Winter Wonderland

The winter here this year is a real nice winter. It actually snowed so much that the streets are white for the past month or so (on and of with some rain sometimes, but basically snowy most of the time). I really like it.
There's nothing like the cleanliness of the snow. So pure. Makes the streets so quiet and calm.
The muddy snow that is left over after it melts a bit, isn't as nice, but as long as the temperatures stay under zero, it still looks like whipped cream that is covering everything. Like frosting on a cake.
We went skiing a few times already, once in the middle of the week and once for a weekend in Austria at Rob's grandma's. It was so much fun, I get better and enjoy it more and more every time. It's also really good sports.

Here are a few pics from the first time we went skiing this season:

that's me! look how amazing the view is

me next to a snow blower
(which is probably out of work this winter)

more amazing views.

It's so nice to ski down the hill and stop sometimes just for a quick look at the view. You breath in, breath out, and just enjoy that moment, that specific moment.
Skiing, you don't thing about anything. Your mind is a total blank. You just think about this moment you live- this second you need to ski down and look around and make sure you come down safe. You think about the white snow, the nice weather (when it's nice) and the bad weather (when it sucks). You think about the next turn you'll take, and then the next slope you'll choose. You think about your body, you think about the view, you think about today and now. Nothing else. It's so liberating. You feel so free of all the things that usually tie you down.

I feel the same doing Yoga sometimes, but not for such a long intensive time. Doing Yoga I can be relaxed and think about nothing else, for maybe half an hour. Skiing- you think about nothing else- for the whole day.

***

I got a flight ticket to Israel in May- going alone this time, and can't wait to be there- with no plans but to see my family and friends! only 3 months to go.

That's it for now, going to bed, really tired after a weekend of skiing and a day of work,
will try to write again soon!

Nerval Security

I'll start with an update but first I'd like to give Rob the credit for inventing the idiom in the title. I will explain it all later (that means you have to keep on reading till the end!)

So... What have we here?

Since last time I wrote I was especially trying to study, which only started being a bit effective after Rob sat down with me and helped me build a plan, and explained some of the stuff to me. I'm really trying to give it a few hours everyday, I only have 3 and a half weeks till the exam, which isn't much for me. I hope it'll turn out fine.

We went skiing a couple of times- once just like that on a nice Sunday, and last week we took Monday off and went for a long weekend to Rob's grandma in Austria, to ski in the area. It was really good! The first 2 days were really great (although the weather wasn't the best- but was alright) and on the third day the weather was really bad in that area so we headed a bit north, found a place with better weather, but I was a bit scared for at least half of the time, and especially tired from skiing for 3 days in a row (who said I'm in shape?!) that it was a bit hmmm.. not as nice as the other 2 days. But still left with a good feeling. I really like my new skiing boots, which I bought in Austria about a month ago, and my new skis are also pretty nice and good.

Me with my new boots and skis

The beautiful view on our lunch break


Deer right next to the skiing run


The view from the house

So as you can see we had some really nice snow, and some really good views in the last 2 weeks. I must say that in this way- we're really taking advantage of living in Munich, compared with Dresden for instance. It's great to live so close to the action.


and now- to The Full Rob-English Dictionary.

Lately he says the funniest things, such idioms and phrases, as if he's at least a philosopher. So I have to share these things with you, since I'm sure you'll use at least one in your daily life. Just remember who thought about it first when you do!

• Nervel Security- let me explain this one in a sentence:
  "I decided to check once more whether I turned off the stove before leaving home, just for my nervel security." meaning- in order not to worry later, I did this and that.

• 38 types of tiredness- this one I'll explain in the context it came up in:
  
  • me: "I'm so tired, I can't believe it"
  • rob: "you're always tired"
  • me: "no but this time it's a different kind of tiredness. It's that time of the month and it's very different than the tiredness I feel after a long day. Now I'm just all smooshed".
  • rob: "you know what, just like the Eskimos have 38 different words for snow, you have 38 types of tiredness."
  
