Monday Nov 29
Lesson one when traveling to Estonia - don't eat anything until you know exactly what you are eating!
I thought I was so smart reading up on the country and the people and yes, even the food. I even heard about some weird dishes they have in the winter time. For instance they cook pork with the bones to get a jelly like substance with the meat. Ofcourse there's the pickled herring and pickled cabbage.
Tonight the plant mgr took us out to a russian restaurant. I have never had russian food before so I was excited. THe menu did have english but we all agreed to let Mart order some appetizers for us to try. He was hesitant at first in case we didn't like what he ordered. Ofcourse I was the first one to pipe in that no problem, we want to try some local traditional dishes. What came out looked harmless enough. There were some interesting dishes. Pickle wedges with honey as a dip - very good. Large white beans cook with ham and eaten with a toothpick, a plate of cheese and pickled garlic and sweet onions. I took a big bite of what I thought was goat cheese(since it was arranged with the cheeses and thought it tasted rather bland. Later Mart explained that it was pig fat mixed with garlic and used as a spread for bread. Yuck! I could have eaten a nice wedge of chocolate cake for the same amount of fat but better tasting!
Mart told us stories of estonia. He is very proud of how the country is so small but has kept up with modern times. He often says we a country of a million people and that's why we get things done so quickly. 10 years ago they stopped carrying driver's licenses. When a cop stops you your license plate will come up in the computer with picture and info. Taxes and voting have been done electronically for just as long. We were surprised to learn that Skype was developed by estonians, who would have thunk?! I for one am glad of this invention since it has made it so much easier to be away from Gary. Talking everyday helps us keep up with the day to day stuff.
It was so interesting to hear Mart tell us stories about his country and the people. Few of the things he says were in the guide books. It confirms my belief that you don't really learn about a country, beyond the surface stuff from guide books, until you talk and get to know the locals. Mart must be in his 50's so he was around durin g the soviet occupation. In fact he was forced to go into 2 yrs of military service in siberia where there is only 2 seasons - unbearably hot and unbearably cold! We were curious if estonians hold any grudges to the people that occupied their country, the latest being russia. He said no, that is a waste of energy. He does not blame the people but more the governments. "we are a peace loving people and just want to get on with our lives"
Mart was a realtor for a few years and sold pre-fab houses throughout the baltic states and scandanavia. He told us that in estonia most houses have saunas. In fact a house does not have a high selling value unless it has a sauna. The homes here are spread out. Mart says that estonians do not like to live near each other and if given the chance they want to be as far from their neighbor as possible. This is the opposite of what you would typically find in europe where you find villages of homes close together. He said this tendency of personal space extends into business as well. He admitted that estonians are not good at being politically correct in that they say whatever comes into their heads. "we are simple country folks!" These insights really helped me understand the colleagues here since it has been a little different than my previous audits.
We had a good laugh hearing about the Finnish people. Apparently it is very expensive in Finland so the Finns love to hop on a ferry and come to Tallinn to drink. They love the vodka here and will be drunk for most of their time here and then they will leave with cases of it as well. Mart told us a story about a client who repeatedly brings back to Finland more vodka than is allowed and is fined for it. When asked why he does it when he is caught every time, he replied that even with the fine, it's still cheaper than buying it in finland!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
View of frozen coastline from plane-not a good sign!
Note to self, don't use weather.com when preparing for travel abroad! I packed for weather in the 20's (as if this wasn't cold enough) and I am going to be in zero or below! All last week Laszlo never fails to stop by to tell me how cold it's going to be in estonia. At first it's in the teens, OK. Then with each update it gets lower and into single digits and snow. Great! I wanted to buy clothes but gambled that I will managed and buy it when in estonia. It would be cheaper and I don't have to lug it there.
Let me just say that the first sight of a frozen sea brought home the fact that I am going to freeze my ass off in the next few weeks. My friends at home wouldn't believe me when I told them that the sea in the area do freeze and that the ferry to finland are less frequent because of the frozen sea. They break open one lane for ferries in the winter. I just thought that it wouldn't happen while I was there since it was relatively early in the winter! I learned later that the temps are 20 degrees below normal. Why me? It was actually -20C which is -4 F!! I can't believe that I would be greatful for 20 degree weather but that would be tropical right about now!
