The Wedding

Well, I was in Cologne last weekend for the wedding of my boyfriend's brother. I already call my boyfriend's family my family in law, even though we aren't married, because we've been together for 6 years, he lived for years in Canada and I've been in Germany for two years, so since it's a serious relationship, I alreday consider them family.

Weddings here ( I was at the wedding of a friend in August) are very nice. Everybody dresses formal, but a German tradition makes the stuffy part go away pretty fast: friends and family of the bride and groom are supposed to think about presentations, games and something special they can organise for the day of the wedding. For exmaple, at both weddings someone had brought preadressed post cards and we had to write on them what we wish the newly weds, and we tied the cards to balloons and all let them go at the same time. during the weeks following the wedding, the newlyweds keep getting mail from the day of their wedding, if they're lucky enough that nice people find the postcards once the balloons come back down and these people bring them to the mail.

Otherwise, there are also some family members who sing songs, or organise games. For example, one game was that the bride and groom had to go to the front of the room, and sit on chairs, looking away from each other. They each had a womans'shoe and a man's shoe. Then, they have to answer questions, like "who cooks more often" by raising either the white shoe (representing the bride) or the black shoe,or both. The game starts out mildly, but soon gets interesting ("who proposed?" "who actually decides what goes on in the relationship?") It's really funny! ANd one variation of this game is that the bride and groom have to drink each time their answers differ.

There are tons of games like these, and it really is a big part of the wedding, which means that even though it can start off traditionally (champagne, three course dinner, etc) it gets pretty funny pretty fast.

On another note, I realised how weddings kind of accentuate existing tensions in the family. For example, my mother in law (boyfriend's mom). The first year that I was in Germany, every time my boyfriend would leave Berlin on vacation or whatever, she would call me and tell me I should go on a diet, suggest stupied recipies (cabbage soup for a week, wonderful) and I was really kind of insulted. Anyways, before the wedding, I hadn't seen her since June 2006, and had lost about 15 kilos (a bit over 30 pounds). I have a hard time believing someone doesn't notice that much of a weight loss. Heck, even the bf's dad noticed it! Well, my mother in law, the one for who it was SO important that I lose weight, didn't say a word. I was there for three days.

Then, it was my birthday last week. She knew I was staying at her place a couple of days later. I really don't care about the presents, but a card? Anything scribbled on a piece of paper? Nothing. Nada. Once again, even at the dad's house, I got presents and cake. At her place? hmm

Last but not least, for the wedding my boyfriend's mom had prepared a powerpoint presentation with the bride's mom in which you could see pictures of the bride and groom throughout ther lives. At one point, there were pictures of the bride and her family on ski vacation, and her mom says: "here is our family on ski vacation" and then comes up another picture, and my mom in law says something like "and here is OUR family on ski vacation". Who is on the picture? My mother in law, my boyfriend's bro, my boyfriend and ... his EX-girlfriend. How thoughtful. I've been with him for 6 years, you would think she might have the decency to leave that pic out?

I've left everything behind to come live here because I love her son madly, have learned the language, gotten a job, am studying all in German, and apprently, it STILL isn't enough for her.

Oh well. At least I have funny stories to tell. No family is perfect.

I wanna be a rockstar

at least two shots in this video were filmed in Berlin...

Quarter of a Century

Today is my 25th birthday. I got the greatest birthday card sent all the way from California from John. He rocks!

I had a party with some friends yesterday and spent the day with my boyfriend today. He was supposed to be away, but it got canceled. It was a very sunny day, we even had an ice cream cone at Alexanderplatz. My parents called me to wish me happy birthday. My boyfriend's parents did too.

I'm realizing more and more the impact of my move here. Certain people and some very good friends didn't call or write today. It's not a big deal, but I just notice it. And I've been suprised by calls or cards from other people who I didn't expect to call. I guess that's how life is, you don't get what you expect and you don't expect what you get.

