In need of the seashore

Can you be in the need for water, salty air and a stiff breeze? Well, of course you can. My family is used to hills and forests, but when vacation is near we tend to pack our things and drive 7 hours up north to the German Baltic Sea shore. While Rügen (Germany's largest island) was once our favorite spot, it has become rather pricey and we end up on Usedom (second largest island and shared with Poland). It has the longest beach Germany has to offer! And the most sunny hours as well. (Even though there is a debate going on about that between different tourist areas in Germany.)

We don't lie on the beach (maybe a little) - we walk up and down several km most vacation days. It's so much fun having the waves lick at your feet and collecting shells. My dog just loves the sand! And there are some beaches there, where dogs are allowed (which is still very uncommon in Germany!).

Well, these pics are from september 2009. That was the last time I was there with my parents. I haven't had time or money to go back there the past two years, but maybe I'll join my extended family there again in September. This time my sister, her husband and my nephew will be there, too.

Grandpa Walter: Pictures

One of the scarce color pictures, dated 1982. My parents wedding. I wasn't on my way yet, but Grandpa Walter already looks the way I remember him. White puffy wisps of hair on either side of his head and his characteristic smile. The car was especially rented for the big day: a lada. Not many people could afford to buy one in those days and I really don't know where this car came from...

My real (young) father is hugging his mom, while Grandpa Walter is watching. On sunday one wore the best dresses one owned in those times. Time: Maybe late 1970s?

My grandparents were the cutest couple ever! They were happily married for over 50 years. Time: Early 1980s.

Granpa Walter worked hard all his life. This is one of the oldest pictures I own of him: The date on the back reads 1967. A huge storm had passed our little town and the tree had fallen. So it became fire wood.

My grandfather and an aunt (?) working in the garden. As I mentioned before as goods and food were most of the time scarce one had to grow its own vegetables and fruit. Date unknown.

Cellar building for his dream house in 1980. As he worked with heavy machinery, too, Grandpa Walter lost some fingers during his lifetime. I remember those hands very well. I was never grossed out, because those hands told stories.

House is almost finished in late 1980. A friend of my father (?) is helping building the roof. Grandpa Walter is obviously happy about the outcome of the labour.

Retiring from work in the late 1970s.

While hard work was a constant part of life in GDR, most people managed to get something good out of it as well. And Thuringians do a lot of BBQing. The Thuringian grilled sausage is very famous to this day!

You get the picture.

Grandpa Walter also loved to make music - up to the day he died. Not just harmonica...

...but also accordion. (For which he had to get inventive later in the 1980s and model some fingers out of fimo clay to be able to play.)

Yes, Grandpa Walter, you are missed and I will never forget you. Thank you for teaching me lots of stuff and being there for me. Lots of Love.

Grandpa Walter

Grandpa Walter in front of his garden hut. His garden was always well stocked with vegetables, fruit and flowers. 

During my 28 years on this planet I've already lost quite a bunch of people I've loved. Not just the "we didn't stay in touch" or the "she treated me kind of bad and that's why I ended our friendship" kind of losing either. (Sadly, that has happened, too.)

No - death seems to be an old acquaintance by now, even though you never get used to this fellow. When I was not yet four my real father died of diabetes, wrong lifestyle and the bitterness of living on the wrong side of the Wall. His heart just stopped one winter day in January of 1987. The year that followed must have been the hardest my mother ever had to endure. I don't remember much, but I tried to cheer her up and drew many black princesses. (So much to the theory that little children don't get the meaning of death.) In 1988 I got a new dad (and was very proud of that, too. I bragged in kindergarden.) and he is my father to this day. Yes, we've been lucky that way. Still, there is an amount of sadness left in me as I will never know my real father. Can't even remember him. But more on him later.

It isn't a big surprise that my grandparents, who had lost their only son at such a young age, would set their hearts on my well being. My mother worked very hard as a taylor as long as the GDR persisted and she dropped me off at my grandparents house every other day or so. My grandparents were already over 70 at that time and they died both at age 86 in 1997 and 1998. I loved them. I still do. And I miss them very much. Grandma Ida was such a good hearted person - her warmth and gentleness have become legend in my family. She also cooked splendid meals.
My grandpa Walter was very inventive. He could make almost anything out of scraps of metal or just out  of plain trash. Remember: There was never much available in the GDR.

