Technical Jargon for Landscape Architecture à la Isa

In reference to an earth stabilization detail is said: "It sounds like something to eat when I write 'pre -vegitated roll'".

Real cheese burgers for the the 4th!

The Germans are very excited for my 4th of July Barbecue. I was recently asked if it is customary to bring presents to a 4th of July celebration. They wondered because "Its a bit of a birthday isn't it? Maybe some British tea or something would be appropriate?"

I did find, for the first time ever in Uberlingen, yellow cheddar cheese, not American cheese, but yellow cheddar cheese!!!

Saturday Morning Westerns

I turned the television on this afternoon while I was eating lunch. Its a rainy cloudy sort of Saturday where I would likely find myself sitting on my parents couch watching a John Wayne film with my dad if I was in Portland.

I was thinking about just how nice it would be if I happened to find a western on TV today, even if it was dubbed in German. Much to my delight the TV was already on the perfect station. It was totally a western, 1960's color video quality and all!

However, within the first few seconds I knew that this was no John Wayne movie.
It was Winnetou!

Isa had told me about Winnetuo. She grew up watching Winnetou thinking it was an American western movie, and it certainly compares to the ones I grew up watching, but I had never heard of it. Turns out Winnetou was filmed in the mountains of Chek for German speaking audiences. Isa loves it and was shocked to realize I had never heard of it. Almost as much as I love the sound of music and was shocked to learn she had never seen it either. We are planning an international 1960's korny movie exchange night.

So, how did I know this movies was not an American original within seconds of recognizing its American Western genre. The second camera shot was of the American flag with all 50 stars. Never realized it before but that’s one historical point that westerns always capture, the old American flags. As soon as I saw the modern flag I knew something was amis.

The movie was over 3 minutes later. And I could hear the echo of my mother clapping her hands and saying to nobody really, but absolutely to me and my dad lounging on the couch, "Well, Thats Over, Lets clean the house!" ***

Its a good Saturday.


***to be shortly followed an hour later by "Jaime, Your definition of clean and my definition of clean are not the same thing!" Whilst she points to the kleenex clutter I left hiding in a corner of the living room. (I can't wait to use that line on my kids!)

Excuses.

We just had a barbecue last night for the European soccer championships... So much fun.

Most people were watching the game so the five of us that didn't care sat on the terrace chatting in English! I hadn't realized how long it had been since I had spoken English with a group of more than three people. Get three Germans together and it’s hard to keep the conversation in English.

Here’s a question for you, when you say you are going backpacking in Oregon, what does that entail? We had a semantics debate last night. It was so bad I had to pull the "Hey! Who's the native speaker here? “ which of course didn't work. Here, backpacking means taking a bunch of gear on your back and city hopping via trains. I explained that backpacking also means camping and hiking in the mountains, but apparently that's just a 3 day hike. As I write this I realize what a silly debate it is. I assure you that it was gravely serious last night.

There are so many things I have saved up to write about in this blog, and every day I think "Ooh I still have to add that stuff about how amazing and powerful I thought Versailles was and that all of my photos were taken on a disposable camera because my digital's battery died in Paris. I also have to remember to write about Philipp meeting me for 20 minutes at the train station in Manheim when I was coming back from Paris, seeing the original "Disney castle", how much fun I am having working with Isa in the office, the first Barbeque, and planning weekend adventures with my roommate Birgit.”

And there is so much more to tell about how things are changing here, or more specifically how I am changing here. So many good things are developing from the little challenges I bump into each day. And with such a great distance from my life in Oregon I can reflect more clearly on how I dealt with daily challenges at home and how I would like to live differently in the future. But, the best part is that I am living in a real life dream come true.

The thing about a real living dream come true is that you start to think that all your dreams are possible. And you begin to dream even more than before. Life becomes optimistic. And you think, if this dream that seemed impossible, impractical, and almost impertinent in the face of life’s rules was in fact exactly the dream that was meant to be my reality, then what other dreams have I set to the sidelines that are indeed exactly the things I should pursue even if they are unexpected and unconventional. Especially when placed in the context of the world I chose to live in for the 26 years prior to this one.

