Greetings from Germany!!!

Greetings from Germany! Seems I need to change the title of my blog to something more universally European---meanwhile, just pretend I changed it to something German…
I have been here in Jockgrim a few days and so far so good! The language barrier is tough. Most of the time, I can sort of figure it out, but here, forget it. My landlords don’t speak English, and I don’t speak German so there is a lot of hand-swirling and charades going on.

First, let me tell you about this little fairy tale village I live. In fact, I am an official resident and received a one week train pass from the mayor as part of my quite extensive welcome package…all in German, of course. Town seems to have been a walled city at one time, centered around a church. Church bells chime every morning and evening, reminding me of Italy a little bit. The village has a small train station, organic market and café, bakeries, a bank, two larger markets (which do not take credit cards, by the way), and a couple of restaurants. It is a slower pace than Karlsruhe, which compared to this village, is like comparing Prineville to Seattle.

My little apartment is in the attic of a rather large home owned by Herr and Frau Schultz. Nice people. I hear them and they hear me so I feel like more of an exchange student really. Given that I have to work from my apartment until Wednesday of next week, we see a lot of each other. So thankful it has not been hot because it can get a little stuffy and they don’t believe in using electricity to run fans. So, I have been lucky so far…no hot and bitchy days yet! I have access to Herr Schultz’s garden out back. They are constantly trying to give me tomatoes. I have a bunch that I am cooking up today into a sauce and I will certainly be given more tonight. Same goes for the zucchini. Fresh oregano and lavender are out front and I can take what I want. I received homemade blackberry jam the other day, a product from the garden. Yesterday, Frau Schultz got her cast removed (she had injured her foot) and was cooking like crazy. I got the message her husband was thankful she was back to normal. She made this casserole and sent some upstairs with me. I have really got to watch it here…the food is soooo heavy and rich. I don’t want to blow my recently successful weight loss! I will try things but not pig out!

The apartment has two large bedrooms, a shower bigger than mine in the states, living room with small balcony, and a very large kitchen. All very IKEA -looking, except for the room where the toilet lives. Yes, I have learned that the toilet and the bathroom are two separate rooms here so note: pee before showering! Ha ha. Okay, the toilet room looks like it is a product of the 70% off rack at Home Depot! Seriously, it does not fit into the rest of the place but it is very functional. Imagine a small linen closet with a small sink behind the door, preventing the door from opening all the way. Then imagine orange-yellow painted walls, with purple tiles on the sink’s wall, black and white mosaic floor and are you ready for this? A sea-through (yes, “sea”) Finding Nemo toilet seat! Hilarious. I hope my photos of this turn out! Otherwise, I have lots of closet space and the bed is actually pretty good. I leave the window open at night so I wake up to a rooster…no kidding. I am really in the country, which I prefer actually.

I received a rental car, in which my brother has aptly deemed Cougar. It is a Ford Kuga, small Kia-type SUV diesel. It is actually fun to drive. I have been on the Autobahns a lot and yes, have done my share of passing and whizzing by slow pokes! However, there is a ton of construction and so traffic is really bad. For example, friend Shelly was with me on Saturday. We decided to try and find Neuschwanstein castle, the one that Disney copied for Disneyland. We drove on the A8 toward Munich only to see a parking lot, we estimated 15 miles long, going the other way. So we determined we will not take the A8 home, but the B10. We drove and drove and finally stopped for some Snitzel and wine. We were in Bavaria and often thought of breaking into Sound of Music numbers! We continued driving, having never located this castle decided we better head home before it got too late. We had navigation and a pretty good road map only to find that the way home was closed as well. We finally made our way back through small towns, in the dark and pouring down rain, 5 and half hours later! My right foot swelled up from driving all day and I could not wait to get home and crash! The day was not a total bust because we got to see things we would have otherwise missed.

As for work, I literally got my work computer to connect yesterday, using a hot-spot that was in a box that was held up in customs. I had sent work stuff and some vitamins in this box only for customs to think I was shipping drugs! Ha ha. My new boss got the call saying that a box coming to her attention had pills in it. Well, they destroyed all of my vitamins ($200 bucks up in smoke!) but I received the rest of my box yesterday. So, my boss is coming over tonight to give me my first task so that will be nice to get busy! Having no staff to supervise and one project to focus on is quite a change for me. I miss everyone so much.
Some have asked if I would live here. Italy, yes. Germany…jury is still out. The people are great however, it is very frustrating driving around and not knowing the language. Time will tell, I am sure.
For now, that is about it. Going to Paris on Saturday via a bullet train to see Shelly and a firework show in Versailles. Now, I love Paris and I can sort of figure out the language so this may give me a break. Will write more in a few days. Reisen heist leben---To travel is to live.