Season’s Greetings

Snowy and sunny hugs and kisses from us from Santa Fe, New Mexico!!

The Santa hat story: I wanted to surprise Nathan when I arrived at the airport in Albuquerque. Therefore I put on my Santa hat with the funny braids (Weihnachtsmütze mit den lustigen Zöpfen) that you can see on the photo. I wanted to hide myself a little bit with the hat so that he doesn’t see my to early. When I came through the gate I walked a few meters, looking for him and then I saw someone with the same hat only without braids and it was NATHAN I thought it was funny that we had the same idea. Nobody else at the airport wore a Santa hat. Funny reunion!

Bye bye Germany, I’m leaving

Ok my dear friends, now it becomes serious!
I fly in 7.5 hours from Hamburg to Albuquerque, where Nathan will pick me up. We then drive about an hour to Santa Fe.

Here is my flight schedule:

Hamburg-Munich
8:30 - 9:45 am (German time)
UNITED AIRLINES, UA 9082 (flight no.)
with AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A321 JET.

Munich-Chicago
12.10 - 3.25 pm
UNITED AIRLINES, UA 0907 (flight no.)
with BOEING 767 JET
[PLEASE CROSS YOUR FINGERS WHEN I’M HERE]

Chicago-Albuquerque
5.15. - 7.22 pm
UNITED AIRLINES, UA 7667 (flight no.)
with EMBRAER JET

Please cross your fingers that I don’t stuck at Chicago airport!
As I read here, there is a bad weather chaos in Denver that causes delays at different airports in the States; also Chicago!
I don’t want to stay at Christmas Eve at Chiacago’s airport…

Anyway, here is the result of my packing ;o)

I can take 23 kg twice with me, plus hand luggage, which is my black backpack and my “camera bag” that is my beautycase (inside my DVD burner and all computer stuff any my big camera).

On this website you can probably check if my flight arrived or not. You just need to type in the flight number (for Chicago it’s 0907).

Since I won’t have time to write a nice Christmas whishes email to everyone, I say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY FRIENDS and thank you all for your emails with your whishes, I enjoyed reading them all!

Merry Christmas, Fröhliche Weihnachten to you all!

I saw Santa Claus’ sledge at the IKEA parking today, see here (no editing, it is like it was standing there):

Now I will rip some more of my CD’s (into mp3’s) because I don’t have more space for carrying my CD’s with me.
Then I will have a last bath, relax and then I can close my eyes maybe for a little bit until we start driving at 5 am (in 4 hours).
Talk to you when I’m there!

By the way, as Nathan said, we have snow for Christmas (about 25 inch) :P

Your excited planetcola X.

Last time Cola’s Christmas bakery

Today was my last day of the series: Ikea Christmas Cookie Bakery proudly presented by Anja and Sina.
I worked since December 1st every Friday and Saturday at the furniture store IKEA in Kiel baking Christmas cookies for the customers.
Nice job, but after kneeding, rolling, cutting, just baking 56 hours I’m glad that I can have a break now.
I didn’t want to leave before showing you some of the pictures from my cookie bakery.
Here are some:
raw:

done with decoration:

Our kitchen in the IKEA store and my colleague Sina:

Decoration for children:

For Ikea fans

For everyone

COOOOOOKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!

Herr-lich

Just funny and the right thing to listen to and watch before I cross the border of the United States.
I found this funny or lets say ‘interesting’ Bush movie in maudchen’s blog.
Check it out, if you’re internet connection is fast enough for the video.

Link!

My last days before leaving

Hey my dear friends and readers,
here comes a little update of my last days of stress.

Last Sunday was my last day at work (at my radio marketing company in Kiel). I worked at a farm Christmas event in Sierhagen. This is in East Holstein in Schleswig-Holstein. It was freezing cold. We met in Kiel at 7 am, packed the bus and organized everything at the farm in Sierhagen (1.5hrs from Kiel), before the guests arrived at 11 am. Luckily I had one of the nicer jobs at the beginning and I didn’t have to stand in the rain outside as my colleagues. Here’s a photo of four from our team (welcome and guest list team):

It was raining all day and with it came a harsh wind *brrr*. One thing that I know after this day, I hate don’t like people from driving with an -OH- license plate. They must have a very unhappy life. They are the special part of Germans that I didn’t want to meet just before I leave. Unfortunately it happened.
After 11 hours of working outside in the rain (I changed my work locations a few times the day), we drove back to Kiel and our boss thanked us with giving free beers to all. I wanted to take a bath at home, but I was too tired for that. I wanted to read/finish my crime book, but I was too tired, so I went to bed before 11 pm the first time after weeks, no after months! Or let’s say I fell asleep on my couch
Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep long, because I needed to get up early — my to-do-list is still full with things.

For example the certificate that I “ordered” at my company. They wanted me to write a list with things that I did (as work examples) in the last 5 years (and 4 months). I send this list last week, at the 13th, as email to the person who writes the certificates. Today I asked by email when I will get it in the mail. The person answered that it would help if the document is not an .pdf but a MS Word .doc file, so that this person can only copy and paste my list and doesn’t have to type everything again. Well, there are really people working as personal manager (head) and they don’t know how to copy and paste text from a .pdf file. Sometimes I cannot believe it. I hope that I get the certificate before I leave. Actually I wanted to translate and let it re-sign before I leave. Won’t be enough time I guess.

Still my eBay story isn’t finished. One of my two buyers got the right package now, but the other person is still waiting for her package. I only can say that I had an immense email exchange with them and one lady was a real bitch. Dot.

My study loan pay back story is almost finished. I need to calculate a few things and maybe visit the office in Kiel on Thursday.

There are many more little things to do, but I don’t want to bore you with it. (But hon, I’ll get myself an abroad health insurance, don’t worry.)

However, today I spent at least a third of the money that I earned this month.
At the pharmacy I spent 150 Euro at once (badly allergic girl me who always needs special cremes and cosmetics, sigh). I ordered the rest at an online pharmacy because some things were cheaper there. Again 80 Euro. Then I couldn’t resist buying my hon’ some good german candy (psssst, I cannot tell you here), about 8 Euro, and at last I bought myself a little present - a watch. It only cost 13 Euro and (to me) it looks nice. (-: I didn’t wear a watch for ages, but now I won’t miss my flights. Or better, I have a new business watch. First the watch, then the job ;-P
Here it is:

Good news from last week: my best friend Anja (jepp, same name), she got her baby on the 12. December. Emily Marleen, a little beauty that I unfortunately won’t see the next months. How sad. I visited them in the hospital in Kiel and I was holding the little cutie a few times. Sooo sweet. Quite calm and very decent because she gives Anja at least 4 hours of sleep until she’s thirsty again ;o). I will try to visit them at home again before I fly.

When I opened my fridge today I recognized that it gets more empty every day (means I need to be creative with cooking something out of nothing) and I saw all the Becks beer (from the end of summer still) with the ‘good-before’ date of January 2007 (oops). Before it gets bad…I better open one right now ;o) and I’m drinking it for you and me and Santa Fe and that this week will go over (without bad surprises) soon. :o)
Cheers! Prost!