A Trip to Erding

Suffering under the burden of having to take 6 weeks of vacation a year, and only having taken 3 weeks so far for our trip to Canada, Elena and I decided we needed to get caught up. So last week we took off work and made a quick getaway to the small city of Erding, in the state of Bavaria in south-western Germany. The city is just north-west of Munich; in fact the Munich International Airport is closer to Erding than it is to Munich. But aside from that, Erding -- despite it's population of only 35000 -- is known throughout Germany for two things: the largest thermal bath park in Europe, and the largest wheat-beer brewery in the world.
Naturally, we visited both.

Erding is typically Bavarian in it's architecture, and we enjoyed a little stroll the old city center after squeezing through the tiny gate.
With it's lively-coloured buildings, pedestrian-only zones and a small river flowing through the middle, the downtown is an idyllic place to wile away a morning.












Erding's thermal bath park is very impressive and difficult to explain to North Americans not accustomed to the German concept of "Therme". Imagine a spa crossed with a giant water park: a massive complex of inter-connected buildings with three retractable roofs housing everything from saunas and whirlpools to water slides, where the lines between 'indoor' and 'outdoor' are blurred.
 

After spending the better part of two days there, we can whole-heartedly recommend it if you ever find yourself in this part of Germany.
Judging by the fact that there are two tours daily at the wheat beer brewery, they also have a large number of visitors. It was an informative and entertaining tour which allowed us to see every step of the process is making the world's most famous wheat beer. Wheat beer is a cloudy, thicker, slightly sweet beer. It is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread".

Although much of the process is automated and involves all the modern technology you would expect, it is entirely naturally-brewed and there are none of the additives found in many North American beers. The final stage of the process actually takes place in the bottle during its storage in the brewery's climate-controlled warehouse, capable of housing up to 15 million bottles.

The tour ends at the brewery's restaurant beside the stills, where everyone is treated to that most typical of Bavarian meals: white sausage with sweet mustard, a large pretzel, and of course: wheat beer.
We enjoyed the complimentary lunch with a friendly elderly couple from north-eastern Germany who were travelling around in an RV.
Interestingly, the brewery had something else from north-eastern Germany on display: an intact piece of the Berlin wall, presented to the brewery's owner (it is still privately-owned) on the occasion of his 70th birthday.       

The View From Here

We have just acquired two new things of great importance: an apartment, and high-speed internet. It's not that I'm ranking those things as being of equal standing, but using a USB stick in an area with very weak (sometimes no) network coverage or scurrying over to one of Elena's relatives just to check our emails and update this blog until now has made me appreciate the convenience of modern connectedness.
It's been about a week since we moved in to our new digs, and we're glad that we don't feel like long-term guests anymore. It's a small apartment, but the space is maximized by having only a few rooms and a high ceiling on one side due to the slanted roof. Also, being on the top (4th) floor of the building with a balcony to the south and a sun-room to the north affords us plenty of natural light and a nice panoramic view of Balingen. As the interior is either devoid of furniture or an embarrassing post-moving mess, we would prefer to introduce you to our new dwelling by showing you a few pictures with a view toward the outside.

 On the south side, the neighbouring building is slightly lower than ours, allowing the hills of the "Schwäbische Alb" region just beyond Balingen to be seen.

On the balcony, the view to the left is of residential housing; to the right is the downtown, complete with church steeple. 

 On the north side is another apartment building, but also a nice patch of green in between. The highway is hidden behind the row of trees, but the sound of traffic isn't usually loud enough to be noticable.

 

Being closer to the highway and the downtown mean that both of us are that much closer to work and most stores, and we're thankful that we've found a place that suits us.

Who knows, maybe we'll even post photos of the inside if we ever get it to a presentable state.

Opening Day

We've been back in Germany for about a week now after spending a good part of April in Canada. Admittedly not the best month to visit, but the weather wasn't as bad as it could have been and we accomplished (most of) what we set out to do. We did our taxes, and instead of packing more our remaining belongings in Canada in a shipping container and waiting weeks to get them, we decided to take advantage of the fact that there were four of us -- two of our nieces came with us -- and jam as much as we could in our luggage for the trip home, including forking over a bit of extra money to the airline so that we could each take an extra suitcase. We did manage to bring the important stuff with us, but there are still some things we'd like... just a fair warning to any of you who plan to come to Germany in the next while. If we find out, we may saddle you down with extra luggage.
The jet lag hit particularly hard this time around for some reason; despite having a weekend to recover, our first days at work were brutal, and we're still not entirely back in the groove. But the weather has more than compensated for our troubles, and after a cool start to the week the temperature has been steadily climbing the clouds gradually fading. Today was the high point, with not a cloud in the sky and the mercury hitting 30° (86 F). Today being a Saturday, the implications were clear. It was opening day of the European city lifestyle. People descended on the old city center; strolling through the pedestrian-only zone and sipping drinks at outdoor cafés.   

