Since the last time we blogged...

Hey there, hi there, ho there!


It's been a while since I've updated, so I thought I'd let you all know what's new in the world of Amanda. In the last couple of months I've celebrated a birthday (26), filmed a strange sporting event, built a walk-in closet, and got a raise! 26 is not really any different than 24 or 25, other than I'm now realizing that I'm actually in my "Mid-Twenties" and not my "Early-Twenties" anymore. I have officially started to forget how old I am, so, I guess I'll start inadvertantly (or advertantly) lying about my age from now on and just continue to say I'm 25...


The strange sporting event I mentioned earlier was the "Fisherman's Friend Strongman Run" that took place at some WW2 German military base that has been turned into an airport. You can view some photos of the event here: http://www.fishermansfriend.de/strongmanrun/starke-bilder/ As previously mentioned, it was a strange event... There were some people who took it very serriously, and others who did it just for fun and dressed as Superman, in drag, or just in a random, yet hilarious, costume. There were competitors from all over the world, including an Australian Olympian (who I got to interview). It was a wild event to watch, and a ton of fun to be filming something (and getting paid for it)! ;-)



The raise was also a nice bonus... I'm now up to 17 Euros per 45 minute lesson, that's more than $23 for less than an hours work! Not too shabby if you ask me. In addition, I've also gained more lessons. I'm almost up to what I was making as an executive assistant in LA, but keep in mind, there I was working 40-55 hours per week, and getting about $450 after taxes. I'm now working a total of about 17 hours a week, at 17 Euros per hour, which equals 289 Euros per week, with today's exchange rate that's about $405 per week, $1,620 per month, and $19,440 per year. I know that's not exactly the world, but for the hours I work, that's FANTASTIC!! Less than 20 hours a week and THAT's what I take to the bank?! Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming!!



So, since I've been making a little extra cash, my boyfriend helped me build a walk in closet in another of our extra rooms. Below are some pics of the work in progress. I feel like Carrie in Sex and the City! :-) Oh yeah, get this, we live in what could be called a three bedroom apartment, one bathroom, a big kitchen, a big living room, three balconies, and a big entry way/foryay, totaling 1,205 square feet! You know what we pay in rent? 680 Euros per month, utilities included. That's $953 per month!! What a steal!!!! Serriously, we're living the good life here in Dusseldorf... Also, I read an article that placed Dusseldorf as the #6 best city in the world to live in this year based on cost and quality of living. TOP TEN!! It's pretty awesome... I want to come back home to the States, but right now, I'd be CRAZY to leave my work schedule, income, and apartment. We're waiting it out just a bit, and we'll see how this whole financial meltdown works out. Oh, yeah, and if you didn't know, Andre's job as a fireman, it's guarenteed for life. That's right, he can't get fired. Unless he commits a crime that requires him to serve more than 6 months in jail. Any crime less than 6 months in jail, he gets out and goes back to work... It's REDICULOUS! So, again, we'd be absolutely crazy to leave right now, who's job is guarenteed for life right now?



Speaking of crazy, my parents just started their float down the Mighty Mississippi yesterday. If you're following my blog, you probably follow theirs as well, but in case you don't, here's the link: http://ventureoutii.blogspot.com/ If you know my parents and me, you're well aware we're not what would be considered "normal people", but if you know the rest of our family at all, you're also well aware that crazy runs in the family, we just take it to the extreem! I guess that's all for now. I'll keep you posted with any new news, but for now, I'd just like to wish everyone a Jolly July and an Awesome August!



Bis Bald!

Amanda von Duesseldorf

LOVING the Euro!!

Hello all, and welcome! I hope you've been doing well. Things here in Germany are pretty great at the moment. I just landed four new English lessons brining this month's total up to 800 Euro! With todays current exchange rate, that translates to $1,087.12. That may not seem like a lot, and it isn't really... But, it's still almost double what I was earning as an Au Pair! Plus, I don't have to work as many hours. As an Au Pair I was working anywhere from 35-50 hours per week, and I received 450 Euros per month regardless of how many hours I was working.

As an English teacher I am making around 16 Euros per "unit", each unit is 45 minutes. That's $21.74 per 45 minutes. Starting Monday the 23rd, I will have 4 units Monday-Thursday, and 2 units on Friday. That's a total of 3 hours per day Mon-Thurs and 1.5 hours on Friday. So, that's 13.5 hours of work a week, for a paycheck of 288 Euros ($391.36). SWEET!!

