So, last night I got my hair colored. Yes, it was that time again, time for some lowlights and highlights. Fun stuff, right? Not quite fun enough to blog about, don't worry.
However, while Carl was waiting for me to finish, he decided to be brave and asked the other stylist lady to wax his eyebrows. What?! I barely even do that! Listen, this lady was so excited she jumped right up out of her chair. I think when she saw Uni (a.k.a. Carl) walking toward her, she knew she'd get a good tip after fixing his unibrow. (Get it? "Uni" is Carl... and I am "Bushy" since mine were so overgrown too! I think that's a little more fitting than our last nicknames: "Bambi Big Ones" and "Hunky Hot Stuff" just don't quite fit us that well...)
Anyway, not to be outdone, I asked my stylist lady to go ahead and de-bushify my huge brows. She also was thrilled. I guess they thought they could charge by the hair or something and they figured they'd make a killing off of us.
Well, as I soon discovered... they don't wax everyone. This lady pulled out this weird string thing and had at it. Oh. My. Gosh. I was in so much pain!! I have no clue what she was doing but it HURT!! The she plucked. It hurt too. Then she did more stuff with the string, then plucked some more, then trimmed with scissors. (Yes, they were that bad). I was brave though. I didn't scream and only forgot to breathe a couple times.
Carl was waxed and then she plucked and used the weird string thing on him too. I think it took them about 25 minutes total to complete the new looks of both of us. She offered to do more on me, but it was time to go and I honestly couldn't take the pain anymore! Whew. Glad that's over! Carl was brave. I think I only heard him yelp a couple times and he stopped crying after about five minutes.
And for those of you wondering, this was all done at an AAFES (like the PX) beauty salon. I have known some pretty bad haircuts to come out of an AAFES barber shop, but I just didn't feel ready to deal with a German salon yet. They honestly did a really nice job! Well, I think so anyway! That's good news because it was relatively inexpensive so I may just stick with them in the future.
So on to more exciting news than eyebrow waxing. I bet you're thinking, I can't believe she blogged about eyebrows. Well guess what, you read it! haha :)
No really though, tonight we attended the Cancer Awareness Laps for Life (CALL) event at the high school track here. It is an all-night thing for cancer awareness, obviously, where people formed teams and will be walking all night. We only went for a couple hours tonight, but we successfully walked one mile. (Yeah, we didn't want to show off or anything). We met up with Danelli, Jen, our new boss Lira and her two kids. It was fun! We all talked and walked, and sometimes ran. There were lots of people and also a lot of other dogs. Our doggies definitely enjoyed all the attention they got! (they were definitely the cutest ones there, although Danelli's dog Bailey came in a close second with her UK shirt on. Oh yeah, and then there was the little white dog in her pink lingerie outfit.... better not tell Lucy about that one...)
Big news: Noel successfully ran about a quarter of a lap without losing her footing at all! We have definitely noticed that her legs have gotten so much stronger lately. She was really doing well at my parents' house navigating their stairs, but would only go up them when she had to. Here in our temp. house we are on the second floor, so there is a lot of stair-climbing going on. She can make it all the way up most of the time without falling, and sometimes even runs up the last few! She's doing so well! That's really exciting.
The only bad thing that happened was when Scouty decided it was time to go to the bathroom.... right next to all the concession stands and picnic tables. It smelled so bad and everyone at the tables started giving us dirty looks and saying "ewwww!" Ah, yes, that's my boy. We moved away from that area as quickly as we could.
Other than that, tomorrow we will be going to the high school football game and I'm covering it for the paper. Sunday we hope to do a little bit of exploring but may just be lazy, who knows. It's really awesome knowing that we can be lazy if we want to. It's not like we absolutely have to do something every single weekend (although we plan to if we can) because after all, we do have at least three years here to do stuff!
19 September 2008
17 September 2008
Holiday greetings and bowling league
Check out these pictures from last week. We went to the commissary to participate in the Hometown Holiday Greetings program, and we were able to tape three greetings to be sent to news stations in the States for our loved ones -- You know, the ones you see between Thanksgiving and Christmas during little breaks in local newscasts.
Apparently, my DINFOS on-camera training has finally paid off, because I nailed both of my tapings exactly right the first time -- even the camera guy was impressed. (I thought it was funny because when we were filling out the paperwork I could hear a family trying to tape theirs, and I heard, "Okay, Take Seven..."). I was quite proud of myself. :) haha. Carl got his on the second try!
It was fun. We were able to tape one for my parents, one for Carl's mom, and then one for my Grandma (and others) in Minnesota. [Note to Matt and Jennie, I wanted to tape one for you guys as well, but the line got long -- most people were only filming two, so we were already doing more than most people by going with three. I'm sorry! I had all your information along with us!] When I told Grandma that we taped one for her, she cried, so I think it will be well worth it. The TV stations should be calling the family members we listed to tell them when to watch. [Note to Aunt Nancy: We made sure to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.]
