Poland Shopping Trip Day 2

Our first stop early the next morning was to the Borowski crystal factory. Erika showed us a brochure of the artist's work beforehand and I don't think anyone was impressed with the futuristic, abstract, alien-looking glass sculptures. Everyone was happily surprised when we entered the factory store to find plenty of glass Christmas balls, vases and whimsical animal crystal sculptures.

I fell in love with these frogs, as they reminded me (as all frog figurines do) of my dear frog Eddie, whom we discovered hanging onto the side of our camper after a 7-hour long ride home from the beach in South Carolina. Eddie lived happily in an aquarium with us for over a year and frogs now hold a special place in our hearts. I adored Eddie, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a crystal frog.

After a few more stops at pottery shops, it was time to head back into Germany, specifically to Seiffen, the east German town famous for its wooden Christmas decorations and toys. Along the way, Erika told us, "Look out of the left side of the bus. Do you see those mountains off in the distance? That's Czechoslovakia."

Seiffen sits in the heart of the Ore Mountains, which are famous for many Christmas traditions. As the silver and tin deposits declined in the 1600s, former miners had to look for new ways to feed their families. In addition to lace making and weaving, the inhabitants went into wood carving.

Nutcrackers...,

..."smoking men" incense burners...,

..."pyramids" (carousels with figures of the Christmas story or from mining)...,

... and Schwibbogen (wooden arcs with candles in the windows, symbolizing the opening of a mine) are some of many Christmas goods made in the Ore Mountains.

You could feel the atmosphere heat up in the bus. This was the stop that people were anticipating the most. We were running behind schedule, though, and by the time we pulled into town, many shop owners were locking their doors for the night.

To the other people in town, I'm sure the frantic nature of this shopping stop was comical. Crazy American women walking swiftly and purposefully from store to store, grabbing items off shelves and buying them with just minutes to spare. Many of us were left frustrated, including me. I had not managed to find an open toy store. On the long ride home, some women were already planning another trip on their own to Seiffen.

Poland Shopping Trip Day 1

While David was taking the kids to international day at school, I was busy elbowing other women out of my way so I could pick a certain plate off the shelf of a pottery store in Poland. Just kidding. But I was in Poland and I was buying pottery.

The American Women's Club of the Taunus is a group of expat women who do a great variety of activities: bookclubs, coffee socials, local tours, museum outings and trips all over the world. I had heard about this shopping trip to Poland before as a "must" while living here, so my friend Kathy and I decided to sign up.

We boarded our bus at 5:00am and drove to eastern Germany. Our tour organizer, Erika, gave us some interesting information along the way. We were traveling on a highway that during the days of a divided Germany, was one of the few transit routes free Germans could use to travel from West Berlin (which was fully surrounded by Soviet Union-controlled East Germany) to West Germany. There were high security fences all along the hundreds of kilometers of highway and guards posted every so often to be sure that no East Germans could escape. And heaven help you if your car broke down.

A wind farm in eastern Germany.

Erika also told us the history of Polish pottery, as buying pottery was the main purpose of the trip. Augustus II was a king of Poland who lived from 1670 to 1733. He was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring (he is rumored to have fathered as many as 385 children -- only 1 of them legitimate). In 1701 he imprisoned the young alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, and forced him to reveal the secret of manufacturing gold, as Böttger had boasted he could. Instead, Böttger discovered during his imprisonment the secret of porcelain: the high quality of the local clay and baking it at higher temperatures than ever before. Augustus the Strong proudly offered the pottery as gifts to impress other nobles and monarchs, and the area became famous for its porcelain stoneware. Ceramics and pottery continue to be a definitive part of the identity of the city of Boleslaweic, Poland, our destination.

As we entered Poland, and any other time we crossed the border or saw border security personnel elsewhere, Erika would say, "Say a prayer that we don't get stopped. On the last trip, they took everyone's passports, entered all the numbers into the computer to check everything and we sat here for 2 hours." The bus would fall silent for a minute every time she reminded us of that. Thankfully, we were never stopped and sailed through the borders.

