Fourth Week in Germany
Well there are some things that are just difficult to get used to doing but I think we are getting the hang of it: Always having a Euro handy to get a shopping cart, taking bags with you to the grocery store, taking the bottles back, always following the speed limit because of ticket cameras, and going to the store every other day because we are out of milk and/or ice cream again.
Last week I (Ellyn) had my first meltdown. We were at the grocery store - it had been a long day - and we walked downtown Bonn to get a few things. Bryn was in the stroller but was wanting to climb out every second. I finally took her out and was carrying her and pushing the stroller. She was making a huge scene (as usual) when she reached out and grabbed the egg tray and pulled it onto the floor. While it is normal for everyone in the store to be staring at me...this time was even worse. I took her out of the store and cried so hard that a nice guy gave me a whole package of tissues. Apparently he thought that I would need more as the night went on. It is just hard getting used to all of the people staring and talking about you when you are clearly having a crisis.
We had a good week. One of the highlights being the Ranch dressing packets that my mom sent to us. We had salad almost every night. The girls were disappointed that their Sports Day at school was cancelled due to inclement weather. Speaking of weather...you know the old saying in Michigan that goes, "Don't like the weather, wait fifteen minutes." Wow, does the weather change rapidly here. We have had a quick education in how to dress kids for school. Just because it is rainy and chilly in the morning doesn't mean it will be that way all day.
We had a funny spiritual experience last weekend. We bought a patio table at IKEA before leaving Michigan for our new place in Germany, but when we looked on the internet, we found out the chairs that went with the patio table were cheaper in Europe. So, we did the prudent thing by waiting to buy the chairs in Europe. We looked online Friday night to make sure IKEA Koln still had them, they didn't. Then, we looked at all of the other IKEAs that we know are in the area, they didn't have them either. Then, we starting searching every IKEA in Germany and then mapping it to see where it was. We ended up finding one about 45 minutes away. So, our first order of business Saturday morning was a trip to IKEA. Not only did they have the chairs that we needed, they were on sale. We went from freaking out on Friday night that we couldn't get them at all to being overjoyed on Saturday morning when we found them on sale. I guess the moral of the story is be prudent it really pays off in the end.
We are looking forward to the girls last week of school and moving into our flat.
Last week I (Ellyn) had my first meltdown. We were at the grocery store - it had been a long day - and we walked downtown Bonn to get a few things. Bryn was in the stroller but was wanting to climb out every second. I finally took her out and was carrying her and pushing the stroller. She was making a huge scene (as usual) when she reached out and grabbed the egg tray and pulled it onto the floor. While it is normal for everyone in the store to be staring at me...this time was even worse. I took her out of the store and cried so hard that a nice guy gave me a whole package of tissues. Apparently he thought that I would need more as the night went on. It is just hard getting used to all of the people staring and talking about you when you are clearly having a crisis.
We had a good week. One of the highlights being the Ranch dressing packets that my mom sent to us. We had salad almost every night. The girls were disappointed that their Sports Day at school was cancelled due to inclement weather. Speaking of weather...you know the old saying in Michigan that goes, "Don't like the weather, wait fifteen minutes." Wow, does the weather change rapidly here. We have had a quick education in how to dress kids for school. Just because it is rainy and chilly in the morning doesn't mean it will be that way all day.
We had a funny spiritual experience last weekend. We bought a patio table at IKEA before leaving Michigan for our new place in Germany, but when we looked on the internet, we found out the chairs that went with the patio table were cheaper in Europe. So, we did the prudent thing by waiting to buy the chairs in Europe. We looked online Friday night to make sure IKEA Koln still had them, they didn't. Then, we looked at all of the other IKEAs that we know are in the area, they didn't have them either. Then, we starting searching every IKEA in Germany and then mapping it to see where it was. We ended up finding one about 45 minutes away. So, our first order of business Saturday morning was a trip to IKEA. Not only did they have the chairs that we needed, they were on sale. We went from freaking out on Friday night that we couldn't get them at all to being overjoyed on Saturday morning when we found them on sale. I guess the moral of the story is be prudent it really pays off in the end.
We are looking forward to the girls last week of school and moving into our flat.
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