Upon reflection

I'm in a better mood already.

I knew my bad mood wouldn't last long.

I'm sitting in the house, for the last full day that I'll be in it. Across the yard, I see a cherry tree that I had never noticed before. How did I miss that last year?! They're not quite ripe enough for me to pick, which means I won't get to try any, but their little bursts of red amidst the bright green leaves are pleasant enough to look at.

I'm not at work today because I'm waiting for the second movers. It's a small shipment, and I'm a little bit worried that I am over my weight limit. I hope they'll be able to be a good judge of that for me. Tomorrow I return the loaner furniture. Thursday we drop off the van to be detailed and then shipped on Monday, and we also do the walkthrough to move out of the house. This is our last night in the house, which is kind of great because last night I hardly slept at all for how hot it was. The Wiesbaden Army Lodge is air conditioned. That will be lovely.

I have a list of top things since I've been here. I will share it with you.

Here we go, in no particular order, based on our events and the places that we visited:

1) City with the most character: Bratislava, Slovakia 

2) Most beautiful city: Vienna, Austria

3) Best place to go for Roman ruins: Trier, Germany

4) City with the most diverse types of things to do and see: Mainz, Germany

5) City most worth visiting in your lifetime: Paris, France

6) Friendliest area, especially for families: Tuscany, Italy

7) City with the most impact on my life: Jerusalem, Israel

8) City with the highest concentration of rude people: Wiesbaden, Germany (I realize I might have that impression since I live here, but I don't think so. Even Berlin had a lot of rude people, but it was pretty nicely balanced with kind people who went out of their way to be kind. Also, I've heard from other Germans that Wiesbadeners have a reputation of being rude. I wonder why that is?)

9) City with the best cathedral: Cologne, Germany

10) City with the best museum: Frankfurt, Germany

11) David's favorite place we visited: Tuscany, Italy

12) Most stunning natural area: Bavarian Alps (specifically Garmisch-Partenkirchen--we will miss that place and the thought that I may never go there again in my life makes me a little bit sad. Thank God for the Rockies!)

And here are some numbers:

1) Number of strep infections from September 2018 to June 2019: 26

2) Number of miles driven from mid-August 2017 to end of June 2019: (I'll have to update this on Monday when the van gets shipped.) UPDATED: I have no idea! I thought some documentation would tell me how many miles we started at, but I never found any. So it's a mystery!

3) Number of countries visited by the entire family: 9 (Germany, Poland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Belgium)

4) Number of additional countries I visited without the family: 2 (Israel, Czech Republic) UPDATED: 3, including my 1-day trip via train / bus to Luxembourg.

5) Number of surgeries / hospital stays: 3

6) Number of Germany's border countries we missed entirely: 3 (Denmark, Switzerland, Luxembourg)

The thing about it, that the numbers show, is that while we were living a beautiful life here in Germany, the ugly parts of life showed up, too, mainly in the form of sickness for us. I don't know why that kind of took me by surprise. I guess usually when you're on vacation, you're healthy, and I was really focused on all the great travel we would do while we were here, and not the facts of everyday life. (Although I was very excited about the job, too! And rightfully so!)

It is Thursday, now, and we are in the air-conditioned Lodge on the Army post in Wiesbaden. Thank God! It is supposed to be 99 degrees on Sunday! That is pretty rough with no air conditioning. We know because we did it last year!

We had a very difficult two days! We didn't finish moving out of the house until about 0100 today. I could have taken more time, except that the van was scheduled for drop-off today, so we didn't have use of it this morning, which had been my intent in scheduling an afternoon walkthrough. David and the kids were AMAZING. Seriously. I'm so proud of and impressed by all five of them. I caught a glimpse of how this family will be when the kids are older and we all work together on something as a team. I secretly daydream about buying a project house in Waynesboro someday, and using it to learn and to teach the kids about things in life that you can do with your hands. Maybe someday!

In the meantime, I'm glad we're out of the German house! I'm really excited to be going home, especially since we just had the toddler grime painted over with a color of my choice (hopsack), and a new fan installed in our bedroom. It's going to be so nice to see our house again!

God is good and I am so grateful!

An empty house!

A photo of the house for the sake of nostalgia. I wonder if I will miss it?

It had a pool, but we never filled it.

Lilly sleeping with her face on the hard floor!  She was so tired yesterday that she slept like this for about 2 hours! How is that even possible?

Griffin entertaining himself in the empty house by drawing. What a good boy!

