Day 23: Shopping

Making a new record of 98
hits in a row.

This last week seemed to tire us out. We ALL slept in today, had a late breakfast and left for the farmers market around lunchtime.

The farmers market continues to surprise us with how inexpensive items are. I have a favourite fruit and vegetable stand (the one where Chris got in trouble for touching the beans on his own). The woman there speaks a little English and seems to always be in an upbeat mood. Today, she seemed to enjoy pronouncing items clearly for us (having us repeat after her) and telling us to have a good weekend. While she's trying to help us learn, which we do, she also speaks very fast, so it's not super easy, but I try, as she's trying to help. So, now we have a favourite meat counter, noodle dispensary, and produce stand. We have yet to buy fish. We've seen one stand that sells fish, but it always seems to come after we've purchased other items and are wanting to hustle home, so we haven't bought any yet.

On the way home, I ran into the larger market to get a few items (chips and tortillas) and Chris ran into the beer to get a few items (beer). We had quite the haul coming home. Two backpacks and three bags full. About what we can carry. The kids are getting good and being helpful carrying food back from the markets!

Our loot from today's food excursion:
cheese, tortillas, chips, 2 breads, steaks, sliced ham and salami, beans, cauliflower,
gnocchi, noodles with meat, a dozen eggs, broccoli,  4 beers ($1 each), potatoes
and perhaps something I'm forgetting!

Again, to take prepare for Sunday (closed stores), we decided to head to a new-to-us part of town to see what shops they had there (first stop, the Apple Store). The kids didn't complain at the Apple Store because they could park themselves and play the games on the sample iPhones. Chris and I were able to browse accessories and such (yay, I have new headphones!)

We visited the Tesla showroom, located next to the Apple Store,
to see the electric-customisable floor model.

I'm looking for comfortable knee-high boots (something I think doesn't exist). I tried a few on and failed. Chris tried on some new casual shoes and succeeded. Venice tried on some sandals and failed. But, not to get too discouraged, because across the street is a fancy chocolate store and the kids were able to find something tasty to appease their moods.

It rained a little while we were out. The kids played with their umbrellas, but they weren't really necessary. Jackets, however, were needed, as it was a bit chilly. So, the cozy warmth of the noodle restaurant (a coworker told Chris this was a good noodle place), was welcomed. The food... sehr lecker (so yummy!)


We were a little late getting home (7:45pm). Xander was supposed to Skype with a friend, but they never got on. So, it didn't matter we were late. And the kids found a cousin online, so fun times were had by all.

Chris and Venice walking to dinner (left)
Venice waiting for the train (middle)
Sunset, also waiting for the train (right)

Daily "Hardships"

I want to start by saying life in Berlin has been good. There are challenges that push my laziness and introverted-ness beyond their comfort zones, but overall, it has been relatively easy and good.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here are some things I'm missing and some "issues" we deal with on a daily basis.

TIME DIFFERENCE
We've mostly adjusted to the time difference by now. We're all getting pretty good at the 24-hr clock. Memorising a few key times are helpful (18:00 is a good time to start making dinner, 21:00 is bedtime for Xander, and it's always fun to see the clock say 00:00). But, it's still hard to connect with family (mostly cousins and friends on Skype) with the time difference. The kids are figuring it out, but times are limited to either early morning or evening times.

I've changed my computer, phone, and my Fitbit to our local region. This is how it should be, but, certain items cause unforeseen problems. For example, my Fitbit is on our local time, but I am participating in challenges put on by a friend located in the PNW. So, some of my steps don't count, as it has to do with differing times. I'm not sure I understand, why not take my own 9am-9pm steps, but somehow, it has to also coincide with their challenge times going on. In any case, not all my steps count for the challenge and that's a bummer.