This whole adventure has been a very enriching one. By moving so far away from my home, I have learned a lot about myself. How strong I can be, how determined I am, how weak I can be, and that I know I can count on myself in life. I feel I've also given up a lot by moving here, and I hadn't really realised it when I left. I'll probably not have much birthday dinners at my mom's or dad's places. That makes me feel really lonely, but at the same time, since I've been gone, it feels like some of my relationships, especially to my dad, has become so much stronger. It's like the distance has improved communication. I talk to my dad three times more often than I used to in Montreal. On the other hand, I get to see him once a year, if I'm lucky.

I don't think I could imagine going back, though. I have my life here, and I'm happy with it. This whole journey has been an amazing one. I just still have the feeling I'm missing out on a lot, and at the same time I know if I had stayed there, I would feel like I was missing out on my future life here.

I think life kind of shows me where I'm supposed to be. Among other things, my dad wrote me today that he was very proud of me, to never be afraid of becoming who I want to be and to never stop listening to my inner voice. It meant the world to me. I love you, pops.

Busy bee... :)

I have a very full week ahead of me. The bf is in Berlin for a couple of days.

Yesterday it was raining cats and dogs and pretty cold, but we still went to the museum of german history. Sheesh! That place is so big, you seriously need minimum 3 visits to see it all. Yesterday evening we went to a mexican restaurant close to our place. We hadn't done that in a long time and it was really romantic!

In ten days, I'm flying to Cologne for the bs'fs little brother's wedding. It's going to be really exciting!!

Bad vibes

I have no idea why, but it seems like right now there's a shadow hanging over me. It seems like many things that are important to me keep falling apart, people that are important to me aren't there when I need them. Where is the line between egocentric paranoia and solitude?

Why now? Trust me, I'm trying hard to find the silver lining here, to try and understand the deeper meaning of these days, but I'm not seeing it, not getting it yet.

Hmm it seems I still have some soul searching to do.

Acupuncture

I have 3 mini pieces of metal in my right ear and they're going to stay there for 3 weeks... Wonder if this thing works...

Loving Berlin

Berlin was a disappointment for me at the beginning. I guess I was expecting a sort of german Paris, and Berlin is sooooooooo different from Paris. In the last two years, I've learned to love this city, appreciate its charm, its alternative side, its underground side, its anonymous side...

Sometimes I dream of living in a smaller town, somewhere in the mountains or close to the Rhein... But then I think I would miss the new restaurants, new little streets you discover, going to a new cool place you never had noticed. I think I couldn't live in a town where everybody knows everybody. It would creep me out. I need to meet new people, make new experiences, develop further.

Britney Spears Gimme More VMA Performance

I have to say, it wasn't her best performance, but I like the song anyways...

I look like a hamster...

I got my wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday.




Thing is, I'm really afraid of dentists in general. So getting my teeth pulled out... Let's just say I was told four years ago that these wisdom teeth have to go, but it took all this time to make the appointment. It was yesterday afternoon, around 5 pm, and the whole day was horrible. I had hardly slept the night before, had a headache, a stomach ache and had a bit of fever. At work I couldn't concentrate. When I got home before going to the dentist's, I was crying and almost hyperventilating.

All in all, it went well. The dentist was really nice, she gave me a local anesthesia. The procedure itself was pretty quick, but one of the most disgusting this I have ever been through in my whole life. The cracking sounds and taste of blood were horrible. On one side, my tooth was deeper into the bone, and it really hurt when she took it out ( she had a hard time with it). I cried a bit because of the pain on the left one. After it was done, I felt in shock, listened to the dentists recommendations, got up to make a check up appointment at the front desk, and I kept thinking about the cracking sounds my teeth had made, and started feeling nauseous, everything went grey and the dentist had me lay down and put my feet up. I felt like I was going to either puke or faint. Good thing my boyfriend came with me. He took me home, changed me into my pjs and took good care of me. This is what I look like, a real home patient:



I actually thought I was smiling on the picture, but because my mouth was so frozen I couldn't feel it.

Last night the fever was really bad, and my left side ( the difficult tooth) hurt much more than the right one. On my left side, the whole area around the wound hurts, as well as the back of my mouth,my jaw and my throat. The right side is not a problem. I think if both sides had gone well, I would barely have any pain.