  That's it for the dictionary today, I'll add it to the labels and you'll be able to reach this very important dictionary at any time! I also promise to enrich the dictionary whenever there's something new coming up.
  

A dark fairy tale

The next pictures were taken in the little forest

on the hill close to where Rob's parents live.
We took a walk there on x-mas eve,
in the early afternoon.
Because of the frost on the trees
(it's not snow!)
everything looked as if it froze while growing,
as if time stopped,
and it gave the feeling of being in a dark fairy tale.
If you look really close-
you might see the white witch...
(you can click the pictures to make them larger)

The next picture was taken on a frozen lake,
we wanted to ice skate
but there were no more skates for rent in the shop.


In this one you can see me standing on my skies,
waiting for Rob to take my picture,
not noticing he already did...
Look at the nice view,
and what beautiful days we had.



And here is one picture of the x-mas tree,
with most of the presents around it.

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.

Indoor skiing in Shanghai

(sorry -no pictures - forgot the camera...)

On Saturday we went to the Indoor skiing in Shanghai. The place is really close to where we live, and we decided to give it a chance even though we read a lot of things about it- especially not too excited reviews. I thought that it's worth a try- especially coz I need the practice, since I've skied only 7 days in my life. We woke up on Saturday on a decent hour (10am) and went there. We walked in to a nice lobby, and payed a not very nice price (218RMB for an unlimited time ticket ~ 22 Euro). The price includes equipment and clothing (we brought our own clothes- I think it's better than using rented ones- but if you don't have any- it's a good compromise), we changed and went in. The boots we got were damp inside, and even though we changed them 3 times before we started- we couldn't find a pair that was totally dry. We walked in the skiing area and saw a little man-made hill, covered with artificial snow. It's not a high hill and the slope is not very steep- but for me it was enough to practice.
This place is a good example for the way Chinese ppl keep maintenance: they don't. I'll be surprised if there's such a word in Chinese at all. In the pictures outside the place it looks so nice and clean, and taken care of- but no! Inside it's a big hill of instant China. The nice screens that covered the ugliness on the "back stage" were gone. Meaning the big metal poles holding the huge hanger, and the terrible ground next to the slope (covered with wet carton boards), were all shown to our delight, while we were goin up on the very old, annoying and slow (about 300m in more than 5 minutes) lift you put between your legs to drag you up. On the way up at some points there was no snow on the trail, so my skies got stuck a few times, till I realized I better move my feet towards where there's snow... We actually asked one of the employees (inside there were far less employees than outside) to shovel some snow on the lift's trail, but the only answer we got was: "we do it only in the evening" (we're still not sure the guy totally understood what we said). How stupid is that? So for the rest of the time it was to be left alone like that. What else was wrong there? well- they had 2 lifts, but one wasn't working, and to get the escalator that takes you to the lift- you have to walk a mile in the snow. Again- maintenance!!! and how inefficient.
The amount of Chinese ppl trying to ski but falling on their behinds was unbelievable. They ski in a straight line down hill, till they fall in a very amusing way. I thought that in Israel there were a lot of ppl that didn't like to ask for help, coz they're too much of a macho. But no. Here, for totally different reasons (well maybe it is about "losing face" which is pretty much the same reason, and maybe it's just because they're stupid) it seems that they just take some boots, take some skies, put them on (usually not the right way) and go up hill. Most of them get stuck in the middle - standing there like zombies waiting for the Messiah (Rob would say they haven't noticed he already came ... ha ha - makes me laugh every time...) blocking the way for the 10 out of 500 ppl that are actually skiing down normally from up hill (2 of them were us, the rest either foreigners or some "cool" young Chinese snow-boarders that were pretty good).
I felt just like in a video game- "avoid the Chinese ppl". It was good practice- maybe next time I'll feel confident enough to ski between trees...
To sum things up- I'm glad we went, for me it was good, this way when we go skiing in February I hope I'll waste less time on the vacation trying to remember what to do, and gaining my confidence back (it takes a few hours...). I would recommend for ppl who really want to ski and are not gonna have a chance to do anywhere - to go there, but be aware of the price, and don't expect much of the place itself.

