Germany - I'm coming

I'm going to see my sweet little neice. 1st - 12th October! It's gonna be gooo-aaad!

Noelani's 1. Geburtstag

My sweetest little cutie pie had her 1st birthday yesterday. Oh how sad I am not to be able to take part in my little niece's life. BUT I have purchased two flight vouchers from Lidl, so I can go to Germany anytime between 1st October - 31st March 2007 for just 40 quid. That's good, eh?

Meine kleine suesse Zuckerschnute. Alles alles Gute zu deinem 1. Geburtstag! Ich hoffe du hattest einen tollen Tag und ich freue mich jetzt schon dich bald wiederzusehen! Deine Tante Milena KUSSI!

Btw, If you've got time on your hands you should check out the beautiful Ashes & Snow exhibition online, that is if you like photographs linked together to tell a story as well as short video clips that go along with it. BEAUTIFUL & MAGICAL!

My 24th birthday

Wha' a lovely 24th birthday! This is the cake ceremony the day before the 29th (as the Gibson family went on holiday on the 29th)



On the 29th I got up early and opened my presents and had breakfast with the Gibsons.



Then I got ready to meet up with Ryon at 10am Covent Garden. He told me to look smart so this is how I looked:



The girls wanted to be in the picture with me and Inka joined us, too.



The big surprise was, that after having breakfast at Covent Garden, Ryon took me to the Royal Opera House to see Bolshoi. What a SWEET LITTLE BAER!!!

In the evening we went to Croydon, to see a bunch of friends. We sat outside, in the beergarden of the Dog and Bull Pub and two more people called Kevin and Heidi were celebrating their birthday there as well. It was a great evening! Around midnight we moved on to an 80s Club and danced til the early Morn'. I love dancing with Mr. Baer!

I wanna thank EVERYONE for making this a TRULY wonderful and SPECIAL day!!!

THANK YOU!

Germany

Here we went to a lovely restaurant called Carib and had some yummy food. By we I mean my sister Sylvie and her friends Beata and Brigitte. Noe was really good about staying up til late. There was a bunch of Londoners at the table behind us, so it felt like home. :) Lovely interiors as well by the way, a lot of palm trees and bamboo and stuff like that, exotic food, vibrant paintings of carribean subject matter, if you ever gonna stay in Berlin, you should definitely check this place out!

Brunchen im Via Nova

Ich denke gerne an diesen Tag zurueck. Brunchen im Via Nova und anschliessend zum Karneval der Kulturen und danach relaxen und quatschen in Suleyman's neueroeffneten Bar. Sehr gemuetlich orientalisches Ambiente. Und was fuer leckren frischen Pfefferminztee er hat! Schade, dass ich den Namen der Bar nicht mehr weiss, sonst koennte ich hier ein wenig fuer ihn werben! Oh was fuer ein schoener Tag! Mit Mami, Fouad, Sylvie, Noe, Niqui und natuerlich mir! :)

(Click on picture for bigger image)

Back to my duties as Aunty Milly. Here, she's showing off her 2 new white teeth!We gave Noe a bath. She explored the water quite respectfully at first. Later on she found out the trick of splashing water, we had to run for cover. My camera survived, my feet got wet. I have video footage of this, maybe...Oh, looking at this makes me miss her!

Fussballweltmeisterschaft

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???



For the 2 people that read this blog and are not interested in football:
Because them Nudeleaters scored two goals within the last 1.5 Minutes. Life isn't fair.

Worldcup-a new sense of identity

Soon the Worldcup will be over and I will put up some pics of my family and niece as promised, but as long as the Worldcup is going on AND Germany is in the game you'll have to bear with me :)

I have to admit the game on Friday versus Argentina was tough, I mean TOUGH. Yes, Argentina was the better team, but better at fouling as well. I was biting my nails out of nervousness. It was such a tense game, nothing compared to the one against Sweden. I had lost all hope up until the equalizer by Klose in the '80 or what minute. When we went into penalties a guy next to me said 'That's it, Germany will win'. And we did! :) After this match whole Germany was in Euphoria! My sister called me and said everything came to a stand-still during the game. It's quite amazing what a transformation my country is going through since the Worldcup has started! I'm on the outside, but I can still feel it! :) I read a about it in newspapers as well...It was an article by Boris Becker and the headline read "I don't feel sheepish anymore for being German". Germans dare to fly the flag, are proud of their country, what's going on? This Worldcup has help us to overcome our "sheepishness" and I hope this new feeling of integrity will stay with us, even if the Worldcup has ended!

Wish us good luck for winning this Worldcup! It would be quite lovely! :)

Tuesday, 4th July 2006, 8pm Germany vs Italy (semi final 1)

And please don't show Mrs Merkel on national TV this time. Even if she's a happy chancellor. (especially BECAUSE she is...)

We are the champions, my friend

JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! WE WON 2:0! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! ohoh Argentina is going to be a hard nut to crack! Wish us luck! All German-lovers (if there are any)...

