Easter Time

Here is a pretty decoration a group of retired folks from Liederbach put up last year and this year during Easter time. It just so happens to be located at the end of our street so I get to see it every afternoon when I leave home to pick up the kids from school.

Puts a smile on my face every time I see it.

Frosty gets even

Guess what? It snowed today. All morning long.

Some things you can find at the grocery store

Every so often, I run into an item at the grocery store that I can't help but think would never make it in the U.S. Or at least we just haven't seen yet. In the past, I've posted pictures of yogurt deodorant and stuffing-flavored Pringles, so I thought it was time for some more interesting items.

Here are the four in question: mineral water, toothpaste, shampoo and a mystery bottle.

It didn't take long for David and me to adopt the German tradition of drinking room-temperature fizzy mineral water, and over time I realized the fizzier the better. In fact, a few weeks ago, we ordered a bottle in a restaurant, but they only had regular (stille) mineral water. It was a strange sensation, having that water just sit flat on your tongue. Where were the dancing bubbles? At least wine has flavor, so no bubbles is OK. The water just felt....dead.

Our first year here, we sampled a wide variety of mineral water, but the very first brand we ever bought ended up being the best: Elisabethan, extra fizzy (spritzig). And the label is pretty, which is a plus. One brand featured a font and color combo I wasn't crazy about, so that one was quickly nixed. I'm a marketer's dream.

What is interesting about this particular mineral water, though, is this red little label: Für Baby--nahrung geeignet!

Suitable for baby nourishment! I need to ask my neighbor if German moms and dads mix baby formula with fizzy water. Just made me scratch my head.

And here we have olive oil and lemon-scented shampoo. One thing you need to learn about German shampoo is to take the labels seriously. In the U.S., you have Herbal Essences and Suave Cucumber Melon Splash. They both have a light, fresh scent. Nothing too strong.

A few months ago, I bought a German shampoo with a Kräuter (herbal) scent. I had just put a dollop on to Emilie's head and started lathering it up when we both exclaimed, "Ewww! What is that smell?" I suspiciously sniffed my hands and then Emilie's foamy hair and said, "It's the shampoo! I don't believe it! The shampoo actually smells like a salad!" By the time I finished shampooing Emilie and Rebecca, the whole bathroom smelled a bit too much like composting grass for my taste. Needless to say, I haven't bought that shampoo since.

This shampoo, as you can probably guess, smells strongly of olive oil and lemon. I could probably throw it into my next recipe and except for the soapy feel in one's mouth, none would be the wiser.

What did you first think you would find in this bottle? The first time someone (an American) offered me such a bottle saying, "Do you want some?" I thought to myself, "Why is this nice woman I just met offering me aspirin?" At my puzzled expression, she laughed and said, "Don't worry. It's just chewing gum."

Would the Food and Drug Administration allow gum in the U.S. to be sold in a package resembling a medicine bottle? Probably not. Otherwise, little Johnny might get into his mom's medicine, thinking it was gum. I checked and Extra gum is sold in the U.S. in a little box. It used to be sold as sticks and may still be.

And last but not least, pineapple toothpaste. Once again, you need to take the label seriously. I didn't notice the pineapple picture when I bought the tube. I just thought everyone can use some Exotic Energy in their lives. I even chose to disregard the yellow and brown label. Not good colors for conjuring up an image of fresh breath. I gave it a week, but finally threw in the towel and passed this toothpaste down to the kids. I can't say that my mouth felt very fresh after brushing, but I shouldn't have been surprised. It's been strictly mint ever since.

Kindergarten Spring Festival

Becca's Kindergarten had its Spring Festival today and the first activity was a walk through the fields behind the school. It may be the first day of Spring, but we still needed to bundle up.

We walked with our neighbors Anne, Jonna and Baby Jette. Jonna and Becca demonstrate how they share the task of pushing Jette's stroller. They walk home like this, at least part of way, every day from school.

Back at the school, the kids were all given their paper snowmen they made earlier this week. But, why were all those people gathered around in a circle over there?

Ahh! They're burning Frosty!! And singing a happy song about it!

Now, I know it was all to symbolize the ending of winter, but I couldn't help but think of that tragic scene from Frosty the Snowman -- you know the one I'm thinking of. Santa finds little Karen kneeling beside a puddle of water, sobbing for her beloved Frosty who melted in the locked greenhouse.

And to make matters worse, kids handed their own paper snowmen to teachers to be thrown into the fire. I wasn't sure if Becca would want to do it, but she handed over her snowman. Her reaction to seeing her snowman be quickly consumed in flame was one of bewilderment, but when I said, "Say bye bye to your snowman," she dutifully called out, "Tschüss!"

An official from the local fire house making sure nothing gets out of hand.

And I have it on good authority that Frosty will get his revenge. Rumor has it we're going to get still more snow -- next Wednesday to be exact.

Rebecca and Jonna eating Würste and drinking Apfelschorle. Apfelschorle is a popular soft drink made of apple juice and fizzy mineral water.

