I’m off! Back on my “solo” journey . . .
Was? Was meinst du denn SJ damit?
Well, I mean that after having a wonderful month at home on Kaua‘i and then two wonderful* months of travel with my husband, I’m now on my own again.
Where’d I go during that time, you ask?
Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving with my sister and her family; Europe: Berlin, Prague, Nürnberg, und Düsseldorf, part of which we shared with my Mom.
Tony btw wrote some kick ass copy damit (that means “with it” in this instance; there’s something a little bit goofy and fun when a person mixes several languages around in one’s head; some things just sound better in one language over another).
He also made a fun travelogue of his take on Düsseldorf. Bear in mind that my husband is one incredibly (and that’s an understatement : ), incredibly unique individual. That means that this is Düsseldorf as seen only through the eyes of Tonester.
You can check it out here.
If you normally don’t like silly, it’s probably not your cup of tea, but if you’re the type of person who loves to see things in a different light, it’s for you. : )
And while you’re there, why not also check out some of his JazzBug stuff? It’s loads of fun. He’s in the adding kind of mood; so you may want to include his link in your list of favs, so you can easily visit it from time to time.**
Alright, so now down to the nitty gritty of this phase of SJ’s Journey.
Back in Spring 2010 when I had a most memorable dream where a clock in my oldest sister’s bedroom (in my parents’ house) began to say in a goofy-ass, over-dramatic voice, “It i s time; it is time; it is time . . .” I knew that (alright, I won’t state the obvious : ).
But I knew that I’d been “coasting” for way too long, and it was, a-hem, time to get “back on track” to matters of the heart.
And for me, that includes travel.
Where to?
My first thought was Germany.
Years ago I began to learn German while in Junior High School. A month-long trip to Southern Germany at the impressionable age of 14 sealed the deal; I was hooked. What had seemed like a classroom game became very real when I found myself in a country where people really did speak this jawohl language. I soon found a way to return to Germany and work as a chambermaid for the summer; next followed a year at the Uni Bonn.*** After that, I managed to somehow jump from Phys Ed major with a B.S. to German Lit. major with a M.A.
That same sense of adventure also led me Hawaii where for 25-years I worked with my husband in our own video production company. Yes, I managed to keep the German language in my life somehow, occasionally reading a book or watching einen Deutschen Film, but I felt like I’d never reached the skill level I’d wanted to reach.
Which is why I went to Asia for 5-months.
Das ist doch Blödsinn! Was meinst du denn damit?
Yep, it was a little crazy to first go to Asia to improve my German, but the short answer to a long story is CELTA. That’s where I earned my ESL teaching certificate, which may enable me to live and work in Europe one day. (For those of you new to this glob, try reading earlier entries to discover how all that went down . . . )
So, here I sit on the train from Düsseldorf to Hamburg. After 6-weeks of practicing switching from English to German and back again (thanks Tony and Mom for the great practice!), I’m now in the “let’s stay in German” oder “nur Deutsch sprechen und denken” mode of the trip.
Not quite sure how much I’ll add to my glob during this phase of the journey, but I do think I’ll choose the following moto (spoken by a wise old man), “Don’t be afraid to be stupid!”
Tschüß for now mes amis!
-sj
*That makes 3 wonderfuls. My grandmother used to always say, “Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.” We Hyltons all do our best to say, “W3.”
**The above ad was brought to you by makers of fine coffee.
***The official name is Rheinische Friedrich Wilhems Universität.
