Q-Tips and Chocolate

Well here we are 3 days submerged into the German culture and again my range of emotions have been up and down like the Magnum XL200 in Cedar Point.  The flight in wasn't so bad, no one next to me, but still so anxious that sleep wasn't really going to happen in those 8 hours.  I met some great people on the plane who had good info and helpful hints for me!  What a relief though, to get through the airport and finally see Dave after wandering around like a lost child and asking for help at the information desk.

The ride from Frankfurt to K'Town was really beautiful.  I have to say that it looks like a mix of all of the different areas that we have lived!  Lots of green, trees, rolling hills, fields, plains, etc.  The best part so far is looking on from the Autobahn over the small villages with red rooftops and white walled buildings.  To me, that just looks very typical "German"!  We rolled into K'Town and took a quick look at Dave's office, and what a beautiful facility!  Right next to that is Burger King where I enjoyed my 1st German meal, a  chicken sandwich, pomme frites and coke light.  Mmmmmm, then for a 4 hour nap because tired Shawna = ugly Shawna.  Saturday night we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Hotel where I could finally sample the Wiener Schnitzel that my parents had talked about for so many years.  It was good!  All I kept thinking about was how similar it was to the typical "tenderloin" sandwich in IA, except that it wasn't a sandwich at all :)

Sunday was a beautiful and warm day.  We spent time driving around Kaiserslautern and looking in some different neighborhoods since we had no clue what type of housing we'd be looking at the next 2 days.  We walked around downtown and visited the Japanese Tea Gardens that we figured we'd probably go back to a time or two since it seems to be a tourist type thing to do in K'Town.  That night we met a co-worker who took us to a local country club for dinner.  It was great to have some people to talk to, learn a little more culture and try some more food! Pesto pasta is the same in Germany! haha

Monday morning we started our house hunting without an idea of what to expect.  We looked at about 5 different types of apartments in the city area and definitely were keeping an open mind since this is certainly not what we're used to!  We prioritized and ranked them according to our preferences but at the end of the day was I not only tired but a little discouraged and hoped that the next day's listings would be a little better!  That night we ventured back downtown and wandered into a quaint little German Pub where Dave had a local fave of brats and sauerkraut but I stayed with something a little more easy on the tummy of salad and soup!  It was the best tomato soup I've ever had.  I love ordering salad in Germany because you do not specify your dressing and you get whatever you get!  It's been great every time and from what we understand it is a bit of a creation for the chef to prepare for you, their specialty :)

Tuesday started off rainy but good.  It's typical April weather just like home!  We've had a bit of it all today, rain, hail, sun, wind, just like I said it's just like home.  We saw 3 houses/apartments today that were outside of the K'Town area and 1 more downtown.  We still have 3 more to go to today but all in all it is going very well and I think I kind of fell in love with a house today in a small village, up in the hills, next to the forest and trails, with the most beautiful view I've seen so far.  I'm not getting too excited though because we're not done.

So q-tips and chocolate you ask?  I'm proud to say that they are my 1st two German purchases made all by myself!  We were getting a tour through the grocery yesterday when I was reminded that I needed q-tips but didn't want to take the time to get them figuring we'd venture out later on.  Today during our break, after getting some lunch at an "American" diner we stopped at a local dm which turned out to be very much like a drug/convenient store.   I found the q-tips and figured I might as well get chocolate since it was right there, I paid my 1 euro .50 and even thanked the woman in German.  I'm so proud of myself.  

Time to tour, I can't wait to put up some pictures when I get back.  Some of the houses we've been in have really neat features!