Exhausting Monday

First thing Monday morning, the sunshine was already intense. By 9am we were at the dealership, where I was informed we were approved for our car, provided Eric brings his paperwork they requested on Friday. Wow, that was quick! While at the dealership, I  got a call from Emmie's kindergarten asking if we would like to spend Tuesday morning in a session with them. Yes of course, we'll be there! We still had time to make into Aldi's and home before our next appointment. 

Yippee, it is American week at Aldi's! Not sure how scones, blueberry juice, or ketchup and mayo combination bottles are American, but we will enjoy the bagels, over priced pre-made pancakes (spotted immediately by the girls), and numerous other American items on sale this week. A quick shopping trip and back home I biked in the hot sun to unload and have a snack before we visited the other kindergarten.

The other kindergarten is in a brand new facility close to our house. They are operating it like a montessori school and a daycare which means the cost is almost triple, so unfortunately it will not work out for us. I am glad I took the time to look it at because I was now informed about it. The temperature seemed to increase by 10 degrees since we arrived at the kindergarten. We were very close to a discount store, so we went to the store. This store trip was to buy a little pool for the girls as I had a feeling it was going to be needed this week as 2 bike trips already have worn me out. 

In the late afternoon, Melanie came over and Hanna enjoyed playing in the bucket of water while the girls splashed in their pool as it was 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Lots of giggles and happy screams could be heard in our backyard. Melanie, Marie, and I were comfortable in the shade of the umbrella. We then journeyed to a new playground with Zoe as our guide. The girls had fun playing. Adeline indirectly made a new friend who wanted to play with her as she heard us speak English and told my neighbor she is learning English, but she never said anything to Adeline. She just played with her on the swings and gave her cherries from the cherry tree in the park as she was bigger and could climb it.

Monday evening I attended a parents meeting at Adeline's school. Melanie asked me if I needed some paper for note taking as I was dropping off the girls and I told her I have learned if it is that important, the Germans will give me the paperwork.  I was correct, as I arrived in the foyer area, the entire front of the banquet table had numerous stacks of paper. I listened to the teachers, a school board member, and a  class project representative speak. After they spoke, papers were handed out and we then went to the classroom. 

There appeared to be much discussion about the class size being now 25. Some parents felt this was too large and wanted to know at what point would it be split into two smaller classes. I am not sure how it got so big from the time we registered Adeline, but it is what is. The teacher than went over more more information about the class and materials the students need. Wow-- not sure exactly the items, but I did take notes of what the other parents are writing in German to translate later. To conclude the evening, the parents went around the room, introducing themselves, talking about their child, and had some other stuff to add about cooking -- still trying to understand those comments. I followed for the most part about everyone's family. I was number 19 to go. I should note here too, that in Germany, many parents are older because they start their families later in life, so I think Eric and I maybe the youngest one by at least 5 years looking around the room. With butterflies in my stomach, I announced my name and stated our family was from USA and we came in May all in German and then informed them I speak no German. One of the fathers immediately spoke up and said it is okay, we can switch to English (what a relief!) . I continued on informing them about Adeline and stating how she was going to teach the other students English-- that got a few smiles. By coincidence,  my seat was next to a mom who is from England and married a German man. After I got done she asked me if I thought this was all overwhelming because it is different than what we know for school!

 It appears Adeline will be one of almost 15 girls in the class now and she is not the youngest anymore as there will be a child 2 months younger than her, but there will also be some children turning 7.  I now understood why her class got so big as 1st class here is not mandatory at 5 as kindergarten (preschool in US) is from ages 3-5 or 6, so parents can choose when to start their children and apparently, some kids are being held back to repeat 1st class again in addition to those that are starting early like Adeline.

Afterwards, I spoke with the teacher who commented she is going to brush up on her English over the summer break, but otherwise I needed to know they needed one more pen that was not listed on the school material list. I have come to conclusion, I will be the parent that will forget to send something with Adeline and have to take it to the school an hour later. Eric will have a lot of school material to read when he gets home every weekend unless he buys me a scanner for translating purposes and/or or hires a German nanny to get ME through the school year.  Right now, he already has homework waiting for him as I could not turn in the paper after the meeting since I did not know how to write it in German for her. 

Hopefully Tuesday and the rest of the week will be tolerable-- mentally and physically!!!

Black, red, and yellow day

Sunday morning, we took the train again to church. This time we stopped to get a treat for the train ride before we began our journey. The girls asked to stop in the bakery before we were even there as they  are aware now of the location of certain shops they get snacks or treats in which I frequent often during the week. Fresh baked pretzels and  fresh fruit for breakfast made it a good train ride to church.

On the way home, the train into Frankfurt, was busy. Majority of the riders were soccer fans who where heading to the large public viewing areas downtown. When we switched trains to catch our final train home, I was amazed at the number of people as it was still 3 hours until game time.  In addition, we noticed our train length had doubled in cars since the morning ride. Eric thought it was due to the anticipation of the volume of riders with the big game.

We watched the game with our neighbors, Brigitte and Vinod, again. Adeline was excited to put on her jersey outfit for the soccer party. Since the game occurred at tea time (4pm) she had out a delicious spread of cakes, muffins, and candy. Their friends also came over, so it was large group again to watch the game. You could feel the tension and nervousness of the fans with each play made by the team. With each goal, the group became more and more lively. It was a wonderful afternoon again and even better the German team has made the final 8.  Next Saturday, we know we already have plans to watch the game as that will be the highlight of the day.

With the daytime temperatures getting warmer, the evening air is very pleasant, so we took another stroll downtown after the soccer game. In addition to the festival noise, the cheering, whistle blowing, and horn honking from celebrating fans made for a noisy little town. Our other neighbors joined us for a nice evening at a side street cafe away from the main area and then treated us to ice cream for dessert from my favorite ice cream parlor!

This week the temperatures are going to be in the high 80s/low 90s, so the goal will be getting out early to do errands. Monday will hopefully be my busiest day which is supposed to be the coolest day of the week. We have no air-conditioning, but I did get fans for every room in my inventory purchases from people moving back to the US, so I hope this will be enough to keep us cool.

