Germany - Week 1

Wow! We're in Munich, Germany! We've officially been here a week, and it's been a whirlwind, a crazy learning experience, and wonderful in many ways. I have definitely seen Heavenly Father's hand in our adjustment to being here, our trip, and every day details. Jack took us to the airport last Sunday evening, our flight departed at 8:00 PM Denver time, and landed at 2:00 PM Germany time on Monday afternoon. Jay was soooo tired from our adventures of the weekend, he was asleep before we even took off. He woke up a couple hours in and seemed like he was ready to go. I quickly gave him a melatonin and Benadryl, and within 20 minutes he was asleep again. He slept most of the evening until about 1 hour left with the flight. Such a miracle! Hugh was a pretty grouchy flyer. He didn't want to sleep, but finally gave it up laying between Matthew and my legs. Over the whole 10 hour flight, he probably slept three hours, so we were very tired upon arrival. Customs was super simple, and we were picked up by the KMPG relocation company. They had a super cool van that fit all of our gear, and we had a fairly quick ride to our apartment/hotel. While we waited for Matthew to check in, Jay curiously watched this man sitting on the edge of the steps smoking and eating oreo cookies. He glanced at Jay and offered him a fresh unopened pack of Oreos, which Jay was more than excited about! We had to carry our luggage up and down a couple flights of stairs to get to our apartment and when we got here we were overwhelmed with the tiny size. I was worried about how I would navigate the city with the boys without a stroller because I couldn't lug it around and Hugh and Jay. We were extremely tired, and I had no idea how to feed our family. Our trip to the nearby grocery store, Adeka, was no help to my concerns. We didn't know how to get a cart, I learned later you could insert a coin and once returned you could get your coin back, so we carried and walked with the boys through the store. They were losing their minds, touching everything, and I couldn't read a label on anything! I bought dairy free yogurt on accident, it was super bitter and nasty. After this first day, if you'd offered me a free ticket back, I probably would have taken it. Living seemed impossible. However, my mindset has greatly improved over the past week, and I am starting to really enjoy it! We found out how to get our stroller out of our building without using stairs, how to get into our building without using stairs, and I am finally finding some recipes to cook. I also was able to find a 12inch frying pan so I can actually make meals large enough for our family. It took several trips to the nearby mall, purchasing a 150 dollar frying pan and then returning it when I eventually found a cheaper one at our grocery store. Once I found a frying pan, things started to look up! Matthew let me go to the grocery store on Saturday without the boys to search for many needed ingredients and take extra time to find and wander all the aisles because nothing is organized like it is in the US.

Everything we need for 3 months, in 4 suitcases plus a carseat! 

It's hard to capture in a picture how big our plane was, but it was the biggest I've ever flown on

Waiting at our gate to board the plane

Before take-off

Sleeping Hugh

This was sleeping Jay, right as he was waking up

Jay and Hugh giving hugs, they were both giggling

All loaded in our complimentary van

Hugh thought facing forward was the best!!

Hugh found a ball! 

Sleeping has been an interesting journey for us. We're essentially all in the same room as our kitchen and living space. The beds are upstairs, Jay sleeps on the floor and Hugh in a pack n' play. Hugh woke up the first night in the middle of the night starving. He ate a whole PB and honey sandwich that I had brought from home, drank a ton of water, then went back to sleep. He woke up again the next night, didn't want to eat, but got some cuddles and eventually went back to sleep. He's been much better since those first two nights. We put Jay to bed the first night with a melatonin, and the second night he woke up in the middle and went to bed again after a melatonin. Thankfully, he's been sleeping through the night now too. They've been sleeping in a little more, and taking fairly good naps. We're getting closer and closer to resetting our internal clocks. 

I'm standing on a little landing by the stairs taking this picture of our apartment

It might be a tiny apartment, but the boys still find ways to get into plenty of trouble

Everything is so green here! It's beautiful! Trees, flowers, and shrubs everywhere you go. I've loved going on walks with the boys in the morning and venturing to new parks. The first day we were here I only ventured about a block away because Matthew had my phone with him to navigate to his various meetings for getting his visa tax stuff and a bank account. When he got home, we ventured very far to check out a different store and to see if we could find Matthew a phone charger. We eventually found one, got back to the apartment and realized it wouldn't work with his port so we had to go look again. We found what we needed and in total we walked over 7 miles. We got some fun food for lunch, some Bavarian sandwiches that were okay, but not great. I think things also taste extra funny when you're tired and eating at times what would normally be the middle of the night for you. While Matthew's been at work, the boys and I have ventured to other parks. Amazingly fun playgrounds, great for challenging Jay to learn new things. He's been pretty nervous about them, but he is starting to warm up and get his courage under him which is very fun to see. Hugh loves all the new things, he loves the sand and climbing and walking. Most of the parks are empty and we enjoy our time there alone, as most of the kids are still in school here. 

Bavarian sandwiches, there were some unknown items on it LOL 

Just a beautiful street we walked down

I'm covering the line of scooters, I think most children ride scooters to school and there were at least 50 parked along this fence outside of the school.

Fun park trip with Dad, right after this photo Jay jumped off unexpectedly 

Hugh, aren't these wooden animals so fun!

Jay and Matthew practicing their skills

Such a cool tunnel to climb through

This was the most amazing splash pad, Katey said it looked like beach meets splash pad and it's so true!

Hugh LOVED the water! He could have stayed all day

Jay pushed the water at the top and Hugh waited for it to come down

Splashing fun

Jay wanted to give this carton to Uncle because the last several weeks Uncle has given us eggs! 

On the way to the park we stopped at watched the tractor dig, it was very fun!

Playing memory at the park, it only lasted for about one animal.

