Newsday (New York)March 2, 2008 Sunday
NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
LOVE STORY: How e-mail saved the day
SECTION: LI LIFE; Pg. G19 LENGTH: 420 words
Magdale, nee Labbe, Henke, formerly of Huntington, describes how she met her husband, Kai, by chance one evening.
I was having dinner with my friend Kelly at Merchant's restaurant in Manhattan in October 2002. As we wereleaving, Kelly recognized a man named Kai sitting at the bar with his friend Philipp. She had worked with Kai when she was at Arthur Andersen some years before, and they had played on thecompany volleyball team together. Kelly introduced us and mentioned that Kai was from Germany. I told him that I was a German major in collegeand had studied in Germany. He was truly pleasantly surprised when I proceeded to speak German with him. Kai and Philipp persuaded us to stay and party with them, as Philipp was moving back to Germany the next week. We stayed out until 4 a.m., going to various bars and dance clubs, and ended up at Florent diner in the meatpacking district. I didn't have much money left, so I ordered something inexpensive. Philipp ordered an expensive steak, and whenthe bill came he insisted we split the total by four. I was upset and asked to pay for only what I ordered, but he wouldn't budge. He felt it was fair since they had been buying our drinks. Kai gave me money for a cab. I had the feeling that Philipp wasn't so enthusiastic about me. As a result, I e-mailed Kai (and Philipp) the next dayto stress what a good time I had and hoped that we could get together again soon, hoping that Kai would pick up on my interest in him. Luckily, he did, and we had our first date the next week.
It turned out I was right about Philipp. After we had been dating a while, Kai revealed that on the cab ride home, Philipp asked Kai if I had given him my business card. Kai said yes and displayed the card proudly. Philipp took the card and threw it out the cab window! Thank goodness I had e-mailed. Of course, we are all good friends now and can laugh about what happened. On Dec. 16, 2005, Kai and I were married in a civil ceremony at the New York City Marriage Bureau and celebrated with our families at a wonderful wedding brunch at the German consulate. Kai was offered a job in Munich, and we moved there in September 2006. We had our church ceremony in October 2007 in the beautiful small chapel that is part of the New Palace Schleissheim, near Munich. Kai is senior manager of the Transaction Integration department of Ernst & Young's Munich office. I am practicing corporate law and focusing on private equity transactions with the law firm of CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart,Germany.
Copyright 2008 Newsday Inc.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
15 Minutes of Fame
...No, not regarding my book (not yet). But still very special - Kai's and my "Love Story" was recently featured in the New York newspaper, Newsday. We were very excited about it and hope you enjoy the story!
Newsday (New York)March 2, 2008 Sunday
NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
LOVE STORY: How e-mail saved the day
SECTION: LI LIFE; Pg. G19 LENGTH: 420 words
Magdale, nee Labbe, Henke, formerly of Huntington, describes how she met her husband, Kai, by chance one evening.
I was having dinner with my friend Kelly at Merchant's restaurant in Manhattan in October 2002. As we wereleaving, Kelly recognized a man named Kai sitting at the bar with his friend Philipp. She had worked with Kai when she was at Arthur Andersen some years before, and they had played on thecompany volleyball team together. Kelly introduced us and mentioned that Kai was from Germany. I told him that I was a German major in collegeand had studied in Germany. He was truly pleasantly surprised when I proceeded to speak German with him. Kai and Philipp persuaded us to stay and party with them, as Philipp was moving back to Germany the next week. We stayed out until 4 a.m., going to various bars and dance clubs, and ended up at Florent diner in the meatpacking district. I didn't have much money left, so I ordered something inexpensive. Philipp ordered an expensive steak, and whenthe bill came he insisted we split the total by four. I was upset and asked to pay for only what I ordered, but he wouldn't budge. He felt it was fair since they had been buying our drinks. Kai gave me money for a cab. I had the feeling that Philipp wasn't so enthusiastic about me. As a result, I e-mailed Kai (and Philipp) the next dayto stress what a good time I had and hoped that we could get together again soon, hoping that Kai would pick up on my interest in him. Luckily, he did, and we had our first date the next week.
It turned out I was right about Philipp. After we had been dating a while, Kai revealed that on the cab ride home, Philipp asked Kai if I had given him my business card. Kai said yes and displayed the card proudly. Philipp took the card and threw it out the cab window! Thank goodness I had e-mailed. Of course, we are all good friends now and can laugh about what happened. On Dec. 16, 2005, Kai and I were married in a civil ceremony at the New York City Marriage Bureau and celebrated with our families at a wonderful wedding brunch at the German consulate. Kai was offered a job in Munich, and we moved there in September 2006. We had our church ceremony in October 2007 in the beautiful small chapel that is part of the New Palace Schleissheim, near Munich. Kai is senior manager of the Transaction Integration department of Ernst & Young's Munich office. I am practicing corporate law and focusing on private equity transactions with the law firm of CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart,Germany.
