Walking History

Marty has been talking to his parents and getting a list of places here in Berlin that meant something to them when they lived here.  His list is growing and it is our plan to try to visit each of them.

This is the actual steet/path that his
dad lived on back in the late 1950's

On Thursday we headed out to try to find the area where his dad lived while going to the Technical University in Berlin.  He had told us that the building had been torn down years ago in order to make room for an underground train station or line so we knew we wouldn't see the building but just wanted to walk around the area.  It just so happens that it was right next to or to the side of the largest park in Berlin, Tiergarten.  It is a whopping 520 acres.  This park is enormous and we don't get to it often because it is quite far from our house.

We walked through beautiful old growth forest and paths and small creeks.  It was gorgeous.  In the end we couldn't really find the place but we had to have been close.  We made it to the University and unfortunately ran out of time to explore any further.  Benjamin gets out of school at 1PM which puts a quick end to most of our mid morning/early afternoon exploring.   We have a long list of other places to visit.  Week by week here we hope to hit them all.

Berlin Bear-a-Cudas

Josie was officially accepted onto the swim team at school called the Berlin Bear-a-Cudas.  She left for school in the morning not knowing if she made the team so I was excited to tell her after school. 
Because the swim team practices 4 days a week we knew that if she were to make the team this would be her one and only after school commitment.  Both kids were interested in another club called Odyssey of the Mind.

If she didn't get a place on the swim team she thought she would try this club out and their trial meeting was on Wednesday after school.  It was a 2 hour meeting so Benjamin and I hoofed it back to school and met up with Josie in the appropriate class room right at 3.

Her first question was "did I make the swim team?"  I told her yes and she was thrilled.  But now came a tough decision.  Does she do a little bit of everything here (definitely her M.O. in life) or fully commit to one thing.  She decided to sit through the meeting so she could make a well informed decision. 
The first hour was just for kids so I walked into town and ran a few errands.  I headed back for the last hour.  Both kids seemed to be enjoying it and the bonus was that their new friends and neighbors, Aurora and Nils, were also at the trial meeting. 
After the meeting, however, Josie said she would rather commit to the swim team and Benjamin decided he didn't like it enough to be a part of the club.
Josie's decision to be on the swim team meant that that same night we had a mandatory swim team meeting back at the school at 6PM. Odyssey of the Mind finished at 5:15.  This did not give us very much time.  We raced back home, I made Benjamin some dinner.  Marty was still doing his radio show and we were off again. 
When we walked into the school cafeteria for the pizza party/meeting it felt like a big party.  The swim team is for ages 1st grade through high school and there are over 100 swimmers on the team.  There was music blaring and the cafeteria was nearly filled.  There was a handbook and some rules and they went over the structure of the program. 

One of her main coaches is the guy with the man bun
in the yellow long sleeve.
By the way, the number of man buns you
see here is kind of insane.  And all age boys and
men have them. 

They then broke out into their teams.  Josie is on Team 2.  The coaches talked with them a bit.  They picked a female and male team captains and then it was time for pizza.  And for the parents to sign up for volunteer positions.  By the time I noticed the sign up sheet most of the "newbie" positions had already been taken. 
But guess what position was not taken?  Announcer!  The description said that the person who signs up for this position has to be comfortable speaking into a microphone and speaking clearly.  Josie and I knew Marty would be perfect for this.  So, for the first time in all of my volunteering for school things I actually signed Marty up knowing he would be cool with it. 
I told Josie before going in that she doesn't have to commit to the team until after the meeting and after she really learns about what she is committing to.  As we walked home she said she was 100% sure this is what she wants to do.  I'm quite thrilled because not only do I love swimming myself but between the try outs at the pool and this swim team pizza party I met a few very cool moms that I think I could be friends with.  Yay!  Win/win. 

Denied!

