It's Thanksgiving morning! As part of my tradition, I wake up early, run around excitedly, then remember that no, I will not be gathering with the family in Dallas. I won't be sitting down to a big dinner and lounging around during the afternoon. There will not be any leftover turkey to use for sandwiches. I won't be doing any of that because it is not a public holiday in Germany.
No, I am not sad about missing out on the holiday, but I am sentimental, and a little envious. But, over the years that I have lived in Frankfurt, I have found other ways to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, albeit unconventionally.
Part of the joy that comes with this holiday is the buildup, specifically Thanksgiving Eve. I think it's one of my most favorite days of the year. Last evening, I enjoyed a few beers with friends before heading home to sit quietly on my balcony, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for.
During my personal moments sitting outside listening to the quiet, I made a mental note to myself to catch up on all the posts that I have missed during the past month. And what better time to do it than now?
So, I will zip through some mini-posts, all of which have been waiting patiently in my head, just waiting for the fingers to start typing out the piece.
Where Was I 30 Years Ago?
I remember very clearly being at college when the Berlin Wall fell. It was a major moment in history, and I got caught up in all the excitement, thinking about all the changes that would impact so many people. My buddy Tim had a poster hanging in his dorm room, one showing all the revelers standing on top of the wall celebrating enthusiastically. At the time, I obviously did not know that some 18 years later, I would be living in Germany, meeting lots of people with first hand experience.
During my time in Germany, I have discussed the differences between the east and the west at length; I know quite a few folks that come from eastern Germany, and happen to have a couple of really close friends who were still children when the wall fell. Despite the stories that they have told me, I never quite grasped the significance.
For the past few weeks, I watched a German television series that follows two families living in East Berlin from the period of 1980 (when my friend was born) to 1990, months after the wall had fallen. In all, there were about 24 episodes, all about an hour long each. This was some pretty heavy drama, and gave me some additional insight to how it was to live under socialism. The series was enthralling, and knocked me off my routine of weekly blog posts. I simply had so many thoughts running around in my head, trying to get a better understanding of how it really was in East Germany at that time, particularly since people close to me had lived through those times.
I was a little disappointed with how the series ended (somewhat up in the air and definitely abrupt), but the more I thought about it during the following week, I realized that perhaps it was a fitting way for the series to end.
So, the fall of the Berlin Wall has really been on the brain during my month of November. By coincidence, I have been learning the music from the soundtrack of the exceptional film Good Bye Lenin! Twice, now, I have simply burst in to tears while sitting at the piano, partly because of the melancholic tunes, and partially because of the emotional story. Not surprisingly, I got a little weepy while watching the movie again last week.
I Have Been Doing Squats For the Past Two Months, so How Come I Cannot Find My Butt?
At the end of August, I decided to take part in a 30 Day Squat Challenge, where I would perform X reps of squats each day, increasing the daily number of reps for the next month. The first month went so well that I elected to start a second month challenge, this time increasing the weight. I do something called a Goblet Squat, where you hold a dumbbell in front of you as you perform the exercise. I am big fan of lifting weights, and have never had motivation problems, except for leg day. This was always a challenge for me, because, well, leg days just suck. Years ago, sitting outside on the patio of the pub, an acquaintance of mine made a smart ass remark about the size of my legs, and I took it personally. Matters weren't helped as a friend of mine was standing next to me, and she heard the whole exchange, and she has never let me forget about that day. It was funny.
Any rate, I got through month 2 of my squat challenge, and started month 3, again, with more weight. I admit that it has been a struggle getting through this third month, but I have done it. It's not as if I constantly check for results, but as I was getting out of the shower the other day, I glanced in the bathroom mirror and could not see my butt. After several thousand repetitions (the goal each month is to start at 50 reps per day and reach 250 after 30 days) I guess I had expected that my butt would be a little bigger.
It probably has do with the workload that I have experienced in the past three months. Indeed, I have been (erm, excuse the pun) working my ass off.
She is Unbelievably Pretty
Speaking of beauty, we all know how intimidated I can be with physical beauty. In my lifetime, I can honestly say that I have made great progress. Unlike 30 years ago (yep, when the wall fell), when I would find myself completely unable to say anything other than complete gibberish when coming into unlikely contact with a truly beautiful woman, I am now able to hold it together when someone like that is present. I hardly ever flop around helplessly on the floor now, and it has been a good two or three years since I tripped and fell flat on my face or inadvertently walked into a wall because some girl distracted me.
In recent years, I appreciate the finer, smaller points of beauty, not
only in people but in all things. For example, I might find see a
plus-sized woman (who might be considered overweight), but I notice how
her hairstyle suits her face. Or I notice how genuine someone's smile
is, regardless of their physical height. Or how one single line of a
melody stands out as a thing of beauty. Or how beautiful the sound of
silence can be.
However, I turned on the morning news the other week while on a business trip, and the moderatorin was so absolutely beautiful, I laughed out loud. It was ridiculous.
