Dreaming of You

There is so much about Germany that I love. Fresh baked goods being very high on that list. And no, I'm not kidding. Their bread's the best everrrr. It's been a great five months here (yeah, five months already, can you believe it?). But I must confess, I do miss America. A large portion of my day dreaming, aside from hot German men taking me on fabulous vacations, is spent thinking about home. Since this takes up a lot of my thoughts, I figured I would give you a list of the top American things on my mind. My American friends and family will laugh at most of these for sure, knowing that they get to enjoy the awesomeness that I am missing out on (love you guys too...). As for my German friends, you don't realize what you are missing out on. At all. And for that I apologize. And invite you to come to my neck of the woods, if you ever decide to go to California, where I will treat you to the best burger ever. EVER.

1. Disneyland
My home away from home. Things are a little less magical when one can't go to Disneyland at least once a week. Sigh. But the magic lives on... in my dreams. I seriously have a ridiculous amount of dreams about being at Disneyland doing various things. The great tragedy is waking up to my alarm clock.

Rainy night with the girls walking down Main Street U.S.A.

2. In-N-Out/Taco Bell/Subway/Jamba Juice/Terri House/Lucille's BBQ/Every other restaurant I love
Food, glorious food! Americans just have so many freaking choices when it comes to food, especially in Southern California. It's amazing how one little smell or thought can trigger an intense craving for a food item I have long been deprived of and then last the whole day (or week). I drool just thinking about an In-N-Out Burger. Mmmmm...

Amy and I comparing burgers at In-n-out.

3. School
I will admit, I'm quite the nerd. I love school. I love being in a class, taking notes, doodling, getting lost in my own thoughts, learning lots of nerdy things.... being away from college means I don't get to fulfill my nerdy needs. I am stuck making due with online classes. Which are evil soul sucking creations of doom. I need a classroom pronto.

4. Watching T.V.
Although there is a T.V. in the apartment, I don't ever watch it (unless it's the kids channel with my girlies). Why? Well, it's being all in German is a major factor. Also, we don't have a bunch of channels. And I really don't have the desire to watch it. I mostly catch all my T.V. shows on iTunes (yes, I actually pay to watch things), so I don't feel the need to suffer through only understanding half a T.V. show. But I've come across a problem... how am I going to watch the Olympics?! I love the Olympics, and will be tremendously sad if I can't get some coverage of it in English online. This, along with not watching Top Gear every five seconds on BBC America, makes me really miss my American T.V. channels.

5. Target/The Mall
Target, my love. I pretty much live at Target. Lived. I haven't seen the interior of a Target in far too long. I miss going just to look at all the things I wish I had money for or running around the aisles trying to get all the things I can afford. There really is no place like Target here in Germany. Which is tragic. I also miss American malls... here malls are a relatively new thing, and they are slightly smaller and more compact. I get all claustrophobic and want to leave as fast as possible. Shopping is great here, I just miss my typical stores.

6. Talking
I love to talk. So not being able to be understood all the time drives me bonkers. Most of the people I talk with either speak in German or English (a lot of them know other languages). My German isn't so great, but I can get on well enough, especially when the people I talk to can't speak English. But on the whole, I know quite a bit of people who speak English here. Which is great (and not so great for practicing my German). But, I really miss talking to native English speakers. Many American idioms and many of my strange words ("sassy" being a prime example) are lost on people here. To their credit they often just nod and smile haha.

7. Rhonda the Honda & Road Trips
Here, if I want to get somewhere, I either walk, ride my bike, or take a train. That's just the way things are. Not everyone has a car. And if they do have one, they don't use it as frequently as Americans do. I can count the amount of times I've been in a car here on my fingers. It's such a rare thing, and I pretty much get giddy when anyone mentions a car ride. I miss my Rhonda the Honda desperately. I love getting around how I do here, but there is just something so wonderful about having my car to take me places (I have a huge list of reasons, I won't bore you with them). And taking trains to other cities is great, but they take all the fun out of a "road trip". I need a road trip through the desert like now.

Rhonda the Honda and I chilling out in Niland, CA.

8. Reading
I get really excited when I can perfectly read a sign these days. Sound pathetic? It's not. When you live in a country where everything is in a different language, suddenly being able to read signs is difficult. Being able to read them and feel like a normal part of society is pretty freaking exciting. Same goes for walking into a bookstore. There's nothing more horrifying than seeing thousands of books that I am unable to read.

