Liam appears to be dropping his nap (noooooo!), and now that I've said it out loud on the internet it'll probably be true (noooooo!), and it is causing all kids of wee angst and drama. At kindergarten he's got the option to lie down after lunch, but he's apparently not availing himself of the opportunity lately. By the time C or I picks him up after class/work, he's too tired to deal reasonably with the little injustices of life, like "yes, you have to put your shoes on" or "now it's time to get out of the tram". Poor kiddo, he seems so overwhelmed. Tonight, he fell asleep right after we got home, at 5:30, before dinner, and judging from the times he's done this before, he'll sleep right on through and be unbelievably cheerful, but ravenous, in the morning.
He had a maddening phase of passive-resistance protest last year about this time, where he'd sink to the sidewalk in a boneless pile if he didn't want to do whatever. Yes, even if it was snowing. Yes, even into a puddle. Yes, especially if there were concerned-looking strangers around to judge us. I have no idea why it ended: I'd think our concerted, united front of "that won't get you what you want" would have had quicker results. He's a persistent kid.
This is different, though, and I think the only way out is through: if he's really not napping at school, then he'll adjust (eventually?), with hopefully less of the public fit-throwing and being so tragic about things. The 13-hour nights of sleep are pretty impressive, though, and I'm more than a little jealous.
November 30, 2009
November 29, 2009
Change of seasons
One of the things I've liked about our new location has been the local-ness of the food. Although you can get apples from Chile or avocados from wherever they grow evil, rock-hard avocados, most of the produce is grown here, or in Italy, Spain, or Holland. The downside to that is that when something goes out of season here, it's pretty much gone from the store. The upside is the giddy overabundance when foods come into season. The first asparagus last spring was a cause for celebration, and I've been so happy to see squash in stores lately.
Local Christmas tradition brings its own food too: the Weihnachtsmarkt in town just opened this week, with little booths selling bratwurst, giant ginger cookies, and long-awaited gluehwein. I had accepted that summer was over (it ended like a light switch had been thrown - the humidity vanished, a breeze set in, and summer was done), but the transition from autumn to winter has been more gradual. I hadn't quite realized how many of the signs were there, but the Christmas market, along with the last of the apples falling out of our trees and the drearily early sunsets, has finally tipped me over the edge.
So bring on winter! I'll get out the big pot and make some soup, and knit up some new hats, and lay in a supply of new books for Liam for days when it's too cold to go play in the yard. The coziness of winter is one of the best parts of it, though the beginning of spring is even better.
Local Christmas tradition brings its own food too: the Weihnachtsmarkt in town just opened this week, with little booths selling bratwurst, giant ginger cookies, and long-awaited gluehwein. I had accepted that summer was over (it ended like a light switch had been thrown - the humidity vanished, a breeze set in, and summer was done), but the transition from autumn to winter has been more gradual. I hadn't quite realized how many of the signs were there, but the Christmas market, along with the last of the apples falling out of our trees and the drearily early sunsets, has finally tipped me over the edge.
So bring on winter! I'll get out the big pot and make some soup, and knit up some new hats, and lay in a supply of new books for Liam for days when it's too cold to go play in the yard. The coziness of winter is one of the best parts of it, though the beginning of spring is even better.
November 28, 2009
Public transportation, private space
The first time I moved to Germany (in 1999), I was absolutely flattened by culture shock. I hadn't spent that long learning the language, and thought everyone sounded so angry all the time. I couldn't figure out why shopkeepers always had to say hello and goodbye to everyone who came in, and I could not imagine why people were content going to 13 different specialty shops every day instead of one big all-in-one store. What a crazy place! What a waste of time! And then I started doing it too, and when it was just the way things were instead of some weird new requirement, it was fine. Yeah, American grocery stores freaked me out a little when I moved back the next year.
My most persistent culture-shock issue this time around has been the lack of personal space afforded in public. People step right in front of you to get on the bus, they'll stand unbearably close in line, and (most maddeningly) they get up early on the tram, walk over to the door, and loooooom over you until you let them stand closer to the door, even though you're still two blocks before the stop. Where do they have to be that's important enough to climb over a stranger to get there?
Interestingly enough, though, nobody talks to strangers on the tram. I may get jostled when the tram fills up, but I've never been asked what I'm listening to, or what I'm reading, or what my phone number is. My personal-space bubble may be small, but apparently it's soundproof. Liam is the exception to this rule: he says hi to people, particularly old ladies and babies, and is actually pretty good at making conversation ("I'm going to kindergarten. My socks have pirates on them!"). He's the quickest way to draw attention in public, and is pretty charming about it.
My most persistent culture-shock issue this time around has been the lack of personal space afforded in public. People step right in front of you to get on the bus, they'll stand unbearably close in line, and (most maddeningly) they get up early on the tram, walk over to the door, and loooooom over you until you let them stand closer to the door, even though you're still two blocks before the stop. Where do they have to be that's important enough to climb over a stranger to get there?
Interestingly enough, though, nobody talks to strangers on the tram. I may get jostled when the tram fills up, but I've never been asked what I'm listening to, or what I'm reading, or what my phone number is. My personal-space bubble may be small, but apparently it's soundproof. Liam is the exception to this rule: he says hi to people, particularly old ladies and babies, and is actually pretty good at making conversation ("I'm going to kindergarten. My socks have pirates on them!"). He's the quickest way to draw attention in public, and is pretty charming about it.
November 27, 2009
Conflicted consumerism
I like the concept of Buy Nothing Day; I'm pretty anticonsumerist normally*, and I feel like reporting on Christmas shopping has taken this nasty turn, with stories built completely around companies needing to make half their yearly gross in December, and profits are down from this time last year, and you people need to go spend money or the economy will fall apart and it will be your fault!