The city center is never actually closed during the year, it just lends itself well to fair weather as you can imagine. And despite the sudden heat, thankfully people didn't take the North American approach to summer apparel and strip down to the bare minimum. Elena had to work, so after dropping her off I thought I'd get a jump on the week's grocery shopping to leave the rest of the day free for a bit of yard work, odds and ends, and of course just enjoying the day. I should have known by now that many Germans also plan their Saturdays in the same way -- not just when there's good weather -- and so when I went to the two grocery stores where we usually do our shopping, both of them were already packed and had long lineups at the checkouts... at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. I should point out that the entire downtown pedestrian zone is set up as a farmer's market on Saturday mornings, and also has many customers with baskets in hand at 8 o'clock. By late morning much of the produce is gone and vendors begin packing up their tables and trailers. By early afternoon there is no trace of them, and the area is wide open for people to enjoy the day along with a scoop of gelato.   

Hamburg III: The Cool Display

Most of the exhibition visitors either operated commercial kitchens (i.e. restaurants, hotels, hospitals, etc.), or were dealers and planners for the industry. Although the vast majority were from Germany, I was recruited into action when foreign visitors showed up, all of whom spoke English to some degree or another. I did need to take care of a few German visitors myself, and that was a bit nerve-wracking.
The company I work for was up against some stiff competition from the other displays, but was up for the challenge. Not to be outdone by the smells and tastes coming from other kitchens, we had our own professional chef along with some assistants showcasing the usefulness of our commercial refrigeration appliances.
There are two things which easily attract the attention of passersby, the first of which is offering a delicious snack free of charge. Not too much; something you can hold in your hand but which looks haute-cuisine. Our chef whipped up a selection of canapés early in the day using a variety of fresh breads, cheeses, smoked meats and salmon, and topped them with colourful vegetable garnishes. He then put them in our shock-freezer where they plunged down to -30°. Throughout the day he would take them out, let them unthaw for 5-10 minutes, and hand them out to groups of people while enthusiastically explaining to them through his wireless headset microphone that they were actually prepared many hours earlier and had in fact been frozen solid for much of the day. He spoke passionately about the technology we use to pull this off, and proceded to also extoll the merits of our quick-cooler by showing how he was storing fresh baguette, smoked fish and 3-day old pasta and potatoes together with no transer of aroma or flavour. Most people were quite impressed by the canapés, as was I. Just to be sure, I continually tested them throughout my three days there.
The other way to get people to spend time at your display of course is to offer free beverages. All you had to do was wander in and one of our hostesses would appear before you asking if you would like something to drink. From our chilled beverage counter we offered spring water, cola, juice, and white wine. Although many visitors requested something from our espresso/cappucino machine, the biggest draw was the fact that we had the Black Forest's most famous pilsner and wheat beers available from our bar - on tap.
Welcome to Germany.

                                          
Six o'clock was happy hour. After 9 hours of stress without a break, weary sales teams would desert their dry displays and gather at the displays of business partners who had liquid refreshment to offer... i.e., ours. Men loosened their ties, women kicked off their heels, and everyone chatted about the highs and lows of the day.
Suddenly everyone was a friend.
Even the competition.

Hamburg II: The Exhibition

The reason I was in Hamburg of course, was to attend the biggest commercial gastronomy exhibition in Germany with my new employer. Although the primary purpose was to get to know our regional sales reps and dealers as well as see how things are done from a marketing perspective, I was free to periodically roam around to familiarize myself with the industry in general and our business partners and competition in particular.

The exhibition basically consists of multiple enormous halls containing the newest, the biggest, the most high-tech and of course most expensive commercial kitchen appliances, tools and gadgets (many of which I didn't even know existed) in the world. A good percentage of the exhibitors had professional chefs (some of them famous TV chefs) working fully functioning commercial kitchens, demonstrating their wares by creating every imaginable gourmet delight in record time and dishing it out free of charge to whomever happened to be standing in front of them. You can begin to imagine my enthusiasm. Every now and then I thought "And they're paying me to do this?!"

