I learned today that the Hungarian language is not closely related to the language of its neighbor countries, but more closely related to the Finnish language. I found this out when I also learned that the nice German lady who is married to a Brit that I see every morning on the playground is not, in fact, German, but Hungarian. When I asked her if Hungarian is like German, I got my morning lesson in linguistics. Hungarian and Finnish are also related to the language spoken in Estonia. So there you go. I am going to be so smart when I come back, I won't be able to talk to regular people.
Speaking of smart, got locked out of the house last night and Maddie and I went to our friend's house until Skip got home from Amsterdam. At the Foster's house, we played "Bug Bingo" where each "number" is a picture of a bug and the card has a description of the bug on it. When we got to the walking stick, Joy asked the kids "Why would a bug look like a stick?" Maddie said, "So it can blend in with it's surroundings." I looked at her and asked, "How do you know this?" She just shrugged.
Anyway, today my education continued when I went down the International Aisle at the local Real store to see if I might possible score some canned chicken broth. And had to reconcile myself to the fact that you have to boil your own chicken bones or use a powder and some boiling water. However, I stumbled upon a find in the Russian section. Germans do not use sweetened condensed milk, but apparently Russians do. Not that I have a daily need for condensed milk, but it's nice to be able to access it.
We have Trunk or Treat tonight at ISD. Maddie is quite excited. It is really expensive buying Halloween Candy here as you do not have the benefit of the seasonal specials!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Time Change
We here in Germany fell back one week earlier than our American counterparts. So for those of you in the Central Time Zone, for the next week, we'll only be 6 hours ahead of you instead of 7. Just an FYI.
Am trying to muck through a pile of laundry that appeared over the course of this week and catch up on all the other stuff that got left behind in the wake of the Halloween Party. Have I mentioned that I'm glad that's over?
At church this morning, we prayed for the Queen. That would be the Queen of England. We didn't pray for the prime minister or any other world leaders, but we did pray for the Queen. I think it's time the Anglicans updated their prayer book.
Skip is off at a Brussir Dortmund game this evening. He has really enjoyed the season tickets he got with his cousin Torsten. Maddie and I had her friends Matthew and Madison over this afternoon to give mom Joy a break as she's juggling 4 kids and a husband in the hospital. He continues to improve, but will probably be there for at least a week. To make things even better, all the kids are out of school on Thursday and Friday for All Souls and All Saints days. They don't even pretend to hold school at that place!
Want to get Maddie to bed early tonight. It is so hard to get her out the door when it's still dark outside! I think it should still be light when we leave the house for another month or so, but I have to get her up when it's still dark. She hates that. She also hates going to bed in the spring when it's still light. Would have made a good farm kid. To bed when the sun goes down. Wake up when the sun comes up. It's all that work in between that wouldn't work for her.
Am trying to muck through a pile of laundry that appeared over the course of this week and catch up on all the other stuff that got left behind in the wake of the Halloween Party. Have I mentioned that I'm glad that's over?
At church this morning, we prayed for the Queen. That would be the Queen of England. We didn't pray for the prime minister or any other world leaders, but we did pray for the Queen. I think it's time the Anglicans updated their prayer book.
Skip is off at a Brussir Dortmund game this evening. He has really enjoyed the season tickets he got with his cousin Torsten. Maddie and I had her friends Matthew and Madison over this afternoon to give mom Joy a break as she's juggling 4 kids and a husband in the hospital. He continues to improve, but will probably be there for at least a week. To make things even better, all the kids are out of school on Thursday and Friday for All Souls and All Saints days. They don't even pretend to hold school at that place!
Want to get Maddie to bed early tonight. It is so hard to get her out the door when it's still dark outside! I think it should still be light when we leave the house for another month or so, but I have to get her up when it's still dark. She hates that. She also hates going to bed in the spring when it's still light. Would have made a good farm kid. To bed when the sun goes down. Wake up when the sun comes up. It's all that work in between that wouldn't work for her.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Phewff!
