The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe was built in 2005. It was created as a reminder of the Holocaust. Our tour guide from the NewEurope Berlin walking tour told us about how people suggested that instead of building this memorial, the government should instead use the money to provide a free bus service to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (which is 35km north of Berlin). Maybe that would be a more practical use for the funding, but as our tour guide also said, if you are boarding a bus to visit a concentration camp, you have already made the choice to remember the Holocaust. This memorial serves as a constant, daily reminder to the people of Germany that it is their responsibility to never let something like that happen again. It is located a block south of the Brandenburg Gate and across the street from the Tiergarten (which holds other memorials to other prosecuted groups), both of which are major tourist attractions. It is also across the street from Berlin's financial district, and down the street from the Reichstag, which is Germany's parliament building. It is difficult to miss, with its 2700+ concrete blocks, all of which are the same size except in height (so I guess technically they aren't all the ame size...), almost five acres of straight lines and sloping fields. The architecht who designed it never stated his purpose for the form he chose when he designed the memorial. Its meaning is left to the observers.
Some say that the concrete blocks represent train cars, loaded with Jewish prisoners; some say that the heights of the blocks are a bar graph for anti-Semitism through the ages. Some say that it represents the cold, linear nature of the Nazi regime. When we made this stop on our walking tour, we were told to walk through the memorial and find our own meaning.
For me, and probably for many others, the memorial has more than just one meaning. In the simplest sense, it is just what the name says it is: a memorial. A reminder. The tragic beauty of this design gives the place an air of solemnity; it forces you to take a minute to be silent and to think. Pardon the irony of using a Stalin quote to describe a Holocaust memorial, but here it is: "The loss of one life is a tragedy. The loss of thousands of lives is just a statistic." And that is sad, but true: how many of us can really fathom just how much death there was in the Holocaust? In World War II in general? Can any of us really experience that much death and not become de-sensitized or immune to it? I could barely comprehend the fact that there were almost three thousand concrete blocks at this memorial site. Three thousand seems like so much... And that number doesn't even scratch the surface of the number of people who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Another meaning that this memorial, and this particular design, has for me is that it serves as a chilling reminder of how easy it is to lose someone. When Steve ad I were running around last night, when it was still a wonder-maze and nothing more, we were constantly turning corners and sneaking away from each other so we could scare each other. And there were tons of other people doing the same thing. Running, hiding, sneaking around, and laughing at how easy it was to lose track of each other. Steve can usually find me right away when I'm trying to hide (I have this tendency to giggle uncontrollably when I think I'm being sneaky) but here I could make a quick getaway, and with rows and rows and rows of these huge concrete blocks, it took him some effort to track me down. This meaning is broader than just losing someone in the maze. It encompasses the idea that in that time of Nazi power, and even just life in general, you could lose someone you loved in a very real sense, not just in a maze. And it would only take a heartbeat.
Finally, I find that the strongest meaning is one I realized not from the memorial itself necessarily, but from the people in it. The memorial is said to get around 10,000 visitors PER DAY. And from what I saw, many of those people do exactly what Steve and I did when we first discovered it: they run around, hiding and laughing and running and sneaking up on each other and giggling and having a wonderful time doing it. (There was more than one occasion when Steve or I would sneak up on a random person coming around the corner, or other random people would sneak up on us thinking we were someone else.) This memorial, whether it means to or not, takes a past tragedy and uses it to bring present-day joy. It takes the power of devastation and heartache and channels it into something wonderful. Is there really anything more beautiful, or healing, than a smile on someone's face, especially if it is someone you love?
As I walked through the memorial/wonder-maze, I thought about what other people might get out of this memorial and I wondered how many people came to the same conclusions I did about this place.
On a lighter note, click here to see a video of Steve trying to chase me down as I run in circles around him in the wonder-maze, giggling my pants off. :)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Walking, Talking, and Beer Competitions.
Disclaimer for the moms: The beer competition mentioned in the blog title is not as bad as it sounds, and no, Steve and I did not wander the streets of a strange foreign city drunk out of our minds.
Now, back to the blog.
