ensemble à paris

one evening in september daniel came home from work and told me some incredible news over dinner. his bosses had approached him with the possibility of being delegated within basf. this in itself is very common, basf often sends employees to other countries on temporary assignment to broaden their international experience. several friends of ours have been delegated to asia, mostly shanghai or hong kong. what wasn't common was where they wanted to send daniel... paris. as in france. i couldn't believe it, and i still can't six months later. unfortunately what followed was a stressful waiting period of not knowing whether or not the project would be approved. this would be a three person delegation, meaning that daniel would go to france, the french woman would go to italy, and the italian man would come to germany. very complicated, very labor intensive, very expensive. before we left for our vacation in the states there was a real possibility of basf nixing the entire thing due to cost. finally, after christmas, the confirmation came. we would be going to paris for three years. these past months have been difficult for us because of uncertainty but also because of privacy. i wasn't allowed to say anything publicly until it was fully approved and communicated to the entire company. as a mild facebook addict and general talker it was not easy, but now i'm free to finally share our big news with all of you.

the irony of this is that i was always a francophile in high school, and took three years of french language classes. it was quickly forgotten after my german boyfriend (now hubby) entered the picture, but i think the fascination remained (we even spent a long weekend in paris for our honeymoon). two years ago before we were even trying to have a baby i read the inspiring book bringing up bébé, which reignited the interest i had in france, although this time in a more practical way. how the french culture views child rearing, food, mindful living and seeking pleasure in the everyday was now more interesting than the art or history. the book and delving further into this topic have changed my life, and certainly changed the way we've chosen to raise our children.

but

this is the part where i get honest. around the time gabe was born daniel and i were looking for houses in our area of germany. real houses. no more renting, no more apartments. we wanted to find our home, our nest, our place to settle down, probably for the rest of our lives. we've always wanted a farm, or at least space for a veggie patch and a clothesline, so that's what we looked for. the market right now is terrible, dropping half a million euro on a decently sized property is normal, so we let our dream sit dormant while we were getting used to life with a baby. when the news about paris came, it was like the direction we thought our life was headed suddenly flipped around. instead of envisioning my littles playing in a garden or feeding chickens i now saw them dodging traffic and living in a concrete shoebox. it was extreme thinking, i know, but it was enough of a change for me to feel apprehensive about moving to an urban environment again. (we lived in the inner city when we were first married). that combined with the flaky project confirmation has made the past six months tough... and the words "i don't want to move to paris" did cross my lips more than once. of course, what kind of deranged american girl doesn't want to move to paris?! isn't this the true european dream? think of the food! and the culture! and the trilingual opportunities for you and your child! (so says the rational voice in my mind). but at the end of the day the emotions are still there. i did this once, five years ago, and it wasn't easy. in some ways knowing what lies ahead has created more fear than if i was a bright eyed, bushy tailed college kid skipping off to europe for the first time. i know how it feels: the shame, the confusion, the misunderstandings, the desire to fit in and yet maintain some of the identity you once had. those are all expat problems. it's easy to feel guilty for thinking like this, because "who wouldn't want your life? right?" thankfully since the delegation was confirmed i've become more optimistic, and i think a lot of my stress stemmed from uncertainty and lack of information. now that we know more of the details it's easier to get excited about the possibilities that the next few years hold. being able to add another language to our family will be incredible, as well as experiencing a new culture as a local and not just a tourist. we'd also like to have another baby between now the time we return, so i'll hopefully be able to have a good birth experience in yet another language in a couple of years!