I actually only made it though a few of the halls, so I can't tell you what was in the other ones. But from what I saw, I can tell you that there is no kitchen task so small, that some company somewhere hasn't made a machine to assist you in that operation. Case in point - I'm not making this up - there was a company proudly displaying a large, fully automated cutlery sorter: pile your various-sized spoons, knives and forks in one end, and it will dispense them in the appropriate holder at the other end. I suppose you would have to have an extremely high-volume dining hall to justify such a purchase, but items like that made the exhibition a fascinating experience.

Close to our display was a company proudly showcasing a huge kitchen island I think any of us could live with. This stainless steel beauty features two convection ranges and one gas range, three various sized frying stations, a built-in barbecue grill, a pressable griddle, several sinks and overhead faucets, all controlled either manually or with three touch-screen LCD displays.

My favourite two items were a little simpler, and conveniently displayed side by side. Just think, you too can have your very own mongolian grill on the patio, composed entirely of stainless steel with a marble ledge. 

Or, if you're a little more old-fashioned, you can spring for the partitioned frying pan the size of your entire stovetop. Breakfast for the whole family couldn't be easier.

"Who wants bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes and apple fritters?"

Hamburg I: The City

While Elena had Saturday through Monday off of work, I was in Hamburg beginning my new job at an exhibition. I arrived back home from Hamburg late last evening with a lot of experiences packed into three days, and a few photos to boot. I thought it would be convenient to write three seperate entries over the next few days, and this is the first one: my impressions of the city.
Hamburg is a port city in the north of Germany, and I found it to be very different from southern Germany in a number of ways. For one, the architecture is closer to that Denmark, their neighbour not far to the north. Although there is what I would call a general style, there is not uniformity among the buildings, with many of them managing to stand out from the crowd as far as colour, facade, or general design.







This is true of the culture as well: it is an edgy university town with a strong artistic flare and a huge music scene. Everywhere I looked there were ads for musicals or concerts.
It also has an abundance of great restaurants featuring international and new cuisine. We travelling across town with some business associates to eat at a very authentic Argentinian steakhouse with a large charcoal grill.
This is where the difference between northern and southern Germans became pronounced. While the artsy, well-dressed locals were trying to enjoy a quiet evening in Latin style, the Swabians and Bavarians in our party were howling with laughter at jokes being told in turn, and ordering more beer. Southern Germans are known for a number of things, but subtlety is not one of them.

On the Move

As I wrote in the last entry, things are changing fast for us.
For one, we've finally found an apartment which suits us, and plan to move in on May 15th. I say "finally" because we've been looking for several months. It's not that our expectations were so high, it's just that the Balingen rental and real estate market is so hot that most of the good properties and units are gone before they even get on the open market. It's one of those things where you have to be well-connected to hear about who's going to be selling or moving out soon, and then swoop in before they get a chance to put an ad in the paper. Elena was fortunate enough to have a colleague who is planning to move out of an apartment which she owns, and it happens to be in a very good location for us: within walking distance of Elena's work (and the church), and very close to the highway. We'll do another post when we move in to show you around our new digs.
Another big change concerns my work. The story goes like this: About a month ago I began to develop rashes on my hands. I assumed it had to do with the unusually cold weather we were experiencing, but thought it odd that I had never had anything like that during a Canadian winter. Then it began to get worse even as the weather was getting better, spreading up my arms almost to my shoulders. At that point Elena booked me a doctor's appointment. Our doctor took one look at it and asked if I wear a watch. I don't, but he said he asked because it looks exactly like a nickel allergy. I told him I work with nickel-containing parts every day. He looked at me with a half-smile, nodding his head as the career implications sunk in. My only formal training and experience is in trades dealing with metals. He delicately explained that it would be quite difficult for me to continue in my current position without taking measures to ensure that my skin does not come into contact with nickel - a component in almost all steels, and especially metal coatings. Wearing gloves and long sleeves all day along with other precautions would be necessary, but I would not be a very effective or happy worker.
Around the same time I found a job posting for a sales rep at a commercial refrigeration applicance company very close to Balingen. I have never done anything of that sort, but I had two things going for me: they wanted someone with a technical trade or experience to be able to deal with technical issues and questions, and they wanted someone fluent in spoken and written English because the position concerns product dealers outside of Germany. Check and check. Although they were also hoping for someone with sales experience, I decided to take a shot at it anyway. I sent a resume hoping that the job wasn't taken yet and Elena and I prayed about it because we didn't see much else for me in the way of career options. Amazingly, I got the job. I may do a post about that experience, it's quite miraculous. I gave my two-weeks notice, and yesterday was my last day working in Gosheim after nearly four months. I left on good terms and was even told they would try to find another job for me in the company if my new job didn't work out.
I took today off to do some errands and relax a bit, because my first day of work with the new company is actually tomorrow: I'm flying to an exhibition in Hamburg with my new boss! We're scheduled to leave tomorrow morning and come back Monday evening. They said my only job at the exhibition is to be curious. I can do that. Get to know my new colleagues and even check out the competition. I've never been to Hamburg, but I'm told it's a beautiful city. I don't know how much I will see of the city, but I'll let you know how things went.
One other thing that's (sort of) new is that we plan to be in Canada for the first few weeks in April! The flights were booked about a month ago and we haven't kept it a secret, but it came to my attention that not everyone has heard about this through the grapevine. So I thought I would mention it here. We need to do our Canadian taxes for last year and pack up a container of what's left to ship here. It also works out that the Easter holidays mean we'll get to spend a bit more time with family.
So, we hope to see a lot of you in a few weeks! But before that I'll try to let you know how my new job is working out.  

