The Beginning ...

Greetings,

We arrived in Stuttgart, Germany, in July 2013 during a downpour. Veerle, the relocation woman assigned by the school to help us get started, greeted us warmly at the Stuttgart airport and took us to the Apart Hotel where we would stay until we found an apartment and were able to move in. Hayden was at Interlochen Arts Camp, so Logan, David, and I searched each day with Veerle for our new apartment. She had set up some appointments for us, and we were able to start viewing them right away. When we weren't looking at apartments, we used our two-zone public transportation passes for trains and buses to explore the city, particularly the many furniture stores from which we would eventually need to buy furniture. Veerle helped us with our bank account and work visas and more paperwork than we could even imagine. She is a God-send.

Our new apartment - August 2013

Rather than detail each of the steps we took over the last three months, I will summarize here all that we have accomplished in that time. One day when I was feeling frustrated, Logan helped me by verbally listing all that we had successfully accomplished.

Pumpkin Festival

• We found and moved into a lovely clean new apartment which came with a kitchen installed (unusual for Germany), bathroom cabinets and lights (unusual for Germany), an engaging and kind landlord who has, together with her father, gone out of her way to help us through all kinds of obstacles.
• We have purchased an entire apartment's worth of furniture from IKEA, renting a medium-sized truck to transport the furniture all at one time. (This remains in my mind as one rather humiliating experience - buying all of your furniture at once, stuffing it all into a truck, unloading it all into our apartment ... )
• We have arranged for and gotten Internet and home phone service in our apartment.
• We have gotten a bank account and I have learned to use the online banking.
• We have started our jobs and love the students already.
• We have received our shipments from both Seattle (minus our teak dining room table) and Saudi Arabia (a mere five months after it left our KAUST house).
• We have unpacked all of our boxes and found homes for our belongings in our much smaller, but very cozy and spacious, apartment.
• We have been to Tubingen for the French and Italian festival.
• We have been to Ludwigsberg for the annual Pumpkin Festival.
• We have purchased a car - our first in four and a half years.
• We have biked through the Stuttgart vineyards.
• We have figured out how to get our boxes and packing paper returned to the recycling center.
• We have gotten our German driver's licenses and signed up temporarily for the carshare program, Stadtmobil.
• We have visited Strasbourg, France, for our October holiday.
• Hayden has started playing on U14 and U16 basketball and has begun games.
• Logan has started playing EJuniors soccer and has enjoyed many games already.
• We have also received our first speeding ticket from a camera that photographed us going 58 km/hour in a 50 km/hour zone when we were searching for one of Logan's soccer games in another village of Stuttgart. Luckily it was only 15 euros.
  
  
  

  

  Living room and dining room

  

  Kitchen

Another time Logan and I were checked for our bus passes on the bus to school. Mine was fine, but Logan's had a small problem that we were completely unaware of when we bought the passes and had used them in the past. He was only supposed to use this pass after 9 am. The Bus Police Women took down my information; I started crying because I was frustrated and confused - and late to work; they apologetically handed me a 40 euro ticket for my tiny error worth 1.20. Ultimately, a friend at school helped me craft a letter to complain and explain - and the ticket was reduced to 1.20. Still ... rules in Germany ARE rules. We are learning that.

Life is good. We are loving the cultural opportunities that abound every week. We love the changes in seasons, even today's pouring cold rain. The fall leaves were astoundingly stunning in color, and we have walked, run, cycled, and explored the trails and paths all over. Stuttgart is a beautiful city with a phenomenal cultural base. We loved Oktoberfest, and the Christmas markets are commencing - with gluwein, bratwurst, hot chocolate, and ice skating. No complaints!

Austin, Devin, Hayden - dressed for Halloween!