Today, our family was invited by one of my co-workers to a pumpkin carving party in late October. I was hesitent about whether to RSVP (hey, we have a busy social calender here at 5fordhams).
I was persuaded to commit when I learned that these co-workers live in the former hunting lodge of the king of Baden Wurttemberg. If the occasion warrents, we'll post photos here at the end of the month.
I also learned today that the village where we have been trying to rent a house celebrated it's 1,000 year anniversary this past summer. Alas, I think that our hotel room was constructed much more recently than that village.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
400 square feet
(Micah is supposed to be resting, but he is a poor rester. Instead, we took a short walk to the Markzplatz. 
)
)
Micah's cold has called a halt from the frantic house/apartment search. We love our hotel, but living in 400 square feet has it's disadvantages. Here we present our kitchen (the frig is the right-hand side of the cabinet) and all of our living space. The loft upstairs holds another bed for us. Micah has a bed tucked under one of the windows upstairs as well.
This is a crazy housing market. It was tight a few months ago, then Uncle Sam relocated AfriCom (African Command) here and 4,000 employees just jumped on a full housing market. Apartments are here for one day and then gone.
It has started a whole debate within TeamFordham of just how picky we should be. We want: close to the school, close to the town center, playgrounds, space inside (including guest bedroom), space outside to park one car, European charm if we can fit it in.
If we can't get it all, what goes first? Or, since housing is tough, do you just take the first thing that comes so you can spend your time doing something other than house hunting?
The house hunting struggle is amplified by jargon. Intro to German doesn't cover rental language so we try to piece together what might be the words for "central air" warm-meter and cold-meter (rent with or without utilities included) when it might be available. Also, most rental sites list a house by zip code and won't include a specific address so you don't know exactly where it is.
It's a crack up to come home from the market and see what you thought you bought instead of crackers (anyone for Melba Toast?). It's not so fun to spend an hour trying to translate a real estate web site, contact an agent who speaks no English and then find out the apartment was rented that morning.
School
The kids started school last week. When they say International school, they aren't kidding.
Tess (here with her teacher on her first morning) has made friends from Germany, South Africa, Australia and Finland from her class. There are kids from five continents and five different home languages. She's getting used to math in German (learning how to count in German helps) and German writing is tough for her, but she likes getting herself to school and all the activities therein.
Maddie, on the other hand...
This is the child who liked sleeping late and dancing around in her princess pajamas until preschool at 9:30. Every morning is a battle to get her out of bed, eating and out the door by 8 a.m. For her, the good news of school is the playground; the bad news: "I had to write A's today!"
Their kindergarten class is not as international. Just German, American and Indian. Their teacher is from southern India as well.
As for Micah, our roll-with-the-punches boy just keeps rolling. He likes school and seems to be having a good time. He likes the projects and classes, but his favorite part of the day is lunch. He is fascinated by German trucks.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Out and About
We've had a great few days in Sindelfingen. I had my first Monday without kids in almost nine years. I wandered through the old part of Sindelfingen--400 years old-- and learned the word for lunch. Transliteration Middle day eat. It took me a mere 10 minutes to order lunch as I didn't know the word for "savory" in German and wanted to make sure I wasn't getting a pastry for lunch. Sindelfingen was heavily bombed during the War. There is one part of the original village still standing. It's a beautiful part of the town with window boxes everywhere.
Sindelfingen used to be one of the wealthiest cities in Germany with the Daimler Corp. here. Thus the white marble crosswalks. Now it's not so good, though the corporation is still the economic heartbeat of the city.
I talked to a safety engineer at breakfast this morning. He works on different materials to make a car safer on impact. He gets to design cars and then smash them into walls: Micah's ultimate job. He said it was fun to smash things like Smart Cars. "But the Ferraris... oh, that hurts to see."
Here are the kids hanging out in Klostersee park. We go through the park on our mile walk home from school.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Better & Worse Part I
Part I of a (probably) continuing series.
Things that are better in Germany.
