The End of the Dental Saga

I am very happy to finally have clean teeth again. Yesterday I spent an hour wearing a surgical mask over my eyes while a hygienist sprayed some sort of grainy stuff all over my teeth. It was a thoroughly uncomfortable experience, but the results seem better than any teeth cleaning I've had in the States. Perhaps they is just a more dramatic difference, or perhaps I'm more inclined to like it due to discomfort. (Not that I enjoy discomfort, but I learned from my psychology podcast that if you make something expensive/uncomfortable/etc people usually value the outcome more.)

Anyway, that's just to satisfy your curiosity of my dental issues. I'm cleaning the house right now because my friend Bonnie is coming to visit. More about that to come!

Klubbing

Ryan has been gone on a business trip since Wednesday. The first night he was gone I raided the IKEA. The second night I raided the ice cream section of the grocery store. On Friday my classmates were comparing notes on all the hottest underground illegal edgy secret clubs, and they asked me if I go clubbing. I said "Not often" but really meant "never."

All techno music sounds the same to me, I don't really enjoy gyrating in small or large groups, and I'm usually in bed by eleven. But I didn't want my classmates to know how lame I am, and I figured its a good opportunity to socialize; so I took them up on an invite to the latest hottest party venue.

Once I got home from class I realized I have no idea what to wear to a club. I googled the club name and found out that it's the "coolest illegal brewery space in Berlin". Illegal? I've heard of clubs where they have secret passwords, but this whole world is very strange to me.

We met up at 11:00 at Carmen's apartment and hung out drinking red wine. Around 1:00 (!) we left for the club. We weren't asked a secret password, and April even got us in on the guest list. The building is a dilapidated Villa-- gorgeous arches and architecture straight out of the Victorian era. Of course now its plastered in graffiti and gouged with holes.

The entertainment was basically what I expected. We drank and danced around a little circle with our coats in the middle. April's friend was DJing and some of our classmates left to go to another room because the "music" was "better." Obviously I'm no appreciator of this type of stuff, but it was fun hanging out with everyone.

It was already really late but I made a commitment to myself not to be the first to leave. I was counting on my friend's girlfriend who seemed really tired and wasn't drinking, but around 4:00 am I was beat. I cut out and some friends insisted on walking me to the tram. It was nice of them though Berlin really is very safe.

Got home and fell into bed around 5:00; woke up around noon with a pillowcase covered in black eyeshadow. I think I'm too old for this stuff. Luckily Ryan gets home tonight and we can resume our eating-in, watching rental movies, early bedtime lifestyle. Do you think any of my hip classmates could be converted?

Silly Days for Serious People

In Germany "silly" is synonymous with "stupid" and people maintain dignity at all times. So you can imagine my surprise when we were invited to a Karneval party on Saturday night and met with a night of Germans gone wild.

We had planned to meet up with our friends Simon & Sarah. They decided we must go to a Karneval party. With only an hour or so's notice we scoured the closet and came up with a costume of "American Tourists." We donned our most athletic sneakers, white tube socks, money belts on top of our clothes, sunglasses, and Obama pins. Ryan tucked in a polo shirt and I wore a scarf proclaiming "Paris, France." We looked pretty dumb and I really hoped that we weren't having a prank pulled on us.

But when we got to the party people were dressed much weirder than us, wearing bizarre hats shaped like cakes, flower pots, etc. Faces were painted green, or wearing Elton John-like sunglasses. Some people were dressed like cowboys, but most costumes weren't so literal. And unlike Halloween there weren't any sexy costumes.

The music was very loud and very oompa-pa. Ryan and I didn't know how to dance it; it was more like marching music. But everyone else was going crazy! Simon explained to us that this is the once a year when Germans can dance without worrying about looking undignified. Most of the songs were traditional Karneval songs from Köln (Cologne) and in a very thick dialect. The DJ did play "Country Roads" and "Summer of '69." I was excited to hear a song I knew, and some drunk old business man did a weird dance with me. The dance basically consisted of slow-motion high-fiving. Then the DJ got really excited and took off his pants. His shirt was past his bum, thankfully, because he wasn't wearing any underwear.

Later on we were forcibly abducted into a conga line, I drank too much, and on the way out of the bathroom Sarah and I were hit on by some guys who said they didn't care that we are married. Sarah asked if they would buy drinks for our husbands too, and I almost thought it would work. It was too much for one night, and when I woke up the next morning I decided it was good that Lent started soon.

