As most of you know I am not the most "domestic" person out there. But I am improving slowly as the weeks go on. My latest attempt at this was to bake some chocolate chip cookies and some peppermint bark for christmas. Both are relatively easy recipes that I have made before. The decision to make these treats came about for a few reasons. The first of those reasons is that I really missed a good chocolate cookie. The second reason is that we are trying to rid our apartment of the smell of deep fried curry. It has slowly become worse as the cooking goes on. The third reason is pretty simple, I am bored. So I looked up the recipe on the internet and made my shopping list. After going to our local grocery store I found sugar, 'brown' sugar (not the moist kind we have, it is literally brown sugar), flour and eggs. My main problem was going to be chocolate chips, baking soda and vanilla extract. For the peppermint bark it was the chocolate and candy canes. Pretty much the whole recipe. So I start the hunt for the rest of the ingredients. I was informed that for baking soda look in the cleaning aisle (but no luck) the chocolate I found in cooking chocolate bars (so the cookies are now chocolate chunk). I finally decided to go to the gourmet food section at one of the local department stores (they are the closest thing to a Hiller's I have found). There I managed to find Arm & Hammer baking soda (for the bargain basement price of $5 a box) and vanilla extract (I had to debate between real extract for $6 or vials of imitation for .89 cents...guess which i chose!). My big find there were real candy canes! They were in a special section and you had to pay for them seperately but I got them!!!
So I was ready to start my cooking.... or so I thought. I forgot butter. So I ran to the grocery store to find sticks of butter, but had to settle for a brick of butter. yum. So my measurements were made in a used and cleaned out yogurt cup (!) and a very small spoon that I think is close to a table spoon!
So I am starting to get very very good at improving and feel I could make a meal from twigs and berries...or something close to that!
So those are just some of my adventures in cooking here.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
$6.00 Maple Syrup and our Neighbors
We went shopping at the German version of a very low budget Walmart today. We like going there because they have a larger selection of food than our local grocery store and as well they have the home stuff as well. The big excitement tonight was a blender and hand mixer! We were in the international section looking at the american food and I thought it would be nice to make pancakes for Sunday breakfast...until I looked at the syrup and realized it was $6! Then I noticed the Pam spray was $5! So we decided that pancakes weren't necessary!
I also realized that I do not think I have given a good description of our neighbors. We live in a building with 5 other apartments and one doctor's office. We never seem to see anyone going in or out of the dr. office but their packages and mail seem to be picked up so we are going to assume for now that they are really a functioning office! Our neighbors below us seem to be pretty quiet, we believe they are a married couple with one child. In Germany instead of apartment numbers you put your name outside of your door and that is how the mailperson delivers mail. So their plaque has 3 names on it and that is as much as we know about them. Our neighbors that share our entryway (our apt. was once 1 large apt. now separated into 2) is an Indian couple who will be here for another 4 months..... so a little bit about this couple. When we first moved in it was just the man living there. It was a nice peaceful quiet existance. Then his wife came. Now it is another story. Like me, she is not able to work while she is here so she is generally home, cooking. Very aromatic cooking. That tends to drift into our apartment. Matt has often commented that he almost jokes when he comes home from work. I am sure the neighbor man is very happy with his home-cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. We aren't feeling the same. She also seems to blow a fuse every other day. Now, normally I wouldn't know about this but given that their fusebox is in our apartment I am constantly informed when a fuse goes out. She is nice enough but between the cooking and the constant knocking I am starting to feel differently!
We are very lucky and happy to have hardwood floors throughout and very tall ceilings. Our neighbors above us are also very happy to have hardwood floor throughout. As well the woman is a piano player/piano teacher/voice teacher/flute teacher/amature singer. She loves to share her talents with others throughout the day. The piano part is actually enjoyable when she is playing but when the 13 year old beginner comes over it is quite another story. The wood floors and tall ceilings are excellent acoustics and carry sound very very well.
So, our neighbors are all very friendly and seem to be very nice. But, I don't think the "shared wall" theory is well known to them!
We are still enjoying relatively warm weather here. We have had a week or so of very cold weather but lately it has been in the high 40's! It looks like we might get down in the 30's next week, but the city of Frankfurt always seems to be a little warmer than everywhere else!
I also realized that I do not think I have given a good description of our neighbors. We live in a building with 5 other apartments and one doctor's office. We never seem to see anyone going in or out of the dr. office but their packages and mail seem to be picked up so we are going to assume for now that they are really a functioning office! Our neighbors below us seem to be pretty quiet, we believe they are a married couple with one child. In Germany instead of apartment numbers you put your name outside of your door and that is how the mailperson delivers mail. So their plaque has 3 names on it and that is as much as we know about them. Our neighbors that share our entryway (our apt. was once 1 large apt. now separated into 2) is an Indian couple who will be here for another 4 months..... so a little bit about this couple. When we first moved in it was just the man living there. It was a nice peaceful quiet existance. Then his wife came. Now it is another story. Like me, she is not able to work while she is here so she is generally home, cooking. Very aromatic cooking. That tends to drift into our apartment. Matt has often commented that he almost jokes when he comes home from work. I am sure the neighbor man is very happy with his home-cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. We aren't feeling the same. She also seems to blow a fuse every other day. Now, normally I wouldn't know about this but given that their fusebox is in our apartment I am constantly informed when a fuse goes out. She is nice enough but between the cooking and the constant knocking I am starting to feel differently!
We are very lucky and happy to have hardwood floors throughout and very tall ceilings. Our neighbors above us are also very happy to have hardwood floor throughout. As well the woman is a piano player/piano teacher/voice teacher/flute teacher/amature singer. She loves to share her talents with others throughout the day. The piano part is actually enjoyable when she is playing but when the 13 year old beginner comes over it is quite another story. The wood floors and tall ceilings are excellent acoustics and carry sound very very well.