Eroeffnungstfest

This weekend kicked off Hofheim's summer of art, culture, and culinary with their Eroeffnungstfest. (Opening ceremony). The music events started Friday night, but the girls went to bed to early for us to enjoy The Queen Kings, a Queens tribute band. This band was the talk of the town and the place to be seen amongst the locals. Saturday morning it was quiet downtown, but everyone was walking in circles trying to find the market. There was a lack of signs posted stating there would be no market, so all of the little shops were quite busy. I found myself a little disorganized as I knew what I wanted at the market and where to get it, but now I had to make several stops and locate the items within a few of the stores.  Emmie had fun shopping in the grocery store as they have little carts her size that she can push around, so that helped out with my load. 

Eric and Adeline took off on an early adventure on the bike. They made it to a little church on the hill we can see when we walk to town. Adeline was very excited to show me the church on the steep hill and inform me it was built a long, long, long time ago-- when Grandma and Grandpa were very little -- like Emmie. The church was built in 1666. Their outing also took them past some horses and the steep hill made for a good workout. Although, Eric said he had to walk the last 100m as it was so steep with the bike.

Saturday afternoon, the Kuchera family joined us. For those that followed us before, Heather and Josh arrived from Michigan when we were in Esslingen as he was also with DiamlerChrysler at the time. We quickly downloaded them with information about living in Germany. The family is now 4 as they have a 2 year old boy, Carsten, and 4 month old girl, Anica. They now live in Koblenz (1.5 hours north of us along the Rhine River) as Josh now works for a German company.  Heather has been giving me tips about living in Germany with kids since we found out we were moving here.

Our families spent the afternoon at the fair enjoying the summertime atmosphere. In addition to the stage performers, they had street artists walking around with a London theme to them and/or their costumes.  The girls liked the characters walking on stilts, especially the royal couple. We found a tourist couple dressed in black outfits  rolling big black suitcases and carrying black umbrellas which kept raining very funny. They had rigged the top of the umbrella to spray out water onto the umbrella, so any one passing by or them stooping over to ask questions would get wet. The girls knew there was a children's area so we ventured to that portion of the fair to enjoy a few rides they had not been on.

The first ride is a Seepferdschiffschaukel (sea horse ship swing is the translation). There was no cost to ride, just the muscles of daddy to keep it moving. The girls had fun despite Emmie bumping her head towards the end of it. The kids liked it, but it seemed as most parents were not to enthusiastic about having to work it for it to keep moving. The second ride,the slide,  can be found in the drink markets. It is how they move the crates of beverages around the store. Both girls fit in the crates and had fun sliding down the conveyor belt.

The children's area also had a large printing press. Eric helped Adeline and Emmie print pages which had the city's crest on it. The first thing Eric told the girls to do (in English) was not touch anything. When it was Emmie's turn and all eyes were on them, Emmie reached out and touched the black ink curiously asking what it was. Everyone around who was decorating their page, just grinned or chuckled.

We made it back to our house in time to watch the USA play Ghana to continue their quest for the World Cup. Despite the soccer team losing, we had a great time catching up with the Kuchera family and are looking forward to spending time with them again in the upcoming wine festivals which are between their home and ours.

Forgetful Friday

We had our car appointment in the morning where Eric signed all of the paperwork for our new Audi A3. However, I forgot to bring along the AAA insurance papers so we could get a quote from them too. Oh well, I will have to take another trip back to them early next week. Good thing they are next door to Aldi so I can make it a shopping trip, too.

Upon leaving the dealership, we walked the length of the mainstreet to catch the bus to the mall as Eric was informed he could not get a second cell phone line. This is not a good sign as he needs a European cell phone to conduct business with. This information came about mid-week when they cancelled his online order for the new i-phone as they informed him the order could not be fulfilled as he could not get 2 phone contracts here in Germany. After an hour of discussion with a manager, they told him that if he brought me in with my paperwork to a store, I may be able to get him some kind of phone for work, but not the new i-phone.  So off to the mall we went. Once arriving, Eric asked me if I had my passport, oops.. nope as we had the other paperwork from the dealership which I thought was the information they needed. Germans and their paperwork required for simple tasks is starting to drive me a little crazy. The bus would not be back for another 45 minutes, so Eric picked up a phone jack and we played fussball at the tables they had set up in the Fifa area. We got back on the bus, went home to eat lunch, and returned to the mall 1.5 hours later. Luckily, the tMobile store was empty and lady who waited on Eric to get my phone was working and recognized him immediately. Eric informed her of his conversation earlier in the week. She went and made a phone call as Eric waited at the counter while I sat down with a sleeping Emmie in arms, and Adeline was dozing in the stroller. About 15 minutes later, Eric came smiling over and said he had been approved for a 2nd line as the current person approved him based on the notes that were in his account from talking with the manager earlier in the week. (Even though the manager told him no on the phone earlier in the week, he approved it for him in the notes-- is this a test or something we do not know about-- saying no but if you follow through-- it is yes?). Bonus for Eric, is Thorsten and then him are the next 2 on the store's waiting list for the new i-phone and they expected a shipment this week. So we will go back next Friday to get his new phone-- hopefully it will be as smooth as today as we are still not sure what happened as we did not even need any paperwork for this 2nd trip to the mall. 

We treated the girls to ice cream on our walk back home. We walked up to the counter to order and it was our friend who was serving it. After some small talk, we all enjoyed our ice cream as the days appear to be warming up and feeling like summer. Eric finds it hilarious that his family has only been here for 1 month and they are already good friends with the ice cream lady. He claims it is too many trips for a treat, my story is we go in the afternoon after shopping or to the playground once in awhile and since it is a slow time, we have small talk with her! It is the one thing I do enjoy about being here in small town is getting to know familiar faces.  

