2nd Project - Floorboards...to be continued

As we have finished one project we can start another. The stairwell downstairs is done as you could see and read in one of my other posts published earlier this month. Now we are moving upstairs. The floor boards have been delivered and the measuring and calculating is done.

So, Tobi...get your hands dirty and get the job done, please. The reason my other half is putting the floor boards down is, the company we've purchased and installed the staircase from wanted to charge us 1.6K for about 3 square meters. No thank you, that money can be used for another project around the house and there are plenty of them.

So here we go, one more week working on the floorboards and it is all finished. I'm pretty impressed how great it looks. Tobi, you have done an awesome job, I couldn't be happier about the result and the savings on this job, well done!

Finally - Going to the Movies

Being back in Germany more than 2 years I still have not been to the movies over here. One reason is the language (I prefer watching US movies etc. in English than synchronised German) the other one is that not around each corner over here are movie theatres. But hey, I shouldn't complain the next one is just 30 minutes away.

I was actually quite shocked how pricy it is over here watching a movie as well as buying snacks at the candy bar, luckily we had a voucher. The great thing about going to the movies on a Monday evening 5.20 pm, its empty and it felt almost like a private session. I guess the next movie is not too far away not waiting another 2 years being back to the movies.

New Year - New Project

The new year brings new challenges, adventures and projects which we will tackle. One of the first jobs around the house is the entry to be tiled. The tiles were picked at a local warehouse which is not far from the house. It took only three days from start to finish and I guess it looks pretty good considering Tobi is not a tiler.

By the way, to decide on the colour of the grouts we had some arguments but in the end I got it my way. Believe it or not, Tobi likes the colour I chose, he was actually impressed with the end result. One more detail is missing the skirting boards, but that will be another small project which will be done hopefully in the near future.

First Trip in 2018 - Greifswald - Utkiek

To take it a bit easier on the first weekend of the new year we decided on visiting my home village Ferdinandshof where my brother and the kids spend time with my parents, the kid's grand parents. From there we just traveled a little bit further and reached the city of Greifswald, known in Germany for it's University.

The reason we went to Greifswald, I wanted to check out the hotel I was once working and of course having a nice meal for lunch and we did not get disappointed. I can't believe this is now 20 years ago but time really flies.

To finish our trip we just walked for a while along the water. Even in winter it is a quite but nice place however not to compare with the summertime and the beauty of the water, boats, nature and people.

"Tüppelziehen" a Tradition

Before the new year can arrive we just have one more job that needs to be done. Just like any other year on New Years Eve each member of the family has to do "Tüppelziehen" which will tell what the next year will hold for you. This tradition comes from my father's side and I remember from my earliest childhood memories that everyone was excited to take part in this tradition.

All you need is four cups, a piece of bread, a piece of jewellery, a coin, and a piece of cloths. You will then cover the items with the cups and shove the cups around. One person of course turns around so you can't see what is going on. Then this person will pick one cup and takes a look what is underneath. All together each person picks 4 times a cup. So have a go...

Bread = Food

Jewellery = Luck

Coin = Money

Cloths = Trouble

Happy New Year

Wishing you a Merry X-mas

To all of my family, friends and followers or just visitors to my Blogg, we're wishing a Merry Christmas. May your heart be filled with joy, happiness and love. We hope you get safely through the festive season.

Team breakfast @Butterbrot

This year's Christmas Team Event was organised at a Turkish Breakfast & Coffee place called "Butterbrot", not far from work. To keep it simple and not taking too much time off work, we decided on a casual get together. What a feast it was....freshly made orange juice, awesome tasting coffee and the food - just devine.

All in all a fantastic morning in good company even though not all could attend - maybe next time.

Let's go to the X-mas market

One of the most beautiful Christmas Markets here in Berlin is the one at Gendarmenmarkt at the Konzerthaus. As we went there last year around the same time we decided to go there again, this time without my parents.

I guess we pretty much stuck to the same routine like last year. First we had a German Bratwurst followed by Glühwein (mould wine)  followed by Belgian Waffles and then just hanging around following the shows and browsing around.

Once we finished with the x-mas market we went for a stroll down Friedrichstraße checked out the Nespresso store, enjoyed a cup of coffee bought some stuff and off we went home. That pretty much sums up our visit to this year's x-mas market.

I can't wait to do it all over again next year. Maybe and it's just a thought, we could hit another town or city, how about Dresden, Nuremberg or anywhere else.

