Zuhause

All the boxes are unpacked, the wardrobes are assembled, pictures are on the wall, half the curtains are hung (wait, what the...curtains? c'mon!), the kitchen has been installed, and there are even some Christmas decorations out! Plus, I haven't even ruined our "unfinished" hardwood floor yet thanks to my mom's and Duman aunties' advice. Please note the "yet" in that sentence because I'm bound to ruin the thing that can't really get wet or be cleaned.

Ohhhh, actually nevermind. I left some dirty wet shoes in the entryway. There is a stain. If Josh has noticed, he hasn't mentioned it. I like to believe that my trick lighting and object placement in that area has masked it for now.

 At any rate, I took some pictures this afternoon of our apartment to share. I turned off the flash to avoid it shining back at you in the pictures which I think is why the pictures are a little fuzzy. I'm not sure. Meh, they're good enough. For me that is, you guys definitely deserve the best but I doubt my limited capabilities with the camera will produce anything better if I try again. Or I'm lazy, you choose.

The Living Room aka "Guest Room"

 

Some Portland love and a tiny Christmas tree!

You've now seen the extent of my Christmas decor. And the messy internet cables and router. And the living room door. Exciting!

Guess.

That is Josh's muse in the back corner.

Washer and dryer in the bathroom? Hey, it's better than in the kitchen...or basement.

My nemesis, the hardwood floor. It's worse for me in this room. I somehow managed to dump a whole Brita pitcher full of water on the floor last week, but apparently mopped it up quick enough. I doubt that will always be the case.               Note: snowflake lights!

Totally worth the wait! The most counter space I've seen in a German apartment yet!

What is going on here?

What is behind this bookshelf?

A-ha! 

Aaand...I'm a dork.

I still think there is a lot more we can do to make it "ours" and feel cozy, but we're getting closer!

Looks Like It's Time for an Update

Wow, we've been in Germany for over three months now! Some days it feels much longer than that, but I think I'm finally settling in a bit. Of course, just by writing that I could jinx myself and cause something to happen that would derail all the progress I've made going through culture shock. Though the cause of most of my discomfort and frustration was not being able to speak any German (oh, we got yelled at a number times because "If you are living in Germany,  you must speak German!" Yeah, I know, I just effing moved here and am trying to learn) but at least now I start typical day to day conversations in German thanks to our language class. I say "start" because as soon as Germans hear my American accent, they are usually more than happy to respond in my native tongue and see it as a way of practicing their English. This does not result in many occasions to practice my German out in the real world, but it is convenient. Eh, my lack of practice could also be attributed to the fact that I tend to stay in "safe" conversational situations. And actually, most of the Germans that I have met are extremely helpful to cluing us in on key German phrases and regional pronunciation.

We moved into our apartment in the middle of October and it finally has that feeling of being a home. We had so many things that we needed to buy and install for it to feel like people actually lived here. While it's not quite "cozy" yet, it is picture ready and I'll post a tour of the apartment soon. I even "decorated" for Christmas with a 1.5 ft fake tree. It's adooorable. And yes, the kitchen is in and  wonderful!

While Josh is at work I have also been keeping kind of busy. In October I signed on to help the Deutsch-American Institute as a volunteer with their high school Battle of the Books. It's a reading challenge among area high school teams that focuses on American literature. There are 10 novels in English that each team must read and in February there is a question and answer competition covering the content of these books among all the teams. What I have been doing is reading the books and writing questions for the competition. Starting next week and continuing through January I'll be going out to the schools to go over the competition rules and discuss the books with the teams. It's a fun project and the other people working on it are great! And I just got a freelance gig helping German PhD students edit English language articles for a publication.

We also have a few trips coming up! We're going to Berlin for a few nights between Christmas and New Years. So many museums and restaurants...it'll be good. After our favorite band, the Decemberists, released their tour dates a few weeks ago we scheduled a trip to Amsterdam in March.  It's somewhere we have wanted to go, and seeing excellent band is a great excuse to make it happen. I think we are going to try for a long February weekend in Prague as well. A nice little winter. However, this spring we are set to make our first visit home! We'll be at various locations along the west coast for the last half of April. More specifically, we'll be home in Portland for a few days during the last week of April. I had hoped to watch the Blazers in the playoffs, but yikes...

