Less than three months after my last post, we left Frankfurt. After almost two years, our time in Germany was complete.
In those last few weeks, when we knew time was running out, we did our best to live it up before saying goodbye.
We visited the favorite bakeries to buy the chocolate-filled, chocoalate-coated, and zucker donuts. We visited the Italian Ice and doner kebab shops. I took the kids running around my favorite loop through a beautiful park that weaved through the woods, passed apartment patios dripping in gorgeous flowers, and wound around a path surrounded by colorful kleingartens.
We took one last trip to the Black Forest and bought a coo-coo clock. We took one last trip to Belgium and played in the ocean. One last trip to Austria.
We visited the parks, forests, churches, castles, and palace grounds that we had come to love, all one last time.
As many days as I was able, I walked through my favorite place of all - the Frankfurt cemetery - to breathe in the trees, the
beautiful stone angels, the silent church house, the pond, the
sculptures of Christ, the intricate monuments, the flowers embracing
tombstones in a hug of vines. This was my place of refuge! (Isn't it beautiful?)
We truly loved our time in Germany.
We loved the thickness of the trees, the green moss, the web of rivers tangled with stone, the monuments, the ghostly castles emptied of wood and torches, the food, the cozy villages, the bakeries, the centuries-old houses, the twinkling lights at night, the woodwork, the smell of burning branches, the Christmas markets.
Yes, in between all that were some really stressful moments.
Those moments taught us so much, increased our trust in God, and helped
us become stronger. And our hearts are full from all of it: the
learning, growth, challenges, adventures, fun, and magic!
Now, here we are another four months later, back in the states, reflecting on some of the many things Germany taught us. On a MUCH less serious note, here are 10 of those things:
1. We learned how to double park and back in and out of narrow driveways with ease.
-You become an expert when it's a daily occurrence.
2. We learned how to have thick skin.
-With strangers coming at you with lectures, reprimands, and swear words on a regular basis, you learn to brush things off, dish it back (respectfully), or simply ignore it after awhile.
3. We learned how to use the bathroom in any park or woods you could ever find yourself in.
-With no public bathrooms at most parks, you learn to always keep toilet paper and hand sanitizer handy for the whole family. Just look for a bush - that's all you need!
4. We learned Mike is Turkish.
- Out of all the countries Mike visited, he may have felt most at home in Turkey. With his darker complexion, natural hairiness, and brown eyes, everyone assumed he was a local. And as it turns out, thanks to Family Tree, we know he actually has bloodlines from that region!
5. We both learned to be alone.
-I never thought I'd be able to be alone for long periods of time without my husband and be okay with it. I've always hated being alone - especially at night! But it turns out, you get used to situations when you're forced to do it for a long enough time, and it becomes totally doable. As for Mike, he learned ways to pass the excessive amounts of free time while traveling through reading and working on projects. He also learned that visiting new countries is okay by yourself, but WAYYYYY better when you have your family with you. :)
6. Debbie learned to ask for help.
-One of the MOST important lessons I learned was that I have the permission to get help for myself when I need it. I hope anyone who has a lot on their plate can understand this too - We can and need to ask for help! It doesn't make us weak, it makes us wise! We can hire a babysitter for 1 1/2 hours a day to help us put kids to bed, we can ask a friend to watch our kids while we go shopping. We can express our needs to those who can and want to help us!
7. We learned going 85-90 mph on a daily basis can feel completely normal.
-Many days taking my kids to school on the autobahn, I would look at my speedometer and be like, "oh, 85/90, weird, it feels so normal."
8. We learned that spraying graffiti is the equivalent to toilet papering someone's house here in the states.
-In Germany, graffiti is literally EVERYWHERE, including every park playground. At first, it made us feel like we were in a bad part of town or something, but then one of Mike's driver's explained that graffiti is just what every kid does for fun. Like EVERY kid. So it's not seen as that big of a deal I guess.
9. We learned the habits of recycling and how to bag your own groceries at super-sonic speed.
-Having to separate plastics, paper, and other trash every day has made recycling a habit! I hope to continue it forever now that it's ingrained so deep! As far as the groceries go, they don't bag your groceries in Germany, so you bring your own and learn to stuff them fast enough to keep up with the speedy checkers - wowza they're fast! It's like the checkout version of the autobahn...
10. We learned that living abroad is an amazing adventure, filled with unimaginable rewards and unexpected difficulties.
- Some of the hardest things can be some of the best things we do, with the best memories made! Would we do it over again? YES WE WOULD! Nothing can take the place of these experiences. They were life-changing!!
...
At the moment, we are now living in Washington D.C. in between our assignments. There's a lot to say about our next step, but you know the government, there's a lot of processes, paperwork, and clearances that take TIME, so we're waiting for our plans to be finalized to talk about it just yet. One thing we know for certain is that our Germany chapter is behind us, and another adventure lies ahead. Stay tuned!