The Guessing Game - Part 2

I guessed group C right, aren't I clever?

Group A:
Germany, Ecuador, Coasta Rica, Poland
Outcome: Germany, Ecuador, Poland, Costa Rica
Group B:
England, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Paraguay
Outcome: England, Sweden, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago
Group C:
Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro
Outcome: Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro
Group D:
Mexico, Portugal, Angola, Iran
Outcome: Portugal, Mexico, Angola, Iran
Group E:
USA, Ghana, Czech Republic, Italy
Outcome: Italy, Ghana, Czech Rep, USA
Group F:
Brazil, Japan, Australia, Croatia
Outcome: Brazil, Australia, Croatia, Japan
Group G:
France, Switzerland, Togo, South Korea
Outcome: Switzerland, France, South Korea, Togo
Group H:
Spain, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine
Outcome: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

In half an hour Germany is playing Sweden, so I better make my way to the Pub! Maybe I will meet some fellow countrymen?

Fun for Milly at the Polish Club

So yesterday Germany played vs Poland at 8pm GMT. So I thought I will sneak into the nearby Polish White Eagle Club and watch the game there. Security guards at the entrance welcomed me in polish tongue and with a simple nodding and 'Thank you ' (that's about all I can say in polish) noone really noticed I wasn't actually polish. A guy asked my (in polish :)) to write my name on a list and make a prediction for the game. So I saw this long list of typical names like Piotr with predictions of Poland 3 Germany 0 and I thought 'Ha! You wish!'. I added my prediction of Poland 1 Germany 2, but still noone got suspicious. :) In the hall, surrounded by about 200 polish people and hymns of "Polska, you're the Championy" and Germany dissing tunes, I started to feel as though I was betraying my country! And I was wondering if there is a place in London with a strong German community like that? I felt as though I had to hide my nationality in order to be safe. But it was a good experience anyway. I sat next to two polish guys, quite the stereotype, drinking loads, smoking loads, defined hard-contoured faces who were very friendly and invited me to a bottle of good old polish highland beer called harnas', pleasant tasting! So there I was in a hall filled with loud and rowdy polish people wishing I was polish to feel the patriotism and sense of belonging they must have felt and as the game went on neither of the teams scored. You could see the disappointment in their faces. Everytime the polish team got near the german goal everyone would stand up in excitement just to sit down again with diappointed grrrowls and grrrumples. Everytime a polish player took the ball off of a german player cheers and applauds went through the rows. But the game didn't just go quite badly for them, but for US, too! I mean, what the HAL was wrong with us????? I got the impression that we displayed poor performance, because *I* was betraying my country! So 9 minutes before the end of the game I decided to watch the end of it at home. AND, sehe da, within the last 3 minutes we SCORED a goal! YEAH! My equation was right! Germany, I WILL NEVER BETRAY YOU AGAIN!

Today: England vs Trinidad & Tobago, 5pm GMT

The Guessing Game - Part 1

bwaahahahaha! :)

My fiance can talk in a perfect German voice. It reminds me so much of this guy when he does it

Isn't this animal attributed to another nationality though?

I love his impression of a German!
Go Germany, go!
How great to be the host for this year's World Cup! :)))

Now I'm not nearly as experienced about the abilties of teams as everyone else, but my predictions for the the final table first round are as follows:

Group A:

Germany, Ecuador, Coasta Rica, Poland

Group B:

England, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Paraguay

Group C:

Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro

Group D:

Mexico, Portugal, Angola, Iran

Group E:

USA, Ghana, Czech Republic, Italy

Group F:

Brazil, Japan, Australia, Croatia

Group G:

France, Switzerland, Togo, South Korea

Group H:

Spain, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine

Sorry for the digression, by the way. What a bad aunt Milly I am! I had a marvellous time in Germany and took only about 300 pictures. The best selection will be shown off here in the following weeks to come...until then you have to be patient, because as for now Im in football fever :) Cant wait for USA to play against Czech Republic tomorrow at 5pm!

Germany

Yay! I'm going to see my little niece again.
30th May - 6th June. I will take loads of pictures to share!

Germany

Me and Noe at the Airport in Nov 2005. She was only a couple of weeks old there. Unfortunately she didn't make a nice face in any of the pictures, but no wonder. She had the sun in her face! Poor thing. I don't think I would have liked that when I was a baby. I quite like it. Im a leo so what do you expect?

Germany

This is probably the nicest picture I have of my sister and Noe. I really like it. It was a beautiful sunny Morning and we were about to pick up my parents and drive to a nice cafe for breakfast. It was all you can eat and the choice was huge! We definitely didn't go home hungry!

