Fun times!

The past little while has been quite busy. We haven't been blogging because it's been nonstop, and because our blog is about our time in Germany, and well, we weren't here! Maybe we'll write about it, but that'll be later. For now, back to the German adventures...

So I have this friend. She's very fun, and is always thinking of interesting things to do. For my birthday, she gave me a girls night out- tickets to what she called an adult circus (for lack of a better description). I was thinking that it wasn't my thing, exactly, but we're kind of "when in Rome"-ing it these days, so I went. It turned out to be a pretty amazing variety show, even in German. Skills like that are translingual.

This variety show puts on a new show every two to three months, featuring acrobats, jugglers, dancers, singers, illusionists and comedy. It's in a tent (seating 300 and serving food and drinks). Totally fun!

EXTRASCHICHT! (http://www.extraschicht.de/)
A night of excitement. A night of discovery. A night of industry and technology?? Once again, I had to trust my friend, and just go along with her, even though it didn't sound very exciting. On the drive to our first location, I was able to read up on it, and it started to sound much better...
"Once a year the Metropolitan Ruhr District celebrates a colorful cultural festival: For one night only, former industrial plants are turned into unforgettable stages for performances by international artists. More than 160,000 visitors will embark on an exciting journey of discovery and be treated to an impressive taste of what the European Capital of Culture 2010 will offer. "

So we started out with some food - always a good start, although I have to say I was a little disappointed since that was definitely not the focus of the evening (like, there were pretzels, sausage and cake - that's it...), and I really like food.
But, we saw some cool jugglers, had great conversation, got caught in the rain, took a boat ride, ate some birthday cake, saw some art, a physics show, and odd exhibits (like these two guys on exercise bikes connected to record players and film strips. An interesting sound/light/motion experiement. Turns out it's very hard to pedal consistently, although I'm not sure they were trying to. Neat effect.). I was introduced to Brause - a candy(?) that all German kids love. (learn more: http://www.todocandy.com/fizzy-sour-candy-ahoj-brause.php) Myself, not a fan, though it was an experience. Kinda fizzy, but mostly foamy. And quite medicinal.

They had these cool light balloons all along the river which added to the festive spirit. And all the industrial buildings were lit up in various fun and interesting ways. The finale of our evening was a Waterworks show (like fireworks, though with water fountains), set to music by 4 avant-garde violinists. Very cool. It was inspiring to see this area (very industrial, blue collar) embracing its roots, and combining that with art in a way that was totally exciting and inspiring. Awesome!

Ja hoo!

The past few days have been personally satisfying and Germanly encouraging for me.
Today I took both girls swimming. The event started and ended with some tears (not mine, thankfully!), featured pee on the floor, and a dirty swim diaper, but on the whole it was a raging success. We swam outside, played in the kids' pool, sat in a warm tub and had a tonne of fun.
Yesterday I went to a flea market (ALWAYS exciting) with my friend, and despite the rain, found a few items for my new nephew who will be joining the world in August. Yay! Then Kaia and I headed to the dentist since she had a little fall that resulted in a pushed-in tooth. Everything seems fine for now. The visit was encouraging for me since the dentist didn't speak English. I filled out the form, booked new appointments for Lia and Kaia and spoke with the dentist and receptionist all in German. Let's just hope I understood as much as I think I did!
After picking up Lia at Kindergarten, the three girls went shopping with a few goals, one of which was to get haircuts. Despite some major fussiness BOTH Lia and I got our hair cut. (Wow!) The girls were angelic while they waited for me, and I spoke German to the hairdresser. I even explained "hockey hair" to her in order to illustrate why I wanted the back trimmed a little shorter.
So I feel that I've turned another corner on the language front. Although it's always difficult, and I get impatient, I'm pretty encouraged, too. And Lia is always willing to translate for me! :)

Those Were the Days

Fire day
As we drove back from spending Easter weekend in Maastricht, we passed hundreds (literally) of bonfires in fields and backyards. We thought this was a little odd, but it turns out that in Germany on the Saturday night before Easter, that's what you do - burn stuff. Happy Fire Day!













