TQE | That Queer Expatriate

Expatriate, not ex-patriot: I'm a progressive liberal and queer American in Berlin, Germany. My roots in include 18 years in Denver, 6 in Laramie, Wyoming, 6 in Bloomington, Indiana, and 6 in Weimar, Germany. Sense a pattern? Don't want to leave a comment on this blog? Email scintillatingme at gmail.com, username "elmadaeu"

Photo Uploading

I have a lot of photos that I haven’t gotten around to uploading as promptly as I should have. Today I managed to upload a few and I thought I would share three of my favorite shots out of the bunch. You can, of course, see all of my photos on my Flickr stream.

Midwest Weekend

In case you hadn’t noticed, I kind of took the weekend off from blogging. That’s not to say I didn’t take the weekend off—at least not the entire weekend.

Friday I got to be present at one of America’s traditional rights of passage: a sixteen year old getting his drivers license. It was, oddly, anti-climatic.

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Grass Sweet Hut

As it was dark when we arrived, CQ and I had no idea what the area looked like until we woke up in the morning.

For me, that first glimpse came at 06:30 or so when I emerged from the hut and looked around. We’d walked across a grassy field after dinner and I had [...]

My Weekend

It’s been a great weekend.

Yesterday I took the long walk that I’d been thinking about—from Weimar to Hopfgarten, a small village west of Weimar. I timed it perfectly. Minutes after I walked back into my flat the rain started.

I then made bread and homemade pizza. The pizza dough used a recipe that my [...]

Independence Day!

Today is Independence Day in Armenia!

I’m going off to the parade, which is at 10 in Republic Square. It should be massive fun. After that I am not sure what my plans are, probably to visit museums in the city center.

Yesterday I mailed 30 postcards (9,000 dram) to points in Europe and North [...]

Wandertag 2006!

Today was this year’s Wandertag.

Wandertag is a school and corporate tradition in Germany where armies of coworkers are encouraged to go out and have fun on a hike!

This year’s Wandertag was a trip to Saalfeld, a city located in southern Thüringia. After our early start and early arrival, a local guide took [...]

Hopfgarten

I took a walk today, going from Weimar to Hopfgarten, a village that is about 5km west of Weimar along the train tracks. I also took a few photos, but have been too lazy to download the pictures to my computer, so you’ll have to wait.

Hope you had a great Sunday!

PS- Hopfgarten was [...]

Wandertag and Packing

Today was Wandertag – or, as we would term such an event in English, Hiking Day.

I could insert a joke that plays on German stereotypes, but I won’t. Suffice to say that my mere suggestion of it will cause some of you to figure it out. However, if you do, or don’t, please remember [...]

Landgrafen Tower — Jena

Landgrafen Tower — Jena

Originally uploaded by elmada.

So earlier this week, I climbed to the top of the hill above my flat.

Knowing myself, I realized that once I return to Weimar, I will loose any enthusiasm for climbing to the top of a hill in Jena.

What had attracted me to [...]