But one more thing. They played a funny song called "20 Centimeter" which is about, um, male anatomical bragging. Its very catching, and here's a link if you dare. Email me if you want a translation.

Danksgiving

After last year's surprisingly successful Thanksgiving, I thought we'd take on an even more ambitious double Thanksgiving this year. Meaning YD was hosting a dinner Friday night and I wanted to make one on Saturday for our German family as well. Let's get cooking!

The Young Democrats Abroad has officially disbanded into some American expats hanging out. I volunteered us to bring sweet potatoes and pecan pie, two dishes requiring PECANS which I didn't realize until the day-of weren't "Mandeln." Mandeln are almonds, and one of 3 types of nuts commercially available in Germany. Heide (German host mom) and I even went to Metro the fancy German-version of Costco on a hunt, but alack, it was destined to be almond pie. Ryan was dismayed, but it was still pretty good.

Our friends Brian and Christian offered up there place for the dinner and laid a beautiful table. We met another married couple who's half German half American. They actually got married the day before us. But the high point of the evening was definitely the food. I sat next to Sonia and we both ate so much that we had to lie on the couch with our pants unbuttoned before the dessert course. But of course we had to eat dessert. Ryan wussed out of dessert, which he will never live down, as I won't ever live down confusing almonds and pecans. Oh well.

Saturday I was still feeling full, and regretting back-to-back Thanksgiving meals. (Will my digestive system ever forgive me?) Ryan was furiously revising his master's thesis (due Monday) as I took charge of the cooking. Everything went according to plan except the cranberries. Apparently small boxes with pictures of jello on them aren't actually jello. We served the cranberries anyway, even though they were rather liquid.

Our friend Gwendolyn came over to help with last-minute prep, the kids ran in the kitchen and wanted to play, and our turkey legs appeared underdone! Things were getting hectic and we were still waiting for our final guests to arrive. They were 20 minutes late, which led to a frenzy of taking food out of the oven, then shoving it back in, then worrying it would by dry. But finally we all assembled around the table and dug in. Our German guests, Robbie and Erica, were oddly fascinated by the stuffing. Some people even liked the cranberries. And the turkey was perfect. I paced myself better this time and we all enjoyed our pie with Schnapps, and later Rum. German people really like liquor.

As I look back at last year, it seems a million years away. We were living in an awful house in the middle of England. I worked in a fruit and veg stand and was so homesick all the time. I feel like a completely different person today. And even though its had rough spots, I'm really thankful for everything that happened in the last year. I've learned so much and feel really lucky :)

P.S.
-A, my 2-year old charge, is learning Denglish (Deutsch+English) and one of his favorite words is "Dank you." Add to that the few incorrect German words I've taught him and I think my work is done here.
-"Metro" the German Costco also has free samples. But they don't have anyone supervising them, nor any takers. I almost cruised for a 2nd brownie, but Heide warned me there was a store employee spying on me across the aisle. Spooky! It was comforting to see suitcase-sized tubs of laundry detergent and cheese blocks the size of pillows again.

Election Night 2008

The Dems Abroad party was unexpectedly sold out last week, leaving Ryan and I floundering for plans. Everyone had blown us off for Halloween, I was not spending Election Night at home! With a bit of searching we found a bash at American-owned bar called "Die Registratur." There was a myriad of excited people: Brits, Yanks, Germans, and some crazy guy with an Obama balloon taped to a stick with leaves on it. No McCain fans to be found.

The bar itself was pretty cool, a converted auditorium of a Catholic girls school, decorated in the cheesiest bunting and miniature flags. Miller, popcorn, and hot dogs were on special. Ryan tried the Miller but realized once you go German you don't go back. We crammed into a booth with a bunch of others and had some interesting conversations. I met a Ghanian guy who went to school in Michigan for 6 years so as to avoid a return to Ghana. He was sitting with a bunch of girls who invaded and kept squishing us.

Our friend,Gwendolyn, brought her friends, a group of mysterious 20-somethings on a "permanent business trip". They're working for some law firm and were on and off their Blackberries buying beers on expense accounts all night. Except for one who was raging drunk, hit on Ryan, and when Ryan left starting talking to his friends really loudly about my "ta tas." I was miffed, but let it go. His friends were very apologetic and he had clearly drank away the last of his judgment.