PHONES
We did a bit of research and decided the best economical choice for us was to keep our current phone plans, buy an extra "international roaming" package and pay any overage we do. Well, our bill is going to be big this month. We're doing our best to use our Wifi to plan our trips, take screen shots, and only use Google Maps when out and about when we really need to. I try to only check mail, and FB, and text, when I have Wifi, but still, we both went over our limits. Chris, who does most of our navigating, went over his limit while we were in Venice, so in our first week. I took a few weeks more, but I'm now over my limit. I don't mind going over and paying what we do to go over, but it's pretty frustrating that we pay for our regular contract + international package + overage. I just wish the contract part could be lowered somehow. It feels like we're paying three times as much as we should. But, switching to a German plan seems tedious for three months (and we'd still be paying our US contract on top of the German plan, so we'd still be paying double). In any plan, it's expensive.

BATHROOM
So, our bathroom, while it looks beautiful (everything in this apartment is beautifully done, in my opinion), is built in a funny shape. There is a separate bathtub (this is where I put our clothes drying rack) and a separate shower (with only three walls). Why they chose do to this set up, versus combining the shower/tub, I don't know.

Shower (left): see the toilet paper? In the bottom, you can see the tip of the toilet.
And on the side, the electrical drying rack.
Sinks (right) with no cabinet space and limited counter space.

So, when you take a shower, you are showering, in effect, with the toilet paper and the toilet. And there is a towel-warming rack (with electrical plug) right there too. I imagine for someone tall, like Chris, who has short hair, he can lean out of the water stream, soap up and then stand back up and rinse. For myself, shorter and with longer hair, I have to step all the way out of the water, which is cold and I feel like I'm practically on the toilet by that time, or I turn around. But then I'm swinging my hair about and water and soap can get everywhere. So I am very careful during my shower, trying to keep water from going about.

If you look at the shower floor, since there is no separation from the toilet, that area gets very, very wet. We bought a squeegee to dry the floor after a shower. And we bought a mat to put in front of the toilet (which you move before you shower and then replace after squeegeeing the area) so that you can use the toilet after someone showers and not have to stand in used-shower-water puddles.

There are two sinks, but not much counter space. And no cabinets in the bathroom. We bought baskets at the farmers market to hold our stuff under the sink. We've also come up with a routine, of sorts, so that when someone is using the bathroom, in the morning, and we're trying to get out the door, they use the other half-bath so that the other person can use this bathroom for shaving, hair styling, contacts, etc.

KITCHEN
We are getting used to the kitchen as well. As mentioned in other posts, we now have mixing bowls, measuring cups, and such. But, we only have about 6 serving sets. Six forks, six plates, 4 bowls (only because we bought two more). So, dishes and silverware go fast around here. 2, maybe 3 meals can be had before we have to run the dishwasher so that we can eat the next meal. It's a bummer too, because the dishwasher is amazing in its capacity to hold a lot of dishes. We never run it full (we don't have enough dishes to fill it). We could hand wash, I suppose (and we do, if we haven't run the dishwasher and we need something for the next meal).

I hate running the dishwasher "not-full". Seems like a waste of energy. AND, the ECO cycle takes over two hours. What? We tend to run the automatic cycle because it's a bit shorter (90 minutes?) But geez.

Spoons and minimal silverware (left)
Stove (right)

Side note: the spoons in our drawer (and we've noticed at a few restaurants) come in two sizes. Small (think stirring your coffee type of small spoon) and Huge (think large soup spoon for large adults). So, you either take an hour to eat your cereal in the morning, because you can only get two cheerios onto your spoon, or you stretch your cheeks and mouth trying the big spoon.

We've had trouble using the stove top. We can't seem to get the big burner to get hot all the way. Boiling a large pot of water takes a long time and then it's very hard to keep it boiling. If you take the lid off, it barely simmers, if you leave the lid on, it boils over. Trying to use the electric settings to get the right temperature is also a fine art of accuracy. Because we can't figure out how to get the large burner all the way hot, frying pancakes or steaks is challenging as the centre of the pan is hot, but the outer rim areas are cooler, causing items to cook at different rates.

WASHING MACHINE

Washer, only small loads need apply.

I've had a small victory with the washing machine. I figured out how to change the language on the digital display. So at least it's now in English. I then was able to change the dryer settings all the way to "dry" (it was only on about 3 out of 5). However, items still seem to come out a little damp. So, I'm still hang drying items after they've been dried (for 1.5 hrs, any shorter and they're not damp, they're wet).