THe other thing to tell me that I wasn't in phoenix anymore - it took us 1 1/2 hours to get out of the rental car parking lot - we had to dig the car out from the snow! Well ok, Laszlo shoveled snow and I took pictures! It was funny but when we were done with the paperwork in the rental office at the Tallinn airport, the kid offered to help us with our suitcases. We both said no because it was no big deal. Ok now, try to drag a big suitcase AND a laptop roller bag in a walkway that was 1 1/2 feet wide and packed with snow. On either side is a foot of snow. If you've done the math, it's almost impossible. It was so funny. It was maybe 500 yards from the rental office to the parking lot but it took us 20 minutes to get there. Laszlo couldn't even help me because he was struggling himself. I was cussing out the kid who seemed to disappear. Later I found out he had to worry about getting snow shovels to get the car out! Yes, life of an auditor is not all glamorous.
Once on the road in our mercedes Laszlo couldn't stop mentioning the weather readings in the car. It was fluctuating from zero to minus 4. Thank god for seat warmer! We got to Parnu by 9:30 Sunday night. Even though our hotel was near the beach I don't think walking on the beach will be on the agenda!
Let me just say that the first sight of a frozen sea brought home the fact that I am going to freeze my ass off in the next few weeks. My friends at home wouldn't believe me when I told them that the sea in the area do freeze and that the ferry to finland are less frequent because of the frozen sea. They break open one lane for ferries in the winter. I just thought that it wouldn't happen while I was there since it was relatively early in the winter! I learned later that the temps are 20 degrees below normal. Why me? It was actually -20C which is -4 F!! I can't believe that I would be greatful for 20 degree weather but that would be tropical right about now!
THe other thing to tell me that I wasn't in phoenix anymore - it took us 1 1/2 hours to get out of the rental car parking lot - we had to dig the car out from the snow! Well ok, Laszlo shoveled snow and I took pictures! It was funny but when we were done with the paperwork in the rental office at the Tallinn airport, the kid offered to help us with our suitcases. We both said no because it was no big deal. Ok now, try to drag a big suitcase AND a laptop roller bag in a walkway that was 1 1/2 feet wide and packed with snow. On either side is a foot of snow. If you've done the math, it's almost impossible. It was so funny. It was maybe 500 yards from the rental office to the parking lot but it took us 20 minutes to get there. Laszlo couldn't even help me because he was struggling himself. I was cussing out the kid who seemed to disappear. Later I found out he had to worry about getting snow shovels to get the car out! Yes, life of an auditor is not all glamorous.
Once on the road in our mercedes Laszlo couldn't stop mentioning the weather readings in the car. It was fluctuating from zero to minus 4. Thank god for seat warmer! We got to Parnu by 9:30 Sunday night. Even though our hotel was near the beach I don't think walking on the beach will be on the agenda!
Estonia, a small but interesting country!
As I do more research on the country where I will spend 3 weeks in, it becomes more and more interesting. Estonia holds such a fascinating history so I wanted to make some notes to remember. It's a tiny country of 1.3 million people but because of it's strategic location to the Baltic Sea, it has been the target of its larger neighbors to dominate and take over - Sweden, Denmark and most recently Germany and Russia. In fact this country has only experienced independence since 1991. Despite spending most of their history under other rule, the people have managed to keep their history and language intact. The people are very proud of their peaceful way. If anyone has the time watch the dvd called The Singing Revolution (in library or in pieces on youtube). The story is so inspiring. It brought me to tears. Over the centuries one of the key way they keep their culture intact is through songs and through singing. All estonians are borne and raised singing traditional folk songs that tells the story of their ancestors and their country. When the Soviet Union took over estonia in 1940 (secret pact of hilter and stalin as they conspire to divide up europe) they set out to wipe out the estonian culture. This was done by shipping estonians to russia and shipping russians into estonia. That's why today about 30% of the population are russian. It's very telling that about 70% of the population speaks estonian and 30% speak russian. What this means is that either sides refuse to learn the other language. As a result, english is the default language - lucky for me! English is taught in school as a second language so most people here can speak english. No communication problems for me! Actually it was a nice break to get some stations in english. I get so tired of watching only CNN whenever I'm on audit!