Costa Brava, Spain

Girona

Our household goods move went perfectly. I was able to organize the most important things that I wanted to organize (only the most important, and no more) and at the same time, doing the big shipment this early is helping me get out of the house at last!

We spent Monday and Tuesday getting ready for the movers (more accurately, Friday through Tuesday), and they packed us and moved us on Wednesday and Thursday. Woo hoo! Our loaner furniture came on Thursday afternoon, so we were never without beds. The movers were great this time! Thank God!!

Friday night at 9:07 we hit the road for our 12-hour journey to Spain. That was quite an undertaking! David started us out in the drive, and I wrapped it up. We drove through so many downpours, it was actually quite challenging, but we got there. We arrived at Castell Montgri at about 9:00. They didn't get us into our room until about 2:00 in the afternoon, which is understandable. The plan was to take the kids to the on-park playgrounds and have lunch on site. Unfortunately, two of the three playgrounds were wooden and full of splinters, so we didn't use the playgrounds too much while we were there.

We got into our mobile home and promptly took a nap. We were all so tired! The next day, we took the bus to the beach, and it was nice and sunny and the kids had a great time. Later that afternoon, we took the kids to the pool. That day was all about the kids!

The next day we also took the kids to the pool, but it was a different pool for them to enjoy. Then later we went out and found a nice place to eat dinner. I thought we were going somewhere specific, which turned out to be closed. It was a happy accident, though, because we got to visit castle grounds that were still intact and quite beautiful. We finally went to dinner in a nearby town. I tried the ham. David had steak. His dinner was much better than mine!!

The next day, we went to the Dali museum in Figueres, and then we visited the lovely little city of Girona. It was pretty and enjoyable. We had tapas and then headed over to the cathedral.

The cathedral was impressive, but unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. You MAY recognize it from the Game of Thrones. Girona appeared many times on that show. But it was interesting because of its architecture and history. As we were heading home, Alex was starting to feel ill. By the time we got home, he was running a fever. I was praying it was not strep.

I had booked a tour to Barcelona for Thursday, so on Wednesday, I decided that instead of filling the day, we should take it easy and let Alex rest. We stayed around the home in the morning. I had thought about a glass bottom boat tour, but the kids were so tired and not very interested. By Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't stand sitting around, so we went to the pool again.

Alex seemed to be all right, but at the same time, he felt warm to me. It was hard to tell if he still had a fever, but he was still complaining, and he doesn't usually fake it.

Thursday morning at 0730, I called the tour company and cancelled our tour. No Barcelona for me, which was the one thing I had my heart set on. I'm disappointed still. Alex seems to be okay, but we drove home on Thursday (it took us 15 hours since the kids were awake all day) because I was still feeling worried about him. Today, Saturday when we were SUPPOSED to get home, I think Alex is fine. I don't know if I made the right decision.  There's a SLIGHT chance that Alex exaggerated how he felt because he wanted to go back to where the tablet was working. I'm disappointed by the vacation. No Barcelona! We only went to the beach once after driving 12 hours to get to it! It was a big drive for a little reward. And overall, I'm just ready to go home.

So much has happened in my extended family since we've been away: death, cancer, marriage, babies. I'm ready to see the people I love and be part of their lives again. This week we are shipping our van and moving out of the house and into the lodge. Life will be so easy for a little while after this week, and I am really looking forward to moving out of this house. It is hard to believe that we have less than four weeks to go!

Don't get me wrong, we are so blessed that we have been able to be here, and to see everything we have seen, including our vacation to Spain. I fell in love with some places I never expected to see to begin with. Two years was a great amount of time. I am simply not very good at being in limbo, and we have been in limbo for a very long time!! It's been a wonderful limbo, but limbo nonetheless! My time here has also been adversely affected by all of the sickness. I think we're up to 26 infections of strep. The Army hospital will be my hospital of choice until we leave. I'm hoping we don't need to visit them again. I'm optimistic, even.

I kind of feel like I'm leaving Germany on a bit of a sour note. So much sickness. I'm so tired of this house with no hot water in the kitchen and a fridge that freezes or spoils everything. Our last vacation was disappointing.

I feel guilty for my negativity. I know it won't be my attitude overall about our time here. All I really have to do is think about the Schirn museum or the blue windows in Mainz, and I am grateful. But today, I missed a big event in someone's life, and it will still be a month before I can celebrate with her. That is so hard to take!

