Starting to Settle In

A couple days ago as I drove my kids to school, I had a realization that I was assimilating into German society quite nicely. A group of rowdy high school boys ran across the street in front of me after my light had turned green and as I passed them, I stared them down, shook my head, and wagged a finger. They may have all laughed at me, but afterward, I was like, “My Germany-integration-transformation is nearly complete. Muahahaha!” 

The last month has been wunderbar! We got to travel to Frieburg, Germany where we rode in the world’s first enclosed gondola and saw some beautiful, snowy views of the mountains. We visited Strausbourg France that has a gorgeous cathedral and an island in the middle of the city where beautiful buildings line the canal.  Mike’s parents visited a few weeks ago and we enjoyed a nice visit with them, including taking them on a trip to Heidelburg Castle way up on the hill overlooking the city. It was so neat being able to take a guided tour through the ancient corridors and hallways.  A few weeks ago, I saw a picture of a gorgeous castle on Facebook. I looked it up and it turns out it was only 36 miles away from us, WHAT? So we went there this weekend and walked around the grounds. We’ve also been taking the kids to various parks and little trips around town. It’s been really fun!

Mike has of course been continually traveling for work including to Bahrain, Senegal, Spain, Romania –the list goes on and on (he gets to travel everywhere and sees some pretty amazing stuff!) He’s made it his life mission to bring me chocolate from every European country and beyond. Whenever he brings it home, I’m like, “Will you quit bringing me so much chocolate? I can’t eat all of this!” And then when it’s gone in week, I’m like, “Go bring me some more chocolate stat!” So that’s been fun. 

I’m so grateful I’ve been able to hold the fort down while he’s been gone. Can I just say? I never thought I would willingly take a job where Mike would travel all the time. Never, ever. My entire married life, I’ve sworn against it, saying I simply did not ever want to live that way, I could not do it, I would hate it, etc. etc. Well, then this job came around. I cried when I heard about it because I knew it was an amazing opportunity that we'd be foolish to pass up and I knew Mike would be gone all the time, and especially, I knew that it was time for me to face my dread of him being gone all the time. It took so much faith for me to accept such a job. At the time, I was completely unaware of what country we’d end up living in and I was so unsure of how much support I’d have, and how having the baby would be, and just how everything would turn out. I was extremely anxious at the thought of being left alone in an unknown country for a big portion of the time, with a new baby + three kids. There were so many unknowns and so, so many worries. 

Well, now here we are in Germany. My worst fear of Mike being gone all the time has come to pass.  I’m doing what I thought I never could, all the time. And honestly, it’s not nearly as gloomy as I thought it would be. That's a miracle to me. I’m not saying it’s easy, because it’s not, but God has helped me in so many ways. Asking for help has been key.  I believe it's so important to ask for help when you need it. In my case, I’ve been hiring a couple teenage girls from my church to help me on the nights Mike is gone. It's the best and so helpful! I’ve also got some wonderful friends to hang out with when I’m feeling lonely. And of course, I've got the chocolate stash, too.

For the most part, things have panned out really well, and every one of my worry-filled questions has been answered. We still have some interesting trials we are trying to navigate through, but I am learning to rely on God probably more than ever before and He has been with me every step of the way.  I honestly couldn’t have made this move without His assurance, guidance, and peace. And He continues to help us learn some amazing lessons. 

Now for a couple funny stories that could only happen here:

Story #1: The Wrong Freiburg

Once upon a time in Germany, we wanted to join our congregation on a “temple trip” they were taking. (FYI: a temple is a place for church members to worship God and review gospel teachings – so like church but extra special and reverent).  So anyway, we were way excited because it had been almost a year since we’d been able to go (we haven’t lived “close” to a temple in about 3 years).

So Mike looked it up and got the hotels all booked and we were good to go. After driving 3 hours, we stayed the night in the hotel. In the morning, Mike started getting ready-he was going to go to the temple first while I watched the kids, then I was going to go. Well, he starts looking up some stuff online and was like, “Um, Debbie? We have a problem.” 

“WHAT.”

“We went to the wrong Freiburg.”

“There’s TWO Freiburgs??”

“I guess so.”

“UGH.”

“Well, at least we can have a fun vacation this weekend.” 

THE END. 

Story #2: Trapped in the Parking Garage

Once upon a time in Germany, our son had a doctor appointment downtown. I plugged the address into the van’s GPS and headed over with said son and my baby. As I was nearing my destination, I spotted a parking garage on the same street as the doctor’s address - Hooray! I drove to the entrance and pushed the button on the box thing (whatever that box thing is actually called) to open the entrance gate and a little red coin popped out (This was the first time I’d ever seen said coin – usually it’s a ticket). Upon parking, I picked up my baby in her car seat, and corralled my son to the nearest exit. The exit ended up being a locked door. I scanned the large parking lot for any other exits. Clear on the opposite side- which was in the opposite direction of the street where the doctor’s office was- were some elevators. 

We got to the elevators, went down, and popped out into some sort of shopping square that looked nothing like the street where the doctor’s office was. It started to snow so we took cover under a business sign. I took out my phone to use google maps, entered the address, and yelled at my son to “get back here!” as he continually tried to wander away. 

With google maps leading the way, we wandered through a few stores and found our way back to the doctor street. Whew! After the appointment and before returning to the van, I asked the secretary at the desk about the red coin. She said, “there’s a box that you put the coin in to pay.”  I kind of already figured that, but I never saw a box in the parking garage. 

