Two Months

Well, today marks the two month anniversary of my arrival in Germany so I thought it might be a good time to take inventory of where we are at this point in our adventure.

This could get a bit ramble-y so bear with me:

• I LOVE working from home - no, I do not spend all day in my bath robe. But I do spend it in jeans and socks and a t-shirt.
  

• I LOVE not sitting on the tollway every morning to get downtown

• I love that people seem to be very active here well into their 60's, 70's and on. Obesity is not a problem here.
  

• I love that I have the time to keep us on a healthy diet (yes, we are still doing South Beach and quite successfully I might add)
  

• I love that we have already seen so much of the country in only two months
  

• I love that there is still so much to see. Quite ignorantly, I thought there wouldn't actually be much to see in Germany other than the major points of interest...Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt.....you get the idea. There is so much history and so many wonderfully charming towns. We could spend our whole time here only seeing Germany and still not cover it all.
  

• I love that we have been to France and Luxembourg simply because we were near the border and....why not?
  

• I love that German food is so darn good. These people KNOW how to cook a potato. And while this little indulgence is off limits during the week, all bets are off on the weekends and I savor it like a little piece of heaven.
  

• I love that ice cream is a major food group here - at least on Saturday and Sunday. You have breakfast, lunch, afternoon ice cream, and dinner.
  

• I LOVE Nutella. It's chocolate sauce but that makes it sound so ordinary. You just have to taste it. I don't know why they don't sell it in the U.S. It puts Hershey's to shame. There is Nutella flavored ice cream and it is my new favorite.
  

• I do NOT like dialing the phone. Steve can tell you that if it doesn't go well the first time, I'm in a foul mood for a good 10 minutes afterwards. First, I have to look up the long distance code online, then I have to look up the phone number I want to dial (because no matter how much I love you, I don't know your phone number), then I have to dial the bazillion numbers to make the call go through...whew. And heaven help me if I mis-dial and have to start over.
  

• I find it funny to see people riding their bikes through town (healthy lifestyle) and smoking a cigarette (not so healthy lifestyle). Such a contradiction, not to mention quite a balancing act.
  

• I find it funny that the AFN (Armed Forces radio station) plays music to try to suit the taste of every possible listener....you will hear Kenny Chesney, Gwen Stefani, Hank Williams Jr. and insert hard core rap artist name here, back to back.
  

• I do not enjoy that disposing of trash is such a major undertaking here. Granted, there is a lot of recycling going on which is a good thing. But we have three different types of trash bags - one for biological, one for paper, and one (gelber sack) for plastics, glass, etc. Two of these types of bags we can buy at the local stores, one type is free but has to be picked up at the Burgermeister's (mayor's) office. Biological is picked up once a week, paper is picked up twice a month, gelber sack is picked up every 4th week and there are a couple of other pick ups on the schedule that we don't even understand. Seriously people.....
  

• I do not like seeing McDonald's and Burger King everywhere. I feel like they are more common here than in the U.S. but perhaps they are simply more noticeable. Either way, it's an eyesore. I will humbly admit that if it was Whataburger and Chik-Fil-A I were seeing everywhere, I would probably find these symbols of corporate America much less offensive and in fact, quite appealing. :)
  

• I do not like how many different denominations of coins they have here. In my purse right now I have the following: 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1 euro & 2 euro pieces. A little consolidation would be nice.

If you're still reading, I'll end on a positive note. Steve asks me periodically if I am glad we came here. He asked a lot more frequently in the beginning but now and then, he still surprises me with that question as though he is not quite convinced or he's afraid the answer is going to change. Well, it's only been two months, but for now I can say quite confidently that yes, I am so glad we are here.