A Look Back

We've been up to our eyeballs in things to do the past few weeks, and things are changing fast. I'll have a few more updates for you (hopefully) soon, but for now I thought it would be nice to reminisce a bit about my late father-in-law and share some photos which have turned up since his passing nearly two months ago.


Here is a photo taken in the days leading up to our wedding. This is my favourite picture of the three of us, mainly because this was typical Tata: always ready for a warm embrace and a huge smile. My family stayed with my soon-to-be-inlaws for the wedding, and my brother Luke wrote me recently that what he will remember about Tata is that he always seemed to be the happiest guy on earth. I have to think that it was more than just the fact that his last daughter was finally getting married off.









My father-in-law had 14 children, and by the time he passed away, 62 grand-children and several great-grandchildren. There must be a lot of joy that comes with having so much progeny, but a fair amount of sorrow as well. Not long after his oldest grandchild died of complications from leukemia, his oldest son was killed in a car accident in Romania, leaving behind a wife and several young children. He was named Cornel after his father, and the two of them had a close relationship. Elena said that Tata was absolutely devastated, and was never quite the same afterward. I imagine that spending time with the children from his son Cornel was a comfort to him. They are now grown up, and have begun to have children of their own. This is a photo taken this past fall of Tata playing with his oldest great-grandchild, the grandson of his son Cornel.

This is the last picture of my father-in-law, taken two weeks before his passing. I don't think there could be a more fitting final portrait of him: at home with his beloved wife of more than fifty years, a grandchild in his lap and a dear long-time family friend who came to visit.




                                                                                                                                              

The Big Freeze

 One of the things Elena and I were looking forward to was a nice, mild southern German winter. We thought we had escaped the terrible Canadian winter, but it seems that it has followed us.
If you've followed the news recently, you're already aware that Europe is experiencing temperatures far below the norm, often accompanied by huge dumpings of snow. Unfortunately, Germany has also been affected. Balingen winter temperatures usually hover just above the freezing mark, which means that when it does snow, it doesn't stay on the ground long. The mercury has stayed well below the freezing mark for the last while though, even dipping down to -22 C (-8 F). As I write this, it is -15 C (5 F) outside. Having grown up in Canada, I can deal with it of course... it all feels so disappointingly familiar. I'm pretty sure I can hear my family and friends in Canada laughing.
I must admit though, that all this snow along with the prolonged freezing temperatures in this beautiful part of Germany makes for a scenic drive. The photo above is the view from the road as I leave work in Gosheim at 4:30. My commute meanders through towns tucked into the valleys, such as Wehingen:

If you look above the car in the foreground, you can see a little white sign on the side of the building. That is the bakery I stop at every morning on my way to work. They open at 6 AM with a huge selection of fresh-baked goods, and give me good reason to look forward to my morning break and lunch. Definitely worth getting out of a warm car for.

