Digging out

Today, we were digging out of snow. For my boys the snowstorm was a great opportunity to make some extra cash with snow shoveling.

While they were out asking the neighbors if they wanted help, I used the quiet time in our house to write a entry for my coach4u blog about job satisfaction. Discussions with my students this week in my Psychology in business and Industry class had inspired me. Read http://blog.coach4u.net/

Tired of Snow!!

This is the hard part of getting used to New England: the winters and the never ending snow. While my friends in Germany compete already in blogging their spring pictures with nice little flowers and lady bugs in it, must we again start shoveling. Brrr....

Liondancers in Boston

Well, I'm a little late with these pictures from the Boston Chinese New Year event last Sunday. It looks like that I have adapted too much already to the fast paced American lifestyle. Always busy, never having time....

However, better late, then never:

Happy Valentine's Day

Chinese New Year

About America, I love the diversity and the "melting pot feeling". Yesterday started the Chinese New Year and I called a friend of mine to wish her a happy New Year. According to the Chinese calendar, it's now the Year of the Rat. In Boston, there will be on February 17 a big celebration in Chinatown and we are looking forward to it. Every year, it's a lot of fun to watch the lion dancers, drummers and all the firework.

Groundhog: Six more weeks of winter

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, thus we will have six more weeks of winter.

Today is Groundhog day, and according to the traditional belief, if the groundhog can see on February 2 his shadow because it's a sunny (and normally also cold) day, spring is still far away. This tradition was "imported" to the USA by German settlers, who immigrated in the mid-1800s. In Europe at that time, groundhogs were rare, so people watched for badgers, bears, and hedgehogs, as signs of winter's end.

Punxsutawney Phil lives in Pennsylvania and his weather forecast on Groundhog day attracts every year thousands of people. Therefore, he is probably the most famous weather forecaster in the world.

Massachussetts doesn't want to depend any longer on Phil's forecast. There is Mrs. G., a female groundhog, who is living at the Drumlin Farm, a property of the Audobon society, and according to an initiative Mrs. G. is to become Massachusetts State groundhog.

Well, if this initiative is rejected, I would have to offer an alternative:

In my garden here in Arlington, MA lives this handsome groundhog fellow - no name yet, but I bet he is also good at weather forecasting. Didn't see him today, though. Perhaps a good sign - since the weather was fine and he would have seen his shadow (or is he a she?).

American Food

What to eat and what to avoid - at least, if you want to keep the pounds off?

This is a question many immigrants ask since the food in the US is not only different; it also has a lot of hidden fats. In Austria, we are used to eat the visible fat on meat - most Americans feel disgusted just by the thought of it. We also use butter on sandwiches. Still, I believe our diet in Austria has been less fat-saturated than here.

In the first months after our arrival, I gained a couple of pounds because I just didn't realize how many calories are in a burger or in a slice of pizza. Since I returned to daily cooking, mostly Austrian dishes, the pounds are gone.

If you also wonder, what to eat and what to avoid - there is a great article on yahoo about take-out food. Don't miss it: http://food.yahoo.com/blog/editorspicks/7112/make-take-out-healthier-dishes-to-order-and-avoid