Life as an expat? Difficult. But I honestly hope I get the chance to do it again someday. Maybe in Japan or Australia. :-)

Castell Palau, where we thought we would eat dinner. So pretty!

Restaurant Camelot, a good recommendation from a very friendly local.

Yum!

Girona.

The outside of the Dali museum. Interesting!

This was in the church that was significant to Dali.

One of Dali's creations.

Lilly was so excited to go to the beach. She carried the shovel and bucket around the house for two days before we left.

Alex is getting good at swimming underwater!

Livvy LOVES the pool!

This is the cathedral in Girona. Pretty impressive!

When a foreign city starts to feel like home

Photo from the Schirn Museum exhibit

I had a chance to walk around Frankfurt by myself for half a day yesterday.

I took the S train to the U train into Römer Plaza. On a pretty day, Römer Plaza is one of the best places in the world to sit alone.

It was a pretty day.

I visited the Schirn museum. Their exhibit at the moment is vulgar, offensive, distasteful, and disgusting. It was an exhibit from two Swedish artists who create stop motion films. They use multiple mediums such as clay, felt, metals, and probably anything else that fits their needs. They had running themes of masks and animals, sometimes animals wearing masks. If I could take a guess, I would say that the artists were making an overall statement that we are not who we need to be. We are not true to ourselves. We are not true to each other.

Many of the films were gruesome. The pieces of art physically on display (in addition to the films) were exquisite. The first thing you see when you walk in is a room full of exotic birds in all different positions. You might be caught off guard with the detail and even the size of them. Then you'll notice the film. I watched the first film with curiosity. Stuffed women made of nylons having to do with breaking eggs. The next film I saw, I watched with interest. That was the gruesome one, but I was interested to learn the artists' agenda. The next, with loathing. Picture a baby and a momma who are switching in between a lizard and a lizard skeleton. Really, words don't describe it. The last one I watched, which was the maximum I could tolerate, I watched with horror. Something about a mother's children forcibly re-entering her womb to undo their own birth. Honestly, I couldn't do it, so I didn't watch very much of that one.

I love, love, love the Schirn museum. No other thing I've seen or done has taken me outside of my culture and made me think more than this museum has. I am fascinated by the artists whose works they display. What drives them? Why are they so different from me? In what (or whom) do they place their hope? That is what I always wonder about people. I really enjoy new cultures and different lifestyles. The Schirn museum is amazing at showing me that.

Because of that, more so than the artists, I would love to meet the curator. Who is that person?! How did they get so good at their job? What drives them, and how do they find people?

I'm just a simple Pennsylvania girl, and I'm happy to be that. But I'm also happy that I've had the opportunity to visit this world-renowned museum, more than once, and to let it open my eyes just a little more than they were before. I think I will get to see two more exhibitions before we leave. I missed several while I was here. But what I've seen thus far has been very, very interesting.

When I walked out of the museum, I realized that I knew where I was going, and I didn't need to use Google maps to get there. That was a nice feeling, but then I started to get a little bit sad. I was starting to feel at home in Frankfurt. I enjoy Römer Plaza and visiting the nearby churches. I walked across the footbridge and simply enjoyed the skyline. It was a really nice afternoon. It felt a little bit like home: comfortable, familiar, welcoming, and even unimposing. I was saddened by the thought that after this year, I may never see Frankfurt again. I may, but I may not.

I think that's the way these moments are going to be for me for the next two months. I'm looking forward to them so much.

At the same time, I don't think I will regret leaving at all. I am ready to go home to the always-familiar way of life. I am so very ready to see my family and friends. My life has been such an adventure these past two years. I am looking forward to seeing what the next stage will bring.

A gorgeous day at Romer plaza, which is a great place to visit

From the Schirn Museum. Look at this incredible detail.

I just the other day told my dad that I miss the PA wildlife. I sent this picture to him and called it, "Frankfurt wildlife". He said, "I think that's a turkey, but it looks like it belongs in a cartoon." Exactly.

A two photo panorama of Romer plaza. There is so much going on in this photo.

What I will not miss about living here

Driving and parking. You've heard me complain already, I know. But my overall conclusion about driving and parking (a minivan, especially) in Germany is that it's difficult and stressful. What's stressful, and I try not to let this affect me because I'm doing my best anyway, is when you don't know where you're going and people are acting pushy and impatient, which they seem to notoriously do here. The lack of street lighting at intersections doesn't help any at night-time, either. And who's the genius who thought it would be prudent to make a person going straight yield to somebody coming from the right, unless there's a sign, which is either placed before or after the road in question, excepting that rule? That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of!

