Germany Roll Call!

[Plaid Leopard]

Ok - who is still in Germany? Where are you? How are you?

I'm still in Saarbrucken, for about another year it looks like.

[Vicitoria]

We are moving to Duesseldorf in 2 weeks but we'll be in Bad Godesberg for the first month. Very much looking forward to it!

[Plaid Leopard]

Good luck with the move. I have never been to Duesseldorf. May I ask why you are moving to Germany?

[Hollycrand]

Hello Plaid Leopard,

We're still here down in Stuttgart (as you know).

[Dulcealegria]

Hello,
I am since 2 years in Hamburg and since 1 year, exactly toninght, a mother.

Greetings from the north

[Vicitoria]

My husband is German. We met in the US, moved back to Germany for one year. We were married there and then moved back here and 14 years later have decided we'd rather live in Europe. My husband really wants to raise our son in Germany the way he was raised. I think it will be quite an adventure. It's been moving along so quickly it's just starting to set in that we are actually going. He just got a job 2 weeks ago. We sold our house for full asking price to the first people who looked at it, the same with my car. He starts his job on 1 December. I'm still not sure when I will go with my son. Hopefully at the same time. I'm waiting to hear from the movers. I'm just trying to breathe and keep everyone from going crazy here with all the changes! Like right now. gotta go...

[Girl Named Sandoz]

I'm from Germany (Frankfurt/ Main) and still visit regularly. I've lived in the UK for the past 5 years, though.

[Plaid Leopard]

Hi Holly! Still coming for a visit soon?

If anyone passes through saarbrucken let me know and we can meet up.

Happy Birthday to your ds, Dulcealegria!

Hi to everybody! Are you all ready for the winter? (I'm not...)

[Dulcealegria]

Hi to everyone, is nice to hear about other women living with kids or planning to live hear.

NO I am definitely prepare for winter. If you have ideas what type of clothing I should buy for my baby will be great.

Nice day

[newbelly2006]

Hi all! Our clan is here in Berlin, bundling up and tying our scarves tight as the wind has already started to blow up here. We're both American, came over on a Fulbright when our son was only 5 weeks old and, well, that was three years ago. DH translates on the side; I write. Dante goes to a great Co-op Kita nearby, and I'm expecting twins in early April. It's been a lot of fun so far and there is no tangible end in sight. The hardest part, I have to say is to realize that our son's "mother tongue" is NOT the tongue of his mother. DH speaks to Dante in German; I speak to him in English. But because our friends, school, etc are all German, Dante is far more comfortable in German than in English. Still getting used to that one.

Victoria: Bad Godesburg?! Wow, haven't thought about that in years! We lived for a year there on the outskirts of Bonn, across the Rhine from Konigswinter. It's pretty provincial, but has great infrastructure for a small place.

Paula

[Vicitoria]

Hi Paula, Berlin! Are you going to take advantage of teh John F Kennedy School? I would love that! Pehaps at some point we will make our way there. I'm a little nervous about my son speaking German but that's just they way it will be. He'll know English because I think my mom will KILL me if he doesn't. My in-laws are very international so it won't be German or nothing and my FIL is very happy that we will be there and won't push German on me as much as he did 15 years ago. Hope to talk again soon! Vic:-)

[AmazoniaBelly]

Hi-

I am in Leipzig with my partner and 9 month old daughter. Seems like most people online are in the West....

[Plaid Leopard]

Hi AmazoniaBelly- How's everything? How's Bella doing?

There's another belly in the east! (newbelly2006 is in Berlin)

[Vicitoria]

I have a SIL in Dresden. Beautiful city. I'm sure we will be visiting in the area. We are moving this week. Our furniture leaves on Tuesday, we leave the following Monday the 28th. I'm starting to get excited!!!! I've had too much going on getting ready for the move to think about it but I sold my car yesterday and then we'll have an empty house that won't be ours in a few weeks and it's really becoming real. We're getting ready for the next phase of our lives.

[Plaid Leopard]

How exciting Vicitoria! Hope all goes smoothly for you.

[Vicitoria]

Thanks Plaid! So far so good. It should be an interesting week staying with my parents. I think next weekend will be the worst. They will be gone on vacation and we will just want to be gone too. We got a really bad blow the other day. We had everything in order and my husband went to the German consulate to have our paper's signed for customs. It turns out that before my husband became an American citizen he had to sign a paper with the Consulate to remain a German Citizen as well. He didn't know that so they took his German passport away. It's not the end of the world but now we have to go as Americans and he needs to get all the permits to start his job and have our things come through customs duty free. He has a signed contract for a very good job and he is German born and all his family is there so he will get what he needs we just hope he get's them all in time. His Father is going tomorrow to get all the information we need. He's a very good man who is very kind and diplomatic. I'm hoping he will find the same when he goes into the German Beauracracy (sp?). He worked for the CDU for a very long time and was Stadt Secretariat in Lower Saxony for several years following re-unification so hopefully that will help!!!!???? Think positive thoughts and all will be well!

