Farm Land and Forest behind our house in Weil im Schonbuch View from our top floor study
So it is month two already.. the first month was a bit of a waste. We spent the month in the hotel, didnt travel and spend most of our time shopping for household goods! This is really not as much fun as it seems! We now have a fully kitted house (kind of....) with beds, tv, cupboards, washing machine etc - of which we assembled all the furniture ourselves! For those who don't know as well.... this is a major achievement!!!!! .... and Shaun and I did not kill each other during the process! So we are in our house, Alex is in the Kindergarten and we have internet at home!!!! So we have started to function as normal people again! Alex has gotten used to sitting at the table to eat dinner (as we used to do in SA) and she has almost gotten used to bed time routine again... it is light here until about 10:30 so it is a little difficult to get her down by 8pm... She wants to go and ride her bike then! So bedtime is now between 8 and 8:30! On that note, she is doing really well at her new kindergarten - everyone seems to like her (who wouldn't ;)) and she is making friends! It is really cute because she also now understands that she speaks English and everyone else speaks German! She has learnt a couple of German words and uses them at home (but she smiles when she does it so it is a conscious usage) ... Guck mal (look here), Guten Morgen (good Morning), Vielen dank (thank you), Bitte (please).... she is learning quickly though... there are no other english kids at the school so she has to!!!! Fortunately one of the teachers speaks a bit of English so Alex has taken to her! Home life is different - we have no TV (well we do for games and movies) but we have chosen to not take German TV - we did not come here to watch TV!!!! Shaun has found an Internet site where you can watch SA sport - so he is happy! We spend our evenings on the Internet, having a chat, reading a book or playing playstation!!!! Yes.. that is right... I even have my own remote! I watched Shaun play a tennis game the other day... well... the bug has bitten!!!! Now shaun and I can play together - okay he beats me all the time but that is OK! Dinner time is also a little different - cooking your favourite meal is not as easy as it was in SA. Firstly you dont have all the ingredients and you definitely dont have all your dishes, pots, pans etc . I know this sounds a little arb.. but it makes cooking a little more difficult! oh.... and all the instructions on the boxes are in German! so we are still not eating very healthy. I will go to REAL (and awesome Pick n Pay kind of shop) and get some "normal" things to cook! The past weekend was also our first normal weekend (and productive) - Friday we had a videa conference with Leon and Gina - (wonderful friends of ours) - it was awesome!!!!! We did not feel so far away anymore! Then on Saturday afternoon Alex had her first birthday party to go to... it is a SA couple (who worked with me at Daimler in EL) and now in Germany as well. Their son Levi, turned 2! So we had some cake, biscuits and went for a walk! EVERYONE in germany walks. If you go to someone's house for coffee, you go for a walk halfway through... because there is not a lot of space for kids to play (on your property) but there are paths everywhere and play areas for the kids!
Burg Hohenzollern - near Hechingen 40km's from House
On Sunday we went to see a castle that the German royal family owns - Alex was really well behaved because it is not really something for kids (you can walk through the castle) - but only with a tour (which is in German)..... Oh and we walked up a hill ( of NOTE!!!!) to get to the castle - it is literally on top of a hill! Alex walked the whole way!!!! except the last 100m down the hill - she sat on her bum and said im tired!!!! My legs are sore..... I carried her the rest of the way! This weekend we will go to a place called Lake Constance - it is a lake which separates Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Shaun will plan our weekend during the course of today I think! I am the most excited about the theme park.... there are so many in germany... Legoland, Playmobil land, Europa park (google them to see pics)... Today is summer in Germany - it is raining, grey and about 16 degrees!!!! I believe it is winter in EL (26 degrees)....
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