Apparently everyone in Germany lights fireworks on New Years Eve. Kaycee hates fireworks. I really didn’t care to see midnight. But I did. Lordy, it was loud.

We woke up on Monday and while Jay and Ty were cooking breakfast, our neighbors Suresh and Anu stopped over to introduce themselves. They had just arrived home from Kenya and brought us some yummy African chocolate and coffee. They have a son in college at the U of Maine, and a daughter in 8th grade. She attends the FIS-Oberursel campus that Ty will go to next year.

They helped me decode the trash calendar. Y’all. Trash is no joke here. We are learning how much Germans love system and order. Ok, so…. Food scraps are compostable and they need to be thrown in the brown paper bags (which will obviously leak) or green plastic sack (which I need to buy). This waste gets put in the brown bin and is picked up every other week. The yellow sack is plastics (no bin) and is also picked up every other week. Paper (with no plastic tape, coating, etc) goes in the blue bin, no sack, every other week. Everything else goes in a black bag and black bin, and I think it is picked up every other week. Once I survive a month of not messing up the trash I will win an award and Trash Survivor certification….

We went for a little drive to show the kids some places that will become the center of their worlds. First we drove by Lily’s friend, Maggie’s house, which is less than 10 minutes away. Then we drove to the school – Frankfurt International School – Wiesbaden (FIS-W) Campus. We drove by a potential CrossFit gym. Next stop were the baseball and softball fields. At this point the kids were STARVING. Have I mentioned that nothing is open on Sundays and holidays? Today was a holiday, but the American Gods were shining upon us and McDonalds was OPEN!!!! A couple observations. No lids. Paper straws were not automatically provided. The burger was huge. The small fry was actually pretty close to American size – unnecessarily large. The Happy Meal had an option to select a book and a donation, which we chose. The children’s book is in German and despite 104 days of DuoLingo I couldn’t read much of it. I suggested that our family goal should be to be able to read the McDonalds children’s book before we move back to Iowa.

When we got home, Jay and I took Kaycee for a nice long walk, exploring the adorable little town that we get to call home for the next couple of years. I found a few options for hair salons, a Thai massage place, a hospital, a dog groomer, lots of doctors that may or may not speak English, a massive privately owned villa, and a vending machine that sells milk, eggs, sausage, chocolate, wine – you know, all the staples for Sundays and holidays when the shops are all closed. Of course (natürlich) we bought some milk (milch) and chocolate (Schokolade) because we could. 🙂

Last night both Ty and Lily’s phone data slowed waaaaaaaaaaay down. I called Verizon today to find out why their Unlimited International plan seemed to have run out of data. Turns out they only get 10GB of high speed data, then it drops down to 2MB slower speed (I probably have the GB and MB messed up but you get the idea). I am hoping it is because of the holidays (no school) and extra time on their phones, and not going to be regular usage amounts. I bought them each an extra 2GB and told them to lay off their phones for a bit. We will see…. I’m hoping when we can get our home internet sorted it will be better. The hotspot we have been using also ran out, approximately 7 minutes into family movie night.

The German units are still shut down this week. We still have quite a few things to sort out now that the shops will be open again tomorrow (yay). Cross your fingers that we get our bank account ASAP so we can order the internet. We also need to swap out some incorrect rental furniture. And, Ty and I are going back to Ikea!!!

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!

Ready or not, it’s almost time to go! The truck is loaded up with 11 suitcases and 4 backpacks for our Moline departure tomorrow morning.

The past few weeks have been full of lasts and goodbyes. I have been surprisingly OK throughout all of them – only shedding a few tears. The goodbyes are not permanent, rather see ya laters. Two years really isn’t that long, and we have already started penciling in visitors, so I am focused more on enjoying the moments instead of being sad (mostly).

Lily’s going away party was so much fun. I might have been a little crazy to agree to a slumber party with ~20 girls, but I can’t really say no to her since she said yes to moving away. And, Lily’s friends are pretty fabulous young ladies, so that helps. We drank root beer, baked pretzels, had a German word competition, took a bazillion Polaroids, and squealed/shrieked/screamed all night long. Over the years I have spent a lot of time with many of these girls coaching basketball and softball. I’m going to miss them (and their parents) as much as Lily.

Speaking of parents….well, at least moms…. I had a little shindig with some of my favorite ladies at a wine bar in town. (Swirl is a great venue for smallish parties.) I have been fortunate to have such a strong, beautiful, smart, hilarious tribe of mamas as my support network.