Farewell, Tata

I will begin by apologizing for going an entire month without writing a post. Things have been overwhelmingly busy for us since Christmas, and although I had intended to write a post or two about how we spent our holidays, it seems somewhat trivial now.
As many of you already know, three weeks ago Elena's father passed away. It was not at all expected. He seemed to be doing well, and spent his last day driving Elena around on errands while I was at work. In the evening, several of his children came by for a visit with their families. After they all left, we wished each other a good night, and went to bed. He slipped away in the early hours so peacefully that his wife of 52 years was not awakened.  
He is of course dearly missed by his wife and many children and grandchildren as well as those in the church and community who knew him. In the inital shock and grief, I wanted to write about it; to write about him in a way which would be a tribute to him. But after a few days I began to wonder what I could possibly write which would do justice to his life's story, or to give those of you who never had the priviledge of knowing him an appreciation of what he was like. So instead of one very long post, I've decided to write several smaller ones. Maybe not in close succession, but periodically as things come to mind or old photos are discovered I will try to give you insights into the man we called 'Tata'.
For now, here is my translation of the overview of his life which was read at his funeral:

Bro. Cornel Vartaci was born the sixth of seven children to Maria and Johan Vartaci on the third of March, 1935 in Pecica near Arad in Romania.
At 24 he married Ana Rehorek, and God blessed their marriage with 14 children: seven boys and seven girls; such is the true promise spoken in the Word of God: "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Finding his Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ in his early years, that is, 1961, it followed that he was baptized and welcomed into the church. There he gave himself with body and soul into the service of God. He was called into the ministry, and later to be a deacon, a capacity in which he served until the end of his life.
In the years 1989/1990 when the opportunity to leave Eastern Europe arose, four of his children left for Germany and began a new life. In 1992 he also left with his wife and six children, finding in Balingen his second homeland. Other children who had already married followed in the same year. The oldest son and his family remained behind in Romania.
In Germany he drew his pension, and for a long time continued to work for nominal wages in order to keep busy and supplement his income.
He fought the good fight, and yet he was not spared from enduring several blows. In the year 2000 his oldest grandson Robert passed away at only 18 years of age due to leukemia, and at the close of 2002 his oldest son Cornel was killed in a tragic car accident. All of his siblings preceded him in death.
In 2003 he suffered a heart attack, but was saved thanks to the able response of a medic from the neighbourhood. A difficult heart operation followed, yet he was able to recover almost entirely and lead a normal private and public life.
As he was not bed-ridden, his death came as a complete surprise to us all. The previous evening he was even visited by some of his children. He fell asleep peacefully in the night on the third of January 2012, insomuch that not even his wife was able to notice that he had gone on to live in the eternal homeland.

Random Updates

So, I just got back from a few days south of Nürnberg in beautiful Bavaria (the eastern state of southern Germany) where I was for work. It is a beautiful area and regretably, I didn't bring my camera... so no pictures to go with this post. Actually, I thought you might like to get caught up on how things are going for us in general, so here goes:
Elena has passed the 3-month mark at her job in the pharmacy, which is the probationary period. Up until that point, they can let someone go quite easily if it's not working out, but apparently Elena's boss likes her! She still enjoys her job very much, and a week and a half ago her boss treated everyone to an elegant Christmas dinner at a very nice restaurant... unfortunately spouses were not invited.
I've now been working for a month and a half, and things are also going well for me. It's been an intense learning experience, especially having to adapt to a different language and measuring system than what I'm accustomed to working with. My supervisors are great to work with, and the work environment is pleasant. Working at a higher elevation is also interesting, as the weather is often very different from Balingen. It's funny seeing my plastic water bottle all scrunched up when I get home, and my ears stay plugged for a while afterward.
We've used a couple weekends so far to visit friends and relatives. Most we haven't had time to visit during previous trips to Germany, so it's been nice catching up with them.
I got the results of my German language test, and fortunately I did quite well. The certificate will now be tucked away for a few years until I'm eligable for German citizenship. Other than that, there's not much other use for it. But I'm glad I got it out of the way.  
I am also now in posession of a German driver's license. For some reason I had very much looked forward to this. Not that I have anything special to drive (Elena's 20-year-old Mercedes is still kicking), but for some reason a German driver's license has extra prestige, don't you think? Maybe it's because of the reputation of German cars or the fact that this is the home of the Autobahn. People know that Germans take driving seriously, and I confess I do love driving here. A very big perk is that a German driving license has no expiry date! The down side is that driver's license photos look just as lousy here as they do in North America. 