9. "No Weather"
Ahh I never realized how spoiled rotten I was when it came to weather. I mean, I "knew", but I didn't really "know". When cold to me means throw on a sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers; it's a real shocker to suddenly find myself wearing three pairs of socks, boots, leggings, jeans, an undershirt, shirt, sweater, coat, scarf, gloves, and hat. Long, cold Winter to say the least. The other day it was warm enough to wear just a skirt, shirt, and jacket and I told freaked out. Why? I felt naked.

10. The Beach & Ocean
Oh how I long to feel sand between my toes and frolic around in the waves. So Cal girls aren't meant to be away from the ocean this long. My inner mermaid is having some serious withdrawals.

The girls and I striking a pose on the beach in San Diego, CA.

11. Coffee Shops
Gone are my long afternoons and evenings spent pouring over homework (and facebook) while slurping up ridiculous amounts of good coffee with friends. For something that was such a big part of my weekly routine, it's strange not to have it happen anymore. I miss it so.

Jarae and I at It's a Grind pondering one of the big questions of life: Face in a book, or Facebook?

12. American People
I've met people from all over the world the past couple months. I've seen many cultures in action, and it's fascinating. I love meeting new people. But as much as I love all the people I've met, I miss my Americans. There's no one quite like us. We are weird, but I love our weirdness. And it would be really nice to be able to say I'm from California and not have it be in the least bit interesting or exciting. Just once.

All that being said... these may be the things and places I miss, but I mostly miss my friends and family. Because these places and things wouldn't be so awesome without them. Can't wait to tackle you all with hugs when I get home. Until then, I continue to bask in the awesome adventure that is Germany. Even if that means six more months of no In-N-Out Burgers.

Raccoons & Parades

When I think of the word "carnival", several things pop into my head. One thought being of a carnival that is similar to a traveling circus with Ferris Wheels and freak shows. Then I think of my church's Halloween carnival that we throw each year. Lastly I think of Carnival, where people celebrate the time before Lent and the coming of Spring. Then I laugh and think of Mardi Gras (drunk people and beads).

America, unlike the rest of the world (how very typical of us), calls Carnival, Mardi Gras. And it isn't a very huge holiday in the States except for in New Orleans (that I know of... I mean someone random in the Midwest could celebrate it and I would never know haha). However, a large portion of rest of the world celebrates Carnival.

Basically, Carnival and Mardi Gras are the same. It's one big party to shake off Winter and bring in the Spring. A long time ago pagans celebrated it as a way to get rid of the witches and evil spirits associated with Winter (similar to what they did for Halloween). But like a lot of pagan holidays, the Catholic church stepped in an created their own holiday to counter act the pagan one. Carnival became a time to give one last big hoorah before entering into the forty days of Lent. Basically a week to party like there is no tomorrow. And Fat Tuesday is the grand finale. Then you gotta be all holy and give up something on Ash Wednesday. I, for instance, said bye bye to Coke (the SODA... get your mind out of the gutter!), my all time favorite addiction besides chocolate.

Spring cleaning time! Gotta get rid of those witches in your closet!

So Fat Tuesday rolled around and I was pretty excited that I would get to celebrate actual factual Carnival. Since Tuesday is a work day for me, I worked. Imagine that. But, I did get off early to go to Karlsruhe's Carnival parade! Originally Martha was going to go with me, but she decided last minute that she didn't want to go. I was bummed, but it was better in the long run... it was absolute chaos at the parade.

Before I left for the parade, I got all dressed up. Which is what a lot of people do for Carnival in varying degrees. It's kind of like the rest of the world's Halloween (I still think Halloween is better). I, being the ever so creative soul that I am, created a costume out of what I had at home. So I transformed myself into a raccoon. Sans tail (couldn't figure out how to make that in the time that I had). Dressed in a mix of grey and black with a face painted face, I headed out into the city.

My raccoon face painting (acrylic paint).

My whole raccoon costume!

I was running a little late due to my costume, and thus my plans for the parade failed quite epically. You see, I was supposed to meet up with Nacha and her family (who were visiting from Chile) in Marktplatz. But by the time I got there, I realized I couldn't cross the street like I had planned to do, and the parade was just about to begin. And my phone battery was about to die so I didn't have much time to work out a plan with Nacha. So I decided to find a good place to watch the parade and then meet up with Nacha and her family after.

