Category Archives: Haruki the Shiba

Crazy Euopean People, Crazy Family, Haruki the Shiba, Me, Our cute daughter, Our cute son

New Year and no real news

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2020 has been going on already for a while and it has been over one month since my last blog post. There are multiple reasons for that such as stress with work and with it also an uncomfortable few weeks. As some know my wife and I have our own exporting business and it has been going downhill since summer. As the business is our only means of income it is really not a nice feeling when you realize that everything you built up for several years just vanishes in your hands. It is not that we were running our business in such bad way but due to the market changes in China ever since the trade war with the USA began. All the products we are selling are now available just like that in China as all the companies opened up their own webstores as exporting for them became easier last year for German companies (to fight against the trade war…). In the end small companies such as ours are the losers in such wars and all other people in Germany my wife know with a similar kind of business say that 2020 is the last year for them.

Nathalie checking out the situation outside the hotel

So now it is time for me again to start some job hunting but at least we are not in such hurry as back in 2014 when we moved here as I couldn’t get any kind of insurance for us without work or a “thumbs up” from the employment agency (we got a “thumps down” from them after I was already employed for a few months, bureaucracy is just insane and slow in Germany). So back then I just took the first opportunity I got and the payment wasn’t the best in the world. Anyhow now I can carefully select were I will apply for and won’t rush anything.

 

For January 2020 we had the great plan to travel to Finland so the kids can finally see some snow. That plan was scratched as Finland is experiencing the mildest winter in recorded history and there is no snow anywhere near our cottage (never happened before). This winter is also the first time that the big lakes are not freezing which also is just wrong. But hey, Global Warming is just a hoax anyways invented by the Chinese according to a very trustworthy source from the USA.

Haruki also wants food at the restaurant

Besides these not so nice things we had last weekend a family gathering just like in 2017 and it was wonderful to see so many of my cousins with their families again. Next gathering might be my fathers 80th birthday! However not all plans are scratched for this year as we will still travel to China from April to May again. This will be the last time for us to travel outside the school holidays as Nathan will start his school life this August. After that we won’t be able to travel anywhere outside those set school holidays for the next 16 years or so.

Nothing new in China from the crazy family either as Granny is still doing fine despite that the cancer has spread to muliple organs already. She doesn’t feel any changes in her life yet and she also still does not know anything about the disease either. She won’t be told at all till the bitter end. Last year the family was afraid of losing her already by summer time but she is still going strong so I bet we will meet her this spring again.

How has 2020 started for you?

Be sure to follow me also on Facebook and on Twitter as I will post there occasionally pictures which do not find their way into my blog posts. Furthermore there is also my Instagram account in which from time to time some pictures and short videos might pop up.

https://www.facebook.com/CrazyChineseFamily

https://twitter.com/CraChineseFam

https://www.instagram.com/Crazychinesefamily

Chinese Wife, Crazy Euopean People, Crazy Germans, Haruki the Shiba, Our cute daughter, Our cute son

Revisiting the Middle Ages

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Last weekend we visited a Renaissance Fair again after three years. The last time we went back in 2016 in Hamburg which is/ was the biggest one in Germany. This time we went to the town of Hohenwestedt which is nearby my hometown and is probably the best location of all middle age markets we have visited. The entire fair is set up in a large park in the middle of the town and a small sports field next to it. The feeling is just so different when visiting such event when nearly everything is located in a park surrounded by huge old trees compared to other fairs where you only walk around an open field.

Some interesting fellows

We all (except MIL) went there dressed up in some costumes. Nothing historical correct or whatnot all, just what we like to and this kind of fair is just right for it as the name already says “Mittelalterlich Phantasie Spectaculum” – “Medieval Fantasy Spectaculum”. You can see all kinds of people there dressed as knights, monks, Vikings, death and even some animals. Anything goes and the atmosphere is just great with music playing from several music stages and some randomn groups playing in between. We met some friends there and of course also other people we know already from my hometown such some neighbors and even a civil official working in the registry office specialized on marriages who has a Galadriel tattoo on one of his arms.

