Saturday Night

It's almost midnight and my brain is tired so this entry is going to be short. I met up with my friend Karolina tonight. We had not seen each other for a few months so it was nice to catch up. We're both moms so going out on a Sat night sans enfants is not something we do very often. After a lot of brainstorming about what to do with our free evening we decided to go out for dinner + movie. It was Karolina's idea to go to an Indian restaurant and I was more than happy to comply because I had been craving Indian food for a while. The food was really excellent. We orderd samosas as an appetizer followed by a tandoori mix platter (beef, lamb, chicken, fish) with rice. To top off the menu I ordered some dessert: delicious housemade Indian ice cream...mmm! It tasted a lot like caramel but it wasn't sticky or gooey, nor too sweet. The theater we went to plays movies in original language, but there were not too many options for this evening so we decided on "American Hustle" (the other option was "Dallas Buyers Club"). I must say I liked the cast better than the story. My legs became restless halfway through the movie which made ​​it a bit uncomfortable but still it felt great to be sitting in a movie theater and taking my mind off the usual things.  Thank you Hunny for taking care of Nina this evening and giving me a nice evening off! xo

Dear Blog...

...you still exist!?! :-) After so many years of abandonment I am so happy that I found you again! I feel a rush of creativity coming over me and blogging might be just what I need right now to give my busy mind a bit of an outlet. Besides e-mails and the odd FB wall post I haven't been doing much writing so my writing skills are undoubtedly a bit rusty. In fact, having lived in Germany for almost 8 years I even find that my spoken English is losing ground. So hopefully writing a blog will help me brush up on my language skills, haha.

There's so much I could write about...it's been a long few years since I blogged. I'd love to write more but I can hear Nina calling me from the bedroom (up from her nap already?)..

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Am back :-) It's 10:19 pm and past my bed time but I thought I would write a few more lines before hitting the pillow. I'm so happy to have my blog back! :-)) So much has happened in my life since my last blog post from 2007... I'm not going to go into any details right now but I think I'll list a few of the mega happenings in my life since 2007:

2009: Got married in Germany to my dream guy, Holger.
2010: Our church wedding in London, Canada.
2011: Holger gets a serious job and moves to Stuttgart. I stay in Ulm to finish off the school year but follow him six months later. I'm pregnant!!
2012: Nina Marie Berndt is born on January 16th - truly a blessing from God!
2012: We buy our first house in Magstadt.
2012-present: I'm a stay-at-home Mom and loving (almost) every minute of it. That means, of course, that Holger is now the sole breadwinner - thank you Honey for working so hard for us! xx

Much has changed in my life since Nina was born. There were some serious ups and downs...my first steps into motherhood weren't easy and a lot had to be learned. At times it felt like my life was turned upside down and I struggled to find myself in the new role as a mom.  That's all in the past now. I'm so thankful that I am a mom - Nina is nothing less than a gift from God and she adds sunshine to my life - everyday.

Home sick home

So it's been a while since I've written here. So what? Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that this blog still exists and perhaps there's even a soul in this world who checks it from time to time ;) What can I write? It's been almost 1.5 years since my move to Germany. I've gotten quite used to this country and I'm not as homesick anymore. I try to get to Canada 2x a year and next trip is already planned for March. It's always such a funky feeling to land on Canadian soil when one has been away for so long. One really experiences the country with sharpened senses. First the visual: everything seems too big...the cars, shops, streets,...even the people. The second sense gets me high on a Tim Horton's coffee...oh, Canada! :) Auditory sense kicks in more subtely when speaking and listening to Eh-nglish at the airport security gates. Interestingly, the last time I flew to Canada (August) I felt on homey ground as soon as I entered the AirTransat plane in Munich and one of the stewardesses greeted me on board ("Hi, how are you? + big SMILE). I'm DEEEELIGHTED to say that H. is going to join me in March, yeehoo! :) I really miss having my Pooks in Canada...he is such a big Canada fan. If timing works out we may spend a day in Toronto checking out the good ol' places like Kensington, Eaton Centre, U of T campus, CN Tower, subway stations, etc., etc. I can't wait!!! :)

2 months later..

So it's been 2.25 months. Wow. These last few weeks have been so different from anything I've ever experienced in my life that they almost feel surreal. I'm slowly getting used to living here...the language is usually not a problem, except when I hear "Schwäbisch" or "Bayerisch" dialects. It's a strange feeling to be back in a country that my family had to leave 15 years ago... I'd never have thought that I would be back here. And yet, here I am. :)

Germans are somewhat different from Canadians. Most of them are very polite, clean, organized and structured (just look at their recycling system!). Their friendliness seldom crosses the line of personal privacy and intimacy. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's different from what I know and who I am. On the other hand, Germans think our Canadian superfriendliness and wide smiles are a bit over the top but I like to believe that friendliness is just so ingrained in us that we really don't know any different. It really comes natural to us! :)) Despite all, I wouldn't trade my "clean" and "structured" German for any superfriendly Canadian. =)

Arrived!

Here I am. Day...four? Yeah, I guess so. Not long enough to get used to the switched positions of the "Z" and "Y" letters on the German kezboard, but definitely long enough to kill off jet lag. I feel good. Relaxed, independent, happy, and sooo loved. ;-) Our appartment is so cute...but it still hasn't sunk in that I am the Queen of this place!! Now how cool is that?!!! :-))

The job situation is still in the air, but I am definitely leaning towards the International School. This is a full-time position and I would be working with kids, thus putting to use the skills that I've learned at Teacher's College. Starting out, I would work as a classroom assistant and a French teacher. The job could eventually lead to a normal classroom teacher position. On the other hand, the other job is freelance-type, the teaching hours are very variable, and the clientele is mature. Tomorrow I will call the director of the International School. I pray that I'll make the right decision..

Off to Germany!

June 20th. Wow. It's hard to believe that I'm leaving today. So here I am, sitting in Gosia's room, typing on my ex-laptop, trying not to get too emotional about leaving Canada. I will miss.... family, friends, pets, and the familiar environment that I've come to know for the last 15 years. Emotionally, I am a melange of happy, sad, excited, anxious, energetic, tired and curious. I spent a purely awesome evening with Ewa, Gosia, Nela, Izabella and Asia last night....waffles at Williams and Coronas at Barneys (Thanks Girls!). I will definitely try to keep in touch with everyone. The "empty-nest" syndrome seems to be hitting my mom this year. Gosia is off to Montreal too. Our young lives are taking shape -- it's all good. Tomorrow will be an exciting day... Holgus...so soon!! :-)

Things I hate to do in the morning..(and why I`ve become a Schlafesel)

1) Waking up before 10 am.
2) When people set their alarm clocks earlier than they need to, just so they can "snooze". What a shameful waste of precious sleep time!!
3) Making up the bed (Honey, I`m so glad you don`t do it either!) . Making up a bed takes serious acrobatics (especially with my short frame) and it really is too much to ask for at 8 in the a.m.
4) Preparing a lunch.. I have no skill nor patience in making my sandwiches look edible. My usual sandwich recipe is peanut butter and jelly...fast, cheap, sweet. Sometimes edible.
3) Morning showers. HATE THEM. I`d rather take three long baths in the afternoon than a single shower in the morning. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Brr..
4) Garfield eyes. I get them 80% of the time. No Honey, they`re not "cute".
5) Putting on makeup. It`s not easy to make puffy eyes look nice and make a zitty face look glowing.
6) The rush...is there ever enough time in the morning?

Apart from that, I like mornings. :-)