Dear Adam,
I finally got internet back up and running (even if it is on a stick for now and still not at our house). As promised to your Mom, Stanley will be coming home to you this week and you will probably receive him the first part of next week. I will actually express mail him to my Mom's and then she will forward him on to you.
Thank you so much for letting him stay with us. We really had a blast taking him and showing him around. We have a rather large surprise but I'll wait until I can post again to tell you more about it (hint: it has to do with the last place Stanley visited). There are a few other places in between and I'll make the time to get that on here now that I have internet again.
I hope you had fun reading the blog and that you aren't too disappointed in the long pause. We had no idea this internet would turn out to be so problematic in the move. Andi and I are going to keep taking pictures of the surrounding area and talking about places we go and see here on the blog. We hope eventually you will be able to come visit us and see those places with your own two eyes (if you're interested, of course).
Well, it's really late here (a bit after 11 PM) so I better sign off. I look forward to uploading the rest of the pictures and telling you a bit about Stanley's travels.
All the best,
Jamie
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Sorry for the silence
Dear Adam,
I am sorry to have been so silent these past few days. We have been really busy with the move. Tomorrow the internet will change places from one house to the other which means I will probably not be able to write you on here for the next several days at least.
I had a blast taking a ferry boat across Lake Constance (also called Bodensee) today on my way to Friedrichshafen. I will post some pictures of that. Once the internet is back up, I will try to find the time to catch up on what we've been up to these past several days and post even more pictures.
Again, sorry for the absence and I hope you're not too disappointed. I am posting a few pictures of the ferry boat and of me on the ferry. I have other pictures from today and a few days back that I will post once the internet is up and running and we have a chance to get online. I hope you enjoy them...
Sincerely,
Stanley
I am sorry to have been so silent these past few days. We have been really busy with the move. Tomorrow the internet will change places from one house to the other which means I will probably not be able to write you on here for the next several days at least.
I had a blast taking a ferry boat across Lake Constance (also called Bodensee) today on my way to Friedrichshafen. I will post some pictures of that. Once the internet is back up, I will try to find the time to catch up on what we've been up to these past several days and post even more pictures.
Again, sorry for the absence and I hope you're not too disappointed. I am posting a few pictures of the ferry boat and of me on the ferry. I have other pictures from today and a few days back that I will post once the internet is up and running and we have a chance to get online. I hope you enjoy them...
Stanley
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Not much exciting happened today
Dear Adam,
How was your day at school? My day was not too exciting. I went with Jamie to Bauhaus because the kitchen counter-top she ordered two weeks ago never actually got ordered. The company is doing a rush from the manufacturer and now it looks as though it should arrive next Wednesday. While she was there she also bought the cutest little airplane ceiling light for the baby's room (which is appropriate since Jamie and Andy both work for airplane companies). I doubt though the baby's room will be done before I come back to Oklahoma but it's kind of fun to help plan. I guess with all your little brothers and sisters you know what I mean. :)
In the afternoon we went to visit at Simone's house. We ate Mozzerella sticks with a spicy, sweet dip which I have to admit were pretty good. As good as the food is here, I am missing our food back home. We also had strawberries and bananas which was a bit healthier. We got to see Simone's 4D video of her baby which was pretty neat - it's amazing what the sonographers can see now. Jamie is also planning to do this 4D video whenever the doctor calls to let her know when the appointment is. I am not sure if it will happen before I leave or not.
Tomorrow we will pack up more stuff, study German, visit Simone and Jimena in Lörrach and weather permitting do a picnic at the Wiese with Andy. Thursday will be another day of packing and a trip to Ikea (which hopefully this time will be successful). Friday will be a day in Friedrichshafen for Jamie to meet with a Mentor who is on the continent and I will take some pictures while we are there. Saturday will be Andy's parents here for a visit to help disassemble the closets (which are cabinets - they are not built-in as in the US). Sunday will be moving boxes of small stuff to the new apartment and possibly a dinner with the friends who will help us move some small things. It could be we possibly also meet Andy's aunt and uncle who will arrive on Sunday to help us with a few things at the apartment Monday - Wednesday of next week.
