The Engagement

This blog desperately needed an update. I've heard the saying "happy life, crappy blog". I can now confirm that the adage "happy wife, crappy blog" is equally as relevant.

I've been wanting to write for a while, but since ignoring the last seven months would definitely get me in the doghouse (and not just from Veronika), lets start at the beginning.

The Rings
Wedding tradition in Germany is different. For one thing, guys wear engagement rings too. Engagement rings are similarly worn on the left hand, but wedding rings are worn on the right. A noticeable difference is that the engagement rings in Germany are typically subtle - no big diamonds here. Perhaps most importantly - if you surprise the girl when you pop the question she will say no. Fortunately I happened to find this out beforehand.
We decided to go with a mixture of both cultures - Veronika chose a diamond ring, and I picked out a simple white gold band. She knew it was coming 'sometime', but she didn't know when or how, which was good enough for me to feel like it was a bit of a surprise.
I ordered the rings from my friend Wayne Fisher at Richardson's Jewelry in Lloydminster (and definitely recommend them to others!), and he shipped them over to Germany for me. We had actually tried to find rings here first, but could not find a diamond ring we liked since it is not so common. I gave my work address for the delivery, since it would be coming during the day, and prepaid the shipping. Sure enough, a few days later there's fedex at my office. That's when the first surprise came.

"We need 200 euros for the delivery."
"What!" I said.

Turns out there had been a few border taxes along the way. I told her I could pay with credit card. No dice - she needs the money in cash right away. I look in my wallet - nothing - not even a five.

"Can I go to the bank?" I ask.

Nope, either I pay now, or I have to travel to the distribution center to pick them up later. OK, I say and start going around the office. First stop, my boss' office. He's in a meeting but I don't care.

"Hey Willi, can I talk to you for a sec? It's urgent."

He comes out in the hallway and I try to explain.

"Willi look, I ordered some engagement rings, and they're here, but they need 200 euros and I don't have any money, can you lend me some, I'll pay you back!"
"Hold on a second, you ordered what kind of rings?"
(Keep in mind this is all in German.)
"Engagement rings!"
"Fitting rings you mean? For your test bench?"
"No Willi, not for pipes - for fingers!"
"Oooohh!"
"Ya, OK, let me take a look. Well I have 100 euros, that'll get you started."

And then I was off to the next office.
Five minutes later the post lady had 200 euros in her hand, and I had the rings.

If only the drama had stopped there.

Never one to do things the easy way, I planned the engagement as a sort of treasure hunt. I wrote up five clues to different parts of the city - in code - and hid them. Then I wrote a big letter - in code - explaining the game to Veronika. I secretly called up her best friend in Cologne, and she took the train up to Braunschweig. Veronika thought that we were going to a friend's house for a movie night, but when our friend pulled up to pick her up, he just gave her the letter and took off again.
The plan was that he was going to follow her on a bike to make sure that she didn't get too lost. If she got stuck, she had a green flag that she could wave for help. If she wanted company, she had a red flag that she could wave (and then her friend Charlie would come help her - though she didn't know that).
Of course it rained. At some point while Veronika was still decoding the letter, I realized that I had put one of the clues in the wrong spot - and of all things had locked it in the garden house and given Veronika the keys. Fortunately my buddy Thies was just a phone call away, and he went and got the keys from Veronika. I swapped the clues no problem. On my way to the garden I hear loud chanting - soccer game - again. The large crowds of rowdy drunk people typically wouldn't have been a problem, had I not hidden a clue in the stadium! Oh well, I think, Veronika can handle it, and besides, the clue is outside the ticket area. So I head off to the final clue area to get ready.
Sure enough, sooner or later the clues lead Veronika (who has Charlie with her by this point) to the stadium. For those not familiar with soccer in Europe - basically think of a hockey crowd, with twice as much booze, and riot cops all over the place. Veronika tries to go in the stadium (where we train for running). No chance - the security guards won't have any of it. Fortunately Thies is nearby and sees the trouble. He gives me a call and I let them know where the clue is.
I'm already waiting at the end of the treasure hunt. I planned to pop the question in the botanical gardens - a place where Veronika and I spent a lot of time when we first moved to Braunschweig. At this point I'm panicked, and not just because I'm going to pop the question, but because the gardens are locked. Well, the wall wasn't that high, and Veronika is agile, so I figure she could probably just hop the fence anyways. As planned, Thies gives me a call five minutes before Veronika is going to arrive at the gardens, and I hop the fence and go find a place to light candles.
Five minutes later I get another call. It's Thies again.

"Alex we have a problem. I'm not joking. A security guard with a flashlight just went into the gardens."

That left me with two options. I could either go find the security guard and explain to him - in German - what I was doing, or I could run. Well I happen to be a pretty good runner, and anyone who's popped the question before knows that I wasn't really in the mental state to make myself understood anyways. Thies is outside the gardens and delays Veronika for a few minutes while I bail out the back through a bunch of fraternity houses. I get him to point Veronika in the direction of a p u b l i c park in the area, and I take off running. Of course, Veronika is on her bike, and has a 400m head start on me - so I have to book it. As we get to the entrance of the park, I yell to her and she hears me and stops.

The rest went as planned. :)

For a summary of the next six months, see the following video!



Alex