpack full of supplies. He quickly made another one, absent any recipe, and then wrestled with the lack-of-a-pie-pan problem. I guess they don't really make pies here. They make lovely tortes and cakes, but not pies like the ones we make. In the end, he pressed the crust into a springform pan. Walden set it on the steps in the entryway to cool, next to what look to be some apples from a tree in their yard. I thought that made for a nice scene.

When we sat down to eat, there was a great deal of murmuring about the sweet potatoes. I'm not sure if any of the German's had ever eaten sweet potatoes before! (Many said they had not, though I didn't exactly quiz everyone.) Let's just say the general attitude towards these so-called "sweet potatoes" ranged from politely tentative to deeply suspicious. To be fair, if you begin by imagining potatoes, and then imagine them as sweet, you can understand why these things might not sound so appetizing.

Well, before long, they were in high demand! We ran out very quickly; it was fun to see the looks of genuine surprise and delight on people's faces as they tried them.

There were 13 people at the dinner table, and we had a wonderful time. I would write more about the various guests and conversations, but it's now after midnight and I am full of turkey. (Good turkey, too! It was delivered hot, fresh, and not too dry!)

After dinner, we all went upstairs into the living room for a respite between dinner and desert. We played a super fun card game (Dutch Blitz--it's apparently an American game), and then Laura played the piano for us all. I played a few songs on the guitar, Rici (Walden and Thomas' daughter) sang a number of songs, and it was all really very nice!

Then we all went back to the table, which Robert (Waldene and Thomas' son) had cleaned and set for desert. I made some whipped cream and we served the pumpkin pie! (They were at least as suspicious of the pumpkin pie as they were the sweet potatoes, though I think we mostly won them over in the end :) The pie turned out pretty well! The crust was not very crispy, not really having been exposed to the heat directly, but on the whole I liked it very much. Robert took one bite and said "Oh! It tastes like Christmas!" They all agreed. I thought that was a great description.

EuroLife: Day 57

The Last Pumpkin in Jena

At least, I hope it's a pumpkin. It doesn't look like the "sugar pumpkin" that I was looking for, and it doesn't look like the kind of pumpkin used for Jack O'Lanterns, but surely it's some variety of pumpkin. I hope.

Tomorrow night, Michael and I (with the help of our friend Laura) will be cooking a traditional American Thanksgiving meal at the home of a family that we met through church. There will be about a dozen people there, and it is our host's birthday, so I'm a little bit nervous. We won't actually have to cook the turkey; due to time constraints, that was purchased pre-cooked from a nearby farm. We will be making mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and, for desert, a pumpkin pie.

I had just about given up on the pumpkin pie. A few weeks ago, I saw a big pile of pumpkins in the produce section of our grocery store. Excellent, I thought, I can get a pumpkin here for our pie come Thanksgiving. I have never actually made pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin, Libby has always taken care of that part of the process for me. Last year, however, I had my first taste of a pie made from fresh pumpkin, and I'm afraid there's no going back. So that was the plan: fresh, homemade pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, when we went shopping yesterday for tomorrow's meal, there were no pumpkins to be found. Word on the street (or, rather, in the aisle) is that the season is over here. Alright, no problem, I'll just get some canned pumpkin.

I couldn't find it yesterday, so I went to a few new shops today, to no avail. Then I went back to the first store, I'm not exactly sure why, and tried again. Finally I just asked a woman who worked in the store if they sold pumpkin puree. (You would have delayed this seemingly inevitable move, too, if you had to pose this question in German and you were a sleepy English speaker.) She looked at me as if I was crazy, and told me that they only sell them whole--and the season is over.

Truth be told, she was not quite right. I found two manifestations of pumpkin in that grocery store. First, there was cubed pumpkin--available in a jar floating in a sweet & sour mixture. I couldn't imagine making that work in a pie. Then, as I was leaving, I saw what sure looked to be pumpkin puree...in the baby food aisle. Still, puree is puree, right? I took a closer look. Sure enough, there was a pumpkin on the cover...but what was that next to the pumpkin? Aah, Chicken. Yes, well, that would work for the slightly-less-traditional pumpkin and chicken pie, but probably not what I had in mind.