Anyway, these pics were taken by a co-worker who was there monitoring and had her camera. It's nice to have a picture of the four of us! (Churro didn't want to come along).
Apparently, my DINFOS on-camera training has finally paid off, because I nailed both of my tapings exactly right the first time -- even the camera guy was impressed. (I thought it was funny because when we were filling out the paperwork I could hear a family trying to tape theirs, and I heard, "Okay, Take Seven..."). I was quite proud of myself. :) haha. Carl got his on the second try!
It was fun. We were able to tape one for my parents, one for Carl's mom, and then one for my Grandma (and others) in Minnesota. [Note to Matt and Jennie, I wanted to tape one for you guys as well, but the line got long -- most people were only filming two, so we were already doing more than most people by going with three. I'm sorry! I had all your information along with us!] When I told Grandma that we taped one for her, she cried, so I think it will be well worth it. The TV stations should be calling the family members we listed to tell them when to watch. [Note to Aunt Nancy: We made sure to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.]
Anyway, these pics were taken by a co-worker who was there monitoring and had her camera. It's nice to have a picture of the four of us! (Churro didn't want to come along).
Last night, Carl started bowling league. He's on a team with my boss Lira, our co-worker Regina and Regina's husband Daniel. He's been really excited ever since I mentioned the team needed one more person on it and kept saying all weekend he couldn't wait for Tuesday so he could start bowling.
We showed up at the bowling alley around 6 p.m. and the league play was supposed to start at 6:30. Three hours later, we were finally leaving! I think Carl had a really good time, but it took forever. They had to bowl three games. He bowled a 133, 136 and 145. He was the second-highest scorer on the team in each game.
Again, I do not bowl. I can't even talk about the last time I bowled.
I asked Carl to be a guest columnist on the blog tonight but he didn't really feel like it. Instead, I interviewed him so I could just quote him. Here's what he had to say about the evening:
"I felt that it was a pretty good showing for my first time out in a few months. I think I'll be able to score in the 160s to 170s within a few weeks. I think my teammates were great, they were fun, definitely a 'motley crew' for sure. My favorite part of the evening was playing the video games beforehand with my lovely wife (even though she beat me in both of them) and eating a philly cheesesteak. I am very excited about next week. It's going to be real fun doing this until April."
Yes, you read that right.... the league goes until April! We didn't know that! I think Carl's okay with it except it locks us in for every Tuesday night till then. Ugh. I am not really too excited about that, but eventually I won't have to go to every week, I think.
The funny thing is we are already seeing people around that we recognize! Today at the commissary and in the dining facility at lunch we saw people from bowling leauge, and in the PX we saw a lady from the play auditions two nights ago! This is definitely a small community, and that is a good thing. It can really feel scary to be in a foreign country but when we see familiar faces, whether we know them or not, it makes you feel a little safer.
15 September 2008
Sausage, Wine, Trains and Rain...
This weekend we experienced our first official German festival! This country seriously rocks when it comes to festivals -- they celebrate everything.
So, Saturday we headed to Bad Durkheim with the gang (Danelli and Jen). Carl and I rode the train to Mannheim, where they met up with us and we took two more trains to get there. I forgot to look on a map, but someone told us we were very close to France when we got there (btw, we are only about an hour from France anyway here, so that kind of tells you where we were). Despite the fact that it was raining, and pretty darn cold, we still had a great time!
It was a sausage and wine festival. I know, you're thinking, 'that's soo not something you'd go to Kristen, you don't eat meat and you don't drink...' well, yeah, but you know what, when in Germany, do as the Germans do, right? Haha... no, I didn't eat meat! The vegetarian booth was empty but it had some awesome food! Even the non-veg's with us loved the food! However, I did have my half wine-half water combination.
We found a tent and plopped ourselves down to keep out of the rain. Carl and Dan made random food runs while us girls sat, chit-chatted and laughed. It was definitely a good time. After we sat at that tent for a while, the rain finally let up a little and we headed out to see the sights of the festival. We ended up in the music tent where there was lots more drinking, eating and dancing going on! Yes, we even joined in on some of the dancing. (They were playing Beach Boys, how could we not join in??)
Side note you must know: Wine fest does not mean "wine tasting" to the Germans. No. When you order a glass of wine, you get a half-liter glass of wine. And no, you can't drink just one!
We had a little mishap when Kelli accidentally cut her finger on a broken wine glass, but it finally stopped bleeding in just about enough time to head to the trains and head home. We got home probably a little before nine since there were some doggies who needed to be taken care of. All in all, it was super fun. A great way to learn the train systems here and see a cute new little town.
Sunday, we did some shopping at the PX and Commissary. That is one of the best benefits of being a civilian over here as opposed to a civilian in the States -- we get the shopping privileges too, which really help save money as well as have all our American favorites. Well, some of our American favorites anyway.
