Word of Wisdom: Cross an Ocean
You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. ~ Christopher Columbus ~
All posts filed under: Blog
The Staring Business
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!
Fun with Chinglish: Concern Living Each Everyday
Make sure, you never forget to concern the living! Each everyday! Disclaimer: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to show disrespect towards anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great written samples!
Around Town: Buying All Natural Peanut Butter
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!
A Special Day
October 3rd marks another holiday for me (though no one else around here usually is aware of this). October 3rd is the German national holiday, and I think it’s really convenient that it’s so close to the local national holiday, because that way I always get to have the day off, since the local holiday usually spreads over the entire week. And this year, I was even more fortunate. Because (though unaware of this holiday) my friends decided to have a hot pot deluxe dinner. So I got to hang out with my favorite people, enjoy great food and have a lot of fun – all on the day which marks a special holiday for me!
And Then You Realize: There’s No Problem After All
Remember the water heater issue I was talking about the other day? Well, over the last couple of days, I was able to make a couple of observations. Observation #1: If I switch the handle to have more water run into the heater (following the instructions of the worker), it never heats up the water in the heater, because it just keeps running through the tank. Observation #2: If I don’t touch the handle and don’t switch anything, there’s always hot water in the heater, and the water in the kitchen tap doesn’t run out either any more. Plus it’s hot any time of the day. Conclusion: Maybe there’s no problem with the water heater after all. Maybe everything is working as it should, and there’s nothing to worry about. Maybe the worker just didn’t have any clue and got everything mixed up himself. Whatever the case, I’m just happy that the water’s been working just fine, and that there’s no problem with either – the hot water heater or the kitchen tap!
October 1st – A Holiday
There’s a rule of thumb I usually try to abide by, and that rule is: Stay away from the public whenever there’s a public holiday around. Usually, it’s not a big deal for me to keep this in mind. So, I don’t know what has gotten into me that of all the days of the year I decided to go into town for some shopping today. I must have been out of the country for too long to remember this, but as soon as I got near the supermarket, I realized my mistake. The first thing I was able to observe was the sheer number of people, cars, three wheelers, bicycles (and other modes of transportation) which flocked around the shopping center. The next thing that struck me was the noise. I’ve known that people around here like to crank up some music in front of the stores (probably thinking: the louder the noise, the more customers they will draw or something). At this store, however, it wasn’t just one type of music yelling for …
A Water Heater Dilemma
The place where I live only has hot water twice a day – in the wee hours of the morning and at night. Now, you may call that unfortunate, but I, in fact, call it “being blessed,” because most everyone else around us only has cold water to work with, period. But it’s also the reason for why a hot water heater is very essential to me. Now, the thing with a hot water heater is that it needs to move when you switch apartments. And here is where it gets tricky. Because in the new place where it ended up, I can either have hot water through the water heater, but no water at all in the kitchen and the heater doesn’t get filled up again and will run empty eventually, or I can have water in the kitchen (according to schedule of the daily warm water hours) and fill up the heater, but no hot water from the water heater. Sounds complicated? Yeah. To me, too! So, let’s hope this problem is easier …
Things Are Moving …
… and I’m on the move with them. More particularly, I had to move a lot of things since I was asked to move to another apartment. Fortunately, I had some strong helpers who did the most challenging parts of the move, and enough time on my hands to get everything settled before I’m going back to work. And now it is my job to make this new place my home again.
Fighting Those Dust Bunnies
Boy, I can tell you: Nearly four months away from home can do a thing or two to your home. Most notably: those dust bunnies which delight in keeping you company as soon as you keep things untouched for just a couple of days. The dust bunnies in my apartment have multiplied miraculously over the summer, and there’s hardly any way to get them under control. In cases like this, I actually consider it a good thing that I have to move into a new place, since it also means that I can simply leave those disagreeable dust bunnies behind!