It’s been slightly over 24 hours since I’ve been back in the US and wow, it’s like ELECTION ELECTION ELECTION!!! If it’s not constant campaign ads, it’s all over the news, on people’s lawns, on their cars, being discussed by everyone and their mother. I’m surprised there’s not more election fatigue, cause I think I’m gonna be pretty sick of it all after four days.

Our trip here was uneventful.  Oliver was a perfect little angel on the plane and got a lot of complements from our fellow passengers and the crew.  I brought two bags of stuff to entertain him and you know what did it?  Stickers.  Lots and lots of stickers.  Oliver is a sticker fiend.  He must have spent 4 hours putting stickers in a notebook.  It was incredible.  Interestingly, his (rear-facing Maxi Cosi Cabrio) car seat fit perfectly on the flight from Munich to Amsterdam, but was too large in the width and length to fit on the Amsterdam to DC flight.  We ended up just having it set in the seat, facing front, so he could sit in there and sleep.  It was great having the seat along though.

By the way, I’m gonna attempt to take part in NaBloPoMo, so look for a post every day this month on AmiExpat. Not sure how informative they’re gonna be, but there will be something every day.

I’m all better, but Oliver is sick (I think he’s teething.  Something they don’t tell you before you become a parent: teething babies spew fluids out of both ends.  And they cry all night.  Yeah, fun.)  Anyways, we bought a wireless router and as soon as Oliver is well, and the router is set up, I should be able to blog a little more frequently.  The office is not all that baby friendly, so using the laptop in the living room should give me a little more time online.  Well, except that Oliver is also obsessed with the laptop too.  And the camera.

But on to the video.  This is from a few days ago and shows why I have trouble taking videos of Oliver now.  As soon as the camcorder comes out, he makes a beeline straight for it.

Oh, and for local folks, the 37th Annual Hohenfels German-American festival will be taking place from April 30 to May 4.  You can be sure I’m gonna be there chowing down on good ole American grub!

I’m back and healthy again (I had one butt-kicking cold, Oliver had a runny nose for two days - thank goodness for breastfeeding!).  Spring has finally come, plus we had our monthly Regensburg meetup today - brunch did not prove all that popular in the end, so we’ll probably stick to dinners in the future, although I think that everyone who showed up enjoyed themselves and Rive Droite is highly recommendable for brunch (good eats for little money).  So I will now inundate you with photos of our recent exploits.

The location of the expat brunch, Rive Droite

Table one: Mohammed, Monet, Guiseppe, Penny, Chris and Rainer

Table two: Laura, James (I think - sorry I forgot your name!), Andrea, Alex, Kevin, and Leigh

The pint-sized attendees

Springtime in the Regensburg Stadtpark (city park)

Magnolias in the Regensburg Stadtpark

And finally, some goodies from the best stocked American section in a local grocery store (at least that I’ve discovered so far):

American section of the Edeka in the DEZ

What is the best part about living in Germany? What is the hardest?

The best part about living in Germany is probably the socialized medicine. You hear stories about illnesses making people bankrupt in the US, and I don’t have to worry at all about that here. If, God forbid, Oliver was autistic, or Rainer had a heart attack, or whatever, we wouldn’t need to worry about affording treatment.

The hardest part is living so far from the US/my family. Although, with my annual 4-5 week vacation back, I probably spend more time with them now than I would if I lived in another part of the US from them, I can’t just hop on a plane for a weekend at home like I could if I lived in the States.

Can you see yourself living forever in Germany?

Yeah, I could. In fact, that seems more likely than not, and I’m totally cool with that. I like Germany, and think that maybe it’s the better place to raise a family. I like that there isn’t this culture of fear. Every time I watch the US news, I feel scared. I don’t like that feeling. I didn’t notice it when I lived in the US, but I guess I must be much more relaxed now, since I do notice it now. I also like that Germans seem more easy-going when it comes to child-rearing. You don’t have German moms scrubbing down the house with antibacterial cleansers. Or thinking that if their kid isn’t in 500 different after-school-activities, it’ll stunt their intellectual growth and they won’t get into the right college. You can see six year olds walking to school alone (not always, but often enough). The ten year olds here even take the train on their own in to Regensburg for school. Can you imagine ten year olds taking a train 15 miles on their own in the US? Studies show that kids in Europe are healthier, more intelligent, and taller than their American counterparts - so I guess I’ll be happy to stay here for at least the next 20 years or so!  If the Euro stays strong against the US dollar though, retirement in the US probably wouldn’t be that bad, unless the US National Debt has caused a financial collapse.

Do you think that Regensburg is the final destination and if yes, what makes it feel right to stick around a little longer. If no, what places could you imagine to live? Back to the roots (The States, that is?)

I don’t know if Regensburg will be the final destination, it all depends on Rainer’s work, but I would be happy if it was our final destination. I like the city and I like the people here. When I lived in the east, people told us how Bavarians are stuck up and snotty, but I haven’t found that to be true at all. I think many people take the stereotype of Müncheners (which is just that, a stereotype) and apply it to all Bavarians. There is a bit of an Italian feel to the city, with people sitting at sidewalk cafes and hanging out in the squares. And the food here is pretty darn good.

