Whereever you are...

...Kati and Guim wish you

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Fröhliche Weihnachten

We did a little Christmas dancing, only for you! Check it out.
Lots of love.

German Christmas cookies...

This one is especially for my all-time favorite students in Japan. I hope you remember and are making lots of Christmas cookies! Thank you for all your lovely Christmas cards. I miss you and think about you!



Vanilla Crescents

200 gr butter
100 gr sugar
half a vanilla bean or vanilla aroma
100 gr ground almonds
260 gr flour
powdered sugar

Knead the sugar and the butter. Add the vanilla. Knead in ground almonds and flour to make a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and cool in the fridge for an hour. Form into a roll (diameter: 4cm). Cut pieces of 2 cms. Form crescents and bake them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper for about 10 minutes at 190 degrees Celcius. Cool them a little before taking them off the baking sheet (if not they will break.) Coat them with the powdered sugar and cool them entirely. Store them in a tupperware to keep them crunchy.

...and Santa's on its way!

Yipiiiiieh, it's almost Christmas. That means today is the last working Sunday for Guim and of course it's already vacation for those worked harder in school and don't have to work on the weekends :))) On the 25th, we'll receive Guim's dad, grandma and Max Almighty for a savory Christmas dinner (should be savory after calling my mom 3 times for advice ;)) and heading towards the maternal side of the in-laws later on. Now I just have to find a way to pass the presents already lying under the Christmas tree without opening them yet...

The first of advent...

has come and we are everything but in a Christmas mood: poor Guim's average workweek consists of over 60 hours now until 9:30 pm every day. We are having dinner at 10 pm!!! This includes Saturdays and Sundays, on which I sit home alone. 3 more weeks to go like this! Could anybody send us an energy boost? The good news is that the future is looking bright. Everybody at Toys is very satisfied with Guim's performance, so there is a good chance for us to stay in Bordeaux after Christmas, instead of being sent somewhere else. Keep your fingers crossed, guys. If we stay, we'll consider enlarging the Sarthou-Zimmermann family ;) Have a peaceful advent time and don't forget to be nice to overworked vendors in the stores!

Globetrotters in Bordeaux...

After having visited us once in the U.S. and twice in Japan, Kati's parents came to enjoy French culture and cuisine for a few days last week. Between the opulent meals and great conversations, we showed them around the area. We also headed back to the wine chateau where we had our wedding reception to buy a few bottles of "our" wedding wine: Sauternes, Chateau d'Arche Grand Cru 2003. It felt weird to be back there after a year and 4 months - and kinda cute... All you need is love, dumdidudidoooooh!

Scooterized!!!

There it is, the Japanese beauty that takes Guim to work during the week and the two of us around Bordeaux on the weekend. Just to beat the REAL motorcycle drivers out there to it - yes, it only goes at a 110 km/h, but we feel the need for beautiful scenery more than the need for speed. Especially during yesterday's tour - after I probably broke my toe hitting a bedpost at full speed on Saturday. Beauty, eh?

I 'ave got an 'at....

Will somebody sell the French a couple of "H"s, please? They even adapt their grammar to their pronunciation mistakes! Is it very obvious that I started teaching English again? After tons of CVs, a few interviews and sorting out the chaotic, unprofessional language schools that exploit their employees, I finally found myself two more part-time teaching jobs for Business English (yeah, right, like any of the students that I was supposed to teach Business English to had the level of English necessary for that) and discussions in English. Ah well, I am happy - after all, it is my vocation. Plus, it'll keep me from having too much free time, while Guillaume is working his pants off 9/6 in the pre-Christmas craze at Toys "R" Us. No pity, please ... or just a little bit ;)
Love to all of you!

1001 castles...

To celebrate the last weekend of freedom before Guillaume's job start, we headed 2 and half hours north of Bordeaux to a region called "Perigord Noir" - the black Perigord (named in medieval times when the ruling couple plundered and terrorized the region beyond belief) for a romantic getaway. After a Saturday of sightseeing in caves and castles, we felt ready for a 5-course meal of local specialties - foie gras, prepared in all possible ways, duck breast, duck gizzards ... all the goodies! That made sightseeing on Sunday a little more difficult and slower, but we still managed to see two very famous caves before driving back to Bordeaux, ready for the new challenge!

Toys "R" Us!!!

Guillaume found a job. "Department Manager" at Toys "R" Us in Bordeaux. Starting date: October 8. Done with the darn job search! Yipeeh..... Start making lists guys, we'll get 20% off all toys at Christmas time.

In the days when we were swinging from the trees I was a monkey...

In France they call it "Acrobranche". You climb up about 4 meters on a platform attached to a tree, vanquish several handicaps while moving from tree to tree, and finish with a zipline before you safely land on the other side. Ours came with 4 levels of difficulty. And a 300 m zipline above a lake. Fun times... You won't feel your arms the next day, though.

Guim goes wacky.

Do you want to know what a day of job hunting on the internet does to your brain? Answer below.

Vincent and Celine tied the knot

Which is good for the both of us. For one, Guillaume is back with his oldest baseball buddy. "Homerun, homerun, Sato-san!" For two, Celine is just as happy as myself about spending the (usually lonely) baseball weekends together watching movies and doing girls' stuff. Hallelujah!
It was a beautiful day, beautiful wedding, beautiful couple. Congratulations! We are so happy for you guys!

The last two months in a nutshell.

Packed and sent our stuff. Paid a fortune. Said 'goodbye' to the people we have grown so fond of. Cried our eyes out. Left Japan. Stranded in Bordeaux. Bought a car. Got registered everywhere. Said 'hi' to everybody we hadn't seen in ages. Got new haircuts. Sent one million CVs. Indulged in delicious French food. Enjoyed the beautiful beach. Witnessed Vincent and Celine get married. Took up baseball again, started running and lost weight - well at least one of us. Received our 240 kg parcels. Decorated the apartment the Japanese way. Swore at the 'Bordelais' for their crazy driving and the two dents they made in our new car. Had homemade Japanese "onigiri" and felt remorse for having left this wonderful country. Had delicious French "foie gras" and felt better. Life is good.

Three years...

...since we left the United States and parted with a big bunch of nice people. Six weeks since we left Japan and parted with an even bigger bunch of even nicer people. Too many years since we left our families in their little corners of the world. Countless weeks we have been telling ourselves we need to set up a blog to keep in touch with these people. Three minutes since we have finally put this plan into action. Yipee, now we won't have any more excuses to not keep you updated on our lives. Hehe, now you won't have any more excuses to forget about us - the crazy French-German reconciliation team.