Sand bowl

More fun wooden animals

Jay pushing Hugh in a circle

This is the tunnel slide he fell in love with, and would climb the netting and go down over and over.

Jay being so brave!

All the parks have sand, so I was grateful when I found some reasonable cheap toys for the boys to play with

There are a couple stories I'd like to record about nice people helping me. First, I was leaving the shopping mall with my frying pan loaded into the bottom of the stroller and I was taking a new path to a park. I walked outside and looked where the map was telling me to go and it was a big long staircase. Yikes! I anxiously looked for another way, but realized there was none. Then, I saw on the edge of the staircase there were these two steel strips laying on top of the stairs. I knew they were meant for bikes, or maybe something else with wheels so I started to see if my stroller would fit. I wasn't going to be able to push it because the front wheels were too narrow, so I began to back up the staircase riding the boys on the back two stroller wheels. This gentleman saw me and asked me if I needed help, at least that's what I'm assuming he asked, it was in German. He helped me push the stroller up these four flights of stairs! He was an angel, and I was so grateful! 

This was a little after the stairs, but it's the man who helped us

Another wonderful moment was when there was a dad at our courtyard park helping his son climb up the slide backwards. Jay thought this was very interesting and asked the dad for help to do the same. I was standing right there, but the dad gladly helped Jay climb up the slide several times. Jay sometimes helped with walking and other times not as much, but having an extra set of helping hands was very nice. 

Lastly, my grocery store adventures have been better because of kind people. I wanted to get some ground beef, but the meat counter woman only spoke German. I tried to signal I wanted some beef ground up, but she had no idea what I was trying to do! There was another gentleman who came to the counter and she asked him in German if he spoke English, he did and he was able to translate for us! Yay! And, I got my ground beef. Another time, I was trying to find vinegar. I'd looked everywhere! The problem is they have so much alcohol that I wasn't sure what was vinegar and what was alcohol. I was about to give up when I thought I should just ask someone. I looked around and saw this lady, asked her in German if she spoke English and she did! Phew! Not everyone does, so it was a gamble. She kindly walked me to the right aisle and pointed right to it. While checking out with my large load of groceries, the gentleman behind me was kind and bagged his stuff straight into his basket. You have to bring your own bags and bag your own groceries, so I was totally not fast enough to keep up with the cashier. Plus, they move you through like a machine! I needed someone behind me that was patient, and I was blessed that this man didn't seem to mind at all. 

This is how we haul groceries if we have the boys, in the nooks and cranies of the stroller

Saturday we went on a bus tour of the city. We did a double decker bus and sat at the top in the back. We were able to let the boys look out the windows and they did really great. The architecture here is gorgeous and it was fun to drive around and see places significant to Munich's history. We stopped at the English Gardens and let the boys play at a park. We also got some yummy hot dogs for lunch while we were there. English Gardens is one of the biggest parks of it's kind in the world, people say it's similar to Central Park in NYC. It was gorgeous and we the perfect weather for the day's adventures. We had to run to catch the bus on the way back, and kindly the bus driver waited for us to get aboard. Germans are timely, efficient, and straight forward.

The crew at the back of the bus

Hugh trying to listen to the audio of the tour

Cool park in English Gardens

This was the first baby swing we'd seen, and Hugh was soooo excited to swing!

Having Dad to play with at the park made it extra fun

The hot dogs

A pretty building

Just a funny statue

We got lost between train stations, so here we were coming up a super long escalator 

Hugh was asleep by the time we found the right train to get home

Jay's been fascinated with the trains going into the tunnels. At first when he rode the train with just me, he was terrified. Matthew rode with us the next time, and Jay felt much better. Each time gets a little better. We haven't tried the busses or the tram yet, but maybe next week. Also, all the elevators are glass, which makes the a little extra exciting to ride.

Glass elevator

Jay being quite worried about the trains going into the tunnels

Sunday it was sooo nice to be able to attend church and talk to people who speak English and who know about Jesus! Meetinghouses being a sacred place truly took a new meaning for me. We had to take two trains and walk a mile to get there, and it took us a little over an hour because we miss-timed one of our trains. Sunday was also special because Matthew dedicated our apartment. Almost immediately it felt less temporary and more like home, a place where we can be safe and feel closer to Heavenly Father. 

Hugh waiting for the train for church

Other insights I've had here include we look like Germans. We are tall, thin, blonde, etc. It's also not rare to see tall women, I'm always surprised when I see a woman as tall as me but that's been fairly common around here. I think because we look German, people just assume we speak German. It's hard to know when to tell someone you don't understand them, or to just giggle, laugh, and say Tschuss (or bye). All the walking paths here have a walker side, a biker side, and if it's by a road it goes, road, biker, pedestrian. It's quite amazing to see how many bikes have a basket for food, a basket for backpacks, a basket in the front for children, etc. You can tell bikes are a main mode of transportation. 

The boys are constantly touching each other, wrestling, poking, and getting on each other's nerves. I am excited to see what the summer brings for their relationship.

We have been the beneficiaries of many prayers and fasts this week, and we have felt the strength and faith of our family members. I've been able to laugh, especially yesterday when I told Matthew there was an eject button on the stroller and he believed me. The boys are finding joy in all the small adventures and the lack of schedule and obligations. Matthew is finished with his required work trainings, and is excited to see what new work assignments he's given this week. They have incredible laws and rules about how much people can work, and it's definitely something we could get used to. I feel much more hopeful about the next three months now than I did day one! All of us got blessings from Matthew and Matthew got a blessing from Grandpa in preparation for this journey and we are truly being blessed. I have a new respect for missionaries who serve in foreign countries and for those who are driven from their own countries and have to learn to live in another. Thank you for your faith and prayers, we still have a lot to learn and we're finding joy in the process.