she's a brick . . . haus!

Finally!! What a whirlwind it has been - but a lovely one. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore. We can't believe how wonderful everyone has been and how great the school treats us. It really is unbelievable (especially compared to the last few years).

Wednesday (06 Aug) - we finally arrived after a two day delay in Portland. The worker's union in Germany was striking against Lufthansa Airlines and, even though the web site declared otherwise, the Portland/Frankfurt flights were definitely affected. Zizou did very well - wouldn't go the bathroom on the plane, at the airport, or anyplace in between until he finally had a patch of grass under his feet. Beate (FIS caretaker of new teachers) met us at the airport and drove us to our apartment where we signed our apartment lease. We also met our landlord, got a tour of the premises, warned about losing our keys and the expense involved, told how to air out the apartment properly (so things don't mold), and were given about an hour and a half to "rest". Then, we were taken to lunch in downtown Oberursel, had our pictures taken for our German residency visa (Jessica had the foresight to reapply makeup - I, however, look like a drug user as usual), taken to the bank to sign up for our account, and to the T-Mobile store to get cell phones. The amazing thing - Beate counted out 640 Euros upon arrival (welcome to Germany). Later, we went for a long walk with Zizou to scout out the neighborhood and school.

Thursday (07 Aug) - My first day of orientation. Murilo and Jessica slept a good portion of the day - the slackers!! We were all suffering from jet lag a bit - Zizou was up at 2am (so I was too). We met with the Head of School, Mark Ulfers (I'm a big fan now), and the principals and heads of school. They went over the school's mission statement and the direction they are headed - all very interesting. After lunch, we had our pictures taken for school id badges (I haven't seen mine yet so don't know if I look like a drug addict in these or not). We were then introduced to she school's IT department and network systems. At home, some unpacking and a trip to the grocery store across the street. A lot of our neighbors have dogs and I can see them checking us out as we walk with Zizou.

Friday (08 Aug) - Second day of orientation: Tour of the Upper and Elementary schools for me and then off to the Primary School (through the Upper School turf soccer field and along a beautiful path through the woods). Tour of the school and meeting with my principal and vice-principal (again, huge fan - they are amazing). Lunch and then a session about Smart Boards and more IT software available. The evening ended with a social event for all new teachers and their families, administrators, and returning teachers who crashed! The school paid for dinner for everyone who attended. And, the admin are totally real people who socialize with everyone!! Murilo and Jessica were especially impressed with how everyone engaged with them. (And, they continue to approach them and talk to them).

Saturday (09 Aug) - Murilo and I met other new teachers and spouses at the school for a tour of Oberursel. Jessica opted to stay in bed but joined us later. Zizou, however, accompanied us (they really do love dogs here). We learned about the history of the area as we walked around the old town. Afterwards, we went to the Farmer's Market in the Town Square and bought some local produce (the apple chips were a bit expensive but worth every Euro). We napped for awhile and then decided to join the staff from the Weisbaden school at the yearly wine festival. After a couple of false starts and a long train ride, we arrived at the Weisbaden town square for the largest wine festival in Germany!! It was amazing how many people were there. Luckily, we had left Zizou at home for this outing. We finally found a great sausage stall on the outskirts of the pandemonium, found seats, and enjoyed Currywurst, Pomme Frites (french fries) and many different varieties of wine from the region (but not from the Wasem Winery - the festival for wineries on the other side of the Rhein was two weeks previous). It was a late night - we got to bed around 2 am!! The title to this blog was inspired by one of the bands playing at the festival :) We had a good laugh!!

Sunday (10 Aug) - Another school sponsored outing - this time to Bad Homburg to tour the castle and the spa areas. Again, the school paid for our lunch! Afterwards, we decided to lay low a bit and get some rest. I finally tackled the washing machine (all in German) and did some laundry. The soap disappeared from the place I poured it and the clothes came out clean, so I guess I was successful. We were discouraged from hanging our laundry to dry but running the dryer is pretty spendy, so I had it layed out on chairs out on our balcony). Our other FIS hand holder, Rita, said, "This isn't Italy, we don't hang our clothes all over!"

Monday (11 Aug) - Back to orientation for me - this time we were bussed to the school in Weisbaddan for the Welcome to Germany Cross Cultural program (which covered shopping, socializing with neighbors, driving, garbage and recycling, etc., etc.). I've been very close to information overload for a few days - this pushed me over the top! Back at FIS, Jessica had been invited to come to school for a personal tour by the vice principal. She ended up baby sitting for the elementary school librarian for an hour or two and, on her way back to the apartment, met Judy!! Judy took her back to their new apartment and showed her where the Korean market was located. When I returned, we all trooped over to say hello to Chip and Judy. They loaded us with goodies (and wine of course) then they trucked our acquisitions over to the apartment (they had the school truck which can be rented for 5 Euros).

We met another neighbor/pet owner (as I had Zizou with me) and Murilo, Jess, and I ended up in his apartment later. He and his wife are from the Czech Republic and have lived in Germany for 40 years. They kept serving us drinks and food (including Zizou whom they fell in love with) until we finally had to beg our way out!! We are meeting lots of people through Zizou!! And, of course, they ALL know where the name comes from!

Tuesday (12 Aug) - Today! This morning I met another neighbor while out with Zizou. He told me (in German) that he was from Spain. I started speaking Spanish (poorly, but way better than my non-existant German) and we have made another friend thanks to our "gut Hund". I had more orientation - insurance (personal, liability, health) and the worker's council/union (which I am joining today!!) while Murilo and Jessica attended the Upper School new student orientation. We have some free time right now (which is why I am catching you up) and then the school takes us to IKEA at 3pm for "necessities". We have a long list of things we need/want as do my colleagues! They will then deliver everything right to our apartment!

We still don't have our boxes - they got stuck in customs. I keep checking but so far, nothing. We have enough clothes to wear for now but I did pack all of my teaching materials and will be wanting them very soon. The rest of this week is more orientation for me and then prep time in the classroom. Thursday evening all the new teachers and their spouses have been invited to a reception with the mayor of Oberursel and then Friday evening all faculty and staff (and their families) meet at the Park Hotel Waldlust (nice place near the school) for dinner and drinks (compliments of the school, again). Murilo heads back to work on Sunday and Jessica starts school on Monday morning.

All I can say is WOW!! I keep pinching myself to see if this is all really true - it seems like a pretty amazing place.