It’s currently ten o’clock at night. I’ve been up since 6 am, it’s been a long, stressful day at work, in which I didn’t even have time for a proper lunch break and all I want to do is go to bed and sleep… possibly until the end of the week. Unfortunately this is not possible. Tea is still in the oven refusing to do what it’s meant to do (stop being liquid mainly). On top of that, the kitchen is full of unwashed dishes from last night’s tea, which I am going to fail to wash once again, and I still haven’t taken out the food waste, despite the fact that I’ve been meaning to for about three days. My Grandma has just informed me that one of the stereotypes that Germans have about the British is that we’re messy… and she knows for a fact Jan thinks that about me. Thanks Grandma – at least now I know what you two talk about behind my back! And the worst of it is I can’t even deny it. After all, we all know I’m the world’s worst housewife (I’ve mentioned it often enough!). The best defense I could come up with was “he can talk”. Very original! I also managed to get on the wrong tram this morning, my train was delayed this evening and Jan is not home yet. This certainly hasn’t been what I would call one of the better days in my life. Here’s hoping tomorrow will be better… once I’ve had some sleep!
Will this day ever end?
Posted in life, me, work with tags Bad Day, busy, family, Germans, getting on the wrong tram, Grandma, in need of sleep, life, long day, me, messy, need sleep, stereotypes, stress, stressful day, the boyfriend, tired, tiredness, trams, work, world's worst housewife on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 by bevchenThat was the weekend that was…
Posted in life, life in Germany, love, me, relationship with tags Germany, life in Germany, weekend, life, me, meal, wine, good news, babies, food, friends, the boyfriend, films, Master's, snow, good stuff, relationship, dissertation, fish, Italian food, restaurants, The Goonies, Launda, Pfaelzerwald, classic films, the weekend, out and about, day trips, friends babies, friends becoming parents, growing up, strange on Sunday, 7 February 2010 by bevchenThank you all for the lovely comments on my last blog post. We celebrated six years of being together by going for a meal at an Italian restaurant close to my flat. It’s fairly new and we hadn’t been there before, but every time I’ve walked past it was packed. As it was again on Friday night. We arrived at just before 8 o’clock and were told they did have a table for 2 free, but only until 9pm! We had a lovely meal, complete with wine and actually were finished by 9… not bad! Will definitely be going there again, but perhaps with a reservation next time? After the meal we came home and watched the Goonies on DVD. I bought it for myself the other day as a treat, because it was cheap, and Jan had never seen it! Slowly, slowly I am filling in the gaps in his education… I’ve already introduced him to Edward Scissorhands and The Breakfast Club… and now The Goonies. I wonder what other classics he’s missed out on?
Yesterday we drove over towards the Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest) and went for a bit of a walk through the trees. There’s still deeo snow up there! Afterwards we drove into Landau, had a bit of a walk around then went to a wine tavern for something to eat. I had pike-perch fillet in a really nice sauce. And a glass of wine of course… what else should one drink in a wine tavern?
We had a lovely day, culminating in a talk about the possibility of actually getting a flat together… but more on that tomorrow, it’s such a mile stone that I think it deserves a whole blog post of it’s very own
Today I have mostly been working on my dissertation.. or at least attempting to. I have a grand total of 536 words so far, which I may or may not be able to use in the actual dissertation. *sigh* Can someone please remind me why I wanted to do a master’s?
Oh, and I’ve just heard (courtesy of my sister) that a friend of mine back in England has become a father today. He’s actually the son of a family friend and I’ve known hi since I was about 10 years old… rather strange thinking of him having a new born daughter! We are all growing up, alas…
So, that was my weekend. How was yours?
Six years
Posted in life, love, me, relationship with tags Austria, Germany, life, long-distance relationship, love, me, my relationship, relationship, six years, the boyfriend, the story of us on Friday, 5 February 2010 by bevchenThe boyfriend and I have been together for six years today.
