France Trip Day 1: A Long Drive

Our Spring Break trip has gotten underway. This is to be a long trip -- almost two weeks -- and there was no way we could "wing it" for that long. David handed the planning reins over to me, which means I will be responsible if something goes wrong. The pressure is on.

I was so proud that I thought far enough ahead to check out some audiobooks from the school library to load onto my ipod so we could listen to The Tale of Desperaux and an Andrew Clements book during the 5-1/2 hour trip. Last night, David pointed out, "Well, how exactly are we going to listen to them? The ipod hook-up is in your car, not the car we're taking." Oops. And I had already returned the CDs to the school. I guess the radio and some of our CDs will have to do. Lesson learned.

I wish I could say the kids are excited about the trip, but they're not. The prospect of spending lots of time in the car and then looking at castles and cathedrals ("We always look at castles and churches!") doesn't appeal. I'm hoping that just like on our other trips, once we get going, they'll have fun.

Within 1-1/2 hours, we were near the French border and David remembered that we had spied a KFC in the area when we drove this route last year, so we reprogrammed our handy-dandy navigator to take us to it. It was lunchtime, after all.

Taking a cue from Pulp Fiction, we enjoy seeing what American fastfood restaurants offer in other countries. Here in Germany, KFC doesn't offer biscuits and the coleslaw is different, for example. But there was plenty else to make us happy and leave with full tummies.

We crossed the border soon afterward (you usually just drive right through, guards don't stamp your passport or anything) and switched into French-mode. This means going from almost all English-language songs on the German radio to almost all French-language songs on French radio (mandated by the government, by the way), and paying $34 in tolls. That's $34.00 for not even 4 hours of driving. And our trip is just beginning!

The toll amounts didn't take too much away from the pleasure of driving through the Champagne area of France. For over an hour, all we could see was soft rolling hills and an empty road ahead of us. Not a town in sight and the highway was startlingly free of traffic. Just lovely and peaceful.

We arrived to our destination, the home of our college friend Sally, in one piece. Sally is also a former French major and has settled with her French husband and four children, close in age to ours, just south of Paris. While the kids got acquainted, I happily accompanied Sally to her local supermarket. Checking out fastfood menus comes second only to seeing what you can find in a foreign supermarket.

Sally's Carrefour was by far the biggest supermarket I have been in in Europe. I was very excited. David just doesn't get it. "What's the big deal with going to a supermarket?"

While we can find some American products back in Germany, there were things in the Carrefour that I haven't come across. The kids were thrilled when I returned to Sally's with jars of Skippy peanut butter, Vanilla Coke, Golden Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios, Doritos, and Cheetos. I even found some Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup for green bean casserole, but the kids were less enthusiastic about that.

For dinner, Sally treated us to raclette. I was looking forward to seeing how one ate a raclette meal, as we have 2 raclette sets in our basement, but I've never unpacked them and I have no idea how to use one.

It was yummy, quite simple and a lot of fun. You put raclette cheese on a little pan, stick it into a heating unit, let it melt and just when the cheese starts to bubble, pour it over potatoes, cold cuts or pickles. We were enjoying it and I asked, "So, you could also pour the cheese over chicken or something else, right?" Sally was scandalized! It must be cold cuts! I apparently still have a lot to learn about living in Europe.

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.