Sea Legs: Part 2

For Mom: A purple cow in the Kehl mall.

The Nitty Gritty

Holy Crudmonkeys we seem to have moved to Germany!  What the hefty-bags were we thinking?

So, as I said, now its time to learn how to live.  It is amazing what we don't know.  We are relearning all the skills it takes to be a functioning member of society.  We are learning to drive, work, shop, get around, find a place to live and, oh yeah, communicate!  We are learning new laws, new hoops, new customs, new houses, new cars, new foods, new money and, new plants and animals (Crows here have white fuzzy beards!  Snails are really pretty!).  Basically, we really need a grown-up to show us how it is all done. 

Luckily, we often have one.  David's work mate Sanja has taken us under wing and been simply wonderful.  She helped find this house, drives David to work every day, lent us beds for the kids, and today offered to take me food shopping in her car to make it easier.  Apparently she moved here from Croatia many years back and remembers how difficult it is to get set up in a new country where you don't speak the language.  Definitely a wonderful friend to have.  But, we don't want to take advantage or depend on her too much.  So, we need to learn to function as adults on our own.  Whoooboy this is going to be some work!

Yesterday was our first semi-normal day with David going to work.  We started the day by walking down to the town hall in Auenheim and filling out paperwork to say we were residents here.  David had said it would take 5 minutes- but that, apparently, is only when you have your grown-up with you!  For all us kids it took 10 minutes just to find the right room.  Then another 20 to fill out a short form.  We did eventually get through it.  We always find it odd that official forms in Europe all seem to ask religion.  My step-dad says this is because some of your taxes can go directly to your church if you wish.  There is no separation of church and state- more of a respectful coexistence.  Odd from our perspective, but perhaps understandable given local history.  

Practically Perfect

Next we all went to drop off the rental car in town, then the kids and I hustled off to shop while David hustled off to work.  The kids were definitely showing signs of wear at this point.  No one had fully adjusted to the time shift and folks were each displaying their own brand of tension.  DD was controlling, insistent and shrill.  DS was loopy, frenetic and unfocused.  DH was sharp and terse.  And I?  Well, of course, I was practically perfect in every way! 

Whatever our moods, our work was cut out for us.  The kids and I had a long shopping list, a backpack full of empty bags (none provided at the stores here), and a bus schedule to help us find our way back.  This was the first day we had been here that the stores were open, so we started by checking out many of the establishments on Hauptstrasse just to get the lay of the land.  Then we headed for the mall proper.

It is odd the things that we will focus on, but DS had gotten in his head that his clock was a key bit of home that he had lost.  So, I started right off by heading to the electronics store and let him select his own replacement.  This seemed to brighten his day.  But, DD was reaching her trip-expiration date at mach speed, so I whisked us off to the main supermarket, Edeka.  We deposited our Euro and grabbed a cart.

I could easily have spent hours there!  So may new things to check out and old friends in new, German garb to rediscover!  But, with limited time, limited child-patience and limited ability to carry items home, we tried to make it quick.  A few highlights:

1. German markets look different from American markets because all the rows are lower.  You can see around the entire store even when you are in the middle of a row
2. 3 rows devoted entirely to pasta!  DS was in Noodle-Heaven!
3. Shelf-stable milk?  Yeah, an entire row of unrefrigerated milk.  That seemed to be the only variety that had lactose-free milk, too, so we bought it.  I *think* it has been cooked, but I need to do more research.
4. Beef is hard to find.  I am not sure we saw any at all.  Lots of pork and chicken, though.  And there was a large fish counter, too, but I didn't like the smell and since we were going to be at the bus stop for a while, I decided against it.

All in all I got 36 items for 96 Euros.  Not terrible, I suppose, especially since 1 was a 12 EU oven pan.  But, we still need so many things!  DS hustled us out with the intent of making the 11:22 bus, but with our load, there was just no way to get to the bus stop in time.  We watched as the bus pulled up and pulled out as we ran to try to catch it.  Ah well.  The next bus wasn't for another hour, but with all the groceries we couldn't really manage anything else, so we just hung out at the bus stop for a while before heading home.