I still don't know how to set the machine to wash and then dry automatically (without me having to set a drying program AFTER the wash cycle has completed, which also a 2 hour process, why does everything take 2 hours?).

Chris has a coworker who has offered to come to our house and read all the instructions for us, lead us through demos, or help us decipher whatever we need. We haven't taken her up on this offer yet... but I may be getting desperate enough to ignore my embarrassment that I don't know how to use household items!


THINGS I MISS

• Brown sugar: I can't find it here! I finally found "brauner zuker", but it has more the consistency of our raw sugar. It's not soft and fluffy. I haven't tried to make cookies or banana bread yet, so I'm not sure how it'll work. I've also looked for molasses (I have one more store to try) and couldn't find that either.

• Baking pans: I 'm not the biggest baker, but now that I "can't" bake, it's all that I dream about. We have no bread or muffin pan, so I can't make either. I think I can make cookies, but it'll be interesting to try on the "pan" they have for the oven. 

• Cornstarch, Baking Powder, Baking Soda: I have bought a few items that I "think" are cornstarch, etc. but they come in small packets (maybe holding 2-3 tablespoons worth). I want to make certain recipes that use 1/4 cup, so I'll be opening tons of tiny packets to make it work. A waste of packaging. What do the Germans do?

• Chocolate chips: How do the Germans make chocolate chip cookies? Gah! I ended up buying a chocolate bar and we'll hammer it to bits. Venice did see some chocolate chips at a different market (but why aren't they all all stores?) but I don't know the quality of them. I'm so used to having a choice of 10 different kinds of chocolate chips. 

• Knives: There are only two cooking knives here. Both are small, with one being more like a paring knife. They aren't that sharp, either. So, cutting large items is hard. And if we're preparing a bigger meal, we "fight" over the knives. 

• My blender: When the fruit isn't especially tasty or about to be overripe, I'd love to blend it and make a smoothie. I chopped and chopped yesterday (with the smallest knife, ugh). I would have loved to just blender-ize it all (making salsa). The end product was very tasty, but it was very labor intensive. 

• Garbage disposal: I don't mind the missing disposal in the bigger sense. Scraping plates into the garbage is ok. But I'm paranoid that something is going to go down the drain and clog it. So I spend a lot of time scrapping each rice piece out of the sink, each piece of lettuce clinging to the drain. Yes, there is a drain-strainer type of thing. But it's only so good as pieces slip by with the draining water. I don't want to have to call the German Roto-Rooter.

• Full length mirror: I miss being able to see myself in a full length mirror. This is probably a cheap problem to solve, but it seems silly to buy a mirror for just a few months. And I have to resist the urge to stand on the toilet to get a better view. Side note: the toilet cover is plastic and the toilet itself has no "base". It's attached to the wall, "levetating" above ground. Standing on it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

• Lowry's Garlic Salt: This is our favourite spice at home. And we cannot find any garlic salt here. We found garlic powder, so we use that with regular salt, but it's not the same. Sigh.

And now, as I can hear your tiny violin playing all the way over here, I will reiterate, life here is pretty good. These are all just minor things we face during our daily lives.

Day 22: Cooler Weather

Fall has introduced itself and we welcome it.

Chris gave me some positive feedback for walking every morning with him, which was very nice. And why shouldn't I? It gets my day started. Even if I don't want to, I figure, he can't "not go" if he doesn't feel like it. I want to support his work-life since that's the reason we're here.

And coincidentally, today was another day of work for me, for Nagai Photography. Closing in on the last of this project! Yay me!

After lunch, I figured I needed to get the kids out of the house at least once today. My reasons are 1) the kids need to get exercise, 2) the kids need fresh air, and 3) I can't have them tell Chris they did "nothing" all day.

THE basket swing. Venice is lifted off the ground (right).

