Almost forgot

Yep, 2 posts in one day.....so what do you see in this photo? I know, it's a bathroom but take a look around before you continue with the posting. Perhaps it's just me.....

Okay, now see the answer key in the image below....

Did you happen to notice that not only is there a phone on the wall by the toilet, there is also a bottle opener circled in red on the wall by the counter. Yep, a bottle opener in the bathroom. I'm not quite sure how to react to that. In my warped mind I'm thinking, okay so I have a beer while I'm on the toilet....is the phone to call room service for another beer? Ja, Hallo! Bier bitte, #8078, Schnell, Schnell!!!!

One more thing, just to keep the mood. I open the mini bar at the hotel, okay standard stuff right. Beer, soda, chips, pretzels, peanuts all for outrageous prices. It almost escaped me but I looked again and what to my wondering eyes appear....

The beautiful purple package of Durex Emotions. For those who don't know (or pretend not to know), these are condoms, a 3-pack no less....I guess someone has pretty high expectations for the evening. I'm not sure if they got the Emotions pack because you cry when you notice the price (6.50 Euros) or when you realize this isn't a "full service" hotel. Perhaps this is what the Democrats want as part of the "stimulus" package.

Okay, enough for today. My next post....Suzhou. Stay tuned.

Random thoughts in Frankfurt

Culture clash
Upon arrival in Germany and waiting for some time for the driver to pick me up at the airport, I contacted the company I was visiting to inquire about the status of the driver. Of course within 10 minutes he has arrived to get me. For the next 4 days I hear about this from everyone, we are sorry the driver was not there but your plane was early. The more I heard it, the more I realized that they believed it was my fault that the plane was early and I had no patience to wait. Despite the fact that the driver was not at the airport 1 hour AFTER my planes intended arrival (7:40 was the original time and 8:40 is when I contacted them), the plane was early so he was not late. Strange, I didn't make any more of it than what it was, I contacted them because on the last trip I was stranded at the airport (by them!). I was simply making the inquiry to ensure I knew someone was coming, to them it was much more. I didn't mention this once to anyone at the company but they all felt they had to comment on it.

Can you hear me now?
Allegedly Verizon has International coverage......yeah, right. I think there could be a translation issue because my phone only indicates No Service. I guess that was the Verizon guy and his crew on the tarmac waving goodbye to me when the plane left the ground in Atlanta (he was probably giving me the finger). They are supposed to have coverage in China as well, I'm not holding my breath. And yes, I did contact them to inform them I needed to utilize the phone in Europe and Asia and they indicated it was no problem.

McDonald's
At the Frankfurt Airport there is an stand for McDonald's, note that to the left of the photo is where people sit down and eat their meals. Now it's not that it's a little cold outside, it's that the stand is basically by the terminal point where people will pick up and drop off people to the airport. There is no restaurant, it's like an ice cream stand or something. You order at the window and get your food and go take a seat. Image eating a Big Mac right by the Parking Lot at Hartsfield Airport (I know it's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport but I'm sure it will soon be Obama-Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport).... all the noise, confusion and not to mention car fumes to add to the ambiance. I love the smell of diesel exhaust and grease in the morning....mmmm, Big Mac.

Wealthy American

I walked through the airport when I got to the hotel (connected to Terminal 1) to ensure I knew where I was going tomorrow to save time and missteps when the pressure is on. I found a currency exchange post where I could get the Chinese Yuan (RMBs), I don't think this is available in the US. I changed out 42 Euros for 260 RMBs....this is crazy! Find out what the average wage is in China and it'll bring it all into perspective.

All in all, the trip to Germany has been worth the time spent here and tomorrow I head on to the big destination. We'll have to see what the Shanghai airport looks like at the end of Chinese New Year. I've been warned not to be overwhelmed when I walk outside of the customs/baggage claim area and try to find my driver. The advice, take it slow and easy, there will be a large crush of people as soon as you walk through the doors. Yeah, that helped my anxiety a whole lot.

再见

Guten Tag!

Posting from Eberbach, Germany. It's a small village a small drive away from Heidelberg. Yes, this is the same village I visited in the summer with all of the boars around town. In this instance, I won't be posting the local wildlife photos since it's a little chilly outside.

This morning I was given a tour of Heidelberg. I made a stop in Heidelberg the last time I was in the area but I missed out on the best sites because a) it was raining and b) I parked on the wrong side of the city. This time, my local guide provided us with the proper parking area to walk to the best sites in a limited timeframe. It was very cold this morning so it wasn't the best day for sightseeing but you take what you can get.

The posted image above is taken from Heidelberg castle looking down on the city and conversely an image taken looking up at the castle is posted below. Note in the town image in the lower right quadrant of the photo there is a square with a statue in the middle. The note the statue in the image looking at the castle.
We walked through much of the old city and stopped to see the University. Heidelberg has one of the oldest universities in the world and has a lot of young people living in the area. It has everything a college kid could want, image going to college in a country known for the beer.....Yep, lookout Dean's list.

