There are 29 days left until I return back to the good old U.S.A. Which seems like a lot considering I mis-calculated (or mis-Googled because I am way too lazy to actually calculate anything ) the other day and thought I had only 26 days left to go...making today only 24. Nope. 29. Thanks a million Google for making me actually do math. I barely have enough energy to write this blog after having to figure out that equation.
Anyways... you might be wondering why I am returning to the States. Perhaps just for a visit? Well yes, if you consider a year a visit. Truth is I am not really sure how everything is going to pan out in the end because a lot of things tend to happen in a year but the plan so far is that I will be attending Culinary school and then return to Germany upon completion. Of course there are a few things that could weigh in on future plans. Those things would be the time frame in which I complete culinary school, jobs, money, etc. etc. you get the point.
So now to the big question that I get asked every time I discuss my newest life endeavor. What about your husband? Great question. He will be here, doing what he does now...except without me moping around
with nothing to do. I get it folks, a year is a long time, and yes I get that you probably think that I am being a selfish bitch for leaving...the weird thing is I am actually okay with that. Okay, so I am not %100 okay with that thought- considering through out this whole experience one of my biggest lessons learned is never to judge anyone without knowing what it is like to be in their shoes. I could go off on a huge tangent right now but I will spare you before this becomes a rant.
It seems like a rather bold and unnecessary move to make...leaving Germany and going to culinary school and all..but I guess you could describe it as an Eat Pray Love moment. You know...the moment where Elizabeth Gilbert gets up in the middle of the night and cries on the bathroom floor thinking how much she doesn't want to be living the life she is living? Alright, so it wasn't quite that dramatic. If I woke up in the middle of the night and laid on the bathroom floor crying I would find myself face first in a pair of dirty boxer briefs and I am not divorcing my husband or going to India. The concept of finding myself is a long the same lines however. I need to find myself, and I don't want to let my dreams just be dreams. Going to culinary school has been a dream of mine for a long time and I don't think I could live with myself if I never sought it out. Better now than when I am in my 30's barefoot and pregnant right? At least I am not abandoning any children.
Just so there is no confusion- I love Germany. It is beautiful here and I in no way, shape, or form, have any problems with the country or the people. In fact, I made more German friends than I did with other American military spouses. All through the internet of course ( in true Amber fashion ). They were a great help in trying to get me acquainted with their country, and get me signed up for the marathon here that I have been training for..yet am leaving 3 days before. My real problem lies in the fact that I suck at being outgoing enough to really fit into this military community. I applied to jobs with no luck, and it doesn't help that a lot of the spouses have been here together for a few years now. I am the new kid in class. The weird one that no one wants to play with unless they are given some sort of incentive or forced by the teacher.
Although it is not in the best of circumstances I am really looking forward to finally getting to go to culinary school. I feel selfish for making such a huge decision as this, but at the same time I feel brave.
If you have never seen Eat Pray Love..check out this trailer. Then go see it.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Paris!
I think this is the biggest break from blogging I have taken in a long time. I am beginning to feel like one of those bloggers that just kind of starts posting less and less and then before you know it they disappear completely to leave their blog looking kind of like this..
I am not ready to desert my blog. Not even for weeks at a time like I have been doing. So on that note. I have a lot of updates. ( well, for someone who usually has nothing new to say ).
We finally got to go to Paris, and it was fantastic. Never in my life did I think I would ever get to go.
As every trip should, it started off with some last minute packing
After leaving the bedroom a complete mess we began our little adventure which started off a bit rocky when we found out that our phone navigations stopped working once we crossed the boarder into France. Awesome. We had absolutely no maps, and not even an address to find our hotel. I can't find my way out of a paper bag, let alone find a hotel in Paris with absolutely no navigation. Eric could probably find his way out of a paper bag but this situation was more like trying to find your way out of a box surrounded by concrete 20,000 leagues under the sea. Our only hope was to find some wifi so that we could bring up the address on our phones with the internet. Luckily we spotted a McDonalds off of the autobahn. Normally I don't get anywhere near McDonalds, and blame them for the high percentage of heart disease and factory farming in America but that day...McDonalds saved our lives. I was able to pull up the map on my iphone and keep it open until we successfully reached our destination. So thanks Micky D's. I still won't eat your food but I will take your WiFi it was delicious.
We didn't make it to our hotel until about 5:30pm and being the old lady that I am I was famished and ready for dinner. But come to find out...French people don't eat dinner until around 9:00pm. At the usual dinner time for old ladies like me the French would be boozing it up in the cafe's and enjoy their meals of alcohol and cigarettes. I was starving but we couldn't find a place that was serving dinner. So we decided to walk around and kill some time.
We walked around the Eiffel tower and worked up an even bigger appetite avoiding annoying vendors with glow sticks trying to steal our money. I was so hungry I could of eaten Ratatouille- and I am not talking about the dish ratatouille.
