The Holidays are over

Our last holiday season in Germany is now in the history books. We have spent most Christmas holidays in Germany since we moved here. I think we only went back to the USA for vacation during Christmas twice...And one of those trips resulted in a very sore back while sledding on Foisy Hill. At least Brian Kennedy (son-in-law #2) was there to witness my crash and then continue working on the sled path and jump while I lay at the bottom of the hill. 


We have had the good fortune of several friend and family visits during the holiday season. Munich is really nice in December and it is fun to visit the markets that are set up in the town squares and drink warm mulled wine in the streets. Of course, thousands of other people are doing the exact same thing so fighting through people to get your wine is part of the charm. I must take this opportunity to unequivocally state that Germans are the worst at standing in line. The worst. People will cheerfully cut the line in front of you from every direction. There is no use struggling against the tide, so dive in, knock that old lady out of the way and get your wine!  Frohe Weihnachten!

Christmas dinner 2008: Miche, Kimeko & Jenn

The New Years Eve tradition is to buy as many fireworks as you can afford, drink, and then go light them off from about 11pm until 1am. I must admit that it is really fun, but it is safer to swim with sharks than to be in the streets at midnight. Fireworks are flying around in all directions with no regard given to proximity to other people. Despite the noise, one is able to still make out the distinctive wail of emergency vehicles.Very exciting.

The New Years Day hangover

Update on getting rid of stuff: 
There are now less than six months until we are back and we are really looking forward to it. I started "Paul's Book Club" at work. I bring in some books every few days and people can come take them, leaving a donation if they desire. The only rule is that they cannot give the books back for any reason. It has been really successful so far, so I might try it with DVDs and then maybe silverware or bags of trash. We'll see...

Christmas 2004

Halloween is a ghost town

When we first moved to Germany, Halloween was basically non-existent. There were no trick-or-treaters, elaborate costumes, jack-o-lanterns or zombies. It was tough for the kids since they were still quite young and therefore did not understand why Germans were so clueless when it came to Halloween. Sterling did have a pretty fearless friend named Sven. They did go out and knock on doors. What they got was typically confused or angry old people and sometimes just a little candy that some people had lying around.


Over the years, Halloween has grown in recognition and popularity, but oddly it is not a children's holiday. There are still relatively few trick-or-treaters (our street was a ghost town last night), but now adults are dressing up and having Halloween parties. As if Europeans need another excuse to dress silly and drink alcohol...What do they think soccer games are for?!? A travesty of the candy harvest I say!


My daughter had a Halloween party with her friends last night. A house full of 14 year old girls is scary...so Sterling and I retreated to the comforts of shooting virtual zombies.

Update on getting rid of stuff:
-Playmobile Zoo: SOLD!
-1 book: given away!

Starting Point

We have lived in Germany for almost eight years now. We do love Munich, but the time feels right to get back to the USA. We plan to be stepping off the plane somewhere in North America following a one way flight in June 2010.

We will move a family of four. Two cats. 800 cds. a cast iron skillet. European fashion sense. And a bunch of other stuff. A lot of other stuff...from old Europe to Chicago.

I plan to write at least once a week to chronicle this smooth operation. We will see how it goes