THe whole country is only 17,000 sqm but that also includes over 1,500 islands in the Baltic Sea! The capital is Tallinn on the northern shore of the country with 30% of the population, this is where I will spend 2 out of the 3 wks. The plant in is Parnu which is on the west coast and only 40,000 people. It's only a 2 hour drive.
The estonian language is quite unique and very difficult to learn. There are so many unique grammar rules so it's almost impossible to figure out unless you grow up with it. At least I learned how to say hello (Tere) and thank you (tainan). Next year the country will go to the euro so we are in the last few weeks of the local currency which is called the krooni. I will have to make sure I spend all my kroonis before leaving!
The food also sounds interesting. In the winter they eat a lot of pickled food. Gotta watch out for the keel which is cow's tongue!
THe whole country is only 17,000 sqm but that also includes over 1,500 islands in the Baltic Sea! The capital is Tallinn on the northern shore of the country with 30% of the population, this is where I will spend 2 out of the 3 wks. The plant in is Parnu which is on the west coast and only 40,000 people. It's only a 2 hour drive.
The estonian language is quite unique and very difficult to learn. There are so many unique grammar rules so it's almost impossible to figure out unless you grow up with it. At least I learned how to say hello (Tere) and thank you (tainan). Next year the country will go to the euro so we are in the last few weeks of the local currency which is called the krooni. I will have to make sure I spend all my kroonis before leaving!
The food also sounds interesting. In the winter they eat a lot of pickled food. Gotta watch out for the keel which is cow's tongue!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Glühwein at the Altstaedt Xmas market!
Saturday night Nov 27
I woke up to snow outside my window! It's really winter I guess. I'm trying to ignore Laszlo's emails about it being 4 degrees in Estonia right now.
Met a group from my department in Altstaedt, we have a date with a couple of glühwein! This is a german tradition once the weather turns cold. It's typically red wine with spices (cinamon and...) served in glass mugs. Marietta & I got started first and eventually joined by Rafael, Vesselin and Julianna. It was a mob scene but somehow we found a nice spot in front of the gluhwein stand. I alternated between gluhwein and hot chocolate. You really can't drink it too slowly because it will get cold! J just got her new camera (that I bought for her) and we were taking lots of practice pics. We were also singing lots of american drinking songs, news for me. Once again Ves loved singling Last Christmas because he thought George Micheal is the greatest. Ves and Marietta tried to teach me a Bulgarian drinking song, something about 10 Bulgarians on the wall, 1 got arrested for tax evasion and now there's nine...they were so funny! Rafael talked me into trying a Krakauer which is like a bratwurst but looked more like a hot dog. Again, there hot dogs are a foot long with only 4 inches of bun! We walked around to experience other foods such as roasted chestnuts and roasted almonds. After 5 hours of being outside even gluhwein couldn't keep us warm so we moved the party inside a bar. Chill out was a cool club and we moved on to cocktails. Since when did I start drinking? Maybe it was the cold that made me more tolerant of alhocol!
It was near midnight and I hated to leave but I so needed to pack for my flight in the morning. We made a date to go dancing after the dept xmas party when I get back to germany in 3 weeks after my audit. Apparently it's tradition that after our dept xmas we all go dancing in a discotec.
I woke up to snow outside my window! It's really winter I guess. I'm trying to ignore Laszlo's emails about it being 4 degrees in Estonia right now.
Met a group from my department in Altstaedt, we have a date with a couple of glühwein! This is a german tradition once the weather turns cold. It's typically red wine with spices (cinamon and...) served in glass mugs. Marietta & I got started first and eventually joined by Rafael, Vesselin and Julianna. It was a mob scene but somehow we found a nice spot in front of the gluhwein stand. I alternated between gluhwein and hot chocolate. You really can't drink it too slowly because it will get cold! J just got her new camera (that I bought for her) and we were taking lots of practice pics. We were also singing lots of american drinking songs, news for me. Once again Ves loved singling Last Christmas because he thought George Micheal is the greatest. Ves and Marietta tried to teach me a Bulgarian drinking song, something about 10 Bulgarians on the wall, 1 got arrested for tax evasion and now there's nine...they were so funny! Rafael talked me into trying a Krakauer which is like a bratwurst but looked more like a hot dog. Again, there hot dogs are a foot long with only 4 inches of bun! We walked around to experience other foods such as roasted chestnuts and roasted almonds. After 5 hours of being outside even gluhwein couldn't keep us warm so we moved the party inside a bar. Chill out was a cool club and we moved on to cocktails. Since when did I start drinking? Maybe it was the cold that made me more tolerant of alhocol!
