Culture Shock

Believe it we are still experiencing culture shock. When we first arrived here in Germany it was worse and has gradually gotten better, but every now and then, something unusual jumps out at me.

My German neighbor commented on my bare feet the other day, while I was standing in the entry way. She said that walking around with cold feet is bad for your....."uh"....she pointed to her stomach. I filled in the word, "uterus?" She nodded her head. I had heard a similar wives tale about sitting on cold concrete, but never knew cold toes could also be a cause of uterine problems. I told her not to worry, that I was done with mine.

After Christmas our TV broke. We have only had it for a year. It was still under warranty, which was good, but the only TV repairman in Germany (for this brand of TV) is 200 km away (120 miles). Two weeks ago, the driver for the repair service picked up the TV. We learned that they only come out to our area once a week, on tuesday....okay.....

Today was Tuesday. We hoped to get our TV back. I called the repairman, he said he didn't know when he could get it out to us. (The weather has been bad, and his father sick.....okay) I decided to pick it up myself.

We left the house at 10am. Stopped by the library to pick out books on CD. By 11:30 am, we were on the road. After missing the exit several times and stopping at a McDonalds for lunch, we arrived at Wedeman's TV repair service at 2pm. After loading the TV into the car, the kids were getting fried so we ran around the car several times, changed the CD we were listening to. I tanked up with some Diet Coke.

We were on the road again at 2:30pm. The GPS told us we would be home at 4:30. We had swim lessons at 5:30pm. We would pass swim lessons on the way home, but had to go all the way home to pick up our suits and then back track the 30 minute drive.

Then the gas light went off. The GPS found a German gas station of the path, which added another 3o minutes to our drive, 10 Euro (all I had) and only 5 litres of gas (I couldn't use our gas card at this station). I hoped it was enough to get home, it wasn't.

The gas light went off again in Kaiserslautern. Now it was 4:45pm. We couldn't make it home, in time to make it back to the pool with suits. Plus if I tried we would drive our car empty.

So, I stopped on base and bought a swim suit for Micah. Stayed for Micah's swim lesson, without driving home. Then we filled up with gas.

We got home at 7pm to a house with jammies from this morning on the living room floor and dinner dishes from last night still in the sink.

All this so we can watch the winter Olympics.

Was it worth it?

I have set a little goal for myself: read or listen to all of Jane Austen's novels and then watch the movie or mini-series. Netlibrary.com has been my source for the audiobooks and I have already listened to "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma." We just finished watching the BBC versions of both. iTunes had those miniseries available for purchase. Next on my list, "Sense and Sensibilty." I am downloading the book today. BBC also made a TV version, but I will have to order that one from amazon.

So far, Greg has not opposed this goal of mine. We watched all 6 hours of Pride and Prejudice together and he even appeared to be enjoying himself . He even asked me to put the show "on pause" while he grabbed a snack.

However, listening to all books might take it's toll. If I pull out my empire waist dresses, speak in a British accent and complain about my "nerves," I might need to put the goal on hold for a while and watch some man flicks.

Micah has an opinion about the whole thing. While listening to "Emma" in the car he declared,"these books you listen to, have NO POINT! Let's try to figure out the point of them. Are aliens landing? Nooooooooo!"

I explained that he has to listen really hard to understand. There is not much action, but there is certainly a lot going on. Maybe some day he will get it. Sadie watched the last bit of Emma with me yesterday and she appeared to enjoy it. yuppp.....I will have a chick flick buddy some day.

My boys

How did I end up with two boys who like to talk? Greg attributes it to my genes. I guess we have talkers in my family. Well, both our little guys have great verbal skills. (Sadie on the other hand, struggles verbally and prefers physical communication..figure that one out?) Lately, the boys have been competing for talk time.

Yesterday, I dropped off Sadie and preschool and started the 20 minute drive to Micah's school. Taylor sat in his car seat and Micah right behind me in the back. So.....Micah talked nonstop about his latest adventures on Poptropica (a semi-educational computer game on the internet.) He almost without breathing. I added the obligatory "ohh....nice....really?"

With his hand raised and his finger pointed, Taylor interrupted now and then, "I have an idea?" After repeating the question several times we gave him the floor for his "idea." He just sat there and smiled. Micah continued talking. Taylor kept interrupting. Micah ended the conversation yelling, "I never get to talk!"

Plan C

Last week was a snow week. It was also my birthday week. It is not too often that they coincide together. But, this year I was reminded that my birthday is in the winter.

The original plan was to drive across the border to France. Greg had the day off and had arranged for a babysitter. I had heard about a pottery factory that I wanted to visit, so we decided to make a day of it. I looked forward to the day weeks in advance and thought that the weather would certainly change before the big day.

It didn't. We canceled the babysitter and decided to stay locally. We would go to the BX and then out for lunch.

I was happy to hear the rain on the roof the night before and it rained all night. However, it takes more than one night to wash away a weeks worth of accumulated snow. A foot of snow turned into a foot of slush and we were stuck inside.

So, plan C. Walk the German grocery store for ingredients for my birthday cake. Download "Pride and Prejudice" from iTunes and start my sewing project my friend sent me in the mail. Not a bad third plan. Greg took care of the kids, picking them up from the bus and school when the time came. I had uninterrupted hobby time. It made for a nice day.

Sleding

Our German Neighbors told us about the perfect sledding hill. They were right it was perfect. It is a ten minute walk from our house. The hill is big enough for mom and dad to enjoy and small enough for the kids.

The big wipe out.