It's going to be a busy few weeks but I will do my best to write you every day. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
How was your day at school? My day was not too exciting. I went with Jamie to Bauhaus because the kitchen counter-top she ordered two weeks ago never actually got ordered. The company is doing a rush from the manufacturer and now it looks as though it should arrive next Wednesday. While she was there she also bought the cutest little airplane ceiling light for the baby's room (which is appropriate since Jamie and Andy both work for airplane companies). I doubt though the baby's room will be done before I come back to Oklahoma but it's kind of fun to help plan. I guess with all your little brothers and sisters you know what I mean. :)
In the afternoon we went to visit at Simone's house. We ate Mozzerella sticks with a spicy, sweet dip which I have to admit were pretty good. As good as the food is here, I am missing our food back home. We also had strawberries and bananas which was a bit healthier. We got to see Simone's 4D video of her baby which was pretty neat - it's amazing what the sonographers can see now. Jamie is also planning to do this 4D video whenever the doctor calls to let her know when the appointment is. I am not sure if it will happen before I leave or not.
Tomorrow we will pack up more stuff, study German, visit Simone and Jimena in Lörrach and weather permitting do a picnic at the Wiese with Andy. Thursday will be another day of packing and a trip to Ikea (which hopefully this time will be successful). Friday will be a day in Friedrichshafen for Jamie to meet with a Mentor who is on the continent and I will take some pictures while we are there. Saturday will be Andy's parents here for a visit to help disassemble the closets (which are cabinets - they are not built-in as in the US). Sunday will be moving boxes of small stuff to the new apartment and possibly a dinner with the friends who will help us move some small things. It could be we possibly also meet Andy's aunt and uncle who will arrive on Sunday to help us with a few things at the apartment Monday - Wednesday of next week.
It's going to be a busy few weeks but I will do my best to write you every day. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Monday, April 11, 2011
This past weekend
Dear Adam,
I hope you had a nice weekend. Our weekend was relatively busy, so I won't talk about all the things we did over the weekend but I will give an overview...
Saturday
On Saturday, Andy went and had the driver's side mirror replaced on his car as someone hit it while driving by and cracked the mirror. Then we met up with him at a place called Götz & Moriz where we picked out the tiles for the bathroom at the new apartment. Since this will be done before I go back to Oklahoma, I will just wait to post pictures until the bathroom is finished so you can see the end product.
Later, in the early evening, we decided we wanted to go to Ikea. We needed to pick up a replacement kitchen cabinet door for one that was damaged in the building process and also to pick up a few other odds and ends (mainly two bookshelves for our living room). Unfortunately, one of the highway bridges was out and we found ourselves stuck in a huge "Stau" (prounounced sh-touw with an o like in ouch) or Traffic Jam. It took us 2 hours to go 30 kilometers which is roughly 18 miles. This trip should normally take us about 20 minutes.
I hope you had a nice weekend. Our weekend was relatively busy, so I won't talk about all the things we did over the weekend but I will give an overview...
Saturday
On Saturday, Andy went and had the driver's side mirror replaced on his car as someone hit it while driving by and cracked the mirror. Then we met up with him at a place called Götz & Moriz where we picked out the tiles for the bathroom at the new apartment. Since this will be done before I go back to Oklahoma, I will just wait to post pictures until the bathroom is finished so you can see the end product.
Later, in the early evening, we decided we wanted to go to Ikea. We needed to pick up a replacement kitchen cabinet door for one that was damaged in the building process and also to pick up a few other odds and ends (mainly two bookshelves for our living room). Unfortunately, one of the highway bridges was out and we found ourselves stuck in a huge "Stau" (prounounced sh-touw with an o like in ouch) or Traffic Jam. It took us 2 hours to go 30 kilometers which is roughly 18 miles. This trip should normally take us about 20 minutes.
