A Taste of Honey March 26, 2011

Now that we finally have a fully operational kitchen complete with a working oven, the Mr. and I have been bitten by the baking bug lately. The first baked masterpiece that graced our oven was a homemade streusel the Mr. decided to make last weekend. For those of you who don’t know what a streusel is, it’s basically a sweet bread on the bottom covered with a sugar/butter crumbled topping. It’s baked and the bottom is soft and chewy (as you would expect of bread), and the topping is also soft and chewy in the larger chunks or a bit crunchier in the smaller bits. You can even cover it in another sugar glaze once it’s out of the oven (which I did for my section because I quite like it), or leave it plain as the Mr. prefers.

A few nights later, the Mr. decided to make basically the same bread but minus the less healthy streusel topping. He even cut some of the butter and sugar, making small rolls that were slightly sweet as well as a braided hefezopf. We didn’t snap a photo of his, but it was similar to the one in the photo only with sliced almonds on top. The hefezopf was exactly the same as the smaller rolls, only braided. You can add all sorts of things, obviously, from raisins to nuts, but we both prefer a more simple hefezopf.

Now, with the Mr. having become such a baking fanatic in the last week, I figured it was my time to step up to plate and create something fantastic. Only I figured why make something German when I can buy all sorts of delicious breads and cakes from bakeries all over town? No, better to make something American or British that I really enjoy but can’t find here. My first thought was to make cupcakes slathered in thick buttercream frosting, but I’ve actually been craving chocolate chip cookies something fierce.

First step? Gathering the ingredients, of course. I begin going over our inventory of what we have. Flour? Check. White granulated sugar? Check. Salt? Check. Eggs? Check. Vanilla? Check. Butter/shortening? Check. Chocolate chips? No, but that shouldn’t be difficult – Germans love chocolate! Baking soda? Ummmm….nope. And brown sugar? Nope.  I ask the Mr. if he thinks the store will have brown sugar. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: “I need brown sugar for the cookies.”

The Mr.: “Didn’t I see brown sugar in the pantry?”

Me: “No, that’s sugar that is brown. That’s not brown sugar.”

The Mr.: What do you mean, ‘sugar that is brown but not brown sugar?’ It’s sugar and it’s brown.”

Me: “Yes, but American brown sugar is different…it’s soft and clumps together.” [I show him a photo online of American brown sugar.]

The Mr.: “Yeah, they don’t sell anything like that here. I’ve never seen sugar like that before.”

Me: “Oh. Great.”

So I google “can you make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar?” and got all sorts of interesting results from “no, don’t do it! They won’t taste right!!” to “yes, we only make ours with white sugar.” What I discovered is that brown sugar is actually white sugar (gasp!) but with molasses added. That rocked my world, let me tell you. The irony to this story is that we actually had molasses up until recently. Back in Scotland, the Mr. had bought a tin of it for some strange reason, opened it, realized it wasn’t something he wanted to eat so it sat on a shelf for a long time and was even packed up and moved over to Germany. As I was going through boxes I discovered the sticky tin and puzzled over what to do with it before finally tossing it. I have no idea if it would still be good right now having been open for so long and unrefrigerated, etc. but I was sort of cursing the fact that I had had some up until recently, and able to see absolutely no purpose for it I threw it out suddenly needing it now. It figures. Anyway, I get to store and I begin searching for the three things I need: chocolate chips, molasses, and baking soda.

I get to the baking section and call the Mr. For some reason, no one here in Germany has labeled the baking soda as “baking soda” in English. The nerve….

Me: “What do they call baking soda here?”

The Mr.: “Uh, ‘backpulver.’ Look for ‘backpulver.’”

Me: “Are you sure? You’re definitely sure that’s baking soda and not baking powder, right?”

The Mr.: “Don’t we have baking soda in the cabinet? I thought I saw some.”

Me: “No, that’s not baking soda. That’s baking powder.”

The Mr.: “Isn’t that also the same thing?”