Tuesday morning Marty and I went to the immigration offices in central Berlin.  Because I'm the only member of the family without a German passport I needed to get the equivalent of a green card.  An American can stay in Germany for 3 months as a tourist but then needs some type of visa to stay longer.  Also I have been wanting to see if there is a need for teaching subs at the kids' school and in order to work here in Germany I need to be legal and in order to be legal I need this "green card"
Marty and I check our Map Apps and it looks like we can get there in about 45 minutes.  Our appointment is at 9:30 so we give ourselves a few extra minutes and leave our house around 8:20 and bike down to the S-bahn.  We missed the first train by seconds.  So frustrating to be scrambling up the last stairs at the station when the train you want to be on is pulling away.  We had to wait 9 minutes for the next one.  We would have been in fine shape if the exact same thing hadn't happened as we were getting on the next train at the U-bahn station.
OK, now we were sweating it a bit.  These official meetings are stressful enough without the added stress of us potentially being late.  Actually, they don't stress me out nearly as much as Marty as I don't have to do anything but show up.  I don't understand the grumpy German and he takes care of everything.  He has to read the check list of items and documents that we need to bring beforehand.  Figure out what needs to be signed and by whom.  He has to figure out where we go and who we need to talk to.  It isn't fun but I have to hand it to him he is a details guy and he arrives with a manila folder with all of our documents, extra passport photos, the whole works.
Once we get off the U-bahn station we start to run.  As fast and as far as we can.  It was about a half of a mile to the offices.  There were huge signs on each turn pointing you in the right direction.  Obviously they have a lot of people looking for this building.  We arrive to this monstrosity of a building (or set of buildings) that looked like about 6 school buildings laying side by side.  Each building was huge and several floors high.  He asks a few people who are sitting behind sliding glass, frosted windows, for directions and they kindly point us in the right direction.  When we arrive in the correct waiting room we are 6 minutes past our appointment.  Crap!!  We see numbers up on the screen corresponding to the office room you are expected to go to.  Our given number was not up there.  We don't know if this means we have not been called yet or if we have already been called and we missed our appointment.  There were several other people waiting there as well.  Picture the DMV times 1,000. We asked them about it and one girl said she had been there since early in the morning and was still waiting.  She didn't have an appointment but said she has had appointments in the past and they are always behind schedule.  The other couple said they have seen the numbers waiting on the screen for 10-15 minutes at the least.  We were SIX minutes late.  Surely there would be a grace period?
Marty tries to find someone to talk to and I wait in the room hoping our number shows up soon.  And within minutes, BINGO.  Our number shows up telling us we needed to go to room 207A.  I find Marty and we then search out this room.  Well, there was no 207A just 207.  All of the doors in the hallway are closed but we knock at 207 and gently open the door slightly.  There is a grumpy (go figure!) woman sitting at a desk.  She barely looks up and says "Mr. Riemer?" Marty affirms we are the Riemers.  She then asks if we we just showed up? If our number was called?  Why are we coming in?  All very grumpily, all without looking up from her computer or making any effort at engaging us.  Marty tells her our number was on the screen so we came back.  She huffs a bit more and then coldly says "we have rules here!"  Which we are assuming she is referencing our tardiness.
She then mumbles a few things in German, asks Marty for the required documents.  He has all of the appropriate passports and birth certificates our marriage certificate.  Then she looks at our marriage license and says "well, this is an American marriage license.  This will not do!"  Um, excuse me?   We were married in the USA!  What type of marriage certificate was she looking for?  Apparently we have to go to some apostille  to have the Germans verify our marriage certificate before I can get a green card.  She then collects all of our things.  All of our passports, the kids birth certificates, our (UNGERMAN- how dare us!) marriage certificate.  Tells us rather abruptly that we need to go back to the waiting room and wait and our number will come up again when she is done.

We head back to the waiting room and wait another 45 minutes or so.  We notice the map of the building we are in and each floor is dedicated to a different group of people.  Most floors include people from about 25-30 different countries.  The floor we are on is for people from the US as well as most of the African countries and other European countries.  There is an entire floor dedicated to people arriving from Turkey and Israel, leading me to believe these countries represent the bulk of Germany's (or at least Berlin's) immigrants.

My "fiction" or fake
or temporary green card. 

After the 45 minutes, our number appears on the screen again and so we head back.  She gives Marty all of the items back and then hands over a "temporary" green card.  I cannot get a green card until we get our marriage license approved by the German government.  I cannot work with a temporary card.  She has made an appointment for us for December 12th at 8AM.  She didn't ask us for time or date preferences, she just made the appointment and we are expected to be there.  I have no idea how the kids will get to school that day.  I suppose on their own?