So, our neighbors are all very friendly and seem to be very nice. But, I don't think the "shared wall" theory is well known to them!
We are still enjoying relatively warm weather here. We have had a week or so of very cold weather but lately it has been in the high 40's! It looks like we might get down in the 30's next week, but the city of Frankfurt always seems to be a little warmer than everywhere else!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Mosquitos, Christmas Markets and Roman Baths
Normally when December arrives, I look forward to a little snow, not a lot, but just enough to get in the holiday spirit! Today when I woke up it was raining....again. I was told that the weather here is closer to that of Seattle and I am beginning to believe it more and more! One of the last things I think about in December are mosquitos. But of course we have them! Our wall heaters actually get the rooms quite warm, but because we can't regulate it very well we still open windows to cool it off a little bit, but we are realizing that is letting in the little buggers! I am not sure when they are done for the year, but I can't wait!
The Christmas Markets have started throughout Germany and we have a huge one here in Frankfurt! It is fun to walk around and see all the food, drinks and doodads that you can buy! Whole bars are set up to serve the gluhwein I talked about before and there are probably 20 in a 2 mile area! I finally tried some yesterday with some friends in the area. It is definitely interesting. Think sweet red wine mulled with spices and served very very hot. Some serve it with rum in it but I was lucky enough not to get that version! During the day there are hundreds of people at night there are 10 times as many people! You are lucky to get through the stalls and make it up to one of the bars! They do close around 9 so you have to get there early!!
The Roemer is the old city center. There are very old 'bavarian' looking buildings that were all destroyed during the war but rebuilt exactly as they were before. This is the big open square in the pictures I have attached. It also houses the town hall and Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church). This was orginally a Protestant church but it's main historical significance is that it housed the first democratically elected parliament. It was destroyed during the war but was one of the first buildings to be rebuilt in the area because of its significance. The inside is really beautiful and when you look around you see all the brickwork. Or so you think. When you look closer, you can see that all of the brick lines are actually painted on! I guess that allowed them to rebuild it faster and cheaper! Outside of Paulskirche there is the Archaeological Garden. They are the ruins of ancient Roman baths and old buildings. It is interesting because they are in the middle of the city and they have even managed to build a restaurant below ground looking out on them! The other odd thing is that when you look it up online, they say you have to pay to go down to see it. But as you will see you can just take pictures for free!!!
The Town Christmas Tree with the Town Hall in the background
Another shot of the Christmas Tree
A carousel in the Roemer
Some of the stalls at the Christmas market
A Lego santa in one of the department store windows
The Christmas market at night. That is all people up ahead!
Archaeological Garden
The bottom right corner has a restaurant
The garden with Paulskirche under construction on the left
A santa on stilts! To tell him what you want you have to climb the ladder! Seems a little dangerous....
The Christmas Markets have started throughout Germany and we have a huge one here in Frankfurt! It is fun to walk around and see all the food, drinks and doodads that you can buy! Whole bars are set up to serve the gluhwein I talked about before and there are probably 20 in a 2 mile area! I finally tried some yesterday with some friends in the area. It is definitely interesting. Think sweet red wine mulled with spices and served very very hot. Some serve it with rum in it but I was lucky enough not to get that version! During the day there are hundreds of people at night there are 10 times as many people! You are lucky to get through the stalls and make it up to one of the bars! They do close around 9 so you have to get there early!!
The Roemer is the old city center. There are very old 'bavarian' looking buildings that were all destroyed during the war but rebuilt exactly as they were before. This is the big open square in the pictures I have attached. It also houses the town hall and Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church). This was orginally a Protestant church but it's main historical significance is that it housed the first democratically elected parliament. It was destroyed during the war but was one of the first buildings to be rebuilt in the area because of its significance. The inside is really beautiful and when you look around you see all the brickwork. Or so you think. When you look closer, you can see that all of the brick lines are actually painted on! I guess that allowed them to rebuild it faster and cheaper! Outside of Paulskirche there is the Archaeological Garden. They are the ruins of ancient Roman baths and old buildings. It is interesting because they are in the middle of the city and they have even managed to build a restaurant below ground looking out on them! The other odd thing is that when you look it up online, they say you have to pay to go down to see it. But as you will see you can just take pictures for free!!!
The Town Christmas Tree with the Town Hall in the background
Another shot of the Christmas Tree
A carousel in the Roemer
Some of the stalls at the Christmas market
A Lego santa in one of the department store windows
The Christmas market at night. That is all people up ahead!
Archaeological Garden
The bottom right corner has a restaurant
The garden with Paulskirche under construction on the left
A santa on stilts! To tell him what you want you have to climb the ladder! Seems a little dangerous....
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Pictures and Power Outages
We are very excited because a new Irish Pub is going in down the road from us. It is called Waxy's (real Irish huh?) and it is taking over the Hard Rock Cafe that was there. The good thing for us about Waxy's is that all Irish pubs English speaking staff! We were walking by the other night and noticed that they had a Help Wanted sign up. It was in english so we were reading it. At the bottom it says "please drop off a CV (resume) and a recent photograph". I thought this was particularly weird that they could request a picture. Matt laughed and said that he had a conversation with his co-workers the other day that explained it. They were talking over lunch and his boss asked Matt how old he was. Joking, Matt said he could be sued for asking him that. He then had to explain that in the U.S. you can't ask about race/religion/age etc. in the work place or before/during an interview. They laughed and said 'oh, let me guess, you probably don't have to put a picture on your resume either'. They were very serious. They then proceeded to all show Matt their resume's and pictures. Matt said that wouldn't be allowed back home and their response was "but, what if someone is being hired to deal with customers, how would you know if they were ugly." I thought that was hilarious. So, of course a new restaurant would want a picture, they wouldn't want an ugly waitress!!