And just like that, well, about 5 hours after we left Frankfurt, we were in Poland and stopped at our first set of pottery shops/factory outlets. Erika had instructed us on what to look for in pottery and if we saw something we really liked, to buy it. We couldn't be sure we would see a certain pattern again.

It was a strange experience seeing all these American women exit the bus, enter the 3 or 4 pottery shops on that block, and start buying. And they just kept on buying. Now, many of them had been on the trip before and they knew exactly what they wanted. I walked into the shops and looked around, but really didn't know what to do. We didn't need any dishes. My baking dishes would do, even if they were regular Pyrex dishes. The pottery was beautiful and inexpensive, but I really didn't need anything.

Finally in the third store, I got hit with the bug. The store had triangular pizza plates. We had had cheap plastic pizza plates back home and the kids still say every so often, "Do you remember those pizza plates we used to have? I miss them!" So I bought six heavy pizza plates. Then I remembered that David has been saying that we need egg cups, so I bought 6 sweet little egg cups. And a matching bowl to put the shells into.

I also ended up buying 6 large mugs with matching oval plates, all in different patterns, for soup and sandwiches (one of our favorite lunches). So I caught up pretty well with my fellow shoppers. We probably hit 15 pottery shops in all, and we would see the traditional patterns over and over, but then there would always be something new at each shop.

Our group spent the night at Kliczków Castle and Kathy and I had an authentic castle experience. Our room had no heat. Did I mention it was cold and rainy? I once again thanked God for warm featherbeds.

This castle was built in the late 13th century and was thoroughly restored in 2001.

International Day at ISF

Today, the kids' school, ISF, hosted more than 1,000 people for an afternoon of fun and learning with its International Day. This annual event is designed primarily to help students (and parents!) learn about different cultures, and this year's focus countries were Brazil, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, and Russia.

James volunteered to help with the Opening Ceremonies and was proud to parade the flag of the U.S. across the stage.

There were dance, musical and athletic performances from each country, including these from Mexico, Russia and Korea.


Face paint is a hit all over the world.

In the Brazilian jungle. The day included Passports for students to fill out as they visited ‘country’ classrooms decorated as each focus nation. Kids could sample traditional foods, play games, have their name written in a foreign language and learn a lot of other new things about some of the countries their classmates hail from.

Election Day Results

Living abroad during an American election year has been an interesting experience. David and I felt a bit out of touch throughout much of the campaigning, even though we could read articles on line and see reports on CNN International. What we were missing was "water-cooler chats," those conversations and debates you have with co-workers and friends about the issues, and the "little" but interesting stories that crop up during campaigns.

We have been asked by friends and neighbors what we thought of Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. People here are very excited about Obama and don't seem to know anything about McCain. Just knowing he's a Republican and therefore associated with Bush was enough to make people dismiss him.

When people asked me who I was supporting, I answered truthfully: There are things about Obama I like and things about McCain I like and I'm not sure whose name I will check off on my ballot. People seemed very surprised to learn that I am not affiliated with any party and even more surprised to learn that there are over one hundred political parties in the U.S.

We voted a couples of weeks prior to the election via absentee ballot and this morning woke up to the unsurprising news that Obama had won. We sat the kids in front of the TV at 7:00 this morning so that they could see on CNN the historic news that America had elected its first African-American president. The kids were interested and understood that this was the first time an African-American had been elected, but it didn't seem to affect them that strongly.

As I thought about this during the day, I realized that for them, why couldn't a non-white person, or a woman for that matter, be elected president? To our kids, it wasn't something that extraordinary. They have always attended school with kids of color and different religions, have had teachers at school who were non-white, a few of our pediatricians back home and several of their nurses and dental hygenists have been non-white women. I guess it's a good sign that having a person of color elected president didn't strike them as amazing.

At German class, my teacher put me on the spot first thing and asked how I felt about the election results. Again I answered truthfully: What happened in the U.S. yesterday would not have been possible 50 or even 25 years ago. I was proud of my country, proud of the huge step we had taken.