While we were there a heavy man came and sat beside us and rolled a cigarette.  DS moved to the other side of me, but didn't make a big deal of it.  Yay.  Then a loud German family came and sat next to us.  Something surprising we have noticed is that Germans in general are quite quiet!  Their default vocal volume is definitely lower than that of most Americans, and since we (especially me) are rather loud for Americans, we have to make a real effort not to boom over our German neighbors.  So, having a LOUD German family next to us was definitely of note.  As it happens, they seemed to not only be loud, but also rude.  Once they got on the bus one of them pulled out a really loud video game and proceded to play without regard throughout the trip.  When he first started everyone turned and looked incredulously, but they didn't seem to notice or care.  As David noted, there are apparently asses all over!

DD guarding our bags at the bus stop.

The kids found a cool lizard

Kicking back later at home

David's and my kick-back zone

Next up- Car and house hunting and the frustration and fun of foreign finances

Working on our Sea Legs

When last we saw our merry band they had landed, collapsed, and made a quick sojourn into French Territory.

 What now?

Up until this point, everything has been about getting us here.  But, we have arrived!  So, it is time to switch gears and figure out how to go about actually living here. 

We decided that one of the first steps would be to use our temporary access to a (huge-fannied) car and explore our general area.  In specific we wanted to go down to Offenburg, which is the next town to the south.  David's work will be moving there in October, so we are thinking that we should find a home somewhere within easy access of both Offenburg and Kehl.  Granted, they are only 17 km (about 10.5 miles) apart, so this shouldn't be a huge difference.

Driving down to Offenburg was simple enough.  It was still only our second time on the German roads, but this time was in daylight, so we had an easier time.  That is, until we got into town and couldn't tell for certain which roads were meant to go which way!  As it turned out, we read the signs all correctly, but it is still a little tense when you aren't 100% sure where the Pedestrian Only zones begin, for instance.

Steeple at an Offenburg church

Offenburg, as it turns out, is a very pleasant place!  It seems a little more yuppified and family friendly than Kehl.  Lots of public art is strewn about the main street- and it is from any variety of time periods.  Some is clearly hundreds of years old, while other examples seem as though they might have been added yesterday.  Most of the modern pieces have a whimsical feel, like the birds with human feet and hands that can be turned and positioned on spinning dollies (spinning art seems in vogue here, kids and adults alike enjoy standing and playing on it).

There is also a long snake with a huge apple that DD and DS had a lot of fun with.

 

And there is an older statue of Poseidon with his trident- upon which some cheeky person has strewn a pair of boxers.

In keeping with the cheerful theme, the Offenburg police station is located in what used to be a palace- painted pink.

We all got pastries and I got a kaffee at a local bakery (bakeries are everywhere!  Possibly my favorite discovery so far!).  Then we headed back to Kehl so the kids and I could learn how to ride the bus.


Walking

The bus works more or less like buses in the US.  They have monthly passes, but they are by calendar month, so we don't have one yet.  Basically, you wait at your stop at the prescribed time, then you tell the driver where you are going and pay him, after which he gives you change and a ticket and away you go!  Since it was a holiday, there were very few buses running.  We rode into town and grabbed lunch, but it was going to be another 2.5 hours until another bus would arrive.  So, we decided to walk the 5k back to Auenheim.  Walking is a bit of a national passtime for the Germans, it seems.  And, it has definitely already become a much larger part of our lives.  David walks 3-5 miles each day, we estimate.  So, a little 5k stretch of the legs didn't seem out of the question- even with the already walk-intensive day we had led.

Path to Auenheim

OK, 5k is a long walk when you are still jet lagged!  But, it was lovely!  Much of the path is along a small river that my friend Hans-Christian tells me is likely the Schutter.  We just called it the "Rhinelette".

The Schutter

 We remembered to stop and smell the flowers.  Also to examine the local beetles....