Dies ist wahrscheinlich das beste Photo was ich bisher von meiner Schwester und Noe habe. Mir gefaellt es sehr! Es war ein wunderschoener, sonniger Morgen und wir waren auf dem Weg Mutti und Vati abzuholen und in ein schoenes Cafe zu fahren um zu fruehstuecken. Man konnte so viel essen wie man wollte (fuer nen 10er oder so) und die Auswahl war wirklich riesig! Wir sind sicherlich nicht hungrig nach Hause gegangen!

Frohe Ostern!

Papa Grau

Gestrandet auf Papa Grau's Bauch! (Stranded on Papa Grau's Belly)

Noe's best friend

Look! It's Noe's best friend!

Walkies in Lübars

Yay! I did it. Multiple pics in one post without any mess-up.

That day I got me sisters car and took my mum, Mr Forester and both dogs to Luebars for walkies. It was a cooooold and crisp evening with a beautiful sunset. I always refer to the last pic as 'Lion King', as Ilife is standing on the highest viewpoint 'overlooking his territory' ;) It must be terribly cold for a Jamaican, but he seemed to be wrapped up warm. (Not that I would feel sorry for him anyway. oooops)

Babies Toys

Bwaaah wah wa *quietsch* bwaaaah wah wa ... *dumdidum di dumdidum di...* (the sound the elephant makes when you press the red button)

Cafe im Nu

Links seht ihr also meine Mama und Noe! Dieses Foto ist in einem urgemuetlichen Cafe im Prenzl'berg, Cafe im Nu, entstanden (mit Mucha Bildern an den Waenden, fast wie bei mir zu Hause :). Wir hatten ein ausgiebiges Fruehstueck mit Kaffee, Tee, einer schoen angerichteten Wurst- und Kaeseplatte & frischen Vollkornbroetchen dazu, 2 Teller Suppen und an mehr kann ich mich momentan nicht erinnern, aber was ich noch ganz genau weiss, ist der Preis! UNTER 15 Euro! W.O.W.! (Und da fiel mir auf, dass ich 'Londonerin bin durch und durch'. Von solchen Preisen kann man hier nur traeumen!) In einer Spielecke des Cafe's habe ich eine Ernie und eine Bert Puppe entdeckt und ueber den Tisch hinweg vor Noe damit rumgewedelt. Da hat sie ganz doll geschmunzelt! :) Ernie ist mit seinem breiten Grinsen auf mehr Resonanz gestossen als Bert!

A day in Germany

So, ich habe nun das Kabel gefunden und habe gerade alle Fotos von meinem letzten Berlin-Besuch runtergeladen. Da habe ich nun auch ein Foto von 'Papa'. Sie hat da so ein suesses Laecheln! Wenn ich es schaffe herauszufinden wie man Videos postet, dann kann ich auch mal ein Video von Noe in's Netz stellen. An dem Tag waren wir im Vircho- Klinikum. Hat so circa 2 Stunden gedauert und war nicht grad sehr aufregend, aber dafuer waren wir anschliessend jamaikanisch essen, was sehr lecker war!

I have been back in the UK for a while now. It was good to see my family and my niece. I took a lot of pictures. This time of the babyfather, too. I was planning to post some online, but can't do it at this point as I can't find the cable which connects the camera with the laptop. I might have to buy a new one as I can't find it anywhere. This is a picture I took in October 2005. I don't know why I like it so much. It's the expression on her face like "I don't know if I really like this whole photo session, Mama!" or something like this. The very same clothes she's wearing in that picture fitted her really nicely in Febuary, so she did grow quite a bit. I find it a shame that I can't see her more often, but therefore when I do see her I try to make the most of it! I don't know yet, when I will go to Germany next, as I have to sort out a few things in London. I might finish my AuPair job soon or maybe I leave it until summer, but I don't think I will stay another year with the english family. I'm already in the 3rd year of being an AuPair and though it's rather a nice niche I've found myself here, I feel that it's time to move on. Whether I will find my own place or move in with Ryon, here in England or back in Germany. Who knows? (but I'll always be near my Schatzi, of course....)

So it will be! Another 9 days, bis ich Noelani wiedersehe!It will also be 9 days until I see my Shirin again. There are two dogs, by the way. Muffin joined the family late 2004. I have to show you a picture of Muffin as well.There you can see him on the right. He's got such a sulky expression on his face! If everything goes as planned I'll be going to Berlin from 11.02.-18.02.06. Everyone has told me that this time parting will be difficult, as Noelani is so sweet now. As if she wasn't before! They say she's interacting with people and smiling more than when I first met her. That's what they say. I will find out soon!

Aloha Noelani!


Cutie cutie cutie pie was born on 12th September 2005 (picture taken end of October). It coincided with a major change in my life as well. On 8th of September the Grau's would finally be reunited. This time for good.

So here it is. A babyblog (literally). Never done that before so lessee. Which language shall I choose for it, German or English or Germinglish? Hmmmm. I guess my mood will decide. Anyway, Happy Birthday! Or: Zum Geburtstag viel Glueck!