We met in 2003, when I was in Germany for the year abroad that I had to do as part of my degree. At the time I was with someone else, but that ended in January of 2006. 10 days later, Jan and I got together. After six months, when we were just starting to get beyond that honeymoon stage and settle down into a “proper” relationship, I had to go back to England to finish my degree while Jan went off to America for a year. Neither of us was sure about the whole long distance thing, but neither of us wanted to end things either, so we agreed to try. I visited him once, for a week over new Year. Other than that we didn’t see each other for a whole year. And phone calls to America were expensive. Somehow we kept our relationship alive via texts, MSn messenger and the (very) occasional phone call. Then Jan came back to Germany to finish his degree and I moved to Vorarlberg in Austria to be a British Council language assistant. Closer, but still long distance. For 10 months, we survived on weekly phone calls and an average of one visit a month. Then, in November 2005, I received a letter from British Council telling me I could stay on as alanguage assistant for a second year. I decided to do it, but instead of sticking with the schools I was in I applied for a transfer to Germany. I put down Baden-Württemberg as my first choice, with a specific request for Karlsruhe in the comments section. In March 2006 I got the news that I had been assigned to Baden-Württemberg. In mid-June I had leftAustria and was staying with Jan for a while when I was given the exact location of my school… a small village in Pfinztal. We looked it up on Google maps and found that it wasonly a 45 minute tram journey from Karlsruhe! the next step was to go and see the head of the student residence Jan was still living in at the time and ask whether I could have a room. Mr. Z asked me how much I would be earning, then told me he would arrange something. I was in! A few weeks later, I returned to England for a few months to see the family then, on 1st September 2006, I officially moved to Germany. No more long-distance relationship.
3 and a bit years later, here we are, still together. And we’ve finally reached the point where I can say we’ve been in the same country for longer than we spent apart. I know I wouldn’t have been able to put up with me for six years, even if two of them were long distance, so I’ve no idea how Jan does it. But I’m very glad he does.
Happy six years sweetheart! ♥
In which I go slightly overboard on the brackets…
Posted in 101 Things in 1001 Days, books, cross stitch, life, me, reading with tags 101 Things in 1001 Days, Amazon, Amazon recommendations, book goals, books, completed goals, cross stitch, failed, failed goals, friends getting married, German children's books, goals, Internet shopping, January, life, me, overuse of brackets, photography challenge, reading, reading goals, the 101 things list, the book list, the boyfriend, wedding sampler on Tuesday, 2 February 2010 by bevchenWork was pretty good today, but busy. Very, very busy. It’s only Tuesday and already I’m exhausted! So instead of doing some washing (which was my plan for tonight) I’ve spent the last 20 minutes ordering books from Amazon as a “treat” to myself (for what I’m not sure). This Internet shopping malarkey is really bad for my bank balance! But on the plus side it means I’m actually getting somewhere with one of my goals… I’m up to 9 books read from the never-ending list (5 of them in January… no wonder the past month seems to have flown by without me even noticing – I’ve apparantly spent most of it with my nose in a book!) plus one German children’s book, whcih I am counting towards the 101 things list even though I technically read it for my dissertation and not because I desperately wanted to read a book by Eric Kästner. I really need to start reading some non-fiction books though… I’ve been saying for ages that I want to. Instead I find myself going through my Amazon recommendations, adding even more books to the list (can you believe the boyfriend actually has the never to tell me he finds it difficult to choose birthday and Christmas presents for me? There’s a ready-made list full of the perfect gifts just sitting, waiting for him to pay attention to it!). I failed on the monthly photo theme again (maybe 50 photos was a little too ambitious?) so it’s good to know I’ve managed to get somewhere with something…
I’ve also started to get back into cross stitch lately. A few weeks ago I picked up a project that I stopped working on months ago and I’ve come surprisingly far since then. It was supposed to be a birthday present for Jan’s mum in 2008! Hopefully I’ll actually manage to get it to her this year. I have until November, which should be do-able as long as I don’t stop again…
Ooh, and I’ve just realised, the package that arrived for me today is probably another cross stitch kit that I ordered… a wedding sampler for one of the couples I know who are taking the plunge (Yes, you read that right. I said one of the couples. There are a few…) I hope it is – I’m really looking forward to getting started on that one.
T minus 27 days and counting…
Posted in life, me, work with tags brain turned to mush, busy, countdown, countdown to the end of my probation period, February, life, me, Monday, no time to think, stress, the boyfriend, the final month, weekend, work on Monday, 1 February 2010 by bevchenIt is now February, and we all know what February means, don’t we? It means I have reached the final month of my probation period at work. One day down, 27 to go and then… the moment of truth. Will I be allowed to continue working there, or or will everything that’s gone wrong with the latest big job tip the scales in the other direction? Only time will tell… in the meantime I’m working like a demon and trying not to think about it too much. Which shouldn’t actually be too difficult this week… if today is any indication of what’s to come I won’t have time to think until at least Friday afternoon. Don’t bother coming here for any wit and wisdom this week, my brain has already turned to mush and it’s only Monday! (Not that it’s worth coming here for wit and wisdom any week, but that’s besides the point…).