He did get drunker and funnier as the night went on. At one point he was waving an American flag around saying "Jesus" not in a swearing way, but rather as a question, which apparently offended the Ghanian guy who threatened to take him outside. But drunk man's friends told the Ghanian that this was a bad idea, their friend was used to getting drunk and laying guys out cold. So he backed off.

While the drunks and political conversation was interesting, in the background they were playing CNN international. If you haven't been out of the country much you've probably never seen this version of CNN. Its what they play around the world to make it look like Americans care about international news, when we actually want celebrity rumors. Anyway, the commercials on this channel are strictly intended for millionaires "Invest in Poland!" "India: Business Central." etc.

Anyway, CNN international played us lots of clips of the global reaction to the election. I don't know if they play these on regular CNN, for the reasons I've listed above. However, they were covering big fancy consulate parties with lots of swank. Where was our coverage? I guess they're not interested in drunk Germans. But they weren't overstating international interest. Everyone I know has asked me many times about the election, electoral votes, the congress, etc.

But the best thing about this year's coverage was definitely the HOLOGRAM LADY. WTF? Pop-up congress building and hologram lady. This is not the way to make the election more exciting, CNN. In addition to this bizarre technology they touted weird vertical bar graphs that you couldn't read and TWO teams of people pretending to type on laptops.

Die Registratur had the bright idea to play viral videos during the dull parts of election coverage, but unfortunately they only had political rap. I should've been the one to make this list, I do watch You Tube obsessively. There wasn't even a "La Piquena Sarah Palin."

Because of the 6 hour time difference between Germany and the East Coast, things startled dwindling before we got our election results. We stayed for the frank discussion "McCain would have to win the West Coast to get enough votes at this point." But Gwen's mysterious business friends left, along with the Ghanian, his girlfriends, and our Germans. Drunky passed out on a sofa with no shoes on, and Ryan and I decided to quit around 4 am. As we arrived at our train station in Pasing, a TV in Yorma's cafe was showing the electoral tally for Obama over 300.

It still feels like a dream.

Extras:
-After another drunk guy hit on me, we decided I should change the "Yes We Can" button on my shirt to "No You Can't."
-apparently Anderson Cooper is a gay icon. Who knew?

Friend Hunting and Job Making.....no, reverse that.

Sad to report, I did not get the lunch lady job. I blame prejudice against Americans. No, not really, though it is harder to check my references. I have several CVs out currently and two interviews in the immediate future.

The job hunt in England is fairly different than job hunting in the US. You must have a CV for even minor, minimum-wage jobs. And it is a major faux pas to mention to a prospective employer that you are considering taking more than one part-time job. (Although President Bush calls it "uniquely American" and "fantastic")* Apparently the two employers would have to coordinate for tax purposes and the Simon Cowell impersonator I interviewed for yesterday was very adamant about not bothering with this. It was a little harsh for this foreigner.
But, like I said, I have many irons in the fire at the moment.

In other news, on Wednesday I joined Ryan and his research group for lunch at one of his school's cafeteria, which has a full bar, which is open for lunch also. His group is made up of 1 Irish guy, 2 Greek fellows, and a Chinese bloke. We were talking about our travels and I must admit I felt pretty ignorant. I've thought of myself as fairly well-informed because I watch world news and took a class on International Relations. But the Irish guy, Micheal, knew not only where Montana is, but the states that border it and its national parks. I was like, "Oh, Ireland....is that the one with the IRA or is that North Ireland?"

That night there was a post-grad engineering social at The Orange Tree, one of the local pubs. It was pretty fun and we met a lot of people. Some of the conversations were actually a series of misunderstandings because the other party was not a native English speaker and the pub was very loud! But it was fun, and I did meet a lady named Nora who is married to a French student and we had a good talk since we are going through a lot of the same things-- adjusting to married life, following our husbands to other countries, looking for work in the UK, visas, and all that. We also had a good laugh about how our engineering husbands calculate everything. In Ryan's case its "If we ruin this meat, it costs blank, versus buying something pre-cooked, minus the cost of labor...." and so on. It's comforting to know that engineers are the same no matter what country you are in.

*"You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." (Bush speaking to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005)