We did it! Pulled off the Halloween Party for the ex-pat population of Duesseldorf. The whole thing came off very well and everyone had a lot of fun. Here are some pics
Maddie going against type as an angel
Me as Tracy Turnblad from "Hairspray"
My favorite costume--this woman is 8 months pregnant--she had a bun in the oven!
Halloween Madness
Maddie going against type as an angel
Me as Tracy Turnblad from "Hairspray"
My favorite costume--this woman is 8 months pregnant--she had a bun in the oven!
Halloween Madness
Raining...metaphorically
As this monster Halloween party approaches, Skip is scrambling with a problem at work and Maddie's foot has begun breaking out where she got stung by the jelly fish over a week ago. Skip went online and learned that you can have flare ups for up to 4 weeks after being stung. Arrrrgggghhhhh! So glad I grabbed that box of chewable children's benadryl last time I was home.
Our friend Ron is out of ICU, but really uncomfortable. Just FYI, in Germany, when they ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, you better make it at least an 8 if you want any medication for it. Our friend Michelle, who is also in the hospital, learned that the hard way and I think Joy has got Ron set up now as well. All of Joy's German lessons are really paying off as most of the staff in the hospital don't speak English. They are at a hospital in Duisburg instead of the one here in Kaiserswerth. A couple of miles makes a huge difference. Everyone who grows up in Germany takes at least 5 years of English in school, but some of the staff at the hospital grew up in what used to be East Germany and they never studied English at all. Their second language is Russian.
Joy and Ron attend a Catholic church in Duesseldorf, but the American community here pretty much functions like a church community back home. People have helped with food, child care, etc. Joy has been beseiged with offers of help. It doesn't hurt that she has really nice kids who all of our kids love to play with!
Maddie is going as an angel for Halloween. I keep making remarks that she might be better suited to go as a little devil, but she's not feeling it. Hope the jellyfishyness works it way out soon. There's a party tonight and Trunk or Treat on Wednesday.
Our friend Ron is out of ICU, but really uncomfortable. Just FYI, in Germany, when they ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, you better make it at least an 8 if you want any medication for it. Our friend Michelle, who is also in the hospital, learned that the hard way and I think Joy has got Ron set up now as well. All of Joy's German lessons are really paying off as most of the staff in the hospital don't speak English. They are at a hospital in Duisburg instead of the one here in Kaiserswerth. A couple of miles makes a huge difference. Everyone who grows up in Germany takes at least 5 years of English in school, but some of the staff at the hospital grew up in what used to be East Germany and they never studied English at all. Their second language is Russian.
Joy and Ron attend a Catholic church in Duesseldorf, but the American community here pretty much functions like a church community back home. People have helped with food, child care, etc. Joy has been beseiged with offers of help. It doesn't hurt that she has really nice kids who all of our kids love to play with!
Maddie is going as an angel for Halloween. I keep making remarks that she might be better suited to go as a little devil, but she's not feeling it. Hope the jellyfishyness works it way out soon. There's a party tonight and Trunk or Treat on Wednesday.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Never Rains But it Pours
Actually not talking about the weather--which has been pleasantly dry, if rather cold.
Getting ready for this big Halloween Party I am co-chairing on Saturday. I can't wait to have a paying job again. This volunteer stuff is exhausting.
So, trying to get all the stuff together and get a message from my friend Joy that her husband is about to have surgery. Ron has had a sore throat for 2 weeks that morphed into ear, head and neck pain. Turns out something is actually stuck in his throat that is causing the infection. Took three trips to a GP and a visit to an ENT to figure that out.
What began as a fairly non-invasive procedure ended up being major surgery that took about 3 hours. There was a little sliver of something no bigger than a hair lodged in his throat and causing this huge infection. The doctor said it was very lucky that they were even able to locate it, it was so small. Really bizarre that something so seemingly insignificant could cause so much damage!
