Stuttgart Oktoberfest and Other Adventures

It's that time once again. The time where you see more and more girls in frilly Little-Bo-Peep dresses and guys wearing leather suspenders and checkered shirts. While any other time of the year this might seem a bit strange, during the fall in Germany you'll see it everywhere. Oktoberfests began as an old Bavarian tradition, lasting a few weeks before Germany Reunification Day (October 3rd). The main festival takes place in Munich, although these days there are Oktoberfests planned in major cities all over Germany and it has spread to other countries as well (why not have another reason to party on the weekends, am I right?).

Instead of going to the Munich festival, we opted to participate in the Stuttgart Cannstatter festival. Not only is it MUCH closer to us, but it's also just so much more enjoyable than the insanity that is Munich. Although the festival is still large in Stuttgart, it is considerably less chaotic overall. When you walk into the festival you're greeted by the sea of traditionally clothed, usually intoxicated, groups of people from all over the country and all over the world. Carnival rides, super-unhealthy food choices, and beer tents surround and overwhelm the senses. We walked to meet our friends in a large tent near the back of the festival where they were all standing on the benches of 2 long tables. Ordering our torso-sized beer mugs, we chatted and sang along (usually poorly) to the drinking songs serenading the crowd. The atmosphere in the tents during the early afternoon is much more light hearted and playful. When the evening shift begins, the crowds multiply, people are even drunker, and sometimes things get a bit rowdy. This year we moved to a smaller tent for the evening and overall I really enjoyed the environment of it much better. We spent the evening there singing, talking with friends, and making new ones until it came time for Bruce and I to catch our train back. While technically it was still early for the festival goers, it's so nice to get back, be in my own bed, and wake up not feeling like I got hit by a German bus the next morning. Am I getting old? Maybe. Haters gonna hate.

 

 

 

Getting back from Stuttgart, it was time to hit the job-hunt game hard again. My itch to get back into the classroom was killing me (too soon?).

While fighting the 3-headed-dog that is USAjobs.gov, Bruce and I kept our eyes peeled for other opportunities off base. On Wednesday he found a Bookoo posting (kind of like craigs list) for a teaching position at a pre-school/child care center nearby. That Friday I went in to meet the director and get a tour of the school. What they needed was a teacher to take over the specials classes; library, music, and science. Don't mind if I do! Sounded like a perfect fit for my interests and experiences. That next week I started. Teaching all of the students, whose ages range from about 10 months old to 5 years old, I get to have fun with them all! The position is part time, which is great for the time being, and I can't wait to see how the rest of this year goes!

How am I getting to work you ask? Well....
TADA

Charlie, the mini-cooper, has joined us in Ktown. The only speed-bump was that it's a manual car. Laura Teacher gets to learn to drive stick! the Sunday before I started the trail week at work, Bruce took me to the base to get my first manual driving lesson. The week before I was watching Bruce's feet while he drove and trying to absorb as many youtube tutorials as possible so I had a general idea of how it worked. I'd say it helped a little bit, but nothing is like actually getting in to the driver's seat. I felt completely out of control and like I was learning all over again (that same stress and heart beating out of my chest feeling returned from when I was in Drivers Ed at Tatnall). After an afternoon of slowly rolling around the base, Bruce drops the bomb, "well, time to drive home now".

0_o


"You have to do it eventually! Might as well be now." We made it back without too many hiccups and from that Wednesday on I was driving to work on my own! I've gotten a bit more comfortable, but I still have some ways to go before I'm relaxed at the wheel I think.

Speaking of relaxing- This weekend Bruce, Tom, Chris and I are flying off to London for a mini-vacation! We have some great adventures plans including Book of Mormon, and the boys are getting a proper shave. Most importantly, we are meeting up with Alex and the other members of the SoulFlare tour to see them perform! I can't wait to listen to them all do their thing, as I was missing in action during their last euro tour (Something about too many tubes attached, I couldn't go). I also will be able to catch up with the lovely Lysianne, who I haven't seen since leaving Korea nearly a year ago (has it been that long already??)

I will definitely be posting an update about that trip soon!

Until then xoxo

German of the Post
"Sollte der Bibliothekar sein lehrt uns oder Lesen in der Ecke?"
Should the librarian be teaching us or reading in the corner?

Our GPS Is Out To Get Us.

What to do on a Monday holiday from work? (Well..on Bruce's part at least. For me, every day is a holiday. Oh the life of the unemployed...) Cue map of the surrounding area in a 2-hour radius. Limit options to places we have yet to go. Result? Luxembourg!

A brief history of this lovely country (Small enough that you can learn it's history in a brief morning-before-your-trip-research session).

*ahem*

Luxembourg, squished in a cozy sandwich between Belgium, Germany, and France, is home to about 550,000 people. The city formed around the fortified Luxembourg Castle, parts of which you can still see as you wander around the old and new city streets! Similarly to Belgium, Luxembourg is heavily influenced by the French in both language and food. Walking around, you will hear mainly French, but the other official languages include German and Luxembourgish (a word I though I had cleverly made up...). Not to worry, however, English is also widely spoken, as it is compulsory there to study it in schools.

