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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

GERMANY!

And now the post everyone has been waiting for!! We are in Germany, well we've actually been here since Feb 10th as I'm sure you all know. Alright, so where do I begin....

Well I'll just start by saying I drive by a castle everyday or at least whenever I go on base which is just about everyday! It's pretty run down as far as I can tell, James and I haven't been up to see it yet but we are working our way there. We are still trying to get settled into our new home. We've been in our house since 1 March and we got everything unpacked but not everything has a home yet 'cause there are NO closets!! But we have a basement with two rooms and a wash room so we've been storing our stuff that doesn't work here (some of our 110 voltage stuff) and other random things that we had in closets stateside, down there. Aside from that our home is pretty nice, it's a lot bigger than the place we had in Mississippi. There are 3 floors (including the basement), with 3 bedrooms upstairs on the top floor, the main floor holds the kitchen with TONS of cabinet space which is rare in Germany I hear and the living/dining room. And as I said before the basement with 2 rooms and the wash room where our tiny German washer and dryer live.

The plane ride here was not so good. I felt nauseous pretty much the whole 9 hours of the flight and couldn't wait to get off the plane when we landed! James was my hero, the meal they served us on the plane was really nasty so he went and ganked some peanuts for me so I could have something to eat and then one of the flight attendants brought me more later which was good.

It's very different living here, I'm sure that's a no brainer but I didn't realize how different it would be until we got here. If you want to drive anywhere in Germany you have to have your stateside license AND a German license. But then if you want to drive anywhere outside of Germany you have to have both of those plus an international drivers license! That's a lot of licenses! Also, everything closes really early here. Say it's 8pm and you haven't had dinner yet and you look in the pantry for something to eat but what you really want isn't there. You could drive all the way out to the base to get whatever it was or you could go to your local town grocery store, but the town store would be closed. I think they close at like 5pm or something, at least in most towns that seems to be about when things close, except restaurants, which is kinda nice.

One thing a really love about where we live is the bakery that is within walking distance of our home! And it's SOOO good! I'm glad our house has stairs otherwise I'd end up being 300 lbs! MMM yummies for Leah! I had to buy a German cook book so I could learn how to make all the goodies that we get from the bakery, I haven't tried to make anything yet but I'll let you know how it goes!

Last but not least, we have no home phone or internet service as of yet. Hopefully we'll get that hooked up soon. That's part of why it's taken me so long to get back to posting 'cause we have to go to the library to do all our internet stuff right now, which I hate! But oh well. I also don't like that I can't really talk to my family that often. I mean we have cell phones but they work way differently here than they do in the states and it's costly to use. Soon, that will all be fixed, I hope anyways! :-P Aight, that's all I gots for now! Don't know when the next post will be so keep checking back! Love you all!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

So excited to see a post from you! i check weekly to see if you have gotten on here; -) I am glad you guys are settling in, of course, the changes will take some time to adjust to, but keep that positive outlook and it will be ok!
Envious of the bakery down the street, *drooling* good thing I dont have one near me, I would definitly be a prize heffer, HA! I hope you guys get things squared away with your phone and internet, I am sure that will help you feel mre connected to us all here stateside ;-)

We love you and keep you always in our prayers!
eat some shnitzel for me ok Gretta? (hansel and gretta...)

BIG HUGS AND SLOPPY kisses from Kris, Kurt, Luke and little Sam

Anonymous said...

oh good grief! it's HANSEL AND GRETTAL, not Gretta *rolling eyes* I am a moron. dont mind me.

jeepers. :-P

Anonymous said...

Leah, it is so interesting to hear what you think of everything! I can identify with a lot of what you said - especially how everything closes early! Even in a big tourist city like Paris, nothing except restaurants are open past 5 and even those aren't open very late (by American standards). We were so bored every night when we were in Edinburgh. Its better in the summer though when its warm and light at night, though that doesn't fix the grocery store problem.