...and to watch the large cranes off on the other side of the path moving some sort of metal coils.

When we reached home I noticed something I had not noticed before: our current home is equipped with solar panels!  How cool is that?

At that point figured we had walked about 5 miles that day, so we popped some frozen pizzas in the oven and got some well-earned rest!

Next up- Sea Legs:  Teil Zwei

The Longest Day and First Impressions

French frogs sound.... Different!

The Longest Day started around 7 AM in Riverside.

USA

I heard Mom up and about, but rested in bed about another hour.  Then it was up, shower, wake kids, and call 2 last businesses I needed to notify about our move.  Then we grabbed breakfast (at the Original Pancake House- YUM for Apple Pancakes that are really an apple upside down cake disguised as breakfast!).  Next off to say Good-bye to Grandma Connie at her retirement home, make a quick stop at the drug store for a last minute item or two, and return to Mom's house to finalize packing and say good-bye to the cat.  We culled a couple heavy things from the bags (a couple books, DS's razor scooter) and headed for the airport.

At the airport we checked in, weighed our luggage (had to rearrange things in the carry-ons but surprisingly we managed the checked luggage weight limits without incident), and proceeded through the maze of security (body scan *and* pat down?) and customs (just a quick passport check).  We had about 2 hours till the flight, so we grabbed a decent lunch and then went to wait by our plane.

Boarding went smoothly and we discovered our seats were advantageous because the family next to us had gone Cuddle Class and thus had bought the extra seat in our row to use when they had the other seats set up in bed-configuration.  This meant that through most of the flight our row of 4 seats only had 3 people in it- two of whom were DS and DD, so smaller people at that. Presumably because of cuddle class and the holidays, most of the plane was filled with families with small children. But other than the occasional diaper bomb or crying fit, it wasn't really an issue.  Just made for more room, really!  The flight itself was pleasant, the food was rotten, the seatback gaming/movie system was awesome, and the service was oddly sparse and even somewhat surly.  Since it was air New Zealand we tied a New Zealand soda called L&P that mostly just struck me as less flavorful gingerale, though they claimed it was "lemon flavored".  Sleep was elusive, especially since DS could not sleep.  Didn't really sleep at all, though I closed my eyes a few times in effort! A tail wind allowed us to land 45 minutes early.  Which means that it was around 10 AM Saturday, London Time- 2AM EST.  DD had turned 14 in midair!

London, England

Heathrow has the longest walks of any airport I have visited.  You walk down mazes of passageways, double back, turn around, go downstairs, and hoof it from building to building with no end in sight. I think it was at least a mile from our plane to the checkpoint.  Eventually, you reach a security station full of pleasantly jovial agents and the usual "put your shoes in this box, now step through this scanner" set up.  Only the lady who pats you down is a 4-foot tall English matron who calls you "love". The guy overseeing the process jokingly took my teddy bear out of its tub and stuck her on the monitor with a bag of potato chips and complained that she had stolen his "crisps".  Hee.  He also told the kids to watch out for their mum since I almost left the passports with him.

Next you wind through more tunnels and eventually wind up at a central check in area with a variety of airlines stations.  From there you move on to a giant mall filled with duty free shops, restaurants and money exchange places with terrible rates.  There are, however, no drinking fountains, which sort of sucked since I had no pounds with which to purchase a bottled drink.  Since we were only going to be there 3 hours, I skipped dealing with the money issues and found us a set of benches to lie down on.  We tried to nap, but, sleeping in an airport is far from ideal.  Still, the rest was welcome- even when our flight was delayed significantly and we wound up spending 4.5 hours hanging out in the mall.  Eventually, they designated a gate for our flight and sent us trotting through an equally long set of hallways (back from whence we had come) to get to the waiting area for our actual flight.  They loaded us up relatively quickly (changing the kids' and my seats in the process), and then our female German captain apologized in German and English for the delay.  1.5 hours later, we landed in Frankfurt!  That was about 6 PM Saturday, 9AM Saturday in LA.

