Bookend Posts

Well, some of y'all who have been reading Raspberry World for a while may recognize the picture above. It is the Easy Internet Cafe where I posted my first posts from Munich two years ago. Now I am back again to post (probably) my last post from Munich. It feels like the end of an era.

We are having a nice weekend. Thursday the movers came and packed everything up and took it away. We slept so hard that night! (At a hotel, of course.) Friday, I worked in the apartment and Marty had his last day of work. Last night we had dinner at the Spaten Haus, one of our favorite restaurants in Munich. I had Kathryn's favorite, Käsespätzle. Afterwards, we went to see Michael Moore's new movie, which just opened in Munich this week.

Today I spent the afternoon with a friend while Marty volunteered registering US voters outside the cinema. Andrea and I went to the Munich City Museum (one of my favorites here) and enjoyed the "München wie geplannt" exhibit, about the growth of Munich through the last 900 years or so.

And tomorrow Marty and I will finish cleaning up the apartment, and then go to my chorus' summer party.

Monday morning we will pick Ziggy up from the apartment and head out to the airport. I'll report back in from the other side, sometime next week. Thanks for sharing this big adventure with us during the last two years.

A Wonderful Weekend

 

Above, two pictures from a wedding party we attended Saturday night. Our friends Sonja and Pete were married Friday. In the first picture, Sonja joins her Chorschwestern (chorus sisters) for a performance of "San Francisco Bay Blues" before family and friends. In the second, Marty and I pose for a funny picture to go in an album of all the party guests (we also signed a page in the album where our picture will go, making a kind of guestbook). There were lots of dress-up clothes to choose from, but I couldn't get Marty into the hot pink fake fur jacket. Everyone had fun putting on crazy hats and wigs and taking a picture. What a fun idea! We left at 1am and the party was still going strong. Congratulations, Sonja and Pete!

Sunday we drove to visit friends in Oberwössen, where the Chiemgau Trachtenfest was taking place this weekend. Groups came from all over the Chiemgau region to show off their traditional costumes (Tracht). We enjoyed a parade, a beer tent, and a Bavarian sky. And, best of all, spending time with our friends. It was a great day, and we both got sunburned. (A rare enough event this summer in Bavaria.)

   
  
   
Click to enlarge all pictures.

 

1. The parade participants gathering under a blue and white Bavarian sky. Two weeks ago, Marty climbed to the Hütte on the mountainside in the distance. 

2. Excited before the parade. I love the leg warmers.

3. Every village brought a large contingent of Tracht-wearers of all ages.

4. Too young to march alone.

5. Just one of hundreds of beautiful, well-kept homes in Oberwössen, proudly flying the Bavarian flag.

6. The banners of each village group, parked outside the beer tent.

7. In the tent. I've never seen so many people in Tracht all in one place. They were definitely in the majority.

8. Enjoying the Gemütlichkeit.

9. The best thing about those dresses is that you can twirl in them. The painting on the backdrop is of Oberwössen.

A week from today, we're headed to the US. I still have so much to get done! I'd better scoot. 

Complex Questions

As we get ready to go home, I find myself reflecting on differences between Europe and the USA. I will miss so many things about Germany and Europe, but I'm glad to say there are things I'm looking forward to, as well. From little things, like lower prices on items I have to buy all the time (why should a small-ish bottle of mint Listerine cost $5?) to big things, like the wider range of news coverage and sources available in the US.

I just read a long piece about anti-Americanism in Europe: Hating America by Bruce Bawer, published in the Hudson Review. It's part book review, part historical overview, and part analysis, but the whole thing was fascinating to me. An excerpt (the same one that appeared on Mental Multivitamin, where I discovered the link):

Living in Europe, I gradually came to appreciate American virtues I’d always taken for granted, or even disdained—among them a lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experience, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak one’s mind and question the accepted way of doing things. (One reason why Europeans view Americans as ignorant is that when we don’t know something, we’re more likely to admit it freely and ask questions.) While Americans, I saw, cherished liberty, Europeans tended to take it for granted or dismiss it as a naive or cynical, and somehow vaguely embarrassing, American fiction. I found myself toting up words that begin with i: individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, independence of mind. Americans, it seemed to me, were more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by “experts”; they believed in their own ability to make things better. No wonder so many smart, ambitious young Europeans look for inspiration to the United States, which has a dynamism their own countries lack, and which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that there’s important, exciting work to be done. Reagan-style “morning in America” clichés may make some of us wince, but they reflect something genuine and valuable in the American air. Europeans may or may not have more of a “sense of history” than Americans do (in fact, in a recent study comparing students’ historical knowledge, the results were pretty much a draw), but America has something else that matters—a belief in the future.

