Er ist jetzt Australier (He is now an Australian)

Meat pies, lamingtons, anzac biscuits and Tim Tams...this is how we ate on Australia Day. Unfortunately Nathan didn't get a holiday :(

We had further reason to celebrate - Owen is finally an Australian Citizen. Since many of you have asked, Owen cannot get German citizenship because we are not German citizens. He could get it if we stay here for 8 years (as if!), and for the privelege he would have to relinquish his Australian citizenship - Germany does not allow dual citizenship.

When Owen's birth was registered, the German government considered him Australian, but up until 19 January, 2006, he wasn't considered so by the Australian government. Owen had to apply for Australian citizenship by descent, because he was not born on Australian soil. This required him to have a birth certificate from the Germans, which took about 1 month, then the embassy took over a month to process his application. So Owen was officially a citizen of no country for over 2 months. Fortunately we didn't plan a trip back to Australia during this time, or he would have been kept in a detention centre as an illegal immigrant!

We have thrown in a few more photos of Owen for good measure. First is a father-son penguin imitation.

Next is a comparison of their feet. It never ceases to amaze us just how tiny Owen's features are.

Not only are his feet small, but his fingers too. Here, Nathan is giving Owen a piano lesson. (The keyboard isn't ours - we have borrowed it.)

Even though he's little, you can get an idea of how much he's filling out. This is Owen in his muscle singlet.

In German, the country Australia is called "Australien", and an Australian is "ein Australier". It's pronounced almost exactly the opposite. So it's a bit strange when we feel like we are saying (in German) "I'm Australia", or "I come from Australian".

So bibbert Deutschland (This is how Germany bibbers)

This was the title of a temperature map of Germany in one of the popular newspapers. Our dictionary translates the German word "Bibbern" as "jitters". A better way to describe this is "the thing you do when it's really cold". A bit like shivering but including a bit of "brrrr".

So why is Germany bibbering? Because of -20 degrees celcius! This is unusually cold for Germany, but not the coldest it can get. Fortunately we only got this in the night, so the mornings were a toasty -14C. For those who haven't yet experienced this, any exposed part of your body stings from the cold, but also gets numbed. Gloves and mittens don't work any more (though it's better to have them than not), and your skin really dries out alot. Just spending time outside seems to exhaust you, so that you feel like staying home, having a hot drink and a sleep under the doona.

Jo's brother Richard and his fiancee Michele were here to enjoy the weather. They are living in Philidelphia, so it wasn't a shock at all for them. Here's a photo of them with Owen, in an outfit they gave him.

On Sunday we braved the cold to go to Church. On the way home we stopped by our trusty pond, which was still (not surprisingly) frozen over. Here's a picture of Richard under the bridge. We were more adventerous this time, since the ice had had more time and colder temperatures to become really hard. It's fun to take a run-off and slide on the ice. You've got to be careful though that you don't take a tumble!



Owen had a really fun time with his Uncle. Richard somehow managed to get him to laugh out loud lots during the visit. Owen will miss him, though he laughs with Jo too. Nathan must be too boring - Owen only smiles at him.

Richard also started teaching Owen how to rap. Yo brother!

Did you know that you have to pay to go to a public toilet in Germany (actually throughout most of europe)? At the main train station, you have to pay 60c for a "Pissoir", and €1.10 for "Toilette". I hadn't noticed this until Richard took this photo - just in case you don't understand the words, there's helpful pictures to guide you to the right turnstile. Girls only get the expensive option.

In the same newspaper with the bibbering map, there was some interesting info and advice about cold weather. Here's a translation for your education:
0C. Water freezes. Disk brakes freeze. Door locks freeze shut.
-5C. Elephants and african antelope can get frozen ears. The reason - poor circulation.
-10C. Remove piercings from your face. Metal transfers cold readily - you can quickly get frostbite. [This is quite important advice, facial piercings are relatively popular here].
-12C. If you leave beer on the balcony, there is a danger of explosion. At -3C, your beer will already go flat!
-14.5C. Hedgehogs change their metabolism and go into a winter ridgidity.
-18C. Bacteria and mold have no chance. Meat doesn't go off at all.
-20C. The welded joints of the train tracks become brittle and start to tear apart.
-22C. Diesel petrol becomes gluggy. Normal petrol is no problem.
-24.5C. Rechargeable batteries, videocameras and digital cameras give up after 5 minutes.
-30C. Breathing becomes an adventure. Nosewings (nostrils??) can easily freeze together with each breath.
-32C. Car radiators with normal anti-freeze can burst.
-40C. Your eyelashes freeze together from the tear fluid.
-45.8C. Coldest temperature ever measured in Germany. 25th January 2002 at the "Funtensea".
-88.3C. Coldest temperature ever measured in the world. South pole.
-273.15C. Absolute zero. You can't get any colder. All atoms are still.

