Ich bin ein Berliner*

Despite having been back from Copenhagen for a full week, I am still jet-lagged and exhausted. At some point I will (hopefully) get back on D.C. time. But for now, I'm still struggling to function properly around 5pm.

Work is going to be kicked up a notch next week. Not to imply that it hasn't been busy, but next Wednesday our newest staff are returning. In my new position, the teaching staff makes up my new class. I haven't really had the time to be nervous about it, but every once in a while, I realize how scary it is.

I hope that I keep up with posting even when I'm at my busiest. I was looking back through some of my old posts yesterday, and it reminded me how nice it is to have this blog as a record of the various changes in my life. When the teachers return on Wednesday, I guess I'm starting a new chapter. Scary.

But first: Berlin.

* While we were in Berlin, we learned that this actually translates to "I am a jelly donut." But, I guess the Berliners knew what JFK meant anyway.

July 27, 2008:

We are in Germany! Warnemünde to be exact. But, we hopped on a train to Berlin and saw the sights there. Still, Warnemünde looked like a great place to visit if we were ever able to return…

View from our balcony this morning.

At this point, I have to say that we have been very fortunate with the weather. I’m a little scared that I will jinx Copenhagen tomorrow, but really – we’ve had perfect weather the past few days. Today was definitely no exception.

After a three hour train ride, we ended up in the eastern part of Berlin and started on our superfast-paced tour through the city. Our first stop, of course, was the easternmost part that remained of the Berlin Wall.

Three different parts of the Berlin Wall

Because we had such a short time in Berlin, our trip was very quick, and we saw alot in a little bit of time. Here are some of the things we did get to see…

Brandenburg Gate.

The Reichstag

The sign at Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

I don’t know what I was expecting from Berlin, but it was a surprise to me how beautiful this city was. Because of all of the damage from WWII (more than 70% of the city), it truly is a new city. Unlike some of the other places we visited where the old style buildings really clashed with the new style (I’m looking at you Tallin), Berlin made the jumble seem much more fluid. Many of the buildings were rebuilt according to the plans of the original buildings, others literally wrapped themselves around old buildings and incorporated their architecture.

We also got to visit the Allied Museum where they were celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the airlifts.

An original candy-bomber.

The exhibit and the gushing of our tour guide (including her obvious love for Barack Obama) made me warm and fuzzy about being an American. Something that can be somewhat rare when touring around Europe.

Also in the museum was this discovery…

It’s an informative pamphlet on venereal diseases given to the soldiers during the war. I’m not kidding. I personally like the italics emphasizing what nice guy he was. Awesome discovery. In Berlin.

Tomorrow: Copenhagen and last day. Wah.

We Can Gdansk, If You Want To...

...we can leave your friends behind. And after searching for a music video for that song, I could not find one anywhere. Sad. However I did get to listen to Men At Work's greatest accomplishment: Down Under, my ringtone from 2002-03.

It's time for Gdansk!

July 26, 2008: Gdansk, Poland

G’day from Gdansk! We arrived in Gdansk, Poland today!

The Crane (used in medieval times), Neptune’s Fountain, detail of a balustrade of a local home.

Actually, we arrived in Gdynia, Poland today and drove to Gdansk with a brief stop in Sopot. Poland – at least Gdynia, Sopot, and Gdansk – wins the award for people most friendly and tolerant of tourists. Because we were everywhere. We visited the main plaza where they were having some celebrations and parade, and got to enjoy some of the sights. Much of Gdansk was destroyed during WWII, but the town decided to rebuild it to reflect its former architecture.

Ruins from WWII near the town square, the Green Gate

We visited St. Mary’s Church – the largest brick cathedral in the world. After which, the family got to enjoy some pierogis and potato pancakes alongside the river.

Next: Berlin!

Medieval Times.

Before I post the next day's post, I will preface it by saying that I knew next to nothing about Estonia before visiting it. In fact, the only real mention of it from my childhood that I can remember was in that movie Encino Man -- which I will admit to have watched. Twice. Those of you who may have also seen it...twice...may remember that Estonia was where "the foreign exchange student" (read: caveman), Brendan Fraser, was supposedly from.

Suffice to say, I knew very little and I was very excited to explore it. It did not disappoint.

July 25, 2008: Tallin, Estonia

Today was Estonia…

View of the church steeple through a Medieval Wall, the Veru Gate, and the door of the Blackhead Guild

…and Estonia was pretty great. Jamie and I were originally planning on doing a Bog hike in the Estonian National Park (Lahemaa National Park to be exact). However, our excursion got cancelled – probably not too many people as excited about hiking through a bog as I was. So, instead, Jamie and I ventured out to Tallin on our own. We walked to town from the port and beat the crowds to the Town Square. This allowed us to get some pretty nice shots of the area sans tourists. It really did work out perfectly.

A café on the streets of Tallin.

I knew very little about Tallin before coming, but learned a lot from our walk through the Old Town. It has enjoyed independence from Russia for a mere 19 years, and the architecture of the Old Town is very much the same as it was in medieval times. Everybody in Tallin was very nice and Jamie and I got to enjoy some Estonian cheese and garlic toast on the Town Square.