so here we are now, waiting to move come may and desperately trying to learn as much french as possible before then. we have a look-see trip planned in april, where someone will show us around the city and help us with logistics like opening a bank account, etc. there are so many things to be thankful for in this situation: basf is paying our rent for the extent of the delegation, i have a nearly unlimited immersion budget to use for language classes, etc. and we have outside companies to help us with the move and setting up our new life in paris. these things take so much stress off and when i start to feel overwhelmed it helps to just give thanks for the help we're receiving. daniel found out recently that we won't know where we're actually living until about three weeks before we move. for someone as type-a as myself that seems like insanity, but one of my resolutions for 2017 was to live in the moment more and stop thinking ahead as much, so this is a good trial. we know that god has plans for us and our little family and we appreciate the prayers from all of you. looking forward to having some visitors soon! à toute à l'heure xoxo

a german halloween

this year was our very first halloween with a little one in the house and daniel and i decided to do it right. germans celebrate sometimes, especially if they have kids, but not nearly at the level that americans do. fasching in the spring (carnival before lent) is the dress-up holiday here and that means silly costumes instead of scary ones. halloween is so low key in germany that i forgot it was even happening the past few years until the day of. but this time i was ready to do it the american way! since i wanted to be money savvy (e.g. i was broke) i made gabe a little chicken costume with clothes he already had in his closet. the only things i had to buy were a pair of second hand yellow tights and a piece of red felt to make his hat. with a white onesie and socks for his "wings" and some yellow moccasins he was the cutest little chickie ever. on sunday daniel and i carved the pumpkins we had bought a month ago for our fall entryway decor (daniel's first time!) and took a beautiful sunny walk through the village. we also got some candy on saturday in case trick or treaters showed up. in germany the kids say "süßes oder saures" (sweet or sour) instead of trick or treat and we had about ten kids come to our building. daniel and i took gabe through the house to see if any neighbors were home; half of them were gone and most of the people around had forgotten that it was halloween, so our haul included a bag of veggie chips, a jar of peaches and some chocolate covered rice cereal. the only neighbors we know outside of our building are our landlord and his father, who own a kind of combined house down the street. our landlord wasn't home but his father was, and we rang their doorbell with a group of kids from the village. he wasn't particularly happy to see us and when we told him it was halloween he declared that it was "shitty celtic american dirt" and that today was reformation day (i think he forgot that i'm american...) he still found a small bag of candy for all of the kids to share though. the neighbor that lives above our apartment is an organ builder and his shop is also down the street a bit, so we stopped there too. gabe got three apples and a short tour of the organs he was working on. after he went to bed we lit our pumpkins and had a glass of wine; november 1st is a holiday in most of the federal states (all saints day on the catholic calendar) so we got to sleep in a little this morning until gabe wanted breakfast. for our first halloween as a family i think it was a success! xoxo

weg schmeißen?

a lot of people would call me a minimalist. as much as possible i try to keep our home free of things we don't need and have always loved the william morris quote: "have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." but it's hard. i grew up american, and despite having pretty minimalist parents the constant bombardment of consumerism was never absent. i have the classic american female's problem of getting a high from shopping, and it was only after i married my money savvy husband and moved to a money savvy country that i started to look around and see things in a new light. the germans aren't all penny pinchers, but it's a stereotype that has a lot of truth to it. germans who come from swabia (the area that daniel is from) are especially known for their frugal ways. to daniel's family shopping is just a necessary evil, not a hobby or joyful pursuit. someone needs new pants? (and needs means needs, not just "i'm bored with what i have") let's drive into the city and buy a really good pair that will last, then go home. the end. no window shopping, no finding things you didn't know you needed, no impulse purchases... just pants... done. when i first moved here i couldn't understand it, how does one get so little joy out of something that gives me such a huge rush? one thing that helps is the lack of "throwaway culture" in this country, something that defines american consumerism. for example, my father in law has had the same miele vacuum cleaner since 1985. it's green and hideous, which would have given me cause to trash it a long time ago. when the hose broke after a while he found another one at the dump and kept right on vacuuming, something that definitely would have made me chuck it. my in-laws are an extreme example of frugality but i'm slowly learning to appreciate their approach to owning stuff: buy the best quality in the first place and take care of it. for me there are a multitude of reasons to throw things out: it's ugly, it's slightly broken, i've seen other ones that look better, it's out of style, it's boring me... etc, etc. part of this has to do with the ongoing evolution of what i find appealing stylistically, and i doubt i'll ever be rid of that, but a lot of it has to do with the false belief that things are meant to be replaced constantly. and honestly these days a lot of things are. i remember my mom buying vacuum cleaners every two years or so because they just didn't do the job anymore. she could have taken them somewhere to be repaired, except that there wasn't a place that did that. instead she just popped into the local walmart and picked up another one. easy peasy. and fun, because there were sure to be other things we didn't know we needed around each corner. i loved it, the excitement of bringing new stuff into the house, the shiny packaging, the promises of incredible performance and a happier life. what i never woke up to was the fact that these things were being manufactured to be replaced, because that keeps the money flowing. it also keeps the waste flowing, and the debt, and the crash after the shopping high. somehow we ended up in a cycle of addiction that  hides in plain sight, an addiction that i'm still battling despite my best intentions.

