Kitchen Not Included

As a part of our preparation for the big move, a quick trip to see Germany from a different angle was in order. I guess one would say that I took my tourist blinders off and began looking at what the Sauerland region has to offer Deidre and I in terms of living and working. Even though I didn’t accomplish all our objectives, I considered this trip to be very valuable. Deidre and I were both reminded how dangerous it is to hold high expectations of the unknown, and how the consequence is typically major disappointment. The lesson learned: it’s OK to be unaware of what to expect, but keep an open mind and control your expectations so you can be pleasantly surprised and excited if things go well.

Now for the boring details-

My trip began with a few quick meetings at work to wrap up contracts, assignment details, etc.... Going in, I was unsure how my colleagues would treat me knowing I will be there longer than a week, but I think everything went well and I was made to feel at home. The only problem, we have been working very hard to learn the language and I thought things were going well….. but I was overwhelmed beyond belief when trying to use my newly acquired skills. The pace of their communication is unbelievable and it sounds to me like a bunch of mumbo jumbo (for lack of a better description). I feel as if I have to spend extra time to expand my vocabulary and perfect my grammar in order to be better prepared for my first day.

The real driver for this trip was to find a place for Deidre and I to call home for the next three years. I had no clue what I was going to see and for the most part considered it a journey to the unknown. There are many small villages around Attendorn and of course there are some larger towns within driving distance..... but most lack the amenities or character (or both) of Attendorn. What can I say, it rains a lot, but it’s a dam fine town!! With that decision out of the way (thanks to lots of exploration), it was time to see places and get to the source of our disappointment. Some painful details of the search:

Fact: Homes in Germany are different?? Duh, we should have known better!
Fact: Most rentals in Germany (house or apartment) don’t come with kitchens.... only a tile floor, a tile backsplash, wall sockets, and three pipes sticking out of the wall. In addition to this minor shortcoming, some places I looked at didn’t even have flooring!! (just cement). This is one of the kitchens I saw.

Fact: Homes in Germany don’t have closets? But I’m told that some new homes can be found with a walk-in closet in the bedroom, just not the ones available to us.
Fact: well maybe observed opinion…. Everything looks the same, white block homes, thick walls, and black tile roofs.

Also, it seems that most people don’t want to lease for less than five years and definitely not to people with a dog (because dogs have a tendency to bark ?!?). I walked through six places, two of which are pretty nice but will require us to relax our qualifications a little before we can commit. For now, I guess we stay in the company provided condo and continue our search in a month when we return. Hopefully the choices will get a lot better, because we both have a hard time with compromise when it comes to housing. Nevertheless, it was a good trip and we now know what we can bring and what we need to buy (a kitchen, closets, electronics, and maybe flooring).

Our New Adventure

Well the title says a lot. In early February Jeff received an offer from Mubea for a promotion in Germany. We always talked about living abroad, so it made our decision very easy. How could we pass up an opportunity like this! We are 90% excited and 10% scared and nervous.

It is now March 1 and Jeff is scheduled to leave the end of April and I will follow in May. There is a lot to do and think about before we go. First and most importantly, we need to learn German. A language that neither of us have studied before. We have been doing our lessons for about an hour a night and feel like we are getting the basics down. We still have a long way to go. The language issue is probably our biggest fear about the move. Although most Germans speak English, it is very important to us to learn German. Especially for Jeff, he is expected to communicate at work in German in a relatively short time. So yeah, we need to learn German.

We are also thinking a lot about: what to bring, what to leave here and where to store it?, what paperwork we need so Cooper can come with us and not be abandoned at the airport. (I am very scared about this) Poor little guy is going to have to be in a crate for 8-9 hours on the plane. Luckily he can ride with me and not in the luggage compartment. Thank god for our small little guy. So a lot on my mind lately.

We have lots of people we want to visit before we leave for our 3 year stay. We will of course be home once or twice a year for the Holiday's. But our remaining weekends are filling up very fast.

We have officially sold both the cars. The Mazda is gone as of Feb 29, and my dad and Shelly are buying the Audi. Jeff can drive a company car for the time being so that is very helpful.

So here we are March 1, less than 2 months away from venturing out past Michigan's walls. You know Jeff and I have traveled a lot, but never lived outside of Michigan. So here we are moving to Germany. HA Something I am sure my family expects from Aimee & Nico, but not me and Jeffy.

So more on our progress later....or shall I say Auf Wiedersehen.