The adventures of a born-and-raised-in-Michigan girl (OK, woman) who's moved to Bavaria with her husband, kids, and dog.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Moving Day(s) Again

The unpacking began on December 1st with the arrival of our stuff, and continued on Friday December 2nd. We did a little unpacking on Saturday, but mostly drove around and got some things done (groceries for the kids, a trip to Toys R Us for the German version of a diaper genie and a booster seat, etc.). We also drove around to get acclimated, and so I could see some of the other houses Martin had looked at and we'd discussed in earnest on the phone back in October and November.

Sunday saw a little more unpacking, and a nice visit to the Ingolstadt Christkindl Market, i.e. the local Christmas market (literally translated as Christ Child Market). We browsed the artisan stands and tried some fried noodles with sauerkraut and sausage, as well as mulled wine and dampfnudel (a big soft steamed dough ball or "noodle" with vanilla sauce and cinnamon) for dessert. So a pretty relaxed weekend, all in all.

Monday was the last day the movers were with us, by then we were just redirecting orphaned boxes into the right room and unpacking some quick and easy boxes, to get rid of the packing material sooner rather than later. Fortunately, they will come back whenever we call them, to make another box pickup (the garbage and recycling rules are quite strict here, so it would be a huge problem to get rid of the boxes and packing paper on our own).

I got a kick out of one of the movers, Allen, who hails from Portland, Oregon and has lived in Munich for five years. He coaches a pro baseball team in the Munich area, which is how we found out that Ingolstadt has its own pro team. No hot dogs in the bleachers, only beer and wurst, but it sounds like it's close enough to the real thing. The things he misses most about the U.S. are Cheetos (which he gets from Poland but can't find in Germany) and oddball American kitsch, like our "Jingle Bell Rock" dancin' Sylvester Santa.

It's two weeks later now, and we are in very good shape regarding unpacking and settling in. Kitchen, dining room, and the beds were set up first. Then we focused on arranging the two full bathrooms and the kids' bedrooms (purchased new dressers, etc.), the playroom, and picked away at the living room.

Last on the list are the guest room and the library/office, both still to be done. The office is last because we need to install a new floor (currently plain cement), probably carpet is the thinking this week. After the flooring goes in, the oak bookcases Martin built in the U.S. get attached to the wall (too tempting for Nicholas to climb!), and only THEN do the millions of boxes of CDs, books, and videos get unpacked and set up. So you can see why we're waiting a bit on that project. Ugh.

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