First impressions

When I arrived in Germany mid-November 2009 there was so much going on in my life, I was thousands of miles from my family for the first time ever, in a foreign country where I was unable to speak or understand the language, my father was in ICU following heart surgery and a stroke, I had no internet connectivity at work or in my new home (a hotel room), I had no transportation other than the two feet God gave me at birth! My goals were to remain in close contact with family, find a place to live, and get my self to work and back until I could go home in a month. Back to family, to see my Daddy, to be at my brothers wedding, home for Christmas! These were my initial Germany goals!

First order of business was to get internet connectivity and easy fix as my hotel was one of the T-Mobile Hot Spots! Now that I was connected I was able to talk with and video chat daily with loved ones at home. They kept me current on Daddy's progress and I felt like as long as I could talk with or see one of them daily I could make it through until Christmas.

Getting back and forth to work was simple, I walked. The hotel is 1.4 miles from the office and so I walked. It was great exercise and helped me clear my head coming and going and so I walked. I prayed to and from work for my parents as they struggled through this difficult time, for my husband as he tried to fill my shoes for my kids as they experienced the frailty of their grandparents and so I walked. Walking is good for the soul, the waist line and for learning your way around a new town. And so I was glad I walked!

Finding housing! I wanted to be close to the office, I am not accustom to long drives to work and wanted to keep it that way. So the circle of about 4 miles around the Post is where I looked for housing. The housing office knew my expectations and tried to get me to look beyond this circle but I held firm. Most of their frequently visited sites were those with pictures posted on their web site, I decided to try visiting a property that was not pictured, but seemed to meet my MUST HAVE list. It was less than 3 miles to the office (not close enough to walk but a quick drive), had two bathrooms, a furnished kitchen and more than 2 bedrooms. It was perfect but I was the second viewer. The landlord told the housing office they would rent to one of us but needed the afternoon to decide which. It was a long afternoon; we looked at one more property but it just did not rank after seeing what I WANTED to be my home for the next few years! The afternoon of 14 December drug on and on but when I finally got the call I was so excited to learn that they picked me! Now I had to go through the process of getting the housing contract written, translated and signed in 1 day because I was leaving to go back to Oklahoma to see my family! The housing office and my new landlord worked with me to get this all accomplished in a whirlwind of late afternoon meetings (remember I was working during all of this).

Heading home. An office friend made sure I got to the airport for my flight home! It was a long flight but I was able to sleep some on the plane and was so glad to see Alan and Michael and Annaleise at the airport! I was home for 2 weeks and planned to make the most of my time with family.