Fat Margaret (one of three watchtowers), Orthodox Church, Old Town from our balcony

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Tallin, give it a try.

Da Da Da.

Looking back at these posts that I wrote during the trip, it is so clear just how exhausted I was. I napped A LOT on the trip. Perhaps part of the reason was because the week before we didn't get much sleep because of our trip to Chicago and the fact that our flight got canceled on the way back (thereby robbing us of sleep). Of course the 8 hour time change probably didn't help either. It was very sad to lose one hour a night for a while there as our ship cruised east.

Then, all this coupled with the fact that we had to wake up early for our sightseeing and then walked all over various cities, meant that by the time we got back and had a minute to ourselves, I wanted to SLEEP. So, I apologize that I don't actually tell much about the cities we saw in my blog posts. But, I'm guessing Wikipedia would do a better job of that anyway.

Let's continue!

July 23-24, 2008

St. Petersburg! Definitely the most anticipated stop on our cruise. As we are sailing out of the Gulf of Finland after two days in St. Petersburg I am just exhausted. But, St. Petersburg has completely lived up to its expectations. Absolutely gorgeous.

We were told that on average there are 40 days of sunshine in Russia. Fortunately for us, we had two of them.

Our first day we toured the city, saw the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, and visited The Hermitage Museum.

The Peter and Paul Fortress.

A sculpture at the Hermitage Museum.

Cigarette butts and the reflection of the Church of the Savior of the Spilled Blood.

I really enjoyed all three of these attractions, but I felt the most stunning was the Church of the Savior of the Spilled Blood. It was so colorful and embellished. The story behind the name was that it was built on the exact spot where Alexander II was killed. He was a reasonably well-liked tsar by all...except, of course, those who tried to kill him.

On our second day in St. Petersburg, we saw Catherine’s Palace (Catherine the Second, that is) and Peterhof Castle. The gardens of the latter win out over Versailles. For sure.

The castle wasn’t bad either.

Tomorrow…Talinn, Estonia.

Helsinki: More than a Great Name

We continued our visit to the Baltic...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Day three of our cruise was spent in beautiful Helsinki, Finland. Jamie and I opted to set out on our own before taking our tour. We hopped on a bus and walked in the center of the town: got to see the market place, eat some local cuisine, and see Senate Square.

Finnish Paella. Who knew? Some of it later ended up in my belly.

Afterwards, we went to Hvittrask – the home of the famous Finnish architects, including Eliel Saarinen – and got to walk around. It was located in the forest next to a lake.

We got to see Temppeliaukio Rock Church which is an amazing church built into the bedrock. The only part of the church that you can actually see above ground is the cupola. Plus, the acoustics in the church were pretty incredible…

This is the view from the inside of the church.

This is all you can see above ground: the cuppola.

Overall, Finland wins over Stockholm – although, it’s probably unfair to say since Jamie and I had the opportunity to walk around the town on our own.

Also, check out the sky at this time…

It is so confusing to go outside at 11pm, and have it still be bright outside. We are dead-tired though, so it won't be hard to sleep. St. Petersburg is next!

Post...from the Future.

First of all, a big thanks to Drew for the kick in the pants to update. It sort of backfired though, because now I don't want to post and push Jack's adorable face off of my blog. But, update I must.

It has been a long time since I had the chance to sit down and update -- I am going to sincerely try my hardest to be better about these things. Work has been crazy and time has been lacking, but I think that makes it all the more important for me to update since it means I don't get to keep up with people over the phone either...

Now for the biggest update: Jamie and I went to Northern Europe with the family and it was great. I'm actually sitting in the Newark Airport right now. I forked over the $7.95 for 24 hours of internet access because a) I have been out of contact with the world for the past 11 days and b) we have FIVE hours in the airport waiting for our connection. Despite the fact that the gate next to ours in Copenhagen went directly to Dulles and held mostly cruise passengers, Jamie and I had to fly to NEWARK and sit in the airport for five hours. Thumbs down.

But, first things first. Here is the blog post I wrote on the first day on our cruise. I will be updating every day for the next week or so as I post what I wrote while we were on our trip...

[old post starts...now!]

Monday, July 21, 2008
So there has been a long hiatus from the blog. Thanks to our most favorite officiant, Drew, I have been kicked back into the blogging fold. Unfortunately, I’m away from the internet and the ability to do such things as check my mail and/or write to the blog. Fortunately, I can write these blog entries in anticipation of actually having the internet next week. I’ll post a new blog every day – it’ll be like a little time capsule. Fun times.

And so…Jamie and I have been invited to cruise the Baltic over ten days by my ever-so-accommodating parents. I am actually writing this from awesome balcony of my stateroom as we cruise out of the Swedish archipelago after spending a day in Stockholm. The views from this balcony are awesome…

…also, Stockholm is especially photogenic.

