Whatta Day!

What do you get when you have 1 Russian & 2 Americans standing around a moving truck? A heck of a lot of confusion that's what! Our container showed up on time but there was only 1 guy and he didn't speak a lick of English. I almost started having a panic attack right there and then. After I went to search for my German book in panic of trying to understand, Dave called me to come outside because our representative from the moving company had showed up and told us that the truck driver was Russian not German! Oh boy! Needless to say I cannot find my translation book. He also told us that our crew would be arriving shortly. Not to add any more butter to the melting pot, but when they showed up we met Enrico (the Italian who spoke German not Italian), Sebastian (young German kid who didn't speak English and kept putting the basement items in the spare upstairs bedroom), and finally the 3rd crew member who's name I didn't figure out but he at least was able to translate between everyone. Let the unload begin!

Dave and I stood around feeling helpless as usual when they were unloading. I know in the states they do not want you to do anything but I didn't know if it was different here. So we would help out with little things including picking up all of the paper scraps that everything was wrapped in and no one seemed to mind. It was mentally exhausting today trying to explain where things went to people who don't understand you but that is all part of the experience right?! One thing that I did have to do that I've never done with any other move was check off each little red numbered sticker that Enrico put on a piece of cardboard for me. I thought that was a great system to ensure that we received all pieces that were put on during the load in KC...all 262 to be exact.

The whole process was a bit of an eye opener for my dear husband who fortunately doesn't usually have to be there for that part but he wasn't getting out of it so easy this time...in a foreign country! He said that today really put into perspective what an "American" he is by watching a 40 foot container empty out piece by piece with more stuff than he thought we actually had a use for. I thought I did real good by getting rid of a lot before we moved but oh my goodness, I think we should have kept at least 50% more of the stuff in storage. I feel like such a hoarder as I walk through our "little" German house! It's pretty ridiculous really, and after I'm fully unpacked I plan on putting a huge add in the Kaiserslauternamerican.com newspaper!

Oh well we were a little overwhelmed by the day but all in all it was a good day. After the crew left and the "danka's" and "gratcis" were exchanged Dave and I found our way to Media Mart to get a vacuum, iron, and fan which were what I classified as immediate necessities! We hit Kullman's Diner (American style diner) for dinner and then headed back to house for a bit so I could test out the vacuum even though we were both so tired all of the dirt and dust on the floors was driving me crazy. I didnt get too much done but I guess there is no hurry :)

We are back for the last night at the hotel, hence this post. It will be the last time I have Internet access until the 22nd! Yikes! Unless I find a hotspot while I'm out and about exploring our new town...

We are very excited that today is over and we can get settled and just live and love life like we love to do! Hopefully the next post will be right around the 22nd and filled with lots of new and exciting things. Now, though it's time for bed since I have a busy day of unpacking and vacuuming and cleaning ahead of me! Lol :)

Until next time!

We're Here!

Well we've made it to Germany, hooray! Dave has been here for about a month and I've only been here for 27 hours. We're just glad to be back together. I've spent the last month in NY visiting friends and family and just having a grand ole time while my poor husband lived out of a hotel and/or on an air mattress in our empty house! At least we are both in the hotel now waiting for our cargo shipment to arrive, hopefully tomorrow at 8:00 am.

This morning we went to the house to do laundry and to plan out the layout of our furniture and belongings which is a little tough to do without measurements or closets! We will figure it out I'm sure. It's always fun to set up a new house! We walked all around the yard and garden (that the landlady takes care of) which hopefully she'll let me help with because there are so many different flowers and trees and vegetables to maintain. I took pictures but won't get any posted until our computer is hooked up later this month. I'm not tech savvy enough to figure out how to get my pics on the iPad :)

Last night we had a fun dinner downtown Kaiserslautern at one of the many places with outside seating which is great for people watching especially on a Saturday night. There were 2 different groups of bachelor parties where the grooms-to-be were dressed in lady bug dresses and all of the other men had on matching shirts. They were pretty funny and had clearly been at their fun all day! Many people were just going up to them taking pictures but we were just enjoying watching them. We will probably head back to that area tonight for dinner and I have to imagine that it may be a little more low key except for the pigeon entertainment.

Not too much else to update yet, I'm just trying to stay awake so that I can sleep through the night. I did take a couple hour nap when I got in yesterday because I didn't sleep on the plane and could hardly keep my eyes open on the ride down from Frankfurt! I went to bed around 10:30 and popped right awake at 2:30 am! Played on the iPad, and rummaged through my suitcase for my book light so that I could read The Help, which is so good that I read till about 5 am! Then got online one more time and saw that my mom was on Skype so I went in the bathroom and chatted with her for a few minutes before heading back to sleep at 6:00....until Dave got up and ready for breakfast at 8:00. So I'm pretty exhausted and want to be rested tomorrow for hopefully the delivery of our goods!!!

It's been so long since I've posted anything that I wanted to keep you in the loop of what's going on with us. Although we haven't had any planned "adventures" so to speak to write about, this transition that we go through is an adventure enough for us for now!

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Until next time!