Life: Idiotropic

In about one week I should be able to get my tree and set it up in our new house. I am excited and ready to smell that wonderful pine smell in my home. I haven't seen a u-cut place, but will ask around. There are many roadside stands or signs pointing to a small road advertising "Weihnachtbaum." So far they all look very small. They look like the traditional noble firs with the sparse shelf-like pruning style. Our ceilings are so high in our new house and we have a wonderful front room window opening out to the street, so I really want to get something tall and impressive. Wish me luck!

This is my last week here in the gasthaus. Next Monday we'll move into our house. We're not sure what our phone or internet will be there yet. It takes 10-14 days after you put in the request to get anything done here with that. Seems that inefficiency is international and all the inefficiency in Germany is kept at Deutch Telekom - the phone service. There are people who are already in Oklahoma and elsewhere that have left here months ago and still have service (that they have to pay for) here. Oh goody - something to look forward to!

I'm starting to go a little stir crazy here... really wanting a routine. It's not far off, but until we have both vehicles, it takes a bit of planning and an early morning for me to have the van. It's cold - not horribly cold, but too cold for me to want to walk much with the kids during the day. They have been playing wonderfully together. I'm really proud of them being so resilient through all this.

Last night I wanted a real meal and our toy refrigerator* was sadly empty, so I went to the local supermarket by myself (ahhh, the joy of solitude). It is a small place, but has a decent selection of things and a nice little bakery counter in the front. I walked up and down the aisles to look and see what was there. There was an amazing collection of sauce mixes and other cooking shortcuts. Some looked really good. Among the cereals I found Trix and Choco Krispies. I also found an inordinate amount of chocolate. There was chocolate in the cereal aisle - actual chocolate bars! (I'll have a chocolate bar with milk for breakfast any day!) There were also chocolate bars/candy in the baking aisle (and not just baking chocolate), the dairy aisle, and a few other aisles in addition to the candy aisle. It was amazing. I truly think that there was a grouping of candy and chocolate in every aisle there - even among the breads! What I can't buy there: Mexican food and Asian food. There are no tortillas, fresh cilantro, refried beans or tomatillos. There is no tofu or yummy Asian sauces. I can find Italian imports, but that's about it for foreign food there. There are not prepackaged meats there like there are in the U.S., so you go to the deli counter where they have fresh meats adjacent to the sliced meat area. I looked there a lot not really sure what I wanted and how to pronounce things and I was not really feeling very adventurous with language anyway. I saw what looked like very puffy cooked hamburgers in the back corner of the case. I asked the woman, "was ist?" leaving off the word das that would have made that phrase "what is that?" I don't know what I was thinking. The woman very kindly answered me IN GERMAN. So, I was back where I started, staring at a meat case with absolutely no idea what I wanted. Still, I was curious, so I pointed again at that puffy thing and said, "eins" meaning one. I then ordered "zwei cordon bleu und zwei paprika" (this is when my hand again started pointing vigorously towards what was a pork roladn with paprika on top). "Ist alles?" she asked. I knew to answer, "ya, danke shoen." That concluded my adventure. I'd picked up a few other grocery items including a beautiful white cyclomen that had three flowers with one pink petal each. There is a nursery nearby with long rows of greenhouses through which I can see hundreds of beautiful cyclomen plants in red, pink, and white. I went to the counter and paid. The man was very chatty and smiled. I smiled and said nothing but the danke shoen at the end. It bothers me. I really want to learn German and to be able to communicate. In so many ways I don't feel like I'm in a foreign country, but at home I love to talk to people and meet people when I'm out. I always talk to the cashiers when I'm out shopping. It feels strange to nod and smile so dumbly in reply to what seemed like friendly chit chat. It will come, but I'm impatient.

Tiara is going to try out a ballet class next Thursday. The teacher is British and took classes at the Royal Ballet Academy in London. She seems very nice. The class Tiara is going to try only has two other students. They are both Canadian girls who have been dancing 9 years each. I'll also try her at a couple schools in Sittard and another one here in Geilenkirchen.

Elise is talking a lot more now... starting to copy words and has a few little phrases she says a lot. There have been a few times recently when she has said something and I've thought it was Luci talking.

The coffee here is good and very strong. I actually add sugar to some of it to take the edge off. I like it, but sometimes I think I'm drinking tar.

December 6th is a big holiday here for the children. It is the day when St. Nikolaus comes by and fills the shoes of all the good boys and girls with candy, fruits and nuts. It's called St. Nikolaus Eve, so last night before bed, the girls set out their boots before bed. I heard Arianna yelling from the bottom of the stairs when she awoke this morning. Then the bounding feet came up the stairs. "Luci, Luci, come here. We have candy in our shoes!" Elise sat up immediately with the noise, crawled out of bed and started to stagger towards the stairs. It was the call of the wild... they knew chocolate was near! Tiara was thrilled with a German fountain pen with an ink cartridge. The little ones loved their bubble pipes and pens. They all loved the chocolate gelt and Koala Kripies. We've been prounoucing St. Nikolaus the German way. This morning Kirk asked Arianna where all the candy came from and she said "Kirk Nikolaus!" We all laughed... little did she know what she said... Kirk's middle name is Nicholas!

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow looks like an uneventful day. Kirk needs the car, so I'm stuck again. Friday I'm taking it though. I think I'm going to go to the castle here and may be drive over to my village and take a walk there. The weekend will be busy. You'll get a full update when that is over - a lot of activities planned. Love you all and look forward to talking to you soon.

*It's smaller than a hotel fridge and no, this tiny fridge will NOT hold a gallon of milk! They don't even sell gallons of milk. And in Oklahoma I'd buy 4 gallons at a time! Here the biggest you can get is a quart size. Pathetic. The kids will go through one of those in a day. Next week I will get a real refrigerator, so that will be nice, then I can have it well stocked and do a little more cooking for everyone.