January 7, 2006
The trip here was actually not as terrible as anticipated with a two year old and being six months pregnant. Once we convinced two passengers to adjust thier seating to allow us to sit together, all was well. Daniel was great on the trip over, he ate, watched a movie or three, and slept for the last four hours.
Arrival to Frankfurt was a different experience all together. My first ever reaction of Europe was that it is an ashtray with elevators the size of shoe boxes. It took us three hours to get our things, get to another terminal, and find our driver. Not a fun three hours. We couldn't all fit in the elevators, I barely fit me and my belly in with Daniel in the stroller. Scott had to haul bags in and out of elevators and trams. Luckily, Daniel was still sleeping during all of this!
Week one was spent in the Murcure hotel in Manheim. Not a terrible hotel, even with the see through glass bathroom door...whatever. The week was spent getting things in order with Birget, our assistant in Germany who helps us get settled. We thought Daniel ate something that didn't agree with him when he threw up in her car, but realized the next day that we all had a stomache bug. Scott and I have never felt worse in our lives and are glad to be past that. I had a difficult time keeping anything down and ice is a tough thing to get a hold of. Luckily, I was able to eventually keep liquids down without a visit to the emergency room.
The Picture is of Daniel and me in Heidelburg, freezing!
January 16
We are able to move into our new house in Hassloch as our furniture from IKEA is delivered. The house is wonderful and very roomy. We live on the main floor which has a kitchen, dining area, living room, three bedrooms, a full bath, and a half bath. Upstairs is two rooms, a large sitting room with view of the mountains, a room which can be converted into a kitchen, and a full bath. Scott spent the first two weeks at home taking language lessons one on one up stairs and Daniel and I hardly knew he was in the house. Downstairs is laundry, storage areas, a sauna and relaxation room, and a full two bedroom apartment. Like I said, lots of room!
It took us two weeks to build all of our furniture, but we are pretty settled in now. We don't have all of our things yet, the remaining is due next week. Daniel and I have met new friends, German and English speaking. He now has two play groups a week, one of each language. Scott is doing well with his German skills, helping us out at restaurants and such. I will begin my lessons soon, but only for a few hours a week since I am full time mom now. Most of my day is spent deciding which of the six bins the trash goes into for recycling, washing clothes one piece at a time (the machine is tiny), and trying to figure out what kind of food I am buying and how to cook it!
This is Daniel at the playground across the street from our house. And the view of our house from the playground.
We got our first big snow on Thursday January 26 and still have snow everywhere nearly a week later. Daniel had his first snow play day Sunday with us and now has his first Germany cold. Our streets still have lots of snow/ice as they are not plowed by the city (only big roadways are). Scott has to bike on the snow and ice to the train station to go to work, but doesn't mind too much. Daniel and I get the car to cruise around and get lost...
Well, the first month was an eventful one. Yes, I met my new OB and all is well with the baby. He has not turned yet, but I am 31 weeks now and he has time. We have visited the hospital (I met no one that spoke English) and we practiced the drive there. We have not met the pediatrician yet, but Daniel may be needing an appointment soon!
I will try to be good about updating our journey and adding pictures of Daniel and places we explore. We miss all of our family and friends, and favorite foods...
Eat some cheesey chips for Scott and drink a Dr. Pepper for me!
