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Mittwoch, 24. Juni 2015
Liz Finally Posts!
durhamfamily, 15:10h
Hi!
I've re-written my opening sentence four times now. I have no clue where to start. Weather, moving from place to place, finally settling in our apartment, frustrations with learning German, the brutal hiking landscapes. Everything is different and makes me feel off balance. I cannot speak for Kyle, but these first several weeks have been difficult. Kyle keeps reminding me that our life is incredible (and believe me, it is!), but it's so easy to find stress in the constant change that has surrounded us.
Everything I've seen in Germany is beautiful. Baekerei are everywhere and the food is cheap and usually organic and always delicious. Everything we need is within walking distance and there's a shopping "mall" about 300 yards from where we live. There's a forest museum within a 20 minutes walking distance from our side of the city. It's the most eerily purposeful and beautiful trail I have ever seen. We have more space than we need in our apartment and Kyle and I have enjoyed furnishing it with fancy couches and a big tv. There's a fountain right outside our living room window next to a doener shop, and the smells of lamb and chicken and fries are constantly wafting through our open windows. The people here are so kind and go out of their way to help us. Some speak English. Others play charades with us until we understand each other. Between the people, the food, and the landscape, Germany is truly a wondrous and magical place.
We lived in four different places before finally settling into our apartment, most of which were in this teeny town with horses and goats that lived in people's back yards. Five weeks after ordering furniture, it was delivered to our *real* apartment and we could finally move in. We didn't have internet for a week, which was not as brutal as we thought it would be. It felt like Christmas when we finally resolved all of our connectivity issues--I just about hugged the cable installers before they left. Yup, still no kitchen. We wash our dishes in the bathroom and pray that our microwave can get the bathroom sink water hot enough to make pasta or cook a potato. Every time I see a dog or a cat in town, I almost break into tears because I miss my animals so much.
Everything is different. Interacting with people on the street is different. The non-verbals and language are different. German Language classes or not, I can't understand 74% of the Swabian dialect. Hoch Deutsch, I'm good. Voices on the radio, fine. But every single time I go to Kaufland or Aldi, I have not a dang clue of what is coming out of their mouths.
The fact that Kyle has an eidetic memory is little help to my intellectual self-image when learning this new language. I've mentioned to Kyle a couple of times that it would be easier if we moved to England where everyone speaks English. And in true Kyle form, he reminded me that moving to England would have been too easy. That the whole point of moving to a different country is to experience a new culture and the challenges that come with it.
I've known one person in particular who moved to another non-English speaking country for a year and when I saw her again, she was an even better version of who she was before. I was in awe of her, of this person I've known for so long, and I admired and envied these experiences that seemed to have changed the very core of her soul. I hope to experience just a fraction of that evolution and learn enough to be a better person when I come back home.
I'm sorry that my posts will most likely not be very linear or event-based like Kyle's. He's so positive and kind and presents the best side of things, which is one of the many, many reasons why I married him. But I HAD to talk about the difficulty of this change and of my frustrations of these first couple of weeks. If you want to hear about the passive-aggressive Norwegian man who verbally harassed my friends and me in Munich, or about my quasi-fake heart attack while walking up a trail that was an 87° incline that led directly into the sky/Bargauer Horn, or about the very nice Nigerian-Italian-Brooklyner man who asked me to have a drink with him "even though [I] have a husband," please: email me. Fb me. Skype me. I miss you all so much and the realization that I won't be back next month or the month after crushes my brain.
In a final attempt to get you to come visit us, I'll leave you with this direct quote from our intercultural training facilitator: "The only dangerous things about Germany are:
...
Ticks and Neo-Nazis."
Much love.
--E
I've re-written my opening sentence four times now. I have no clue where to start. Weather, moving from place to place, finally settling in our apartment, frustrations with learning German, the brutal hiking landscapes. Everything is different and makes me feel off balance. I cannot speak for Kyle, but these first several weeks have been difficult. Kyle keeps reminding me that our life is incredible (and believe me, it is!), but it's so easy to find stress in the constant change that has surrounded us.
Everything I've seen in Germany is beautiful. Baekerei are everywhere and the food is cheap and usually organic and always delicious. Everything we need is within walking distance and there's a shopping "mall" about 300 yards from where we live. There's a forest museum within a 20 minutes walking distance from our side of the city. It's the most eerily purposeful and beautiful trail I have ever seen. We have more space than we need in our apartment and Kyle and I have enjoyed furnishing it with fancy couches and a big tv. There's a fountain right outside our living room window next to a doener shop, and the smells of lamb and chicken and fries are constantly wafting through our open windows. The people here are so kind and go out of their way to help us. Some speak English. Others play charades with us until we understand each other. Between the people, the food, and the landscape, Germany is truly a wondrous and magical place.
