Getting Home-- Step One: Buy Tickets

For the first time since we arrived in Germany (nearly 21 months ago), we're heading back home to Portland for a visit in mid-June. Seeing as that's, oh, a shade over 6 weeks away, we have to kick this into high gear and start taking stuff OFF the wish lists and itinerary. I really don't think we're going to have enough time to cover it all-- but we're sure going to have fun trying.

The first hurdle was getting plane tickets. German national air carrier Lufthansa used to have nonstops from Frankfurt to Portland, but not anymore. 2008 and 2009 also had historically low airfares pretty much anywhere in the world, so it was bound to go up-- time was, a person could spend less than $450 for a stinkin' roundtrip from the west coast to Germany... but not anymore. We waited and waited, but the prices didn't move down at all-- they started trending upwards in fact. I won't reveal just how much we ended up paying, but suffice it to say it would be enough to buy a reliable used car. But tickets in hand, we can start the final planning, and the endless lists of to-do's and to-brings. Should be a hectic run-up, but I'll have a smile on my face all the while.

Regarding the image, if this doesn't ring any bells... well, welcome to the internet, stranger. This video went viral years ago, and it's still a scream. Perfectly encapsulates all that was wrong with early 90's music and crap bands like Color Me Badd. It's a wonderful Christmas song, and please, if you're easily offended, don't click on this.

Assignment Over; Time To Celebrate

The lengthy freelance assignment has ended, and not a moment too soon. It was fun while it lasted but required a whole lot of concentration and zero creativity, which can be a bit of a drain. Next up: a brief writing project in the next 1-2 weeks. But blogging should return to its usual pace from here on... until the next big project that is.

Regarding the photo, that's a classic image from a classic Seinfeld episode. For those of you who want to re-acquaint yourselves with Elaine's dancing, click here. Sadly, that's exactly how I dance as well.

Lowbrow High Art

For your viewing and listening pleasure, a clip from Cory McAbee's film The American Astronaut, one of the most visually arresting scenes the movie, known as "Ceres Walk." I don't want to spend too much time setting this one up, but this is the scene where the film's hero is walking from his spaceship to the bar on the dwarf planet Ceres, where people inside await his package. As I've said before, a little imagination (and a killer soundtrack) help to temper the indie budget constraints. I like the insanely harsh use of lights and darks on this already black-and-white film. Click and enjoy-- it's a delight. NOTE: For best effect, hit the "full screen" tab (that little square in the corner of the frame). For more information about The American Astronaut, check out Cory's blog, linked above.

This Island Europe

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few days, Europe is abuzz with the news of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano belching all sorts of ash and microscopic glass particles-- a function of its hot liquid magma mixing with the icecap. As a result, European air travel has been all but cut off, and the stranded passengers have been overrunning every other mode of transportation all weekend long, meaning that our day trip was scrubbed due to the roads and trains being packed, and a lot of people's international travel plans thrown for a complete loop. Hopefully, if the volcano continues its ways for much longer (I've read that the last time Eyjafjallajokull erupted was 200 years ago... for 1 year straight), the airlines will have figured work-arounds and alternate routes to get from A to B. I don't relish having to fly to Portland by way of Senegal and Buenos Aires in a couple months, but you gotta do what you gotta do. In the meantime, our thoughts go out to the stranded passengers-- the backlog will take over a week to sort itself out-- assuming those planes can get off the ground in the first place.

When Expat Bloggers Meet

Another quietly eventful week at Expat HQ, with me happily buried in work (and yet another job lined up), tickets for our first visit home purchased, and some guests using the place as a base camp for their western European trip.

Our guests are our friends Art & Mo from Portland, enjoying a month-long trip on the Continent (so far, it's been the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, and then they are off to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Paris, and then TBD from there), and using our place as a bit of a rest stop and way station in between which is a smart move, falling Euro or not. Let the record show that it was these two who first gave us a glimpse and insight into the expat lifestyle-- a golden work opportunity presented itself in Singapore (and later on Australia) for Mo, and they jumped in with both feet. As we prepped for our journey abroad, these guys proved an invaluable resource and sounding board, and for that we are eternally grateful. Art & Mo's blog, the regrettably dormant (but still existing) Living in Singapore influenced this here blog more than a little bit, it needs to be said. But it's great to catch up with friends from home, and we're thrilled to host them.

Still slaving away at the work grind, and happily so. While it pains me not to be able to enjoy the good weather and be a better host to our guests, I really don't know when another job of this magnitude (and one that has a bit of open-ended work-- the more assignments I take on, the better the paycheck) will come along, so I gotta make hay while the sun shines. Accordingly... sporadic entries through the end of the month. Stay tuned.

Weekend Trip

Off to that toddlin' town of Munich for the weekend, a chance to get out of Nuremberg and recharge our batteries and explore Germany's 3rd largest city (population 1.3M), and its shopping, arts and foodie scene. Unfortunately, Germany's fleeting brush with warm weather is but a memory-- the forecast is for rain, and evenings will be in the 30's with the possibility of snow. Oh well. Have a Frohe Ostern (happy Easter) everybody!