Germany
We cleared customs and had our passport stamped without incident.  The immigration worker seemed to think my cheerful "hi" was cute and joked with me.  The kids happily told him we were moving here and he welcomed us.  The next, more difficult challenge was getting our luggage.  Two bags arrived, the other did not.  As we were waiting for it, people would exit the terminal via a set of frosted doors, whenever the doors would open we could see David standing there bouncing around, waving excitedly and waiting for us.  It was cute!
Unfortunately, the final bag was not forthcoming.  We found the right place to report this "baggage tracing" and they informed us that it was on a different flight and wouldn't be arriving for 3 hours!  Doh!  They said we could either wait or file a claim and they would ship it to us.  They let me go get David to help make the decision.  It was Audric's bag, so we decided he could share some of his sister's t-shirts and manage until Tuesday, when the bag would be delivered.  Next we set about getting food.  A yummy but expensive (50 EU!  Ouch!) meal at the airport did brighten our mood.  Then it was off to find our rental car.
David had reserved a car and the check in went smoothly.  But, the cars themselves were kept in a massive structure worthy of Heathrow.  We walked and walked with our cart of bags, getting lost at one point where the signage was poor.  Eventually we asked a lone attendant in the wilderness of the auto zone and she directed us cheerfully.  We found our vehicle which wound up to be a huge white van built on a truck chassis.  We had to fetch the attendant one more time to show us a trick to the stick-mechanism, then we were off!

Now, mind you, it was night, David had never driven in Germany, and I had never read a German map.  So, there were some confusing moments, but we eventually made it down to Kehl, and then Auenheim.  David showed us around the house, and we all proceeded to collapse.  That was around 10:30 PM local time, 1:30 PM PST Saturday.  The kids and I had been up around 30.5 hours and I had a headache.

France

The next morning we slept in until around 9 AM.  Then we got up, showered (only 2 towels... need to remedy that!) and David made us breakfast- refrigerator waffles cooked in a skillet.... O.K.  No toaster and no ovenware, you think creatively.  Then we drove into town and discovered that while the shops were all closed, they were having a traveling carnival in town, an Easter Market set up on mainstreet (Hauptstrasse), and all the bakeries, restaurants and ice cream shops were open.  We took note of all that and then trotted off to the bridge over the Rhine!  It was just as pleasant as David said it was.  Lovely day, lots of folks out and about.  Swans on the river.  And frogs that sound... Different!  We crossed over into France and wandered around the gardens for a while before returning to the Easter Market for lunch and ice cream.  Then it was back to Auenheim for a seriously needed nap (and just maybe a little blogging)!

The kids- in France!

DS found one of several spinning toys/art around town.

David ad DD happily in Germany

Stephanie on the Rhine

Nifty Bridge

David looks at the Rhine

Nice looking church in town.  We were awakened Sunday (Easter) to the sound of many church bells.

Moving Day

SO, the last blog was all about my last week in the US.  It was mostly filled with packing, contacting people (and businesses) and saying faretheewells.  As mentioned, and as you can probably imagine, it was a long, long, exhausting week.  I did not sleep much.  At first because I would wake up with a list of things that needed doing on my brain.  Often I would take advantage of having awakened by checking in with David, who had quite the list of prep work going on on his end, as well.  This week he got registered at city (and town) halls, got his official work visa, filled out company paperwork, got a bank account, looked into buying a car, rented a car to pick us up, and basically continued to work hard at getting us established.  He even found soft toilet paper!

As it got closer to moving day, though, I started losing sleep simply because there weren't enough hours to do everything that I needed to do.  By the final night before moving, I was up until 2 AM and then up again before 7 AM.  I would have stayed up later, but I was falling over and I needed to be standing the next day!  As it turned out, I was only barely standing, but luckily I had enough help that I could reasonably share the burden and be OK.  Thanks again Connie, Mark, Dad and Mom!!!!