Marty asks a few simple, clarifying questions.  Where do find an apostille?  Here in Berlin or from Seattle? She is back on her computer and doesn't look up.  She is quite annoyed by us (or everyone, it is hard to tell) and huffs and says, "well, I don't have the address handy for you!  Yes, of course, in Berlin!"  She could NOT have been any bitchier or more condescending.  She is clicking away on her computer as Marty asks a couple more simple questions.  He speaks German but often is stumped by some of the legal jargon.  She keeps clicking away and mid question, another family walks in the room.  She doesn't answer Marty's question, doesn't look at us and simply says, "we are very backed up today, I need to move on"  This next family comes in and she mumbles "to whom is this meeting pertaining to"  It seemed that family didn't speak much German either and she had to repeat it several times (she continued to mumble and not try any harder to be understood) We walked out and shook our heads.  German bureaucracy is really one for the books.  I honestly don't know how people do this who do not know the language.  Who actually NEED to work to pay the bills. I am in a very fortunate position in that I just want to work and that I actually don't need to.  I don't know how the system works in the US but I am gaining new sympathies for immigrants and refugees all over the world every single day!  We have everything going for us and it is still HARD!

After being denied my green card we decided that a falafel lunch at Jasmin was in order.  We talked a lot about the potential of encountering grumpy people like this during our year in Germany and quite frankly it was one thing we were afraid of. Would a year of grumpiness at every turn sour us and make us what to return to the smiling USA?  We really worried that this type of condescending bitchiness would be much more frequent. That has not been the case at all.  It seems that the average Berliner is quite friendly once you engage with them even if they they have a scowl on their face before you approach them.  The people in bureaucratic positions have nearly always been the exception to this observation. Thankfully we don't think we will need many more meetings like these.  Apparently in addition to the apostille we also need to get both kids German birth certificates.  Which seems odd to me since they weren't born here but apparently their German citizenship was based on Marty having citizenship.  Now that we are living here we have to get them  German birth certificates. So, hopefully 2 more of these highly uncomfortable meetings.... we shall see.   I'm sure there will be something else that we don't know yet.

Swim Try Outs and Sand Delivery

In this photo he is actually half way up the rope
tower in black pants and blue shirt.
But normally he is over digging like the boys
on the right. 

On Tuesday Benjamin was very excited to tell us that there was a large sand delivery at the school playground.  This has been his go to activity since starting school - digging in the huge sand pit.  He has a couple buddies he digs with and he comes home each day with two shoes full of sand and his pants are filthy.  I would always asked him what are the names of the friends he digs with and he always told me "I don't know, mom.  I just dig with them I don't ask them their names!"  Duh, I should have known better.  At the beginning of school he would play soccer but I think it got too intense and after he saw a few kids bite it super hard on the "field" which is just a huge blacktop area.  He would come home and say "there was a man down today playing soccer"  Or "one kid had a bloody lip from getting hit with the soccer ball" Or "one kid fell down and didn't get up for a long time" 

The guy with the wheel barrow is
putting out the new sand. 

Soccer is much more intense here.  Even for 2nd graders on the playground.  And as mentioned many times before there isn't really any recess monitors.  So... he has found his niche and his peeps in the sand pit.  So, when the sand delivery showed up he was thrilled!  After school on Tuesdays he now does chess club which he is really liking so I go and stay with him until chess starts.  It was gorgeous so I sat outside by the sand pit while he climbed and played while the workers piled in more sand. 
Benjamin has been practicing what he calls his "Berlin Face"  Just a little grumpy and self righteous.  Haha!!

