My trip to the States can be summed up as a whirlwind of family bashes, air conditioned office time, pool loitering, palm tree gazing, mini road tripping, shopping, shopping, and then some shopping ! I notice that the longer I’ve lived abroad, the more I appreciate Southern California. Every bite of local food is like nectar in my mouth. Every vigorous pedicure, a delight. Wide open parking lots: heaven. Bougainvilla and palm trees: gorgeous! And during summer, most importantly, the ever-abiding presence of AIR CONDITIONING sooths my scorched soul. I also noticed that our endless array of stores contain everything one could ever want, even if one has not ever contemplated wanting such a thing. I mean, there are like 100 varieties of Ziploc bag. 150 kinds of breakfast cereal. An entire megastore dedicated solely to FRAMES. Do we need all this stuff? I don’t think so, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun to shop when you’ve been out of the country for awhile.

The first stop - once I stumble off the plane, kiss the ground, and happily embrace either of my faithful parents who always pick me up - is my brother’s house, where 4 super-darling nephews smother me with kisses and beg for more European Legos. (Thanks Soenke, for starting THAT little tradition!) I sip (gulp) heavenly Diet Coke with ice, and the grown-ups chat in unison until jet lag claims my coherence.

The next day, I saunter into the office, greeted by happy colleagues and the picture-postcard view over Catalina Island and the Newport Beach marina. I think they always half expect me to turn up with a big pregnant belly, but I have as of yet not fulfilled their expectations! I do some work, chat on the phone, hang around the water cooler, catch up on local gossip.

I notice that this visit it is taking me a few days to adjust back to speaking English in stores and restaurants. The occasional “danke” or “bitteschoen” still slips out. I try to pay with Euros. I get some weird stares. But hey - I’m a Eurobabe now - so I falter with pride.

Mom and I fill our evenings with all-important shopping excursions. She’s redecorating, I’m decorating. We buy art. We buy down pillows (her 2, me 4). We buy lots of other really important “necessities”…. but she only has to get her loot back to Fullerton…. I have to get mine back to Germany, including my 4 foot by 4 foot painting acquisition (obviously Soenke was not there to approve THAT). Ever the resourceful trooper, Mom invokes Project Minivan and we optimistically get it packed up to go.

A few days later, Soenke departs Hamburg with Klaudia in tow – she’s off to visit Mehmet at the Lufthansa flight school in Phoenix, so Soenke is getting her a wicked cheap flight as his “travel partner”. Unfortunately for them, this involves flying economy class. Even more unfortunately, it ultimately involves sitting on a JUMP SEAT from Frankfurt to Chicago, then being stranded in the Chicago airport where they have a unique opportunity to sleep on the cold floor overnight without their luggage (In hopes they’d arrive in Phoenix that night, I had tried to drive out there to pick up Soenke and have a reunion dinner - but at the border of California and Arizona, I got the word to head back home!). They eventually roll into Phoenix the next day, but it would take Soenke another 9 hours to get a flight to So Cal. He strangles me after reading my “First Class” post about MY experience getting to So Cal. Oops. Heh heh.

He’s young, he recovered! The next day was clutch… we headed with my bro, wife, the kids, and the Minivan up to RAGING WATERS, the mother of all waterparks. It was packed, and I can see why – it’s an absolute dream come true for kids. We took the little ones into the kiddie pools with gentle slides… nephew Chase carefully tested the slide about 25 times. Seth and Channing tackled the extensive climbing structures, complete with ever-filling buckets of water, mounted water guns, rope bridges, and slides, slides, slides! I – with my coiffed hair and chic summer-day makeup – was recruited to join them in the watery version of the Swiss Family Robinson’s treehouse. In an ill-timed maneuver, I paused to consider whether a rope bridge separating me from nephew Seth was, in fact, built for humans weighing more than a 6 year old… in that split second, a scheming kid standing on the platform above me GLEEFULLY pulled the rope on a full, suspended bucket of WATER … enabling it to dump its several-gallons-of-contents directly on my head. Thanks, kid. Come here so I can drown you. (All right, so I felt much better when I learned that my bro and Soenke had spent 45 minutes in line for a death-defying, vertical waterslide enema!)

