Kelheim More ruins!

Andrew's parents visited for a week in early October so, eager to show off our new breathtaking  countryside, we planned a day in Essing and Kelheim.  It turned out to also be a day of superlatives!  Here is the Essinger Holzbruecke - the longest wooden bridge in Europe! 

While hiking up to the Klausenhoehle (Klausen caves), we nearly stepped on this little guy.  Of course, our kids just wanted to keep it.  We declined...

No flashlight...

With a flashlight!

We were concerned the kids might be getting sick of caves but NO!  These were completely natural (ie no protective rails or guano warnings...) and we only finally turned back because it was getting so steep and slippery that the grown-ups were getting nervous!

Then we took a river cruise along the "Beautiful Blue" Danube River.  In Kelheim, it joins the Main-Danube Canal.  Completed in 1992, the canal is 171 km (106 miles) long and runs from Bamberg on the Main River to Kelheim on the Danube River, permitting traffic to flow between the North Sea and the Black Sea.  That's a 3,500-km (2,200-mile) waterway that runs through 15 countries! 

 

It took 40 minutes to travel upstream to the famous Weltenburger Kloster, a monastery founded in 617 A.D.!  Yep, that's older than my country too Andrew.... :)  As interesting as the monastery and church are, the real draw is the beer, brewed by monks since 1050 A.D.  Their Dunkel Barock has been dubbed the Best Dark Beer in the World!  Of course we couldn't let this opportunity pass us by...

 The Biergarten was located under a beautiful canopy of chestnut trees.  Idyllic, right?  We thought so too until the breeze caused a chestnut bombardment!  It was like a SNL skit, chestnuts plopping in people's glasses or bonking them on the head.  Some people even quickly put up umbrellas.  Andrew and Serena both came home with welts.  Emma and Declan loved it though and just ran around frantically collecting all the Kastanien!

Schule  

Declan is in 5K, Emma is in 2nd grade and Serena is in 5th grade.  Although kids here attend Kindergarten, the official start of school is First grade which is celebrated in part by giving the child a Schultuete filled with candy, pencils, little gifts. They can be 2 feet long! A kind neighbor gave a mini one to each of the kids on their first day of school. 

 Here’s a closer look at our German 2nd grade experience.  The school year runs from Sept 13 to July 30.   We realize how spoiled we were with MGIS’ late start time of 9:10 as school here begins at  8.  How could we ever have been frantic in the morning in Milwaukee?  Emma leaves home at 7:30 and walks to school with some classmates.  It's under 1 km --> 10 minutes. This independence is new for us and I’ll admit, I hid behind a few trees the first few days to spy on them and to calm my nerves.   

School ends between 11:20 and 1 pm.  Each day it’s different.  Day care is available til 2 pm.  Due to budget cuts, the principal is Emma’s classroom teacher!  The school secretary stays only til 9:45 then she goes to a different school.  If your child is absent, you call your teacher directly on their cell.   

A very precise school supply list is required including Hausschuhe (slippers) and a seat cushion which is also what the kids sit on when it’s circle time on the floor.   All the kids have Schulranzen like the one in the photo with Emma.  They come with matching pencil cases, sport bags and snack/lunch box. 

The chalkboards in the classroom fold out on both sides and can be moved up and down to accommodate shorter kids.  The desks fit two students and have an opening to store the books needed for that day’s lessons.  When teacher asks  a question, theyll say “Finger zeigen!” (pointer finger up!)  Emma was wondering in the beginning why everyone kept pointing to the ceiling!  The eager kids will even snap their fingers.  

Although she's attending a public school, crucifixes hang in every room and she has Religion class.  Bavaria has a strong Catholic presence.

There are  2 recesses – the first one is 20 minutes when kids eat their snack, the next one is just 10 minutes and only happens on days when the kids have lessons beyond 11:20.  Once kids are dismissed from their classroom at end of the day, there’s no liability or obligation on the teacher’s part to make sure little Johann gets picked up. 

Parents are informed of Wandertage (field trips) but no extra permission slip is sent home.  The kids usually walk to their destination!  Two days ago, Emma's class walked the equivalent of 3 blocks to a nearby church to use their library (the school doesn't have a library as such on the premises.)

Fundraisers as we know it are a foreign concept with the exception of the sale of kids’ crafts at the Christmas Market.   As far as academics go, Emma is doing just fine.  German Reading, Grammar and Math are EXACTLY like at MGIS, her school in Milwaukee.  She was perfectly prepared! All 4 of her teachers are surprised and impressed with her proficiency in German. 

