Hey all!
I had so much fun with Steffi and her family yesterday! It was wonderful. Steffi picked me up promptly at 3:00, and we went back to her house. I was really nervous, because when Martin and Steffi and I had gone to see her family, the whole conversation was very rapid-fire German, and I couldn't keep up. I was afraid that when I went back it was going to be something similar. I really shouldn't have worried. They were more than hospitable, and the whole time I was there the conversations were made up of a hysterical and slightly surreal mixture of German and English. Whenever we couldn't think of a word in German or in English and no one else could supply the necessary word, we would all say "LEO!" and run over to the German-English dictionary online to look it up. And quite often, if we were saying something in English, Steffi's daughter would tug on her mom's arm and say "Sag mal, Mama, Sag mal!" (Tell me please, momma!)
I had so much fun with Steffi and her family yesterday! It was wonderful. Steffi picked me up promptly at 3:00, and we went back to her house. I was really nervous, because when Martin and Steffi and I had gone to see her family, the whole conversation was very rapid-fire German, and I couldn't keep up. I was afraid that when I went back it was going to be something similar. I really shouldn't have worried. They were more than hospitable, and the whole time I was there the conversations were made up of a hysterical and slightly surreal mixture of German and English. Whenever we couldn't think of a word in German or in English and no one else could supply the necessary word, we would all say "LEO!" and run over to the German-English dictionary online to look it up. And quite often, if we were saying something in English, Steffi's daughter would tug on her mom's arm and say "Sag mal, Mama, Sag mal!" (Tell me please, momma!)
When I got there, Steffi's daughter was busy setting the table and making origami napkins (I am bringing mine home...It is quite lovely!) Steffi made tea, and we all sat down to have the best homemade cheesecake I have ever eaten in my life (and there were fresh strawberries! Yum!)
Afterwards, we all sat and talked and had a wonderful time. The kids showed me their rooms, and I found out that they have the Funky Chicken (is that what it's called? I think that that is right) here as well! With all of the same motions and everything! I giggled at that, and danced along with both of the kids. I also got to listen to a bunch of Disney music in German. The kids would sing along in German, and I would sing in English. It was great fun!
I mentioned that I needed to rent a bike while I'm here so that I could visit places that are a bit farther away. Steffi volunteered to let me borrow her bike, because she doesn't use it very often. So we went outside into their garden (which is beautiful, by the way) and pulled out the bicycles and took them out to the spielstrasse, which literally means play-street. It isn't exactly an alley, but it is a little road for the kids to play on where no cars can go. The bike was a bit too tall for me, and I haven't been on a bike in probably 6 or 7 years, so it was pretty funny. I almost fell off a few times. I'm going to have to practice in a parking lot or something before I will be willing to ride it out on the streets. (Also, I defy ANYONE to say that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget!)
After that, we went back inside to hang out for a while longer, and they asked me if I wanted to stay for Abendbrot. Of course, I said that I would love to if they didn't mind. Abendbrot was a very interesting experience. Essentially, they simply heat up a bunch of different types of bread, and put out all sorts of "toppings" for it. So, for instance, there was salami, and pickles, and some sort of cream-cheese spread with horseradish, and all sorts of other things. Not really the sort of things you need in order to make a sandwhich, but somewhat similar. It is a very very light meal. I suppose that maybe they have a big breakfast and lunch and then only eat lightly at dinner, whereas we do the exact opposite. (That might explain why all of the guys at the lab stay until 9 or 10 at night without having any dinner). Anyway, it was very cool, and really delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner, we sat and talked even more, and I gave the kids some money from the States (a few quarters, a dollar bill, some other coins, etc). Michael (that is Steffi's husband) was very surprised by the state quarters. Apparently he has a few old quarters, but didn't know that we had started making a quarter for each state. I really wish that I had had a few of the new nickles and pennies to take, but I didn't. I did show them Lincoln sitting in the middle of the memorial on the back of the penny, though, and they thought that that was really neat.
Afterwards, we all sat and talked and had a wonderful time. The kids showed me their rooms, and I found out that they have the Funky Chicken (is that what it's called? I think that that is right) here as well! With all of the same motions and everything! I giggled at that, and danced along with both of the kids. I also got to listen to a bunch of Disney music in German. The kids would sing along in German, and I would sing in English. It was great fun!
