Fasching, Skiing, and our return home

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Our internet has been down for almost two months. So, I have a lot to catch up on. I think I may do this in two blogs so not to make a really long blog but two smaller ones. We have done a lot since January!

In February we had Fasching (Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras- however, you want to call it). It is a huge thing here in Germany, as Diane has noticed in the Netherlands as well. We had a half day of work and it was just for a party. The kids come in costume. It is like Halloween but colorful and happy. Clowns are out selling confetti. Music bands are playing throughout the downtown area. Tons of people are drinking and dancing. It is one big party. I walked through downtown this year to get a feel for it. It was quite crazy, but people were having a lot of fun.

Chris' group from the lab decided to go skiing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen one Sunday. Since this was only Chris' second time on skis, it was a bit of a challenge. Where everyone in Germany doesn't quite understand how someone doesn't know how to ski, it was a little tricky for Chris to get the message across that he really doesn't know how. But I think he did a great job at it as it was a challenging mountain for a beginner. There are two lifts up the mountain and of course Chris' colleagues chose the lift that had only difficult runs at the top. So, we had to ski over to the other side to get to the bunny hills. It was difficult even for me who has grown up skiing. With not many falls we made it. It was a very sunny day and really warm. It was beautiful up there and while I waited for Chris and Tei, who was also a beginner and skiing with us, I got to take some gorgeous pictures. The alps are just beautiful.

At the beginning of March we did not do much except for Chris interviewing with KLA-Tencor in San Jose. Chris accepted a position as a research scientist. We originally aimed to leave Germany in July or August, but it turned out they wanted him to start mid April. Chris and I gave notice to our work places. It was quite hard to do, but we are ready for the next step in our lives. Chris got a flight April 23rd to move back to San Jose. I am moving June 2nd. I gave my work another month and half to give them more time to find a replacement. It will be strange to be away from each other for six weeks! My parents are coming to stay with me for most of it thankfully.

We are excited to be back in the States.