Girls day out

Thursday afternoon our neighbors took us to the mall via bus. The Main Tanus Zentrum is an outdoor mall. Brigitte and Atisha pointed out their favorite boutique stores and then took us to the shopping department store to start collecting our school supplies. For school just finishing up the calendar year, the area was busy with parents going through the supply list and the stores were advertising as if school starts next week! First item on the list was the maeppchen. This carrying case holds the pencils, ruler, eraser, colored pencils and markers. Atisha and Adeline searched through the different sizes and patterns, till Adeline found a butterfly pattern she liked, then a fairy one, and finally a unicorn one. The girls then found the matching the sports bag for her gym clothes and shoes, but could not find a matching pattern for the unicorn, so it was the butterfly pattern she decided on. Decisions, decisions at such a young age!  Lucky for daddy, I brought her Hello Kitty backpack as the backpacks here start at 60 Euros and go up in price! Normally, the parents purchase the backpack, maeppchen, and gymbag all together as a set (which is about 150 Euro) when the children start school here. We then looked for the other school supplies such as paints, art paper/ folders, molding clay, etc. I remembered to bring some of the items with me, so I hope the teacher is okay with the American supplies as the prices for school supplies is outrageous! 10 Euro for a set of paints and 12 Euro for colored pencils was hard to digest when I know how much these items are in the US.  I was so happy when I found a large schuletute, a decorated cone. The parents fill them with candy and school supplies for the child's first day of school. I now have to find a little one for Emmie and little treats to fill it up. I know this is one German tradition I like.  Gathering the school supplies was challenging work, so the girls ate a treat and rested at the FIFA station in the middle of the mall while we waited for our bus.

Thursday evening, the girls spent with Wendel family, while I attended a Stammtisch. CKRS, our relocation agency, hosted a Stammtisch at the Gerbermuehle for their clients. A stammtisch is a gathering of several people who meet regularly in a pub. Uschi and Babette, two consultants who helped us make the tranistion here and both live in Hofheim, picked me up. The location was fabulous for a summer evening as it was at a trendy and historic location along the Main River. Click here to see pictures and read the history about Gerbermuehle It was an enjoyable evening in the summergarten for me talking with a variety of international people and also people from the Detroit area about their experiences and getting new travel ideas, locally and around Europe. Us gals did not realize how much time had passed as they had already  closed up the kitchen and were turning off the large screen outdoor TV and lights.  I am looking forward to getting together with the new acquaintances and the next CKRS Stammtisch.

It's official...

Hard to believe, but we have been here for one month already. We made it over here and so did our personal belongings. Based on our current lifestyle, I have to say we are officially settled in.

We have mastered opening the windows with how the handle turns-- quarter turn and it opens completely like a door; half turn up and it vents open. Adeline likes to pull the rope to open and close the shutters (or shades as she calls them). I am getting used to not having a garbage disposal and separating all our garbage into the various bins and colored bags.

In the morning, the girls have their favorite tv cartoons in German they like. Emmie likes the KIKA blue rabbit and Adeline likes a wizard with his helpers. Initially, they both liked Dora as she spoke German, but the other characters speak English here.

When we are out shopping, Emmie will ask for a brezel (pretzel) and Adeline will ask for a croissant. I have noticed too my shopping cart looks like the other moms with the various type snacks and food items we are eating. We have already gone through one jar of Nutella. The girls love their chocolate sandwiches. The girls are learning their manners in German and I am getting more comfortable speaking German in the stores ordering items.

Some of the festive things the Germans do now too do not cause us to say, "did you see that?!" For example, the ladies who have bright fire red or purple patches of hair, the dogs in the stores, and the decorated cars. (Even the side mirror has a flag on it).

For our neighbor's German soccer party on Wednesday evening, the girls had fun getting ready for it. Adeline was excited to wear  her soccer jersey. Emmie wanted to wear the hat which Eric got from the drink market. It is a cowboy hat sponsored by Bitburger with the German colors on it. The guy in front  of him did not want it, so he asked Eric if he wanted it. Atisha and Brigitte put the German flags and tattoos on the girls! Our neighbors got a projection screen TV just for the game as they had 15 plus people over to watch it. We had a fun time at the party. I think Atisha's friends had a fun time speaking English with Adeline as I only heard them speak German in the beginning of the party, but then they were all playing and having fun by the time the game was over.

Roller coaster day

 Tuesday was a roller coaster ride for us- emotionally and physically. The morning started quite early with the farmer starting his old model tractor and leaving to go out to his fields, but it got me up and a few loads of laundry started. Then a 10am phone call from Emmie's kindergarten principal informing me Emmie lost her place in school and was now on a waiting list. This recently came about due to the recent families moving in and the city telling her the students were to be ranked by age and not when they applied. After a thorough discussion, she informed me there is another kindergarten around the corner from them that has openings. I finalized our conversation confirming their school dates and we would be in contact about Emmie still attending should a student not return in the fall. I immediately called the other school, but the principal was not in. I then emailed her inquiring about Emmie attending her kindergarten. 10:30 am I get a call back from Emmie's kindergarten principal informing me she just received information that a student will not be returning, so Emmie will be in the Sunflower group and the city will be sending us the enrollment package.  It is only 10:35am and I have been through the whole circle of emotions in getting Emmie into a school. Emmie is so excited to start school when she is 3 as she will be just like her big sister. Bike riding past Emmie's school in the late morning to the store and hearing her happily point out  her school to Adeline, made my morning frustrations quickly go away.

In the afternoon, our neighbors invited us along with them to the Kriftel park (this is also where the pool is). We each hopped on our bikes with our kids in the bike trailers and downhill we went. She showed me a new route to the park which was much easier than biking through the streets when Eric and I ventured there a few weeks ago. We met her friend and her son there who was learning English in kindergarten. He told his mom he wanted to say something but he only said bye when we were all leaving.

The park is made up of a few play stations and they are not what you would find in a US playground by safety standards- maybe at an old time amusement park. The 1st station  had 2 tall and steep slides. Adeline was brave to conquer them both by herself. I thought she maybe should have kept her bike helmet on just in case she went up and over the sides. I went on the slower one with Emmie  and then Emmie sat on Adeline's lap one time. The next station had a large mushroom that spun which the girls could hang from. They had fun until their arms got tired. Adeline spotted the zipline and could not resist. It was quite quick and long (about 50m) for the ride. On Emmie's turn, she hung on very tight and tried to cross her legs on the circular seat and just grinned from ear to ear all during her ride. The group then moved over to the dragon climbing structure for a few turns on the ropes and monkey bars. Finally, we ended up at the swings, large rope climbing structure, sanbox/ digging area and in-ground trampoline. The sandbox/ digging structure had pulleys with buckets set up high on a platform for the kids to fill and empty..or otherwise give kids passing by underneath sand showers. The girls loved jumping on the trampoline along with the other kids.

