Germany - Retrospective

I’ve been home now for one week, back from my short stay in Germany. I wanted to expand a little on the trip and lessons learned. Warning, this is a long post……..

Lesson 1: Prepare for the unexpected. I went to Germany expecting to be picked up at the airport and transported to my destination by a “chauffeur” of the company I was visiting. It turned out that my premonitions of doom were fulfilled when I arrived and waited at the airport for 3 hours without anyone there to take me to my destination (about 90 minutes away). I was forced to rent a vehicle and drive myself there. I was not carrying any phone numbers for people to contact (because I didn’t have those numbers) so I was on my own and had no one to tell I was stuck. I did not have the directions printed to indicate how to get where I was going. I had to get online, which thank God Wi-Fi at the airport works very well, do some searching and write my directions out by hand (how sad is that!). Luckily I had my map of Germany with me to provide some assistance.

Lesson 2: No matter what you think you know; you don’t know anything. I made a trip to Germany 2 years ago with a colleague. I knew we (he was the driver, I was the navigator) were driving to our destination. I used the time leading up to the trip to get familiar with German road signs & rules of the road (for example, on the Autobahn, it is illegal to pass on the right) and take some CD language courses to be ready for the trip. This time, I didn’t think I was driving and I thought my language skills were still okay so I didn’t prepare as well. I WAS WRONG! I had to dive in without water wings and it was a struggle. I was never fluent in German (although I could ask where the toilet was, you know useful stuff like that) but where before I could get by in many situations provided people spoke slowly or repeated themselves until the “duh” look left my face. This trip I don’t think the “duh” look ever left my face. It didn’t stop me from trying, but it made for a very uneasy feeling the entire time.

Lesson 3: Despite any ineptitude with a language, it makes a big difference to try and speak the language as opposed to expecting people to speak English. I found it very difficult to remain in “German” mode once someone spoke to me in English. I made an effort and it seemed to make a difference when attempting the language before returning to English. I wasn’t always successful but it’s the only way to learn. It’s strange how your perspective changes when you’re the “alien” in the country.

Lesson 4: Step outside your comfort zone. On my last visit, we were taken care of every night, someone to take us out to dinner and ensure we got to see the local sights. This trip was much different; I was on my own all but one evening. Being slightly introverted it wasn’t much of a problem being by myself, it was forcing myself out amongst the locals to eat and walk through town playing the American tourist. I hate eating by myself, I always feel like Steve Martin in “The Lonely Guy” movie where he would walk into the restaurant and ask for a table for one and all of a sudden a spotlight shines on him as he is escorted through the center of the establishment with everyone looking at him. I know it doesn’t happen but sometimes it feels that way. Knowing that in less than 1 year I’ll be diving in to a totally different culture (and I’ll stand out a little more than I did in Germany), I spent more time doing things I might not have done in the past to try and experience the local flavor. In years past I would’ve never stopped in Heidelberg on my way back to Frankfurt just to take a walk around. I’ve never really taken the time on trips to stop and see/appreciate the area; I’ve always been on a schedule and eager to get to my final destination, missing the journey.

I’ve attached some photos of Eberbach to provide some glimpse into the area. This is a photo of the area immediately around the Krone-Post Hotel. The building directly in front is another hotel, with several restaurants in this area, the tables in front are where you go to have a beer, eat and sit down to enjoy the evening with friends. The smaller building to the right of the hotel is one of the older buildings in the town.

In this photo note the stone walls and the gate covered with ivy. These walls are part of the original city walls built to protect the town from invaders, the homes are built into these walls. The gate is one of the original entry points into the town, now it’s a tight squeeze to fit your car through. The building on the left was built in 1570 the one to the right shortly thereafter.

Blending the old with the new, notice the satellite dishes located on apartments just outside of the “old city” walls.

The streets are not very wide which is okay when the majority of the vehicles are very small. Walking on the sidewalks, you feel you’re going to become a statistic.
Finally, I wanted to post more photos of the local wildlife. My earlier post mentioned the plastic wild boars around town, below is a compilation of those images just to show the ones I found walking around the town.

Like many things in life, the negatives all seem to fall away and we remember all the positive things. Even some things that may seem negative can turn around for you, like having to rent a car and get myself to my destination. If I had been chauffeured around; I would have never been able to see Heidelberg, the castles along the drive and spend as much time getting to see the area on my own. I would've missed out. See Lesson 4, I prefer structure and stability but that didn't prevent me from spending a moment to take a look around and see what there was to see.

World of Coke

On Monday I took the kids and a family friend to the World of Coke. We had not been since it re-opened in the new location, and since we really had not done anything "fun" this summer, it was a nice treat. We watched the 4D movie, proceeded through the Pop Culture Gallery and the Perfect Pauses Theatre before the boys headed straight to the Taste It! room. We started at Europe, then off to Latin America, and finally to Asia. I was a bit hesitant to try any of the "cokes" other than the ones that I knew tasted ok. Well, when we got to Asia it was a given that we tried the three drinks from China. The Smart Apple really tasted good, and so did the Nestea! The Fanta drink from Hong Kong, not so much. Yea, we have something to drink!!

I wasn't sure that I should post anything from this week, since nothing was really relevent to our move, until I was prompted by Scott to write about our drinks from China and that they were relevent to the move. Think what you want... I'll try to do better next time!

Until then.......................t

Guten Tag

Scott checking in, blogging from the road. I'm in Frankfurt this evening to catch a flight to Atlanta tomorrow morning. I can't wait to be home, it's been an interesting trip but it's not fun being away from the family. I know Tammy wants me to put together a post so here goes, I'll keep it short (sure).

