Tonight, I thought I would blog about the extraordinary week we spent with our visiting family exploring German. However, I am this minute experiencing another “new” as an expat. It stinks when your family is packing to go home. I have said it before and I will probably continue to say it-MISSING FRIENDS AND FAMILY IS THE HARDEST PART OF LIVING ABROAD!!! As much as I have enjoyed Germany, it is the pits not having our family and friends a ‘hop-skip-and-jump away’.
The post about our adventures together will be saved for tomorrow or the next day. (whenever I stop blubbering)
Rather than write a slobbery, blubbering blog post as they pack, I will write about our new “German” family member. She is the only Hoff family member that has switched to a full German citizenship (the rest of us just have a Visa). I think I will call her “my new best friend”, even thought the moving company tagged her “the Hoff bike” at a low value. Yes…My bike changed her citizenship-she is now officially German. No, she cannot utter a single “Danke Schoen” nor can she eat a 'Rot Wurst' with some clean your nose out mustard…but she does look German. I was brave enough this week to waltz into the local bike shop, speak “Bike” German (which was more like playing a very long game of Bike Charades…with me losing) in order to have her converted to a “legal” state. I picked up my precious, (seldom ridden in Alabama) bike today. Yup...she is ready to ride AND is now legal with lights. Even better- she has a functional, brand-spankin new, basket for my purchases. If you have not spent much time in Germany, I am sure you are puzzled by my celebration. Where we live, parking is not easy, nor cheap around the market or stores. Therefore, my ‘dogs’ (southern slang for feet) take me most places other than the kid’s school. If you are a tourist of Europe, it is part of the glamour, if you are a resident; it is part of the butt kicking. I really don't mind my newest exercise regimen- lugging the groceries back to the house-it brings back memories from my days living in NYC. But in those days, I was young, carefree, and a ‘party of one’ . I am now a ‘party of five’ if you count the dog. However, no more complaints-I now have my beloved new German family member that can give my “dogs” a break. To top it all off, tonight, she was THE MOST LOVED family member as she was able to handle the amazing speed in which she was peddled to the Bakery to buy the forgotten bread for our “farewell dinner”. Once again, I realized that there is ALWAYS a positive note in every situation, and in this case, it happened to be a 15-year-old piece of metal, that until this week was “retired”.
Rather than write a slobbery, blubbering blog post as they pack, I will write about our new “German” family member. She is the only Hoff family member that has switched to a full German citizenship (the rest of us just have a Visa). I think I will call her “my new best friend”, even thought the moving company tagged her “the Hoff bike” at a low value. Yes…My bike changed her citizenship-she is now officially German. No, she cannot utter a single “Danke Schoen” nor can she eat a 'Rot Wurst' with some clean your nose out mustard…but she does look German. I was brave enough this week to waltz into the local bike shop, speak “Bike” German (which was more like playing a very long game of Bike Charades…with me losing) in order to have her converted to a “legal” state. I picked up my precious, (seldom ridden in Alabama) bike today. Yup...she is ready to ride AND is now legal with lights. Even better- she has a functional, brand-spankin new, basket for my purchases. If you have not spent much time in Germany, I am sure you are puzzled by my celebration. Where we live, parking is not easy, nor cheap around the market or stores. Therefore, my ‘dogs’ (southern slang for feet) take me most places other than the kid’s school. If you are a tourist of Europe, it is part of the glamour, if you are a resident; it is part of the butt kicking. I really don't mind my newest exercise regimen- lugging the groceries back to the house-it brings back memories from my days living in NYC. But in those days, I was young, carefree, and a ‘party of one’ . I am now a ‘party of five’ if you count the dog. However, no more complaints-I now have my beloved new German family member that can give my “dogs” a break. To top it all off, tonight, she was THE MOST LOVED family member as she was able to handle the amazing speed in which she was peddled to the Bakery to buy the forgotten bread for our “farewell dinner”. Once again, I realized that there is ALWAYS a positive note in every situation, and in this case, it happened to be a 15-year-old piece of metal, that until this week was “retired”.
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