An expat Thanksgiving

This week marked some very American traditions: Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This year I participated in one, and for the first time in many years, not the other...

First the one we did participate in: Thanksgiving. We were supposed to be away from Munich this week...in Hong Kong. When that trip was cancelled, we were left with a big holiday red X on the calendar and couldn't just ignore it...so I cooked and the Hub went to work.

We had the most traditional Thanksgiving feast I could muster: turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberry relish (made by my friend L), a few dips for before dinner (made by my friend C), pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread.

For some reason I was compelled to make it traditional-this is how family traditions are solidified, right? When the kids go out and celebrate their own holidays, nothing tastes like home more than mom's recipes. I won't lie, there were a few informational calls to mom-"which is the spice Tim is allergic to that you don't put in your stuffing?", and the like.

Our guests began to arrive just after 7, after work. We had a late comer that we waited dinner for-until 8:30, and remarkably, the turkey browned as it should, the sides were warm and ready at the same time and everyone was hungry! I cooked and the Hub carved.

We had enough dining chairs for 8 if we included the 2 chairs from the kitchen, and our guests fit beautifully around the table-6 Americans and 2 Germans-for one of our German guests, it was his first Thanksgiving (and he liked the stuffing!). We had a wonderful time with new friends, yummy food and good wine. We watched my hometown team get trounced in the annual Thanksgiving game.

My friend Liz says that home is where our friends and pets and loved ones are-more of a state of mind and comfort and feeling of security/happiness...for us this year, home was seated in these chairs, eating my mom's recipes...

The thing that we didn't participate in: Black Friday. As some of you know, I was a District Manager for a major home furnishings retailer in my past life...so the weekend after Thanksgiving is a non-negotiable working weekend, as it is always the kick off to the holiday busy season. This year, I slept in and missed my friends and co-workers, my team. I was there with them in spirit-but I felt a twinge of guilt that they were there on the front lines and I was on the couch.

If it wasn't for the Munich Christmas Markets starting this weekend, I would almost have not known that the season was upon us...the Hub and I dappled in a few of them over the weekend...more on the markets to come in future posts...but for now, know that our traditions were enjoyed and experimented with here in Munich-and we did our best at preserving them while making them our own.

A funny thing happened today on the way to the Apotheke

I was running errands today and found my path blocked by a student demonstration. University students in 20 major German cities including Munich, Berlin and Hamburg walked, waved signs, cheered, played music and disrupted traffic to show their displeasure with changes that the EU is making to the degree system and rising tuition fees. This format is called the Bologna Reform and will provide students the opportunity to transfer credits and have a certain transparency in the 46 European countries that have signed on.

In 2010, the degree system will change to a Bachelor-Master-Doctorate format like we have in the US. A big part of the students issue concerning this is a compressed timeframe to complete their degree and also a fear that a Bachelor's degree will not be enough to keep graduates competative in the marketplace once they graduate. Students are also concerned that education is becoming big business, and not about seeking knowledge.

A large issue of protest is the collection of tuition fees, which universities have been allowed to collect since 2005. Students here see a free education as a basis of a democratic republic and something that they are entitled to have. The average fees range from 100 to 500 euros per semester (approx $150-$750). The student groups are requesting representation in the decision process which affects their studies, but the Education Minister says that the reforms will go into practice and is urging universities to quickly implement the reforms as planned.

Will the real Sachertorte please stand up?

Mmmmm....cake....but not just cake-this is the Original Sacher Torte, served in the Cafe at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna and Salzburg. The recipe is closely guarded and has been kept secret for over 175 years. The Sachertorte is a chocolate cake (albeit a bit dry-although I found that the piece that I had in Vienna was actually pretty moist compared to the one I had in Salzburg) with a layer of apricot preserve and covered in a dense chocolate frosting that resembles ganache. It is served with unsweetened whipped cream, and as you see, I accompanied mine with a cappucino. Yum.

The experience of dining at the hotel is lovely. A walk through the lobbies of the both hotels reminds you are of a more genteel life...of sipping cocktails and wearing hats and gloves.

Although a bit touristy, it is a nice way to relax after a busy day of shopping and sightseeing. The hotel and cafe staff is attentive to your need for a moment of repose nestled in a busy day. When we visited the Vienna location as pictured in the photos above, we were able to walk right in and have lunch and cake. When we were exiting the building, a line had formed.

All this for the creation of a young baker's apprentice named Franz Sacher in 1832. His original recipe is still followed today and is often imitated, but never dupicated.