This morning, I had failed at BND by 9:30 AM, and spent the next little while enjoying my capitalist-consumerist-traitor chai and wondering if it mattered that much. I'm not in the US, and today is just another Friday here, not the shopping-pocalypse. I'm not making a Statement to the German public if I don't go all out with the Black Friday madness: nobody else here is going shopping at 4 AM either, because that's crazy. Incidentally, you really don't want to take me shopping with a gajillion other people at 4AM. I'm grumpy enough about crowds and shopping when I'm awake.
*I think of this as simple pragmatism, because I don't see any point in trying to join a game I can't really compete in. This is actually a big leap in maturity, and not just foot-stompiness, as previously I didn't see the point in playing a game I couldn't win. If status can be bought, but I'm never going to have enough money to be Important, why play? Why give other people's opinions of me that kind of power? Since the goalposts will always be moving, why sign up for a life of feeling inadequate?
This morning, I had failed at BND by 9:30 AM, and spent the next little while enjoying my capitalist-consumerist-traitor chai and wondering if it mattered that much. I'm not in the US, and today is just another Friday here, not the shopping-pocalypse. I'm not making a Statement to the German public if I don't go all out with the Black Friday madness: nobody else here is going shopping at 4 AM either, because that's crazy. Incidentally, you really don't want to take me shopping with a gajillion other people at 4AM. I'm grumpy enough about crowds and shopping when I'm awake.
*I think of this as simple pragmatism, because I don't see any point in trying to join a game I can't really compete in. This is actually a big leap in maturity, and not just foot-stompiness, as previously I didn't see the point in playing a game I couldn't win. If status can be bought, but I'm never going to have enough money to be Important, why play? Why give other people's opinions of me that kind of power? Since the goalposts will always be moving, why sign up for a life of feeling inadequate?
November 25, 2009
Poof!
There are a lot of birthdays this time of year (including mine), and I've always thought it was fun to have a bunch in a row. When I was a kid, my friend R's birthday was not too far from mine, and my second cousin (my mom's mom's brother's son) and a baby at church had the same birthday as me. My friend K and I had back-to-back birthdays all through grad school, and four of us in my current research group have birthdays within a couple of weeks.
There's a well-developed birthday ritual here: you bring cake, everyone else in the group surprises you with a present, everybody wins. We gave K a periodic-table shower curtain, K a toaster, and S enough limes and other things to keep her in caipirinhas for a while. They gave me a huge ball of this hilarious pompom yarn that's meant to be made into a garter-stitch scarf. I started it yesterday (and actually, S went out and got herself a ball and already made a scarf), and it is so poofy and fluffy and funny. I would not have bought novelty yarn for myself, so this is really fun.
There's a well-developed birthday ritual here: you bring cake, everyone else in the group surprises you with a present, everybody wins. We gave K a periodic-table shower curtain, K a toaster, and S enough limes and other things to keep her in caipirinhas for a while. They gave me a huge ball of this hilarious pompom yarn that's meant to be made into a garter-stitch scarf. I started it yesterday (and actually, S went out and got herself a ball and already made a scarf), and it is so poofy and fluffy and funny. I would not have bought novelty yarn for myself, so this is really fun.
November 24, 2009
New perspective
It took me most of a year to get around to calling the dentist my co-worker R suggested shortly after we moved here, mostly out of a lack of momentum. There's nothing wrong, so what's the rush? C's devotion to all things dental-hygiene got me moving eventually, though, and Liam really loved his turn as the center of attention in the big chair.
The dentist wanted to replace my (5-year-old) fillings, and that seemed like a fine plan. But. The tooth waaaaay in the back is not happy with the change. It's achy when I eat anything cold, and there's this amazing stabby pain if I chew with it. I called this morning, when I'd had enough, and went in at the end of the day. I got a good look at an x-ray, and the filling itself was solid, but it was kind of close to a nerve. The dentist thought she should take it out (which I was all for, because nothing that hurts like that can stay in my head), but when she did, she found out that it wasn't just close to a nerve - the nerve was exposed.
She poked it a couple of times, causing the weirdest feeling way down in my jaw, and when I made the eyes-bugged-out what was that? face, she got a mirror and started pointing things out to me. On the inside of my tooth. Which I didn't know had so much empty space in it, yikes. Apparently I would not make a good dentist.
So, to sum up:
The dentist wanted to replace my (5-year-old) fillings, and that seemed like a fine plan. But. The tooth waaaaay in the back is not happy with the change. It's achy when I eat anything cold, and there's this amazing stabby pain if I chew with it. I called this morning, when I'd had enough, and went in at the end of the day. I got a good look at an x-ray, and the filling itself was solid, but it was kind of close to a nerve. The dentist thought she should take it out (which I was all for, because nothing that hurts like that can stay in my head), but when she did, she found out that it wasn't just close to a nerve - the nerve was exposed.
She poked it a couple of times, causing the weirdest feeling way down in my jaw, and when I made the eyes-bugged-out what was that? face, she got a mirror and started pointing things out to me. On the inside of my tooth. Which I didn't know had so much empty space in it, yikes. Apparently I would not make a good dentist.
So, to sum up:
- Irritated nerve in my tooth=bad
- New filling=hopefully a calmer nerve
- Otherwise=root canal
- My record of getting my money's worth out of dental insurance=unbroken
November 22, 2009
Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue
Or the wrong month to write something optional every day. I'm totally obsessed with my deadline (tomorrow!). On the bright side, starting tomorrow I'll have a different, still close, deadline. Woo?
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