Even though all the license plates are French in this picture - we were on the German "Autobahn" or Federal Highway the A5.
Needless-to-say, we never did make it to Ikea. By the time we'd have arrived it would have been more or less closing time. We were so tired after setting in that mess for two hours we decided to grab a bit to eat in a lovely little town called Neuenburg am Rhein (where we were able to exit the highway finally). This is about 1/3 of the journey into our drive to Ikea. Anyway, we decided to stop at a Greek restaurant and have some dinner. We were getting pretty hungry and at least it didn't make the trip seem like a total waste. It was almost 10 PM when we got back home (we started off at 6 PM) so we just decided to call it a night.
Here is a picture of us at the Greek restaurant just after finishing our dinner. I had the Gryos with Zaziki / Taziki sauce and a Greek Salad. They were really delicious.
SundayOn Sunday, we had a typical breakfast of rolls with either cheese and meat or jelly. Then we got around and we called Andy's aunt and uncle about the apartment repairs we still have on-going. After that we went to Schopfheim to take all Jamie's boxes of books over there. Once we have the bookshelves from Ikea that I mentioned earlier, we can put those books into the bookshelves and use those moving boxes for other things This means less boxes to purchase and less waste / unwanted cardboard at the end of the move. Germans in general are very green oriented and "sparsam" or thrifty / frugal.
On the way back from Schopfheim we stopped at a place called Burg Rötteln which is a Castle Ruin very close to where I am staying. You can read more about it here: here (wikipedia) and here (official website). It's a really neat place and you can see for miles from the top. They also have a museum but the main reason we stopped was to grab some lunch at their little garden "Imbiss". Imbiss really has no good translation - though I guess you could say take-out. It's like a fast food place but you walk up to it rather than drive through. You'll just have to see the pictures.
Unfortunately we didn't have the time to do the museum on Sunday. Jamie and Andy had made some plans to meet with a neighbor. I was a little disappointed but was assured we would go back to see it before I leave Germany. So as I said, after that we met up with the neighbor to discuss the move (she is moving at the same time so we are making it a joint effort).
After that Jamie and Andy decided we should make a picnic at the Wiese. We took some pictures together while we were there. It was a really nice ending to the weekend.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our weekend. Again, you can click on any of the pictures to see a larger version. I will be going back to Burg Rötteln so you can see the view from the top. Jamie tells me it is really magnificent so I'm looking very much forward to it.
Tonight we have some visitors coming to view the old apartment. The owner wants to find new renters so we have a real-estate agent who will come and do a showing to interested parties. In the US when you have a house-showing it's not very common for the current owner/renter to be at home but here it is. The real-estate agents rarely get keys to the place as they do in the US. Also, over here apartments are not arranged in complexes as they are in the midwest. The apartments are in apartment buildings (like larger US cities) and some are rented and some are owned. It's interesting to me how different people around the world live.
After the apartment showing we may try our hand at travelling to Ikea again. They are open until 9 PM so we'll just have to see what we think. We may wait and go tomorrow night if we think it will be cutting it too close. Either way, I will let you know what we decide to do.
I hope you have a good day at school today. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
On the way back from Schopfheim we stopped at a place called Burg Rötteln which is a Castle Ruin very close to where I am staying. You can read more about it here: here (wikipedia) and here (official website). It's a really neat place and you can see for miles from the top. They also have a museum but the main reason we stopped was to grab some lunch at their little garden "Imbiss". Imbiss really has no good translation - though I guess you could say take-out. It's like a fast food place but you walk up to it rather than drive through. You'll just have to see the pictures.
Me at Burg Rötteln
This is a traditional meal from Bayern called "Weiße Würstle" or White Sausage. It tastes more like hotdog texturewise than what we think of as sausage back home. It is served with a "Süß-Senf Soße" or a Sweet Mustard Sauce which is almost like a dijon honey mustard. This is very typical in the Bayern area (where most the national soccer players come from) and it almost always served with a pretzel and beer. Jamie and I had an apple schorle which I talked about a few days ago in one of my posts.