So I quit and decided to make apple pie. Not knowing which kind of apples to get, I left feeling pretty dejected. Halfway home I came upon the outdoor produce stands that often pop-up in the afternoons in Jena. I nearly walked right past it, then I did a double take and, I am embarrassed to admit, a very small dance. The pumpkin (I hope) shown above was sitting in a big box, next to another tiny pumpkin. I picked it up and the man said "Ah, the last one!" It turns out pumpkins are not cheap in Jena, but I found one!

You will no doubt have noticed by now that my pumpkin was not really the very last pumpkin in Jena; after all, I left the little tiny one in the box. Still, it was the last pumpkin of any real consequence, and "The Last Pumpkin of Any Real Consequence in Jena" would be a rather unwieldy title.

EuroLife: Day 56

Winter Light

The sun hugs the horizon these days, and my body never knows what time it is. Strangely, the feeling reminds me of late summer evenings in the far North, when the sun lingers for hours and it seems like time has stopped. Last night I walked home from a movie at eleven o'clock, but it felt like some unknown hour of the night.

There's a certain beauty to these days and this light. With the sun low and cotton clouds stretched the length of the sky, the light has a defuse, peaceful quality. Its not a brutal winter here, like in South Bend. The wind rarely blows hard or cold, and the temperature rises ten degrees above freezing most every day. The trees are bare, now, and we can see the contours and lines of the hills as walk along paths that wind up valleys and follow along ridges.

The leaves have turned the same orange-brown, no more yellows, lingering greens, or brilliant reds. They form a flattened mass stuck with mud to the ground, slowly turning to dirt.

The winter air is perfect for our afternoon walks. Cold and clear without burning the lungs. I often sweat a little as I climb the hills in a light T-shirt and unzipped sweatshirt. It's an hour to the Napoleon stone and back. Then its off the library for a long dark evening, where I read in the light of a desk lamp. Michael.

EuroLife: Day 56

The Newest Member of the Family

This is Clover, our woolly headed, warm hearted, mischievous friend. As should be the case with all things cute and small, his name is a pun, signifying both his cloven feet and the green clovers in the fields where his warm blooded cousins graze. (Regarding names as puns: we once had a Bichon named Chewy. This satisfied my little sisters, who thought we named him that because he chewed on things. It also satisfied my brothers, who took it to be short for Chewbacca the Wookie.)

Someday I plan to take Clover up to mountains to see his cousins. He doesn't believe me that some sheep live out doors, even when its raining.

Clover is not, however, the new member of the family, though as you can probably tell, he does bare the weight of a great deal of personification. About a month ago, we were walking downtown and Dolores saw Clover in the store. She was sure he wanted to come home with us. So she struck a deal: Will you buy him for me if we find out I'm pregnant, she asked. I agreed. The rest, as they say, is history.


So here is a picture of the newest member of the family. It's sort of an abstract or expressionist rendering. Or a computer generated image. Take your pick. We went to the doctor yesterday, and we saw its heart beating. I've told Dolores that when the baby is born she must give Clover to the baby. Then we can take a picture of them together. So now you all have something to look forward to -- a picture of Clover and our baby, together.

EuroLife: Day 55

Me again! Yesterday was Michael's turn, but I was so excited about skiing that he let me hijack his rightful post. Alas, now we have had a very long day and Michael has been speaking in, and listening to, German for hours and hours. So, here I am again :) But Michael will return again tomorrow, have no fear.

Germany is a dog-lover's dreamland. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for people who are afraid of dogs to live in Germany. Indeed, I can only suppose that nobody in Germany is afraid of dogs; it would be rather like being afraid of squirrels and living on Long Island. Here, we see dogs in the mall, dogs in the train station, dogs wandering through drug stores and sitting patiently in the bank while their owner uses the ATM. It is perfectly acceptable to bring your dog with you on all of your errands, inside or out. Most dogs are on leashes, but not all of them. Many are just very well behaved, and walk beside their owners as if they were on a leash.

