Fun times with the Flying Rav

The Flying Rav, sister of imom, flew again the friendly skies of Frankfurt (bringing yummy goodies from imom too - thanks again imom and flying rav). The V. and I had the chance to give her a bit of tour around our area here, showing a bit of Rüdesheim, a really must see place for tourists in this area. You have not only the view of those vineyards but also the quaint towns and castles along the Rhine River.

We really had a blast, enjoying the weather and watching fellow asians getting crazy with their cameras :) clicking here and there, almost non stop in search of that perfect holiday picture. But thanks to one of them, we finally got a chance to have a picture with all the three of us together. It's actually a nice shot, don't you think so? We actually took a small ferry to go to the other part of the river, just to have that feel of crossing the river on the barge.. but actually it was only about 8 minutes and that was it.
Rüdesheim doesn't only has beautiful views of the Rhine River - it also has different kinds of shops. Among them the Kathy Wohlfarht shop, which inside is has an all year round Christmas. This shop saved us from the scourging heat outside.. it was Christmas, cold and air conditioned! We just couldn't resist to have a bit of Christmas.

Here we are in that famous Drosselgasse. The V. said it's famous but I really don't know what's famous with it, except it has lots of pubs serving lots of super size Schnitzel and Bratwurst with lots of fatty fried potatoes on the side. There's a lot of live music going along from accordion, yamaha electric organ music to almost polka like music and german folk music called Schlager. Sometimes if you get really lucky there are also bands playing recognizeable dancing music but sorry only for the oldies but goodies at heart. Along this alley are also shops of all sorts .. selling weird things with messages on it which I tried to translate to The Flying Rav but there's no use it wasn't funny at all in english. I guess the germans have another way of being funny and I thought it's funny too ( this means I'm being germanized). The shops try to sell of course the famous Riesling Wine the not so famous Asbach Uralt a brandy that comes from this region of the Rhinegau but also some things not really related to Germany but heck crazy tourists buy them anyway. See what I mean with this? Well at least Snow White comes from Germany so that counts.

We really enjoyed your company Flying Rav, come fly the friendly skies of Frankfurt again. Till your next visit.

I am an Auslaender (Ausländer)!

This word literally means foreigner in german. Vlado and I are both foreigners here but unlike V. wherever I go I cannot deny it that I am a foreigner in Germany. My hair, skin, eyes distinguishes me from the sea of faces in a crowded street, plus of course my accent. Despite my attempts to pronounce the words correctly - I have spilled tears of frustration just learning to pronounce those german words- I cannot just remove that accent. Living as a foreigner in Germany is not easy, I guess living anywhere not home is not so easy, especially if you don't understand the language they speak. I have been here for almost 6 years now, ok 5 years and 9 months to be exact but I tell you what, it just dawned on me today - that I am finally "un-auslaenderized". I just coined this word myself. Usually some arrogant wannabees (salesladies, passersby, commuters, grandma, teenagers etc. etc.) can make my day really so bad by shouting, remarking and commenting nonsense to me for whatever reason there may be ( I chose not to discuss it anymore to avoid conflict of whatever sort). I would then react so confuse, frustrated, hurt and not being able to say anything but just so act like I really am stupid, ignorant and so timid - which is actually the opposite of what I should do. Well that was the old me ( I do hope so!). Today while doing some shopping I encountered an over acting saleslady ( I have like dozens of negative encounters with this folk, I don't know why, is it because I shop so much??!!). Instead of reacting like the old me, I blunted back what's your problem, I told you already I'm sorry! I was so surprise myself of my own reaction. The lady was also surprised and just said, "ach ja" (oh yes). Then there's another one at the cash register in another store (yes I shop too much) who told me, no told is such a light word, who commanded me so unfriendly and bossy to leave the counter, go back to the fruit section and weigh my 3 pieces of bananas (after lining up patiently and waiting for my turn). What??? The old me would have so dilligently followed this order from this contemptful cashier. But the new me told her she could keep her bananas, I don't have the time to go wandering in a grocery ( I don't understand it, I didn't see any weighing scale there at all, there were no signs at that corner as well or on the price shield of the bananas).The lady was so mad, I could almost see fumes coming out of her nostrils. Moral of the story, I am so craving for a banana now.
Seriously, I know I am still a foreigner but today I saw that I have move beyond that thin line.