First Post

I am sitting at my computer having mental images of people shaking hands with me and patting me on the back. You may not get it but this is what it means to me, to have started my very own blog! I first had the thought some time in 2007 that perhaps writing a blog is something I would like to do. I have mulled over it and mulled over it and now finally here I am or here IT is. Don't ask me why it has taken me so long to get my act together. There were the understandable initial thoughts, like what will I call it? and what on earth will I write about? At first, I thought I would write about food, and it seemed logical given my passion for all things edible (OK, maybe not all things) but I decided against that. I realised as I was mulling over this blog and writing imaginary posts in my head (I tend to do that a lot), that there are many non-food related things I can post about as well.
Being an Australian, living in the South of Germany makes my perspective on everyday German life quite unique. I'd like to think so anyway. While I was mulling away here in Germany, a good friend back home started her own food blog and sent me the link. How the hell did she beat me to it?! Anyway, it is probably good that she did beat me to it, as she has been a big inspiration and a dedicated blogger since she started sydneyfoodieblog.com
The second thing I'd like to explain, in this my very first post (more pats on the back, even a few cheers), is the name 'Chilli Walter'. Besides having a nice ring to it Chilli is a name that I could have imagined naming one of my children one day. I am at present, childless but I can imagine a little Chilli running around one day. But the problem with this, is that I got married last February and this is not a name Husband can imagine. Husband is from these parts, that is, he is German and the name Walter belongs to him. Not his first name but his family name. Naming a child Chilli is beyond Husband's comprehension. In Germany they take baby naming quite seriously. They have laws about what are acceptable names to be giving babies and Chilli probably wouldn't be one of them.
So, Chilli vs Chilly in Southern Germany is about me and how I handle every day life here in this oh so cold and foreign land and how I eat for the cold too. I will definitely be posting about my chilli collection that I cook with to help keep me warm during the cold winter months. Not that it is always cold here but I am a little preoccupied at the moment, as it is somewhere between minus 5 and minus 14 outside. I haven't been brave enough to venture out all day. And Walter, well long story short, I can't imagine giving up my family name for Walter and haven't yet (Husband is a tad old fashioned and is waiting patiently for me to accept my fate) but I am considering it. I am hoping Chilli Walter will help me to get used to the idea.