Unfortunately teenage boys are not as excited about photo ops so I don’t have any of Ty’s party, but it sounded like the boys all had a great time!

Denver

All the ladies understand how hard my last hair appointment goodbye was…

Shearer Family Christmas. We went to Circa 21 Dinner Theater to see a friend’s son star in A Christmas Story. So great!!

Phew! I have done about all I can do at this point. I think I am as ready as I could hope to be. Moving is a LOT of work! Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight. I need the rest for the trip tomorrow!

I have been told by a few people that I have left my readers in suspense. Sorry! Once we got home from the house hunting trip, it has been a whirlwind. So, without further ado…..

WE GOT THE CASTLE HOUSE!!!!

There is still the big question mark about whether or not we will be able to get the highest speed internet, but we think the odds are good. And if not, what the house is for sure able to get should be sufficient. A little gamble that we are taking, but I’m optimistic. I asked if we can schedule the appointment with the internet provider to get it hooked up. Nope. We have to be registered as residents with the Town Hall before we can do anything (internet, phone, bank account, etc). We can’t register at the Town Hall until we all arrive in country and appear in person. So, we arrive in Frankfurt on December 29 at 5:00 AM. We will grab our bags, hopefully run through Customs, grab a rental car, then hustle to Königstein for the last Town Hall appointment before the New Year’s holiday and weekend. I am also preparing myself to not have internet/TV hooked up until after New Year’s. Wish me luck.

The house was built “probably sometime around 1900”, was renovated in 2009, is in an adorable German village on the Main Street with a gorgeous park behind it. It’s a little strange because it is literally adjacent to a retail shop (cute home decor), but will be quiet on nights and Sundays. 🙂 The sacrifices I make to have a wine shop in my front yard and a castle 450 meters away….

People keep asking me “Are you ready to go?” That’s a loaded question that doesn’t have an easy answer. I think I am on track so far. I think. So what do we bring with us? What do we leave behind? What do we do with anything we leave in the US?

We are keeping our house in the US. We love our home, our neighborhood, and especially our next door neighbors (Jay’s parents), so we are not giving up that prime real estate. We are also not renting it out. I still have nightmares about the renters we had when we lived in Australia. I really did not want to deal with packing up my home here and storing stuff. So the house will sit quietly waiting for our return. We have security, neighborhood watch, irrigation, lawn care, snow removal, etc. It will be really nice to come “home” at the end of our assignment.

We are keeping Jay’s TRX and his Ute, and we are selling my car. I love that car but no sense leaving it sitting in the garage for 2+ years. So if anyone is in the market for a 2021 BMW X7M, let me know and I will give you the details.

We have a small allowance for an air shipment, which is 2 x 4’x4’x4’ cube containers. This is roughly 16 storage totes of stuff. For two years. We will have rental furniture in Germany, so we can leave big pieces behind. The office in our home is where I have been gathering all of the air shipment items. How do I decide what goes in it? Ugh. I have literally gone through every room, every closet, every cupboard, every drawer, and have looked at EVERY THING we own, and I decide: Throw Away, Donate, Keep but Leave (strongly consider why I need to keep it if I can live without it for 2 years), Air Shipment, Suitcase. I have had a steady stream of people showing up in my doorstep picking up things that don’t make the cut. My house has gotten a LOT lighter the past couple of months. Anything that can be packed in vacuum bags (clothes, linens, coats, etc) has been shrunk down to its smallest possible form. There is still a lot of stress that when the movers come on December 18 (EEEK!!!) we will have too much. I’m probably going to have to go back through everything I have set aside and make a pile of “Last to Pack” items.

Whatever doesn’t go in the Air Shipment has to fit in roughly 8 suitcases. We will have about 2 weeks between when the Air Shipment is packed and we fly out, and probably 2-3 weeks before the Air Shipment is delivered. We have to be registered at the Town Hall before they can try to clear Customs. Are you picking up how powerful and important the Town Hall is?!?!?

Kaycee. Our 4-legged furry family member. He is moving to Germany also. We have hired a pet transport company to help us make sure he arrives safely with all of the correct vaccinations and documentation. There are lots of rules on international live animal transport, and I do not want to screw that up. He is going to be riding in style. Here is his ginormous kennel.

German. Jay and I have been committed to learning German. We are using Duolingo and have 80+ day streaks. We also have an actual teacher once a week. The kids will have German lessons 3 days/week in school so we have not been pushing too hard, but they are picking up some words and phrases.

