First Impressions are Not Always the Best

So we made it to Germany, and I've been hesitant to write this post. Partly because my computer IP address now reads that I am in Germany so all my websites that I typically go to (such as this one) are now in German :\ This took me a while to correct. But I also hesitated because it is hard for anyone who has not lived overseas to understand that moving to a European Country does not equate to a 2 year vacation. Being an immigrant is hard! But if I am to write about our experience living abroad, then I need to relate the bad with the good!

So I think I will add posts speaking directly to particulars about moving here (such as driving, shopping, people...) in the future. But for now I will just relate our major issues now. Basically, we arrived here the week of Thanksgiving to a pretty good size hotel. That first week was pretty much a wash since it was a holiday week. So the following week we focused on finding a house. To give you an idea of what that is like...we are still looking :(

First off, let me just vent that the Housing Office here is absolutely useless!!! Granted, they really don't do much for you in the States either. But at least there, you know the language and can read the street signs and maps to figure out where you are going. Once we got here, we were told to check out the website every day to see what houses opened and are available...that is it! I know it is unfair to compare one country to another, but just so you understand our frustration, when we arrived in Italy the Housing Office showed us a book of homes available, brought us to the ones we were interested in personally (since they already had a licence, a car, spoke the language, and knew where they were going!), and they would set up the lease with the landlord. Oh yeah, and if you were there longer, you got first priority on any new listings! Here it is pretty much a free-for-all, and it is all on you to set everything up! And you only have 30 days to do it, otherwise the military will no longer pay for your hotel.

So our first cultural experience we've had is that Germans do not return phone calls. You pretty much have to reach them, or forget about talking to them at all. This makes it very hard to set up appointments to see houses. We've essentially had to have the tenacity of a telemarketer (a good option for Dean if this Navy thing doesn't work out) in order to get in touch with anyone. And despite the fact that Realtors here charge you 1-3 months rent, we decided it would be money well spent, and contacted FIVE of them, and still nothing. In fact, you know it's bad when a Realtor calls and says "yeah, I have nothing for you!"

When situations like this happen, your mind begins to search for any possible reasons as to why things are not working out for you. We've gone from we're calling at the wrong time, they don't like dogs, it's who you know, they don't want to deal with Americans, and/or it is just the wrong time of year. I personally believe the last reason has a lot of merit to it. I mean, seriously, how many people do you know who thinks: yeah, forget decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping, visiting family, and just generally having a nice holiday season, and let's move instead! And without anyone vacating, there is no renting! We are seriously getting frustrated and stressed out. Particularly when we found out the 2 other families that came over on the same plane with us both found houses a week and a half ago!!

We are seriously hoping for things to pick up after Christmas. In fact, we have been here 5 weeks, and we just got to see our first house yesterday...and I was really concerned that this was all our money was going to get us (I later discovered it was considerably less than what we could afford). It was a complete and utter safety hazard, especially when you have actual, living, breathing kids you hope will remain that way once we leave Germany, and not fall down flights of stairs immediately outside their bedroom door (no, seriously...the doorway stuck out 6 inches past the stairs!). But we are hopeful that this means things are starting to pick up and we will have a house by the first of the year. Particularly since our 30 days are up and we will now have to pay for our hotel room. But the good news is the hotel owner likes us and is allowing us to stay here until we find a place, saving us from trying to find an apartment (none of those available either) and move ourselves in the middle of winter.

So...this is our experience so far. This may sound like we are regretting our move to Germany. I admit we have each experienced our moments of doubt. But thankfully, we have our time in Italy to fall back on. We have also had some good experiences already as well. So no, first impressions are not always the best, and we are very well aware that once we settle in, we will be able to relax and enjoy our new surroundings!

A few pictures of the hotel: Christmas tree in the living room, the unusually large European kitchen, the master bedroom, the kids' bedroom where they share a bed (greeeaaaat), and the view outside our window where a market popped up the day after we arrived (but is no longer there)...

Hurry Up and Wait

Anyone in the military will be very familiar with this term because it aptly defines life in the Armed Forces. I'll give you an example: despite the fact we were under pressure to make a decision to take orders to Germany, once we finally did, we were put in a holding pattern for nearly four weeks as we now continue to wait for said orders.

That's right, even though I have set up this blog in order to record our journey to Germany, the fact is, it could all fall apart right before our very eyes. You see, nothing in the military is definite without orders...orders we do not yet have. Both Dean and I are very anxious to get these papers in our hands, especially because NOTHING can be done without them.

This is extremely stressful since most military members know within 6-9 months that they will be moving overseas, and can plan their move accordingly. We have less than 4 months. And two of the major things that need to be done, no one will even take our calls without these orders.

Case-in-point: when you move overseas, each member of the family needs to go through what is called an Overseas Screening. This is essentially a physical to make sure you are in good health, before you move to a place that may not be able to handle any health issues you might have. Since my daughter is beginning Kindergarten in the Fall, I will already need to remove her in the middle of the school year. With this move (and impending jet lag), I know she will miss a lot of school, and I was hoping to limit that by getting her screening done before she starts. I called the woman in charge three weeks ago, I called her last week, I called her this week...still no word.

I didn't exactly tell her that we didn't have orders, I just asked if we needed them to start this process. I guess that was enough for her to ignore my calls. But believe me, once we do get those orders, the next call will not be a nice one.

The second thing we need to do but can't without orders is set up our move. But I'll go more into that later (oh yeah, I'll defnitely get more into that later) :) But for now, just keep your fingers crossed that we will get the orders this week. And stay tuned, because believe me, this is just the beginning of the drama!!

Introduction

I guess to start this off, I should introduce myself and why I am starting a blog. My name is Tiffany, and I am very happily married to a Naval Officer named Dean. We have two children, Delaney (5), and Donovan (2). We also have a 90lbs lovable Boxer named Jake. We currently live in the DC area, but that is about to change.



As a military family, we have traveled literally all over the world. And we are now about to embark on our next adventure as we recently received orders to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany! This move is completely unexpected, but we are thrilled. We have never been to Germany, so we look at this as an amazing opportunity for us and our young children.

However, this is not our first time at the rodeo. My husband and I married in March of 2002, and in April 2002, we moved to Gaeta, Italy. As a new couple just starting out, we jumped into those orders with all four feet and totally blind. We welcomed the opportunity, but it was hard!! I wish blogging was big back then - boy, would I have stories to tell! This time, although excited, we put much more forethought and debate into taking these orders - now knowing a little bit more what to expect. But overall, when we decided to take the orders and discovered that we were both genuinely happy about it, we knew we made the right decision for our family.

So the purpose of this blog is to record our family's move to and life in Germany for the next two years. I'm expecting many more stories to tell, and hope this will give me an opportunity to share them with my family and friends!!