Tuesday was also the day that Josie was to have her swim try outs.  She has decided that she doesn't want to do soccer here.  I can't really figure out how to sign them up for anything other than the school team which basically just practices on Saturday and for the 2nd half of practice they have a team scrimmage.  Neither of my children are up for a sport where you don't actually get to play in games.  I'm sure there is a city league or some other team they could join but I haven't found it yet.  Things like this are hard for me as I felt I was an expert in schools, sports or anything to do with kids back in West Seattle.  The learning curve here is HUGE.
Anyway, so Tuesday after school Josie was set to have her try outs.  After chess club - which runs for the last hour Josie is in school- Benjamin and I meet up with Josie.  She has her backpack, her violin and now her swim bag.  Benjamin has his backpack, I have a bag of snacks and water and we are all carrying our coats because it was really warm outside.  We hop on the bus and take it for about 20 minutes to the swimming pool.  She is getting really nervous and not sure she will be able to do it well.  We get there a bit early so we have to wait.  Benjamin is nearly unbearable because he was tired and hot and hungry and, and, and is complaining about anything and everything..... in his defense, it was SUPER hot in the pool lobby and I was tired and hungry too so I understood to a degree.  Josie does her try outs for about an hour while we have to sit in the hot entrance to the pool. She comes out and is tears.  She felt like she did really poorly and didn't fully understand what the coach was telling her (he basically only speaks German) She had to dive from the starting blocks and did a belly flop.  We had a long heart to heart on the top of the double decker bus on the way home about not always assuming you will be good at something you have never tried.  And about giving yourself a little grace and being more gentle with yourself.  In the end she seemed much better.
Honestly, none of us are even sure we want her to be on the swim team.  It is a huge time commitment.  They have practices 4 times per week and numerous swim meets throughout the year.  She wants to be on Team 2 which is the only competitive team she could be on given her age.  Apparently Team 3 is non competitive and only practices 2 per week.  So... we shall see if swim team is in her future.  They are called the Berlin Bear-a-cudas and they are a huge team - over 100 members. 

None of her new friends are on the swim team so this was an idea completely on her own.  She went to bed much less sad and with a pretty good perspective of if she makes it it will be fun and if she doesn't it it will allow her to do other fun activities.  There was also a special card in the day's mail from Oma.  It really made her night.  Thanks, Oma!!  She received a sweet letter from her friend Nadia a few weeks ago and was so excited by that one too.  Mail here really does mean more than in Seattle.  Keep the letters coming!!

Fall Ride to Schlachtensee

On Monday Marty and I went on a nice bike ride from our house to the lake Schlachtensee.  Just a few weeks back we spent a few days swimming and paddling around the lake.  As the weather has already started to turn a bit fall-like we decided a bike around the perimeter of the lake would be better than a swim in it.
The bike ride to the lake was maybe 20 minutes probably around 6 kilometers.  We didn't know exactly where we were going as we have only ever gotten to the lake by taking the S-bahn.
We found it with minimal effort, often being side tracked down a bumpy (bumpier than normal) cobble stone street or side walk.  We were mesmerized by the huge houses and variety of architecture in this area of Berlin.
Once we arrived we walked our bikes down to the path that runs around the outside of the lake.  The sky was a bright blue and the leaves are just now starting to change.  The water was as still as can be and even the area around the lake was calm.  It was breathtaking.   I'm looking forward to coming back in a few weeks when the leaves have all turned colors.  I bet it will look even better.  Biking around it made me think of Lake Padden in Bellingham (although much bigger) where I have spent countless hours walking around that path. 

The way home is almost always more direct than the way there but we were side tracked again (on purpose this time) in order to check out more of the houses in this area.
On the way home we stopped by the grocery store.  Shopping nearly every day has become routine and not nearly as much as a bother as I would have expected.  Across the street from the grocery store is a newer (to us) Turkish Doner place.  It is the neighborhood hang out and everyone who comes here at lunch time seems to know each other.  They are extremely friendly and the food is delicious.  Marty and I have our regular ( a vegetarian Turkish pizza which is kind of like the Turkish dürüm which is also kind of like a doner but is made with a large flour tortilla with some kind of tomato paste cooked into the tortilla before they load it up with sauce (half spicy half herb sauce) and a ton of chopped vegetables including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and onions. Then the entire concoction is rolled up like a burrito.  SO good and fresh and cheap.  3.80€ per dürüm.
Marty continues to meet Benjamin after school and the go to the school cafeteria for lunch together.  It is one of the best parts of both of their days.  And mine, too, if I'm being honest.

Tropical Island

We all woke up early and raring to go to the Tropical Island - a crazy, huge water park located inside an old blimp hangar.  We have been here twice before on previous Europe trips and the kids have always had a blast.  When we first talked of moving to Germany for the year both kids said that they wanted to go to the Tropical Island for their birthday.  And who were we to decline.  Apparently there is free admission on your birthday so that made sense to us.  Unfortunately, Marty has to fly home on Josie's actual birthday.  She has not been taking it very well at all and is quite upset about it.  So, we decided to celebrate her birthday early and still include the Tropical Island, not for free and two weeks ahead of time. 

