All posts filed under: Blog

A Small Big Day

Published by Sula H.

My baby sister got married today (civil ceremony), sigh! And I got to witness it. Of course, to us it was just a formality, since the real wedding is going to follow later this week. And formal the whole ceremony took place. Formal, and very fast. It seemed like the registrar was competing in a speed reading contest when she performed the ceremony and officially turned my sister from little Ms. into an honorable Mrs. At any rate, we were happy to have this formality over with, because a lot of work is waiting for us to get everything ready for my sister’s real big day.

Wedding Papers and Such Things

Published by Sula H.

These last couple of weeks have been all about a wedding, which is to come up in our family very soon. And if you’d like to know what I’ve been kept busy with, lately, I can show you. It’s called a “wedding paper,” something very typical for weddings in Germany. Friends and family members contribute to this paper with stories from the couple’s past and fun articles, and it was my job to put the whole thing together. Today, we finally managed to submit the paper for printing, and now, all we need to do is, hope that it’s going to arrive on time.

Quiet Summer’s Eve

Published by Sula H.

We’d decided to visit relatives who were vacationing at a nearby lake, and to spend a quiet summer  evening with them. And indeed, it was quiet. Very much, even. So quiet, in fact, that even the wind decided to take a break. That was nice for us, who just wanted to relax and enjoy some downtime together, walking along the shore. It wasn’t as nice, I assume, for those sailors out on the lake needing a breeze in order to be able to get back to the shore. And so, you see, whichever way you look at it: One man’s joy is another man’s sorrow. And for us, it was just a very quiet summer’s eve!

On Our Guard

Published by Sula H.

To be on our guard has been the order of our day, lately. Why? Because we knew that one of these days, the harvesters would stop by on the field next to our home. And if you aren’t on your guard, that means dust, dust, dust … all over the place. And since we didn’t want to have to fight the dust war, my mom kept reminding us: Watch out for the harvesters, and make sure to close all the windows on time! And today, her apprehension became reality when a faint sound reached our ears and stirred us up from our routine immediately. As soon as we became aware, we chased up and down the house in search of any open window that might turn on us and prevent us from keeping it somewhat free of all that dust which inevitably surrounds any machine trying to harvest a field!

Summer at Its Best

Published by Sula H.

Summer at its best means it’s the hottest day of the year. And you may guess what I did on this hottest day of the year … I got to spend it in the car, traveling halfway across the country, away from family members whom I don’t get to see for another whole long while. A good reason to be a little sad, even though today summer’s been at its best. At least this morning we were able to make the most of our time together as family, and visit the garden exhibition again.

Flowers, Hop and Malt

Published by Sula H.

Having relatives is a good thing. Not only do you have someone to love on and spend time with, but also you get to do fun stuff with them. Like going to the Landesgartenschau (a garden exhibition which different cities get to host), and for which my family happened to have free tickets so they could take me there. And I got to be with people I care about a lot, while at the same time enjoying the beauty of creation – and of German beer producing culture – all in one day.

Saying Good-Bye

Published by Sula H.

It as a sad day today – the day on which I had to say good-bye to the beach, the ocean and everything coastal related to it: We had to pack our things and return home. Of course, I couldn’t do that without quickly sneaking back to the beach one last time, to take it all in and store deeply in the recesses of my memory. Who knows when it’s the next time that I get to enjoy an ocean view like this again …?

To the End of the World

Published by Sula H.

When I got up this morning, I didn’t know that only a few hours later my journey would take me to the end of the world. Or at least to the end of the Schlei fjord, which is pretty much the end of the world as far as I see it. But sometimes the places where you least expect it, turn out to be the prettiest places. And so today – I must add – turned out to be the unexpected highlight of our family vacation at the Baltic Sea. The plan had been to get dad to the historic train station, where he and my sister wanted to embark on a special train ride, while mom and I wanted to go to town with them, sit in a cafe, read a book, and wait for them to return. But plans don’t always work the way we anticipate them. Sometimes they change. For the better, that is! Things changed for me, when I realized – as soon as I got out of the car – that …

Building Castles

Published by Sula H.

What’s a beach holiday without a real sand castle? Nothing, really – you’re right! We’re thinking the same. And so today, we set out to turn this vacation into the real deal, full-blown, sand-castle-building beach holiday! After lunch, we armed ourselves with a little shovel, some plastic cups, and a good deal of excitement, and thus, we began to build ourselves a castle. It turned out not quite the prettiest of all sand castles which have ever been built, but on our little strip of sand it certainly was one of the largest around.

Sønderborg – Kappeln: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Published by Sula H.

I was in eighth grade when I went on a class trip to the small German town of Glücksburg near the Danish border. During that class trip, we went to a charming little town, Sønderborg in Denmark, and from Sønderborg we traveled via ship back to Germany, to a town called Kappeln (which wasn’t far from the place where we stayed). Why I’m telling you this, you wonder? Well, because today I went on a trip down memory lane. Today, almost exactly twenty years after I first visited Sønderborg and Kappeln, I returned – a little older and wiser, for sure – but just as thrilled. Of course, this time, we didn’t travel by bus and ship. This being a family trip, we had the convenience of a car, and a little more independence. So we walked the neat little streets of Sønderborg and learned all there is to learn in one day about Danish culture and lifestyle. (And to be honest, I wouldn’t have known the town from what I remember from twenty years …