Oh yeah, and also at the commissary (and all the German grocery stores around us) we can get some good local German goodies. Of course we are completely addicted to some of the chocolates, and the breads are just incredible, but there is something else here we are crazy about that no one warned us of -- the yogurt!! Oh my goodness, we are addicts. I mean, we seriously need to go to German Yogurts Anonymous or something. There's just something about it...you'll have to taste it when you visit. We might have some to share. haha.
Today, we signed the lease for our rental house! We'll be moving in on Oct. 1! We are so excited. This temp. house has been nice, but we are ready to feel more settled in. Yes, our stuff is still en route.... thankfully not in the path of the hurricanes! Our landlord is the sweetest lady, and she even told our housing counselor she was really hoping we ended up in her house because we were her favorites of all the families who looked at it. Awww. :)
Tonight we went to the community theater on post because I am writing a story about them for the paper. They were holding auditions for an upcoming play, and we had so much fun watching! The director apparently wanted Carl to try out too; she said he had "the look," but he wouldn't try out since it was a musical... we'll see... we're going back Wednesday. Speaking of Carl's acting abilities, his last episode of Army Wives was on last night. Don't worry, if you missed it, you can still catch it next Sunday night at 8 CST. Or, you can do like we have to do and download it on iTunes or just go to the Lifetime Website and watch it. This week's episode was Awesome!!!!
Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to update again tomorrow... after bowling league! (No, I am not bowling, I am just watching!)
10 September 2008
House Hunters International
One of my favorite shows is House Hunters, on HGTV. (I really miss that show too!) So, in the spirit of the show, and after a suggestion from my wonderful mom, I have decided to post some pictures of the two we have narrowed our search down to.
"Kristen and Carl recently relocated to Germany. They are searching for a house with the help of the Army's Housing Office, and have narrowed their search down to two.
House number one is a free-standing, single family home. It is in the community of Sankt Leon, which is about a 15 minute drive south of Heidelberg. The town, along with its neighboring town Rot, make up a very friendly community popular with American families stationed in the area.
The house is listed at 170 square meters, or 1800-square feet, although including its basement, the living space jumps to well over 2,000 square feet. It is listed with four bedrooms, two and a half baths, with a fully furnished kitchen, two dining rooms, a terrace and a fenced-in yard. It also has a driveway with plenty of parking, a two-car garage, and an additional building with a workshop and utility area. In the basement, you'll find the house also includes a giant wine cellar.
Also included with the house is a private garden and small vineyard. The garden currently has a peach tree, cherry trees and strawberries, along with a row of grapes and plenty of room for more vegetables.
Kristen and Carl really like this one due to the yard-- the most important thing for their beloved two dogs. This house is unusual for Germany because of its space, its yard, and its giant garage. The only thing that really worries Kristen is the older age of the house and the commute -- it will mean a definite trip on the Autobahn every day to and from work.
House number two is a newer home in the community of Sandhausen, which is only about 10 minutes from Kristen's office. It is listed at 140 sq. meters, or 1500 sq. feet, and includes a two-car garage and two extra parking spots. It has three bedrooms, one and a half baths, and a beautifully landscaped backyard. The house had brand new hardwood floors installed one week ago. It is a duplex in a very nice neighborhood.
The house has marble spiral staircases leading to its upstairs, where you'll find another wooden spiral staircase leading to the bonus room on the top floor. The bonus room has windows that overlook the mountains in one direction and the fields in another. In the basement, which is found by going down another spiral marble staircase, is a bar area and extra storage rooms.
This house is much closer to the city and the amenities of the Army post, but Kristen and Carl are worried about all the stairs, since one of their dogs is handicapped.
Both houses have many amenities Kristen and Carl are looking for. House number one, with its big yard, extra large living space, and fun garden, but longer commute and older in style; and House number two, with its brand new floors, beautiful landscaping, gorgeous views and shorter commute. So.... which one did they choose?"
House Number one, of course! House number two would be torn up if we lived there with all our animals. It was beautiful and felt new, clean, modern, and very American. However, we didn't want that! We decided that we really wanted the bigger yard and the house that was way too big for us, simply because it's unique, and it's very European! We may never get another chance to live in a house like that!
We can't wait for everyone to come visit and see it! We are signing the lease on Monday and are hoping for an early October move-in date. Our stuff is still en route and won't be here for a few more weeks, but we get loaner furniture and kitchen stuff from the Army until our stuff arrives.
So, can we say giant family Christmas celebration next year, complete with our own family wine bottled in-house and stored in our wine cellar? (it's worth a try even if its terrible! haha!)
09 September 2008
Finally some pictures!
Here are a few pictures we took Monday evening. So far we have been pretty bad on taking pictures, but I promise to start bringing the camera more often! We are hoping to get a really good camera soon, so anyone who wants to donate to our camera fund, just let me know and I'll send you our address! Just kidding. :-) Anyway, enjoy! This is me out on the Hauptstrasse.
Heidelberg Castle, as seen looking up from the Hauptstrasse. We hope to hike up to it this weekend! 
A view of part of the Old Bridge and some of the super fancy houses along the Neckar River in Nuenheim.
Carl on one of the cute little streets in downtown Heidelberg.
