Screaming birds

Our hotel room is on the first floor and the windows face the main thoroughfare on post.  This isn't always terrible as it makes it a very quick walk to just about anywhere we need to go.

However.

It is loud.

The traffic is loud.   Troops doing PT are loud.  Reveille at 0630 is loud.  (thank god they don't use canons here for Reveille.  I can see Regiment HQ from the window and those suckers would shake me out of bed every day.)

And the birds!!

It's not all day, every day, but my theory is that when traffic is heavy, the heat from the cars attract bugs, and this, in turn attracts birds.  They fly and swoop and scream.

Yes, I said scream.

I'm not sure what kind of birds they are, but they do not chirp nor sing.  They effing scream.

I call them German birds.  I'm sure they are shouting in something in German bird language.  Organizing an efficient bug hunting front.

"Angirff!  Angriff!"  ("Attack!"  Thank you google translate and apologies if this was not used correctly.)

It's novel for about 3 minutes  30 seconds, but I am quite over them now.

Windows are better left open because of the lack of A/C.  It just keeps the air moving.

COME ON HOUSE!

OK, it's only a few more hotel days that I have to tough out.

Plus, we got excellent news yesterday.  On Tuesday, we inquired about rental cars at Vilseck's Enterprise booth.  They flatly shut us down saying they had NO cars for this weekend.  We asked if Graf's Enterprise had any vehicles available, and were told that they had the same issue - too many renters and not enough cars for this weekend.  Obviously, they would have nothing to offer us.  Don't even bother.

WELL.

We actually made it up to Graf yesterday courtesy of our lovely sponsor fill-in, Joe, and got a more comprehensive tour of not only Graf, but of surrounding towns!  (very nice!)  We happened to stop by the Enterprise on Graf.  And John walked out 10 minutes later with a rental lined up for Saturday.

We're going to be mobile soon!  (Entirely possible now that we have our USAREUR licenses.)
I'm kind of irked at the Vilseck ladies, but not irked enough to give them a second thought.  We'll get to explore soon!

And get away from the screaming birds!

Busy week

Next week.  Next week is the busy week.

My car is in the country and is promised to be here by 1 August.
1 August is a busy day.  We have our inspection with housing of our new apartment to make sure the landlord fulfilled his promise of household improvements before we move in.  We receive a delivery of loaner furniture (including some we get to keep indefinitely - like the full sized fridge, and the 3 wardrobes) from housing on 1 August.  We receive our delivery of our Unaccompanied Baggage (a small shipment) on 2 August.

(The transportation office was most unhelpful here.  We have to be available at the house from 8 am to 9 pm to wait for this delivery.)

BUT, it will contain sheets, and some dishes, one pot, one pan, silverware, towels, my computer and, most importantly in John's eyes, my chiropractic table!!  The arrival of my chiro table has been much anticipated after weeks of soft beds and traveling.

All of these events would be a lot easier if we had my car just a few days earlier than 1 August!

COME ON CAR!!!

We also put down a $100 deposit on a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

It's being shipped from Baltimore and due to arrive in country on 5 August.  We should get it by 20 August.

COME ON CAR!!!

Humph.  We may have to rent one for a bit.

On the plus side, I finally tracked down information on MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) trips!  I have my eye on the Rhine River cruise, the Two Castle Tour, and the Chiemee Castle tour.  These are all day trips.  unfortunately, all of the overnight trips are booked through August.  We are patiently waiting for the fall/winter trip schedule.

One more before I go....

COME ON CAR!!!

Festive!

In the interest of getting out of the hotel room this weekend, John and I ventured out.  We took the bus to Grafenwoehr (from here on out, known as "Graf"), in search of their much larger PX and Commissary on Saturday.  We were looking for different brands of cat food (exciting, aren't we?) as well as planning for the things we will need in the new house such as microwave, curtains, rugs and shelving.

We ended up buying tons of stuff for the cat.  He's the most spoiled cat in existence, I believe.

Sunday, we went to our very first Fest!  It was the Vilseck Volksfest!  We FINALLY got ourselves some genuine German food in the way of Sauerbraten, Knoedel, and Schnitzel.  It was so tasty.  With the Schnitzel, I had the option of mustard, curry ketchup, or mayo...which tasted more like tartar sauce.  It kind of made me think I was having fish and chips at some point.  The curry ketchup I actually liked quite a bit.  It's not as sweet as regular ketchup.  Or maybe it is, but the different seasonings make it seem less sweet.

We then consumed a humungous mug of beer.  Each.

We were then buzzed for a good portion of the day.