Me: “No. I don’t know why, but I know that it isn’t.” [This time the Mr. googles it and discovers that baking soda is in baking powder, but no – they are not exactly the same. He then tells me the possible names it might be labeled under: “Speisesoda,” ‘Backsoda” or “Speisenatron.” But he warns me that Germans don’t really bake with it, so I shouldn’t necessarily expect to find it. Luckily, I do spot it. One brand and one size, but hey – they have it!

Moving on…molasses, molasses, molasses. No, nowhere can I find it. I search the baking section, and then the section with honeys and jams but no luck. Apparently most Germans don’t require molasses for anything. Come to think of it, I had never required molasses for anything until this very moment. I had noticed when I was googling it earlier that you could substitute honey for molasses, thereby making your own “brown sugar,” so the “honey” version it is, I guess….

And finally the chocolate chips. This surprised me the most. Granted, I wasn’t in a huge grocery store, but still – no chocolate chips! Chocolate bars? Yes. Chocolate chips – or even small chunks – nope. Undeterred, I bought several bars of dark chocolate and decided to make my own chips.

Once the ingredients were in hand, everything went pretty smoothly.  It only took me maybe ten minutes to break up the two chocolate bars, and although the chunks weren’t exactly uniform they certainly didn’t taste any different. My other substitution was that I decided to do half butter, half shortening. No, Germans don’t sell or use Crisco here as far as I can tell, but I had brought some over from the US to Scotland a few years ago with the intention of making a pie but had never got around to it. Technically it was “best before” Oct. 2008, but I learned once on 20/20 or some show like that, that “best before” is really code for “this crap is so artificial it won’t ever really go bad.” Works for me. So yeah, what I like about doing 50/50 with the fat is that the butter adds flavor but the shortening helps insure the cookies aren’t as flat as pancakes, which is a pet peeve of mine.

All in all, I was very pleased with how they turned out. I told the Mr. that I thought they were probably a bit “drier” tasting than cookies made with brown sugar, but apart from that I couldn’t tell any real difference. I took a few to our upstairs elderly neighbors and advised them “eat them warm, and with a glass of milk.” The Mr. isn’t a huge fan of American baking and tends to prefer the German stuff, so who knows whether they will like them or not. Still, the Mr. has certainly been scarfing down a fair number of them with no complaints….

Eight Days a Week March 7, 2011

Is it really March already? Sheesh, time flies when you’re having fun taking an intensive language course.  As predicted, the class has sort of taken over my life to some extent and pushed other things (like blogs) to the side.  So between my classes, family visits and resumed shopping trips to Ikea, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to write.  But here’s the latest progress report:

Language class: It’s going well. Fairly well. Mmmm, okay….the first few weeks were pretty easy as a lot of it was review for me. I even scored the highest grade on our first test. But I’m not patting myself on the back too much as I know the reason for this was mostly due to the fact that I had studied it a bit back in Scotland. And now we’re definitely heading into unchartered territory and I feel it’s getting harder to keep up.  Apparently they expect us to spend 2 hours outside of class EVERY DAY doing our homework and memorizing and reviewing, but I spend no more than a half hour to 45 minutes at best.  It surprised to hear that that was the expectation given that we already spend more than 4 hours in class every day, but it makes sense as I see how quickly we’re flying through the material.  With the difficult bits like grammar, there’s no way you can know the course material well by the time we’re already moving on to something else. We’re having a short break from classes today through Wednesday for Fasching (which I’ll tell you a bit more in my next post), and I return to class on Thursday and then finish up this module on Wednesday of next week. Then I’m taking a two-month long break so the Mr. and I can go on holiday. On the one hand, I’m sort of nervous about such a long break in the middle of my course. On the other, I’m thinking it might be a good opportunity to really learn all the material we’ve just covered rather than immediately moving on to new stuff.  That is, if I take the time and make the effort to do so during my break. And that’s a big if, considering we’re going on vacation during at least part of it.

