Well... I sat down to write about our last 2 weeks, but it always seems so hard to start...
So I guess I'll start where I stopped last time:
My family started coming here on Wednesday, more than 2 weeks ago. My mom and sister landed in Munich and we spent the next 2 days here enjoying what Munich has to give. On Friday early in the morning came my aunt and 2 cousins, and then we headed all north to where our wedding took place.
On that weekend most of Rob's family came over from everywhere, and a lot of our friends. On Saturday night we celebrated our Polterabend, which is an evening in which the friends and family of the couple break a lot of China and make a lot of surprises. That evening was a lot of fun, and every member of Rob's family took part in amusing us with different games and music. After the tradition, we also had to clean the parking lot of the brewery in which the Polterabend took place, from all the China that was broken. This is supposed to show the others how we (the couple) work as a team. They tried to trick us in letting us think that they brought a truck load of porcelain, but inside was just a (relatively) small portion of it. Rob had the most fun looking at my face as I saw the big green truck coming over and reversing into the parking lot. We cleaned for about an hour, and amused our guests... After all that Rob's grandma told me that since we worked so good together, now I am allowed to marry him :-P
That evening passed really fast, and I hardly got to talk to all the people, who came from really everywhere: all over Germany (Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt, Essen and more), Austria, Spain, France, Belgium, Israel (of course), Estonia, Italy, Switzerland... It was very multi-cultural...
The day after some ppl went home and some spent the day in the area doing some nice stuff. I went with my mom, sis, aunt, 2 friends of my moms and 2 friends of mine to a ncie cafe in the middle of no-where, with really nice nature views. I'll never forget that day, coz my mom decided to fall into a little hole in the ground, covered with grass, getting herself poisened by some plant. It was much funnier than I can explain here, just thinking about her laying there, laughing about herself was the best part of the day!
A couple of days later, all of the girls met in Rob's parents' kitchen, to prepare for the little lunch of the wedding day. I mannaged to burn 2 of my fingers, which was really not funny at the moment. It really hurt!
The wedding day itself was one of the most relaxed and beautiful days I've ever had. I was really not too excited, was always just happy. Rob's family, and his mom especially, went through so much trouble, just so that day will be so special. It really was.
After the wedding we stayed there for another day and then headed back to Munich. On the weekend we drove with my dad and his family to Salzburg, which was really a lot of fun!!!
My brothers are so cute and nice and fun, and in general the scenery on the way and in Salzburg itself was amazing... Was a really fun weekend...
I guess I'll put some nice pictures at some point, just wanted to say hello, and tell a bit about my last 2 weeks.
Now I kinda have to go back to normal life, in one month I have my exam... I really hope that I have a chance to pass it. I don't need more than passing...
Will write soon with some pictures!
Have a wonderful week and weekend!
Showing posts with label Rob's family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rob's family. Show all posts
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Thursday, January 03, 2008
A post from the 29th of December
(Most of this post was written in a nice cabin up in the Austrian mountains, in a restaurant of a ski resort).
First I'll start with telling you how I got here. Just a bit more than a week ago Rob & I left Dresden and went to his parents. His dad actually came all the way to our place to pick us up, which was great! (Have I told you that already? I don't remember...). We spent a nice weekend at his parents, met some of his friends and spent time with his family. Then Monday night came really quickly! It was x-mas eve, my first real one. I helped to decorate the tree and asked Rob's mom when did this tradition start. She told me that the whole thing started with just a green twig they used to put in the house at this time of year, to represent growth and new beginnings. They used to hang apples on it to wish for always having food on the table. Only about 150 years ago they started to put a real big tree at home, instead of the twig, and continued to decorate it with apples which eventually changed and nowadays look like the x-mas nice decoration balls you all know.
After decorating the tree we had a nice afternoon with tea and cookies (including the ones I made, who got some compliments) and then Rob's mom prepared a game for us all- she asked us trivia questions about x-mas (I obviously didn't know most of the answers) and whoever said a wrong answer had to chose a note with a chore on it. Some of the chores were just something nice to say or to do- like what I got: to tell about a nice encounter that I had this year. I told them about my language exchange partner.