I mentioned that I needed to rent a bike while I'm here so that I could visit places that are a bit farther away. Steffi volunteered to let me borrow her bike, because she doesn't use it very often. So we went outside into their garden (which is beautiful, by the way) and pulled out the bicycles and took them out to the spielstrasse, which literally means play-street. It isn't exactly an alley, but it is a little road for the kids to play on where no cars can go. The bike was a bit too tall for me, and I haven't been on a bike in probably 6 or 7 years, so it was pretty funny. I almost fell off a few times. I'm going to have to practice in a parking lot or something before I will be willing to ride it out on the streets. (Also, I defy ANYONE to say that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget!)
After that, we went back inside to hang out for a while longer, and they asked me if I wanted to stay for Abendbrot. Of course, I said that I would love to if they didn't mind. Abendbrot was a very interesting experience. Essentially, they simply heat up a bunch of different types of bread, and put out all sorts of "toppings" for it. So, for instance, there was salami, and pickles, and some sort of cream-cheese spread with horseradish, and all sorts of other things. Not really the sort of things you need in order to make a sandwhich, but somewhat similar. It is a very very light meal. I suppose that maybe they have a big breakfast and lunch and then only eat lightly at dinner, whereas we do the exact opposite. (That might explain why all of the guys at the lab stay until 9 or 10 at night without having any dinner). Anyway, it was very cool, and really delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner, we sat and talked even more, and I gave the kids some money from the States (a few quarters, a dollar bill, some other coins, etc). Michael (that is Steffi's husband) was very surprised by the state quarters. Apparently he has a few old quarters, but didn't know that we had started making a quarter for each state. I really wish that I had had a few of the new nickles and pennies to take, but I didn't. I did show them Lincoln sitting in the middle of the memorial on the back of the penny, though, and they thought that that was really neat.
The money was sort of my gift to them because I couldn't find any flowers to take. It is tradition that when you go to visit someone's house, you take flowers or something similar as a gift. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the city on Saturday, the Markt was closed and I couldn't find any flower vendors to buy from. I think Steffi liked the though because she said that it is very hard to find American money in Europe (yes I know that it may have something to do with the fact that they don't use American money here. Haha). Apparently, they don't like to get their money changed before they visit the States because it is so expensive to do so. She said that it costs 20 Euros to get the currency changed, which is about 30 dollars. Most people just use their credit cards and don't deal with currency at all, which means that they don't have any to bring back with them from their visit.
And that was my visit to Steffi's house. It was really lovely!
Erm...and that brings me to today. I finally met Pingkalai and Thomas! Pingkalai is very sweet. She speaks excellent English, although she speaks very quickly with a thick accent, so it is sometimes difficult to understand. She strikes me as a very practical, but pretty easy going person. She can't stay still, either. The whole time I was talking to her this morning, her leg was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing! I'm anxious to get to know her a bit better. I think that we will get along well. Thomas also seems very nice, although I didn't get to talk to him quite as much as Pingkalai. He, like most of the older guys in the lab, speaks with a bit of a British accent, which tends to make me giggle. The younger guys (with the exception of William and Simon) speak with very strong German accents.
Other than that, it was a fairly typical day. I set up everything for my behavioral assays tomorrow. I worked with William on collecting and fixing fly embryos and taking pictures of the in situ slides that I made on Friday. I read a few papers that I've been meaning to read for the last week or so. Etc, etc.
At about 6:00, everyone that was still at the lab went over to the Klinikum for ice cream. It was fun, but the conversations were all in German, and I was having some trouble following. I know that at first they were talking about old movies, like Ben Hur, and then about German soap operas, and other things. Again, I had a bit of trouble following along, but I really enjoy listening to the German and seeing what I can figure out.
And that was my visit to Steffi's house. It was really lovely!
