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.