This is a pretty typical "Imbiss"
This was the garden seating which is pretty much what the "Biergarten" or Beer Gardens look like.
Here is on of many brands of ready-made "Apfelschorle"
Me at the exit of the Burg.
Me again at the exit gate.
This was at the very bottom of the entrance by the parking. If you look down and to the right you can see very small the city of Lörrach in the background. If you click on the picture it will show you a larger, easier to see version.
Unfortunately we didn't have the time to do the museum on Sunday. Jamie and Andy had made some plans to meet with a neighbor. I was a little disappointed but was assured we would go back to see it before I leave Germany. So as I said, after that we met up with the neighbor to discuss the move (she is moving at the same time so we are making it a joint effort).
After that Jamie and Andy decided we should make a picnic at the Wiese. We took some pictures together while we were there. It was a really nice ending to the weekend.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our weekend. Again, you can click on any of the pictures to see a larger version. I will be going back to Burg Rötteln so you can see the view from the top. Jamie tells me it is really magnificent so I'm looking very much forward to it.
Tonight we have some visitors coming to view the old apartment. The owner wants to find new renters so we have a real-estate agent who will come and do a showing to interested parties. In the US when you have a house-showing it's not very common for the current owner/renter to be at home but here it is. The real-estate agents rarely get keys to the place as they do in the US. Also, over here apartments are not arranged in complexes as they are in the midwest. The apartments are in apartment buildings (like larger US cities) and some are rented and some are owned. It's interesting to me how different people around the world live.
After the apartment showing we may try our hand at travelling to Ikea again. They are open until 9 PM so we'll just have to see what we think. We may wait and go tomorrow night if we think it will be cutting it too close. Either way, I will let you know what we decide to do.
I hope you have a good day at school today. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Friday, April 8, 2011
A day in Lörrach
Dear Adam,
Today I went with Jamie to Lörrach to meet up with some of her friends. Lörrach is both the name of the "Landkreis" or County and the name of the "Hauptstadt" or largest/principle city of the county. You can read more about it here. We first met by a store called Karstadt and then walked to a nearby Greek restaurant. Jamie and I shared the Gyros with Tatziki sauce (this is a yogurt sauce kind of like Ranch dressing but not so heavy nor spicy). After that we went and had ice cream.
I really don't have so much to say about the experience but I took quite a few pictures. As they say - a picture is worth a thousand words...
Today I went with Jamie to Lörrach to meet up with some of her friends. Lörrach is both the name of the "Landkreis" or County and the name of the "Hauptstadt" or largest/principle city of the county. You can read more about it here. We first met by a store called Karstadt and then walked to a nearby Greek restaurant. Jamie and I shared the Gyros with Tatziki sauce (this is a yogurt sauce kind of like Ranch dressing but not so heavy nor spicy). After that we went and had ice cream.
I really don't have so much to say about the experience but I took quite a few pictures. As they say - a picture is worth a thousand words...
These are girls Jamie met in her German language and orientation class last year. To live in Germany (especially if you think you will one day take the German citizenship) you must take a German language class and an orientation course in which you learn politics, history, culture, etc. It's a good idea as it helps the person learn more about the place they are living and makes life easier to adjust to. Sometimes it is hard to adjust to the differences between cultures (there is a term for that called culture shock).
They are from left to right: Viktoria (Ukraine), Eugeniya (Ukraine), Simone (Malta) and Iwona (Poland)
The Greek Restaurant: The Symposium
Simone with her Coppo del Bosco Ice Cream
Me with our Stawberries and Yogurt.
(It also had one scoop of frozen yogurt in addition to the normal yogurt).
The Mona Lisa: this is where we had our ice creams
This is another Apotheke but I took the picture so you could see some of the typical architecture.
I hope you like today's letter. I don't know how much I will be able to write over the weekend. We will be busy with stuff related to the move. In any case, I will try to take lots of pictures and write when I have time. If I don't post this weekend I will make a longer post covering the weekend on Monday.