Steve and I went to sleep around 9pm local time, figuring we'd get up early, go back to the wonder-maze in the brisk morning mist, stop by the supermarket for breakfast, and start the day on a well-rested, enthusiastic note.
So naturally, Steve and I woke up at two o'clock in the morning. And couldn't go back to sleep FOR HOURS. (Which is why you all got that last blog!) I eventually went back to sleep around 5am--took a nap really--and woke up to Steve doing yoga around 7am. And I felt bad about not getting out of bed until about 8am because I felt like I was wasting precious vacation time (because the next four months will not be enough).
However, Steve and I went on a NewEurope free walking tour of Berlin, so I felt less bad because we were going to see a bunch of Berlin's major sights.
The tour started at the Brandenburg Gate at 11am. Steve and I left at around 10:30am, figuring it might take us a while to get there.... It probably took us less than ten minutes. I knew the Brandenburg Gate was close by when I found us this apartment to stay in, but I didn't know it was two or three short blocks close.
Our tour guide was an Australian guy who had been living in Berlin for a couple years, and for the next 3.5 hours he entertained us with all kinds of Berlin history. And I'm sure every knows that Berlin has a LOT of history. It was just something different to hear all this information while we're looking at all these sights. Otherwise it would've been like "Oh, Checkpoint Charlie. That's the checkpoint between East and West Berlin back in the day. Cool. The End." Instead, our tour guide regaled us with stories of how people escaped out of East Germany and how the Soviets would study the escapes and improve the Berlin Wall and its security accordingly.
Probably the most exciting, unexpected thing that happened on the tour was when the tour guide pointed to a small group of apartment buildings that apparently the high-ranking SS officers and, later, a bunch of famous Germans, lived in.... IT WAS OUR APARTMENT BUILDING! We're staying in the former home of SS officers and gold medal Olympists and diplomats and the like! Who knew that this little apartment full of IKEA furniture once housed Nazi super-soldiers. We certainly didn't.
I know I've already mentioned this a little bit, but when I found this apartment, I didn't realize JUST HOW CLOSE it is to everything. The location is prime, and for around only $50 a night! I don't think there is anything that we want to see that is not within walking distance. Our apartment building was in the tour, for crying out loud!
After the tour was over, Steve and I went with our tour guide and some others from the tour to a pub, imaginatively named The Pub. I currently regret not taking a picture of our table, but at the time I was way too distracted by the fact that EACH TABLE HAS ITS OWN SET OF TAPS!!!!! Seriously. Way too cool. The only beer available at these taps is the local Berliner Pilsener, which was fine, and above the tap handles is a screen that shows how many liters your table has poured, and it allows you to separate the bill right there. You can also order food from that screen. Perhaps the most entertaining thing was another screen projected on the wall that shows each table's tally of how many liters of beer you've drank! The tables within The Pub's establishment are encouraged to compete against each other to see who can drink the most beer, and the screen also shows how much people are drinking at other Pub locations all over Europe. We arrived around 3pm, and one of the tables at The Pub in Prague, Czech Republic, was already like 14 liters of beer in. Ridiculous.
We sat with a group of three girls around our age who are doing basically the same thing we are: traveling Europe for a few months before going back home and getting jobs or higher education. They all went to school together at MSU Bozeman, so it was fun to think that, one, we all ended up doing the same thing and wanting similar experiences in life even though we come from very different backgrounds (well, at least Steve... I fit in more with the other girls who all come from small towns), and two, if we were all still in the States, we would probably NEVER run into each other, but somehow we end up meeting in a country thousands of miles from home. They were all fun to talk to while we sat around drinking our beers (seriously, I am not ever going to get over the pour-your-own-beer thing). By the time we left, between the six of us (a friend of theirs who lives in Germany joined us later on) I think we drank about 8 liters of beer (and subsequently got our asses kicked by that table in Prague, who added probably 14 more liters to their tally while we were there) and spent a ton of time talking about traveling Europe.
At the end of that, we all shook hands and gave our best wishes to each other for our travels, and Steve and I walked home the twenty minutes back to our apartment where we promptly fell asleep for the next five hours.
Which is why I'm writing this at 1am CET.
