Some Favorites

I know, that in a week, I'll be adding even more things that I'm loving about Germany, but I thought, since we just got our Internet today, that I'd add a few things, that I love.

If you haven't ever taken German, then I'll tell you, this is pronounced Ows-fart.  That's right.... FART. My kids laugh and giggle every time we take the Ausfahrt.  (Ausfahrt is exit).  Oh, and Einfahrt, is entrance.  (Ei makes and I sound, and ie makes and E sound.)

Haribo, and Trolli are EVERYWHERE, and there's a gazillion different kinds.  Every time we go to the BX we go to the Haribo/Trolli section and try new gummies.  Corben picked up a some that looked like dog treats last night.  I think they're full of black licorice.... yuck.  There's a Haribo factory out here somewhere, we'll be going!

Kinder chocolates.  These guys are the makers of the Kinder Eggs, and the Happy Hippos that my kids love to eat.  I haven't tried much else, but I plan to because, hey, why not?

Okay, the outlets, well I can't say I LOVE them, I just thought I'd put them in here to vent some frustration.  The outlets here are 220 voltage.  If you look on the plugs of your electrical appliances, it will tell you the voltage.  If it says 110-220/250 then you can use a small adapter and plug your stuff in.  If it doesn't, then you can't use it without a transformer.  Those things are big, and heavy, and obnoxious, oh, and expensive.  To give you an idea, without a transformer, I can't use one single kitchen item that I shipped ahead.  My crock pots, mixers, popcorn poppers, waffle maker, none of it.  Only one curling iron out of all my hair things was adapter appropriate.  I had to get a new blow dryer.  The new clippers I just spent a fortune on, don't work here.  Now, the good thing is, I can get new appliances at the thrift shop and through yard sales from people moving, and it won't cost too much.  However, I hate the thought of getting new things, that I won't be able to use when we eventually move back to the states. 

The villages.  The little villages and towns, all over the place, are exactly what I'd pictured little European towns to be.  Most of the little ones are circular, with windy streets, and cute little houses and buildings, and a church close to the center.  I hear church bells every now and then when we're driving through one or another.  The streets are teeny tiny, and built for European cars, it sort of reminds me of Okinawan streets, but I was driving an Okinawan vehicle, this time around, I definitely feel like I'm driving a monster truck on a sidewalk!  It's so great though, I'm so happy to be here.  I can't wait for the exploring to begin.

The New Van

Isn't she purdy?  It's not the greatest shot.  This is the pic I took when we went to the place to pick it up.  It doesn't even have it's plates on it yet.... (well it does now, I took this a few days ago!)

So this is a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan.  We thought about getting a Honda again, but Tim really liked what this had to offer.  It has remote start, which is great in winter time, it has remote doors and back, video system, USB plug in, and a whole bunch of other features that I don't really care about.  I'm just happy that it fits us all.  We've been driving around a 5 seater, which meant that we could only go out and do things while the big kids were in school!

So we chose to buy new, because 1st, all the used cars here, were not much less than new.  Seriously, anything that looked even remotely nice, was at LEAST 18,000.  It's not like Okinawa.  We were also looking for a large vehicle, and there aren't to many of those around here.  In the long run, with the winter weather, and the traveling we plan to do while we're here, we wanted to make sure that the van we're driving is up to the task.  So what about our red van?  Well, it's on it's way here, should be here in a month or two.  When it's time to leave, we'll pay to ship it back to the states.  We don't owe anything on the red van.  It's ours outright, and it doesn't make sense to get rid of it, and get something else, that we'll have to make payments on.  Instead, we'll set aside the money, so when we finally get back to the states, we'll be prepared.  The AF will ship one, and we will ship the other.

So do we like it?  Well yes, and no.  It's big.  It feels bigger than the Honda.  I personally don't like the way it takes corners.  I feel like the turn radius is really bad.  The roads here are small, and having a car that can take a tight turn is really nice.  When the Honda gets here, I'm sure I'll have a chance to really compare the two.  However, I LOVE the onboard movie system ( the kids love it too!)  It has been a life saver while I've had to wait in the car while Tim runs into the housing office, this office, that office, running errands that would bore the kids to tears.  The heater is great!  It has a dark interior, which makes me happy.  It fits us all, and it has a TON of storage that our Honda does not have.  It's a good purchase, and we will definitely get some great use out of it!