Lucid In DeutschlandLucid In DeutschlandA Floridian's journal. Expat life in Germany. European travels, cultural observations and culinary delights in Germany and neighboring countries.
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Moving Day
2008-04-28 15:50:00 http://www.lucidindeutschland.net/travels Well folks. Some time in the future Lucid-Sphere.Net will be no more. If you are looking for a post that was once at this address, please go here and just maybe you'll find what you've been searching for. As always happy traveling and I do hope you update your links to http://www.lucidindeutschland.net/travels Your wandering gal, Heza More About: Moving
Knokke
2008-01-08 11:41:00 I say any town with three k's in it's name has got to be something special (just don't throw any American History into this bit). Just like in German, you pronounce every letter, which gives you roughly: Ka-no-ka. Knokke is a posh town. In a nut shell, if you aren't wearing a fur coat, mittens, or hat in the winter, you aren't a regular visitor here. Serious. We picked a pretty foggy day to visit Knokke in late December. With the wind and cold temperatures it was difficult to enjoy the normally beautiful scenery. I remember my feet were freezing that day and after 30 minutes of walking, I couldn't move my toes. Misery. Besides walking there are plenty of things to do in winter on the shore. In the off-season dogs are allowed to play on the beach. Kids pedal bicycles or four-wheelers on the sidewalk. There are also a few joggers and people fishing on the wave barriers. You could take in the architecture. I loved the thatched roof tops on the buildings. They look like orderly... More About: Belgium
Holiday travel
2007-12-18 11:21:00 Things have been awfully busy the past couple of months. There just wasn't any traveling to report but we did discover a few lakes just south of Munich that I wanted to share. That will be another post for another day. For now I am completely stoked that we are going north this holiday. Way north. First we will travel to Belgium and meet our friend for a short tour of Brussels [in German, Brüssel]. I'll have to brush up on understanding broken English because I've have no clue how to speak French, Flemish or Dutch. Is Flemish Dutch or is Dutch Flemish or are they completely different languages, ugh?! Yet, I'm looking forward to Belgium "french" fries, waffles, chocolate, and beer. Ew, so healthy. Then we head to an island on the German coast of the North Sea, Amrum, a North Frisian Island. I will get to ride on a ferry over the North Sea and see large sand dunes and mud flats. The language should be cool, a mix of English and German. I presume that on the menu will be an ass... More About: Travel , Holiday , Germany
Revisiting the Provence
2007-09-10 13:35:00 As a child, my family pretty much vacationed at the same two places in Southwest Florida. From the time I was four until even today, there was always Maderia Beach and Lido Beach. The comfort in these types of vacations was that every year we could relax, explore the surrounding areas without the rush that we'd never return again. We developed a game for finding those hidden gems about these places. Now that I am older and practically exploring completely new territory as an expat everyday, this last trip was a bit of reprieve from the total submersion into the unfamiliar. Once again, we revisited Southern France - this time equipped with our mountain bikes, this time with more French under our belts and this time to awaiting happy and healthy friends and family. Last year we stayed with Gisela but since she has a listing on the web, she's been booked solid this Summer. It was so good to dine with her on her new Terrase: 'kraftig' red wine, cold chicken and tomatoes from the r... More About: Provence , Oven , Prove , Proven
Tale of the Lost Blogs
2007-08-21 16:44:00 Looking for an old post? Ha! Chances are I've lost my entire readership (you know who you few are) so what does it matter? I'm making strides to move my expat life related posts to the lucidindeutschland.net domain. I'll keep this site to write about our travels in Europe and abroad (New Zealand, Thailand, who knows?) with specifics on where we stayed, what we liked and disliked, and of course, the food. There were times when I tried to do this with past travel adventures but I just got bogged with the expat life stuff. Okay maybe just life in general. Yeh, I love to blog even if it will never make me a living or develop life-long friendships for me. Often times I say, what's the point of this? It's not even a real bedside journal. My justification is that in a way, it helps me retain what I've learned/experienced or nudges me to study up further and the results hopefully inform you all as well. Happy Blogging! I'll catch up on all your posts and comment sporadically ASAIC. More About: Lost , Blogs , Tale
surgery day set
