Kaffee, the little Red Riding Hood and others

2nd May 2005

Hey All!

I have just eaten a very big dinner, and as it is time for bed, I have no idea how my stomach is going to digest it all…guess I would wake up with indigestion. The thought of all that food lying undigested in my stomach as I sleep makes the thought of sleep unthinkable. Thus I thought of updating my blog=)

I have the good luck of having a wonderful lady called Angelika as my landlady=) She brought me to her sister’s house on Saturday, just for a gathering, and the entire family just unhesitantly took me into their fold. It was wonderful. We drank a lot of Kaffee (the German Tradition of Kaffee-Trinken deserves a mention, see paragraphs later) and had a Grill (BBQ). There were quite a few of us, Angelika’s niece Karin (40) and her Italian-sicillian mate (not husband and not from Mafia, apparently what the Mafia does now is just to be normal politicians, helping to repair roads, build community facilities, etc.) Pino, Angelika (63) and her sister Marianne (72), their funky neighbour Anita(69 going on 70), Anita’s daughter (forgot name) and Anita’s granddaughter Samira. We had fun thinking up ways to remember my name, e.g Lied- (Lied=song in German) or Meeting. It was too much effort to get them to pronounce it the Chinese way, so I just told them that the stress is on the first syllable. After dinner, we just sat around, drank wonderful red wine and chatted, and boy, are the old ladies lively. Someone (not me) mentioned about snails in the garden, ‘vernaschen’ the grass, then someone else corrected her, saying that it was naschen, not vernaschen, with vernaschen being a sexual act. They spent a long time debating about the importance of the use of the correct word, Geli arguing that it was important for me to know if a guy says “Ich will dich vernaschen.” (I want you) or something.

Angelika told us of her experience with a guy who tried to get it on with her, and I thought her answer was worth one hundred points. She was walking home alone one day and a car stopped beside her. The man inside asked if she was interested to go for a ride. She said no, because it wasn’t safe. Then they agreed to meet at a pub further down the road. In the pub, the guy said, “What beautiful legs you have.”
Her answer was classic. “I know that.”
The persistent but unintelligent bloke ventured on, “What pretty lips you have.”
“I know that too, so what?”
Kinda reminds you of the little red riding hood and the Big Bad Wolf yeah?

We laughed as these grandmamas recounted their manifold experiences, the latest being Marianne’s breakup with her boyfriend just a day ago. He wanted her to move into his farmhouse, and even bought her a Mercedes (I am not sure if anyone would do that for me=P) but she did not want to (Her house is one of the most beautiful houses I have seen), thus they broke up. Being with them, I felt so prudish. And they are 3-4 times my age. Allmech. (Bayerisches Word for oh man!) Anyway, I did not know how to comfort her, so I just listened and repeated whatever her younger sister said, C’est la Vie! But I don’t think that’s the way to do it though…didn’t we learn in Pastoral Care that the one good way for people to get over things is for them to really think it through and cry over it for once? However, I seriously doubt if she wants to know about the engineering supremacy of Mercedes cars..

It was really hot in the weekend and today as well, hot according to the Germans (really hot= 25-28 deg Celsius), and we will be waiting for the frost soon. Nope you did not read wrongly, the weather here is really unlogical and unpredictable (unvorhersehbar, Angelika praised me for using such a big word, and I felt this pride I haven’t been feeling since learning the 2 times table in Kindergarten). May Day is the official start of real spring, but there are still the Eis-heilige (the ice-holy ones) to tide through. These days even have names: Niko-something, Servatsius and die kalte Sophie (the cold Sophie). Frost would come on these nights and we would have temperatures of minus something. I am really NOT looking forward to it. Some people would jump at the opportunity of seeing snow, but I can skip that, truly the cold is not worth it. I really should get a big thick coat to hide under.

I will be going for the AGM in Hannover with the other Singaporean students. I am looking forward to it, a great gathering with other Singaporeans, with canoeing and some sight-seeing. There is even a holiday this Thursday, called Christihimmelfahrt. I have no idea what it celebrates, but one does not question holidays =)

Time passes really quickly, it is already my third week here. I think I have adapted well here so far…just need to watch my diet a little more. I have no idea what and how much to eat, not exactly used to cooking for one, and I have to finish everything when I cook more or something. There is a weighing machine in my living room, and I have never ventured to step on it, guess the truth would be out only when I return home…bwahaha.

=) tings