[newbelly2006]

Good luck! Those last minute beaucrocrocy (sp?) snafus are the pits. We ran into one days before coming when the airline told us that they due to heat they wouldn't fly our dog. That was the LAST time we ever flew in August! At least you have knowledgeable folks to help you out on this end. Safe travels!

[Vicitoria]

The dog is the top priority!!! When my husband came home from the consulate last week his worst fear is they wouldn't let the dog in the country with an American passport! He had every worst case scenario you could think of. Lufthansa flies animals all year round. There is a new law as of June 1 2005 that highly regulates animals flying. They said they couldn't speak for other airlines but they are good all year.

It turns out the permit paper work is pretty simple we just have to get there the day we fly in. Big load off our chest.

The movers are here and I'm bored. The dog and ds is at my mom's. DH is out doing all the errands. We were practically fighting over them to have something to do! At least I haven't cancelled the internet yet!

[Hollycrand]

Victoria,

I have heard that once you're a German citizen, you're always a German citizen. It should be easy for your dh to get his German nationality back once you're in Germany. It sure beats having to spend time at the Auslanderamt!

[AmazoniaBelly]

Hi Plaid L.

Bella is feeling great...in fact we all are. Going to see her Doctor tomorrow to make sure all is in ordnung. Anita say hi and Laura also sends her greetings.

[Plaid Leopard]

Ama-Belly-
Do you see/talk to Laura? Tell her I've been trying to call her...
Glad Bella's better.

It's COOOOOOOOLDDDDDDDDD here. whineandcomplainwhineandcomplain....

[Hollycrand]

Yeah, here in Stuttgart we hover at around 0°C during the day, drops below freezing at night (-3 or -5°C) and we haven't seen the sun in about a week. Grey, grey, grey grey grey.
Plus snowflakes falling, but not yet sticking.

At least the cold matches the advent festivities taking place.

Happy Thanksgiving all of you Yanks in Germany! Not that our family is celebrating or anything...it's always the most difficult holiday for me because I miss the turkey, pumpkin pie, etc. and it is torturous listening to my family describe their savory meals while my mouth is heavily watering on the other side of the world.
I suppose it'll be our traditional Thanksgiving spaghetti and tomato sauce tomorrow evening. Maybe I'll whip up some Christmas 'kekse' (gutzle in Swabisch) to help me feel better. Last week I made gingerbread dough with Vollkornmehl, honey, and some spices (no eggs) which turned out pretty good. Dd loved cutting the cookies out, and they're already almost gone.

Stupid question: Do Berlin/Leipzig have Christmas markts too?

[Plaid Leopard]

Leipzig has a nice Christmas markt.
The Saarbruecken markts open tomorrow or this weekend. There are two or three in different neighborhoods.
Lots of people have already put up there CHristmas decorations. I am going to do Luminarias if I can find the right kind of paper sacks. We have a nice long driveway that will look great with a trail of glowing candles.
I have to go buy some molasses because I am craving gingerbread. I will probably make pumpkin bread tomorrow as I have a pumpkin that's been sitting around for a while, and it is Thanksgiving after all.

Waiting for snow here. It was sleety this afternoon. It's supposed to snow tonight. THe kids will be excited anyway...

[Vicitoria]

We can't wait for the Christmas Market. We have talked about it every Christmas for the past 13 years we've lived in the US and are so happy we will be to actually be there this year. We spoke with my BIL on Monday and he and his son had just returned from the Wienacts Markt in Dortmund. We were so happy for them. We used to live in Dortmund and it's a huge market. I will think about you when we have pumpkin pie tomorrow. Before I realized the mover's packed my whole cupboard. I had a can of pumpkin in there. I will save it for a special day when we get to Germany.

[Hollycrand]

This morning Stuttgart got its first REAL snow! And wouldn't you know it, WE have Kehrwoche! Dh has a broken finger, I'm in my fifth month of pregnancy, AND our shovel decided to call it quits this morning at 8am.
Dh shoveled (well, more like swept) the snow this morning anyways, without gloves (because none of our gloves fit over his splint), sprinkled salt....and wouldn't you KNOW our upstairs neighbour (NOT a nice women who drinks too much and smokes like a chiminey) would come downstairs and complain that the PATH to the letterbox/mailbox wasn't clean enough, and she was scared to slip and fall. I just hope we gets LOTS and LOTS of snow next week when she's got Kehrwoche.
Sorry for the whiny post.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

[newbelly2006]

Ouch, Holly! It always falls at the worst time, doesn't it? We realized on Wednesday AM that that was our day to cook for the Kita. Eek! Had to rush around trying to scramble up a recipe to feed 13 kids and two adults and get it to Dante's school. Ugh. Not as bad as a broken finger through.

