The almighty Euro
Well, as you know we are here in Germany and are finally aquainted enough to feel comfortable. The first weekend here we took to the roads and really got lost trying to find various things, mostly the chapel and homes we could buy. It is different here when looking for a home. Here the realtors have just a handful of listings so you have to call 5-8 realtors just to get a good sampling of houses. The housing office on base was worthless. They urge you not to go to realtor (mostly cause it will cost you 1 months rent in finder’s fees) and use their system but the one we saw through them was crap! We saw some others through the local paper that were decent, but all in all, your best bet is to go with a realtor.
So, that leads us to finding a house. We found one we really like and the owner has basically built it himself. He is a young guy and the house is brand new. In fact, there are still some finishing touches that have to be made. Hopefully they will get done soon cause German’s are slow when it comes to housing. Especially during the winter. But, at least the house is done and a few more little things and he should pass the housing inspection. We send pics as soon as we get some.
Well, that is the latest cool news. We should find out soon if we can get financing for a car, how much and what car we will then be able to buy. It would be fun to get a BMW or Mercedes but we wouldn’t be able to bring it home with us because they are built to different specs than in the US and it can be expensive to get them changed. There are some US cars here that we could then bring back when done. That might be nice as well. We’ll see. Otherwise, we are stuck in the hotel…which hasn’t been bad.
Kristin goes to the doctor on Tuesday and that should be interesting. This doctor had been recommended and should be good. Most businesses around here speak english because there really are THAT many Americans around. It isn’t like France at all, or any other part of Europe I am sure. Anyway, I’ll get you and update soon!
SOLD???
The end and The Beginning
Well, the final movers came and packed the rest of the house. Man what an ordeal! And I didn’t even lift a finger!
We stood there and watched for 11 hours as they wrapped our stuff in layers of paper and crammed them in to boxes. Well, it wasn’t as bad sounding as that, but it did take forever. I was surprised, no bubble wrap or anything soft, just layers of paper. If the boat or crates catch fire, all our stuff will burn quickly without a chance to salvage it. That is a comforting thought.
Anyway, now we are living with Kristin’s parents and we are in the final stretch. We leave on Saturday! The trip will kick our butts…we have to be at the airport by around 6:30 in the morning…flight to Dallas at 8:30, and hour lay-over, flight to Baltimore and arrive there at 2:30 local time. So then we wait 7 hours somewhere (what the heck are we gonna do for 7 hours!!) and check it at 9:45. Then the flight leaves at midnight to Germany. We arrive there at 1:30 in the afternoon and my sponsor picks us up and we go to the hotel where we will surely fall asleep or kill ourselves (I am assuming the first option, but you never know).
so, everyone has so have Skype installed on their computers and have either a microphone or webcam. I know everyone should have one except for Adam. Do you have a webcam Adam? If not, let me know and we will arrange for you to get one. Talk to Brad about using linux version of Skype. Well, have a great day! Don’t slip and fall or get by any cars!
