Letter to my best friend “Lucy”

Today is one of those times I wonder if we did the right thing leaving Texas and moving to Germany. Not that I dislike Germany, it’s just that I am beginning to realize just what we’ve done.
We left our beautiful home in Schertz empty; hoping it will sell before we go broke paying the mortgage, paying the yard guy and the pool guy. I’m lucky that we can afford to do this for awhile, but for how long? We’ve had lots of lookers but no offers. I know it’s been in the 80’s in Schertz the last few days, so maybe a pool will look more enticing.
I went over to the local AF personnel office. I had expected that since I’m a current AF employee (soon to be on LWOP) and have family member preference, that I would have received some kind of assistance from them. The only thing I got was two German clerks that looked at me like I was nuts when I asked about signing up on their local priority list. They just said they didn’t have one and turned away. I explained that this was a list they needed to clear before advertising jobs. I got the deer in the headlight look. One clerk went away to talk to a specialist, but when she came back she just told me to apply for jobs on line. I have already done that. Maybe leaving my “GREAT” job with AF Unique’s wasn’t such a good idea.
It’s still cold here, but no snow lately. Even when we had snow, it melted the next day. So I guess that’s a good thing. I want to go around (walking) and take photos, but so far I just haven’t wanted to brave the cold with my cameras.
We took the Germany Driving test yesterday and passed (I just barely passed). I just went blank during the test and couldn’t remember anything I had studied. Because Tom hasn’t received his official local CAC card, we couldn’t get the actual license, but at least the test is over. Hopefully Tom will get the card today or tomorrow so we can pick up the licenses. The problem is you can’t rent a car without the license and we can’t look for a house without a car.
I did finely figure out how to use the German Washer and Dryer (I think). I copied the words on the machines, went on line and found a German to English translator and typed in the words. Not all words were exact translations, but I was able to figure it out (maybe). I’m doing a load of clothes now, and I’ll find out how good my guessing was.
Our landlord has a bakery downstairs and I just went down and got a cup of Earl Grey tea and two of the flakiest pastries I’ve ever had. Of course I had chocolate! Did you need to ask?
We also have cable TV. 600 channels of nothing, well not quite nothing. We have British TV channels and I’ve been able to watch some of the shows I had enjoyed in England. Most of the channels are Germany (who would have guessed that), but some are in Russian, Indian, Arabic and some languages I can’t identify. No HGTV, No DIY, No history channel, what’s this country thinking?
When/If we get into a house, we’ll get American Armed Forces TV and that will have a few of the shows we are used to (I hope).

Who would have thought I’d be bored? I’m not used to staying home and I miss my family and friends.
And the worst thing is: I’M OUT OF YARN!!!!! I CAN’T KNIT!!!!

No wonder I’m falling into a deep depression. OK, the yarn thing is true and I’m having knitting withdrawals, but I’m not depressed.
I have been working on some designs, but it’s not the same as knitting them.
So that’s my latest update from Germany. Take care and keep in touch.

We passed

Tom and I both passed our German driving test. It was not an easy test. I went into panic mode during the test and had trouble remembering anything. We couldn't get our license as Tom's not in the computer yet. Maybe Friday.

Kd

Today was Tom’s first day. He spent the entire day in processing and he’s not finished. Tomorrow we have appointments to take the German driving test. Should be interesting as I don’t do test well. One of us must pass in order to pick up the cars. No pressure there! If you hear crying coming over the internet, it could be me.
I’m trying out the use of the German washer and dryer. Everything is in German (imagine that), so I’m just pushing buttons and hoping for the best. I got the washer to wash (forever) but the dryer seems to dislike me. I got it to start and left for dinner, when I got back it had stopped and wasn’t even warm. Then I figured out the problem. What I thought was the timer (40) is really the temperature. So of course it wasn’t getting warm at 40. I changed the temp and it seems to be warming up. Maybe I need a German to English converter.



The photos are not from Germany. It’s my 17 year old granddaughter in Tennessee playing in the snow.

We've arrived

We made it to Germany. I upgraded us on the flight from DC to Germany. Just to “economy plus”, sort of like business class. It gave us more leg room and nicer seats. Not first class but it was well worth the extra $200. Made the flight SO much nicer. No screaming kids was also an advantage. The flights went well, no problems, no lost luggage. Thank you United Airline.

I enjoyed visiting in Florida and spending time with the kids and grandkids and I miss them already. Two weeks in the camper was one week to long. I told Tom that we need to stay over here for three years in order to give me time to forget how much trouble it was to live in the camper. Not something I intend to do again anytime soon.

Tom reports to work tomorrow. His sponsor, Kevin, has been great. He picked us up in Frankford, took us to the Base Exchange to pick up some item yesterday. We had dinner at his house last night and he took us back to the exchange today. Kevin will pick up Tom tomorrow morning to start his check in process, and he’s taking me to the personnel office later so I can check in on the job situation.

Our temporary housing apartment is about the size of our first house (1,000 sq ft). It’s over a Germany café. The café owner is our landlord. It has a big eat in kitchen, a large living room (complete with British/German cable TV), a large master bed room, a small hall bed room and a bathroom with shower and washer and dryer. The washer and dryer are very small! Not what I’m used to, but it will do. I haven’t taken many photos because of the weather. Here’s some from the back window of the apartment.

We have temporary internet access. The landlord of our temporary housing is providing internet access. So we're back on line until we find a house and move again.
It's very cold here, especially compared to Texas and Florida. We had snow this morning, but it warmed up a little and the snow melted away by mid day. It is still cold. This weather is going to take some getting used to. Whose idea was it to move to Germany in February?
Our house in Texas is still on the market, so far no buyers, but with warmer weather in Texas should bring out more prospective buyers. I sure hope so