Today's photo is meant to show what happens when you let your dog believe that she can go everywhere that you can. When she can't, she gets very, very sad. Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever seen a dog in our grocery store. It seems plausible that they would be excluded from this one little errand, given all of the food and all. The door that you see is the door to a small mall, and directly inside is a grocery store. My guess is that this dog's owner was just going into the grocery store, and so had the dog wait outside. I would also venture a guess that the dog has been allowed in the mall before, but I could be wrong. Whatever the reason, this dog sat outside of the automatic doors gazing wistfully inside in a most pathetic fashion. I know that we've all seen dogs waiting for their owners before, and I can't make you believe that this was different, but I can ask you to take my word for it. The poor dog looked downright devastated. I had to take a picture.

That's all for tonight! Ooh, except for one post-script to yesterday's entry. It turns out that Oberhof, where we were skiing, is quite famous. It's where the German Olympic cross country ski team practices! The trail that we were on goes for 104 miles, though I'm not sure how much of it is ski-able. It is, I just learned, a very popular hiking trail as well.

EuroLife: Day 54

Don't ever let anyone tell you that the Germans are not friendly to newcomers. I realize that my experience has been limited to Jena, but Michael and I have been amazed by the hospitality that we've been shown.

This morning after church, we went downstairs to get coffee and tea as we always do. The coffee hour is run by volunteers, and today the server was a man that we had not yet met. He introduced himself, his name is Bertold, and he and Michael spoke for a while about the usual--where are you from, how long will you be here, etc. Bertold was born in Jena, and Michael and I were talking about how much we like it. "Until the weather changed, we were doing a lot of walking", said Michael. (Only auf Deutsch :) "Yes, but now that it's cold you can ski!" said Bertold. I won't bore you with the dialog, but here's what unfolded: Bertold explained that we were only about an hour from excellent skiing, both cross country and downhill. He asked if we had a roadmap, we answered that we don't have a car. He said, "well we can go sometime. For example, what are you doing today?" One hour later, he picked us up outside of our apartment and off we went!

It's worth noting that there is absolutely no snow in Jena right now. In fact, there was scarcely and snow anywhere for most of the drive! Gradually, we began to see some, then a bit more. Finally, we drove through a very long tunnel--nearly 9km, or 5.6 miles. (Michael just told me that it is the longest in Germany. Who knew?) On the other side of the tunnel it was a Winter Wonderland.




The day was practically perfect. The conditions were great, and it was fun to see so many families out together--parents pulling babies in covered sleds that looked like mobile cradles, kids with sleds, and tons of fellow cross country skiers. It was active, but not crowded, and there were great tracks which made the skiing a bit easier.

Easier--but not easy. We started off with great gusto. I, especially, was hauling away as quickly as I could, leading the pack and just loving the winter air. Suffice it to say I failed to consider just how much work 2 1/2 hours of cross-country skiing is. As I write this, I am happy to be able to move my fingers. My arms and legs are feeling a lot less fortunate. But I am happy! I have been doing an awful lot of sitting around lately, and it felt so good to be outside and in the snow. It helped, of course, that he scenery was beyond beautiful. At one point, the sun even came out! It was a fleeting view, but a lovely one.

In this picture, you can see Bertold. We had a blast with him! He's absolutely hysterical. He is also a man of strong opinions, and he and Michael had some heated discussions in the car. Not hostile, just animated. It turns out that he was not permitted to study in the University. He disagreed with the worldview of the Communist party, and he was honest (indeed forthright) about this, so he was not allowed to enroll. (I believe he told them outright that he disagreed with their fundamental conception of human nature.)

All told, we covered roughly ten miles on skis. It really was cross-country skiing, too; sometimes we would go uphill for what seemed like an eternity, then we would coast (ideally) or flail (often) down gradual, but lengthy declines. The weather was perfect. The activity kept us more than warm enough in our light jackets and sweaters. (Our real winter weather gear is in Atlanta, not having made the cut for our first trip.)