Heidelberg Castle, as seen looking up from the Hauptstrasse. We hope to hike up to it this weekend! 
A view of part of the Old Bridge and some of the super fancy houses along the Neckar River in Nuenheim.
Carl on one of the cute little streets in downtown Heidelberg.
Tonight we took the dogs to the dog park on post here. Kelli and Bailey met up with us and a great time was had by all. Scout and Noel are now sound asleep at my feet. :-)
Tomorrow I get to attend a full day of safety briefings, whoo-hoo! I am close to being finished with my inprocessing and I promise I will be starting real work someday soon. We are making progress on finding Carl a job too but so far he's been a great chauffer for me.
08 September 2008
Volksmarching, Streetcars, and a not-so-illuminated Castle Illumination
Hey again! Here we are on our one-week anniversary of arriving in Germany. We've already made a lot of memories. Here are some recent highlights from this weekend and today:
This past weekend the Heidelberg International Wandering Club was sponsoring a Volksmarch. These are very popular in Germany -- they are pretty much glorified hikes or walks through cities or through the hills to a city. They offered different lengths of walks on different trails, 5k, 11k,22k, or 42k. We decided to give it a try, but weren't quite sure how far we wanted to go. Saturday morning, Kelli called and woke us up at 9:30 a.m. -- they seriously have the best window shades here that completely block out all the light and make the entire apartment pitch black; they're fabulous!!-- anyway, she and Dan had decided after all to go on the Volksmarch too, so they offered to come pick us up and we could all ride and Volksmarch together. We brought Scout ( Miss Noel can't walk that far due to her back leg disability) and they brought their beagle mix, Bailey. We had a great time! It started to rain a bit when we first got there, but we decided to go ahead anyway. We only did the 5k as by the time we reached the deciding point, Bailey was worn out and the guys were hungry. It was beautiful though! We walked through some of the streets of the city, and then up through some vineyards and gardens in the hills, and back down through the city again. Gorgeous. (It actually turned out to be right by a house we had looked at last week! The view from that house was the best of all, but the house itself wasn't very nice, so we passed on that one. ) After that, we ate some lunch and then Dan & Kelli (I am going to borrow from Jen and call them Danelli from now on, just for ease of writing) gave us another little driving tour of the parts of the city we hadn't seen yet.
Saturday afternoon, Carl & I learned how to do laundry in German washers and dryers -- that was funny! Their cycles here take at least two hours for each. I am sure it was pretty funny watching us try to figure out how to turn on the German washer. I think our clothes got clean. They got wet anyway. And then they dried. Works for me. :-)
Saturday night we were totally excited to go downtown to the castle illumination. They only do it three times a year. Well, we decided to be brave and ride the streetcar into the downtown area, to save on gas and not have to deal with finding a place to park (btw, we had to put a little bit of gas into our rental car since we don't have our gas coupons yet, and it cost us 30Euro for a quarter of a tank --- that's about $45 in U.S. money--- yes, I said a quarter of a tank). Anyway, we figured out the streetcar system just fine (after one semi-frantic call to Jen with a "Hey Jen, how do we buy a ticket for the streetcar?!") and made it downtown. Well, we didn't judge the time it would take to ride the streetcar very well, because when we stepped out onto the Hauptstrasse, we heard the booms and saw the night sky light up. It had started. We had quite a walk to get down to the river to be able to look back up and see the Castle up on the hillsides. We were walking as fast as we could, thinking, 'it's okay, we'll make it'.... until somehow we took a wrong turn.... and ended up missing the illumination! We finally made our way back through the tiny streets to the Hauptstrasse, where we watched the end of the fireworks over the tops of some buildings. It was mostly just funny. We weren't mad, we just laughed as we realized only We could figure out how to completely miss the entire thing by getting 'lost' in the downtown area. All we had to do was head toward the river! Oh well. The best thing is that we were able to say "there's always next year! And the next!" We then just enjoyed wandering the Hauptstrasse on a Saturday night and listening to this crazy guy yell "Deeuuuutsch -Laaaaaaand!!!" as he was carried on his friend's shoulders. Other than that, we just window shopped and I enjoyed a Falafel pita (another new favorite of mine) and some Pommes Fritas (yummy french fries).
Sunday morning, we went to church at one of the Chapels on post. It was very enjoyable and their choir was fantastic! We would definitely go back there but plan to try the other chapel as well as Danelli's church before we settle on one. Sundays in Germany are supposed to be quiet days, when everything except restaurants are closed. We made our way to the American restaurant on post and then to the PX to buy Carl some new pants. Yes, Carl needed to buy a pair of pants as he only has one pair of jeans here with him. That must tell you that it's a little cooler here than we are used to. :-) Honestly though, we have only had rain a few days and most other days have just been absolutely beautiful.
