Settling in

Life has fallen into a pattern now that we are moved in and with internet. To answer the question burning in everyone's mind: Do the kids get ready in the morning in a timely manner in Germany? No, I still find myself at 7:15 chanting "get up get up get up get up eat eat eat eat eat brush teeth brush teeth brush teeth put on shoes put on shoes put on shoes." I just say it to more people.

I mention this as an example to point out, beyond spending Saturdays in quaint European tourist spots instead of Home Depot, we have a rhythm to the week and it's not much different than home. Andy gets up early, has a 15-minute bus ride, 15 minute walk and he's at work. Much better than the Pa Turnpike commute. He's not traveling to Washington DC during the week and doing reserve duty on weekends, but he's still at work. Poor man.

I have started attacking my Get Involved in German Community Life plan. The girls have joined the local swim club. They are at practice two nights a week. It's not easy to strike up a friendship when your face is in the water, but they are starting to meet the kids on the team. Micah is still learning to swim so he has swim class on Thursday evening. We still go to the pool often with a group from school on Wednesday afternoons when the kids have a half-day from school.

Do you sense a pattern? By now, we all have mesh backpacks that you can throw wet suits and towels straight into.

The girls and I are all in German class now too. Mine is for adults for a few hours Tuesdays and Thursdays. The girls just Tuesday afternoons. Micah was too young for the class, but he loves being an only child for an hour once a week and gets all giggly when I remind him that it is Mommy and Micah time.

We've started having more non-English speaking play dates. This can lead to confusion with the moms. I thought I was inviting one of Tess's classmates to swim with us while Micah had his lesson on Thursday. The mom, who had initiated the offer--I counter offered with swim to fit into our schedule, thought that was a great idea. I thought we had a plan until she started talking about spaghetti Bolognese for dinner...

Only one set back, which made me indignant. In the list of Sindelfingen sports clubs, there was a soccer group that offered Kinderfussball und Frauenfussball. Micah is a Kind and I am a Frau. I thought, "great, what a blast to be in the same club." The man who answered the phone told me that the book had a misprint and that they didn't take kids until 6, not 5, and that Micah would be way too young. And how old was I? he asked. I proudly told him that I was 42.

He laughed.

He told me that I would have to play in the Elder club. Elder! The women's club topped out at about 30. The next time I call, I too, will be 30.