Once we stopped moving, we got pretty cold. In fact, after the hour-long drive home in fairly wet clothing, we ran shivering into our apartment to get changed and crank up the heat. I looked in the mirror, and my lips were blue. Actually blue! I don't know if this has ever really happened to me before. It made me laugh.

Now for the truly great news. This astonishingly beautiful area is just over an hour away from our apartment. Much of that was driven on the autobahn, so there's no telling how far it actually is from here, but whatever distance it is can be covered in about 70 minutes. So, for those of you who are considering a winter visit, let this be your motivation!

PS-If you would like to see more photos from today, I posted them on my Facebook site. You don't have to have a Facebook account to see them, just copy and paste the following link into your browser
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121294&l=8f63e&id=5622074

EuroLife: Day 53

You have all no doubt heard of the Seven Wonders of the World but are you familiar with the Seven Wonders of Jena? I'm going to go ahead and assume that you are not; this seems to be the safe bet.

Michael and I began to hear about these Seven Wonders shortly after our arrival in Jena. I thought that it was a cute local joke, something thought-up by the local tourism board. I was wrong! My (relatively) reliable internet sources tell me that a Latin verse concerning the Seven Wonders of Jena can be traced back to the 16th Century. It was "expanded and revised", and by 1685 the version which is now taught had been written.

Apparently, most students memorize this Latin verse, which goes as follows: "Ara, caput, draco, mons, pons, vulpecula turris, Weigeliana domus, septem miracula Jenae. " Translated: Altar, head, dragon, the mountain, the bridge, the Fox Tower, the Weigels house, the seven wonders of Jena.

I set out this afternoon to find the Altar, the first of the wonders. I did find it, but it's currently in the middle of a construction site, so that one will have to wait. By some great stroke of fortune, I accidentally found the Head! I was in the city exploring a bit, and I heard a clock begin to chime. I looked up, and there it was:

The "head" refers to the head in the center, just above the clock face. To his right (on our left) is a man with a gold ball on a stick. As the clock chimes the hour, the man brings the ball towards the head, which leans forward and tries to get the ball with his mouth. It does this once for every chime; I watched this happen just before taking the picture. (Maybe one day I'll be fast enough, and adequately prepared, to take a picture while it's happening.)

Even without a story, this is very cool to see. It reminded me of watching the eagle flap its wings in Stony Brook; I still get excited when I'm around to see that. With the story, this first wonder is fantastic.

First, the gold ball: apparently, it's supposed to represent a local delicacy--it's a potato-based ball, I'm not sure exactly what it's called. Still, I find that very amusing. The poor head is just trying to grab a bite to eat.

However, it is in everybody's self-interest that this head never get that little gold ball. If he does, the world will end. That is, if the legend is to be believed. This is a very impressive legend, far reaching in its scope. It's not merely that the church and its clock-tower will collapse, or that the city will come to great peril; the world will end. We can only hope that whoever designed this was very, very precise in implementing his plans. Anything else would be downright irresponsible.

So that's the first of the seven wonders, though really it's the second. The first, as I said, is under construction and will need to wait.

EuroLife: Day 52

Cultural Imperialism the American Way:
Effortless, Unintentional,
and with a Hint of Self-Loathing

I find it interesting how many Americans -- myself included -- feel somewhat uncomfortable about the worldwide hegemony of American culture. By contrast, the French and the Germans spread their culture with much intentional effort and shameless self-promotion. The German government funds the Goethe Institute, which describes itself as the "the Federal Republic of Germany’s cultural institution operational worldwide." Sounds nefarious, doesn't it? And the French are so interested in spreading their language that they provide free French lessons to ministers of the EU.

