Short trip to Poland

Today we decided to go on a short day trip to Poland. My husband was very keen to cross a border. In South Korea this is impossible. You can't just drive into North Korea, and otherwise the country is are all surrounded by water. Only by plane or ship can you travel to other countries.

Here in Germany are many bordering countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland,  France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark. Wow, what a long list! You can guess how exciting this sounds for my husband. Of course Poland is the nearest and from Berlin it took only around one hour drive to reach Slubice. Only he was disappointed by the unspectacular border.... Ha, ha!


Anyhow, saw the bazaar and countless stalls selling cigarettes... ate good cheap lunch and came back home.


Hopefully when we have more time, we'll explore a bit further. 

Hurra! Der Sommer ist da!

 Yeah, finally the summer also arrived in Berlin. Hopefully it will last longer than a week. Today the temperature even touched 35 degree C. Wow! This invites to take it easy and just enjoy the rays of sun. Luckily my parents have a lovely garden where all these lovely fruits and veg and flowers are growing and a place for me to relax. :-)

 Rote Johannisbeeren - Red currants

 Schwarze Johannisbeeren - Black currants

Eine Stachelbeere - one goeseberry

 Some apples

Still small pears

And mostly green tomatoes

Deciding for a Job

Phewwww, recently I spent a good time checking out different kindergartens to discover where I want to be next. I am an educator, an "Erzieherin" and I've been between jobs. Sometimes taking decisions is not an easy endeavor. So I am very happy now to have found a place which seems to resonate with me. Feels like a good decision and a happy new challenge. 

I apologize to my friends who had to listen to my endless pros and cons of different options.

Thank you for your patience!

Sunday at the Flea Market

Today was a nice quiet Sunday.... and even quite sunny and no rain. Wow! Should summer finally come? Late afternoon we passed by the Flea market at Rathaus Schoeneberg.  It's always open on Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm. I guess we were a bit too late and the stalls were slowly closing. ... But here is a glimpse.

Haven't yet managed to check out the flea market at Mauerpark but this one should be good. There are so many flea markets in Berlin.

Afterwards we relaxed with Mango Lassie and Green Tea. 

Two funny birds

My parents have this lovely garden in Spandau. Whenever we go, it's surely relaxing. Unfortunately thanks to the unpredictable weather this summer, we don't have many barbecues.

However, there are these two funny birds. One spits water and the other ... I don't know. They look cute. Have a look! 

Somehow they cheer you up, I feel, even in this miserable summer which doesn't feel like summer. The weather keeps changing faster than I can go to the supermarket and back. Sun, rain, sun, rain and so on.  This year the summer sale started early and autumn fashion is already on the market. If this shouldn't be a reason to cry, then I don't know what should be. Berlin weather is unpredictable. Ok, I guess I should see the bright sight of it, I can wear summer AND autumn clothes all in one day. Ha!

Mud Festival in Korea

http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/english/festival/festival1.php

I stumbled upon this muddy stuff on "Spiegel" online and I was quite fascinated. A mud festival in Korea! Wow!  I never heard of it before. In Boryeong they are throwing mud in big style and it looks like they're having lot of fun. I wish I could be there. Apparently this festival was started in 1998 and over the years it has been improved and it's definitely a tourist attraction .

I still remember ...when we lived in India and my kid was small, he and his friends used to throw mud and take baths during monsoon. The earth there is red and the kids really enjoyed it.

Rainy Days ...

This is one of those rainy days in Berlin. And it's supposed to be summer. Come on.

 I remember living in India how I loved those rainy days. There was so much of sun that I actually longed for a grey rainy day. Yes, believe me. I loved it. Hopefully could stay inside and watch it rain and rain and rain. A day to chill out, to escape the heat, to take it easy, to read a book and dream while sipping chai. But of course, if you had to go out, be ready to experience full blown monsoon weather. The rain just won't stop or even reduce. Sometimes if you were lucky it would get a bit less just to pour again half an hour later. Giving you just the time to reach home. Some experiences I had included getting stuck on the muddy road with the motorbike or driving to Pondicherry not seeing where you're actually driving.

