March 31

Whenever the calendar flips over March 31, I stop to celebrate a second chance at life. Six years ago, I didn't think it would be possible to finish my PhD program or ever walk on my own again. A neurologist prognosticated my neuromuscular demise in February 2003, but it wasn't until March 31 that I really knew what it felt like to be disabled, after an ordinary trip to the library ended with right leg paralysis (no wonder I hate books!). But after a life-saving diagnosis six months later, I started drug treatment for a fatty acid oxidation disorder and am still alive and kicking today, even walking without my cane. This year I get to hold my baby daughter in my arms, a dream I thought would never come true. So cheers to beating the odds, coming back from the brink, and a river of thanksgiving for the people that have helped me survive the journey.

Kinder birthday party

On Saturday Gianna was invited to the neighbor girl's first birthday party. We dressed her up in some new spring threads and topped the outfit off with dragonfly barrettes that only stayed in her hair for half the party. There were about a dozen kids from age 6 weeks to 4 years in attendance, playing, eating, and actually behaving very well. Many if not all of the parents were expats in similar situations to our own, moved to Frankfurt by a company for a few years. The food was an excellent selection of French pastries from a bakery down on Oeder Weg, chocolate croissants, raspberry cake, and mixed berry ice cream cones to name a few of the favorites. The birthday cake was cupcakes made with Betty Crocker cake mix and icing brought over from the US by some one's thoughtful relatives.

Today begins German daylight savings time, which caught me off guard. The computer clock was running one hour ahead this morning, for some strange reason, until I realized that we sprung ahead an hour last night. So east coast, we're back to 6 hours ahead of you guys.

Funny Friday

Been a long week? 

We went to the bakery for a Friday morning treat and G Mai got a little sweaty climbing up the stairs while wearing her fleece hat. Voilà! Instant comical hair 'do. She was rather miffed that I was taking her picture when all she wanted to do was tear into this oversized chocolate croissant. As she was eating, I heard our American neighbor hollering to her toddler "come on, I'll take you to the bakery for a treat!" Must be the Friday thing to do. They are having a birthday party tomorrow for their 1 year old daughter and Gianna is invited. The weather is supposed to be crappy...again...so I'm glad they live in the building right behind us. That way I can dress Gianna in one of her new spring outfits and not worry about her getting cold along the way.

This week I've been working on two job offers. One is solid with offer letter in hand, the other is still in the works as the hiring manager is out this week. Both are part-time teaching gigs. I have a residency permit, but I still have to get a working permit to work in Germany. Working permits do not come cheap, so I'd like to have two part-time jobs lined up to assure that the cost of the working permit will be less than the money I make working! Part of me doesn't want to bother with getting a job; maybe I am enjoying the lazy life too much. Since we will be back in the US in a little over a year, I'd almost rather focus my efforts on raising Gianna and finding a "real" job when we get back. But in this economy, I should be happy to find any job at all and earn a little extra euro for the family. And with part-time work, I'll still have a lot of free time to be with Gianna.

Racism: alive, well

"Two happy parents and their sleeping daughter"

or

"Two happy white parents and their adopted Asian daughter"

Racism is definitely alive and well in Germany. Germans...racist? Don't be shocked! You see on the news that Obama has so much support overseas, but we often hear "how could the US elect a black man?" from people on the street. I was in tears the other night and uttered words I never thought I would hear myself say "I miss New Jersey". It's not the strip malls, the shore, good bagels and pizza that leave me longing for the Garden State, it's our ability to blend in with other multicultural families without being subject to stares and inappropriate questions when we go out in public. I've stopped taking Gianna to the playground because of bullies small and large. The pasty white German kids won't let Gianna play on the equipment with them and the pasty white German mothers keep asking me if I'm the nanny. When I explain that I am Gianna's mother, they insist that's impossible unless I have a Vietnamese husband at home, which would still be wrong in their book because I'm white. I can't imagine how it makes Gianna feel when she hears me defend our mother-daughter relationship to German busy-bodies at the playground, on the street, in the train station, at the grocery store, you get the picture. And lately Gianna's been getting picked on by some German girls at school, in the hallway and in the bathroom. I can't say for sure that it's racially motivated, but Gianna is Asian, small for her age, and shy, three reasons to pick on a kid. Now she is afraid to go to the bathroom if other kids are around; she grips onto my legs and hides. Just want to give those little German brats a good ol' fashioned American Arschtritt. I need to have a good plan in mind for the next time I see it happen.

