Okay, I know I know I know. I've been incredibly MIA, and I AM truely sorry for it. But as it is already after 1am here, and I am tired and I have to get up to make it class at a decent time tomorrow morning, this entry is really only a teaser. I just want to let you know that I have been sincerely wanting to write for a long time now, but that life and an endless string of illnesses and the whole not being in the "writing mood" has gotten in the way :-( . So now that everything has calmed down, and I have gotten a chance to get well, the next entry is coming shortly. I want to promise tomorrow in fact, BUT as I thoroughly believe in the unpredicatability of life I don't deal in absolutes. So let's just put it this way, the next entry or possibly three or four entries will be posted in the upcoming days. Alright, much love and viele liebe gruesse!!!

An Early Visit from the Osterhase

After a great night out with friends, new and old, and rolling back in at about 12:30 am, I managed to drag my butt out of bed at 7am to see what the good ole Easter Bunny had brought for Irene and Martin. However, not surprisingly (I am in a foreign country afterall), this Easter was a bit different from what I remember growing up. Instead of the american tradition of dying eggs and then hunting for them Easter morning after the sneaky Easter Bunny came in and hid them, in Germany (or at least in the Bruckmeier household) eggs are painted, or decorated through other means, at some point in the pre-Easter season. They are then promptly hung on twig like flowers in a vase, resulting in an "Easter tree" of sorts. The morning-of then involves the children searching for presents that the Easter Bunny (or Osterhase) has left for them around the house, or in this case the family room. For example, Irene got a kids' sudoku book, a crafts book, a CD, an Easter Bunny pencil, and a fair amount of chocolate. And Martin got more or less the same, the only difference being the books and the CD's were different. But the biggest surprise of all this morning was that the Easter Bunny knew I am now living here and thought to leave me a bag of chocolates :-). mmmm Lecker!!

Now unable for some unknown reason to bring myself to go back to sleep, I am now awake and reporting back to you. And in approximately an hour and a half I will be off again to another Easter celebration. Today I am joining my friend Isa and her family for a traditional-Bavarian, Easter lunch. And to follow will be kaffee und kuchen at her house. And though this is for sure not to be any comparison to the usual ham and guampkeys (i have no idea how to spell it...sorrryyy) lunch at grandma Flo's, I am certain it is going to turn out to be a lovely Easter afterall.

So HAPPY EASTER everyone!! I wish you all the best!! And I hope you know that I love and miss you all!!! xoxoxox

Nothing Like a Game of Cards

If you ever have the chance to play a card game in another country, that is a card game typical to that country, I highly recommend you don't pass up the opportunity. In my opinion card games, along with customs surrounding meals, holidays, and other social and extra-curricular activities offer some of the keenest insight into a new culture. Thus far into my "german experience" I have learned to play two german card games, Mau Mau and Skat. Both are fun, and completely different as far as the amount of strategy involved.



Tonight, upon coming home from a stroll in the woods/park near my house, I got an unexpected surprise. Lilo and Robert were sitting at the dining table enjoying a bottle of red wine, some dark chocolate and conversation. So naturally I joined in. I mean please like there was even a question :-). But soon enough, to my pleasant the conversation unfolded into a card game, or more precisely a lesson on how to play Skat. Skat is a somewhat complicated german card game that shares certain rules and ideas with Spades, but that differs in many other aspects from any other card game I've ever played . On top of that, the german deck of cards is a bit different than the typical american deck (and don't even get me started on the typical Bavarian playing cards). In the german deck of cards, what we know as the "queen" is called the "dame" and is therefore signified with a "D", and what we know as the "jack" is called the "bube" (not sure on the spelling) and is signified with a "B". So while playing that takes some mental shifting. But by the end of about 7 or 8 rounds of play, I guess I was getting the hang of it, at least as much as one can hope to their first time around playing a foreign card game under the influence of a couple glasses of wine ;-). But nonetheless I have high hopes for myself. The next time around, I know I won't be terrible at least, and maybe I'll even have fully grasped the concept. Cross your fingers for me!!

The Illness that Would Not Die

So as you've probably deduced from the title above, I am once again sick. That would make it a total of three times since I've been here (though the last two times, kind of blended together). Now some of you who are aware of my previous health history may not believe it. I myself am having trouble believing I'm ACTUALLY sick, which may be part of the obstacle to getting better. But that's neither here nor there. The point is living/working with little children in a city that has had record snow levels over the past winter combined with not getting enough sleep due to the innate need of an au pair for getting out of your house/office and having a life of your own with people of a common age, language, and culture unleashes upon you the illness from hell. And so my friends (and family) here I am, once again afflicted with some form of strep throat/sinus cold/who-the-hell-knows disease, and am VERY slowly on my way to getting better. Luckily I have the help of some chinese herbal medicine drops that are supposed to be a cure-all and that Lilo swears by as helping everything from congested nose, chest and sinus headaches. Mind you, this is not unheard of for germans, they seem to be quite heavy into the herbal remedies. Which is fine by me. Better to not aid in the propagation of anti-biotic resistance. Just hope it works and soon!!

Meanwhile, both Martin and Irene have been in and out of the doctor's office over the last month or so. Luckily they alternate though. That is, they rarely reach the peak of their sickness simultaneously. And Lilo has been sick on and off as well. So as you can see the Bruckmeier residence has been somewhat of a "krankenhaus" as Lilo puts it, a.k.a. small hospital.

As such Lilo has decided that the best way to ensure that she and the kids fully recover and get back to 100% health is a change of scenery. So this sunday, after the Easter bunny makes his visit - we have arranged that he will make an especially EARLY call at the Bruckmeier's, in time for their 11am flight - Lilo, the kids and Grandma Lizzy (Lilo's mom) are hoping a plane to the tropics. More specifically they will spending 10 days in the Canary Islands, in the hopes that the fresh sea breeze, consistent warm weather, and sun will cure them once and for all.

This will of course give me time to relax and hopefully get better too. And the upside is the weather in Munich is FINALLY nice. Over the last week or so the weather has been near perfect, or perhaps as perfect as it can get in Munich. Today for example is clear blue skies, with a temperature somewhere in the high 60's, low 70's. It's actually spring!!! On top of my vacation from work, I also have Easter break from my classes, this week and possibly next week. So in short I'll be living it up, hopefully spending many a long day in the Englischer Garten, catching up on my reading, studying my german, drawing, and hopefully playing a bit of soccer and talking an amble or two.

please please please weather don't change!!!