I hope you enjoy your weekend and that your weather is as nice in Oklahoma as it is here. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A visit to the new apartment
Dear Adam,
I had a nice letter all written out to you and then the computer browser crashed. It's already almost 10:00 PM here so please forgive me because this second letter isn't as nice as the first one.
Today I hung out while Jamie packed up things for the move. I haven't told you yet but it's much more common for people to live in apartments in this region of Germany than houses partially due to cost and mostly due to space. The two southern-most states of Germany are called Baden-Württemberg and Bayern. Together they are slightly smaller than Kansas but have 25 Million inhabitants as opposed to the 2.5 million in Kansas (at least according to what Jamie told me). I was truly fascinated. We talked while she worked and I used the time to also think about things in the region I want to see. I'm making a list of places I want to go during my visit.
Today about 3:00 PM - Andy's aunt and uncle came and picked us up and we went to a high design furniture house called Schweigert so they could look at kitchens. After that we went and visited the new apartment in Schopfheim so they could see it. I will post some pictures here so you can see it too. One of the pictures is of a canal which runs right in front of the apartment. These canals run all over the city and are created by water being diverted into them from the Wiese (the river we talked about yesterday). The last picture is of the kitchen which is still not quite finished yet: at least this picture will give you a sort of idea.
For dinner we went to a restaurant called Ott's Leopoldhöhe in Weil am Rhein. They have really great food. Here is their web address if you want to take a look: http://www.ottshotel.de/.
Tomorrow Jamie and I are meeting a couple of her friends in the city of Lörrach (pronounced Lur-uh). We're not sure yet what we'll be doing but I'll be sure to take more pictures.
I hope you had a good day at school and I'll talk to you again tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Stanley
I had a nice letter all written out to you and then the computer browser crashed. It's already almost 10:00 PM here so please forgive me because this second letter isn't as nice as the first one.
Today I hung out while Jamie packed up things for the move. I haven't told you yet but it's much more common for people to live in apartments in this region of Germany than houses partially due to cost and mostly due to space. The two southern-most states of Germany are called Baden-Württemberg and Bayern. Together they are slightly smaller than Kansas but have 25 Million inhabitants as opposed to the 2.5 million in Kansas (at least according to what Jamie told me). I was truly fascinated. We talked while she worked and I used the time to also think about things in the region I want to see. I'm making a list of places I want to go during my visit.
Today about 3:00 PM - Andy's aunt and uncle came and picked us up and we went to a high design furniture house called Schweigert so they could look at kitchens. After that we went and visited the new apartment in Schopfheim so they could see it. I will post some pictures here so you can see it too. One of the pictures is of a canal which runs right in front of the apartment. These canals run all over the city and are created by water being diverted into them from the Wiese (the river we talked about yesterday). The last picture is of the kitchen which is still not quite finished yet: at least this picture will give you a sort of idea.
For dinner we went to a restaurant called Ott's Leopoldhöhe in Weil am Rhein. They have really great food. Here is their web address if you want to take a look: http://www.ottshotel.de/.
Tomorrow Jamie and I are meeting a couple of her friends in the city of Lörrach (pronounced Lur-uh). We're not sure yet what we'll be doing but I'll be sure to take more pictures.
I hope you had a good day at school and I'll talk to you again tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Just hanging out and a walk by the Wiese
Dear Adam,
Today was really a pretty slow day for us here in Germany. We slept in because I'm still adjusting to the time difference and the postlag (which would be jetlag if I'd flown). I did help Jamie pack up some of her books since she's getting ready to move to an apartment she just bought with her husband. I think later we may also pack up some of the clothes she isn't wearing into her suitcases so we can transport them to the new apartment this weekend. (By the way, Bauhaus on the box below is the name of a home store which is a lot like a Home Depot or a Lowes).