Day Trips in and around Perth

Each day we planed on going to one of the hotspots and places I loved while living in Perth. Showing those places to Tobi meant a lot to me so it was my pleasure to show him "my" city of Perth. Weather we just went for a walk around Joondalup at lake Joondalup or went to the CBD, Kings Park or going to Fremantle, I thoroughly enjoyed all those places all over again.

Of course we also indulged into the Australian Cuisine or just having a divine coffee (take away) which you get at every corner around here or just snacking away everything felt like being on vacation. No cloud in the sky and nothing to worry about we totally enjoyed every bit and every day.

We also made plans on traveling up north to Broome to stay a couple of days at a resort and going to explore the south west of WA. Both upcoming adventures would be a first for me so even I got excited to see something new.

Bumping into David...Surprise

One of the highlights of my Australian holiday was running into David by surprise, surprise....accident. Just walking around the CBD all of a sudden he was just 10 feet away. My jaw dropped when I spotted David.....and I could see on his face he felt the same way. We both had big smiles on our faces....hugging each other as it was a massive surprise. I quickly introduced David to Tobi and the other way around.

David and I caught up on a couple of news out of our lives. As we quickly realised there is so much to talk about and not enough time, we arranged another meeting of course "at home". So I was already looking forward to meet David again.....and of course Margaret & Laurie.

That was just a perfect start to my holiday, totally unexpected but therefore a moment I will always remember and cherish.

Welcome "Home" - being back in Perth

After more than 2 years I find my way back to Perth and what can I say, it feels like going Home. I'm so excited to see what has happened since I left. I'm even more excited about catching up with my friends & family.


Getting picked up by my Bestie Theresa from the airport is the first highlight and off we go, we are about to start our Australian holiday. It kind of feels wired talking about a holiday in Australia considering living in Perth for almost 12 years. Could I say I was almost 12 years on holiday?!?

Anyways, after a good night sleep we kicked off the day with a typical Aussie breaky at "Dome" followed by going to the Shopping Centre (have I ever mentioned before that Sunday Shopping is so normal in Australia) catching up with my other Bestie Cynthia and enjoying a long overdue damn good massage at a Chinese Massage place, how I missed those great massages over the past 2 years.

All these tensions in my body gone it was time for yet another feast and a great coffee. By the way the coffee culture in Perth is not at a stand still and so I just found out about a great new beverage which is called  "long mac topped up" which is basically a long macchiato with milk topped up to the rim. I also have to mention at this stage that unlike Germany Australia has a great coffee culture.

So, for the first day back in Perth I was with my friends Theresa & Cynthia and my other half got to know an ordinary Sunday with the girls. He was blown away by all the new things he experienced so far...and this is only the beginning, there is more to come which is far more exciting than just a usual Sunday.

Packing for "Down Under"

How exiting, I'm finally packing the suitcases to get to our well-deserved vacation. Let's go to Australia. Having relocated back to Germany in 2015 I was even more exited to visit or should I say return to my adapted home Australia, in fact Perth. I can honestly say I've missed you and I can't wait to touch down. I hope everything is in order, passports, Visa etc...as I have not time for any surprise or mishaps. One more night and we will be on our way.

Pre-birthday cake with the Oldies

As my birthday falls on a Wednesday this year and the Saturday following we will be already in Perth I thought we can enjoy the birthday cake the weekend before. So we invited the "Oldies", my parents to help here and there as we also just moved into our house a week earlier. There was still plenty of work to be done, some boxes needed to be unpacked and some electrical work also need to be performed.

Still, there was time to celebrate my upcoming birthday and even more exciting was that in a couple of days we are going to fly (back) to Perth, Australia. After almost 2 years being absent from Down Under I couldn't wait to hit the ground. Anyway, this is still a couple of days away before we go on that adventure.

New Staircase

As we have finished moving, the next step is to rip out the old staircase and getting the new one in. so, for the next day or so we were getting up and down via the ladder. Luckily the guys who installed the staircase as well as all the doors finished within a day. I was pretty much impressed and very happy not to use the ladder anymore.

I could not believe what a difference it made, having installed the new staircase. I was over the moon., it looked fantastic. We were basically up to the last part that still had to arrive, the piece in the middle of the door. before going on holidays, 10 days to go! I hope it arrives in time.

We're Moving

Finally, the day has come, we're moving out of our 60 square meter apartment into our own house which we have rebuilt, restored and renovated over the past 6 months. And once we've moved in, we're then heading Down Under to enjoy our well-deserved 4 weeks’ vacation.

