Catch-up

Turns out it's been a while since I've updated. Today is kind of weird. It's some kind of holiday celebrating something, but I'm not really sure what. So, happy two days before Ash Wednesday? Fasching has been going on for a while and I know it has something to do with that, but I have no idea what today specifically is. I guess I'd make a terrible Catholic.

So, Fasching. Fasching is pretty much the German version of Mardi Gras, except it happens all over Germany and lasts a lot longer. It's actually kind of weird--at Halloween hardly anyone dresses up, but EVERYONE dresses up for Fasching. I was in C&A the other day, which is the closest approximation to a department store I've seen here, and there was a huge section of what I would call Halloween costumes, except I guess they're Fasching costumes. Apparently in Köln (Cologne for all you non-Germans) they celebrate Fasching starting in, like, November, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get up there at all. I also really wanted to go to a Fasching parade yesterday, but I couldn't find anyone to go with me. I guess that's the price I pay for knowing actual Germans. None of them want to go do any of the typical German stuff, either because they've done it a bunch times before or because they can do it next year.

Adorable!!!

This week I did....pretty much nothing. I'm going to Ulm tomorrow, where I'll meet up with another aupair I know, so that should be fun, as long as it doesn't snow. I am such a snow Scrooge. OK OK, it looks nice, but for me pretty much what it means is that I have to wear my huge snow boots when I go outside, so I sound like an elephant when I'm walking. I don't know how big the other aupairs were, but they must have had some HUGE feet.

Oh yeah, I finished reading Pride and Prejudice! Why did no one ever tell me how good that book is?? I loved it! I now feel a little bit bad dissing the poor English-language-book selection in the Heidenheim library, because it's forcing me to resort to reading classic books that I really should have read before this point in my life. Although maybe it's good that I'd never read it, because I probably just would have hated it. I'm already biased against John Steinbeck from reading The Pearl in 8th grade. I would still hate F. Scott Fitzgerald because of The Great Gatsby if I hadn't read one of his stories in an English class two years ago. Next up: Mansfield Park, which I've already seen the movie version of. After that, I hope to conquer Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Poor Brontës. I'm sure they wrote those books with the intention that people should look forward to them with anticipation, not dread. I think that is unfortunately the trade in being a great writer; most of the world thinks that your books are a major contribution to literature, but most of the world also has no desire to read them. I would say 90% I want to read those books is that Brontë is such a cool last name, because of the ë. I wish my name had something cool like that. I really have the most boring name in the world. Actually, that's a lie. I have a boring name in the US, but Smith sounds surprisingly exotic here. When I tell people my name, they can tell from it right away that I'm not German and most likely English-speaking, therefore awesome (because that's how it goes: English-speaking => awesome). Mostly though, my name is dull.

And right now? I'm mostly looking forward to my trip to Barcelona in two weeks. It's not even that cold here right now, but I'm looking forward to being somewhere where the temps are in the 60s. And obviously I think it will just be a really cool trip. I'm getting excited for my upcoming trips and am trying to stop spending so that I'll have some money left.

Speaking of trips, I don't think I've said where I'm going. Obviously I'm going to Barcelona Feb 16-19, then in March I'm going to Copenhagen, April to Amsterdam, then I have a week off in May, where I'll be going to London, Belfast (N. Ireland, ooo scary), and Glasgow. I also have another long weekend in May where I right now plan to go to Paris. That one's not set in stone yet, because you can't buy train tickets until 3 months in advance. Way to thwart my travel-planning, Deutsche Bahn. I also plan to make some weekend trips to Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and obviously some German cities too. It's kind of sad actually. I did so much more traveling in Germany the other times I was here, when I wasn't even living here.

Just realized that I didn't even comment on the Tupper-Party. It was kind of time-warpy. I sort of felt like I was in The Twilight Zone: I was at a '50s style party, but everyone was wearing modern clothes, and they were all speaking German. I never really knew that Tupperware made so many products until I came to Germany and started working for a Tupper-obsessed family, but at this party I found out that Tupperware is expensive. Fortunately I had absolutely no money, so it wasn't a problem. The woman who was selling the Tupper gave everyone a little Tupperware "gift", so I didn't leave empty-handed. As Stefan said, my first Tupper! Other than the sales pitch, the party was good. I knew most of the people there, and it was nice to catch up with them after I'd been gone for so long over Christmas.

Overall, I am at a contented point. My German is progressing nicely, to the point where I can watch movies in German (I saw P.S. I Love You with Eveline and Irene last week and understood almost the whole thing with little effort) and even read most websites pretty easily. I still feel like it's a constant struggle, but clearly things are getting better. I can't believe I've been here for five months, and that I only have six and a half left! I'm already thinking about looking for a German-related job for when I get back, just so I don't lose my speaking skills.

Since probably no one reading this is in Germany, I'll go ahead and wish myself a happy two days off. Now back to my new obsession: reading editorials on the Presidential primary.