1. Rolladen
The cool rolling shutters that all German windows are equipped with. The are mounted on the outside and can be closed from the inside. A room can become truly dark and it perfect for napping babies, or parents. Actually, the windows are pretty neat here too. The can be "tipped" to open partway for "lufting" or airing out a house. They also swing open so they can be cleaned from the inside, not that we did that much.
2.The bathtubs
Okay, it sounds pretty silly and I don't know what they are made of, but the bathtubs here are really easy to clean. Before moving here, we lived in too many houses with bathtubs made of fiberglass. If you have such tubs, you know that they are nearly impossible to clean unless you use hot vinegar (a tip from the queen of clean). I think the tubs are caste iron, with porcelain on top.....
3. The speed limit, or lack of it
When you hear about the Autobahn, you envision a race track cutting through the country. There are speed limits on the Autobahn (freeway), 130 kph (80 mph) through the city. Once you clear the city limits, the limit is lifted. The flow of traffic drives at about 90 miles per hour and there are those who drive much faster. You have to be careful though, because speed limits can creep up on you when you cross a bridge, or with road work etc, as we discovered a few times. I am sure when we get back to the states, we will get more tickets as we get used to the standard 65 mph.
4. The bakeries
I did have to stop eating at the Bakery regularly, because of my expanding waistline. I will miss the "now and then"trip to the bakery. I once tried to find a German bakery in the states, drove 2 hours to get there only to discover that it had changed into a Mexican bakery. Here there is one on every corner.
But I think Panera bread will suffice......
5. The Church Bells
We will miss hearing the church bells ringing, every morning, afternoon and evening. They are especially nice on Christmas day and Sundays.
6. Traveling
Our goal for traveling here was to visit every country surrounding Germany. There are 9 of them. After this summer, when we make a stop in Denmark, we will achieve our goal. We also managed to see London, parts of Italy and Spain. Greg made it to Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine. Traveling in the states will be a bit different, but I think we will enjoy it just the same. I haven't been to Canada yet. Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast is always nice and I think the kids would love to visit Grandma and Grandpa more frequently.
7. Tile floors
I had a love-hate relationship with our all tile floors. We had no carpet in the entire house. The floor definitely cleaned easy, but they had to be done more frequently. I will be glad to have plush carpet to welcome my cold toes in the morning, but on those days when the kids drop an entire carton of milk, or throw up on the way to the potty.....I will be very sad.
8. The language practice
It has been great to have the chance to brush up on my language skills. The opportunity waits outside our front door. I can go the store and buy German music, books, DVDs. I have loved working on my life long hobby.
In the states, I will have to go back to chasing down people who have German accents in the Grocery store, at the gym, library, or where else they pop up.
9. Kinder eggs
Did you know that the Kinder "surprise" eggs are banned in the U.S? You can't bring them over the border and they enforce it. They ask at the post office and at customs. I have heard people who brought them home for family friends and had them "seized" at the border. How strange.....oh well......
We will miss the rest of the chocolate too. We really have become chocolate snobs here.
10. Lack of materialism
We don't have commercials over here, on the military channals. It is harder to get certain products too. Capitalism is not live and well......this is good and bad. We have been shielded from a lot, but have missed the convenience of going to Target, Joanns, Michaels and even Walmart to find what we need. I will welcome the convenience, but do I really need more stuff?
It will be nice to drive to a store with parking too.....I miss large and abundant parking spaces.
So, you probably have figured out that we are moving this summer. We will be going to back to Tacoma Washing for our last year in the military. We hope to settle somewhere in the North West. Wish us luck!
20 hours ago
