Oeder Weg white table party

Since this blog is called "Oeder Weg", it would be shameful if I didn't report on Oeder Weg's end of summer white table party. They closed down the Oeder Weg to traffic and set up long picnic tables covered in white table cloths. In the evening, people dressed in white and ate dinner at the tables. Businesses were open, and the piano stores had people out front playing white baby grands. It was nice to just walk around and see everyone dressed in white. I even dressed Bruno in one of his white t-shirts, which really got a rise out of the German locals. Yes, I take costume parties to heart, but not as much as some people...

Tschüss to Grace and Marian

Grace and Marian are on their respective planes back to the US. I walked each of them to the train station, they bought some final treats from the bakery, and I made sure they got on the correct S Bahn to the Frankfurt Flughafen, running along side of the train, waving a hanky, telling them to meet a nice man and get married...OK, that last part I made up. Now back to business as usual in Frankfurt. Tonight we are going over to friend's house to watch the first Penn State game of the season thanks to the magic of the internet.

Rosinschnecken

Roisinschnecken translates to raisin sweet roll, or if you use Google translate, raisin snails. Ick. I picked up this baby on the way home from my last appointment with Dr. Mick. He says the ankle looks great and I don't have to keep wearing the brace. It feels great too, even better than the uninjured ankle. Hooray!

Failing relationships

It's a dark, cold, and rainy morning in Frankfurt. My cousin and I were having an interesting email conversation about failing relationships. Becoming an expat really separates the wheat from the chaff, but some relationships were failing long before we moved to Germany. I made the statement that people can fall into a pattern of "doing things" to avoid having a real relationship. They insist on spending time together, but not quality time, which constitutes a waste of time in my book. My cousin mentioned a school of thought (credited to a book by Dr. Gary Chapman) that there are basically 5 ways people express love:

1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch

Corny, but interesting. So, apparently I really like Quality Time and Acts of Service. Sit down with me, call me on Skype, or email and lets talk about our common interests and shared experiences. Offer to load the dishwasher for me and I will be feeling loved for the rest of the day!! Words of Affirmation are nice, but in the end, they are just words unless actions follow suit. Receiving gifts is alright if it is coming from someone that truly loves me with no strings attached. And Physical Touch? I like my personal space, thank you! I make a huge exception for Gianna, I really like her gentle little hugs that don't dislocate my shoulder and I love to kiss her little cheeks. The point is, this book (which I only read summaries and excerpts from) has encouraged me to try some of these other languages of love on other people, because maybe that's the language they've been speaking all along. Why don't you try some of them too?

Day Trippin'

Gianna missed two days of school this week for some educational day trips with Grace and Marian. On Monday, we toured the Rhine River Valley by car. Unfortunately, the castles were closed for tours on Monday, but we were still able to check out the exterior while taking in some beautiful views of the valley. We stopped in St. Goar for lunch and had some local fish and Reisling wine. My trout came with the head still attached; Gianna asked if the fish was sleeping. We watched the boats go down the Rhine, did a little shopping, then made our way back to Frankfurt.

On Tuesday we headed down to Rothenburg, a medieval walled city set up for tourists to enjoy. We stopped for lunch where I got this enormous apfel with quark wood fired bread. It was delicious. Gianna and I had been to Rothenburg before, so we splurged and took a horse and carriage tour of the city. It was very relaxing; Gianna fell asleep halfway through. It was probably very informative too, if I could understand more German. I got Gianna an ice cream cone and delt with some rude shop keepers. Then I sat in gum. The day started to go downhill from there. After encountering some more rude shopkeepers, we hit the road back to Frankfurt. The GPS lead us astray, we found our way back to the gas station where we had rented the car, but accidentally returned the keys in the drop box before pulling it away from the pumps. Oops. Grace and I pushed the tiny Opel out of the way and called Europcar to tell them what happened. "Kein Problem" was their response. Thanks Europcar! This morning Dan took Gianna to school and I took Grace and Marian to the train station for the next leg of their adventure: Amsterdam. You can see more photos from Museum Fest, the Rhine Valley, and Rothenburg here.

Museumsuferfest

This was the perfect weekend for Museum Fest; the weather was great and my two friends Grace and Marian are visiting from the States. We spent Saturday afternoon at the fest, partaking in the finest food and beverages Frankfurt has to offer, listening to music, watching the dragon boats, and shopping the handicraft stands. We never set foot in any of the museums, even though €4 would get you into all the museums for the whole weekend.

Some good photos from the festival are forthcoming; for now I will just post the one below where it looks like Gianna is beating Nicole in a drinking contest (Gianna is downing the last of my mango-lime Aloha drink). Tomorrow we are driving up the Rhine with Grace and Marian to see some castles and enjoy wine country. Then on Tuesday we'll do another day trip, possibly Rothenberg, before they take the train up to Amsterdam on Wednesday. So I will eventually get caught up on photos before the next fest hits Frankfurt: wine fest starting on Wednesday!

Back to school

This morning I dropped Gianna off for her first day of pre-school, with her new kitty lunch bag in hand. She is in the three's class now, with two new teachers. One reminds me of one of those super-nannies from TV, a no-nonsense kind of lady with a British accent. The noise level in the building was beyond belief, 50 kids screaming at the same time, writhing on the floor, crying "mommy! papa!" For many, this may have been the first time they had to leave their parents in a social setting. For Gianna and her friend Jivy, this was old hat. They stared at the other kids wondering what all the fuss was about. Gianna looked concerned, but in the end, not a tear was shed as Mẹ left the building. The returning parents had to counsel the new parents, "don't go back into the classroom, don't let them see you again, it will make it worse". It is difficult for the parents to hear their kids cry like that, but according to the teachers, it only lasts for the first 10 minutes, then all the kids are playing together.