I've come to understand that when my German host indicates "we", he means me. I guess it's like when I tell Tammy "we" need to get something done she knows it means that "she" needs to get it done. Last night after dinner he asked if we wanted something sweet (dessert). I figured he wanted something so I indicated something small and light would be okay and he orders (in German) a dessert. Well, it turns out he ordered something for me and nothing for him. Dumplings, yep dumplings. Small, round cakes (for lack of better term) with a plum filling in the center, rolled in poppy seeds, served warm and on a plate of vanilla sauce (a traditional Austrian sweet). Tastes even better than it sounds! Then today, he asked if we should have a coffee. Sure. "Do you like it strong or mild?" I don't know what that means so I say I prefer my coffee stronger (you know..with less suger and cream figuring he was talking about the Starbucks stuff, triple no fat latte with 3 splendas, half foam, blah, blah, blah). So we stop at a very traditional German coffee house and he orders me an Expresso (and himself a cappucino). Oh yeah, I get the shakes from having more than one cup of coffee every day and now I've got an expresso (and a small glass of water....it's to balance it out, drink the expresso and follow with a sip of water.....ok). How about something sweet? Again, he wants something with his coffee so I indicate ok. Again, here comes something for Scott (oops, I slipped into 3rd person speaking....better get back on the meds). It seems I ordered an Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce (again with the vanilla sauce). Served warm, it was great but I really didn't need it. Just what the doctor ordered, trying to recoup from jet lag and drinking an expresso with a plate of sugar. At least tonight, I'll know what to expect but he can always switch to German and order something for me and I'll sit there thinking he said the cat is wearing a scarf or telling a knock-knock joke. Pigs und blanket, das ist funny ja (sorry, probably an obscure reference from Shrek the Halls).

I can only image what is waiting in China where reading the menu will be a real challenge....quick what's the symbol for dog?

Websites and other notes

I have updated the side bar with several interesting and informative websites that we have found. SSIS (Suzhou Singapore International School) is where the kids will be attending school.  And the Chateau Regency, is the service apartment where we will be living.  I have also put a link to our home online, if you (or anyone you know) are in the market for a "new" home.  

Scott leaves on Monday for his trip around the world.  He will leave out Monday afternoon on his way to Frankfurt, Germany until on Saturday when he will depart for Shanghai (Suzhou) for his week long pre-trip trip.  Hopefully he will blog along the way when he is not sleep deprived (LOL).  

On another note, we have found a new family for the dog.  Yea!!!  Friends of ours who used to live here, have close friends who were looking for an older, chilled out dog.  They live in Pennsylvania and hopefully in about 2 weeks, Shadow will be "relocating" to her new home.  It will be an exciting transition for her as the new family has seven (yes, 7) children.  We are very excited about this opportunity, and I believe that they are also.  Thank you to Melanie for her help with this adoption!  

On another note, this one will make you laugh......  Scott is preparing his suitcase for the flight on Monday.  He had asked me to pick up some laundry detergent so he can do laundry once he arrives in Suzhou.  Well...  he put some in a baggie and has decided not to take the detergent.  The baggie looks like a huge load of cocaine,  "Ah, Mr. Dudley, please step this way and prepare for a strip search......"  The next time we see him would be on the Travel Channel program, "Locked up Abroad".  You can stop laughing now!!!!  

Thank you to everyone who are continuing to pray for us.  I know that in the upcoming weeks I will be losing my mind with everything that will be going on.  Scott leaves permanently the first week of March and we cannot believe how fast this has come upon us.  Before you know it, we will be preparing to return to the US after our two year adventure.  

40

Friday I turned the big "40".  Just another day, don't feel a day over 39.  Saturday night, my girlfriends surprised me and took me to the Punchline to see Dave Attell.  Earlier on Saturday, we had a late lunch at Rosa Mexicana... ate way too much.  Then the waitress brought us over dessert, the Volcan de Helados ~ yum!  Yes, that is a sparkler in the brownie......... 

It was really nice of my friends to have surprised me with such a treat on my special day!  

I also want to say Happy Birthday to my Uncle Dan, who was spending our birthday on a beach in Hawaii.  It was freezing here in Atlanta, I'm sure that he was not!  

There are so many people who have birthdays in January ~ both family and friends.  So I would like to say Happy Birthday! to my fellow Januarians.  May your special days be extra special!  

Happy New Year

New Years Eve and what are we doing.... playing the Wii with Jacob and I'm blogging.  Warren is at a friend's house ~ having fun.  We are so old!  We do have a bottle of "SchwandL" (a brand of champagne for those of you who do not know German).  It was a freebie when Scott bought our authentic German cuckoo clock on his last trip abroad.  And to make it even funnier, we are drinking it out of a double shot glass ~ our faux champagne flutes went to Goodwill yesterday.  Hope you and your family are having an uneventful evening as well.  

A few things going on this week.  The house is finally on the real estate market.  Our realtor came by the other day and did the official sign in the front yard and also the lock box on the front door.  Also on the same day, we had a 22' x 6' wide dumpster delivered to help us with the purging of our junk.  And boy do we have a lot of junk.  I've also driven to Goodwill several times the past few days.  I need to get started on the taxes (I do ours myself with the help of TurboTax)....  

Scott met with his China boss last week and we have the week nailed down for his portion of the relocation.  He will be leaving the first week of March.  Which means that he only has about 47 days left in the states (he has 12 days in which he will be in Germany and China the end of January/first of February).  WOW!!!  Time has really flown by, it seems like just yesterday we were saying "in 15 months we will be...."  We are getting excited about the move, and a little anxious at the same time.  For Christmas, we got a couple of books on being an Expat.  Good read, good info.  I also got two books on global nomads and raising third culture kids (expat children).  I haven't started to read them yet, but will start soon.  Scott gave me a book on not losing my identity after being relocated.  I haven't started that either.  That will be my first book, it looks very interesting ~ it is in workbook form with interactive areas where I can jot down different things.  I'm sure it will assist me in the process.  

Thanks to all who have been reading our blog.  I appreciate all the comments, whether posted or emailed to us.  Keep praying for us, we need all the help we can get.  

Happy New Year, may 2009 be full of good fortune for you and your family!