We also had a power outage today. They are working on the sidewalk in front of our apartment and cut the power. This required them to get into our cellar and get through a locked door. Took awhile for them to do that but before we knew the source of the outage, we called our land lady to see what to do. Now, just a back story before I tell you what she said. When we first moved in to the apartment we were getting used to all of the appliances etc. I was doing some laundry, washing dishes and microwaving something. Now this would normally be fine except that all of these items are in one room on one breaker. So you can imagine that pretty soon, the washer, dryer, dishwasher and microwave were all not working. I had not been shown where the circuit breaker was and so I wasn't sure what the problem was. We called the landlady and she brought over a "worker" to check into the problem. well it was just the fuses that needed to be flipped back on, but I also got a talking too about using to much water and electricity. Ah well. So back to today. When Matt (who was home sick) called the land lady and told her that our power was out her first response was "what did she do". That's a fine how-do-you-do! Luckily we were able to tell her that I in fact had done nothing wrong this time! Around 3:30 here we got power back!
Oh, and I did make it to the pharmacist today! Now that we are both sick I figured it was worth the trip. They are very nice, but everything is behind the counter. So I had to ask for the "extra large" pack of Tylenol which is actual a pack of thirty tablets. And then he showed me how to correctly use the cough medicine! Quite funny to think that at 26 they are explaining it to me, but I guess that is their job!
We also had a power outage today. They are working on the sidewalk in front of our apartment and cut the power. This required them to get into our cellar and get through a locked door. Took awhile for them to do that but before we knew the source of the outage, we called our land lady to see what to do. Now, just a back story before I tell you what she said. When we first moved in to the apartment we were getting used to all of the appliances etc. I was doing some laundry, washing dishes and microwaving something. Now this would normally be fine except that all of these items are in one room on one breaker. So you can imagine that pretty soon, the washer, dryer, dishwasher and microwave were all not working. I had not been shown where the circuit breaker was and so I wasn't sure what the problem was. We called the landlady and she brought over a "worker" to check into the problem. well it was just the fuses that needed to be flipped back on, but I also got a talking too about using to much water and electricity. Ah well. So back to today. When Matt (who was home sick) called the land lady and told her that our power was out her first response was "what did she do". That's a fine how-do-you-do! Luckily we were able to tell her that I in fact had done nothing wrong this time! Around 3:30 here we got power back!
Oh, and I did make it to the pharmacist today! Now that we are both sick I figured it was worth the trip. They are very nice, but everything is behind the counter. So I had to ask for the "extra large" pack of Tylenol which is actual a pack of thirty tablets. And then he showed me how to correctly use the cough medicine! Quite funny to think that at 26 they are explaining it to me, but I guess that is their job!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tylenol and Gluhwein
Just to start this out, there should be an umlaut over the u in the Gluhwein!
Today started out sunny and cool, a perfect day! But then much like Michigan weather it quickly switched! I was getting ready to go out to do some errands and looked out the balcony to downpouring rain! So the errands got cut short but that is fine. One of the challenges for today was going to be getting some Tylenol as we are out. This sounds simple enough, but to get more medicines (from aspirin to vick's vap-o-rub) you have to go to a pharmacist. You have to explain to them what is wrong with you or whoever you are going for, and they will give you what they is right. Now, most Germans believe they always know what is best or right. So arguing with them is useless! But, given that I wasn't sure how to ask for aspirin nor did I have the energy, I convinced myself that my headache wasn't that bad and that I could go without the Tylenol. Boy, I wish I had gone to the Apotheke (pharmacist)! But as they close early it will have to wait untill Tuesday.
As I went to do my shopping I went to the Ziel, this is the main pedestrian shopping area just south of our apartment. I noticed that they have put up almost all of the outdoor christmas lights and now there are hundreds of vendors out and set up. They are selling everything "holiday" related. Wine, nuts, roasted-salted-sweetened nuts, nutcrackers and lots and lots of odds and ends. This is the beginning of the christmas season! Quite a few of the stands are selling a popular drink called Gluhwein (again pretend the umlaut is above the u). It is a mulled wine which is sold around Germany and seems quite popular. It looked like it was getting ready to downpour again so I left with no gluhwein, but I am going to try some soon and will report back!
Other than that pretty normal day!
Today started out sunny and cool, a perfect day! But then much like Michigan weather it quickly switched! I was getting ready to go out to do some errands and looked out the balcony to downpouring rain! So the errands got cut short but that is fine. One of the challenges for today was going to be getting some Tylenol as we are out. This sounds simple enough, but to get more medicines (from aspirin to vick's vap-o-rub) you have to go to a pharmacist. You have to explain to them what is wrong with you or whoever you are going for, and they will give you what they is right. Now, most Germans believe they always know what is best or right. So arguing with them is useless! But, given that I wasn't sure how to ask for aspirin nor did I have the energy, I convinced myself that my headache wasn't that bad and that I could go without the Tylenol. Boy, I wish I had gone to the Apotheke (pharmacist)! But as they close early it will have to wait untill Tuesday.
As I went to do my shopping I went to the Ziel, this is the main pedestrian shopping area just south of our apartment. I noticed that they have put up almost all of the outdoor christmas lights and now there are hundreds of vendors out and set up. They are selling everything "holiday" related. Wine, nuts, roasted-salted-sweetened nuts, nutcrackers and lots and lots of odds and ends. This is the beginning of the christmas season! Quite a few of the stands are selling a popular drink called Gluhwein (again pretend the umlaut is above the u). It is a mulled wine which is sold around Germany and seems quite popular. It looked like it was getting ready to downpour again so I left with no gluhwein, but I am going to try some soon and will report back!