We are never going to get our body clocks adjusted if we keep this cycle up.
Also, this wedge of brie, fresh baguette, yogurt, and chocolate milk (which is what we had for breakfast) cost us less than 3 euro at the market.
I may be eating brie every day for the entire duration of this trip, at this price. <3
Now, back to the blog.
Steve and I went to sleep around 9pm local time, figuring we'd get up early, go back to the wonder-maze in the brisk morning mist, stop by the supermarket for breakfast, and start the day on a well-rested, enthusiastic note.
So naturally, Steve and I woke up at two o'clock in the morning. And couldn't go back to sleep FOR HOURS. (Which is why you all got that last blog!) I eventually went back to sleep around 5am--took a nap really--and woke up to Steve doing yoga around 7am. And I felt bad about not getting out of bed until about 8am because I felt like I was wasting precious vacation time (because the next four months will not be enough).
However, Steve and I went on a NewEurope free walking tour of Berlin, so I felt less bad because we were going to see a bunch of Berlin's major sights.
The tour started at the Brandenburg Gate at 11am. Steve and I left at around 10:30am, figuring it might take us a while to get there.... It probably took us less than ten minutes. I knew the Brandenburg Gate was close by when I found us this apartment to stay in, but I didn't know it was two or three short blocks close.
Our tour guide was an Australian guy who had been living in Berlin for a couple years, and for the next 3.5 hours he entertained us with all kinds of Berlin history. And I'm sure every knows that Berlin has a LOT of history. It was just something different to hear all this information while we're looking at all these sights. Otherwise it would've been like "Oh, Checkpoint Charlie. That's the checkpoint between East and West Berlin back in the day. Cool. The End." Instead, our tour guide regaled us with stories of how people escaped out of East Germany and how the Soviets would study the escapes and improve the Berlin Wall and its security accordingly.
Probably the most exciting, unexpected thing that happened on the tour was when the tour guide pointed to a small group of apartment buildings that apparently the high-ranking SS officers and, later, a bunch of famous Germans, lived in.... IT WAS OUR APARTMENT BUILDING! We're staying in the former home of SS officers and gold medal Olympists and diplomats and the like! Who knew that this little apartment full of IKEA furniture once housed Nazi super-soldiers. We certainly didn't.
I know I've already mentioned this a little bit, but when I found this apartment, I didn't realize JUST HOW CLOSE it is to everything. The location is prime, and for around only $50 a night! I don't think there is anything that we want to see that is not within walking distance. Our apartment building was in the tour, for crying out loud!
After the tour was over, Steve and I went with our tour guide and some others from the tour to a pub, imaginatively named The Pub. I currently regret not taking a picture of our table, but at the time I was way too distracted by the fact that EACH TABLE HAS ITS OWN SET OF TAPS!!!!! Seriously. Way too cool. The only beer available at these taps is the local Berliner Pilsener, which was fine, and above the tap handles is a screen that shows how many liters your table has poured, and it allows you to separate the bill right there. You can also order food from that screen. Perhaps the most entertaining thing was another screen projected on the wall that shows each table's tally of how many liters of beer you've drank! The tables within The Pub's establishment are encouraged to compete against each other to see who can drink the most beer, and the screen also shows how much people are drinking at other Pub locations all over Europe. We arrived around 3pm, and one of the tables at The Pub in Prague, Czech Republic, was already like 14 liters of beer in. Ridiculous.
We sat with a group of three girls around our age who are doing basically the same thing we are: traveling Europe for a few months before going back home and getting jobs or higher education. They all went to school together at MSU Bozeman, so it was fun to think that, one, we all ended up doing the same thing and wanting similar experiences in life even though we come from very different backgrounds (well, at least Steve... I fit in more with the other girls who all come from small towns), and two, if we were all still in the States, we would probably NEVER run into each other, but somehow we end up meeting in a country thousands of miles from home. They were all fun to talk to while we sat around drinking our beers (seriously, I am not ever going to get over the pour-your-own-beer thing). By the time we left, between the six of us (a friend of theirs who lives in Germany joined us later on) I think we drank about 8 liters of beer (and subsequently got our asses kicked by that table in Prague, who added probably 14 more liters to their tally while we were there) and spent a ton of time talking about traveling Europe.
