Whew!  What a whirlwind the past month has been.  Our last week in the house in Neumarkt were unbelievably stressful.  Not just the logistics of packing up all our belongings, cleaning the house, and canceling this and returning that, but also the emotional weight of saying goodbye to so many friends who really became our family during this year.  I was a wreck!  The girls also really seemed affected, especially Serena. Andrew held it together thankfully - one of us had to see to drive away!  Our neighbors called in the morning asking for an estimated departure date.  "Oh, around 11:00"  I said.  Just after 2 pm, we heard a commotion a few houses down and lots of suspicious walks past the house.  So FINALLY around 3:30... we called to say we're ready. Our neighbors formed a parade to our house waving flags and a sign while "The Final Countdown" played.  So very touching!  Lots of hugs and tears and the 17th good-bye later, we climbed in the rental car. Unfortunately, we don't have a single photo of this wonderful procession -- can anyone send us one?

With all the people in our front yard, we couldn't really take our time and slowly walk through the house one last time so who knows what the Grafs have found... I'm sure a few extra Play-mobil figures.  There were a few overlaps in sets and we thought - when in doubt, leave it here.

The 8 hour drive usually is puncuated by some sibling squabbling every 40 minutes or so.  This time however, it was silence interrupted by the occasional memory and sniffle.  They just sat there.  A few hours in, I saw all three heads bobbing away in slumber and one drooler.  It was wonderful having Oma and Opa there the next morning to take the kids because my Lupus reared its joint-paralyzing head.  I could hardly use my hands for two days.  I'm afraid the adrenaline got me through those last few days and I finally crashed.

We enjoyed lots of family time but also some wonderful visits with my previous host family and friends from our life in Kiel which really seems an eternity ago.  One unexpected highlight was this critter in Oma and Opa's backyard.  Hedgehogs are quite common and the kids were thrilled when Andrew found this little guy.

Upon our arrival in Chicago, one of the first things to strike us was how colorful America is.  Let's just say our little village in Bavaria is very homogeneous...  Another thing that jumped out at us was the poor quality of the roads.  Germans build things to last and their highways are fantastic.  Not having the enormous span of temperatures that we have here certainly helps.

We found our van in the remote parking lot and the "Hey, I remember this.." marathon began.  At the house, it was wonderfully familiar coming home and yet, everything was slightly moved.  We even had to think twice what some light switches were for!  It was fun seeing what grocery items were left in the cupboards and fridge.  Our swap family must like Greek Yogurt.  How interesting - organic flour! Also, eye-opening was how they arranged our cabinets.   Kind of like the TV show "Clean Sweep" came in and introduced a new organizational system. In the meantime, I've changed most of it back to my system but eye-opening nonetheless.

So before we even had our luggage unpacked, the boxes started to arrive.  We had sent 10 boxes, ranging from 22 to 33 kgs a few weeks before we left.  About half of them were damaged like the one above. We started searching for homes for all our new trinkets and quickly recognized that since our house was full before we left, we're going to have problems fitting all this in!  In addition, the kids had grown accustomed to each having their own room there and now having to share a much smaller space to begin with, has taken some time.  In the early days in Neumarkt, the train kept me up at night.  Here it's each other and the cats! We're waking each other up just by walking to the bathroom!   The cats ran wild at night and George puked next to my head at 4:40 am.  Welcome Home!

Since Andrew and I started Teacher In-Service the same week we returned, we really had to hit the ground running. Two weeks later, school started.  Although it's not a wide-spread American custom, we gave Declan a Schultuete for his first day of 1st Grade.  Emma began 3rd Grade and she and Declan both attend the same school where I teach 4th grade.





Serena started 6th grade at Brookfield Academy where Andrew teaches.  BA was absolutely fantastic in supporting this exchange.  From the beginning, they did all they could to welcome Klemens and the family and make the year a success. All Andrew's colleagues rave about Klemens' teaching and how he fit in so well with the team.  This is often followed quickly by an awkward "Yeah, but we're glad you're back now..." :)






First Day of School - September 3, 2013

In our very brief summer vacation this year, the kids played in the rain (and the mud) in the back yard. Look at them!  Where were their parents? :) They LOVE having the trampoline again and I'll admit I'm enjoying it too!  Declan tried to recreate the zip line park we visited in Velburg.  Yes, that's a cookie bucket "helmet."




A big change is the length of time of the school day.  Emma and Declan were always done by 12:30, earlier on some days and Serena was finished by 1 O'Clock.  Now, their days run from 8:45 to 3:20 which leaves much less time for instruments and homework.  Usually they only get together with friends on the weekend.


Serena drives with Andrew: their day is from 8:15 to 3:15 and she is absolutely swimming in homework.  Usually 2+ hours per night, a few times 3 hours.  She's struggling with some English vocabulary especially in Math.  She knows, for example, how to calculate perimeter but doesn't know the word "perimeter" since she's only ever learned Math in German.  The first 2 weeks were hard but just last week I overheard her skyping with a German girlfriend telling her how "super cool" her new school is.... so I think she'll be just fine.

Ich vermisse euch!

During our year away, we missed the crazy variety at supermarkets and we found we have been overbuying just because we can.  Hummus and pie crust and carmel dip, oh my! The kids have never really been beggars at the store but now suddenly want to buy all these "favorites."  Emma asked if you can also get Hubba Bubba gum in America.  Pronounced /hooba booba/  Ever hear of it? :)  We have not been able to find any Fillys much to her dismay.  Good thing she's already got a boxful!

We also missed the wide streets, emergency stopping lanes, and open, grassy front yards.  There are few yards with high hedges here.  The vague "openness" of America is hard to articulate but you know it when you see it and miss it when you don't. Driving here is less stressful, less harried. Many more junker cars on the road here.  Germany's high standards for emissions and maintaining your vehicle would prevent many of these from being on the road.  Another thing to readjust to: sales tax.  In Germany, it is absorbed into the product price so there are no surprises at the check out.  We notice how everything here is catered to the customer from drive-thrus to 24 hour service telephone numbers.

I personally miss having leisure time!  Never again in my life will I have so few set demands on my time (oh, like a full-time job!)  I volunteered in Germany and taught a few classes at the Volkshochschule but for the most part, I was home with the kids when they got home. I know that life will settle and that the crazy schedule we have now will relax when it's no longer my first year in this grade level and when I'm not taking evening classes.

As I wrap up my last post for this blog, some questions that people ask us frequently come to mind:

Are you happy you went:  YES!

Did the kids want to come back? No, the girls both wanted to stay.  Quite passionately!

Any problems with the swap family?  No, we are blessed to find such a compatible partner for this venture.

Which country do we like better?   In a word: both.  There are a million fantastic things we love about Germany: enviromental awareness, social healthcare, proximity to tons of tourist sites as well as Andrew's family, and a treasure chest of history and culture.  There's also a certain modesty I appreciate.  Germans don't scream from the rooftops that they're the best in this or the fastest in that.  In public, Germans are not the obnoxious drunk people making a scene.  Of course there are also a million wonderful things about the US but one trumps them all:  this is where our home is.  Anyone who's traveled can appreciate the intangible comfort that the familiar brings.  We had such an exciting, emotional year and are grateful beyond words that everything fell into place with the Grafs.  Our new family of friends in Neumarkt better keep that old pull-out sofa in the basement because you haven't seen the last of the Richardsons!

Auf Wiedersehen!