Tag Archives: Germans in California

The One Time I Filed a Police Report

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Anne-Kathrin | Leave a comment

THE ONE TIME I FILED A POLICE REPORT

If the title of today’s post might give the impression that it contains a high crime thriller story a la CSI, I unfortunately have to disappoint you. It doesn’t involve any car chase or robbery (even though our house in Germany was broken into once, but that is a whole other story), just my first (and hopefully last) visit to an American police station.

My encounter with the law enforcement happened over a year ago when I was house sitting in Playa Del Rey over Easter. I had been staying at this location many times before and never encountered any issues – until this particular visit.

The house is part of a fourplex and located a block from the beach, and parking can be very scarce, especially during spring and summer. The owners of the place I stayed at allowed me to park in one of the parking spaces behind the house, which never had given me any problems.

It was one particular night when I took the dog of the house out for a last stroll and noticed a piece of paper on the windshield of my car. I took it off, and when I unfolded it I saw a handwritten note stating that the parking spots were only for residents. I didn’t think any of it since I had the OK from one of the tenants to park there, and so I ripped the note apart and threw it away.

I forgot about the incident and kept leaving my car behind the house. Two days later, on Thursday morning I walked out to take the dog to the park, when I discovered another note on my windshield – this time around it wasn’t a very friendly one.

Since I am not planning on sticking to the same level these lovely people went to, I omit the swearwords. But what it basically stated was, “Hey a******, if you continue to f****** park here, we will make sure that your car will be towed.”

At first, I didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t until I walked to the side of my car when I noticed two long scratches along the door on the driver’s side. I could tell that they were done with a key and maliciously.

Since they appeared on the same day I received the nasty note, I was convinced that the person who wrote me the note probable also scratched my car. Needless to say, I was furious.

I didn’t want to bother the owners of the house and disrupt their vacation, so I went ahead and reached out to a couple of my friends for advice. I didn’t have any proof, just assumptions, but my friends told me to go ahead and file a police report just to be safe.

I was dreading going down to an actual police station, but I also wanted to know what my chances were (I figured probably 0%, but I went ahead anyway).

So that same afternoon, I dragged myself and my vandalized car to the police station at LAX. I was nervous walking in, imagining it would be an atmosphere you witness in the movies, with criminals in handcuffs all over the place. But, as it is with many movies and TV shows, the reality looked a little different.

In fact, I was the only person in that very small police station, and I didn’t have to wait long until one of the officers paid attention to me. He looked as bored and uninterested in my case as could be, and so I was eager to get this over with.

The officer took down all my information, gave me a copy of it, and basically reassured me what I had been thinking all along – there was not much the police could do.

I could not wait till I was able to get out of there and head back to be with the dog and just put that day behind me. Until this day, I have no proof who left me the nasty note and scratched my car, but ever since one of the neighbors moved out of the fourplex, I never experienced another issue with parking behind the house – just saying…

Images: pixabay.com

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes about her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany, she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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German Chamber Music or German Tarot Cards. What’s Your Pick?

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Cornelia | Leave a comment

Art enthusiasts in L.A. listen up! Are you in for an off-beat art experience? We have 3 fun and eclectic recommendations for you this month.

From unique German/Austrian Chamber music to German Cartomancy, you can find something to satisfy your unconventional taste for art this April.

1 – If you love chamber music and enjoy not only traditional, classic scores but also have an ear for modern, contemporary music. You might want to check out:

Three’s Company: Music for unique Combinations of Three. Part of the Pittance Chamber Music 2017/18 season at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music this concert presents works not only by German composers Schubert and Brahms but will also feature work of Austrian composer Gernot Wolfgang, who resides in Los Angeles and works as an orchestrator in the film and TV music industry.

Gernot Wolfgang is currently also associate director of “HEAR NOW – A Festival of New Music by Contemporary Los Angeles Composers”. Described as a composer with a “winning sonic arsenal” (Daniel Rosenberg, Gramophone) you will be hearing his work Road Signs, which will be on his next CD.

WHAT: Pittance Chamber Music Concert Three’s Company

WHEN: Saturday, April 14 at 7:30pm at Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

All works on the program will be performed by members of the LA Opera Orchestra and Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artists.

2 – Our next suggestion is for a spiritually invoked art exhibition: A mystical German fortune-telling card system re-imagined by artist Shay Bredimus at the Long Beach Art Museum:

“The Seni Horoscopes were a 17th-century German fortune-telling card system. This astrological picture card deck was created by Giovanni Battista Seni—an Italian oracle who served Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, a major figure in the Thirty Year’s War. The Seni Horoscope cards were used for divination, as well as a guide to spiritual pathways.

In this body of work, Bredimus has re-imagined a version of those historic cards, a visual mixture of pictographs and portraits, with iconic and mystic symbolism. The artist has created 72 unique works that reference each individual card – not only to be viewed as artwork, but also to be seen as an interactive conduit to understanding man’s position in the universe.” (Long Beach Museum of Art)

Join artist Shay Bredimus for an in-depth walkthrough of his exhibition, Cartomancy: The Seni-Horoscopes Re-imagined, on April 22. The event is free but reservations are required. The exhibition is on view until May 13.