In spite of feeling like a drowned rat, this Day of Wet has been officially recorded in my book as one of the Best Days Ever – family, laughter, unexpected surprises… I hope my future is filled with many such days! (except the bucket)

On Sunday we made the scenic drive down to San Diego to visit my friend Heather, her son Brandon, and their new expanded digs. So many of my friends have been through significant life adjustments this year – Heather is one of them – and it was heartwarming to see her in her new house with her happy son (who is already picking up the German language!) On the way back we stopped in at Palomar airport, where Soenke flew in his days of flight training. There used to be free cookies in the waiting area, but I guess those have been eliminated due to “budget cuts”. Hmph!

And finally, time to come back to Germany. The night before, my apartment is a scene of great tension. Soenke glares at me as I attempt to stuff 5 suitcases worth of stuff into 2 suitcases. “Babe, but I NEED the Moroccan rug! We’ve got to fit it in! And my shampoo – I mean, it’s very special stuff , I need that too ! My hair needs that! And how can I live without all these decorating magazines?” Good thing he hadn’t seen the big painting at this point…

Mom and dad BOTH come down to do airport transport duty. By now, Soenke has resigned himself to the fact of my luggage overruns. At the airport, we are utterly astonished when the planets align, the angels work their magic, and the Lufthansa check in gal does NOT charge me the $130 for oversized luggage. Why? Because Soenke had rolled his eyes and said to her “See? We’re importing an entire household here!”… .and SHE UNDERSTOOD ME… yes, in a moment of female bonding, she specifically and brightly replied “Oh, I can totally understand that!”… AND as if to confirm her support for all of shopping womenkind, she upgraded Soenke and Klaudia into business class with me, and put us all together in the same row.

A marvelous ending to a marvelous trip!

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On my drive back from the California-Arizona border, I enjoy a good old-fashioned California truckstop:

In the middle of absolutely nowhere, is this General Patton museum with a bunch of old rusty tanks off to the side:

We all survived Raging Waters!

Heather’s boy Brandon makes fun of my extremely cool floppy hat:

Soenke & I make beachside stop for a romantic sunset smooch:

Paying a visit to Soenke’s old pilot stomping grounds:

At LAX, with all my loot!

Klaudia loooooves business class…

What better way to spend two sunny, warm California weeks than……… MOVING. Oh wait, I can think of like 500 better ways to spend two weeks. But THIS time I was eagerly completing Phase One of my nascent International Real Estate Empire! Yes my little California condo finally closed escrow - fully tricked out with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a really BIG kitchen sink. It was heaven. After a few minutes of worshipping the garbage disposal (we don’t have those in Germany), I loving stroked the gigantic sink (also a German rarity) and tongue-kissed the microwave (same thing). The champagne cork popped faster than I could holler “It’s MINE!” and we christened the place “DIVA PACIFIC”. (Diva Dubai, Diva Paris, and Diva Hamburg are in discussions…unfortunately Soenke put me on a budget for 2006… thanks a lot, babe.)

But back to reality, my old place had about twice the square footage of my new, so I engaged two great helpers (Mom, Soenke) to assist me in divesting myself of approximately half of my U.S. possessions – no easy process, I can tell you. At one point in this somewhat traumatic experience, Mom asked me how many of the about 5 sets of dishes I wanted to ditch. I looked at them…panicked… overwhelmed… fatigued…and burst into tears. Never one to be daunted, she showed up the next day armed with 2 boxes of Kleenex in case of future meltdowns. By the end of the week (buried in boxes), I couldn’t have cared less about ANY of the dishes and would have happily entertained a suggestion of eating off paper plates for the rest of my life.