1) Cars. And by a mile. Same companies but many way cooler models that aren't spec'ed for sale in the states.
2) Ducks. Leaner, nicer but willing to work a little for that crust of bread. Much joy watching them sprint after bread crumbs on the pond.
Things that are worse.
1) Breakfast. No contest though the chocolate cereal has gotten lots of requests (all disapproved by mom so far).
2) Can openers. Come on, it shouldn't take 10 minutes and an engineering degree to figure out how to open a can of beans.
Things that are tied.
1) IKEA. It's exactly the same, really.
Things that are better in Germany.
1) Cars. And by a mile. Same companies but many way cooler models that aren't spec'ed for sale in the states.
2) Ducks. Leaner, nicer but willing to work a little for that crust of bread. Much joy watching them sprint after bread crumbs on the pond.
Things that are worse.
1) Breakfast. No contest though the chocolate cereal has gotten lots of requests (all disapproved by mom so far).
2) Can openers. Come on, it shouldn't take 10 minutes and an engineering degree to figure out how to open a can of beans.
Things that are tied.
1) IKEA. It's exactly the same, really.
Friday, September 19, 2008
First Day
It is beautiful here. It looks and feels a lot like Pennsylvania, but older and with unintelligible street signs. The air is cool and clear. Lawns are filled with spirea bushes, roses, hostas, and geraniums, all the usual from home. All the roads have walkers or bikers. The sidewalks are cobblestone. Crosswalks aren't painted like they are in the States, they are marble stripes in the road. Crosswalks are sacrosanct, by the way. The concept that pedestrians have the right of is firmly in place.
And oo la la, can we talk cars... I love the Audi we've been zipping around in. And we're surrounded by vehicles just as cool in every direction. The minivans here are Fiat. It's going to be hard to go back to my Mazda, grateful as I am to have it.
Our big outing today was to walk to the Marktplatz and to go by the kids' school. We walked along Klostersee park (web sites listed below or you can google the park); a creek with various parks and walking trails along the length of it.
Downtown Sindelfingen looks like everything you would expect of a moderate-sized village. On the outskirts near Stuttgart it has a shopping mall and an Ikea. The center is all small shops, gardens and squares. People are remarkably friendly and kind. We have bought school shoes and looked for trinkenflaschen (we think that's the word for water bottles, but we're not sure). I can hear Tess practicing next to me, whispering "Sprechen Sie English?" when we walk down the street.
She is having the hardest time of all of us. She says she loves Germany but misses her friends very much. Very sad tonight. I'm glad that we'll be in church in the morning and that school starts Monday.
(www.sindelfingen.kdrs.de/servlet/PB/show/1222119_l1/P1010219
www.sindelfingen.kdrs.de/servlet/PB/menu/1206278_l1/index.html?pbanker=Sommerhofenpark)
And oo la la, can we talk cars... I love the Audi we've been zipping around in. And we're surrounded by vehicles just as cool in every direction. The minivans here are Fiat. It's going to be hard to go back to my Mazda, grateful as I am to have it.
Our big outing today was to walk to the Marktplatz and to go by the kids' school. We walked along Klostersee park (web sites listed below or you can google the park); a creek with various parks and walking trails along the length of it.
Downtown Sindelfingen looks like everything you would expect of a moderate-sized village. On the outskirts near Stuttgart it has a shopping mall and an Ikea. The center is all small shops, gardens and squares. People are remarkably friendly and kind. We have bought school shoes and looked for trinkenflaschen (we think that's the word for water bottles, but we're not sure). I can hear Tess practicing next to me, whispering "Sprechen Sie English?" when we walk down the street.
She is having the hardest time of all of us. She says she loves Germany but misses her friends very much. Very sad tonight. I'm glad that we'll be in church in the morning and that school starts Monday.
