That’s what I’ve been repeating to myself over the last week. All I can say for myself is, I’ve been busy.

We spent the long weekend visiting the inlaws near Wittlich. On the way there we stopped at Idar-Oberstein, gemstone and jewelry capital of Germany, which I plan to blog about later. While at the inlaws, we spent a couple hours at the Wittlicher Säubrennerkirmes (Wittlich Pig Roasting Festival). There were so many Americans there, it had to be at least 50% American, mostly folks from the many nearby military bases. Anyways, this has given me an idea for yet another future post on How to dress like an American (i.e., stick out like a sore thumb) vs. How to be mistaken for a German.

We spent some time in Wehlen sorting through some classic books (Goethe, Schiller, you know, all those light-hearted, fun German authors) and picking up an old pendulum wall clock we’ve inherited from Rainer’s godmother, then we headed over to Bernkastel-Kues to do some wine shopping.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch in Vellberg. It is a really cute, small village just off the Romantic Road. There were very few tourists and the food at the Gasthaus was good, so I can heartily recommend it to fans of half-timbered houses who hate the crowds that flood Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

After Vellberg, we stopped for coffee and sightseeing in Dinkelsbühl. Dinkelsbühl is actually on the Romatic Road, so there were quite a few more tourists, but it wasn’t bad. The signs there are all in English and Japanese, as well as German, for those who haven’t learned the language yet. The town is lovely with a nice old city wall surrounding. Definitely worth a stop.

We got back late Sunday, and early Monday I was out on the Autobahn again heading to the Munich airport to fetch my mom. It’s been non-stop since she arrived, we’ve explored Regensburg and I think we’re going to check out some of the small, cute villages around here tomorrow. She’s only here for a week, so there’s a lot to cram in!

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

We FINALLY made it back after our own little Homer-worthy epic (I’ll write a nice long post about that soon, but let me sum it up in one sentence: DO NOT EVER, EVER FLY WITH IBERIA). 

First, I want to remind folks about the Expat Dinner this coming Sunday. 

My blog is having some issues.  It stopped notifying me that there were comments in moderation, so sorry that some comments have been sitting there for a week.  I do have some high school buddies (the nerd squad) lined up who will help me work out all the little wrinkles in the coding though, so things should be running smoothly in no time.

I enjoyed my trip to the US, but not nearly as much as previous trips.  I am very glad to be back home in Germany again.  After 2.5 weeks of public breastfeeding in the US, I can say that I felt most weird about it in a Silver Diner and an IHOP, both in northern Virginia, while in DC everyone seemed fine with it.  In the slightly more upscale establishments in Virginia, I also didn’t feel weird.  I did it once in the mother-child room at Nordstrom’s and found this very uncomfortable, mainly because of all the diaper changes I got to experience while in there.  I made sure to tell a family member who made a comment about why can’t people just go to the bathroom in the department stores that this is not the most pleasant environment.

A couple of random observations: Damn there are a lot of kids in America and what’s up with all the travel systems, man?  And why do people put blankets over their babies while they’re in the strollers?  Rainer noticed that if he was holding Oliver and Oliver started smiling at another baby, then Rainer started smiling at that baby, the parents seemed to get upset and seemed threatened by this.  I didn’t notice this, but maybe they felt less threatened by a woman looking than a man?  In Germany, Oliver gets tons of attention, in American he hardly got any, and if he did it was from African-American women.  Hmmm…  Are people afraid that if someone notices their child that that person must be a child molester or a kidnapper?  I wonder how these kids are gonna turn out compared with German kids, who are definitely not raised in such a sterile, controlled way.  Also, formula costs a fortune in the US.  It’s like, 3 times more than it costs here in Europe.  Actually, food in general costs a great deal more over there.  The Christmas dinner we made for 12 there cost twice as much as the Thanksgiving dinner we made for 26 here (of course, here it was potluck, but there were over twice as many people).

In the end, we bought a lot of clothes, I’m talking about 4 x 44lbs of clothing (okay, I got some DVD box sets too).  And my family fell in love with little Ollie.

Now we’re all recovering from terrible colds, so I’ll have to cut it short and leave you with photos from the trip.

Oliver was a perfect little man on the plane.  That’s him in his bassinet on the plane.

Oliver and Grandma finally meet!

Mr. Oliver goes to Washington

Oliver touches the moon (rock, that is, courtesy of the Air & Space Museum)

Oliver goes to the Washington Zoo.  Oliver’s favorite thing at the zoo? Watching all the little kids!

Oliver with my aunt

Oliver with my bro

We arrived safely on Thursday after an uneventful flight (Oliver was awesome and slept most of the trip - some teenage boys even complemented us on how well-behaved he was - we told them that it was just luck, I felt so bad for the baby, and the parents, of the little girl who cried the whole trip).  I had been a little wary about what would happen when I breastfed in public, having heard the occasional horror story of intolerance, and I guess I was right to be wary.  Although no one has said anything to me, Rainer even noticed that the two times I’ve breastfeed him in public (both in restaurants, once with my back to the vast majority of people and once at the inside seat of a high-walled booth), I’ve gotten “looks” from everyone around me.  Not good “looks” like in Germany, where public breastfeeding is completely acceptable, but looks that say, “My God, is she really going to do that here???”

