Long time coming...

Wow...it's been over a month since I've posted anything on this blog.  A month full of kindergarten break (love the relaxed schedule!), opportunities to sell my Sissy Sue products, two very special birthdays (Bubba and Timmy), figuring out what I can and cannot do this pregnancy, and trying to enjoy this season of life.

I wanted to share some of my favorite events of summer in more detail, but for now, just a short list will have to suffice.


Summer in Frankfurt means to me:

Playing in Marshall Fountain

Opernspiele - one of the highlights of the summer, now that I have kids.  Organized by the "adventure play ground club", the park next to the old opera building in downtown Frankfurt is transformed for three weeks of the summer school break into a giant playground - complete with boating or building a pipe system in the two fountains, face painting, bungee jumping (for the big kids), trampoline jumping (for big and little) and many other fun activities.  I find it so fun and relaxing to go there with the kids (especially now that they're a bit bigger).  And the best part - it's free, so we can go for 30 minutes or several hours:)

Sissy and Monkey at our local pool

Swimming pools - I love the pools here!  I find the indoor pools so inviting and refreshing throughout the year.  In the summer, I love spending time at the various outdoor pools in Frankfurt and also pools filled with spring water in neighboring towns, like Kronberg and Bad Soden.  These pools are fairly inexpensive and usually offer 11- or 12-visit cards for the price of 10 visits, which can be used for several years.

roasting marshmellows with friends

Cook outs in our garden - since we don't have yard of our own at our home, I'm very thankful that we can rent a garden within the city limits.  It definitely takes much more effort to go there than if the garden were located just outside our door, but it is worth the effort:)  Since our garden is next to a nature preserve, it really gives us a chance to forget about the normal noises of the city.


climbing the walls doors

A bit slower pace....since many people are on vacation, life naturally slows down, which is really nice:)

Right now, we're experiencing wonderful weather - sun, warmth (80s) with occasional evening thunderstorms.  (usually we have lots of cooler weather (60s) and rain...but summer usually gives us several groups of warm days and the fall tends to have more sunshine and warm temps).

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to share about life in Frankfurt (hopefully more than once a month!) but I am thankful for the way that blogging about living here reminds me how blessed we are:)

Fourth of July

First off, Happy Belated Fourth of July!

Celebrating Independance Day outside of America is certainly an experience.  First off, there is no rush to buy the normal picnic supplies, since no one else is preparing for a large picnic (or very few others).  This definitely makes my life a bit easier:)  However, finding guests who can come to your picnic can be rather tricky, especially if the Fourth is in the middle of the week.

Since having children, holidays that are unique to America and also family traditions on other international holidays have become very important to me. This year, we baked blueberry muffins and I sent them to Monkey's kindergarten group, along with a map of the U.S. and a letter explaining the Fourth of July and how it's celebrated.

My amazingly supportive husband has been making a habit of leaving work early to help me feel like we're really celebrating this holiday.  The past few years we've had picnics in our garden, some large, some small.  This year, we celebrate with good friends from a German-English family (although the Englander couldn't come since he was working).  As well as getting once again comfortable with grilling over our fire place, we were able to enjoy fruit salad (one of my favorite things about summer!) and smores (again, high on the "favorite things" list).




Because we're not here with an Ex-pat group, there's no larger organized gathering. It's up to me to decide how big or small to celebrate. As far as I've understood, the firework display that's offered from the US Army post in Wiesbaden is only available to us if we're escorted by someone with a goverment pass (either who works for the Consulate or is in the Armed Forces). Bummer. But since it doesn't get dark until 10pm, driving 45 minutes to a fireworks display at such a late hour with our kids isn't really an option I'd like to explore.

Igor's favorite food from the picnic

Instead, we're  happy with hamburgers, fruit salad (can I mention again just how good this is in summer!), and smores.  I've needed to become a bit creative with smores, since we don't have graham crackers.  However, chocolate covered "butter keks" work perfectly and marshmellows can be found in several larger grocery stores.  We end the day with our annual "give the kids a bath because they're covered in marshmellow, chocolate and dirt" activity.

If you're American, I hope you had a lovely day celebrating our freedom as Americans.  I'd love to hear what you did or what traditions you have.

A Little Outing

So, in the interest of establishing good habits, Monkey (5) and I took a short trip together last week.  Igor and I have tried to consistently (2-3 times a month) take the kids out individually for little dates.  It can get a bit hectic, trying to have one on one time in our house and sometimes an hour or two just isn't enough time to really get to know what a child's thinking/feeling/experiencing.  So we're hoping to start having occasional day or overnight trips with each child, starting with Monkey.

