Womit beschäftigen wir uns?

So, just what have we been up to lately? It has been a hell of a long time since we talked to you the last time.

1. Geocaching
Geocaching is a modern form of a treasure hunt (yar, me hearties!) using a GPS receiver to guide you to your destination. Basically someone hides a container at a particular location with a log book and some little trinkets to exchange. Then the log the cache at one of the many websites from which "normal" people like you and me can download them and go searching for the "treasure". The caches can either be single stage (go straight to the final location), or multi-stage caches where you may have to solve riddles or find clues in order to calculate the GPS co-ordinates for the next location and so on. So far we have tried to find 3 caches, with the following results:

Cache 1 - didn't find the damn thing, but Bel brought about 10 ticks home with her.
Cache 2 - found it, and I brought one tick home with me.
Cache 3 - half-way through a 10 Stage cache, but haven't found Stage number 5 yet. This one is a riddle cache based on fairytales from the Brothers Grimm (at each location you find a picture of a fairy tale, and based on a list of quotes from fairy tales you find out the GPS co-ordinates of the next location).

After trying this out the first time with a borrowed GPS receiver, we decided that we enjoyed in and bought ourselves one so that we could do it more often. This is the one that we have - the Garmin Colorado 300 (just in case you care):Yes, it's very nerdy, but no, I don't care - you can't knock it until you've tried it. :)

2. Work and Residence permits
Yes, that time of year came around again - the time of year when we sacrifice ourselves to the bureaucratic gods at the immigration department. For Bel it was a relatively pleasant affair, given that she had an appointment and a nice person taking care of her case.
For me it was hell, as I didn't get the approval for mine until 1 week before my current one was due to run out. I was informed of this via a postcard on the Thursday, and I was requested to present myself (read into it what you will) at the immigration department before the following Thursday. Now, that was going to be impossible, given that they are closed on Fridays and on the weekend, and that I was going to be in Sweden from Monday through Thursday of the following week. I tried to call my Sachbearbeiterin about it on the Friday, but of course you can never get on to these people when you need them...
So I eventually managed to get on to this chick on Tuesday of the following week, calling her from Helsinki. I explained the situation and got a "well if you are in Sweden, then there is nothing that we can do about it, and I guess if will just have to wait until you are back". I should have known from the tone of the voice that this didn't bode well...
So on the Monday of the following week - 4 days after my permits had expired - I turn up at immigration 1.5 hrs early (6am) to enter my name onto the list, like we had to do in the past, only to find out that the system had changed and numbers would be given out by a machine 30min before the office opened - that is, in 1hr time. Oh goodie...
1 hour later I get my number (the first one - obviously) and wait the 30min until they open, only to then discover that my chick was 20min late for work without informing anyone. Grrr.
Then I finally get called, after all the other people who turned up later than me but had names that are processed by competent people, and proceed to sit through one hell of a telling off by Little Miss Grumpy-britches. Apparently I should have come past and picked up an temporary extension for my permits if I wasn't going to be around when they expired - even though the new ones had been approved. WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF SHE HAD HAVE MENTIONED THIS AT ANY POINT IN TIME IN THE PAST! BUT NO!, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO DAMN EASY, NOW WOULDN'T IT?!?!?!Anyway lange Rede, kurzer Sinn (to make a long story short) - I finally got my new permits - although only for 1 year due to some bureaucratic bullshit instead of the 2 years that we applied for (and that Bel got) - and one hell of a reaming from devil woman for my troubles. Gotta love it. :)

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Before D&D came W&W...

A few weeks before heading Down Under for Dad and Diane's wedding, we headed down south to Schwarzwald (the Black Forest) for Wiebke and Wolfgang's church wedding. You may ask yourself why I said "church wedding", and the answer is this: Germans get "officially" married at a standesamtliche Trauung (Civil Registry wedding) - after this they are concidered "married". If the couple are members of a church, then they usually choose to get married in a kirchliche Trauung (Church wedding) either on the same day, or sometime later. In this case it was roughly six months after W&W's wedding at the town hall, and this time Bel got to play Bridesmaid for the day (and was kinda pretty too).

After the service, we all headed off to the reception venue (just up the road) for coffee and cake before the main meal. At this point in time, I took the opportunity to take on a real Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake) - it beat me down, and it beat me down bad! These guys really don't hold back on the cherry liquor when making black forest cake, as well as not holding back on the thick layers of cream and cake that make up this monstrosity. It was AWESOME!!!

After the cake, and a bit of tummy pain, it was inside to an awesome 4 course dinner in the restaurant run by Wolfgang's auntie. My favourite dish was the "Indian wedding curry soup with lentils". I have never heard of this before - and it could be that they just invented it - but it was so delicious that I would have gladly had a second or even third helping, if it had have been on offer.