I'd much rather make a little less and have oodles of freetime than work like a SLAVE for nothin'!! Ahhhh.... the sweet life. Also, living here in Germany and earning a Euro keeps me fairly safe from this recession I've been hearing so much about. Yes, some German companies are making cuts too, but they tend to cut EVERYONES hours rather than lay-off a percentage of their workers. Now instead of working 40 hours a week, people are working 30, earning a little less, but hey, at least they still HAVE a job, right?

It's also pretty amazing to be getting paid in Euros because the Brittish Pound has been TANKING! With London just a hop skip and a jump away, I may have to make a trip over there once the Euro is stronger than the Pound... Get me some Burrberry 'n stuff!

As much as I used to resist my mom when she would suggest me getting a teachers certificate, I must say, it seems a fairly recession-proof profession... I mean, teachers don't make millions or anything, and I'm sure there are lay-offs happening in the Education world too due to cut-backs of funding, but I think that should all turn around under President Obama's Education Plan. Also, there are ALWAYS going to be people who want to learn something. It is a demand that will never be depleated.

In other news, my boyfriend built me a desk and turned our "guest bedroom" into a little office for me. The only thing that's missing is desk chair, but I'm using my yoga ball, and that may actually be better in the long run for a number of reasons.

Oh, on that note, I've started a "diet" to get rid of those stupid "American" pounds I gained while visiting the States from Halloween through Christmas. I think I was allowed to gain it in the first place... I hadn't been in America for a YEAR! I HAD to have TGI Fridays, Steak 'n Shake, California Pizza Kitchen, White Castles, etc, etc, etc... Anyhow, I've taken my parents' advice and started on this low carb/Atkins thing. So far so good. I mean, I would LOVE to just eat a pizza, but I'm also down with some grilled veggies so long as this gut gets goin'...

So, I guess that's really all I have to say at the moment. I'm gonna continue to bounce away on my little ball, write some "pre-tests" for my English students (Mid-Terms and Finals are just around the corner!!!), and generally enjoy my new private office.

Also, still waiting for Winter to clear the things out of his desk so I can get Summer in here and up to date on how things are run in this office. The sooner the better... YOU HEAR THAT WINTER?!?! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! Shoo!

Upbeat and bouncy Amanda

I'm Just Sayin'...

First off, I know I've been a little lagging in the blogging department as of late, but I promise to try harder. And by "as of late", I mean for the last YEAR! My computer bit the dust mid 2008, and I was working from a borrowed out of date machine that made me cry because the connection was so slow. I didn't have the patience for it.

So, I'm starting anew. I'm still a dork, and I'm still in Deutschland, so the title remains. I can't promise it'll be daily or anything, but I'll try. If my computer had a hip I'd say we were attached at it, but since it doesn't, I guess I'll go with attached at the lap. Get it? Lame, I know.

Nothing too terribly new in my world other than I'm now teaching English instead of working as an Au Pair. I think I like grown ups better. Not entirely sure about that yet, but at least I'm pretty much my own boss again, and I LUV that! :-) I just get E-Mails about where and when I have to be somewhere, and then from there, it's up to me. Waaahahaahaaahaaa! That was supposed to be an evil laugh if you couldn't tell.

I've been watching CNN for the last two months as if my life depended on it. Ok, more than two months, like the last 8-10. I like my daily dose of English, and knowing what's going on in the world isn't such a bad thing. The only thing is, sometimes I find myself screaming at the TV out of frustration. Two examples below:

When reporting on a crashed airplane, do not use the phrase "up in the air" to describe the fact that the exact number of injured or deceased is not yet known... The numbers may still be "up in the air", but the plane is not. In such a situation, irony is not appreciated.

When reporting on the doings and goings on of the new President of the United States, do not reffer to him as "Mr. Obama". He's the, say it with me now, PRESIDENT. I think he's earned that title, show a little respect.

That last one really bothers me because it wasn't just once, and it wasn't just one reporter. Also, what ever happened using the word deceased as opposed to dead? News reporters used to say "______ many people perished". Now it's just "they're dead. In other news, Tiger Woods makes his return to Golf". WTF?!

Like I said in the post title for today, I'm just sayin'... And, by the way, could we call this whole "winter" thing off early? I'm over it. Who's with me?? Let's boycott winter and give summer a raise and early holliday bonus.

I guess that's it for now. I have other sites to update and blogs to read.

L8R G8Rs!

Frozen Amanda

Watching, Waiting, Wondering...

On this cold rainy Martin Luther King day here in Germany, I sit here today as hopeful as ever that the United States will return to the “Great Nation” I was told it once was. As I watch endless hours of CNN, wait for the sure to be historic inauguration day, I wonder, how does the story end?