Jonna is sporting a Lillifee hat. German-born Prinzessin Lillifee (she's a fairy and a princess!) enjoys fame here in Europe similar to that of Barbie in the U.S.

There are Lillifee books, clothes, home decor, backpacks, etc., and next week, Lillifee's first feature film will be in theaters! Germans seem very surprised when I tell them we don't have Lillifee in the U.S. That may have changed in the last year or so. Let me know.

Enjoying the nice afternoon on the school playground.

I'm King of the World,....or at least King of this Stump!

A typical scene on the way home. There are several barns near our home and horses stroll up and down the streets regularly. Every morning, two ponies get trotted up our street right in front of our house and every evening, we hear them clip-clopping back down. That's the Gasthaus Rudolph on the right.

Gasthaus Rudolph is a traditional German restaurant located one street over from where we live. It is wonderful to be able to walk 3 minutes and be at a restaurant that serves delicious Schweinerschnitzel and David and James' favorite: BBQ ribs. OK, so not every dish is traditional German cuisine. Almost every dish. By the way, click on the picture to check out the date the restaurant was established.

Will the tooth fairy make an appearance?

Emilie lost her first tooth this week and we all asked the same question, "Does the tooth fairy come to Germany?"

I asked my neighbor and was told that the tooth fairy was unknown in Germany until just recently. Like Halloween, the tooth fairy has been recently adopted by Germans, but we still said a little prayer as Emilie placed her tooth under her pillow that die Zahnfee would make the trip.

The next morning, Emilie's tooth was gone and in its place was a 2 Euro coin. Phew!!

Could we be turning a corner?

I jumped the gun just a bit with my post yesterday about the kids starting to use German more. Today, there was another indication that we may have turned a corner with all the kids, that they have all become more comfortable using German.

James read a comic book in the car on the way home from school today and only when we got home did I get a good look at it.

Calvin and Hobbes auf Deutsch. When I asked James if he understood it OK, he answered, "Yeah, OK. But there are still some things I don't understand."


I was really impressed. When I was a senior in high school, on my fourth year of French, I found some old French Peanuts comic books in our school library. So, I checked one out, very excited to read something in French besides the worksheets our teacher gave us. On the very first page, it became clear I was not going to be able to read the book. There was slang, contractions to make the written language more like spoken language, unfamiliar vocabulary, verb tenses I hadn't learned yet. I remember thinking, "Four years of French and I can't understand a Charlie Brown comic strip? Good grief!"

Becca has recently become enthralled with a German Leapster game (an educational video game system). Santa gave her Disney's Cars and Hund-Babys (Pet Pals), both in German, but she wasn't interested. All of a sudden this week, she picked up Hund-Babys and can nagivate through the game just fine, following the oral instructions auf Deutsch.

When David and I talked all this over, he added that he's noticed Micaela beginning to use more German as well. This is all quite exciting for us former foreign language majors.

Mmmm.....Can I just say it in German?

Emilie and I were sitting in the car today waiting for Micaela and James after school and she was talking about money and paying for things. I was only half-listening until the conversation took an interesting turn:

E: Blah, blah, blah.....Mom, if you were going to buy something that cost....nine.....ninety.....mmmmmm....Can I just say it in German?
C: Sure. (ears suddenly perking up)
E: OK, if you were going to buy something that cost neunundneunzig Euro fünf, you could use a 200 Euro bill.

That was a first. Our kids are all learning German, but that was the first time one of them was stumped for how to say something in English and opted for German instead.

Before we moved here, so many people said to us, "And just think! Your kids will become fluent in German! Kids learn languages so fast." But David and I knew better. Our kids would be attending an international school where all instruction except for German class would be in English and kids (even the German ones) were expected to speak English outside of class. I have seen for myself teachers wagging their fingers at groups of kids milling around in the lobby after school speaking German or Korean and saying "In English!"

Our kids then come home to a family where everyone speaks English. We knew they would learn some German, but was becoming fluent even a possibility? It would have been a certainty if we had chosen to put our kids into public German schools, but they would have undoubtedly had to repeat a year as the first year would have been all about learning the language. We didn't want to return to the U.S. and have them be a year behind all of their friends.

So, where do things stand now? Micaela, James and Emilie all have daily German classes at school (Micaela also has Spanish) and seem to understand most of what they hear when we're out and about. I often ask the kids to translate what Spongebob or Hannah Montana just said and they do a good job. But speaking...that's another story. They are all hesitant about speaking, afraid to make a mistake, but just recently, James is using German at home with us here and there. And now Emilie resorting to German (I think she couldn't figure out quickly enough how to say "Ninety-nine dollars and 5 cents") was a sure sign that their German is coming along.

Rebecca attends a daily all-German Kindergarten and is a bit of a puzzle for us. When I pick her up and drop her off, she seems to understand everything being said to her. She just doesn't talk a lot, in German or English, so it's hard to gauge where her German language skills lie. For the last few months, however, she has shown a preference for some German words over their English counterparts: water is now Wasser, blue is blau, horse is Pferd...etc. If she would only start talking in complete sentences more often!