The flat: Firstly, we’ve ordered an oven with a stove – hurray! We’re hoping maybe it will arrive this week, and then the Mr. can figure out how to install it in the Ikea unit we purchased. The plan will be to then call an electrician to hook it up. Once that’s taken care of, the next step will be cabinets. I think we’ve pretty much decided on which style we want, so hopefully those will be relatively straight-forward. I reminded the Mr. of a conversation we had back when we were flat-hunting. It went somewhere along the lines of  “It’s okay if we get a flat without a kitchen, but I do not want to be sitting in this flat a year later with no completed kitchen. That’s a nightmare situation.” Ha, yes, well it won’t be a year that we’ve lived here until May, but we are slowly creeping up on that date….But with the cooker we borrowed from family, it’s been pretty manageable. I’ve mostly just missed frozen pizza.

Now, moving along to the lounge, we’ve shifted the kitchen table that was in the entrance room to this room where it now sits in between the big Besta unit and the sofas. We had done so initially to accommodate family that was coming to stay, but we decided that actually we quite liked having it there. The Mr. has worked on it some on his computer meaning we can hang out in the same room even when we’re both on our computers, and it also makes sense as a much nicer place to sit in general when eating something versus the darker entrance room. So we’re pretty sure it’s going to stay put.

The Mr. went on his own to Ikea recently and purchased another, smaller Besta unit to go along another wall in the lounge. He also purchased a light to go above it. We decided it made sense to get another unit as we needed some more storage space, and it will be useful if in the future we need to arrange the unit differently to accommodate a television set. Now we have a balanced, matching set of units that can go on either side.

What else have we been up to? Well, yesterday we attended the Fasching parade in town which was really enjoyable. In my next post, I’ll tell you a bit about it and post some photos. But now I had better get some housework done. I may get a break from language school, but sadly Hausfraus never get a break from cleaning duties. Das is verboten!

What Goes On January 9, 2011

The path to Käppele

The last couple of weeks have been quiet, enjoyable ones. The Mr. has been resting up before returning to work, and I’ve been gearing up to begin my intensive language course. We had some lovely, long walks around the city and yesterday enjoyed walking up to Käppele, a church that survived the 1945 bombing is now in the care of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin. It sits on a hill overlooking the city and is one of Würzburg’s most recognizable landmarks.

We also attempted (sort of) to go sledding one day while the snow was still covering the ground (temperatures only *just* warmed up yesterday melting all the snow. It’s been on the ground since Thanksgiving, I think!) I say “attempted” as we had no proper sled. The Mr. thought perhaps we could fabricate one using an Ikea bag and a yoga block. A nice idea, but sadly it was a colossal fail. If only we had had a lunchroom tray like we used to use back at DePauw….

We also watched (and are still watching) several documentaries. The Mr. picked out “The Story of India” last year as a Christmas gift, and it was a highly enjoyable and enlightening exploration of a fascinating country. I’ve only been to New Delhi (briefly) and Dharamsala (for a month), all the while focussing on Tibetan culture, but I’d enjoy returning at some point to see more of and learn more about India. The documentary also tied in nicely with two novels I’ve been reading, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, and Brick Lane by Monica Ali. The other documentary series I’m currently in love with is Simon Reeve’s Tropic of Cancer. Reeve is journeying around the world along the Tropic of Cancer, uncovering “environmental, political and human stories from some of the most remote places on the planet.” It’s fascinating, beautiful and at times heart wrenching. Going about our daily lives, it’s so easy to forget how privileged and lucky we are compared to most, and how we are but a small part of a much larger world.

Apart from the long walks and documentaries, we did make a bit of progress on the flat over the holidays. The Mr. went through some boxes in the office/guest room so we were able to clear a few more of those out, and we’ve ordered a new dishwasher and vacuum cleaner. The cabinets and cooker/oven will have to wait a bit longer, but apart from lacking storage space, it’s not too much of an annoyance. We’ve borrowed a small, portable cooker which makes a world of difference (i.e. I can make pasta again – hurray!)

