"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."-1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (MSG)
I figured now would be a good time to recap some of the usual and then not-so-usual events that have occured since I moved here 2 and a half months ago. If the description is not sufficient feel free to email me and ask more, and if you don't want to do that, too bad for you. :)
I got splashed while standing at a tram stop by a car driving fast through a puddle, yep, soaked as I was going out for the day. And that guy didn't have to hit that puddle, I think he did it on purpose!
Only here have I eaten Polish soup along with Irish butter on German bread from an American bowl sitting on top of a Swedish placemat wearing my Spanish slippers and a sweater I bought in Canada but is really made in Hong Kong!
Twice I have answered the phone only to find someone I don't know speaking much too fast in German on the other end, although the second time I was able to stutter something to the effect of "This is the wrong number" in German (I hope that's what I said).
I deposited money into my German bank account and then realized afterwards that the teller miscounted the money and I ended up losing 10 euro. Boo!
Dresden is a medium-sized city, not a place where one often runs into acquaintances or friends by accident. But one day I caught the bus after meeting with Lynnette that morning and much to my surprise saw her not even 10 minutes later on her bike, on the other side of town! How she noticed me on the bus and was already waving at me when I finally saw her continues to baffle me!
I never thought this day would come, but due to the unusual size of Euro spoons I have become accustomed to eating soup and cereal with a spoon bigger than the size of an American tablespoon. Talk about feeling like I'm shovelling my food in my face...5 bites and I'm done-!
I was riding my bike in a huge park in the middle of the city, enjoying the fall colors, when I noticed a woman with no less than 10 small dogs off leash surrounding her as she walked down the path. I was in awe! What was even more humorous was that trailing behind his buddies was a straggler, probably 50 meters back from the group. He was just prancing along the path, totally content and not in any hurry because his owner and doggie friends were easily seen way up ahead. I had to laugh out loud.
I have taken advantage of our wonderful, deep bathtub and made it a custom to spend at least 20 minutes most nights in a hot bubble bath. I have yet to turn permanently into a prune.
I am quickly getting used to German radio thanks to 102.5 fm, Energy Radio. They re-play the same core collection of songs so often that within a day I was recognizing songs I had only begun hearing not even 24 hours earlier. Not so different from the hit music stations in the US or Canada!
It used to get dark fairly late here, but now that daylight savings time is out of the picture dusk sets in around 4:30pm every day. Needless to say, it feels much later than that, especially when venturing home from the tram stop and walking through the creepy Waldpark...but as of yet I have survived each journey, and am especially proud to say that probably half of them were by myself. Compliments on my bravery are appreciated. :)
A well-known brand in Canada is MEC, or Mountain Equipment Co-op for you American readers. In Edmonton it is quite common to see many people with a similar coat as you or the same fleece pullover in a different color and such. But who would have expected that I would see someone with the same backpack as me here in Dresden-! The same color and everything...a sure sign that he is a cool Canadian.
I have driven a German-made Volvo! Ok only like 10 blocks, but still. The last thing I expected to do here was drive-!
In 2 months I have for some reason found it necessary to defrost not just our freezer but our fridge as well. Our fridge especially had collected a nice mass of ice on the back of it, but after an hour with a blowdryer I was victorious! (and we finally had ice for our drinks...ok not really, ewwww...)
As I was coming out of the elevator one day on my way to the church meeting area there stood a man who couldn't have been more than 30. As the doors opened and I started stepping out, I noticed that this fellow was obviously waiting for the elevator, but suddenly he dropped a pen he was carrying. He bent down to retrieve it and in the process of picking it up it slipped out of his hand again and with some odd movement of his arm he ended up flinging it farther back away from the elevator. It was very odd! That startled him and I could tell he was suddenly torn over what he should do, go after his pen again and risk losing the elevator or not (not to mention he seemed a little flustered probably because I was standing there watching). I sensed his dilemma and unsure of what to do I quickly decided to take the few steps back to the elevator to hold the door for this poor guy with no grip until he could successfully grasp his beloved writing utensil. He did finally get ahold of it and after he was safely on the elevator I walked away wondering if that had all actually happened.
Unleavened bread is not something that's hard to bake, but I have successfully ruined it despite newfound success in other areas of baking. I guess forgetting about it and it baking for 40 minutes instead of 20 could be seen as an obvious cause of failure...
I was recounting an experience at a nearby grocery store to Amy the other day and in an attempt to reference the male cashier said, "I got checked out by this guy..." Oops.
At the fair I joined my HIM sponser Randy as we got strapped into a metal, round cage and watched as the massive collection of springs slowly "loaded" while we waited in much anticipation. The cage, which had been held by a strong magnet to the ground, suddenly shot no less than the speed of a bullet to the heavens and it was as my stomach came into my mouth--for the second time--that I wondered why I hadn't thought more about my decision to commmit to this ridiculous ride. If I had known beforehand that we were not only on video but miked as well I might have stifled my screams a bit more-!
Cobblestone looks really cool. But going over it on a bike at exactly the WRONG speed feels like your teeth are about to get violently rattled out of your head. Not so fun.
Banana boxes are good sized boxes, and it's not every day that you see someone (especially Germans who, completely unknown to me, somehow avoid all awkward appearing situations...I've never seen one have too many groceries to carry or a large piece of furniture despite that most people don't own cars and only use public transportation) carrying not just one, but SIX, all stacked on top of each other. How he knew where he was going is beyond me...and what does he need with all those bananas anyway?
I went to Poland last Saturday and was thrilled to use some of the Polish words I learned from my Babcia (Grandma) as a child. And much to my surprise after thanking one of the ladies in her native tongue she asked if I could speak Polish! I proceeded to list off the few words I knew and she complimented me graciously, saying that I had no accent! Booyah! The best part was that it was in front of the 3 others I was with so I have witnesses and they know I didn't make it up! :)
I don't understand German humor. Actually I might even go as far as saying it seems that German's don't have a sense of humor, purely because I haven't experienced it. However the exception makes the rule. So, meet Gerald, a member of the church here and someone who's humor I do understand, mostly because it is so goofy. For example, Amy and I were walking to the tram, through the Waldpark (it was day, thank goodness) and much to our surprise looked up just in time to recognize Gerald jogging toward us. He promptly swerved to behind a tree, and with us obviously having seen him he didn't stay there for long, just long enough for us to get a good laugh. On another occasion Amy and I saw Gerald across a wide street, again as we were on our way to wait for the tram. He was headed the opposite direction, and we waved, knowing he was on his way out of town for the weekend. His tram came first and as it passed Amy and I standing there we scanned the tramcars to wave goodbye to our silly friend. I had about given up hope that we would see him through a window when a white hankerchief caught my attention from the back of the last car. Gerald was breaking all German rules and norms and was waving a white kerchief through the window at us, such a dramatic farewell! Amy and I couldn't help but laugh, alot.
Upwords is a game similar to Scrabble but played on a much smaller board and with the option to build on top of others' words. Being in Germany one might expect that had I played this game it would be purely in German, but how about the marvelous feat of playing in both English and German...at the same time. As if I wasn't confused enough-!
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