Glückliches neues Jahr!

As the year winds down, Noah and I finally took time off with NO travelling!  After a whirlwind year of sightseeing, it’s been really wonderful having almost two weeks off work with no real plans.  So how did we pass the time between Christmas and now?  A good 4 solid days went into this:

Yep, that is a 5,000 piece puzzle (technically 5,040… we did the math).  Sadie now uses this as a nice spot to relax. 

Besides puzzling with either Home Alone or Kevin Allein zu Haus (the German version that plays on TV) on the television, we also made it to Tollwood with Ellen and Rüdiger to see a Finnish-inspired Czech circus, Slapstick Sonata.  It was definitely interesting, as you can probably imagine.  After the show, we dragged them out in the rain over to the Bavaria statue to try to get some photos of the Tollwood festival, but instead we only ended up with a good one of Bavaria.

On Christmas day, after spending the morning trying to recreate our Danish Ebelskivers without American buttermilk, we went over to Ellen and Rüdiger’s for a lovely Christmas dinner.  She made a venison stew, which was a real treat neither of us had tasted before.  It really is great having family in town for the holidays – especially when the town is thousands of miles from where you grew up.

Friday we were met with some unexpected visitors – a friend of ours we met in Arizona but who is also from Texas and went to UT.  Jennifer and her family are touring Europe, and decided to make a quick visit (really quick – I’m talking 5 hours total) to Munich.  And since we had no plans for the week, we were gladly available to be their tour guides for the afternoon.  

Yesterday the pups got a late Christmas present when Ellen and Rüdiger drove us out to Bernried at Starnberger See.  First we stopped at Wilhelmina Busch’s Castle Höhenried.  She was the co-heiress of the American Anheuser-Busch beer company.  She clearly lived well, and her estate is absolutely gorgeous.  Now it is home to a heart clinic, but her beautiful house remains separate - probably used for events.

Next stop – Bernrieder Park!  This was also owned by Wilhelmina Busch’s, and left to the public after her death.  All I can say to that is danke!  

And with that we will ring in the New Year tonight with the family – nothing too big, but then again that is how we wanted it for our vacation at home.  Happy New Year Y'all!

Pangea Party

With the departure of our American friends back in October, we have making an effort to be more social and meet new people.  Being internationals ourselves, we mostly interact with other internationals in and out of work.  So we straightened up the apartment and invited over our eclectic group of acquaintances for an international potluck dinner party.  We asked everyone to bring a representative dish from their home country so we could all share a taste of the world.

We invited a diverse group of people, and in the end the turnout was even better than I would have expected.  We had a total of 18 different countries represented, which meant an amazing spread of food and some really fun conversations.

We had arepas from Columbia, guacamole/salsa/beans to go with chips from California, Hungarian liquor and cakes, tiramisu from Italy, Turkish food from Turkey (yeah, we can’t remember the name), spanakopita from Greece, empanadas from Argentina, muhellabi milk pudding from Jordan, roasted duck from France, chicken nuggets/cookies/cupcakes from USA (us!), sushi from South Korea, potato and carrot stew from the Netherlands, liquor and cake from Estonia, and some filo dough pockets from our one German guest.

All in all, it was really cool to know we are not the only ones trying to figure out our way in a foreign county while learning the language.  Lucky for us, English tends to be the medium for most foreigners!

Shoot for the moon, you will end up in space, or something like that

Today I stumbled upon an email from my previous-manager, dated December 9^th, 2009.  The subject title was simply ‘Germany Office‘, and it was her letting me know that there are at least 4 finance people working in Munich under the manager Brian C.  The reason she sent this email to me?  We had been discussing my 5-year plan, and apparently I had mentioned Germany to her. 

Fast forward 3 years (almost to the date) – I am living and working out of Munich, Germany, and am coming up on my 1 year Germanniversary.  And no longer do we only have 4 finance people: we have closer to 60 with the 2011 acquisition of Intel Mobile Communications (from Infineon).  And wouldn’t you know it – That Brian C. she mentioned is now my manager.