At the end of that, we all shook hands and gave our best wishes to each other for our travels, and Steve and I walked home the twenty minutes back to our apartment where we promptly fell asleep for the next five hours.
Which is why I'm writing this at 1am CET.
We are never going to get our body clocks adjusted if we keep this cycle up.
Also, this wedge of brie, fresh baguette, yogurt, and chocolate milk (which is what we had for breakfast) cost us less than 3 euro at the market.
I may be eating brie every day for the entire duration of this trip, at this price. <3
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Our First Evening.
I would first like to start by saying that I have no idea how to work Blogger anymore, because the iPad app homepage has automatically changed to German and I can barely read anything. Oh, well... Maybe this will force me to pick up on the language.
Steve and I are renting a room in an apartment a couple blocks away from one of Berlin's major sights, the Brandenburg Gate, which we will see tomorrow.
The owner of the apartment is a German guy named Peter who is probably a few years older than we are. He gave us some recommendations for good places to hang out, eat, etc, and we will probably take him up on his advice in the next couple days, but for our first night we wanted to do something low-key. We had basically been awake all night long and justed wanted some fresh air and a good meal before going to sleep in a real bed for the first time in close to a week (as we had been sleeping on couches and sofabeds, which are most definitely not real beds). So we took a little walk in search of something nearby that looked good.
Oddly enough, most of the restaurants we saw were either some kind of Asian (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, even a Vietnamese place which got Steve excited because they probably have pho) or an Italian pizzeria. Before the trip, I did read that Berlin is more of an international food hub and doesn't identify much with the typical German cuisine, which is mostly Bavarian (brats, schnitzel, pretzels, etc), but the reality of it was astonishing. Even getting from the airport via bus, which took us through many a neighborhood, we hardly saw any German restaurants at all.
We walked about a block from our apartment and came across a little place called - and going here was a very, VERY touristy thing to do - Berliner Bistro. They had a chalkboard menu outside advertising burgers and the famous Berliner currywurst (which is just about the only thing I've found to be the specialty food of Berlin). Steve ordered a bratwurst and I ordered the currywurst, and we both ordered a beer.
I have heard that at Oktoberfest, beers are only served in liters, which means I have to drink TWO of these beers, which are both half liters. Oh goodness.
After a tasty meal in which Steve and I basically ordered everything with Berlin in the name, we walked further down the road to the coolest thing I have ever seen.
This wonder-maze actually ended up being The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. More on that tomorrow.
Steve and I are renting a room in an apartment a couple blocks away from one of Berlin's major sights, the Brandenburg Gate, which we will see tomorrow.
The owner of the apartment is a German guy named Peter who is probably a few years older than we are. He gave us some recommendations for good places to hang out, eat, etc, and we will probably take him up on his advice in the next couple days, but for our first night we wanted to do something low-key. We had basically been awake all night long and justed wanted some fresh air and a good meal before going to sleep in a real bed for the first time in close to a week (as we had been sleeping on couches and sofabeds, which are most definitely not real beds). So we took a little walk in search of something nearby that looked good.
Oddly enough, most of the restaurants we saw were either some kind of Asian (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, even a Vietnamese place which got Steve excited because they probably have pho) or an Italian pizzeria. Before the trip, I did read that Berlin is more of an international food hub and doesn't identify much with the typical German cuisine, which is mostly Bavarian (brats, schnitzel, pretzels, etc), but the reality of it was astonishing. Even getting from the airport via bus, which took us through many a neighborhood, we hardly saw any German restaurants at all.
We walked about a block from our apartment and came across a little place called - and going here was a very, VERY touristy thing to do - Berliner Bistro. They had a chalkboard menu outside advertising burgers and the famous Berliner currywurst (which is just about the only thing I've found to be the specialty food of Berlin). Steve ordered a bratwurst and I ordered the currywurst, and we both ordered a beer.
I have heard that at Oktoberfest, beers are only served in liters, which means I have to drink TWO of these beers, which are both half liters. Oh goodness.
