A week!

Has it been that already?

I arrived in Germany a week ago today and I cannot believe how much has happened and how differently time feels now that I’m here.  It’s almost three o’clock and there is about an hour and a half of daylight left in the day. The light is dim enough outside, that my brain is telling me to start cooking dinner, even though my stomach is saying “Shut-up! You just ate lunch!”

Although my sleeping patterns have adjusted, my body has yet to get used to the strange daylight.  Yesterday was the first day the sun poked his head out since I arrived, the sky was a crystal clear blue with out a cloud in sight!  It made the daily walk to the commissary a little warm with my black rain coat on.  Each day I’ve made a trip to the commissary for dinner and other here and there things.  We don’t have a car, but the lending closet gave us a little cart to use for toting groceries and other things.  The lending closet is where we get loaner dishes, cook wear and other household thingy's we may need until our HHG shipment arrives.  I made an extra stop to them today to get some more dishes for Thanksgiving this week.
The lending closet is in a building called ACS (Army Community Services) which is where I will be taking the Welcome to Bavaria course next week!  It will teach some basic German language and cultural adaptation skills and even goes on trips into Vilseck and neighboring Amberg!  I can also sight up for a German as a second language course and a German cooking course.  A German holiday baking class was also offered but Sven, the instructor said it filled within an hour of being open for signups.  Guess I’ll have to be more prompt next year.
Recycling is serious business here and is taken quite seriously.  On post is not as strict as off post but it is still very involved.  We have 4 separate bins; refuse, plastic, paper, and cans. Glass must be taken to the recycling center on post and sorted according to color; green, brown and clear.  Cody and I have been enjoying a lot of beer and gluhwein, and the bottles have REALLY begun to pile up, so today I loaded up our little cart with about half the bottles and made my way over there.  It’s only about a 7 min walk and I also made a stop to register at the Self Help store since they are close to each other.
Self Help offers anything you might need to improve your quality of living on your own including paint and supplies, light bulbs, picture hangers, gardening tools and products, and tool rental just to name a few, all for FREE!  I can’t wait to start painting!  I’m tired of living with white walls and seeing as we are going to be here for three years, I might as well!
Our neighbors are all very friendly, and they all have kids.  They were surprised to learn that we had none.  That has been the first question from most people we speak to; “How many kids do you have?”  I suppose it’s unusual to be placed in such a large house without any children.  But everyone is very friendly and welcoming, especially Cody’s friend from High School and his wife and children!  I spent an entire day with them last week and it was much better than sitting at home all day! She took me to the German equivalent of a “dollar” store so I could get some little things I needed around the house.  One of my favorites are these little ceramic cats which you fill with water and hang on the radiators.  They heat up and the water slowly evaporates so that the air in the house is not so dry!  How cool is that?  I’m told there are all different styles also! 
Last weekend Cody and I went to Munich and had a drunkenly good time!  We shopped and saw our first glockenspiel; like a giant cuckoo clock.  This one depicted a king and queen being entertained by jesters and jousters on the day of their wedding feast.  The highlight of our trip of course was the beer and we spent a lot of time eating and drinking and making merry with fellow travelers on our beer tour.  We ate lunch at the Hofbrauhaus where I had the most delicious spaetzle with cheese and Cody had a German sausage platter with three types of traditional Bavarian sausages.  We also learned that this among many other bars/breweries was a popular way of recruiting soldiers for the Third Reich.  They would offer young male patrons free beer and when they were drunk, get them to sign up.  Because of that there used to be swastikas painted on the ceiling around each chandelier, which are now cleverly concealed by the Bavarian flag of checked blue and white.

On the train to Munich there was a marvelously dressed old man wearing beautiful lederhosen, who we later saw at the Hofbrauhaus at lunch (trust me, he was hard to miss)  I worked up the courage to ask him for a photo, and he obliged even though he didn’t speak a lick of English.  What he did say in German sounded quite provocative and he used the word schatzilein quite a bit.  Later we found out from our tour guide that men like him have earned their reserved spot at the Hofbrauhaus through very loyal patronage; they must drink there at least three times a week for 15 years! Then they are given a special stein with their name on it, locked away and reserved for their visits at their reserved tables.  They also LOVE taking photos with tourists, especially young ladies who will sit on their lederhosen bedecked knees!
We also met some very fun, and very loud Welsh men who kept singing wonderful drinking songs the more they drank, which upset the local German diners who prefer a more quiet, conversation setting.  The server probably came to our table at least four times asking them to stop singing and keep quiet.  Each time she left they would call her names like “tired old cunt” which sent Cody and I into drunken hysterics every time!  They gave me a list of places to visit in Wales and their e-mail address so that I could send them the videos I took of their drinking songs.
We had such a wonderful time in Munich and I cannot wait to travel some more!  There are so many other things I love about Germany so far, and I will eventually write about them, but for now I think this is long enough. Besides, I have to start prepping for our little thanksgiving dinner.  Until next time, Tschüss!