We decided to try the big park, hoping we'd be earlier than the kids getting out of school. We were. So, the kids utilised this time to spend a lot of time on the big basket swing they've been eyeing since we got here. The basket swing, the other day, was made from scratchy rope. This basket swing is made with lots of little plastic (PVC pipe-like) pieces over the rope, so it rolls and moves, thus making it much more comfortable for the kids to sit in. This one is also a lot bigger in size and swings very high (so high, that when the kids are pushing, they can get lifted off the ground).

Xander brought our new ping-pong paddles and balls. He was all ready for game, set, match! The tables are concrete as are the "nets".

Side note: The breeze was a good competitor as well, making the ball bounce in unexpected patterns.

We did get warm, but nothing like before. I can't say enough how much we are welcoming Fall into our lives.

Xander decided to stay at home, while Venice and I went to explore another market. This market, also just a few blocks from our apartment, but in a different direction, was exciting to explore. It felt more like a Safeway, in that, the aisles "made sense", there were lots more canned/packaged items, and just felt like a regular market. The LPG Bio-Markt that we've been going to, has a more labyrinth of aisles, things are not necessarily where I think they'll be (remember "sour cream-gate"?) So, it felt a little more familiar and it's only 2 blocks from our house, so I may come here more often.

That being said, it also had more "American" foods. Some familiar and some cray-crazy. Venice found Cool Ranch Doritos but they are called, "Cool American". I found an end-cap filled with food "from the land of unlimited opportunities". Included on this shelf were items like Pop Tarts, Jiffy Pop, Swiss Miss (which I think is funny), syrup, and so many different cheeses in squeeze bottles and cans. Yum! Funny stereotypes of our food. I will admit to recognising (and maybe wanting some of it... popcorn!) some of the foods, but many were brands I've never heard of before and didn't recognise (why not Jetpuff marshmallows instead of the random brand they had?)

American end-cap (left), Venice, the Cool American (right)

Exiting the market, we saw evidence that it had rained. Later, Xander informed us it, "dumped for a while!" Good thing we were in the market because, once again, we had no umbrella or jacket. Instead, it was a lovely scented walk back (avoiding puddles) home.

Evidence of the rain (left).
Venice walking on part of the sidewalk that is common here, made with little pieces of stone (middle-left).
A different set of stones for a driveway (middle-right).
Evidence of fall (leaves) coming (right).

Tonight, Chris is home for dinner! Yay, this is the BEST news because it means he's cooking and not me! I worked a bit while he cooked. The kids were able to Skype their friends, Carlie Jo and Joshua (and cousin Teiya a little later). It was a nice ending to the day.

Day 21: Board Game Search

Part of the rose garden I walk through on the way home.

Today began as our "new normal" (walking Chris to work). We have tried to establish a bit of a routine. When Chris is having breakfast, Xander and I join him. We wake Venice up and she sits with us half the time (other times she snoozes in bed). Then, when I am walking Chris to work, the kids have two computers and can work side-by-side (they are working together to code an on-line game, as well as, creating their new world in Minecraft). When I get back, I use my computer to complete Nagai Photography work, and the kids have to share a single computer again.

Computer set up at the dining table during the day. 

From our favourite
burrito place!

When Chris can't join us for dinner, I tend to like to go out to lunch instead of dinner. This allows me to go out while my energy is still high and lounge in a casual setting for dinner. And, it has come up, that Chris will be gone for dinner again (third night in a row, and should be the last for a while). So, the kids and I went back to the burrito place for lunch. This time, we decided to do Take-Away.

Side note: I had leftovers which made several quesadillas the next day! Perfect!

Another side note: I said U-Bahns are underground. While this is true, we have proven that they also go above ground at times. So, the bigger difference between an U-Bahn and an S-Bahn is that the S-Bahn makes less stops.

While we were waiting for our Take-Away, we were enjoying the freshly-rained-on view and smells. Venice mentioned, in a wistful manner, that the recent rain reminded her of home. I asked if she was feeling a little homesick, to which she responded, "Maybe." But mostly, she was feeling reminiscent of playing board games on a rainy day. We decided right then that we would search for board games here. It's something I wanted to buy (as souvenirs) and now we're motivated to make it happen.