So do Josh and I like living in Germany? Yeah! Some things are a struggle to get used to and there is still a major language barrier and a minor cultural barrier, but yes it has been a great experience so far. I miss the U.S. and all the people there that I love, but three years in Europe will fly by. So please, come visit us while you can! *wink*

And finally, I appreciate all the nice and encouraging comments I've received about this blog! Thank you so much for reading it and understanding my laziness surrounding timely and frequent posts. Love you all!

I Heart Snow!

I know many of you out there don't agree with my sentiment towards snow. Yeah, it can be a huge pain in the ass and cause all sorts of traffic and commuting issues, but I've always been able to avoid that and therefore my love of snow is still very much intact! It has the ability to make the mundane magical and the beautiful magnificent. I more or less embody an overly excited 5-year-old when there is snow on the ground. And as a true Oregonian speaking, the fact that there has been a significant accumulation of snow on the ground over the last week with more continually being added blows my little mind. Oh and in our city the self-proclaimed "most famous Christmas market in Germany" also opened on exactly the same day this snow frenzy began.

I'm. loving. it.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I've been out with the camera again. Most of these pictures are from Monday. We have quite a bit more snow now, but you'll get the idea.

St. Johannis Cemetery

 St. Johannis Church

 

 

St Johannis Cemetery

Nuremberg's Castle Wall

View of Nuremberg from the castle

Yeah, I walked down that in sambas. Not the smartest or safest plan ever.

 

?

Christkindlesmarkt

Yum!

One of many booths selling Christmasy items.

A Snowy Day in Germany

Bamberg, Germany

Our friends just had a beautiful baby girl on Wednesday. This was the view from their hospital room window yesterday. I had stopped by for a visit and just couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of the scenery. It looks fake, right?

The First of Many ( I Hope!) Castle Adventures

Neuschwanstein

For Josh's belated birthday trip, we traveled south towards the German/Austrian border for an autumn weekend among castles and the Alps. This might as well have been a trip for me since I'd been dying to see the Schloss Neuschwanstein ever since my mom sent me a postcard from this Disney princess-like wonderland fifteen years ago. It did not disappoint.

We stayed in a great hotel at the base of the Schloss Hohenschwangau for the first weekend of November and spent a lovely Saturday touring both castles.

Hotel Muller

We visited Schloss Hohenschwangau first.

View of Hohenschwangau from our hotel room.

Hohenschwangau

 

 

 

 

View of Neuschwanstein from Hohenschwangau.

 

 

Josh at Neuschwanstein

Me and Neuschwanstein

Super scary bridge that we walked on, but we were rewarded for overcoming height-related fears with awesome views of the castle.

 

View from Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau is on the hill to right and our hotel was below that.

I have missed seeing mountains all the time. It's pretty flat where we live. There is a "hill" in Nuremberg, but it's no Mt Hood rising dramatically from sea level to 11,000 ft. So getting to be around mountains in addition the castle viewing frenzy made me very happy.

 

Sigh. I'm ready to go back.

The Shelf

A quick disclaimer:  I, Josh, have hijacked this blog to offer up a few words on poop.   And while I know there are a myriad of reasons for a casual reader of the Curti Abroad to turn away, to close the browser, to “check back next week”, I am undeterred.   The sickly sweet stench of truth must be told.

But for those who don’t deign to discuss a deuce, who refuse to reflect on their refuse, who flinch from feces, scatter from scat, evade excretion, and cringe when they crap.  You may go.  I forgive your squeamish guts and offer you this as a parting gift.

Sidebar: check out that paragraph.  I’m the Dr. Seuss of shit.

But for those still reading, I like the cut of your jib.  You’re a good sport and you can continue to be my friend. 

Now follow me on a plunge into the toilet bowl and stand aghast as I introduce you to the horror that is: The Shelf.

It is a common misconception that the Europeans are the global leaders in the bathroom arts.   And while it cannot be denied that the bidet exudes old world sophistication as it blasts water into your ass, the design of a European toilet has not evolved far from shitting into a trough.

