We are about 2 months in, living on the border of Germany and the Netherlands. Since I last wrote, many of our stressors have lessened. We’ve got our bank account and phones set up. We’ve bought a car and are getting a second one in December. The kids are getting involved with school and making friends. Ted even got the lead role in the school musical! We know where to buy many of our basic needs and when all else fails, we still get Amazon!
We have a few weeks left until we move out of the guest house and into our permanent housing. When we move on November 1st, we will be reunited with our shipment full of furniture, winter gear, toys, kitchen items, books, and decor.
And big news for me- I got a job! After my background check is complete, I will start working at the school with Justin and the kids. I will be a Kindergarten Teacher’s Aide. The goal is to get back to teaching, but as there are no positions open now, this job gets my foot in the door and more connected to the community for the time being.
In many ways, life feels very ordinary. We get groceries, go to work, cook dinner, clean the house, and do homework. Where we are living doesn’t even look that different from America. We are currently living in a rural German town, down a winding road, with cows and horses along the way. The school looks like a normal school with normal subjects and after-school activities. The restaurants have normal food. Even the radio plays American songs. It’s really only occasionally that we see something and think, “I guess we’re not in America.” Examples of this would be a neighborhood cigarette vending machine or the multiple shrines to Mary and crucifixes seen abundantly throughout the town. Or yesterday, when we were driving down the road we had to back up and turn around because a parade with a big band and flags was walking down the street towards us. I was also taken aback to see that you don’t have to prepay for gasoline, but rather pay after you pump. There seems to be more trust that people will do the right thing.
On the weekends, we venture out of our bubble and explore nearby sights and cities. So far, we’ve been to:
- Maastricht, Netherlands
- Valkenburg, Netherlands
- Hoensbroek, Netherlands
- Aachen, Germany
- Tongeren, Belgium
- Cologne, Germany
- Eindhoven. Netherlands
For longer upcoming breaks we’ve been planning larger trips. For Fall Break we are going to London, England. During Winter Break we are visiting Strasbourg, France. And Spring Break we have a very special Italy trip planned with my Dad and his wife.
I am so grateful that travel has become a part of my life again. In America, it is so expensive to go on vacation and the states are so large and spread out. European travel is so much more condensed and less costly. Plus, we are seeing some truly magnificent sights. We are seeing Cathedrals that are so old and so grand, many built way before America was even founded. We are traveling to areas so rich in history, like when we went to Eindhoven this past weekend and thought about the soldiers during World War II marching down the same streets we were on. Maastricht is where the European Union was created and it’s just a 25 minute drive from our house. Another nearby place, Aachen, was the main residence of Charlemagne and where he is buried today. Many artists, like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Mondrian, and Vermeer are from the Netherlands and their work and inspiration can be seen here. We are truly lucky to take in the history and charm of Europe.
I think we are still learning a lot about travel though. Not all of our trips have gone as smoothly as they may appear in photos. A while back, we visited the 3 Points. It’s the convergence of The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Basically, at this marker, you can take 3 steps and be in a different country for each step. There’s all sorts of touristy things to do at the 3 Points, including a hedge maze. We attempted the maze, but it was far more difficult than we were expecting and it took us almost an hour to get through. By the time we finished, we were tired and hungry. We stopped at the closest restaurant but when we tried to order, they were out of all the food we wanted. Back to the car we trudged in search of a new restaurant, but then we encountered another obstacle. Our car required a token to get out of the gated parking lot and we had no clue how to get this token with our debit card and credit card not working. So back out Justin went. Long story short, eventually we got out and we got food, but by the time we actually made it to the 3 Points marker, it was so overcrowded with tourists that you couldn’t even get a picture. One thing after another! Sometimes, our little travel adventures are comically less than perfect.
Luckily, we’ve also had many successes. Going antique shopping in Tongeren was so much fun. It was an open-air market that’s hosted every Sunday and there were treasures as far as the eye could see- pipes, clocks, art, jewelry, dishes, toys, rocks, statues, and more! Penny got a tea set and Teddy got a fossil. I didn’t even need to come home with anything. Just window shopping was a blast.
We’ve seen local celebrations and parades and gotten to blend in with the locals. We’ve tried out tons of restaurants. We’ve been to museums and learned about art and history. We got to meet up with friends in Cologne, Germany for a day. In Cologne, we filled the day with a chocolate museum, a river cruise, a park, multiple restaurants and drinks, and a visit to an unreal Cathedral.
All in all, life is good. We are lucky to have so many new experiences as a family and it’s only just beginning. We have a nice blend of feeling absolutely ordinary to other moments feeling absolutely extraordinary. We will keep learning and growing as travelers, making sure to enjoy the simple moments at home with the adventures on the weekends and breaks.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 