Erm...and that brings me to today. I finally met Pingkalai and Thomas! Pingkalai is very sweet. She speaks excellent English, although she speaks very quickly with a thick accent, so it is sometimes difficult to understand. She strikes me as a very practical, but pretty easy going person. She can't stay still, either. The whole time I was talking to her this morning, her leg was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing! I'm anxious to get to know her a bit better. I think that we will get along well. Thomas also seems very nice, although I didn't get to talk to him quite as much as Pingkalai. He, like most of the older guys in the lab, speaks with a bit of a British accent, which tends to make me giggle. The younger guys (with the exception of William and Simon) speak with very strong German accents.
Other than that, it was a fairly typical day. I set up everything for my behavioral assays tomorrow. I worked with William on collecting and fixing fly embryos and taking pictures of the in situ slides that I made on Friday. I read a few papers that I've been meaning to read for the last week or so. Etc, etc.
At about 6:00, everyone that was still at the lab went over to the Klinikum for ice cream. It was fun, but the conversations were all in German, and I was having some trouble following. I know that at first they were talking about old movies, like Ben Hur, and then about German soap operas, and other things. Again, I had a bit of trouble following along, but I really enjoy listening to the German and seeing what I can figure out.
Oh, and after we got back, out of the blue, Robert walks into the room and says "Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what happened to the back of your neck?" (Referring to my Neck Spot, of course). So then I had to explain that for some mostly unknown reason all of the fatty tissue in that area went away, and the skin hyper-pigments, and all of that stuff. I guess I was just surprised that it had come up because I had emailed Mom only two weeks ago to ask what it was called.
And thus, you have all the silly little details of my day that you probably didn't really want to know. (Just remember, I'm using this in place of a personal journal so that I can remember what has happened too! So please, be patient with me, all of you who couldn't care less about the details. And I hope that everyone else enjoys them!)
And thus, you have all the silly little details of my day that you probably didn't really want to know. (Just remember, I'm using this in place of a personal journal so that I can remember what has happened too! So please, be patient with me, all of you who couldn't care less about the details. And I hope that everyone else enjoys them!)
Kacey, I LOVE all the little details--not a one is too petty! It makes me feel like I'm there, too, and I know others have said the same. You are right about the Europeans having larger meals earlier in the day, and the smallest one in the evening. That is one thing I do remember about Europe. Actually, that is the smarter way to do it--we really should do the same.
ReplyDeleteThat was SO nice of Steffi to let you borrow her bike! I'm glad you had such a great time with her and her family. Which one is Steffi in the picture?--I can't tell.
That's so neat that you got to do fun things with the kids, too. They will never forget that!
I asked Kristi about the experience of the other day and she really didn't know. And Jan wasn't available at the time to ask. But she did say to encourage you to make the most of your time there so that you will leave with no regrets. Meaning, I think, that you can look for ways to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself, in a gracious way that will endear you to others. You have that way about you anyway, as a part of your nature. Just don't be timid when opportunities come up--you can pray for wisdom in advance, for understanding and what to say and do to avail yourself of them.
Oh, now I want some ice cream AND some cheesecake!! Wahooooo!! Can you smuggle me some in your suitcase? ::giggle:: It sounds like you had such a wonderful time at Steffi's house. She sounds like a wonderful person. I laughed about the "Leo" thing & "The Funky Chicken." Ha ha ha ha!!! It probably made her day that you had "money gifts" for her kids. That probably meant more to her than the flowers would have anyway. I, too, love the details!! You are so good at that. I miss you!!!!! Love, Sheila :-)
ReplyDeleteHi, Sweetiepie! Just be careful on that bike! I think some of your difficulty is because it is a little too tall for you. And stop fretting about the language thing. By the time you leave, as smart as you are, you will be following it and speaking it like a seasoned veteran. I loved the "Leo" thing! That was a hoot! It is like enjoying a really good book to read all the little details you supply about life over there. And I hadn't even thought about it being a journal you could read yourself later and remember all that you did. I am feeling great and hope to be as good as new soon. Take care!
ReplyDeleteLove you! Mom
Kace, ditto to the previous comments about loving to read all the details, even if it is serving as your journal - we love it. Now, as for the bike, can't the seat be lowered a little bit? Most bikes have adjustable seats, as not every rider will be the same height. Being able to put your feet on the ground at a standstill will give you added stability and assurance in your riding. Good luck! Hugs and prayers!
ReplyDelete