And.. Regarding the Ex-Pat Meet Up in Dresden

We are planning to attend, and we're pretty open about the dates. Looks like the latest tally is favoring November, which is fine with us. If anyone can let us know the final decision on the date, we'll start making our arrangements.. Michael's grandparents live in Sachsen, so going to Dresden gives him the perfect opportunity to let me meet them!

Lately on The Love Immigrant

I have to apologize again, I guess, for not posting more regularly than I should.. there have been some technical issues here. Namely, that with only one computer between us, I have only had time really to keep up with my family (and their endless emails), before relinquishing control back to Michael (who continues to work on his internet business).

We did order a brand new laptop for me 2 weeks ago. Last Monday it arrived in pristine condition, thanks to DHL, and I eagerly plugged it in and admired my new toy.. I didn't dare play with it until Michael came home, since the OS is in German and I promised to let him set it up for me in English. Needless to say, I waited patiently for him to return from work and I kept my mits off the damned thing (although now there is a slightly worn place in the carpet from my pacing).

So he arrives in the late afternoon, and he too admires the new toy, eager to play with it himself! He turns on the power and presto! A beautiful CrystalBrite screen in a lovely shade of blue.. of course, the OS setup is the first thing we see, and Michael makes himself comfortable on the sofa, cappuccino nearby, and proceeds to set up my new laptop... BUT... the keyboard is dead. Absolutely nothing happens when he presses the keys. NOTHING.

Looking through the box and packing material, we find the customer service number and Michael calls them right away.. while I try to overcome my disappointment and irritation. The man he spoke to was very accomodating, and told him that DHL would pick up the defunct item the next day. The company would either repair the problem, or they would send us a replacement by Friday. I know, it's too good to be true, isn't it?

Well, true to their word, DHL did pick up the package on Tuesday, as promised.. so I have been eagerly awaiting Fridays delivery of my repaired or replaced laptop. No. No. NO. Did they deliver it on Friday? Of course not. It was.. too good.. to be true.

After the mail arrived yesterday, minus the package I was expecting, I called Michael at work and let him know that we didn't get it.. So once again, he called the company, and they said they had repaired the problem (a loose wire) and had given it back to DHL for delivery.. So now we're hoping that it will come with today's mail.. we'll see, but neither of us are expecting it really until Monday, by which time we won't have time to mess with it, since we're leaving for Dänemark early Tuesday morning.. ho hum. And damnit!

All of this wouldn't have been so aggravating, had it not been for the fact that we decided to get a satellite system, so I can catch more English channels than CNN (how utterly boring). First, there was a problem with the receiver and the dish not working, so we took the whole thing back and got another one.. then, the receiver on that system was messed up, so we took back just the receiver. After 3 days of irritation and hours of programming, it is finally working.. but we are still entertaining murderous thoughts about the idiot who sold us the system to begin with.. ho hum. And damnit!

In between these problems, Michael has been tweaking our car for the trip, and last night worked on some problem with the power steering until well after dark. He came in looking like a grease monkey.. his hands were covered in black, and there were streaks on his arms and face and the tip of his nose. And you know what? He's even sexy covered in grease...

It was quite funny actually, because when I was still in America, he called me on the phone once and my father picked up the other extension (not knowing I was on it).. later Dad wanted to know who was the 'black man' I was talking to. This, of course, had me rolling in laughter, because evidently Dad's southern ears can't pick out the difference between European and African.. Michael and I have a running joke about that incident.. I should have taken a picture of my 'black man' for Dad, but I was in the middle of cooking dinner.

On the lighter side, we did order my flowers for the wedding, and they will be delivered on Monday (knock on wood), and this morning we went to the bridal shop and picked up Michael's shirt and tie. Then we both got hair cuts in Rendsburg.. they are having a festival this weekend, but we didn't hang around because we wanted to be back in time to get the mail.. just in case.

Doomsday

Tomorrow is the 27th of July... and on that day many many many years ago, a chubby, bald-headed, drooling baby was born. No it wasn't me.

Happy Birthday Wendee

I know she is having a great time at Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach right now. Her husband got her a tattoo.. and our mother is horrified!

