And then there was oil.

On Sunday, my new-to-me car decided to dump out all of its motor oil. I spent most of today running around to get the situation taken care of. The problem was the oil drain plug, which mysteriously fell out. The car seems to be OK now.

Deutsch: Am Sonntag hat mein "neues" Auto beschlossen, sein gesamtes Motoroel auszuspucken. Einen grossen Teil des heutigen Tages habe ich damit verbracht, diese Situation zu klaeren. Das Problem war die Oel-Ablassschraube, die mysterioeserweise herausgefallen war. Dem Auto scheint es aber gut zu gehen. (Ich habe selbstverstaendlich nichts fuers Abschleppen oder die Reparatur bezahlt.)

Finally a sofa?

After my yoga class today, I plan to go to IKEA and finally buy this sofa. We'll see how long the delivery will take :)

A day filled with Bikram Yoga: Esak Garcia gives a posture clinic

Yesterday I had the luxury of spending a whole day in the hot room. After a brutally hot class taught by Esak Garcia, he gave a posture clinic. We discussed general principles of hatha yoga, for example the breathing, and we also went through specific postures (pranayama breathing, standing head to knee, standing bow pulling, separate standing head to knee, cobra, and floor bow). I got a lot out of it and I am curious about how I will be able to integrate it into my practice.

A favorite from yesterday: a woman describes how she has trouble with a specific posture, Esak says: "Well, there is no reason why you should be good at this if you haven't practiced it for a long time!" Simple truth. I can only guess what a "long time" means though. Esak has been practicing for about 15 years, since he was 17 years old.

Happy Friday!

Friday is Bagel-Day in the office! We get Bagels, different cream cheeses, and Doughnuts for breakfast... what a great start into the weekend :)

I have some sweet things planned for this weekend: Saturday will be a Yoga-Day. I'm participating in a seminar with Esak Garcia. He is a very experienced yogi and Bikram yoga teacher. I am looking forward to meeting him, practicing with him, and learning from him!

To my former colleagues.

I’ve had my first English-speaking yogi tea today and it tastes disgusting (can you believe it’s sugared?!), but I would like to share with you: “May you have faith in your worth and act with wisdom.”

Do your practice and all will come.

I am going to take a Bikram yoga class today and I will try to get back to my regular practice of going at least three times a week. There is nothing that could be better for me right now.

Namaste.

Das Auto.

Picked up my new car last night!

Here it is again... Sorry, the gray Michigan weather isn't really ideal for picture taking :)

Yep, we're German :)

Enjoying my apartment

 It was a nice and sunny day today. I spent it mostly in my apartment, doing some cleaning and a tiny bit of decorating. I'm enjoying my apartment a lot! The plants you see here (and on the picture below) were a housewarming gift from a dear friend. Because she knows me so well, they are fake ;)

And this is my colorful bathroom! Now that I live by myself, I can decorate it as girly as I want :)


Deutsch: Heute war ein schöner, sonniger Tag. Ich habe ihn hauptsächlich in meinem Apartment verbracht, und mich mit Putzen und ein bisschen Dekorieren beschäftigt. Ich genieße mein Apartment wirklich sehr! Die Planzen, die ihr auf den Bildern seht, sind Neue-Wohnung-Geschenke von einer lieben Freundin von mir. Da sich mich so gut kennt, sind sie aus Plastik ;)

Dies ist mein farbenfrohes Badezimmer. Da ich ja nun alleine wohne, kann ich es so mädchenhaft dekorieren wie ich möchte :)

Yay for the weekend!

Hmmm, yummm, so glad Starbucks doesn't cost a fortune here in the US :)

Spend the day relaxing and getting some paperwork done for my car (insurance, bank stuff). Also went to IKEA, so I might update with some pictures of my apartment soon :)

Vrrrrmmmmm vvvrrrrrrmmmm!

What's that beautiful sound, you ask?

Yep, it's German, it's got 5 cylinders, it's pretty awesome!

Yeah!!! I'm picking it up on Monday!

Thinking of...

Yes, my mind is currently completely occupied by cars. Yes, I am an automotive engineer, so I guess it's to be expected. But I'm also still an the search for a German car for myself... I hope I'll have one by next week... I'll keep you all posted!

PS.: This is obviously an old picture... A beach is the last thing you'll see in Michigan in January. It's an old favorite of mine though. A dorky friend and dorky me drew these in the sand in 2005 on a beach in Florida.

Driver's license and -- yeah!!! -- two more boxes

I spent my lunch hour at the Secretary of State to get a new Michigan driver's license. After a lot of back and forth (bureaucracy is the same in every country, I guess) I was issued a temporary one and my new one should arrive soon... Yay!

Aaaaand, two more boxes arrived today!!!!!! 5 down, 3 to go!

One of them was really beat up and had this notice from the postal service, telling me they had to repack, because the package was falling apart... When I read that, I hoped everything would still be in there...

