Sleepover, Snow and Soccer

 Friday night the kids had a sleepover at our house with new friends Suzy and Leopold.  We met at Benjamin's Lacrosse practice and then headed home.
They were very fun to have over and it is so nice to find a family that has similar aged children and the 4 of them play so nicely together.

They started to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang after dinner but it is such a long movie that we decided to watch the rest of the movie after breakfast on Saturday morning. 
As they watched the movie the first snow of the season fell.  It was soft and slow and beautiful.

Leopold's mom, Katy, is a teacher at JFK and asked around to see if there was room on Leopold's soccer team for Benjamin... and there was!!  After watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, enjoying the snow fall and making a few snowballs we all head to Benjamin's first soccer practice.  Indoor, of course.

He LOVES it.  He is hot and sweaty and worn out.  Perfect! The following week they even dig up a couple of extra uniforms for Benjamin and Leopold.
Katy took Josie and Suzy out for hot chocolate while the boys practice and on our walk home we stop at the store and Benjamin and Josie play in the teeny tiny bit of remaining snow.

Who Needs Crossfit?

In addition to all of the Ebay items we had been finding I also had been checking the various Facebook pages where people are sell their stuff. 
I found a great microwave which was only a year old, was large and based on the ratings was very good.  It was 1/5 of the original price and it seemed worth it to crisscross town to go get it.  I set up an appointment to go and get it in Prenzlauer Berg just after dropping the kids off at school.  At the last minute Marty had to meet a plumber at the new apartment and couldn't go.  I said I could go by myself.  He told me I was nuts!! "You CANNOT carry a microwave across town by yourself"  Well... anyone who knows me knows that you don't tell me that I can't do something when I have my mind set on it.  I say that I most certainly can and set off on my own.  I walk to the Sbahn from school and take it many stops to a stop near the pick up spot.  There is a tram I could also take but since it isn't far I just walk the 5 or 6 blocks.
I am beeped in, climb the 5 flights of stairs (no elevator) all to find out it is the wrong set of stairs. So I head back down and then back up the correct 5 flights of stairs. I meet the seller who is very kind.  She helps me BARELY stuff the microwave into the largest Ikea bag I could find to bring along.  It is a beast of a microwave and I doubt my abilities but I had Marty in my head saying "you cannot carry a microwave across town by yourself" so I hoisted the thing up - the bag really there just keeping the cord and everything together.  There was no possible way I could carry this thing by the handles... plus, I'm certain the weight of it would break the handles anyway. 
I barely waddle down the 5 flights of stairs and have to stop with the microwave propped against the wall to take a breather before I head into the street for the real work. 
Once onto the street the reality of what I'm about to attempt hits me.  But I'm a bit persistent.  I will not be deterred.  I see several people who give me a bit of a sideways glance but this city is apparently used to people carrying microwaves or other large items across town.  A nice woman looks at me and laughs a little and says "Ebay purchase?"  Yep, I nod.  She asks if she can help.  I say I'm good but she grabs the extra bag I'm carrying with the smaller items like the grill and my hat and gloves (I'm no longer cold at all, in fact I'm sweating!!) and leads me to the tram that I had previously passed over in favor of walking but now that I'm lugging an at least 25 pound, awkwardly packaged microwave I decide the tram is worth it even just for one stop.  I thank the kind woman profusely just for the company of walking me to the tram and for carrying my small bag. 
I wait for at least 7 minutes for the next tram, get on with my huge load and again a few people look at me a bit interestingly but after that very kind woman who helped me to the tram not one other person offered to help me.
I get off the tram and hoist the microwave back up into my already weakening arms and head for the sbahn station.  Thankfully there is an elevator at the station which lightens the load.
I hop on the sbahn train and thankfully find an empty seat near the back.  There are two British women sitting nearby and we make small talk.  We laugh about the fact that I'm lugging around a huge microwave and then I say that my husband said "there is no way you can do that by yourself" and they nodded knowingly.  They are sisters in the stubbornness.  They totally understood!
I ride the sbahn into a part of town I've never been looking to catch a bus I've never ridden.  I unfortunately cross over a huge, busy 6 lane freeway type thing.  The pedestrian light quickly changes from walk to don't walk but I just keep going across.  I make it to the bus stop and rest the heavy microwave on one of the seats in the bus shelter.  I then look at the bus schedule and realize that the stop I'm at has the bus I need heading in the wrong direction.  I look around and see where I need to go to catch the correct bus which is back across that same 6 lane freeway thing and then down the street a bit and across another 4 lane, large roadway.  Brilliant!!  This should be fun.  I'm certain I did not look good doing it but I did it.  I get to the correct bus stop and set the microwave down on the ground.  Catch my breath and wait for the bus.  It comes, I slowly get on and rest the microwave on a seat and sit next to it making sure it doesn't fly into the aisle as we ride along to the stop at our new apartment.  Marty texts and asks how I'm doing and if I need help. I finally give in a bit and say it would be helpful if he could meet me at the bus stop.  It is just a 3-4 minute walk to our new place from the bus stop but my hands and arms are super sore and my back is starting to hurt.  He arrives at the stop just as my bus pulls up and he sees me - barely- behind a huge blue Ikea bag filled with an even bigger microwave.  He steps on the bus and takes it from there.  Phew!!  I've never done Crossfit but somehow I feel this would qualify as one of their workouts?