 Once we're driving through not only a puddle but the whole road was at least half meter deep water. It felt like swimming with the bike. Reaching home you're soaked and just had to change completely. Get into dry warm clothes and make a hot steaming chai.

During summer monsoon it will be hot again quite quickly while winter monsoon even feels cold. I know noboby living in Europe believes me when I say you can feel cold in India but you do. Especially during December, Jan driving the bike or just passing a rain. Many Indians kids have to wear the cute monkey hats to keep warm.

Right now it's also raining in South India.  ...

However, this is an older picture. I just thought to give you an idea what monsoon can be like. 

Fairy Tales in Sand

Here some pics from our last stay at Ruegen, East sea from the Sandfestival showing beautiful sand sculptures of Grimm's Fairly Tales.

Living together

Relationships are like life in general ...  always ups and downs .... ying and yang. Especially in the beginning my now husband and me had to overcome quite some cultural differences. He's Korean - I'm German. And at that time we lived in India. Many misunderstandings - some miscommunication, many adjustments and compromise in the middle of falling in love. I guess just getting to know each other and understanding each other without language, just because we know each other, trust each other. I found this a very beautiful -  although sometimes painful - process. Even getting to know myself better, my weaknesses, my strengths, my desires, my hopes ... just myself. What do I expect from somebody else? What do I see in him? Do I accept that somebody is different than me?

And then the usual stuff of men and women being different. I don't know if all men are like this? But when there is trouble my guy rather withdraws, he retreats into his "cave", needing his own time. While I rather talk and talk and talk about it. Anyhow, now after more than 5 years together we got to know better and it's much easier to overcome difficulties together. We're still madly in love and happy together. Still laugh and cry together..although I guess the crying part is rather my department.  We have fun and can get serious, or just hang around do nothing. All in all a got dose of compromises seems to be very helpful. :-)

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."  -Friedrich Nietzsche

Movie: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

This movie is a must see. It's really a great movie with great actors. It's a British comedy drama in which a group of British seniors decide to "outsource" their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. The Marigold Hotel advertises as a newly restored Hotel and promising to be a luxury development to be "for the elderly and beautiful" in Jaipur, India. The clever hotel manager Sonny  (played by actor Dev Patel who also acted in Slumdog Millionaire)  got this old palace from his father and thanks to photoshop got these retirees to travels thousands of miles.

The seven stranger have each their own story to tell and their own reasons why they decide to spend their last days in India. However, when they arrive they don't find what they'd expected although slowly the palace begins to charm in unexpected ways. The seniors struggle in their own way with the situation, too spicy food ("if I can't pronounce it, I don't eat it") and no doors or taps that are falling apart. The very enthusiastic hotel manager Sonny welcomes them and keeps up his enthusiasm. The movie shows India how I know it - colourful, chaotic, crazy, sweet, adventurous, lovely, warm, contradictory, charming, overwhelming, magical ...

And the movie also presents us with a sweet Indian love story; Sonny rebelling against his mother's wishes for an arranged marriage having the courage to confront his mother and dare to be with his love.

Our whole family watched it - my stepson was here for a visit - and we all enjoyed it. The way the Indians shake their heads, only Indians can do it. It is funny and touching at the same time. I can only recommend it. For sure it bring a smile on your face.

"Everything will be alright in the end. So, if it's not alright, it's not yet the end."

http://youtu.be/dDY89LYxK0w

My Balcony Flowers

I am so happy to have my balcony. It’s such a nice sunny place. Especially these days that the sun is out. 
This spring I went to Obi Baumarkt and bought the flower-boxes and flowers. Last year when we moved in I had no patience for it at all. Now, every morning when I leave for work, I look up at the 4th floor (and no lift) at my balcony and my flowers and smile.

Die Magariten

 and my Stiefmuetterchen

However, yesterday the Stiefmuetterechen had to give way to Lavendel and Chrysanthemen

Living in India between an abundance of flowers makes me miss them. - the rich colors, the scents and simply its beauty.  I try my best with my little balcony. But I got the idea to try strawberries next year. Let's see ...