After that we had a nice dinner, with a Raclette, on it you can grill your own food- which makes it very social and fun. After food was the presents opening. Rob totally bombarded me with presents, he got me: a jumping bread toaster, a cool key chain and a really nice designed notebook (both I was checking out in the stores when we were there together), money to buy in Zara, a book by Mark Twain called "The awful German Language" (it's a great book, who knew Mark Twain learned German???) and to top it all: my own laminating machine!
I also got a hot water bottle with the swiss flag on it from Rob's sister, and really really nice earing, a booklet with all German bad words from his little brother, and we both got from his older brother- his clothes dryer - which is already in our apartment - coz we were suppose to have temporarily until he finds a new place - now we get to keep it! His parents gave me a few nice little things, amongst them a good thermos, a nice calender, and a voucher to buy in a really good clothes store. It was a really nice evening with his family.
On Wednesday we drove to Austria to Rob's grandma's. I haven't been there since I started writing this blog, so I'll just tell you that she lives in the south part of Austria, in a beautiful area, just like Austria is suppose to look like. His mom grew up there, between the white mountains and blue sky. we skied for 5 days of the week we were there, in the beginning I was obviously very rusty and terrified, after not skiing for more than 9 months, but gradually I got over it and at some points it was pure fun. At the day before last on snowboarder crashed in to me, and totally flattened me on the slope, I have a huge ugly black bruise on the back of my shin to prove it, but I didn't break anything and as you can see I'm still alive. The only thing it really did is make me paranoid of the ppl coming from on top of the mountain, at the next and last day of skiing. Mostly the sky was blue and the views were amazing, and in general the more I skied the more I liked it and got better... Most of the days I got a half day ticket, and after I was all tired of skiing, while the rest of the guys were still fit, I sat down in a nice restaurant like this one, had a hot chocolate or just a cup of tea and relaxed...
So you can see that I had a really nice vacation, shame that it's all gonna be over soon,
in two days I'm going back to Dresden (alone coz Rob has something to do in Munich on Monday), on Sunday I'm working and on Monday - back to the routine... Must admit that I'm not too keen on going back to school, but... It's gonna be alright, I'm sure.
Have to go now, we're meeting some friends in town for a drink, will put some pictures here in my next post.
First I'll start with telling you how I got here. Just a bit more than a week ago Rob & I left Dresden and went to his parents. His dad actually came all the way to our place to pick us up, which was great! (Have I told you that already? I don't remember...). We spent a nice weekend at his parents, met some of his friends and spent time with his family. Then Monday night came really quickly! It was x-mas eve, my first real one. I helped to decorate the tree and asked Rob's mom when did this tradition start. She told me that the whole thing started with just a green twig they used to put in the house at this time of year, to represent growth and new beginnings. They used to hang apples on it to wish for always having food on the table. Only about 150 years ago they started to put a real big tree at home, instead of the twig, and continued to decorate it with apples which eventually changed and nowadays look like the x-mas nice decoration balls you all know.
After decorating the tree we had a nice afternoon with tea and cookies (including the ones I made, who got some compliments) and then Rob's mom prepared a game for us all- she asked us trivia questions about x-mas (I obviously didn't know most of the answers) and whoever said a wrong answer had to chose a note with a chore on it. Some of the chores were just something nice to say or to do- like what I got: to tell about a nice encounter that I had this year. I told them about my language exchange partner.
After that we had a nice dinner, with a Raclette, on it you can grill your own food- which makes it very social and fun. After food was the presents opening. Rob totally bombarded me with presents, he got me: a jumping bread toaster, a cool key chain and a really nice designed notebook (both I was checking out in the stores when we were there together), money to buy in Zara, a book by Mark Twain called "The awful German Language" (it's a great book, who knew Mark Twain learned German???) and to top it all: my own laminating machine!
I also got a hot water bottle with the swiss flag on it from Rob's sister, and really really nice earing, a booklet with all German bad words from his little brother, and we both got from his older brother- his clothes dryer - which is already in our apartment - coz we were suppose to have temporarily until he finds a new place - now we get to keep it! His parents gave me a few nice little things, amongst them a good thermos, a nice calender, and a voucher to buy in a really good clothes store. It was a really nice evening with his family.
