Senckenburg Museum of Natural History

I was under the impression this museum was included in the "museums are free in Frankfurt on the last Saturday of every month" deal, but apparently not. Still, the €6 admission gets you into one of the best museums in Frankfurt, the only one I will step foot in. It's not as good as the Smithsonian in DC, but it contains many of the same specimens and makes the kids happy.

Dinosaur bones room

Looking at the stuffed animal specimens in the cases.

Cockroach suspended in amber

Gianna: "This cat need something to eat!"

Asians are smarter!

Twice in as many days, someone told me that "Asians are smarter". They are better at math, music, better at school in general. This sort of stereotyping gets my goat. Although it's meant as a compliment (look how smart your daughter is!) it somehow feels like a back handed racist comment. Would it be appropriate to tell the mother of a black child that "blacks are better at sports". Uh, I think not, although I'm sure people say it. These sorts of stereotypes put pressure on kids to live up to pigeon holed expectations and they also ignore the hard work that it takes for individuals to succeed. My parenting philosophy (if you can call it that) is to provide a caring, nurturing environment to let kids develop in their own way and find their own path in life, regardless of their racial background! I am not going to push Gianna into music lessons or kumon math club just because she is Asian. But these are the types of suggestions I receive from well-meaning teachers and pediatricians.

Here's what brought on one of those comments. Someone was badgering me about Gianna's development, is she learning English, speaking well? I brought up the fact that she is starting to read and write letters. She can read her name and a few short words like cow and cat. We were playing the dot game where you make boxes and then place your initial in a completed box to score a point. I had the pink marker, she had the pencil (so everything written in pencil is Gianna's work). She told me "today, I do it!" meaning that she was going to write her "g's". I thought OK, whatever, but look, she actually wrote some pretty good g's! And then went on to fill in a few m's once she was tired of playing the game and following the rules. Click on the photo if you can't see the detail. One of her teachers said it's too early for this, I shouldn't encourage her. But how can you stop a child that wants to read and write? I don't care how old she is, if she wants to do this on her own free will, then more power to her.
EDIT: I see one or two g's on the lower left hand grid that look too good to be true. Now I remember we drew them together. Still, I think her handwriting surpasses Dan's chicken scratches.

Nap time

I often enlist Bruno's help to wake Gianna up. Sometimes it backfires and I end up peeling both of them out of bed.

Job interview

The ICE train brought me safely back to Frankfurt last night around 9pm after two days of interviewing in Paris. The nutshell story, I got a verbal offer, two actually. So now I will wait for the written offer to arrive in the mail sometime soon. For more details, read on.

Unbeknownst to me, I was interviewing for two positions, both based in Clark, NJ. The first position was Scientific Affairs. Although the word science is in the title, it is a high stress, long hours, frustrating position trying to coordinate many people from different departments to work together. While I have some negotiation and mediation skills, the position sounded less and less appealing the more they told me about it. In fact, I went to bed the first night knowing I would turn down that position if they made me an offer.

The other position was for Advanced Research. They were looking for a scientist with skills in plant physiology, plant chemistry, and plant genetics. Bingo, I have more plant knowledge and research experience than you can shake a stick at. The only down side to this position, travel is required. But I was firm that my family comes first and I'm not willing to spend long periods of time away from my daughter. Two days was even breaking my heart!

That brings me to my next point about women in science. It was interesting to hear different opinions on the 1 year gap in my CV from being an expat in Germany. Other former expats sympathized with my situation, as their wives also had to set aside their careers and be the "accompanying spouse" for a few years. They were pleased that I would be bringing first hand knowledge of Europeans back to the US. But those who had never been expats criticized my decision to sacrifice my career. One guy even suggested it was a mistake to get married. So, to be successful, women are not only supposed to be childless but now single too? Thankfully, the French guys with expat experience are the ones who are making the hiring decisions. They asked me to choose which job I wanted and I told them definitely the Advanced Research position is a better fit with my background and personality.

