To Over Live

Alex has developed this habit of saying "over lived" instead of "survived."  He's translating from German, and in German "to survive" is "überleben," which literally translates into: über = over + leben = to live.  No matter how many times Philip or I correct him, he still insists on saying "over lived," as in "I over lived the day at school."

Happy 25th!

Last week, Bob celebrated 25 years with Siemens.  His boss threw him a party, to which I was also invited, that included a 4-course lunch.  Bob was asked to pick the menu, and he wisely chose the French menu--beef broth with pistachio dumplings, scallops as an appetizer, steaks for the main course and white chocolate mousse for dessert.  After lunch, there was a party in his department, and his boss made a speech, gave me flowers and sekt (German champagne), and thanked me for "renting Bob out to Siemens for 25 years."

Bob said in Chicago he would have probably received a catalog and chosen a gift that he didn't need or want. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't forgotten that Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, but this year we celebrated early.  We celebrated yesterday, because the boys had the day off--it was Buß-und Bettag.  This is supposed to be a day of penance, and it was a national holiday (remember, no separation of church and state in Deutschland) until 1994.  But, Bavaria decided to keep it as a school holiday.  I think more for the teachers than the students.

Since they were home all day, they helped me make a sweet potato pie.  I haven't found canned pumpkin here yet, and when we tried making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin, the filling came out too runny.  In other words, our sweet potato pie is better than our pumpkin, and this year I added ginger, as well as cinnamon and nutmeg.  It was a little spicier and better.  And just like last year, we made a chicken instead of a turkey.  I made it with tarragon, which I love, but Alex didn't, so we had to scrape it off.  He told me that he likes the chicken from the street vendor, who sells roasted chickens on Tuesdays near our local grocery store, better.

Bob and I also had to explain to Alex what Thanksgiving is all about.  Philip learned about the Native Americans and how they helped the Pilgrims while he was in the first and second grade in Sauganash.  But since Alex is being educated in Germany, he hasn't learned the significance of Thanksgiving.  He thought it was a medieval holiday and had us dress as kings and a queen. 

The Eleventh Commandment

On the day after Halloween, All Saints' Day, which is a holiday in many European countries, we drove to Everberg, Belgium, to visit Przemko and Sasha. As always, we had fun--too much fun and too much Belgium beer, which is stronger than German beer and much, much stronger than American.


While in Belgium, we revisited Antwerp, which is fast becoming one of my favorite European cities. We visited the Diamond Museum, located in the thriving Jewish quarter, and there are not many thriving Jewish quarters left in Europe. It reminded me of parts of NYC, and this is one reason why I'm so fond of Antwerp.


The other is Het Elfde Gebod, or the Eleventh Commandment, a cafe cluttered with religious paraphernalia. A place like this in the US would piss off the Christian Right for being irreverent. I thought it was a great place to spend a religious holiday.

Speaking of Halloween, I am starting to appreciate Halloween here in Germany more and more. I never really liked Halloween. As a kid I didn't enjoy Trick-or-Treating, and as an adult, I didn't care for Halloween parties, with the exception of Halloween on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin--from the University of Wisconsin's campus up to the state capitol, it was wall-to-wall revelry. In Chicago, the month of October rivaled December in yard decor and hype. Every house in our neighborhood was decorated with spooky stuff, and it seemed like we spent practically everyday leading up to Halloween visiting haunted houses/forests, pumpkin patches and parties at school and at every extracurricular activity. (Another exception was Holly and Matt's Halloween Party--that was truly fun!) In Germany, Halloween is a relatively new holiday, so there are very few spooky decorations, although decorated and carved pumpkins are common, few parties, and Trick-or-Treat only lasts about one hour. And the kids come home with a reasonable amount of candy, so I won't be throwing away old candy six months from now.