Today I’m sick,† day 3 of the Vienna December/Seasonal Sinus Infection Sickness 2011, and I’m hoping to nip it in the bud before it becomes day 13 or 14, as it did last year.  Vienna, though usually cold this time of year, is also usually quite magical, what with the Christmas markets and snow, although we haven’t seen any snow.. yet.  (Gods, I hope we do.  I mean, I don’t have to shovel it or drive in it, you know?  And after the snow, the skies are blue and the sun shines, and the weather is overall pleasant!  Unlike it’s been..)

Speaking of magical, let me copy/paste an email I sent to my dear, dear friend, Sashka (Saška).  She’s Serbian and, hands-down, my BFF: Vienna Edition, and I can’t imagine life without her!  (Sorry, B.‡)  (S, do I get kick-backs for advertising you as a good friend?!) 

Oh, and back story: we met in our first German class: A1.1 (see the European Council Framework of Reference Language Scale here).  We’ve taken the 8-week, intensive German courses together, both sitting out the A2.1 class while I was on my North American Tour and she was getting her diploma in Serbia (we’re now back in the A2.1 class–our third!)

So, since I’ve been krank and missed class on Wednesday (ugh, that’s like, €19,50 – these courses are not billig!), she took studious notes on the new grammar points, and emailed them to me, just like a good BFF, and student, would!  (Note that I said “would” because, while Sashka is always a great BFF, I don’t know that I would always describe her as a “good student”..  Although she kicks ass at German!) 

Anyhoodle, included in the new grammar is the following:

If one is calling an office to talk to someone, one could use the following sentence structure and vocabulary:

–Guten Tag/Morgen/Abend, mein Name ist (redacted).  (last name only, no Herr/Frau before).
–Kann ich bitte Herr/Frau ____ sprechen?

Now, what we both found interesting, is that you don’t say the Frau part of your own name (first sentence, when introducing yourself) and, even more, you don’t say mit (with) Herr/Frau ____ sprechen.  It just seems counter-intuitive to us, especially as English speakers (Sashka speaks English extremely well, essentially at the level of a native speaker), and while German grammar is notoriously difficult and weird, this particular thing is, well, strange.  (There’s more to it than this, regarding the case –you use the accusative pronoun, for instance– but I won’t delve any further for fear of boring you.. well, further.)

Okay, so, the email!  (Yes, I am half-witted..)

Me to Sashka:

JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW…..

I JUST USED THIS….

(your notes, that is).

I have to reschedule an appointment, and while my doctor speaks English (and I schedule my appointments with him, directly), I have to speak to the receptionist.  I used the language you gave me, verbatim, changing only the names (lol – duh), and it WORKED, like MAGIC!!!

He wasn’t in the office, but she told me he’d be back AM ELF!!!  ELEVEN!!!  THEN SHE SAID, AUFWIEDERHÖREN!!!  TIL WE TALK AGAIN!!!  (Or hear, you know.)

…I know, all caps are annoying, but sometimes necessary.

You know, when we first moved here, and from time-to-time still, Bill mentions how knowing another language, or parts thereof, is kind of akin to knowing magic spells, a lá Harry Potter…  it’s like you speak these “magic” words (foreign to you), and things happen!  You say, “noch ein Bier, bitte,” and you get another beer!  (Bill does, that is.)

I thought his perception was pretty cool, and fairly accurate, although now that you and I are coming along with our German, I think the “foreign” aspect of the language/ magical-seeming quality of it is diminishing.  BUT I suppose with some new things (such as, the grammar part that doesn’t seem to make sense, as you mentioned, with which I wholly agree), it still retains some magical qualities.  What do you think?

And, while we’re discussing magic, what do you think about Harry Potter?  And, Lord of the Rings?  (Although the latter deals less with magic and more with, well, I’m not quite sure how I would describe that.  Let’s talk about that another time.)

Also.  Not gonna make it to class today.  Will explain in response to last night’s email, which I did read last night (got in bed around 00:20!)  I know, craziness.  I’m like a party animal!!!

<3

Bis dann!

—

Basically, I was really, really excited about using the new grammar.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Okay, so I was never “mighty”, but you know.

Now I have two things:

1. How would you describe/discuss Lord of the Rings?  It’s certainly less “magical” than HP, but I think because both are fantasy and deal with good v. evil, and because the movies came out at similar times and are based on books, the two have sometimes been compared (which has always been seltsam to me, but alas, that’s something else altogether).  Anyway, continuing.

