Zucchini and Mail

Thursday we received our first piece of mail.  What JOY!!  Thank you, Ali and the rest of the Kitcheners!  Nothing says "home" quite like getting a nice, personal note from a friend in your mailbox.   And, not to put pressure on anyone, but if you would like to write to us here is our address for at least through January 2018:

Laehrstrasse 25A

14165 

Berlin, Germany

We also had to fill out a bunch of paperwork to start the process of getting health insurance.  Apparently in Germany every resident has to:
#1- register their address
#2- have health insurance
#3- have liability insurance
#4-10 - not sure what these are yet but seems like there will be more things we HAVE to do and will be judged harshly for not knowing we had to do them and certainly for not doing them in a timely manner.

So we (Marty really as forms are all in German) researches the different private insurance plans, calls different people, asks advice from various Germans he knows and we narrow it down.  The health insurance demands a physical check-up by a Dr before they will insure us.  The kids HAVE to have insurance before they are allowed to attend school.  School for both JFK and BBIS start on the 21st so our time is limited.  When we hear that we have to have a physical we wonder if we will have time to get an appointment.  This would be difficult to do in Seattle with such a short time frame.  We shouldn't have worried.  There are several different  family doctors all within a few blocks of our house.  Marty reads a few reviews and we bike to one of the offices, drop off the paperwork and all are scheduled for appointments for this coming Wednesday.  I HIGHLY doubt we could have (ALL FOUR of us) scheduled appointments for all 4 of us that quickly in Seattle.

After we drop off the paperwork we head to the store because we need a few things so that I can use up the zucchini that Julie brought us.  Plus when I have my grocery sherpa (Marty) I like to stock up on the heavy stuff like milk and other liquids.
Not only is bike riding on a bike path new but also having to be extra careful to lock up our bikes is also new.  Bike theft is a HUGE problem in Berlin.  It seems everyone we have talked to has had a different opinion on nearly every topic but one thing all Berliners agree on is that if you don't lock up your bike (and even sometimes when you do) it will be gone in an instant.

We think we have scared the kids into knowing they must lock up there bike EVERY single time they are out by threatening that we will not buy them a new one if it is stolen.

Grocery shopping continues to be an adventure.  I try to find things on my own with my toddler German and my Google translate.  I do pretty well for most things.  But who knew that baking powder and baking soda are combined and together called backpulver?  Is this correct?  I'm assuming that they do not exist here separately? Rosemarie?

We get home and the kids work on their "math and reading assignments"  Before we left Seattle I talked with their school principal and was able to get a few math books so that no matter what type of math classes they are placed in here in Germany they will not fall behind when we return to Seattle.

Josie is doing math 2 grade levels ahead and Benjamin 1.  I've heard that the European school system is more advanced but nonetheless it feels good to know they will be on track when we return.

I end up making pretty delicious (if I do say so myself) zucchini cake and zucchini/potato soup for dinner.  Josie even loved the soup. Benjamin nearly gagged and said it looked like vomit.  Which to be fair, it did.  Therefore no photo of the soup. It tasted good though.
When grocery shopping with the family and especially with the grocery sherpa there tend to be odd items purchased that I never would have bought if I had gone by myself or even if I had gone alone with the kids.  Marty says "sure" to much more at the grocery store than I ever do.

So because he said yes to whipped cream in a can the kids decide they need to put it on the zucchini cake.  Nothing is more insulting to a cook (except maybe a big load of ketchup on a nicely cooked meal) than a huge load of fake, processed whipped cream.  Oh, well... they had fun!