And this evening I’ve taken the ornaments off the tree, and the Mr. will carry it outside soon where it will be picked up by the city tomorrow morning for composting. Somehow, I never feel quite ready for Christmas to end. I wish there was another big holiday in January after New Year’s Eve (which is so close to Christmas it really can’t count) to make this winter month a little more enjoyable. (January birthday people: your moms were genius for having you in January – it’s never a boring month for you!) But the lack of anything exciting to look forward to in my own life in January has me thinking: what if I were to invent my own holiday? I mean, why not? Who’s to say I can’t, right? It would definitely include good food, family & friends. But what else? What would you add if you “invented” your own holiday?

Tomorrow Never Knows January 1, 2011

It seems hard to believe, but 2011 has already arrived. And with the arrival of the new year, I’ve been reflecting on all that we experienced in 2010.

2010 was a year of some pretty big changes for us.  In February, we both quit jobs and moved from Scotland to Germany where the Mr. took up a new position. Mia took her first (that I know of) international flight and became a much more shy, more easily spooked kitty from the stress of the move (but also happier, I think, in her new home with huge windows.) We finally found a flat, which sadly still isn’t totally unpacked and lacks an oven, a cooker, a dishwasher and kitchen cabinets, but fingers crossed that 2011 sees us fully moved in and settled! I spent more time staying with my parents in Indiana than I had since before college, taking advantage of not having a job for the first time in a long time. And we’ve been able to spend considerably more time than with the Mr.’s family, too, now able to join in on the holidays and spur-of-the-moment get-togethers. Not everything that happened in 2010 was great (The Mr.’s appendix decided it didn’t like him anymore and had to go), but the good definitely outweighed the bad and I’m grateful for all of the wonderful things 2010 did bring to us.

Edinburgh has been on mind a lot, too. Yesterday, at midnight, I had hoped one of the radio stations might play a rendition of Auld Lang Syne at the stroke of midnight. When I couldn’t find it, I turned off the radio and sang it instead.

In some ways, because of all that we’ve experienced, Edinburgh feels like another lifetime ago. And in other ways, it feels like we left only yesterday and that being here in Germany is only an extended vacation that has yet to end. I still think of our flat there as “our flat,” and cannot imagine it empty of our things, or (stranger still) with other people living inside. I miss my favorite shops and cafes, and being able to text a friend and get together to do something. There’s a sort of nostalgic sadness that lingers when I think of Edinburgh, but if I think hard enough I can also remember that our life there had its drawbacks, too.  There were reasons we took up the job opportunity here in Germany, and they were good ones.  And I have to admit – life here IS pretty darn good. Our day-to-day quality of living is much better for both of us for a number of reasons, so apart from missing friends, there’s little to complain about. In fact, despite the fact that there are people and things I miss back in Edinburgh, I’ve reached the point where I can say that moving here was the right choice.

What does 2011 have in store for us? Well, I’m not sure if it counts as a New Year’s resolution since I’ve already resolved to do it, but I’m kicking off the new year by beginning a German language course which I hope will help me feel more at home and confident in everyday life. And there’s talk we might try – kitchen expenses allowing – to fit in a bigger trip somewhere this year. The “big trip” was the carrot the Mr. dangled as incentive for leaving Edinburgh, so we’re working out what and where that might be. I’m pushing for Japan, but apparently the exchange rate right now is dreadful so that might not be the wisest trip financially. So who knows. More than anything else, I just hope that 2011 is as good to us as 2010 was.

Update: In a strange coincidence, after writing this last night, I went into the office where the Mr. was looking up property to buy in Edinburgh. (He just likes to look as a sort of hobby, mostly so that he can exclaim how crazily inflated the prices are there.) Anyway, at one point, I hear him gasp. Our former flat is on the market to sell. We looked at the photos they had with the listing, and it was so…weird. Apparently the only renovation they did was installing new laminate in the kitchen. Otherwise, it looks just like our flat, complete with the heaters, kettle and dish rack we left behind.  We had a good laugh over the description as they always try to make it sound better than it really is, but seeing it again – empty except for a few of  our things – made us feel a little sad.

It Won’t Be Long Now November 21, 2010

By popular request (okay, just from Linz =) ) I thought I’d post a few photos of the flat in its current state. As I’m sure I’ve said a million times, it’s by no means finished, but there has been some progress since the orginal photos I posted. I’ll focus just on the back part of the flat for this entry, and will try to take some photos of the front in the next week.