I got some painkillers so I slept well last night and this morning the fever is gone. My left side is way more swollen than my right side now, so I look like a really weird hamster.

My boyfriend is taking very good care of me, he bought some baby food (strawberry is the best) and vegetable broth and vegetables he can mash for me to eat. Honestly, I'm not hungry at all. Yesterday I had to force my self to eat something during the day, but I was so nervous. Last night I felt quite traumatised and barely ate anything, and I don't know if I'll eat much today...

All in all, I'm very happy that it's over, but I never want to have a tooth pulled, ever again!!

I'm back!!

I'm back from my vacation! We were in Cologne, then in South Germany, but the weather was bad, so we drove straight to the alps, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Then we drove to Freiburg, in Germany, and attended the wedding of a friend of mine - here are some pictures of the alps!!




cows in a clearing on the mountain - you hear them from far away, they all have bells.




view of the Rhine Valley between Liechtenstein and Switzerland



cute little house in the mountain - we had a beer here on the way down...




the trail close to the top...



view from the top - it was kinda scary and really windy - but hey, I made it up to 2000 meters... The whole hike was 1,2 km upwards and took about 3 hours.



this is me sitting on the border between Liechtenstein and Austria.



cute little door on the trail




Vaduz, capital of Liechtenstein ( has about 5 000 inhabitants - the whole country has 30 000)


This is our little group before leaving for the wedding:





and here we are with the happy couple.

It was a great, albeit short vacation. And a great wedding. I had fun!

ON VACATION!

Well, I'm off to COlogne to spend the weekend with the bf's family and then we're driving to south Germany, the black forest, the alps, etc. On the 25th friends of mine are getting married in Freiburg im Breisgau.

Be nice! I'll be back around August 27th!

Just because it's SO CUTE!!!

I have nothing to apologise for, but this was just too cute!

Bachelorette party

We had my friend's bachelorette party on saturday. It was my first ever, so I can't really say if they're different than what we have in Canada, but this is how it went.

We surprised our friend with a pick nick in the park. We were eight girls, had oppened a bottle of the bubbly stuff and were wearing these really cute head bands with hearts on them - she really laughed when she saw this. Then, we got her really drunk and then told her she actually had a mission to accomplish - she had a "letter" from the heavenly council, and she is the lucky winner of a place on cloud 9. The only thing is, she has to finance her way there. She is awaited on August 25th (wedding day). Then, we gave her a basket full of stuff she had to sell on the street to men (home made cherry and chocolate muffins) and we dressed her up as an angel (it was really funny, she had golden wings and all). Since she was really drunk, she seemed to have no inhibitions at all, and not only sold all the muffins, but also all the fruit we had brought along and one of our headbands for a grand total of 50 euros!!

This financed the second part of the evening. We went to the Ballhaus in Berlin Mitte, which is a cool bar where you can dance, and they also serve food. They mostly played eighties music and my friend kept her angel cosutme on - it was really funny. After a few hours of dancing and drinking we then went on to another smaller cosy bar where the waiter offered us cherry vodka shots on the house...

I was tired on sunday!!

But I still went kayaking with the bf on the Tegel Lake, which was great.

Yesterday I discovered a new location close to my home - on top of a mall close to my appartment, they turned the roof top parking deck into a beach bar - complete with palm trees and sand. Last night I went there with the boyfriend to watch the sun set, barefoot in the sand. It was really cool, and there were so many planes taking off from Tegel airport. I wonder if any were leaving for Montreal...

The results are in!!!

I got my results for 4 out of 5 exams....


(drum roll)

Well 2 of them were "A"s and two were "A+"s


yahoo!!!!!!!!!

Happy dance...

The waiting game

By this morning, yesterday's euphoria had worn off. Dancing alone in your living room is fun, but waking up and having breakfast alone? Not so much.

I also have to wait a couple of weeks before I get the results of my exams, and even though I know they can't possibly be there yet, I still am already checking on the university's website...

I am one impatient little person!