And consumed a ton of mini-donuts afterward.  I didn't expect the "Klein portion"  (the small portion) to be as large as it was.  I think at the Taste of Colorado, a large portion is about 5 donuts.  I think he gave me 25.  For the small portion.

They were delicious.  John may have even tasted one or two.
Otherwise, fests are pretty much like fairs with rides and a midway and silly prizes, and music.

They are also great places to people watch.

The rest of the day was spent studying for the USAREUR driving test.  This test is notorious for having a relatively high failure rate.  If you study, you do well.  If you blow it off, you fail it.

John and I both passed this morning with flying colors.  Tracking our vehicle revealed no further info on where it was other than we know it is in the country now.  We also need insurance cards to register the car.

Just when I thought we were making progress on our to-do list...a thousand more things jump on the list.

Soon we will be settled.

Soon I will post pictures.

Soon, we will be taking reservations.  Just let us explore a bit ourselves so we know where to take you.

Funny thing....

We purchased cell phones the other day.  We opted for a pay-as-you-go plan to avoid the German cell phone contracts which are just brutal.

The menu is in English (as we can set it on our phones.)

Everything else, like instructions to set up voicemail (in the packet and when we dial voicemail for set up) is in German.

As is all of our text messages we keep getting from Telekom and T-Mobile.  This morning, we typed the content of the text message into Google translate.

It basically said "Here is your phone number, and call this code for any help we can give you!"

Um, thanks!

Thank goodness for Google translate.

Yes!

We have a house!  Actually, we have a contract for an apartment.  But now that we have the contract, I feel comfortable disclosing all the details.
It's the upstairs of a house.  The nice middle aged German man who owns the house is a carpenter type who, our housing lady, explained, does "wood ceilings, wood floors and the like."  He lives downstairs, so if anything goes wrong, he is there.  He also speaks very little English.
(I need to learn more German!  The ability to tell him what color my hair is will not be very helpful.  Not that I anticipate anyway.)
Our place is 140 square meters.  Which is the equivalent of 1500 sq. ft!  It's positively enormous by European standards.  And it's actually a bit bigger than our house in Rock Island.  It's listed as 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 water closet, 1 spare room, 1 balcony.  The "water closet" is actually a second bathroom, with a shower bigger than the main bathroom.  But it's located outside the main entrance of the apartment.

OK, how to describe...

So, you walk in the front door of the house, to encounter a staircase and another door which leads to the main level apartment.  One way goes down to the basement, one way heads upstairs to our apartment.  When you walk up to our apartment, the door to the right is the entryway, while a door straight ahead is the "water closet".
The rest of the apartment is fairly standard for Germany.  Except, of course, for it's positively enormous size.  The kitchen is "built in", which is a good thing.  Apparently, in Europe, a kitchen can just be a room to put kitchen stuff like cabinets, ranges, and dishwashers.  Our place has them.  Complete with a European sized refrigerator.  Which, is about half the size of an American fridge.  Also, complying with German housing standards......

we have no closets.

Now.  To help Americans transition into European living, housing gives you things.  We get 3 wardrobes, a larger fridge, and a washer/dryer.  (we were concerned with this, but were informed that the hookups are in the bathroom.  We are getting euro washer/dryers as the washers don't require a hot water hook up, and the dryers dry by condensation, which, apparently, is lower maintenance.)

We signed an indefinite contract starting 1 August!  (Indefinite unless we want to move out with a 3 month notice, or until we PCS and then we have to give 30 days with PCS orders.)  Hopefully, my car will arrive by then as well.  And until we get our household goods, which are not scheduled to arrive until mid - late August due to all the diversions John went through, housing will also lend us dressers, a couch, 2 easy chairs, a double bed (boo), 2 nightstands, and a dining room set.  Then we go to ACS (Army Community Service) and we can choose pots and pans and other kitchen essentials to help until we get our things.

Exciting stuff!

Did I mention how lovely this place is?  Large, with windows EVERYWHERE so it has lots of light...very much unlike the Rock Island house.  The landlord is fixing things up for us in the meantime.  He is repainting, and fixing a few decor issues the last tenant left behind, as well as replacing all the bathroom fixtures in the master bath to make them updated and way better looking.  It has great views of the neighboring houses, and slightly overlooks the town.

Oh, the town!  We are in a town called Ammerthal (I think!), just outside of Amberg, about 20 km S of Vilseck.  It's about a 30 minute drive.

We also got out German cell phones today!  It is pretty much for in-the-country use only, and we still plan on getting a stateside number through Vonage soon.

Now, all we really need is another car.  We are looking at SUV/Crossover type vehicles like the Volvo XC 90 or even a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  The BMWs are a bit pricier than we want to pay, but are looking at those as well.