Today is also the day we set the date for the wedding. It will be on 29 August. I am very excited.. and Michael? Well, I think he will survive (hehe).. provided he doesn't have to feed one more envelope for the announcements, or have anything to do with our printer for at least a year.

And I have officially quit eating... ok, I will officially quit when the Milka bar is gone. If I'm going to post our wedding picture here, believe me, you'll be glad. Unfortunately for me, this is the real meaning of Doom. Starvation. I've been sampling a little too much of the local cuisine since I've been here, though, and it's high time I get back on track anyway.

So I will say goodbye to Milka and noodles and bread.. and Michael's damned chocolate cappuccino (which is a sin all it's own)... Hallo! Vegetables! (I can hear my darling future husband groaning now! What is it with German men and their aversion to green, leafy things?)

Now I have to cut this entry short, 'cause I see my sister is online.. I guess it would be nice of me to wish the old witch a happy birthday. Hehe.

By the way, the above picture is the place we've chosen for the wedding..

Thanks to Sissy

Today I received my first package from America. It came from my sister, who sent me the contact lenses I ordered before I left.. my old contact lenses are daily wear and I hate them because I cannot wear them all the time.. eight hours and my head starts hurting.

But now I have the new ones.. the fancy ones.. with Hydroclear technology (whatever the hell that means). They feel like.. well, they feel like nothing on my eyeballs! And let me tell you it's great to finally get my extended wears back!

So thank you Sissy! She even got the address right (which is, if you knew my sister, quite frankly amazing). I had to sign for the package and everything.. hehe.

I guess that she's not really missing me as much as she claims, however, because the bitch didn't even send me a note..

News from Northern Germany

I know I've been slack.. and I've probably irritated the hell out of some of you who want to know what's going on with Michael and me... sorry. Ok, I'm not THAT sorry.. hehe. We've been busy.. and I've been adjusting to my new surroundings.. not to mention, trying to get used to the German keyboard and remembering that there are umlaute on there now.. ok, and the keys are misplaced somewhat (in my view anyway) but I will get used to it.. so, dear reader, if something gets misspelled here, you'll know why.

But now I have a chance to correct my slackness and post an update on the happenings in the north. I think I have been to almost every store in Rendsburg now.. hehe.. except the shuh stores, which Michael refuses to let me go in (and with good reason I suppose, since one whole suitcase I brought with me was filled with shoes.. and more are coming from America as I write this).

So far, we have only painted the living room walls, with 3 rooms left to paint, but the furniture has been delivered and Michael put together the closet we ordered from IKEA (an exercise in frustration I think, but he is a saint). Our apartment is lovely, by the way. I love it. We need pictures on the walls, but we're working on that... I did paint a canvas already and we hung it, but that project calls for another canvas and more paint.. I will get to it eventually. But I am no artist, really, so don't get the impression that I am.. I just like to dabble.

We got new light fixtures too.. not, to my chagrin, the red Maria Theresa chandelier I originally threatened to buy, but a black and white one that looks lovely over the dining table, and goes very well with the color of the room. I am very happy with it, even if it isn't red... but I did get my way with the red color anyway, and we have red pillows on our white sofas.. yes, I said white sofas.. I know. It's a foolish color for a sofa.. but at present we don't have any little ones to spill things on it.. aside from me (the Hobbit) that is... lol.

We've been to the plant store.. because first, I love to grow things. And second, I wanted my dearest love to make me pesto. So, four basil plants later, we have planters on the balcony (which is evidently a must in Germany) filled with lemon thyme, white marguerites, wire vine, mint, and of course, the basil... and also another of some small purple flower (don't ask me what it is) that has really vibrant blooms. I also got some fern and spider grass and three other plants I cannot name, for the living room - let's hope they all live.

