Merry Valentine's Day!

Though St. Valentine’s Day seems to have English origins that remain somewhat murky, Americans and America’s commercial engine long ago co-opted current holiday celebrations and expectations. That much is indisputable! It is not a holiday that has any tradition or wide-spread acceptance in Germany. However, there are determined commercial interests making an effort to “create” the holiday here. The nuances of the holiday are lost in cultural translation, however.

Store windows of florists and stores like Mueller (a very small-scale version of Target) display large signs reminding shoppers that February 14th is Valentine’s Day. Because these posters more often than not also advertise perfume and are in English, I suspect they are simply American store displays sent the world over – this happens at Christmas as well.

Last year, Valentine’s Day passed by without much notice on our part because we were on a vacation during the school’s “Ski Week” holiday. This year, Ski Week is a week later. I set out to put together a small burst of unexpected Valentine’s excitement – some cards and gifts for the kids and a card for my beloved. I was encouraged by all the advertising. Guess what? If you want perfume or a heart-shaped box of chocolates, you’re in business. If you want anything more original or less saccharine, or even, say – a Valentine card – you are out of business. There was not a Valentine card to be found in any of the three shops in our area that might sell cards or stationary. I wound up in the craft supplies section of Mueller and made my first hand-crafted Valentine since probably 3rd grade!

Gary was even more innovative has he found and repurposed a Christmas card that sported a red heart and angel (representing me, of course!)… This seems perfectly fitting and will provide warm and funny memories of our time here – much of it figuring out how to re-purpose things and events to suit our needs! At least the florists have things down pat, offering beautiful floral arrangements with a plastic red heart poking up from the middle! Beautiful flower arrangements are something you can count on here - Germans LOVE to give flowers for any reason or no reason. They do flowers very well!

Early Valentine’s Sweets
Giving chocolates on Valentine’s has never been a tradition with us. This year was not the year to break down and start, despite the fact that it was the ubiquitous gift offering in the stores. The reason? Molly was home the first week of February for her break between “J-Term” and Spring Semester. She came armed with a baking recipe per day to try out with Audrey in the kitchen. The girls baked up a storm and we reveled in one more decadent treat each day than the day before – breakfast muffins, scones, cookies and, the final pièce de résistance -- chocolate peanut butter bliss cheesecake!

We enjoyed having Molly home and the family feeling content and whole for a week. It was a relaxing week for Molly and me as the kids were in school so we did not do any traveling. We did get out to our favorite winery and restaurant and the usually gloomy weather obliged us instead with a blue sky and sun.

Flying Buffets

We’ll stick with the food theme for a minute – ever heard of a “flying” buffet? I hadn’t. We hosted an Open House for Gary’s new boss and his wife, recently arrived from Australia as ex-Pats from Britain. Since we expected over 20 people, and, as you are all very aware now, I have a doll-sized kitchen with doll-sized appliances, a caterer was in order. When I looked at the catering options and the contract, they appeared to be sketchy translations. I have learned to recognize the work of Google Translate ! (Largely because I am quite dependent on it myself!) So, I assumed a Flying Buffet was just a bad translation.

Turns out, it is instead another one of the many circumstances when Germans just integrate English words into their normal vocabulary. In this case, it meant that the food was served up in small single servings into small dishes with miniature forks and spoons. Then, a server “flys” around the room offering up the food and then returning to collect the dishes before another flight around the room with more food. It worked perfectly because we don’t have room to seat 20 people at tables. The Germans were all very familiar with the term as several thanked me for the “wonderful flying buffet” and, they certainly hadn’t seen the contract!

Another interesting thing about the Open House. It was the first time that this group of people had been together inside one of their colleague’s home. In fact, it is rare they get together with spouses/partners at all – a retirement dinner almost two years ago was the last time. The group has worked together for over 10 years – Gary and the new boss being the only recent additions. I was thanked numerous times for “inviting us inside your home.” They seemed quite genuine in their enjoyment of the evening but it was easy to pick up the slight awkwardness they felt at the beginning due to the “setting!”  They take reserved to new heights. In fact, in comparison, I feel as though I’m absolutely gregarious!

The Next Exciting Celebration after Valentines Day?
Nope, not Easter, it's very late this year – it’s March Madness! Our annual pool keeps growing and now is an international pool. The Geipels have have a bit of a streak going with either a winner or a runner-up for a number of years. We hope to keep this streak going as the pot continues to grow!

This year, March Madness comes just in time. Both Audrey and Ethan’s basketball seasons come to an end soon so we will get our “basketball fix” via ESPN America instead of at the FIS gym. Ethan’s last home game this past weekend was as exciting as any Final Four game I’ve seen – all the more so because he was playing in it! After losing by 5 points the night before to the team from The Hague, they spent the Saturday morning game between 2 and 6 points down. Until the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. Tied up and then answering basket for basket, it came down to the last 5 seconds. FIS scored all three free throws – three because of the most unusual foul I’ve ever seen – the shooter was fouled as he threw his second free throw -- and held off The Hague’s last drive to the basket. They won by one point!

Ethan’s JV team is off to a 4-day tournament in Vienna after their last regular season game in Zurich at the start of March. I think they’ll do well. More importantly, it is a great bunch of boys and they have a really great coach. Audrey’s middle school team finishes at the end of February. Her team is the only middle school team (there are four – two girls and two boys teams) with an undefeated record!

Ski Week

This is one of the wonderful things about the FIS academic calendar. Included in the school holiday schedule is this completely random week of vacation in mid-February! This is in addition to three weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter. We'll take it!  Around about this time, many of us are quite ready for a break from the dreary gloom that is Germany in winter.

Traditionally, those who don't seek out skiing in the Alps seek some warmth and sunshine instead. Not so the Geipels.... we are instead heading north to the Arctic Circle! Actually, I am relieved that we didn't choose the other destination on our short list while we were planning back in December. We were quite tempted by a week in Egypt  - it is a very popular destination over here and we were drawn by the promise of warm sunshine and a tour through sites of ancient history. Fortunately, we chose the second destination on our list otherwise, we would have been sitting on the couch here at home watching on TV as modern history is made. Cautious optimism and excitement for Egypt notwithstanding, we would have regretted not making the choice we did -- to sail north on the Hurtigruten (say that a few times - isn't it fun to say?!)  along the coast of Norway to take in the fjords and, with luck, the Northern Lights!