Off we go from Oranienburg to Germendorf which is a suburb of Oranienburg. We've organised a couple of people including mostly family and friends who gave us a hand in wrapping and packing up the stuff, lifting the heavy boxes and furniture.

We have moved everything by late afternoon and started straight away placing everything in its spot as well as filling up cupboards and furniture. In between we had a BBQ. Before the day was gone, we were almost done.

Exhausted but very happy we spent the first night in our own house had a good nicght sleep before the weekend was coming to a end. One detail, the staircase we left for the day we moved in. However, just one day living in the house we ripped out the old staircase and waited for the brand new one to arrive and be installed. Meanwhile we got up and down via a ladder - scary.

Flooded

What a rainy summer we've had so far and it's not getting better any time soon, in fact it gets worse.

Coming home from work thinking of putting my legs up enjoying the rest of the day with my Dad and Tobi who also had a busy day at our house which we are renovating, I was wrong.

Anyway, arriving at home by taking more turns than usual because of streets are actually under water, the full extent of the flooded cellar is showing up and we are trying to save what we can. Well, not much could be saved as it was raining all day. Sadly, gone is the set of suitcases which I had for more than 15 years. According to the news more than 240 Liters of rainfall per square meter landed in just a couple of hours here in Oranienburg, which is a city close to Berlin. 

To make the best out of this situation, we decided to get some takeaway from the Turkish Kebab around the corner and we walked through the rain.....even singing in the rain. To be honest, it wasn't cold....just wet but it didn't bother us...we had fun. To finish this post, around midnight the fire brigade rang the bell to check if we still have water in the cellar which needs to be pumped out, that's how busy they were and they continued all night till morning to get the water out of people's houses.

A Visitor

What a nice change someone visiting us on the weekend. Actually, it's not just someone but my friend Nancy. As I have probably mentioned before, Nancy is my friend who I grew up with since kindergarden times.

Well, to get out of Ferdinandshof and take a weekend vaccation, Oranienburg is good enough, considering we are living next to the lake, near the forest and of cause Berlin is just 20 Minutes away from my door step.

Anyway, we stayed close to home enjoyed some walks, like back in the old days. Passing the castle and crossing the river "Havel" via bridge. To finish the night off we had a drink or two. Thanks for visiting.

Becoming ebay Summit

My journey with ebay (brands4friends) continues. So I have been invited to the "Becoming ebay Summit" after signing a full time contract for 1 year which I hope will be extended. This summit is for all newbies of eBay, eBay classifieds and other entities of ebay from Germany, Europe, Israel and Australia.

This summit is scheduled twice a year and runs for 3-4 days. About a hundred people and more are invited to attend this event. The days are filled with lots of team and individual exercises, speakers, a fancy dinner and more in order to get to know each other. This is to really understand what ebay stands for and what it means becoming a part of the ebay family.

These couple of days are so worth it attending as it actually shows you where you can go and what you can become when you put your heart into the role which you were hired for. All in all a fantastic event where you meet interesting people from all over the globe.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of ebay.

Leaving Drinks - going to the USA

Unfortunately we are going to say good bye to our Manager, who was only a short time at B4F. However, she made such an impact, that you just can't forget about her. With tears in our eyes we farewelled this special lady and enjoyed a couple of drinks as for Janine are waiting bigger adventures at eBay.

Being accepted into the Leadership Program the next two years she will rotate and travel around the US and other parts of the world. What we will most miss about her, the energy, the vibe, the laughter, the drive, the courage, her being loud.

Good luck and lots of success and adventures for your future - stay safe

Big 40th coming around - Happy Birthday

I'm wishing a very Happy Birthday to my big brother, lots of love, happiness, contentment, health and a bit of luck. I hope you enjoy today and the company of your family and friends. I also hope you love the little (or big) surprises we organised for you. I guess all involved did a great job. On the other hand you surprised us (me) with your emotions when I handed you that little extra gift, which by the way l thought you will love very much, and I was right. It's perfect!

Anyway, the big 40th is right here and lots of milestones have been reached, big ones and smaller ones. I hope when you look back in time that you will smile and think only of the great moments and achievements and that you would do it all over again, no regrets.

You can be proud of yourself as we are proud of you, having two beautiful children that love you very much. You are there for them each and every day watching and guiding them in order to grow up and succeed. Lets get on with life and whatever it is throwing at you and have a blast. Remember, life is not just about working but living.

Happy Birthday Thomas

x o x