We lived in four different places before finally settling into our apartment, most of which were in this teeny town with horses and goats that lived in people's back yards. Five weeks after ordering furniture, it was delivered to our *real* apartment and we could finally move in. We didn't have internet for a week, which was not as brutal as we thought it would be. It felt like Christmas when we finally resolved all of our connectivity issues--I just about hugged the cable installers before they left. Yup, still no kitchen. We wash our dishes in the bathroom and pray that our microwave can get the bathroom sink water hot enough to make pasta or cook a potato. Every time I see a dog or a cat in town, I almost break into tears because I miss my animals so much.
Everything is different. Interacting with people on the street is different. The non-verbals and language are different. German Language classes or not, I can't understand 74% of the Swabian dialect. Hoch Deutsch, I'm good. Voices on the radio, fine. But every single time I go to Kaufland or Aldi, I have not a dang clue of what is coming out of their mouths.
The fact that Kyle has an eidetic memory is little help to my intellectual self-image when learning this new language. I've mentioned to Kyle a couple of times that it would be easier if we moved to England where everyone speaks English. And in true Kyle form, he reminded me that moving to England would have been too easy. That the whole point of moving to a different country is to experience a new culture and the challenges that come with it.
I've known one person in particular who moved to another non-English speaking country for a year and when I saw her again, she was an even better version of who she was before. I was in awe of her, of this person I've known for so long, and I admired and envied these experiences that seemed to have changed the very core of her soul. I hope to experience just a fraction of that evolution and learn enough to be a better person when I come back home.
I'm sorry that my posts will most likely not be very linear or event-based like Kyle's. He's so positive and kind and presents the best side of things, which is one of the many, many reasons why I married him. But I HAD to talk about the difficulty of this change and of my frustrations of these first couple of weeks. If you want to hear about the passive-aggressive Norwegian man who verbally harassed my friends and me in Munich, or about my quasi-fake heart attack while walking up a trail that was an 87° incline that led directly into the sky/Bargauer Horn, or about the very nice Nigerian-Italian-Brooklyner man who asked me to have a drink with him "even though [I] have a husband," please: email me. Fb me. Skype me. I miss you all so much and the realization that I won't be back next month or the month after crushes my brain.
In a final attempt to get you to come visit us, I'll leave you with this direct quote from our intercultural training facilitator: "The only dangerous things about Germany are:
...
Ticks and Neo-Nazis."
Much love.
--E
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Sonntag, 21. Juni 2015
Wir sind zurück!
durhamfamily, 19:32h
After a week offline, we're happy to announce our return to civilization. Being without internet for 7 days wasn't difficult exactly... it was simply inconvenient. We couldn't practice German with Duolingo. We couldn't follow up on Amazon orders (that REFUSE to successfully process the first time around). We couldn't settle arguments about which state grows the most corn or where to find the world's largest ball of twine. But, most importantly, we couldn't communicate with any of you. I'm glad I'm back to officially say: Happy Father's Day to a very magnificent father!
As promised, we kept this past week uneventful and free from shenanigans. The time was primarily spent assembling furniture, unpacking, and cleaning. The floor still needs a good scrubbing, but everything else is well on it's way to normalcy. We even found ways to rid ourselves of our styrofoam and cardboard (heartfelt thanks to Nadja and Susanne for their seemingly endless support).
In case you were wondering, our German-speaking abilities are still terrible. Learning a new language requires focus and time - neither of which we've been giving it. There are so many things for me to concentrate on when I get home from work, and language is low on my priority list... underneath unpacking, grocery shopping, paper signing, furniture assembling, and occasionally relaxing. This has to change soon. Work is growing less and less patient with my handicap. Perhaps the company policy should be that an employee reaches a certain level of fluency before they are officially transferred, because there are simply too many balls in the air as it is without throwing intensive learning into the mix.
On the plus side, we ate some fantastic pizza last night! Having a "pizza night" goes a long way to making this place feel like home. I think next time we will order the Pizza Opa, which is covered in cheesy noodles. We'll definitely take a picture of it for everyone. BONUS - the pizza place has a wide variety of ethnic choices: Italian, Indian, Chinese, American, Japanese... and they all come with a fortune cookie!
