Family Bayer

On Saturday evening, we cooked Yakisoba noodles and eggplant salad for Peter’s mom and grandma. We were glad that they both liked it. Pork in Yakisoba was delicious, and I was jealous how cheap and delicious meat is on the other side of the border. In Switzerland we became part-time vegetarians, which our vegetarian sisters appreciate.

After dinner we visited Peter’s former teacher Friedemann and gave Christmas gift to his 12-years-old son Timmy. When we first moved to Germany, Timmy’s height was just reaching my chin. After 5 years, either my neck grew longer or he’s grown taller than me! Both Friedemann and his wife Sabine are tall, so I think Timmy is going to be very very tall as well. I was disappointed that I did not grow even after I quit smoking. For 15 years I was smoking a pack of cigarettes and drinking 10 cups of coffee everyday and still managed to grow 4 cm. Now that I quit smoking and eat more, I don’t grow…

Olympia Boutique

When we lived in Stuttgart, we were bored to death with the ordinary selection of clothing in this industrial city of Germany. After we moved to Zürich though, Olympia Boutique opened its door to the style-savvy young kids and made us think twice about moving back to Stuttgart. Adjoining to the art gallery, their new storefront is very simple and reminds me of Berlin and Scandinavia. We did not buy anything, but Peter was tempted to buy a wallet from Comme des Garcons and a sweater from Cheap Monday. He immediately put away those items when he felt the weight of my stare and the hidden message behind it.

I thought the selection has calmed down, and I missed the previous selection with crazy colors and fun motif. Maybe it’s hard to sell unordinary clothes to the Stuttgart crowd who are famous for their stinginess. Maybe the boutique has moved on to the next level of fashion and I am behind the trend. Or maybe the dark colors are simply in.

Christmas Market in Germany

It’s a Christmas market season in Europe. Germany is a host to many Christmas markets, and the one in Stuttgart is known as the largest Christmas market in Europe. (Nürnberg takes second place.) When we went to Stuttgart last weekend, the market was already set up, and you could smell mulled wine called Glühwein in the morning air. Despite Germany’s official entry into recession, the main street was packed with Christmas shoppers. We bought some bottles of local wine to bring to Japan, and I bought a cute salmon pink bra at COS, a sister store of H&M we don’t have in Switzerland.