But, I’ll back up a little. Jamie and I left for Copenhagen on Friday afternoon and met up with my parents in Dulles International Airport. From there it was an 8-hour flight. Sadly, there was no electricity on the plane – seriously. We couldn’t even turn on the overhead lights to read. So the 8-hour flight felt a little longer…the good thing was that we actually slept. Good thing, too, because by the time we got to our connection in Frankfurt it was 5am.

Before boarding the ship, Jamie and I hopped on the metro in Copenhagen and walked around downtown. Sadly, our camera was packed away in our bag, so we were unable to document this part of our trip. We exchanged some money, traveled around town and ate some overpriced food. We even contemplated – not really – entering the Erotica Museum.

Stockholm was gorgeous. We got to tour the City Hall where they announce the Nobel Prize winners and took lots of pictures in the City Hall’s “Gold Room”.

Did you know: the City Hall was made from 8 million handmade bricks? Crazy. But very nice to look at.

The Stockholm Skyline

Go Forth, Young Seagull.

Our next stop is Helsinki, Finland. We have educated ourselves on the “Daughter of the Baltic” by going to a lecture on its history this afternoon.

I’ll be posting on Helsinki tomorrow.

[end old post]

[Uninvited] Guest Post!

Melissa and Jamie came to Chicago!!!

Now, of course, I'd like to believe that they came simply to see me, or lovely Meredith. Perhaps even our car-razy dog Caper. But, come on... we all know what the true objective here was:

Jack!!!

What a wonderful weekend! And I must say that for people with out a baby, they were incredibly accommodating of all the baby-related shenanigans that occurred on their watch. Seriously, I promise we don't only talk about his bodily functions and sleep schedule. And of course, being the generous types that they are, J&M also helped out with all the day to day activities, including helping to put Jack to sleep (as shown here), and keeping him entertained between bouts of tears!

But it was not simply fun and games. There was a city to see. For carrying around a 7-week-old, we got around...



We took a tour of downtown and Grant Park.














And even a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo where Melissa finally indulged her fantasy of being a Carleton grad by surrounding herself amongst them.


Thank you guys so much for coming to visit. We loved having you, and would love to have you again. No, seriously, come back. Caper needs to go outside, and we've got our hands full here.

Much love,
Drew (a.k.a. Rudy! Rudy!)

You Know You Got It Bad When...

...it's May and you're already planning out the next year of teaching...AND you're not even going to be in the classroom. Seriously.



This weekend was spent "Curriculum Mapping" (sadly, only my teaching friends will know exactly what that entails) for Writing lessons. Actually, last weekend was spent doing the same as well, but I refuse to have anything to do with Curriculum Mapping next weekend. The sad thing about doing this work is not the hours that go into it, but rather it makes me really sad that I won't be the one who gets to implement and execute it. And this is shaping up to be a really great curriculum map. Now that I'm out of the classroom, I am really remembering why I loved teaching. I was burnt-out...but I really miss my students...

But, let's move on. The reason I will NOT be doing any curriculum mapping next weekend is because that weekend marks the one year anniversary of my marriage! Sure, it's actually the Tuesday following, but really...it's close enough. I actually don't have school on Friday or Monday, so I get a super-long weekend to enjoy with my husband. We are traveling to the Eastern Shore, staying in a B&B and taking in some time away from work.

The year has flown by...and it's strange to think about all the things that have happened in that year. Jamie studied for and passed the California Bar, we took Canada by storm, and I started at a new school, reigned supreme as Iron Chef, returned to the Bahamas, was quoted in the Washington Post, and got a new job. It's been a busy year and I've been married to the very best Man Boo in all the world the whole time.

BUT, the most exciting part of my post-wedding life is one that I haven't mentioned yet. Are you ready? I'm going to be an AUNT! Not only that, but I'm going to be an AUNT to TWO new Umezakis! TWINS! BABIES IN THE FAMILY!

I have accepted that I will no longer be the apple of my father's eye...I may have been able to redirect some of the dotage off of one granddaughter. TWO granddaughters is hopeless. Still, it will be worth it to have NIECES! I cannot wait for Melissa Jr. and Melissa Jr. the Second...

Also...baby Weitz is due oh so soon! We're talking days...Sooooo exciting!

Moving Up.

Lots of changes over here!

Things have been "unsettled" at work lately and there have been lots of changes (both good and bad) taking place. One of the changes is that I have gotten a promotion of sorts. I am officially the new Head of Teacher Development at our school! The really great thing about this new position is that it was made for me. Hence, it is exactly what I want. Most excellent. The only downside is that I don't get to finish the year with my students. Fortunately, the teacher who is taking my place is excellent, and I know that my students will continue to do well.

This week is my first week fully-transitioned into my new administrative role. So if I haven't been updating lately, it is because I have been ridiculously busy with the new position. I promise.

And now: a Garfield (without Garfield)

Throwing a Bone.

Lots has been happening around and there is a lot to update about. No time right now, but I will soon! And NO there haven't been any life milestones or anything like that -- it has just been a long time since I have updated the blog.

In the meantime, entertain yourself with a website of which I am fond.