When we did get around we went to the post office to mail a letter to Jamie's health insurance company and to pick up some juice from the store. We found Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and were really excited. It seems Cranberries are mainly a US product which is imported. We mixed 1/4 glass Cranberry Juice with 1/4 Apple Juice and then 1/2 a glass of sparkling water. This is very popular in Germany and is called a Schorle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schorle) or a Saftschorle (saft means juice). Schorle is pronounced like shore + luh (as in the sea shore and the end of the name Layla). The most popular is of course the Apfelschorle (which is apple juice and sparkling water). This is really healthier than drinking juice straight as it delutes the amount of sugar and calories you intake. It is also better than sodapop because it is all around healthier but you still get the sweetness and the bubbling effect. I have decided this idea needs to be exported to the US. They are really great!!!
Apart from the mail / grocery errands we also stopped by the Apotheke am Rathaus. That means the Chemist / Apothecary / Pharmacist at City Hall (depending on how you translate it into English). Their drugstore/pharmacy concept here is a bit different than in the US. You still have to get a prescription from the doctor on many, many medicines but there are also medicines that you can get with just counsel from your Apotheker (Pharmacist) and still yet some that are over-the-counter like in the US. If you want to try your hand at some German (Jamie translates for me) you can read about the Apothecary here:
http://www.apo-rathaus.de/
Lastly as an afternoon snack we had peaches with Landliebe "Natur Joghurt" and cinnamon sprinkled on top. This is just a plain yogurt without any genetic modifications or any unwanted chemicals. To me it tastes a bit lighter than the yogurt we have back home and is a bit runnier (more like a cream sauce). The interesting thing about dairy products over here is they come in either 1.5% Fettarm (literally poor / lacking in fat or what we would call low fat) or 3.0% Normal (I guess this would be like Vitamin D). It's not like the US where we have everything from Skim Milk to full cream and everything in between. I am posting some pictures of both the yogurt and the peaches and Schorle.
I hope you like the photos from today. I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to get to some of the more exciting things yet but I also want to share with you just the everyday things we do here. This way you can see the ways in which things are alike or similar to back home and also how they are different on this side of the world. Say hi to your family from all of us.
***UPDATE***
Tonight when Andy got home we decided to take a walk by the Wiese - just the three of us. The Wiese is a local river that runs through this valley. We were in the city of Riehen which is actually in Switzerland. This river runs through both countries. In fact, Jamie and Andy's new apartment is just a few hundred feet from this river on the German side. The river is more wild, natural on the German side and hasn't been sculpted as it has on the Swiss side. I posted some pictures of our visit to the Wiese.
I hope you like the pictures. Tomorrow we are going to go to the new apartment in Schopfheim with Andy's aunt and uncle. I should have pictures tomorrow of that adventure.
Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Today was really a pretty slow day for us here in Germany. We slept in because I'm still adjusting to the time difference and the postlag (which would be jetlag if I'd flown). I did help Jamie pack up some of her books since she's getting ready to move to an apartment she just bought with her husband. I think later we may also pack up some of the clothes she isn't wearing into her suitcases so we can transport them to the new apartment this weekend. (By the way, Bauhaus on the box below is the name of a home store which is a lot like a Home Depot or a Lowes).
When we did get around we went to the post office to mail a letter to Jamie's health insurance company and to pick up some juice from the store. We found Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and were really excited. It seems Cranberries are mainly a US product which is imported. We mixed 1/4 glass Cranberry Juice with 1/4 Apple Juice and then 1/2 a glass of sparkling water. This is very popular in Germany and is called a Schorle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schorle) or a Saftschorle (saft means juice). Schorle is pronounced like shore + luh (as in the sea shore and the end of the name Layla). The most popular is of course the Apfelschorle (which is apple juice and sparkling water). This is really healthier than drinking juice straight as it delutes the amount of sugar and calories you intake. It is also better than sodapop because it is all around healthier but you still get the sweetness and the bubbling effect. I have decided this idea needs to be exported to the US. They are really great!!!