A few days later I went to gather a couple of wardrobes from a new friend I had met at the American Women's Club Holiday Party.  As a side, I got dressed up for the first time since arriving and was SO thrilled to find these fleece line tights!  Best thing I've purchased in a long time.  SO SO cozy!!
So I get to the new friend who has a couple extra wardrobes and I load them up and she nicely tells me that her son has outgrown a nice pair of boots and would Benjamin like them. SURE!  And her son who is a year older than Benjamin also has a whole bag full of books he's done reading, many of which are from The Magic Tree House series which I know Benjamin loves.  How could I pass these up?  I assess my carrying abilities and figure I can do it.  I bag up the boots and the books and get a handle on the wardrobes and head out. 
Thankfully the new friend, Sara, lives half a block away from the sbahn station and this Sbahn will take me all the way to Zehlendorf. 

My load, resting as I wait
on the correct bus to right
my wrong. 

I get on the sbahn and am feeling quite proud of myself and my efforts.  I get off in Zehelendorf and head to the bus station.  I am familiar with the stations here but was not so familiar with the buses that go to our new apartment.  I know there are 3 different buses I could take.  Once I hop the first one that arrives at the station and it takes off I realize I've made a mistake and need to get off this bus ASAP.  I do and then have to wait for another 15 minutes for the next bus to take me back close to the correct stop.  It would be far too easy if the bus actually dropped me off at the exact right location but no,  it drops me off a block or so away from the correct bus.  All of this would be NO big deal if I didn't have such a load.  But, I end up getting the new wardrobes and boots and books all safely inside our new place.  Again, a crossfit worthy workout! I often - actually nearly every day- go to bed at the end of the day feeling like I have been chewed up and spit out by this city.  I do love this city but right now it is kicking my butt!

German Class - Take 2

After waiting for nearly 3 hours in October when I tried signing up for a German class, I went about signing up this time a bit smarter.  And yes, you guessed it.  I never was moved into the class from the wait list I was put on a couple of months ago.  It all works out for the best in the end as I would not have had time due to our "Amazing Furniture Race" project anyway.
So this time I knew the office opened at 10am.  But that they start handing out numbers at 9am and because I did not want to sit and wait for nothing I knew I wanted to get there early, even before they started handing out numbers so that I could be one of the first in line.