Oh and in case you're wondering, there is no turning on red in Germany. And you should know that you should avoid the free roadside WCs like the plague. I'm telling you, think of the most DISGUSTING gas station restroom you've ever been in in your entire life. Now multiply that by ten and you MIGHT be getting the picture. Gross. That being said, the autohofs usually have clean restrooms where you have to pay 50 cents to 1€. It is worth it, believe me!

Upon entering new city limits, there's a sign announcing which city you've entered. That sign also serves as a speed limit sign, so if you see a yellow city sign, it means automatically that the speed limit is 50 kph (unless otherwise noted). Not seeing a number to announce the speed limit was hard to get used to at first. There's also no flexibility on the speed limit here. I got a €43.50 ticket in Frankfurt for going 36 in a 30. I've heard that they will not fine you if you're going 3 km/h over. That's the leeway. That's kind of difficult with the minivan because my speedometer isn't set on kph, and the kph are tiny and really hard to see.

Construction is everywhere year-round! The rumors of being able to drive fast on the Autobahn are only true from about 10 at night until 5 in the morning. If you're driving any distance in Germany, learn the word "Stau" in a hurry. You'll soon become all too familiar with the traffic jams. Another good word to learn is "rettungsgasse", which means something to the effect of "emergency lane". I admit that the way they pull over to make a path for emergency vehicles makes better sense than in the U.S. In Germany, the right two lanes pull to the right shoulder, and the left lane pulls to the left shoulder. I will also say that Germans generally know how to merge into one lane using a zipper fairly well. They should, they get enough practice with all the construction! You'll occasionally have someone not willing to follow the unspoken rule of doing it like a zipper, but I would be almost willing to bet that 7 out of 10 of those people are Americans. 

I have to say that I'm surprised I've never hit a motorcycle or a bicyclist here. I probably shouldn't say that too early! But, in my opinion, they take some serious risks by coming up unexpectedly on either my right side or left side (one never knows!).

Just a warning, if you're behind a bus and think you might pass it, if the driver turns on the turn signal, don't think of passing it. Most bus drivers seem to think that they have the right of way, and that all other vehicles on the road are unimportant and therefore must drive defensively to avoid a collision if the buses are around. If you basically accept that, you'll be okay.

I think that's all I have about driving. Let's just put it this way: unless you're driving in NYC or LA, driving in the U.S. is much easier than driving in Germany. 

This house. This isn't all particular to Germany, but it has really affected my quality of life here. We are a family of six, and the washer and dryer each have a 2.5 hour cycle, which means that the washer and dryer are ALWAYS running. I'll be glad to get back to our more efficient machines at home. Also, our small refrigerator doesn't maintain a steady temperature, so we have to choose between not having cold items or having frozen items. I can't stand my milk warming up and curdling, so we often end up with frozen lettuce and carrots that burst from freezing. How aggravating. Not to mention, the fridge is small. At least there is a deep freezer in the basement. This kitchen also has a white kitchen floor. I used to think I wanted black and white kitchen tile with red accents. So I guess having white tile here was a blessing in disguise since now I won't make that mistake in my own house! 

Then there is the furnace that doesn't stay on. I can't tell you how many times this winter we've had no heat and I've had to take cold showers. The landlord is finally going to fix it while we're away for spring break next month (I hope). The last thing about this house is that the hot water coming out of the kitchen sink has no pressure because somebody hooked up the dishwasher incorrectly. Slightly annoying, yet liveable.

Rude people. I'm SLOWLY coming to the conclusion that the rudeness is mostly focused in Wiesbaden. Man, it is hard for me to get past. I'm looking forward to the friendly U.S. again, especially hometown U.S.A. Friendly faces will be nice.

7:04 bus stop. Ugh. And Alex's hour long ride to school. I know it might improve only by a half hour better in Waynesboro, but it will certainly be nice not to have to be ready so early. 

Medical claims. At work this past Friday, I spent the entire day submitting medical claims. Literally, the only other thing I did all day was eat lunch at my desk and look at a job announcement that my resume had been referred for. I submitted 20 claims in total, including claims for drugs. The last time I submitted claims was January 24th. It is time-consuming and frustrating, and this process ultimately ends up costing the government a LOT of money, considering they paid my salary for a day and got literally no productive work from me. Every civilian who works in a foreign area uses a similar process. They should really put an ORSA on that problem. I wonder which would be more costly, to put civilians on the same system the soldiers use, or this? I suspect it hasn't truly been calculated. But I am certainly looking forward to not having to deal with insurance this way. I have to watch them like a hawk. Oh, and I do, believe me. I do.