Being a multicultural family and living in another country are awesome experiences that teach you a lot about life. Gianna still speaks plenty of Vietnamese, but we are hearing more and more English every day. Sometimes she will repeat German words, but is not consistently speaking any German. Today we were looking at her Vietnamese "My First Animal Book" các loài vật. She kept saying the word "gián", paging through the book, and stopping on the insect page. Turns out, gián means cockroach. Now how does she know that word so well? I can just imagine the orphanage workers chasing away the gián, "gián không! gián không!" Another mystery I have solved with my Vietnamese lessons is Gianna's Curly (as in Three Stooges) impression. She often says "nuk! nuk! nuk!" and I thought she was mispronouncing milk. Turns out, the Vietnamese word for water, nước, sounds just like nuk. In the future, I will be more sensitive to her request for water :-) And I am also going to speak to the school director about the bully situation.

Coming to America

But first, another fine flour and sugar creation to share with my hungry readers at home. The Germans love poppy seed desserts and so do I. While I typically go for the poppy seed pinwheel, today I tried something new, mohnkuchen, or poppy cake. The poppy filling had a vanilla pudding flavor, which was totally unexpected. Hats off to the German bakers once again. And one more food find, maybe you have this in the US too, but I've never come across kiwi jam before. It actually had chunks of real kiwi and tasted pretty zingy on a slice of Toskana Weißbrot.


So yes, we are making an unexpected trip to the US the end of April. It will just be me and Gianna, for 10 days. We need to take care of some medical appointments that can't wait until the summer (my original plan). So we will be bip-bopping around PA, NJ, and MD, seeing doctors, pregnant sister-in-laws, our NJ house, and various other friends and relatives including Gianna's big brother and sister from Hanoi, Ryan and Jada. Can't wait!

Frankfurt Stock Exchange and My Zeil

Here are some pics of the Frankfurt Stock exchange and the bronze bull and bear statues that sit in it's shadow. Ironic that there is a Starbucks in the background of the bear photo. Makes me think about how this economic crisis originated in the US, then it makes me worry about the situation with selling our Jersey house. Yeesh!

I also stopped at My Zeil, a huge new mega mall that just opened. On the outside, there is a tunnel of glass, from the inside, it's a series of escalators going up, up, up with the same kind of triangle paned glass everywhere you look. Above your head through the glass ceiling looms large skyscrapers. I got a little lost in this mall with the maze of escalators, then stumbled across an elevator that took me back to the ground floor. Hooray!

On the way home, I got stopped for my transit ticket on the bus. In Frankfurt, you buy a Fahrkarten for bus and train. I have a monthly pass. When you get on a bus or train 99% of the time, nobody checks for tickets. But once in a while, someone comes around asking "fahrkarten, bitte". They are always dressed like bums, so my brain thinks "What does this homeless person want? Are they trying to sell me something? Fahrkarten...phone card? Are they trying to sell me a calling card? No thanks, I'm not that stupid!" So I reply "nein, danke", to which they respond "fahrkarten BITTE!" Oops, right fahrkarten, my ticket. Sorry bum, here it is.

RIP Cindy Michaels

Yesterday Dan's aunt Cindy passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. She left behind a husband, three adult children, and lots of loving extended family members. Cindy was a missionary in Russia for many years, someone I truly respected and admired. Today she is singing with the angels in heaven. Peace be with you Cindy and the whole Schmidt family.