Early in June, we took the train to Speyer, about 1 1/2 hours south of Frankfurt.  The train ride alone was fun - all the different landscape to look at, questions to ask/answer, books to read or games to play.  Since Speyer is a very small town, it was easy for us to walk from the train station to our hostel.  We took our time, visiting a few parks and other landmarks, as well as having ice cream (of course!). 

One landmark Speyer is very proud of is their Imperial Cathedral, which is on the Unesco World Heritage List.  The cathedral was founded in 1030 by Conrad II and was elevated to the rank of a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

Can you find Monkey?

One of Monkey's favorite parts was the Bademax swimming complex directly next to our hostel.  We had a lot of fun splashing around in several of its pools.  I'm not sure which one of us enjoyed it more!

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For both of us, though, the highlight was visiting the Technik Museum: planes, trains and automobiles galore (with a space ship and submarine to boot!).  We spent over 20 minutes in the submarine, turning each knob and pushing each button.









One of the many planes you could walk in and explore.

What has been great to experience is Monkey's excitement over this trip weeks later.  He told me the other day that he dreamt we were still in Speyer - awesome!



Do you have similar traditions in your family?  If so, I'd love to get more ideas on making special memories as a family.

Sitting and Running

As I mentioned earlier this week, the European Championship has started and with it, Igor's schedule has become very busy:)  Last Thursday was a perfect example. 

Igor spoke to me (very earnestly) Sunday night about how Thursday would be a busy day.  After work, Croatia played Italy at 6pm.  The JP Morgan Corperate Challenge started at 7:30pm.  Spain played Ireland at 8:45pm.  It would all flow so he could see the games and run, but he needed to be disciplined to be able to watch-run-watch as he hoped.  So he reserved at table at a pub close to the start of the race and after the game, ran to the start, then ran to the finish, then watched the second game.

The kids came along (it's all about teaching them important things at a young age: soccer is important. Make complicated arrangements to be able to see the game), which meant that I spent the first half of the game trying to keep them in the restaurant without breaking anything.  The second half was rescued by the restaurant staff, who brought out boxes of toys, set up a play corner for them and played with them - amazing!

One of the many bands that played outside

After seeing Croatia tie Italy 1-1, we went outside to the street to watch the runners.  Again, here is an example of how fun it can be to live in city: this business run (which takes place around the world in cities like New York, Sydney and London) has about 70,000 runners from various corperations in the Frankfurt area.  Although the 5k run doesn't provide too much room for actual competitiveness (unless your in the first top group), it does provide a fun atmosphere and a chance to leave work at a reasonable hour to get some exercise and fresh air.  About 5pm, the streets downtown are filled with runners, fans and bands.  After the race, most businesses have after-run parties for their employees; it's always a highlight to see what special events are planned for these parties - this year, showing the Spain-Ireland game was a requisite:)


Igor raced by (I'll put in a pic our friend took of him as soon as I recieve it) while our kids were being entertained by their uncle.  It was so cute to see them racing about, playing with their mini (Croatian) soccer ball.  Soon afterwards, Bubba made a new friend: Charlie.

It was very relaxing to have the children playing on this blocked off street (because of the race), enjoying the longer daylight we experience in summer.  Finally at 8:45 (even though it still looked like 7pm because of the light), I headed home with 3 happily tired kids.  Igor, of course, had an important game to watch and a party to enjoy:)

If you get a chance to experience Europe during a soccer cup time, do so!  I find the atmosphere of games being shown on big screens at most cafès or at live-viewing arenas set up by the city to be a unique and fun experience.  It seems like everyone has an opinion about the games and how they were played or how they will turn out, and I find the comaraderie shown between fans to be very special (even if I don't always understand it).

We're Going to the Opera!

The past few weeks, as well as being extremely busy and tiring, have provided me with several opportunities to appreciate living in a city.  Frankfurt is a relatively small city (approximately 600,000 - the size of Seattle).  And in this small city, we have 7 different companies that offer opportunities for children to experience opera - that's amazing!  There are many other cultural opportunities offered each night of the week, from theater to musical concerts to art exihibitions and other forms of creative expression.

The other week, Monkey was able to see the production (for children) of Strauss' Die Fledermaus at the Frankfurt  Opera.  Although his report was different than what I expected ("we saw Star Wars! And they sang!"), his teachers said he and his classmates were spellbound throughout the event.