On Wednesday we drove to Austria to Rob's grandma's. I haven't been there since I started writing this blog, so I'll just tell you that she lives in the south part of Austria, in a beautiful area, just like Austria is suppose to look like. His mom grew up there, between the white mountains and blue sky. we skied for 5 days of the week we were there, in the beginning I was obviously very rusty and terrified, after not skiing for more than 9 months, but gradually I got over it and at some points it was pure fun. At the day before last on snowboarder crashed in to me, and totally flattened me on the slope, I have a huge ugly black bruise on the back of my shin to prove it, but I didn't break anything and as you can see I'm still alive. The only thing it really did is make me paranoid of the ppl coming from on top of the mountain, at the next and last day of skiing. Mostly the sky was blue and the views were amazing, and in general the more I skied the more I liked it and got better... Most of the days I got a half day ticket, and after I was all tired of skiing, while the rest of the guys were still fit, I sat down in a nice restaurant like this one, had a hot chocolate or just a cup of tea and relaxed...
So you can see that I had a really nice vacation, shame that it's all gonna be over soon,
in two days I'm going back to Dresden (alone coz Rob has something to do in Munich on Monday), on Sunday I'm working and on Monday - back to the routine... Must admit that I'm not too keen on going back to school, but... It's gonna be alright, I'm sure.
Have to go now, we're meeting some friends in town for a drink, will put some pictures here in my next post.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Crazy weather
It's hot. It's cold. It's sunny. It's rainy. It's sweaty. It's windy. It's nuts!
I have a theory: (it's not a new one- but I'm starting to think I was right all along)
Where the weather is stable - the ppl are crazy. Where the weather is crazy - the ppl are a bit less crazy (I don't know a place with non-crazy ppl- even a bit). You can see it in Israel- where you have exactly 4 seasons, or if you want - exactly 2 seasons and something in between them - there's the short and harmless winter, and then some spring- when the weather changes a lot- but the whole thing doesn't take longer than 2 months, then there's the long and excruciating summer, that starts nice and warm, time for the beach and some color on your skin, and ends with 100% humidity and jelly-fish in the sea, and 38°c that make you wish you were dead in the good case or frozen in the bad case. In both of the real 2 seasons Israel has- you don't really have to pay attention to the weather report (and maybe that's why it's not the most popular part of the news) coz you can totally guess how tomorrow's gonna be like at almost any day. Let's say for example that it's August 9th now, and you wanna plan something for next week, something outdoorsy, you can easily guess that in the north on the mountains it's gonna be warm but not too warm and not too humid in the evenings, and in the mornings you better take your sunglasses. In the Vally, and also in the south of Israel - you know it's gonna be 200% humidity (in the Vally) and 40°c easy, and in the desert in the south - it's gonna be about 45°c and much dryer- just that you feel as if someone is standing close to you with a huge fan and drying you dead. My point is (even though I totally drifted away) that in Israel in most cases you'll be able to guess what the weather is gonna be like in a week or a month or in half a year from now. That means the weather is kinda stable. But the ppl? ohhhh We are crazy!!! I say we coz obv I'm still an Israeli- and you can take the girl out of Israel but as much as I hate to admit it- you really can't take the Israel out of the girl.
Now take Germany for another example. You might be able to guess that in January it's gonna snow here and there, but not just that you can't be sure of that- that's about the only thing you've got. Take the last few weeks: it was so hot sometimes that I was complaining about not having AC's here- even though in Israel I hate those things for ruining the environment and freezing as if I was in the north poll. The next day- after having about 36°c - we again had rain and thunder storms, wind and coooold... My theory says that as long as the weather is crazy like that - the ppl create a mechanism that helps them stay less insane- and they become much more boring (of course not all ppl- just in general).
Now, my theory has lots of holes in it- I know- coz the German ppl I know - are far from boring. But on the other hand- they really don't look as crazy as the Israeli ppl look to me when I'm in Israel (and again- that includes me in a way). By crazy I obviously mean- a lot more spontaneous, a lot reckless, a lot more chance taking, and risk taking, and a lot more open and smiley, to anyone, even ppl they don't know, a lot more interfering- in the 'butting in' kinda way- telling you what they think even if you just met them 2 seconds ago and so on.
I know my thoughts here are very confused, I actually thought I wont be able to write a thing- I had this kinda block - I think I blame learning German for that- coz I really spend a lot of brain-band-width (it's a new term I just came up with) on studying- more than I ever did in my life (I really like these German lessons, it's fun).
***
Yesterday we went with a few classmates of mine and even my teacher and her boyfriend to a movie. It's kinda rare to see a movie here for me- coz they dub everything on TV and in cinema to German (how stupid is that???). So there's a few cinemas that show the movies in their original language- and we went to see Ocean's 13. I had a really good time! I liked the movie, I think it was better than Ocean's 12 and just as good as Ocean's 11, and I enjoyed the company so much too! After the movie we all went to have a beer- and it was great!
Tonight Rob's out with a friend, and it's the first time he goes out alone (without me) since I came here - and I think it's really good he did. People need some time alone, and time with their friends without a non-German-speaking girlfriend to tag along... :-)
***
Tomorrow Rob's parents are coming here for a day- on their way to an event in Berlin. They're gonna arrive when I'm still at school, and I'll meet them all right after. We're prob gonna be touring Dresden a bit, even though it's really not their first time here.
***
That's all for now kids!
I have a theory: (it's not a new one- but I'm starting to think I was right all along)
Where the weather is stable - the ppl are crazy. Where the weather is crazy - the ppl are a bit less crazy (I don't know a place with non-crazy ppl- even a bit). You can see it in Israel- where you have exactly 4 seasons, or if you want - exactly 2 seasons and something in between them - there's the short and harmless winter, and then some spring- when the weather changes a lot- but the whole thing doesn't take longer than 2 months, then there's the long and excruciating summer, that starts nice and warm, time for the beach and some color on your skin, and ends with 100% humidity and jelly-fish in the sea, and 38°c that make you wish you were dead in the good case or frozen in the bad case. In both of the real 2 seasons Israel has- you don't really have to pay attention to the weather report (and maybe that's why it's not the most popular part of the news) coz you can totally guess how tomorrow's gonna be like at almost any day. Let's say for example that it's August 9th now, and you wanna plan something for next week, something outdoorsy, you can easily guess that in the north on the mountains it's gonna be warm but not too warm and not too humid in the evenings, and in the mornings you better take your sunglasses. In the Vally, and also in the south of Israel - you know it's gonna be 200% humidity (in the Vally) and 40°c easy, and in the desert in the south - it's gonna be about 45°c and much dryer- just that you feel as if someone is standing close to you with a huge fan and drying you dead. My point is (even though I totally drifted away) that in Israel in most cases you'll be able to guess what the weather is gonna be like in a week or a month or in half a year from now. That means the weather is kinda stable. But the ppl? ohhhh We are crazy!!! I say we coz obv I'm still an Israeli- and you can take the girl out of Israel but as much as I hate to admit it- you really can't take the Israel out of the girl.
Now take Germany for another example. You might be able to guess that in January it's gonna snow here and there, but not just that you can't be sure of that- that's about the only thing you've got. Take the last few weeks: it was so hot sometimes that I was complaining about not having AC's here- even though in Israel I hate those things for ruining the environment and freezing as if I was in the north poll. The next day- after having about 36°c - we again had rain and thunder storms, wind and coooold... My theory says that as long as the weather is crazy like that - the ppl create a mechanism that helps them stay less insane- and they become much more boring (of course not all ppl- just in general).
Now, my theory has lots of holes in it- I know- coz the German ppl I know - are far from boring. But on the other hand- they really don't look as crazy as the Israeli ppl look to me when I'm in Israel (and again- that includes me in a way). By crazy I obviously mean- a lot more spontaneous, a lot reckless, a lot more chance taking, and risk taking, and a lot more open and smiley, to anyone, even ppl they don't know, a lot more interfering- in the 'butting in' kinda way- telling you what they think even if you just met them 2 seconds ago and so on.