This international relocation, combined with my brother’s accident, has motivated Jay and I to upgrade from the Google Will (Jay swears it would hold up fine in court) to an actual Last Will & Testament, Medical POA, and Financial POA created by an attorney. We used Hope Wood – Will in a Day – based out of Des Moines to prepare the paperwork. It was easy. I recommend (I am not paid for any recommendations). We are officially adults now. Yay!

Travel. Europeans love their public holidays, and not long after we arrive we have 2 weeks of school holidays – Ski Break in February and Spring Break in March. I have started to think a little bit about where to go and what to do, but have not booked anything yet. Italy in February and Spain in March. Should make for some pretty spectacular blogs!

Goodbyes. They have begun. We have reached the point where “this is the last time we will do this” or “this is the last time we will see you.” Lily threw an epic 20-girl German-themed slumber party. Ty rented out the simulator party room at the Bettplex to hang out with his buddies. We went to Denver over Thanksgiving to see my brother and his wife one more time. We have some holiday parties coming up, a few more weeks of basketball games and school. It’s going to fly by.

That pretty much sums up the past month. I am looking forward to getting past this phase. It’s a lot. But it will be worth it!

Guten Abend!

Jay had to go into the office today, so I was on my own to venture out. I started my day with asking some random dudes to help me squeeze out of the parallel parking spot that I was crammed into. Then I took off back up the autobahn to visit the international school the kids will be attending. My first impression was really good. It is a small school (~200 kids) with a much larger sister school. I met the principal, who answered all of the questions we had (one of Lily’s top questions was if they have PE – they do), took a tour, snapped some photos to show the kids, and got a hug from my daughter’s friend who is a student there already. The campus is on the edge of town and has beautiful views. I walked away feeling great about the school choice.

I then met up with my friend, Zack, who filled my brain with all sorts of great tips and tricks. We ate lunch at a delicious restaurant in their town center, walked through the local grocery store (lily will be happy that they have lots of canned tuna options; Ty will be happy that they have chips). Ty will not be happy, however, to find that he will not have an endless supply of Prime. It costs 7 EUR!!!

Then we drove back to the school to pick up his daughter from volleyball practice. I met a couple of the other parents, watched a bit of volleyball practice (coed, all ages), then had a nice car ride getting all of the scoop from his daughter. Seeing her thrive in this foreign environment gives me hope and comfort that Ty and Lily will adjust fine.

I drive an hour back down the autobahn to the hotel. Jay and I ate at a great restaurant called Zwei Hasen (two rabbits), then we called it a night.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Jay and I flew to Frankfurt overnight on Saturday/Sunday. We flew direct from Chicago, arrived plenty early. Jay and I arrived safely on German Sunday morning (7 hour time difference)….my checked bag did not.

I think it is kind of ironic that the baggage claim conveyor belt is designed as a Roulette casino game. Roll the dice and see if you are lucky enough to have your bag arrive. My dice landed on the big green zero (null).

One would think that surely Nicole would have a backup plan for this type of thing. I mean, Jay packed all of this clothes in 2 (zwei) carry ons. I’m going to blame this rookie mistake on the mental load I am carrying – I did not have a single article of clothing in either of those carry on bags.

Ok, not a big deal. It’s fine, these things happen. We are not in a 3rd world country. I can go shopping. Except it is Sunday.

German Life Lesson #1 (eins) – Stores are closed on Sundays.

Ok. Don’t panic. Let’s just get checked into the airport hotel and we will figure out what to do about my stinky clothes.

We picked up our rental car – thankfully this was a seamless process. Jay loves cars, so he gets weirdly excited to find out what the Hertz Lottery will give him. Walking through the rental parking lot was a trippy experience. My mind knows that these are cars parked in the spaces, but they are brands of cars that I have not seen before (or at least don’t recognize). I don’t know what is good, what is not. We ended up with an Alfa Romeo Stelvio. It’s cute. Jay is happy with the wheels for the week.

We booked one night at a hotel attached to the airport. We successfully transferred the rental car from the Hertz lot to the hotel parking garage. Sounds simple but it involved super tight spaces, unfamiliar road signs, roundabouts with 5 exits, and a sprinkle of Jay & Nic are jet lagged and a little anxious. But we made it.

We walked up to the checkin counter. The receptionist found our reservation. The room wasn’t quite ready but we could grab breakfast while we waited. Just needed to insert our credit card in the little machine and she could check us in. “Sir I’m sorry but the card was declined.” Hm. That’s weird. We have plenty of credit available, but we can try another one. Declined. 2 personal cards and 2 corporate card attempts later, all were declined. Obviously something was wrong with the hotel system. We decided to go eat breakfast and hope that they fixed the system by the time we are done.