Actually, I would also love real food.  Living out of a hotel has gotten quite old, quite fast.  Our meals choices include Charley's subs, Subway, Burger King, Anthony's Pizza, Popeye's chicken, or this sad Tex Mex place on post called "Tumbleweeds."  Of course, there is also anything we can store/make in our hotel room, like convenience soups, cereal, or sandwiches.

I'm telling you know, if Panera and/or Chipotle opened up here, they would make a mint.  There is need for more variety of fresher tasting food.

OK, I'm off to figure out my new phone....which was an adventure in itself trying to figure out if we wanted a German contract or a prepaid phone.  We settled on prepaid phone with internet options, as German phone contracts are almost iron clad, impossible to get out of, and automatically renew if you don't cancel at the end of two years.

Good times.  Pictures soon!

Library fears

I have a confession to make.

I have been afraid of libraries since my senior year in high school.
It's not a pathological fear, or even very reasonable.  And I will explain why.

My senior year English class rocked.  I had Mr. Stough, who was and remains one of my all time favorite teachers.  One project he set forth was to pick a topic from a list he passed around and write a 10 page paper on this topic.  This project was completely optional, but it would set your grade back one letter grade if you opted out of it.  If you have a B in the class, and you do well, you could get an A.  If you do poorly, you will keep your B.  If you don't turn it in, you drop to a C.

He introduced this project at the beginning of the semester and said it was not due until the end.  At the beginning of the semester, I was all pumped to get things done!  I picked a topic off of the list, and set out to prepare.  I believe my topic was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  It was something I didn't know much about, even in legend form, and wanted to know more about.  And  set out to our local library and checked out two books on the topic.

And then my senior year really started.
And I put things off.
And I put things off even more.
I never. even. cracked. either. book.

And then I just decided to take the grade cut.  I walked back to talk to Mr. Stough, who calculated my grade.  It was excellent.  An A.  Taking off points for not turning in the paper, I still had an A.  BUT, the deal was that I had to accept a lower grade, so he bumped me to a B.  I still liked him though.  He was efficient, funny and fair.

ANYWAY, I finally, sheepishly, and under the cover of darkness, returned the books I had checked out via the book drop.
For I had never bothered to recheck them out.  I just kept them.  I was terrified of the late fees.
And ever since then, I felt a sincere anxiety when going into my local library, afraid they would recognize me, throw me against the wall, and shake me upside down until all of my money shook loose to the floor.  They would then inform me that I owed $700 more in compounded late fees.

This, of course, never happened.  I would occasionally scurry in and out to pick up some tax forms, somehow feeling successful in "getting away with it".  They hadn't caught me yet.

I felt OK with my university libraries.  They, obviously, didn't know the scoundrel I was and issued me license to use their facility whilst enrolled in school.

But the local libraries throughout the Denver Metro Area...they all talked to each other.  My palms sweat whenever I walk in, daring to use public computers or meet with a community group, but never daring to check out another book or resource, hesitant to talk to a librarian in case my picture was on a "Most Wanted" poster behind the desk.  I'm convinced I'm still in their system, $10,000 of compounded late fees later.

However, I never did receive a statement.

Anyway, the Army has a network of libraries throughout Germany.  Oh My, how far library technology has come!  We can check out our own books using the simple computer!  After visiting the library here on post, and successfully creating an account, I checked out a book.  And my fear diminished.

However, I do have a new last name.  Maybe a new alias is all I need to start enjoying the simple pleasures of a library once more.

Dorm life

Suddenly, it feels like we have been here for months.  I keep reminding myself it's really only been 4 days.

And I kind of feel like I did when I moved into the dorms way back in my freshman year at CU.

We live in a small room.
We walk everywhere - especially for food.
We have a mini fridge and microwave and have small meals in the room.  About once per day.
There are young punks everywhere.
There is a huge sense of community.
The scheduled orientation....

So yeah, a bit like college.
Except....

My roommate and I share a bed instead of bunks.
We can have pets!
Soldiers run by our window in the morning chanting cadence.
About 80% of people who walk by us in uniform salute my husband.
We are old farts compared to the young punks.  (Man, I cannot BELIEVE how young some of these soldiers look!  Then I remind myself they are trained in weapons and heavy artillery and it blows my mind.)
Speaking of weapons and artillery...we can often hear gunfire from the shooting ranges and training ground.  That, too, is a bit different from my freshman year at CU.
The emergency sirens are European, and every time the MP or an ambulance drives by with the sirens on, I'm reminded of an action movie that takes place in Europe like "The Bourne Identity" or "The DaVinci Code".