While all this is happening, Joy's neighbor Mary has their four kids and I'm waiting with Joy in this swank hospital room in Duisburg, reserved for private pay patients. Germany has socialized medicine, but being here has not sold me on the concept. The people with money (and private health insurance) still get the better deal. You should see this hospital room. Complete with a robe and slippers, a mini-fridge stocked with water and juice and a collection of herbal scented toiletries in a raffia-tied bag. Good thing for Ron, because he's likely to be there for at least a week. In Germany, they don't send you home as soon as they can. They wait until you're well. Interesting concept, huh?
Now I just have to find someone else with a van to help move the Plinko board out of storage. Joy will be taking hers to the hospital to be there when they take the tube out of her husband's throat. If only she were more committed to Halloween!
Getting ready for this big Halloween Party I am co-chairing on Saturday. I can't wait to have a paying job again. This volunteer stuff is exhausting.
So, trying to get all the stuff together and get a message from my friend Joy that her husband is about to have surgery. Ron has had a sore throat for 2 weeks that morphed into ear, head and neck pain. Turns out something is actually stuck in his throat that is causing the infection. Took three trips to a GP and a visit to an ENT to figure that out.
What began as a fairly non-invasive procedure ended up being major surgery that took about 3 hours. There was a little sliver of something no bigger than a hair lodged in his throat and causing this huge infection. The doctor said it was very lucky that they were even able to locate it, it was so small. Really bizarre that something so seemingly insignificant could cause so much damage!
While all this is happening, Joy's neighbor Mary has their four kids and I'm waiting with Joy in this swank hospital room in Duisburg, reserved for private pay patients. Germany has socialized medicine, but being here has not sold me on the concept. The people with money (and private health insurance) still get the better deal. You should see this hospital room. Complete with a robe and slippers, a mini-fridge stocked with water and juice and a collection of herbal scented toiletries in a raffia-tied bag. Good thing for Ron, because he's likely to be there for at least a week. In Germany, they don't send you home as soon as they can. They wait until you're well. Interesting concept, huh?
Now I just have to find someone else with a van to help move the Plinko board out of storage. Joy will be taking hers to the hospital to be there when they take the tube out of her husband's throat. If only she were more committed to Halloween!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
More Mallorca
Maddie at the beach in Cala Agulla
Maddie in front of the cathedral in Palma
Maddie and Skip at the beach
Maddie and Skip walking down a street in Palma
Coming to you from the Mallorca airport McDonalds where they give you a free card for 30 minutes worth of wireless internet time with every purchase. Couldn't get access at the hotel, but you can get it at McDonalds! I believe Maddie has now eaten McDonalds in at least four different countries. We're very proud.
Here's some stuff I jotted down about Mallorca while were at the hotel:
So it’s been a little chilly for a beach vacation, but Mallorca has been really nice. The water may be chilly by now, but it is beautiful. That turquoise blue that looks like someone painted it for a postcard.
Our hotel is has an indoor heated pool that Maddie has loved and we have an 18-hole mini-golf course right on the hotel property. I’ve learned that “mini-golf” is the same word in any language!
We did have the run-in with the jellyfish. Skip and Maddie were in the ocean and they saw one. Skip didn’t think anything about it—other than to say to stay away from it. Then when she got stung and ran out of the water, he looked around and saw more. Then after he took her to the lifeguard for some first aid, we saw that they were washing up on the shore at a rate of a bout 10 a minute. Apparently, the storm from the night before washed them toward the shore. Needless to say, after that, not many people ventured into the water. Maddie was a trouper, though. Her foot swelled up with what looked like huge hives for about 30 minutes. We kept her distracted with ice cream and games of 20 questions. Then, after that, she was back to building her “sand city.”