 So after drop off I head into town and since I forgot to eat breakfast and I knew this sign ups tend to take a loooong time I knew I needed to fuel up before heading over to the Volkschochschule to start the process of registering for a German language class. I drop by the little bakery and get a delicious coffee with milk and bagel sandwich.  This should help with my waiting and frustration, right?
After my quick meal I head over to the school and arrive by 8:30.  Thirty minutes before they start handing out numbers and ninety minutes before they officially open to start helping customers.
I am third in line. 

There is a couple ahead of me.  At 9:00 they open the building so that at least we can wait inside the warm building and just then the couple in front of me welcome another couple - their friends I presume - to join them in line AHEAD OF ME!!  I get it.  They were just saving their spot I suppose but knowing every person that gets in ahead of me adds additional wait time.  Oh, well.  Around 9:30 the office opens and we all (there are about 15-18 of us at the school now) pile into the small waiting room/office. 

They hand out numbers an I get #3 this time.  #1 goes to the first couple and #2 goes to their friends who cut the line.
I sit and wait.  At 10:00 they call in the first couple. I wait and wait and wait.  It isn't until 11:30 (yes, 90 minutes later) that they call in the #2.  I'm getting pretty antsy but what choice do I have.  At around 11:45 my number is called.  3 HOURS after I have arrived to sign up.
I talk with the registrar woman.  She is kind.  We speak a bit. She speaks in German and I answer mostly in English.  She asks if I'm signing up for a beginner class?  Once I pay I look at my phone to see the time.  It is now nearly 1:00PM.  Signing up for a simple German class took me 4.5 HOURS!! Not to mention the 2.5+ that I wasted on unsuccessfully trying to sign up.  Why are things so archaic here?  Why couldn't I have done this with the click of a button on my computer or made an appointment to meet with the registrar?  German efficiency is often anything but!!

Yes, I'm a beginner I tell her.  She says she thinks I should maybe take a test and see if I should be placed in one step above a true beginner.  I assure her that I'm a true beginner but she asks me to go back to the waiting room and take a test.  I know I can't read German and I don't want to have to WAIT anymore.  I just want to sign up for the damn class.  But I take the test attached to a clipboard and head back to the waiting room.  To my astonishment, I can actually read some German.  It is weird.  It is just basic stuff but I can understand.  I take my test pretty quickly because I can only get through the first few pages before it is all over my head but then I have to wait until her door opens to turn in my test.  This takes another 35-40 minutes.  I finally get back in to talk to the registrar and she looks over my tests and tells me she thinks I should sign up for the level just above true beginner.  Which makes me feel quite accomplished.  But then she looks up on her computer and says, "well, there is no room in that class" so I sign up for the true beginner class and then she tells me I have to walk to another building around the block to pay.
However, come January 15th I will officially be in my first German class.  WUNDERBAR!!

First Advent 2017

One thing I noticed when we returned from Thanksgiving in England was that everything was getting set up or was already set up for Christmas when we returned.  Our little Christmas Market was up and ready to go and even the kid's school had a Christmas tree inside and was filled with Christmas and Hanukkah decorations.  I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Christmas tree in a school since I was a kid.

The other thing that is a BIG deal over here is celebrating Advent.  It is a very Christian/Catholic idea.  It is the time leading up to Christmas and here in Germany everyone, it seems, has an advent calendar and an advent wreath and the four Sundays leading up to Christmas are celebrated with friends and family and each Sunday you light one more candle in the advent wreath.
We were fortunate (VERY fortunate) to have met a wonderful friend and her family way back at the JFK fun run.  Fionnuala and her husband, Wolfgang, are seriously some of the loveliest and most kindhearted and sincere people you will ever meet.  I'm really REALLY thankful to call these people friends.  She invited us over for a First Advent Sunday lunch. We had a delicious, vegetarian lunch of ground chickpeas and tomato soup and then a hearty and yummy lentil shepherds pie.  We all ate and drank to our fill and laughed and talked just like old friends.  That is something that I have noticed here.  We have made some truly wonderful friends here but the one thing we are lacking is history with anyone.  It is a strange thing to not have anyone who has known you longer than our arrival in August - 4+ months ago.  Somehow with Wolfgang, Fionnuala and her children, Noah, Teo and Daniel, it felt like we had history because of so many mutual interests and beliefs.