The kitchen, I think, will come together fairly nicely once we get cabinets, etc. And I have pink and gray orchid blossom decals that will go into the bathroom once we’ve determined whether or not we’re able to install another cabinet. But I’m feeling a little stumped on how to make the loo more interesting. I could go the decal route like I’m planning to do throughout much of the flat, but I’m not quite sure what sort of decal and style would make sense. At the moment, all I have for inspiration is a duck bar of soap and a papier-mâché fish. So any ideas, throw them my way!

Here we go….

The view when you walk into the kitchen. New island, sink and to the left a stove/oven unit.

Sink and "tea nook"

Close-up of "tea nook"

Kitchen island

Rose from our garden

Fridge =)

The loo. It's sort of long and skinny, so I'm not sure how to decorate it.

Notice the water heater under the sink. If we hadn't complained and asked for one, we would have only cold water with which to wash our hands. Yuck.

Bathroom. The only room that's just about finished except for a possible cabinet and decals that will go above the tiles.

The big projects for me at the moment are trying to decide which decals to get for our bedroom, guest room/office and the lounge, as well as deciding on a storage unit for the lounge. I love vinyl decals as they really add character to a room, but I am concerned about the fact that we won’t be able to take them with us when we move. Most are removable, but not reusable, and the ones I’m interested in range in cost from about $60 to $150. What do you think? Would you invest, say, $300 in decorations you know you can’t take with you?

P.S. I’ve decided I’m crap at coming with up titles for entries, so see if you can guess my inspiration….

Getting Down to Business November 9, 2010

I arrived back in Germany on Sunday a year older (celebrated my birthday the day before) and definitely feeling every bit my age. For me, going over to the states is never as bad as coming back.

That looks about right....

Firstly, most flights arrive late in the day so when I fly over from Europe I usually only have to stay awake a few hours before hitting the sack. And secondly, my suitcase(s) are usually relatively empty so that I can load up on tons of stuff. At the moment, what I haul back is a combination of keepsakes, American foods I can’t find anywhere and this time lots of scrapbooking supplies, too. I always dread the trip back as I usually arrive early in the morning with a full day ahead AND hauling close to my body weight in luggage. I paid the extra $55 for a second suitcase which seems a rip-off (I remember the good ‘ol days of TWO free suitcases and seafood meals) but is still a better deal than shipping things by the US postal service. I did decide to go ahead and do that, too, and paid $53 for a box weighing about 17 pounds. So the airline prices seem almost cheap in comparison.

I’m happy to be back, but I have to say that the feeling is different from when I’d return to Edinburgh. Coming back to Edinburgh felt like coming home. It was a cozy, warm and comfortable feeling, almost from day one. I like Germany and it is growing on me, but there was something almost magical about flying in and looking at Auld Reekie from the air. Somehow Frankfurt just doesn’t have that same charm….and yet I am growing to really love and appreciate Würzburg. And I should be fair, too. Since we moved to Germany back in February, I’ve spent almost as much time in the states as here. So how could it feel like home? I’m so appreciative of the time I’ve had in the states, but I am ready to really focus on settling in.  I sort of feel like I’ve been living in limbo these past eight months, with “home” being some mixture of many places rather than just one.

Today in the store, the bakery clerk complimented me on my German and I had to laugh. I was able to tell her what I wanted, and understood a few basic questions she asked me, but I should be able to do so much more by this point. She probably wouldn’t be so quick to compliment if she knew I had been living here since February! So first on the agenda is language. Although I’m sort of dreading the commitment of a full-time intensive language course (especially doing it in winter – ugh!) I know I have to get off my lazy bum and just do it. And the other top priority is studying for and hopefully passing a written exam for a driver’s license here. The Mr. and I also have a lot more work to do on the flat. Six months have passed since we moved in, we still don’t have an oven, stove or kitchen cabinets. And there are still boxes everywhere. Part of the problem was moving into a completely empty flat with no kitchen or any closets and lacking lots of furniture, and part of the problem was being away so much. But I’m starting to go crazy looking at the chaos and not being able to cook pasta, so it’s time to kick it in high gear. The next few months are going to be busy ones, I think.

