I arrived in Germany a week ago with a few goals (in no particular order).

Eins. Find a home.

Zwei. Make sure Jay and I are comfortable with the work situation.

Drei. Make sure the school is as good as I had heard.

Vier. Go shopping and figure out what I need to ship vs buy when we move here.

Fünf. Get comfortable with driving.

Sechs. Spend time with Zack and Maggie.

Sieben. Meet the softball and baseball teams.

Acht. Speak some German.

Neun. Try some new German foods.

Zehn. Buy a dirndl.

We were able to confirm the Königstein home definitely has 175 m/s landline, with the strong possibility of getting Glasfaser (high speed) in the next few months. We are rolling the dice and GOING FOR IT!! We submitted our applocation and are waiting (impatiently) for the owners to accept. Hopefully we will hear confirmation of their decision this week. We mapped out a route to our friends’ home – 2.5 mile bike ride, about 13 minutes. Perfect!

Meat. We walked through the grocery store in Königstein and Jay got excited when he saw some meat that was labeled Black Angus. Then he saw the price. 47.90 EUR per kilogram. 1 KG = 2.2 pounds, so €21.77per pound. The exchange rate is roughly €1 = $1.05, so $22.86 per pound. We are used to grain fed farm fresh Shivers Farms beef, bought in bulk, so this will be an adjustment for us.

Beds. The most common bed sizes in Germany are Children, Single, 3/4, and Double. The Double is just what it says – 2 singles. Unless you want to get a French bed, which is one big mattress. Only one person sleeps in a Single, therefore one blanket is required. Two people sleep in a Double, so logically two blankets are required. They are both folded nicely on the bed, on each side of the bed (even if it is a French bed). Of course (natürlich), in the US we are used to one giant blanket for the whole bed. How many people have fought over someone hogging all of the blankets? This dual blanket approach, while different, I think is a great solution.

Saturday we met Zack and Maggie at the big mall in Frankfurt, MyZeil (My Goal). Maggie and I shopped while Zack filled Jay in on all of the things he has learned in the past 8 weeks. There are several unfamiliar shops, but surprisingly quite a few brands that we recognize. We wandered around the pedestrian mall and outdoor market. As we were wrapping up we noticed a large gathering of Palestinian supporters. The Polizei were out in full riot gear. We didn’t stick around.

In the evening, Jay and I wandered down to the Main River, crossed the pedestrian bridge, drank a beer, and found ourselves in the most perfect German Square – Gedenktafel Bücherverbrennung. We drank beer, ate Flam Kuchen, Sauerkraut, and potato salad. And I bought a dirndl. Because, when in Germany….

Rick update. A good friend sent me a message after my last post with the picture of Jay and I and she said, “Germany looks good on you.” 46 days ago I was thrown into a mental tailspin when I heard about my brother’s accident. I spent 3 weeks watching him sleep, wondering if he was going to wake up, and if he did, what his life post-accident would be like. I was scared, sad, frustrated, anxious – all the bad feelings were bubbling under the surface. We seriously contemplated revoking our acceptance of the Germany assignment. But we also knew that Rick would not want us to miss this opportunity.

This week has felt so good. I started out anxious about finding a suitable home, knowing from our Australia expat experience how important this decision is for our family’s mental health (I can explain more on that later). As we began the house viewings I felt good that we would find a nice place to live. I feel great about the school the kids will attend. I feel like I will be able to find ways to integrate into the local work teams. And Jay is excited about his new role and team. I could really picture what our lives will be like here for the next couple of years. We have so much to look forward to.

AND!!!! Rick chose this week to finally get out of the ICU and go to a care facility that can spend more time working on his rehabilitation and less time on simply keeping him alive. It’s like we both are starting fresh this week. We are both embarking on incredible life adventures. A lot of work awaits us over the coming months, unpredictable bumps will lie in the road ahead, but I am ready to take them on, one challenge at a time. I needed this week, on so many levels.

Saturday night is our last in Germany before we head back to the US on Sunday morning. We were able to accomplish nearly all of the goals on my list. The only one that didn’t happen was meeting the softball team, but I think this will be just fine. Everything else – great big ginormous CHECK!!!

Auf Wiedersehen!!