Later that week, Igor and I were able to attend an English comedy, The Foreigner, performed by the Theater Language Studio.  Because Frankfurt is such an international city, there are many opportunities to experience theater, music and other arts in one's own language.  The International Theater offers regular programs in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, with special events in other languages.

Last week, Sissy, Monkey and I visited the Musical Zoo at the city radio station (home to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra).  This program focusses on one instrument family each concert  and provides children the opportunity to learn about the instruments and then experiment with playing them while supervised by local music school students.  The program we attended focussed on the Strings family.  We are excited to meet the other instrument families in the next months.

So, all this to say that, despite the negative aspects of city life that I so often call to mind, there are many wonderful advantages to living in a city.  The fact that we can easily attend such cultural events is a great blessing, that many people can only do once in a while and after travelling a long way.  When I remember my time on the Navajo Reservation and how I would drive to Flagstaff (3 hours) to attend a concert or to Phoenix, if I wanted more of a selection, I am very thankful to be able to take the train for 10 minutes to the local symphony hall.

Do you have something in your town/area that has been an unexpected reminder of the blessings of where you live?  If so, what is it?

German Design

There are many fun advantages to living in Germany.  One of them is being able to benefit from German design - so many things are simply taken to a whole new level of efficiency (like egg timers and flour mills).

Our family is particularly enjoying the balance bike (Laufrad).

The orignal design was by Karl Drais in 1817, who designed a bicycle without pedals (for adults).  In 1997, a German designer Ralf Mertens re-designed the "Draisine" to be child-sized.

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We see these bikes quite frequently being used by children 2-5 years old.  They are so fun and practical!  And we frequently hear that using a balance bike helps children be able to more quickly transfer to a regular bike, since they already know how to maintain balance. 

The balance bike is definitely one of my favorite kid play equipment so far.  The kids are getting very fast on them (which is kind of nice - it gets me running again). I'm just seeing that very soon I'm going to need to re-learn how to ride a bike (something I've done about 15 times in my life).  Do you see balance bikes in your neighborhood?  Do you have any favorite children's equipment from your childhood or that your kids currently use?

Rita Storee - Story time!

Yeah! It's Rita Storee time again!
This Thursday we are looking forward to hearing Rita Storee share some of her favorite stories with us.  It's an afternoon activity that Monkey, Sissy and I really enjoy (and Bubba plays with a friend, so that works out well for all of us).


What I love about this story time is the amazing reading: Rita is actually an actress who bring other actor-friends to read with her (all members of Frankfurt's Theater Language Studio).  Their reading is no boring reading - it's captivating!

He looked like this the whole time!

A very tense part of "The Cat in the Hat"

This week Rita is sharing stories with us about "spring and bunnies and bunnies that spring!"  Sounds like fun!
If you live in/near Frankfurt, stop by the Bornheim Saalbau at 4pm. Admission is 3€/child (adults free)

School Days

A few weeks ago, we recieved this:

It's a letter from the Education Department informing us in a very official manner that we are to report to our neighborhood school with Monkey.  Igor immediately planned to take the morning off (thank goodness!), and his collegues all agreed that you don't mess with the Education Department.

Now, besides having a school attendance requirement (in a certified school; no homeschooling), the system here is geared towards children starting school when they are 6 almost 7 years old (something which can drive my fellow Americans and British people a bit crazy....we just need to remember to be culturally sensitive, right?).  So Monkey is first required to start school in 2013, but needs to report to the school 1 1/2 years prior.  I think this is actually a good practice, since the school officials informally evaluate a child's German proficiency and, if necessary, provide additional help in learning German.

It is interesting, though, to think about us starting this (long!) schooling process here in Germany.  Kind of makes me feel like my culture shock is about to return in a whole new way.  But at least we still have several months before beginning school, so we'll enjoy the time we have and trust for grace and wisdom to do this school-thing as well as others around us.

At least after his visit, Monkey was very pleased that he recieved a panda bear postcard:)

A few of my favorite things - cafés

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One aspect of city life that I have appreciated since I first moved here are the cafés.  In our first apartment, we had 10 cafés within a 500yd radius - awesome!

Besides the atmosphere of the various cafés I visited (from cozy, reading-conducive to chic and sophisticated), I appreciate the service culture.  Waiters typically don't hover over your table, waiting for you to quickly finish, so they can have a free table.  You sit, order, enjoy and take your time.  When you're finished, then you can signal for the waiter that you'd like to pay.  No feeling like you're being watched to see when you leave.

