GETTING BACK INTO MY THING
The last couple weeks have been pretty good to me. It's been a slow crescendo so far here in Kandel, and crazily enough, I move to Karlsruhe on Tuesday! I'm quite excited to live somewhere where there are actual people and life close by. Should be a good upgrade.
Bored Games to Board Games!
Every now and then, I need a mental/emotional/motivational reset, which I'm currently going through. Some time two weeks ago, I got to the point of realizing a lot of my free time has just been uselessly wasted. I had a very similar thing happen to me in Japan, and had to refocus myself back into getting shit done, working on doing valuable and productive things with my time, and just getting things back on track.
Well, I'm not sure what kicked it in, but I'm currently working on getting this to stick. I found a good link with a few good TED talks to listen to, so I did and took notes; I've kinda slowly started back into doing some fitness stuff outside of frisbee by running, some core and strength stuff, and then a pseudo-hike this weekend in the Schwarzwald; I'm trying to read some every night before I go to bed (currently working on Guns, Germs, and Steel); I busted out my camera one night after work and did some night photography here in Kandel, and yeah, just trying to be a productive, ever-developing member of society.
Along with this whole self-development thing has come the realization that over the last few weeks, I've been very passive in my life. I go to work, go to frisbee, and hope for other stuff to come about outside of those things. Well, that too is something I'm working on changing - proactivity.
Well, after frisbee practice one day I was invited to a board game night! Not exactly along the proactivity line of things, but things happened! It was me and three other people from the frisbee team and we hung out, drank some wine, and played Robinson Crusoe. Unfortunately we didn't win the scenario, but it was a nice night hanging out and having fun!
Weather Cancellation leads to Drinky Thymes
Last weekend we were supposed to go to a one day round robin tournament and play some of the teams in the Rhein-Neckar area, including Bad Skid, a really good team. But the hosts called it that Saturday morning due to weather (I found out just as I got in my car to leave), so that was a wash. I was a little bummed, but there's not much I could do. So I had a bit of a lazy day at home after that.
But that night we had the normal practice, then afterwards there was a birthday / going away party at someone's house, so I went and joined the shenanigans. It was quite nice to go drink and have some fun with everyone. Honestly, it feels like it'd been quite a while since I was at a fun party like that.
We played the German version of boom (rage cage), threw in some flip cup, ate some delicious coconut curry, had a good amount of beer, and had an overall great time! I need to keep getting out and socializing!
Dairy, my new Nemesis
This whole lactose intolerance thing really fucking sucks. I like to have cereal for breakfast, but rather than using milk (I do do that too) I throw in some yoghurt. It tastes delicious, but yoghurt has lactose in it, and so after lunch my stomach sounds like a shitty garage band from the damn lactose I had. Even when I use the anti-lactose pills or whatever they're called, it doesn't make a difference.
This one's really hard for me, because I love dairy products, most notably milk. Thank GOODNESS there is a slight relief with the existence of lactose-free milk, but I like cheese and yoghurt and other stuff too, and being restricted/limited with these delicious things is really hard.
A Lesson in German
Over the past two years, when I've talked to people about my life and what's going on in it, I tell them that I've been really lucky, "ich bin echt glücklich geworden." This is what I've been saying, which I assumed it meant that I've been really lucky. But, as I found out from my coworker, it means more that I'm happy (content, pleased) with my current place in life, a.k.a. things are going well and I'm happy. Which is most definitely accurate and true, but not what I've been meaning to say.
As he pointed out, "ich habe Glück gehabt" literally means "I've had luck", which is more along the lines of what I've been meaning to say. Cause it's pretty damn true, I've been really lucky with everything I've been able to do, see, and experience over the last few years.
But, after getting this explanation, both of these are true. First off, I've been lucky. Some things have fallen my way, some things have been a total surprise, and some things have just happened just right to get me to where I am today. And second, I am very content and pleased with where I am in life. I am a healthy young adult with a growing mind and skill set living in a foreign country working for a multinational company gaining valuable cultural, career, and personal experience to set me up for whatever comes next.