although the germans are mindful of quality and saving money, the culture of consumerism is creeping in here, too. today while getting my bangs trimmed my hairdresser told me about her husband's job in industrial measurement. many high level names like porsche and the companies that make airplanes would prefer to replace the entire product in ten years than let her husband measure out the dimensions for a replacement part. more and more manufacturers are outsourcing to chinese factories, even ones that have a tradition of being good german quality. i do think it's still easier to find well made products over here than in the u.s., especially things like appliances and cookware (wmf is one of my favorite brands). during the past year we've tried to become extra aware of what we're buying, which isn't easy when so much is made overseas. certain buys are now automatic, like wmf cutlery or daniel's work shirts from olymp, but other things require more research and often more money than i'm willing to spend. it's also challenging investing in something that you're not sure you'll like/wear/need in the next five years, making clothes and shoes my biggest problem area right now. in the end though this effort has been worth it. i'm prone to anxiety and limiting my options by choosing to only buy good quality has taken a lot of stress away. instead of looking for quantity and the cheapest prices i'm getting better at taking a step back and thinking objectively, which has reduced the binge/purge cycle of shopping and tossing. (it's still a work in progress though!) a similar situation happened a few years ago when we stopped buying toiletries and cosmetics that didn't have natural ingredients. despite being more expensive we've ended up saving money because i'm no longer throwing away half used bottles of body wash or trying out every drugstore mascara brand. essentially this is just one big "perspective change" project. being an impatient person means i want the cycle of addiction to just suddenly stop, but it doesn't work that way. anyone who has grown up in a consumer society is going to have to go through the process of changing the way they think, just as i'm trying to do. although i still would have tossed that vacuum cleaner. xoxo

busy babies

this week gabe and i started a baby swim course that i signed up for in the spring. it's taught by the midwife who did my home visits after the birth and was completely full two months before classes even began. baby swimming is apparently very popular in europe and is still giving me culture shock. i mean, what? swimming infants? who thought this was a smart idea? the only requirement is that your baby have good head control, so between four and six months. the idea is that the little ones experience how it feels to be in the water, but this also eventually includes "tauchen"(diving) in a later class. babies actually have a reflex that prevents them from inhaling water, so swimming underwater is possible, but it's still slightly terrifying. the more i observe the other mamas in my peer group the more i see that baby activities in general are filling up like nobody's business. other than swimming parents can also take baby massage classes, pekip (organized play and singing), kanga dance (baby wearing aerobics) and rückbildungsgymnastics (exercise classes paid for by the health insurance for women who have recently given birth). insanely, many mamas i know sign up for all or most of the above list, and this is well before their child is even six months old.

i have a few theories about this rush to fill the baby's calendar. there aren't many stay at home moms in germany, so possibly they're just bored out of their minds being housebound constantly and want to escape. it could also be that they want to cram as much good stuff into the time they have off before returning to work. i used to think they wanted to make other mama friends (that was my goal at least) but it doesn't seem to be terribly important. a typical course looks like this: show up, stare at the wall or your baby for the ten minutes before the class begins, take class and learn stuff, leave. as the shameless american i'm usually trying to strike up conversation about how old everyones' babies are, etc. but this is generally met with just a number and no further eye contact. here and there i'll meet someone as desperate for socializing as i am, but most german mutters view baby courses like they would calculus or sat prep. i'm not culturally versed on how competitive parents in germany are, but from an outside perspective it looks like they're already trying to give their kiddos a leg up before their first birthday. that, or they're just bored... maybe it's a combination of the two.