Of course finding a spot to watch was easier said than done. Just to get where I was standing (across the street from Europaplatz) I had to wade my way through hordes of people, most of whom were drunk. I wasn't keen on doing that again, so I looked for a spot nearby where I was standing. I was starting to get desperate when I finally spotted an okay spot where I would only have to peer above a couple heads to see. The parade had already begun, and I was glad just to be able to watch it. Little did I know what I would be dealing with the whole parade.

The parade was almost two hours long, and I instantly regretted not wearing a thicker jacket. My fleece is warm, but not warm enough for the cold wind that was blowing as the sun began to get lower in the sky (being so high above the equator is so annoying sometimes). I spent most of the parade bouncing on the balls of my feet to stay warm. It was also not so fun to stand in one place for that long, but I was distracted enough by the floats and parade goers that it didn't really matter.

The parade was really interesting. It was filled with a lot of traditional German Carnival costumes and clubs. Many of both have been around for several hundred years. Some are newer. But it's clear the clubs take Carnival, their floats, and their costumes seriously. I think my favorite were the witch costumes, they had these scary and intricate masks. They also were hilarious... they walked around with confetti and threw it on people. Or tried to hit you with a pigs bladder (no, I'm not kidding). Other clubs dressed up as lots of other things like clowns, Native Americans, and animals.

One of the floats. The girls in the braids, hats, and dresses are one of the tradition outfits I mentioned.

Pretty sure these guys were jesters.

See all that confetti? The witches were having a field day.

Like most parades, this one involved candy throwing. Which of course is awesome (nothing quite like having hard candy chucked at your head, right?). I like candy, most people do, so I of course wanted some. Now, I really only wanted like a handful or two, which isn't much considering how much candy was thrown. But I was thwarted in my attempts almost every single time I reached for the candy. Why? Problem #1: I'm a butter fingers and can't catch things to save my life. This is always a problem at parades. But usually I'm able to just pick up what I've dropped. But here entered problem #2: The people around me were drunk, greedy little bastards. Anytime candy would come, it was like we were getting brand new iPads thrown at us, the excitement and greed was ridiculous. I would reach for a dropped candy, and either be beaten to it (fair game I guess) or have it snatched out of my hands (not fair at all). Mind you, these are adults I am talking about here. There was only one kid near me, and he was at the front of the crowd, so he was getting candy handed to him by the people in the parade. He didn't have to fight over it like everyone else was. Since I was unwilling to take part in this bloodbath, I just gave up on candy unless it landed directly at my feet. Even then it was a challenge to claim it as mine. Ri-freaking-diculous. I've seen seven-year-old's with more manners.

Blue wig and blondie were the worst of my drunk "friends"...

So aside from ever so delightfully dealing with the company of a drunken crowd, I really enjoyed myself. It was such a cool parade. Candy, costumes, music, and excitement abound. The people watching opportunities were immense. And the looks people gave me for my costume were priceless. My one regret of the afternoon? I wish I had been closer to the front.

Once the last float had floated on by, I entered the sea of people to make my way out of the city center to meet up at Nacha's apartment. Once I got there I was one happy camper to be away from so many people. Crowds really aren't my thing. (Which is hilarious, considering how much I love Disneyland and how I deal with crowds there all the time. Moving on... ) Hanging out with Nacha and her family was a blast. We had tea and cakes and just relaxed. I chatted with her parents (who are super sweet), played Cars with her little brother (lots of car crashes were involved), and watched Simon's Cat videos on Youtube with her two sisters (so hilarious). I was sad to say goodbye when the night was done.

Nacha, Azu, me, and Jo. (Azu was still in her cat costume and I in my raccoon costume).

Carnival. One big party. Fun, and not so fun. I'm not a big party girl... I like my nerdy activities such as book reading more than getting drunk. I am really glad I got to experience it though. My rule is to always try something once, and if I don't like it I don't have to do it again. And I must say that I would definitely go to Carnival next year if I had the chance. I mean come on, who would miss out on an excuse to dress up like a woodland creature?! Not this girl.

Cali Girl & the Winter Wonderland

I am a California girl through and through. Many stereotypes go along with that name. Some are down right ridiculous, but many aren't far from the truth. Most people think of the beach when they think of my home state. The California coast is 840 miles long, which I admit is a lot. But, you need to put that in perspective with the rest of the state which is 163,707 square miles. That's a lot of state! And we have one of the most diverse states out of the fifty. Mountains, lakes, deserts, an ocean, forests, rivers, and so many other things fill up the Golden State. But before I start sounding like a promoter for California tourism, let me get to my point. Much like California, I am full of the expected and unexpected. 