Behold

I’m sure you look at this wonderful rendition of The Shelf, and think, “Oh, that doesn’t look so bad.  The hole is just a little smaller, and in a strange place.”  Come on over to Germany then.  Take a dump in my bathroom.  And see if I have any sympathy for your stinky tears.

Now, the entire concept of the toilet is to put as much distance between you and your poop as possible.  Suck it down a pipe and send it far far away.  Which is all fine and well once the job has been finished.  But this leaves the restless and fretful moments while you are still firmly planted on the seat, hovering above the fine mess you created.  It is during this time, as we all know, that shit gets real.

A barrier is needed.  American toilet engineers cunningly employed the already existing evacuation system to solve this problem, rounding the bottom of the bowl and simply allowing the water level to rise and form a pool.  Malign not this hellish fishbowl, for it has saved your nose unspeakable trauma.  Only a level five stench can permeate the watery grave.  The European Shelf grants you no such protection.  It’s just you and it.  Like a naked guy sitting next to you in a sauna.  Awkward and frightening.

And we all know that shit rolls downhill but there is no such luck here, friend.  The Shelf provides a broad flat landing site, like a fine slate billiard table.  And as a twisted bonus, The Shelf sits at a regulation depth of four inches.  Story problem time - you eat a burrito and drink three cups of coffee.  Solve for x.  

I will spare you any descriptions of the scent of fresh moist shit however we must spend a moment on residue.  Upon flushing, The Shelf does issue a shotgun blast of water but this has little impact on dry porcelain.  Stains abound.  And though I have not yet seen it, I am convinced that this powerful water jet could launch a turd beyond The Shelf’s gravitational pull.  I hope to never glimpse that horror.

So never make the mistake of thinking that this is just a magical land of beer gardens, half timbered homes, castles, museums, and incredible labor laws.  There is a toll to be paid and it is collected daily, right in your own home.

Come Take a Walk With Me....

Time for pictures!

Last week was gorgeous, but freezing. Literally. And I'm so nerd-tastic that I compared weather forecasts for Nuremberg and Portland. The daily highs were about the same, but Nuremberg was averaging 15 degrees cooler in the lows category. Also, we had sun and Portland had...well, rain. No surprise there. I decided to take advantage of the blue sky and I went for a walk from our apartment to the center of the old city to take pictures specifically for this blog.  Click here to see a map of the old city. This is the portion of the city that is surrounded by a medieval wall. Josh and I live outside of this wall, but it only takes a 10 minute walk full of visual delights to reach it. 

So please join me for a "walk" from our apartment to the city center...

The view from our kitchen window.

The view from our living room window.

The patio/courtyard area for our building. This is a work in progress, but we've been told that there will be a table and chairs out there come spring. Also, we can have a grill and do all the container gardening that we want.

St. Johannis Cemetary. Albrecht Dürer is buried here and this church and cemetery were untouched by the WWII.

St. Johannis Cemetary - I like to incorporate it in my walks to the old city. Much more peaceful than walking along the street.

St. Johannis

Once I leave the cemetery I have my choice of walking paths down to the river.

Frost! See, it was really cold. This was at noon.

These houses overlook the park that is by the river.

Almost to the wall but of course I didn't take a picture of it. So lame.

Just inside our entrance to the city wall. A beer garden along the river? I'm in!

One of my favorite streets. My favorite bar is on this street. Coincidence?

Hauptmarkt and daily produce market. This is where the Christmas market will go down!

The Hangman's Bridge

While taking this picture a a youngish man stopped to watch me take this picture. He took turns looking at me and looking at where my camera was pointing in bewilderment. Like this wasn't worth taking a picture of and was the most hideous thing he has ever seen! He did this the entire time I  was stopped and was still confusedly standing there when I left. The staring is out of control here!

This was a fairly short walk, but I wanted to give everyone an idea of what a typical walk to the heart of our new city looks like. Give any of the pictures a click if want to make them larger.

Teaser: Josh is currently working on his first guest post for the blog - it's regarding one of my favorite subjects. Get excited.