(www.sindelfingen.kdrs.de/servlet/PB/show/1222119_l1/P1010219
www.sindelfingen.kdrs.de/servlet/PB/menu/1206278_l1/index.html?pbanker=Sommerhofenpark)
Running Errands
Goodbyes are miserable, so I survived the past few days by telling people that I was off to run some errands. We pretended that I'm off on a two-year hunt for the perfect hiking boots. So far so good. Whenever I start to get sad, I just remember that I'm off in search of hiking boots, which doesn't sound nearly so drastic as moving to a foreign country.
Our travel day went beyond well. When the Khakis moved to Africa, they probably memorized Psalm 119 as a family. Not the Fordhams. We read, played with magnets, watched Pink Panther cartoons (great because they are all visual so you don't have to worry about sound). After dinner, we declared it time for bed. Shortly thereafter, we had a row of sleeping children. They woke up on the ground in Stuttgart. Customs took us a total of 15 minutes.
Things could have deteriorated into bleak dispair had it not been for the Airport Fairy in the form of Dean, Andy's boss, who looks the antithesis of a fairy in every way. He and his wife, Lisa, loaded our massive suitcases into his minivan and escorted us to the hotel. We were then presented with a massive basket of German chocolates and wine. Happy moment.
The happiness faded a bit when it took us four hours to get i.d.'s to get to Andy's work place. The fine folks at Willow Grove had him listed as being in Afghanistan. The guy in Stuttgart insisted that Andy was instead standing in front of him in Germany. It took a lot of convincing, but obvious finally won.
Lisa entertained the kids throughout. At the end of the day, Tess looked at me with dewy eyes and said, "I love her. She's the best boss's wife ever!"
Our travel day went beyond well. When the Khakis moved to Africa, they probably memorized Psalm 119 as a family. Not the Fordhams. We read, played with magnets, watched Pink Panther cartoons (great because they are all visual so you don't have to worry about sound). After dinner, we declared it time for bed. Shortly thereafter, we had a row of sleeping children. They woke up on the ground in Stuttgart. Customs took us a total of 15 minutes.
Things could have deteriorated into bleak dispair had it not been for the Airport Fairy in the form of Dean, Andy's boss, who looks the antithesis of a fairy in every way. He and his wife, Lisa, loaded our massive suitcases into his minivan and escorted us to the hotel. We were then presented with a massive basket of German chocolates and wine. Happy moment.
The happiness faded a bit when it took us four hours to get i.d.'s to get to Andy's work place. The fine folks at Willow Grove had him listed as being in Afghanistan. The guy in Stuttgart insisted that Andy was instead standing in front of him in Germany. It took a lot of convincing, but obvious finally won.
Lisa entertained the kids throughout. At the end of the day, Tess looked at me with dewy eyes and said, "I love her. She's the best boss's wife ever!"
Arrival and First Impressions
We landed in Stuttgart 14 hours and several years ago. It's been a non-stop whirl. It feels like days.
We all dropped dead of exhaustion a few hours ago. As I write this, it's 10pm local time and everybody but me is fast asleep... my body having decided that -- despite 6 hours sleep in the last 40 -- it can't be fooled into believing that it's really night outside.
Early impressions. Everything is the same, just better built. I realized that I'd have a hard time prying Piper out of this country when we picked up our rental car and found that we were given a diesel Audi A4 with manual transmission. Nicest rental car I've every driven. Heck, one of the nicest cars I've ever driven. Piper wouldn't let me touch the steering wheel til the end of the day when she was falling asleep standing up.
European roads are another matter. Fortunately we have a GPS since we have absolutely no idea where we are.
We celebrated our first casualty to European 50 Hz, 220V electrical today. Our computer stereo speakers were laid to rest wtih solemn honors.
Construction is very, ahem, German. Everything seems built from solid cement to last 200 years. Possibly I exaggerate but not by so much as you think. No drywall. Doors fit hermetically. Closing a door has the satisfying response that I'm used to when I shut my refrigerator. A little surreal. The guys painting white lines down the middle of the road were wearing tidy smocks that looked like they belonged in an Intel chip-fab room.
The military base is like little America. It's going to be tempting to do alot of banking and shopping there. Unfortunately, that'll hinder our learning German. On the other hand, it avoids the cost of the 20% VAT tax which makes Gas and other stuff soooo much more affordable.