Scripture Readings on Public Radio

So here's something I found interesting: There are several public radio stations in south-western Germany which are funded by taxpayers. I often listen to SWR2 which has a lot of news and documentary programming, similar to the CBC in Canada and NPR in the U.S. They also play a fair amount of classical music in the morning. I personally think that just about any piece by J.S.Bach is the best music to start the day, but Baroque music in general makes my morning.
In the late afternoon on my drive home, the station usually has some kind of interesting documentary, investigative report, or high-brow political debate. But this week, every day at five minutes before five o'clock, a passage of the Bible is read to mark Advent. Yesterday the messianic prothetic passage in the 11th chapter of Isaiah was read, and today it was the parable of the ten virgins from Matthew 25.
Let's review: the German government is funding Scripture readings on public radio.
Huh? What about the secular Europe we've heard so much about?
Obviously I'm no expert on German culture, but I get the sense that much of the European populace is more comfortable with the influence of Christianity on its history than many in North America. Examples: If there is a Catholic or Lutheran church in town (the two officially, historically recognized denominations in Germany), an official sign on the main road will inform you of the service times. Every day I drive by a prominently-displayed sculpture of the crucifixion in the middle of a town, and have seen numerous plaques with Bible passages in public places. A common way to greet someone - friend or stranger - is "Gruss Gott": God's greetings.        
A popular public spot to take guests for good view of Balingen is Lochen, a high cliff featuring a large cross:

If this was in Canada or the U.S., I expect there would be some organization filing a lawsuit to take it down... and they would probably win. Why is it different here? I can't claim to know for certain, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that history is acknowledged and preserved. Be it old buildings or religious holidays, heritage is not quickly done away with in these parts. Regardless of what individual citizens believe, European history is inextricably intertwined with the history of Christianity - however unpleasant. Even the German language has been influenced more by the Bible translation of Martin Luther than anything else.
These are just my thoughts at this point, coming from a North American perspective. Maybe as time goes by, I'll have some better insights into the role of faith in public life in Germany.
Until then, I confess that I will relish hearing the Bible read on public radio...

The Best Coffee in Town

As I mentioned in a previous post, it is difficult to find bad coffee in Balingen, or anywhere in Germany for that matter. Most cafés and restaurants have an expensive pump-driven commercial coffee machine that will ensure a consistently decent cup of java. Being the obsessive type however, I have been on a hunt for the very best coffee in Balingen. The coffee fiends among you know what I'm talking about: a cafe with an unreasonably large selection of coffees from around the world which they themselves have recently roasted, and a true Italian espresso machine: the kind where you have to hand-tamp the grinds in a group head, not just press a button.
Okay, so I can't claim to have patronized all the cafés in town - that remains my lofty goal, however. But I have found a great café which is now my favourite, and from where we buy coffee to make at home: Kaffeewerk Zollernalb.

     
You know they take coffee seriously because patrons actually sit beside their roasting equipment and sacks of green (meaning not yet roasted) coffee beans. Among the coffees which I've tried so far, there is a clear favourite: Carmo Estate from Brazil. I don't know why, but I always end up prefering Brazilian coffees. Brazil's coffees are like its people: relaxed and easily approachable, but with flair and a certain something that is hard to put your finger on...  sorry, I drifted off for a second there with the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim in my head... anyway, back to Germany.
Something else that sets this café apart from the others is that it is an undertaking of a local organization which provides employment opportunities for the cognitively handicapped. It comes as a bit of a surprise on the first visit, but the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. It's nice to be able to support a meaningful organization while getting an exeptional cup of coffee at the same time, don't you think? If you visit us, I'll take you to it!
Actually, I think I'm going to go tomorrow; we're almost out of Carmo Estate...

Long-lost Relatives

Having a rare last name makes it exciting when you come across someone else with the same name. Although our family name is more common in some parts of Germany, it only has two entries in the Balingen phone book. One is for a woman named Marianne; Elena was asked by someone at work if she is related to her. This is a change of pace for Elena, who is used to having a Romanian last name which was consistently mutilated by people trying to pronounce it as they squinted at her name tag (usually only last names are printed). No one struggles with her last name now that she has a thoroughly German one -- given to her by her Canadian husband, ironically.

The other entry is for a butcher shop ("Metzgerei" in German) which I decided I needed to find immediately. After all, anyone who shares my last name and makes their living with meat must be a close relative. And after a short search, there it was, complete with a logo of a boy gleefully pulling on a link of sausages. Apparantly, they had found a photo from my childhood:

 

Of course, there was nothing else to do but go in and buy something delicious. I did purchase a few items, but due to the small line of people behind me, I regretfully chickened out when it came time to tell the lady behind the counter that I was related to the owner and should be entitled to a family discount. I think at the moment I was just so overwhelmed by the dreamy scent of smoked pork.   

"We Can do Everything. Except Speak Proper German."