Lastly, I've spent the last several days exploring our town, running around the woods. It's kind of magical. I'll be going back there a lot. Unfortunately, the hill isn't nearly as steep as the hill in Bargau, but it will have to suffice.
That's all I have from my side. I promise I'll prod Elizabeth some more until she caves and writes some Blog entries of her own.
Bis nächste Woche!
As promised, we kept this past week uneventful and free from shenanigans. The time was primarily spent assembling furniture, unpacking, and cleaning. The floor still needs a good scrubbing, but everything else is well on it's way to normalcy. We even found ways to rid ourselves of our styrofoam and cardboard (heartfelt thanks to Nadja and Susanne for their seemingly endless support).
In case you were wondering, our German-speaking abilities are still terrible. Learning a new language requires focus and time - neither of which we've been giving it. There are so many things for me to concentrate on when I get home from work, and language is low on my priority list... underneath unpacking, grocery shopping, paper signing, furniture assembling, and occasionally relaxing. This has to change soon. Work is growing less and less patient with my handicap. Perhaps the company policy should be that an employee reaches a certain level of fluency before they are officially transferred, because there are simply too many balls in the air as it is without throwing intensive learning into the mix.
On the plus side, we ate some fantastic pizza last night! Having a "pizza night" goes a long way to making this place feel like home. I think next time we will order the Pizza Opa, which is covered in cheesy noodles. We'll definitely take a picture of it for everyone. BONUS - the pizza place has a wide variety of ethnic choices: Italian, Indian, Chinese, American, Japanese... and they all come with a fortune cookie!
Lastly, I've spent the last several days exploring our town, running around the woods. It's kind of magical. I'll be going back there a lot. Unfortunately, the hill isn't nearly as steep as the hill in Bargau, but it will have to suffice.
That's all I have from my side. I promise I'll prod Elizabeth some more until she caves and writes some Blog entries of her own.
Bis nächste Woche!
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Samstag, 13. Juni 2015
Short Rambles
durhamfamily, 09:12h
Another week in Germany!
Today is the official day of our move. A large amount of furniture was delivered to the apartment yesterday while I was at work. By the time I came home, half of it was magically assembled! Elizabeth is terrific. We still have some work to do today, but it's already starting to feel like a home. It's remarkable how good it feels to sit on our own furniture. We'll post some pictures soon.
UNFORTUNATELY, internet connection is a problem. Elizabeth has spent weeks talking to Unity Media trying to get it set up. As it turns out, the internet cable isn't long enough to reach our floor of the apartment. The landlord is working with them to extend it for us, but we have no estimated completion date. Best case scenario, we'll only be internet-less for a few days...
You might not hear from us for a week while we wait for Unity Media.
Living in the center of Schwäbisch Gmünd will be a huge improvement for us. We love the idea of being able to walk everywhere. But the little town of Bargau has been good to us, too. Obviously we will sorely miss having internet and a kitchen, but I'm also going to miss the Bargauer Horn. I've been running up that hill 2 or 3 times per week! From now on if I want to run it again, I'll need to bike 10 kilometers first to get there!
Now it's time to build the furniture! And time to figure out how to dispose of all of the packaging!! Chances are, we won't. We'll just dedicate a room to keeping the garbage in. Come visit us and we'll let you sleep in our garbage room! Yay!
Today is the official day of our move. A large amount of furniture was delivered to the apartment yesterday while I was at work. By the time I came home, half of it was magically assembled! Elizabeth is terrific. We still have some work to do today, but it's already starting to feel like a home. It's remarkable how good it feels to sit on our own furniture. We'll post some pictures soon.
UNFORTUNATELY, internet connection is a problem. Elizabeth has spent weeks talking to Unity Media trying to get it set up. As it turns out, the internet cable isn't long enough to reach our floor of the apartment. The landlord is working with them to extend it for us, but we have no estimated completion date. Best case scenario, we'll only be internet-less for a few days...
You might not hear from us for a week while we wait for Unity Media.
Living in the center of Schwäbisch Gmünd will be a huge improvement for us. We love the idea of being able to walk everywhere. But the little town of Bargau has been good to us, too. Obviously we will sorely miss having internet and a kitchen, but I'm also going to miss the Bargauer Horn. I've been running up that hill 2 or 3 times per week! From now on if I want to run it again, I'll need to bike 10 kilometers first to get there!
Now it's time to build the furniture! And time to figure out how to dispose of all of the packaging!! Chances are, we won't. We'll just dedicate a room to keeping the garbage in. Come visit us and we'll let you sleep in our garbage room! Yay!
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