Der zweite Monat (The second month)

Owen is now two months old! What did he get as a present? Firstly, a visit to a genuine German Solarium! This is important to keep up his vitamin D levels, but you can't go for free very often. It's a popular pastime for Germans to go and get a fake tan at a solarium. One German explained to Nathan, after coming to work with a tan, "It makes you feel good". Our Owen's not going to get depressed!

Next, Owen got a new bed! Look at how big he is now in his old bassinet, and how small he looks in his new cot!



He also got a visit to a frozen pond - quite a novelty for the whole family! This is the same pond you've seen many times in our various photos - in Johanna park. Here's Nathan standing on the surface. We didn't dare let Jo stand on it, because if Nathan was to fall through the ice, at least Owen would still get fed - we're responsible parents now, and have to think of our boy! In the background you can see someone ice skating. We guessed that if the locals are ice skating, it should be safe.

Here are the ducks and other water birds. They've still managed to keep their access to the water, but their long channel has turned into a small hole. Looks like they're fighting a losing battle. Actually, we're not sure why they bother - that water would be close to 0 degrees celcius - but they don't seem to mind.

Now a few more shots of Owen. First is Owen with his nonchalant look - hands in pockets with not a care in the world.

Here's SnuggleOwen, the less well know gumnut baby.

And finally, a shot of Owen with his latest trick. He's discovered his own hand. He spends several minutes every waketime examining his right hand with keen interest - right before putting it in his mouth. Slurp slurp!

Heilige Drei Könige (Three Kings Day)

In Germany, the 6th January (the 12th day of Christmas) is called the Three Kings day. It's supposed to be when the Three Kings visited baby Jesus to give him gifts of Gold, Frankensense and Myrrh. Of course, those who have read the account carefully would know that we don't know how many kings came, and that they probably arrived over a year after Jesus was born. Amazingly enough, it's actually a public holiday in some states - including the one where Nathan works.

On the 6th, you're supposed to take down your Christmas decorations and tree. We didn't have a tree for Christmas, but we were lent a small one on Boxing day, which Jo decorated.

Here's a photo of Owen in his "Sunday Best". We managed to put together a perfectly matching set of clothes, right down to the socks!

Owen's Development
We've really noticed how much Owen has changed and grown since his birth. It's hard to show in pictures, but here's an attempt.

Firstly, he's really put on weight - both in length and chunkyness. Check out the thunder thighs!

He's starting to get some hand-eye coordination. Here he is with a his little friends. He likes to stare at them, and will occassionally send them spinning with a well-aimed swipe. We tried to get an action shot, but this was the best we could do.

He's even starting to use sign-language to communicate. We've been signing "food" to him and when he's hungry, he makes this sign (tips of fingers together, touching chin). It's not exactly right, but he is quite consistent with it - he only does it when he is hungry. Of course, the other explanation is that he's "fisting" - trying to eat his hand when he's hungry. Doesn't matter to us - we just tell him he's a very clever boy!

No matter how clever he is, just after he's had a good feed, he tends to space out - perfectly content with life.

Silvester (New Years Eve)

They have a special name for New Years Eve here - Silvester. So far, none of the Germans we have asked can explain why it's called that.

There's a tradition here (of at least 40 years), of watching a short british comedy sketch called "Dinner for One". It's played directly in English (ie not dubbed into German, as the majority of English language shows are), and it seems that every TV station plays it at least once during the evening, but each at a different time. That means everyone has a chance to watch it, no matter what their plans for the evening! Nathan forced Jo and Jo's parents to watch it "to take part in the German tradition". We weren't very impressed, and have trouble working out exactly why this tradition exists!

