After a month in the hotel, we finally moved into our German house. While a month doesn’t sound bad, we had been actually living out of our suitcases since December 12th. Wearing the same limited clothes for 2 months. Trying to cook meals on a small cooktop and a dog who is going stir crazy with no yard. It was long overdue to get into a house. According to the housing office, there wasn’t many options for homes right now. Not a lot of people have left positions so we only had a few homes to pick from. Nothing was perfect, but we had to weigh all the pros and cons of each house we saw. We ended up picking a house in Seubersdorf. It’s a town about 20 minutes from the base. Its a decent sized town with lots of walking trails for us, grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, and a train station! All within walking distance to our house. We have a lot of room in our house, actually more room than we know what to do with. I wish we would have brought all our furniture. Everyone said “Houses are small, don’t bring much” but every house we saw was larger than ours in Tennessee. Sigh…oh well. Here are some pictures of what we are working with.

Not pictured is the basement where we have 3 more rooms. One is a large laundry room and then 2 other large rooms. Those rooms will most likely end up being our storage rooms because there is not a heater in the basement and there is only one electrical outlet per room. We didn’t have a lot whole to unpack, so we’ve already gotten all the stuff out of the boxes. Now it’s just trying to organize the house. Get stuff on the walls and figure out where we need more furniture. Pictures will come later once the house is more put together.

We came over here so pumped to live in Germany, experience the culture, and get the opportunity to travel Europe. Initially things seemed to go relatively smoothly. We were checking things off our list quicker than I had originally thought. Then, reality set in and the novelty kind of wore off. It is going to be an adjustment getting things done in ways that are different than I’m accustomed too. Honestly, it seems like the way we are used to doing them are easier than they are done over here. I know that sounds so shallow minded, but its been one irritation after another so my patience is wearing quite thin. We are trying to stay positive, but to be honest it’s hard right now. It does help talking to friends from here who say they experienced the same emotions and now they love it.

This past weekend Germany celebrated their Fausching. It’s like Carneval or Mardi Gras. It’s in preparation for lent, is what I’ve heard. People dress up in costumes and the floats from the parades toss out candy, snacks, and even tiny liquor bottles to the adults! It was so fun!! Some of the floats were super creative and you could tell they took a lot of planning. We hit up 2, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The first one was better! Much larger and more candy, haha! Mike and I wore our Sesame Street costumes and took Lucy in her costume to the one on Sunday. She was definitely a hit with her mermaid attire. I’m guessing they don’t have many dog costumes over here since EVERY person loved it. It was so nice to get out of the house and do something unique to German culture and also, spend time with some new friends.

This weekend really helped with putting things into perspective that we aren’t the only one who hated it here originally. It’s nice to not feel alone. We are excited for more fun weekends like this past one!

Again, will update with pictures of the house and Fausching once I have more reliable wifi.