when things settled down after gabe was born in april i almost got pulled in by the pressure to do more and more "extracurricular" activities with him. at every mama meet up someone had heard of a new course to sign up for (the prices are quite good, usually not more than ten euro per session). after a couple weeks of baby massage, sport classes and normal dates with friends i finally had to sit down with daniel and clear our calendar. even though i'm thankful for so many options, i guess at the end of the day i'm just a big homebody and all of the stimulation wasn't good for me. opting out might mean missing possible friendships and social contact, but i know getting into the habit of having down time at home is important for our little family as well as myself. baby swimming stayed on the calendar mostly because i know the teacher and we received the most adorable steiff swim trunks from daniel's brother (very important!)

thankfully it seems i gave birth to the next michael phelps and gabe did awesome, especially at the backstroke, but he almost lost his cool when another baby splashed him in the face... maybe we need some work before the olympics. xoxo

the world cup - an anatomy of fouling

It's that time again! World Cup time! So far Germany is kicking Arsch, let's hope that the game against Ghana will turn out the same! The US has also managed to hold their own as of now, although they're set to play Portugal soon and that might crush the microcosm of a dream we had coming into this thing. But I believe, baby!

In honor of the time-honored tradition I've decided to write a bit about the many multi-faceted delicacies that go with fouling when playing the beautiful game. You know what I mean: The rolling on the floor, clutching one's extremities, wailing like a banshee fouling that soccer has become so famous for. So without further ado, here goes!


The Log

I've named it as such due to the apparent "I seem to have tripped over a log, and it was completely the log's fault" mindset that players often have while another's body is sliding horizontally in front of them. Most of the time there would seem to be quite a lot of time (and distance) for the mind to process that said "log" is coming in, and that it would be wise to jump over or out of the way, but that simply doesn't happen.

The Theatre Major

You can probably guess what this is. While jogging along comfortably with an opponent on your left, and said opponent's hand swings in a slightly over exaggerated manner, it's time for your college major to shine through. That would mean suddenly clutching your face while weeping tears of blood, falling in a tumultuous tumble to your knees and calling God's angels to come save your poor soul. Which is fitting for what just happened… duh. Spain and Italy are famously notorious for these bad boys.

The Other Woman

Not all silly fouling is the "victim's" doing. Sometimes it's the villain that's to blame. That's where the Other Woman comes in: Suddenly sliding in at an insanely awkward angle to cripple or otherwise permanently handicap your nemesis… but wait! I was only aiming for the ball that he was dribbling so slowly! How could I possibly handle that temptation?! Come on, baby, you know I'd never do anything so despicable! Anyhoo, you get the gist. The refs usually don't appreciate Mexican soap operas, however.

The Delayer

These happen quite a lot, which makes soccer all the more entertaining. What? Ronaldo kind of kicked you in the ankle bone? Wait, it's been three seconds already, how do I get the foul! That's right folks, The Delayer is here to help ya out. The name basically says it all, which is when a player acts like he's having a stroke but it's waaaayyy outside the margin of pain that most people tend to experience… i.e. 0-3 seconds. Delayers often evolve into Theatre Majors, since a certain amount of hamminess is required to convince an inexperienced ref that something sinister just occurred.

The Whole Enchilada

These would be ACTUAL fouls, which can be both sadistically fascinating and horrifically unbelievable at the same time. Enchiladas include: Head-butting, nut kicking, face punching, ref swearing, etc. etc. At least one juicy one comes along every World Cup year. (See 2006 headbutt as prime example)

Hope that was a good overview of one of the less sophisticated joys of the great game of Fußball, until next time! Oh, and GO USA & DEUTSCHLAND!!!!!!

decisions, decisions...

The last couple months have been full of changes for Daniel and I: We visited my parents during Christmas and had a great time, but it also made us think about where we want to settle down eventually. It has never been our intention to move our future kids from country to country and school to school, so we decided a long time ago to try to pick a place and stick with it when the time came. That's a lot easier said than done. 