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated the day with starting out on an early morning train ride. The girls were impatient while waiting for the train. (Although we were 20 minutes early for it, as I did not know how long it was going to take all of us to walk to the train station). Seeing the train coming towards us, they instantly filled with excitement and glee. While holding their hands, Eric boarded the train with the girls and found our seats. Initially, they sat in the seat and then about 10 minutes into it, they were on their knees, peering out the window. With a stop to switch trains, the hour train ride took us to a small English speaking Christian church.

Upon entering, we were greeted and informed the children would stay with us for the praise portion and then they would be dismissed for the sermon to attend Sunday school. Emmie had no issues being left in her classroom with the seven other children as she was glad there was going to be snacks! Adeline's class size was small too, but she was not the only new one. After church, the girls were very happy to share with us their projects they had made. We then joined the members in the foyer for light snacks and learned  there are two other couples also from Hofheim. We did not stay long though as the train would be coming shortly and the next train would not be again for 30 minutes.

Since we had to switch trains in Frankfurt, we decided to have lunch downtown. I first showed Eric the Zeil, a glass cone like structure they built throughout the 8 story shopping tower.  Click here to see pictures of the curving twisty glass structure Not sure exactly where the non-touristy restaurants were at, we headed for the old city center as we were hungry and we knew there would be an abundant there.  We found a nice table inside as it was cool to be sitting outside, even though many people were but all bundled up. All of us enjoyed spargel (white asparagus) soup and the girls shared my spargel with hollandaise sauce and schnitzel meal, while Eric dined on a smoked wurst (sausage) and sauerkraut dinner.

Our journey continued around the city center as the girls wanted to see all of the various acts: people playing various music instruments, dressed up as statues, and doing anything or nothing to get money. On our journey home, Emmie fell asleep in the stroller. Even though it was brisk out, Eric still wanted to get gelato, so him and I each got a scoop for the walk home. I did not want him to feel lonely eating ice cream by himself.

In the late afternoon, Alex came and hooked up our landline phone, so now I am connected to the world with technology and my phones! We finished the evening eating Eric's favorite sweet raisin bread I had found Saturday by chance as I took a different route to the market.  I passed a small corner bakery and caught it in the corner of my eye as I was looking at the decorated desserts that looked like the German flag with black, red, and yellow toppings. The bakery only makes 2 loaves of it and it is by random when they do. I know I will be taking that route at the end of the week to check their shelves.

Aside from doing laundry this week, we have an invitation to a German soccerball party on Wednesday night, a mall shopping outing in the afternoon and a Stammtisch ( adult gathering in the evening) on Thursday, and a Friday morning appointment at the Audi dealership to start the paperwork process for our A3 Sportback that will not arrive till end of July. After what Eric has gone through to get me a handy (cell phone), we figured we should start the paperwork now on a vehicle- at the German rate to get approved, it will take 4 weeks to complete it, but let us hope that is not the case in this instance.

Great day for doing laundry

First thing Saturday morning, our moving team of Sarah, Jorge, Thorsten, and Eric gathered for the last moving in project.  God bless them all for their weekend time and help with us in making the transition over here quickly. For without their assistance, we still would be trying to get settled in. Today, they moved the washer, dryer, and two more shranks (closets) to our apartment. Luckily, the laundry room is on the ground level for them to place them, but for me I have to go down two flights of stairs to do the laundry that has been piling up. 

The washer was hooked up immediately and the slow process has begun. I read in the manual a complete cycle with prewash and extra rinse can take 169 minutes.  This next week will consist of laundry as the compartment can only only hold about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of our machines in the states and drying takes over 2 hours to get it closet dry. I have 3 laundry baskets overflowing with clothes and that does not include the linens. I hope we have sunny warm weather to help speed up the laundry process. Right now we are set with the major appliance items, the microwave and toaster can wait.

After lunch, Eric took Adeline out for a bike ride. The two of them took the path we walked a few weeks ago but farther. He followed some of the bike signs to Kelkheim, but said they ended up at a golf course. On their way back home, Adeline said they got lost and was nervous, but happy when she saw our apartment and realized Daddy was only kidding.

The highlight of our Saturday afternoon was watching Sweden's Princess Victoria marry Daniel Westling, a man of the common people. The guests started arriving at 2:30pm at the Stockholm Palace and then walked a long gray carpet lined with soldiers to the church. It reminded me of the red carpet we watch with Hollywood events. The girls were in awe of the attire as the ladies wore jewels and their crowns or tiaras with their fancy gowns  and the men with their sashes and medals, one even was carrying his sword. The commentators said everyone's attire was for an afternoon wedding. Personally, the dresses were gorgeous, so not sure how more exquisite it could have gotten if it were an evening wedding. The King and Princess arrived 45 minutes later and the ceremony in the church began. After the ceremony, the newlyweds toured the city in a carriage, and then boarded a vessel that had about 30 men rowing it. The boat took them around the city harbor where they then got back in the carriage and arrived at the castle for the evening festivities. For Eric and I, it was awesome to see the city again, as we had visited these places when we toured Stockholm. Adeline even noted one time the shimmer on the princess's shoes when she was walking down a few steps. Throughout the airing of it, Adeline thought it was some type of movie produced by Disney as she asked when it was going to be over even, though we had informed her this was a real true princess's wedding. I can understand though as the media called it a Fairytale Wedding and there were many similarities throughout it to Cinderella's story.  

After 3 hours of wedding watching, this is one of the few times I  truely enjoyed our high tech TV Eric picked out as I think I had the best seat in the house to see the entire event. 

We spent the evening hanging pictures and mirrors. The apartment now feels homey as the walls are not naked stark white. Although, of course, on the last one to be hung, the hook broke which took the same amount of time to fix and rehang as it did all of the other items. Why is it all house projects, big or small, always have a glitch!

