Awkward & Awesome.

Hiiii Guys!!! 

In case you didn't know from this post, 

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!! If you don't know what day... you're disowned. Hunger Games, DUH!

Actually, while you're reading this... I'm probably in the theater. Yes, that's right, I'm scheduling a post for today so that I keep my little fingers from ruining the movie for everyone else. You're welcome. 

I almost never do awkward and awesome, but I figured, "What the hey. Anything is better than ruining HG for all those pretty people." So... if this a&a sucks... I'm sorry. But not really. 

Awkward. 

1. This video. I did debate putting this in the "awesome" category, though. I'm just that cool. 

2. Going on my first run after 6 months of not working out. Guys, I almost died (and not because I was running through the forest alone at twilight). I had an asthma attack, my knee swelled up to the size of a baseball (I'm actually not even supposed to run, but it's not like I have very many workout options here), and I tripped (on nothing) and flailed around for dear life. This is why I would rather bike 30 miles than run one, or swim 2 miles than run one. 

this person obviously wants Sonic to run like me. 

3.  My German. I haven't spoken German in forever. Anyone wanna practice with me? It's bad, though. 

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4. Forgetting to tell my ride to work that I didn't have to work this morning, and then running outside in a tshirt (without a bra) and sweats (pretty much forbidden in Germany) to tell him, "Oh, yeah... I forgot to call you...

5. Always having to do things in groups of five even if you have nothing else to say. I believe this is self-explanatory. 

Awesome. 

1. I am probably watching the Hunger Games right now. Nuff said. 

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2. This video. I was going to put it under "awkward", but I decided that "awesome" was the better choice. 

3. Freakin' Spring and Sunshine! Holy amazeballs I love this weather! 

4. Playing Hunger Games in the Forest with Husband. No, we did not kill each other, but we did run around with sticks. Yeah, we're freaks. And yes, you're invited to come to Germany and play with us. 

5. The 3 blog designs I've done this week. I think they're pretty freakin' rad, if I do say so myself. You can click the picsies and they'll take you to the blog so you can see the designs "in action" (and check out some pretty amazing bloggers at the same time)!

Happy Hunger Games!! 

What It's Like: The Awkward and Awesome of Being Bilingual.

Hallo! Hello! 

So... if you follow me on twitter, you would know that inspiration has not reared its pretty little head in a while, so I decided to do awkward and awesome with a little bit of a twist. 

You all know that I live in Germany. I also speak German. I like to consider myself fluent, but then I always wonder what fluent is. Obviously I don't speak German as well as I speak English. Duh. It's not my native language. I figure, though, that if I can read 600 page novels and watch movies and carry on conversations without any difficulty, then I must be fluent. 

Anyway. 

Awkward: 

1. Reading books like The Hunger Games in German, and then discussing them in English. I don't know how to translate those made-up words. 

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2. Writing blog posts half in English, half in German. This happens quite a bit, people. I then have to go through and replace all the random German words that are dispersed throughout the post. 

3. Sleep-talking in German. Apparently this happens. 

4. Speaking Germenglish. This also happens. Quite a bit. 

5. Going to other countries where they don't speak German or English, and automatically speaking German and expecting people to understand me. I guess since they're speaking a foreign language, my brain just automatically goes to the only foreign language I know. This happened in Italy - I'd ask, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" People would say, "English, yes. German, no." 

Awesome: 

1. Reading books and understanding them. Ummm, how cool is this? I can look at a book in a totally different language, and understand it all! 

2. Watching movies and understanding them. Again... how freaking cool, right!?

3. Thinking in 2 languages. My brain is kind of confused, apparently, but it's so cool to see how my brain thinks. 

4. Dreaming in 2 languages. Sometimes I dream in German, sometimes in English. It's weird, but cool at the same time. 

5. Being able to translate for people. I like that I can help other people to understand what's going on around them.

Happy Thursday, and if anyone finds Inspiration, send that sneaky little dude my way - I'm having "blogger's block!" 


PS: You can still enter the giveaway here. 

What It's Like. (Awkward and Awesome Part Two)

Greetings, Bloglings! 


Remember that one time I told you about all the awkward stuff you would see if you were a creepy stalker fly on our wall?
Well, this is part two of that post, which means this is all the awesome stuff you would see/hear. Oh, and sorry for the crappy webcam pics. Mikey-poo is taking a nap, and I don't want to bother him to take my picture. 
1. Little love notes left on computers because we're too lazy to use a pencil and paper. 