We are staying in a little beach town called Calla Rajatda, but we took a car into Palma on Thursday to see the big city. There is this incredible cathedral there. It seems odd that such a grand cathedral should wind up on this little island off the coast of Spain. There is a beautiful old town in Palma with little windy streets that open up into unexpected courtyards and hide little shops and coffee houses. I could have wandered the streets all day. A shopkeeper recommended a local tapas restaurant to us, and we wound all around these old streets to find it, but boy, were we glad we made the effort. It was a little place that looked like something out of a movie. Terra cotta walls and tile work on the floor. An old ceramic fireplace and big strands of garlic hanging down in the open kitchen. The first thing the waitress sat down in front of us was a plate of olives that were the best olives I’ve ever had—and I’m not even that crazy about olives! Then we had dates wrapped in bacon, and they were fresh dates. I’ve never had anything but a dried date. It never occurred to me that they had to start out fresh at some point.
We're headed home and will arrive around 8:30 in Duessledorf. Maddie has a big day at school tomorrow. She has to do a presentation on what she did over her fall break. She's looking forward to telling about the jellyfish!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Mallorca
We´re here in sort of sunny Mallorca. Having a good time, but trouble getting internet access. Right now am unable to check email on hotel´s computer, but for some reason can access the blog.
Having a good time. Enjoying the island and the hotel. Our big mishap today is that Maddie got stung by a jellyfish. But she made a heroic recovery--although she did not get back in the ocean!
More soon--when we can get better access
Having a good time. Enjoying the island and the hotel. Our big mishap today is that Maddie got stung by a jellyfish. But she made a heroic recovery--although she did not get back in the ocean!
More soon--when we can get better access
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Something You'll Never See in Arkansas
Every Thursday night, a school newsletter comes to parents through e-mail. The following was in this week's edition
CORK COLLECTION
Welcome back to the school year! Hopefully you opened up some wine bottles over the summer, because we are continuing with our cork collection! For those of you who don’t know this project, we, the International Honor Society, (a group of SrS students) started it up last school year. We are collecting corks so that they can be recycled into insulation materials for housing. If you have any corks and want to get rid of them, you can drop them off at:
the entrance to the South SrS building
Mrs. Walther’s office in the North building
the entrance to the Commons Room
the Elementary School Building
Thank you!
CORK COLLECTION
Welcome back to the school year! Hopefully you opened up some wine bottles over the summer, because we are continuing with our cork collection! For those of you who don’t know this project, we, the International Honor Society, (a group of SrS students) started it up last school year. We are collecting corks so that they can be recycled into insulation materials for housing. If you have any corks and want to get rid of them, you can drop them off at:
the entrance to the South SrS building
Mrs. Walther’s office in the North building
the entrance to the Commons Room
the Elementary School Building
Thank you!
Re-Entry and Wedding Pics
Boy, re-entry is hard!
Maddie blew her record last night by waking up at 10 p.m. and pretty much throwing a fit until midnight. I knew the bubble had to burst! Rob and I are still operating at about half steam, but it's getting better. The weather has been really, really nice--if a lot colder than it was in Maryland--so that has helped.
Rosie the bunny really missed us and now we're going to leave her again to go to Mallorca (or Majorca, depending on whether you are in Spain or Germany). Maybe I'm making that up and she couldn't care less.
anyway, here are some pics from the wedding. Don't have any from the ceremony because all of us were otherwise engaged. Hopefully, the bride and groom will post some pics eventually. The setting was beautiful!
Brian and Ann are in Cabo San Lucas right now on the their honeymoon. Horst and Maja are on a Hawaiian cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and Skip and I are in Germany. If Vern and Beth would just head off to Asia (or maybe Australia), the Lentz family would be covering the 4 corners!
The Happy Couple
Hippest Flower Girl EVER
Maddie with her Papa John and Opa
The Groom, the Best Man and Maddie
Maddie blew her record last night by waking up at 10 p.m. and pretty much throwing a fit until midnight. I knew the bubble had to burst! Rob and I are still operating at about half steam, but it's getting better. The weather has been really, really nice--if a lot colder than it was in Maryland--so that has helped.
