We have been in Germany for one week! We have all had to adapt to so many new things. I’ve been trying to coach the kids to say “that’s different” instead of “that’s weird”, because so much of everyday life is different than what we are used to. New home, new town, new stores, new food, new beds, new language, new cars, new driving rules, the list goes on. There have definitely been some struggles here and there, but for the most part, I have been impressed by how well we have all adapted. We are mostly settled into our home and I think we are all feeling pretty comfortable here. 

On Thursday, Jay and I had Cultural Awareness training. We spent a few hours with a very interesting German man who is a retired teacher. He shared a lot about the history and politics of Germany, business etiquette, and shared some suggestions for places to travel while we are here. For such a small country (roughly the size of Montana), the history is rich. World History was not my favorite subject in school, likely because as a small-town farm girl from Iowa I couldn’t imagine the life that existed beyond. But I am looking forward to soaking it all in and learning as much as possible. 

Ty wanted to assemble a gaming computer, so for Christmas he put together a wish list of all the necessary parts and packed them in his checked suitcases. The one piece that he needed was the outer shell, which was too big to buy in the US. It arrived at our house and the boys got right to work. They took over the dining room table, watched YouTube videos, and by late that evening there were able to turn it on! Unfortunately with the internet situation that we are living in (ugh), Ty hasn’t been able to actually use it, but it sounds like it is going to work! Way to go Ty!!

My kids are now obsessed with playing Euchre. They are getting pretty good at it! It is fun to see their wheels cranking, thinking strategically about the right card to play. And, weird, they are uber competitive. :) 

We have been on a lot of walks, and it has been so fun to explore our new little neck of the woods. Jay thought this was pretty awesome – an elevator for the car! 

Ty had his first Redwings baseball practice on Thursday. I didn’t go, but the boys said it went really well! The head coach, Yumi, doesn’t speak any English, but the boys don’t seem to have too much trouble understanding her. I think there are 5 boys that are international and speak English really well, and some of the German boys speak a little. It’s going to add a whole new level of challenge to the game. :) The group WhatsApp chat is a combination of English and German, so we pretty much have to copy everything into Google Translate. Ty practices 2 days a week indoors, and has a virtual practice for yoga/stretching/strategy once a week. There is an indoor tournament next Sunday that we are all looking forward to! One of the dads took Jay to Globus during practice, which is apparently a huge grocery store and has lots of international options. It will be fun to check that out soon.

Lily starts softball practices next week – twice a week indoors. More to come on that in future posts.

Jay and I took Kaycee for a quick walk on Friday morning and stopped at the weekly farmers’ market just down the road from our house. We picked up fresh chicken breasts, thinly sliced turkey for making schnitzel, some pork lunch meat, and had bacon sliced thick – everything at the store has been sliced very thin. I also picked up some fruit and veggies. It’s going to be great to be able to walk there every week to get fresh foods.

Lily and I went to the nail salon Friday evening that is literally in our front yard. They don’t do Dip there (not sure if it is anywhere in Germany or just not at this salon), so I had to try something different, but it turned out great. A Vietnamese girl and her brother were working there. The boy did not speak much German and basically no English. The girl spoke a little German and a few words in English. We all had our Google Translate app out and were translating English/German/Vietnamese to try to have a conversation. I cannot imagine doing this expat assignment without many of the tools we have available, literally at our fingertips. 

We have also had fun trying out the restaurants nearby – there are so many! We ordered from the City Kebab Haus last night. I had #2, Jay had #5, and Lily had a Döner Box. It was WAY too much food so next time we could probably just order one or two and split it, but it was delicious!

Today Lily is getting her new bed delivered (yay!!), but we don’t know for sure what time, so the whole day might be shot. Ty has baseball practice this evening. We need to (weird) do more shopping – although the list is getting much shorter now! Next week is a big week. The kids start at their new school on Monday, and Jay will start going into the office. It has been lovely having everyone at home this week to get things all situated, but I think everyone will be happy getting into a routine.