The latter half of 2013 found me nervously dwelling on the "big decision" that I inevitably had to make and constantly weighing the pros and cons of life here versus life in the States. In a nutshell, the two of us find the lifestyle in Europe significantly better than in the US. From food to healthcare to government and nearly everything in between, Germany beats America hands down. However, there are most definitely aspects that our current location lacks in. For Daniel and I the biggest one is church. Although Europe is the motherlode of religious architecture, history, writing, etc. it is actually quite spiritually malnourished. The majority of people I talk to see established religion as a comfy (or annoying) old tradition that they adhere to on major holidays and appreciate on all of the holidays in between. (Germany and other European countries still follow the Catholic calendar, which means a lot of "Feiertage," or free days, throughout the year.) We've tried out a few Free Churches (non-denominational) over the last two years, but none have really stuck. I can't deny that it's mostly me that has problems - fluency wise I might be somewhat capable in small talk and my part time job, but when it comes down to it I don't get a whole lot out of the German sermons. One church we went to for a while was actually dual language, but that meant that the messages were around 2 hours long. Bottom line, the church situation isn't great here, at least in terms of really connecting with other Christians and finding weekly opportunities for fellowship. This doesn't mean that I don't constantly beat myself up for not trying hard enough or maintaining motivation, but in the end we feel church should be a place of spiritual rest and not a dreaded event each week.

Of course church isn't the only thing we miss. Visiting my family sporadically through the year makes me realize how much I miss them each time Daniel and I make the long flight back. Every trip seems to be getting a little harder, and this last one was no exception. Blame it on nesting instincts on my part, or small-town syndrome (everyone comes back sometime?) or even that my parents did WAY too good of a job at making me like them, but at the end of the day I'm homesick and Daniel knows it. He's always known it somehow; even before we got married he used to promise that we'd move back as soon as it got too hard for me. And I, in my super wise, always humble way, would laugh in his face and claim "I'm never going back to that place!" Proof that husbands know us better than we know ourselves. The family part extends to more than just missing actual people, though. Germany has notoriously dropped in both birth and marriage rates during the last 10 years, and it's unfortunately becoming the norm to move in together, buy a car, buy a house, have a kid and THEN tie the knot. Just last night we were talking about people we know here who are having their first children, and about 95% of them are already in their mid thirties. This, of course, leads to smaller households, since after one or two kids the parents are in their forties and ready to wrap it up. I know America is headed down this road, we can see it approaching every day, but the difference is that the US will always hold onto its prudishness to a certain extent, and for Daniel and I that's a blessing. From what we've gathered (having lived in both situations) it's still slightly shock worthy in the States when you hear of a young couple moving in together and getting pregnant without being married. Over here, it's quite the opposite. Our German friends and colleagues find it shock worthy that we're already married in our twenties, let alone thinking about having kids soon! Even within my work colleagues (who range from early twenties to early fifties) only one other woman besides myself is married. She is probably around 50 years old and has one daughter. The degree of difference is astounding, and I suppose you could categorize it as a "cultural" reason that we want to be back in the US someday.

This hasn't been an easy thought process, as I hope you've gathered! From my previous posts on German lifestyle and healthcare it's probably clear that I prefer the day to day way of living over here to back in America. But days add up to years, and years add up to a lifetime, and a lifetime without a close walk with God and a supportive family unit will be ultimately more detrimental than not being able to find raw milk around every corner. Daniel is keeping his eyes peeled for job opportunities, so please keep us in your prayers as we navigate this particularly tricky part of our lives!

american girl seeking work

It's been a long time since I last posted, sorry about that! I started a new job in October at the European lingerie chain called Hunkemöller and it has kept me busy. Originally started in Amsterdam, it is now in multiple countries across Europe, and even a few large cities in the Middle East. This store can be directly compared to Victoria's Secret in the States because, well… they copy everything that VS does! Right down to the font, the store layout, the greeting (Herzlich Wilkommen bei Hunkemöller - Welcome to Hunkemöller) and even the Secret Reward cards, Hunkemöller has taken their marketing concepts and run with them. I wondered when I first moved to Germany why VS hadn't taken off yet in Europe, since it's popular in the US, but now I understand!

