Heading South of the Border ~ Day 1

On August 16th, we literally squished ourselves into another rental car and headed south of the border to Austria.  Before leaving, we were determined to get the GPS into English.  Tracy has been in German language school for about a month now so was able to poke enough buttons to eventually get us there.  So very thankful for English GPS!  Listening in German still takes so much effort for all of us.

Vehicles are very compact in Europe.  This car technically seats seven - I think it should be advertised that it seats seven three-year-olds.  All of the boys' knees were touching the seats in front of them.  We had bags at our feet and on our laps.  And yet, we were so glad that we could find a car that fits our family - a six seater can be hard to find!  After experiencing some of the narrowness of the roads though, we completely understand why the cars are so compact.



Josiah's Birthday Celebration

On Joel's birthday, Josiah questioned whether he would get the "exact same treatment" or something different on his special day.  We didn't make any promises but thought, 'How easy can it be? A chocolate bar, some gum and a cake? You bet you can have the same thing, buddy!'  So on August 13th, Josiah awoke to a chocolate bar and a pack of gum at his place at the table - and he was thrilled!  Funny thing was two days after his birthday, he commented, "This is the longest I've made a pack of gum last!"  Truth.  He goes through a pack of gum in a day (sometimes a couple of hours) when it is his to have.  And truth.  He is not allowed to have his own pack often because he lacks self-control in that area.  It is the same thing with me and chocolate chip cookies.  I can eat the whole batch so I only bake them about once a year.  And then end up sick from the sugar overload.  It's nice to have the boys at the age where they really get it that the bikes we purchased the first week here were their gifts.

Joj requested to be able to pick out his own breakfast pastries so Tracy took him to Kaufland's right after he woke up...nice treat for me to not have to head out quite so early that day.  It's been more than once that I've had to go right away in the morning because we literally don't have anything to eat for breakfast but maybe a carrot or two and a handful of rice.  Still adjusting to shopping every day....I know, I've said that before!



For dinner, Josiah requested homemade pizza - I had only made pizza once up to that point as it has taken me a while to get in the groove with cooking like I did at home.  The boys thought that it turned out good enough that we've decided to make Friday nights pizza night.  Since I struggle to consistently menu plan one less night to think about is great with me.

 

Though it was fun to pick out a really cool looking torte for Joel's birthday, Josiah wasn't overly impressed with the taste so he asked me to bake his cake.  I had in my basket all the needed things to bake him a cake but discovered a really neat frozen torte as I made my way to the grocery check-out line.  It wasn't overly priced and was CHOCOLATE  - how could I go wrong?  Everything still takes me longer here so not having to bake a cake sounded really nice.  Thankfully, Josiah liked my choice of tortes.  The only real problem was that yet again, I purchased more than I could carry.  I ended up having to walk my bike home with the cake on the seat.  Now some would ask why I didn't just try to ride one handed.  Well, I've tried that before and decided I like my skin on my body rather than the road.  Actually, it wasn't that bad but close enough.

There is a photo of Tracy in his parents' kitchen when he was about 13 or 14.  He has the exact same grin on his face!  It's uncanny how much they look alike, except that Tracy's hair was darker by this age.

Just to show the yummy layers

Love these smiles!



Joel's 13th Birthday

Though we purchased birthday bikes for all the boys the week we arrived, we still want to make the actual day a special one for each of them.  So when in Germany, do as the Germans do, right?...and purchase a beautiful torte!

Joel turned 13 on the 15th of July, a Sunday.  I asked a few ladies where to get special pastries and cakes and was given two different places to consider.  One shop is just around the corner more or less so went there first.  I ordered breakfast from there - a strawberry torte looking thing.  Not being sure whether that would be enough, I also purchased a few items that looked like cheese cake layered with powdered sugar and white cake.  Because we told the boys that the bikes were their birthday, Joel wasn't expecting anything.  He was so excited to see a chocolate bar and a pack of gum at his spot at the breakfast table.  And was even more thrilled with special pastries, which we haven't purchased since our first morning in Germany.

We sang at breakfast b/c I didn't know if the candles would
work in the cake we would purchase later in the day.

After lunch and a nap (remember, it was a Sunday!), we all walked to Cron und Lanz, the most well-known bakery in the city.  And let me just say, I've been wanting to spend money in there since Day 1 as the displays look amazing!  It is just what you picture when you think of German tortes and chocolates.



I wanted to get one of the chocolate ones shown here, but the gal explained that
 those have rum in them which children don't tend to enjoy.  So Joel picked
one pictured in the bottom left of the window display.



Because we sang at breakfast, Joel didn't think he was going to
get a cake!  He was thrilled to pick out a fun torte - we all enjoyed it.



Joel requested fajitas for his birthday dinner - Mexican is hard to come by here.  A little jar of salsa is 3 Euros....that's about three or four spoonfuls.  Our family tends to drink salsa....by the gallon!  We quickly came up with our own recipe for salsa and make it every weekend now.  All in all, it was a fun day.

Josiah's birthday is August 13th, so we don't have long to wait
for all these special things again!



Loving our city and yet....

We LOVE:

1. All the Eis shops - ice-cream is yummy and cheap here.  We frequent them often.  Josiah and Noah have earned several Euros by collecting littered bottles, returning them to a grocery store and collecting the money for the recyclables.  They might have enough to take the whole family this weekend!  (Though I'm not sure they want to be that generous!)

