October 29, 2014

German Garbage Separation - A Futile Task

October 29, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Going ''green'' is not a new phenomenon, nor is it uniquely German. In the US, well, at least in Michigan, returning your pop cans and other forms of recycling are common. However, recycling is usually limited to aluminum cans from preserved foods, perhaps glass, and old newspapers and boxes. Composting is becoming more common, but it still rarely seen. In Germany, they recycle, quite literally, everything. And learning how to do it properly can take years to master. Here is the 9 page document for Mannheim on proper garbage sorting. Yes, 9 pages. On garbage. Did I mention that Germans also tend to love paperwork ;)

October 27, 2014

German Sports - Handball Edition

October 27, 2014/ Aaron Oaks

Since Meghan and I both have siblings that are involved in sports, we felt this recent experience is one that they all would have enjoyed. On Saturday we found ourselves without any concrete plans, but we had recently seen an advertisement for the Rhine Neckar Löwen (Rhein Neckar Lions) handball team. Neither of us had ever seen this exciting game so we decided to get some more details. The internet told us that there was a game at 16:15 at the SAP Arena. So, off we went.

October 23, 2014

A Wedding and 'Merica

October 23, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

It's been a while since we last posted, but there was a good reason for it. I promise. Aaron was in Washington until last Saturday and I was in Michigan this past weekend to two close friends tie the knot. I am so glad that I was able to be there to celebrate with them. Cari was a beautiful bride and Murray seemed so excited to be marrying the love of his life.

The other awesome part about this last weekend? Seeing my sisters and being in 'Merica! Some of them I had seen in the past couple of months, the others I hadn't seen in quite a while. I realized how much I miss them all and miss having friends close by

October 16, 2014

Diving in the Pacific Northwest

October 16, 2014/ Aaron Oaks

Some of you may have been following my travels on Facebook and noticed that I am not in Germany this week. I am continuing my professional education at the Washington Protective Relay Conference. Every year, the great minds in the power distribution and transmission industry get together to share their knowledge with the rest of the industry, sharing best practices, lessons learned, and as always, try to sell us more of their products. The trip here was supposed to be nice and simple involving only 3 layovers, and visiting only 4 airports: Frankfurt - Chicago - Denver - Spokane. To finally get to Spokane, I had to travel Frankfurt - Chicago - Denver - San Francisco - Seattle and then finally Spokane. After nearly 36 hours of travel, I finally made it.

October 14, 2014

I'm All About That Balance, 'Bout That Balance

October 14, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Pop culture referance anyone? I know there's some controversy over the song, but I can't lie, it's catchy as hell and can work it's way into quite an Ohrwurm. Any who, back to our (ir)regularly scheduled post...The Germans take their work life balance very seriously, much to the chagrin of many Americans. Depending on the company, they often work less hours than Americans, get better vacation time and really take relaxing seriously. In fact, doctors can even prescribe time at a spa or time off from work. I wonder if the fee for a spa would apply towards my deductible?

October 10, 2014

Castle Ruins and Mountain Tops

October 10, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Although it was difficult to drag ourselves away from the spa (just kidding ... kind of), we did manage to do a couple of things besides relax when we were in Baden-Baden. This post shows just how much there is to do in this region (and this is only a tiny fraction of what is available), but we only managed to get to two of them - taking a Bergbahn up to the top of Merkur Mountain, and visiting the castle ruins of the Altes Schloß Hohenbaden.

October 08, 2014

Friedrichsbad - 10 Tips for Taking a 17 Step Bath

October 08, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

How elaborate and awesome does a Roman style 17 step bath sound? Pretty awesome? Yup, it is. We got into Baden Baden early Friday afternoon and after checking in at the hotel, we headed across the street for the first of our spa experiences for the weekend.

This is the one that had me nervous. How can basically taking a bath make someone nervous? Well, because it's...