Hey Dad, your day is this Sunday, so I wanted to give you an update on what we have been up to since I have been a bit absent. For the past month, we have been living the strictly German life. We haven’t been travelling, just relaxing and adjusting to life here. Mid-May, we were in the midst of our post arrival depression. Everyone had warned us that it would come eventually, and it hit us towards the end of Maggie’s trip. We were tired of trying so hard to learn German, trying not to talk too loud, trying to fit in, trying to figure out how things work and what gets you yelled at… We were just tired, and desperately wanted normalcy and a huge plate of BBQ pork, baked beans, cole slaw, and a HUGE salad with lots of Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing. Obviously that wasn’t an option, so Billy and I just spent quiet, relaxing time together, determining how we can help each other out and focusing on US (as in him and me, not the United States). AND GUESS WHAT DAD!?!?! It worked!!! We pulled through that down time together, and we are doing really well now.
We are currently studying for our German Driver’s License test, and it is a B%$ßH. Seriously. Luckily computation in my head isn’t difficult because of my line of work, but I would imagine for some people that computing braking distance, reaction time, and emergency breaking distance could be a real pain in the butt. For me, it is this whole “Right before Left” rule as well as all the rules regarding towing other cars – 3t, 3.5t, 100km/hr, couplings, disc brakes… who cares?!? Anyway, we have to take the test on June 27… I guess you will find out how we did then.
In the last month while relaxing, we also took in some of what our area had to offer.
We finally have had the opportunity to spend more time with our neighbors. They really are a fantastic family. The two adults are super, super cool, and he has a daughter who just turned nine. I absolutely adore her. We went to a birthday party for the daughter… well actually we went to the after party for the adults… but we still got to spend some time with Natty. Billy and I played “catch the ball” with the kids; of course Billy’s b-crack was out the whole time. We are working on that. We brought confetti cupcakes (big hit!) and blow markers. I think she really enjoyed those. We saw them playing with them the next day on their patio.
Throwing balls at kids...
Instead of marshmellows, these bread things are what we cook over a fire here... pretty cool, but I love marshmellows.
One of the men I work with, JP, lives in Erlangen, and his wife used to do hair in Miami, so she offered to cut my hair for me. I NEVER like my haircuts, but this one I really really love. Simple… just how I like it. Speaking of her, she just had a baby boy – her first child – and we went to cookout at their place to meet him. His name is Dominic and he is a riot! Maybe one day I will give you a grandchild, Dad.
In May we also attended the Blau Nacht (Blue Night) in Nürnberg. It is a big event that is held the last Saturday of May. Museums, churches and other cultural institutions open their doors until the early morning hours. We enjoyed art and light installations, music, and performances in the inner city streets. We mainly just drank a lot of beer. We went down there with some people from our neighborhood, and met up with some of Billy’s teammates.
This is a famous beer near the ALbrecht Dürer haus in Nürnberg. They are only served in 1L quantities.
Blue lights!!!
So apparently putting out foosball games is the thing to do during big city events. They are everywhere!! In fact, during our Diversity Day (yeah, straight out of The Office) at work last week, they put them out in the atrium. I love the look of Billy's teammates here.
Speaking of Billy’s teammates, they recruited a quarterback from the US – he just graduated from a university in Ohio, and he will stay in Germany and play on his team until September. I have really enjoyed having him out on the field to watch, and I know Billy really enjoys having him as a teammate. He plays SUPER smart. I would give ANYTHING for you to be able to see a game with me. WOW what a difference a quarterback makes. We travelled down to Starnberg (just outside of Munich in the Five Lakes region) for a game the week before last. It was beautiful!!! Billy packed me up a chair, cooler of fruit and beer, and a bag of books. He is so precious!!! He knows the way to my heart… sports, books, beer, and fruit!!!
Last weekend they played the number one team in the league and WON!! It was awesome. Dad, you definitely gave me your mouth, so needless to say, the opposing fans are never fond of me. My purse full of goodies didn't help...
We have taken time to find parks and botanical gardens around us... we are trying to learn to relax more, and not feel like we have to DO DO DO DO DO .
We also attended a Winefest in Bamberg. Bamberg is small, but absolutely beautiful. It has several castles, and even a river that people use to train for kayaking! That night turned out to be a mess though. We missed the last train to Nürnberg, so we had to sleep OUTSIDE of the train station. The train station and McDonalds closed at 1am, so we were stuck lying on the concrete until 4:45am. It was a MESS!
Our month of rest has come and gone, and the next month is going to be pretty busy. We start next Wednesday with a trip down to Lake Como (where George Clooney has a home). We found a great place on VRBO, and are looking forward to renting a boat for a day, kayaking, taking a cooking class, drinking a lot of wine, and taking a day trip to Milan. Billy says we can only go to Milan on Sunday because of my shopping habit – definitely get that from my MOMMA!
Then, next Monday Wes arrives! He has been studying in Valencia, Spain, and decided to extend his stay in Europe a bit. He will stay with us for two weeks. Billy will pick him up in Frankfurt on Monday, and they will travel to Amsterdam together with Billy’s quarterback. They will be back late Wednesday. Friday we are going to go down to Munich – drink a lot of beer, see Dachau, see Nieuwenstein Castle, do the touristy thing, and then see Billy play Fursty Razorbacks on Sunday. They lost by one point to this team last time, and this game will be for first place!!!
We have one more week in Nuremberg (with trips around the area for Wes), and then we leave the following Friday for LONDON!!! We will travel to London on Friday, and then on Sunday we are running a 10k through the streets of London. I plan on catching a West End show on Sunday night. Monday we fly to Scotland. We booked a private tour (with two other couples that are traveling with us) to:
· Broadford, Skye
· Ferry to Mallaig
· Edinburgh
I have also been taking an intensive German course (Ich habe auch einen Deutsch Intensivkurs genommen.) It is a class that is three days per week after work. It has been intense for sure, but I am really glad that I am taking it.
Finally, we made a big purchase today. We bought our Lil Roller!!! Mainly it is for Billy – I love the bus and my bike – but I am sure that I will make much use of it too.
And for anyone concerned about Goose, we have been making sure he is safe now that he has learned to run beside Billy while Billy rides the bike:
