now that I'm officially unemployed...

I have time to do things like work on a blog. I can't seem to find a template I'm happy with, so this blog may look different from time to time until I find something I'm satisfied with. But a blog isn't about looks, right? It's about content. And I can assure you that the content of my postings will have you checking in at least once a year when you have absolutely nothing to do at work and begin wondering what ever happened to that girl who said something about moving to Germany...

Well, I haven't moved yet. I still have one week here in DC, a city I love and call home. It's been a crazy, wonderful, sad, and fun month. I had a great time seeing everyone on Saturday night -- I really appreciate you coming out. Like I said, you guys make it both easy and difficult to leave: easy because of your support and encouragement and difficult because of how much I know I will miss you. For those of you who weren't able to make it, I hope our paths will cross soon.

So I can live up to my assurances of making my posts halfway decent, I won't bore you with my attempt to do my taxes today. But, I will leave you with a quote my lovely and wise sister shared with me:

"Wer ein Ziel will, darf den Weg nicht scheuern, er sie glatt oder rauh." -Theodor Fontane

'cause you're never to old to learn something new

Some facts and figures courtesy of Let's Go on the web:

• Only unified since 1871, the German nation is younger than the United States.
  
• Germany has the world’s third largest economy, behind the US and Japan.
  
• At 2.4% of the population, Turks form the largest ethnic minority.
  
• Germany’s total population is approximately 83 million, 10.5% of which is unemployed. (Uh, great!)
  
• Germans drink about 120L of beer per person per year. (This may be my biggest cultural challenge!)
  
• German breweries produce 10% of the world’s beer.
  
• The national soccer team holds 3 World Cups and 3 European Championships. (Go team!)
  
• The total land area of Germany is half the size of Montana.

i'm going deutsch people. 02.05.07 (or perhaps i should say 05.02.07 to be germanically accurate).