Confessions of a German Hausfrau July 19, 2010

It’s been a little more than a week since I arrived back in Germany, and I’ve officially begun my new job as a German Hausfrau.  Hausfrau, or housewife, might not sound like a very glamorous or rewarding new position, but I have to admit that I’m rather enjoying it so far. It has a lot of perks. I get to sleep in every day, watch movies in the middle of the day if I want, and go shopping for food while everyone else is slaving away in the office.  The only downsides are tasks like scrubbing the toilet and removing limescale, but my mother has introduced me to the wonders of vinegar so I can cope.  The real challenge at the moment is trying to “keep up” a residence with no kitchen and boxes (i.e. mess) everywhere. But I think I’m maintaining some semblance of order vacuuming like a madwoman and washing dishes in the bathroom sink. Yes, the bathroom sink. I used to think doing all our dishes by hand at the kitchen sink was time-consuming, but that was positively dreamy compared to washing them individually in a bathroom sink. Still, it works and it means I’ll appreciate a kitchen even more once we have one. And a dishwasher – gasp – now that would really tickle me pink.

I thought I’d share a few photos of the domestic domain I now rule. I know many people are dumb-founded when I describe the “no kitchen” situation, so I thought it might help to include a couple of photos showing what our current set-up looks like:

Table, microwave and kettle....

And fridge. And that's all, folks!

With the fridge, the kettle and the microwave we’re getting by. I’m not a great cook, anyway, so it’s not as if we’re used to having fancy-pants meals every night, but it will be nice to have a stove and an oven and a kitchen sink again at some point. And I do have ambitions that my new role as a Hausfrau will inspire me to want to cook more. Honestly!

Bathroom sink, AKA "dishwashing zone"

The bathroom sink above is where I do the dishes. Yeah, it sounds kind of gross but keep in mind that our toilet is separate from our bathroom, so it’s not too bad.

And I know many of you are curious what our “sitting shower” looks like:

The "sitting shower," in all its glory

Thankfully, the Mr. managed to buy the equipment to make it into a “real” shower and it works great. The floor gets a little wet so we’re debating whether to get some sort of barrier around the side facing the sink so it’s more contained, but mopping up afterward also works pretty well.

I also had my first communal task to complete for the house. As is usually the case in Germany, all parties in the house have to share tasks such as sweeping the walkways, taking out the garbage, and in the wintertime, clearing away snow and ice. My job this past week was to sweep the walkway to the door, as well as the back pavement behind the house. It was a relatively cool day, but it still took me more than an hour to clear away all the dead leaves and pine needles and it made me kind of sweaty and gross, to be honest. It was really the pine needles that made the job so arduous as we have very large pine trees that seem to shed copious amounts of needles. I always thought evergreen trees were less hassle than deciduous ones because they don’t lose their needles in the same way. Silly me.

In addition to upkeep both inside and out, I’m also familiarizing myself with the new neighborhood grocery store I shall be visiting on a regular basis. It’s fairly well-stocked, and I took my handy Ikea shopping trolley there a few days ago and bought quite a few things.

Oh, Ikea, how I love thee

At the grocery store, I was proud of myself for understanding that the cashier wanted to know if I had a Euro so she’d have to make less change. Ah, it’s the little things that bring joy….The good news is that although I’ll miss our shopping trips to Toom with the car, I think this smaller store will cover all the bases until opportunities arise when we’ve either rented a car or have signed-up for car-sharing and can go to a bigger supermarket. And they still have a pretty awesome chocolate section despite the limited size, which is most important of all. I’ve also discovered a new favorite treat:

A little bit of heaven in a plastic cup

You can choose between, 40, 60 or 75% cocoa content. I went for the 75%, and it was de-lish. The higher the cocoa content, usually the safer it is around the Mr., too. He prefers milk chocolate, so I cleverly purchase things he won’t like. Does that make me an evil German Hausfrau?

