Our Year in Germany

Das Haus

New kickstand location

We've been here in Neumarkt 3 months now and feel genuinely settled. We've discovered which light switch does what, what's in that drawer and what happens if I push this button? Some things exist in the States but are just new-to-us (underfloor heating, a motion - sensor radio). Other things fascinate us like this little gem - a built in bread slicer, conveniently tucked away in a cupboard. The blinds are different too -installed on the outside of the windows, they serve three purposes: blocking out ALL light when completely down, insulation against heat and cold and safety. Built in closets aren't very common here. Most homes have freestanding wardrobes or cabinets.

The toilet is not even in the same room as the bathroom. This is quite convenient in the AM rush out the door! When we lived in Kiel, we knew of several friends living in Altbau buildings in which a bathroom/toilet wasn't even in the apartment! It was in the stairwell, half a flight down and usually shared with another apartment. One friend installed a shower stall in his hallway right next to the kitchen. Good thing he lived alone! Now though, our circle doesn't include as many poor students with budget apartments so I'm not surprised that we haven't seen that in the village we live in now which is bursting with young families.

I imagine this is what Julia Roberts enjoyed in Pretty Woman

Our kitchen fridge is a large dorm size and we've gotten into the local habit of going shopping every couple of days. This house has a dryer which certainly isn't a given. All our years in Kiel, we just hung our clothes up on a drying rack. Oh yeah, I am well-acquainted with crunchy towels, baby! I haven't quite been able to make friends with this dryer though. There are 3 versions of dry that you can choose from: Bugeltrocknen (Iron dry), Schranktrocknen (Cupboard dry) and Extra-Trocknen (extra dry). Well, we've tried them all out and in order, they get the clothes approximately not dry, half dry, and 87% dry. Hmm, so even though I'm cleaning the lint trap and emptying the water drawer -- it's a "condense" dryer-- simliar to a dehumidifier, our clothes still feel damp so I've either been hanging them on a drying rack or running them in the dryer a second time. We toast our bread twice as well, right? When in Rome...

In general though we love:

All this space! Our home in Milwaukee is 1450 square feet and here we enjoy just under 2,200 square feet. This does NOT include the basement (guest room, fitness room, bathroom, laundry room and three more storage rooms!) We haven't paid the heating bill yet though....
The neighborhood! I walk Emma and Declan to school, the kids play worry free in the street and there are kids their age right and left. I have yet in all this time to hear a siren -- could I even say that for one whole week in Milwaukee?
The view! We have a playground bordering the backyard and this little insect motel to the left. Amazingly, very few homes have screens on their windows because bugs just aren't such a problem in this climate.
The sauna! Officially it's an Infrarotkabine and Andrew and I love it. We feel all Scandinavian every time we use it. My parents tried it out too!
A personal library! The Grafs are both English teachers and I absolutely love the volume and variety of English books that are just a short stroll across the room away. As wonderfully exhilarating as this exchange is, sometimes my brain is just done and it's nice to check out with something in my native language!
Confession time - there is one other thing, a little secret, we've inherited from the Grafs... her name is Frau Ullmann. Of course, this wasn't our idea and we don't enjoy coming home to scrubbed floors and sparkling bathroom fixtures. Well, the disappearance of various spider webs is a bonus. Ok, and a magically clean microwave is pretty great too. Alright, we love Frau Ullmann but don't tell! It's our little secret ... and the fact that I clean up like crazy before her arrival is too!