New Realities II

We just got home a while ago from our day. It struck me that another interesting reality difference is how much longer it takes to get daily living accomplished. It is not a bad thing - just different. For example, this afternoon we left school at 4:00pm because we needed to get to the bank before it closes at 4:30. As you know from our blog, we have to go to the bank so we can pull money out of our US bank account from the ATM, walk into the bank and deposit the cash in our German account so that we have Euros for the rent, utilities, etc. (We really need to come up with a better system, but that will happen later).

Back to the story - we wanted to go to the department store to look for some Allen wrenches, so we walked downtown and looked around a bit. We then stopped by the store that carries our breakfast cereal (Muesli) and started back toward our apartment. Along the way, we stopped for dinner (more about dinner later). After dinner, we walked to the REWE (grocery store) to pick up groceries. After getting our foodstuffs, we lugged our 10-12kg (22-26 lbs.) of items home to arrive at about 8:30. Granted, dinner takes time, but that is 4 1/2 hours to get done what would take an hour or two back in the US...

Anyway, about dinner. We had a nice dinner at the Crystal restaurant. This is how international things are in Weil am Rhein. The restaurant is in Germany, owned and run by a Turkish family that specializes in Italian (and Turkish) cuisine. How cool! There is also very little "fast food" in Germany. It takes at least - at least - an hour and usually longer for a meal. Like most restaurants, there is lots of seating out front, which is where we sat as the sun worked its way across the western sky. It was quite relaxing. Delynn mentioned that after only two weeks here, she is feeling very comfortable living and calling this home. And that is were we are.

God bless you and keep you.