It was near midnight and I hated to leave but I so needed to pack for my flight in the morning. We made a date to go dancing after the dept xmas party when I get back to germany in 3 weeks after my audit. Apparently it's tradition that after our dept xmas we all go dancing in a discotec.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Typical friday night in ddorf
Thursday Nov 26
Had dinner with Tarak an old colleague who just started an expat assignment in DDorf. He's been in germany for almost a month without his family so he was glad for some company. He picked me up at my office in a leased mercedes, how nice was that? He was driving around the city like a pro. I've been so used to taking the U-bahn so experiencing traffic on the road was different. I picked a restaurant in Altstaedt that was known for mussels and also serving the biggest schnitztel - Marie Benders. I ordered the mussels, yum, and Tarak got the schnitzel which literally covered the whole of his plate! More surprisingly, he finished most of it. Tarak is excited about his assignment. He and his wife have a 2 year old with another on the way. I think he will do well here. Funny but we talked more than the 6 months I worked with him on a project. He said that next time I am in Ddorf they will have me at the house for an Indian dinner. Tarak is Indian but has a perfect american accent, that is very rare!
Later that night I took the Ubahn to Oberkassel, which is a nice neighborhood northwest of Altstaedt. Came over to Juliana's apartment to pick up my laundry. She was sweet to offer to do my laundry for me while I was out for dinner with Tarak. What I didn't realize was that she did not have a dryer, she just air dry her clothes. Apparently it's normal here. It was a good excuse to have a glass of wine and chat while my clothes were dry enough to take home. I felt like a local hanging out at my friend's flat!
Had dinner with Tarak an old colleague who just started an expat assignment in DDorf. He's been in germany for almost a month without his family so he was glad for some company. He picked me up at my office in a leased mercedes, how nice was that? He was driving around the city like a pro. I've been so used to taking the U-bahn so experiencing traffic on the road was different. I picked a restaurant in Altstaedt that was known for mussels and also serving the biggest schnitztel - Marie Benders. I ordered the mussels, yum, and Tarak got the schnitzel which literally covered the whole of his plate! More surprisingly, he finished most of it. Tarak is excited about his assignment. He and his wife have a 2 year old with another on the way. I think he will do well here. Funny but we talked more than the 6 months I worked with him on a project. He said that next time I am in Ddorf they will have me at the house for an Indian dinner. Tarak is Indian but has a perfect american accent, that is very rare!
Later that night I took the Ubahn to Oberkassel, which is a nice neighborhood northwest of Altstaedt. Came over to Juliana's apartment to pick up my laundry. She was sweet to offer to do my laundry for me while I was out for dinner with Tarak. What I didn't realize was that she did not have a dryer, she just air dry her clothes. Apparently it's normal here. It was a good excuse to have a glass of wine and chat while my clothes were dry enough to take home. I felt like a local hanging out at my friend's flat!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Kenny Rogers, KC & Sunshine Band? Who knew?
It's been surprising to learn what kind of american music my colleagues like. At the dinner party on Sunday Romina said she liked Kenny Rogers, the others also piped in that they liked him too. At first I thought they were joking or at least had him mixed up with someone else. Is there a new pop singer that decided to call himself kenny rogers, i.e Brayan Adams? I mean, the average age of this group of friends was 30 so I didn't think they would know who Kenny Rogers was. Until, they started to sing some of his songs. By the time I heard You Decorated My Life I knew we were talking about the same person. They didn't understand why I was laughing at them! Actually Romina like all country music. They all like country music!