My research for board games came up with limited options. No Barnes and Nobles here. The bookstores I've seen here are very small. Anyway, the options I found were either a store that seems like a Target (sells household items, clothes, and all sorts of items) or a Toys R Us. I was worried, that after a 45 min travel to the "Target" store, we might not find what we're looking for. I figured, while Toys R Us is not optimal (when trying to be German and not American), but I also figured it was a guarantee to find something that would satisfy our needs.

So, to Toys R US, we go.

An underpass that really spoke to the artist in me.

On this trip, we had the opportunity to take an "R" train. There are two "R" trains. The 41 goes around Mitte (central part of Berlin) clockwise and the 42 goes around counterclockwise. Now you know.

Toys R Us was a good call. We were able to buy the German version of a few games that we own in English. I love this. We'll know how to play, but all the cards, etc. will be in German. We also purchased a few new games. They are for ages 6+, which I figure increases our chances of understanding how to play (instructions only in German). Also good news, we bought ping-pong paddles and balls!

Side note: I saw (online) that there was a German version of Apples to Apples. I became obsessed with finding this game, because I think it will be fantastic for helping us build our vocabulary. Basically pre-done flashcards in a fun game... but we couldn't find it at the store. I came back and decided we'd just buy it on Amazon... but it's no longer in print, so a new copy is 80-100€ and a used copy was about 75€ .What? Never mind (sad face).

Our loot from Toys R US (including hot dogs from the market,
silly kids added those and our "french fries" forks to the photo.)

It was dinner time when we left the store, so I asked the kids if they wanted french fries before we left. YES! So we stopped at a food cart to get some. I did order in German, but when he asked if we wanted ketchup, I responded, "Yes, I mean Ja!" He asked where we were from. When I said, "America," he cheered, "America? I love America! You know TJ Maxx, Marshals? I love those stores. Here, it's only Eddie Bauer, and shoes are 250€. Same shoes at TJ Maxx are much cheaper!" I laughed and showed him my fake Converse shoes I was wearing. He said, "Those are very expensive here, where did you get yours?" I said, "Target." He looked blank, so I added, "It's just like TJ Maxx." He contemplated this as he filed it away in his memory bank.

Turns out he's heading to Florida in a month to start a German food cart with his uncle (who lives in Florida). He's very, very excited, he loves America, you know. Anyway, made me think of some Russians I met the last time I was there... "I love America!" I feel like a Rock Star for being from America.

Walking out of our U-Bahn station, heading home.

Home. Dinner. German round of Machi Koro.

Day 20: Not Much Going On

On my walk back this morning, I decided, at Chris' suggestion, to walk by an ornate building I've been seeing in the distance every day. I've been curious as to what it is. Turns out, it's a Jewish Temple. Very ornate. Very beautiful. And very guarded. There is a barricade-style fence around the front and (presumably) armed guards at the entrance. I snuck a photo, but felt I should move along quickly. I didn't even stop to read the "Hello Visitors" sign. But, now I know.

Jewish temple (left), Church where MLK Jr. spoke in '64 (right)

As I was winding my way back "on track", a placard with, what looked like, Martin Luther King Jr's face on it, caught my eye. I got closer to see and, yes, it is him. Behind the gates is a church where he gave a speech on September 13, 1964. Martin Luther King Jr. was on an official visit to the West, but insisted on visiting the East. In his sermon, he said, "No man-made barrier can erase the fact that God's children live on both sides of the Wall." His audience responded by singing versus from Let my people go. (begin watery eyes right about now)

A woman approached me, while I was reading about his visit, and she said, in English (am I that obvious?), "You should go into the church. It is very beautiful inside. It's an open church, you can see inside. There is a very large .... inside." She couldn't quite find the English word, but I think she was trying to say organ? I replied with a thank you and that perhaps I'd come back when properly dressed (me underdressed in my exercise outfit!)

I'm sad I didn't photograph yesterday's lunch,
so today, I took two photos.