And I have been to several grocery stores, of course. The cheeses here are amazing in variety and I love cheese.. as for the mayonnaise, well, there is no Duke's and no Hellmann's, but the kind I did try that Michael bought wasn't so bad.. I even made a good potato salad with it - American potato salad (or as close as could get without Duke's and India relish), and Michael liked it.. hehe.. at least he said it was good, but I don't know whether he was just being nice or if it was true.. to me, it was okay. But as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to beat German mustard anywhere in America. Really. And I did find a good peanut butter here too.. well, Michael hates peanut butter, so there is more for me.. hehe.

I brought some jars of things with me from America in my luggage.. Canteloupe butter. Hot pickled okra. South Carolina honey. And a 2 lb bag of Plantation Rice (that we haven't opened yet, nor have we opened the butter). Michael likes okra! Surprise! He'd never eaten okra before, and I haven't seen it in the groceries here, naturally, but we did find some okra seed to grow it ourselves.. the time for planting it has passed, but maybe next year.. And since the jar I brought is almost gone already, I guess I will have to beg my sister to send more..

The wedding plans are moving forward too.. we have sent all the documents necessary for the wedding, and I brought my wedding dress with me... and no, Michael has been an absolute angel and he has not peeked to see the dress.. so we are trying to pick a date in the first week of August.. I'll let you all know when we decide. It will be a simple ceremony, but I will get to see a little of Dänemark, since that is where we will get hitched.. we've pretty much picked out where we will stay while there, and now we're just waiting for the approval to do it... for some weird reason, the Danish government has a holiday in the month of July and they don't perform weddings at all in this month.. otherwise, I would already be Michael's wife.. maybe he is glad for the respite.. to get used to the idea that he will never be separated from me again.. or maybe he just needs to evaluate what it's going to be like to have an American for a spouse.. hehe.

So far, we have had a wonderful time just being together. And as the days pass, it only gets better. I can't imagine being anywhere but here with him. Of course, I miss my family a little.. but only a little at this point... everything is too new.. too much of an adventure to really drive home the fact that I am thousands of miles from Mom & Dad & Sister & Brother & Friends. Maybe that will come later, I don't know, but I am not going to worry about it now because I'm having too much fun being here. Is that mean? Hmmm.. something to think about.

I know that most Americans have preconceived notions of what Europe is like, or not, depending on whether they pay attention to the news in other parts of the world besides their own, but sitting on the tarmac in New Jersey, I gave up all those notions and decided to just let the experiences come to me.. to try not to place my own imaginings, or apply them to any situation here. So I'm letting this new life happen on its own, without judgement of what should be, or what I think it should be.. like whether the eggs have to go straight to the refrigerator.

And Michael.. well, what can I say? He is the love of my life. He is wonderful. He is patient. And we must be two of the happiest people on the planet, because together we are complete. And we both know that one cannot live without the other. To me, his happiness comes before my own, and to him, I always come first.. so we will explore and discover this adventure together.. make our life here together, and conquer the challenges that we both know lie ahead of us. Because love is the reason I came to Deutschland, and when all is said and done.. home is where the heart is. And my heart belongs to a stubborn German.. Ich liebe dich, Michael.... mehr als mein leben.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I arrived in Germany on Friday morning.. 4 hours late due to the plane delay (and for which I was blamed for making Michael wait.. hehe). But all is well, and we are just spending some time with each other after such a long separation.

We did go to Kiel on Saturday since Kieler Week was still going on there.. and today a trip to IKEA, so I am no longer an IKEA virgin (lol).

I will post more in the coming week. Thanks to all of you who welcomed me to Germany. I absolutely love it here!

Anonymous said..

I received a comment saying that today is the 14th of June and the person wanted to know if I am in Germany yet. Then I realized just how long it's been since I have posted anything... so I'm taking a few minutes to give everyone the current events.



Everything is still going well... Michael and I are going ahead with our wedding plans, which will take place in August. I am scheduled arrive in Germany on 22 June. Then I can get back to a regular blogging schedule :)



For the next 6 days, I will be mailing the last few items to Michael, picking up my wedding dress, and visiting my family and friends before departing. And as I get ready to begin anew, as I say my good-byes here, I also attempt to commit to memory all I know I will miss. It is a trade.. and Michael will smile when I say this is the deal.



I am very excited to finally be coming home to Deutschland.. home.. where my heart is.