These things are different

Here are some more things that are different
-they don't use flat sheets, instead they have a down-comforter looking blanket that they place inside what Jack calls a pillowcase.
-the pillows are these very large square flat pillows. I fold mine in half so it is more like I am used to.
-something is different about the coffeepot but I can't quite figure it out since it isn't a huge difference. The last two times I have made coffee about half the water/coffee ended up where it was supposed to the rest appeared to stay in the coffee filter with the grinds. Hmm.... Pete thinks there is some sort of latch that isn't fully catching.
-we haven't eaten fast food here, but we have started watching cartoons, and the commercials for McDonald's show that in a Happy Meal you get nuggets, fries, and a garden salad with cherry tomato.
-the toilet paper is thick and rough not at all soft.
-the water here does not have fluoride but the salt does. So what-increase the salt intake?
-cafes are not for studying, Pete got some weird looks and left after an hour.
-in Germany my kids love Barbie. The first cartoon we found was Barbie Fairy Tales and the kids latched on immediately. Now anything girly Squeezie calls out--Barbie.
-if you are in the bathroom for more than just a minute or two then a fan automatically comes on.
-the washer and dryer should be easy since I have been doing laundry for many years now, but I felt like a college aged boy just learning for the first time and not getting it at all. The cleaning lady happened to walk in while I was trying to figure it out and she showed me ( I don't think she really speaks English so she just did it and then watched while I did it.) When we move to our new apartment( the one we think we are getting) there is no dryer, you just hang your clothes on the clothes line in the attic.
-foods get taxed at different rates. more natural foods are taxed at a lesser rate. Beverages, boxed items, or pre-prepared items are taxed at a much higher rate.
-fruits and vegetables are very expensive here because everything is imported. Our goal is to go to the farmer's market sometime soon to see what prices are there plus it looks huge and really cool.

The weather here is cold and dreary. When we go out it is clear that we should have packed coats, hats, and gloves- everyone has them on, but we do not. When we wake up in the morning and pull back the curtains you see clouds, gray skies, and wetness on the ground every morning. It never rains the way you think of rain in KY or IN, but it just sort of drizzles or spits rain throughout the day-everyday. There are only about 3 hours of sunlight a day.

Pete has been super busy- he went with his adviser to visit a lady who had free furniture and plates to give us. It won't be everything we need but it will be a lot of stuff. A bed for me and Pete, tv, tv stand, food processor, plates, utensils, a side table, and more stuff. This is good because we will have to buy everything for our kitchen. Our apartment is going to be unfurnished and in Germany this means that the kitchen is just an empty room with water hook-ups- no sinks, no cabinets- just an empty room. When you move you take your kitchen with you. We were told you can buy a kitchen on ebay, but we may have a connection to one that doesn't involve bidding.

Pete is going to the bank today to set up our bank account. We still have to fill out paperwork for insurance, but the man who helps with that is in the office when Pete has to be at the bank and getting our free stuff. We have to have insurance before we start our visa process so hopefully the guy will be in his office later this week.

Pete has learned studying in Germany may be difficult for him. He is used to studying at night but this is appearing to be a problem. He went to his office last night to study and around 9:45pm was going to leave when he realized the building was locked and he couldn't get out. He waited to see if someone would pass by but this did not happen, so he just went upstairs and found a wall with phone numbers and just started randomly calling the numbers. He got someone on the phone and fumbled his way through German after learning that the guard did not speak English. While he felt like his German was not good enough at all it must have been good enough to get the guard to understand where he was and that he needed to be let out. How scary and stressful!!!

We miss home a lot, and I am sure we could all go for our favorite fast food and our favorite dog, but adjusting to a new place is never easy and it takes awhile to feel like home. Hopefully in the next few months we can carve out a niche for ourselves. I think that Pete was right when he said that Germany will be enough like America to make things more uncomfortable when they are different.