Speaking of cars and VAT taxes: a sidenote. If my nephew wants me to track down a gray market, VAT tax free Smart Car before he turns 16, he'd better start sucking up to his cousins. I'm thinking that a care package would be in order. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
One negative. I have, however, seen the seamy underbelly of the German psyche and that is traffic. This is a land full of pleasant, courteous folks who very much want you to step on it and move your car along a little more briskly, thank you very much. We were the recipient of much tepid horn honking today; our first broadside occurred before we had even cleared the AVIS garage. I see much train travel in my future.
Blessings to all our friends reading this. Once my IQ returns to normal levels, I'll start working on updating this site and beginning to post photos.
We all dropped dead of exhaustion a few hours ago. As I write this, it's 10pm local time and everybody but me is fast asleep... my body having decided that -- despite 6 hours sleep in the last 40 -- it can't be fooled into believing that it's really night outside.
Early impressions. Everything is the same, just better built. I realized that I'd have a hard time prying Piper out of this country when we picked up our rental car and found that we were given a diesel Audi A4 with manual transmission. Nicest rental car I've every driven. Heck, one of the nicest cars I've ever driven. Piper wouldn't let me touch the steering wheel til the end of the day when she was falling asleep standing up.
European roads are another matter. Fortunately we have a GPS since we have absolutely no idea where we are.
We celebrated our first casualty to European 50 Hz, 220V electrical today. Our computer stereo speakers were laid to rest wtih solemn honors.
Construction is very, ahem, German. Everything seems built from solid cement to last 200 years. Possibly I exaggerate but not by so much as you think. No drywall. Doors fit hermetically. Closing a door has the satisfying response that I'm used to when I shut my refrigerator. A little surreal. The guys painting white lines down the middle of the road were wearing tidy smocks that looked like they belonged in an Intel chip-fab room.
The military base is like little America. It's going to be tempting to do alot of banking and shopping there. Unfortunately, that'll hinder our learning German. On the other hand, it avoids the cost of the 20% VAT tax which makes Gas and other stuff soooo much more affordable.
Speaking of cars and VAT taxes: a sidenote. If my nephew wants me to track down a gray market, VAT tax free Smart Car before he turns 16, he'd better start sucking up to his cousins. I'm thinking that a care package would be in order. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
One negative. I have, however, seen the seamy underbelly of the German psyche and that is traffic. This is a land full of pleasant, courteous folks who very much want you to step on it and move your car along a little more briskly, thank you very much. We were the recipient of much tepid horn honking today; our first broadside occurred before we had even cleared the AVIS garage. I see much train travel in my future.
Blessings to all our friends reading this. Once my IQ returns to normal levels, I'll start working on updating this site and beginning to post photos.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Enroute
We successfully concluded the Fordham farewell tour this morning with a final hotel stay at the home of our friends Bill and Lona. (Our previous best friends having finally gotten around to evicting us on Tuesday... they also mentioned having their hardwood floors refinished this week but the "eviction" angle creates better narrative drama so I'll tell the story my way...)
Lots of tears shed by lots of people in the past week. I confess that I hadn't thought through that emotional angle when I volunteered for this last spring.
Dropped off our rental car this morning, checked through 200 lbs of luggage and proceeded to wait in the Philadelphia Airport USO. The Philly USO is -- post 9/11 -- close to the palatial standards of Disneyland. I am currently sitting in their TV room with my kids watching Dora the Explorer on a wide screen stadium TV screen. Not sure how I'll break it to them that we have to board our plane in 30 minutes.
This will probably be my last post before we arrive in Germany tomorrow morning at 3 am East Coast Time.
Lots of tears shed by lots of people in the past week. I confess that I hadn't thought through that emotional angle when I volunteered for this last spring.