Ready for 1st Class

Friday morning, I took Adeline to the Kreishaus (clinic)in Marxheim. Marxheim is Hofheim's sister city directly on the side of the train tracks, but it is all uphill. The school requested she have an appointment with a doctor to make sure she is ready for 1st class. I gave them all of my health papers from the USA indicating she was ready for kindergarten, but they wanted to conduct their own tests. Adeline performed great on the hearing and vision test. It was more of a cooperative test though as the secretary spoke some English and I instructed Adeline what to do from what I could see her trying to achieve at each station. We then visited the doctor who initially questioned our requests since Adeline spoke no German, but I told her she was playing with German friends and would quickly adapt. The doctor also ordered me to take a language course too! She performed some basic tests of following instructions, matching, and writing to see Adeline's cognitive ability. She then did a health check-up and finished the visit by having Adeline play hopscotch on her rug. We left with the doctor saying she would write a letter to the school indicating Adeline was ready for 1st class even though she was underage for when the children attend. 

Perfect timing as we came home and had a letter in the mail from Adeline's school! It had upcoming important dates of a parent's meeting and school starting on Tuesday, August 17 for her. Melanie tells me too that is tradition to host a party for her starting 1st class as it is a big ordeal here! Yippe!! We also got a school material list. Not just pencils and crayons, this list is very detailed to the color of crayons, size of pencil, etc.. those Germans and their details.. We are going to ask our neighbor, Atishe, who is in school to go school supply shopping with us. I think it would take me a whole week just to find the specific items in the stores. (It took me 3 separate tries and the help of Melanie to find nail polish remover! -- the little bottle even said nail polish remover in English, but it was on the floor and in a different looking bottle than I am used to.)

We spent part of the afternoon watching the German soccer game and the rest of it at Adeline's new school. Steinburg Schule was hosting their year end school  party. Teresa, Ines, and Matthias came with us. The girls clicked right away as we were walking to the school. At the school, the girls had a great time playing together, eating the various cakes and goodies and exploring the school. Emmie enjoyed riding the Bobby car which is a toy all of the toddlers here have to ride on. All of the father's joined in the festivities when the German's lost as they had been in the hallway glued to the TV. We also entered a lottery and won a soccerball!

Not a slow week after all

What I thought was going to be an easy week, has turned into another busy week. However, I seem to have finally gotten a little ahead with grocery shopping as we did not have to go the grocery store on Monday for milk and juice. The weatherman intially said we were going to have rain showers all week and it has only rained one day, Thursday. All the other days have been pleasant partly cloudy summer days in the low 70s.

Tuesday, the girls and I spent at the dealerships. In the morning, we went to the Audi dealership and climbed all over the A3 Sportback. Lucky for me, there was a salesperson who spoke English. Initially, he asked me if I wanted diesel or benzine (gasoline),  how much horsepower, and then the list started of engineering performance questions. After the 4th question, I informed him I was looking for an A3 with air conditioning, cruise control, and I would drive about 15K km a year, plus I needed the transaction to occur  very soon. I think it caught him off guard a little bit since I was not interested in the technical aspect or the different interior packages of the vehicle. He did  find some possible vehicles. I collected lots of data and figures for Eric about the current inventory, plus future inventory. Since Aldi's was right next door, we did our shopping. To our surprise, it is Asian week. This means the entire center of the store is filled with all types of Asian food. Of course, we picked out some items based on the pictures and with the few food words I know in German about what the flavor should be (like chicken or just veggies).

After getting the groceries home, we went to the BMW dealership and climbed all over the 1 series 5 door. I liked it, but after collecting all of the data and figures on it, I do not think it is suitable for our family. It is just a little too small for weekend getaways in comparison to the A3. I never did drive either of them,  as I am more concerned about the size and being able to park it and making sure we all fit in it for holidays. We'll see what we end up with when Eric comes home to actually sit in both vehicles and see how he thinks we, along with our gear, will fit.

Friendship, fresh air, and a fine chocolate store!  Our Wednesday could not get any better. We spent the morning with the Wendel ladies downtown shopping at the market, relaxing outdoors at the cafe with an Apleshorle (apple juice mixed with bubbly water), and Melanie showing us where the gourmet chocolate shop was on a side street. Adeline and Emmie found lots of soccer themed chocolates from little soccer balls to 8" tall soccer players. Looking forward to sampling our selection on Friday when our teams play again.

Thursday, we woke up to a steady rain. Unfortunately, we had to go out as my bike's appointment was for today. It is a good thing the bike trailer is equipped with a rain shield for the girls as it kept them mostly dry. As for me, I did my best to take the side streets to the bike shop, but of course, there was that one car that had to drive so close to me and splash a puddle all over my legs. Germans and their lack of personal space- applies too while in cars -- that will be another blog I am sure. We made it to the bike store, then over to meet with another salesman who sells Volkswagens, and finally to the grocery store. We made it back home, a little wet, but we won't melt.

Tomorrow should be interesting as Adeline goes in for a doctor's visit to make sure she is okay to attend school and the Germany and USA games are on in the afternoon.

Opel Zoo

Sunday started off slow from all of the excitement on Saturday night, so we were just relaxing when the Wendel family invited us to the Opel Zoo. We packed some snacks and were on our way in their 2 cars. Once we arrived and got the strollers and kids all situated, we started our afternoon zoo visit.

Our first stop was the petting zoo. The goats were a little aggressive and this frightened Adeline, so she stayed out of the area. Eric managed to photograph one goat jumping up on Thorston (he is at least 6'2") while he and Hanna are trying to feed them a carrot. Melanie and Thorston were surprised by this as they commented how when they come late in the afternoon, the goats are very calm because they are full from everyone feeding them all day long. We did find a lamb born in April the girls enjoyed petting. From there, we walked over to the elephants. 

The zoo is in the Tanus Hills, so you walk around the zoo in a circle, starting downward and finishing the zoo walking up hill. The exhibits are free range exhibits, so we had to look closely for the animals. It was neat at the elephant exhibit because in the background you can see a small town with a castle up on the hill. As we walked around the various exhibits, it was interesting to see the different species we do not have in our zoos.

