Month 4

We are officially 4 months into our new life in Germany. Despite a perfectly orchestrated move we are still experiencing small bumps in the road. It is common cultural transition knowledge that says a person will be overjoyed in month one with the excitement of the move and then will hit a low point and then transition into normal life. I believe after 4 months I have completed my cycle and I am truly hoping that I am now on the upward swing. The ups and downs were more extreme in India as it is a third world country, but the adjustment still exists here in Germany. Naturally anytime you are out of your home country there are differences. I'm finding that all my patience was used up in India and now I'm just tired and frustrated. In month 4 my frustrations are up and down. On one hand living is getting easier because we are more established, but on the other hand it is more frustrating as we are searching for more. I'm not sure I will ever be content with living. The house is settled and we have a wonderful neighborhood of people that I am calling friends. However, true friends is what we are lacking. We have also discovered that living together, eating breakfast together, driving to work together, working at the same place together, driving home together, and eating dinner together is getting to be a bit much of time TOGETHER. We are searching for hobbies where we can separate ourselves so that we have something to talk about over mealtime. Last Sunday night we sat down together and researched how we can get involved.

This week I tried woman's running club thinking that it would be a healthy club choice to join. I arrived promptly, as a good German would, and was shocked to discover three 50+ woman at running club. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I would have bet money that the average age wouldn't be over 35/40 years old. Oh no, me and the ladies ran three 2.2 km laps around the forest in one hour. I don't want to call them older ladies because 50 is not old, but I just find it old for running. I hope I'm running at 50, but find it rare. The good news is that they have accepted me after I complained about my knees hurting. Ha! I had to throw in a few health comments just to fit in. They have invited me for 6 am swimming, but I think I will pass.

I also tried out Go Cart club this week. It was a full out attack on trying to find a hobby. The club is through work and meets once a month. Naturally I was the only woman there and naturally I would hit another co-worker head on with my cart after he spun out. A great way to start any group! He complained of rib pain and I felt horrible, but it honestly wasn't my fault! I walked away unharmed.

So at the end of 4 months in Germany and 2 months of working we feel as though we have accomplished a great deal, yet we are not satisfied with everything. The most successful accomplishment this past month was getting our dining room light installed. Now we can have dinner guests over past 8 pm. The second largest accomplishment was our new discovery of biking home from work. We drive together with one bike on the back carrier to work and then one of us drives home and the other bikes. Ben biked Tuesday and Thursday and I made it Wednesday and halfway today. It's 29 km so a good 1 hour and 15 minutes is needed to complete the journey. Today it was windy and my exhaustion got the best of me. I made it halfway! I get off work earlier than Ben so being able to jump in the car or on my bike and go is really a great alternative to wondering around the grocery store for an hour everyday. We also hope that it will help improve our waistlines!

Oh the excitement of what Month 5 will bring!!!