2007-08-16 17:51:00 It's set. Tuesday, October 2nd my knee gets a reconstructed ACL (Vorderes Kreuzband), hooray! But really I've got more butterflies than I can deal with and its still 47 days away. I spoke with Bettina yesterday and she had knee surgery at OCM - Orthopädischen Chirurgie München, where I will be having my surgery. She also had Dr. Mayr, one of the same doctors I'm slated to have. She was out of the operating room in an hour and said that the hospital care is tip-top, so we say over here. I'm in good hands. It was good to hear she found her experience positive. I'm mostly nervous that I'll miss something or I'll hear something wrong or worse, I'll wake up after surgery delirious and whaling in English and no one understands what I'm saying and I don't understand what they are saying. Ugh. It's just nerves. I'm confident in my German and I occasionally have a dream featured in German. I get more details on September 19th. More About: Personal , Health , Surgery , Urge
So here's the deal
2007-08-13 11:59:00 Precious blogging time is being drawn elsewhere. Anschreiben This distraction.. Lebenslauf ..is causing some major stress on my blog mojo and in general gute Laune. Verdammt Bewerbungen But what's more important is that things are moving ever so slowly forward in a land that sometimes makes no sense to me. For example: there are times when I wish you German people would just take a chill pill. *Cough* There I said it. When it comes to job related stuff, I've noticed that Germans go a little off the deep end, flip-out, wacky style when things don't go according to plan. Is it just me being American? I.E. It's Monday. Your German project manager sets a deadline for Friday. There's time. But really German project manager expects task to be done by Wednesday and by Friday the task should include a few extras. When this doesn't happen, German project manager throws a stress fit and gets too personal for comfort. Only in this society, nothing is meant to be taken personally, it's ... More About: Deal , The D
After two years...I prefer a mind meld
2007-08-10 14:20:00 Things have come full circle or maybe spiral. Major rains this week have caused major flooding in Switzerland just like they did two years ago in southern Bavaria. It's just weird watching N24 or CNN, it's deja vu and makes me realize that I've been here for over two years. My head spins just thinking how much has changed since then - the way I talk in English or in German, I have no real accent that locates me to a particular region in the US. It's clear though, I'm American. But hopefully you won't pick that up in the first five minutes in a conversation in German. But hanging out with a couple of Canadians, I'm to through people off a bit. Eh! The way I think too has changed. I find it slower, which is all the more frustration. When I speak in English, my favorite simple German words slip in. For example: genau. oder. aber are my 3 mischiefs. I've forgotten what I used to say when I thought something was cool. I say "super" for pretty much every thing. I might even say "s... More About: Mind , German Language , Years , Year , Ears
Can't slice this
2007-08-07 10:57:00 Why is it so hard to be motivated to eat fruit in the morning? It's easier than prepping fried eggs and bacon, or eggs Benedict but still I gravitate to foods with the power of artery-clogging buttery-goodness. Luckily, I'm surrounded by a few health nuts that kick me with a little peer-pressure. The result: I just finished one-half of a cantaloupe and moving on to the pineapple. But then you hear something that sounds so freaky you have to wonder about some people. One friend bites into and consumes a whole cucumber for breakfast. Apparently the nutrition book he read states if you cut a cucumber into slices then you'll loose 20% of the nutrients due to oxidation. If you let the cucumber sit, you loose even more nutrients. I'm thinking the nutritionist who wrote that little tidbit has a sense of humor and gets tickled when he sees people eating whole cucumbers as fast as they can. I'm tickled too, hehe. More About: Ice T , Slice
She'll keep this blog rocking
2007-08-06 20:51:00 While surfing the depths of the Blog -zwischen, a bridging universe of ranting, rambling and mind rustling, you'd have to try with all your might not to stumble upon an opportunity, forge a friendship, or learn about someone or something that never before crossed a flicker of a thought. It's all possible. Even love affairs emerge from the Blog-zwischen. For me it all started after I sprung upon the One Old Green Bus blog to check on its progress, which got me thinking about the fate of my own blogworld. Could it improve and renew itself year after year without burdening its master? It was at that point and believing in its word of mouth ethics, I allowed PayPerPost (PPP) to enter my blogrelm. I can now say, I :love: PPP! Even though the love is still young and not without its compromises, strong ties with fellow PPP-lovers may develop. All I know is that PPP has given me the means to support this blog purely by tapping into my creative gene and tapping out what I've learned about...
