After an Internet-less Eternity...

It's been about a month since we've been without real, live, streaming internet at our residence. True, we had the internet cafe while we were in the hotel and I broke down a couple of times and paid the ridiculous 22 euro for 24 hours of connection in our room. Ah, those were good days. Then we moved onto the base and our only source of internet was at the library, where, apparently for security reasons, one is not allowed to view blogs. Don't ask what security is getting leaked from people looking at blogs...I haven't a clue.

We were supposed to get this internet and phone thing done on Friday. I was counting down the days and planning on throwing a big party complete with shrimp and champagne to celebrate the return of the Internet. No dice. We waited all day long, paid two visits to the vendor in person and made several calls to their (not free) help line. Of course, we were told a different story every time we called. First, it was wait until 6:00 p.m., then call. Then it was 8:00, pretty soon it was "possibly midnight". We woke on Saturday morning to still no dialtone and no internet (we still don't have a dialtone). Hans called and sure enough...it would be completed within the "next few days". Accccckkkkk!!! We signed up for internet and phone service on December 18th!

But now everyone is happy because LO, when we awoke this morning and approached the computer (after sacrificing a young ram and a dove and bringing offerings of RAM), we had INTERNET!!

People, it's really pretty ridiculous how attached we are to the computer...I feel a sort of low-level anxiety when I can't check the bank balance every day, shop, garner information, and find out the latest dirt about celebrities. I kept trying to remind myself that the Internet is not necessary to live, but it was hard. I feel much, much better. And here I am blogging, at last.

Where to start to catch up? Christmas was very nice. We had packed the tree and ornaments in the express shipment, so it was here waiting for us. We put it up approximately 4.5 minutes after we moved in. It wasn't like we had a lot of stuff to unpack! Donna, we took the wrapping on Annika's one gift and used it as a tree skirt. She didn't mind, and I hope you don't either!

Our neighbors have all been extremely kind, bringing us Christmas cookies and toys for the kids to borrow and lending us stuff like irons. Our neighbors directly across the hall insisted that we come over for Christmas dinner. We felt a little awkward as they had family visiting, but we went and had a wonderful ham and goose dinner. It was so very kind of them to take us in. We opened gifts on Christmas morning. Josiah and Annika loved all of their gifts (OK, there was a bit more excitement about the Thomas videos than the clothes, but...you guys remember that, right?). A big thank you to everyone who sent gifts to us here. It made a huge difference to have wrapped gifts under the tree. Annika's kitchen is still crated and will be coming on Thursday, when we get our main household goods. For some reason, I guess I thought we'd have that stuff before Christmas.

We are enjoying the apartment. I never thought I'd go for the modern look, but I've made a couple of trips to IKEA and I'm a bit surprised at the stuff I brought home. Orange rugs, for example. I'm kind of digging the clean, modern European look. As I mentioned, we still don't have our things, but they will be here on Thursday. In the meantime, we're surviving with the surprisingly comfortable government loaner beds and couches. We have a desk for the computer, a couple of lamps and a huge dining room table, too. It's so nice to be able to sit down to a meal together that I put together myself.

Hmmm. What else? Last Sunday we took a nice, long drive into the Schwarzwald. We were on the road about two hours. Yes, the rumors you all heard about Hans on the autobahn are true: we were going over 130 mph at one point. Just so we're all clear, there were plenty of other people driving that fast, too and the autobahn is like the interstate: straight, wide and without surprises. We didn't go that fast the entire time. It's not allowed. The biggest myth about the autobahn is that there is no speed limit. Many areas of the autobahn have a speed limit and other areas have a "suggested" speed limit. Hans decided not to take the recommendation. Well, we're all still here to tell the story, so I guess...

Anyway, it was a beautiful drive. We went south and then west, through this hilly region. My German ancestors are not from this area...makes me curious to see what northwestern Germany look like. Is it flat like the plains? Did people from northern Germany primarily settle the plains and people from southern Germany settle more hilly places like Pennsylvania? It just made me wonder. It was Sunday, so everything except gas stations and some restaurants are closed. People go walking in the countryside. There are miles and miles of trails, and as we drove along, everywhere we looked were people walking through the countryside. Interesting. I kind of dig that they take Sundays off--no shopping, no errands. Church, maybe and socializing.

As we drove farther south, we could see the Alps on the horizon. Wow. I can't wait to get back down into that area again. We were still a good distance away, but it was gorgeous even from a distance. Eventually, we got off the autobahn and took a two-lane highway past Lake Titisee (quit laughing...OK, laugh a little) and into the Black Forest, where we wound down and down through tight turns. Everything was beautiful and snowy, like a fairy tale.

And just like a fairy tale, we stopped at a sweet little hotel and restaurant at the bottom of a deep valley and our children behaved perfectly while we had a lovely meal. Don't ask me how it happened, but it did, thus adding to our generally happy spirit. The only damper to the day was Josiah throwing up approximately 30 minutes south of Stuttgart. We think it was a combination of the 130 mph and using his Leapster at the same time. I was fully prepared, knowing that one of them would barf. Surprise, surprise.

Josiah will be starting preschool on January 8th. Two days per week for just a few hours. I took him in for orientation on Thursday. When we got there, he declared that he didn't like this school, but by the time we had met with his teacher and he had played a little and seen his room, he wanted me to leave him there. I think he'll like it very much, though I know academically, it's going to be a lot of stuff he already knows. His teacher was surprised that he knows his alphabet and can spell and read some words. Oh well, I'm just glad to get him out and playing. Annika is signed up too and will spend her first day in daycare on the 8th as well. We'll have to see how that goes...she's been extremely clingy lately. She'll hardly even accept Daddy. But...it's got to be done.

I got my driver's license on Friday after three hours of instruction. So now I'm legal to drive in Germany. We still have to get international licenses, but that sounds like mere paperwork rather than tests and instruction.

Autobahn, here I come!