After the interviews were over on Friday, I was able to do some sightseeing around Paris before catching the train home. I forgot my camera, so only snapped a few shots with my phone of Notre Dame (middle) and the Seine River with the Eiffel tower way off in the distance (top). I had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown, then stopped at a Vietnamese bakery to buy Gianna a durian, pandan, and chocolate 3 layer sponge cake for Tết. I also picked up a French card game and Hello Kitty sticker book for her at a little boutique shop. This morning when I woke her up, she hugged me, then sheepishly asked "presents?" She plowed through the 3 layer cake, eating all of the durian layer first, leaving the pandan and chocolate for later. It is good to be home, even though I was only gone for 2 days.

Trip to Paris

The title may sound like fun, but this trip to Paris is a two day job interview that is already turning out to be a big pain in the rump. First, they pressured me to buy discount air or train tickets, saying they'd only cover air carriers like EasyJet. So I found cheap train tickets that were refundable/changeable for a €15 fee...except they weren't. After spending half a day yelling at Deutsche Bahn down at the Hauptbahnhof and over the phone, they say they will give us a refund, but it will take "a long time" to see it show up on our credit card. So as of now, I have two round trip tickets to Paris.

The second pain in the rump is Paris itself. The interviews span three different sites on different sides of the city. So how to get there? Take the Metro (5 transfers and a 1.5 kilometer walk in heels later...), take a taxi and break the bank, or possibly rent a car? I haven't driven a car since last April. It wouldn't be long until I was lost and using that rental insurance I would be sure to purchase.

So, maybe I should not complain, to have any job interviews at all is very lucky. Perhaps if I was feeling 100% back to health, I would be in a better mood. But for now, I am just looking forward to having all of this behind me.

Karneval

Chúc mừng năm mới! Happy New Year! This morning Gianna opened up her red envelopes of lucky money which contained chocolate gold bars, chocolate hearts, and some real Euros. Then at lunch time, she spiked a high fever. What is going on in this house of pestilence? So we commissioned Dan to go down to the Karneval (Fasching) parade to take some pictures and spend some of that lucky money on German sweets while we remained at home in the warmth.

People watching the parade from above. Germans just ooze enthusiasm this time of the year.

Büttenrede – A rhyming speech mainly given during the variety shows known as Karnevalssitzungen. The "Bütt" is the lectern from which they are delivered. Germans often like to mark festive occasions with rhyming couplets. But not raps.

The bands...sometimes you can tell what tune they are playing..."I luv rock und roll, zo put another Deutschmark in the jukebox baby!"

We were watching the parade on TV and saw a papier-mâché Obama getting a full-body scan. He wore Superman underwear and had a bunch of concealed weapons.

We bought Fasching costumes and wanted to wear them for at least part of the day. Gianna is a unicorn and my giant hat was supposed to be very practical for catching candy during the parade. This picture was taken while the ibuprofen was keeping Gianna's fever down. It was all downhill from here, poor kid. I'm not sure how much more of this we can take. Thankfully Dan restocked us with medicines from the US.

Happy Birthday Bruno

After this terrible week, we really need to celebrate something. Thankfully Dan made it back to Frankfurt in time to celebrate Bruno's 6th birthday today. The lucky dog got to feast on a can of Cesar gourmet dog food for small dogs, covered in ketchup icing. He didn't much care for the SpongeBob birthday hat or the fact that his "cake" was displayed on a special SpongeBob platter, but he certainly did a good job of making a greasy mess on the floor.








Tomorrow is the trifecta holiday of Valentine's Day, Tết, and Karneval. Dan brought home some Valentine's Day chocolates from Christopher Norman in Manhattan and Tết decorations from Chinatown. We were planning to go to the Karneval parade tomorrow, complete with costumes, however that doesn't seem like a wise post-pneumonia decision. Dan might just go with Gianna, but I'm definitely wearing my giant hat and Elton John sunglasses at some point during the day. As for my pneumonia, the antibiotics seem to be working but unfortunately lung damage doesn't go away overnight. I look forward to the day where I can take deep clear breaths again and walk to the bathroom without getting winded.