So, I apologize for taking a week to post. My excuse is that last week was pretty taxing: My first week of work (9 1/2 hrs each day); a German test on Friday which took several hours; following which I was under the weather all weekend.
My first week of work was very interesting, not simply because of the work itself, but also adjusting to the way things are done in Germany. Language (as I mentioned in the previous post) is obviously a big part of the adjustment, and it seemed fitting that I got to cap off the week with a German test. There are several officially recognized levels of German language ability: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. A1 is quite basic, but is required for non-Germans to get a residence and work permit; B1 is required of people applying for citizenship, and C2 is basically perfect German in all scenarios. A few weeks ago before getting my permit, I needed to take a quick grading test to judge my German ability and whether or not I would be forced to take a A1 test. Fortunately, I did well and did not have to write the (expensive and time-consuming) A1 test. Being a glutton for punishment, I immediately booked a B1 test which is required of immigrants who have lived in Germany for several years and wish to obtain citizenship. Although I'm not eligible to be a citizen for another 3 years, I booked the test thinking that I'd like to get it out of the way in case I ever need it. Besides, some employers like to see evidence of language abilities before they hire.  
So there I was, with 12 other immigrants (mostly Turkish and Russian if you're curious) who have lived in Germany for years and taken a several-month long night course to prepare for this 3-hour test which includes listening, reading, writing and speaking. I, of course, have only been here for 3 months and did not take the course. Remember I said I'm a glutton for punishment? It was a good experience and I'm quite sure I passed... by how much, I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I get the results mailed to me.
In fairness, I did have quite a head start in the German department, what with hearing it among family sometimes and then often speaking it at home with Elena during the last 3 years. Which is actually one of the minor reasons for moving here: to improve my German. There is, however, a glitch: when I say "German", I mean what's literally called 'high German' which is to say: proper, official modern German. The problem is that the place I have moved to is the south of Baden-Württemberg province. Let me share with you the new slogan of Baden-Württemberg:

"We can do Everything. Except Speak Proper German"
No kidding.
That's because the Schwabs -- as the residents of south-western Germany are traditionally called -- are known for two things: being hard-working innovators, and having a very distinctive dialect. "Dialect" is putting it nicely. It's butchered German... but it's fun. Let me give you a comparison you can appreciate: moving to B.W. to learn High German is like trying to perfect your grasp of the Queen's English by moving to Alabama. I wish I could post a recording, it's that funny.
My work supervisor last Monday was very accomodating, and tried his best to speak High German. No such luck with the supervisor I've had since then. He's a full-blown Schwab from up in the hills (literally), who makes no attempt to mitigate his dialect. Thankfully, the dialect my family speaks is related to 'Schwäbisch' as it's called, so I can usually understand it... but I still have to stop myself from laughing. At home, Elena and my mother-in-law speak the old Schwäbisch dialect my family speaks.
So basically, the next time you see me, I will have learned a lot of German... just not proper German.
In case you wonder why I've developed a strange accent.

Jeremy's First Day of Work in Germany

Well, first of all, thanks to those of you who have been praying for me (Jeremy) to find work. I had a second interview with a company late last week, and they wanted me to start as soon as possible! So, with my last remaining ounce of strength I will attempt to tell you a bit about my first day of work in Germany.

It's at a precision manufacturing company in Gosheim, about a half hour's drive south and up. I say "up", because it's at a noticably higher altitude than Balingen. While Balingen is at the base of the 'Schwäbische Alb' as it's called (a raised geographical formation in south-western Germany extending to Switzerland), Gosheim is well up into it. Today the clouds were below in the valley and it was sunny all day. It makes for a scenic commute, but one which I'm told can take a lot longer in winter.

The company where I am now working seems like a pleasant place to work, and they're expanding at a ridiculous pace. In the last year and a half they have grown by more than 50% to over 300 employees, and I was one of six new ones starting today. It's very clean and organized, and thankfully everyone (including the boss) is friendly and has a good attitude.

In a nutshell, my job is to program, maintain and trouble-shoot automated part-checking machines. Considering it was my first day, I had the opportunity to see and do a lot, and was relieved to overhear my immediate supervisor giving a positive report about me on the phone at the end of the day.

Although there's a lot to learn in any new job, I find having to re-learn all the technical terms in German is adding another level of challenge. My brain is stuffed and weary from trying to retain everything... basically, I was learning the terms as my supervisor was speaking them. I could usually discern what he was talking about from the context of the conversation or because he was pointing at something, and would think "So that's what you call that in German!"

All part of the fun though; I did sign up for all this after all by moving here!