After a tasty meal in which Steve and I basically ordered everything with Berlin in the name, we walked further down the road to the coolest thing I have ever seen.
This wonder-maze actually ended up being The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. More on that tomorrow.
We Made It! - Getting to Berlin.
We have arrived!
Our flight was long and mostly uneventful... We left LAX via AirBerlin at 6pm PST and arrived in Berlin after about thirteen hours of flight and layover time. Some highlights of our flight include:
- My relief once we got on the plane. I had meant to call the airline a few days before we left to confirm our reservations, but somehow never got around to it. As a result, I had been having these mild, internal panic attacks that our reservation had been cancelled and we wouldn't make it to Europe after all.
- Billy. I mainly include him as a highlight because I have always had these horrible visions of him being torn open by airport security in search of drugs or something, so every time he makes it through the x-ray machine with all his stuffing intact, I am so relieved.
- Our dismay (mostly Steve's) at how little leg room there was in our seats. Seriously, this was probably the smallest seat I've ever been in, cars, trains, buses, and planes all included. I think Steve's knees were touching the seat in front of him the entire time.
- Our excitement over each seat having its own monitor for movies, games, music, etc.... Only to find that Steve's didn't work and that headphones cost 5 euro if you didn't bring your own (which we didn't). We did end up playing mahjong together on my screen for a while and watching part of Happy Feet in silence before we fell asleep.
- There were two Americans sitting behind us who were.... an interesting couple of people. And by interesting I mean they ordered like four shots of Bacardi rum in the first two hours of being on the plane, which meant everything from that point on was HILARIOUS for them. Also, the guy brought a guitar on board... Which he didn't play, but how in the world was he going to fit that in an overhead bin if there hadn't been a few empty seats??
- The food was actually pretty good. We had chicken, veggies, and mashed potatoes in our little microwaveable containers and it kind of tasted like pot pie. Plus the girl sitting next to us gave Steve her piece of cheesecake because she didn't want to eat it. A complimentary glass of wine or beer was offered with the meal, which of course we took advantage of.... I wish I could say you can't go wrong with free wine, but in this case I was wrong. We are both open to all kinds of wine, but this one was gross. It was some kind of Italian table wine, so it's probably supposed to taste how it did, but our California palates were not prepared for such tannic, weak wine. Give me a rich, bold, fruity Paso Robles red over this any day.
- Digestif service! After the dinner trays were cleared away, the flight attendants came by asking if we would like to follow our meal with brandy or Bailey's... Umm, yes, please! Bailey's on ice tastes like a very rich chocolate milk. Delicious. Plus Steve sneakily got two! Our plane had two seats next to each window, and three seats together in the middle, which is where Steve and I sat, and for most of the flight, I would get served from the attendants going down the right aisle (I sat in the middle of the three seats) and Steve would get served by the attendants on the left (he sat on the left side). Well, when the digestif service came by, the attendant on the right served our whole row (all three of us) and by the time the left-side attendants came by, Steve had finished his Bailey's, so he hid it and asked for another. The attendants were none the wiser.
- Sleep. Or lack thereof. I was amazed at how much easier it is for me to sleep on any mode of transportation other than an airplane. I think between both Steve and I, we got maybe four hours of sleep in. Ugh.
- Baby alarm clock: a baby started crying REALLY loud just in time to wake us all for breakfast. At least that was really the only time a baby cried other than when the plane landed, and breakfast was delicious.
When we got off the plane, we had a moment of OMG HOW DO WE GET TO THE APARTMENT FROM HERE??? and then Steve's level-headedness took over. We had very good instructions from the apartment owner to get us from the airport to the apartment, and we managed to navigate from the airport to the apartment via bus and subway. By the time we reached our accommodations, it was almost 6pm Central European Time (CET), which was crazy to think about, since that was what time we had left Los Angeles. More on our first night in Berlin later...!
Our flight was long and mostly uneventful... We left LAX via AirBerlin at 6pm PST and arrived in Berlin after about thirteen hours of flight and layover time. Some highlights of our flight include:
- My relief once we got on the plane. I had meant to call the airline a few days before we left to confirm our reservations, but somehow never got around to it. As a result, I had been having these mild, internal panic attacks that our reservation had been cancelled and we wouldn't make it to Europe after all.
