Depends on what you like....

I had a really funny conversation yesterday with a German Lady. She was telling me how she does not like Germany and wishes she could move somewhere else for a while. She further explained, that she does not like all of the orderliness of living here. She gave the example of the after 10 rule (which basically states that quiet hours outside are from 10:00pm to 7:00am). The rules are created to prevent irritation in close living quarters and not to disturb others. It is really funny, because I think the exact opposite. I think one of the reasons we like it so much here, is because everything is very predictable. People know the rules, they follow the rules and in my eyes - everything works out beautifully. I also agree with the rules that they have (in that they make perfect sense to me). It just strikes me funny how people like different things and ways. I suspect, if she moved to Italy, she might quickly yearn for that German orderliness :-) Maybe not though - who knows???

Exactly 5 years ago today.....

Exactly 5 years ago today, our family moved to Germany. At the time, we had no idea what to expect. We had 3 young kids that were eagerly on board for a new adventure, and truly, we were up for anything. If worst came to worst, we would just move back to our creature comfort of what was then "home". 5 years have gone by in the blink of an eye, and I thought I would write a list of my top 20 insights that I have discovered since moving over here...(except for #1, these are in no particular order)

1. "Home" is wherever my family is

2. When you are open to new ideas and ways - it is amazing how much you can grow and learn

3. I would much rather spend money on traveling and new experiences with my family, then spend money on "stuff"

4. The world could learn so much from each other...

5. When a societies' basic needs are met, it makes for a very nice way of living

6. To sit for 5 hours at a biergarten with good conversation is a great way to spend an evening

7. A consistent education system, where kids are responsible for themselves, is really such a gift

8. To watch my kids converse in another language is really weird (but very cool)

9. With a little sacrifice, a one car family works, and saves a ton of money too (when possible)

10. I feel like I live n the 1970's - it is fantastic

11. Sometimes, when you don't understand everything that is being said, it is kind of nice :-)

12. If I could ride my bike in lieu of a car, I would do it in an instant!

13.  There are many kind people in this world (all colors, shapes, sizes, religions, dialects etc.)

14.  Contrary to many stereotypes, Germans DO have a great sense of humor

15. The Autobahn saves so much time, and it WORKS because everyone is properly trained to drive.

16. To travel the world with my kids, and see it through their eyes, brings me so much happiness

17. Always take advantage of whatever type of weather the day brings

18. Tradition brings so much comfort and joy to a society

19. I really wish I could find out where my ancestors came from in Germany - I think it was from Franconia, but I want this information confirmed :-) !!!!!

20. There is always another adventure around the corner!

2,962 meters to the top!

Well, I am back from my hike, and had such a good time. A group of 9 of us climbed the entire way to the top in about 11 hours total. It was a really fun adventure, but I think instead of writing too much about it, I will just bore you to death with lots of pictures! I am sore today, but definitely a good sore!  A very happy check off my bucket list :-)

A long way to go....

Incredible waterfalls from the mountains...

We even saw heards of Mountain sheep along the way - one of my favorite animals ever!!!!

Me - half way up

This is our Hut that we slept in. They have a full kitchen and everything, but the funny thing is: it all has to be helicoptered in....

We slept 2052 meters high :-)

The view from the Hut

Sleeping arrangements were quite cozy (being sarcastic). 11 people slept here - I was on the bottom in the middle...

Gotta love the Germans... Inside the hut, after dinner, they passed out a book of songs to each table. Everyone sang  "Country Roads, take me home" in English, and then we had a group prost - SO FUNNY!!!! The really funny thing is that our group leader was from West Virginia - so ironic when you sing the lyrics!

Starting back up the second day - not sure if you can see it, but there is a tent with a guy standing up on a huge boulder doing morning yoga. It would have been a cold night, but a very cool experience!

Still a long way to go...

Me - taking a break about 2 hours from the top

We even hiked up bits of snow.... (Thank you so much Mom and Dad for the Water proof hiking boots - they were perfect!!! :-))

Incredible views....

The rock is all limestone, and there is A LOT of it!!!

More snow, but it was quite warm!

Not much farther now...

For the last hour of the hike, we could have clipped in, but that would have required carrying all of the gear up with us (too heavy), so instead, we just used our hands to hold on to the metal and we were careful...

Almost there - just another 200 feet or so....

We made it!!!! :-) A prost at the highest point in Germany!

Zugspitze

The Zugspitze is the tallest mountain in Germany. The base of it begins in Garmisch-Paretenkirche, which is right on the Austrian border in Southern Germany. For three years, I have wanted to hike the to the top of the Zugspitze.  My friends and I were supposed to go on the 4th of July, but with bad weather and the uncertainty of a guide, we weren't able to go. Glaciers cover parts of the Mountain, and so snow is always a concern (even in summer). Fortunately, I was able to find a group through the base that was going, and even better, the weather is supposed to be pretty good (hopefully :-), so we are actually able to go :-). It is almost 3000 meters high, and with the route that we are going, it will take 2 days (we will sleep in a Mountain hut along the way). I told Bryan, that as I get older, I don't get super excited excited for many things, but I really am super excited for this trip. They say that the most disappointing part of it is when you get to the very top and see all of the tourists that have come up via cable car (in lieu of the hike) - it isn't quite the solace of a Mountain peak that you would envision :-) Definitely worth it anyway! Hopefully, all will go well and I will post photos after the weekend.