Yesterday was Vesselin birthday and as with german tradition it was up to him to organize a celebration. Most would prepare breakfast but Vesselin decided on drinks after work. Vesselin is from Bulgaria and has lived in germany for most of his life. He spent the last 2 years in Moscow and is now back in DDorf with our department. All night he kept singing songs from KC and the Sunshine band and declared them the greatest band ever! Really? His english is quite good and sometimes he surprises me with a funny american slang. He then proudly claims that he learned much of his english watching Beavis & Butthead. Really?
Our celebration was in a nice pub (Schlander) a few blocks from work. I ordered the Glühwien to try. This is the hot wine that people drink in the winter time. Mine came in a coffee cup. It sounded strange but actually tasted really good! I felt it with only a few sips so I thought best to wait until dinner comes. Juliana ordered dinner that we were going to share. It was fun to try new german food. Totally forgot what it was called but our dinner came in a small skillet with fried potatoes as the bottom layer, then ham, then spinach, then an egg omellette mixture. It was topped with 2 sunny side up eggs. It was very hearty and on the heavy side and I could barely eat half of a portion. It was a fun night and I was glad for a chance to get to know more of my colleagues. Most of the group were young and single and somehow during the night they started to ask me for advice about relationships. Boy, did I feel old!
Yesterday was Vesselin birthday and as with german tradition it was up to him to organize a celebration. Most would prepare breakfast but Vesselin decided on drinks after work. Vesselin is from Bulgaria and has lived in germany for most of his life. He spent the last 2 years in Moscow and is now back in DDorf with our department. All night he kept singing songs from KC and the Sunshine band and declared them the greatest band ever! Really? His english is quite good and sometimes he surprises me with a funny american slang. He then proudly claims that he learned much of his english watching Beavis & Butthead. Really?
Our celebration was in a nice pub (Schlander) a few blocks from work. I ordered the Glühwien to try. This is the hot wine that people drink in the winter time. Mine came in a coffee cup. It sounded strange but actually tasted really good! I felt it with only a few sips so I thought best to wait until dinner comes. Juliana ordered dinner that we were going to share. It was fun to try new german food. Totally forgot what it was called but our dinner came in a small skillet with fried potatoes as the bottom layer, then ham, then spinach, then an egg omellette mixture. It was topped with 2 sunny side up eggs. It was very hearty and on the heavy side and I could barely eat half of a portion. It was a fun night and I was glad for a chance to get to know more of my colleagues. Most of the group were young and single and somehow during the night they started to ask me for advice about relationships. Boy, did I feel old!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Best International Dinner Ever!
It was a memorable dinner last night. All of us met at Sascha and Romina's apartment near Hafen. It was only 2+ miles from my hotel. Juliana had me buy a canon slr camera for her from the states so we played with her new toy for awhile. I brought my ipad and now Romina wants one for Xmas!
Sascha & Romina made Pisco sour which is an alcoholic drink from Peru. When Sascha told us about this drink Juliana said she won't drink it because one of the ingredient is raw egg white. You actually whisk it so it's not the runny egg white that people would think. It had a lot of lemon and ice topped with a dash of cinamon and SO good. I took a sip and ofcourse felt it right away. I nursed it all night so it was fine. It's comparable to the caiprinhnia drink from brazil which I also really like.
When it was time to start the cooking Juliana took out a long scarf and proceeded to wrap her head with it. It actually looked very pretty on her but we asked why she did it. She said it was customary to wear a scarf so you don't get hair in the food, that's like a chef's hat or a cook's hair net but much more stylish. Sascha also brought out aprons for everyone. Vesselin didn't get one and felt left out so sascha gave him a ski hat with those long braids below your ears. He didn't care that he looked silly and wore it all night. We were laughing hysterically at him but he took it in stride.