After the meal the kids and Wolfgang rolled out cookie dough and made cookies on the dining room table.  What a truly delightful time we all had.  And to top off our first advent of our first Christmas season in Berlin it even started to snow - the first of the season - as we were eating.  Feeling truly blessed by our new and welcoming friends!!  Thanks, Hoffmans 💚💕

Swim Meet #3

After our FULL day of furniture pick ups, Josie and I had to get up bright and early for her 3rd home swim meet.  Marty still had stuff to do with the furniture and so even though he was signed up to be the announcer I said I could fill in.  I have a loud voice too!!
Josie and I get on the bus, which came right on time and made our connection perfectly.  I can emphasize enough how important timely buses and good connections are to your overall daily experience!

We get to the swim meet and what a difference it is compared to her first one.  She has friends, she feels comfortable and confident and even thoroughly enjoys herself. 
I get the run down on the announcer responsibilities. Josie and her friend Suzy get all set up and hang out while people set up for the meet.  The Berlin Bearcuda swim team is full of some of the nicest and most sincere people.  Such a warm and welcoming bunch.
My announcing job is quite simple.  I just need to make a few short announcements to start off. 

Welcome the other teams to Berlin and tell everyone that the US national anthem will be played followed by the German.  I don't really want to tell everyone to stand - which was never asked of me to say but I do want to ask everyone to "take a knee" but I refrain. 
The rest of the meet I just have to announce what races are up next so that the swimmers make their way to the set up area in time.  Pretty simple. 
Josie's first race, freestyle, she does GREAT.  She shaves a full 10 seconds off of her time.  She has such a strong steady stroke and her big area that needs improvement is her jump in and flip turn.  She is always quite a bit ahead of the rest going down but loses steam after the flip turn. 

The one thing I didn't have for my "announcer" job was music on my phone.  Apparently the "announcer" plays music via bluetooth through the speakers. 
Half way through the meet Marty and Benjamin show up and guess who has music on his cell phone... the original "announcer" So for the rest of the meet we tag team.  I announce and Marty D.J.s  Perfect.
Josie finishes her other two races with flying colors and we head for home tired.  Tired from the day before, tired from getting up so early, tired from having to furnish a new place, tired from just living and learning new things every day in Berlin. 

Pick Up Day

Saturday morning we all got up early and started a very long day of household pick ups.  Julie and Micha were Godsends! Truly, another thing that we could NOT have done without their help.  They got up even earlier than us and went to rent the truck by 6:30 AM. Unfortunately, when they got there

Micha, Julie and Frida

all of the trucks had already been reserved or rented out.  We had a whole spreadsheet worth of appointments all over Berlin to go and pick up furniture so we couldn't just throw our hands in the air and so "oh, well" Which honestly would have felt good.  The whole process was pretty overwhelming.. but we persevered!!  Julie and Micha found another place to rent a truck. Not nearly as economical as the first place but what choice did we have?
On their own they picked up Josie's bed frame and then met us all at Ikea.  Josie and Marty had gone ahead of Benjamin and me to go and check out the one piece of furniture that we did not have time to view first. 
And just like that we were back to needing a dining room table and chairs but we had a long list of other things to pick up that day so there was no looking back.