Doktor-Ing relaxes Kastelbell
2007-08-03 11:05:00 There is something for everyone in Vinschgau - families, couples, singles, dogs, cats - especially for those with a love for the out-of-doors..and speck (ham). If you are afraid of heights, hate the sight of fruit trees, or simply must have a steady intake of [insert modern, processed object here], well, here may not be the dream vacation spot. The mentality here is bit like the Carolinas - these good mountain folk just want to be on their own, outsiders. But the smart ones know the benefits of belonging to a larger country, mainly education. Here's a video slideshow of our trip, as a present to Alex from his parents for earning his Doktor-Ing. Google reduced the quality, but also our camera couldn't take the intense sunshine or we're just unskilled, hobby photographers. One day, I'll learn to edit better. But with this digital age, I've forgotten how to be more choosy. Enjoy. Signs, Signs Occasionally, you'll find a few info signs written with a bit of English text, but... More About: Film , Italy
Knee update, CV stress, & Bonestock
2007-08-01 13:30:00 I haven't really been up to posting as of late. Although I've been working on my Süd Tirol slideshow (should be done today or tomorrow), and I've got a few ideas how to condense my thoughts on Tirol but I've been motivated to do other things. I saw the Orthopedist on Monday. He jerked both knees around and maybe over emphasized the fact that my right knee has the snappy rubberband effect and my left does not. The drawer test revealed that my muscle training (mainly from last week's bike excursions) have significantly reduced the forward motion of the tibia, but there is a 4 mm difference with the left leg. Docs says I could do more muscle training, but that would mean I'd have to subscribe to Schwarzenegger style I'll-pump-you-up workouts. Not gonna happen. If I don't have surgery, I'll likely have a knee replacement at 50. Ugh! So my surgery will take place sometime the first week of October (right after Oktoberfest) at OCM (Orthopädische Chirugie München) in Sendling. T... More About: Personal , Health , Update , Stress , Bone
Out of Town
2007-07-21 06:26:00 we're on our way to Süd Tirol. comments on all post will be closed for the meantime to reduce spam. Take Care, Heza More About: Town
raising organ donation awareness
2007-07-18 08:00:00 BlogCatalog requested that this Wednesday (today) we write about the importance of organ donation. The subject of life saving measures has been weighing recently on my mind and I'll admit I'm in the dark when it comes to organ donation in a foreign county. So here's what I've learned: In 1997, Germany passed a transplant law that officially assigned the Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation (DSO) the role of coordinating the organ donation procedure and organ procurement. Yet, the number of people actually declaring themselves as organ donors is still rather low in Germany. According to a 2001 study, 82% of Germans polled are in favor of organ donation and 67% are willing to donate their organs after death. But less than 15 percent of Germans actually document this on a donor card. If no written declaration such as a donor card is available, the next of kin will be asked about the deceased's known or presumed will. This may be the last burden a grieving relative can even thin... More About: Health , Awareness , Donation , Organ Donation , Waren
All's quiet