Moving Day-

Moving day itself was long.  As mentioned, I got up around 7 and got in a shower before breakfast.  Next we packed up my computer, stripped the beds, and finished packing the last couple of boxes with our last minute items.  Also, we completed packing our luggage with toiletries etc.  Mom and Mark arrived first and started right in on clearing out all the stuff in the kitchen that we would not be taking with us.  Soon after, the moving truck arrived with Daniel and Louis.

The first thing they told me was that they didn't think all my stuff would fit.  Yipes!  But, I was still pretty confident it would and there really wasn't anything for it but to get right in and see!  So, Louis, the burlier of the two deceptively small gentlemen started right in on disassembling the beds, while Daniel set about making an inventory of our stuff.  As it happened, he did not have to open *every* box- just the ones with computer equipment.  Otherwise, he took our word for it that everything on the labels was correct.  I assured him there were no flammables, and he commenced writing.  Every once in a while, Louis would need help, so Daniel would go assist.  They put each mattress in a box.  And everything that was not in a box (a couple small filing cabinets, framed art, etc.) was wrapped in stiff paper.  The computers were pulled out, inventoried, wrapped in paper and repackaged.  These guys had obviously done this a few times (Daniel said 17 years for him), and were extremely efficient.  They were probably 2/3 done by the time Dad and Connie arrived, a couple hours in.  We had been told it would take 5 hours, but I am pretty sure they had it all done in 3! 

As it turned out, all the boxes and the beds fit, but there was almost no room left over after that.  We fit one chest, a folding table and 4 folding chairs in the remaining space.  That was it for furniture.  Once they were done, I signed a big pile of paperwork and off they toodled.  Buh-bye stuff!  See some of you in 5 weeks... we sincerely hope!

Dad and Connie jumped right in with helping me clear out all the remaining stuff in the upstairs.  Our bedroom/my workroom was the place in the house with the most crappola.  We spent most of the day sorting through stuff that would either get stored, given away or trashed.  Dad shuttled a couple more truckloads of stuff to the Salvation Army.  And folks claimed any items that might be useful to them or people they knew.  As we did not have anywhere close to enough space in our trashcan, a large pile of trash bags were left beside the house to be cleared by the clean-out company the bank hires.* 

Mark, Dad and I rented a truck at U-haul to carry items to our storage place and things for my grandma's new care facility.  Everyone summoned their remaining strength and loaded up that truck.  Interestingly, the kids each created their own moving rituals.  DS wandered around the house saying good-bye to each room, DD set up an odd shrine in her bedroom with a drawing and a couple photos of tigers, etc. that she wanted someone to find.  Sort of evidence of herself left behind, I guess.  Next, we said our goodbyes to Dad and Connie. Then, it was  to Riverside!

Traffic wasn't great, but it wasn't *too* bad.  Took us about 2 hours.  Unfortunately, when we got out there we discovered that the storage place had closed!  So, time for plan B.  We unloaded everything into Mom & Mark's garage and grabbed dinner at a very nice Japanese restaurant.  I had been warned Asian food is less common in Germany (and Mexican is tough to find at all).  It was about 10:30 before we finished all the unloading.  That was a LONG day, but the longest day was yet to come. 

(again, photos to come)




*Many folks have asked, so I will go ahead and put it on the record: Yes, we are giving the house back to the bank.  Yes, were are largely OK with it at this stage.  Yes, it was a hard decision.  Actually, like much of this trip it was more of a difficult thought adjustment than a difficult decision, since there really were no other viable options!  Our neighborhood fared especially badly in the crash.  The house is under water about 200k, couldn't rent it out for enough to cover mortgage, bank wouldn't modify the loan and they wouldn't authorize a short sale- at least, not until we told them we were moving the next day (boggle)!  No, in CA you do not have to bankrupt to walk away from a house.  The bank just gets a house worth far less than the loan, and we get a nasty blot on our credit.  Not an uncommon tale these days, I guess, but not one I really every expected.  In any case, that would probably be a whole blog in and of itself and I have more fun things to write about today!