Out with the old, in with the new May 19, 2010

After a long and at times stressful journey yesterday, I finally arrived in Indiana late last night. I don’t even have the energy to go into describing everything that went wrong, but I was pretty cranky with Frankfurt Intl’ Airport, United Airlines AND Washington Dulles Intl’ Airport by the end of the day. That’s right, you’re all on my poo-poo list now. So watch out.

But I am happy to report that the move back in Germany went smoothly on Friday. I went through some of the kitchen boxes on Sunday to help the Mr. get a little more organized before I left, so now I feel slightly less guilty about abandoning him to the “no kitchen” situation. However, he did write today to tell me about the challenges of eating chicken soup with a knife. Yep, I never managed to find any silverware for him, poor guy.

It took the movers a couple of hours to bring everything inside, and reminded us of exactly how much crap we have. Seriously. We never did the usual “moving purge” of stuff because we didn’t really have the time, plus the moving company did all the packing for us which is when this type of purge would normally happen. I’ve told the Mr. that this doesn’t let us off the hook from still doing a purge as we unpack, however.

The flat was cold the first night, but eventually heated up to a reasonable level. We were a little concerned since it is an old building, but we think it will be okay. The sitting shower is…interesting.

The "sitting shower" prior to its installation

We were relieved to find that the water pressure is nice and strong, and there’s plenty of hot water – whew. But still, it’s a chilly experience to have to turn off the water to suds up given that the room never really gets all that warm. So we definitely have to convert it a regular shower, but the Mr. has nearly two months to do this before I’m back ; )

Then on Saturday we went to Ikea and bought lamps for three rooms, as well as a large gray rug for the lounge. We went on a bit of a buying spree as the Mr. handed Baby Merc back over to the rental car company today, and we’ve decided we’re going to hold off on buying a car for now. Makes me a little sad that we’re going to lose the convenience of hopping into it for bigger shopping trips and the luxury of being able to easily travel around on the weekends, but I know we’ll save heaps of money.

In the meantime, I happily have a car to use here in Indiana. My mom recently bought a new car, so that leaves me her old one to drive while I’m here. I drove up to my brother’s house today where I’ll be staying for the next few days with my mom as she’s taking care of my niece & nephew while my brother and his wife are in Japan. Then I head back to my parents’ house and will begin working on clearing out all the things they’ve been storing for me. The plan is to put together a big yard sale, and hopefully my old will become somebody else’s new.

Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind May 11, 2010

We signed the lease on Friday for the art nouveau flat, and the movers will deliver our things on Friday at noon. It’s a relief to finally have a place of our own, and to know that we’ll soon be reunited with all of our cherished (and now probably dusty) belongings. I am slightly worried about a couple of things, however, which puts a bit of a damper on the move-in joy:

1. We saw the newly installed tub\shower combo on Friday. I don’t think I mentioned this before, but one of the drawbacks to this flat and what would have resulted in an instantaneous veto from me had the Mr. said we couldn’t change it is the “sitting shower” in the bathroom. On our first viewing, the agent explained that a combination bathtub\sitting shower (basically a tub with a seat moulded into the back) would be installed. “Sitting shower?” I asked the Mr. with trepidation. He whispered that it wouldn’t be a problem to change it if we took the place. In the days following, the Mr.’s attitude shifted slightly from “we can change it, no problem” to “I think we can change it.” In the end, I decided just to trust his initial inclination and we agreed to take the place. He’s not as concerned about it as I am, but says he will do his best to try to fix it to a more normal shower setup. (I mean, what idiot came up with the idea of a “sitting shower,” anyway, in any other setting apart from a nursing home?) Then on Friday, we saw the shower nozzle for the “sitting shower” for the first time and entirely new fears (shared by both of us) have surfaced. It’s really, really small. I mean, we’re wondering how much water can actually come out of this thing since it’s so small. And because they chose an incredibly small nozzle, maybe that means there’s no good water pressure and we’re going to have a warm trickle of water with which to bathe every day? We’re probably just being paranoid, but I fear we may need to learn how to love being dirty.