- Billy. I mainly include him as a highlight because I have always had these horrible visions of him being torn open by airport security in search of drugs or something, so every time he makes it through the x-ray machine with all his stuffing intact, I am so relieved.
- Our dismay (mostly Steve's) at how little leg room there was in our seats. Seriously, this was probably the smallest seat I've ever been in, cars, trains, buses, and planes all included. I think Steve's knees were touching the seat in front of him the entire time.
- Our excitement over each seat having its own monitor for movies, games, music, etc.... Only to find that Steve's didn't work and that headphones cost 5 euro if you didn't bring your own (which we didn't). We did end up playing mahjong together on my screen for a while and watching part of Happy Feet in silence before we fell asleep.
- There were two Americans sitting behind us who were.... an interesting couple of people. And by interesting I mean they ordered like four shots of Bacardi rum in the first two hours of being on the plane, which meant everything from that point on was HILARIOUS for them. Also, the guy brought a guitar on board... Which he didn't play, but how in the world was he going to fit that in an overhead bin if there hadn't been a few empty seats??
- The food was actually pretty good. We had chicken, veggies, and mashed potatoes in our little microwaveable containers and it kind of tasted like pot pie. Plus the girl sitting next to us gave Steve her piece of cheesecake because she didn't want to eat it. A complimentary glass of wine or beer was offered with the meal, which of course we took advantage of.... I wish I could say you can't go wrong with free wine, but in this case I was wrong. We are both open to all kinds of wine, but this one was gross. It was some kind of Italian table wine, so it's probably supposed to taste how it did, but our California palates were not prepared for such tannic, weak wine. Give me a rich, bold, fruity Paso Robles red over this any day.
- Digestif service! After the dinner trays were cleared away, the flight attendants came by asking if we would like to follow our meal with brandy or Bailey's... Umm, yes, please! Bailey's on ice tastes like a very rich chocolate milk. Delicious. Plus Steve sneakily got two! Our plane had two seats next to each window, and three seats together in the middle, which is where Steve and I sat, and for most of the flight, I would get served from the attendants going down the right aisle (I sat in the middle of the three seats) and Steve would get served by the attendants on the left (he sat on the left side). Well, when the digestif service came by, the attendant on the right served our whole row (all three of us) and by the time the left-side attendants came by, Steve had finished his Bailey's, so he hid it and asked for another. The attendants were none the wiser.
- Sleep. Or lack thereof. I was amazed at how much easier it is for me to sleep on any mode of transportation other than an airplane. I think between both Steve and I, we got maybe four hours of sleep in. Ugh.
- Baby alarm clock: a baby started crying REALLY loud just in time to wake us all for breakfast. At least that was really the only time a baby cried other than when the plane landed, and breakfast was delicious.
When we got off the plane, we had a moment of OMG HOW DO WE GET TO THE APARTMENT FROM HERE??? and then Steve's level-headedness took over. We had very good instructions from the apartment owner to get us from the airport to the apartment, and we managed to navigate from the airport to the apartment via bus and subway. By the time we reached our accommodations, it was almost 6pm Central European Time (CET), which was crazy to think about, since that was what time we had left Los Angeles. More on our first night in Berlin later...!
Monday, May 28, 2012
We leave for Europe tomorrow.
Wait, WHAT??
After almost two years of waiting, our departure date is already here. And looking at us, you can't tell. Today just feels like another day. We spent the last month catching up with family and friends, and after a day of sunshine in Lake Arrowhead, a giant pizza, aqua-cycling with Jane, and a movie with Scott and David (Steve's dad and brother), we are ready for bed like any other day - not like we're about to leave for the adventure of our lives in less than 24 hours. I thought it would feel different, but it doesn't. Not really.
Weird.
Wait, WHAT??
