Arriving in Frankfurt

We arrive to a rather deserted Frankfurt airport in the early morning hours, find our luggage and dog Guinness, and make our way to our new/used minivan, tired but excited. Imagine my shock when I settle down into the passenger seat and notice that the van is stick shift. I think a naughty expletive escaped my lips. So, along with needing to get settled in a new country, learn new driving rules and my way around, I would need to learn stick shift?

My first impression of the Frankfurt area is that it was very industrial. We pass by a good deal of factories and smokestacks, but then a second later, we see cornfields and cows grazing underneath power lines. We see walking/biking paths everywhere.

James comments on the amount of graffiti. It is everywhere and doesn't look to us like it is gang-related. We'll need to research this. Someone would later tell me that graffiti is an acceptable form of self-expression here. Hmmm...

We go first to our American friend Dina's empty apartment where the kids and I immediately fall asleep on the floor and David leaves to check on the rental furniture being moved into our house. We have a relocation service that has been taking care of a lot of the hassles of getting set up here.

For dinner, we go to an Italian restaurant for pizza and the kids have their first taste of spetzi - a mixture of Coke and Orange Fanta. The kids get ice cream cones for dessert and walking back to the apartment, an older woman speaks to James. When he doesn't answer her, she catches up to David and says, "I spoke to your son and he didn't answer me." David explains that we're American and James doesn't speak German. She replies, "Oh, I was just saying to him, 'You look like you're really enjoying your ice cream!' " She goes on to tell us how nice the Hessen region is, how important family is ("And look at you! With four children!") She wants to touch all the children and wishes us well. Hmmm, what's this about Germans in this area being unfriendly? Well, that was an excellent first impression.

We finally arrive at our new home in Liederbach, a small town located west of Frankfurt. From the outside, our house appears to be a small row home, but inside it is large. And we have our much longed-for basement!

The floors are all tile or wooden and with little furniture, there are strong echoes. We're having a hard time understanding each other at times.

The kids right away take off for our backyard...

...and then down the path that they know leads to a playground. In my jet-lagged state, I struggle to put five feather beds into their covers. In Germany, you have a mattress covered with a fitted sheet and then a feather bed (like a comforter) in a cover. That's it. No top sheet, no other blankets. There are lighter weight feather beds in the summer and heavier ones for the winter. Also, the pillows are squares. I must have been tired as the things I noted right away have to do with sleeping!

Rebecca, feeling uncomfortable in her new surroundings, screams for over two hours at bedtime. David has assured me that our concrete walls are very thick and the neighbors won't hear us. He'd better be right.

As things stand now, we have no dishwasher, no phone, no internet and no TV. Germans usually wait months to get phone and internet, but we should get ours in a few weeks. These are sure to be very long weeks.