Sunken Nathalie

It was a lovely day with nice weather and a lot of walking for us. Nathan and Nathalie had tons of fun in the straw bale field playing with other kids and I could enjoy a couple of “interesting drinks”. Visiting such event, especially in Hohenwestedt, feels like entering a different world disconnected from the outside. Clothing for the event was kind of odd at first as we hadn’t done so in way too many years but as soon as we left the parking lot we were surrounded by like-minded people and everything felt right. Ruowei went once again as a Chinese princess, Nathalie was a mini princess, Nathan a General and I went in some odd mix of clothing and armor similar to the Rangers of Ithilien. Nothing too fancy but it took us long time collecting everything till we were satisfied. I think it was back in 2015 when we started this all after visiting the very same Renaissance Fair for the first time as a family. Back then my wife was shocked to see so many people dressed up for such event and loved it immediately. I always wanted to dress up for something like that but I had no idea that my wife of all people would like it as well! Even after several years of marriage she still manages to surprise me from time to time.

Have you visited any events where you have dressed up in a similar way?

Be sure to follow me also on Facebook and on Twitter as I will post there occasionally pictures which do not find their way into my blog posts. Furthermore there is also my Instagram account in which from time to time some pictures and short videos might pop up.

https://www.facebook.com/CrazyChineseFamily

https://twitter.com/CraChineseFam

https://www.instagram.com/Crazychinesefamily

 

Crazy Family, Haruki the Shiba

New Year and Fireworks done wrong

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2018 is history and with it hopefully all the bad luck which accumulated towards the end of the year. Now we welcome 2019 and have big hopes that it will turn out better. So how did we celebrate the New Year? Same procedure as every year! We celebrated at home and had some Raclette with my father and brother. My mom decided as every year to have her peace from the family and just watch TV till we would come downstairs around 11pm.

Picture from few years ago but it was pretty much the same again this time

Yes there was nothing extraordinary with our New Year celebration and I am really happy about it as I had kind of other worries. Until we got Haruki the Shiba I never really thought much about the effect fireworks might have on animals. No, I was never one of those idiots buying a massive amount of fireworks and crackers to basically burn away my money on New Year but I liked to have few rockets ready for the big event. This year is was slightly different. In November Haruki and I had already a bad encounter with some youths throwing firecrackers at us in the dark resulting that the dog was terrified for a week and did not dare to go out of the apartment. He recovered but this made me worry a lot about New Year.

Nathalie stealing Harukis’ spot at New Year

I don’t know how it is in other countries but here a lot of people just go crazy with their private fireworks. For example this year the police arrested a man with over 850kg of fireworks! Who on earth needs that? As soon as there are posts online about respecting the animals and not to have such big fireworks they get swamped with hate comments. It is just insane how people think that their freedom will be taken away just by asking them to buy fewer fireworks. I really doubt that anyone will suffer from not being allowed to blow up half the neighbourhood on New Year but nothing is done against it and won’t be done in the next years.

Haruki with his constant sad face

Not only we had the bad encounter in November but just two days before New Year once again some youths threw firecrackers at us and they exploded right at Haruki resulting in a terrified dog with burns in his face. So I was preparing for the worst on New Year but the little warrior kept relatively calm during the whole evening even when outside. Only when the big fireworks began he started to shake but my mother kept in safe in her arms and he calmed down. Now that 2019 has begun I read every day posts from people searching for their pets as they ran away on New Year. I wonder how many are actually able to find their beloved pet again as those animals are terrified and just run in any direction during the fireworks. Once I read an article where a dog had run to another State and was found few years later over 200 km away!

For the next time New Year is coming up I will try to get some “training” done with Haruki in order to prevent too extreme reactions. Besides that I will also try to find something to throw at those kids if they get too close with their fireworks!

 

How did you celebrate New Year?

Be sure to follow me also on Facebook and on Twitter as I will post there occasionally pictures which do not find their way into my blog posts. Furthermore there is also my Instagram account in which from time to time some pictures and short videos might pop up.

https://www.facebook.com/CrazyChineseFamily

https://twitter.com/CraChineseFam

https://www.instagram.com/Crazychinesefamily