Rosie the bunny really missed us and now we're going to leave her again to go to Mallorca (or Majorca, depending on whether you are in Spain or Germany). Maybe I'm making that up and she couldn't care less.
anyway, here are some pics from the wedding. Don't have any from the ceremony because all of us were otherwise engaged. Hopefully, the bride and groom will post some pics eventually. The setting was beautiful!
Brian and Ann are in Cabo San Lucas right now on the their honeymoon. Horst and Maja are on a Hawaiian cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and Skip and I are in Germany. If Vern and Beth would just head off to Asia (or maybe Australia), the Lentz family would be covering the 4 corners!
The Happy Couple
Hippest Flower Girl EVER
Maddie with her Papa John and Opa
The Groom, the Best Man and Maddie
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Great Wedding
Am way behind on my blogging.
Uncle Brian had a beautiful wedding. Not only has he married a lovely woman, but into a really nice family. Everyone went out of their way to make the Lentz family feel at home and completely included in all of the wedding festivities. Maddie was a beautiful flower girl (picture to post later) and Skip did a great job with his "best man" toast. I had the privilege of co-officiating with the god mother of the bride who is a nun in the same order as the nuns I did my chaplaincy under. The Sisters of Notre Dame are one fiercely devoted order. They work with poorest and most marginalized among us, and every one of them I have met have been absolutely delightful.
My mom and dad came up for the wedding which was great on many levels. It was great to see them and they were a great help with Maddie. Two different nights, they got her back to bed when she was about to crash so Skip and I could stay and participate in the wedding activities. It was a like a bonus visit because we thought we wouldn't get to see them until Christmas.
Maddie got off the plane at 7 a.m. yesterday, came home and changed, was at school when it started at 8:40. Stayed all day AND went to recorder lessons after. Last night she went to bed at 7 p.m. and I woke her up this morning at 9 a.m. We were a little late today. But man, what a trooper! She is the best traveler ever!
Skip and I are struggling a little more than she is, and me more than Skip. I read about some kind of new homeopathic jet lag medicine when I was in the states. Am going to find it before Christmas.
Things like this make me so envious of the Brits living here. When they have a family event, it's just a hop, skip and a jump home. It's not a 7 hour flight with a six hour time change and then another 7 hour drive just to get there and all that in reverse on the way home!
Will post picture soon when I get a little more caught up here.
Uncle Brian had a beautiful wedding. Not only has he married a lovely woman, but into a really nice family. Everyone went out of their way to make the Lentz family feel at home and completely included in all of the wedding festivities. Maddie was a beautiful flower girl (picture to post later) and Skip did a great job with his "best man" toast. I had the privilege of co-officiating with the god mother of the bride who is a nun in the same order as the nuns I did my chaplaincy under. The Sisters of Notre Dame are one fiercely devoted order. They work with poorest and most marginalized among us, and every one of them I have met have been absolutely delightful.
My mom and dad came up for the wedding which was great on many levels. It was great to see them and they were a great help with Maddie. Two different nights, they got her back to bed when she was about to crash so Skip and I could stay and participate in the wedding activities. It was a like a bonus visit because we thought we wouldn't get to see them until Christmas.
Maddie got off the plane at 7 a.m. yesterday, came home and changed, was at school when it started at 8:40. Stayed all day AND went to recorder lessons after. Last night she went to bed at 7 p.m. and I woke her up this morning at 9 a.m. We were a little late today. But man, what a trooper! She is the best traveler ever!
Skip and I are struggling a little more than she is, and me more than Skip. I read about some kind of new homeopathic jet lag medicine when I was in the states. Am going to find it before Christmas.
Things like this make me so envious of the Brits living here. When they have a family event, it's just a hop, skip and a jump home. It's not a 7 hour flight with a six hour time change and then another 7 hour drive just to get there and all that in reverse on the way home!
Will post picture soon when I get a little more caught up here.
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