This completes the lecture portion of my presentation. I will now complete in my normal rambling, stream-of-consciousness babble.

Jumping in the car, we drive about 2 hours to arrive at our first destination.

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

 

Located a few miles outside the city center, the Luxembourg American Cemetery is 50.5 acres and contains 5,076 headstones organized neatly and painstakingly in rows arching around the main memorial area. Commemorating the lost lives from the Battle of the Bulge, the memorial is truly beautiful and awe inspiring. Luckily for me Bruce had his history-teacher pants on that day, and could give me a quick review of the battle, as I haven't studied it since the days of World History at Tatnall (Thanks Mrs. Hiller!). For those of you planning a trip to Luxembourg, this is definitely a place to stop by for a walk through!

 

From here we drove into the city center to find parking. As we somehow found our way on a cobblestone street stuck at a one-way (the opposite way) we had our first interaction with a Luxembourgian (Luxembourger? Luxembourgite?). Miming the question "Can we get through here?" the man shrugged with a smile, gesturing "Yep! Sure, why not?" waving us on. We were a bit surprised, as in our experience, a German would not commit so whole heartedly, most likely saying something along the lines of "I cannot say if it is possible or not possible, as I am not a certified traffic conductor, therefore I cannot say yes or no". Anyway, we made it illegally through the street, found parking, and began our day adventure. Walking through a park nearby we hear the sounds of people screaming and music playing. Happy screaming. Time to explore!

Despite the cloudy day, it wasn't too cold, however it does lead to pretty dreary pictures unfortunately.

We found a carnival! 'Shueberfouer' to be exact.  Not sure what they were celebrating but we weren't complaining as we walked through, grabbed some mini-crepes, and enjoyed people watching.

The newer area of Luxembourg city is full of shopping and restaurants. Weaving our way through we tried to get to my destination for that day, "Chocolate House" . Yes. I know. You all are jealous. Through my research, this place would pop up on every website with rave reviews. Therefore we HAD to go...for science...

Known for it's cakes and obviously chocolate products, The Chocolate House does not disappoint. I immediately walked towards the wall full of spoons dipped in a chocolate square of endless flavors. I decided on expresso, while Bruce went for latte macchiato. Finding a table upstairs, we were brought mugs of hot milk to begin our hot-chocolate making process. Please refer to the photo instructions below.

 Open spoon from plastic jail

Dip in steaming milk and stir

Check progress (step optional, yet interesting)

Continue stirring until all chocolate has melted off spoon,
 then lick spoon...for science...

 Drink and enjoy!

Full of sweets, we decided to do a LOT of walking to make up for our transgressions.  Photo stream of adventures--

Accidental find....

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Love Locks on bridge

Along our walk we found an entrance to the Catacombs of the old fortress. Now, I already forced myself to walk through those creepy Roman ruins in Trier with David, but here I was again, at some dark claustrophobia-inducing labyrinth-style caverns. Pulling myself together once more I walked through. Full of narrow passage ways with dark alcoves on either side (my favorite.) and steep spiral staircases to nowhere, this was not my ideal activity. But, I did it. YAY. Complete, onto the next thing.

By now it was about 5:30, and the city was winding down. We walked down along the river, and through some small streets Eventually making our way back to the car to get back home. Successful trip to Luxembourg, both totally ready to go back again soon!

Lit candle for Grandad in Notre-Dame Cathedral

Coolest kids park ever!

Ok GPS. Bring us home. No, not through Trier, through Saarbrucken! Wait. Was that a sign for Saarbrucken that we passed? Where are we going? To Mainz? Why? A whole extra hour added? Wait, U-turn, let's go back through the back roads through the French countryside. 350 cows and 2 podcasts later, Hey Saarbrucken! Sushi for dinner to reward ourselves for finding our way back without a crazy GPS. Back in the car. All tire pressures low? At the same time? Alright...Miming tire pressure gage to confused-German-only gas station employee. Tire pressure better. Home by 11. Bed by 11:08. Holy Moly.

Until next time! xoxo

German of the post:

Ja, immer noch arbeitslos
Yep, still unemployed

Catch Me If Du Kannst

I'm back! Been long enough since my last post I think, so I should get everyone up to speed while I have the time to do it. I think I was in Berlin when I left off? That was nearly...2 months ago (oops). Here goes nothing!

So soon after Berlin, Bruce's little brother David came to visit. He would be with us for about 2 weeks, and we tried to make it as full and fun as we could! The first trip out was Heidelberg for the lighting of the castle (fireworks) show. We hadn't been before, but based on the Google search images that came up, we were expecting something pretty fantastic! After a delicious lunch at the Bootshaus  , we walked into town through the shopping streets where we passed by endless bachelorette and bachelor parties selling their wares for meager amounts (presumably for the honeymoon or wedding costs, but more realistically for the copious drinking involved that evening). We found a spot on the bridge with a great view of the castle and waited for the show to begin. The bridge was moving a bit more than I would have liked...but the lack of police there telling people to get off the bridge had me assuming that it wasn't to a dangerous point yet...? We survived it at any rate. The show unfortunately was nothing to write home about. A few fireworks over the castle, and a bunch over the bridge next to ours, but overall a bit underwhelming. I don't want to discourage people from going though- Heidelberg is a gorgeous place whether or not there are lackluster fireworks shows happening! 