Anyway, that’s enough rambling for today. The boyfriend is on his way home and I haven’t even started making tea yet. I’d better getting cracking or I’ll never get to bed tonight!
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering I didn’t go and buy a washing machine at the weekend. The trip to IKEA didn’t come off either. I did manage to buy a new quilt cover from REAL though. That’s good too, right? Baby steps…
Miscellany
Posted in blogging, family, life, me with tags life, me, weather, family, birthdays, the boyfriend, cold, January birthdays, IKEA, washing machines, post office, Royal Mail, unimpressed with Royal Mail, hen nights, hen parties, gone cold again on Wednesday, 27 January 2010 by bevchenThe shopping is put away, tea is just about ready… all I need now is for the boyfriend to arrive so we can eat. In the meantime, I shall blog.
Things have been much better since the last time I blogged, thank goodness. Another day like Monday may just have driven me insane! I am very much looking forward to the weekend though, when I shall hopefully be buying my washing machine. (Yes, I did just say I was looking forward to buying a washing machine. My life is really is that exciting). If I can find one that’s cheap enough I may even see if I can pursuade Jan to take me to IKEA. I’ve been looking at their website and several things have caught my eye. Like this, and this. Can you tell I got paid yesterday?
Things had started to warm up a bit here last week, but now it’s gone cold again. It was -8°C here this morning! I had to wait 5 minutes for my tram to turn up and even in that short time I could feel my cheeks turning to ice. I’m just glad I don’t live in the north of Germany… up there -9 has been the highest temperature, with lows in the minus twenties. Brrr, just thinking about it makes me shiver!
Hmm, what else can I tell you? It’s my Grandma’s birthday today. The last of the (many!) January birthdays in my family. I hope her card got there on time… I’m not holding my breath though. Royal Mail have been annoying me lately… two things I sent my sister have not yet arrived (one of them was a Christmas card so you can imagine how long it’s been since I posted that) and my friend’s wedding present has only just arrived, 3 weeks after I sent it for the second time! The first time it came back to me over a month after I took it to the post office. Not at all impressed! Oh, and I’ve also been invited to four hen parties today… all for the same person, and to a second one for someone who had already invited me to one of theirs. Is this he new thing now, having millions of hen nights? Any excuse for a party I suppose…
Right, I’m off to grate some cheese now. Hopefully Jan won’t take too much longer… lunch time was hours ago and my poor stomach is rumbling like mad!
If I could turn back time…
Posted in life, me, work with tags Bad Day, complaining, if I could turn back time, life, me, pants, when things take longer than they should, work on Monday, 25 January 2010 by bevchenToday was utterly, utterly pants. It’s not even like anything specific went wrong. Just every single thing I started to do seemed to take much longer than it should have (including a job that was actually fairly easy, but ended up taking half an hour longer than the planned time. Not good this close to the end of my probation period). Every single time I got started on something I had to stop and do something else… answer the phone, reply to an e-mail, install a random piece of software. Grr. If only I had a time machine so I could rewind to 7 o’clock this morning and start over…
Listen to the choir sing
Posted in life, me, music with tags a trip around the UK, August, choir, England, fish, food, holiday, hungry, junk food, life, making plans, me, not baking, singing, talented people, the boyfriend, trip, trip to the UK, UK, weekend on Sunday, 24 January 2010 by bevchenJan’s choir performed at a little cafe/bar place in town yesterday, so naturally I went along. It’s the first time I’ve seen them perform (last time I was ill) and I’d only ever heard two out of the 8 of them sing before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really enjoyed myself though, and I thought they were all very good. (I’m not entirely sure whether my opinion counts though seeing as I don’t have a musical bone in my body and can’t sing a note. It must be nice to have a talent…).
Other than that I didn’t do much this weekend. Most of Saturday afternoon was spent planning a trip around the UK in August with Jan and a friend. We’ll be starting in London then heading to the North East of England (via Wales) and finally to London, before coming back down to take the ferry back. Phew. It’s all very vague at the moment (the only part we have definite dates for is London) but I’m hoping to plan in a few meetings with friends along the way. And if anyone knows of any good, reasonably priced B&Bs in Salisbury, Cardiff or Edinburgh then please send the details my way. All recommendations gratefully received!
I was going to bake today, but I couldn’t decide whether to make cookies or cake, then Jan went home and told me he won’t be coming over again til Tuesday(!) so I ended up not bothering. No point in making an entire cake just for me! Instead I’m sitting here eating cheese flavoured tortilla chips while waiting for my salmon with spinach and tomatoes to finish cooking. Hurry up fish, I’m hungry!
