Hard & Good
I went through a few weeks where everything seemed extra hard. Walking to the grocery store, and carrying everything back up to our second floor apartment. Finding the number to make initial appointments at the medical clinic so I can get my prescriptions here. Learning public transit to get to where we needed to go. Feeling badly that I can’t communicate in German when I’m out and about.
Everything is new, sort of, and it makes my brain tired sometimes.
The perfect example was when our first car arrived. We shipped our commuter car one week ahead of our family van and we were SO happy to here the news that is was going to be delivered. We drove 30 minutes south to pick it up, but the battery was fully dead…and it turns out replacing a car battery wasn’t as easy as we wanted it to be. Local mechanic shops were all booked up so we knew we would just need to figure it out on our own. Battery polarity is different with batteries here in Germany so we needed to measure the current battery and send in pictures so they could be sure to get the right one. This car is a Prius so the battery is under the back seat which was a trick to figure out too.
The whole process felt like it was taking my brain a hundred more steps that it normally would have back in the States, and that pretty much sums up how everything has been the last few weeks. A lot of extra steps to figure things out.
Lots of using Google translate.
Lots of returning Amazon.de orders that couldn’t be delivered on the military base.
Lots of getting lost.
I keep reminding myself that it’s like building a new habit. It feels so foreign and clumsy at first, but then you build up a routine, or enough muscle memory that you don’t have to think through it each time you do it.
We’re getting there. I don’t want to forget how hard all these minor things have felt in the beginning. We’re learning a lot and things are becoming “normal” and easier each day, and that’s a good thing.
Something I have been loving are my walks just outside our gate. There are small fields quilted together of corn, cabbage, wheat, an Blumens (flowers). All fruit trees that aren’t behind a fence are open for anyone to pick. I’ve seen a lot of apple trees and pears, and have sampled some sweet blackberries when I find them. The Blumen field is an honor system of paying for what you cut. I took cuttings of sunflowers, gladiolas, geraniums and cosmos and cannot wait for the dahlias to come on in a couple weeks.
And I love that there is a free Spin Class a couple times a week with great instructors at our gym just a few minutes walk out the door. It has been just the boost I have needed.
The neighbors I have met are kind and inclusive. Kids are happy with new friends and new experiences. Life is an easy pace for me right now in so many ways. The difficult things are a good reminder to me that I can figure things out and it will get easier. It always does.