Anyway, after making it back to the parking garage carrying that heavy car seat and coaxing my son along, I still didn’t see any box anywhere. I had looked along the way, I had looked all over the garage, and I had looked by the elevators. Nothing, nothing, nothing! Meanwhile, the baby was crying and I discovered that I hadn’t brought a diaper for her, because that’s what I do – I forget crap all the time. So my stress level was rising and I’m like “How do I get out of here!” So instead of dragging everyone anywhere else, I thought I’d risk it and see if I could just pay at the exit gate. (We learned from previous experiences NEVER to pay at the exit gate, but I was desperate). 

So I drove down the narrow, windy little road to the exit gate. I unrolled my window and studied the box. I looked and looked and looked some more. But there was no place I could see to put the red coin. Only a place to put a ticket. Gah! So before anyone showed up behind me, I backed my van up the windy road part-way and parked it in some sort of service vehicle space. Nearby were some glass doors. Inside I saw more ticket booths – eureka! So leaving my kids in the locked car, I dashed inside, looked over the ticket booth, still perplexed as to where to put this blasted red coin. So I asked the first man I saw: “Sprechan Sie Englisch?” and he showed me the slot where it went, which had been invisible to me the moment before. 

I quickly inserted the coin, paid the fee, grabbed the ticket, ran back outside to my crying kids, backed up, inserted, the ticket, exited out the raised gate, and got the heck out of there!

THE END.  

Story #3: Wrong turn with a Random Consulate Employee in the Creepy Consulate Basement

Once upon a time in Germany, it was my very first day of German Language Class at the consulate. Hooray! I had arrived early and was waiting in the classroom with my baby sleeping peacefully in her car seat.  A few minutes later, a man appeared and told me my class was actually in a different location. He told me to go up the stairs, to the end of the hall, down another set of stairs, to the basement. 

I went up the stairs, to the end of the hall and saw several staircases. I picked one, but it didn’t go to the basement. So I went back up and tried another one with the same result. So I went back up and popped my head into an office. “Can you tell me where room DB 13 is? My German language class is there.  I know it’s in the basement but I can’t find the staircase.” A woman behind a desk told me, “it’s in a dreary place that’s hard to find” and assigned another guy in the room to walk me there. She explained that it was past the consular section down some stairs. He looked very uncertain, as if he’d tried finding basement rooms in the consulate before, and it had never gone well. However, the man was really kind and agreed. Seeing how heavy the car seat I was carrying appeared, he also offered to carry it for me. I accepted gratefully and followed him.  

First, we turned a few corners and went down a few hallways. Then we went down an elevator. Then we met a locked door that required a special security code, which neither of us had (He was looking more and more doubtful of where we were headed by the second).  Next, he called the phone into the secure room and got someone to open the door. “We’re looking for DB 13?” He said. We were escorted through the room to another door on the other side. Through there was a hallway that said “D wing.” There were plenty of doors in the hallway but none of them DB 13. There was, however, a staircase leading down. 

At this point, the man was sweating slightly and breathing heavily. He was also starting to say a few German curse words under his breath. “You’d think it would be easier to find,” he said. I offered to give him a break for a second (that car seat really is a pain to carry around), but with a smile, he insisted he was fine.  “How about you go check if it’s down there,” he said laughing. 

Yes, “good idea,” I agreed. 

I ran down the stairs and through a door. It opened into a dark and dingy basement hallway. There were doors and rooms but the whole place was empty and dark (P.S. I could see why the consulate hairdresser told me the basement was haunted) At the end of the hallway was yet another door, but I didn’t dare venture too far away. Instead I ran back upstairs to give the man the report. We decided it was worth a try to see what was through the door. So back downstairs we went, through the dark hallway, to the mysterious door. That’s when things got a little crazy. 

Through the door, we were met with a dark room filled with low-hanging air vents. There were also doors. We read aloud their numbers as we passed them, “DB 10…DB 11…DB 12!” But then there were no more doors.  Gah! There had to be a DB 13 somewhere around here! So we were like “Maybe past all these air vents, it’ll connect to the right hallway?” 

So here we are. I’m following this poor random guy who got selected to escort me to the most impossible room to find in the consulate basement. We are both crouched in half now, inching our way underneath these crazy air vents. The guy is still holding my sleeping baby through this dark, creepy dungeon. Meanwhile, I’m following him laughing my head off and repeating, “WHAT is happening.” We reached the other end which turned out to be more pipes and air vents…and more German swear words.  By the way, I kept wondering, “Are we even supposed to be here??” 

So then, we both crouched back through the vent cave. Now both of us were laughing.  When we came out the other side, I was thinking, “this would make a fun blog story” so I was like, “Okay, I’m going to take a picture of this, because this is just too hilarious.”

And the guy was like, “Okay, have your baby be in the picture.”

And I was like, “Okay.”

And we just kept laughing because it was all so random and not what either of us bargained for when the lady behind the desk was like, “It’s in a dreary place that’s hard to find.”

So anyway, after that, we went back up the stairs, and found someone else to ask. Thankfully she agreed to escort us to the right room. I told the man that he was off the hook and I could take it from here, but he said, “no way, now I NEED to know where that room is.” 

So we turned down more hallways, went down more staircases, and even though I was about 15 minutes late to class, at least I had finally found DB 13. I thanked the man for his help, to which he replied, “I think I’ll take the rest of the day off.”

THE END.