Moving right along

I can't believe that it has been over a week since the last post. Life has been a blur. We have been focused on kitting out the apartment: moving things, putting together IKEA furniture, moving things, keller shopping at our friends, moving more things... you get the idea. Keller shopping needs a little explanation. Most apartments come with a basement storage space in the cellar (or "keller" in German). Many of the apartments the teachers have been rented to RIA for years and get passed on when a teacher leaves to an incoming teacher. So, the various cellars contain lots of communal furniture: dressers, bookshelves, beds, freezers, etc. that have accumulated over time. We walked over to our friends Cam and Jennifer's apartment and picked up a dresser and two bookshelves for our apartment - yeah!!

The big thing at school this week was the Great Grape Harvest of 2007. There is a small hill right in front of our school that grows juice grapes - actually, the hills around Weil am Rhein contain loads of vineyards and it is now harvest time. We took the students out on a field trip (about 20 meters from the front door!) to pick grapes. As a treat, the owner brought a small press and everyone got to sample some freshly squeezed grape juice - it was yummy! I think back to school when I was a child and wonder if our students will ponder the fact that they harvested grapes in Germany on a field trip? That is so cool. Here are a couple of pictures.

Here is William, ready for anything!

Yadah, Tiffinay and our friend Anne posing sweetly

Hmmm. I wonder if I was supposed to eat that many?

Gideon, yours truly, and Chiara with a bucket full of pre-juice.

We find ourselves discussing the oddest things these days. Take for example a recent trip Delynn took to the store. We go about 4-5 times a week, so I can't quite recall which trip it was... We had Remolade on the list, which is a mayonnaise-like spread with herbs and chopped pickles. Great for sandwiches and only 58% fat (no wonder is it sooooooo good). When my dear wife returned home, I asked if she picked up the Remolade - her response was that she didn't get any because she couldn't remember if we get the green or the blue stuff. Don't worry, she meant the jar color, not the contents :-) But it got me to thinking that we do often shop by different clues than we do back in the states. We like a wonderful yogurt/fruit product that is called "Früchte Traum" which roughly translates into "Fruit Dream" - but every time I see it on the shelf, I translate it into "Fruit Trauma" in my head, which is a bit less appetizing. So, we just look at the pictures on the label.

Oh yeah, we read this week that the Euro € hit a new high against the US$ - oh bother. Right now, it cost nearly $1.38 to purchase 1 €. Back in 2003, it cost only 85¢ for each 1 €, so things are expensive. Don't worry, we are doing well and are so very blessed by our great supporters but it is deceiving because in our heads we tend to translate prices directly into dollars. In fact, when talking amongst our colleagues, sometimes we will say: "That only costs 5 bucks" when we mean 5 € which really means $7.00. It is just an adjustment. Another reason why things are more expensive is that very little of the merchandise in stores comes from China. Most things are made in Germany (Duh!) and the rest of the EU countries. However, since things are made here, where the cost of production is higher, they cost more. We bought a cooling rack so that Delynn can make cookies. In the states, a wire rack can be manufactured in China, shipped to the US, trucked to the store and put on the shelf for what - $3.00 to $5.00. In Germany, a rack cost us 11 € ($15.00). Granted, the rack is well made and will last, but because Chinese goods have not made big inroads into Germany, most goods end up costing more. Additionally, the German government puts on a sales tax (called a "Value Added Tax" or VAT) that is part of the purchase price of all items - it is figured right into the price on the shelf, not added at check-out like in Washington. The VAT was recently raised from 16% to 19% - ouch! That means that nearly 1/5 of the cost of everything is for tax. And I thought the eight-ish % WA sales tax was bad. Hmmmm.

Our other highlight this week was receiving our German driver's licenses. We are now official! We had up to three months to drive on our US license. The license gives us the right to drive a car, small scooter and a tractor! I was just waiting for that tractor endoresment! Watch out little farm animals...

May you all have grace, mercy and enough love in your lives to be forever thankful. We do.