All that being said, the closer we get to going home, the more I think (sadly), "is this the last time I'll do this"? (Like today, riding the bus into town with Livvy to do some shopping.)

Overall, life is still so SO sweet.

What I will miss about living in Germany

I'm getting so close to coming home.

True, it's still 5.32602 months away, but these months are going to go by so fast. I've been thinking about my life back home and what I might miss about living here.

The most obvious thing, I think, is the ability to travel Europe so easily, except that I'm not really sure that I'll miss it. I've traveled quite a bit so far, and I've seen a lot here. It's been incredible, but the reason I'm not so sure I'll miss traveling in Europe is because I haven't yet taken my family around the United States. Until coming here to live, I had been intimidated about travel by our number and age of our children, so we hadn't traveled much since the twins were born. Now, I have no doubt that we're capable of going long distances in the vehicle as a family, and if I forget the luggage, or my swimsuit, or whatever, we'll be fine and still have fun. So while I've certainly enjoyed traveling in Europe so much, I'm also looking forward to traveling in the States.

Public transportation is indeed very good here, but I don't think I'll miss it because, frankly, herding our four kids onto a train or bus is stressful, and I'd rather just keep them all contained in the family minivan. Our trip to Italy was pretty fantastic, and although driving there was a little bit stressful (there are no rules!), I think it was much more convenient for us than if  we had tried to fly and use trains and buses once we were there. That holds true for everywhere we've been so far, I think. At this point, I pretty much only use public transportation when it's me and only one kid, and usually only when I don't want the stress of trying to find a parking space.

I will probably miss the German food. The fries here are so fresh and yummy. The schnitzel is tender and inexpensive. The sausage is quite tasty. They have really good mustards and very cheap, fresh bread. And their chocolate! I like Hershey's chocolate, but compared to Ritter, Lindt, Milka, Kinder, and even some of the store brands, Hershey's is pretty unimaginative.

I will certainly miss the fact that they have some sort of festival every time you turn around. It's very much an outdoor society, regardless of the weather. I feel like I've learned to do things without looking at the forecast, and I think that is a good lesson to learn.

I will miss Mainz, and specifically St. Stephan's Cathedral and the Isis and Magna Mater museum, especially with the volunteer there who has a PhD and is a wealth of knowledge and speaks excellent English.

In general, I will miss all the amazing cathedrals. I've seen so many, but how many have I not seen?! Hundreds, probably, considering that most of the big cities have 3 or more in each of them.

I will miss the history here. I love to see the Roman influence and to try to imagine real people walking around these places a thousand years ago or more.

I will miss the radiator that is also a towel rack in my bathroom. That is such a nice creature comfort to have every day!

I will certainly miss our friend Ken. He's my coworker also on this rotation, and he has proven to be a great source of wisdom in every area of my life. I know I will miss him, but I have so many friends to go back to. I can't wait to see my friends and family!!! I am so excited for so many happy reunions.

I will miss the walking zone (fußganger) in Wiesbaden. But a new sidewalk was put in near our house just before we left, and I look forward to taking evening walks with the family again back home.

I will miss being so close to Frankfurt, or any big city, really. I still intend to get back to Frankfurt again before I leave and visit the Schirn museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MMK). Although it's not as close, D.C. is also nice and has a lot of free stuff that I look forward to taking the family to.

David said that he will miss the Wiesbaden Schlachthof (an old slaughterhouse turned music venue), Thomann Music store with its 19% discount, and access to good beer.

One other thing I'll miss, that isn't actually relevant to being in Germany, is the age of my children. We made a lot of memories in this house, and since we're leaving it, I won't be able to think, "Remember that time when?..." I'm sure I'll do that anyway, but in a little way, we'll be leaving a piece of those memories behind. But we will have many more memories to make ahead of us, God willing.

So there are some things I'll miss, but in most cases, there are things back home that can fill the gap (no Kinder hippos, though!). And nothing compares to being close to my family and friends again! I'm getting very excited already!!

Some random cute pictures:

Walking home from dinner with a friend one night.  I thought this looked cool.