So what’s my point?  I don’t really know.  But it does resonate with me that for the longest time, Noah and I kept mentioning to people that we might want to move to Germany one day- including, apparently, my old boss.  And instead of just being satisfied with how our lives were going on their own (which, by the way, Phoenix was still fabulous) – we decided to make our strongest effort to move to Germany.  That way, if it didn’t pan out for us, we knew we gave it our best.  Plus we had to try to avoid looking like we were full of it since we had mentioned a potential move to so many people.

When we found out we both found work in Germany, and knew it would work out for us, there were so many people who told us how lucky we are.  Sure, luck was part of it.  It’s true that being an American with a good education (thanks mom and dad!) definitely gave me a leg up.  And the fact we both were able to find jobs?  Definitely some luck in that.  Oh, and Intel recently acquiring a company in Munich – 100% luck for me.  But if we only left it up to luck, I guarantee we wouldn’t be here. 

A casual remark to my manager that I would like to work in Munich one day didn’t get me here.  There was a lot of hard work behind the scenes required to take full advantage of our good luck.  I had to brush up my resume and interview skills, use my acquired network with Intel to reach out to people, and fly myself (yes, I paid) out to Munich to meet everyone and land myself a position in a newly acquired company.  And if necessary, I was ready to approach companies outside of Intel as the next step to get me here.

Also – I couldn’t keep track of the number of times either Noah or I wanted to throw in the towel and go the ‘easy’ route – staying where we were.  Frustrating calls in our broken German to set up our Internet (and often getting hung up on); moving to an apartment that was completely stripped of everything – including lights – in the middle of winter; trying to coordinate moving our dogs 3,000 miles away; I could go on.   Sometimes the challenges made us lose sight of why we chose this crazy route in the first place.  But looking back – these are amazing ‘problems’ to have, because they accompany a move to Europe! 

I am not saying everyone should go make a vision board or anything like that, but maybe I am trying to remind people that if they have a dream, why not go balls to the wall trying to make it happen?  Yeah, you might fail, but you fail knowing you tried your best, and you won’t have to think ‘what if?’.  Also – you might actually succeed, and find yourself in a completely new and exciting stage of life that you would have never imagined yourself in. 

With Thanksgiving tomorrow - here is our version of "Turkey"

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, and no plans to celebrate it, it might be a day that could leave us a bit depressed.  I mean, this is my favorite holiday, and the last 5 years Noah and I even hosted it at our home in Phoenix.  This time – I have meetings until 6pm (I mean, no one here cares it is Thanksgiving), no time to bake or prepare any Thanksgiving style dish, and no family to share the day with.  So you folks back home – you win tomorrow!!  Instead, we will just have to focus on the perks of living in Europe – one of which is having a constant stream of visitors!! 

This month, we had my brother, Logan, and his girlfriend, Ashley, come for 2 weeks.  Since I had to work a holiday the other month, I had 2 bonus days off that Noah sadly didn’t.  But at least I was able to take off the first few days of their visit to give them a proper tour of Munich.  Sadly for them, the biergartens are all closed for the winter, so instead I took them for lunch at the Augustiner Brewery, where we had a German photobomb us.

When Friday arrived, the four of us (we finally included poor Noah) were off to Istanbul!  This was the trip Noah and I had been looking forward to the most, because we had heard so many amazing reviews from friends and coworkers.  Plus Western European cities, while all amazing in their own right, tend to look roughly similar.  We were finally going to a city that should look and feel completely different.  We weren’t let down (though for those of you still to go – expect cats, lots of cats).

We landed and were whisked to our hotel, where we immediately were greeted by this view of the Blue Mosque from the hotel’s rooftop:

Our first stop was the Grand Bazaar, which is a massive maze of hundreds of stores split up by category.  And most stores are selling very similar things – but according to the shopkeepers, their store has the best items and best prices.  We were able to locate a beautiful Backgammon set (something we had wanted to get from Istanbul ever since we knew we were going), and some lunch.  Other than that – it was a lot of wandering and admiring, but also trying not to be seen looking to avoid the shopkeepers.