Apart from the mail / grocery errands we also stopped by the Apotheke am Rathaus. That means the Chemist / Apothecary / Pharmacist at City Hall (depending on how you translate it into English). Their drugstore/pharmacy concept here is a bit different than in the US. You still have to get a prescription from the doctor on many, many medicines but there are also medicines that you can get with just counsel from your Apotheker (Pharmacist) and still yet some that are over-the-counter like in the US. If you want to try your hand at some German (Jamie translates for me) you can read about the Apothecary here:
http://www.apo-rathaus.de/
Lastly as an afternoon snack we had peaches with Landliebe "Natur Joghurt" and cinnamon sprinkled on top. This is just a plain yogurt without any genetic modifications or any unwanted chemicals. To me it tastes a bit lighter than the yogurt we have back home and is a bit runnier (more like a cream sauce). The interesting thing about dairy products over here is they come in either 1.5% Fettarm (literally poor / lacking in fat or what we would call low fat) or 3.0% Normal (I guess this would be like Vitamin D). It's not like the US where we have everything from Skim Milk to full cream and everything in between. I am posting some pictures of both the yogurt and the peaches and Schorle.
This says "Schmekt jetzt noch cremiger" which means now it tastes even creamier.
While I am at it, I am also going to post a picture of these things called Twistees. This is a snack from Malta (where Simone, Jamie's friend, comes from). They tasted almost exactly like Cheetos except they don't leave your fingers stained technicolor-orange.
I hope you like the photos from today. I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to get to some of the more exciting things yet but I also want to share with you just the everyday things we do here. This way you can see the ways in which things are alike or similar to back home and also how they are different on this side of the world. Say hi to your family from all of us.
***UPDATE***
Tonight when Andy got home we decided to take a walk by the Wiese - just the three of us. The Wiese is a local river that runs through this valley. We were in the city of Riehen which is actually in Switzerland. This river runs through both countries. In fact, Jamie and Andy's new apartment is just a few hundred feet from this river on the German side. The river is more wild, natural on the German side and hasn't been sculpted as it has on the Swiss side. I posted some pictures of our visit to the Wiese.
This is the walking path by the Wiese on the Swiss side.
This is me on the walking path in front of the Wiese.
This is me on one of many bridges that crosses the Wiese. To my back is the city of Basel Switzerland.
I hope you like the pictures. Tomorrow we are going to go to the new apartment in Schopfheim with Andy's aunt and uncle. I should have pictures tomorrow of that adventure.
Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Today's happenings
Dear Adam,
Today we woke up early because Jamie had a hair appointment. She said she waited for almost 6 months to color her hair due to her pregnancy but now that she's far along she wanted highlights. We took a picture of us together in the mirror now that her hair is back to blonde.
After we got done with the hair appointment, her friend Simone called. She is just back from Malta. I tagged along when they went shopping for pregnancy clothes. Simone is also pregnant but her baby is due a couple weeks earlier. We had Chinese food for lunch which was really tasty. Unfortunately we didn't take a picture.
We are having dinner at a "Biergarten" for dinner. A Biergarten (literally beer garden) is kind of like a restaurant/sports bar German style. In the summer months, they have outdoor seating in a garden type atmosphere where people often order beer and sometimes food. The place we are going is called the Chläbi and they tell me it has really, really good food. I will take pictures while I'm there and upload them when we're back from dinner.
***UPDATE***
We unfortunately didn't sit outdoors because it was starting to get chilly as the sun was going down. They tell me they eat at the Chläbi pretty often though and we will definitely eat in the garden area before I go back home to Oklahoma. I took some pictures while we were there so you can see the inside atmosphere of the restaurant. Jamie wanted me to tell you this is where she watched Germany in the world cup games last year.
The first two pictures are of me with Jamie and her husband Andy (short for Andreas).
I hope you liked the pictures. It was a long day and I'm still adjusting to the time difference. We are 7 hours ahead of you. Oklahoma is Central Standard / Daylights Savings Time and we are Central European Time. That means right now it is 22:07 or 10:07 PM and 15:07 or 3:07 PM back home. Perhaps you're just getting out of school now. I hope you enjoy reading all about my adventures. I'll try to write you every day.
Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Today we woke up early because Jamie had a hair appointment. She said she waited for almost 6 months to color her hair due to her pregnancy but now that she's far along she wanted highlights. We took a picture of us together in the mirror now that her hair is back to blonde.
After we got done with the hair appointment, her friend Simone called. She is just back from Malta. I tagged along when they went shopping for pregnancy clothes. Simone is also pregnant but her baby is due a couple weeks earlier. We had Chinese food for lunch which was really tasty. Unfortunately we didn't take a picture.
We are having dinner at a "Biergarten" for dinner. A Biergarten (literally beer garden) is kind of like a restaurant/sports bar German style. In the summer months, they have outdoor seating in a garden type atmosphere where people often order beer and sometimes food. The place we are going is called the Chläbi and they tell me it has really, really good food. I will take pictures while I'm there and upload them when we're back from dinner.
***UPDATE***
We unfortunately didn't sit outdoors because it was starting to get chilly as the sun was going down. They tell me they eat at the Chläbi pretty often though and we will definitely eat in the garden area before I go back home to Oklahoma. I took some pictures while we were there so you can see the inside atmosphere of the restaurant. Jamie wanted me to tell you this is where she watched Germany in the world cup games last year.
The first two pictures are of me with Jamie and her husband Andy (short for Andreas).
This picture is of a "Gemischter Salat" or a Mixed Salad.
This is a picture of homemade chicken nuggets - very juicy and tender. They were really tasty and were served with a spicy oriental sauce (sort of like sweet and sour sauce).
This is a popular local water. It says "Sprudelnd" which means it's Sparkling (carbonated like your sodapop). That is how it is served over here unless you specifically ask for water without bubbles. If you click on the picture you will jump to a larger image you can read easier.
I hope you liked the pictures. It was a long day and I'm still adjusting to the time difference. We are 7 hours ahead of you. Oklahoma is Central Standard / Daylights Savings Time and we are Central European Time. That means right now it is 22:07 or 10:07 PM and 15:07 or 3:07 PM back home. Perhaps you're just getting out of school now. I hope you enjoy reading all about my adventures. I'll try to write you every day.
Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Stanley
Monday, April 4, 2011
Flat Stanley arrives to Germany (and will be taking over my blog while he's here)
After coming home from my C1 German class, I was surprised to open my postbox and find a letter from my little cousin Adam. I wasn't surprised necessarily about the letter (because I was expecting it) but rather that it was already here. When I opened the letter - I found Flat Stanley waiting. :)
For those of you who don't know, Flat Stanley is a little boy who was flattened by his "Pinwand" or Bulletin Board when it fell on top of him. He wanted to visit some friends in California so his parents mailed him there because it was less expensive than flying.
I'm really not sure how long Flat Stanley is going to camp out at our place but we're very excited to have him as a guest in our home and hope to take him to see lots of sights here in the "Dreiländereck" or the "Three Country Corner" where Germany, Switzerland and France meet up.
If you want to read more about the area where Flat Stanley is staying during his visit, you can go to the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weil_am_Rhein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markgr%C3%A4flerland
Greetings from Weil am Rhein, Germany,
Jamie, Andi, Dickens & Stanley
For those of you who don't know, Flat Stanley is a little boy who was flattened by his "Pinwand" or Bulletin Board when it fell on top of him. He wanted to visit some friends in California so his parents mailed him there because it was less expensive than flying.
I'm really not sure how long Flat Stanley is going to camp out at our place but we're very excited to have him as a guest in our home and hope to take him to see lots of sights here in the "Dreiländereck" or the "Three Country Corner" where Germany, Switzerland and France meet up.
If you want to read more about the area where Flat Stanley is staying during his visit, you can go to the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weil_am_Rhein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markgr%C3%A4flerland
Greetings from Weil am Rhein, Germany,
Jamie, Andi, Dickens & Stanley
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