The first time we came, two years ago, the outside area had not been completed yet.  That first time was fun as everything was new to us and we couldn't get over the enormity of the park.  There is a huge water slide tower with 4 separate slides.  Some you use inner tubes and some you just slide on your backside.  Then there is an enormous beach area with sand as if you are at the actual beach and a huge pool complete with kiddie pool and pirate ship.  The inside area is so big and so tall that there are people riding around in hot air balloons.

Then there is a completely different area called the lagoon with yet 2 or three more slides, a lazy river, a waterfall and of course, lush (real) greenery throughout.  Oh, yeah and there is an enormous indoor playground with cars you can drive around a track, a climbing area and a huge lego blocks area.  The place is enormous.  Throughout there are restaurants and even various types of lodging.  There seem to be nicer, private rooms with private bathrooms like a hotel and strewn throughout there are areas with teepees complete with platform beds inside.

The second time we went the outdoor area was open and I think we probably spent 90% of our time outside.  They have this crazy white water rapids slide where you basically are being pushed down and around a slide like a human pinball machine.  You are half body surfing and half slip sliding.  It is really one of the craziest things we have ever done.  SO. MUCH. FUN!  I have no idea how there aren't more injuries you always seem to come withing inches of going straight into a cement, pool wall every time you turn a corner. 

There is also a few other pools outside including a lazy river and this blue tarp thing that you try to run down and get to the end before it sinks.  Benjamin was the best at this because he doesn't weigh much.  Josie did better than I did but neither of us were very good at it. 

There is video but I can't get it to load... Still shots will have to do.

This was the first time we had to take a train to get there.  In times past we always had a rental car.  Comparing the two I'd saying taking the train is just as easy if not more so.  We had to get from Zehlendorf to the main train station at the zoo via the S-bahn and the U-Bahn.  We arrived with plenty of time to spare and filled it with taking photos of the beautiful morning.

In no time we were at the train station in Brand, a teeny, tiny little town that basically consists of a train station a few houses and the Tropical Island.  There is a free shuttle bus that meets you at the train station and takes you directly to the water park in less than 10 minutes.

Once there we were off and running.  But, what should we do first?  We decided to head to the outdoor area.  It wasn't hot by any means and in fact there was a definite chill in the air but the water is perfectly warm and they keep the area where you have to wait in line quite warm as well so it wasn't uncomfortable at all.  In years past we were lucky enough to go on a weekday before the Berlin school kids were out on summer break so the park was always quite empty for us.  This time it was on a Sunday and there were probably 3 times as many people. 

Regardless we probably never waited more than 10 minutes for any of the slides.
We all have bumps and bruises all over our bodies, mostly from the outdoor rapids.  In the end we all said it was a successful early birthday celebration for Josie.  But...when we returned to Berlin it was dinner time and we were all starving.  Josie picked an Italian restaurant that we hadn't been to before and it was DELICIOUS.  Or we were just super duper hungry.  Either way, we were all satisfied.  Just so happens that the place with the enormous ice cream sundaes is RIGHT next door. 

Well, it was her birthday celebration so we decide to head over and we were smart this time and only order 2 sundaes.  A chocolate one and a fresh blueberry one.  We don't have photos because our phone batteries had died but trust me, they were as big and beautiful as the first ones.  After we stuffed our faces we decided that next time we celebrate we could probably just order two.  We are learning... slowly and happily.

Happy (almost) 11th birthday to our sweet, smart, confident and kind Josie.  We love you!!!