I was bummed yesterday when I learned our "headstart" program was cancelled.  It was a cool program to teach us German customs, conversational language and other integrating nuggets of info.  It has been cancelled due to lack of funds.  Bummer dude.

However, we did get some good info today.  Housing is just impossible right now.  There are so few places to rent, and no availability for houses on post.  I was starting to think we might be in this hotel room for an awfully long time.  When we stopped by housing today, they said they have a place for us!  Because we have no children, we have a few more options outside the school bus routes that families with kids do not like...as they would have to drive their kidlets to school and back everyday.  It's a 30 min drive.
The landlord was not available today, but we hope to see the place tomorrow.  Our housing rep is going to drive us down there!  It's an apartment house type of place.  The landlord lives downstairs, we would live upstairs.  It's about 1500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, full kitchen.  And he will accept a cat.  The downside is, it's a bit far, but to find housing so fast is almost unheard of, so if there are no major issues with the place, and we can work out other details, I think we should have a lease soon.

The "other details" include:
If we move in sooner than later, we will need a car.  Our car shouldn't be here until 1 Aug.  Can we rent one on John's International Driver's Permit?  (this should be a yes, but will be critical as John needs a way to get to work)
Will we be able to get loaner furniture as our household goods (HHG) are not scheduled to be here until mid August?  (thanks to all the diversions.)
Can we sign a lease starting 1 Aug?  (more helpful as we could stay in the hotel until then.)
If we have to sign a lease for an earlier time, can we still stay in the hotel until 1 Aug?  (not sure about this...I'm pretty sure once we have a lease, they're going to want their hotel room back as the hotel is at max capacity.)

John just walked in with more good news!  There is a fest on Thursday!  Apparently put on by the squadron. Also, John had joined a Calvary squadron.  This means they wear stetsons and spurs on Fridays.

He is just off to get fitted for his stetson.

I'm super excited to see him wearing it.

Discombobulated

I'm just a little discombobulated at the moment.  Jet lag will get ya.

I thought I had it nipped, but then we slept until 11 am without blinking an eye...after being up from 2-5 am, of course.

So, in an effort to not fall asleep this afternoon, I'll do a quick bulleted post then go for a walk.

First, quickly, blogger is wanting to spell check my entire post with German words.
That won't be very helpful in the future.

-we have been redirected to Vilseck!  Apparently, they figured out that John was more senior to another dude, and they switched him to Heidelberg.  I believe we actually met him at the airport.  He thought he was going to Vilseck, but hadn't checked his AKO account in 2 weeks.  Considering this happened 10 days ago, it was missed.  Funny - John was checking his AKO every morning as early as possible to be able to be in the know with all the updates.
Being notified 8 days before we flew that we were being diverted - again - was adventurous.  We still need to contact the transportation office to let them know to re-redirect our HHG and car back to Vilseck/Graf area. We didn't get amended orders until we landed in Frankfurt.

-the flight was good.  We didn't get upgraded, but we were near the front of the plane.  Well, the front of economy class.  Near the door.  We also had to pay baggage fees.  (we will get reimbursed since we were flying on orders.)  However, Lufthansa provides wine with dinner.  Free wine!  We each had three glasses.  Now that I have been freaking parched for 2 days, I'm not sure it was the best choice, no matter the level of relaxation it provided.  I cannot get enough water!  I was in an aisle seat and John sat across the aisle.  There was no one sitting next to either of us, so we had some room to put things.  In the window seat next to me, sat a quiet man with the biggest 'fro I have ever seen.  The curls in his long hair sat about 4 inches off his head.  I'm pretty sure I would have been jealous of that hair if it were longer.  It had so much body!  My only gripe was that he refused to open his window when we landed and was sleeping instead.  I was getting a bit airsick because I could feel the plane banking, but could not orient myself with the ground.  I had to rely on other windows.  It's not really the same.

-Customs was easy and quick.  We had no issues getting Otis.  He was not happy and yowling when I picked him up.  He calmed down when he could get out of his carrier and eat and pee.  He's even happier now that he doesn't have to wear a collar.  I also think he's bored hold up in this hotel room.  Hopefully we're out before the 30 days.

-We have lots of in-processing to do.

-And language learning.

-We have a smallish but efficient hotel room with a microwave and mini fridge.

-I have taken a few pictures.  But John's computer doesn't read my card.  And I believe I packed the transfer cord.

-It doesn't feel like we live here.  It feels like we are on vacation.  I kept dreading the return flight while on the incoming flight.  Then I remembered that that flight won't occur for a good long while.  It also doesn't seem like 2 days since we left.  It seems like we've been here a total of 8 hours.

And yet, I'm definitely ready to find a house.  And receive my car!  So much to do, so much to do....