I know my thoughts here are very confused, I actually thought I wont be able to write a thing- I had this kinda block - I think I blame learning German for that- coz I really spend a lot of brain-band-width (it's a new term I just came up with) on studying- more than I ever did in my life (I really like these German lessons, it's fun).
***
Yesterday we went with a few classmates of mine and even my teacher and her boyfriend to a movie. It's kinda rare to see a movie here for me- coz they dub everything on TV and in cinema to German (how stupid is that???). So there's a few cinemas that show the movies in their original language- and we went to see Ocean's 13. I had a really good time! I liked the movie, I think it was better than Ocean's 12 and just as good as Ocean's 11, and I enjoyed the company so much too! After the movie we all went to have a beer- and it was great!
Tonight Rob's out with a friend, and it's the first time he goes out alone (without me) since I came here - and I think it's really good he did. People need some time alone, and time with their friends without a non-German-speaking girlfriend to tag along... :-)
***
Tomorrow Rob's parents are coming here for a day- on their way to an event in Berlin. They're gonna arrive when I'm still at school, and I'll meet them all right after. We're prob gonna be touring Dresden a bit, even though it's really not their first time here.
***
That's all for now kids!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
1000 visitors
Ironically, and realistically my 1000 visitor was someone that was looking for the meaning of "the world is my oyster". Why Ironically and realistically?
Because except for a few ppl - almost none of my best friends read my blog.
I guess this sounds a bit pathetic and well- you're probably wondering why the hell I even mention it here- but I mention it here coz it pisses me off.
And then they ask me what's up with me, and what's new in my life. And that really annoys me. But whatever. It's almost even liberating to know that. I feel a bit more free with my writing. Well, not that I felt not free before.
***
Rob is on a surprise trip that his dad planned for the whole family, for the parents' 25 anniversary. I don't get to talk to him much (today was the 1st day out of 8), but when I called just to see if he already knows what's the plan, they were in Austria. He still doesn't know where they're going next.
I was invited for this trip as well- but since I wasn't planning on being in Germany when they leave, I thought that it doesn't make any sense to come there especially for that. Also I thought that I don't feel like being the only one not from the family on the trip. I just didn't feel like it's my place to join them for something like this. Yet.
It's been only one day and I already miss talking to him. Hopefully this week will pass really quick for me.
***
Charles and Ana are suppose to come to Israel on Monday (in 2 days from now). I sent Charles an e-mail asking what's up. Haven't gotten an answer yet. Can't wait to see them here.
***
Have a weird mood. Tomorrow I'm meeting my sister in Tel-Aviv for some nice shopping. Hope it gets me out of this mood. I love it that I spend so much nice times with my sister after so long I haven't seen her. It's so great.
Because except for a few ppl - almost none of my best friends read my blog.
I guess this sounds a bit pathetic and well- you're probably wondering why the hell I even mention it here- but I mention it here coz it pisses me off.
And then they ask me what's up with me, and what's new in my life. And that really annoys me. But whatever. It's almost even liberating to know that. I feel a bit more free with my writing. Well, not that I felt not free before.
***
Rob is on a surprise trip that his dad planned for the whole family, for the parents' 25 anniversary. I don't get to talk to him much (today was the 1st day out of 8), but when I called just to see if he already knows what's the plan, they were in Austria. He still doesn't know where they're going next.
I was invited for this trip as well- but since I wasn't planning on being in Germany when they leave, I thought that it doesn't make any sense to come there especially for that. Also I thought that I don't feel like being the only one not from the family on the trip. I just didn't feel like it's my place to join them for something like this. Yet.
It's been only one day and I already miss talking to him. Hopefully this week will pass really quick for me.
***
Charles and Ana are suppose to come to Israel on Monday (in 2 days from now). I sent Charles an e-mail asking what's up. Haven't gotten an answer yet. Can't wait to see them here.