Sunday evening was tough for me as I normally would be watching Army Wives! Instead, we had to study for our USAREUR drivers' tests, which Kelli had scheduled for us to take Monday at 12:30. Wow. We had been looking at the book off and on all week but Sunday night really tried to crack down and study. Driving here is not easy. It involves a lot of straight up thinking and really paying attention to the road signs -- I know that sounds silly because you should always think and pay attention when you are driving -- but believe me, it's different! I fell asleep on the chair last night in mid-question as Carl quizzed me.
This morning I went to work and did a little bit more inprocessing and talked with Kelli and my other new co-workers, Jason and Juan. It's going to be nice in there I think. Carl came to get me at about 11 and we grabbed some lunch and headed to our test. We had to take about an hour and a half class before taking the test. I was so nervous. I don't know why, I just was. Well, good news, we both passed! Yay! That means we can now legally drive here as well as go get our fuel ration cards to get the reduced price on gas here! Yea! That's worth it!
Tonight we decided to venture back down to the Hauptstrasse so I could get another falafel pita and we could take a few pictures. It was beautiful. We walked on some of the tiny side streets, down to the river, and back again. We also finally tried the ice cream here. Oh. My. Gosh. It is to die for. I had Mango, and I seriously felt like I was just eating the freshest, tastiest mango ever. We also got some more yummy streusels for breakfast!! I am sure we've already gained weight, but at least we are doing a lot of walking too, right?
On our way back, somehow we got on a streetcar that wasn't taking us all the way back to our city. All of a sudden the car was empty, and the conductor was saying something to us in German! Carl said "Sprechen sie English?" (we are sooo good at that phrase now!) and he just said "No." and opened the streetcar doors. We had no clue where we were! We finally found someone who spoke a little english and could explain that at night some of the streetcars only go to a certain point and then stop for the night. He explained how to get back to our city, and we walked around the corner to another stop and got on. There, we found another very nice young girl who spoke English and was super helpful in finding us the quickest routes to take to get home! Thank the Lord for those random strangers who find you at the right moments, right? Definitely. Anyway, we made it back, took the red babies out for a little jog up and down the streets, and now it's way past bed time.
Tomorrow I will post pictures to go along with tonight's entry, I just don't feel like doing it now because it's time to call home! My favorite time of day!!
Tschuss!
This past weekend the Heidelberg International Wandering Club was sponsoring a Volksmarch. These are very popular in Germany -- they are pretty much glorified hikes or walks through cities or through the hills to a city. They offered different lengths of walks on different trails, 5k, 11k,22k, or 42k. We decided to give it a try, but weren't quite sure how far we wanted to go. Saturday morning, Kelli called and woke us up at 9:30 a.m. -- they seriously have the best window shades here that completely block out all the light and make the entire apartment pitch black; they're fabulous!!-- anyway, she and Dan had decided after all to go on the Volksmarch too, so they offered to come pick us up and we could all ride and Volksmarch together. We brought Scout ( Miss Noel can't walk that far due to her back leg disability) and they brought their beagle mix, Bailey. We had a great time! It started to rain a bit when we first got there, but we decided to go ahead anyway. We only did the 5k as by the time we reached the deciding point, Bailey was worn out and the guys were hungry. It was beautiful though! We walked through some of the streets of the city, and then up through some vineyards and gardens in the hills, and back down through the city again. Gorgeous. (It actually turned out to be right by a house we had looked at last week! The view from that house was the best of all, but the house itself wasn't very nice, so we passed on that one. ) After that, we ate some lunch and then Dan & Kelli (I am going to borrow from Jen and call them Danelli from now on, just for ease of writing) gave us another little driving tour of the parts of the city we hadn't seen yet.
Saturday afternoon, Carl & I learned how to do laundry in German washers and dryers -- that was funny! Their cycles here take at least two hours for each. I am sure it was pretty funny watching us try to figure out how to turn on the German washer. I think our clothes got clean. They got wet anyway. And then they dried. Works for me. :-)
Saturday night we were totally excited to go downtown to the castle illumination. They only do it three times a year. Well, we decided to be brave and ride the streetcar into the downtown area, to save on gas and not have to deal with finding a place to park (btw, we had to put a little bit of gas into our rental car since we don't have our gas coupons yet, and it cost us 30Euro for a quarter of a tank --- that's about $45 in U.S. money--- yes, I said a quarter of a tank). Anyway, we figured out the streetcar system just fine (after one semi-frantic call to Jen with a "Hey Jen, how do we buy a ticket for the streetcar?!") and made it downtown. Well, we didn't judge the time it would take to ride the streetcar very well, because when we stepped out onto the Hauptstrasse, we heard the booms and saw the night sky light up. It had started. We had quite a walk to get down to the river to be able to look back up and see the Castle up on the hillsides. We were walking as fast as we could, thinking, 'it's okay, we'll make it'.... until somehow we took a wrong turn.... and ended up missing the illumination! We finally made our way back through the tiny streets to the Hauptstrasse, where we watched the end of the fireworks over the tops of some buildings. It was mostly just funny. We weren't mad, we just laughed as we realized only We could figure out how to completely miss the entire thing by getting 'lost' in the downtown area. All we had to do was head toward the river! Oh well. The best thing is that we were able to say "there's always next year! And the next!" We then just enjoyed wandering the Hauptstrasse on a Saturday night and listening to this crazy guy yell "Deeuuuutsch -Laaaaaaand!!!" as he was carried on his friend's shoulders. Other than that, we just window shopped and I enjoyed a Falafel pita (another new favorite of mine) and some Pommes Fritas (yummy french fries).