After we walked through the zoo, we took the girls to the play area. The area had bumper scooters/ cars,  a small swing device with 6 swings attached, playground area, large ball area for them to jump, and numerous other children's activities. Thorston said this was all here when he was a child as well. He also informed us that these motorized activities  were never attended either. This surprised Eric and I  as these were bumper cars and no official zoo person was there to oversee the activity. To them these activities were so fun, we think it may have been more fun than seeing the animals.  After putting in a Euro here and there in the various rides, it was time to head home to watch the German soccer match.

At home, the girls had a quick shower, and then we headed back to the Wendels for the FIFA World Cup game with Germany playing this time. We did not even have the game on and within the 1st couple of minutes we knew Germany scored from the sounds and cheers we could hear around us. The streets were absolutely silent with the game going on till there was a goal. An evening with excellent company accompanied with yummy German sweets and a solid win by Germany was a super way to end our weekend. 

I am looking forward to a not so busy week, although Eric would like me to try to get out and test drive a few cars. Yikes, I am not sure I am ready to drive over here yet.

FIFA World Cup Begins- Party time

With the start of the World Cup on Friday, Hofheim has been transformed. Every little cafe and restaurant has a flat screen showing the current game. In addition, some of them have even changed their hours to accommodate the game times to ensure patrons will come and/ or stay at their place. The Germans have suddenly become very patriotic as well, as everyone suddenly has a flag outside their balcony, on their car  or bike, and even on their baby strollers.

Saturday morning we spent preparing for the spontaneous USA soccer party we were going to  host. We put an invitation up at the front door of the house for our neighbors to stop by during the USA vs England game in the evening.  By preparing, this meant, Adeline and I went to the market to do our grocery shopping, while Emmie and Eric picked up his bike and then went to the drink market. Eric managed to get the drinks all in one load. Sounded like he did some excellent package engineering to get all of the beer, wine, and waters home. I was not able to see it, but heard about how he managed to get it all in the bike trailer with Emmie, plus some on top with the make shift box, and then strap the empty crate to the rear of it. Adeline picked out a few red and white flowers at the market to add to the patriotic theme we have planted on our terrace.

Since it was still early in the afternoon, Thorston took Eric to the mall to get my handy (cell phone) as he now has his 3 year visa to officially work here. He figured it would be a short trip since he already knew exactly what he wanted from the previous trip when they initially denied him one due to lack of long term visa. Us girls stayed home and straightened up the apartment for the evening festivities. After 1 hour, Eric returns home with no phone and comments they want to see more paperwork (paperwork that had to be provided to get his 3 year visa), so Eric fetches it and then returns to the store. Throughout the afternoon, neighbors informed me they would come over for a beer or 2 or after their little ones were in bed. This is exciting as we are going to have company for our party. The girls are getting excited about getting the apartment ready for the soccer party, although Emmie keeps naming every other sport besides soccer. It is now 6pm, dinnertime, and no Eric.   Eric texted me stating not to wait for him, to have dinner, and get ready as the game was at 8:30pm.

While dinner is cooking, the refrigerator and I have an intense conversation about how he is going to make room available for beverages for the party. After a few minutes, he gave in and I was able to stock the fridge with a few in the freezer to initially start the party. Finally, after 3 hours at the store, Eric appears with my new handy! Hurray, I now have a phone! In 1 hour,  I will be hosting a party for a bunch of strangers, so Eric quickly tells me how everything had to be done manually and even the customer service lady was getting mad at the main department for the nonsense they were asking for in order to issue him a phone. The guys did have some funny conversations throughout the afternoon and did find a Starbucks to manage the pain of the long wait.

With the atmosphere set with star shaped candles, little American flag on the snack table with Munchies, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and a other goodies, we were ready for our USA party. One couple so kindly dropped off 2 quarts of fresh strawberries to us, and said they were sorry they could not make our party as they had other plans. Then slowly our neighbors started arriving. We ended up having 3 of the 5 other families over for the game.

The girls enjoyed getting to know Atisha. She is 12 and lives across the hall from us. We had her try some A&W Rootbeer. Her dad was initially concerned because he thought it contained alcohol. She and her mom liked it, but the others thought it was too sweet and some did not even try it because they could not get over the smell of it.  On the top level lives a couple with a 3 year named Zoe and she enjoyed playing with the kitchen set with Emmie when she warmed up to the group. What was supposed to be half hour or a beer or 2 as they informed me earlier in the day, ended up being a fun gathering. I learned some good points of interest in the area, too. Bonus part is it was a good soccer game that ended up in a tie.

As we are cleaning up, Eric comments how many beers we went through. He did not realize either that he had bought Becks in 0.5 L. He just bought a case at the drink market like before as he did not realize Becks was available in the larger beer bottles till he pulled one out to restock the fridge. Needless to say, we went through more beer than we thought we would, but then again, we did host a party in Germany!

Are we in Germany, Africa or Soccerland?

Monday morning was a trip to the bike store to drop off of Eric's bike. Lucky for me the man at the counter spoke a little English so I was able to drop Eric's bike off with no problem. Initially, he informed me they could not take his bike till next week since I did not have an appointment. I told him it was outside, and he mentioned it could be done by the end of the week. However, my bike cannot go in until end of next week to get a tune-up and have the brakes realigned as they are very busy since it is the start of summer and everyone here owns a bike. So it has been a week of walking for me.

My next stop was the grocery store.  In one weekend, it has become full of African (Afrikan) inspired  or soccer (Fussball) inspired food combinations as this upcoming weekend begins FIFA World Cup. In the picture you see African edition yogurt and the Fussball pudding  has little soccerball pieces to mix in the vanilla pudding. There is also soccer mustard jars, gift boxes with African flavored sauces and marinades, drinks, etc.. the list goes on and on. M&M's even made a special package of German team colored m&ms (black, red, yellow) for the FIFA games.   The girls found soup with the theme packaging --Safari Soup with African animal shaped noodles & Fussball Soup with soccer ball, soccer player and goal shaped noodles.