Summer

We have not had a drop of rain since our Camping trip (almost a full month now), it has been a great summer weather-wise. Each day I wake up and once again, the sun is shining with not a cloud in the sky - not such a bad deal! School is winding down for Mia, and then we will have almost 4 weeks, when we are all on summer vacation together! (after a year on different schedules, it is nice to finally have this time :-) Unfortunately, Bryan has 11 Furlough days within that time, but with political frustrations aside, we are happy to have time (you have to look at the bright side of it - as long as our basic needs are met, time is much more important than money anyway :-). We are trying to enjoy every minute of the nice weather here. Last night, while Bailey and Camden were out with friends, Mia, Bryan and I had a picnic by the river and then on to our favorite playground. Last summer, when Bamberg hosted the "Landesgartenshau" for the entire summer, they built this incredible dry and wet playground. This summer, it is open to the public for free. It is one of our very favorite spots (I have posted about it before). It really is such a gift to the city to have this available to the residents. It is always bustling with people and I know people really enjoy it.

a pizza picnic :-)

The wet playground (kids play in the water and climb, swing, explore) We always joke about liability, and we are proud to say, there have not been any drownings yet :-) Even though it is a law suit waiting to happen, there have been no problems at all here :-)

Another part to the playground...

This could also be a liability too, but I guess kids just know their limitations and stick to them - no problems!

To get to the islands, you can cross by water or by rock...

They even have a couple of built in trampolines

The water is pretty cold

Mia crossing the little zipline thing - so much fun!

More school differences...

Yes, I will bore you once again with differences in schools. (I think being so passionate about the problems in our education system makes this topic so fascinating to me). Mia has learned a few "different" things this week, and I thought I'd share...

Once a week, Mia has Religion class. There are 2 different Religion classes available at her age: Catholic and Evangelic. Even though her kindergarten was Catholic, she attends the Evangelic/Ethics class. Being that we are in a very Catholic town, that class that Mia attends is quite small. I like that they offer religion, but I especially like that they offer choices for Religion. In the religion class (especially in the upper grades) the kids are exposed to the backgrounds and practices of the many religions. Anyway.... In Mia's religion class this week, they went to the Cemetary. I did not realize this, but Mia said it was actually the second time that they have gone. She said they spent 2 hours, walking around, looking at all of the graves, looking at the dates, seeing all of the candles lit etc. She found a child grave that had the same name: Mia, which was very interesting to her. In Bamberg (and I presume most of Germany), the cemetery is a busy place. They even have a full time Floral business that sits outside the cemetery for all of the visitors. I thought it was a neat thing that they did this in her religion class. All of these things they do in school, really make me understand how the culture is the way it is....

2 weeks ago, Mia's class had a track and field day. They had all of the different track and field events, and it was really fun for the kids. After the event, all of the kids came home with a pedometer type computer that they clip to their clothing. The German company Bosch, had provided the kids with these simple computers for 2 weeks. Basically, when they do a certain amount of activity each day, a sunshine appears on the computer. VERY SIMPLE. I thought it was brilliant though, because it makes the kids want to exercise each morning, so they can be sure to get their sunshine :-) Even better was the fact that each child was responsible for this computer for 2 weeks. No contract signed - just trust that they would bring it back on their own without any parental assistance!

We always learned about healthy eating with the food pyramid. Mia has learned a different way though. She has been taught a very simple, yet thoughtful way to think about food. Red, Yellow, and Green. Just like a stop light. Green, you can go ahead and eat. Yellow, is sometimes good, but not too much, and Red is not healthy. She constantly reminds us what color certain foods that we are about to eat are... Later, I am sure she will go into more detail about carbs, protein etc, but for this age, to have a very simple, but realistic understanding is fantastic.

We are fast approaching the end of the school year for Mia. Mia has had the same teacher for 2 years, and I feel absolutely indebted to her for the kindness and education that she has provided to my youngest child. My idea is always to give a big gift (I don't want to speak for everyone, but I think, that is often the mentality of where I come from) - especially after 2 years with the same teacher. The class has decided that each family can chip in up to $3.00 (euro) and we will get her a small gift. I spoke with my friend about this, explaining how I felt that after 2 years, this seems very small. Her explanation was that the teacher is doing her job, and it would be inappropriate to do anything more. It reminded me of when Bailey and Camden were at the Gymnasium last year. We sent in a few gifts to their favorite teachers, and they seemed confused in accepting them. So different! It makes sense though - after all it is their job, and they take pride in it.

