Give me a High Five #2: Heimweh

das Heim = home

weh = sick

as ding = thing, die Dinge = things

This has been a very hard week. Perhaps it's because it's the holidays and all I want to do is crawl on the couch with my head in my Mutti's lap as she scratches my head and watches her current USA tv show (Royal Pains? Covert Affairs? Which is it now, Mutti?). Perhaps it's the Christmas lights that I see everywhere and I keep thinking that I'll be going home soon to spend time with family, friends, and chex mix. Perhaps it's because one of my closest friends is coming to visit in T minus 2 days (as long as the weather cooperates). Whatever it is, this week has been one of the worst weeks as far as Heimweh. Sad Kitty is not working. KaDeWe is not working. I. Miss. Home. Where is home? No idea...CT? DC? USA? Whatever it is, it is missed. Some things seem silly, some are serious. Here are the five (plus a few extra) things that I am Heimweh for:

1. Family and Friends. I love you all. I wish I could just text you or call you without having to worry about a time zone. I miss seeing you, some of you regularly, some of you only a few times a year. Some of you, I used to talk to constantly, but since being here, have only talked to you once...maybe twice. You know who you are. I still think about you all the time and wonder what you are up to.
2. My kitchen gadgets/spices. Silly, but I have a fantastic spice and kitchen gadget collection at home, and here, there are the basics. Don't get me wrong! Manuel (our subletter) has basically everything one needs to do your basic cooking and baking. I miss my crock-pot and immersion blender like you wouldn't believe. I miss my lemon squeezer and am tired of doing it by hand and getting my fingers all sticky. I miss my 3 variations of cinnamon because one variation is clearly not enough. I miss my omelet pan that never seems to work and instead of omelets, turns into scrambled eggs.
3. Familiarity. I'm tired of walking into something as simple as a Kino and not knowing what to expect. I haven't had my hair cut since July because I'm petrified of a- not knowing how to explain what I want, b- not knowing if I should tip, and c- getting a bad haircut because I can't figure out how to explain what I want. Most of my familiarity issues are due to not knowing enough German.
4. NFL. Yes, I watch the Pats (still don't know how they won this past week!), but football is usually always on in the background so that through osmosis, I know what's happening with most teams, not just mine. Jack asked if I thought that this was the year that the Pats would win the superbowl. I didn't know how to answer because I have no clue how everyone else is doing. Reading stats are different than actually watching them.
5. Teaching. Who knew? I was ready for taking a year off to pursue other hobbies, but in reality, I love teaching children, even with all of the crap that goes with it. 
6. US food, and no I don't mean burgers and crisco. I mean little silly things, like vanilla extract, pumpkin, peppermint, brown sugar, cilantro, black beans...these basic things, believe it or not, are extremely hard to find, and when you do, are crazy expensive. These are things that I use all the time and I can't get (easily or cheap) here! No, I am not a flexible person, and adapting to German ways is a very tough thing for me to do.
7. The smells. It smells...different...here. I can't explain it. It just doesn't smell like home.

Sorry for the Debbie-downer post. I needed to vent. 

The good news is that Susan will be here soon (yay!!!) and I know that seeing her will help me feel a bit better :)