2007-07-16 17:53:00 Lately, I've been crazy tired and every morning I've felt like I've been hit by a car. Sleeping with a pillow in any position gives me a pain in my familiar shoulder hotspot. I felt like this last week even with the Muffin-dog duty but she forced me to stay active. I miss the little pup. We had a rough day Thursday when a horse walked by. She went bezirk especially since the rider stopped the horse for about a minute to train her pony at the expense of Muffin's sanity. Muffler was pissy and resistant the rest of the evening and I subsequently had had it with poch patrol. After a super walk the next morning she stayed an angel next to me on the way to Jay's even with the cooing from others. I wanted to hug her for being so good. But she probable understood my appreciation with a good chunk of Leberkäse. Alex stayed home today due to lower back pain. The pain stopped him from finishing our Sunday bike ride. I needed to turn around from exhaustion. When we got home, I gave him... More About: Health , Weather , Cycling , Quiet
Deep in the Southern Heart
2007-07-14 00:38:00 The heat is back in Munich and what I would give for decent salsa and a bottle of corona. Even Pace Picante will do. Just saying that out loud makes me thing uuuh TexMex, yumm. Then a tiny thought cloud forms above my head as I daydream about hitting all the best TexMex restaurants in the heart of San Antonio. I reason to myself, 'Why not, Texas A&M, Alex's Alma Mater, is only three hours away and one day he wants to take me to see where his American accent truly unfolded for two years.' Hopefully it wouldn't be hard to convince Alex of visiting the second-largest city in Texas. I am curious how the city bridges the beauty of the San Antonio River with pedestrian areas called River Walk. Really, who can resist a little history lesson too? Remember grammar school? Every kid reads about, hears about, has mini-plays about the 13-day Mexican siege on an old mission and Davy Crockett crying, "Remember the Alamo". But still my tummy is shouting, "Remember the TexMex-o". So if and wh... More About: Heart , Deep , Southern , Hern
dogsitting :: Muffin's first day
2007-07-09 16:33:00 Well the little wurst is zonked out and I'm about to follow her. She arrived last night instead of this morning and handled it pretty well. We went for an early walk to the Isar River but took awhile because she and I are both breaking the leash tugging habit. It's hard when she's got enough energy for 10 horses. But I'm being the tree, damn it! There may not be an enclosed area exclusively for dogs near the Munich city center but most live close enough (walking distance) to the river or the Englischer Garten to allow dogs the freedom to roam without the leash or worry of being hit by a car. I was told there is a leash law implemented here but it's relaxed along the river. Gosh I hope. I don't want to be slapped with a 40 Euro fine. I can't really fain that I don't know German or the rule. There was only one time I met a nice but annoying barefoot lady doing yoga complaining that the dog wasn't on the leash and she didn't want to step in dog doo. I wanted to tell the lad... More About: Muffin
Optimismus gegen Krebs
2007-07-05 18:20:00 The title is in German, it hopefully means, optimism against cancer. Although my language confidence is sub par at the moment. Today I'm writing a Genesungswunsch letter to Alex's mom with much difficulty. In the last few months, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and after surgery to remove the lump, doctors found that it had spread to her lymph nodes in her arm pit. She was recently back in the hospital for an infection caused by the drainage tubes. Soon she starts chemotherapy and has already ordered her wig. This is what I have gathered. When I first heard the news everything seemed a bit surreal, unusually factual, positive, but devoid of emotion. Is this normal for Germans? What am I asking, cancer isn't normal. It's cancer. So I'm sending her the German version of No Mountain Too High by Andrea Gabbard and writing this letter in German. I'm struggling to convey my sympathies even in my mother tongue. How can I not make this letter sound mechanical and foreign? Even... More About: Family , Health , Breast Cancer , Opti , Optimism
Happy 4th!