Then I found this in the package.

What it is?

I don't know! It doesn't belong to me! *scratching head* .... but.... ummm.... thank you... I guess?

I was very, very glad to find my yellow fleece blanket in the package! I have been freezing like crazy in my bedroom. My apartment does get warm, but the bedroom is very cold and I've had to turn the heat up more than I liked to so I don't freeze to death in my sleep. So yes!!! Blanket!!! <3

Second day at work...

This is my little paradise at work ;) Still looks a little empty, but I'm sure it will fill up soon.

Just to give a general impression of what the building looks like on the inside. Here you see the laboratory (obviously). Most of the cubicles (including mine) are to the left of it. My company's colors are red and blue, so they painted the walls accordingly. I like it!

Deutsch: Hier ist mein kleines Arbeits-Paradies ;) Es ist noch etwas spärlich eingerichtet, aber das wird sich sicher bald ändern.

Hier noch ein Bild um einen Eindruck vom Gebäudeinneren zu erlangen. Geradeaus sieht man das Labor (offensichtlich). Die meisten cubicles (die kleinen "Arbeits-Abteile") sind links davon; meins auch. Die Farben der Firma sind rot und blau und die Wände wurden entsprechend gestaltet. Ich find's schön hier!

First day at work!

This is my company's building. I really enjoyed my first day there. Thank you for the warm welcome, new colleagues!

Before and after (my first piece of furniture)

Before: This was the air mattress I slept on last night (also borrowed).

Then my friend with the big truck came by and we drove to IKEA!

Aaaand this is the After picture :) Doesn't it look cozy already? Yay!

*PS: I'm sorry this post was late... Don't have an internet connection at my apartment yet...

Moving into my apartment!

Packed my stuff and ready to move into my new place!

My rental agreement and my keys... Thank you again to my sweet friends who let me stay with them for a couple of days before I could move in!!!

All my stuff trying to squeeze through the front door :)

My first piece of furniture... is borrowed :D Thank you, friends!!!

So my apartment feels nice and spacious. I think I'll like it here :) More pics to follow as my apartment goes through its transformation from "house" to "home".

Just another boring, but expensive day

Got a super-yummy, healthy and fairly affordable lunch at Jimmy John's today! Hmmm, veggie gourmet sub! After lunch, I went to the bank and got my security deposit etc for the new apartment... like I said... expensive day! I get to move in tomorrow, yaaaay! :)

Detroit

To get the electricity set up for my apartment, I had to take a trip to Detroit today... as in... actually Detroit, not the suburbs. I also had to pass the "magical border" of 8 Mile Road. This road, made famous by Eminem's sort-of-biographical movie "8 Mile", is the unofficial border between the poor parts of Detroit and it's richer suburbs. I don't want to go into detail here, but when you cross the border it is definitely very noticeable and it really made me think about our society.

Deutsch: Um den Strom in meinem neuen Apartment anzumelden, musste ich heute eine kleine Reise nach Detroit unternehmen... damit meine ich wirklich Detroit und nicht seine Vororte. Ich musste dafür die "magische Grenze" der 8 Mile Road überqueren. Diese Straße, die durch Eminems halb-biographischen Film "8 Mile" berühmt geworden ist, ist die inoffizielle Grenze zwischen dem armen Detroit und seinen reichen Vororten. Ich werde an dieser Stelle nicht in die Tiefe gehen, aber die Grenze zu überschreiten ist definitiv stark spürbar und hat mich stark zum Grübeln gebracht was unsere Gesellschaft angeht.

One down, seven to go

One of my eight packages made it across the ocean yesterday. It looks really beat up! Now I have visions of my stuff floating around (sans packaging) in some package distribution center... I hope the other seven packages will follow soon and in one piece :)

Snow snow snow

It snowed today. A lot. I've seen lots of accidents on the highways, but I didn't run into any problems (thank god!). No more than one traffic accident per year, please!

Not a lot of picture-worthy stuff has happened in the last couple of days... sorry! BUT I am moving into my new apartment on Saturday and I've been looking at more cars, so there might be some interesting stuff coming up :)

Deutsch: Es hat heute geschneit. Ziemlich viel. Ich habe einige Unfälle auf den Autobahnen gesehen, aber ich hatte keine Probleme (zum Glück!). Bitte nicht mehr als einen Autounfall pro Jahr!

In den letzten Tagen ist nicht viel "Photographier-wertes" passiert... sorry! ABER ich ziehe am Samstag in meine neue Wohnung ein und ich habe mir noch einige weitere Autos angeschaut, also könnte es bald ein paar interessante Dinge geben :)

My favorite little guy

May I introduce you to Skully, my little, but loud friend? He's been keeping my company when it got to quiet and lonely in my hotel room. He's a little active speaker and HE IS LOUD! You can get your own little guy or gal here! (Full disclosure: This is actually my friend's little guy, but mine and his are twins.)