With the ever-growing list of ‘to-dos’ in hand, I quickly waxed more efficient than a German carmaker. From 8-9, I bought a new fridge…from 9-10, I met the cable guy… from 10-11, advised a client via cellphone while simultaneously packing boxes… from 11-12, ripped open all those same boxes trying unsuccessfully to find my cellphone charger… from 12-1, compared paint colors while stuffing down a quesadilla… 1-2, organized movers, a painter, and window coverings…2-3, located a uHaul truck and met with the construction dudes… AND SO ON (day after day…). In the middle of all this, Soenke flexed his muscles, shuttled boxes, and brayed like a pack mule…. Mom saved the day by helping me make decisions - dispensing Kleenex- and lining up various organizations to clean out my garage.

On the day of the big move, our incredible Moving Dudes showed up – supermen Mike & Steve from OC Movers were organized, efficient, and full of helpful moving ideas (“are you sure you WANT to keep that yellow pineapple lamp?!”). With obvious expertise, they kept our spirits high and effortlessly whisked my furniture from the old place to the new. We were SO thankful that we may name our children after them…or at least invite them for Christmas in Germany!

I think it was with no small measure of relief that Soenke headed back to Germany a few days later. For example, it had been simply INCONCEIVABLE to him that it would take 3 trips to the paint store, 10 samples quarts, several conference calls and meetings, a team of experts, and a bottle of wine to pick out just 3 COLORS for the walls of my new place. He had never seen such a thing. But it was necessary…. ALL necessary, I tell you!

With him gone, I simply threw my remaining possessions into the cupboards and closet, and tossed out what still wouldn’t fit. It was time to have some FUN, & I filled my evenings with old friends and family. My bro, his wife, and 3 boys for the NFC championship game and a Lego-fest on Sunday (actually, Soenke was there for that…), Dad for Italian on Monday, Roya for hair & shopping on Tuesday, Katie for “Kick-Ass Nachos” on Wednesday, Brandon and Theresa for fish and fine wine on Thursday, Mom for a beachside birthday lunch on Friday, Heather for more Italian and lots of vino on Saturday ! Restaurants all over Orange County were filled with snorting laughter and raucous reunions every night. During the light hours, I sprinted to the office for endless hours of phone calls, tax projects, catching up with my colleagues, and gazing at Catalina Island out the window…

While the California fun and sunshine filled me up like an empty vessel (and yes, the trees are FULL of leaves, even in January!), less than a week had gone by without Soenke before I knew it was time to go back to him. I moved my flight up a day…threw my luggage together….. and Heather schlepped me up to LAX. This bond of love was tested when the boarding agent handed me an ECONOMY CLASS boarding pass for the 11-hour flight (a center seat, no less)… but I stoically marched on board and steeled myself. It was only after the doors were shut that I noticed with horror that not one, not two, not three, but FOUR BABIES were in the row ahead of me!!!!!!! [in the spirit of ending on a high note, I will omit the gory details of the flight…]

Happily back in Hamburg, totally jet lagged, I prepare for Barcelona… New York… and much more to come!

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Mom enthusiastically packs up my old kitchen:

Soenke takes down the curtain hardware:

Signing the final loan docs:

Finally, the key !

Soenke & Mom admire the kitchen…

Supermovers Steve & Mike finish off the furniture…

What a disaster! (and yes I KEPT the yellow pineapple lamp!)

The next morning, Soenke orders up a good ole’ fashioned steak & eggs breakfast to keep up his energy:

My bro & his kids come over for their late Christmas presents! (Legos, Legos, Legos!)

Their third son, Chase, demonstrates his Everest-in-training skills:

Not to worry… they have a fourth boy on the way! (That’s Gina my sis-in-law)

Soenke almost looks like a daddy…

My bro tests the ’safety’ of the slide:

Aunt Sis (that’s me!) likes the playground too: