All dressed up with no place to go!

It seems like we have had this upcoming move in the back of our minds for a long time. It really is in the way back of my mind (obviously I am writing about it though, so it does come to the front every once in a while :-)). We still don't know when or where we will be going. They tell us that it will be in Germany, but I guess really, that could always change too. There are so many logistics to consider - especially when you have 3 children and a career involved.  Will this move put Bailey through High School or will she have to move again? At that point, Camden would only have 2 years left - where would that put him? We can try to plan as if it is going to work out perfectly, but until we have that in writing - you never know... Will Mia go to German or American school. She declared to Camden that, "I believe that I have decided to go to German school, but going to American school one day IS still on my bucket list :-). We chuckled at that statement. The reality of what that would mean for Mia is that she would have to start a new German school in 4th grade, and then switch to another new German school in 5th grade (because they track the kids after 4th grade). The schools are excellent though, and knowing that she would begin subjects such as Latin in 5th grade makes me think it would be worth the effort to continue on down this path she has started. Would we need to buy another car? Would we enjoy "city life" again or would we move to the country with a yard (a yard, I must add that would have to be cut on a regular basis - something we haven't done in almost 6 years). Would we live closer to the Czech Republic or closer to France? Would Bryan have to wear a suit to work (OK, I know this is a funny one, but for Bryan it is a big question :-).  Will we move before the kids finish school this year or will we wait until summer? How long will it take us to find a new house? Will we be living in a hotel again for a month (like we did when we first moved to Germany). So many things to consider and try to prepare for, but until we have it in writing as to where we are going, the planning isn't really so helpful.

One possibility for us is a City named Wiesbaden. It is located near Frankfurt (a huge plus, in that there are 2 major airports and lots of inexpensive flights :-). It is just a couple of hours from the French border too. We actually went to visit this city for the day a few weeks ago. It is about 4 times as big as Bamberg, with stately homes (kind of similar to Vienna, Austria). People seem to really like the city- we have heard good things Across the river though from Wiesbaden, is a really cool University town called Mainz. Another question if we were to move there is, which city would we want to live in. So many questions! As sad as I am to leave, I know that a new move will bring many new adventures and life lessons and as long as we are together, I am so grateful for whatever the future holds! Hopefully, we might know what that future holds fairly soon :-)

So many lessons to learn...

Mia has such a great group of friends. There is so much diversity within the group, yet they all come from Germany. First, you have my Chinese, American girl who happens to be "German" (she might even top the list for the most interesting background :-)). Then you have the Family from Siberia, you have the family from the former Yugoslavia, you have the family from the Ukraine, you have the family from Africa, and then muddled in there are a few original German families who offer so much as well. When all together, the conversations are amazing. Lives were not always easy. This morning, I chatted with the Ukrainian about the huge protests in her country with regard to siding more with Russia or the EU, we spoke with the lady from Siberia about the Olympics in Russia, and then also about the general idea of how History tends to repeat itself. So much depth and so much to learn from.  Truly.

In my class that I am subbing for, we had a lesson about Producers and Consumers. After, the discussion, I asked if it was better to be a producer or a consumer - the kids joked and answered "consumer" (at least I hope they were joking). In our country, it is so easy to be a consumer when you have never seen hunger. One of the aids spoke up about an instance a few years ago, when he had brought one of the sport teams to a tournament and they stayed in a small German "Bed and Breakfast" type place. In the morning, the old German owner observed the students taking huge portions and not eating all of the food they took. She held up a rolling pin and started yelling at them, telling them of the days back during the war, when she would dig up roots and make soup with roots and water because there was no food. Never waste food! Such lessons to learn!!!

Finally, a proud Momma moment to share.... In preparation for our upcoming move, I have spent quite a bit of time "thinning out" on this end, so we don't have to bring as much with us. Mia has the biggest room in the house, and lots of stuff. We have been slowly going through her things, and she said to me, "it feels good to go through and donate the toys/clothes that I don't play with or wear anymore. I want to donate half of it to kids in China and half of it to kids in Egypt." For her to mention China was not a big surprise, but Egypt really made me stop and think. I would never have thought of Egypt to donate to, but she was able to see first hand and remember the poverty there and it must have created an awareness that stuck with her. There are so many lessons to learn!!!   

My Bike

The other night, my friend and I rode bikes to the theater. As we were leaving, something reminded me of the first time I had ridden a bike here (back then, a truck was parked very close to a building and she went whizzing between the truck and the building like a pro as Bailey and I (being new to riding in the city) stopped and walked our bike through. In hind site, she probably thought it was quite comical. As we were riding to the theater, I reminded her of this and it was fun for her to hear my memory of the ride.