Saturday Day Dates

Well this Saturday our Day Date took us out into the huge city and kept us for MUCH longer than we had anticipated.
But, before we left we had a huge family fight (fun!) Marty got so mad that he unplugged the Xbox and took it upstairs and threatened  to cancel our early birthday celebration for Josie the following day.  It was not pretty.  It was not fun.  But it is life sometimes.
Our kids seem to be learning new independence which is awesome but are slacking in other areas of responsibilities and are acting rather entitled lately.  It seems that they are adjusting to having more independence when they are out in public by acting like toddlers when they are home with us.  Maybe this is normal?  We don't know because we are also adjusting to the German/European way of life where children are given independence much, MUCH earlier than in the states.
They've been whining and crying and yelling at us and each other way more than normal over the past week.  I have to say that our fights are much less frequent here but more intense when they do happen.  Actually, everything feels more intense here.  Josie is turning 11 in less than 2 weeks and I can only assume her outbursts are partially, if not fully, hormonal.  I get it! I often feel the same way on the other end of the hormonal spectrum.  Benjamin seems exhausted much of the time.  I think we have been doing too much of everything since we arrived.  Trying to take it all in, trying to see and do too much and not allowing ourselves enough down time.  We also have been cutting each of the kids a lot of slack because moving is HARD.  Starting a new school is HARD.  Missing your friends is HARD.  Learning another language, culture and customs is HARD.  Not having the constant comfort of the familiar is HARD and trying to pretend everything is cool and nice and fun is hard sometimes.  So, we have cut them slack and then after awhile or nearly 8 weeks, we snapped.
We have always had an unwritten rule that we can have fights  but we don't run away from the fight we find a way to work through it.  Eventually, after the tears, we all had a nice conversation.  Josie said she is just tired from learning a new language and making new friends.  She is tired of trying to do everything right even though she's not sure what "right" is here.  She's tired of going to school all day and navigating a train and bus system by herself (even though she LOVES it) and that she is just tired.  And needs a break.  A break from her brother and a break from us and just to be without anything going on. In her room, by herself, preferably.   I'm pretty sure I was that way during preteen years.
Benjamin wasn't that eloquent but said that he will work on his whining and crying and will try to get off the Xbox or his screen the first time we ask.  He gets, at the most, 60 minutes a day and definitely has found other ways to entertain himself here but it is his very favorite thing to do and if we allowed him to he would be on a screen all day.   After our conversation we had a family snug, which is our way of saying "we are all good now"  And the kids were very excited to see us off.  They like our Saturday Day Dates as much, if not more, than we do.  They like to prove that they can handle things by themselves.  Josie likes to prove that she will, in fact, call or text us every 30 minutes like she has promised and they like to "be" without anyone telling them what to do or not to do.  Benjamin gets some screen time but not the entire time.

Marty and I rode our bikes down to the S-bahn and went in search of a bike basket and new bike seat for Josie.  This was one of the things that prompted the fight when we suggested the kids go with us on this errand since it was in fact, FOR Josie. The kids complained and whined and said why should we have to go?  But whatever, we worked through this and I get their desire to not be constantly going.  We head to one of the largest bike stores I have ever seen.  It was as big as one of the biggest REI's but everything dedicated to bikes.
Customers were riding everywhere throughout the store testing out the bikes.  There were folding bikes and cruising bikes and racing bikes and kid's bikes and some of the craziest contraptions to haul things (groceries, children, animals) with your bike.


And like most of our errands things end up taking longer than expected.  Then we had to go to the main train station to get our train tickets for the following day for Josie's early birthday celebration.  Then I was determined to find a pair of Birkenstocks for a friend and so we headed straight into the center of town.  We haven't been in the very center in a long time.  And especially not on a sunny Saturday the weekend before Octoberfest officially starts.  CRAZY!! 

The city was packed the trains were packed.  And, of course, everything just takes longer than you think.  So, we ended up being gone from the house for nearly 5 hours.  Which is by far the longest we have ever left them but they did just fine. 

Josie checked in with us right on the minute every,30 minutes. We texted a lot and they seemed to be having fun.  They actually get along better with each other when we are not here.  They built block towers together and did some drawing together.  And of course had some of their highly prized screen time but not as much as I would have predicted for us being gone that length of time.  She kept sending us pictures which reassured us everything was fine back home. We assumed if SHE was the one taking the photos and sending them and HE looks happy in the photos, all must be good.

We did find some treasures while we were out:

Popcorn!!  And at only 1.29 € per 500 grams, it was a bargain.  And we had lunch right under the television tower.

That night Benjamin was able to Skype his best friend in Seattle and wish him a happy birthday.  So sweet.   By the way, 7 year old boy conversation is HILARIOUS and a bit painful to listen to. 

They spent most of their time just staring at each other with some question prompting from both moms. Then they starting showing each other their Skylander figures and then they were rolling.  Happy Birthday, Callum!!