As a child, I was taught that “America is the greatest country in the world”. My response was “Why? What makes us so great?” I was only met with quotes from various historical documents, speeches, songs, and plain old opinion. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, “Ask not what your country can do for you... ask what you can do for your country”, “... and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, “Whose broad stripes and bright stars...”, “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain...”, “I have a dream...”, “One nation under God”(this one particularly bothered me since I had just learned about the separation of Church and State), “Because we're a free nation and you can do and be whatever you want!”

Inspiring, yes, those words are incredibly inspiring. But that still didn't help me understand why America was supposed to be the “greatest” country in the world. Granted, I was nine years old, and had never been outside the country, but even then, my curious mind questioned what many assume to be the “truth”.

Don't get me wrong, I am very proud to be an American, but I'm not egotistical enough to proclaim that we are the best. Especially when not all that long ago, we were just a bunch of colonies, and a place for the British to dump their “undesirable” citizens. With an original population consisting mainly of exiled inmates and religious fanatics who raped and pillaged the existing population, and ran a slave ring, I'm not entirely sure we've matured all that much as a nation in the last 233 years.

Granted, we no longer legally accept slavery, and women and blacks now have the right to vote, but does that really prove that “all men are created equal”? With the success of Proposition 8 in California in November, I'm not sold that we are the “best” nation in the world. And please, don't get me started on health care! As long as “In God We Trust” is still being printed on our currency, we will never truly separate the Church from the State.

While I watch the preparations being made for the inauguration of our first black president, which will poetically take place the day after MLK day, I am wondering what will happen? I am waiting for the change they have all promised me. They have promised change before, but for the first time, I may actually believe it. Borrowing notions, ideas, and even direct quotes from the late great Dr. King, President Elect, Barack Obama will take office tomorrow, and hopefully persuade me that America is indeed the “best country in the world”.

“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands...”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Please click on the link below to remember the Great Dr. King and his inspiring and historical words.
http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

Germans Really DO Love David Hasselhoff!!

Hello all, and greetings from what I can best describe as the craziest week in Germany! Currently the crazy German people are celebrating Carnival. It is pretty much the European version of Mardi Gras, without the topless women (thank God!), with a dash of Halloween and the Kirkwood Greentree Festival thrown in. Sound weird? That’s because it is.

Technically Carnival begins in November on the 11th at 11:11AM, and goes straight through to “RosenMontag” (rose Monday). It’s just the last Monday before Ash Wednesday prior to the beginning of Lent. I won’t bore you with ALL the details, but if it interests you, here’s where you can learn more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival

So my German friends took me out to experience Carnival in Dusseldorf, and my, what an experience it was! All of the normally very dry, conservative, serious residents of Dusseldorf were wearing ridiculous costumes, drinking like there’s no tomorrow, and shouting drunken German cat calls. Also, they played the Worlds WORST music. And to top things off, since they know everyone (and their Mom) will be there to celebrate, they charge you three Euros just to get in the door of a bar where you can’t even find a place to stand. If you’re lucky enough to ever make it up to the bar, half of your drink will promptly be spilled on the floor by a jumping/dancing German in a costume you don’t get. So far I’ve noticed that the most popular costumes seem to be Pippi Longstockings, a Trashman, or some form of a pimp from what I can gather. Those “pimps” I’m talking about are generally wearing leftovers from the 70’s with a terrible neon wig. The Germans don’t seem to put as much time and effort into their costumes as we Americans do when it comes to Halloween.

Right, the music… I am not saying I have necessarily heard “good” music while I’ve been out in Dusseldorf before, but last night was a new low. They played the theme song to “Heidi” (in German), several other German songs (one that was about a sausage having two ends??), and of course, the highlight of the night, David Hasselhoff’s “I’ve Been Searching For Freedom” (the crowd went WILD!!). Other big hits with the crowd throughout the night included Back Street Boys “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” (I guess that could be N’Synch too, I never really knew the difference), Cher “Turn Back Time”, and other songs that most DJ’s in America wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.

In general I had a pretty good time, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Carnival isn’t for me. I like to party just as much as the next gal, but I prefer to have at least a one to two inch perimeter around me when I do… You literally can’t even stand in one place because it’s like being hit by a wave in the ocean, only the ocean is made of drunken German pimps. Anyone want to catch an overnight flight and celebrate the last day of Carnival with me tomorrow? What, no takers? I can’t say I blame you… So, until next time, stay away from German Carnival and don’t let The Hoff release another album!!