In Germany, anyone is allowed to use fireworks on New Years Eve. It's the one day of the year when you do not need a licence to buy and let off fireworks. All the shops were filled with cheap fireworks, and it seems that every man and his dog bought some. We didn't for two reasons - we couldn't be bothered, since it would have been too much effort with Owen, and when he was younger Nathan had a near miss with a firework that skimmed his face, dangerously close to his eyes. Despite not taking direct part, we were treated to a free viewing of fireworks at midnight, that lasted for well over half an hour. The sheer number of fireworks that were used meant that simply looking out the window (we do NOT have a great view of the city) was enough to rival front row seats at the Sydney fireworks... OK, that's an exagerration, but it was not too shabby. Unfortunately, photos of fireworks don't come out very well, but here's one anyway.

At midnight, all you could hear was explosion after explosion and for as far as the eye could see, there were fireworks everywhere. It seemed absolutely crazy! Some were in our street, the next street, from balconies across the road, every building for the next 10 blocks in every direction....you get the idea.

We haven't had any close up shots of Owen recently, so here's a few. First is one showing him getting close to outgrowing his bassinet.


And here's one of Owen in the bath.

Here's Owen in some home made booties and mutze (beanie). The colours were very thoughtfully chosen by Jenny to match Nathan's NRL team - the Tigers!.


In the few days before Silvester, there was even more snow. Here's Jo's dad having some fun.

And here's a BIG snow man. We didn't make this one - we don't have the skill and experience of native born Germans!

Some kids tobogganing down one of the few hills in Leipzig.

2. Weihnachstag (Boxing Day)

Over here, Boxing day is called the 2nd Christmas day. We had a heavy snow fall on the evening of Christmas day, so Boxing Day was beautifully white!

So we went out to Johanna park again, but this time with Owen in a baby carrier so he could more easily get out and about and actually experience the winter air.

The lake (pond) was starting to freeze over. The ducks kept a channel open by continuously swimming back and forth, but we're told they will migrate once they can't access the water any more.

Vera made a little snow man for Owen - his first ever!

In the afternoon, Nathan went to visit a family we know from Church. He played Niagara with the parents and two older kids, and saw their fully decorated REAL Christmas tree. The decorations included lighted candles, which seems a little dangerous to us!




In the last post, we forgot to include this photo. At the christmas markets, you can buy the lebkuchen hearts with tacky messages on them. We bought Owen this one - it means "for my treasure".

Important language tip: Beware of Falsche Freunde (False Friends). This is a phrase used to describe words that sound the same in English and German, but actually have very different meanings. They can get you into trouble if you don't realise! Some examples. Sensible in German means sensitive in English. Bekommen in German means receive/get in English. Gift in German means poison in English. Kontrollieren in German means check in English.

Real life examples (edited for clarity) of false friend mistakes:
1) I'm worried about this manufacturing process - it is very sensible.
2) He becomes a computer tomorrow.
3) Customs officer (in German): What is in your bags? Traveller: Es gibt nur Gifts (There's only poison). One sure way to delay your exit!
4) Tomorrow morning we will control Owen's blood.

Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)

This year, since we have been a little busy with Owen and visitors and due to the distance and astronomical prices of postage to Australia, we are doing our Christmas card as a post here. Normally Jo would be revelling in making many many Christmas cards by hand and doing her best to get Nathan to write in some of them or at least sign them... not so this year (Nathan is rather glad!).

We are sorry this is not individual and personal this year and also that it is very late.

May you remember the real meaning of Christmas, the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth as a baby. We hope that the new year sees you tackling each day with renewed energy and living each day with hope.

We enjoyed Christmas with Jo's parents and our very good friend, Vera. Jeff and Wendy (here from America for 2 years - we know from church) also joined us for Christmas lunch after we all attended the Christmas service at church in the morning. We could enjoy hot food without sweltering, unlike our friends and families in Sydney. It snowed very late on Christmas night so we actually did have a white Christmas after all.

After lunch, we played a game of "Niagara". It's a new board game that won the German "Spiel des Jahres 2005" (Game of the Year 2005). Here's a photo of us with Jeff and Wendy just after we finished. It's a five player game, and Owen won. Only joking, Vera was the other player, but she's taking the photo.

In the evening were ate leftovers and opened our presents. I know - we said we would do this on Christmas Eve, but we didn't get around to it. Here's a photo of all of us with a selection of the Christmas gifts. Vera is taking the shot again.
Here's proof Vera was really there.

If you've got reindeer antlers and a baby, then it's inevitable....