Giving a glimpse into our home

I thought that many of you might enjoy seeing what our place looks like here in Goettingen so that you can have a mental image of where we are - we have plenty of room for company should you decide to come for a visit!  Our apartment is the first floor - and though the building is older, the renovations are just a year or so old so everything is quite modern and new.  We are located just a few blocks from the city center so aren't a far walk to just about anything.  One of our little neighbor girls down the street told us that we get to live in the two-headed horse house.  We didn't understand until we looked back to our place from where Ellie lives!

We had never seen the two horse heads on top until Ellie pointed them out b/c we don't walk this street (Riemenstrasse) to our place on Lotzestrasse. Micah, Joel and Josiah's school property backs up to our house, but we don't have access through the back so they ride their bikes...which they love.  Noah's school is just a couple blocks beyond their school.

The view out our front window - it rains typically every day, multiple times a day.  We always have an umbrella on us - we never owned one before this.  Even with umbrellas, we've gotten used to being wet.  Just a reality to be dealt with!  The little shop on the corner is a wine and deli shop.  Wolfgang has been incredibly helpful in answering our numerous questions.  Tracy found out last week that Wolfgang is quite the wine connoisseur and is featured in several books pertaining to wine and Germany.  Also, Rudy, who works for Wolfgang, is a famous chef!  I can't wait to try out some of his food and glad that we are conveniently located across the street!

I have all the luxuries of my kitchen, though I will say that I miss my Bosch mixer.  Apart from that though, the appliances are more efficient than I have in North Carolina so it's been really nice! Notice the huge refrigerator - most people have a little box.  We were really fortunate that The Welcome Center at the university helped us in securing this flat - we talked with one family that devoted their first six weeks in country (and a lot of money) to get their place ready to roll.  Unfurnished apartments in Germany mean that there won't be any kitchen appliances, the floors might not be in yet, wiring might need to be finished - in other words - a lot of work!

We have German tv hoping that it helps us in hearing and understanding the language - what used to sound like gibberish is now more like a language.  We can now hear the individual words, unless the person is speaking really fast.  We are also picking up on more and more words that we know and understand.  It's a slower process than we were anticipating.

Micah and Joel's bedroom - I must have forgotten to take a picture of Josiah and Noah's....could be that their beds weren't made?!  Their room is much smaller with a set of bunkbeds - still nice though.

Our entryway - tile is nice because our bikes are often wet and quite dirty.

Tracy is loving the German beds and has threatened to do this in the states for years now.  There isn't a top sheet.  Instead you have a quilt-like spread that you put inside the sheet and zipper it shut.  Then, you have your own blanket.  For the first time in 15 years, Tracy is not having to work to keep the blankets on his side of the bed!  This could be one of the "souvenirs" that he brings home with him!

The boys love that the toilets stick out from the walls - Micah was convinced that either Germans must break a lot of toilets or they aren't as overweight as Americans.  We are finding the latter to be true....could be from all the biking!  We actually have two bathrooms - very nice luxury.

My beloved washer/dryer - soooo thankful to have this in our place!  I am still adjusting to the size - quite small - and time that it takes to wash one load.  Because they conserve so much energy and water, it takes 2 1/2 hours to get one load through the washer.  I thought I was doing something wrong at first!