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.