Today at work there’s a little sending off party for me. Yes, I’ll be working tomorrow, but it’s the last day in the office with most of the people on my team. There’s a delicious looking strawberry cake sitting next to me, tempting me. I wish I had my camera to take a picture - it looks THAT beautiful - but my camera is in a box somewhere in the sky, or maybe on a boat, or maybe it hasn’t even left Germany yet. Anyway, it’s not here. But I found this picture online and it’s close enough.

I’ll let you know how it tastes

UPDATE: In the meantime, I’ve come across a camera and taken this picture for you to view the beautiful masterpiece with your own eyes:

I’ve also now tasted it and can report back that it is just as scrumptious as it looks!

It’s been really strange this weekend being just a few miles from one of the world’s largest airports and not hearing a thing. I guess we’ve gotten used to the noise pollution and now that it’s gone, it’s REALLY silent. We heard some planes at about 8:30 last night and got all excited and even ran to the windows to look. Turns out they were just testing the airspace but it still got us hopeful. Travis’ flight is supposed to be in five days and mine in just over a week, so we’ve started trying to think of what our Plan B is if this stays messed up for awhile.

I guess first things first: If you haven’t heard the news, airspace is closed over much of Europe including good ol’ Frankfurt due to volcanic ash. Our friends from Berlin didn’t come down (and it’s a good thing because if they had, they probably would be stuck here still). And in spite of our disappointment of not being able to host them, it was probably better off as we had a pretty exciting weekend of packing, panting, and cleaning with a few flashes of fun thrown in the mix.

The first flash of fun was Friday night when we went to the Frankfurt Luminale, an art show put on by “light artists” every two years. We didn’t really know where to go, so just followed the crowds. We walked around for a few hours and saw some interesting lights. Here are a few pictures, although they’re not great because we didn’t have a tripod.

This bird has been the subject of much discussion between my mom, my dad, and even Travis’ mom as they all poured through books to learn his identity. I even asked a German co-worker who told me that it was a red throat.

Today, another co-worker was at my desk and saw the picture on my computer and said, “Oh, how nice. A robin.” He then took me to Wikipedia and showed me the page for our friend. Yes, our bird is a little fluffier than the ones here. Perhaps he was eating too much bread and cheese, like I have been doing here in Germany. (In fact, the picture on the German page clearly shows that these two guys are cousins. The bottom picture on the page shows the stripes on the wings which I think is the definitive proof that he is one and the same.

So, now we have one more mystery of the universe solved!

There’s a coffeeshop chain we have here called Tchibo (pronounced Chee-bo) and Travis and I have become somewhat addicted to it. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we still do not drink coffee, but Tchibo has so much more than coffee!

For some reason, when they built their coffeeshop strategy they decided that the shops should have more than just coffee. As you can see from the link above, coffee is kind of an afterthought. There’s also dishes and workout clothes and pillows and vegetable gloves!

I’m sure you are asking yourself, “What the heck are vegetable gloves?” I too was an unknowing disbeliever until yesterday when I tried out my Tchibo pair on some unsuspecting potatoes. You see, vegetable gloves are kind of like steel wool for your hands. They’re horribly uncomfortable, but great for cleaning vegetables. And also supremely fashionable.

(Notice Milli wanted to be in the picture, too.)

(Also notice that the gloves say “vegetables” on them, to clear up any confusion about their purpose. But, since they’re German, they should actually say “Gemüse.” Which leads me to wonder if the Germans aren’t buying these because they don’t know what “vegetables” are.)

I read Jo’s blog regularly, and her post today made it all sink in. It’s “Fests and Events in June in Frankfurt” and they look AWESOME! And FUN! And… we’ll be back in Denver

I think we need to start the tradition of having more festivals in the US. And although Denver has a few things going on in June, the lineup (below) doesn’t hold a candle to what they’re doing here.

But, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, I guess. Life can’t be all fun and festivals all the time now can it?

(Not sure why, but that sounds sensible.)

Denver Annual Event Highlights in June
Capitol Hill People’s Fair
June 5 - June 6, 2010

Cherry Blossom Festival
Check Back for 2010 Dates

Greek Festival

Jazzfest Denver
June 12-13, 2010

Juneteenth
Check Back for 2010 Dates

La Piazza on Larimer Square
June 5 - June 6, 2010

PrideFest
June 19 - June 20, 2010

I hope all of the posts from Cairo kept you entertained enough for me to take yesterday off. I actually intended to write and post pictures from the Rosenmontag parade last week, but the day slipped away from me. So, here are our pictures from Rosenmontag, Germany’s answer to Fat Tuesday. But it happens on Monday, not Tuesday. Just another ponderous moment brought to us by the Germans

Rosenmontag is a big parade with lots of candy and floats and crazies, and we had a great time watching it all go by from our friend Anna’s balcony. No candy at our level, though.