I was a total grandpa-kid. And he taught me a lot about nature and being smart. Even though he was hard working and very popular in his community, he never owned much and was never sad about this. He was from Dresden, where he was born in 1911. He lived the life the famous German author Erich Kästner describes in his childhood memoirs: living a life on almost nothing - in the back of huge apartment houses. His father fell in the first World War - I don't know where and when. (I did some research and his family name isn't that common. I found four people, whose names could match. The fell on the western front in France.) My family doesn't know much about his mother either. She died, when my grandpa was still young. My mom told me the story that a German shepherd dog ran down the stairs in their big apartment house and took her down with him. She fell so badly that she died.

My grandpa came to Thuringia in our little town, where a famous orphanage existed. (To this day.) But you know how it was in those days (the 1920s): the children had to help making hay and do all sorts of farm work. A local family (existing to this day, too) became his patrons, but they obviously made him work even more. He never really forgave them, I think.
I think he learned to become a mechanic, but I'm not sure. Eventually there was war again and he was off to the Eastern front. A girl from the then- eastern German parts (nowadays Poland) was made to write him as an encouragement (quite common during war times). They liked each other and met, when he was on front vacation. It was love at (nearly) first sight and they wed soon after. (He had to tramp from Greece to the wedding and missed it by a week's time.)
Other than that - there never was much talk about the war. And I was far too young to pay attention to it anyway (which makes me sad today).

My grandma had to flee as part of one of the great treks from Poland - very pregnant. They met again in my little hometown and lived in a little apartment in the house, that later became my home, too. (But now we own the house. My grandparents had to pay rent.) Money was always scarce. In those days one could go to a grocers (who knew you anyway, because the town was so tiny) and he would be willing to give you credit if you hadn't any money left. Obviously, if you got your paycheck the next month, you had to pay off those credits first. And again there would be too much month left, while the money was already gone. Soon, they had two daughters (my aunts) to care for, and life wasn't getting easier.

I don't know much more about the times between those early 1950s and the late 1980s when I got to know them, but I inherited quite a bunch of pictures, of which I'll show you some.
Please be aware once again, that these pictures belong to me (well, nowadays anyway)! I am well aware that they actually might have some historical value as some of them depict everyday life in a closed off social communist society. And sorry, my scanner is kind of old.

First DIY-Tutorial: Totally easy Origami Coasters!

Well, hello there! I've finally managed to put my very first tutorial together. As lover of all things Japan-related, I've always enjoyed Origami (Japanese for paper folding) very much. After getting really good at it during middle school I somehow stopped because folding paper cranes, paper horses, paper flowers and stuff didn't seem to lead anywhere. You couldn't really use those for anything useful! (What's up with this "It has no use so ditch it" thinking of mine?)
But during the time I lived in Japan I realized that Japanese people actually do use Origami for all kind of things. Like patching up their paper walls or making muffin forms. There are actually lot of books for "Everyday living Origami"on sale in Japanese bookstores.

So I like to use useful Origami to brighten up my living space. And today we'll make totally easy coasters - really everyone will be able to fold these! Just take two square pieces of paper. If you don't have Origami paper, that's just as fine - just select whatever design holds your fancy.

Step 1: Fold the paper diagonally. Twice.
Step 2: Fold two opposite pikes to the middle.

Step 3: Fold the piece at the middle line. The pikes are inside.
Step 4: The longer and closed side of the piece is at the bottom. Fold the right pike upwards.

Step 5: Turn the piece! (Important!) Fold the other pike upwards. Repeat whole process with the other piece of paper.
Step 6: Combine both pieces. Mark that the flaps have to be inserted into the pockets of the other pieces.

Steps 7 and 8: I just took those pics to make the process of flaps into pockets better understandable.

Make lots of them in different colors and enjoy! Totally easy - or not?

Disclaimer: I used 100 Yen store paper (It is the cheapest kind of Origami paper out there.).

Instagram Magic: Little Helpers

, a photo by Chisa2010 on Flickr.

I can use all the help I can get. I started a job this week (just part time) and have to say:

The real world is somehow harder than I thought it would be. My boss is younger than me and she is a fierce lady, people!

The first day of work was already kind of frustrating because she kept insisting that I should work faster, even though the technic didn't like me and wouldn't accept my fast tipped codes.
Well, sure, the service industry is a fast working environment but I don't understand why I am supposed to function perfectly during my first week?!

I'm not going to say any more. I like working with clients, though. And I am perfectly nice and respectful to them! And sorting products is also kind of fun.

But I'll have to work on my boss-relationship I guess.

Last week...

