As I sit here, at my living room window, watching the beautiful Autumn leaves float almost weightlessly to the ground, I'm finding it hard to believe that it's Fall already. Has it really been that long?The last eight months here in Germany have been an adventure. At times difficult; however, like all good adventures, rewarding. Neither me nor my husband were expecting some of the difficulties we encountered but the experience so far has undoubtedly made us stronger and more patient.
Our original plan was to purchase a home here in Germany. A process that soon became nightmarish. Not impossible, but dreadful none the less. After two months of visiting numerous banks and viewing multiple homes, we eventually found a house and a bank that was willing to finance it.
The home was exactly what we were looking for. We absolutely loved it. Maybe too much.
Two days before we were scheduled to sign the contract, the owner of the home sold it to someone else.
This was bad. Real bad!
We had spent three whole months focusing on and prepping for a home we believed would soon be ours. Add those to the two months we spent finding the home and we had been here almost half a year and were still living in a hotel. I was frustrated, angry and completely exhausted.
We were back to square one with the beautiful summer slipping thru our grasp. We decided to clear our heads and visited my home town, by the sea, for two wonderful weeks.
Upon our return to Germany, we let a little part of our German dream die, and decided to rent.
This process was also difficult, but with the help of a great immobelien (real estate agent) our perseverance soon paid off. We've been in our new apartment now for three weeks. We are just around the corner from being settled and it feels so good.
One of the things we were surprised to find when looking at apartments in Germany is that very few of them have fitted kitchens! In cases like these, it is the renters responsibility to install one. With the help of a few new German friends we managed to install an "emergency" kitchen while our new one is being made. The kitchen will arrive in November and I am so excited I could pop!
So, if it wasn't for some great people, good beer (though it has been a while), delicious sausages, amazing breads and an endless variety of tasty mustards, it would have been a very long and arduous journey thus far.
More about German culinary goodness in the next post!
For now though, I want to thank you all for sticking by me through this difficult transition. Your patience and support has meant a lot and I can't thank you enough.
Oh, and one last thing...I am currently working on a very special creation! It's been baking for almost seven months and will be ready sometime in January! I have a feeling it will be scrumptious! ;-)
More soon....