For today's lunch, the kids and I decided to go right downstairs to the Vegetarian (gasp!) Vietnamese restaurant for noodles. It was "sehr lecker (so tasty)!" However, the poor owner (cook, waiter, whoever) was surprised that the kids didn't eat all their vegetables. They had ordered wonton soup and ate all the wontons, all the noodles and all of my leftover tofu, but they just couldn't eat their green beans, broccoli, and green onions. I'm not sure how it's allowed to order in a vegetarian restaurant and say, "Hold all vegetables, please, and could you add a little meat?"

Time to get the kids out and about. Park time. We went to the big park near us and it was very crowded. The kids have a very hard time getting a turn on certain equipment. Either, the cultural behaviour here is, "I'm on it and I'll get off it when I please, even if that's 20 min from now." Or if it's that we don't speak and can't easily ask, "May I have a turn, please?" Either way, there are people (including parents with their kids) who stay on this one basket-swing FOREVER even if you're lurking nearby staring at them.

So, we decided to go back to the park across the street. The smaller one with the steep slide. This one is practically empty, so a lot more freedom to take turns on different items. I promised the kids we'd go back to the big park another day, when the kids are in school so we can have as many turns as possible.

The kids experiment with this "toy" at the park.

Basket swings, similar to this one, are at a lot of the parks around here.
This is the one is located at the little park (made of scratchy ropes),
but the kids really want to go on the bigger one at the bigger park.

Side note: I have to admit, I have a little irrational fear of going to the parks when everyone is in school. Homeschooling, here in Germany, is against the law. So, I have a feeling that we're going to "get caught". I have my response ready, "Wir reisen aus Amerika (we travel from America)." I'm sure it'll all be fine, but I have that nervous feeling I did when we first began homeschooling and I thought the Truancy Police were going to catch us at the park. In the big scheme, I bet no one cares, so I need to just get over it, right? For now, we tend to go to the park in the early afternoon, either just before school gets out or right after. That way we "blend in" :)

After the park, a quick stop at the market (yes, it does seem like we go every day) and then home for dinner. Chris is out with co-workers tonight (one of the other co-founders is in town from San Francisco, so the whole team is going out to dinner).

P.S. Yesterday was apparently the last day of summer. I wore a sweater and jeans all day today.

Day 19: It's September!

Street/railway work that's been going on near our apartment.
It's been fun watching them progress every day.

Hello, September! Wow, we've been gone for almost 20 days. Even though we have dealt with some "everyday obstacles", it still feels like vacation, although, in the back of my mind, I am very aware of the time. Chris is worried that time is going fast, and that we're almost out of time. I'm more worried that when we get home, our German is going to still be bad. Most everyone here speaks English, so our challenges, while we have them, are not as hard as they could be if no one spoke English. I do want to get lessons for the kids and myself, it would help our German along as well as give us some consistent activity. BUT, I'm super lazy, right now. That sounds like a lot of effort to go find a perfect program for us (the easy answer is following a poster that's everywhere, but it seems their program is 2-3 hours a day, every day, for two weeks, I think... um, that's too much consistent activity). We'll see.

Side note: I feel very conspicuous walking with Chris in the mornings. I am the ONLY person in exercise gear. Everyone else is on their way to work, or eating breakfast at a street side cafe. So everyone is dressed for the day and I'm in my running gear. I ran into (punny!) two other runners, one day, but it was far from where Chris works and in on a side "nature" (in quotes because it was just a side trail for a quarter of a mile) trail. Otherwise, I don't see anyone exercising outside. I think they must do it earlier in the day and maybe not in the center of all the businesses. In any case, I always feel underdressed in my running gear.

Back at home, the kids wanted my American Crepes again! Yum. Then, the kids occupied themselves while I did some work for Nagai Photography (my dad photographed a Bar Mitzvah and I am now editing the photos, our first time working like this - time difference, and solo on both ends).

Then to lunch at Na-an Sushi. We saw this restaurant a few nights ago when we were looking for the noodle restaurant (that we never could find). But this sushi place looked good and we were coming back to try it out. Nice that it's only a few blocks from our apartment (like many other restaurants).