Other than that pretty normal day!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Turkey Feathers
Well, it has been awhile since I posted so I will try to get up to date quickly. We received our air shipment so things are feeling much more comfortable here. We have all of our clothes plus additional kitchen and bathroom things. We decided to take a weekend trip to Munich which was alot of fun! We stayed at a nice hotel Le Meridian which was very close to the center of town. We did the typical site seeing on Saturday and then ended at the Hofbrauhaus. The next day we drove down to Schwangau, there are two castles in this town, one of which is supposed to be what the disney castle was based off of. It was really really cold that day and it required a 30 minute walk up the side of a mountain to get to the castle! It was interesting to see and we had quite an interesting tour guide! We then made the 4 hour drive home.
This past Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were lucky enough to be invited over to our friend Mike and Emilie's house for a real Thanksgiving dinner. Emilie was amazing and put out a great spread! It is not easy to find alot of the 'normal' things for T-day meals so she made them from scratch! Very impressive! We were very thankful to be spending the evening with friends!
We recently found our new favorite store. It is the old Walmart's that didn't quite work in Germany due to their lack of unions and Germany's very strong unions. Compared to our local corner store we have been shopping at this place is massive! Two levels, the top being home goods (dvd's, clothes, paper goods, automotive, etc.) the bottom floor being all the food along with the lotto store, pharmacy (which is where you have to get any kind of medicine) watch shop etc. We were able to really load up on groceries and I am hoping not to have to go shopping again for a few days. Interesting thing in Germany, I think I talked about how you have to bring your own bags, well I noticed alot of people not using bags and loading everything back into their cart and then into their car with no bags or boxes. I thought it would be a pretty tedious job once they got home to unload, but anything to save a few cents on buying a bag!
Otherwise things are going well. We are getting more comfortable in the area and are getting excited for our next trip wherever that might be!
Below are a few pictures of our apartment kitchen, foyer and outside!
Our parking lot and entrance to the building. We are the third window up from the door!
Our building from the road (Heinestrasse)
Our street!
The main road Heinestrasse is off of
The back of the building. Our balcony is the one with the satelite on it.
Our kitchen (and laundry room!) from the foyer
Our foyer from our kitchen (bedroom on the left and front door on the right)
View in from the front door
Our "big" fridge and stove
This past Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were lucky enough to be invited over to our friend Mike and Emilie's house for a real Thanksgiving dinner. Emilie was amazing and put out a great spread! It is not easy to find alot of the 'normal' things for T-day meals so she made them from scratch! Very impressive! We were very thankful to be spending the evening with friends!
We recently found our new favorite store. It is the old Walmart's that didn't quite work in Germany due to their lack of unions and Germany's very strong unions. Compared to our local corner store we have been shopping at this place is massive! Two levels, the top being home goods (dvd's, clothes, paper goods, automotive, etc.) the bottom floor being all the food along with the lotto store, pharmacy (which is where you have to get any kind of medicine) watch shop etc. We were able to really load up on groceries and I am hoping not to have to go shopping again for a few days. Interesting thing in Germany, I think I talked about how you have to bring your own bags, well I noticed alot of people not using bags and loading everything back into their cart and then into their car with no bags or boxes. I thought it would be a pretty tedious job once they got home to unload, but anything to save a few cents on buying a bag!
Otherwise things are going well. We are getting more comfortable in the area and are getting excited for our next trip wherever that might be!
Below are a few pictures of our apartment kitchen, foyer and outside!
Our parking lot and entrance to the building. We are the third window up from the door!
Our building from the road (Heinestrasse)
Our street!
The main road Heinestrasse is off of
The back of the building. Our balcony is the one with the satelite on it.
Our kitchen (and laundry room!) from the foyer
Our foyer from our kitchen (bedroom on the left and front door on the right)
View in from the front door
Our "big" fridge and stove
Sunday, November 11, 2007
We're back!
We just had a great visit home for our friend's Jake and Renae's wedding! It was a great time home and we were able to see lots of friends and family.
Matt came back on Tuesday to go back to work but I was able to stay until Friday! It was nice to be able to pick up alot of stuff that we forgot the first time! It is cheaper and easier to buy the stuff in the US than in Germany right now so I tried to stock up on things!
Saturday was spent sleeping and trying to readjust to the time change. Sunday was the same way but we also did some driving lessons! We currently have a stick shift and will be getting one permanently pretty soon so I need to learn how to drive! Also, once I learn I will be able to drive Matt's cars when we get home =)
So we went to the Real, which took over the Walmart's here) and practiced in the parking lot. If I do say so myself I did pretty well! Only stalling once! So I am on my way....
We are supposed to be getting our air shipment tomorrow so we will have all of our stuff, including my clothes and shoes!
Matt came back on Tuesday to go back to work but I was able to stay until Friday! It was nice to be able to pick up alot of stuff that we forgot the first time! It is cheaper and easier to buy the stuff in the US than in Germany right now so I tried to stock up on things!
Saturday was spent sleeping and trying to readjust to the time change. Sunday was the same way but we also did some driving lessons! We currently have a stick shift and will be getting one permanently pretty soon so I need to learn how to drive! Also, once I learn I will be able to drive Matt's cars when we get home =)
So we went to the Real, which took over the Walmart's here) and practiced in the parking lot. If I do say so myself I did pretty well! Only stalling once! So I am on my way....