***
Have a weird mood. Tomorrow I'm meeting my sister in Tel-Aviv for some nice shopping. Hope it gets me out of this mood. I love it that I spend so much nice times with my sister after so long I haven't seen her. It's so great.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Back in Israel
Wow... I have so much to tell... And I had no time until now... So... I'll start with the last weekend- at Rob's parents' house. We got there on Friday afternoon, after picking up his cousin Vivica who came from
The next day was my last day in Germany, we all had a big breakfast together (I helped Rob's mom bake Pita bread and make Tehina and Humus) and then slowly slowly all the cousins scattered away. I spent a few more hours with Rob (I miss you...) and then his big brother took me to the airport on his way home. We got there a bit too early (3 and a half hours before my flight) so I had a lot of time to kill, but it passed and I realized that I'm gonna see my sister soon... After a year and 8 months I haven't seen her at all... Slept about half of the flight, and then landed... Didn't recognize my sis (lost a lot of weight and got a new haircut) she had to wave so I know it's her... She looks great! I missed her so much... I used to dream about meeting her- every week since I went away...
Got home saw my mom, saw my dog (cute and old!), and met my best friends (except for Yifat- she's still not here- studying hard for her exams- I'll see her in 10 days), and tomorrow I guess I'll go see my grandparents and my dad and brothers.
That's it. Oh yeah- I already ate Humus!!! today... It was great!
Not much more to say,
Oh- Today is my sister's birthday!!!
Happy Birth Day Nitzan!!! Love ya!!!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Some updates and some thoughts
What should I begin with? the update or the thoughts? hmmm...
update- coz it's not gonna be very long... Tonight is my last night in this apartment (I should be saying my apartment, or maybe I should even say: our apartment) before I go back to Israel. Tomorrow we're going to Rob's parents' for the weekend and my flight back is on Sunday night. We're gonna meet about 15 members of his family- all gonna stay at his parents' house (yes, it's gonna be like camp or something). They are all coming for a special occasion called "Landkreislauf"= the Landkreis (= district) race. Every year there's a relay race in that region, there's usually about 200 groups, each has 11 runners. The big prize is winning the race, and everyone gets a T-shirt of that year (every year it's a different color...). This year Rob's family decided to celebrate his grandma's 85 birthday in a special way: 11 of her 19 grand kids are gonna form into a group and run for her in the race. They even got matching T-shirts with "85" in the front, and in the back it says: "Elfriedes Enkel" = meaning "Elfriede's grandchildren". I specifically wanted to see this race- and that's one of the reasons I stayed in Germany until now... They are all coming from Austria except for Rob, his sister and brother and one cousin. I already know I'm gonna hear a lot of German, even more than I did so far here in Germany, and I'm gonna be "the girlfriend from Israel"... I already met about 4 of his cousins, and they were super nice. So I still have hope to have fun this weekend... lol... I volunteered to be the photographer of the occasion- hope I get to take as many pictures of the ppl running as possible...
and now:
some thoughts.
well. I was watching the half finale of the Eurovision contest (until I was too bored with the poor quality of the songs) online (the internet is the best invention ever!), and a few thoughts popped out in my head. Especially the language issue. I used to love this contest when I was young, used to wait for it every year, maybe because it was a contest with Europe that Israel was a part of, maybe because I was allowed to stay up until it's over (which was really late for what I was usually allowed) and maybe because I like music (but that couldn't be a reason coz the music there was never my taste really). But I think that the main reason was the intentionality of the contest, and above it all- all the different languages I could hear. It was an introduction to other cultures and other languages- served on a silver plate. You didn't have to open the encyclopedia (back then we used real books- there was no internet and no Wikipedia!), you didn't have to ask a million questions when your cousin came back from abroad- you just had to turn your TV on once a year for a couple of hours and watch this contest. They even used to show short flicks about each country and their views and customs. But today it's all different. Today most of the countries send pop songs that all sound the same, they sing mostly in English- and if it's a good song it's nice- coz then I understand the lyrics, but if it's a bad one- it's terrible, for example: "You don't know how much I love you, you don't know how much I need you" in bad eastern European accent, they dress up really badly (or should I say dress down? they hardly wear anything on their bodies!) and they mix different cultures in one song- which usually I'm really not against culture mixing, I mean- just look at me and Rob and you'll say the opposite, but god, when a song starts with a man dressed in a 1001 nights costume, and plays the violin, and then another man dressed the same is banging a gong that looks Chinese and has a Chinese character on it, and then the singer (from Malta) sings in English- I say enough!
