So long, Farewell, Aufwiedersehen, Goodbye

I promise I didn't do the Sound of Music thing on purpose. But the twins do love that song. We have to sing it every night before bed and Philippa always says the "no" part of Liesl's line.

It still hasn't hit me that I'm leaving. Sunday night, the family had a kind of surprise going away party for me, except all my friends that haven't already left couldn't come. Which was like 3 or 4, apart from Rachel and Max who were there anyways. So it was just us, the grandparents and Sigrid, and Sonja, who was staying here the first month I was here. We sat out in the garden and grilled, and they hung up the Texas flag that hung at the capitol once. It was really nice, and I'm glad it wasn't a big thing. I don't like being the center of attention. I'm going to miss a lot of things here, and most of all my kinders! I love them all a whole bunch!

Greta's still convinced she's coming with me, flying away on the tram and eating ice cream and fries in the airplane. Johanna would come, but she told me she doesn't have enough money.

Sunday Picnic

We had to get out of the house with the kids last weekend, because we were going crazy, and so were they. The start of the strawberry season means working Sundays, so here we go. We made a picnic and took the kids to the town hall in Hannover, where they have a playground and lots of grass to run around.

we made them hold hands all the way there until they were happy

the closest we got to a family picture

magnus

future rock climber philippa

greta

henriette

johanna

philippa waits for no one

sharing your chewed up leftovers is caring

she was pointing at a "fart"

cheez

my real partner in crime, rachel

Hannover Halbmarathon

Before

After

I survived the half marathon! It was really sunny and hot. Well, not hot compared to some weather I've run in but way hotter than anything I've been running in since September. I didn't know what was going on and started near the back of the 6,000 participants, instead of where the 2 hour pacer was. Which meant it took me 7 minutes to start.

with my friends Gerard and Yazemin

I felt pretty good for the whole race. Actually, the first 5k were kind of hard compared to the rest, but then I got into a rhythm. There were a couple miles where I felt great and had to make myself slow down a little because I knew I would die otherwise. At km 18 there were also people giving out beer...what. Welcome to Germany.

official final time: 1:59:06

I forgot to stop my watch for 15 seconds.

My wonderful host family made it and was 2km from the end, which is where I was really starting to feel tired! And it was so mean - you could see the finish from there, and then you had to turn right before it and do another loop. The last mile, or really the last kilometer was a struggle, but I was able to finish the last 400m pretty strong and I knew if I didn't slow down too much I would make my goal of finishing under 2 hours.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308183364

It's still kind of crazy to me that I can and want to run a half marathon! It's just a long Sunday run for a lot of people I know, but 2 years ago, I never really felt the need to run more than a 5k. Then I did xc, and spent too much time hanging out with runners. Look what they've done to me.

It was a fun, flat race and I'm so glad I got to do it. But I didn't get a free shirt, and lets be real, that's the only actual reason to do a race.

Oktoberfest...

...in Hannover

Sorry it's been so long! Here's some updates from the last couple of weeks

• I went to my host mom's brother's wedding with the family, and babysat the twins the next weekend when they had another one. They're wedding'd out for a while.
• The screen to my new iPod mysteriously cracked. I blame Greta's foot. And then the next week my camera broke. This year has not been good for my electronics.
• I met up with my new friend Meagan, another au pair from Portland, at the Oktoberfest in Hannover last weekend when it opened. Apparently it's the 3rd biggest in the world - after Munich and one that's in China. The next day I went again with new people from a facebook group for English speakers in Hannover. There were 8 of us that ended up going, and we were all around the same age. There were 2 other au pairs, one from England and one from Finland, but it's nice to meet other people who are doing other things too.
• October 3rd was a holiday - Tag der Deutschen Einheits! I went into the city, wandered around and got coffee, then I hung out with the family. Rachel, the girl who au paired here before me, came over with her boyfriend Max. It was also a month since my first day of work!

Rachel reassured me that the kids started acting out when she first got here too. They have really been bad - even their parents are fed up with it. The other day, Johanna, the 3-year-old, asked me for something to drink. I got her water, then she started screaming that she didn't want it and ripped the buttons off my sweater. And this is completely normal. It's worse with me but she does it with everyone. They take forever to get ready or do anything and it's so frustrating because I don't want to always be yelling at them. But I think it's getting better.

The twins have already changed so much in the time I've been here. Philippa is saying words like crazy, and I've noticed Greta starting to say more too. Philippa also recognizes that there are two words for things. It's fun to see them changing so fast. Whenever they would see their reflection in the mirror, they would either say "baby!" or think it was the other twin. But just a couple days ago, Philippa finally recognized it was herself! They're certainly a challenge, but usually I like being with them. It's so much easier to talk to people who can only say one word at a time.

They're laughing not crying... and I swear the twins always fall down on purpose

Henriette and Johanna after swimming

Johanna

The weather's gotten pretty chilly and rainy, and the leaves are changing. Fall really is my favorite time of year! I could do with a little less rain, because the kids start to go stir crazy if they have to stay inside, but I think October will be a good month. Supposedly it takes 6 weeks to get accustomed to a new life!

"Nächste Woche wird's richtig herbstlich"

...according to the weather report at the streetcar station. Summer's gone and Fall is here! Monday it was hot and we went swimming outside but then it got cold and rainy

hangin with Philippa on the tractor

Slowly but surely I'm getting the hang of how things work. I know what the kids will eat, where it is in the kitchen, and where to put (at least some) things away. The kids get excited to see me when I return from Hannover or wherever in my free time, and ask where I was. And they actually want to play with me!

Greta on the tractor. Best day of her life

On Tuesday I went to the language school, which took an hour to get to, and had to wait for 2 hours to take a "test" to see which level I should be in. I really just talked to a lady for about 5 minutes. She said there wasn't really a class for me, since my speaking is way ahead of my grammar. As in, I don't know grammar. So I have to buy a book and study before the class which starts October 22nd. Apparently there have been a couple other people like me who had German parents but grew up somewhere else or something, and they all gave up and didn't get anything from the class.

Philippa!

I went swimming alone with Magnus on Thursday - Thursday afternoons are when I'm going to take the oldest 3 kids on outings, but this past week the girls had a play group. It was good to spend some time with him because he tends to like to play alone, and when he wants to play with me I'm always interrupted by the twins waking up from their nap or eating stones or throwing food all over the floor.

I'm so glad they like the stroller and the swings! I can only chase after them so much

finally some quiet 

Friday night I did a Nachtlauf in Hannover. I didn't decide to do it till Thursday night but I got a free shirt and I'll be getting a personalized medal with my name and time in the mail out of it! It had been raining all night including on my way there and back, but stopped for the actual run. And the temperature was perfect for running. I picked it up a little from the leisurely pace I've been going on all my runs, but it was still very comfortable. I definitely didn't feel like I was going to die like I normally do during races. Plus I drank a cup of tea before I went and even though I used the porta potty 2 minutes before the race started, of course I had to pee the whole time My time was 26:12, which is right at what I expected. I haven't actually known how fast I run since last fall, so it's good to know! We got alcohol free beer, apples and tomatoes. It was fun to run around the city!

10. Nachtlauf Hannover