So much has happened and I suddenly realized I have written so little. (This begs the question, if something happens but is not documented... did it really happen?) :-) Here are a few of the latest happenings.
In November, Uli and I traveled for a week to his homeland, Deutschland, for some conference tourism. We were invited to take part in a panel discussion related to gender issues. The topic? Dual-career marriages. I initially scoffed at the proposed theme. After all, this hardly seems to be an emerging issue -- women have been working outside of the home for decades! Furthermore, Uli and I are hardly "expert" informants as we seem to be struggling with this balance in our daily lives as well as our future decision-making, especially considering that one of us is on an academic career track. The end result was better than expected, I must say, and I think we perhaps took more from the discussion than we gave... and we did have the excuse to explore a bit more of Germany.
During our working vacation, we had a chance to explore Frankfurt a bit, with a particular emphasis on culinary and commercial exploration. I was impressed by the bustle of the city and convinced that Germany is a rather liveable place. My language courses have enabled me to engage more with the language around me -- and this is exciting! Germans came off as quite friendly people on this journey. Perhaps it was the warmer climate (about a 15 degree difference centigrade from Estonia) or
the Ebbelwoi, but I was surprised to find people approaching me and strangers speaking to me (in German!) on the street and in the train. I guess the cultural contrast with more reticent Estonians and my faster emerging German skills were surprising and exciting!
Leaving Frankfurt, we headed to
Koblenz, a city situated on both the Rhein and Mosel Rivers. The train ride to Koblenz from Frankfurt is absolutely gorgeous, with the hills rising from the river banks and castles sprinkled every few kilometers. Our visit to the city and to a neighboring castle was wonderful. We even had a chance to hang out with a local, an old friend relocated from Aachen, who guided us around the city, gave us a hand-picked wine tasting, and prepared the most lovely cup of coffee!