Yup, all the christmas markts opened last night. And rather fittingly we've had our first snow today. I can't wait to enjoy them this year although sadly gluehwine is off the table for me. Guess I'll need to console myself with a crepe :thumb

We celebrated yesterday in style. Rogacki a prewar gourmet establishment offers a service where you can order a turkey to be cooked and delivered. With me 21 weeks pregnant with twins, a 3 yr old, and a guest list of 10 adults and 5 kids, needless to say we jumped at the opportunity! One of our German friends found some jarred pumpkin for a pie, and cranberries weren't too tough to find (oh the difference a couple of years and a "weltstadt" can make! 3 years ago in Bonn they were NOWHERE to be found). Dinner was a rounding success with an entire sideboard of food, candlelight, lots of talking in many languages and so many wonderful things to be thankful for.

Spaghetti or turkey, I hope you all had a day to remember!

Paula

[rmzbm]

Hi there~
Just wanted to chime in...I'm not from Germany but my family is. I used to spend alot of time there. But it's been a few years since I have gone. Anyone ever heard of Schneverdingen?? (I will be surprised, LOL!!) The rest of the family is in the Czech. republic. :) Anyhow, just saying hello!!

[Dulcealegria]

Hi ladies,

First, Happy Thanksgiving!!! We had a great celebration with some international women. We had turkey, pumpkin pie, apple pie, cranberries, corn bread......and so on. It was really a nice celebration.

No one ask, but here in Hamburg we also have a christmas markt. Have you ever been in the christmas markt in Lübeck?? Many people say it is worth going. I will try to visit it this year.

Ohhhhh it is really cold for me. Today is the first snow and eventhough it looks great and it is exciting, I really want to cry. (Sorry, I miss my hot weather). I have even been posting how to dress my ds, ...

my ds wake up

bye...send me many hugs that i really need them.....thanks

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I just wanted to send a little kiss to you all. I'm glad to see the tribe is still growing...I miss you all! I'll be in touch.

[Hollycrand]

Dulcealegria,

I am from California, so I know what you mean about missing the warmer weather. It took me a few years to get used to the winters in SW Germany. To this day, I am the only one (except for a few elderly persons) who wears a hat the minute the temperature drops below 7°C.
I try to drink a lot of hot tea/chocolate to warm myself up, especially before I go out. I also try not to think about the cold. I talk to dd about the snow on the ground, where the animals (birds, squirrels) have gone for the winter, and why there aren't any leaves on the trees.

Keep warm and WARM wishes to you!

Thanks for the info about the Hamburger Christmas market. Since Stuttgart is the only city in Germany I've ever lived in, it's hard to know what's typically German and what's typically from Stuttgart or this region.

[Vicitoria]

We are getting ready to sign off from Delaware and will re-appear somtime in Germany whenever our hard drive is up and running or I have time to find an internet cafe or have the courage to commandeer my fil's computer. He's kind enough to allow us to use home, I don't want to push it.

The mover's come in the morning, the cable is disconnected sometime this afternoon. It will be great to re-connect and possibly meet you! I have a feeling we will be coat shopping when we get there.

Much love! Merry Chirstmas! Victoria and Lukas

[Vicitoria]

We made it! It will take 3 years for dh to become a german citizen again but he is legally working. Dont even want to go into the stress he and FIL went through. DS is freaking a bit because Dh started work and the separation anxiety is intense. We are happy and looking for our own place in Dusseldorf. If anyone is in the Bonn area or Dusseldorf please post so we can caffee/kucken and playdate. I finally found a kinderplatz for toddlers this morning. I thouroughly understand the dress warmly thing now. We picked up a water-resistant all in one fleece at the LLBean outlet before we came over. good thing. Im just surprised more kids arent out playing. Our sea container is still in Delaware because the movers didnt get our car title. pray for speedy mail service and quick sea journey. I asked more than once and we had our cel phones on until we were on the plane but they EMAILED the next day and that wasnt my highest priority. I knew they needed it but they said no. Rhyme and reason to all things.

Peace. Love. Joy Vic:-)

[Plaid Leopard]

Welcome to Germany!
May you settle in quickly and find many wonderful people in Dusseldorf.