What has I've also always found interesting is seeing people who have a regular place in the café: the man who reads his morning paper in the corner, the group of women who gather to chat by the window, the moms and babies who meet in a certain area.  Cafés definitely provide great people-watching opportunities.

So, here's a small list of my favorite cafés - if you're in Frankfurt, I hope you have the chance to visit one this week.

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Café Kante, Source

Café Extra-blatt - two downtown locations, good for meeting up with larger groups of friends

Café Kante, Kant Straße 13 (Bornheim) - I love the atmosphere of this small café.  Lovely coffees and teas and great cake.  This fits into my imagined "European café."

Café Karin Where Igor and I met the graphic designer to design our wedding invitations - lots of good memories here:)  Also, this is an "adult" café where you can take the kids without too much stress.

Café Klatsch I love Café Klatsch's ecclectic atmosphere! They have great Indian-inspired food and a wide selection of teas.  My favorite spot: sitting in the boats outside in the summer.

Café Savannah My favorite café to go with the kids!  They have a super-friendly staff, great food and drink (even lukewarm hot chocolate in fun animal mugs for the kids) and two - yep, two! - rooms for the kids to play in.  The adults also have comfy seats and tables to sit in a bright, happy atmosphere while the kids play:)

Familien Betrieb Another family-friendly café in Bornheim.  Very cute style, with a boutique of handmade produkts.  Good food, plenty of room for larger groups and a play room for the kids.

Harvey's Upbeat, trendy, great brunches.  In warmer weather, this is a really nice place to meet friends with kids (in the winter I don't find being inside with the kids so relaxing).

Jenny's Cupcakes not a "café" so to speak but a nice atmosphere to eat delicious cupcakes!

Wacker's Kaffee I always go to the Bornheim café and love its atmosphere.  The coffee is roasted here in Frankfurt and the cake is always delicious.

Ypsilon Buchladen und Café I like this café for breakfast and love that it's connected with a book store - one of my ideas of a perfect winter morning is reading here:)

Theology Thursday

"I will never leave you nor forsake you" Hebrews 13:5b
Some days, weeks, months, this part of a verse is exactly what I need to hear, again and again.  There are times when living here, far from "home" - family, old friends, familiar roads and landscapes, is hard.  I can get caught up in remembering all that was good and special about Pennsylvania or Arizona, that I forget that there is a purpose for us living here in Frankfurt.  I guess that's what makes this Expat experience doable for me.  Igor and I believe (and seek to live that belief!) that this is where we are to be right now, to be serving God for a variety of purposes.

And when some of those purposes seem draining or unproductive or whiny (yesterday and today we've had sick, whiny kids), well, we can remind one another that God will not leave us or forsake us. And this quote is from Deuteronomy 31:5, which is reminding Joshua to be strong and courageous!  So, even if I feel tired or defeated or home-sick, I can find courage and strength in the knowledge that I am neither alone nor forsaken. 

As I remembered this portion of a verse tonight and looked to see the context, I was encouraged to see it's set in verses describing how we're living - loving one another, showing hospitality, helping those in need (in prison or suffering), respecting marriage, being dependent on God not money for security and contentment (Hebrews 13:1-5).  That adds even more depth to this reminder that God will not forsake us, and that our lives should reflect this knowlege.

Yep, that definitely is what makes this whole thing called life so meaningful, vibrant and doable:)

Fasching

I can remember my first winter in Germany.  It was gray and dull and not too cold but cold enough that you couldn't be outside for long amounts of time.  Then came February.  Again, gray, dull and cold, but towards the end of the month, just before Lent, I started seeing lots of people dressed up like Halloween.  Igor took me to a (very funny and strange) concert/party at our local neighborhood meeting room (Bornheim Saalbau), where I had my first exposure to German "Schlager" music (no idea how to describe this music...) and to Germans during Fasching time. 

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Basically, this holiday originates from wanting to be as foolish/without morals/without boundaries as possible right before the Lentin time.  (not something our family supports.)  There's Rose Monday and Fasching (Tuesday - Fasnacht for the Pennsylvania Dutch), where you can buy tons of "kreppels"  (doughnuts) right before you give up sugar for Lent.  Parades, dressing up in costumes, eating lots of sweets - this is what I acquaint with Fasching.  And like Halloween, the origins and some of the customs are opposite to what we think is good and right.  However (like Halloween), I'm glad we're now in a time where we can enjoy the light-hearted side of Fasching by celebrating with costumes (we have knights, vikings, princesses, and Roman soldiers in our house this year).