We are supposed to be getting our air shipment tomorrow so we will have all of our stuff, including my clothes and shoes!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The W curve
Oct. 16th 2007
When we were in our cross cultural training class we were taught about something called the W curve. Basically that you have highs and lows when you are adjusting to a new place. I think I would classify today as a low point on the W curve (it has now been our way of describing days to each other “high” days vs. “low” days). Now, I would say anything bad happened. In fact it was a pretty normal day if you were to just look at it. My mission today was to find a connector USB cable for my camera so that I could upload some of the pictures I have taken as well as pictures of our cars that we took before we left. Someone is interested in Matt’s car but needs pictures hence the need for the cable. The original is currently either on its way here or in storage. But I figured I would just go to the Saturn store I mentioned earlier. I figured I would go in and find the replacement I needed no problem. Wrong. They make every possible USB cord imaginable except the particular one that I needed. Well, normally I would just ask someone for help and see what suggestions they had (I even checked and they carried the camera I had!) but everyone I asked if they spoke English (I even learned how to say it in German so they would respect me more) and of course they didn’t. All of the younger workers who are more likely to know at least basic English, were helping people who wanted to buy Mac computers. So, not to let my one task of the day go unfinished, I went to the local “department” store because I heard they carry everything you could need. I went to each and every floor and finally on the 8th or 9th floor I hit paydirt. It was the electronic section. It was quite a big section so I thought I might have better luck. But again no luck. By that point I realized that I couldn’t just ask anyone and that I really was there by myself. I have heard it is the little things that make you realize that you are not in the U.S. (or wherever your home is). This is definitely true. After that I realized that I had not talked to anyone all day long. By 5:00 I was wishing I had a dog to just talk at! I did hear some English being spoken and was ready to go up and ask if they lived in Germany but realized that they were trying to convert people…… decided to just keep on walking!
Luckily Matt came home early (6:00) with his boss Thijs to try to figure out our cell phone situation. We want to buy prepaid SIM cards for our phones so that we can call locally without paying a dollar a minute. It went well and we should be able to make it work in the next day or so. It was very nice to have a translator with us and we are forever in debt to him.
I talked yesterday about trying the washer/dryer. Well again, Thijs came in very handy. We couldn’t figure out what everything meant on the dial or where to put the detergent. Now I know most of you are just thinking about my lack in domestic ability but trust me, I don’t think many could have figured this out! There were three openings for detergent alone. Not to mention 20 different symbols on the dial! So Thijs came and read the instructions and explained how he thought it worked. Well we tried it tonight and it worked!! Although a few differences that I noticed (besides 80 different options for settings) were the size of the washer, it held two regular size towels and 4 small towels. I could have put a little more but was scared! It also takes about 45 minutes to complete the cycle (and that was with me stopping it a bit early) and spins at a ridiculously high speed. At one point Matt and I actually thought someone was drilling outside. So after starting the dryer on what I assumed was the correct setting we realized it was quite loud and due to the restrictions on quiet hours decided to stop it. So hopefully it works and we can start washing our clothes!
Another big discovery that we made today was that we are able to buy the DVD’s at the german stores because they are also in English! We currently wait eagerly every night for Jay Leno to come on which they have cut down to ½ an hour so we are very excited to have options of watching movies as well.
We are also going to be taken out on Thursday by one of Matt’s coworkers who lives here during the week and goes home on weekends. So needless to say he is bored as well and knows the area someone (and is German) so he will show us some of the local restaurants etc. so hopefully we will be able to check those out and have some favorite places for when people come to visit!
When we were in our cross cultural training class we were taught about something called the W curve. Basically that you have highs and lows when you are adjusting to a new place. I think I would classify today as a low point on the W curve (it has now been our way of describing days to each other “high” days vs. “low” days). Now, I would say anything bad happened. In fact it was a pretty normal day if you were to just look at it. My mission today was to find a connector USB cable for my camera so that I could upload some of the pictures I have taken as well as pictures of our cars that we took before we left. Someone is interested in Matt’s car but needs pictures hence the need for the cable. The original is currently either on its way here or in storage. But I figured I would just go to the Saturn store I mentioned earlier. I figured I would go in and find the replacement I needed no problem. Wrong. They make every possible USB cord imaginable except the particular one that I needed. Well, normally I would just ask someone for help and see what suggestions they had (I even checked and they carried the camera I had!) but everyone I asked if they spoke English (I even learned how to say it in German so they would respect me more) and of course they didn’t. All of the younger workers who are more likely to know at least basic English, were helping people who wanted to buy Mac computers. So, not to let my one task of the day go unfinished, I went to the local “department” store because I heard they carry everything you could need. I went to each and every floor and finally on the 8th or 9th floor I hit paydirt. It was the electronic section. It was quite a big section so I thought I might have better luck. But again no luck. By that point I realized that I couldn’t just ask anyone and that I really was there by myself. I have heard it is the little things that make you realize that you are not in the U.S. (or wherever your home is). This is definitely true. After that I realized that I had not talked to anyone all day long. By 5:00 I was wishing I had a dog to just talk at! I did hear some English being spoken and was ready to go up and ask if they lived in Germany but realized that they were trying to convert people…… decided to just keep on walking!
Luckily Matt came home early (6:00) with his boss Thijs to try to figure out our cell phone situation. We want to buy prepaid SIM cards for our phones so that we can call locally without paying a dollar a minute. It went well and we should be able to make it work in the next day or so. It was very nice to have a translator with us and we are forever in debt to him.
