So we've been in Germany for a week now. And it hasn't gone exactly as I expected, or as you probably think. I assumed we would get here and it would be go, go, go... inprocessing, and meetings, and figuring stuff out. It has been quite the opposite actually. In fact, I'm pretty bored out of my mind. I've spent a lot of time lounging on a couch watching tv, which was nice the first day or two, but it's getting really really old. I'm so anxious to get things going. Yesterday was a fun day, because Jenny stayed home from work, so we got out of the house and did some house stalking. haha. We peeked in the windows of our new house and it looked CLEAN! halleluia! Then we did a little shopping in downtown K-town. I definitely enjoyed that :)
Really everything got messed up because of the holiday. Sean was supposed to do his scheduled inprocessing Thursday and Friday, but because the base was closed Friday he wasn't able to do it. And no one seemed to inform us that it was available on Monday and Tuesdays as well, so he missed that one. Because he missed this, the housing office will not approve our lease yet. So he has to inprocess this Thursday and Friday.... but his inprocessing goes until 3 on Friday, and the housing office closes at 2. This could set us back from getting our house until Monday! I am beyond annoyed by this. I feel so unproductive, which if you know me at all, is not good for me! It's just very frustrating that we could have had our lease signed on Monday and been in our house by, probably, tomorrow. But instead we are still squatters on Jenny's couch. Thank God she is so wonderful to us!
So it's the usual military waiting game for us right now.
On the bright side our "unaccompanied baggage" arrived already!! this is our small shipment of stuff which includes, more clothes, bedding, towels, some dishes and pans, and our tv. We didn't think it would be here for another month! As you can imagine, its a relief to know we will have SOME stuff when we move into our house.
Funny sidenote: a German woman I met yesterday could not believe that I was American because my name is Heidi :)
Well pray for me that I don't go crazy sitting in this house with dogs that bark at each other all day, with nothing I can really do. And pray we can get our lease signed on Friday so that we can get into our house this weekend!!
-Heidi-
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Welcome to Germany!
Oh boy, has it been an exhausting couple of weeks! From long drives home to see family, to tear-filled going away parties, to moving boxes, to scrubbing toilets, to living out of suitcases, etc, etc. It was all to be expected, but somehow it was still very overwhelming. We said farewell to New Jersey, which was a very bittersweet occasion. The hardest part was leaving behind great friends and great memories. Mcguire was Sean's first duty station. We had our first home together in Delran, New Jersey. I met my first Air Force friends there (Jenny D, Sheena, Jenny F, Tiffany, and Laura :) ). I also came to know one of my very best friends, Heather, in New Jersey. I had a job as a nanny for a family that made me part of theirs. I will miss long, lazy days at the shore, and colorful trips to NYC. Without a doubt, New Jersey will always hold of very special place in my heart.
But now our house on base is home to someone else, and our belongings are on a carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. And here we are.... living in Germany! I must say, it is a dream come true. I used to daydream when I was younger what Europe was like... the gorgeous buildings of Paris and Rome, the beautiful langues, the mountains, the castles, the history! Now it's all at our finger tips! I laugh to think that a crazy, sheep-raising girl from Ohio somehow ended up here.
We arrived on Wednesday, and let me tell you I learned a whole new understanding of "jet lag". I felt like a zombie until about Friday afternoon! To our happy surprise, our friend Jenny was there to greet us at the airport! She has welcomed us into her home to stay until we get on our own feet. We caught up on our sleep wednesday night and a lot of the day Thursday. Thursday night, she took us into Kaiserslautern (K-town) to check out our potential house. We got to meet the friendly landlord Gerd. The house was everything I imagined a German house should look like. Pitched roof, bright blue, on a quiet brick, one-way street. The inside, well that's another story. You would walk in to notice beautiful hardwood floors, if it wasn't for the disgusting person who currently "resides" there. I never imagined someone could honestly live in their own filth willingly. Boy, was I wrong. But we decided to look beyond the piles of dirty clothes on the living room floor, the raw bacon that had been rotting on the counter for who knows how long, the piles of garbage, and other things which I really don't want to ruin your appetite with. But the house itself was perfect! So now all we have to do is wait for the German holiday to end, the housing office on base to open up, and voila! we will have our very own German home! And don't worry I plan to soak it with several gallons of bleach before we move in!
On Saturday we headed out to Landstuhl to check out a castle. Just a taste of the many we are sure to see here! The views from up on the hill were breathtaking. Sean and I had to pinch ourselves to believe we are actually here.
This was the first Easter I've spent without my family. It went surprisingly well. We attended a great church service, and Sean cooked up some delicious steaks :) it wasn't exactly traditional, but it wasn't anything depressing either. Its good to know that no matter where we are our God is the same and He is alive :)
So that sums up our first few days in Germany for the most part.
Can't remember how to say bye in German yet, sooo
bye for now :)
Heidi
But now our house on base is home to someone else, and our belongings are on a carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. And here we are.... living in Germany! I must say, it is a dream come true. I used to daydream when I was younger what Europe was like... the gorgeous buildings of Paris and Rome, the beautiful langues, the mountains, the castles, the history! Now it's all at our finger tips! I laugh to think that a crazy, sheep-raising girl from Ohio somehow ended up here.
We arrived on Wednesday, and let me tell you I learned a whole new understanding of "jet lag". I felt like a zombie until about Friday afternoon! To our happy surprise, our friend Jenny was there to greet us at the airport! She has welcomed us into her home to stay until we get on our own feet. We caught up on our sleep wednesday night and a lot of the day Thursday. Thursday night, she took us into Kaiserslautern (K-town) to check out our potential house. We got to meet the friendly landlord Gerd. The house was everything I imagined a German house should look like. Pitched roof, bright blue, on a quiet brick, one-way street. The inside, well that's another story. You would walk in to notice beautiful hardwood floors, if it wasn't for the disgusting person who currently "resides" there. I never imagined someone could honestly live in their own filth willingly. Boy, was I wrong. But we decided to look beyond the piles of dirty clothes on the living room floor, the raw bacon that had been rotting on the counter for who knows how long, the piles of garbage, and other things which I really don't want to ruin your appetite with. But the house itself was perfect! So now all we have to do is wait for the German holiday to end, the housing office on base to open up, and voila! we will have our very own German home! And don't worry I plan to soak it with several gallons of bleach before we move in!
On Saturday we headed out to Landstuhl to check out a castle. Just a taste of the many we are sure to see here! The views from up on the hill were breathtaking. Sean and I had to pinch ourselves to believe we are actually here.
This was the first Easter I've spent without my family. It went surprisingly well. We attended a great church service, and Sean cooked up some delicious steaks :) it wasn't exactly traditional, but it wasn't anything depressing either. Its good to know that no matter where we are our God is the same and He is alive :)
So that sums up our first few days in Germany for the most part.
Can't remember how to say bye in German yet, sooo
bye for now :)
Heidi
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