I grew up in the country. To run errands, we had to drive EVERYWHERE. I did ride my bike to school a hand full of times, but certainly not always (as it was a 2 mile trek). Where we lived in Georgia, the only option for riding a bike is if you take your life into your own hands and ride on the road - they don't have bike lanes for errands - Frankly, even if they did I'm not sure I would trust the drivers because they were never trained to drive around bikers. Really, the only way to even ride a bike any distance would be to put the bikes in the car and then drive to a bike path - which in my mind kind of defeats the whole purpose. Being a family of 5, the reality of putting 5 bikes in a car is not so easy  - even with a big van.

The single thing (besides the people of course) that I will hands down miss the most here, is riding my bike. What made me think of even writing this today, was because of my morning errands. I can: go to the bank, the apotheke, the grocery store, get photos printed, pants hemd, the bakery, and shop for clothes, school supplies, eat out quickly etc. all on my bike. It usually takes me about 40 minutes to do everything I need to get done AND I even get a little cardiovascular activity (and didn't spend a penny on gas). My American friend here who lives in a village told me that she has 300,000 miles on her car. Our little car has been all over Western Europe and only has 70,000, it is 6 years old, AND we are a one car family. My bike is literally my favorite possession. I am so sad for the day that I HAVE to get in the car to do EVERYTHING!

Even Disney thinks Bamberg is great!

I thought this was pretty neat... Disney made a commercial here in Bamberg! Even after 5 years - I feel so lucky to live here!!

Here is the "youtube" link... (you may have to copy and paste)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp-AQbjw_FM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUswHAbaWV6tsed5J5E8vBgg

Lost in Translation...

I thought I would write about this, because as much as it puts me in a very awkward  position, it also completely cracks me up!!!! My kids have always been restricted in the "bad word" department. They used to believe that the "S" word was stupid, the "d" word was darn etc.... Obviously, those days are long gone, but they still know that it isn't appropriate to say "the real" bad words. The problem with this though is that society has changed the rules a bit and I am reminded often that even teachers use these other words occasionally. Here is where it gets kind of funny with regard to living in Germany... The translation for the "sh" word is very commonly used here. By commonly used, I mean even in kindergarten sometimes. It would be very common to hear "Das ist Sh&%" yelled at a soccer game. No parent would even flinch. The translation is just different - and in this culture it isn't quite as harsh.  The other thing that is funny, is that because kids learn English beginning in 3rd grade, they also learn the English bad words. The problem is that they once again, don't quite know the severity or even the political correctness of certain words. Camden's best friend is German, and is practically a member of the family. He speaks excellent English, but every once in a while makes us laugh with the translation. One of the things that the boys love to do is to play "Nerf War." Often the intensity of the game gets a little much. A few weeks ago, during the game, we were all standing around (Mia included), and his friend said, "What the F*&%?" My eyes lit up, and I said, "Oh no, you can't say that - that is not nice to say." He couldn't grasp his mind around it because he said that EVERYONE says it... his teachers, his family etc..). So funny. I won't even begin to mention in detail the political correctness part of this concept,  but things that we would be absolutely shunned for saying in our society today, can be lost in translation easily over here. Like I said earlier, as much as it puts me in a VERY awkward position, it completely cracks me up!

Happy 2014!!!

Happy 2014!!! I know this is a little late, but as they say - better late than never :-). We had a super fun New Years' Eve/New Years with friends. We changed it up a bit this year (celebrating with our same group of friends, but at a different location). It was the first year not celebrating on our street. Our friends moved to a really cool place though on the river, and hosted a fun evening with delicious food and lots of fun. Some of the German traditions that we have now taken as our own are really fun: "Chocolate Essen" is one where everyone sits a around a table, and there is a big bar of chocolate wrapped up in paper with a ribbon. If you roll 2 sixes with the dice then you get to use a fork and knife to try to open the chocolate and eat it. The catch is...before you can try opening it, you must put on a scarf, hat, and mittens.  Often by the time the next person rolls double sixes, you haven't even gotten all of the winter gear on to even attempt to open the chocolate. The game moves super fast and can become a little intense - it is so funny though. Another tradition are these metal figures that the kids melt with fire and then quickly drop the liquid into a bowl of water. The figures reshape into another form. You can then look at the shape to see what the New Year will bring you (luck, love, happiness etc).  Of course the Germans have lots of beverages, lots of fire works, and other surprises too. Hopefully, we will be back here next year to celebrate (even though we won't be living in Bamberg any longer :-(). I hope you all had a wonderful New Years and that 2014 brings everything that makes you happy!

Can you guess who this is?

Here are the kids melting the "metal" over fire...

Getting ready for the countdown..

Happy New YEAR!!!!

Gotta Love the Fireworks in Bamberg

We had a great view from the balcony

Our group shooting fireworks

So pretty!!!

And ....the walk home.... The kids and I left around 2:00 and the normal, meticulously clean streets were as always transformed into shambles.... To me this is one of the funniest things....

The remnants of all of the people celebrating everywhere makes me laugh

These streets are usually SOOOO Clean!!!

Nothing but the remnants of 2013 :-)