It's all the same in a very different way...

June 25, 2009 is just a few days away. That day will be exactly one year since we left for our adventure abroad. It has passed so quickly in a very slow way. There were several days at the beginning that I never thought I could do this. It was so difficult; the hardest, biggest change I think ever in my life. Even harder then going from a couple to a family. Everything changed all at once and we were on our own.

But now, a year later we are a stronger family unit. I still don't feel like this is home, but there is a comfort level I wasn't sure I would ever have. When we return from a vacation out of Germany there is something about crossing the border that feels 'normal'. We don't spend so much time talking about all the things we miss; instead we've started enjoying the things we have here. We have even talked about things we will miss from here once we return home! I will always have bad German days, but I also always had bad Michigan days. So one year later we are stronger, wiser and a little fatter from all the bread! No matter how much time passes though, my German will always stink! I will never get use to the language.

I was thinking about the year and then the question that has come up so often by friends. "What is it like there? I just can't imagine what your daily life is like." I came up with it's really all the same, just different. Let me explain...

1. We wake up to church bells ... instead of an alarm clock.
2. We eat breakfast ... called frühstück and eat brotchen instead of toast
3. The kids go to school each morning ... no busses, we drive them
4. We go shopping and run errands ... just not on Sundays or after 8:00 pm. The stores are closed.
5. We have clocks ... but they are in military time. I pick up Alianna from school at 16:15.
6. We drink coffee with friends ... yep! Starbucks is here too.
7. We drive or take public transportation ... just with different signs, rules, speed limits and in metric.
8. We have Park and Ride lots ... and actually use them!
9. We watch TV ... Grey's, Lost, House is just not the same in German!
10. We use debit cards ... they are called EC Karte.
11. We get money from an ATM ... it's called a Geldautomat
12. We take weekend trips ... instead of going up north we go to the Eifel.
13. We go on vacations ... instead of Chicago we go to Paris, instead of Mexico beaches we go to Spain, instead of skiing out West we go south to the Alps and instead of the Caribbean we go the Canary Islands.
14. We have trash/recycle day ... 3 times a week! Yellow day is plastic, Blue is paper, Brown is Bio, and Gray is regular trash. Glass is recycled in a different container that we have to drive to.
15. We go grocery shopping ... several times a week because our refrigerators are so small.
16. We go grocery shopping ... we have to put money into the cart to use it and bring and bag our own groceries.
17. You have one-stop shopping ... we go the butcher, baker and the getranke shop (for drinks only)!
18. You have Buschs, Country Market, Hillers, Sam's Club ... we have Edeka, Aldi, Rewe, Kaufland.
19. You have Target ... and we have nothing even close!!!!!

So those are just some of things to help you understand what things are like here. The best way I can describe it... it's all the same in a very different way!