I talked yesterday about trying the washer/dryer. Well again, Thijs came in very handy. We couldn’t figure out what everything meant on the dial or where to put the detergent. Now I know most of you are just thinking about my lack in domestic ability but trust me, I don’t think many could have figured this out! There were three openings for detergent alone. Not to mention 20 different symbols on the dial! So Thijs came and read the instructions and explained how he thought it worked. Well we tried it tonight and it worked!! Although a few differences that I noticed (besides 80 different options for settings) were the size of the washer, it held two regular size towels and 4 small towels. I could have put a little more but was scared! It also takes about 45 minutes to complete the cycle (and that was with me stopping it a bit early) and spins at a ridiculously high speed. At one point Matt and I actually thought someone was drilling outside. So after starting the dryer on what I assumed was the correct setting we realized it was quite loud and due to the restrictions on quiet hours decided to stop it. So hopefully it works and we can start washing our clothes!
Another big discovery that we made today was that we are able to buy the DVD’s at the german stores because they are also in English! We currently wait eagerly every night for Jay Leno to come on which they have cut down to ½ an hour so we are very excited to have options of watching movies as well.
We are also going to be taken out on Thursday by one of Matt’s coworkers who lives here during the week and goes home on weekends. So needless to say he is bored as well and knows the area someone (and is German) so he will show us some of the local restaurants etc. so hopefully we will be able to check those out and have some favorite places for when people come to visit!
Shopping!
Oct. 15th 2007
Matt started his first day of work today which went well. His deskmate coworker is about his age and lives here during the week in a hotel. So he is quite eager to get out and do stuff and we are happy to have someone show us around! Drinks are on for Thursday after they get done with work!
I started out my time in Germany with a cold which is great! But I decided to get to an internet café today to finally check my emails. That helped ease some of the home sickness. After that I walked down to the main shopping center called the Zeil. It is a pedestrian only shopping area. One side is something similar to the Watertower in Chicago and then there are sections with stores like Escada, Chanel, Gucci but there are bookstores (their version of Barnes and Noble or Borders is called Hugendubel) and a department store that I have not yet gone to. One of the biggest stores down there right now is Espirit. Which is very weird considering I haven’t seen an Espirit store in the U.S. in years. But it was croweded so they must love it. From what I could tell, their version of Best Buy is called Saturn. Imagine Best Buy on a Saturday before Christmas in half the size. That will give you an idea of how busy it is. I was very excited to find the Starbucks down there and actually be able to order something in English!
We live on Eschershiemer LandStrasse which means Eschershiemer Land Street. Our road starts at the Eschershiemer Torm which is one of 4 or 5 towers throughout the city that were left over from when the city was walled in. So we are able to find our way home pretty easily from that landmark!
Tonight we are going to try and figure out the washer and dryer!
Matt started his first day of work today which went well. His deskmate coworker is about his age and lives here during the week in a hotel. So he is quite eager to get out and do stuff and we are happy to have someone show us around! Drinks are on for Thursday after they get done with work!
I started out my time in Germany with a cold which is great! But I decided to get to an internet café today to finally check my emails. That helped ease some of the home sickness. After that I walked down to the main shopping center called the Zeil. It is a pedestrian only shopping area. One side is something similar to the Watertower in Chicago and then there are sections with stores like Escada, Chanel, Gucci but there are bookstores (their version of Barnes and Noble or Borders is called Hugendubel) and a department store that I have not yet gone to. One of the biggest stores down there right now is Espirit. Which is very weird considering I haven’t seen an Espirit store in the U.S. in years. But it was croweded so they must love it. From what I could tell, their version of Best Buy is called Saturn. Imagine Best Buy on a Saturday before Christmas in half the size. That will give you an idea of how busy it is. I was very excited to find the Starbucks down there and actually be able to order something in English!
We live on Eschershiemer LandStrasse which means Eschershiemer Land Street. Our road starts at the Eschershiemer Torm which is one of 4 or 5 towers throughout the city that were left over from when the city was walled in. So we are able to find our way home pretty easily from that landmark!
Tonight we are going to try and figure out the washer and dryer!
Jay Leno and Ikea
Oct. 14th 2007
We slept in on Sunday trying to make up for a lot of the lost sleep. We then decided to try out the Navigation system in the car and try the drive to Matt’s work and around town. We ended up going to his work and then to the Ikea and one of the shopping centers. They were all of course closed but it was nice to see where they were. The Ikea was even bigger than the one in Canton and the shopping mall was an outdoor mall with a glass covering.
We got home and were very excited for Jay Leno at 9:00. That and Conan O’Brian are the two non-news American shows on. So we went on a walk around to “explore” and then we hurried home to watch Jay Leno. It really is the small things that you get excited for when you can’t understand anyone around you. So imagine our excitement when Conan was on immediately afterwards! It really was a great night. When we are lucky the MTV Austria is playing some shows like Hogan Knows Best, Flavor of Love and occasionally old “the Hills”. MTV Germany dubs over but MTV Austria subtitles so you can actually understand it! We are working on getting our satellite turned to get the British stations that also include American network shows. We are very excited about that.
We slept in on Sunday trying to make up for a lot of the lost sleep. We then decided to try out the Navigation system in the car and try the drive to Matt’s work and around town. We ended up going to his work and then to the Ikea and one of the shopping centers. They were all of course closed but it was nice to see where they were. The Ikea was even bigger than the one in Canton and the shopping mall was an outdoor mall with a glass covering.
We got home and were very excited for Jay Leno at 9:00. That and Conan O’Brian are the two non-news American shows on. So we went on a walk around to “explore” and then we hurried home to watch Jay Leno. It really is the small things that you get excited for when you can’t understand anyone around you. So imagine our excitement when Conan was on immediately afterwards! It really was a great night. When we are lucky the MTV Austria is playing some shows like Hogan Knows Best, Flavor of Love and occasionally old “the Hills”. MTV Germany dubs over but MTV Austria subtitles so you can actually understand it! We are working on getting our satellite turned to get the British stations that also include American network shows. We are very excited about that.