Growing up as Southern California girl has defined me in a lot of ways. And true to So Cal girl form, I'm not the biggest fan of being cold or enduring Winter. We don't really have Winter, you see. It's not that I don't like the romanticized idea of wearing lots of cute layered clothes, playing around in the snow with friends, going on sleigh rides... the list could go on and on. But the reality is, I hate wearing too many layers because I get all hot and claustrophobic. And playing in the snow is all fun and swell until you get snow in every crevice and discover how wet and miserable you are. And sleigh rides just go and mess up your hair with all the wind whipping around. Not at all whimsical and wintery. Now of course Winter can be magical. I just like it in very, very small doses. Like a weekend trip up to Lake Arrowhead, or evening spent bundled up walking around Naples (in Long Beach) caroling to the unsuspecting homeowners, or even a nice afternoon of ice skating at the local ice skating rink. That's about all I need of winter, and I'm totally content.

I must admit, I was mortified about the idea of having to rough it through a "German Winter." Mortified. But as November rolled around, and then December, I realized that I had been worrying for no reason. Because I got freaking lucky. This year is considered to be the driest European Winter in fifty years. Now, that doesn't mean it is like 70 degrees and I'm tanning on the balcony. Nooo. It's been really cold (like between the 20's and 40's), cloudy, and raining. It was sunny the other day and I just about had a heart attack because I hadn't seen the sun in so long. I'm getting paler by the second. 

Because of the dry conditions, there hasn't been much snow. Not that there hasn't been snow. From the pictures I've seen, I would classify it as lots of snow in other parts of Germany. But I'm biased. Any snow is a lot of snow to me. But Karlsruhe is "the warmest city in the country" (as I've been told countless times), so we have seen a lot less snow here than the rest of Germany. It's really only technically snowed here three times, but it was like really wimpy. Even by my standards. But today changed that! It has officially snowed. And I must say I was (and still am) quite excited.

Last night, when I went to bed, it was snowing. So when I woke up this morning, I uncharacteristically bounced out of bed to see if the snow had managed to stick around. When I opened my blinds I was greeted with rooftops coated in a soft white powder. I giggled delightedly and got ready real quick. There was no way I was spending the morning inside.

View from my bedroom window.

Some snow on my window!

Not much later I found myself standing out on my street surrounded by all sorts of white covered objects. (The cars made me laugh the most, they just looked so ridiculous). One step into the street and I knew I was in trouble. It was coated in ice. Being the klutz of the century, I immediately put my arms out (air plane style) and tread as slowly across the street as I could. Thus, making a fool of myself in front of all the people who were out walking on this glorious morning. But I didn't mind. My child-like excitement was more concerned about snow than people. 

Me and the snow... such a rare sight to behold.

All morning I frolicked about in the park near my house. Most of that time was spent giggling evilly as I made tracks in untouched snow, basked in weak sunlight, and tried not to fall on my ass. 

Walking down the park pathway.

Playground area of the park.

My footprints.

After my park adventure, I needed to go into the city center to get some birthday cards. (February is quite the month for birthdays!) So I made the trek to a store called Ernhardt's, which has a fabulous selection of cards. Once I bought my cards, I wandered around and enjoyed all the snow on the rooftops. The snow on the ground had been cleared in most spots, but it was still a lovely sight to see.

I made it back to the house, quite grateful to have survived. Yes, I know, I'm such a drama queen. But as I said, this Cali girl doesn't do the whole "Winter" thing. Now, you are probably wondering why I was so excited about snow today if I don't like it. Well you see, I have a love/hate relationship with snow. It's gorgeous, and a blast to play in. But it's cold, and will eventually get me all wet, cold, and mushy. Or it will turn into ice and have me fall on my ass for the world to see. Snow. So fun, yet so evil. Point being, I like it in small doses, just like I like my Winter. And waking up to it this morning was just so lovely and wonderful and whimsical that I couldn't help but be excited. I also couldn't help being so excited that I acted like I five year old most of the morning. What made the day good was that I didn't fall and I kept dry and warm. And most importantly, I didn't get snow in my boots (long traumatic childhood story attached to that haha). 

So my verdict on Winter? Well, it hasn't changed. It can be magical. As long as it stays out of my boots.