[Snugglebugsmom]

I'm a German native, who lives in the US. I'm currently in Germany, visiting family. It's important for me that my children come to Germany frequently (about once a year) and learn the language and culture and everything. My Mom lives in a small, picturesque village, Gaggenau. It's close to Baden-Baden.
Ina :)

[Plaid Leopard]

Hi Ina-

How long have you lived in the US? Do you prefer living there to Germany? Are your kids bilingual? How does your family feel about homeschooling?
Question, questions!

We are homeschooling here in Germany and people think we are absolutely out of our minds.

Enjoy your visit!

[Plaid Leopard]

Hey ICM!

We miss you![U] Germany just isn't the same without you.
dd still wants to move into your house. And ds is planning to visit you soon - I wish we could. Hey we will be in DC/Maryland for a week in February, and Texas for all of March....wanna come visit?
Big kisses to you all. Hope you are doing well in your new home (I assume you are settled in your new home by now).

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I may be able to make it to MD in Feb. There's a big party at my father's friend/SIL's house in Feb that I want to try to make. PM me when you have your dates and I'll see when my trip would be if I can go.

No, not settled yet : ( It won't be long now though. Early, early 2006.

Hi, everybody!

[Hollycrand]

Hey ICM,

Please send some of that sunshine and weather over to us here in Germany! Dd asks about your dc from time to time...I think she loves the name.

I'd love to hear all about your 'adventures' in moving and finding a place when you do finally settle.

[RachelD]

Well, my dh has accepted the job offer so we are planning a move to Heidelberg in late Feb/early Mar!
We're trying to figure out the details of the move now. How did you all figure out your living arrangements? The research lab where he'll be working offers temporary residence at a guest house, but we'd like to be settled in our place before the baby arrives in June (and so we can move our dog over). This is our first child, so the move is adding to our apprehension, though we're excited for both. Eager to hear about everyone's experiences and getting to know you.

Rachel

[Vicitoria]

Hi Rachel - congrats on your decision. Heidelberg is nice. I haven´t been there in years but I´m sure it just get´s nicer.

We just did our own move so here is our scoop -

We found our own mover and are paying for it ourselves. We did a lot of internet research and talked and emailed with a lot of movers, We went with a local franchise of Allied Movers International. They packed our whole house and car and are shipping it here in one container for 9800.00 delivered to our apartment. That includes insurance. Start it all ASAP because the customs and moving rules are pretty time consuming. We did it all in a month with a 16 month old including selling our house so it can be done. I'm not sure how long the move actually takes. WE are moving from the east coast to Düsseldorf so it´s pretty strait forward. They didn´t have our car titles at first so we had to mail them back to the states for shipment. Go to Allied.com for info on German customs. We still have to do the customs end on this side so I can let you know how that goes.

Go for the temp housing for sure. We found a great apartment but it won´t be ready until feb 1. Luckily we are staying with my FIL. The 2 month wait is normal to get into a good apartment. You will probably need to pay a finders fee for the apartment which is 2 months cold rent. You also need 3 months cold rent for a security deposit. This goes into a savings account you collect interest on. It´s a bit complicated. We actually had to pay cash for the finders fee. My husband has lived in the US for so long even he was surprised by this. If someone offers help. TAKE IT!

We brought our dog with us. That part is really easy. You can get an already translated copy of the form needed for your vet to fill out. All you need is a rabies shot and a micro chip. An avid chip is OK. The Rabies shot needs to be done within a month of the move (I think). The vet couldn´t believe it was that easy but it was. A lot of other countries are really difficult. We got a quote from petmovers.com to move our dog and it was 2300.00. Totally outrageous! We took a flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt so it was just one flight and drove the rest of the way. We bought our own kennel and water and food bowls for it. THe kennel and the dog were 70 pounds so he was 2 extra carry on bags and when we made the reservation said it would cost 210.00. THey never even charged us. We were all on the same flight though.

I can go on forever really but am running out of time. Ask any questions and I´ll be happy to answer them. Either here or email me at victorialmeyer@hotmail.com.

[Marijke Rose]

I'm an American woman who moved to Germany to live with her German fiancé (Verlobter), and have been here since the end of Jan.

We're pregnant with our first, and he is a very doting and supportive husband/father-to-be. ^.^

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Another kiss and a "thinking of you" to PL and Holly. Searching for e-mail...

[KayasMama04]

I just found this area on mdc ...so im posting here now...I live in the KTown Area.

[SwissMama]

What is 'Ktown' exactly?

Anyhoo - just checking in, I havent logged on since September (dont ask!) - still near Stuttgart and will be here for quite a while..... My daughter turned 1 on Monday. :p