We made it to Germany!!

Our flights from Moline to Chicago to Frankfurt were all smooth. I love Jay’s mileage status on United – got us all upgraded for the long flight! Only slight delay was caused by Lily’s broken seat (maintenance couldn’t fix it so someone got bumped). We were getting WhatsApp updates on Kaycee’s trip the whole time. He left Chicago a few hours after us. it sounds like he had a great trip, and he was so happy to see us!! He is settling in just fine, loves his backyard and walks around the village.

We landed at 5:30 AM on Friday and had a jam packed first day. We had a combination of rental furniture and stuff that we bought from a departing expat already in the house, so we started the day by organizing and unpacking. Ty and I walked down to the pharmacy – Apotheke – to get a few staples, body wash and hand soap. We stopped at the bakery – die Bäckerei – and bought a few yummy items. The croissants literally melt in your mouth.

We all got showers just before Uli arrived to run all of our errands. Thank goodness I packed towels because the rental towels were not delivered. Uli and Jay went to pick up one of the cars – VW T-Roc. Consensus on that one is meh. Doesn’t meet the Shearer vehicle standards, holding to upgrade but there are hoops to jump through. Next stop was the Town Hall – Rathaus – where we sat there while a dude typed our birth certificate, passport, and marriage license information into a computer to get us registered. I busted Jay on our wedding anniversary….we all got a good chuckle out of that one. Once we had the registration, the German Life World was unlocked! We started the bank account opening process. We have to wait for our bank account information before we can order internet, and unfortunately we didn’t get that info before the holiday weekend. Thankfully we have some hotspots to hold us over. We then ran and picked up the second car – a BMW 330e station wagon. Jay has always been a wagon guy, me not so much, but it is kind of fun to drive.

So the cars. This is going to be a thing. We don’t buy/lease the cars while we are here. We rent them. So anytime it needs maintenance, we have to swap it out for a completely different car. Pretty sure it is going to be annoying. But looking on the bright side, we might get to try a few different types of cars. Also, if I survive driving here without any scratches or dents I will be amazed. Everything is SO TIGHT. Parking spaces, parking garages, our driveway, the roads. I mean, when you think about it makes sense. There isn’t much space in Europe, and most buildings are older than the US, which were built when horses and buggies were the primary mode of transport. But ugh, it’s a bit stressful. Wish me luck.

We spent the rest of Day 1 settling in. Lily and I tried out the chicken nugget stand. She said it tastes just like McDonalds and gave it 4 stars.

Laundry. Let me tell you about the laundry. Washer and dryer are tiny, and each cycle is about 2:30 – for each of wash and then dry. And the dryer doesn’t completely dry the clothes. It has a sensor that makes the dryer stop when it thinks the clothes are dry, but they aren’t. The dryer is not vented outside of the house so the moisture is collected in a bin that needs emptied after every load. We had to wash all of the bedding when we arrived, which literally took all day long. When it was time to go to bed we realized that we didn’t have a fitted sheet for the master bed. Gross. Had to sleep on the mattress. We all slept pretty restless, jet lag is ugh.

Day 2 had a couple missions. Ikea, good bedding, and groceries. For those that followed our Australia adventures you might recall Jay’s hatred of IKEA, so he was dreading this necessary evil task. Recall that the last time we went we had a 3 year old and a 3 month old. Taking a 10 and 13 year old was a MUCH more enjoyable experience. Although now they have more opinions and their patience ran out after 2 hours. TWO HOURS. How did I spend that much time in one store? We stuffed both cars full of stuff and headed home.

We found a yummy restaurant for lunch. Ty gave the burger an 8.5 out of 10.

Lily and Jay started assembling while Ty and I went out looking for sheets. We ended up at a mall that had a couple bedding stores and a pet store. We got Kaycee some bowls, treats, and a bed. We bought some sheets that of course were not washed and dried before night 2. I cannot wait to sleep on an actual sheet tonight!!!

I left Ty with Jay to keep building IKEA stuff and Lily went with me to the grocery store. I had to use Google translate on pretty much everything in the store. TWO HOURS later we left with a cart full of stuff, basically enough to get us through the next 2 Sunday/NYE holiday weekend. So many choices. There will be many grocery posts in the future.

Day 3. Sunday Funday? Shops are closed on Sundays. We slept in, then walked up to the castle while Lily finished getting ready.

There is a delicious cake shop down the street from our house, Cafe Kreiner. We decided to stop and see what they had for a lunch menu. Lily ordered a Sausage Plate and a water (Wasser). Jay got 2 frankfurters on a roll. I ordered goulash soup and a sausage roll. Jay’s frankfurters were a success. Everything else was #fail. We forgot to ask for Still Water, so the carbonated water got Lily off to a bad start. I was expecting there to be noodles in the goulash soup, there was not, and it was not good. The sausage roll did not taste like Australia. Lily didn’t like the cheese, slices of some type of salami, and these weird little sausage-shaped packs of “meat”. After trying for 5 minutes to open them, and without first doing Google translate on the package, bless her heart she tried the meat paste on a roll. Somehow she didn’t puke all over the table. But she did ask to walk home right after. When she left Jay and I translated it. Freaking LIVER!!!!!

We came home and finished setting up Ty’s room. He has the coolest space! The attic has been finished, and he has the entire space to himself. We put a couch/futon up there, TV, a gaming/homework desk, decorated with fun lights. He has the only view of the castle from his window.

Tonight we cooked chicken, potatoes – Kartoffeln, and had lettuce salad and mixed berries. Tasted mostly like home, which was needed after a few days of culture shock. Lily did bust into the one bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch we brought with us, so mental note to anyone traveling this way – we would appreciate it very much if you could throw a bottle in your suitcase.

While we don’t yet have actual internet, our TV options have been pretty limited. Jay and Ty figured out how to get the Raiders game on TV – don’t ask me how. :). Where there is a will, there’s a way!

I asked everyone what their favorite part of Germany has been so far. Ty: my room. Lily: the aesthetics of the house – perfect for Coverstar videos (who is this kid??) and Ausfahrt signs. Jay: All the new scenery for family walks. Nicole: seeing how my kids have been willing and able to help with everything. Turns out both kids are handy with assembling IKEA furniture.

We can hear some fireworks going off around us, but we are going to stay in tonight. We didn’t do a good job of researching what to do on New Years Eve, and we are all pretty tired. I’m guessing we will all be asleep before midnight. What does 2024 have in store for us? Nobody can know for sure, but I predict a whole lot of adventures!