Picture of Nighttime in Heidelberg - just for good measure 

... I was rejected ... again. I really wanted that job. Too bad.
... I got two wisdom teeth pulled out. Thank God that we have anesthesia these days. But still, it hurt like hell for the rest of the week and I am totally cured of thinking about getting the other two removed any time soon.
... I got those two teeth pulled out exactly one day before my 28th Birthday. Yeah---Happy Birthday to me!
... I could barely eat my birthday cake. What a shame.
... On Friday, there was an interesting job offer from Japan. I'm totally going to get it this time!!!
... Today I did a picnic for my Bday with some friends, even though only a fraction of my invited guest showed up. But we had fun nonetheless.
... Tomorrow (Sunday!) I'll have another job application training seminar. I'm so going pro in theoretical knowledge about getting a job. Theoretically.
... Starting on monday I'll start my new part time job. Nothing fancy, but it'll bring a little bit of money in my empty pockets and the people there seem fun enough to work with. Wish me luck!

P.S. I'm currently putting my very first DIY Tutorial together. Stay tuned!

Greetings!

Japan Archives: Shopping in Japan

Japan and Service are two words that seem to belong together. Every visitor to Japan will learn quickly that a customer is not a king (as he is supposedly in the Western World), or an emperor - no a customer is a god. Well, I wouldn't go to that extent but Shopping really is an adventure of its own in Japan.
Yes, everything has its price. But good, heartfelt service will be bestowed upon you even if you look way too poor to be able to afford anything in that store. (Example: Student (=me) with rather out of date clothes in a Tiffany Store at Ginza Street. I would never walk into a Tiffany Store in Germany. Ever.)

Today, I just picked some random pictures out of my last year Japan trip picture folder. As a tourist you'll try to find some rather "traditional" places to have a look at Japanese trader spirit. Like the Ameyoko, a street in Ueno (picture above). Ameyoko is really crowded nowadays (it was a Saturday, though) - on weekdays you'll find more foreign tourists, I guess. If you are inclined to buy: Fish really is (was??) cheap there and you can have great sushi there, too.

"Hm, which salmon steak am I going to buy today?" (It's really cheap. Wish I could buy salmon that cheap and fresh in Germany.) Sadly, I never bought fish there - wouldn't have been able to cook it anyways. But still - I like to go trough Ameyoko as there are also Japanese bakeries, which sell freshly made melon bread or other food vendors with okonomiyaki (japanese style pancakes with vegetables and sea food). Also, there are a lot of tea shops around for lovers of Japanese green tea, as me.

As I said: random pictures. Japan also is the country, where the most products are accessible most of the time. Like 24/7. Around the clock.  There are the konbini stores (= small convenience stores), which are open all night and day and then there are vending machines practically everywhere. Mostly for soda and canned coffee, but sometimes for other goodies as well. In this case: Umbrellas! I really had to take this picture at the train station in Omiya - I loved it so much.
By the way, I never saw a vending machine where you could buy used panties. Sorry, boys, I guess those machines exist somewhere in Japan, but not in the areas where a respectable girl like me actually went to. (Yes, I went to Kabukicho once. At night. With friends. But we just did karaoke.)

An old styled store in downtown Ikebukuro. It is always astonishing that even though Tokyo is the capital of department stores so huge you can easily get lost in them, it is also still a city where the smallest shops seem to exist. Sure, it is getting harder for little shop owners, but still - they are friendly and seem contempt with their situation.

My favorite department stores are Loft and Marui city, by the way. The first for its marvelous selection of paper goodies, Japanese pens, washi tape and the like, the second for its obscene amount of clothing (every style one can imagine: cute, serious, grown up, festive, really anything) and accessorize. Well, it was torture to be sure - but Japanese clothing was out of question for my western butt, so I had to feast on necklaces, bags and make up. (You don't wanna know the details, to be sure.) This picture above just shows what happens, when you are doing your shopping trip on a rainy day: Your shopping bag will end up in plastic covering so it can't get wet. (I bought Mary Quant make up.) I still can't quite decide how I should find that. I mean, I totally freaked out, when I saw that happen for the first time. I was so stunned. (We Germans like to recycle as in "We wanna save the world" and plastic has a very bad connotation for me...And in Japan....well, let me tell you: Almost everything is made out of plastic, even cheese.) But still, I'm very fascinated by this concept of covering a shopping bag up.

For some reason I made lots of pictures of flower shops in Tokyo. Maybe I was missing some greenery in this mega city. And I also love tulips. The light pink ones - or the filled ones! But I never bought plants in Tokyo as it is just way too expensive.

But I really was tempted to buy this Bonsai Cherry tree! But sadly, it wouldn't have survived the flight, let alone be allowed through customs in Germany. What a shame.