It was a pretty cool dining room table with 6 chairs.  The photos looked good but we forgot to ask one important question that you cannot tell from a photo but you can tell the instant you walk into a place- which was if they were smokers.  Josie and Marty walked into to check out the table and apparently they could barely breathe!!  Definitely they were smokers and there was NO WAY were were going to buy something that had been in a smoking household. That smell permeates for months!!  So, Marty- who has a terrible sense of smell, apparently paid the deposit and said they would be back to pick it up.  As they left Josie started to choke and say "Wow, I could barely breathe in there"  Marty said, Oh, no!!  I thought it smelled like smoke but I wasn't sure.  So, over a nice baked treat from a Germany bakery nearby they discussed what to do. Marty felt like there was no way he could go back and get his deposit back.  But... off they went.  He told the family that the all the trucks were rented out and that we had to let the dining room table go as we had no way of

transporting it.  Which was partially true. 

All the trucks were rented (at the first place) but the family gave back the deposit.  Said they felt badly that our truck fell through and wished him well. 

Julie and Micha took the kids around Ikea while Marty and I tried to shop.  Actually Clayton's mom came too so Benjamin had a buddy for a bit and Josie had Micha and Julie. Marty and I walked aimlessly through the maze that is Ikea.  We had been there just days before to scout out what we needed but somehow the whole thing was just so overwhelming and we just ended up with the basics.  We had picked out mattresses but when we got down to check out there was sale section. 

Micha said "try these" and so we did.  Right there.  And they were comfortable.  Heck at that point in our furniture journey a bed of nails would have been comfortable.  But we bought one of the sale mattresses for Josie and one for us.  Benjamin's new bed came with a nearly new, clean mattress. 
After our Ikea purchases we were already hungry.

What better place to feed a large group of hungry people than Ikea.  Lunch for everyone!

After lunch, Julie took the kids back to her apartment and Marty and Micha and I went to go pick up the rest of our speadsheet list of places.  A few hours later we were back at our apartment with a full truck and began unloading our new things.  That teeny tiny elevator that we made fun of for being so small came in VERY handy.  Nearly everything was able to fit inside (in multiple trips) We would load it up, Benjamin would squeeze in with our things, push the button and then we would run up to unload.  Nearly everything except the mattresses fit inside. 

We dumped everything from our daily catch in the apartment and then all headed to our favorite local Mexican place, Sixteen Bites, for dinner.
Inventory of the days gatherings:
3 bed frames
3 mattresses
1 couch with pillows
2 desks
2 sets of dishes
2 arm chairs
miscellaneous items from Ikea

We felt we got so much but we honestly had so far to go.  But, bit by bit.  It was a full, FULL day. 

Ikea, Facebook and Ebay, OH MY!!

Since our new place came completely unfurnished Marty and I now had the overwhelming and daunting task of furnishing it.  I haven't moved into a completely empty place in SO so many years and even then I brought along with me a ton of things - hand me down dishes, and blankets and artwork etc. etc.  Since we moved to Germany with NOTHING for a house we had the task of buying, finding, borrowing, EVERYTHING.  Brooms, garbage cans, towels, pillow cases (x4) bedding (x4)  BEDS (x4)  Seriously, crazy! And since we really don't know how long we will really be here all of this could potentially be just for 7 or 8 months.  Which seems a waste until you remember that you actually have to live and should probably enjoy those remaining months here.
So, Marty and I started on what will now be remembered as "The Amazing Furniture Race"
We knew we could buy everything brand new at Ikea.  It was affordable and basic and would serve our needs.  But even at Ikea prices when you need EVERYTHING we are talking well over $10,000!  So we found out that they use a special Ebay site here the way we use Craigslist. 

The first of several Ikea lunches!

I also joined a few Facebook sites where people in Berlin sell or give away their furniture and household items.  For the next few days Marty and I would email potential furniture sellers and set up an appointment to come and view their item.  If we liked it upon seeing it, we paid a small deposit and told them we would be back on Saturday with a truck.
Some things were definite hits and others were definite misses.  We agreed that you cannot trust a photo and we definitely had to see it in person.  Because we had to see things in person we crisscrossed this city more times than I can count. We walked and walked and walked.  One day I happened to glance at my steps tracker on my phone and I had clocked in over 12 miles!!  That is nearly a half marathon.  No wonder we were both beat!