WE: In what ways are you simplifying your life?
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It must be spread....
As of late I have had a hard time keeping up with this blog. That's not to say there is nothing worth reporting, simply that I am trying to find balance in my life at the moment. I have fallen off the communicating bandwagon. I appreciate the Weekend Exposure project because then I at least get to blog once a week. My intention, however, is to blog more than that. So here is a short update of a thing or two I have been up to...
I had a wonderful visit last weekend from my old roommate, Eva, who now lives in Berlin. We had a great time walking through this beautiful city, drinking coffee, eating cake, and making delicious food. As we walked through the market on the Domplatz we saw a big crate of pumpkins just asking for a carving. The next morning I shared the tradition of scraping out all the gooey stringiness and stabbing the crap out of a pumpkin. Eva was thouroughly entertained. Me being her only American friend, I was her only glimpse into silly customs. Ahh, it's great to be a sort of ambassador.
Sticking with pumpkin, I introduced my favorite cookies to my German kids. I was prepared to go home with the entire batch thinking they wouldn't be well received. But I actually had to physically restrain the teen from devouring my fair share. I hooked M by telling her what a wonderful and special tradition making these cookies was for me and my mom. Spinning a magical tale before we even got started she was able to stick with it even after seeing the can of unappetizing looking pumpkin plop in the bowl. As many of you know, I love baking. Spinning the magical tale was not so much of a stretch for me seeing as baking often feels quite magical.
I had a wonderful visit last weekend from my old roommate, Eva, who now lives in Berlin. We had a great time walking through this beautiful city, drinking coffee, eating cake, and making delicious food. As we walked through the market on the Domplatz we saw a big crate of pumpkins just asking for a carving. The next morning I shared the tradition of scraping out all the gooey stringiness and stabbing the crap out of a pumpkin. Eva was thouroughly entertained. Me being her only American friend, I was her only glimpse into silly customs. Ahh, it's great to be a sort of ambassador.
Sticking with pumpkin, I introduced my favorite cookies to my German kids. I was prepared to go home with the entire batch thinking they wouldn't be well received. But I actually had to physically restrain the teen from devouring my fair share. I hooked M by telling her what a wonderful and special tradition making these cookies was for me and my mom. Spinning a magical tale before we even got started she was able to stick with it even after seeing the can of unappetizing looking pumpkin plop in the bowl. As many of you know, I love baking. Spinning the magical tale was not so much of a stretch for me seeing as baking often feels quite magical.
WE: What are you letting run your life?
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If you don't use it....
Today, I voted. That's right. There was no better way for me to celebrate being here for six months than to proudly send in my ballot. I feel happy, I feel free. Each year I get more and more excited to vote. As I sit down to write this I feel the sense of familiarity and realize that what I want to say is very much a repeat from last years election post. It all still holds true.
I have heard a few excuses for people choosing not to vote. The three I hear most: I don't know enough to make an informed decision, my vote doesn't really count, and the system is broken and I don't want to put energy into a system that doesn't work.
Firstly, if you don't feel informed then maybe you should get off your ass and pay attention because it's important. Because the system only functions when all parts are working together. The system is broken because Americans have become lazy. The functioning of democracy relies on the people using their voice which means, at the very least, going to the polls and casting their vote on election day. But also, writing to their leaders to let them know what is important, getting involved with organizations which are aligned with their beliefs, and being aware about what is happening in the world around you.
People are unhappy with government and specifically our current administration. But can anyone honestly sit by and tell me they believe the American people, as a whole, have stood up and demanded better? Have we exhausted all our resources to see that our situation improves? With between 55-65% of all eligible voters actually voting I think the answer is a resounding 'no'. This is the most fundamental way we can express what we want and only half of us show up to do it.
I won't sit by and pretend that the 40+% who didn't vote were Democrats that could have swung the last Presidential election, but I believe a good chunk of them were. I believe that there were many people who didn't vote they didn't think it would make a difference. But I believe that it is these people who really must flood the polls and vote. Not stay home and shrug when the election results roll in thinking, "I knew it". Yep, I am going to say it....what a bunch of sissy victims. Pull together and voice your deepest desires!
This theme is running through my life currently and is only brought more strongly to the forefront because of the election. But I keep running into it wherever I turn. I don't get what I want when I don't ask for it. When I continue to not ask on behalf of my hopes and dreams, they get buried deep inside of me, seemingly irretrievable.
When you don't use your voice, you lose it.
I realize this ranting comes a bit late. In most states you cannot register to vote on election day. But if you are registered I urge you....GO VOTE. Regardless of who it is for, do it!
I will leave you with this as it sums up, much more eloquently, what I feel
....there was another tradition to politics, a tradition that stretched from the days of the country's founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done.
We have a stake in one another.
We have a stake in one another.
WE: What are you coming into?
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Jump. Jump.
I was recently asked if I had a European driver's license, which I do not, thoug sounds like a super sweet thing to have. The good news is that when having a license from Utah you don't have to take a test, it's more or less a swap. More or less. The bad new is that a "swap" looked like me riding 6 miles north the city to sit in the equivalent of the DMV only to be told that I must first go to the foreign office to have a piece of paper signed stating when I arrived in Germany. Forget the fact that they had my stamped passport sitting in front of them. Then I must go 5 miles south of the city to the ADAC, a club much like AAA, to have my Utah license PHOTOCOPIED and have another paper signed. Again, my license is sitting right in front of them. Then I must return to them in two weeks to apply for the license and will receive it by post in yet another two weeks. (As a gloating point on my end, this was all conducted in German).
Does anyone else feel as dizzy as me.
I visited those places I had to and did what I must. I got the photocopy and then....I didn't get the license back! It was this one piece of information lost in translation that got me upset. I shrugged it off with, "Oh schade. Schönen Tag noch," and walked out. But as I rode away on my bike I was overcome with sadness. I started to cry. It felt as though they had confiscated a piece of my identity.
Still, hours later, I have a bit of sadness residing in my being. It is moments like these that creep up and surprise me about how much I miss home. The people, the place, the beaurocratic hoops one must still jump through but they are at least familiar. I have to laugh too. Usually it is the voice or email of a missed friend, or pictures of home that trigger my homesickness. Today it was a card with a not-so-great picture of me on it.
The Unlikely Nest
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