Ugh, it's still hot and the bees are crazy. Xander sat on the end of the bench so he could make a run for it any time they came around (yes, it was a lot). Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the beautiful plate they served us. But I did get a photo of the shoyu! Two bottles of shoyu, both the same company, but one was manufactured in Salem, OR and the other is a "Product of Japan"... we found it amusing to see which one was used more.

Well, the darn bees were so aggressive, the kids really wanted to leave. So, I gave them the key to the apartment and they headed home. I paid the bill and headed in the other direction in search of this 2€ store.

I walked for a few blocks here and there, but never found the store. However, I did find, a kitchen store and just decided I had to shop there. I spent over 60€, so definitely not a 2€ store, but now we have a measuring cup, some mixing bowls, a new trashcan (because I broke one), reusable straws (for the kids), and a few other items we needed.

I still couldn't find any measuring spoons. I'm still timid (embarrassed) in asking for help (FYI - this is true whether I speak the language or not :)

As I checked out, the clerk smiled and said something about the garbage can I was purchasing. I gave my line, "Entschuldigung, mein Deutsch ist sehr schlecht (excuse me, my German is very bad)." He responded with something about Austrian (maybe he was saying he spoke Austrian German, that's a thing!), so I looked and asked, "English?" He shook his head. Ah well, we tried. He rang me up and nicely showed me the total so I could pay.

Side note: Chris has mentioned that knowing our numbers is very important. He's right. Here's my biggest problem. If you are learning English, say, and someone says, "Your total is $79.83." That's a lot of numbers, but if you can hear the first thing "70", then you could hand over $80 and know you're going to cover it and whatever followed the "70" doesn't matter, you're good.

But in German, oy, they say their numbers differently. 79 is not seventy-nine. They say, "nine and seventy." So, if all I hear is the "9", I'm in trouble, it could be 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, etc. So, I try, but they talk so fast that I'm really best if I can see the total. I'm hoping to get better at hearing the numbers, it would help me greatly.

After returning back to the apartment, I took a long rest (that was a long-hot errand, I needed to cool down!)

The kids and I decided we'd try to recreate one of our favourite recipes from home (Chris won't be home until after dinner tonight). So, Venice agreed to accompany me to the market to buy the ingredients among other things (like nail polish) we've been wanting.

While, I'm getting better at knowing where some things are, others are still a hunt for us. I spent 10 minutes looking for cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda. I found the baking powder and soda, but only in small, single-use packages (maybe a tablespoon per package). I want this for recipes where I need 1/4 cup or more. It just seems like crazy packaging to be able to use 1/4 of baking soda. I'll keep looking, but do they not use that here? How do they make cookies or keep their refrigerator smelling fresh? Who would have guessed I should have brought my box of Arm&Hammer?

As for the cornstarch, well, I found a translation (on my phone) and it called it corn flour. I thought this was weird, but when I found corn flour and felt the package, it felt "right" for cornstarch, so we bought it. Get it home, and duh, it's corn flour. So now I have no cornstarch and am now looking up corn muffin recipes (which, by the way, will use up one of my packets of baking powder, ugh). And, side note, the stroganoff turned out to be much soupier than at home, I really could have used the cornstarch then!

At the meat counter, I knew I wanted about 500kg of ground beef. BUT, I got flustered and couldn't remember four from five and then couldn't remember if it was kg or g. So after thinking really fast (but felt like it took forever for my brain to think of it) I blurted, "fünfhundert (5 hundred)" and then just skipped the grams/kilograms part. The butcher is smart, he knows what I need. Phew. They always trip me up asking another question, and when I look at them blankly, they switch to English, "Do you have a member card?" No, I wonder what that would get me and what's involved in getting a member card, but for now, I just want the meat.

Sour cream!!!!