WHAT: Cartomancy: The Seni-Horoscopes Re-imagined (by Shay Bredimus)

WHEN: Sunday, April 22, 3pm-5pm at Log Beach Art Museum

3 – Lastly, our all-time favorite is happening this weekend: The Brewery Art Walk! More than 100 artists invite you to check out their work. Don’t miss it!

The twice-annual open studio weekend at the worlds largest art complex will open its doors Saturday and Sunday. “With over 100 participating resident artists, you will have the opportunity to see new works, discover new favorites, speak with the artists and purchase artwork directly from the artists at studio prices.”

Admission is Free. Open studios are spread across the Brewery’s 16 acre campus including a few multi-story buildings. Don’t forget to put some comfortable shoes on so you’ll be ready for your art adventure!

WHAT: Brewery Art Walk Los Angeles

WHEN: Saturday & Sunday, April 7 & 8 from 11 am- 6 pm

You Know You Are Truly German…

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Anne-Kathrin | 2 comments

YOU KNOW YOU ARE TRULY GERMAN…

…When the phrases listed below make you laugh (or cringe).

Every language has its proverbs. Some well-known English ones include:

“The early bird catches the worm.”
“Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Here are some examples that we are familiar with in the German culture:

“Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn.”
“Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat.”

“Alle guten Dinge sind drei.”

Now, some of these proverbs can be easily translated into the other language. But there are certain ones that just sound silly if you do translate them word by word. Some of my fellow German readers might have heard of these before. .

And if not, I hope you still get to enjoy this guessing game and get a good laugh out of it. I sure do every time one of my friends comes around the corner with one of these (See what I did there?)

“I only understand railroad station.”
“You go me on the alarm clock.”
“My dear Mr. Singing Club.”
“This is not the yellow from the egg.”
“Now we have the salad.”
“With me is not good cherry eating.”
“There tap-dances the bear.”
“Everything is in butter.”
“He doesn’t have all the cups in the closet.”
“He has bumblebees in the bottom.”
“That is jacket like pants.”
“There we have the salad.”
“To be washed with all waters.”
“There becomes yes the dog in the pan crazy.”
“It’s pouring like out of buckets.”
“Only the hard come into the garden.”
“I do believe my pig whistles.”
“Enjoy life in full trains.”
“Life is no sugar licking.”
“That is me so what of sausage.”
“Butter by the fishes.”

I could go on and on and without becoming tired of it. But since all good things have to come to an end, I will leave you with this video by German actors Matthias Schweighöfer and Friedrich Mücke. Enjoy!

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Credits: Images – Pixabay.com / Video – ©SonyPicturesGermany

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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2 Comments

Posted in Expat Stories, Life in California

Tagged Denglisch, Germans in California, Proverbs fun, Sprechen Sie Deutsch?, Translation fun

Back At the Happiest Place on Earth

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Anne-Kathrin | Comments Off

BACK AT THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

Since June of 2017, I have been counting down the months, weeks, and days to one particular event happening on February 1st: a trip to Disneyland. Yes, you read that right, I bought my ticket back in June to go to an event the following year. But it was for a very good reason.

The tickets were half off, and it was a special event sponsored by California State University Fullerton. In very humble fashion, the school decided to celebrate its 60^th anniversary at the theme park, and invited all its students along. Way to celebrate a birthday!

Of course my college friends and I didn’t want to miss this, and so we set our alarms to midnight on June 1^st, when tickets went on sale. Luckily, all four of us were able to score a ticket before the event sold out.

Fast forward to February 1^st, 2018, ten years after my last trip to Disneyland. The last time I have been to this magical place was Thanksgiving 2008 with my back-then host family and one of my best friends.

I know it sounds very cliché, but when my friends and I stepped foot into the theme park it felt like entering a different world. Perfectly arranged flowers in the shape of Mickey Mouse greeted us and I instantly felt like a little kid full of excitement and happiness.

We made our way towards the famous Main Street, and walked along the many cute little shops located around the area until we reached the Disneyland castle. Of course we couldn’t pass up on not taking any pictures in front of it. This turned out to be quite difficult though, with hundreds of park visitors trying to accomplish the same.

After a few tries we gave up and decided to have some fun by going on one of the many rides. We headed straight to the Matterhorn attraction, which I remember being the favorite of my host kids back in the days. It was quite a fun ride, even though I didn’t dare to look anywhere else than at my friend sitting in front of me due to my fear of heights.

After conquering the Matterhorn, we took a slower pace and headed towards a different area of the park. I am sure many of you have probably visited Disneyland before and know that the park is divided in several different areas, such as Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Frontierland.

The park has attractions for every age group, from the very little guests to us adults. Even if you are not the rollercoaster type like me, there are still plenty of other fun things to do and explore, plus the park offers many great food options. I could have just eaten my way through and would have been busy all night long.