2. Hubby singing at the top of his lungs. Dude has an amazing voice. I find it comparable to Josh Groban's. He hasn't ever had any professional training (hard to believe, right?), but he is fantastic. 3. Lots of diet coke, poured into jars instead of glasses. I realize our obsession with this beverage is probably borderline unhealthy, but I think it's awesome that our fridge is always stocked, and that I can offer guests a nice big jar of cold diet coke. Mmmm, refreshing. 

4. Laundry waiting to be folded. I like to think of this as awesome because it makes me feel better about myself. No, I didn't take a pic of my awesome piles of laundry... I don't want to be judged. :)
5. PRETZELS!!! I freakin' love pretzels. Mmmmm. Add a little PB and you have my favorite snack! 

Awkward & Awesome.

Yodel-ay-hee-hoo.... If you were a yodeler, you would greet me that way. Probably. I'm actually not positive because I'm not a yodeler. Let's get down to business (to defeat the huns) and get on with Awkward & Awesome, shall we? We shall.
Awkward. 1. Every time I read or say the word "America," I feel the need to say it "Amuurkuh." Don't understand? Here, let me just say it for you:

2. Creepy older dudes who may or may not teach at the same educational institute as myself with no sense of boundaries or personal space. No, we're not talkin' sexual harassment, just a dude with no idea how close he has to stand to me in order to give me lesson ideas. Or how long he has to stare at me. 3. The amount of staring Germans do. They just stare and stare and stare. And then if you notice them staring? They don't stop. They just keep on keepin' on.

4. Joking around with my 13th class about what should probably be "taboo" subjects. Puke and rally, drugs (soma from the book Brave New World), baby makin', all the good stuff. No, I didn't encourage any of it, I just got into a jovial discussion about matters that you generally don't talk about in mixed company (gosh this makes me sound like a horrible person). I promise it all had to do with the literature we were reading.

I typed in "Taboo" on google search and this is what it gave me.

Awesome. 1. Sleeping in. That never fails to be awesome. 

2. Getting compliments from an incredibly critical German colleague. I got told that I was a good teacher. WHAT UP (Barney Stinson, anyone?)?!?! So excited. If you knew how blunt and honest and critical most Germans were (not a bad thing - it's part of the culture, and I actually really like it), you would think this was awesome, too.3. Skype. What a wonderful piece of technology. You can make faces at people from thousands of miles away. Should this be under "awkward?"

Happy Thursday, people!!

Awkward & Awesome + Home for the Holidays!

First of all, Happy December. Second of all, I have some amazing new sponsors, so hop on over to the sidebar and check them out. Not till you're done reading this post, of course. :)

See that awesome banner up there? That banner means lots of fun things for you guys! I'm teaming up with my bloggy (& real life) friend, Daryl, to bring you guys a holiday series. All I'm going to tell you right now is that we are going to have some amazing guest posters on both of our blogs, and you won't want to miss it, so stay tuned. It's going to be going on every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Christmas! 
In other news.... It's Thursday, and that means Awkward and Awesome.
Awkward. -- Yesterday I woke up 10 minutes before I had to leave. I was able to get ready. Today, I woke up as my ride rang my doorbell. I was not dressed. When I say not dressed, I mean that I sleep in my underwear (that statement alone is awkward). Needless to say, he rang the doorbell a few times, and Hubby ran upstairs to tell him that I was sick and wasn't going to make it (my throat actually IS swollen to the size of a golf ball). Yeah, I called in to work today. It's a good thing, too... because I've got a killer migraine right now!-- Some kid in my 5th grade class yesterday said, "Du willst mich doch verarschen," to me. That's basically German for, "You've gotta be f****** kidding me." Really, kid? Even more awkward: my "bad word" vocabulary isn't exactly up to par, and none of the kids could tell me what it meant, so he didn't get in trouble because I looked it up when I got home. Nice. 

source-- I listened to older German ladies talk about Breaking Dawn and debate whether or not parts of it were almost soft-core porn. 
Awesome. -- See above banner. I'm pretty excited. -- This video. I have watched it 102398273 times, and it never gets old (watch it to the end):-- I got ready in 10 minutes yesterday. I'd say that's pretty skilled. -- My in-laws are coming out here to visit in two weeks! I'm so excited! 

Aren't they cute?! I love them. -- We have a trip to Straßbourg planned for next weekend!-- Christmas Markets have started, and that means Kinderpunsch, lights, and Christmas decorations! 

Thankful. Awkward. &. Awesome.

This week I'm thankful for:

-- The opportunity to be here in this amazing country that I love so much. 

-- The friends that we have made since coming here.

-- Family, of course. 