We are back, safe and sound, and it was quite an adventure! Never before have we felt so out of place and uncomfortable. But those stories will come!

Yesterday, we landed in the morning and went right to Mainz to see what Rosenmontag is all about. Our friends who live in Mainz told us this was a once in a lifetime thing and we had to see it. It is celebrated at the start of Lent and hundreds of people dress in crazy costumes and line the streets for a parade. Our friend lives in one of the buildings on the parade route, so we had a great view.

I have pictures of both Rosenmontag and Cairo that I will be posting soon, but for now just wanted to give the update that we’re alive and well!

Last week, a co-worker had a birthday, and birthdays are celebrated differently here in Germany than they are in the U.S.  For example, the woman only works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and her birthday was on Friday. So, you’d expect the celebration to be on Thursday, right?

Not so. The birthday celebration has to be AFTER the actual birthday, even if it’s five days later. I guess that’s to make sure you survived. We wouldn’t want to celebrate early for no reason!

Then, on top of that, no one decorates your desk or throws confetti at you or even brings a cake. YOU are expected to work to bring US the cake. I mean, you were the one that had the nerve to be born! And I won’t even get started on how cakes are not really cakes here. I know, I know, to each his own. But there’s something I just love about that extra sweet, moist U.S. cake… yum.

The last thing they do that I find a little weird, and frankly a little awkward, is the hugging. If it’s your birthday - I don’t care how well you know someone - you’re subjected to hugs. I mean, I guess there could be worse things. But they’re such a closed society and it always feels weird hugging someone that normally wouldn’t even say “good morning” to me.

Last year I took the day off on my birthday to avoid these weird customs, and this year I thought I’d do the same. But the Germans have caught on to me, and they insist that there will be a celebration when I return.

Guess I’d better make a cake…

Yesterday, one of the Germans came up to me and said, “I got an e-mail from Megan, and she said she was running late because her son is under the weather.” I nodded, not sure if I was supposed to be sympathetic to this Megan woman’s kid, or what the right response was.

“So,” he continued, “you know what that means? That’s a common phrase, that ‘under the weather?’”

“Yes,” I replied. “It means he’s sick.”

“Sick? Like sick, serious?”

“No, like sick, not feeling well.”

Thanking me, he wandered back off shaking his head at the weird Americans and their weird sayings. But it got me thinking how often we throw that phrase around and how funny it must sound to someone who understands the literal words but not the phrase.

Some of the words they have make sense “translated,” even if I don’t fully understand why. For example, goose bumps is equal to goose skin in German (even though I’ve never seen a goose get bumpy skin when it’s cold). The funny bone on your elbow is the music bone to them (not funny OR musical when it is hit). A lot of our sayings, like “cross your fingers” are also used in German, even though I have no idea where the saying comes from.

Apparently they have been missing out on “under the weather” all this time. I guess I have three months to fix that.

(Let me apologize in advance for the poor pictures. I didn’t want to use my flash and embarass myself or blind the performers.)

We walked in to the auditorium and everything was set up “under the big top.”

Luckily, I had prepped myself with some caramel popcorn. I settled in for the show.

The first act was a hula hoop master, who not only could hula hoop 10 at a time, she could also light them on fire. Now, that’s just showing off.

Then, “for the American guests,” they brought out line dancers. These were employees from the company that got signed up to perform. I was embarrassed for them AND for my country, that this is what we’re known for.

After the line dancing, a clown/mime came out and did his crazy clown thing.

Followed by a half-naked guy doing stunts. (He could have been reading a book for all I know. I was distracted by the lack of shirt.)

A “football” player came out and did some tricks with a ball, including taking off a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, and a pair of pants, and walking into the audience, all while bouncing the ball.

Then the clown came back and got some people from the audience to sit on chairs, lay back on each other, and then he took their chairs away leaving them shaking.

After all that excitement, there was a short break for dinner - pizza, sausages, and other “circus” fare, along with circus games.

To start the second half of the program, they suspended a woman from the ceiling and let her swing from cloth:

Then more of the clown, shown here spinning EIGHT plates at once.

A ventriloquist was next up, and he was HILARIOUS. Even with my limited German skills.

Then came what I will from here on call the crazy lady, who swallowed fire sticks:

put a giant spider on her chest - you may need to check out the large view of this one:

laid on broken glass and had someone stand on her belly:

brought out not one but TWO crocodiles, and kissed them:

And if that’s not enough, she wore three giant snakes around her neck.

A hard act to follow, but three more employees came out and sang a really funny song next:

Then a comedian came on for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. I really didn’t like this guy. It didn’t help that he was in German, but he also went on for-ever.

At the end, Jenni presented the retiree with a gift:

And then everyone in the crowd sang “You are our champion” to the tune of “We are the champions.” And also waved glow sticks. It was kind of as cheesy as it sounds.

What a night! Six LONG hours later, it was over and I broke free. They’d never pull anything like that off in the U.S. for a retirement, that’s for sure!