Pneumonia

Dan is snowbound in NYC until Friday night at the earliest. Things in Frankfurt have gone from bad to worse. My cold/virus was not getting better, in fact it was getting worse fast. I called a doctor dispatch service to send a doctor out to our house. In a few hours, the paramedic-style doctor showed up, drew blood, did a few tests, told me I have pneumonia, and prescribed an antibiotic and a drug to help clear the fluid from my lungs. She said she will call me with "blood test results" today, although I don't even know what she was testing for. I'm allergic to a lot of antibiotics, and the one she prescribed is in one of the "mildly allergic" classes. So I spent last night waiting for an allergic reaction to occur. Thankfully, nothing has happened yet. I was hoping to wake up to a miracle cure, clear lungs and easy breathing, but alas the antibiotics are not magic. My neighbor picked up some groceries for me (we scored some deli chicken noodle soup and two kinds of juice), but I still have to take care of Gianna and the dog, who requires 3x a day walks in the cold to take care of his business. Actually the cold air somehow makes my lungs feel temporarily better, it's when I come back inside that all the coughing and suffocating starts up again. Gianna has been helping as much as a 3 year old can, feeding the dog and playing Go-Fish with me on the couch. I asked her to make me coffee this morning, but all she came back with was her specialty, pretend cappuccino. Please Dan, come home soon! Stupid snowstorm.

Dan's back in the Big Apple

This morning we waved good-bye to Dan as he left for a business trip to NYC. His German counterparts were supposed to accompany him but chickened out at the last minute, so he's going solo. He should be back in the land of Frankfurters on Thursday as long as you guys on the East Coast can hold off on having another "epic" snowstorm (see my friend Kirstie's Baltimore patio, right).

Gianna and I are remaining in Deutschland. I am still on the couch, sick as a dog. My thoughtful friend brought me a care package from the US military base containing two kinds of Theraflu, Nyquil, Afrin and Vicks nasal sprays, and three kinds of Nabisco cookies to ward off hunger. Gianna is getting better, but still has a nagging cough. Even the dog is starting to cough, out of sympathy or a desire to be part of the pack. When Dan left this morning, he sat by the door for a good 15 mins, hoping he was just making a run to the bakery for pastries. But alas, Dan typically doesn't take a suitcase with him to the bakery, so now Bruno will lay on the couch with me for the remainder of the week, sulking until Dan's return.

Schadenfreude

Today, ich bin krank! If I wasn't sick earlier in the week, I'm 100% sick now. I trekked out to the corner grocery to restock on juice and tissues, then made a stop at the corner bakery for a morning snack. My weak and off-pitch voice squeaked out "eine pflaumen [cough] kreppel, bitte". OK, so the actual name was kreppel mit pflaumenmus gefüllt or something like that. This woman was clearly delighted in my failing voice. Just the other day Gianna was in there coughing up a storm and now I'm sick too, oh happy day! Shadenfreude, a German term defined as: satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. She made a joke in German, "do you want a plum filled kreppel or a kreppel filled plum?" Hahaha! She was almost in tears laughing. Then, for one second, remorse. She ended her laughing fit with an entschuldigung, the closest word the Germans have to sorry. Well, I'm glad my sickness and inability to correctly read the names of German pastries made someone else laugh with joy. The plum filled kreppel was still delicious.

Eierlikör kreppel

It's Fasching season. The stores are crammed full of costumes and the bakeries are whipping up seasonal kreppels including this delicious Eierlikör (eggnog) variety. The filling was vanilla custard with just a hint of rum. The icing also had a hint of rum, but no nutmeg in the entire doughnut. Gianna got a bag of 5 mini schokolade doughnuts (background), but only ate one. Other special varieties include erdbeer-champagner, marmalade & champagne, tiramisu, blood orange, and the list goes on. Despite feeling quite ill, I'm going out this morning in search of more fried carbohydrate decadence!