Sunday morning, we went to church at one of the Chapels on post. It was very enjoyable and their choir was fantastic! We would definitely go back there but plan to try the other chapel as well as Danelli's church before we settle on one. Sundays in Germany are supposed to be quiet days, when everything except restaurants are closed. We made our way to the American restaurant on post and then to the PX to buy Carl some new pants. Yes, Carl needed to buy a pair of pants as he only has one pair of jeans here with him. That must tell you that it's a little cooler here than we are used to. :-) Honestly though, we have only had rain a few days and most other days have just been absolutely beautiful.
Sunday evening was tough for me as I normally would be watching Army Wives! Instead, we had to study for our USAREUR drivers' tests, which Kelli had scheduled for us to take Monday at 12:30. Wow. We had been looking at the book off and on all week but Sunday night really tried to crack down and study. Driving here is not easy. It involves a lot of straight up thinking and really paying attention to the road signs -- I know that sounds silly because you should always think and pay attention when you are driving -- but believe me, it's different! I fell asleep on the chair last night in mid-question as Carl quizzed me.
This morning I went to work and did a little bit more inprocessing and talked with Kelli and my other new co-workers, Jason and Juan. It's going to be nice in there I think. Carl came to get me at about 11 and we grabbed some lunch and headed to our test. We had to take about an hour and a half class before taking the test. I was so nervous. I don't know why, I just was. Well, good news, we both passed! Yay! That means we can now legally drive here as well as go get our fuel ration cards to get the reduced price on gas here! Yea! That's worth it!
Tonight we decided to venture back down to the Hauptstrasse so I could get another falafel pita and we could take a few pictures. It was beautiful. We walked on some of the tiny side streets, down to the river, and back again. We also finally tried the ice cream here. Oh. My. Gosh. It is to die for. I had Mango, and I seriously felt like I was just eating the freshest, tastiest mango ever. We also got some more yummy streusels for breakfast!! I am sure we've already gained weight, but at least we are doing a lot of walking too, right?
On our way back, somehow we got on a streetcar that wasn't taking us all the way back to our city. All of a sudden the car was empty, and the conductor was saying something to us in German! Carl said "Sprechen sie English?" (we are sooo good at that phrase now!) and he just said "No." and opened the streetcar doors. We had no clue where we were! We finally found someone who spoke a little english and could explain that at night some of the streetcars only go to a certain point and then stop for the night. He explained how to get back to our city, and we walked around the corner to another stop and got on. There, we found another very nice young girl who spoke English and was super helpful in finding us the quickest routes to take to get home! Thank the Lord for those random strangers who find you at the right moments, right? Definitely. Anyway, we made it back, took the red babies out for a little jog up and down the streets, and now it's way past bed time.
Tomorrow I will post pictures to go along with tonight's entry, I just don't feel like doing it now because it's time to call home! My favorite time of day!!
Tschuss!
04 September 2008
Guten Tag!
Hello from Germany! We made it! I'm sorry I haven't updated. We arrived Monday morning, Germany time, around 9 a.m., and honestly feel as if we've been just going non-stop since then!
Let's take it back to the beginning now. We had a nice trip with my parents in a huge rented 15-passenger van to accomodate all of us, our animals and our suitcases comfortably on the trip to the airport. Thank the Lord my parents were there with us at the airport... it was crazy, trying to check in and get all the animals okayed. They were such troopers and I am so glad they were there. The flight itself was alright. It was a little bumpy so I, of course, was worried about my babies getting sick or something, but I was able to sleep for about 3 or 4 hours and it didn't actually feel like the 8 and a half-hour flight it was. When we landed, we were reunited with the babies, who did very well!! They were definitely unsure of everything and had been very nervous when separated at first in Atlanta, but as soon as they saw us again in Frankfurt they calmed down. We had no issues getting them through the customs, and out to the meeting point to meet our shuttle driver.... there came our first issue. No shuttle driver!! Oh dear. So I called Kelli, and she had not heard from them either, but we found the numbers for the company and she was going to have the Germans she was with call to find out where the driver was. About 10 minutes later he showed up and we were on our way!