Around 8:00pm we finally just ended up at the sketchy ass pizzeria restaurant next to our hotel. We were convinced that French people didn't get fat because they just didn't eat. About 50 dollars later for a horrible meal we went back to the hotel looking forward to what the next day had in store.
I woke up the next morning to hammering noises coming from outside. There was a farmer's market being set up right outside our hotel. Holy crap, they must of known I was coming. I am addicted to farmers markets. Even if I don't buy anything, I just like going to them and looking around. You really get a taste of culture by attending them. It is sort of like food anthropology. I ate my breakfast of Clif bars while I watched them set up. Here is the result:
Their farmer's markets offer so much more than the ones in the states. They don't set up meat stations like this where I am from.
That's a lot of cheese.
more cheese
You will have to excuse the blurry pictures, I forgot the battery to my SLR at home so I got to deal with just a point and shoot..which led to point and blur.
I am not really sure what this is...but it smelled good.
Notice that big one in the middle's name is Colin. ( love you brother ).
Gotta have those sweets.
After the farmer's market we headed over to some common tourists attractions, here are a few pics I took before my camera battery died.
I was hoping to see Tom Hanks but...all I got was this lousy photo.
It is funny when I look at these pictures, I wonder how many other's photo's I will forever be creeping in.
We had a bit more restaurant success the next day. We had lunch at a little place across the river from here and was glad that it turned out exponentially better than the dinner we had the night before. We ended up eating at an Italian place for dinner because I just don't think I was meant to be French and eat at 9pm. Julia Child had it all wrong. Italian food is where it is at! I had one of the best pizza's I have had in a long time.
We went a few more places throughout the day but my camera died so this is all I got from the trip. Even though we had a stream of bad luck, the trip was still amazing and I feel so lucky to be able to say that I have gone to Paris!
More updates tomorrow...
What trips are you looking forward to this summer?
We finally got to go to Paris, and it was fantastic. Never in my life did I think I would ever get to go.
As every trip should, it started off with some last minute packing
After leaving the bedroom a complete mess we began our little adventure which started off a bit rocky when we found out that our phone navigations stopped working once we crossed the boarder into France. Awesome. We had absolutely no maps, and not even an address to find our hotel. I can't find my way out of a paper bag, let alone find a hotel in Paris with absolutely no navigation. Eric could probably find his way out of a paper bag but this situation was more like trying to find your way out of a box surrounded by concrete 20,000 leagues under the sea. Our only hope was to find some wifi so that we could bring up the address on our phones with the internet. Luckily we spotted a McDonalds off of the autobahn. Normally I don't get anywhere near McDonalds, and blame them for the high percentage of heart disease and factory farming in America but that day...McDonalds saved our lives. I was able to pull up the map on my iphone and keep it open until we successfully reached our destination. So thanks Micky D's. I still won't eat your food but I will take your WiFi it was delicious.
We didn't make it to our hotel until about 5:30pm and being the old lady that I am I was famished and ready for dinner. But come to find out...French people don't eat dinner until around 9:00pm. At the usual dinner time for old ladies like me the French would be boozing it up in the cafe's and enjoy their meals of alcohol and cigarettes. I was starving but we couldn't find a place that was serving dinner. So we decided to walk around and kill some time.
We walked around the Eiffel tower and worked up an even bigger appetite avoiding annoying vendors with glow sticks trying to steal our money. I was so hungry I could of eaten Ratatouille- and I am not talking about the dish ratatouille.
Around 8:00pm we finally just ended up at the sketchy ass pizzeria restaurant next to our hotel. We were convinced that French people didn't get fat because they just didn't eat. About 50 dollars later for a horrible meal we went back to the hotel looking forward to what the next day had in store.
I woke up the next morning to hammering noises coming from outside. There was a farmer's market being set up right outside our hotel. Holy crap, they must of known I was coming. I am addicted to farmers markets. Even if I don't buy anything, I just like going to them and looking around. You really get a taste of culture by attending them. It is sort of like food anthropology. I ate my breakfast of Clif bars while I watched them set up. Here is the result:
Their farmer's markets offer so much more than the ones in the states. They don't set up meat stations like this where I am from.
You will have to excuse the blurry pictures, I forgot the battery to my SLR at home so I got to deal with just a point and shoot..which led to point and blur.
Notice that big one in the middle's name is Colin. ( love you brother ).
After the farmer's market we headed over to some common tourists attractions, here are a few pics I took before my camera battery died.
We had a bit more restaurant success the next day. We had lunch at a little place across the river from here and was glad that it turned out exponentially better than the dinner we had the night before. We ended up eating at an Italian place for dinner because I just don't think I was meant to be French and eat at 9pm. Julia Child had it all wrong. Italian food is where it is at! I had one of the best pizza's I have had in a long time.
We went a few more places throughout the day but my camera died so this is all I got from the trip. Even though we had a stream of bad luck, the trip was still amazing and I feel so lucky to be able to say that I have gone to Paris!
More updates tomorrow...
What trips are you looking forward to this summer?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)