Pillow Fight Day
During a recent visit to Cologne (April 4th), we noticed the air was becoming increasingly filled with little fluffs (which we assumed came from trees or flowers). Walking back towards the Cathedral, we noticed more and more feathers on the ground and in the air (and in our lungs). And then, in the plaza in front of the cathedral, we saw hundreds of people engaged in a giant pillow-fight, ankle-deep in feathers and goose down from exploded pillows (and a few synthetic-filled pillows). City clean-up crews were standing at the sidelines, waiting for their turn to move in and start to clean up the mess.
Happy Pillow Fight Day! (www.pillowfightday.com)

Maastricht and Valkenburg

Marc here (I love ice cream).




















Karla and I got a chance to get away for 2 days while my parents were visiting. We drove 1.5hrs to Maastricht, and spent our time at a spa hotel in Valkenburg. The weather was beautiful (20~23 degrees and blue skies/sunny) and Maastricht is a beautiful, diverse city. It's in the Netherlands technically, but it's surrounded by Belgium and Germany.
We ate ice cream, shopped a cool flea market (and bought some antiques that made Karla's day), dodged bicycles in cobbledstones pedestrian areas, enjoyed the river Maas, and the usual 12th century Romanesque Basilica that you find in all nice European towns :)






















Valkenburg is mostly known for some castle ruins "the only castle in the Netherlands that's built on a hill", according to the tourist information. It turns out that it's also the only hill in the Netherlands :)

Underneath the castle hill, there is 800 years of limestone quarrying history (to build the castle and surrounding village). The resulting caves became a kind of tourist attraction in the 1800s, and were decorated with a whole series of carvings - they have also housed clergy escaping persecution in the 1700s, and more recently over 600 villagers for 6 days during the liberation of Valkenburg in 1945. There is graffiti spanning hundreds of years, including a series of profiles of American soldiers (and signatures, rank, and home city info). On a sad note, in 1993, two boys got into the caves somehow (they've tried to lock down every entrance), and were unable to find their way out :(
In one section of the caves, you can see where the limestone quarry intersected a well from the castle above - it's amazing to see how deep inside the hill you are you actually standing, when you look up the well shaft (and then down, even further). Good times!

Fear and Loathing in Das Spielplatz

Going to the Spielplatz gives rise to some surprising and contradictory feelings in me. First there's the fear and loathing (surprising) and then also contentedness and dread (contradictory).
So the contentedness comes in as I take in the beautiful sunny day, realizing I'm taking my children on an outing that is good for them and that they enjoy, but then, I dread the boredom of standing in the sweltering sun, chasing kids from one either dangerous or boring piece of equipment to the next. And also, sand in my shoes, and the walk home with whiny kids.
The fear and loathing is tied to the language/cultural barrier I experience on a daily basis, but even more acutely at the playground. I realized today that I find it necessary, (and helpful) to repeat silently, "I do not have the plague, I do not have the plague, I do NOT have the plague!" as I circulate at the Spielplatz. As much as I have learned in these few months of twice weekly language classes, I still can't converse with someone who doesn't have significant patience and/or an English education of some sort.* Strangers are, by definition, unknown, and as such, are generally out. So I stand in silence, smiling a LOT. I see Moms from the Kindergarten, but we don't do any more than smile since communicating is so difficult. I am hesitant to talk even with my own kids in English lest I give away my un-German-ness to those who don't know me already as "The Canadian" (as if the grinning idiot schtick didn't tip them off that I am "different").
By the time we arrive the benches are full, so I lurk by the tree, trying to keep sight of both girls. Or else I follow them around, hoping they don't meet a friend and make me go back to my tree. No really, when they meet a friend, I'm thrilled - they're integrating! They're having fun! That's good!
My ever-watchful gaze lands on some little boys and girls with big sticks, whipping them in the air, millimetres from each others' eyes. An attacked boy retreats to a bush where he yells loudly at the bigger boy, clearly distraught by his near blinding. And no one intervenes. Where are their parents? Should I step in? Perform a rescue? But who to save, as the hunted becomes the hunter.
Truth is, playground etiquette confuses me in my own land, never mind in another culture. At least this playground is fun, and not too dangerous. High platforms, huge gaps between stairs, loads of moving parts. What could go wrong?


*Note: Most Germans have had English in high school, but apparently the classes are very boring and stressful without much speaking practice. They tense up immediately upon realizing that I speak "nur ein bisschen Deutsch".