Weeks 3 & 4

Guten Tag all, from Hohenfels, Germany! I have officially been welcomed here. Last Friday night, I was "hailed" at a Hail & Farewell Boat cruise. The picture is of two of my local national workers, Vi (in front) and Marina. They have been so great and supportive and have patiently helped me to begin to learn my way around the library.

I finally have DSL at home, so I can add to my posts. I am posting some photos of my apartment. Isn't the pretty blue fireplace great? I can't wait to use it this winter. Notice the rolldown shutters on the windows. That makes it easy to lock the house down and keep out the light as well. All of the windows have them.

I am adjusting to my job ok. It is an adjustment to be managing adult workers. Also, I have to take bunches of classes- I drove an hour north to Grafenwoer to attend some management classes. I have to go back again tomorrow, but the drive is quite lovely through the lush green German countryside. I go through several quaint little villages too. I bought a GPS today for the car; lots of people have them here, and I think it will be very helpful.

I may go to Heidelberg this weekend, if Stephen and Megh are not busy. I can't wait to see them. Otherwise, I may just go gallivanting around. There are usually fests or small festivals in villages on the weekends. I plan to take the train down to Munich some time soon too. I want to visit my Ulla- if she remembers me! (She is the German lady I stayed with two years ago when I worked at the International Youth Library. )

I hope to have some visitors soon- who will be the first??

Miss you all

Nan

Week Two

Well, I have officially started work this week, and it is interesting. I don't like not knowing what to do and how to do it, but hopefully my learning curve will be short. It is different to be free to go wherever, whenever, without having to have someone cover my class! I met the colonel, the garrison commander, today. He is very nice and is quite willing to come to the library and read to the kids any time. I plan to take him up on that soon...
My apartment is so cute, and not so small as you might think. I have only two bedrooms, but a large living room and kitchen, and one and a half baths. I even have a great German-style fireplace in my kitchen! I will put up more pix when I figure out how to do it on my computer at work. I don't have DSL at home yet, and it may not be possible to get it at all in the small village where I live.
The folks we have met through the Chapel on post are super nice. They have welcomed us and included us already in events at the chapel. Thursday nights are Bible study night, which is great. Two of the wives, Carol and Marianne, came to my place yesterday and took me out to lunch. I am feeling less lonely today, except I still miss Ben terribly. I don't have a phone number yet either, so that makes me a bit more isolated.
On Sunday night a very nice couple from the Chapel invited Ben and me to Regensburg, which is south of us about 30 minutes. We climbed to the top of a church tower and saw the whole city laid out before us. It was beautiful! I saw a tower nearby where Charlemagne had rested on a visit to the city hundreds of years ago. The history here boggles the mind. Then we walked across the oldest original bridge in Germany, spanning the Danube (which is called the Donau here.) Our delicious dinner was eaten at a biergarten and enjoyed by all. Ben had to get at least one more excellent German meal in before he left!
I have been walking in the evenings, all around the village and out in the country too. The people are friendly, mostly, and the views are magnificent. I walk for about an hour each night. So far, I haven't gained any weight, nor have I lost any. Hopefully I will be able to get on enough of a schedule to lose again soon.
Thanks for all of your comments! Please also take the survey if it is still available.

Tschuss!

Nan

Week One

Wow! This past week has been wild! There is so much to do and learn and plan for, my poor little head is spinning! For those of you who are not sure what I am talking about, a little background is in order:

Last May, I applied for a librarian job at Hohenfels Training Center, Germany, (thanks, Meg!)really never dreaming I would even be in contention for it. Then in early June, I got the phone call from Germany: We would like to offer you this job.

Shock.

Excitement.

Anxiety.

What should I do? Is this the opportunity I was looking for? I have had my Masters in Library Science for 2 years and I have felt ready for a change for a while also. Here was a chance to do the library thing- and in Germany, no less! If you know me at all, you know how much I love to visit Germany, in addition to which my oldest son Stephen and his wife Meghan live there too. But was I ready to take the plunge?

Ben and I talked about it and prayed about it. I came to believe that this was what God had been preparing for me. So....I accepted the job. Report for duty: August 1.

No problem. Just the end of school to deal with, packing up my classroom (thanks, Randy!), and planning and bringing to fruition my lovely daughter Caitlin's wedding in early July. No stress, really.

After a beautiful wedding and reception, I began to pack. Ben and I had already decided to sell our large house, so we just speeded up those plans a bit. On July 30, we flew to Munich, Germany. Ben wanted to come with me to help me settle in, and I am so grateful that he did. He will come back to sell the house and finish out this semester, then hopefully join me in December or January 2008. After we arrived in Munich last Tuesday, we rented a car and drove about an hour north to Hohenfels, Germany. It is between Regensburg and Nuremburg. What a lovely place! It is very rural, with dark forests and green, rolling hills and fields. But it is in the boonies, man. In the middle of nowhere. But somewhere is not too far away. Regensburg is about 30 minutes and there are many quaint German villages around as well.

In the past week, I have: met the wonderful German women with whom I will be working, found a place to stay, moved to a much better place (Hotel Zum Hirschen) in Parsberg, started and finished the process of a new id card, looked at an apartment in the village of Lupburg, loved it, signed for it, went out to dinner every night at a different German restaurant, went to Ikea, went crazy there (what a fantastic place! Good thing they don't take credit cards!), found a car, bought the car, studied for my USAREUR driver's license, took the test and passed it, bought two phones at the Thrift Shop, toured the post and began to find my way around, ate some more great German food, discovered weinschorlesuss, dealt with personnel issues, tried to get my military email address, got my military post office box, visited the fitness center, went on a volksmarch and down into a cool cave, attended church on Sunday and met two really great Christian families.... and much more. Throughout all of this, Ben has been my rock.

It is still a bit of a dream, doesn't feel real, but other times it is all too real. Having to deny an annual leave request for an employee wasn't fun, yet it went well.

God has been so faithful! He has provided a great place to live, work, and several new friends to share it with.

Tomorrow, we go to get my new car. I will tell you more about it then and will add a picture of it.
Thanks for reading- please comment if you like.

Tschuss!