And, number 2:

"it's a fucking person, you idiot!"

(A party animal just for you, dear reader, drawn by none other than Dr. B.)  See, we were playing a game of Pictionary or Cranium or something like that with some friends, I think spring 2010, and given the scoreboard, it must have been “boys v. girls”.  And, at one point, Bill was responsible for drawing a “party animal”, and his team’s clue was “a person”.  So, when they kept guessing things like “alligator” and whatnot (who wouldn’t, given that picture?!), in exasperation he cried out, “it’s a fucking person, you idiot!”  (Or perhaps it was, “it’s a person, you fucking idiot!”  I forget which one, but the former sounds slightly less offensive, so I’m sticking with that.)

Also, the expression on his face was pretty funny, but since he doesn’t want his face on the internets, I cropped him out.  (I initially made him look really creepy/distorted using PhotoShop, but the file wouldn’t upload properly.)

The end.

†Because I’m sick, the title of this post, is the a reason I’m posting.  Yesterday, when I was catching up reading B’s posts over at Curiouser & Curiouser (a blog name he stole from me, I might add!), I was thinking about how I really don’t write/post anymore, and while I have things I could write about, I just don’t feel like it, at all.  Then today, for whatever reason, I did (while writing the above email).  So because I’m sick, and at home with time on my hands, I’m writing.

‡B is, of course, my BFF (not Edition-specific).  But not female, which begs the question if he can truly be considered a “BFF”, ya know?

Also, because I can, some pictures:

Vienna by night at Christmastime

and:

warming up on the radiator

aww, brothers!

yeah, we're cute

hamming it up

In case you didn’t know this already..  I really love my cats.

so this isn’t a true “victories & silver linings” post because there really isn’t a silver lining; however, there is a victory, so I’ll go with that.

bad news first: my Bank-O-Mat (Debit/ATM card) decided not to work at an ATM –at my bank’s machine– not FIVE MINUTES after I used it at a small grocer to purchase produce…  (And it has not come into contact with a magnet, et cetera).  I am receiving the message that it is “void” (i.e., has been stolen, by me) or “damaged” ?  What?  And the banks close at like 15:00 or so (that’s 3.00 p.m. for those of you living in den U.S.A., as my country is lovingly known over here), so I’m unable to get a replacement or ask wtf is going on.  Anddd, while this wouldn’t normally be a problem (or such a “big deal”/ #firstworldproblem), I have a whole €5,00 dabei (on me) and we desperately need some groceries.  So ugh.  (I tried 3 different machines, then a second bank’s ATM – all with the same result.  I dare not attempt to buy groceries and have my card declined, thus pissing off the marktfrau and the other patrons of the store who will undoubtedly be standing in line..)

So.  That’s the bad news.  Not so bad at all – more of a minor inconvenience, obviously, all things considered.  What I really want to talk about is the victory.

I’ve been in a German class for 3 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 5.5 weeks now.  I think.  And I think I’ve mentioned this already.  …everything is kind of blurry in my life and hectic, per this course and preparing for our visit to the U.S. (we leave 3 weeks from yesterday, and we’ll be gone for 24 +/- days), and bringing die verrückte Katzen to the Tierarzt** (yes, the grammar was way wrong on that, but whatev).  Anyway.  I’m like in my 6th week of 15 hours/week German.  Sehr schwer!  But totes cool.

Soooo, while at the little market next door, buying the produce mentioned above, I asked the marktfau, “Haben Sie “kosher” Salz?”  (Admittedly, a question I could ask before I left the U.S.)  But!  When she answered, I understood every. single. word.  And, what’s so much more, when she asked the store “manager” (owner) about it, and she came to ask me what I wanted, I was able to tell her and spell it –hold a rudimentary conversation– and I understood every word she said, as well.  Am I demonstrating how elated I was?  (/am?)  Granted, I need not understand every word someone says to communicate (in English as well), but it was that much more fantastic, so rewarding.  Walking back to my flat I couldn’t help but formulate the sentences in my head that I’ll say to my instructor* tomorrow to relate this experience to her.  And, before the debit-card difficulties, I couldn’t help but calling B to tell him all about my fantastic, albeit elementary, Deutsch ..”experience”.  Sehr cool.

