November 27, 2014

Fire Dancers and Ladyboys

November 27, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Since we did so much diving, we didn't really spend much time exploring the island of Mindoro (the island that Puerto Galera is on). We had heard about fire dancing and other entertainment in another town not too far away, White Beach. So one night, we decided to skip the night dive and head that way. Thankfully, a couple of the dive masters at the resort were interested in going. We grabbed a Jeepny in the town of Sabang and headed over there. It was about a 20 - 25 minute ride from Sabang to White Beach and when we got there, the driver dropped us off in a parking lot. Had it been just Aaron and I, I'm not sure we would have found the actual beach. Thankfully, PJ, PJ's girlfriend, and Jake came with us and they knew where to go!

November 24, 2014

Muck Diving in the Philippines

November 24, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Last week we talked about the reef diving we did in the Philippines. Today, we are talking about the other type of diving: muck diving. This isn't the kind of muck that is found in inland lakes, the kind that you sink ankle deep into when you step into it, and goes 'sluuuurp' when you pull your foot out (or, would, if it wasn't underwater). This muck is more or less sand, and isn't ''mucky'' at all. When I heard muck diving, I was just a little grossed out (see my description of what I though muck meant above), and I thought there wouldn't be much to see. Boy was I wrong. I had NO idea that we would see that much stuff diving over sand.

November 21, 2014

Reef Diving in the Philippines

November 21, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Last week, we spent an amazing week in the Philippines diving our tushes off. We ended up doing 29 dives in 6.5 days - 4 or 5 dives each day. Diving is relaxing, but tiring, even if you are breathing nitrox. And after a while, they all tend to run together a little bit. Not that that's a bad thing, but that just means I can't remember if I saw that awesome nudibranch on my 5th dive or 20th dive, so a dive-by-dive breakdown isn't really possible. That being said, there are two main types of diving that we did in the Philippines - reef diving and muck diving. Today, we are talking about reef diving.

November 12, 2014

Oh The Places We'll Go...Philippines Edition

November 12, 2014/ Aaron Oaks

We made it to the Philipines! After 31 hours of travel, including two planes, a van and a boat, we arrived at the Atlantis Resort in Puerto Galera, Philipines. Our journey started on Saturday afternoon when we left our apartment at 3:00 in the afternoon and arrived at the resort at noon, local time (7 AM on Monday German time).

The first leg of our journey was actually making it to the airport

November 07, 2014

American Food in Germany

November 07, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

There are few things that I miss food wise living in Germany. The way we eat (lots of produce, fresh meat, not a lot of processed foods) is very conducive to living here. The weekly markets are a great place for produce. And the grocery stores carry a decent selection of meats, dairy and non-perishable items that we may need. In general, we haven't had trouble feeding ourselves over here and have actually enjoyed incorporating some more German specialties into our meals (spätzle anyone?). Although, I wouldn't object if someone wanted to open a Taco Bell over here, or a decent Mexican place. Anyone?

November 04, 2014

German Halloween

November 04, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

As many know, especially if you live in the US, Halloween was last Friday. In Germany, Halloween isn't as big of a holiday as it is in the US and trick or treating is not widely conducted. Some areas do, but most do not. However, there are always some Halloween parties happening (we're in Germany and it's another excuse to drink!). On Friday, an expat group we are loosely a part of, Internations, held a Halloween party in Mannheim. We thought it would be a fun, relaxed way to meet others and there were even a couple from our Culture Training a couple weeks ago who were interested in attending.

October 31, 2014

Fully Cultured - Part 2

October 31, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Before Aaron and I moved to Germany, BASF provided an 8 hour ''Cultural Integration'' training seminar for us to make sure we were equipped to interact with Germans. Although, in all honesty, 8 hours is woefully short and can't possibly cover everything that one would need to know on how to seamlessly integrate into German society. It would take an entire 8 hour course just to explain how they sort their garbage.

Which brings us to last week. Aaron and I, as part of the relocation package, were able to attend another 16 hours of cultural training. I know it can sound dry since ''cultural awareness'' is generally lumped