Welcome to Balingen

It occured to me that many of you reading this have never been to Balingen, so I thought I'd tell you a bit about our new hometown. Balingen has a long history, going back at least to the year 863. It was slowly built up during the following centuries, and by the time Matthäus Merian made the engraving above in 1643, it had several landmark buildings still standing today -- despite a few devastating fires which destroyed much of the city. The Protestant Church is in the middle, while the Zollern Castle is visible as the three large buildings huddled together on the far right. Even a few sections of the outside wall still remain, but the city has expanded far beyond it to house the current population of 34 000.
                                                                                                                                                       
The Zollern Castle or 'Zollernschloss' stands beside the Eyach River which flows through the city. It is undoubtedly the most famous building in Balingen, and for obvious reasons is a favourite subject for photos and postcards. I may eventually dedicate an entire post to the Zollernschloss, but until then, enjoy this photo taken on our wedding day (we have many others featuring us and family members in front of the castle -- could you ask for a better backdrop?) by a certain Mr. P. Denzinger.

The Protestant Church stands in the middle of the city center, and its imposing bell tower marks the time every hour; a sound which can be heard even outside the city. At the moment I took this photo, it was tolling 11 o'clock, and if you look closely or expand the image, you'll see that the ancient sundial clock is actually reasonably accurate.




















The Stadtmitte, or city center: a tree-lined pedestrian haven dotted by cafes and sculptures, where children play while adults enjoy a cappucino or espresso. It's not hard to get used to. You're pretty much guaranteed a decent cup of coffee or scoop of gelato -- many of the cafes are owned and operated by Italians. This picture was taken on one of the last warm days of the season.

Here is a view of the city center in late afternoon as seen from a footbridge over the railroad tracks. 

 
I hope you've enjoyed this little introduction to the city and want to see more... in person, of course.

Elena's New Job

Well, something amazing happened when Elena went to look for a job. She decide to apply at the pharmacy where she most wanted to work, the Stadt-Apotheke in Balingen. It is the most central and busiest pharmacy in the city, and it had always appealed to her. Although they weren't advertising an opening, she was hired on full-time the next day! She began work a week later, and loves it.

Here she is in her official-looking white labcoat and name-tag assisting a random customer... okay, it's actually her sister Kethe. The strange thing was that I really did show up at the pharmacy at a random time to take a picture of her with a customer and it was her sister! The pharmacy is now doing even better as Elena's family members show up regularly to see if she's actually working.

As for me, I just got my Aufenthaltstitel (residence and work permit) a couple weeks ago, and have applied at about a dozen places for work. I've had a few promising preliminary interviews, so I'll let you know when I get hired as well. Thanks for your prayers!

Celebrating Our 3rd Anniversary in France

We celebrated our 1st anniversary by flying to Germany, so now that we're living in Germany, we decided to celebrate our 3d anniversary by going to France! The grass is always greener...

Actually, Elena had only been to France (Strasbourg, just over the border) once before, so we thought it would be fun to do a quick 2-day getaway. After a beautiful drive through the Black Forest, we cruised through the rolling French countryside to the cities of Luneville and Nancy in Lorraine.

Of course in Luneville, we visited Chateau Luneville, enjoying its well-tended gardens on a day with near-perfect weather.

Nancy is a big city with a lot to see and do, but since we were there for only a short time, we went straight downtown to check out the large square with its famous golden gates. We also enjoyed walking through the huge park with lovely gardens which lies just beyond the gates. 


It was so nice to be able to end our short trip by spending a bit of time with Kurt and Marlece Woerlen in the little village of Vallois. They are the grandparents of our sister-in-law Tirzah, and they made us feel very welcome. Onkel Kurt shared some insightful biblical exhortations with us, and Tante Marlece treated us to an excellent meal with food straight from the garden. They even sent some fresh vegetables home with us, along with a few delicious jams!

Beginning in Balingen

Herzlich Wilkommen!

Elena and I have been wanting to send out an email to let our friends know how we're doing, what we're doing, etc. now that we're living in Germany. Instead of semi-regular mass emails to those who may or may not be interested in what we're up to, we're going to try to do a blog! Although there will be a spurt of blogs initially as we catch you up on our first 2+ months here, I'm anticipating that posts will become somewhat less frequent as we settle into everyday life.

I thought it would be nice to start out with a family photo, but since we don't have kids we stole someone else's for this picture:

They even match us, don't you think? A dark-complexioned little eastern European, and a larger, high-maintenance redhead! Actually, they are the fraternal twin daughters of Elena's niece Carina, named Alanis and Alessa. And in Alessa's defence, she is not usually that cranky. It probably had something to do with being held by the big stranger with the scary voice.