My teacher said that she thought the election of Obama was the right thing for the U.S.'s relationships with the rest of the world. This seems to be the opinion of people all over the world.

When my classmates asked during break whom I voted for, I answered truthfully: In the U.S., you vote in secret and my vote will remain a secret.

Halloween

One of the topics that comes up again and again from our friends back home is whether or not Halloween is celebrated in Germany. From what we've heard, five years ago we would have said, "No, it isn't," but that is not the case today. Many Germans shake their heads over this recent phenomenon and each year it gets bigger and bigger.

A few weeks before Halloween, stores have a decent supply of decorations, candy and costumes. But actual trick or treating happens only in certain neighborhoods where there are lots of kids.

Last year, we were invited to trick or treat at the American compound in Frankfurt where government workers are housed and it was a lot of fun. But this year, James had a lock-in sleepover at school, Micaela went trick or treating with friends at the compound, and David and I wanted to see what the deal was in little Liederbach. We had heard that there was some Halloween activity in a different section of town that was loaded with kids.

Here's our little La-La Teletubby and Mulan. Rebecca fell asleep during a car ride and at 6:00pm, a co-worker from Lufthansa who lives in Liederbach called to report, "You better get over here soon! There are kids everywhere and people may run out of candy!" Becca was very grumpy when we first got her up and dressed, but David said she changed her tune after they rang the first doorbell and got candy. There is a little rhyme your can say when you ring a doorbell, but most people resort to the shorter "Süßes oder saures!" (Sweet or sour!)

It was a good thing we got that call. David said that neighborhood in Liederbach looked just like an American neighborhood on Halloween and the kids had a great time. Becca and Emilie ended up with many little bags of gummi treats, some chocolates and a few Ricola cough drops.

I stayed home to man the front door. Even with Halloween decorations out front and the light on to welcome little witches, ghosts and goblins, no one rang our bell.

I did chuckle as I put the La-La Teletubby costume on Rebecca. Each year, I see articles in magazines or stories on TV of how you can save money by making or sewing your own Halloween costumes. Ha! I sewed this costume for Micaela about 10 years ago and by the time I had bought the pattern, fabric and notions, it cost 4 times as much as the La-La costume at the store. However, it has been worn on Halloween 5 times by 4 different kids (Becca wore it last year as well) and it gets worn quite a bit around the house for fun. So, I figured in the end, it paid for itself.

Scary La-La.

Soccer Game

James is on his second year of playing soccer at school. Last year he seemed a little lost on the field, especially compared to his more-experienced teammates. He looks more comfortable and feels more confident this year and usually plays a defensive position. He has just started playing goalie, though I could never understand why someone would want to play that position.

The team as a whole isn't doing great in the league standings, but when we look back to how the soccer season began for us last year, we couldn't care any less.

Berlin Trip - a Postscript

We had a fantastic weekend in Berlin and all too quickly, it was time to head home. We entered the sparkling train station and found the platform for our train to Frankfurt. Soon, our ICE train arrived and everyone rushed to board the train. We had reservations and found the right train car, but there was a big crowd gathered at the door waiting to get on. The line just wasn't moving and a minute or so, David said nervously, "Just get on the car right next door. We can find our seats later."

"What's the big rush? It's not like the train is going to leave without us!" I thought to myself. But, we all did as Dad said and got onto the next car. With us still standing in the aisle between cars, the doors closed and then there was a bit of commotion. People near the door began frantically pushing the "Door Open" button, but to no avail. The doors stayed closed. People seemed to then be discussing something important.

I asked David what was going on and he checked it out and answered, "Some poor guy was waiting to get on the train, and right when he was about to board, the doors closed. It's time for the train to leave and no one can open the doors for him." So this man waited for his turn to board the train and saw the doors close right in front of him. He would need to wait for the next train to Frankfurt, which wouldn't be for hours.

Ah, the mystery was solved. You do have to rush to get on a train. The conductor will not wait for you, even if you have one foot on the stairs to enter the train car. This must explain why German trains are famous for always being on time. Punctual, yes, but understanding and forgiving, no.