By contrast, we don't do anything, or at least we don't do anything to intentionally spread our language. Somehow, though, it shows up all over the place. It showed up today, for instance, in the doctors office. (I had to go and get a checkup to make sure I was fit for the job. We talked about the hazards of my occupation which can include, but are not limited to, watery eyes from too much reading and computer time, sore back from too much spent hunched over reading, tight shoulders, etc. Its a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.) The doctors office had a lot of free literature about the dangers of smoking. Although the pamphlets were in German, their titles were in English. What about the Germans who don't read English? Doesn't anyone want them to quit smoking?

The second pamphlet tells girls not to smoke. It shows happy smiling girls. Why are they happy? Because they don't smoke and have white teeth? Because they're at a party and everyone likes to smoke at a party? Or because girls just want to have fun?

Apparently, the advertising wizards who came up with this campaign thought the literature should be gender specific. There was another pamphlet with a cover that read: "Stop Smoking -- Boys," though I thought, "Stop smoking, boy," would be more effective.

EuroLife: Day 51

First Snow!

We had our first snow yesterday, and it snowed throughout most of today. There wasn't much accumulation (if any) in the city but the hills looked beautiful. As is always the case with these things, it's difficult to capture in a photograph, but the picture above was taken yesterday afternoon on our street. The difference between the hills and the city is striking. Michael and I have decided that the heat from the city must keep the snow from accumulating; it's can't simply be the difference in altitude. Our little Jena hills are not very big, and the snow starts to stick as soon as you get away from the city streets.

We did get a tiny bit of accumulation this afternoon, and it was nice to see the way our backyard (well, I call it our backyard) was transformed. I suppose what was really nice, given how minimal this transformation was, was imagining how it will all look when we get some real snow. This is a view from the door to our apartment; the vine-covered wall shown in our very first post is off to the left of this scene. There wasn't much snow at the time, but it was still nice to see the bushes and the swing capped with snow.

From what the weatherman tells us, Jena is scheduled to see the sun again sometime on Monday. This should be very exciting. We almost saw it today; we could definitely tell where it was, and it was trying its best to break through the clouds. Alas, its best was not enough. The snow brightens things up a bit, though, so hopefully that will continue. In the meantime, we have taken to using Michael's sunlamp for some extra lighting around the house from time to time. The sun, or what we see of it, sets at about 4:25 in the afternoon. This is not ideal.

The last picture is of a path that Michael and I sometimes take to and from the Mensa. I just like it; I think it's a lovely way to get from place to place. The building in the background belongs to the University, and it quite old and historic. We have not yet successfully determined exactly what it is, but we will find out one of these days and let you know. I realize how difficult the wait will be, and I apologize :)

I'm sorry I don't have more to say today. I have been taken out by a mighty cold, a cold like no other, and I have been rather lazy. It's hard to share exciting stories without first experiencing said exciting stories, so here we are. Surely my wild & crazy Jena exploring ways will soon return! Until then, there's always the weather.

EuroLife: Day 50

English: The Language of Management,
Convenience, and Sex-Appeal

For some time now I've intended to do a post on the presence of the English language in Germany. It's not that most people here speak English well. They don't. Of course the professors and the advanced students at the university all speak or at least understand English quite well. When I was preparing for my presentation before the SFB last week, I was told I could give the presentation in English if I wanted to. If I had done so, I've no doubt most people would have understood me quite well.


What strikes me more than the number of people who speak or at least understand English, however, is the omnipresence of English words and phrases in advertising and other venues of everyday life. Until I set out to take the pictures you see in this post, I had no idea just how common English actually was. I took all these pictures in a ten minute walk. It only took me ten minutes because I stopped to take all these pictures. I took all of these pictures -- and about seven more that I'm not including in the post -- within the space of about two blocks. So, with the occasional comments, here they are.















This is why I'm hot? What is why? And a bear that needs to get well soon. Strange, very strange.

Software, last minute travel opportunities, and uh...the local gentleman's club. I hear its quite authentic, just like back home.

Yes, Italy's favorite coffee. But why not tell us in Italian? What's wrong with Italian? Not chic anymore?
We'll there are plenty more pictures, but you get the idea.