Many of the points Bawer makes in this piece about the European view of America and Americans coincide with my own experiences during the last two years. One of my earliest observations upon arrival was that no matter how much some Europeans may disdain certain aspects of American life, in general, popular culture is not one of the areas they eschew. I have also noticed that what many Europeans think they know about America and Americans is often little more than inaccurate stereotyping ("All Americans love McDonald's," for instance). I'll tell you what, business is booming at the Munich area McDonald's restaurants, but from where I'm standing (outside the door) it doesn't appear to be mostly Americans that are eating there, or walking down the street with McDonald's food in their hands.

I love living in Germany, and I will miss it terribly when I leave. But I appreciated this article about the complexities of the USA and the many perceptions of America in Europe. I know some of you will find it thought-provoking, as well: Hating America by Bruce Bawer.

Ready, set...

Things are coming together for our big trip. The movers will come next Thursday (July 29) and then Marty, Ziggy, and I will fly back to the US the following Monday (August 2). Between now and then we still have a lot to get done, of course.

The most pressing matter at the moment is selling the sofa and the two wardrobes. Most everything else we wanted to sell is already sold or spoken for, but we still have these three things. If you know anyone in the Munich area who might be interested, feel free to direct them to our moving sale page.

 

Because of recently adopted anti-terrorism policies in the US, we won't be able to take any groceries or food back in our packed goods. That means that everything here needs to be given away or thrown out. I am trying to use up as much of my baking supplies as I can, and I may make a couple of batches of cookies today. But still there will be things to get rid of. Luckily, we have a party to go to the night before we leave Munich, so I'm sure I can take all my last things there and people will be able to take them home.

 

Right now my head is full of things I have to get done before I leave, items I need to remember to get rid of or set aside so that they don't get packed up, and the usual chores and errands that need to be done all the time. I really need to start making some lists like I did on the way over here. I was so organized!

 

And finally, Ziggy is preparing for the trip in his own way. He's getting used to the carrier again (right now it's his favorite place to nap). He's also identified his new "water dish" for the trip. Unfortunately for me, it's my favorite mug to drink water out of. It's an enameled metal cup that I got here in Germany. Every time I would set it down on the coffee table, I'd turn around and Ziggy would be drinking out of it. I think it's a good idea, since it's taller than a regular dish and won't spill so easily. And he can obviously drink out of it just fine, as he's demonstrating in one of the pictures below.

 

Click to enlarge pictures.

1. Ziggy's usual dinner setup, with the addition of the extra "water dish."

2. His head fits in there better than you might think.

3. The convertible carrier, with the top down.

4. So comfy!

5. You can see his "bald spots" in this picture, leftovers from some side effects he had to taking thyroid medication a while back. They are growing back in, slowly.

July so far.

Today I sold the TV and all our lamps. It's pretty dark (and quiet) in here! Now it really feels like we're moving! If you are in the Munich area and are interested in our moving sale, please write and let me know, and I'll send you a link to the list of things we're selling.

This has been a busy month so far. I can't imagine it's going to slow down much. On the 4th of July we had a picnic in the English Garden with our friends Carol and Frank, and their baby Lukas. It was a beautiful day in Munich and we all had a good time.

Yesterday, I went with several women from my German class (from earlier this year), and our teacher, for a walk around the Residenz and the Hofgarten. I actually saw a church and a courtyard at the Residenz that I'd never seen before! It's so neat that there are still things to discover at the end of my time here. I guess that just means we'll have to come back.

A few pictures:



Click to enlarge.

1. We are international! L to R: Belgian, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, Korean, American, and German!
2. Outside the Residenz, in the sunshine. We all love to talk!
3. Two of my favorite guys: Marty and Lukas.
4. Lukas with Carol, his mom.
5. Frank always makes Lukas laugh!

So, Marty sent me a link to this article, which I imagine he found via Dave Barry's blog:

Elvis couple's baby name dilemma

A Belgian couple whose 15 children's names are linked to Elvis Presley say they cannot think of a name for their 16th child.

Jean-Pierre and Carine Antheunis, from Gent in Belgium, are lifelong Elvis fans and their children's names include Elvis, Priscilla, Dakota and Tennessee.

But the pair have said they don't know what to call their new baby boy.

"If it had been a girl we would have called her Linda. Elvis once had a lover with that name," said Jean-Pierre.

"But we have run out of ideas for a boy."

They are now thinking of calling him Ohio: "There's no connection with Elvis, but it's in America," he added.

Speaking to daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Jean-Pierre said they would not need to worry about finding more names in the future, as Ohio would be their last.

"My wife is now 40 and we have decided to stop there. Sixteen children are enough for us," he said.

What I want to know is, what are the other 15 kids' names? I've been thinking about it all day, trying to figure it out. Without knowing the boy/girl ratio, you can't really know for sure, but surely they already have (besides the ones listed) Aaron, Lisa Marie, Graceland, Mississippi, and Colonel Parker. Can you imagine having a child named Colonel Parker?

And I love the line about Ohio. "There's no connection with Elvis, but it's in America." Hee.