Their kitchen was half the size as mine but there were 5 of us in the kitchen cooking at once. Most of my time was in the prep work cutting up the vegies and stuff for the salmon topping. I asked sascha to get me raw shrimp and salmon filet and he ended up with cooked shrimp and two tiny filet of frozen salmon. Such a typical guys! It ended up fine because we had so much food. Romina made a nice cold appetizer of cubed potato/tomato/lemon/egg salad scooped into a half avocado, it was very nice presentation and delicious! Vesselin made a nice fresh salad of cubed cucumber, tomato, parsley and feta salad. I was most excited about Juliana's dish which was a traditional Kenyan meal. It was made up of a meat mixture of cubed beefed sauteed in onions and tomatoes, a vegie mixture of thinly sliced greens sauteed with onions. She then made a mix that looked and felt like mashed potatoes but is made out of corn flour. Juliana felt sure we would not like this mixture but wanted to make it anyway. When she mentioned that at home people eat this meal with their hand so ofcourse we all insisted we do it the right way! SO Juliana showed us how to eat it with our hands. It's not just scooping the food up, their is a technique to it. You first take a tablespoon size of the mash mixture, fist it in our palm to a shape of a long egg, use your thumb to make an indentation in the middle, then with your thumb scoop the meat and greens into the hole. All this is done with one hand. When I started using to hands to coordinate I got yelled at! Eventually I got used to it and could do it with one hand. It's not as messy as one might think. You are really touching the meat and vegies with your thumb as you scoop it into the mixture so the mess is really minimum. It was so much fun and really good. The mixture was bland but perfect with the flavorable meat and greens. We were told that the construction workers in africa eat a lot of this cornmeal mixture as a staple to maintain their strength. Supposedly it has a lot of calories. My dish was last and we were getting full, so we took a break in the living room and Romina started to youtube traditional dances from all of our countries - the peruvian and kenyan dances were fun to watch, there was a lot of shaking your booties. Then we was the very tame bulgarian dance with the men in skirst and women wearing head scarves. The vietnamese dances weren't that much more exciting. It was fun to watch all though. Then we started eating again everyone got a kick out of wrapping their own salmon rolls. By the time we had Sascha's german pudding with almonds we were stuffed!
It was past midnight on a work night but we didn't want to leave! Sascha and Vesselin are talking about starting up a cooking school, espescially after I told them I had a hard time finding english speaking german cooking class. I can't wait to try the african meal with my friends back home. For sure I will get these recipes written down. Julianna brought her flour mix from Africa so I'm not sure if I will be able to find it at home!
Sascha & Romina made Pisco sour which is an alcoholic drink from Peru. When Sascha told us about this drink Juliana said she won't drink it because one of the ingredient is raw egg white. You actually whisk it so it's not the runny egg white that people would think. It had a lot of lemon and ice topped with a dash of cinamon and SO good. I took a sip and ofcourse felt it right away. I nursed it all night so it was fine. It's comparable to the caiprinhnia drink from brazil which I also really like.
When it was time to start the cooking Juliana took out a long scarf and proceeded to wrap her head with it. It actually looked very pretty on her but we asked why she did it. She said it was customary to wear a scarf so you don't get hair in the food, that's like a chef's hat or a cook's hair net but much more stylish. Sascha also brought out aprons for everyone. Vesselin didn't get one and felt left out so sascha gave him a ski hat with those long braids below your ears. He didn't care that he looked silly and wore it all night. We were laughing hysterically at him but he took it in stride.
Their kitchen was half the size as mine but there were 5 of us in the kitchen cooking at once. Most of my time was in the prep work cutting up the vegies and stuff for the salmon topping. I asked sascha to get me raw shrimp and salmon filet and he ended up with cooked shrimp and two tiny filet of frozen salmon. Such a typical guys! It ended up fine because we had so much food. Romina made a nice cold appetizer of cubed potato/tomato/lemon/egg salad scooped into a half avocado, it was very nice presentation and delicious! Vesselin made a nice fresh salad of cubed cucumber, tomato, parsley and feta salad. I was most excited about Juliana's dish which was a traditional Kenyan meal. It was made up of a meat mixture of cubed beefed sauteed in onions and tomatoes, a vegie mixture of thinly sliced greens sauteed with onions. She then made a mix that looked and felt like mashed potatoes but is made out of corn flour. Juliana felt sure we would not like this mixture but wanted to make it anyway. When she mentioned that at home people eat this meal with their hand so ofcourse we all insisted we do it the right way! SO Juliana showed us how to eat it with our hands. It's not just scooping the food up, their is a technique to it. You first take a tablespoon size of the mash mixture, fist it in our palm to a shape of a long egg, use your thumb to make an indentation in the middle, then with your thumb scoop the meat and greens into the hole. All this is done with one hand. When I started using to hands to coordinate I got yelled at! Eventually I got used to it and could do it with one hand. It's not as messy as one might think. You are really touching the meat and vegies with your thumb as you scoop it into the mixture so the mess is really minimum. It was so much fun and really good. The mixture was bland but perfect with the flavorable meat and greens. We were told that the construction workers in africa eat a lot of this cornmeal mixture as a staple to maintain their strength. Supposedly it has a lot of calories. My dish was last and we were getting full, so we took a break in the living room and Romina started to youtube traditional dances from all of our countries - the peruvian and kenyan dances were fun to watch, there was a lot of shaking your booties. Then we was the very tame bulgarian dance with the men in skirst and women wearing head scarves. The vietnamese dances weren't that much more exciting. It was fun to watch all though. Then we started eating again everyone got a kick out of wrapping their own salmon rolls. By the time we had Sascha's german pudding with almonds we were stuffed!
