Karin's Adventures

There are certain times of the year when melancholy sets in at the reminiscence of traditions I cherished back in the old world. There's all the little things I used to take for granted; those things that you don't even think about when they are easily available, and that become ridiculously important when they're taken away.

Like Glühwein and Rumkugeln in Winter.

Last year I found a decent recipe for Glühwein (mulled warm red wine), and World Market carried Rumkugeln (rum truffles), imported from Germany. This year we don't have a World Market in Fort Wayne anymore. So I had a serious problem: no Rumkugeln!

Well, thanks to my friend google, I now know how to make the best rum truffles at home. With real 80% Austrian Stroh rum. Life is good!

Indiana Tech is having an office Holiday Decoration Contest again. You can win $25, $50, or $75 if your office is chosen among the three best decorations. Last year nobody in IT did anything. Geeks.

This year I came prepared. I admit the philodendron above my cube gives me an unfair advantage; but then, I worked years for that too. What do you think? Do I have a chance? Even if not, it was fun to hang up blue garland, LED lights, and shiny little blue balls.

One of the Christmas traditions in Germany that hasn't really made it to the USA (yet) is the advent calendar. You're supposed to start opening little doors on December 1st, opening one door every day, until the 24th - which is the main day of celebrations, and exchange of presents, in Germany.

Most advent calendars I've seen have chocolate or candy behind the doors, which is not a good idea if you're trying to keep your weight under control. So this year I opted for one that reveals some funny little pictures behind the doors, free of calories.

I was so thrilled to find a scene from Munich's Christkind'l-Markt at Marienplatz that I didn't even blink at the price of this piece of cardboard, which would normally cost around 2.99 € in Germany:
$11 after shipping.

Elections for the next Bundestag will be held in Germany on Sunday, September 27th, 2009. I made sure that I was registered to participate and received my ballot today.

If I want Angela Merkel to be Bundeskanzlerin for another four years, I have to be smart enough to know where to place my two votes on this two feet long paper.

Her name is nowhere to be found on any of the roughly 20 parties' lists available to voters in Bavaria; neither is the name of her party, CDU.

I think I got it figured out though; this is the ninth time I'm doing it. 

Yesterday my paperwork for the upcoming elections in Europe arrived in the mail. I can now pick one out of 31 parties, with up to 10 candidates each, to represent Germany in the European Union.

I know enough about the first ten parties on that list, to be able to pick the one that may stand for what I believe to be most important. But I was tempted to vote for the Pirates, because of my family history, even though I have no clue, what their mission would be for the EU Parliament.

Tom and I drove to Indianapolis today, with a long shopping list for Costco. We also wanted to check out the World Market in Carmel, since the one in Fort Wayne was closed a while ago and we are running out of licorice.

And then there is Claus' German Sausages & Meats, which I had found on Google some time ago. I wanted to have a look at that store, maybe get some Fleischkäs' or Leberwurst. They have the typical selection that you would expect in any German butchery, but they also have something that we had given up on trying to find here: Augustiner beer!

I thought Augustiner Bräu doesn't export, because they don't produce that much. Now I'll have to go talk to the Belmont Beverage store close to home and tell them to make my favorite beer available.

The yodel that I currently practice on my way to work is called 'Enrosadira'. I downloaded it from Amazon because it sounds great, and I wondered what the title meant. Now that I can do the yodel good enough to publish it on YouTube, I found some time to research the meaning.

Enrosadira means 'to turn rose-coloured' in the language of the Ladins. You can watch the pale, rocky walls of the Dolomites change colours at sunset, on days with a special atmosphere. This phenomenon is caused by the chemical composition of calcium carbonate and magnesium, which gives the mountains a rosy colour that gradually turns to purple. 

New Year's Eve means party time! We were invited to our friends' house for a potluck. I made herring salad and German pretzels. People also brought fire-crackers and several bottles of champagne.  Everybody watched *Dinner for One* shortly before midnight, and after that we lit our fireworks.

I had finally found the materials needed for a German New Year's tradition from an online source, directly imported from Germany. You can't buy it in stores here, because it is considered a hazardous chemical. So this year, for the first time since we moved, we were able to tell our fortune from melted lead.

You put a small chunk of lead (actually 87% lead and 13% tin) on a spoon and hold that over a candle until it melts. Then you dump the liquid metal into a bowl with cold water. Look at the random shape you get, try to associate what this might look like to you, and interpret the meaning for your future.

One of my two pieces of lead looks like a JetSki or a motorcycle to me, the other one is more like a bug on a fuzz-ball.

I like *old school* things just as much as I enjoy *high tech*. I also collect clocks. So the gift I received from Tom for my birthday today was very fit and proper. It is a fully mechanical wooden cuckoo clock, made in Germany.

Tom had bought the clock while we were in Munich, two months ago. I had seen the box before, and knowing what kind of things they sell in that store, I knew it would have to be either a beer stein or a cuckoo clock.

I love it!

OK - 3-ply toilet paper wasn't the main reason why we travelled to Germany again this year. There is a lot of other things to enjoy. Like my daughter's nineteenth birthday, or Munich's world famous Oktoberfest, or my dad's little old house in Austria, or seeing my family again.

But 3-ply toilet paper is definitely a product I really miss in the USA. For the first half century of my life I never wasted a thought on something as basic as tissue. Until the day I realized, that US tissue is very different. Even the highest quality Charmin or Cottonelle doesn't compare to some good old Hakle dreilagig.