Holidays With The 'Rents

My parents came over to Europe to spend the holidays with their favorite daughter… okay, their only daughter, but that still makes me their favorite, right? They took a few days traveling alone to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary first. The spent a few days in London, then crossed over the channel via the Dover Ferry to Calais. They spent a day in Paris, spent the night in a castle in Belgium, and even hit up Amsterdam before dropping down to Dusseldorf to spend Christmas with me and my host family. We had a great time exchanging presents with the kids, and they cooked me and my “German Parents” a (belated) Thanksgiving dinner. You can view their blog too at: http://www.vintervunderland.blogspot.com/

Two days after Christmas, my parents and I were on the move with our first stop being Munich in the southern German state of Bavaria. I lived just about an hour away from there the last time I was in Germany, 7 years ago, and I wanted to show them the town. Unfortunately it was night by the time we arrived, and we left our camera in the car, so I don’t have any pictures of us drinking beer, and eating bratwurst and bretzeln (pretzels) at the Hofbrauhaus. We then drove out of Munich and spent the night in a small town between there and the Neuschwanstein castle. In the morning we woke up, hit a quaint B&B for brunch, and headed for the castle.

I have personally been on MANY castle tours during my last two trips to Germany, and my parents were getting a little sick them too, so we just did a quick drive by and made a run for the Austrian boarder. I think we were all a little antsy to get to the Alps for the skiing part of our trip. We got into Innsbruck that day with much more time to spare than we anticipated, so we drove around and tried to get a lay of the land. If you’ve never been there before, and you don’t have a detailed map, Innsbruck can be a very difficult city to navigate. Also, no one warned us of this, so I think it’s worth mentioning; when you cross any boarder into Austria, stop at the first gas station you see and purchase the sticker for their Autobahns… You’ll have to pay a hefty fine if you don’t.

Our reservations were at a “guesthouse” appropriately named the Gasthof Dollinger. It was a fairly nice room, but my bed was, well, let’s just say you couldn’t even call it a cot. I’m a pretty small person, but that bed was too small for even little old me!! Other than that though, we had an AMAZING time in Innsbruck. They’ve twice had the honor of hosting the Winter Olympics, so I was in heaven. We saw the Olympic Ice Rink, Ski Jump, Bob Sled Track, and I even got to ski Olympic Ski runs on our first day of skiing at the Stubaier Gletscher. However, to be honest, the best day of skiing was the second one. It was cloudy and snowed the whole day, but I could have cared less because the snow conditions were out of this world!

The second day of skiing we went to a place called Ski Welt that I HIGHLY recommend to any intermediate to advanced skier. It was about an hours drive away from Innsbruck in a town called Hopfgarten. I started my day at the base of the mountain there, and when I got off the Gondola, at what I assumed was the top, I found out there were between 5-10 mountains that I could ski! I ended up having to call my parents to pick me up about a 20 minute drive away from where they left me because I couldn’t find my way back. It was THE best ski day of my life!! We headed back to Innsbruck and waltzed our way into the New Year during the night-long firework display, tucked ourselves into bed, and got up the next day to head south for Italy.

Upon our arrival in Venice, we soon realized that no motor vehicles are allowed to drive around the island at all! I don’t know how all three of us missed that one, but luckily the island our B&B was on, Lido, did allow them. So, we hopped on the ferry, and took our trip to the little barrier island of Lido. We spent the next day sight seeing in Venice, the glass factory, the gondolas, Piazza San Marco, etc. It was all very nice, but the Italians don’t seem to welcome tourists the way Germany and Austria do. Maybe it was just the time of year, who knows. After our day in Venice, we were basically headed back to Dusseldorf, but we don’t like to go the same way twice, so we detoured west through Milan, then north through Switzerland and spent the night on the boarder of Germany and saw the Rhinefall. I’ve never been to Niagra Falls, so this was the biggest water fall I’d ever seen with my own eyes. It was beautiful, and I’m glad it ended up on our random trek “home”.

The next day was just a typical drive through Germany, although we did get to go through the Black Forrest (Schwartzwald), and stop in Baden Baden for lunch. My parents were happy to be back at my German home, but sad to be leaving the next day. To be honest, I was too. Even though we haven’t lived together in a long time, it’s been harder than I expected to be this far away from them for so long. I don’t know when I’ll get to see them again, but I do know I’ll get to see a lot more of Europe first! Sorry to drag on so long, that was a lot to see, and I didn’t want to leave to much out…

Happy Travels!
Amanda