Saturdays and the Gym
Oct. 13th 2007
Saturdays are somewhat thought of S-day. Shopping day. All stores are closed on Sunday except for convenience stores and apparently stores that sell wine. Which led us to notice a lot of wine stores that mainly sold other stuff, like the wine was a cover. But most of the stores at the train stations are open if you are in a pinch. So after we met with our landlady on Saturday morning (more on her in a minute) we went and did grocery shopping to get us through Sunday and Monday morning. Our landlady is Reneta Krause. She owns the actual apartment (not the building) and the one we share a foyer with and rents it out to companies. She also was telling us about her house they have in Alaska for fishing and how she rigged her Ford Explorer here to take gasoline instead of benzyne because it is cheaper. Needless to say an interesting lady. She was very helpful and had no problem getting new things for us if we were missing them, we realized afterwards that she just charges the company!!!
After that we went to the gym called Fitness Company. It is similar to a Gold’s Gym or something like that. It is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment so it is pretty convenient. We met with a trainer named Josip (Yosip) who liked a lot like Matt Swiss, but with a German accent! By the time we were done there we thought we would go to the English speaking movie theatre but were too tired!
Saturdays are somewhat thought of S-day. Shopping day. All stores are closed on Sunday except for convenience stores and apparently stores that sell wine. Which led us to notice a lot of wine stores that mainly sold other stuff, like the wine was a cover. But most of the stores at the train stations are open if you are in a pinch. So after we met with our landlady on Saturday morning (more on her in a minute) we went and did grocery shopping to get us through Sunday and Monday morning. Our landlady is Reneta Krause. She owns the actual apartment (not the building) and the one we share a foyer with and rents it out to companies. She also was telling us about her house they have in Alaska for fishing and how she rigged her Ford Explorer here to take gasoline instead of benzyne because it is cheaper. Needless to say an interesting lady. She was very helpful and had no problem getting new things for us if we were missing them, we realized afterwards that she just charges the company!!!
After that we went to the gym called Fitness Company. It is similar to a Gold’s Gym or something like that. It is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment so it is pretty convenient. We met with a trainer named Josip (Yosip) who liked a lot like Matt Swiss, but with a German accent! By the time we were done there we thought we would go to the English speaking movie theatre but were too tired!
Day 2
Oct. 12th 207
We met Frau Hector (who works with the transfer company and is considered a Destination Assistant) at noon to get our residency permit from her as well as have her show us around the town. She lives 2 u-bahn stops north of us so she knows the area well. When we first met her we were a bit scared. She filled every German woman stereotype. Direct, no sense of humor and didn’t really seem interested in us. But as the day went on we realized she was very nice (still direct but that is the german way) had a dry sense of humor that sometimes translated a bit weird and was excited to help us get the best deal on things. One of these things was a gym membership. We wanted to get a membership asap so we could get a sense of home and normalcy. She helped us get a good deal at the chain gym here. We went out to dinner that night. But were only adventurous enough to try a restaurant called Lousiana. An interesting thing there is that you seat yourself. There is no hostess. It seems to work well as we were served quickly. But still through us a bit. We are not sure if this is the case at all restaurants or not but believe it is.
After dinner we returned home to realize (at 11:30 p.m.) that Frau Hector had our keys! We were lucky to find that she had put her home phone number on our gym membership, so we were able to call her and she came with the keys. Our only other resort was to stay at the Hotel Mondial that shares a parking lot with us! Quite an adventurous second night.
We met Frau Hector (who works with the transfer company and is considered a Destination Assistant) at noon to get our residency permit from her as well as have her show us around the town. She lives 2 u-bahn stops north of us so she knows the area well. When we first met her we were a bit scared. She filled every German woman stereotype. Direct, no sense of humor and didn’t really seem interested in us. But as the day went on we realized she was very nice (still direct but that is the german way) had a dry sense of humor that sometimes translated a bit weird and was excited to help us get the best deal on things. One of these things was a gym membership. We wanted to get a membership asap so we could get a sense of home and normalcy. She helped us get a good deal at the chain gym here. We went out to dinner that night. But were only adventurous enough to try a restaurant called Lousiana. An interesting thing there is that you seat yourself. There is no hostess. It seems to work well as we were served quickly. But still through us a bit. We are not sure if this is the case at all restaurants or not but believe it is.
After dinner we returned home to realize (at 11:30 p.m.) that Frau Hector had our keys! We were lucky to find that she had put her home phone number on our gym membership, so we were able to call her and she came with the keys. Our only other resort was to stay at the Hotel Mondial that shares a parking lot with us! Quite an adventurous second night.
Getting Here and Our Apartment
Our flight over to Germany was leaving at 5:30 p.m. U.S. time and landing in Frankfurt at 7:30 a.m. German time. We were hoping to get some sleep on the plane ride over but weren’t so lucky. I think Matt and I averaged about 1.5 hours of sleep. We did have some WWF wrestlers on our plane though. We noticed quite a few large muscular men and one short stature guy. We figured they were wrestlers of some sort. At the Frankfurt airport we were waiting at the baggage claim and there was Triple H. I am not a WWF fan but trust me, if you saw him, you would know too! So there were about 20 of them all together and we noticed in the group Mike “the miz” from Real World. He had always wanted to be a wrestler and it looks like he made it!
We were picked up by Thijs (Matt’s new boss) who was very nice and quite tall! He took us to our new apartment and helped to show us around. The place is nice, older and a weird setup, but nice. I will try to describe as best I can but I think pictures will be best.