Our first whole day was spent with Kelli as she tried to keep us awake and show us around the city. It was odd to just land and start going all over the place, but that is the best way to adjust to the time change. We checked into our temporary lodging and did some exploring. She showed us lots of the sights of the city, including a stroll down the Hauptstrasse (the main street, all pedestrian area) where at the end we could look up the hillside and see Heidelberg Castle. Beautiful! We can not believe we are living in Germany. That night, we went to dinner with Kelli, Lira (our new boss) and her two children at a German restaurant we walked to down the street. I found a new favorite meal already! Kaiserspatzle. Mmm. I probably spelled it wrong but just know that I already ate it two nights in a row at two different restaurants. It's that good! Lira and her kids are very sweet too. They only got here a week before us, so they're going through a lot of the same stuff we are. They are in our building right now, a pretty cool little apartment. It includes the use of a car -- our very own Renault Scenic... manual transmission, hatchback, ugly.... but Carl's seriously having a blast becoming a German driver!
Things overall have been going very well. All week we have been going to different appointments and working on my inprocessing. We ran into a bit of an issue trying to get Carl's ID card, which slowed us down a bit, but got it solved and we have been moving right along ever since. Kelli has been a great sponsor and has not only gone with us to many of the important things and helped figure out random stuff, she's also allowed us the time to just get settled and do whatever we need to do. I have met everyone else in the office here as well, and today Carl and I (I am sure he was really excited) attended my first staff meeting. The staff is really friendly and have so far been super helpful with everything, including trying to find Carl a job! We visited the education counselor the other day about getting him signed up for some classes, but the school he wants to attend only has classes at Ramstein Air Base, which is about 45 minutes away. We are weighing all the options now as far as he goes. But, for now, his job is being my chauffer! :-) I can't drive a stick shift and frankly I'm afraid of the German drivers right now, so he's just driving everywhere and we're doing everything together.
We've definitely decided that learning the language is going to be important. We have shopped at a few German stores and bakeries and figured out how to order or whatever, but it is an uncomfortable feeling. Tuesday night, we went to a restaurant down the street (again, we just walked because it's so close!) and our waitress only spoke German and French! We had our little German-English phrasebook and dictionary and she was so friendly and helpful, together we all figured out enough to enjoy a great meal, and we all learned some new phrases in the process! That same morning when we got up, we walked the dogs to the bakery down the street and they had a little 'doggy parking spot' out front where you can tie them to the building while you go inside! Believe it or not, that is unusual.... most places just let you bring the dogs inside! How cool is that?! It's so perfect and cool I still can't believe it!
Our biggest thing this week has been househunting. Right now, we are staying in a nice temp. apartment and the government is paying for our housing and meals, up to 90 days. We wanted to wait to move into a place at least until our car and some of our stuff arrives. (If we find a place before then, we'll get loaner furniture from the government until our stuff gets here, but we'll lose the use of our loaner car from this apartment). One of the funniest things so far has been discovering German tv! It is hilarious... so far, we've enjoyed watching such gems as the Simpsons, Spongebob and the Golden Girls... all dubbed in German!! It's awesome!! We have AFN- American Forces Network- which shows American shows, and one AFN radio network, if we need a taste of home. It is still odd for us to watch Good Morning America at 2 in the afternoon! We are loving it though. It's been overwhelming, yes most definitely, and yes, I've cried a few times (only a little) when I've had those "oh my gosh, what are we doing?" moments, but for the most part, it's been amazing. Absolutely amazing to look around and realize where we are, how beautiful it is, and what a true blessing this is to be able to live here and experience this.
Back to the househunting.... so, we think we've found a place! We decided to start looking in case the 'perfect' place came open, we didn't want to miss out on it. Well, amazingly enough something even better than perfect came open. I'll post more about it once we have confirmed it is ours. We have looked at quite a few, but the minute we saw this one we had a feeling. We were able to see inside of it but were behind one other family in priority for it (with Army housing here, the first family to request to see it gets it locked in for them for 24 hours and they get first pick if they want it). Today we found out they didn't want it ( I have no idea why!!!) Anyway, here's a preview: If we get this place, we will have our very own free-standing house (most housing here is either a rowhouse, duplex or apartment), with a two-car garage, workshop, 4 bedrooms, basement with wine cellar, backyard, patio, and... a garden and vineyard!! We thought places like this only were found in the movies, not really a place we could live in! We have decided if we are going to be living in Germany, we may as well go all out and get the once-in-a-lifetime house to go with the experience too!
We are still having trouble adjusting to the sleep schedule, and I'm having a little bit of trouble with homesickness, but, overall, we are doing wonderfully. The doggies are loving it here, and so is Churro.
All is well in Deutschland!!
Let's take it back to the beginning now. We had a nice trip with my parents in a huge rented 15-passenger van to accomodate all of us, our animals and our suitcases comfortably on the trip to the airport. Thank the Lord my parents were there with us at the airport... it was crazy, trying to check in and get all the animals okayed. They were such troopers and I am so glad they were there. The flight itself was alright. It was a little bumpy so I, of course, was worried about my babies getting sick or something, but I was able to sleep for about 3 or 4 hours and it didn't actually feel like the 8 and a half-hour flight it was. When we landed, we were reunited with the babies, who did very well!! They were definitely unsure of everything and had been very nervous when separated at first in Atlanta, but as soon as they saw us again in Frankfurt they calmed down. We had no issues getting them through the customs, and out to the meeting point to meet our shuttle driver.... there came our first issue. No shuttle driver!! Oh dear. So I called Kelli, and she had not heard from them either, but we found the numbers for the company and she was going to have the Germans she was with call to find out where the driver was. About 10 minutes later he showed up and we were on our way!