Although I had been worried, I’m a little shocked.  I don’t understand why I would get these reactions in such an affluent, highly-educated area of the US (i.e., northern Virginia).  It’s made me not want to go out at all.  And it’s not like I’m showing ANY skin, I’ve got nursing tops from H&M that don’t show anything and I’m good at placing him discretely.

So how do I get through the rest of the trip?  Feed him in the car?  Stay home?  Use a blanket?  I’ve been here 4 days and I’m ready to be back in Germany.  I am so not in love with America at the moment.  I miss the Germans!

In part 1, I asked if referring to an American as an Ami was derogatory in German.  I read the many comments with interest and can only conclude that to some people it is, and to some it isn’t.

I was a bit dismayed to find that some people might take offense at what I called my blog.  I certainly didn’t want to be the girl with the N-word blog.  I went through moments where I briefly considered moving the blog again to avoid the conflict.  In the end, I’ve decided that the blog stays here. 

I don’t agree that Ami is the same as the N-word or other racial/ethnic slurs.  Rainer tells me that it’s neutral, an informal (not low class) means of addressing an American.  It can certainly be used in an insulting way, but is not inherently insulting in itself.  Otherwise, why would sportscasters be tolerated who use the term Amis when giving play by play for a game involving the US team?

I know that there are people who feel differently than I do, and their reasons are valid.  They have different life experiences than I do.  I’m not trying to ignore their feelings or say they are of little consequence, I thought long and hard about what to do here.  In the end, it came down to my life experiences.  In five and a half years, I’ve never heard Ami used in an insulting way, and it was not until moving to Regensburg that I had a significant amount of native English speakers as friends.  In Potsdam, I hung around mostly with a group of older, set in their ways, Berlinisch-speaking men who certainly did not censor their thoughts around me.  Perhaps their are regional differences, with the former American zones being most affected.  Perhaps it depends on what time period you lived in Germany, or who your instructors were.  I’m sure if I lived through the RAF (Rote Armee Faktion) instigated terrorism, I would feel differently.

If Ami bothers you, then I hope you can see the irony in the blog’s address, or respect that I’m “taking Ami back.” If you can no longer stand to log on to the blog at this address, well, I’m sorry you feel that way, and I understand, but I’ve got to stick by my convictions.

I hope that all made sense, I’m completely exhausted at the moment, but I’ve kept two blog posts on hold to give this topic the attention I thought it deserved.  And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

One of the stereotypes that Germans have of Americans is that we are superficial.  They’ll meet an American, the American will act like they are best friends, and the next time they run into each other, the American doesn’t even say hello.  I’ve often heard from Germans who’ve moved to the US that at first they are in heaven, thinking, “This is great!  Look at how many friends I’ve made and I just got here!”  But once they realize that the new “friends” are not really friends, the joy is soon replaced by bitterness at the “superficiality” of Americans. 

On the other hand, Americans often find Germans to be cold, emotionally distant, and difficult to make friends with.  This is because Germans are very careful in who they make friends with and if you are lucky enough to be friends with a German, you’ve got a friend for life.  You don’t just meet a German and ask them out for coffee or lunch or a movie.  We’ve lived here a year and haven’t been invited for coffee yet by any of our neighbors, but we’re on friendly terms with all of them.  I’ve found that it usually takes about a year or so of knowing each other before those first steps towards friendship are taken.  There’ll be several invitations to coffee, after a while, you might have dinner, and after a few years, you are great friends.

Neither way is bad, they are just different, and differences are often hard to adjust to at first, when moving to a new land.

Today, for the first time, I really felt like the “superficial” American.  Since Oliver was 6 weeks old, we’ve had a housekeeper.  She’s from Macedonia and starting from day one, we used the informal you (“du”) with each other.  We’d chit-chat briefly while she cleaned, but mostly I tried to stay out of her way.

Three weeks ago, I was feeling chatty and we ended up having a long conversation.  She asked about my family and wanted to know what Thailand was like.  I showed her pictures and asked her about Macedonia.  Then last week I was sick with a sinus infection and stayed in bed with Oliver while she cleaned, and today, I was not feeling very social and kind of ignored her (I went back to brief chit-chat).  At the end of the day, she looked at me and said (in German), “Christina, are you happy with my cleaning?”  I answered that of course I was happy.  We talked a little, and in the end, I gathered that she was a little hurt that we had shared a lot three weeks ago, but there had been nothing since.  And boy, did I feel guilty.  I can totally sympathize with not understanding the friendship signs that someone else is giving off.  I spent the first two years in Germany having no idea who wanted to be my friend and who just wanted to be a work colleague.  I don’t know how things work in Macedonia, but I can tell when someone has been disappointed.  Next week, I will try harder to be less “superficial.”