I stayed in Eberbach for the trip (Eber=Boar and Bach=Town) which explains the wild boars all around town (as seen in previous Tammy post). I spoke with a local who knows Eberbach and he indicated the town created the boars for painting as a charity fund raiser. Business' would purchase the boar, paint it and display it for I think he said 500 Euros. I'm not sure how many different ones I found, I think it's close to 8 or 9 different painted boars. The village is about 12,000 people living in close quarters, talk about where everybody knows your name. It has a long history and many parts of the original town walls & corner guardposts are still there. I was staying inside the original town gates so I was able to walk pretty much everywhere. It's much different than the US, outside of resteraunts people will sit under the umbrellas and drink beer, chat and just relax. It's not the rush, rush pace in Atlanta. People are in no hurry, it was interesting to people watch. The food was excellent, I got the Schnitzel & Spatzle fixes and also tried the Rumpsteak and Saurbraten, all excellent. Good beer, no surprises there.

I spent most of the time on my own so I walked around a lot, got lost many times but all in all it was a good time. I was able to see two of the major pieces of equipment for my company in the infancy stages, makes China very real about now. The trials I was sent to work on were completed early so I had one extra day to take time to travel and see Heidelberg on the way back to Frankfurt. The weather wasn't cooperating so I only spent a short time there, I was also in a hurry to get to Frankfurt (like the plane would leave early...Mr. Dudley is here, let's taxi and get him home). Heidelberg would probably take several days to see all the sights, a castle and shops galore. I must've walked 10-12 blocks on a street that contained just shops & shops & shops, food, clothes, music, art, etc. I was about 1/3 soaked from the rain and decided to head back to the car. The shops were nice, old buildings, etc. but wet is wet no matter what country you are in and I didn't want to get soaked.

I drove on this trip (not the original plan but roll with the punches) and was able to get moving on the Autobahn. I captured proof that I took the car up to 180 kph before noticing my exit was very close (whoops! there it goes...............). I told you I was in a hurry to get to Frankfurt.

So now I sit, waiting for tomorrow morning. I’m not sure if it’s better to stay up late and hope to sleep on the plane tomorrow or if I should sleep and be awake for the 10+ hour flight. Last time I was unable to sleep more than a couple of hours/night the entire week and so I slept a good bit on the return flight. I’ve slept better this time around so I don’t know how the flight will go. The airlines do all they can to entertain you, it’s interesting how it has changed in the 2 years since my last trip here. Last time, it was watch the movies they had for the flight and everyone watched the same thing. This time, each seat had it’s own little touch screen menu of options so I could choose from TV Shows, Movies, HBO, Games, Music or look at the screen showing where we are in the flight pattern and think “Aren’t we there yet?”. The one thing that’s bad about selecting your own movie is that people look at you funny when they notice you’re watching Horton Hears a Who. I also found it interesting that everything was free with the exception of the HBO programming which were all comedy specials. Even in flight HBO isn’t part of the standard cable package.

My next post should come to you from the U.S. if all goes as planned.

5 down, 2 to go............

Ok, Scott has been gone for 5 days now and I have not been admitted onto the crazy floor at Henry Medical! The kids and I have been chatting and videocalling everyday via Skype, which has been cool. We plan on using Skype when we do move to China to talk with family and friends. We have our webcam so we can "see" everybody everyday if we want. If you don't know about Skype, please check it out (http://www.skype.com/ ~ and NO we do not get royalties!)

IS THAT A WILD BOAR IN THE HALL??????

Yes, that is a wild boar...... I hope that Scott will blog about his trip once he gets home and gets some sleep. This was one of his first images that he sent back to us. There are even more boars throughout the village of Eberbach, just wait and see! There is even a "SpiderPig" ~ Simpson's connoisseurs you know what I mean! The rest of you will just have to wait and see...

Until next time............................................t

My first post

Ok, so this is my first every post on any such blog. I will admit that I'm far from a writer, but in the upcoming year I'm sure that I will have much to write about. Much of which you, as the reader, may or may not be interested in hearing about. SO.... here it goes, wish me luck!


So if you don't know we have about 11 months before the big "relocation" to China. Yes, China. Scott's job is relocating him for 2 years to right outside of Shanghai in a "town" called Suzhou. This town has approximately 5 million people. It is really quite exciting and a little overwhelming, to say the least. So I've told myself that I will start "writing" (I was never, nor to do admit that I am now that I ever had a talent for doing such a thing) a blog about my experience leading up to , and living overseas. My friend told me perhaps my stories might be read by someone who could use the advise before their own move. HA!


Scott is in Germany this week running trials (don't ask me) on a piece of equipment that will be shipped to the plant in Suzhou. It's only been a little over 24 hours since he's been gone, and boy does it suck! What I try to keep not reminding myself is that this could be real life come next Spring because he may (99% for sure) be going prior to the kids and I going. The toughest part is only talking to him once a day, maybe twice if he gets done early enough. The time difference in China is 12 hours (13 when we turn the clocks back in the winter) and talking to him then will be very difficult. Yes, don't worry about that now... focus on today! Whatever:-) He'll be back on Friday so it's not that bad, the kids and I will be eating out a lot.


I can't promise that I'll post everyday, nor even every week. I guess whenever I think there is something that 1. I need to get off my chest, 2. is relevent to our move, or 3. you may find funny, haha!


I hope you enjoy reading my drama!