Thursday, November 11, 2010

OPOL is great but . . .



When my German husband and I first decided to have children, I knew in my heart that at least their first years would be in Europe and most likely in a Germanic country.  Lo and behold, as is the case with almost everything in my life when it comes to my dear husband, I was right (insert the ¨I told you so dance¨).  

With my daughter I travelled back and forth to the States when she was young twice a year  so  she could get some of the ¨Americanness into her blood - you know, it is all about the water. The trips had of course nothing to do with my homesickness (although even at the time I was in strong denial of that to myself and everyone else) or my desire to buy the both of us some fabulous clothes that I could not in Germany.  Germany had nothing like Target or Marshalls and the Gap had closed its store on the Köenigstrasse in Stuttgart only months before she was born.  So two times a year I took the flight from Stuttgart to Atlanta, thank goodness it was non-stop, and trudged home to my mom's place for weeks at a time.  Mind you I had also been doing this before my daughter was born but now there was the urgent need to have her immersed in the culture and language of America.  When my son came along, things began to change.  We had just moved to Switzerland when my son was six months old and I was trying my best to become more settled into our life in Zürich making it home only once a year.   

Before we had kids, my husband and I discussed ad nauseam the best way to support both languages in our home and outside. We decided for our family that OPOL - the one parent, one language system - would be best. In addition, I supported the idea that all media should be in American-English as well all kid's movies and music.  Did I mention that I only spoke English to Thomas, and vice versa, although my German really is quite good?  I didn't mention it? Ooops.  

The system was great.  Over the years, almost six now, we amassed quite the DVD and book library and not to mention the crafts which had to be American. My suitcase, and that of anyone coming to visit from the States, was chock full of anything I thought would help the kids in ¨their¨ pursuit of a perfect English.  I even bought some of the books that are for 7th graders studying American Art because, and I think more expat moms would agree, ¨You never know if what you see will be available again so buy it now.¨   The term ¨hoarder¨ can also be used.

So now we are in Canada which (shhhh, do not mention this to anyone up here) is for me just like being in the States as far as the language is concerned.  We still practice OPOL but now my husband is on the short end of the stick. Not only does he travel a lot right now making OPOL really ¨one parent, the other one is not here so by default there is only one language¨. Which brings me to my bone of contention du jour:  we are now watching kids movies in German.  

Friday night is in our  family movie night and this week, a mere nine weeks after arriving, my husband put his foot down on movie night. ¨No more  movies in English¨ he decreed.  Really, I thought.  Hmmm, this is going to be bad. I hate dubbed movies, even if they are cartoons. Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria are from the Central Park Zoo, not from the Hamburg Zoo.  But even I see the importance of supporting German in the house. The kids right now speak German only with their dad and it is not enough.  Their German is deteriorating at a pace almost on par with mine.  I actually tried to speak to the kids twice now in German, thinking that while we are in an English speaking country we can use the ML@H method where the family would speak the minority language at home.    ¨You do not speak German, only Daddy,¨ was the response I received from my three year old.   Well, okay then. And that was the end of ML@H.

I understand that I should lighten up about it.   Last week, under my own initiative, I went to the Oakville Library and checked out two children's books in German and I even read to the kids in German. For some reason, reading a book was acceptable to for the kids.  And to be honest, it was good for me also as I no longer speak any German.   And the best of all was that we all enjoyed time together doing something very different and at the same time very comfortable and comforting . . . reading in our mother-tongue.

Gute Nacht und bis Morgen!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Simply Lovely!

The best thing about being back home, well, not really home but at least on the same continent, is the love of jewelry that is being reawakened in me.  Somehow I sort of lost that in the last 10 years abroad and more in the last 6 years since having kids.  I admit it, kids made me frumpier than I would have liked.  Since moving here, my kids at six and three and a half and slowly becoming more independent (insert sound of sigh of relief).  Now going out and about I find myself looking for new things to spice up my life and subconsciously convey to the world that I am a different person (my analyst would love this).  Of course, this is all made easier with the ease and convenience of the North American lifestyle.



So how best to convey this change and feel good about myself and help the economy at the same time? Well, I discovered Winners up here in the Great White North (which is all of the above minus the ¨white¨).  Think Marshalls and TJMaxx rolled into one fabulous store which I love perusing for a half hour once a week. I think of it as yoga for the merchandising soul in me while keeping my husband at bay with their great prices.  Even my best friend who was visiting from Stuttgart found an amazing down stadium coat from DKNY among some other great bargains.  Seriously, you have to love (North) America!  But I digress.

As much as I love to get the great bargains, I certainly do not find one of a kind pieces there. So I need  to buy accessories elsewhere. While visiting Atlanta a few weeks back I looked at a few great boutiques in Decatur and Edgewood  as well as Anthropologie to find some one of a kind pieces and jewelry.  None of the necklaces I saw really spoke to me. But then I remembered a great little store a friend of mine recently opened on Etsy. You know Etsy, right?  Yeah, that is the site you can ogle over everything you ever wanted or needed and it is all unique and handcrafted. 

I jumped online as soon as I got home and found two great necklaces for my simple t-shirts as well as my fancier tunics. I have known Pam since 1996 when a mutual friend of ours introduced us in Atlanta. Since then we have followed each others lives and I have always been in awe of her. Not only is she a full-time working mom of two gorgeous girls but also a very creative soul.  She just recently began her jewelry line  simply livly  Her necklaces are bold but simultaneously comfortable and amazingly lightweight, sassy while being refined.  Luckily, she ships internationally so a week after I ordered them, I was wearing my golden crystal necklace.  

Simply Lovely!
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