Wilkommen in Deutschland!

Wilkommen in Deutschland!

Welcome to Germany! We have finally made it to Hohenfels, and may I thank each of you who were praying that our passage would be safe and timely as it was.

Somehow, it just seemed fitting that our last stop in the US before leaving our great nation was in our nation’s cultural Mecca of Washington, D.C. However, we did not have the opportunity to partake in the traditional Washington sites, such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall, the White House, or the Smithsonian Institute, as we were simply meeting our connecting flight through Dulles International Airport.

Stepping off the plan at Dulles, we had the pleasure of viewing a “Washington Through Our Eyes” exhibit that ran the length of one terminal. In the exhibit, iconic images from our nation’s capitol were captured artistically, reminding Keats and I of past trips we had taken to D.C. Some of our favorite pictures included a lovely shot of a tree limb bursting with cherry blossom blooms, the White House nestled in the fall of a winter snow, and the lighted fountain that acts as the centerpiece of the World War II Memorial during a night that calls for humble remembrance.

Yet, I must be honest. That was about the only pleasant experience we had at Dulles. Shortly after arriving, we found our plane had been delayed due to a volcanic ash cloud hovering across central Germany. However, our plane was only delayed by a few hours, so at least it had not been canceled entirely, as other travelers were experiencing such misfortune.

About 30 minutes prior to boarding, people began lining up to board. We decided to get in line as well, so that we could be more easily pre-boarded with the children. However, this proved not to be such a good idea. About midway through our wait, Kye completely flipped out in severe sleep deprivation mode. He began screaming in a way that we had never heard him do before, and people began to give me, his mother, that look that mom’s of ornery children often receive when waiting to board some form of public transportation. The look read: Seriously, you are not about to get on board this plane with that screaming child, are you?!

Fortunately, Kye did calm down and fell asleep shortly after the plane took off. He did not sleep well through the rest of the trip, but he did stay rather happy, which made for a much more pleasant trip than his initial behavior had predicted.

Arriving in Frankfurt, we were met by a good friend, many bags of luggage, and very few elevators. To be exact, from baggage claim to the parking garage there did not seem to be any elevators, at least none that we could find. However, our friend assured us that this was normal, as lifts (not elevators), are not nearly as prevalent as they are in the US. Our friend told us that the baggage carts were made to travel down the escalators, and to our immense surprise, he took one of our baggage carts down the escalator beautifully! Yet, it became immediately transparent that this must require practice and technique to carry luggage successfully down the escalator in a baggage cart as the luggage on our second cart tumbled down the escalator. In my comic imagination, I could hear a snooty Frenchman humph and say in a thick accent, “Stupid American tourists!” Needless to say, Kye was removed from his stroller and hand carried down the stairs separately as I refused to think of him tumbling down the stairs.

To my not-so-great surprise, the lack of elevators and escalator-riding baggage carts are not the only things we will have to get used to while living in Germany. We will also have to get used to handles on all of the doors rather than doorknobs—as I have not seen one doorknob since arriving. The fire hydrants are also extraordinarily large here—or maybe that’s just on post. Also, 100 mph really doesn’t seem that fast once you’ve been passed 15 or 20 times on the Autobahn and felt like you were standing still.

So far, I definitely could get used to the hospitality that has been given to us. And, our family suite at the Sunrise Lodge on post is very nice and roomy—nicer than many hotels in which I have stayed! There is also a wonderful playground that has many elements that would never fly in the US due to over-precautious rules and regulations, and everything is easily within walking distance. So far, we are beginning to in-process on post, and I feel that by tomorrow our sleep schedules should be back on track.

Now, if we could just find a house, pass our driver’s license test, get a car, get Keats in school, find a…

Oh well. We just got here, and it is Germany. Think I’ll have a beer instead!