The next couple of weeks are going to be CRAZY! We have lots to do! Pre-inspection, detail and clean our car, ship our car, ship our unaccompanied baggage, ship our goods, DEEP clean our house and have it inspected. I am sure there is something else I am missing. I am not stressed...yet. I am sure it will come soon though.
There are several things I am going to miss, a few things I won't miss, and several things I look forward to and a few things I am NOT looking forward to. I want to list them all so I can look back in the future and remember this time in my life.
Things I Am Going To Miss...
- German food, of course!!! The Snitzel, kroketten (fried mashed potatoes), pretzels, doner kabobs, ice cream, bread and the fries. Oh, and the whip cream.
- The Autobaun. Going 80-90 mph is normal for me.
- Christmas Markets and the Beer/Wine festivals
- The scenery, of course!
- Traveling to a different country for the day. We have been able to take several day trips to Paris, Belgium, and France.
- My house...where we brought Ava home from the hospital and raised her for the first year and a half of her life.
- Our friends. I have made some of the BEST, lifelong friends over here and I am going to miss them SO SO much!
- Dining out. Eating out in Germany is totally different than in America. It is normal to go out to eat and spend several hours at the restaurant. It is meant to be a relaxing night out. Not a get in a get out kind of thing.
- The windows. "Awesome" is the best word to describe them.
- The long summer days when the sun comes up before 6am and doesn't set till after 10pm.
- The roundabouts!
- Milka Chocolate and Hippo's.
- Chocolate Croissants
- The ice cream truck that comes by my house at roughly 6pm every night.
- Tax being included in the price
- Being able to walk to everything (when we travel to a city)
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Things I will NOT miss....
- Mail taking several weeks or even months to get here!!!
- Going to a German grocery store and forgetting to bring bags...the grocery stores do not provide sacks! Crazy, I know!!!
- Small. The ovens are small, the parking spaces are small, the cars are small, the bags of chips are small, the roads are small. Everything is just smaller in Europe.
- AFN! I will NOT miss AFN and their ridiculous commercials and choice of programming.
- Stores that are closed on Sundays and close at 5pm on week days. Seriously, everything shuts down at 5pm (or earlier) and NOTHING is open on Sundays. Oh, and most stores have about 2 hours during the middle of the day that they are closed. Maybe for a nap? Who knows!
- The DARK winters. This winter was the darkest winter in 43 years!! Americans probably won't understand but it definitely affects peoples moods. I found myself becoming depressed and didn't even know why and then one day the sun came out and I instantly knew why!!
- Almost getting run over at the German grocery store. Germans come off as very rude and un-friendly but if you get to know them, they are nice.
Do you see the difference between the things I will miss and won't miss? There is not much I won't miss!
Now, on to our trip back to America... (sniff sniff).
Things I am looking forward to...
- Target, Hobby Lobby, Chick Fil A- its worth mentioning again....
- Variety!!! aka Wal-Mart and fast food restaurants.
- English speakers
- Driving. I don't know how best to describe this but in Germany, if you are on the autobahn and miss a turn, it could take a good 30 minutes to get back to where you are supposed to go. Directions can also be confusing.
- Family being closer, of course!!!
- Regular T.V. and being able to find something good to watch whenever I turn it on.
- Radio!!!!
- 24-hour stores
- Gas stations every few miles opposed to the ones in Germany that are every 15-30 miles apart!
- Not being forgotten!!!!!
- American style houses!
- Air-Conditioning! German houses don't have A/C.
- Well posted street signs
- Being around non-military people. Don't get me wrong, we love some of our military friends but it will be nice to get out of the "military world" where we are ONLY surrounded by military people.
Things I am NOT looking forward to...
- Everyone on their iphones or ipads 24/7. This annoys me to no end. This was me about 3 years ago but since living in Germany, my whole perspective has changed.
- Making new friends
- Being without our stuff for 2 months and living out of suitcases
- Unhealthy eating habits by Americans
- Obama
- The economy
- Moving to a whole new city
1 comment:
You're too funny. "Things I am NOT looking forward to...Obama :)" So glad you guys were able to travel around so much. My aunt who lived in Germany in the military always encourage people to travel as much as possible. Thank you for sharing all of your lovely pictures & travels :))
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