I didn't believe I could live and work in Germany when the idea first crossed my mind 4 years ago. I didn't believe it when I found out that other people were already doing it (Jeff was working in Germany in landscape architecture and didn't speak German). I also didn't believe it when I took a class 2 years ago to teach English as a foreign language so that I could try living abroad. I only believed it when it hit me over the head for the 500th time that the things I thought I was “supposed” to do weren't making me happy at all and that the things I wanted were so much easier to do because they were the right things for me.

Why did I feel so selfish at the thought of following the desires of my heart? I didn't trust those desires yet, challenging them was the best way to be rationally sure as well as passionately sure. Making dreams come true takes time and reflection, and self awareness. It requires living in the moment, while allowing myself to think into the future and trusting that present challenges are part of the process that will take me on my journey that is revealing itself a few steps at a time. I have always thought of my life as the ultimate design challenge, it’s just this year that I have really begun to understand what my design process is.

If life is a path then for me it generally goes like this: sometimes I see the straight path in front of me, sometimes it bends and I can’t see very far ahead, and occasionally I get a glimpse of a part of the path that’s a few miles down the road, I just can't see how long the trail is before I’ll get there. That’s the most frustrating thing in the world! It’s also why I keep walking.

When it’s a straight path I get bored and want to redesign everything around me, when the path is bending and turning its more exciting but I get tired and wonder when I will feel like I have arrived. When I see that glimpse of the future I get excited, scared, and worried and have to remember where I am and that what I am experiencing on the path now will prepare me for the next turn in the most unexpected ways.

This weekend I am going on a three day hiking trip, with a backpack. I’ve never been backpacking before so I am really excited. I have a lot to do to get ready and don’t have time to tell you about the fantastic weekend I had meeting the German Ducks in Tubingen or the crazy collages I am making for a project at work. I’ve never had so many wonderful excuses.

Kugelschreiber

The following is a skype conversation with my colleague Sabastian which was preceeded by a discussion about what the word Kugelschreiber is in English.

Sebastian Walker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_B%C3%ADr%C3%B3

Sebastian Walker: :)

Jaime: 'ballpoint pen' in English :)

Jaime: thanks

Jaime: Biro must be what the french call it.

Sebastian Walker: ne ne biro is english

Jaime: the guys name is french

Jaime: maybe the british call it a biro

Jaime: but no american will ever know what you are talking about

Jaime: unless you skype them a wikipedia page

Sebastian Walker: but in the uk, australia an new zealand you can use it

Jaime: 'It took him 1 year to build the pen. Ballpoint pens are still widely referred to as a biro[5] in many English-speaking countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.'

Jaime: ha

Jaime: this is true

Jaime: Sebastian, today you have taught me some international English

Jaime: thank you

Sebastian Walker: yipieah , teached you english, so if you have any further question... :)

Jaime: I'll let you know

Well when you put it that way...

I joined a phone conference today with some consultants in Chicago. My coworker proceeded to introduce me.

"Jaime is joining us now, she is a real native American."

The horrified look on my face quickly registered with my coworker as I interrupted and explained that,

"No no, not really, I am just from Portland".

On the other end of the line I could sense a momentary horror that similar to my own but also quickly followed by a healthy dose of American style laughter.

The first in a collection of notable moments in language confusion. Look for "Language Confusion" in the "labels" box and you will see the compiled list as it grows.

I used the word "clunky" at work today...

...and Hendrick didn't know what I meant. So I explained that shoes that are too big and heavy are "clunky". This -- lets speak German, English and Spanish in one office-- thing works, but only through some sort of miracle. Particularly when design is involved.

Design conversations are already a bit ridiculous and artificial. We describe things with so much personality and character that, in the U.S. at least, the plans ends up designing themselves. We say "Maybe the path wants to be over here..." or "Maybe the water feature wants to be more abstract" or, apparently my favorite, "I think it's feeling a bit clunky".

I really ought to be writing all of the odd little things down that I have learned and taught about the differences between the languages and cultures. But it has already become such a daily event that I forget to write anything down.

I just downloaded the photos from my camera and realized that I have actually had quite a few little adventures in the last month or so that I hadn't thought to post about until I looked at the pictures again, so don't worry, more to follow shortly.