*my instructor is absolutely (unbedingt!) excellent.  as a “trained” ESL teacher/teacher of a language which is foreign to my students, I can tell you that she does almost everything spot on.  like, awesome.  and, as a student (even if I didn’t know shit from shinola about teaching a foreign language – gods, I kind of hate that term but it was so apropos), she’s just plain fantastic.  we all started the class knowing like, no German (okay, so B and I knew wenig, but almost every student had been in Vienna like one month at most, having no prior knowledge or schooling in German, with maybe one exception).  anyway, I just can’t speak her praises highly enough.

**Franz Josef Latarian Milton has been under the weather.  Please keep him in your thoughts and send him some good vibes. 

(There’s a very long diatribe about the vet visit, including Schrödinger’s experience, that little whimp*.. I might just copy and paste an email I sent my mom so you can have an idea about vets over here.  They are sehr gut, but B and I already knew that.)

(No, die Katzen don’t have universal healthcare, but they don’t need it..)

*Just kidding, I love Schrödinger.**

**Just kidding, I really liebe Franz Josef.***

***No but really, I do love Schrödinger, too…****

****….
so I’m kind of cheesy, K-Bud, ya wanna make something of it?!

Post Script: I quit facebook.

It’s still the first anniversary for our arrival in Vienna.

And I’m still too tired to “properly” celebrate or write about the past year.

I will, however, celebrate the fact that my external hard drive has agreed to connect to my computer, after a few weeks’ hiatus (and quite a bit of trial-and-error, and strife, on my part).  The celebration?  I’m going to post a photo I just remembered taking that I found on said hard drive, a photo that I find pretty goddamn hilarious.  Hopefully you will, too.

bewbs & a boy @ the Belvedere*

Okay, so maybe this picture isn’t that hilarious; however, when that little shithead kid kept running around like a banshee and wouldn’t let me take a single decent picture, and when I saw the opportunity to catch this gem, well, I had to take it.  And I’m SO glad that the framing isn’t too bad considering I had to snap it pretty quickly and whatnot..

I know, I know.. simple minds, simple pleasures.  (For the record, this was taken at The Belvedere in Vienna on a chilly, drizzly April day while my parental units were visiting.  I’d like to go back to the palace when the weather isn’t the suck and I can therefore appreciate its beautiful grounds and gardens.)

Okay, I’ve over-acknowledged our first anniversary in Wien, so I think I can rest easy tonight (with the help of modern chemistry, of course).

peace & love.

*the “bewbs” actually belong to one of the famous griffin statues of the world.  I’ll call him (the statue) Harry Potter.

I haven’t the time this morning to write a “proper post”, per se; however, I must acknowledge the one year anniversary of my arrival in Vienna.  (Note, I said my arrival in Vienna.  Gestern made one year that I had left the U.S.)

It’s all rather surreal.  And (the timing is) a bit unfortunate because I wanted to celebrate this week, but I’ve been incredibly busy (per the norm, lately), and this week is turning into one of the worst weeks of my life that has not involved the death or serious illness of a loved one.  (Fear not, I have not said anything akin to, “this week could not possibly get worse,” because it most definitely could.)

I’d wanted to write gestern and heute, but as yesterday was particularly busy, and turned out to be particularly bad, that didn’t happen.  Anddd I thought today would be a “better”/more apropos day to celebrate our arrival anniversary: we did, after all, arrive in Vienna on the 29th, not the 28th, of September, in the Year of (someone else’s) Lord two-thousand ten.

As I inevitably always say, hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to schreiben mehr später.  We’ll see.  Either way, vielleicht I can rest easy having at least acknowledged our anniversary in this yea olde blog that chronicled my first days in this new city, country, and continent.

Tschüs!

it feels like it’s been considerably longer than 3 months since my last post.  and, since I was struck by the desire to write well before midnight (local time), this makes 3 months to the day since my last post.  coincidence?  absolutely.

I had so much to write, but after catching up reading B’s blog, and catching up reading my own blog (to see what I last wrote about, and when), many of my thoughts have vanished.  other thoughts seem redundant, or so similar to sentiments that have already been explicated that I feel they do not warrant words now.  perhaps that will change as this elucidation continues.

I have been very busy the past three months.  I have been working with the twins, who are now exactly 5 months old (if we’re counting by months – counting by weeks, well, that’s entirely different).  in the beginning, when the babies were quite young, it was a very demanding job, much more so than it is now.  (don’t get me wrong, working with twin boys and their 2.5 year old sister is quite a lot of work; however, the first three months with the babies were extremely, extremely demanding and difficult, and only recently has care for the babies become less stressful and, frankly, more fun.  I consider myself a “baby entertainer deluxe,” now, and a baby masseuse, but I won’t bore you with the details.)  unfortunately, as care for the babies has become considerably easier, caring for the 2.5 year old has become considerably difficult.  perhaps it was a “just a phase” for a few weeks, but those few weeks were absolutely harrowing, exhausting, and.. yeah, exhausting.  it was tough.  the past week or so has seemed a bit better, though, so I’m hoping perhaps it was, indeed, just a phase.