Throughout this week, the town store fronts and merchandise has also been inspired by FIFA. The marketing and advertising is just overwhelming. I thought Christmas was bad in the US, but between soccer, Africa and the German colors, it is unbelievable. Tuesday, Tchibo, a neat coffee and retail store, was carrying clothing made with African cotton and in African colors. The ladies were buying it up!

Wednesday was a beautiful day here which made my birthday even more enjoyable. We spent the morning at the market, the afternoon at the park, and the evening relaxing on the terrace. The girls had fun picking out different treats for us to eat all day long. We started with croissants filled with nutella (chocolate), then rhubarb and cherry crumble cake, and to top it off, black forest cake and a raspberry torte. Melanie and her girls also stopped by for evening treats. Surprise to me, Melanie brought a set of matches  as I was mentioning to her I did not have anything to light a candle with. Melanie also surprised me with  a little birthday cake and a Dr. Oetaker (famous German chef) baking book in English on how to make all of the various German desserts and treats we see in the bakeries and restaurants. I was delighted and am so thankful for her friendship.  I am very excited to start baking. I just need to get back home to get more of my baking pans I left behind.

This week, we also had a playdate with a nice family who we were put in contact through an acquaintance. Teresa, their 5 year old daughter, and Adeline were playing great together throughout the playground even though they could not speak to each other. Teresa was in awe as this was the 1st time she had heard her mom speak English.

Call me Mrs. Fix-it as I was able to go to the Baumarkt (Home Depot) on Thursday morning and get the various nuts and bolts that were missing from the bikes and wagons. The girls helped me put the pieces on their equipment, so they can use them now. We are just waiting for Eric to come home and tighten them with his super strength.

Emmie is starting to pick up little German phrases and is asking for pretzels now when we see them in the bakery, which means she is adapting quite well. Adeline is hesitant about speaking German, but will do it to get a treat or correct Emmie on her pronunciation.

As mentioned before, this weekend begins FIFA World Cup games. There are numerous ads about associated activities going on throughout the weekend and large viewing areas like in Stuttgart. We will keep you posted on how the 1st weekend went.

First of many summer days to come

Saturday morning, we awoke to bright sunshine. Our first destination was the market as Eric had not been to it yet. With the girls pushing their baby strollers and Eric pulling the wagon, we were on our way. We did our best to stay in the shade as the sun was already intense. After picking out our groceries and the girls getting apples and cherries this week, we stopped in the bakery. The bread loaf I picked out to be sliced was still warm so it could not be sliced. Bummer, we had to bring home warm fresh baked bread.

We spent the late afternoon celebrating Hanna's 2nd birthday. Melanie found a nearby bakery that makes cakes close to American style wedding cakes, so she had them make a small round one with a popular mouse character over here on the top. It was filled with raspberries and was delicious, right along with the assortment of cakes and tortes she had out to go with the birthday cake. Eric initially thought Melanie had purchased the dessert assortment from the bakery as they were all professional looking and tasty, until she informed him that she and her mother made them. I am looking forward to her and her mom teaching me how to make the yummy fruit tortes this next year.

Sunday was going to be another warm day, so we biked early to the nearby pool.  After hesitation and many loud "DADDY"s, Adeline liked riding on the co-pilot and being connected to Eric's bike. Emmie was strapped in the trailer with our towels and cooler. We learned the pool was closed last year and had just reopened. Good timing for us! The pool area was very nice with tiling, landscaping bricks, and grassy picnic areas around it. The pool bottom and waterslides were made of metal. It was a nice change from the concrete we are used to at pools. The girls enjoyed the kid's pool area, despite the water temperature being chilly. The hot sun must have offset it, as I had to bribe the  girls out occasionally with snacks because their lips were blue or they were shivering. Adeline thought she was Green Lantern with the one fountain she could go under for it appeared to her she was in the protective bubble shield. Adeline also liked going in the big pool with the waterslide and Emmie did not like the waterslide. Eric had to climb up the steps to get her down.  It too was a culture lesson for Adeline as she did not understand why some of the younger girls only had on bottoms and no tops. We ended up with one skinned knee, as Emmie started running after Adeline and I when we went to change back into our clothes for our bike ride home.

On the way home, which is all up hill, Eric's one shifter broke. Luckily he was in 2nd gear to go up the last big hill. Adeline and him made it back to the apartment, but it ended up being a tougher workout than planned. I took a little longer and then still could have used a pool to jump in to cool off when we made it back the apartment. I think it was the warmest day of the year so far with temps in the low 80's.

Sunday evening brought cool rain showers which meant Wii game night. We had a nice family evening before we start week 2 here which will now consist of taking Eric's bike to get repaired. He wrote me a note in German what needs to be done to his bike just in case.

Wilhelmstrasse Festival in Wiesbaden

Friday afternoon we started our bus trip to Wiesbaden for the Wilhemstrasse Street Festival.  The girls were excited to be traveling on the bus. We boarded the bus for our 40 minute trip to Wiesbaden. 10 minutes into it, everyone was asleep. It was a nice ride through the little towns and the fare payed for itself, as parking in Wiesbaden is expensive. With some guidance from Sarah, the bus dropped us off 2 blocks away from the street festival. The street festival is on the most exquisite  boulevard of the city where all of the expensive houses and stores are located, plus along the park and museum area.

We met up with Sarah within a few minutes and started our feast at the festival with fresh popped popcorn (requested by the girls). The girls initially chose honey flavored popcorn but they were out of it, so we went with the carmel flavor instead. Eric then found a beer stand, while Sarah and I enjoyed a glass of Applewein. We strolled down the boulevard, taking in the atmosphere. We came across street performer couple who were trying to make the children laugh, but the crowd did not find them amusing and their outfits were to be desired. "Only in Germany" will be my phrase for this as the lady was wearing a soccerball printed material bra on the outside of her low cut v -neck tanktop.  We continued on to the children's area where Adeline had a balloon man make her a cat balloon. This was a funny situation as we had Adeline tell the man in German "katze", but he spoke little German, and only English and Spanish, so at first he did not understand what Adeline had requested. The girls then went for a ride on the beautiful 2 story carrousel. 