It's so hard to choose just one flavor!

At our favorite ice-cream stand

2. Not having a vehicle - this can be a love/hate relationship.  It has been so nice to not have to deal with filling up a gas tank.  And the flip-side bonus is that we are all getting daily exercise with walking and biking.  The hate part of the relationship comes in when it's raining and you still need to go somewhere.  Or for me, I tend to buy more groceries than I can carry and have created quite a circus getting them home on more than one occasion!  One month in and I'm still adjusting to having to shop literally every day for our food.

After a trip to real (pronounced Re-Al) - our Wal-mart
....poured on us on the way home.

3. Germans don't have the same safety standards as Americans - makes going to the park or the pool very fun!  Americans would do well to learn from the Germans in this respect - if you fall and break your leg, don't try to blame someone else...especially the government.

Josiah on the water slide before Daddy came to join us.

Coming down the water slide with Daddy's help in clogging up the water - the boys just flew down the slide!

High dives - Joel has even done the 10 M a number of times.

Josiah trying to convince Noah that "it's not so bad" - Noah became our first 5 M junky!

We've been watching the Olympics - synchronized diving
...think Micah and Joel might be trying it themselves!

There is a large area for picnicking so we pack lunch and dinner and make a day of it.

4. Gouda cheese!  Cheese here in general is cheaper than in the States, so we eat a lot of it.  Putting Gouda on our sandwiches in the States = unheard of (at least in our house), but we have it everyday here.

5. Innerstadt or City Center - we live a few blocks from our city center - a very fun place to explore.  Goettingen is one of the few German cities not destroyed by WW2 bombing.  For instance, Heidelberg was over 90% demolished by bombing so what we saw there was almost completely rebuilt to look like it did in centuries past.  Goettingen is the real deal!  Tracy just read recently that Goettingen dates back to the 900s.

We love all the cobbled streets - Tracy wants to redo our driveway....surprised?

This is where we generally always enter the City Center.  This is a Fussweg/Pedestrians only - no bikes. 
Germans have no problem telling you if you are not following the rules.  I've only gotten chewed out once so far,
but it was very unpleasant as this woman was quite an angry person.  Helped a bit that it was all in German -
I might not have responded correctly if I knew all that she was yelling.  I really thought she might deck me
for a minute! - thankfully, not all are like her.

The Altes Rathaus - town hall but is now a tourist information center.
 The new building is quite unattractive architecture.

Gänseliesel - the goose girl - often said to be the most kissed girl in the world as everyone who graduates with a PhD from the university is pulled around the city in a hand-cart, stopping by and climbing the fountain to give her a kiss.  We saw it happen one evening - quite a festive time, but I forgot my camera that night.

Flower boxes are everywhere - LOVE it!

Cron und Lanz is the most famous bakery in Goettingen - the window displays are absolutely beautiful!

6. No screens on the windows - I couldn't believe it when we entered our flat to find no screens on the windows as I love to have fresh air flow through the house.  They aren't needed!  We have our windows open most days that it's been warm enough and have only dealt with the occasional fly.

7. Goettingen is a safe city allowing the boys to explore on their own more than I would dream of doing in the States.  Until they are a little more knowledgeable with the biking rules, they do have limits though.  That being said, German drivers are very conscientious about bikes - no one ever seems to be in a hurry or impatient with all the bikers and pedestrians....just a part of life here.

8. Lots of family time - we've played more board games and have had more family devotions since being here than we have had in a long time.  It's been a very healthy change of pace.  I am quite sure that it has been since the boys were really young that we were home every night.

9. Our flat - we are extremely blessed with a very spacious place.  We've been in several friends' places and know just how privileged we really are!

And still adjusting....

1. Germans smoke like chimneys!  Our neighbor tells us it is at about 50%, but I would venture to say closer to 75% - everywhere and all the time.  And there aren't many places that are off-limits.  That's taking some getting used to as I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke in my kitchen or while I'm at a restaurant or wherever.  In fact, one can more easily find vending machines for smokes than for candy bars or drinks.

2.  We miss our friends and family....we talk often of what so-and-so is probably doing right now.  We also talk about the things that we are missing - like the Bastian side of the family going to Sandbridge Beach this week together.  And then we quickly remind ourselves of all the neat opportunities that we've already had and will continue to have.  Plus, we are going back home again next summer.  We know the year will go quickly, but there are ups and downs.  We had our family devotions last night from Colossians 3:15-17 - three times in those short verses, we are told to live thankful lives - so we listed off all of the things we are thankful for here.

3. Language, language, language!  You know the saying that the three most important aspects of a business are location, location, location?  Well, I'm beginning to think that to thrive here, the important aspects are language, language, language.  It's so limiting what you can talk about with people if you are dependent on them knowing your language.  Most everyone speaks some English, but I am seeing just how much of a blessing it would be to be able to really converse in their mother tongue.  As of now, we know enough to get around but not enough to carry on normal conversations.

4. Locked doors - the doors into our building and into our flat lock automatically bringing with that the need to always have keys.  Always.  Even to take out the trash.  Something we are still getting used to - but thankfully we haven't had to call to have someone open a door for us....yet.