The only fact that kept me from doing so was that most of the restaurants closed after nine p.m., when the day pass visitors had to leave the park. That turned out to be a challenge for me since I am a vegetarian, and so my other vegetarian friend and I went on a quest to find something good to eat.

I eventually ended up with a vegetarian Gumbo in a bread bowl (yum). Besides this tasty dinner dish, we also indulged in Mickey Mouse shaped macaroons and beignets (so so good!).

After we finished eating, we intended to walk over to Tomorrowland. On our way over, we suddenly heard loud music coming from the Sleeping Beauty Castle, accompanied by a laser show in the colors of the rainbow.

As we walked closer, we saw a group of people dancing in front of the castle while a DJ was playing popular club music tracks. Yup, my school sure knows how to throw a birthday bash.

We danced a little (well, actually it was mostly me) before we continued our way to Tomorrowland, where we visited the Star Tours attraction, a 3D ride through space. For the rest of the night, we went from ride to ride until closing time at 1 a.m. Luckily, we never had to wait long in line.

I am not sure how long it will take me this time till I am going to visit Disneyland again. I am hoping not another 10 years, but since I just saw today in the news that the park raised its admission prices again, I think I will pass until my school decides to celebrate its birthday there again.

Images: Anne-Kathrin Schulte

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes about her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany, she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Comments Off on Back At the Happiest Place on Earth

Posted in Expat Stories, Life in California

Tagged Disneyland, Disneyland Anaheim, Germans in California, Germans in Los Angeles, Germans in Orange County, Theme Park

Friendships across the pond

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Anne-Kathrin | Comments Off

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FRIENDSHIPS ACROSS THE POND

I am sure many of you who have moved to California from overseas can relate to what I am going to express in this post. We all had to leave all or some family and friends thousands of miles behind, living on different continents. I personally have lived in the United States for six-and-a-half years and luckily, I was able to keep the majority of friendships existent.

Whenever I travel back to Germany or have friends visiting me in California, it feels like we have never been apart. We catch up like we just hung out yesterday, and it doesn’t feel weird or unnatural at all. Unfortunately, there are also those friendships that didn’t survive the long-distance relationship.

One particular case is my used to be good friend Vivienne (the name has been changed due to privacy.) I met Vivienne in Senior High School, and while we didn’t become friends right from the get-go, we grew really close once we got to know each other better. In the long run, I did become her maid of honor and godmother to her firstborn son.

Today, Vivienne and I are no longer in touch. Our relationship started to become rocky a couple years ago. To be honest, I have never been the biggest fan of her husband, and I understand why she and I drifted apart. But let’s circle back even further: Vivienne and her husband met while we were in our last year of Senior High School, and they hit it off instantly. All three of us used to hang out a lot and had a great time together.

It wasn’t until after a while, I felt that I never got to see Vivienne without him around. I didn’t mind hanging out with him around every once in a while, but I was also missing girl time with one of my closest friends back then. In the long run of their relationship, she confessed to me that her then-boyfriend became jealous whenever he wasn’t around her, which resulted into tension between the three of us.

At some point, they were at the verge of a breakup but managed to work it out. He promised to let her have her girlfriend time, and everything went back to the good times we used to have. Ten years ago, Vivienne and her man became husband and wife on a very tumultuous wedding day.

Let’s just sum it up this way: A maid of honor that could only open one eye because she popped a balloon right in front of her eyes the night before; A father of the bride who answers a phone call in the middle of the wedding ceremony; And a father-in-law who is suffering a seizure and has to be hospitalized during the reception. But as they say: the worse the wedding, the better the marriage.

Two days after, I moved all the way across the pond to work as an au pair for an American family. As I had predicted it beforehand, a couple months later Vivienne called me with the news that she was expecting. I was beyond happy for her and her husband and couldn’t wait for the day the baby was born. I was even more on cloud nine when she proposed to me that she wanted me to be her son’s godmother.

When I moved back to Germany after my year in the States, I spent a lot of time with her and her family. I helped them during their move to the countryside, which was located two hours away from our hometown. I still was able to visit them at least once a month, and we had a blast together. I moved back to California in 2011, but whenever I traveled back to Europe, I made it a priority to spend at least one weekend of my time with them.

Over the years, my friend grew more and more unhappy, and one day she opened up to me that she was contemplating getting a divorce. I supported her in her decision and had an open ear for her whenever she felt the need to reach out. She eventually decided to give her marriage another shot, but it wasn’t until a year later she was contemplating her decision again. By that time, I was totally displeased with her husband, and I can understand how that put her in the middle.

While I never asked her to choose between him and me, I can understand that me not being his biggest fan had a negative impact on her in her efforts to save the marriage. They kept being married and now have a second child, but our friendship was the relationship that didn’t last. Vivienne and I never had a fight; our connection just slowly diminished until we completely stopped any form of communication.

We are still connected on Social Media and can witness major life events through those platforms, but our friendship is done. The long distance, unfortunately, didn’t work out for us.

Images: pixabay.com

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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