2007-07-04 12:09:00 Being that it is the fourth of July, I'll be dedicating this post to US American food. But first: today is another rainy day here in Munich. I think I've hit full circle with the Bavarian weather patterns. Two years ago, I arrived here in Munich to live and I was greeted by rain shower after f:rain:n rain shower. I remember well my reaction to the cold rain - total hate. But now I'm not as affected and find it justified since our Spring was amazing this year. My girlfriend is leaving for the USA this coming Monday with her German husband for her 2nd wedding ceremony with her side of the family. She asked me what I wanted from back home but I always draw a blank. Then as Alex and I were watching DVD episodes of Picket Fences, we came upon the Thanksgiving scene. Ooh. Jellied cranberry sauce. Surely we have the Ocean Spray small cans here, no? I thought that it would be nice to make my own K&S Mountain of Black Bean Nachos recipe, but I can't remember the brand of the black b... More About: Traditions , Happy
Kater and the Caterpillar
2007-07-02 23:23:00 Eck! Ew! Grrr! I discovered three caterpillars eating my thyme seedlings this weekend. I shudder in disgust as I write this. But what I'm even more suspicious of is that Alex acted quite fond of the green eating machines. Until I discovered what a Kater, the German word for male cat, Alex really is. He has to be. He played with these insects in fascination before he sent them to their demise. But I couldn't suspect him for very long. Alex defended the little creatures by saying they develop into little butterflies. After he said that, I half expected him to let out a high-pitched 'awww' as I glared at him and the plump squirmer gently squeezed between his thumb and index finger. So Cate rpillar No. 1 - Alex wanted to keep. So we put him in a separate container with a little Thai basil. The next morning, Cater No.1 didn't eat much of the basil, but he wasn't starving either. Picky thing. I watered the balcony plants and combed the thyme again. There was another one! I sucked ... More About: Residency
love note for our sweethearts
2007-07-02 21:32:00 The Internet can be a great resource for discovering love, exploring romance, testing the dating waters or wising up to a few relationship tips all at our own leisure and comfort level. Even though nothing can replace a good heart-to-heart with a person we trust and whose opinion we respect, sometimes close friends and family can give relationship pointers that are filled with preconceptions, when all we want is dating advice or how to survive the invariable breakup from an unbiased source. Luckily, those of us who are not in the regimes of new coupledom or the throngs of the newly single, we can bask in the pleasure of partnership, revel in the fact that someone will be enamored with one of our love letters, or fall giddy with the chance to simple tell someone, "I love you". :rose: This is a sponsored post. Danke sponsors! Disclosure More About: Love , Note , Hearts , Thea , Sweethearts
Windy Day in Munich
2007-06-26 23:59:00 It sucks when you feel defeated by something that has no true physical form. But I was done with the fight to keep the dust out of my eyes and my hair out of knots. The wind was kicking. I think even the construction dudes finished up early for the day because of it. I had a ton of errands to run today and one included meeting up with Manders for some shopping at the Asia Market and Little Turkey. I guess the weather had the Muffin on edge, so it was an unexpected treat to see the little wurst with her. I'll be babysitting for the Muffler for about a week next month so any tips I can learn about her is a plus. I learned that Muffin's favorite thing to do on a windy day is chase dancing bags, paper, leaves and grab for fallen sticks. We ran her around the empty Theresienwiese to expend some energy, but she ended up running me. Without a knee brace, I'm feeling the affects of no ACL *ouch* Just another indication, surgery is eminent... More About: Munich , Windy
superior storage protection
2007-06-26 18:36:00 It's been awhile since the computer crash of 2005, which left me in a state of disbelief and utter regret. Since then, I still haven't learned my lesson. But since I'm online so much, a great choice for backing up my data is Online Storage with IBackup. Avoid being buried under gigabytes of data CDs or searching for a place to hide multiple external drives; you as a users of IBackup's online storage have easy access to online data through a mapped drive or a folder on your computer. The advantage is that this provides for easy drag-n-drop and a familiar "explorer" interface to work with online data. According to their website, internal tests by IBackup have shown a performance difference is 30% or better than competing services. This is a sponsored post. Danke sponsors! Disclosure More About: Shopping , Superior , Prot , Peri
toughening up is hard to do