After the meal was finished, the evening kicked on to the giving of presents. This is another part of the day that is completely different to Aussie weddings. Here, groups of people organise themselves ahead of time and come up with elaborate group gifts. These are then presented to the couple in the form of challenges, games, or little plays or poems that they have written to go along with the gift.
One example of such a challenge was taking a tree trunk, boaring holes in it, and filling them up with 2€ coins. The holes were then plugged and glued, and the bridal couple had to chisel them open to get all the money back out.
Another example was a group that was sponsoring a massive BBQ for the bridal pair, but in order to win the various components that would make up the BBQ, the bridal pair had to try and guess the answers to questions that they hadn't seen. How does that work? The statements (eg. BMW drivers) were written on cards and carried through the audience. All of those people that matched the statement had to stand up, and the bridal pair had to try and guess what was on the card based on who was standing. This got kinda interesting when the cards progressed towards "Who has a belly button piercing" or "Who is wearing a G-string". :)

Another way that the weddings differentiate themselves from ours is that the bridal pair has to stay at the reception until the last guest has left. There is no bailing early, or no setting an end time like we do (usually midnight in Australia). No, poor W&W walked across to their hotel as the sun was coming up after kicking the last guest out at 5:30am! They asked themselves more than once that day why they had bothered to book an expensive suite at the hotel across the road. :)

Anyway, we had an awesome time, and were really happy that we got to share in this wonderful occasion with Wiebke and Wolfgang. We wish them all the best and that they continue to feel the joy, happiness, and love for one another that was written on their faces on their wedding day for the rest of their lives.

The cake that broke the Brushy

Tschüß,
Brushy

Things that I got in Australia...

Here is a list of things that I got in Australia:

1. A new camera lens which we used at the wedding (Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 with VR);
2. A ripper discount on said camera lens (at Croydon Camera House);
3. 2 step-brothers, 1 step-sister, and 1 step-mother;
   
4. A new found respect for low power cars (who needs a V8 when you are limited to 100km/h??);
5. A dose of homesickness and a desire not to return to Germany;
6. Pneumonia from my brother (night sweats followed by night shivers - still coughing);
7. Looked after by pretty much everyone when I was sick (big thanks to Gwenda and my Mum); and finally
8. Back on the plane to go home (most of which I slept through - Pneumonia isn't so bad after all).

See you all again at Christmas, and let's see if we can find something to top Pneumonia - maybe the Plague?

Tschüß,
Brushy.

D&D's Day Down Under

A few weeks ago, Bel and I boarded the first of three flights back to Australia for a wedding - and a very special wedding at that. My Dad was getting married, and we weren't going to miss it for the world.

I don't think that I need to say much about the wedding, other than that it was beautiful and moving, and we were so happy that we were there to share the day with close friends and family.

So here are the photos of the beautiful side of the event:

Son, Daughter, Father, Son	B1 & B2 - such posers
Dad & Daughter do the lapel flower pinning thing	Water restrictions - gotta pay extra for water
What are they waiting for?	Dad & Daughter waiting patiently
THAT's what we've all be waiting for (for a few years)	Making the whole thing legal
The happy couple...	...dancing the night away

A random flower that I found pretty

The bouquet

And now those of the not so beautiful side:

Ah Nelson - such a picture of beauty	Is that Damo or Paul McDermot?
Who is that dashing fellow?	Oopsie forgot to do her face-ups this morning

On behalf of Bel and I, I just want to say thanks to Dad & Diane for inviting us to share in this special occasion. It was great to be a part of it, and I hope that you both find the happiness, joy, and comfort in your lives together that you both deserve.

PS: Nice work on having Fairy Bread at the reception. :)


Love,
Bj (on behalf of B2).

Things you may or may not know

1. I had a wisdom tooth out a week ago. Didn't hurt too much, and was done in the dentist's chair in the practice with a few needles (I prefer complete anethesia, but oh well).
2. There is German in the opening credits of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It only appears for a few frames at a time, but if you know what to look for, you will see it.
3. You can tell the difference between "Mehrwegflaschen" (multiple use bottles for recycling) and "Einwegflaschen" (single use bottles) by that little ring that is around the bottom of the bottle lid. If it stays stuck on the bottle when you take the lid off, then it is an Einwegflasche. If it stays stuck to the lid, then it is a Mehrwegflasche. This is because it is then easier to screw a new bottle top onto the bottle after it being cleaned.
4. We're a-comin'-home to visit tomorrow. Flying via Dubai and will be landing at 00:30 on Saturday morning.

See ya soon!

Tschüß,
Brushy

The things visitors make us see...

While Bel was in the Philippines on some world peace, stop hunger, or related initiative, I was stuck at home getting a feel for what it must be like when I go away - dead bloody boring. Luckily some friends from Aus decided to show up in Germany and help kill off the boredom.

Chis and Bec dropped in from the UK on the same weekend that Matt and Mel showed up from France for a two week stay in Schwarzwald (the Black Forest). So on Saturday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, got into the car, and drove down to Ettlingen to catch up with them and head to Burg Hohenzollern for a bit of castle action - the results of which can be seen on Matty's blog. Here are some of my pics.