2. The kitchen situation. I feel really, really badly abandoning the super-busy Mr. to a flat with absolutely no kitchen for 1 1/2 months. The poor guy won’t even have a freakin’ kitchen sink. He says he’s not concerned about it only because he has a million other things on his plate right now and having no kitchen is the least of his worries. This doesn’t exactly alleviate my guilt. On Saturday, we actually found a range from Ikea that we both like:

Ikea's Abstrakt kitchen range in gray

The problem, however, is that the Mr. says he just doesn’t have the energy to delve into planning a kitchen right now, which is fair enough given his work. After much discussion we’ve decided that although it’s inconvenient for him, it makes sense for me to go now and to wait on planning and ordering the kitchen until July when I’m back. Alternatively, kitchen-planning faeries might show up and take care of everything for us, but I guess I won’t hold my breath waiting for them.

The Home Stretch May 5, 2010

On Monday, the Mr. received an email from the agent for the art nouveau flat with the lease attached. The plan is to meet him and the owner on Friday at 2pm at the house to go over final details and sign the lease. Last week we arranged for the painters who were already working on the ceilings, etc. to go ahead and paint the walls for us too, so the flat should be ready to move into by this weekend. We still have to arrange for the moving company to deliver our things, however, so we probably won’t be able to move in until next week at the earliest. I’m a little nervous something could still go wrong when we meet the owner (we don’t exactly have a good record in these situations), but since we already know everything about the flat the Mr. won’t have to go into “inspector mode” so we should be able to avoid any catastrophes. Fingers crossed.

It’s going to be a stressful and busy next couple of weeks. This evening Mia has to go into the cat hotel and she’ll stay there until Sunday when we’re able to return to the holiday let. We’re checking into a city center hotel from tomorrow until Sunday, with the bulk of our things stored here. From Sunday, the tentative plan is to come back and stay in the holiday let until whenever the move-in date is arranged. And then, I’m Indy-bound.

I had been thinking I’d wait until June to go to Indiana so we could have longer to order a kitchen. We realized, however, that I actually have to leave Germany by the end of May to stay legal with the tourist stamp I was given when we flew in. We haven’t been able to officially register me and make me legal yet because we first needed to provide a copy of a property lease agreement (Ha! Yes, wouldn’t that be nice?) and a copy of my medical insurance coverage. Getting this arranged with an insurance company has also been a big pain in the butt 1.) Because they always seem to need more and more information, and then each time they come back with more forms they ask “has your health status changed at all?” If I say yes, I’m guessing you’ll need more information, right?  2). Because they do annoying things like charge 20 euros more per month for my coverage since I was in the hospital in August 2009. Nevermind that I was completely cleared of any problems by doctors in the UK back in November….so it’s back and forth, back and forth. Anyway, in theory we’re finally getting somewhere with being able to provide both a lease agreement and proof of insurance, so I should be able to register as a resident soon. We figure it’s probably best, however, for me to leave within the three-month tourist visa period and do it when I get back to avoid any problems.

As for the kitchen, well, we have a microwave, a toaster and a kettle and the Mr. says that’s enough to get him by until I’m back and we can take the time to order exactly the kitchen we want. I keep asking him if the above three things are really enough to get him by until July, but he seems to think so. He said he might look into buying a small, cheap fridge if things get desperate, which I have a feeling they will sooner rather than later. I mean, how is he going to store milk? And chocolate? (He likes refrigerated chocolate for some reason…I know, weird, right?) I’m kind of worried and feeling a little guilty for abandoning him right after the move to a flat full of boxes and chaos and no kitchen. He’s so busy at the moment I’m not quite sure how he’ll find the time to go food shopping, or what he’ll eat for dinner when there’s no kitchen to cook in. I have visions of him eating microwaved ramen noodles night after night and wasting away to practically nothing…well, okay, that’s not likely to happen…he likes chocolate too much to waste away . But if anyone wants to fly in and cook (or, er, heat up) some dinner for him at some point while I’m away, I’m sure he wouldn’t object.