This Past Weekend
Thursday and Friday night I had a bit of an adjusted schedule, because I had to ride along for a night test drive, as we were testing one of our new systems, that needed darkness in order to function. It was pretty cool, actually sitting in and analyzing a system during a ride. But Friday night, after getting done around 9pm, I jumped in my car, drove over to Stuttgart, and met up with Marco and Daniel to go see Deadpool. HOLY SHIT was that an awesome movie.
Saturday morning, me and Marco slept in (such a relief, I love it when I actually sleep past 9am!) made some delicious french toast, then hit up the local spa/baths in Bad Cannstatt for an amazingly relaxing morning. Then, after grabbing some Thai-food to-go, I made my way back to Karlsruhe for frisbee practice. Well, long story short, I had to drive back to Marco's because I still had his keys with me. D'oh.
I played a few points after finally making it back to Karlsruhe and frisbee practice. Then afterwards I met up with a fellow Trainee based out of the UK, and we went and grabbed a few beers downtown chatting about the US and UK, Daimler, and a whole slew of other stuff.
Today has been quite the nice day for me. I slept in a bit, and had a very relaxing morning. Then, after eating a couple delicious breakfast sammiches, I jumped into Reggie (that's my car), and we made our way over to the Schwarzwald to go drive around and explore.
What a fun day, and beautiful landscape and fun roads for exploring. It reminded me of both Switzerland when I went a few years ago, and also of the Capitol Forest outside of Olympia. Well, I explored a little bit of the mountain town of Forbach, drove up to the Schwarzenbachtalsperre (Schwarzenbach Dam), and then drove up into the forest to go see the Dam from way up above. It was a bit of a drive, and Reggie didn't quite make it all the way, but it was a beautiful view after I got to the top.
I kept on driving around, met a few skeptical alpine cows, and then hit a really awesome roadway. Switchbacks like woah. (sidenote, I'm listening to some German music right now by Roger Cicero, and the song's name is Murphys Gesetz, aka Murphy's Law. It sounds weird in German...) It's the white road going from top left to bottom right on the below picture, and it was quite a fun drive.
After a fun day wandering around and exploring, I topped it off with a delightful nap at home and then chowed down on some Maultaschen and Rotkohl for dinner. All in a day's work.
Craft My Ass
I was doing some grocery shopping in Edeka sometime in the last couple weeks, and I turned a corner and was absolutely floored. Why, you ask? Because of this:
WHAT?!?!?! CRAFT BEER IN GERMANY!?!?!?! Naturally, I was stoked. So I bought a couple of their bottles and noticed that they even had some stuff from Firestone Walker. Holy Crap! Was this the solution to my Schwierigkeiten with German beer?!?!
I was so stoked. The first thing I looked for was a Porter or a Stout. They unfortunately didn't have either one of those, but they had a Schwarzbier (this should have been the first red flag). To go with it, I got their Pale Ale, and then made my way home to taste my findings.
Spoiler Alert - I was pretty heftily let down. The special cooler and the packaging made everything look legit and hopeful, but in all reality, they both tasted just like every other Schwarzbier and slightly hoppy helles here in Germany. What a bummer. I was really hoping for something not stuck to that restricting Reinheitsgebot, but was completely let down in that respect.
If Germany finally accepted the awesomeness of craft beer and it started to permeate the culture here, holy crap would I be stoked. But, unfortunately, I don't foresee that happening in the next decade. Poor Germany, you're missing out.
Next Up
I'm planning on making it up to Berlin next weekend to go see my boy Lutz!!! So pumped to see him again and see what he's up to in his new city and phase. Such a good dude, it'll be really great to catch up with him!!!
Other than that, I'm gonna keep being productive and useful and working on things I can work on. No point in wasting my days doing stuff that isn't beneficial. We've all only got one life and every second wasted is one gone forever. So here's to being awesome and making the most of what you've got!!!
Oh, and I almost forgot, on Tuesday I get to move to Karlsruhe! Wahoo!!! I'm super pumped to finally be more in the area of some life and activity. Let's see how things go with that!
Original Publish Date: February 28th, 2016