My 7 Links: The Best of Frau Dietz's Letters

If there was a favourite photo category, I think this shot of Mini Dietz's birthday cake might win it.

The lovely Laurel of Expat in Germany this week nominated me to take part in the Tripbase 7 links blogging project, which sounds suspiciously like one of those chain letters that used to arrive in the post when I was 11, but bear with me. Its aim is in fact to unite bloggers around the world whilst giving them a chance to reflect on their blogging past: we have to pick posts of our own that fulfil each of 7 different categories... and share them. I was chuffed to bits that Laurel nominated me and of course fully embraced the idea of having to self-indulgently rummage through all my old posts to remind myself what I've been banging on about for the last 18 months. (Not much, apparently.) I've done that bit; now I'm at the sharing stage. So here we go...

1. Well, would you believe it, my most popular post (according to the ever-thrilling Blogger stats page) is my little ramble on the humble German cabbage. It includes a very, very tasty recipe for Sauerkraut with apple juice and bacon, and if you haven't seen it, it's apparently worth a look!

2. It didn't take me long to cheat with the rules of this here game, but I just couldn't choose between two contenders for my most beautiful post: it's all about the photos, and I absolutely loved a picture I posted last autumn of the forest that starts just a few minutes walk from our flat, all golds and reds and and crunchy leaves; but nor can I resist the little chap with the best ears in Rhineland-Pfalz, either.

♥♥♥

3. I try to steer clear of controversy (on my blog, at least!), and would suggest that my most controversial post is actually a rant that occurred at the end of a frustrating day interacting with rude people on packed public transport; was a little, um, aggressive; and is - and will remain - very much unpublished. So I think I'll nominate my post on last year's trip to Rome, because although it didn't receive a single comment, I'm the only person I know whose given the city a second chance... and still didn't like it.

4. I'm not sure whether my most helpful post is supposed to have been a helpful post by me or one that was helpful to me, but I'm going with the latter. Back in January, I tapped out a few words sharing feelings of general winter misery and distress at a particularly bad patch with German grammar, and in response came all sorts of lovely comments - not just hints and tips for battling with adjectival endings but also commiserations and understanding, because other people were feeling just the same. I love this little online expat community. So the post I'm nominating for this category is Doing The Winter Funk. Thanks all :)

5. I suppose it would be doing another cheat if I selected my Sauerkraut post for a second time, I do really consider it to be my post of most surprising success. I'll try and keep to the rules, however, and vote for something else: this one's a post I wrote following my first trip to our local farmers' market in March. I didn't really say an awful lot, I just posted a couple of pictures of some vegetables, admitted to it having taken me almost a year to get there, and the crowd went wild! (Sort of.)

6. As for my post that deserved more attention, well, I'm afraid I'm totally stuck on this one. I don't really feel like that about any of my posts... most of the time I'm surprised they get any attention at all! I suppose I'm going to have to really double-nominate on this one - I really couldn't believe no-one had a go at me for saying Rome was rubbish.

Ok, ok... not ALL of Rome is rubbish.

7. Finally, my post that I'm most proud of... and I'm going to cheat again. What I'm most proud of is Friendly Friday, the interviews I do with other Germany-based expats. First off, I was really proud that there was such a lovely response to my original idea; I'm also proud that everyone I've asked so far has been so happy to be involved; and I'm even prouder that it's getting more and more popular as the weeks go by. I have to admit it's been a steep and challenging learning curve for me, having never having done anything like it before; it's all been rather trial and error; and I've often thought I've missed great opportunities by not asking the right questions. But like I say, it's a learning curve. It also takes up far more of my time than it should - especially for something that doesn't earn me pennies! However, I've loved every second of spreading the word about expat blogs that I love, and there have been some great insights into expat life and some brilliant stories along the way (Click Clack Gorilla's priceless linguistic fail leaps to mind). And best of all, I have plenty more blogs to explore!

Well, there we are, those were my 7 links for the 7 Links Blogging Project. I hope I won't get minus marks for not quite sticking to the rules. I've now nominated the following five bloggers to take part, so keep an eye on their blogs for their version of this very post:

Somewhere Between Facebook And Flickr Sits Fiona
Resident On Earth
Counting Time
Munich Ami
...and one more, yet to confirm!