It's you... Not Me

I really thought I would spend more time writing about my experiences in Germany over the last two weeks. I sit in my pajamas on the day before we leave to go home and think, "what the hell has gone on while I was here? And why didn't I have more to say?" I think part of the problem is that writing things such that they might interest others is difficult. When people ask why I post some of my thoughts to the net, I usually respond that I do it because I like writing and it's for no one other than me. That I get other people interested in what I have to say is simply a nice side effect. The problem is that deep down, whenever I sit down to write something, I'm really concerned it will come across the way I mean it and will show some small amount of creativity. At the same time, while I sit here thinking about the lost time / wasted time of not blogging, I realize, this trip is really no different than my normal life - full and complicated. Each day here built upon the day before. I'll give you an example:
Every time we arrive back [home] in Germany, we go through the process of decompression: unpack our bags, get something to eat, shower (perhaps), chat a bit and eventually say how tired we are and head to bed. (By that time, Steph and I have often been up for the better part of the last 36 hrs. She sleeps better than I do while traveling, but then again, I sleep less actual hours than she does normally.) The next two days are usually chock full of quick trips to the markets and/or making phone calls and getting ourselves arranged. This time, because Kseni had been in Delavan for a visit up until a few days before we flew to Germany, we already had made plans to see a few friends through her. At some point, Steph and I go our separate ways, seeing different groups of friends with whom we still maintain contact. As the years have gone by, I have less of an impulse to do any sort of shopping - i.e. looking for schnick schnack that we can't get in the States (I, decidedly, have enough crap at home ;)) So, Steph usually takes the opportunity to shop with her friends and sister (if she's in Hamburg/Kaltenkirchen at the same time). Each day after the first few, though, is simply another day. The plans evolve and change as the time progresses. There really is nothing special per se about our travels. It is what it is - and we forget all too often how very, very luck we are to be able to travel like we do. I still haven't gotten pictures from Prague up in a post - one of the highlights of this trip. I probably experienced more in the three days I spent in Prague than the other ten days here in Hamburg/Kaltenkirchen. This is not to say I was bored, but just that being here is much like being at home, with the exception of me not working all day.
I think the best and most interesting way I can talk and write about this trip, though, has to do with photos. I'm glad, nay... ecstatic, that we actually took a ton of pictures this trip. Last night I tested an Aperture (Apple Photo management program) Export plugin for flickr.com. Originally, I wanted to re-set up my own image gallery because I simply don't like relying on others, but the fact is that flickr has one of the easiest and most convenient user interfaces that I couldn't imagine puting in the work trying to somehow recreate that.
For now, I have pics up of LawDad's 60th birthday (only a few so far) and will be slowly loading other photos (after removing some of the fuzzy ones). You can take a peek at http://flickr.com/photos/stevenfettig/