I could imagine living a lot of places. I’m pretty adventurous. I could imagine living back in the US too, but I think if we did end up moving back there, I would have reverse culture shock and would require a long readjustment period. I’m pretty content with Germany and our current area.

I have read a bit about the vaccine debate in the US , so I was wondering if there is anything like that here?

I’ve read about the vaccine debate in the US too. I haven’t heard much about it here. Vaccinating your child is voluntary here. When it comes time for the scheduled immunizations, the pediatrician will give you a pamphlet describing the risks and benefits that you take home and read over. You sign a form that you understand the risks and benefits, then your kid gets the vaccine. All of the moms I know, including my Babytreff group, have immunized their kids. I haven’t heard much argument against doing it here, although I have heard of people delaying the immunizations because their kid was immune-compromised, etc.  Funny enough, I was just talking to someone about this and about autism.  If you’re interested in reading about autism rates in the EU, here’s an article from the European Commision.  It seems autism rates here are slightly lower than in the US:

…existing information suggests that age-specific prevalence rates for “classical autism” in the EU could vary between 3.3 and 16.0 per 10,000. These rates could increase to between 30 and 63 per 10,000 once all forms of ASD are included.

The average ASD prevalence among 8-year-olds in several areas of the US was 6.7 per 1,000 in 2000 and 6.6 per 1,000 in 2002, or about 1 in 150 children in the communities measured. Most ADDM Network sites found a prevalence of 5.2 to 7.6 per 1,000 8-year-olds with ASD in 2002. Prevalence was much lower in Alabama (3.3 per 1,000) and higher in New Jersey (10.6 per 1,000) in that year.

Based on your thoughts currently–As Oliver grows up, what do you think will be the main benefit/advantage for him in growing up in Germany that he would not receive if he were growing up in the US? Besides the German language skills!

I think the main advantage would be growing up with more awareness of the world. In the US, I think it’s easy to think of your locality as your world and not pay much attention to what’s going on outside of that world. I expect he’ll grow up knowing more about world geography and politics than he would growing up in the States.

Other than compatibility with both languages, what led you to choose Oliver’s name, and what other names did you consider?

We wanted a name that was pronounced the same in both languages. That was our main consideration. But we had a terrible time trying to come up with a name we could both agree on. I wanted Jamie and Rainer wanted Joe. We had agreed on a girl’s name (see below) and in the book The Baby Name Wizard (good book), Oliver was a suggested sibling name for our girl pick, and it was the first name we both loved.

What would his name have been if he’d been a girl?

Ella Iola. Ella after Ella Fitzgerald, Iola after my grandmother Ila Iola.

What was your favorite subject in seventh grade?

It’s difficult to remember back that far. I can remember 8th grade, but for some reason, 7th is harder. I’m guessing my favorite class was probably either English or Science. Even in college those were my favorite classes. I considered doing an MFA in creative writing (my college of choice would have been ASU), but statistics won out in the end due to being financially more lucrative.

As the daughter of a restaurateur, what irritates you most when dining out?

Rudeness from the waitstaff. After living in Europe, slow service doesn’t bother me at all, and I can forgive bad service most of the time, everybody has a bad day where nothing goes right, but being rude or snotty is unnecessary. Oh, and trying to cheat me, I will never go back to a restaurant that tries to cheat me. That’s why I won’t be going to San Daniele again. I’ve noticed this more in Germany than the US, probably because they just write down what you had at the end. I’ve had waitstaff try to charge me for more drinks than I drank, and try to charge us for meals that were already paid for by group members who already left (that was San Daniele). That’s an unforgivable sin.

Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

I think if we had unlimited funds, Paris would be awesome, or southern France. I loved Montpelier.

What is your idea of a perfect day?

It’s hard to come up with a perfect day, my days seem pretty darn good as they are, for the most part. I guess a perfect day might be somewhere on vacation with Rainer and our families, with nice weather, spending the day outdoors, maybe an hour or two on the beach in the morning, having a walk through a historic town in the afternoon, and an evening of sitting around chatting or playing games in the evening. that would be pretty ideal.

We spent this weekend with my in-laws and I think I gained back all the weight I lost over the last 8 months.  My jeans were tight when we left and I spent today going through chocolate withdrawal.  In case you don’t have a German mother-in-law, visits to a GMIL could qualify as world class eat-a-thons.  There’s bread, cold cuts, cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and super strength coffee for breakfast; then a nice big Braten (roast) with Knödel (dumplings) and cauliflower in Hollandaise sauce for lunch with pudding for dessert; 2-3 slices of cake with another cup of super strength coffee for Coffee and Cake Time; then more bread and cold cuts for dinner.  Sometimes, breakfast also includes leftover cake from the previous day.  Actually, dinner often includes leftover cake too.  In addition to this, there will be a large plate of chocolates set in front of you the entire visit.  It is not possible for me to ignore this plate, even when I am bursting at the seams.  To make things better/worse, my GMIL learned that Americans like fried eggs for breakfast and that we often eat warm dinners, so in addition to the above food, she lovingly prepares additional eggs for me at breakfast and dinner (fried eggs qualify as warm).  So basically, I just ate a couple dozen eggs over the last four days.