Our first whole day was spent with Kelli as she tried to keep us awake and show us around the city. It was odd to just land and start going all over the place, but that is the best way to adjust to the time change. We checked into our temporary lodging and did some exploring. She showed us lots of the sights of the city, including a stroll down the Hauptstrasse (the main street, all pedestrian area) where at the end we could look up the hillside and see Heidelberg Castle. Beautiful! We can not believe we are living in Germany. That night, we went to dinner with Kelli, Lira (our new boss) and her two children at a German restaurant we walked to down the street. I found a new favorite meal already! Kaiserspatzle. Mmm. I probably spelled it wrong but just know that I already ate it two nights in a row at two different restaurants. It's that good! Lira and her kids are very sweet too. They only got here a week before us, so they're going through a lot of the same stuff we are. They are in our building right now, a pretty cool little apartment. It includes the use of a car -- our very own Renault Scenic... manual transmission, hatchback, ugly.... but Carl's seriously having a blast becoming a German driver!
Things overall have been going very well. All week we have been going to different appointments and working on my inprocessing. We ran into a bit of an issue trying to get Carl's ID card, which slowed us down a bit, but got it solved and we have been moving right along ever since. Kelli has been a great sponsor and has not only gone with us to many of the important things and helped figure out random stuff, she's also allowed us the time to just get settled and do whatever we need to do. I have met everyone else in the office here as well, and today Carl and I (I am sure he was really excited) attended my first staff meeting. The staff is really friendly and have so far been super helpful with everything, including trying to find Carl a job! We visited the education counselor the other day about getting him signed up for some classes, but the school he wants to attend only has classes at Ramstein Air Base, which is about 45 minutes away. We are weighing all the options now as far as he goes. But, for now, his job is being my chauffer! :-) I can't drive a stick shift and frankly I'm afraid of the German drivers right now, so he's just driving everywhere and we're doing everything together.
We've definitely decided that learning the language is going to be important. We have shopped at a few German stores and bakeries and figured out how to order or whatever, but it is an uncomfortable feeling. Tuesday night, we went to a restaurant down the street (again, we just walked because it's so close!) and our waitress only spoke German and French! We had our little German-English phrasebook and dictionary and she was so friendly and helpful, together we all figured out enough to enjoy a great meal, and we all learned some new phrases in the process! That same morning when we got up, we walked the dogs to the bakery down the street and they had a little 'doggy parking spot' out front where you can tie them to the building while you go inside! Believe it or not, that is unusual.... most places just let you bring the dogs inside! How cool is that?! It's so perfect and cool I still can't believe it!
Our biggest thing this week has been househunting. Right now, we are staying in a nice temp. apartment and the government is paying for our housing and meals, up to 90 days. We wanted to wait to move into a place at least until our car and some of our stuff arrives. (If we find a place before then, we'll get loaner furniture from the government until our stuff gets here, but we'll lose the use of our loaner car from this apartment). One of the funniest things so far has been discovering German tv! It is hilarious... so far, we've enjoyed watching such gems as the Simpsons, Spongebob and the Golden Girls... all dubbed in German!! It's awesome!! We have AFN- American Forces Network- which shows American shows, and one AFN radio network, if we need a taste of home. It is still odd for us to watch Good Morning America at 2 in the afternoon! We are loving it though. It's been overwhelming, yes most definitely, and yes, I've cried a few times (only a little) when I've had those "oh my gosh, what are we doing?" moments, but for the most part, it's been amazing. Absolutely amazing to look around and realize where we are, how beautiful it is, and what a true blessing this is to be able to live here and experience this.
Back to the househunting.... so, we think we've found a place! We decided to start looking in case the 'perfect' place came open, we didn't want to miss out on it. Well, amazingly enough something even better than perfect came open. I'll post more about it once we have confirmed it is ours. We have looked at quite a few, but the minute we saw this one we had a feeling. We were able to see inside of it but were behind one other family in priority for it (with Army housing here, the first family to request to see it gets it locked in for them for 24 hours and they get first pick if they want it). Today we found out they didn't want it ( I have no idea why!!!) Anyway, here's a preview: If we get this place, we will have our very own free-standing house (most housing here is either a rowhouse, duplex or apartment), with a two-car garage, workshop, 4 bedrooms, basement with wine cellar, backyard, patio, and... a garden and vineyard!! We thought places like this only were found in the movies, not really a place we could live in! We have decided if we are going to be living in Germany, we may as well go all out and get the once-in-a-lifetime house to go with the experience too!
We are still having trouble adjusting to the sleep schedule, and I'm having a little bit of trouble with homesickness, but, overall, we are doing wonderfully. The doggies are loving it here, and so is Churro.
All is well in Deutschland!!
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