For the love of Munich

We've made plans to come home for Christmas. I am excited to see our family and friends for the first time in many months...but, as we start to think about the end of the year, I can't help but think about marking the first anniversary of the Hub coming to Germany, of my tearful resignation from a job that I loved, and then of finally bringing 7 suitcases and our beloved dog here to Germany. Maybe it is because the Hub has been gone for a few weeks for work and I have had too much time on my hands...but I can't help myself from stopping and taking stock of these past months in Munich.

I love it here.

Sure, the distance from our family and friends is not nearly ideal. But with Skype, I can talk and even see loved ones whenever we can make a date. Living in a foreign country has been challenging, but I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish-learning a new language, making great new friends, living in the same city again (let alone the same apartment). Every day I get to see beautiful places and find that I have more courage than I would have ever thought. I only get a little nervous when the Hub looks to me to speak for us in German, I have become very familiar with the train system here (coming from places with no public transport to speak of, this is a big thing), and I have found a vet for Bailey and a girlie Dr. for myself.

I am still trying to figure out the pharmacy and butcher shop and the banking system-but I will conquer these too.

I think back to the early days here, and the things that would upset me so much now seem small to me. I feel lucky to have this experience, and the Hub and Bailey the Dog to share it with. So, as we start to think about coming home for the holidays and seeing the people and things that I miss: family, friends, my car, Target, Atlanta, Reese's, JCrew, cake with proper frosting, my work....and much more- I have a renewed commitment to myself to enjoy every day here. I will look up and be inquisitive and learn and cherish.

I love it here.

I love the pretzels, the wurst, the beer, and the crispness of the first Fall I have experienced in a long while. I love that Bailey is growing a winter coat and is a fluffy bunny and I treasure the time I now have with her. I love my neighborhood bakery and the little shops that sell things so specialized like felt or locks. I love that the neighborhood grocery store cashiers have started to ask if I want the heart stickers that you can collect as points. I love our apartment and getting to live with my husband and that our Bavarian landlord is so pleased that I have begun to learn German (although now he wants me to learn Bayerish). I love that Bailey and I have other dog friends that we see every day and I love the thumping of her tail when one of the other dog owners talks to her in German. I love that she now sits when I tell her to in German. I love the history and the beauty of this place and that it is really starting to feel like home. I can't wait for you all to come for a visit.

Edit: I realized that the picture on the top was from Salzburg...didn't seem fitting to have a pic from Austria here...so I swapped it out for what you see here now!

Dachau

Before my friends came to visit, they asked me what I hadn't done yet that I wanted to do with a group of people...the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site visit was one of those things. I had originally planned to visit the memorial last year in July when the Hub and I were here on vacation-well before we had an inkling that we would be living here. He was in meetings and I was left to explore the city for several days. At the time, I thought that it would be the only time that I would be close to one of the camp memorials, so I should go...it ended up that I caught a bug and stayed in bed at the hotel that entire day, missing the day and the visit to the camp.


What you see at the memorial site is the main museum, the bunker behind it and a restored set of barracks. The footprint of the other barracks remains, but not the buildings themselves. You also see a tree-lined avenue which leads you down to shrines and the crematorium. Surprisingly, you also see school kids. A lot of them. All German school children are required to visit a concentration camp and they are taught the truth of this difficult piece of history and study it head-on, so that they are aware and so that it never happens again.



There are so many facts to learn and emotions that one feels in this place, but not the space to do them justice here. It was on a dreary day that we visited the memorial, the buildings felt chilly inside and the weather seemed fitting the mood and somber tone of the visit. The memorial is full of historical information: articles, first hand accounts and pictures. The many visitors before us had systematically scratched the face off of every image of Hitler...as penance? Because of dislike or shame? I don't know, but thought that it was interesting nonetheless.

This is the sign that you see first, at the edge of the road to the site. It is translated below in italics:“Dachau-the significance of this name will never be erased from German history. It stands for all concentration camps which the Nazis established in their territory”

Eugen Kogon


(Eugen Kogon was a political prisoner at the Buchenwald camp from 1939-1945. After the war, he wrote "The Theory and Practice of Hell.")


When you enter the memorial site, you enter the way the prisoners did. You walk through the entry rooms where the people were cataloged and stripped-of their belongings, their hair and their dignity. In the iron works that every person walks through...whether they were the prisoners or the modern day visitors...are the words "Work makes you free".

"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men"

The remaining barracks:

The tree-lined way to the shrines. At each tree there would have been another set of barracks...

We indeed had a somber visit but I am glad that we went...at work I used to tell my General Managers that the hard lessons are always the ones that you remember...this serves as a global "hard lesson" indeed-but one that makes us remember, respect and honor.