About fear and joy and new years

Last year, on New Year's Eve, I was on a mountain in Czech Republic with Rob and about 15 of his good friends from all over the world (well- mostly Europe- but other places too...). I arrived to Germany the day after x-mas to be with him for about a week. 2 or 3 days later we drove to Czech Republic and there he taught me how to ski. It was the first time that I ever skied in my life (not counting the time I was 5 in the states- freezing in the kids group, where mom and dad left me to "learn" too...). I'm known as a not very sporty person, and only in the last 6 years or so I do sports on an almost regular basis (gym and Yoga) and that's especially coz of the mental change in me. This mental change was probably the grounds for falling in love with skiing- something I'm sure I wouldn't have liked 10 years ago. I must admit- I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to heights and mountains- and my ability to ski down a hill full of trees- but I proved that I can do it- and even enjoy it (providing some good weather of course- try skiing in Mount Hermon in Israel- there's either bad weather and snow or good weather and no snow - which means you either ski and hate it or not ski and hate it). I'm sure that if Rob had written here he would say that skiing with me can be a really hard job- coz it involves a lot of my complaining (well- if you knew him you'd know that he'll never say that to anyone- but I know that I've complained a hand full to him at least the first few times we skied together).
There's something in me that never lets me rest till I feel like I'm good enough. Good enough doesn't mean "the best" it just means that till I'm rather complete with how I'm doin something - I wont feel comfortable to do it next to ppl who are good. That's why in the beginning when Rob taught me how to ski - I felt so insecure. First of all- he skies since he's about 2-3 years old, and all of his family skies. His mom grew up between the Austrian Alps, and his parents met skiing, which says it all (what can I say I grew in to? my parents met in the Israeli army... LOL) anyway- to make things short- I felt like I know nothing about something he's an expert in- and that made me really scared that I will just not be good enough. Rob was the knight in shining armor he really is- and was the perfect teacher and gentleman. I even asked him at a certain point on the top of the mountain (while having the most sour face a person can have- from being so scared going down) how is it possible that he tolerates me at all- and that he deserves a medal. I only remember one time he frowned - for about 5 minutes of the whole 3 days. In March we were skiing in Austria in the best weather ever- and I was a bit more experienced- which made the whole thing so much better- and so great.
I remember what my mom said when I told her that I'm going skiing in the Hermon for the first time (I wanted to practice what Rob had taught me). I had to get up at 5am to get there at 8am so I have as much time as possible to ski. I told her how cold it is- and how hard it is for me- and the only thing she said was: "so why do you do that to yourself?" There at that point exactly I realized where my laziness comes from- it comes from the fear to harm myself in anyway - the fear to not enjoy and the fear to suffer even just a little bit. What, I guess, I wasn't told for most of my life was that suffering a bit can bring to a big joy (as long as I don't do it to harm myself or of course- anyone else) and pointless fear is something that stops you from living - not something that keeps you alive. It's amazing how one little thing like skiing can make you understand all that- and give you a big feeling of accomplishment and joy.
We're planning on going skiing in China in February in the Chinese Spring Festival. I hope all is gonna go well (still waiting for the reply from the travel agent) and that I wont freeze to death there (it's gonna be about minus 20°c) - but I got lots of presents from Rob that he brought me from Germany- that are suppose to keep me warm even in this kinda weather.

***

This New Year's Eve we spent in Hangzhou. I liked it so much the first time I went there that I asked him if he wants to go first thing after he lands. He said it's no problem and we went. We spent the evening with the new friends I made last time I was there - and it was a really nice night. Hangzhou is relatively colder than SH (I guess coz it's more humid) and we did spend a lot of time in doors - but we really enjoyed our little vacation - and for me it was a refreshment from life.

I wonder where I'll be next year on the same day... I like spending it every time in a different country!!!