It was past midnight on a work night but we didn't want to leave! Sascha and Vesselin are talking about starting up a cooking school, espescially after I told them I had a hard time finding english speaking german cooking class. I can't wait to try the african meal with my friends back home. For sure I will get these recipes written down. Julianna brought her flour mix from Africa so I'm not sure if I will be able to find it at home!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Back in Germany again....
Sunday Nov 21
My flight to ddorf went smoothly enough. Got on the plane, had my dinner with a glass of mimosa, watched a movie and slept until breakfast was served an hour before we landed in London. My seat stretched out flat so I slept much more comfortably. Gotta love flying business class on british air! I love sitting on the upper deck of the 747, felt like there were only 14 of us on the whole plane.
The NH hotel is fine. Very german with its autere deco style and ikea furniture. There's a U-bahn stop just outside so the commute to work will be easy. I had just enough time to unpack, and then go out to the market to stock up on snacks and coke zero. I barely remembered that all the stores are closed on sunday. I had a nice 3 week break of no caffeine, healthy organic food, regular excercise and yoga. Gary & I went for a walk every night and hiked on the weekends. Now it's back to coffee and coke zero!
The weather is cool and crisp - in the low 40's. I bought a size large wool peacoat so I can add a few extra layers when in estonia next week. It will be in the 20's!
Doing some work today but am excited about dinner tonight. I am getting together with the 2 colleagues from my france audit - sascha and juliana. We are all meeting at sascha's apartment tonight to make an ethnic dinner. Juliana is making a kenyan main course, sascha is making a german dessert, his girlfriend is making a peruvian appetizer, vesselin (another colleague from my department) is making a bulgarian salad and I am making a vietnamese main course. 5 people from 5 different countries, so cool.
My flight to ddorf went smoothly enough. Got on the plane, had my dinner with a glass of mimosa, watched a movie and slept until breakfast was served an hour before we landed in London. My seat stretched out flat so I slept much more comfortably. Gotta love flying business class on british air! I love sitting on the upper deck of the 747, felt like there were only 14 of us on the whole plane.
The NH hotel is fine. Very german with its autere deco style and ikea furniture. There's a U-bahn stop just outside so the commute to work will be easy. I had just enough time to unpack, and then go out to the market to stock up on snacks and coke zero. I barely remembered that all the stores are closed on sunday. I had a nice 3 week break of no caffeine, healthy organic food, regular excercise and yoga. Gary & I went for a walk every night and hiked on the weekends. Now it's back to coffee and coke zero!
The weather is cool and crisp - in the low 40's. I bought a size large wool peacoat so I can add a few extra layers when in estonia next week. It will be in the 20's!
Doing some work today but am excited about dinner tonight. I am getting together with the 2 colleagues from my france audit - sascha and juliana. We are all meeting at sascha's apartment tonight to make an ethnic dinner. Juliana is making a kenyan main course, sascha is making a german dessert, his girlfriend is making a peruvian appetizer, vesselin (another colleague from my department) is making a bulgarian salad and I am making a vietnamese main course. 5 people from 5 different countries, so cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)