Breakfast was delicious. I should have grabbed a picture. It was just the hotel buffet, but yum. Scrambled eggs (das Ei), bacon, sausage (die Wurst), cheese (der Käse), olives, mozzarella & tomatoes, espresso (der Kaffee).

Back to the checkin counter. Card still declined. She told us we would need to pay with cash. So we walked down to an ATM (der Geldautomat) and got cash. When we got back to the counter a 3rd time, someone else was having card problems, so they finally realized it was a them problem, not an us problem. The room was ready, so we got our key and headed to the room.

Jay got a quick shower and clean clothes. I washed my face, brushed my teeth with the airplane ditty bag toothbrush, and realized I need a few essentials like deodorant. Feeling as fresh as I could, we headed out. A quick stop at the airport pharmacy (die Apotheke) that was thankfully open to grab some personal care essentials, and we were off on our first adventure.

Redwings baseball. In our pre-trip research we learned about baseball and softball organizations in the area. While our US lives revolve around our kids’ sports schedules, baseball and softball are not very popular in Germany. I contacted a couple of the organizations ahead of time. Some friends play for the Redwings (based out of Hofheim), so we decided to catch a 15U game and see how it compares. We met Paul, one of the dads, and I was thrilled to see that he was doing GameChanger! He has to connect via VPN, but it works. I’m a GC and stats analysis geek, so I’m going to mark this discovery in the Win column.

The team is coached by a high energy Japanese lady named Yumi. She speaks a little English, but it seemed to be enough for the boys to understand her. Overall we were impressed with the quality of play. The pitchers were maybe not quite as fast as what the boys in the US throw, but they were accurate. We didn’t see a single passed ball or wild pitch in 3 innings. Very few errors by either team. And one home run by a Redwings player. Yumi was pumped. I was pumped. Jay said I am going to have to tone down my Fan level. He observed that most of the spectators did polite clapping (like in golf). This will be a challenge for me. :). We walked away feeling comfortable that Ty would fit in well with the team. And bonus! They were selling Redwings t-shirts and sweatshirts. Take THAT, no shopping on Sunday…. Oh, and the concession stand food was all fresh baked pretzels, pastries, desserts, fruit. Not a candy bar in sight. Lily is going to struggle.

This is also the organization that Lily will likely play softball with. More to come on that in future posts.

From Hofheim we drove to Wiesbaden to see the school that the kids were accepted at – Frankfurt International School (FIS). There are 2 campuses – a smaller one in Wiesbaden that is K-8, and a larger one in Oberursel that is K-12. Lily’s friend goes to FIS-W, so that is where we will start to make the transition as easy as possible. We will have to switch to FIS-O next year because Ty will be in 9th grade. This is an important detail to consider when we go house hunting. The FIS-W campus looked nice! It was Sunday, so very quiet, but first impression was positive.

From Wiesbaden, we drove to Bad Soden. Our friends live there, and it is an area that I have been considering for a home if one is available. The drive from FIS-W to Bad Soden took about 30 minutes. Might have been impacted by jet lag, but it was a LONG 30 minutes. I was reminded that jet lag and me are like oil and water. We stopped at a little Italian restaurant in Bad Soden to refuel our bodies and hopefully re-energize.

Next stop was Oberursel to see FIS-O. It was a much quicker drive from Bad Soden to Oberursel. But my rejuvenation plan failed and the jet lag was kicking my arse. We found the school – much bigger, also nice!

And then I begged Jay to let me give into the torturous effects of jet lag. We went back to the hotel and I crashed. While I was sleeping, Jay walked over to the airport and found a couple shops that were OPEN ON SUNDAY!! He bought me a ridiculously expensive sweatshirt and sweatpants, socks, and underwear. SUCCESS! I took a shower and put on my new clothes. Felt like a brand new woman.

We walked back over to the airport so I could get some exercise in, not fall back to sleep, and see if there was anything else I needed at the shops. I found a t-shirt and one-size-fits-no-Americans sports bra.

We grabbed dinner and a beer at the hotel lounge. The giant TV was programmed to a Snooker competition. We thought it was a funny choice at first, until we totally got sucked into watching it. We were able to figure out most of the rules. It was weirdly fascinating to watch.

Another thing I have to get used to is the 24-hour clock instead of AM/PM. Minor, but a thing. So, at 22:48 (10:48 PM), I caved to the exhaustion and hoped for a good nights’ sleep.

Auf Wiedersehen!