We Now Live in Germany!

We are doing it. We are living in Germany...and surviving.

On Tuesday, June 26, the three of us boarded the plane in Detroit...ready to start our news lives in Germany. Ben and I were a bit nervous about Carter on the plane. This was his first flight, after all. Turns out there was no need for worry. He was like an old pro. During the take-off, Carter yelled "GO!!" and watched out the window. He did not appear nervous at all. After the dinner & drink service was finally over, Carter feel asleep in a little makeshift bed on the floor. Despite the $2000 business class seat, Carter preferred the floor! Who cares, he slept the rest of the flight and woke up after we landed.

Despite having a reservation with Hertz for a Focus Wagon, we did not have a car available to us. Our only option was a 9 passenger van that would not have fit in the hotel parking garage. Apparently Hertz knows how to TAKE the reservation, they just don't know how to KEEP the reservation. We had to wait 2 hours at the airport for a rental car. Again, Carter was a trooper. He handled the whole thing much better than me.

Thursday we registered with the German authorities and Carter and I got our residency permits. Ben's will get processed in a few months when the rest of his paperwork catches up. Following registration, we got the keys to our house and Carter seemed quite happy there. At one point when we were all in the car driving some place, Carter suddenly said "happy." When I repeated it, he said "me." And then he said "Mommy happy, Daddy happy, me-me happy!" It was the greatest. He's dealing with this whole thing so well.

On Thursday evening we went over to the Johnson's house for dinner (they are also Ford ISEs). We got a wonderful home cooked meal which was much needed. They have two children (ages 2 & 5). Another co-worker and his 2 year old daughter were there as well. All of the toddlers will be in the same daycare together so we were thrilled to have a chance for Carter to meet them. After complaining about not having our air shipment, yet, and not being able to move into our house despite having the keys, the Johnsons let us borrow an air mattress and bedding and towels. We think the house will be easier to live in with Carter but are we willing to give up some of the comforts of the hotel already?

Friday was delivery day for our wardrobes (closets) and washer & dryer. I better get on those German lessons as the washer/dryer are only in German. The washer is the smallest one I've ever seen. We also visited Carter's new school and spent a couple of hours there. He seems to like it and has already formed a bond with Yurinda, the lead teacher.