Shopping!

Yeah, ALL Americans buy their ketchup and mayo like this

The best thing about shopping in a different country is leisurely strolling down every aisle and exploring the wonderful variety of different local products.  Now, with 3 kids in tow, I don't often get to enjoy the "leisurely" bit, but nonetheless shopping is always an adventure.  Andrew and I are re-discovering some of our favorite items from when we used to live here and unfortunately both of us have already gained over 4-5 lbs in these 2 months!  Yikes - and that's despite all this biking and walking.  Some American brands are well-represented like Uncle Ben's, Weight Watchers and Pringles but most of the American foods here (found in the exotic International Cuisine section!) are expensive junk food:  M&Ms, Lays chips, marshmallow whip, and Oreos (16 cookies for $3).  Many products are apparently deemed "American" just by slapping the flag on it -- see photo.

We've learned a bit about shopping in Germany.

DO

• Before you leave home, go to the bathroom.  Free public restrooms are rare and some stores require a purchase to use their bathrooms.  If you must go when you're out and about, be prepared to pay 50 cents either in a turnstile apparatus or directly to the Toilletendame whose thankless job is to wipe down stalls and seats all day.  As you walk out, you have to pass her sitting (and silently staring at you) at her little table with the coin dish. 
• Pack a water bottle.  Public water fountains are basically non-existent.  This might also explain the high number of cafes along shopping strips!
• Bring a 1 Euro coin to get a shopping cart.  Going to Aldi in the States is good practice!  This is common even at non "discount" stores.
• Bring your own shopping bags or be prepared to pay 10 Euro cents.
• Pay attention when you're checking out.  Once your items are scanned, there's about 10 inches of real estate so you have to hop to it and pack them up quickly lest you out yourself as a newbie.  Worst case scenario, you are too slow and the cashier has to stop scanning to let you catch up. Congratulations!  You've earned the wrath of all the shoppers behind you.  Hurry out to your bike and ride home.  Now!

DON'T

• Don't count on using your credit card.  We're surprised at how many transactions are still in cash.  Some weeks in Milwaukee I'd only need cash to pay the babysitter or send in money for the next field trip!  For larger purchases, people use their EC card which is basically a debit card and is accepted everywhere.  I get blank stares when I ask about VISA and Master Card somewhere that's not a major tourist sight or a large department store.
• Don't be surprised at your total - the Mehrwertsteuer (19 % tax) is included in the product price. 
• Don't forget your garbage!  Bring your rinsed bottles to the receptacle at some (not all -- another bit to learn) grocery stores and get your deposit back.  Some stores only take back the products they sell.  There's curbside pick-up for paper, packaging garbage and trash but you have to haul in your glass, cans and non-deposit plastic bottles on your own and take them to a separate collection area - often in the parking lot of certain grocery stores.
• Don't lose track of the time.  Stores close at 8 and are not open at all on Sundays or holidays.  Many smaller stores will close over the lunch hour as well. The post office in our town closes at 5:30.

Farm fresh!  Sometimes we also find other things on our eggs...

Whoa!  Now that is a big bag of lettuce for 29 Euro cents ($0.34)

Baking is trickier than cooking as the exact ingredients don't always allow substitutes.  I've already had to toss a whole batch of cookies :(  You know it's bad when your own kids won't eat the cookies!  Things I haven't been able to get here:  sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, Mexican seasoning like adobo, shredded cheddar cheese, good italian salad dressing, frozen corn, ranch dip (that one hurts) and chocolate chips.  There are similar items of course but not exact.  For example, the brown sugar is dry like white sugar and the granules are enormous so that even if I melt my butter first to try and dissolve the brown sugar, it still is a bit sandlike.  By law, all eggs are some version of free range, come in cartons of 6 or 10 eggs and are not necessarily refrigerated. In fact, some milk (H-Milch) isn't either.  Our swap family had left 4 liters of H-Milch in the pantry for us.  Yep, it'll be there when we leave.  Let's just say it has an acquired taste...

This version of Frosted Mini Wheats was $3.50!

 As far as prices go, groceries in general seem to be the same/slightly cheaper.  One liter of milk costs 51 Euro cents ($0.65) and a loaf of bread is about 2.50 Euro.  Bioprodukte (organic) are everywhere and sometimes there isn't a non-organic choice.  In fact, the prices for organic non-meat items aren't that high either. Clothes and shoes on the other hand are crazy expensive.  Walmart and TJ Maxx I miss you!