Today I did a lot of driving, exchanging my rental car for a new one, moving out of my hotel room, moving in with my friends for a couple of days (Thank you, friends, you're awesome!!!)...

Deutsch: Darf ich euch meinen kleinen, aber lauten Freund Skully vorstellen? Er hat mir Gesellschaft geleistet, als es mir in meinem Hotelzimmer zu leise und einsam war. Er ist ein kleiner aktiver Lautsprecher und ER IST LAUT! Ihr könnt euch euren eigenen kleinen Freund oder Freundin hier zulegen! (Dies ist eigentlich der kleine Kerl von einem Freund von mir. Meiner und seiner sind aber Zwillinge.)

Heute bin ich viel durch die Gegend gefahren, habe meinen Mietwagen gegen einen neuen ausgetauscht, bin aus meinem Hotelzimmer ausgezogen, bin bei meinen Freunden für ein paar Tage eingezogen (Dankeschön, Freunde, Ihr seid super!!!)...

Slow Sunday

Had a slow Sunday today with some yummy (but sadly not very nutritious) American breakfast.

Yes, after all that bacon-y goodness I had some fruit... Later today I went to yoga and it was a good class. Just what I needed after these tough classes and almost being too scared to go again!

Car Shopping

Yummmm, German engineering :) So it looks like I will actually buy a VW Jetta! Probably in a couple of weeks... I'm so excited!

And finally... FINALLY... some Taco Bell food :) Totally missed that in Germany! Yeah, I'm a cheap date like that.

And the big news........ were delayed, I'm sorry to say. I'll tell what it was supposed to be though: I was supposed to be able to move into an apartment today, but it fell through. Looks like I will have to wait 7-10 days before I can move in after all. Here's a photo of the kitchen in my apartment though. They're still doing some renovations.

Erkasdjfröalkjab.

I went shopping today. After quite a few ups and downs (reaching its peak today when I got rear-ended at a an intersection in my rental car), I decided I needed it.

To all polish lovers: These are Essie Lollipop (bright red) and Essie Chubby Cheeks (burnt orange).

And PS: There will be big, exciting news tomorrow :)

What I had missed about the US: String Cheese!

We don't have string cheese in Germany... don't ask me why! Germans don't know what they're missing! It reminds me of a cheese I used to eat and LOVE as a child on vacations to Turkey... It was stringy as well, but probably tasted differently... not sure...

Today was a funny day: first I lock my keys into my rental car, then I slip on mushy snow and fall on my elbow (ouch, but it's OK now)... odd day. Didn't feel like going to yoga, but made myself go and didn't regret it! I still missed some parts, but not whole postures like yesterday. YAY, progress :)

Bikram Yoga and Happy News!

This is my new Bikram studio :) After a three week (?) break I could finally take class again today! It was VERY hot and I had to sit out more postures than ever... I spoke to a teacher and she said that most European studios are not as hot as they usually are here in the US. I have heard people say that before... and holy moly, it was hot!!! It really was a torture chamber for me today, but I also feel great and I can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Post-Yoga yumminess!!! Pomegrante blueberry juice and sushi from Whole Foods :)


Oooooh and I just got the call: I got approved for the apartment!!! Unfortunately I can't look at the actual apartment until next week or even the week after that though. Move-in is in two weeks.

Deutsch: Ich habe gerade den Anruf bekommen, dass ich  das Apartment bekomme!!! Leider kann ich es erst nächste oder übernächste Woche anschauen. Ich kann erst in zwei Wochen einziehen.

Apartment Hunting

This is the apartment building I liked best out of the ones I've seen today. It is very close to my work (as in: walking distance!), it is right next to a library (I loooove libraries), and it has a washer and a dryer in unit. That pretty much sealed the deal for me (even though it is a bit expensive), so I've put in an application! Cross your fingers for me please! I'll know tomorrow if I'll get it! (It will be a top floor, corner apartment.)

My rental car.


Deutsch: Dies ist der Apartment-Komplex, der mir heute am besten gefiel. Er liegt sehr nah bei der Arbeit (ich kann zu Fuß laufen!), er liegt unmittelbar neben einer Bibliothek (ich liebe Bibliotheken), und die Wohnungen haben Waschmaschine und Trockner IN der Wohnung, statt im Keller zur gemeinschaftlichen Nutzung. Das hat mich überzeugt (obwohl es etwas teuer ist), also habe ich mich beworben! Drückt mir die Daumen! Morgen werde ich wahrscheinlich wissen, ob ich die Wohnung bekommen werde! (Es wird ein Eckapartment im obersten Stock werden.)

Hannover -> Amsterdam -> Detroit

All packed up and ready to go!

Hello Hannover Airport!

Little robot de-icing our plane's wings :)

Amsterdam Airport.

 Watching trashy movies on the plane.

Welcome to Detroit!

My hotel room/suite.