Dropped off our rental car this morning, checked through 200 lbs of luggage and proceeded to wait in the Philadelphia Airport USO. The Philly USO is -- post 9/11 -- close to the palatial standards of Disneyland. I am currently sitting in their TV room with my kids watching Dora the Explorer on a wide screen stadium TV screen. Not sure how I'll break it to them that we have to board our plane in 30 minutes.
This will probably be my last post before we arrive in Germany tomorrow morning at 3 am East Coast Time.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My Key Chain is Nekkid
So I sold my faithful Honda yesterday. I was happy to see it go after a week of increasing neurosis about driving it. By the end, I had developed a complex that I was going to break it or wreck it right before the sale.
This morning, we shipped Piper's car out of the Port of Baltimore. I spent much of my misplaced youth in the Coast Guard hanging out in port facilities. None of that prepared me for the vast asphalt jungle of the Baltimore Marine Terminal. The happpy sights of capitalism were everywhere -- concrete stretched for miles and fleets of cars were parked everwhere. Every kind of wheeled vehicle in every kind of condition. I wish we'd brought Micah. It was little boy power tool heaven.
My key chain now consists of two keys to our house (arguably our rentor's house now) and a key to a bike lock that I'm hoping I remembered to pack. If I forgot, every key on it could be irrelevant. I'll keep carrying it anyway. I couldn't stomach the insecurity that would arise if I didn't have it in my pocket.
Tomorrow I go to work. Thursday, we board a flight at noon, change planes in Atlanta and fly direct to Stuttgart. We land Friday. We start work and school on Monday. Somewhere in between will be copious amounts of sleep.
This morning, we shipped Piper's car out of the Port of Baltimore. I spent much of my misplaced youth in the Coast Guard hanging out in port facilities. None of that prepared me for the vast asphalt jungle of the Baltimore Marine Terminal. The happpy sights of capitalism were everywhere -- concrete stretched for miles and fleets of cars were parked everwhere. Every kind of wheeled vehicle in every kind of condition. I wish we'd brought Micah. It was little boy power tool heaven.
My key chain now consists of two keys to our house (arguably our rentor's house now) and a key to a bike lock that I'm hoping I remembered to pack. If I forgot, every key on it could be irrelevant. I'll keep carrying it anyway. I couldn't stomach the insecurity that would arise if I didn't have it in my pocket.
Tomorrow I go to work. Thursday, we board a flight at noon, change planes in Atlanta and fly direct to Stuttgart. We land Friday. We start work and school on Monday. Somewhere in between will be copious amounts of sleep.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back
The happy people in Germany have told me that I am cleared to enter the country under the NATO Status of Forces agreement. This is good news since our final hurdle is now removed.
It could not have come at a better time since we're all a little squirrly in the Fordham house. Nearly 4 weeks of nomadic life have taken their toll.
On Monday I'll be selling a car. On Tuesday, we'll ship our other car out of the port of Baltimore. On Thursday, we have reservations to fly to Stuttgart.
Reservations to fly are all that we have.
Reservations for lodging are still lacking. All hotels in Stuttgart appear to be booked solid. We are up against a trade show called Flail that appears to be a fairly big deal. At least the hotel folks that Piper has talked to are aghast that she hasn't heard of it. Following that, the reservation picture remains bleak because of Oktoberfest. Apparently sober Americans aren't allowed to enter the country for several more weeks.
We're hoping that Monday brings better news.
It could not have come at a better time since we're all a little squirrly in the Fordham house. Nearly 4 weeks of nomadic life have taken their toll.
On Monday I'll be selling a car. On Tuesday, we'll ship our other car out of the port of Baltimore. On Thursday, we have reservations to fly to Stuttgart.
Reservations to fly are all that we have.
Reservations for lodging are still lacking. All hotels in Stuttgart appear to be booked solid. We are up against a trade show called Flail that appears to be a fairly big deal. At least the hotel folks that Piper has talked to are aghast that she hasn't heard of it. Following that, the reservation picture remains bleak because of Oktoberfest. Apparently sober Americans aren't allowed to enter the country for several more weeks.
We're hoping that Monday brings better news.
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