I’ve mentioned my job for a number of reasons, chiefly to prepare you for the severe problems that recurred regarding my mental illness.  I suppose it was a combination of not being able to say “no,” thus allowing myself to get burned out from working so much, at a job that, while it is fulfilling in many ways, is not intellectually stimulating or challenging, and I was so exhausted at the end of each day that I could barely do the dishes or put a load of clothes to wash, much less try to read or write or.. try to stimulate myself intellectually.  that fact, in and of itself, took its toll on me, subconsciously at first, I believe.  what I was very aware of, after having a mini-nervous breakdown following one of the harrowing days with the toddler, missing a train for a mini-vacation (thus missing an extra 2 hours of the only 1.5 days I had).. it had added up and I burst.  I was utterly and completely mentally, emotionally, and even physically fatigued, depleted of all energy, lacking the motivation to continue with my life as it was at that time.  it was a dark time, and I had just arrived in a beautiful place, thankfully with B.

together we got through it, and he made me realize what I needed to do, that I needed to either quit my job, or cut back my hours, significantly.  I needed time for me – I had not had any time for myself, much less any time to pursue any philosophical adventures or other thought quests, even if just by reading others’ works and soaking it up, appreciating it, or thinking about how I would challenge what I’d read (even if I didn’t write down said arguments).  this would be a difficult task, I knew, because I love(d) the family I’m working for, and I didn’t want to put an additional strain on their situation (finding other help to fill in the gaps).  but I had to do it.  and I did.  and my “boss,” who is really more of a friend and a confidant, understood everything.  and she had already reduced my hours.  everything would be okay.

since that time, at the beginning of July, things have vastly improved regarding my work situation.  of course, as the babies grew and fell into a bit of a sleep-eat-play cycle, things were that much easier.  I was still exhausted, though, and I still didn’t have enough time for myself.  I knew, and I know, it will take a while for me to get back on my feet, for me to “recover” from burning out, although I’m making great strides in so doing.  (I’m beginning an intensive German course on 30 August; it’s 3 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks, and I’d like to take the same class (at a higher level) for the 4 weeks immediately following, if we can afford it.)  I’ll work maybe 12(?) hours per week – the course is quite intense and I’ll need some down time and study time – but there’s “a light at the end of the tunnel,” so to speak.

with the German course I’ll be, finally, working towards a small, though very difficult, goal (to learn a third language), and I’m sure I’ll be intellectually stimulated.  I should also have more time for myself.  following these proposed 8 weeks of class, B and I return to the U.S. for 3 weeks, one week of which will be spent in Jamaica for a friend’s wedding.  it will be wonderful to visit the U.S.; we’ll have been gone just over a year, and Jamaica will be our first “real” vacation in.. idk, ever?, although we are leaving on Thursday for Slovenia for a 4-night stay at a nice hotel (spas, saunas = k’s dream come true).  and, speaking of Slovenia and Jamaica, and the U.S., I will have traveled through 8 countries in a year’s time (well, a year and a month; or we can say 7 countries within a year’s time..)

yeah.

..I’m fairly certain that that which I have written tonight is not what I intended to write, but it will suffice for now.  perhaps I will recall that which I wanted to write, more likely than not, I won’t.  but that’s okay, that’s how life goes.

and for the record, as I saw mention of my food blog.. I kept a food diary using the LiveStrong iPad app, for quite a while (like, a while), and it was fantastic.  between switching medications, and the food journal, I was able to lose the “Seroquel” weight, as I call it, although I’d still like to lose another 5 lbs.  (truth be told, most of the weight I gained on Seroquel was weight I needed to gain; I really was entirely too thin, practically skeletal for my frame and at the bottom of my BMI, but I did gain a bit too much, and I didn’t want to be on the track to gaining even more.  Anyway..)

Now, B thinks I look great, but, you know, there’s that body dysmorphia popping up again.  BUT, losing 5 lbs would still look good on me – not too thin, not lose my boobs(!) – and I’d just.. idk, like being that teeny-tiny bit lighter.  …I’m neurotic and deranged.  you know this already.