two LONG weeks

It's been just over two weeks since we arrived in Germany. We slept in our new house last night for the first time on borrowed furniture from the base since our household goods have yet to arrive. We feel one step closer to becoming a little more settled. Here are just a few things we've learned in this foreign land...
* NOTHING is for convenience. It seems to be a practical country and everything seems to be done for a reason. No drive throughs is a small example.
* Recycling is not an option- it's a way of life. The garbage company dropped off our bags with specific instructions of what goes in to each bag. I'm still trying to figure out how to throw the trash away... I'll have a full blog post about this in the very near future.
* Hotels (at least ours) charge for use of their room phone. We made LOCAL calls and 800 calls that we thought were free. Not so, as we learned upon checking out. Our bill was 122 Euro, over $150 USD. Yes, we're still in shock- that was just two weeks, thank goodness we didn't stay longer.
* Building on the phone bill. Everything is expensive, nothing is free. We've heard utilities are super expensive- we're quite afraid to see our first bills as they trickle in next month. We're back to paying for water after enjoying well water in our KS home with no bill. Yes, Tyler is going to have to learn to take quick showers!
* All bottled water is not the same. Justin learned this day one as he tried out the mineral water. We now know that we prefer "tap" water.
* Rental car companies expect to be full of gas (no paying for them to fill it when you return it) and vacuumed out upon return. There was a little (we only had the stupid car 24 hrs) dog hair in ours and the lady couldn't believe we allowed our dog in it. Out of exhaustion and absolute desperation, Jim lied {a little} and told the lady our dog was sick and we had to take Lady to the vet. No sympathy- she smacked him with a $50 late fee & said, "Guess you've learned your lesson."
* Everything is super slow except Germans are crazy fast drivers. Yes, they zoom past on the Autobahn- we expected that. But, through these villages that twist and wind up and down hills- that's a different story. There's no slowing down- even when you come to a blind corner with a mirror posted on the road so you can see what's coming. Yikes! Plus,these roads are super narrow. In addition, they have no problem getting right on your tail- no car length in between you and the car in front of you over here!
* Lateless is not acceptable. On time is late. Jim might be a little happy he doesn't have to kick me in to gear to get places on time... I'm learning.
* We didn't have a problem being late to school not one but TWO days this week as it was a 2-hour delay that we didn't know about. At first, we thought we were doing great getting there before everyone else, then felt stupid as we realized we really were the only ones to show up early. Yes, the boys were really happy. We now have the Web site to check it out before hand.
* Germans honk their horns generously. I feel some times like we have a "honk" if you're... on written on our window.
* Germans like to take their walks- I hope to to enjoy this as soon as it warms up a tad. Weather doesn't seem to stop them, but this chick doesn't do cold too well!
* Phone numbers don't all have the same number of digits. We just got a home phone number, and I think it's like 10 or 11 digits. That's calling locally- even with an area code in the US, it's 10 digits max. Don't think I'll be memorizing anyone's number... actually, we might have to cancel our phone service after paying to use a hotel phone. Not sure we want to see a bill- I can live without it.
* No paying at the pump for gas- again, nothing is for convenience.

* Feels a lot like Alaska. It snowed last week and it's still on the ground. It's bitter cold and gets super dark early. Also, the water comes out of the tap icy, frosty cold- one thing I do love!
* The language is definitely a barrier, which make me even more determined to start studying German again. I've always felt somewhat competent and able... not here! Even Google and Explorer are in German on our compter. I haven't figured out how to permanently change it to English, so I can't even spell check here... it all comes up flagged as misspelled... of course, it's in English! Please excuse the spelling errors... I'm on my own here!
* Change is hard. Growing pains hurt! As our neighbor said tonight, "It's painful- you just get numb to it after a while." We heard so many times how wonderful it is over here... trying to stay optimistic and hope to start enjoying it soon!