Sour cream. Dang it. I knew where the crème fraîche was, remember, I asked and it was right in front of the lady restocking it? Well, I stood for another 5 minutes in front of that area and COULD NOT FIND IT! No where. I found other items (cheese curds are very popular here) but not the damn crème fraîche. Guess what? They moved it! Just to trick me and make me go crazy. It was in the open cooling-shelf versus the closed-doored refrigerator area. And while we were there, deciding which one to get... I found REAL SOUR CREAM!!!! Yay! So, I bought that instead. OMG, where will it be next time?


We were finally done and ready to head back home with our goods. Well, the rain came early AND the market "browsing" took longer than I planned, so we had to run home in the pouring rain (no light sprinkle!), unprepared, without jackets or umbrellas, with glass items in my backpack.

Both Venice and I were wearing skirts (it was hot today!) so, feeling a little silly running home in sandals and skirts. I guess, one time it's ok to be hot, so as not to be miserably wet and cold.

 We tried to hurry home, not just because of the rain, but because there was thunder and lightning. Xander does NOT like the crack or rolling of the thunder (and we're sure getting our fair share of it on our trips!)

Side note: Did I mention we've been using Skype to communicate with the kids while we are out and they are at home? Their iPods can use the wifi and they can send us messages via Skype. We can send messages back. So here's one I got, from Xander, while out at the market.

Dinner was nice and cozy with the rain in the background. Just like home. Rain. Stroganoff (which came close even with the crazy different ingredients). 

Day 19: The Lazy Day, or Not? (venice)

Today was supposed to be a lazy day… Xander and I started the day off by playing on our Minecraft server (this is a video game that is roughly comparable to legos), Glass Matrix. Then when mom got back from walking dad to work we made pancake crepes. I call them this because they were made from pancake batter but we had not bakings soda so they turned into crepes. After that we just sat around, doing whatever we felt like, which was of course more electronics. At the time it was stifling hot, so we didn’t feel like leaving the apartment to do, well, anything. 

At some point I got hungry, so I suggested we try a vegetarian noodle place just below our apartment. But again, it was so hot that soup sounded unpleasant. so we went to a place called Ha-an Sushi instead. Xander and I shared 3 roles. The Tiger role, the Dragon roll, and the Ha-an extreme. The Tiger role had fried shrimp on the inside, as well as cream cheese and cucumber, and salmon wrapped around the outside. The Dragon roll was the same as the Tiger role, but instead of salmon on the outside it had eel. The third was the Ha-an extreme. This role had shrimp, cream cheese, green onion, cucumber, and avocado. and on the outside it had tuna and salmon. Mom got the spicy tiger roll with tuna, green onions, and more. Then Xander and I walked home as mom went out to get kitchen supplies. 

When mom got home we hung around (you guessed it, more electronics time) and finally at 17 o-clock (5pm) mom and I went to the store. We got ingredients for stroganoff and we also got nail polish. As we walked through the store, we had to get creative. We had to use powdered cream of mushroom soup or creamy vegetables as a substitute for the cream of chicken we get at home. We also took FOREVER to find the sour cream. Mom was afraid to ask for it because last time it was right in front of the lady who she asked and so she got a funny look. We also got baking powder and baking soda, but they came in super small packets, you had to buy like 20 to make half a cup. 

What I think I looked like
running on the sidewalk.

As we walked down to the checkout we saw it. The rain. It was pouring down everywhere! We Skyped Xander to close the windows, and it turns out he was even smarter than us and he realised to do it long before we did! Then we walked out of the store and started to run. As we ran I saw lightning. We got to the garage of the apartment and saw someone was smoking on our doorstep. Part of me wanted to tell him to get the heck off our porch and take his cigarette somewhere else, but the polite part of me refrained, (side note, I would not have said get the heck out, I would have a different word, but this blog is not the right place to write it… :) 

As we walked into the apartment, I got out of my wet clothes and into dry ones. Mom started to cook and Xander and I sat on the couch and cuddled under a warm blanket. Then mom called us to the kitchen. As we ate the stroganoff it tasted so much like home. The only difference was that this time the sauce was more of a soup, but who cares? It tasted delicious!

After that, dad came home and we all went to bed. The end to a not so lazy day.. (but really, we were super lazy)