my first Montag in Mannheim (monday in mannheim)

German word of the day is Anmelden, means, Sign In.

Yes, i figured it out here cause everthing is in German. The google.com.de instead of google.com.my, the keyboard (I am still having a hard time finding the DEL, CTRL and SHIFT key and sometimes confuse the Y and the Z and they have this ß, ö, ä, ü). I had a hard time installing JAVA cause everything was in german.. It took me awhile to take out $ from the ATM machine cause Ikhwan had to assist me, the tv channels are all in German except CNN.. even the instructions to the curry powder are in german :) hehe I laughed and thought gosh, Guten Tag, Danke and bitte schön are just nanobytes of the German language.. and I really wanna learn more now :) it's exciting!

It's amazing. Living in a foreign land, with a foreign language and everything else is foreign except your other half who understands what your saying.. I still sometimes pinch myself (literally). Alhamdulillah..

We still have a bit of jet lagged, and sometimes the occassional homesick kicks in. But thanks to Ikhwan's Voipstunt, I call home on average 2 times a day to check on Mama Papa and sometimes ask Mama on how to cook curry or to manage kitchen things (which I am learning very hard now). No complaints from Ikhwan so far. And knowing him, he doesn't complain. Now that I am staying with him and understanding his life over here, I learned why he doesn't complain. This experience opened my eyes on how we should really be thankful with what we have. And Alhamdulillah.. Things could be worse.. But Allah is generous to bless us with what we have now. I am not just saying it because he is my husband and the bunga bunga cinta talk, I know him for how many years, though through very distant but we talk a lot and we understand and trust each other. People who know him knows that he doesn't complain. That's just Ikhwan. One of the many reasons why I love him.

Yes, married life in a foreign land. I am still coping and learning. Sometimes I feel like it's orientation when he shows me how to use the coffee machine, how to do the laundry, or showing me around places or what to do when what happens. Hehe. There are times that I feel like a freaking Asean tourist (which I am apparently) with 1 DSLR camera and a very good compact camera with 2 batteries (yes I know I am a freak). I get that occassional weird look which I am starting to get used to. I am loving every German thing and I will say, 'Omigod, that is sooooo German!!!' and of course he will roll his eyes and shake his head.. hehehe..

People will ask me, 'how's married life?' (usually the ones who are married) and me being naive will tell them what I feel. Some will give advices, some will just grin and give me they 'yeah this is only the beginning' look. It's hard to comprehend what people have in their minds when they throw me those questions. Are they just waiting to rub it in to my face ? Are they genuinely happy for me ? Are they waiting for me to give them an answer that they really wanna hear ? Honestly, I think that people should not ask someone on how's their marriage life is like. Because in Islam, and to me, personally, I feel that it's very personal. And I believe that whatever a person share with their other half is only between the two of them.

So yes, it's been a few weeks. And I don't know much about this new life but give me a chance to explore and learn and experience. And I think the best of people to give advice to us are our parents. Because they raised us from day one. They are the ones who know us, our actions, the way we think and the way we handle any situation. and the best part is.. They have never asked us 'how's married life?' because I know at every prayer, they pray for us.. Thanks Mama, Papa, Mak and Ayah :)

I know I promised a lot of pictures but give me time to edit it first ok.. Cikyah shared with me a very interesting lesson in photography she learned from Sifu Foo, 'there's always a story to be told in every picture. You must concentrate and think very hard on what story you want to tell and click with your heart'

what's the story behind this picture ?

Bis später! Auf Wieder sehen people :)