-- Entertainment. Seriously, when you live in the middle of nowhere, things can get pretty interesting, and I'm so glad I have movies, books, and the internet to keep me company.

-- Food. We have not had to struggle to put food on our table, and I know that so many people in this world wonder where their next meal is going to come from, and when it will be. I'm so so thankful that I am not in this situation. 

-- Love. I'm thankful that I have the capacity to love - to empathize with others, and to be overwhelmed with emotion. This is not always a good thing - sometimes love hurts. Especially when you are overcome by emotion for a person you cannot help, or barely know, but I would never give up the ability that I have been given - the ability to love freely. 

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

Awkward. 


-- I've been on a sad Holocaust movie spree (don't ask me why, I have no idea). This, combined with hormones, has caused a ridiculous amount of crying while staring at a laptop over the past few days. I can't help it - I even cried during Toy Story 3. Yes, I know The Pianist is rated R. Doesn't count - we're in Germany, and they don't have ratings here.

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-- A girl in the 13 grade yelled at me today. Because I told her to find a synonym for the word sad (she used it like, 7 times in a half page letter). This proceeded to me telling her (very calmly) that she has had English for 10 years, and should be able to write better than a 5th grader. It's okay, I can say those things because I'm not in America. She just rolled her eyes and sat down. Oh, Germany. Your students' lack of respect for teachers makes for interesting days. 

-- I fell on the ice while walking by a large group of elementary schoolers. Who then proceeded to make fun of me.
-- Doing the potty dance while standing in line at the library, the grocery store...  I really need to pee before we run errands.
-- Dreaming that Anthony Hopkins is trying to murder me.

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Awesome.


-- It's Thursday, which means that tomorrow is Friday. I'm ready for the weekend.
-- I finished my first German novel (okay, the first one that I've ever read for pleasure). It was 400 pages, and I read it in a little over a week. Go me!! 

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-- I went to the library today, and got 2 more books to read!
-- Traditional German Breakfast. Don't believe me? Go to your local baker (if such a thing exists wherever you are - if you're in the US, it likely does not), get some Brötchen, slap some butter, meat, and cheese onto that puppy, and eat it right up. Heck freaking yes. 

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-- Christmas Decorations on the Zeil (shopping center of Frankfurt). There is no Thanksgiving here, so it's okay to get pumped for Christmastime!! 
-- Choir. Yay music!! 

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Happy Thursday, you lovely people, you!!! 

Thankful (+ Awkward & Awesome) Thursday

Hellooooooo Germany (see video below)!!!! Oh, and all you other people, too.

Since it's close to Thanksgiving, I thought I'd join in on the "Thankful Thursdays" party. Here are three things I'm thankful for this week:
1. Family and Friends. Seriously, I don't think I've ever been so thankful for these people. Living thousands of miles away from the people who mean the most to you really puts things into perspective, just sayin'.

2. These guys. We feed them every week, and they're great. I don't care if you're mormon or not, you have to admire a 19 year-old young man who is willing to dedicate two years of his life to serving Christ. These are 2 amazing missionaries, and we're so glad that we've gotten to know them since moving here.

3. My health. I complain about my stupid body every other day - I seriously have the joints of a 90 year-old lady (not kidding, Hubby tells me all the time). But ya know what?! At least I have a body that functions properly. I may not be able to run marathons, and my knees may not be able to handle constant running and jumping, but I can run, I can walk, I can skip, hop, and jump. I don't have any major health issues. I am so blessed, and half the time I complain about it! What the heck is wrong with me?

Anyway, that being said... How about a little awkward/awesome (-ness)? 


a.w.k.w.a.r.d.
-- Accidentally flipping a kid off in a 6th grade English class yesterday. Don't ask how it happened. I didn't even realize it until they all started laughing and one said, "Sie zeigte dir den Stinkefinger an!" Oh.my.gosh. Oops. 
-- Pushing on every single pull door today. Not even kidding - every single one. 
-- Explaining to a teacher that I missed her class yesterday because a) I thought it was Thursday, and b) I wrote it down in my planner wrong anyway.
-- Looking at Hubby during dinner with the missionaries and saying, "Oh, for a second there, I thought you forgot to put on a shirt!"

a.w.e.s.o.m.e.
-- Being told by a student today that I gave an awesome lesson. On Aboriginal Canadians (a not very exciting topic). Score! 
-- Getting birthday cards in the mail.
-- Finding a German book (Eine Unbeliebte Frau) that I actually like, can read fairly quickly, and can understand! If you speak German, I highly recommend this book! 
-- Having students recognize me and smile and wave at me instead of running away.


HAPPY THURSDAY (real this time), EVERYONE!!