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

Summer Vacation / Happy Anniversary

Hello all! I know I've been away for a while - I was on a little summer break : ) Now it's "Back to School." The Summer was very short and inconsistent here unfortunately - and also very early. We had lots of sunshine and hot and humid conditions in April. ...and that was basically it. There were some nice days sprinkled in between, also many thunderstorms, and then the cooler, rainer conditions came at the end of July, and have basically stayed. Oh well...maybe we'll have a wonderfully warm "golden October" like we did last year. In any event, I have enjoyed the Summer, managing to squeeze in some local trips as well as a trip to Portugal.

1) Bodensee /Lake of Constance This is a wonderful area to the southwest of Germany, bordering Austria and Switzerland. The in-laws have an apartment here and everytime we spend the weekend it is like a mini-vacation. The Lake with the sailboats, and the view to Switzerland on the other side is so relaxing and beautiful that I could stare for hours.

2) Duesseldorf, Germany Duesseldorf is a picturesque city on the Rhine that was first founded in 1288. In July, the city celebrated a huge festival that is larger than Oktoberfest. With my intrepid globetrotting friend Iyana, we took in the action. We didn't count on though, that there would be dozens of bachelor and bachelorette parties. The reason - many weddings were scheduled for the following weeked because it would be the 20th of 07, 2007 (European date order, you know) --> meaning 2007 2007. And you thought only 07.07.07 was the special date!

3) Portugal - Algarve Located in the south of Portugal, along the Atlantic, the Algarve region's red earth, rugged cliffs and Moorish history captivated us during our one week vacation there in August. With the warm temps and laid back lifestyle, it was a perfect way for us to end our summer. ...And begin our second year in Germany! Hard to believe that we landed here one year ago on September 2, 2006. We're looking forward to finding out what the second year brings - for sure, Oktoberfest! The festival starts up again in two weeks - and Munich will be welcoming the world to its doors. Servus! (Typical Bavarian greeting Happy Fall and Mach's Gut!

Happy Father's Day!

Are you saying, "wait a minute? It isn't June yet. We just had Mother's Day." That's true - but in Germany, today May 17 is Father's Day. It coincides with the Roman Catholic religious holiday of Ascension, because in the Middle Ages, on that day there was a procession to honor God, the Father. Luckily, I listen to the radio every morning before I go to work; otherwise I would have missed the import of the day entirely, and would have been a very bad daughter-in-law for not wishing my father-in-law Happy Father's Day. A lthough, the day seems to be mostly associated with men going out drinking and not really celebrating Fathers.

In any event, today is an official holiday in Germany - not because of fathers, but because of the Son - to commemorate Christ's Ascension into Heaven, or Christi Himmelfahrt, in German. I'm beginning to get used to all of these holidays. The only problem is, unlike in the U.S., the holidays aren't necessarily conveniently placed on the second Monday in September or last Monday in May so you have a guaranteed long weekend. Like our Independence Day, certain holidays are on a specific date: Labor Day is always May 1, or the Epiphany is always January 6, whether it falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, or even on a Sunday -- then you're SOL because you get no holiday.

But it's actually kind of nice to have a holiday during the week to break up the routine or stress. And when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, some people take the "bridge day" (Brückentag) off anyway to have a four-day weekend. (This time, I won't be one of them. Have to work. I know... you're all saying, "Awww, that's too bad")

Next up...Germany's version of Memorial Day (this year)....Pentecost.

Bis bald meine Lieben!