For my birthday, Rainer got me the book “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes,” and I decided that this week, I’m going to try out a bunch of the recipes.  Tonight, we started with the Big Boy Cream of Broccoli Soup clone.

I might have had this before, but the last time I was in a Big Boy, well… I can’t remember when that was.  I was definitely a small child at the time.  Do they even have Big Boys anymore?  Aside from that, the soup was delicious, and easy to make too.

For the next course, we enjoyed the Dive! Sicilian Sub Rosa clone with a side of the Hooters Pasta Salad clone.  I’ve never been to either of these restaurants, I’ve never heard of Dive! in fact, so I can’t attest to how well these recipes “clone” the originials, but both were very good.  Actually, the sub might even rate as awesome.  At first I thought the pasta was a bit boring, but it grew on me.  Both were kind of a lot of work though, so I’d rate them as good for the occasional splurge, but not as a regular menu item in the AmiExpat household.

I’ll get around to answering comments tomorrow.  I wasn’t the only one going through withdrawal today, Oliver was having constant-center-of-attention withdrawal.  Tomorrow should be better and I should be able to get a bit done.  Cheers!

Germany is getting just as bad as France nowadays.  Here’s a message I received from the US Consulate (you too can get these messages by registering with the State Department).  In addition to what’s listed in the message, Deutsche Bahn (the train service) are planning to strike indefinitely starting on Monday.  So basically, if there is a union involved, it’s probably on strike now.

Warden Message From the U.S. Embassy Regarding Possible Public Sector Strikes

We call your attention to the following information concerning possible strikes across Germany this month that could have a significant impact on a wide array of public sector and transportation services:

Public services across Germany could be severely curtailed this week by possible strikes and major walkouts by the service sector trade union in protest over wage negotiations. Without specifying which services could be affected, union representatives have reportedly stated that any strike would be timed to cause maximum disruption during rush hour and could include halting services at airports. The large-scale strikes could also affect day-care centers, hospitals and waste management. Strikes could begin at any time and are likely to be Germany-wide.

In Berlin, union transportation workers are also threatening a ten-day strike from Wednesday, March 5, and lasting until March 14. This strike could bring much of the public transit system to a standstill, affecting Berlin’s U-Bahn, bus and tram network. Separately, the labor dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the train engineers’ union continues and on March 3, the union threatened to strike again if Deutsche Bahn fails to improve its latest contract proposal by March 7. According to a union statement, this strike could begin as early as next week and could have Germany-wide repercussions for all rail services.

The latest information available for the greater Frankfurt area indicates there will likely be a municipal workers strike March 6. This strike could affect U-Bahn, bus and tram service, as well as kindergartens, trash collection and other city services. It appears that the strike might last the entire day.

Finally, according to management representatives at the Frankfurt airport, strikes that interrupted services in the air travel sector today ended at 10 a.m. and air travel is expected to return to normal by tomorrow morning. This strike is reported to have affected airports in Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hannover, Hamburg, Munich, Nürnberg, Köln/Bonn, Saarbrücken, and Stuttgart.

Since the dates of strikes are always subject to change, American citizens should monitor local media sources for new developments.

Americans living or traveling in Germany are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy of Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration web site, https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Germany. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Travel Alerts, Travel Warnings, Worldwide Caution, and Country Specific Information for Germany can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays)

For more info see:

• Spiegel Online: After Years of Patience, the Unions Strike Back
• FAZ: Warnstreiks in Süddeutschland: „Alle Fahrzeuge stehen still“
• Bahn.de: Deutsche Bahn bereitet sich auf mögliche Streiks der Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer vor - Ersatzfahrpläne in Vorbereitung
• Berliner Zeitung Online: Arbeitskampf: Sarrazin beschimpft BVG-Personal

While tooling around Wikipedia, I came across a page listing American Expatriates in Germany (who have Wikipedia articles written about them).  The people listed are not all currently in Germany, it just denotes people that have lived in Germany at some point.  Priscilla Presley and Martin Lawrence, both born on US military bases in Germany, make the list.  I’m sure there should be quite a few more people on there, like Iggy Pop, who lived in Berlin in the 70’s, or Jeffrey Eugenides, author of the Virgin Suicides.  And where are Brad and Angelina, they at least own a posh penthouse in Berlin-Mitte?  They also forgot to list Evil Jared.  I presume he’s still showing up naked all over Germany.  Too bad I’m not white and nerdy enough to sign up on Wikipedia and update the page.

On a personal coolness note: I actually had one of the folks listed over to my house in Potsdam for Thanksgiving dinner back in 2006!  In fact, he carved the turkey!