Minutes later I was still distracted by the girl on the television. I almost poked my eye out with my toothbrush as I tried to finish brushing my teeth.
Continuing Education at the Kiosk
Monday evenings this month have been delightful and informative. Early in the month, our discussion topic included a refresher course on all the names of the characters from Sesame Street. It was amazing that all of us immediately knew each character, despite our ages. We did have a moment where my German friends could not remember Big Bird's name, but eventually they got it right. (Bibo, if you need to know).
The following Monday we got to talking about the dangers of cycling in the city. One of the guys rides his bike downtown to work everyday, and a few months ago had purchased a kind of airbag helmet. This device collars around the neck and looks rather stylish, but upon impact, inflates and surrounds the head just like a helmet would.
It's fascinating technology, and my friend really likes it. The thing is, there is really no way to "try it out." The device, like any other airbag, has a one time use, then has to be sort of "reset" by the manufacturer, should an incident occur.
Danny has repeatedly declined to test his helmet out just for me to see how it works, so I have drafted an email to the beautiful tv news woman in Berlin, requesting that she show up at his work right when is riding up to the door. Maybe her appearance will distract him and cause him to drive into a wall and set off the airbag.
I will keep everyone posted on progress.
Creative Cooking
November has been a month of culinary delight, at least in my kitchen. I discovered that my little smoothie blender is not up to the task of pureeing sweet potatoes, but I got there in the end.
On that same evening, I found out what brocclini is. Where the hell have I been all this time?
Sweet potatoes and baby broccoli aside, I did take pride in perfecting my technique for shredding chicken. No air bag required.
The Contrast of Accents While Speaking a Foreign Language
I continue to be a little sensitive to the accent I have when speaking German. Although I speak the language pretty well, the accent is still very noticeable. For everyone but me. Okay, sometimes I do notice when I get lazy in pronunciation, particularly with vowels (and umlauts), but even though I listen to a lot more German language broadcasts, my accent still remains quite strong.
Sometimes I get positive feedback (like, "Hey, you have a charming accent,") but mostly, by initial introductions, I get startled looks, or at the very least, the immediate question/acknowledgement that I am not a native speaker.
Most of the time, it does not bother me, but I am aware that I seem to have an accent. Last weekend, I was eating in a restaurant with 2 other English native speakers, both of which speak German fluently. I seem to notice that they have an accent, also, but maybe not quite as strong as mine.
Like always, when the three of us are together, we speak in English with each other, then switch immediately to German when speaking with the waitstaff. I have noticed through the years that this creates a little confusion for some staff in some restaurants, but I think it mostly has to do with their surprise that we are able to speak German in the first place; all too often many ex-pats, particularly in Frankfurt, only speak English, which is never a problem for most German natives, as they all tend to have a good grasp of English themselves.
What made last Saturday night a little interesting is that upon our arrival at the table, I gave our drink order to the waitress, who I noticed was not a German native herself. I had not looked at the menu yet, but said restaurant differentiated between a margarita classic and a frozen margarita. Normally, I consider a "classic" margarita to be one with a mid-range tequila and served either frozen or on the rocks. I had not see the selection of frozen margaritas in the menu, so I kept trying to order a classic frozen margarita, which confused the waitress.
Eventually the drinks came and were correct, but I thought, maybe I should speak Spanish with the girl, as that might make things easier. My friends placed their food order in German, then I gave my order in Spanish. Well, the girl's face lit up and she exclaimed, "Wow, what part of Spain do you come from?"
Of course I had to explain where I came from and how I knew Spanish, but I was really flattered by how she thought I was actually a Spaniard, instead of simply a guiri.
Through the rest of the weekend, I wondered about how it can be that I seem to speak Spanish almost accent free (if anything, I sound like I am from Madrid), even though I do not speak the language all that frequently. Meanwhile, my accent while speaking German has not diminished.
No need to dwell on it. I am just thankful I can actually do the two languages.
And finally, I come to my last little tale for this post. With all the heavy East German drama I have watched during the month, I felt the need for something a little lighter. Fortunately for me, one of the German broadcasters started showing some original version episodes of a British television series, "Poirot," obviously a series about the famous detective.
The original series was broadcast from 1989 (yes, the same year as the wall fell), but somehow I missed the series when it was broadcast on PBS in the states. What an enjoyable hour of television. True, I am a big Agatha Christie fan, and I am really enjoying each week when the German broadcaster puts an episode out for viewing. I was delighted further when suddenly an episode of "Marple" was available each week, too.
Thus, every Friday this month I have had a date on my couch to watch a few hours of delightful British mystery. And, on the first Friday of the month when I picked up a pizza for dinner, it just seems right to keep right on with the routine. The little brick oven pizzeria down my street is perfect and speedy.
So, yes, I already know how I am going to spend my Black Friday. And I am thankful for it.
see you out there
bryan
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