We are considered the 2nd floor although we are really on the 3rd story. The first floor is a doctor’s office (we think a dentist but are not sure) and then the second floor is another apartment. On our floor there are 2 separate apartments that we believe at one time were actually 1 big apartment. Reasons: you open a door from the hallway that leads to a small foyer with a door on each side. When you are in the family room there is a door that is sealed off that appears to lead to the next apartment.
We have 1 bedroom, bathroom, family room and a kitchen. Here you don’t go by bedrooms, you go by number of rooms, so this would be considered a 2 room home. (kitchen for some reason doesn’t count). We are also lucky to have a balcony that over looks the next street. When you walk into the apartment from the before mentioned foyer, you walk into a small foyer/hallway with a door straight ahead and an entry to the kitchen on the left. In the kitchen is the dishwasher (woohoo!) the washing machine (still can’t figure out) and the dryer. We also have a small storage room at the back on the kitchen. According to European standards we have quite a large fridge, but in the US it would be smaller than your standard fridge, but it does the trick!
From the small entry foyer if you walk through the door ahead of you, it will lead to the bedroom! The bedroom is actually quite large, with nice widows at the back that let in a lot of light. There are closets (from ikea) on the left side and the bed to the back. The bed itself is a double bed and we can’t wait to get our down comforter and feather bed for it!
Across from the bed is the door to the bathroom. It is quite possibly one of the smallest bathrooms I have seen in awhile but we are making it work. The landlady has tried to install as much storage as possible (again ikea!) so that definitely helps. There is a lot of light in there as well from the windows and a heater which I assume will be good for the winters.
If you were to take an immediate right when you walked into the bedroom you would go through the door to the family room (yes, you walk through the bedroom to the family room! Another reason we think this was initially one big apt.) The family room is a decent size and it has the balcony off of it so we have a doorwall there. We are hoping to spruce it up a bit and our land lady Reneta Krause has promised a larger T.V.!
So after dropping our stuff off and getting changed we headed out to the grocery store so Thijs could show us the ropes. Pretty much the same as any small grocery store at home, except for a few things, first being that you pay for a cart (1 euro that you get back at the end) and second you must bring your own bag to put your groceries in or else you have to buy one from the store. The other interesting thing is that there are these stores (the name of the chain is Rewe) every 3-4 blocks. Some small some big but it is nice since you have to walk home with your groceries!
We then went to the Frankfurt facility for Arvin Meritor where we saw sunroofs being made. They are shutting this plant down and apparently some of the machinery is over 100 years old. We then went to the headquarters where Matt will be working which is in Dietzenbach which is about 25 minutes south of Frankfurt. We met people there and got a tour of the manufacturing there as well. By this point we hadn’t slept in the equivolent of 24 hours so we were pretty exhausted. About 3 hours later we were able to go home! We got here and quickly fell asleep.
We were picked up by Thijs (Matt’s new boss) who was very nice and quite tall! He took us to our new apartment and helped to show us around. The place is nice, older and a weird setup, but nice. I will try to describe as best I can but I think pictures will be best.
We are considered the 2nd floor although we are really on the 3rd story. The first floor is a doctor’s office (we think a dentist but are not sure) and then the second floor is another apartment. On our floor there are 2 separate apartments that we believe at one time were actually 1 big apartment. Reasons: you open a door from the hallway that leads to a small foyer with a door on each side. When you are in the family room there is a door that is sealed off that appears to lead to the next apartment.
We have 1 bedroom, bathroom, family room and a kitchen. Here you don’t go by bedrooms, you go by number of rooms, so this would be considered a 2 room home. (kitchen for some reason doesn’t count). We are also lucky to have a balcony that over looks the next street. When you walk into the apartment from the before mentioned foyer, you walk into a small foyer/hallway with a door straight ahead and an entry to the kitchen on the left. In the kitchen is the dishwasher (woohoo!) the washing machine (still can’t figure out) and the dryer. We also have a small storage room at the back on the kitchen. According to European standards we have quite a large fridge, but in the US it would be smaller than your standard fridge, but it does the trick!
From the small entry foyer if you walk through the door ahead of you, it will lead to the bedroom! The bedroom is actually quite large, with nice widows at the back that let in a lot of light. There are closets (from ikea) on the left side and the bed to the back. The bed itself is a double bed and we can’t wait to get our down comforter and feather bed for it!
Across from the bed is the door to the bathroom. It is quite possibly one of the smallest bathrooms I have seen in awhile but we are making it work. The landlady has tried to install as much storage as possible (again ikea!) so that definitely helps. There is a lot of light in there as well from the windows and a heater which I assume will be good for the winters.
If you were to take an immediate right when you walked into the bedroom you would go through the door to the family room (yes, you walk through the bedroom to the family room! Another reason we think this was initially one big apt.) The family room is a decent size and it has the balcony off of it so we have a doorwall there. We are hoping to spruce it up a bit and our land lady Reneta Krause has promised a larger T.V.!
So after dropping our stuff off and getting changed we headed out to the grocery store so Thijs could show us the ropes. Pretty much the same as any small grocery store at home, except for a few things, first being that you pay for a cart (1 euro that you get back at the end) and second you must bring your own bag to put your groceries in or else you have to buy one from the store. The other interesting thing is that there are these stores (the name of the chain is Rewe) every 3-4 blocks. Some small some big but it is nice since you have to walk home with your groceries!
We then went to the Frankfurt facility for Arvin Meritor where we saw sunroofs being made. They are shutting this plant down and apparently some of the machinery is over 100 years old. We then went to the headquarters where Matt will be working which is in Dietzenbach which is about 25 minutes south of Frankfurt. We met people there and got a tour of the manufacturing there as well. By this point we hadn’t slept in the equivolent of 24 hours so we were pretty exhausted. About 3 hours later we were able to go home! We got here and quickly fell asleep.
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