The following Friday I had a customer visit fall through, so I piled myself back into the car again, and drove back down to Ettlingen for a bit of a photo expedition with Matt to the highest waterfall in Germany. Given that Germany isn't particularly mountainous, this probably isn't such a big claim, but was still fun to take some pics of. Thanks for the tips Matt - though your shots still turned out better in the end (though most of the credit goes to the mullet).

And just last weekend we had Naomi (one of Bel's sister's friends) and her boyfriend drop in for a few days on their whirlwind European tour. I used this as an excuse to get us down to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - a walled city on the Romantic Road in Germany.

Anyway - to all of those who visited in the last few weeks, a big thank you. It is great having people come to stay, as it helps get us out of the house and seeing a bit more of Germany. Not only that, but it's great to see you guys when you manage the long hop across the big pond.

Tschüß,
'Brushy.

AFL on Eurosport 2 :)

When searching through the EPG (Electronic Program Guide) last night, I stumbled across something really cool - AFL on Eurosport 2!!! Last night they were showing the Sydney vs Collingwood game from Saturday night (I assume). We didn't watch it all, but it was amusing to hear it being commentated in German "Ach! Was für ein toller Mark!" :)

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Europameisterschaft - how cool is that then?!?!?!

Being an Aussie, I couldn't have given less of a crap about the European Cup in the past if I tried. But now that I am living in Europe it takes on a whole new appeal. Of the 6 games that have been played so far I have seen all 6 in their complete length.

2 really cool things that have happened so far:

1. The flags on the cars are back!
During the World Cup, everyone went nutty and started hanging little flags from their cars, showing where their allegiances lay. Most cars had German flags, of course, but there were also a bunch with flags of the other countries. Now that the European Cup has started the flags are back! It is awesome to see so many ppl driving around with their flags out, showing their support for their country. A friend put one on our car on Sunday on the way to watch the game at another friend's house - poor little flag didn't survive the trip on the autobahn...but it's in a better place now.

2. The Netherlands kicked the living crap out of Italy!!!
Now I call that revenge! Revenge for cheating and beating us in the world cup! Revenge exacted by a third party, on our behalf, without even knowing they were doing it! Netherlands 3:0 Italy. Revenge is sweet. :)

Now, if only Australia could get special consideration and be allowed to play in the Euro...

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Eifelsacrenotrerougetriumph

Eifelsacrenotrerougetriumph - my insanity riddled brain came up with this word as a summary of some of the cool things that Bel and I saw over our 3 day long weekend in Paris a few weeks ago.

Stéven and Emilie were kind enough to put us up in their appartment in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, and take the time to show us the sights, sounds, and smells of Paris. Not only did they do that, but they also fed us on countless occasions with great parisien croissants, chocolate croissants, sweet breads, cheeses, italian inspired salads, and homemade crêpes.

The back end of Sacré-Cœur on a cloudy paris day.

Half the European AE team working hard for the money.

Apropos Crêpes - if you ever get the chance, you have to try them with Confiture de lait, which is a combination of milk and sugar boiled into a spreadable caramel sauce - really to die for.

Also worth trying is the Côte de boeuf, which is a beef rib dish with the bone removed, charred on the outside, and medium (our choice) in the middle. Stéven and I shared this in some little back-water restaurant in Paris, and it was sensational!

Parisian life can be hard - time for a nap.

Back-water parisian café - unfortunatley couldn't seat us. :(

Pyramid and small arch at the Louvre.

In terms of things to see in Paris, I would recommend finding yourself a local (could post Stéven's contact details here, but that would be a little cruel) and get them to show you their favourite places. If you have to, or want to visit the sights (like I did), then it is worth climbing up to the dome of Sacré-Cœur to get a ripper view of Paris, including the Eifel Tower in the distance. Also the view from the front of the Louvre up the Champs-Élysées, and a stroll through the park adjacent are worth a look in. You can safely skip the Moulin Rouge, IMHO, as it is just dodgy looking and really nothing special - plus there is no massive elephant house on the roof. :( Climb the Eifel Tower? - I don't know, as we didn't do it, but I hear that the view from Sacré-Cœur is better anyway.

Spider sculpture in front of the Louvre.

I'm fond of the pond in front of the Louvre.

Oh yeah, try and avoid the cafes and restaurants that are set up for tourists. See if you can find some little "bobo" (Bourgeois Bohême) cafes or restaurants in the back-water where you can find some nice food at decent prices - but make sure you have a friend for help with the menus, and just for all round good company.

Paris put a spring in Brushy's step.

Grande Arche de la Défense

The tower from a small side street.

So, thanks heaps to Stéven and Emilie for putting us up, and putting up with us. You guys are welcome to come and see Frankfurt and surrounds with us any time you want.

Have to arch your back to shoot the Arc de Triomphe.	How you doin'? Brushy with Stéven's sunnies.
Cool statue with a pigeon problem.	Free Tibet!...and me from these skates!

Being towered over by the tower.

Crazy fishing guy at Pont Neuf.

Tulips at the back of Notre Dame.

Brushy's favourite shot of the Eifel Tower.

Tschüß,
'Brushy.