We spent the afternoon with some friends from Monkey's kindergarten who live directly on the parade route - perfect.  I stayed inside with Bubba and the other little ones (and some moms) while Igor helped teach Monkey and Sissy the finer points of gathering much candy/free stuff (it's amazing what gets handed out at parades - soup, roses, beer, "gluhwein" (hot spiced wine)).

At the end of the day, this was definitely a fun way to spend a Tuesday:)

Does your town or country have traditions specific to just your area?  Have you ever dressed up for Fasching/Fasnacht?

A few of my favorite things (restaurants)

I recently made a new friend, Sara, who moved to Frankfurt a few months ago.  It's been so good for me to speak with her and remember the many small details that made adjustment to Frankfurt a challenge: locating services in English (piano tuner, hair dresser, etc.), understanding the water/electric/gas system (although, I still don't understand them...I just let Igor handle that - terrible! but it works for me), learning about the recreation options and restaurants in the area.

One simple "allgemein" tip: in most cities, the cafés and restaurants in museums are very good (if a bit expensive): in Frankfurt, we've enjoyed Holbein's(Städel Museum) and Restaurant Emma Metzler(in the park of the Museum for Angewandet Kunst) are two good examples of this tip being true.

The following restaurants are all located in Frankfurt; I've listed the neighborhood (Stadtteil) in parenthesis.

Der Lahme Esel (Niederursel) - Frankfurt Specialities

Pizzeria Cimino da Rosa (Heddernheim) - Stone oven pizza (Igor's favorite pizzeria)

Malepartus (Bornheim)- Local, seasonal food

Wagner's (Sachsenhausen) - one of the most popular Apple wine restaurants

Pasta Davini (Center City) - good Italian food; Igor recommends the starter platters (imported cheese and meats from Italy) and their handmade pasta dishes

Ortlieb's Scheune (Eschersheim) - classical German "dinner" food (not just plain old food) and very good wines

Spice (Bahnhof) - good Indian food (Igor and I used to meet here often for lunch...before children).

Ban Thai (Bockenheim) - one of our favorite Thai restaurants

There are so many more wonderful restaurants in Frankfurt and this short list reminds me of one of the many advantages to be found living in a city.

Frankfurt-people: are these any of your favorite restaurants?  Do you have any recommendations for me (and Sara)?

Top Ten...

In trying to make this blog relevant for other expats, I thought I'd share my Top Ten list of what I found new when I first moved to Frankfurt (I had to look in my journal for some of these...funny how time softens the edges on memories:)

10. Traveling distance: yes, many countries are close by, but traveling 2 hours by car is a big deal, something that's a big weekend trip...I moved from Arizona,where I'd drive "to town" (3 1/2 hours) in one day.

9. Finding myself eavesdropping on English-speakers, just because it made me feel good to understand what they were saying.

8. Meeting many expats who regularly move around the world (Frankfurt or city specific, I think).

7. Hearing many, many languages as part of a normal day.  In Frankfurt, I'm sure it's more extreme than in the country, but on a typical day I hear English, German, various Asian (Korean, Japanese, especially), several slavic languages, French, a few African languages and, of course, Turkish.

6. Shop hours: when I moved here, 8pm was the new, later closing time (now it's 9, 10 or even(!) 12am); no shopping on Sundays (now you can shop on Sundays 4 times a year), and holidays.....you'd think the world would end, the way everyone (even I now!) reacts to stores being closed over the holidays.

5. Amount of religious holidays in the year.  Getting 3 days off for Easter and Christmas, Pentecost, Christ's Assension, etc. Oh! and "Bruckentage" - bridge days - when a holiday falls on Tuesday or Thursday, many (most?) people take off the Monday or Friday to have an extended weekend...this struck me as an odd but good tradition.

4. Einbahnstrassen (One way streets)

3. Being able to find at least one piece of Ikea furniture in each friends' apartment we visited.

2. Learning that Saturday really does revolve around the National Soccer League (at least in our house:)

1. No kitchen in our apartment. For 3 weeks (it felt like 3 months!) we waited for our ordered kitchen to come!  Dishes were done in the shower; we grew very tired of eating out; we ate lots of salads and raclette (wonderful European tradition of grilling veggies, meat and comté cheese).

What were some of your surprises when you moved to a new area?