So the contests these years are a bit dull (if not very), un-educating in the cultural manner (which was the whole point) and generally lost it's flare...
But a habit is a habit- and it's hard to kick a habit- so I watched the half finale a bit, and hopefully the Israelis will make it to the finals...
Hope to write again soon, I'm not sure when I'll have time, there's a good chance it'll already be in Israel!
update- coz it's not gonna be very long... Tonight is my last night in this apartment (I should be saying my apartment, or maybe I should even say: our apartment) before I go back to Israel. Tomorrow we're going to Rob's parents' for the weekend and my flight back is on Sunday night. We're gonna meet about 15 members of his family- all gonna stay at his parents' house (yes, it's gonna be like camp or something). They are all coming for a special occasion called "Landkreislauf"= the Landkreis (= district) race. Every year there's a relay race in that region, there's usually about 200 groups, each has 11 runners. The big prize is winning the race, and everyone gets a T-shirt of that year (every year it's a different color...). This year Rob's family decided to celebrate his grandma's 85 birthday in a special way: 11 of her 19 grand kids are gonna form into a group and run for her in the race. They even got matching T-shirts with "85" in the front, and in the back it says: "Elfriedes Enkel" = meaning "Elfriede's grandchildren". I specifically wanted to see this race- and that's one of the reasons I stayed in Germany until now... They are all coming from Austria except for Rob, his sister and brother and one cousin. I already know I'm gonna hear a lot of German, even more than I did so far here in Germany, and I'm gonna be "the girlfriend from Israel"... I already met about 4 of his cousins, and they were super nice. So I still have hope to have fun this weekend... lol... I volunteered to be the photographer of the occasion- hope I get to take as many pictures of the ppl running as possible...
and now:
some thoughts.
well. I was watching the half finale of the Eurovision contest (until I was too bored with the poor quality of the songs) online (the internet is the best invention ever!), and a few thoughts popped out in my head. Especially the language issue. I used to love this contest when I was young, used to wait for it every year, maybe because it was a contest with Europe that Israel was a part of, maybe because I was allowed to stay up until it's over (which was really late for what I was usually allowed) and maybe because I like music (but that couldn't be a reason coz the music there was never my taste really). But I think that the main reason was the intentionality of the contest, and above it all- all the different languages I could hear. It was an introduction to other cultures and other languages- served on a silver plate. You didn't have to open the encyclopedia (back then we used real books- there was no internet and no Wikipedia!), you didn't have to ask a million questions when your cousin came back from abroad- you just had to turn your TV on once a year for a couple of hours and watch this contest. They even used to show short flicks about each country and their views and customs. But today it's all different. Today most of the countries send pop songs that all sound the same, they sing mostly in English- and if it's a good song it's nice- coz then I understand the lyrics, but if it's a bad one- it's terrible, for example: "You don't know how much I love you, you don't know how much I need you" in bad eastern European accent, they dress up really badly (or should I say dress down? they hardly wear anything on their bodies!) and they mix different cultures in one song- which usually I'm really not against culture mixing, I mean- just look at me and Rob and you'll say the opposite, but god, when a song starts with a man dressed in a 1001 nights costume, and plays the violin, and then another man dressed the same is banging a gong that looks Chinese and has a Chinese character on it, and then the singer (from Malta) sings in English- I say enough!
So the contests these years are a bit dull (if not very), un-educating in the cultural manner (which was the whole point) and generally lost it's flare...
But a habit is a habit- and it's hard to kick a habit- so I watched the half finale a bit, and hopefully the Israelis will make it to the finals...
Hope to write again soon, I'm not sure when I'll have time, there's a good chance it'll already be in Israel!
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