I found the first signs of fall the other day. When I was riding my bike into town. Of course, the street sweepers were rather busy again, trying to gather all the fallen leaves as soon as they hit the ground. But I, for at least a brief moment in life, was able to uphold the illusion that there is actually something like fall in these parts of the world …
I know I should stay faithful to my habit of reporting about Chinese cuisine. But doesn’t this tuna salad look quite yummy? (If you’re one of those people who like tuna salad at least.) Anyhow, I thought I’d share a little teaser with you today, though I’m aware that probably the who gets teased the most is me, since there’s no such thing as a tuna salad to be had here these days!
I have my own “star wars” battles that I’m fighting these days. To be more precise, it’s actually a lightbulbs war! Ever since I moved into my new place, almost every single day a lightbulb decides to quit its service. Last week, during the holidays (when there was no way of fixing them) it was even seven lightbulbs that needed to be replaced. Now, I know the argument for using energy saving lightbulbs, which are said to be long lasting, and efficient. Yet, I’m someone who prefers the soft, warm light of the traditional lightbulb, and as long as the workers keep replacing the broken bulbs with these bulbs, I won’t mind fighting my own star wars battle with the lightbulbs these days (though I’m aware that the days are numbered!) …
My life is taking place between repairs these days! Literally every single day, I need to have a worker come to fix something in the new apartment. And that’s not even taking care of the most urgent business – the bad sewage smell which comes up from the drains. And I could tell you a story or two about these repair-guy visits (which I’ll probably do), but for now, I have to admit that those colleagues of mine deciding not to move into the new teacher’s flat but decided to stay in the old building were the ones with the smarter brains. Sad thing is, I never really had much of a choice with the move, and so I have to learn to arrange my life and learn how to live between repairs …
You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
~ Christopher Columbus ~
The staring business has started again. What I mean by that is the fact that as a foreigner you’re always stared at wherever you go, as if you’re a rare exotic creature from a zoo which has been let loose.
It’s kind of like a celebrity effect, without having the benefits of actually being rich and famous! And to be honest, having spent the summer in Europe, I didn’t miss at all the fact that no one’s staring at you there, trying to find out what you say, observe what you do, what you place into your shopping basket etc, (and commenting loudly on what they see without ever considering the possibility that I might understand what they say)! So, the staring business has begun again, and I have to brace myself for my life as a celebrated non-celebrity!
Credits:
Before I Was Your Mom: We Got Married by Meghan Mullens & Traci Reed
Template: Halfpack 58: Photo Focus 20 by Cindy Schneider
Font: DJB Hugs & Kisses by Darcy Baldwin
Make sure, you never forget to concern the living! Each everyday!
Credits:
All Hallow’s Eve by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
Templates from Set #130 by Cindy Schneider
Font: DJB A Bubbl-Y Personality by Darcy Baldwin
Producing sesame sauce
Let me take you into town again today. To the vegetable market. A friend wanted to know that market (which usually is closed whenever I get there), but the one thing you can get there is all-natural peanut butter among a couple of other things. Now, this is not the place to talk about hygiene (as you can tell from the picture), but it’s always a lot of fun to watch them fill up a jar of fresh peanut butter, taken from a huge bowl in which it has been produced. Of course, the peanut butter is so natural that you have to add salt and whatever else you think necessary, in order to make it more delicious. But in my eyes, it naturally is a great treat!