The Train Station

When I first moved to Frankfurt, I was very intimidated by, well, just about everything in the city.  Buildings, cars, people, trains, stores, pigeons, restaurants - all the time! - ....there were just so many things!  I never had a simple, clear place to be alone!

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The main train station (Hauptbahnhof) was the most overwhelming place for me.  At this time, Igor worked near the Hauptbahnhof, so often we would arrange to meet there.
Frankfurt's main train station has 3 levels: the upper level has trains that travel longer distances (in the region and also to other countries); the middle level has the "schnellbahn" - fast trains for the Rhein-Main area; the lower level is where Frankfurt's subway trains run; outside are 3 tram stations.  On the upper and lower levels are food courts and shops.  With over 600 trains and 350,000 passengers per day, it's big, really big.

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In 2004, trying to meet Igor at Hauptbahnhof typically ended up with a cell phone call ("where are you???!!!) and me being reminded how out of place in a city I felt.  Then, a few months after I moved to Frankfurt, Igor and I met at Hauptbahnhof to go out to lunch.  A new external collegue of Igor's came along.  This man lived in London and was in Frankfurt just for a work project.  As we walked through the Bahnhof, this collegue was in awe of the size of the train station.  Wait, someone from London (the largest city in Europe - almost 8 million people) finds this train station big?

Ok, maybe I am allowed to be overwhelmed by some of the aspects of city living, even if Frankfurt is a small (pop. 650,000) city.

Learning how to navigate Hauptbahnhof was one of the small steps towards me feeling more secure and at home in Frankfurt.  Being aware of such victories in city living helped me during the times where I (still!) felt out of place or didn't understand the language or took the train in the wrong direction.

When have you experienced small victories making a big difference in your life?

Good Morning, Sunshine

This has been the view outside greeting me the past few mornings:

No, this is not simply a picture of the not-so-pretty apartment buildings across the street.  Look at the lighting; look at the shadows; look at the sunlight!

Amazing!  Especially considering that typical light for Germany from November-March is this:

                                                                            
OK, even this picture has more light than what is felt when living here.  The idea/feeling is: cloudy, gray, dull.  (Although, to be more optimistic, I suppose I could appreciate the amazing diversity and change in the clouds...but I usually just notice the lack of sunshine.)

Amidst the many changes/contrasts I realized when I first moved to Frankfurt, the lack of sunshine was the most obvious.  I moved from Many Farms, Arizona (Navajo Reservation in the high desert) where we had cloudy, rainy days for maybe a week in August.  I easily became used to sunshine being a normal and generous part of my day.

Last year, I started cultivating the habit of commenting on sunny days and even sunny moments, especially in the winter months.  For some reason, when I mention something to other people, I remember it more clearly.  So, I can clearly remember that I have, at least once a week (usually 4-5 times a week!) since November, been commenting on the sunshine.

It might not be in our day for long, but it is here and we can be thankful for it.

Oh, Tannenbaum! Oh, Tannenbaum!

Since moving to Germany, I've become aware of several Christian holidays my family sort of skimmed over.  Three Kings Day is one of them.  On this day, when the Magi's visiting Jesus is remembered, Christmas trees throughout Germany are taken down and put outside to be picked up by the local disposal service.  Not sure why this day has been chosen, but it helps give me a date to aim for, for undecorating from Christmas.

Because we live on the fourth floor of our building, we make use of our large windows facing our buildings' driveway to throw the tree out the window.  The kids love this! And usually immediately ask if we can do it again:)
After reading on the disposal company's website that christmas trees should be cut to 1 meter pieces, Igor  has taken to using his Samurai sword to help chop the tree down to size.  He's originally from Croatia; maybe that explains some of the craziness that happens in our house:)

Do you have a certain date when you take down your Christmas tree and decorations? What's your favorite after-Christmas tradition?

On your Mark, Get set....

Go!  Ach, my first step into the world of blogging.
Will my excitement and interest hold over the next few weeks, months, years?
I hope so!

I look forward to sharing some of my life, past and present, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Being an Expat is similar to being on the Autobahn - there's no speed limit for the changes coming your direction.  You're on the Autobahn daily - as you encounter cultural and language differences, as well as the whole package of emotions that come with the adjustment to a new land (or the realization that you're staying in this foreign land).

I hope I can use this blog to share the good, the bad and the beautiful lessons I've learned and am still learning as an expat in Frankfurt.

I look forward to sharing this wonderful, challenging, tiring and exhilerating experience with you!