2007-06-26 03:01:00 As a child it was never me who got bitten by a unruly wasp, yellow jacket or horsefly. The victims were always my sister or my mom. I looked on in amazement as their skin swelled up like the Michelin man. I received my first deerfly bites near my high-school boyfriend's house - or maybe they were just Florida mosquitoes the size of deerflies - but the pain was relatively tolerable. I've always been an east coast, outdoors sort-of tomgirl: hiking on the AT, climbing Mt Yona, Kayaking the Everglades or Canoing the Alafia, all without being a victim of a insect assault that drove me to the edge of insanity. That all changed when I moved to Munich. It's these little things that turn you psychologically against your host country. I must keep in mind that there is a running joke in my family, which is: the greater the content of east Asian blood the higher the likelihood of being stung. My girlfriend Ping and I coined it the sacrificial anode effect. My mom, Ping and sis were my prot... More About: Health , Hard , Residency , Tough , To Do
ahh, Puerto Peñasco
2007-06-26 02:58:00 Just image: sunning yourself under deep blue skies on the Sea of Cortez shoreline while the sound of crashing waves carry you into a relaxing, hazy state of peacefulness? Rocky Point isn't just for those Spring Breakers living in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. You too can enjoy your piece of sandy beach heaven on the Baja coast via Puerto Penasco rentals. No matter how long or short a stay you plan at Rocky Point, there are many ways to keep you and your family entertained: from sport fishing charters to combing the beach shore for signs of unique sealife. Oceano-Rentals provides a vast number of Rocky Point Vacation Rental Homes and Condos that are sure to meet all of your wishes and budget constraints. This is a sponsored post. Danke sponsors! Disclosure More About: Asco
Graffiti Friday 2
2007-06-22 17:17:00 Another graffiti spotting bordering on art. You too can discover it in the Isar traversing pedestrian tunnel near the Volksbad. I normally race my bike through the tunnel to get to the Englischer Garten so it was a change to park the bike and really take a look at the Kunst that spans the arched ceiling. I noticed it a year ago when the world cup just started -thus the Graffiti theme. Good times! If you happen to walk or ride by the Volksbad don't forget to breath in the Menthol from the saunas deeply. More pictures displayed on page two. Happy Frida y Everyone! More About: Photography
Graffiti Friday 2
2007-06-22 17:17:00 Another graffiti spotting bordering on art. You too can discover it in the Isar traversing pedestrian tunnel near the Volksbad. I normally race my bike through the tunnel to get to the Englischer Garten so it was a change to park the bike and really take a look at the Kunst that spans the arched ceiling. I noticed it a year ago when the world cup just started -thus the Graffiti theme. Good times! If you happen to walk or ride by the Volksbad don't forget to breath in the Menthol from the saunas deeply. More pictures displayed on page two. Happy Friday Everyone! More About: Photography , Munich , City Life
Blog Burnout
2007-06-18 15:08:00 Posting has temporarily come to a halt. I even missed InWeDay, which I'm sorely embarrassed about. I'm flooded with ideas but the of late computer issues have overwhelmed me and a spell of "what the hell am I doing here" has been echoing in my head causing me to reevaluate certain life paths and assumptions. Life is good, don't get me wrong. But when you know you could do better, it's time to get at the helm and tweak the course a bit. Post should trickle back soon.. More About: Blogging , Blog , Burnout , Burn
Rome Slideshow
2007-06-15 00:40:00 Remember the days when dad would pull out the white screen and set up the slide projector. Well here's the digital and condensed version. All the same, still a lot of work to sort out about 250 pics. Without further ado. Our trip to Rome .. in less than 14 minutes. More About: Film , Italy , Slideshow , Slides
one speed is all you need
More articles from this author:2007-06-11 14:35:00 Here in Munich, crossing the Cornelius Brucke is nearly impossible with all the street bicycles parked along the sidewalk. People have come to visit Strand Bar, an artificially created sand beach looking over the Isar River. It's really the closest thing to a beach I will see this summer, but a long shot from the picturesque Florida beach scene with rows of cruiser bicycles waiting to be rented. Really a cruiser bike would be pretty practical here because most streets are without much incline. There is something so comfy and relaxing about a beach cruiser, but the price tag always pushed the idea away for me. But I've recently discovered XYZbikes.com, an Internet based start up company specializing in manufacturing and selling beach cruiser bicycles at very low prices. They got a an easy-to-use site featuring Classic Beach and Chopper Cruisers in women and men styles. The xyzbikes.com web site comes with handy assembly instructions loaded with pictures for those do-it-yourselfers... More About: Speed 1, 2 |
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