Next stop – Spice Bazaar!  This one was the place to get food items, mainly spices (no surprise there), Turkish Delights, and dried fruits.  I am still disappointed that I never saw dried pineapple or dried strawberries later on in the trip, because I really could have used more.  Noah’s bag of dried ginger is still going, even back in Munich, that lucky duck!

Friday night we found ourselves walking the İstiklal Avenue (Independence Avenue) looking for a fun spot to eat.  After some interesting propositions (some food, some ‘other’), we finally stumbled upon a crowded street off the main avenue filled with restaurants, bars, and people.  This is where we wanted to be.  We chose Keyif Restaurant at random, and sat upstairs with the roof open and with a band periodically playing.  I think we all fell in love with Turkish food this trip, and this place didn’t disappoint.  Logan and I also indulged in dessert, which would be a theme that developed over the trip (what is wrong with you two – Noah and Ashley?!?).

Saturday was a rainy day, so we stuck to the buildings.  First we explored Topkapı Palace which clearly has beautiful views of the city… but better on a clear day.  Oh well.

Then we moved on to the most impressive building I have ever seen – the Hagia Sophia.  I can’t believe it was built almost 1,500 years ago in the 6th century – I am amazed that they could build something like that way back then (I think it would be a difficult project even today).

Saturday night we went to see some Whirling Dervishes, and this was definitely not what we expected.  I think the videos on youtube are more ‘Hollywood-ized’ where you see a bunch of Dervishes whirling to music, and it looks like a grand time.  While I am really glad we had the experience, we decided it felt more like we were intruding on someone’s private worship time.  It was very intense, and not as much ‘whirling’ as I would have expected.  

 Our last full day in Istanbul started out with a quick trip to the Blue Mosque, then an hour or so trying to figure out how to get around the city with a marathon taking place (solution – an overpriced taxi ride to the pier).  After another 30 minutes of trying in vain to find a ‘official’ ferry to the Üsküdar side of the river, we luckily ended up on a less-than-official looking ‘public’ boat that took us to the right place.

Over in Üsküdar, we toured the amazingly over-the-top Dolmabahce Palace.  Sadly, no photographs are allowed inside (those of you who use your flash when it says not to – this is what can happen!!), but take my word for it – this place is dripping in luxury.  From crystal staircases, to gold encrusted everything, to the most magnificent Ceremonial Hall, this was my favorite of the two palaces.

Our last big stop in Istanbul before heading home the next day was to make it to Asia!!  We had absolutely no plan of what to see/do when we arrived to that side of the river, but all of us (except Noah, who has been to Israel before) wanted to be able to say we technically have been to Asia.  After walking along the coast, we found a bunch of rug-covered bleachers facing the water, at an outdoor café.  We settled in with our hot cocoa (me) and our Turkish tea (everyone else), and waited for sunset.  We then proceeded to take a more than necessary amount of sunset photos.

When we returned to Munich Monday, it was back to reality for Noah and me, and off to Prague for Logan and Ashley.  We then rented a car for the weekend to spend some time in the Alps.  We wanted to try to see Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, and while we knew it was closed, we thought we could still perhaps make it up to the area anyways.  Nope – a firm “Was machen Sie!?!” (What are you doing!?!) from a ranger made us turn around on the unpaved road, and instead we settled for a lower mountain.

The next day we hit up Chiemsee and the islands Herreninsel (man-island for the monks) and Fraueninsel (woman-island for the nuns).  Both were beautiful to walk around, and the smaller Fraueninsel even has a Christmas market!  It just wasn’t open yet, you know, because they have to wait until after Thanksgiving, of course.

Now it is back to just the two of us (and the dogs, of course), and our next visitors aren’t planned for a few months.  I guess now is a good time to start planning next year’s vacations.  Potential visitors – 2013 is now open!