Copyright 2008 Newsday Inc.
Newsday (New York)March 2, 2008 Sunday
NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
LOVE STORY: How e-mail saved the day
SECTION: LI LIFE; Pg. G19 LENGTH: 420 words
Magdale, nee Labbe, Henke, formerly of Huntington, describes how she met her husband, Kai, by chance one evening.
I was having dinner with my friend Kelly at Merchant's restaurant in Manhattan in October 2002. As we wereleaving, Kelly recognized a man named Kai sitting at the bar with his friend Philipp. She had worked with Kai when she was at Arthur Andersen some years before, and they had played on thecompany volleyball team together. Kelly introduced us and mentioned that Kai was from Germany. I told him that I was a German major in collegeand had studied in Germany. He was truly pleasantly surprised when I proceeded to speak German with him. Kai and Philipp persuaded us to stay and party with them, as Philipp was moving back to Germany the next week. We stayed out until 4 a.m., going to various bars and dance clubs, and ended up at Florent diner in the meatpacking district. I didn't have much money left, so I ordered something inexpensive. Philipp ordered an expensive steak, and whenthe bill came he insisted we split the total by four. I was upset and asked to pay for only what I ordered, but he wouldn't budge. He felt it was fair since they had been buying our drinks. Kai gave me money for a cab. I had the feeling that Philipp wasn't so enthusiastic about me. As a result, I e-mailed Kai (and Philipp) the next dayto stress what a good time I had and hoped that we could get together again soon, hoping that Kai would pick up on my interest in him. Luckily, he did, and we had our first date the next week.
It turned out I was right about Philipp. After we had been dating a while, Kai revealed that on the cab ride home, Philipp asked Kai if I had given him my business card. Kai said yes and displayed the card proudly. Philipp took the card and threw it out the cab window! Thank goodness I had e-mailed. Of course, we are all good friends now and can laugh about what happened. On Dec. 16, 2005, Kai and I were married in a civil ceremony at the New York City Marriage Bureau and celebrated with our families at a wonderful wedding brunch at the German consulate. Kai was offered a job in Munich, and we moved there in September 2006. We had our church ceremony in October 2007 in the beautiful small chapel that is part of the New Palace Schleissheim, near Munich. Kai is senior manager of the Transaction Integration department of Ernst & Young's Munich office. I am practicing corporate law and focusing on private equity transactions with the law firm of CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart,Germany.
Copyright 2008 Newsday Inc.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Helau, it's Carnival Time!
Welcome to Carnival time - or Karneval /Fasching/Fastnacht Zeit! New Orleans and Rio aren't the only cities that celebrate Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Carnival. It is a huge celebration here in Germany as well, particularly in Western cities such as Köln (Cologne) and Mainz and in the south in Bavaria. Festivities begin as early as November (Nov. 11 at 11:11am) and the period is called the "fifth season" (fünfte Jahreszeit), leading up to the Catholic Lenten season.
The official begin of Carnival week is on "Weiberfastnacht" (Women's Carnival) that starts the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. On that day, watch out for your ties! Women are allowed to go around and cut off men's ties. The celebrations culminate in parades and partying through "Rosenmontag" (Rose Monday) and "Faschings Dienstag" (Shrove Tuesday) - the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. People dress in elaborate costumes and masks, and shows are staged at Carnival Clubs where club members or invited guests perform dance, song routines and comedy sketches - called Narren (similar to jesters/clowns). Starting tomorrow of course, the party period is then over, and Lent or, "Fasten" period begins. But until then, a hearty Carnival greeting to all - Hela, Ahoi and Alaaf!
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Welcome 2008
Happy New Year! Well, I took the last quarter of 2007 off from the blog as it was a busy time - Oktoberfest, our Church wedding in Munich (I'm sorry we couldn't invite everyone - it was a very small church and party), Christmas, Trip to Thailand (some pics below, more to come) - not to mention Kai tearing his calf muscle in September and being on crutches until basically Christmastime. But this is not going to be one of those long Christmas card letters where the parents re-cap all the happenings and accomplishments of the family that people are not really interested in reading about anyway. It's out with the old and time for the new - resolutions, goals...and travel plans! (Scotland, Isle of Man, Czech Republic...maybe even Kazhakstan and Russia. Of course, New York squeezed in a few times).
Wishing you all a wonderful start to the New Year, health and happiness, and that we may accomplish what we set out to do.
God Bless.
Hong Kong
Standing Buddha in Bangkok
THe beloved Thai King
Christmas deco in Macau - a gambling mecca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