Anyway, that's at least a bit of an overview and I can honestly say that I adore working here! My previous job was at Woolworth and I worked there for about six months. Although it helped improve my German, the customers tended to be scary or unfriendly and my boss wasn't the greatest either. However, the biggest problem was I didn't believe in what we were selling. It was hard to convince a nice old lady to buy the shower radio for her husband when I knew for a fact that five people had already returned it that week due to total defect. My boss just kept saying "put it back on the shelf, someone else will buy it." That felt completely dishonest and sleazy, and I think the combination of all of the above made me finally decide to quit.

It was daunting to be back on the job hunt, especially since Woolworth had been my "big break." I was afraid that there wouldn't be anything better out there, and although I have a college degree my German was still so atrocious that I felt my chances were slim. After a hopeful interview at an e-commerce company I waited for almost a month and then found out they weren't interested. Luckily, during that time I applied at a few places in our mall, including the brand new lingerie store that hadn't opened yet. The funny thing is that I was more excited about working at a store like Victoria's Secret, even though the e-commerce job would have paid much better. I did hours of research on Hunkemöller: Its origins, sale policies, products and values (which are: passionate, in-touch, sexy, fun and inspiring). I applied twice, once online and once in person, which turned out to be smart since the online application was rejected! One day while shopping at the mall I decided to check on the status of my resume (lots of courage needed for someone with atrocious German!). My current boss had just gotten back from vacation, which is why I hadn't heard anything, and after giving me a once-over she invited me into the back for a totally impromptu interview. On her desk were about 50 other applications, and after a few minutes of conversation I strolled out with a new job. I know God planned this for me, because if I hadn't gone in to check I doubt I would have ever received a call - I was competing with at least 40 other German speakers, many of which probably had more retail experience.

Since then I've made huge strides in my language skills, even more so than at Woolworth. I only work a few times a week, but during those times I am in constant conversation with either the customers or my colleagues. I also feel much more confident with people in general, and that nervous feeling in my stomach before I know I have to speak German is slowly fading away. The best part though is that I feel our products are worth hyping up. When the same old lady from before comes in and buys two bras, I can feel happy that she's leaving with some good quality pieces that actually fit her. (That's the other thing - I'm a boss at sizing women for the right bra!) It also feels great to be able to look nice for a reason. At Woolworth I had to wear the same ugly, gray t-shirt every day, and no one cared if I put on makeup or not. At Hunkemöller it makes a huge difference since people are more likely to buy products from a well put-together sales girl than from someone who looks sloppy. That in itself has boosted my mood tremendously and helped stave off the depressed "back to the grind" attitude that can affect everyone! Sure, there are downsides: Sometimes the pressure to up-sell makes me frustrated, especially since I know how annoying that can be when I'm the customer. My new boss can be prickly, and she seems to be constantly worrying about money, but overall I really like everyone I work with.

So for now this American girl can stop the job hunt, and I'm sure that I'll have to dedicate a future post to the funny stories that happen when you work at a lingerie store!

german healthcare: some thoughts on medication

Last week something unusual happened: I got a cold. I'm blessed enough to not get sick very often, but between handling money at my cashier job and visiting my in-laws (who had just recovered from it) I suppose it was inevitable. However, the cold part wasn't my biggest problem. For as long as I can remember I've suffered from awful post-nasal drip after any kind of head/sinus related illness. Even months after the cold passes I'll still have a slight tickle in my chest and an annoying "gotta clear my throat" cough. I visited the doctor once or twice in the States, who usually blamed it on allergies and prescribed some kind of antihistamine. It wasn't until later in my teens that one of them finally told me that it was post-nasal drip... and that he couldn't really do anything. Fast forward to today and lo and behold, the terrible throat tickle has returned. Of course, the difference between now and my teen years is that I'm no longer sleeping alone: And my poor husband has to suffer the nightly hacking right along with me. 

