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Sonntag, 7. Juni 2015
Juni Urlaub
durhamfamily, 17:20h
Hallo zusammen!
Today ends my 4-day holiday. Quality time with Elizabeth has been excellent, but holy hell it has been hot outside. The majority of the holiday was spent laying motionless and dripping with sweat. Air conditioning is by no means a necessity in life, but that's one American luxury I will miss every so often.
DONNERSTAG
On our first day of holiday, Elizabeth came to me and said, "I want to hike up to Bargauer Horn again" (Bargauer Horn is a 5-mile hike that goes up - and back down - over 1000 ft in elevation). I was stunned! Never had I expected her to suggest that gruesome hike. I'm typically the only person making ludicrous suggestions disguised as "fun".
Long story short, we made it to the top of the hill in record time. It's very rewarding how much easier these things become the more often you do them.
That was pretty much the entire day. It's not like there was anything else to do... every store is closed on holidays (and on Sundays). It's more extreme than Thanksgiving in America.
FREITAG
Our first piece of furniture arrived today! It is a 2-piece futon-ish couch for our guest room. We immediately assembled it, and then we tried sleeping on it that night. As far as futons go, it is very comfortable.
Our apartment is beginning to look more and more like a home. And in exactly one week the rest of our furniture will arrive! It will most likely require a week or more of work to assemble everything, so if anyone would like to come visit next week, we'd welcome the extra hands. If only our kitchen could come at the same time... and not a month or two later! It will be interesting washing all of our dirty dishes in the bathtub (but at least we have a bathtub).
It was incredibly hot in the apartment. We experimented with strategically opening different windows, but nothing seemed to help. I even opened the attic windows (which Elizabeth captured in a photo and posted on Facebook), which is easier said than done. We might need to purchase a ladder. All in all, I think we simply need to become more comfortable with feeling hot and sticky. It's not like it's the end of the world.
SAMSTAG
Our landlord came to visit us today in the new apartment. He helped us take steps towards setting up our internet connection. Fingers crossed that we will have internet by next weekend when we move in (not likely!). We will keep everyone up-to-date on that progression. At worst, we might be unreachable the week of the 15th.
The landlord, Jürgen, is a good guy. He always makes time for us. Thank the stars he speaks English. Apparently he's also a police officer?! Pretty cool.
To finish off our exciting day, we got some ugly pictures taken in a photo booth (no smiling allowed). We need them for things like Visas and drivers licenses. It appears that Germans bring their own pictures everywhere, as opposed to America where services take your picture for you. Maybe it's because it minimizes the cost of the service?
SONNTAG
That brings us to today. Apart from some more running and biking, it has been largely uneventful. Elizabeth and are I catching up on TV series like Coach and Suits while enjoying some Laugenbrötchen mit Butter. We have less than a week left in this temporary apartment. It's extraordinarily small, but I think we are going to miss it.
This is just a little taste of our experiences here in Germany. Please write us any time to let us know what's happening back home in all of your lives! We miss you!
Bis später
Here are some pictures of the 2nd temporary apartment. I would post more... but these pretty much cover everything. Look for pictures of our final apartment in a week or two!
Bedroom
Living Room
Today ends my 4-day holiday. Quality time with Elizabeth has been excellent, but holy hell it has been hot outside. The majority of the holiday was spent laying motionless and dripping with sweat. Air conditioning is by no means a necessity in life, but that's one American luxury I will miss every so often.
DONNERSTAG
On our first day of holiday, Elizabeth came to me and said, "I want to hike up to Bargauer Horn again" (Bargauer Horn is a 5-mile hike that goes up - and back down - over 1000 ft in elevation). I was stunned! Never had I expected her to suggest that gruesome hike. I'm typically the only person making ludicrous suggestions disguised as "fun".
Long story short, we made it to the top of the hill in record time. It's very rewarding how much easier these things become the more often you do them.
That was pretty much the entire day. It's not like there was anything else to do... every store is closed on holidays (and on Sundays). It's more extreme than Thanksgiving in America.
FREITAG
Our first piece of furniture arrived today! It is a 2-piece futon-ish couch for our guest room. We immediately assembled it, and then we tried sleeping on it that night. As far as futons go, it is very comfortable.
Our apartment is beginning to look more and more like a home. And in exactly one week the rest of our furniture will arrive! It will most likely require a week or more of work to assemble everything, so if anyone would like to come visit next week, we'd welcome the extra hands. If only our kitchen could come at the same time... and not a month or two later! It will be interesting washing all of our dirty dishes in the bathtub (but at least we have a bathtub).
It was incredibly hot in the apartment. We experimented with strategically opening different windows, but nothing seemed to help. I even opened the attic windows (which Elizabeth captured in a photo and posted on Facebook), which is easier said than done. We might need to purchase a ladder. All in all, I think we simply need to become more comfortable with feeling hot and sticky. It's not like it's the end of the world.
SAMSTAG
Our landlord came to visit us today in the new apartment. He helped us take steps towards setting up our internet connection. Fingers crossed that we will have internet by next weekend when we move in (not likely!). We will keep everyone up-to-date on that progression. At worst, we might be unreachable the week of the 15th.
The landlord, Jürgen, is a good guy. He always makes time for us. Thank the stars he speaks English. Apparently he's also a police officer?! Pretty cool.
To finish off our exciting day, we got some ugly pictures taken in a photo booth (no smiling allowed). We need them for things like Visas and drivers licenses. It appears that Germans bring their own pictures everywhere, as opposed to America where services take your picture for you. Maybe it's because it minimizes the cost of the service?
SONNTAG
That brings us to today. Apart from some more running and biking, it has been largely uneventful. Elizabeth and are I catching up on TV series like Coach and Suits while enjoying some Laugenbrötchen mit Butter. We have less than a week left in this temporary apartment. It's extraordinarily small, but I think we are going to miss it.
This is just a little taste of our experiences here in Germany. Please write us any time to let us know what's happening back home in all of your lives! We miss you!
Bis später
Here are some pictures of the 2nd temporary apartment. I would post more... but these pretty much cover everything. Look for pictures of our final apartment in a week or two!
Bedroom
Living Room
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