From last weekend...

So this weekend we had terrible weather. Lots of rain and it hasn't let up as I look at my raindrop spotted window. But last weekend, like 9 days ago, I remember that there was this yellow ball in the sky and it made me warm. It was on that weekend that I made a trip down to Dieburg (pronounced DEE-burg) to visit my good friend from the states, Adam, and his special lady friend Marie.

I was told we were making pizza, but when I arrived I learned that they had told Adam we were making pizza because he was unable to understand the concept of a pflamkuchen, which is in fact what we were going to make. I had never actually made pflamkuchen before, but I had eaten it at some of the weekly markets here in Frankfurt. This pflamkuchen was special, however, because we were making it in a homemade pizza oven! That's right, Marie's brother Martin and his friends had one of those itches, one of those, I need to build something itches. So they built a pizza oven in Christian's backyard.

After it was finished, they had a fundraiser baking pizzas and a good deal of the little town of Dieburg and even the newspaper showed up to take part. I was able to eat some delicious pflamkuchen that came out of this very oven. Oh the joys of a Sunday afternoon and the benefit of everything being closed and so people have 2 hours to heat up the oven and spend another 3 hours cooking and talking with friends.

Enjoy the pictures, and think about how much I enjoyed the pflamkuchen. I should probably describe it. It is a thin crust topped with a creme fraiche like sauce with toppings like cubed ham/bacon and onions. One of the pflamkuchen was veggie style with green olives, onions, and sheep cheese. Marie's little sister decided to make one herself with about triple the ham. It was a splendid evening, and was crazy to see an old friend from California 7,000 miles away from home in a little German village. And I know what you are thinking, and yes, sometimes I wear part my hair when I go to work, but I have since got it cut...

German Idol

Look at that. This is me after my first big day on the film set here at Freshfields. I know what you are thinking, but let me just straighten things out by saying I was wearing a wig all morning so my hair doesn't always look like that.

After having lived in Utah it has been somewhat of a shock moving out here to Germany and working with a bunch of people who don't really know what it means to "volunteer," or to "help out," or "take one for the team." As such, I have been doing an awful lot of "picking up the slack." I have been here a month and already I have been on more recruiting calls, student conferences, committees, and who knows what else than I would have imagined. And why? Because I am a sucker for the begging and pleading of the office management and recruiting teams that are doing their best to make this law firm run well.

What is the latest project that needed some assistance you ask? Movie making. Freshfields is making a movie to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the merger with Bruckhaus Deringer in Germany, and they needed a star. Are Germans terrible actors? Yes. Is it funny to try and see them act and try to speak English? Yes. Do they think that very simple things I say with an English accent are hilarious? Yes. And so it started. I play an English lawyer named Sir Benjamin, and apparently, I am hilarious. Today I improvised a summersault slash cartwheel across the negotiation table and they loved it! Loved it. And then when I took my british wig off and chucked it across the room these people couldn't get enough...

Day one is done. Can't wait to get back at it in the morning.

UPDATE. Here is a scene from day 2:

Birthday Cake

You've had a birthday shout hooray! Do you know why we shout hooray? Well in Germany the answer should be quite clear. Right now I am sitting at my desk eating some delicious cake. Who brought the cake? And why is it here? Well let me tell you a little something about how birthdays work in Germany.

Germans don't like to tell people when their birthday is, and this is because it is custom to throw a big party on your birthday. That's right, the birthday boy or girl has to throw their own party, bake their own cake, reserve their own VIP table at the club, make all the party favors, and order all the food... Now does that make any sense? No wonder no one wants to get any older...

Today someone in the office had a birthday. And because the firm circulates a birthday list, no one can hide. This has led to 4 different cakes in the kitchen on my floor. I chose to go with the berry deliciousness. And just to be extra sweet, I will snap a picture that I can upload later. Happy Birthday random person on my floor who felt obligated to bring cake for everyone!

And so it starts...

There comes a time in every man's life when he gets the urge to post something on his wife's blog: sometimes to correct a false or misleading statement, but more often to add omitted, yet material information, like sports, technology, video games, or something funny. So, about my blog.

If you happened to catch that lawyer jargon regarding securities disclosures earlier in this post, I pity you.

If you happened to catch that statement about my wife's blog, and knew I didn't have a wife, you are part of my target audience. I am writing this for me, my friends, and whoever else cares to blogstalk me...

I am in Frankfurt. It has rained for 40 days and 40 nights. I haven't been able to leave work while the sun was still in the sky, so this is my only link to the outside world. I don't know how long I will be here, and I don't know if I will ever make it out. Come join me on a journey, on an American's tale.