Today at work I heard some commotion in the street below my window, so I got up to look. A parking ticket lady was ticketing cars, and three tow trucks were lined up and towing them. It was entertaining, and I sighed with relief that I’m car-free in Germany. While the last car was being [...]
Posts under ‘Heartburn’
The Meaning of Freedom
When I was growing up as the all-American child, I thought America was the best, and most free, country in the world. We are taught to think this way. The land of liberty, right? As I’ve journeyed through my 30s, however, my ideas on what freedom means began to change. I started traveling internationally. I [...]
The Foreigner
I know I’m back in my own culture when people start lining up in a neat, long, well-spaced line while waiting to board a U.S.-bound plane at the Frankfurt airport. Two other Americans in line start random conversations with me. Oh yeah, this is how it is to talk to strangers. On the plane I [...]
Peeking out from under the covers
Where on earth is Resident on Earth?! Well, I haven’t vanished inside the bowels of the Cologne cathedral, I can assure you of that. I can see that happening, by the way. You know that book/movie combo “Where the Heart Is” where Natalie Portman is pregnant and her boyfriend abandons her at Wal-Mart and she [...]
Guten Morgen, Sonnenschein!
I miss sunshine. I’m finding it exceedingly difficult to get out of bed these days. With no classes and no work to go to, I hardly feel the motivation to crawl out from under the covers, which is both wonderful and depressing. Yet I know when I start my job (hopefully next month), I’ll miss [...]
A Walk Through Frankfurt’s Judengasse
Yesterday was a quiet, rainy, winter afternoon, so I decided it was time to visit Frankfurt’s Jewish Museum. The museum has two locations: the main museum (Jüdisches Museum) and the Judengasse (located just behind and east of the Dom). The main museum houses the permanent exhibition in three parts: Jews in Frankfurt 1100-1800, Jewish life [...]
Gone
It’s always chilling to come across the whispers of Germany’s terrible past from WWII. Sometimes the reminders are so quietly imbedded in everyday life that when you inadvertently find them, they startle you. Today when I was walking out of the market platz of our village, I noticed a set of small brass plates imbedded [...]
What next?
I went from being completely busy and overwhelmed last month as I wrapped up my B1 level and my intensive German class to the complete opposite. I feel so out of sorts right now. My past routine has gone and now I’m trying to figure out…well, what do I do next? Our goal for this [...]
The Magic Suitcase
*Warning, warning, cover your ears if you don’t like needless and selfish whining* I arrived home yesterday from a fabulous girl’s weekend in Rome (more to come!). While I enjoyed every breathing moment of it, I think I’ve about had my quota of living out of my suitcase for the time being. This weekend there [...]
I'm a Europhile living with my German boyfriend ("The Mann") and splitting my time between Cologne and the Frankfurt area, Germany.