After almost two years of waiting, our departure date is already here. And looking at us, you can't tell. Today just feels like another day. We spent the last month catching up with family and friends, and after a day of sunshine in Lake Arrowhead, a giant pizza, aqua-cycling with Jane, and a movie with Scott and David (Steve's dad and brother), we are ready for bed like any other day - not like we're about to leave for the adventure of our lives in less than 24 hours. I thought it would feel different, but it doesn't. Not really.
Weird.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Two More Weeks.
Two weeks from today, my outrageously handsome husband and I embark on our honeymoon/one-year anniversary/prelude to relocation trip.
Four months in Europe.
FINALLY!!!!
It feels like, in this relationship, I am always in the planning/waiting stage for something. We met in college and started dating at the end of 2008. It started out as, I kind of know you, I kind of like you, then *BOOM* - I have always known it was you. We are meant to be together. We love all the same things, and our personalities complement each other perfectly. Why hadn't we met sooner? Even our pre-college hometowns sound almost the same. Redding, Redlands... I'm pretty sure that stork got the names mixed up. I had never believed in true love, soulmates, love at first sight, etc, and then I met Steve and realized, I have been waiting for you my whole life.
We got engaged about a year after we started dating, and decided to wait till we graduated before we got married. Our 18-month engagement meant lots of time to plan, fall more in love, procrastinate, change our wedding ideas, save money, and get all our pre-marriage fights and problems out of the way. There was never a moment in that year and a half where I second-guessed my decision to marry this man. It was just a lot of waiting.
We were married on May 29th, and by June 1st we were back at work. We wanted to make our honeymoon epic, and decided to attend the EURO2012 soccer tournament, which is being hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine. Our plan was always to relocate out of Southern California, so we figured we might as well take a big trip before we move to a new place. Tickets to the second most prestigious soccer tournament in the world (after the FIFA World Cup) would be our first year anniversary gift to each other (these tickets are made of paper, after all). And so from May 2011 (and before that, really, because we'd started planning for it before the wedding) until now, I have been yet again waiting.
Somehow our soccer honeymoon has turned into a four-month extravaganza in Europe that will include not only the EURO2012 tournament (to which we have tickets to five games!), but also a lot of traveling within Central Europe, farmstays on a cattle ranch in Hungary and a buffalo reserve in Ukraine, and Oktoberfest in Munich.
And now, I only have two weeks left to wait.
That fact has not really hit me yet.
:D
Four months in Europe.
FINALLY!!!!
It feels like, in this relationship, I am always in the planning/waiting stage for something. We met in college and started dating at the end of 2008. It started out as, I kind of know you, I kind of like you, then *BOOM* - I have always known it was you. We are meant to be together. We love all the same things, and our personalities complement each other perfectly. Why hadn't we met sooner? Even our pre-college hometowns sound almost the same. Redding, Redlands... I'm pretty sure that stork got the names mixed up. I had never believed in true love, soulmates, love at first sight, etc, and then I met Steve and realized, I have been waiting for you my whole life.
We got engaged about a year after we started dating, and decided to wait till we graduated before we got married. Our 18-month engagement meant lots of time to plan, fall more in love, procrastinate, change our wedding ideas, save money, and get all our pre-marriage fights and problems out of the way. There was never a moment in that year and a half where I second-guessed my decision to marry this man. It was just a lot of waiting.
We were married on May 29th, and by June 1st we were back at work. We wanted to make our honeymoon epic, and decided to attend the EURO2012 soccer tournament, which is being hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine. Our plan was always to relocate out of Southern California, so we figured we might as well take a big trip before we move to a new place. Tickets to the second most prestigious soccer tournament in the world (after the FIFA World Cup) would be our first year anniversary gift to each other (these tickets are made of paper, after all). And so from May 2011 (and before that, really, because we'd started planning for it before the wedding) until now, I have been yet again waiting.
Somehow our soccer honeymoon has turned into a four-month extravaganza in Europe that will include not only the EURO2012 tournament (to which we have tickets to five games!), but also a lot of traveling within Central Europe, farmstays on a cattle ranch in Hungary and a buffalo reserve in Ukraine, and Oktoberfest in Munich.
And now, I only have two weeks left to wait.
That fact has not really hit me yet.
:D
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