We noticed as we were walking around, all of the stages they had set up had local dance studios performing on them. It is even more interesting that they all dance to American music. 

We continued our stroll through the craft area and around the park. It is here in the park where the beautiful fairies were discovered. We were all awestruck by their costumes. We did our best to get some pictures with them, but it was challenging since they were the main focus of this festival. The fairies paraded around the festival throughout the early evening. Each time the girls saw them, we stopped to watch them.  The later portion of the afternoon was spent sitting under the umbrella of one of the beverage vendors while the girls enjoyed watching everything going on.

After the girls indulged in a fresh crepe filled with nutella and pears (their choice), we continued on our festival feast. Eric and I got a Thuringer wurst with a fresh roll. The Thuringer wursts are known as the best brats grilled over a large grill. The girls found a vendor that made little sugar donuts which brought smiles to their faces.  Jorge met up with us and we continued enjoying the festival. We ventured to the ferris wheel for a family ride.  After the ride,  we sat in the park  listening to the stage music, with after dinner drinks of beer for the guys and tasty strawberry bowls for Sarah and I. We watched the strawberries by the large boxes being delivered when we initially arrived, so Sarah and I could not resist the glass full of strawberries with a wine and champagne combination poured over them.

The evening concluded with a long walk back to the bus station for our ride back to Hofheim and then our hike uphill home in the warm summer evening air.

Another German Holiday

Thursday was a relaxing day as it was a German holiday so everything is closed except the restaurants, plus I was recovering from the hill workout on Wednesday. We started the sunny warm morning with a walk to the park with the Wendel family. 

 My girlfriend, Sarah, also came to visit us for the day. Since she works for Opel, she had the day off, but her other half, Jorge, is in the service here and had to work. It was a pleasant "girls only" afternoon on our terrace.

Thursday evening, Eric returned home from a short commute from Sweden. I am looking forward to the summer weather and 3 day weekend  as Eric gets Friday off since he did not take Thursday off.

An interesting note on German holidays:  when the holiday is on a Tuesday or Thursday, they must take the adjoining Monday or Friday off as well, but when the holiday is on the weekend, they do not get a preceding Friday or following Monday off like in the US.  This was the last weekday holiday for the Germans, as all holidays from here till the end of the year fall on the weekend and they are not happy about it. Eric was bummed to discover this too, but he has lots of vacation time for us to enjoy our time together.

Made it through the 1st week!

We made it through the first week with Eric going back to work!

On Monday, I ventured with the girls to the Aldi's store which is on the northern end of town. It is a little far to walk, but with the bike and trailer, it is about a 10 minute ride (all down hill). I was so excited when I learned that Aldi takes the EC (European credit card). I had just enough cash on me to cover our groceries for Monday, but it meant future trips would be better planned for items and not based solely on amount of cash in my pocket.  Returning home from any of the stores takes a little effort pulling the trailer with groceries up the hill, but I made it to the block before our house before I had to walk the bike trailer combo, plus ask Adeline to get out of the trailer. At dinner, I was reminded again how we do not have a microwave for leftovers, so dinner took a little longer getting to the table. It is a postive thing the girls were good sports about it.

Monday night brought about excitement for the girls as they were able to finally sleep in their bunkbeds. Since we bought them used, the bedding needed to be washed and mattresses aired out. Melanie so kindly started washing it Sunday evening and we finished it up on Monday so it could dry out. Adeline and Emmie were in bed early and had lots to talk about being in their new beds. 

On Tuesday, we ventured back to Aldi's to start stocking up on milk and some food. It may seem odd, but when the family goes through 1 liter of milk a day and then the stores are closed on Sunday and holidays, (Thursday was an upcoming holiday) it is not fun to have warm milk or no milk at all come Monday morning. Oh yes, the milk is in cartons made by Tetra Pak (Eric's current project) and is not refrigerated until it you need it to be so I can keep it in the cupboard. 


We also assisted our farmer neighbor across the street in some yardwork.  He has lost one hand so the girls and I helped him by putting the trimmings from a bush into his trailer that is attached to his tractor. He rewarded all of us by cutting us each a fresh yellow rose from his rose bush.


Wednesday was an exhausting day for me. We started with walking down hill one block to Melanie's to do a load of laundry as our washer and dryer will be available in a few weeks. Then we walked up hill one block  to Adeline's school. Adeline attended school for a reading session with the older students. She was assigned to Liam and Lynn. Liam speaks English and German, so he read a little bit of his German book and then translated Adeline's books that she read in K4 class. Adeline was quiet throughout the session, but I think it was good for her to be in the school yard with the kids and hear them converse. It was interesting to watch the other kids want to be near Liam though as he spoke English to Adeline. We then walked back down the hill to Melanie's home to get one load of laundry, then back up to our apartment to hang the laundry, and have lunch. After lunch, we went down the hill  by bike and trailer to get some bread as tomorrow (Thursday) would be a holiday, so the bakeries and stores would be closed. Then I rode back up the hill all the way to the apartment. Adeline was my cheerleader as I did not have to ask her to get out and walk with me at any point on the hill. Then we returned down the hill to Melanie's home to get our last load of laundry and back up hill to our apartment for the last time on Wednesday.

First Visitors

Sunday, May 30th, started off with some light showers, but turned to partly cloudy with occasional showers. We decided to head off to the nearby walking paths so the girls could ride their bikes.  We had sunny cool weather which was great for walking in the fields, but on the way back we got hit with a downpour. We took shelter under a large Evergreen tree. When the rain lightened up, I ran back with Adeline while Eric (who had the umbrella) strolled with Emmie back home on her bike.

In the evening, we had our first visitors to our apartment, the Wendel family- Melanie, Thorston, Hanna (2 years old) and Marie (4 weeks old). Melanie was an exchange student in my high school. When we came to Germany 5 years ago we got back in touch with each other. Now she is my neighbor as she lives 2 blocks away. They came over to visit us now that we are mostly settled in. Hanna enjoyed sitting at the girls' little table eating noodles with them, while the Dads played some Wii. 

Tomorrow morning, Eric leaves for Sweden till Thursday evening, so it will be just us girls! It should be an interesting week.