Your house sounds huge! I mean, German cars are bigger than cars in the rest of Europe, so maybe it makes sense that German houses are bigger too. Sounds like a really cool house though - is it old? I'm so glad you have a bakery nearby - I'd say no European experience is complete without a castle and a bakery. I'm jealous.

Did you know that we can use a regular 39 cent stamp to mail you things? I love APOs! So I will try to send you mail.

and in more self-centered news....31 days!! I can't believe I'm going to live with a boy for the rest of my life.

Anonymous said...

LOL!! Heather is so funny!! And it's not just ANY boy...she is gonna live with our JARED!!! Yikes! I hope she knows what she is getting into!! HEHE. Zo iz gut tue zee ze post iz back az it shut be!! Or something like that! So glad you guys are doing so well there...my Father does indeed answer prayers! Well, I'm glad you are posting again, so now those who don't talk to you real time can 'hear' how thangs is goin fer ya. Love you both tons!

Anonymous said...

I WAS wondering if you would ever post while surfing at the library. I really didn't expect you would and was quite pleasantly surprised as well as pleased.

It is also a real joy and blessing talking to both of you although I'm sure you'll agree, it's not frequent enough. It's SOOO good to hear your voices and laughter when we talk.

Now, on the topic of internet; I can understand how you could get along without a phone, especially a phone with outrageous terms, cost and the such. I DON'T, however, see how you can survive without internet access for such a long period of time!

THAT just ain't right! God MUST be punishing you for some heinous sin or something along those lines. ;^P

I'm glad to hear that y'all are adjusting to your new hom (Germany) and house.

luv ya's

Anonymous said...

MAN! I can't believe you still don't have internet access.

I'd be in therapy by now. :^)

Anonymous said...

What's taking so long to get something as simple as internet access?

What's wrong with that country! Don't they know that we NEED internet access? Don't they know that I can get access, even in Clovis NM?

Don't they care?

I'm so confused. I just don't understand.

Anonymous said...

Hey! It's me again.

Could you do me a BIG favor and see if the library has a room they would be willing to rent? I've talked this over with the mama and just in case you guys still don't have internet access by the time we get over to see you, I thought maybe we could stay at the library. You can tell them I'd bring my own wireless access point, set it up and donate it when we leave. That is, if you think that offer might sway them to rent us a room.

Of course, the library can't be too far from where you guys live. After all, we WOULD be coming to see y'all, NOT just to surf the net ya know? If the library is really far from you then we may have to re-think our plan to see you, like maybe scheduling our trip to sync up with when you DO have internet access.

I know what you're thinking now. My dad is obsessed with, or perhaps even mildly addicted to, the internet. NOT TRUE! I just like being able to check my email whenEVER I choose without having to make plans, make myself presentable to the world and then getting into a car and driving somewhere. Know what I mean?

Ok... well... Umm...

I think I'll have a beer.

luv ya lots ;^)

Leah said...

That's about how I feel about the internet too Daddy! I hate not being able to check my email and blog and such whenever I want. No instead I have to use the library which is kinda close but still a pain! Oh well, soon!
I'll eat some shnitzel for you Kris and some pastries too! I hope I don't end up being the prize heffer of the fam!
Heather I'm super excited for you, though my excitement is, I'm sure, slightly less than yours, seeing as you are the bride and all! It's not so bad living with a boy. They can come in handy, like when you need bugs killed and things fixed, so they are good for something! ;-)
Anyways, I love you guys and will post again as soon as I can! Tchuß! (Bye!)

Anonymous said...

yeah, I know what you mean about internet. I have to do something online everyday, or else I feel out of touch and cut off. I think maybe my dad invented the internet.

BUT I also tend to be very cheap. I've lived without internet in my home for the past two years - why pay when I can get it at school/work for free? So one day Jared & I were discussing luxuries/essentials and what we could give up to make our STARVING budget work. I suggested not having internet for awhile - he looked at me like I'd cut off his arm. Yep, I think I've only begun to realize what I'm getting into. :)