After showing Davy around town we grabbed the train back to Mannheim and stayed in my apartment for the night. The next few days were a whirlwind of checking out Ktown, brunches, parties, and Davy meeting a lot of our friends! We let him relax some too, don't worry. There were plenty of boys nights with Fifa and beer to keep him happy (and Bruce for sure). 

Brunch in Molschbach with the crew

Saarbrucken

Bro pic

His first weekend here there was a festival in Kaiserslautern which promoted the integration with students and adults with special needs. We went with Tina, Rainer, and some of their friends, not realizing that Rainer was a celebrity in that group, going up on stage and giving a speech! We felt super special. Also when a group of "sleepwalkers" came and napped on us during the intermission... I'll save that story for people to ask about later. Many of the acts involved a collaboration with programs for those with special needs and some other amazingly talented musicians, dancers, and artists. It was great! I loved seeing this side of the community, which is usually kept hidden unfortunately. Now that we know Max (Tina and Rainer's son), this event was particularly special for us all.

A french acting troupe about people escaping from an old-people's home

During the next week, Bruce had to work (Silly jobs...), so Davy and I took some day trips out and about! We grabbed the train to Trier one day as a last minute trip and walked (A LOT) around the city. The cathedrals and other historic sites were beautiful. It was a wonderful way to spend the day.

bubble man!

light for Grandad

Into the Roman Bath ruin caverns

[Musical interlude to segue across multiple days that I forget what we did...nothing to see here!]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next big adventure is a camping trip to the Black Forest! After doing some research, we found a campsite in a small town called Enzklösterle (Say that 10 times fast..). Armed with a rental car and a tent, we drove down and set up camp in a gorgeous valley (click here for our camp site!) 

Commence photo album instead of you having to read my rambling monologue-

wooden pathway through the forrest

 Tall tornado structure

giant slide- YES I DID IT!

Strasbourg stop over on the way home

A great trip, with perfect weather! I can't wait to go back to the black forest again soon to camp before the weather changes.

Fast forward, Davy finishes up his trip, and heads back to Korea, while Bruce and I travel to the States for my family reunion up in Scituate Massachusetts. Flying into JFK, we stay a night with my cousin Carmen, and her family (Thank you so much again for your hospitality!!), then into NYC to meet with my cousin Amanda, to take the train to Cheshire where my grandparents met us and brought us to their house to stay another night, and THEN driving 3 hours to the family reunion house. Crazy adventure, but it couldn't have worked out better!

 

Red Sox game

Blueberry picking

 

Arabic feast night

 I could write for ages about how wonderful it was to be in a house full of Saads for a week. I was able to give real hugs as opposed to just through email and text! We caught up with all sorts of cousins and friends in the area, and just enjoyed each other's company. I couldn't ask for a more amazing, supportive, and fun group of people to call my family <3

[More music...not going to cry...not going to cry...]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night we got back to DE from the reunion, Bruce and I got all dressed up and attended my big sister, Sarah's wedding reception at Greenville Country Club. It was such incredible timing that I could make her special day, and she looked so happy the whole time! I was able to catch up with a lot of old Tatnall friends who I hadn't seen in ages!

The rest of the post I'll leave you again to peruse photos <3

Ice cream party

Philly Trip

Edward's Face-sized slices of pizza

 Korean War Memorial- Philly

South Street- Philly

Mum can I please go to DC with you??

Twins in DC

Weekend market in DC

Is it a real monkey?

Korean lunch <3

Georgetown 

Last dinner at Chef's Haven in Hockessin

Chef's Haven

As you can tell, I stayed pretty busy at home. I'm so glad I was able to extend my stay with the family, as it allowed me to be there when the Schmiedels stayed with us for a week! We tried to give them a trip to remember, going to several cities they hadn't seen before, and also showing them the exciting places in DE (of which there are...some...). I loved being home. Although looking back, it felt more like I was visiting home more than ever. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't feel comfortable or welcomed! I just felt that I was on a vacation from Germany, where I was looking forward to getting back and starting fresh. I finished my contract with MIS and am now on a hunt for a new job. Unfortunately my little hospital adventure took place during prime hiring time for schools and full time teaching positions, but I've not lost all hope. I'm taking over the city, resume and tutoring flyers in hand, ready to teach any student (of any age) who is ready to learn (or not ready...I'm not picky).

Not only does the fall bring a new school year, it brings the wine and beer festivals in abundance. Nearly every weekend this month we are headed to another beautiful town where a carnival and endless beer tents are set up to cover hundreds of lederhosen-donning folk. I will try and be better about keeping this blog up to date as those festivals begin!

Until next time xox

German of the post

"Wird Lehren für Sushi"

"Will Teach for Sushi"