Thus after some coercion I let Daniel make me a doctor's appointment this morning. We were able to snag a 10:45 slot, which was nice since usually the earliest someone can get in is the following day. There are several myths floating around the US that in countries with socialized medicine you must make an appointment months in advance or else it's a no-go. I can tell you from experience that it couldn't be farther from the truth, at least here in Germany. I've never had to wait more than two days for a pressing issue, for example I had a toe infection last year and even with several different practitioners I never had to wait long. Anyhow, after visiting the doctor I was prescribed an herbal tablet that has to be taken every hour for about three days, another cough-drop type medicine that has to be taken five times a day, and sage tea. Here comes one of the big differences between German and American healthcare: Throughout my entire childhood I never remember either my sisters or myself ever having to take something so frequently that wasn't antibiotics. I don't know if it's because Americans can't be bothered with remembering, if it's just an unattractive notion, or if it isn't satisfactory to the pharmaceutical industry, but over here taking a tablet frequently is common practice. Maybe it's because a lot of the medications here are herb-based, thus requiring a more constant dosage? Who knows?

Another example: My husband's knee injury a few years ago. Daniel, like lots of German men, enjoys running around with a soccer ball when possible. Well, one sliding tackle later he had nearly torn his knee ligament and it was swollen to about twice its size. To prevent thrombosis the doctor gave him shots... to take home. Each day he had to inject himself in the stomach - something that I doubt I could ever do to someone, let alone myself. That blew my mind, and yet it's a perfect example of how German healthcare is different. It is simply inefficient and expensive to have staff do everything for you, thus the doctors choose to let people take their health into their own hands. This is both proactive and holistic, since no one cares more about your health than you do. It also removes a lot of unnecessary legal, administrative and staff costs thus making healthcare a possibility for everyone - not just those who have personal insurance. And I'll tell ya, there's nothing cooler than strolling into a clinic and strolling out without having to pay a cent.

The bottom line? Socialized healthcare may be different than it is in the US, but that doesn't mean it's worse. In fact, America could learn a thing or two from their friends across the pond when it comes to keeping people healthy. As for that post-nasal drip, we'll have to see how my herbal remedy works out. Now where's my kleenex...

unexpected feelings

The Daily Show: Obama in Germany

On the 19th of June John Oliver did a good bit on Obama visiting Germany for the first time since 2008 when he was still a presidential candidate. Unfortunately he didn't have nearly as good of turnout as his first visit, although I've gathered that Germans are still pretty supportive of his presidency. This bit made me think again about several news stories as of late, including the NSA scandal, protests in Turkey and what it's like to be a foreigner in general. As an American who is now an immigrant I have a lot of sympathy for people trying to carve a niche for themselves in new countries. It's not easy, and I don't think anyone should criticize them unless they themselves have also experienced the struggle of learning a new language, eating new food, using new currency, adapting to a new culture, etc. (the list goes on and on!) I currently tutor a young Turkish girl in English, although we mostly like to hang out and talk or watch movies (which is also a great way to learn a language). She has several cousins who are involved in the protests in Turkey right now, where there is a lot of malice towards the current president, Erdogan. She and her family are very angry about the whole situation, and it made me realize that besides having to adapt to "dual lives" as immigrants, it's also a challenge to see things happening in your homeland that you cannot do anything about and aren't experiencing firsthand. I first noticed this when the shooting at Sandy Hook happened, and my husband and I (as well as my parents, who were visiting) had to watch CNN from 5,000 miles away. The feelings of helplessness were overwhelming, and it's yet another part of living in a foreign country that immigrants must deal with every day. I had no idea that it would be such a strong emotion, especially with modern technology broadcasting up to the minute news. Perhaps it's not being surrounded by your own people, or maybe it's the time difference, but something about being far away during tragedy is a new and unexpected feeling for me, and one that I'll have to learn to handle as my new life here progresses.

P.S. John Oliver's jokes about Germany are hilarious - I suppose "butter on the tongue" is a great way of describing the German language!