Gedicht - Over the last 2 years, Mia has had to memorize many poems and short stories to recite in front of her class. Last weekend, she came home with a page long poem to memorize by Monday. I really see the benefits of these memorization exercises as I was floored at how quickly she memorized the entire thing. Literally, she spent probably 20 minutes and had it all in her mind. It would have taken me hours...

Different Math... One of the things I find so intriguing is how different German Math is. One thing that you see early on is that you might have a problem in second grade that looks like this:
                                           4 times 9 divided by 6 plus 8 minus 14
With Bailey and Camden, they would only learn 1 thing at a time, and nultiplication was only touched on briefly in the 2nd grade, and division not at all.  By teaching this way, it makes the kids think in a different way. Another thing that I find interesting, is that they learn to divide simple division with remainders in their head. For example 33 divided by 8. The kids really learn the concept of what a  remainder is. They easily figure out the answer (4 remainder 1). Another big difference is the signs are completely different then what we are used to. Lastly, they learn adding, multiplying 2 or 3 digit numbers by starting on the left and going to the right (we obviously do the opposite) Who would have thought 2nd grade Math could be so different!

Lastly, I just have to smile, because the end of the year school gathering is at a bier garten. All of the classes in the school are invited (there are only 4 classes). It will be a fun night for both the kids and the parents!

Germans and their late nights....

I have always been a morning person. I usually get up no later than 6:00 and accomplish 90% of what I will get done for the day by noon. With that said, I have always been an early to bed girl as well. It has taken some time to get used to, but now we know that German's love their late nights. It is very common to come home from dinner at someones house at midnight or later. We all went over to a friends' house for a barbeque on Saturday night, and even at midnight, I felt so bad about leaving (I think they would have preferred us to stay longer). Culturally, you don't want to offend anyone, and so the evening goes into the late night hours. Our kids are with us too, so they also stay up and play with the other kids -which is often good, but also can be difficult (depending on who is there - ie. our kids are varied ages, so it is not always good for all of the kids). It is definitely a huge cultural difference that I have noticed - For the most part, we enjoy it (although sometimes, bed by 9:00pm is a very tempting alternative :-)).

The Bier Garten

I think the idea of the Bier Garten (Beer Garden) was one of the best ideas ever. There are hundreds of them, just in our region alone. Basically, it is a simple outdoor restaurant with delicious food and local Beer and sometimes wine. They almost always have playgrounds or soccer fields for the kids to play, and the best part is that they are so reasonably priced, that you can go often (ex. a steak dinner with a Bier is almost the same as the cost of a meal at Chick-fil-a, and the kinder schnitzel is actually cheaper than a kids meal there...). Some of them even allow you to bring your own picnic food, and just order the beer if you don't want to order the food.  Germans LOVE their Bier Gartens and in the summer it is very typical to be invited  by people to meet at a bier garten. The weather here for the last 2 weeks (ever since our Camping trip) has been incredible - beautiful Maine-like Days! We have found ourselves with different groups of friends now, 5 nights in a row at different Bier Gartens - it is what everyone does on a nice day. It is so much easier than having people over for dinner, and very enjoyable for the kids too. We can bike to many of the local Bier Gartens, which makes it fun, and to take advantage of the good weather is a must too! I cherish this time so much!

Annual Camping Trip

Last weekend we went on our annual camping trip with Camden's soccer club. It is the 4th year we have gone, and our camping weekend now has become a treasured fixture in our year. We really didn't have very good weather this year (lots of rain), and we had actually gone back and fourth as to whether or not we should even go, but like Camden's old coach always said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad choice of clothing." So, along with everyone else, we still went and had a fun  time as always. It is only one weekend that we are away, but it literally feels like two weeks. There is something so calming about having nothing to do, except enjoy; the outdoors (even in the rain), the company of others, and watch your kids take a break from all of the distractions of life and simply be kids. There were groups of kids; playing soccer, running through the woods, playing hide and seek, tending the fire, playing war with sticks, coloring by the fire, yummy meals, roasting stick bread and marshmallows etc

The campsite....

Boys (including Camden - not pictured) playing war with sticks - no injuries :-)

Mia and her pals

Gorgeous sunset!

By the campfire

View from our tent...

playing soccer

Baking fresh bread by the fire (stockbrot)

The sky not looking too promising :-)

. All of the teams are invited (as well as the families), and it is fun to see the different teams hang out together. Even the little kids (3- 9 years old) organize their own soccer games - it is really cute. The 16 year old and older teens have there own corner too, where they set up their tents, listen to music and hang out (they always have there own little party going on, as they are allowed to drink beer here at 16), but absolutely no problems at all from that corner of the camp site. Every once in a while they make an appearance when dinner is ready or to play soccer, but they have a great time on their own. For one weekend, life is so simple, and I really cherish the memories!