Days since last round up: 14
Best bit of vocab: verschenken (‘to give something away’, usually something you want to get rid of but can be useful for someone else, same root as the word ‘schenken’ (to give a present), really captures the idea of one man’s rubbish is another’s treasure)
Estimated fluency: 80% (maybe? Who knows?)
Major achievements: 3 parcels successfully delivered in one day, one child in kindergarten 15 minutes early
Still working on: perfecting pancakes (a favourite pastime of the older girl, which she has told me in no uncertain terms that I am not yet good enough at)
Best find: Emmi’s Kitchen - a vegan surprise! (see favourite finds for more)
Culture shock: people really do wear Lederhosen here
Reading: Liebesfluchten by Bernhard Schlink
Weather: chilly October mornings and unexpectedly mild days
The weekly round-ups are slowly becoming bi-weekly, partly due to a few busy weekends, but also because as things settle down into a routine there’s less to report. With the kids back at school/nursery, summer holidays over and initial settling-in period accomplished, the days follow a fairly predictable pattern now, the emotional ups and downs are a bit less, and I’m starting to know the places I like to spend time here. Last week was something a bit different though, with my second-ever birthday abroad, so the first job for the week was to collect September’s final misdirected delivery at a local parcel shop, after a slow morning of the younger one dragging her feet getting ready for kindergarten. I’m realising that she tends to dawdle towards the start of the week but the last few days will then be surprisingly quick. One morning this week I couldn’t hold her back and had to drop her off at 7.45, 15 minutes before she’s supposed to be there, and on my birthday she was an absolute angel, with everything running really smoothly and no hurrying along. Other mornings have featured tantrums, at any point along the 2 minute walk to nursery, variously provoked by scooter accidents, unwillingness to putting a coat on, and not being allowed to go to school with her sister. This is definitely a less predictable aspect of the daily routine but is generally working well.
Evenings at the park are getting a little trickier with the nights drawing in and the weather getting less reliable, but where possible the girls still enjoy playing out, and a new development has been the younger one playing with the upstairs neighbour, who’s knocked on nearly every day this week. Maxvorstadt has as good vibes as ever, and the walk in now has a slightly different feel than earlier sunny days, but the bright, crisp mornings have a real charm. It’s not quite festive yet but I think Munich will be very enjoyable in the winter months. The favourite finds are coming in less thick and fast, but I’m still discovering new places (see here for more on this), while also having chance to revisit established favourites.
I’ve felt a bit more connected to Oxford the last few weeks, as people at home are starting to move back in and more emails are coming through, and as more and more people start their year abroad we’re becoming a real little Oxford clique here in Munich, with two new arrivals making for a lovely group lunch this week. Work-wise I’ve also been more in touch with the kind of thing I’d usually be doing at uni, embarking on my extended essay this week, which also meant a call with my German tutor to discuss some ideas as well as some general approaches for the year abroad. I’m really loving what I’m writing, comparing Ellbogen by Fatma Aydemir and Die Brücke vom Goldenen Horn by Emine Sevgi Özdamar, which is proving really interesting and confirming the areas of German literature I want to pursue.
Last week saw a brief break in the routine, starting on Wednesday with two deliveries of flowers, which are still brightening up my little room, and extending into Thursday with a day of me-time, a bit of shopping and some fabulous food in the city centre.
Cafe Fräulein’s Zimtschnecke was better than birthday cake, the perfect spot for brunch and and opening cards, the Viktualienmarkt offered some health-goddess juice, as well as plenty of loose-leaf tea to stock up on (highlights include Amaretto fruit tea and walnut green tea), and a big Lush shop topped off the birthday treats, before a mezze lunch at Sesam Öffne Dich and a bit of vintage shoe shopping in Maxvorstadt.
Celebrations with the family were a bit more low-key than last year, when my French family invited the grandparents, cooked a flan and showed me a raclette for the first time, but the evening was very relaxed, spent at the park, with a little celebration later on before the kids went to bed. Of course it’s always going to be strange spending your birthday away from home, but with FaceTime etc. I really don’t feel like I’m too far away, and with messages from friends and calls with family it definitely didn’t feel isolating.
The treat-yourself mood continued into the weekend, with a mani-pedi on Friday before an early finish, packing up and getting the train to Nuremberg with Mikey who arrived in the afternoon. More on the weekend in Nuremberg here.
The following Monday was an ease back into the routine, less of a shock than returning from Neuschwanstein and having a 5-hour journey to pick up the kids, and after some fresh mint and lemon tea from Lost Weekend I was ready for a full-on evening looking after both the younger girl and the neighbour when she came round to play all evening. A big success was getting the kids all ready for bed while the parents had to run an errand in the evening, and even taking on the responsibility of getting them to sleep while the parents put some things away. The rest of the week continued much the same, with the minor inconvenience of being stranded at home during a U-Bahn strike, the excitement of an Oxford group lunch, more great vegan food, a few tears (only from the kids) and some late evenings helping with the bedtime routine.
Saturday was a long day with the kids to make up my full hours for the week, but still left time to celebrate Tag der Deutsche Einheit (30 years since reunification and a national holiday in Germany) in Maxvorstadt with some Bavarian cuisine and a few Aperol Sprizz. Celebrations weren’t as full on as we’d expected, but town was still buzzing with people in Tracht (Dirndl and Lederhosen - yes, people do actually wear these - and unironically). We continued the traditional theme with a trip on Sunday to Kloster Andechs (which anyone who has spent time in Bavaria might well reconise as a brand of beer), a monastry and brewery on top of a hill just outside the town of Herrsching, under an hour on the S-Bahn from Munich.
After about an hour’s walk through the woods (featuring the odd unplanned detour because it’s dull if everything goes perfetly to plan, and German walking trail signage could do with some work), you reach the beautiful baroque church, after which we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the Kloster’s Biergarten, and it seems everyone had the same idea because it was packed. A really authentic Bavarian hiker’s experience, with a great atmosphere, inexpensive food and drink, and pretzels the size of a dinner plate.
Also the perfect opportunity for my very first pint of beer (when in Bavaria ...), although I cheated a little with a Radler (like a shandy) because I’d been warned about the dangers brewery’s 16% brews. All round a great day, back in Munich for the early evening and time for a little wander round the English Gardens, the perfet way to reset for the week ahead.
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