We knew that this would be hard. We knew that we were moving to another country where things are different and that for a while it would be a transition.

Food is different, you don’t realize how different until you are trying to find a new normal for your morning routine and nothing feels right.

Most important meal of the day has shifted. For me it was always breakfast, but here it seems lunch is usually the focus. I get the reasoning but that doesn’t change the way my body is built or what helps me fuel my day!

The weather is all over the place! Now we are coming from Texas where the seasons are summer, extended summer, summer in hell’s sauna, a sprinkle of fall and a couple days where hell freezes over. We anticipated that we would have all the seasons here but last week was hot as heck and this week the highs are at 70.

Allergies seem to be different as well. All of us seem to have a runny nose or little cough. We assume it’s because our bodies are adjusting to our new surroundings. You don’t consider all the things that will have to adjust when you make a move. I assumed that getting away from that “pine curtain” called The Woodlands would magically cure all allergies, but new ones come along! There are flowers and plants and fields with things I’ve never spent much time around. Growing up around rice fields, it was a bit eye opening when we went for a a walk and had a wheat field on one side and a flowering potato field on the other. Our bodies will adjust but it will take sniffling, coughing, itchy time.

I long for my regularly scheduled programming. I have been telling myself “It’s summer, all they are playing are reruns” but I know that I will be missing summer favs like Big Brother and miss having my shows to watch! At least we have the Euro Cup going on and that’s what’s playing most of the time. It’s been almost two months though and I have finished rewatching (playing in the background kind of watching) all ten seasons of Friends and 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory! Up next is How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family!

School pick up and drop off are so very different. Let’s start with the drive, it just went from a two mile drive to the school, pull through the driveway and let the daughter out, and then a thirty minute Starbucks and Chick fil A run to now being a 51 kilometer drive one way, and having to get out of the car and walk her to the door. Almost four hours of our day is spent on school drop off and pick up. Now this isn’t forever, just until we move when we will be 10km from the school.

We got a new car. One in which I personally feel is a mid-sized SUV compared to what I am used to. The overwhelming response though has been sort of negative, as friends a family continue to tell us it’s too big and we aren’t in Texas anymore. Personally, I don’t see any issues with it and don’t anticipate having issues parking or getting places but I guess we will see. To me, it’s the same size as the mini van I left behind but with way fewer pockets and places to stash things!

I love German furniture stores!! Let start with size! They are huge! We recently visited both XXXLutz and Segmüller and in each you have combined a Star Furniture, an IKEA and Gallery furniture all in one building! The only thing missing is Mattress Mac! You also have an At Home and the home section of Macy’s with bedding and kitchen supplies added to make the one store all in one! We have been to two so far and it’s been fun to walk around! I can’t wait to start filling our home!

German radio is interesting. Somehow they broadcast traffic and new reports over your radio regardless of what you are listening to and as soon as I can understand them, it will probably be really helpful!

Somehow I always thought that I wasn’t meeting people or having friendly conversations during the day because of the language but it’s possible it has more to do with the less than outgoing nature of typical German people. The need to say hi and smile or wave to everyone is strictly a Texas thing, or maybe a southern thing but it doesn’t happen here. Sometimes it can make you feel like something is wrong with you, but as I have always said “People don’t think about me as much as I think they do!” And here it absolutely is true!

A final thing we did was to take our CDC Vaccination cards to a local Apotheke and get the digital certification of vaccination for the new Corona-Warn App. We were worried it would be hard since we had American vaccination records but the pharmacist was able to get us the QR code to scan into our app so that we can now show proof of vaccination here in Germany without worry that the CDC card won’t be accepted. Some simple difference, BioNTech is the same as Pfizer and dates are written Month first were debated for a moment, but in the end we got what we needed. A Negative test is still required in most places in order to be able to sit down to eat or even enter, but things are slowly getting better.

All in all we are still happy with our decision to move, we knew this time would be hard and adjusting will take time but having many visits with family and a few friends has been awesome! Having the kids get to know Oma and Opa so much better is worth all the hassle! We will keep the updates coming, with summer holiday coming we should have more to talk about!