Pictures of the air base (Spangdahlem) and our apartment

Village People (or Dorfleute in German)

Some exciting news: we purchased a car. It's a 2001 VW Polo that could easily fit into the back of an Escalade. I am constantly amazed at the engineering practices over here. They took the smallest car, added 4 doors, a motor (all 1.4 liters), and managed to fit a spacious trunk. We bought a cart full at IKEA this past weekend and had no problems transporting it all home. The downside of getting nearly 40 mpg....it doesn't want to go much above the recommended speed of 130 kmh on the autobahn (which is about 80 mph). However, fitting into the small village streets and narrow parking spots is not a problem. Our plan is to make the "Polo" the daily driver once the Subaru arrives.....whenever that may be. The Subi, as we are told, is currently sitting on the docks in Baltimore and will ship out once the snow melts. They tell us late March.......but failed to include which year.

Moved into the apartment this past week and find it is the perfect size for us: 2 bedroom and a large living room. The bathroom is the typical size and includes the washer/dryer. As we unpack and assemble our IKEA purchases, we have been learning all about the proper trash and recycling practices here in Germany. These kids have taken recycling to a whole new level! We are finding that almost everything.....and I mean everything....is supposed to go either into the "blue" or "gray" bin for recycling......unless it's supposed to go into the yellow bags. They should offer a training class. The fun part is figuring out when the recycling occurs. Some occurs each week, some every 2 weeks, and some once a month. We're relying on our non-english speaking landlords to inform us.

The food here simply rocks. There is a great restaurant in our village that is very popular and typically packed on Fridays and Saturdays. We have been taking full advantage of the lull in the middle of the week. Can one ever grow tired of Schniztel? We will find out.

So our plans to walk the local trails today was cancelled due to gale force winds. The wind was seriously blowing like I have never seen. At one point, an old school alarm sounded.....you know the kind they blew back in WWII when a bombing was expected? Not sure why the alarm was sounded......and if we were supposed to do anything. We did nothing. No bombs came. Something to ask on our next trip to the village restaurant.

Orientation

Before we can officially begin our experience of living in Germany and visiting surrounding countries, we must first become legal. The process to be licensed and approved Civilian Employees is quite thorough. We both have military ID's and have studied for and taken a German drivers test. Until the approval and orientation process is complete, we are staying at a hotel on the base.....which is providing an educational look into military life.

The apartment we have secured is located in a small village of Metterich, which is about 10 minutes from the air force base Andrea is working from (Spangdahlem). The apartment is small, but offers a great patio with a view of a typical German village. We are excited to buy the necessities and move in this weekend. Perhaps we'll celebrate with a good helping of Schnitzel and sauerkraut! Some interesting facts about living in Germany: you tip the server when the bill is delivered (and is typically 5 to 10% MAX), water is usually served warm and "with gas", and you do not work, wash your car, nor mow your lawn on Sundays.