I'm a Master Furniture Builder!

When is being single not a whole lot of fun? When your car has been making a funny noise for a while. (I must take it to the shop on Monday.) When you need furniture built. Wait a minute. Not so much when you have Ikea! Don't laugh at me! Looking at their German and American websites the prices are almost spot on at what they are in the store.

I'm from the US Gulf Coast, and I had never heard of Ikea before I moved to Germany. For those of you like me it is a huge warehouse/box store with inexpensive, easy to put together furniture and some accessories. Who doesn't want to live here?

Or here?

A couple days ago I bought a bin organizer and a shelf with a removable changing table.

Cute carpet too, huh? Both only took a little while to assemble and were very easy too. The toy bin is a lot more study, well built than the shelf. It's made out of press wood and the flat pieces on the outside is only held on with baby wooden dowels/rods about an inch long. I don't expect it to last more than one or two moves - about 5 years.

I think one of the best things about Ikea is Small Land. Sometimes its really nice to just be alone. They take kids 3 and up for an hour and a half. I have confidence that my kids are fine there but they are 4 and 8. All you need is your Ausweis or Passport. Driver's licenses are not accepted.

In this area there is one store in Mannheim-Scharhof (right off the A6) and one in Waldorf (a few kms south of Heidelberg on the A5). A word of warning: I would never, ever leave my kids in the Small Land at the Waldorf location. If you need details let me know.

If you go:

Frankenthaler Str 123, 68307 Mannheim (Scharhof)

Hans-Holbein-Str. 2, Walldorf, 69190

Sells furniture,accessories, a Swedish food area, and a cafeteria style restaurant

Wordless Wednesdays: Because there are no words.

A Christmas Find

On Christmas Day we had a Skype Christmas to the States. I was lonely. Perfect time for our normal 2 mile dog walk. This (like lots of things) goes much slower with 3 kids. Sans bikes I decided we should skip the normal route through Rohrbach and go the oposite way. The great thing about living here is that there are bike paths all over the place. Everywhere! It really is quite nice. When we were in the states I don't think I knew what a bike path was.

Aparently right behind Rohrbach is Kircheim and the Heidelberg Messplatz. This is where they have special events like the flea markets. We saw something with a lot of bright lights. The boys decided we needed to investigate. I thought it was just the garden restaurant. Wrong! This is what we found:

The Heidelberg Weihnachts Circus. If we didn't have the dog we would have seen the show. You can see other pics here.  What a treat for anyone.

If you go:
Heidelberg Weihnachtscircus
Heidelberg Messplatz
Kircheimer Weg, accessible by bus/tram
tickets range from 20-30 Euros for adults and 5Euro less for kids

Let me know what you think!!

Restaurant Review: Pizza Hut

On December the 23rd I had a brilliant idea. We should go down to the Heidelberg Christmas Market. The one in Mannheim was open, so Heidelberg's should be too. Not so much. So my kids and I just walked around and did some more exploring of the Altstadt (Old Town). We found an African restaurant, a seafood restaurant that I've heard a lot about and a bar built around a tree. All are must try's. We ended up at Pizza Hut on Hauptstrasse.

Since Santa just had a baby and there is a ball coming up we ordered kids meals and dessert. Their food was 3.90 Euro a piece and came with a drink. One guy ordered pizza and the other had chicken and fries. Who orders this a Pizza Hut? My little weirdo. We also had a large Cola Light and the Chocolate Chip Cookie dessert. The bill was 14.90 Euro. A bit more than $20.

In true German fashion it took us an hour and a half.  I love long leisurely meals, just without 3 kids in tow. They were satisfied with the food and it was decent. I was surprised that the waitress brought us a fun pack "Viel Spass mit der Hutt Mutts" (have fun with the Hut Mutts). Inside were too little toys to keep them entertained. We got a whistle helicopter, a puzzle, a fun eraser and a little wooden toy that we deemed to be for the baby. We've been here plenty of times and this was the first time we were given anything for the kids.

In Heidelberg there are two Pizza Huts. One on Hebel Strasse across from McDonalds and the one on Hauptstrasse. I know the one on Hebel Str. has a lunch special during the week and also a special between lunch and dinner. Both are around 6 Euro and include a drink. I believe the lunch one has a two topping personal pizza and garlic bread. The afternoon one has a one topping pizza and a drink. totally enough food though.

If you go:
Hebelstrasse 3 or Hauptsrtasse 111, Heidelberg
Cuisine: REAL American pizza, pasta and salads
I would estimate 30-40 Euro for a family to eat individual meals or less if sharing a pizza.
Kid friendly and has room for strollers
Bathrooms are okay, but could be cleaner. I would never use their changing table though.

UPDATE: I forgot to tell you all that there is a take out window on the fussgangerstrasse. Very affordable. I beleieve I paid around 7 Euros for 3 pieces of pizza and a 0,3l soda.

Wordless Wednesdays: Puppy Love

Different? The Same?

The more time I spend here in Germany the more I realize how different Americans are to Europeans. Basically, people are all the same: school, spouse, kids, a good life. However, we just don't think or behave the same.

Germans are more, humm, aloof or standoffish. They are very abrupt and straight forward. It used to bother me a lot because I thought no one liked me. How insecure is that? I volunteered/worked at this nonprofit; I thought that the lady who ran the place hated me. I would avoid her at all costs. Come to find out we were just different. I have also found that the older generation is different from the younger one. That's everywhere. There are exceptions on both sides. I did have a doctor, that was not much older than myself, tell me 'I just don't understand why you're asking questions.' I was beyond thankful when my OB showed up!

Americans tend to live in a bubble. We're taught that we are right, the way we live is the right way and there is no better place in the world to be. The more time I spend abroad the more I realize this is just wrong. I am so grateful to be an American, but there are other great societies too. There are so many different cultures and languages here. It's completely normal to hear German, English, French, Russian or other languages all in one outing. You drive for a few hours and you're in a different country with all new customs and traditions. Are Europeans just more adaptable than us? Our states decided to form a union, so it may be a little different but its all the same. Is that the big difference? That Europeans are just more aware of other countries?

Expat Survey

The other day I found this survey. It is for an American living in Brussels that is a lecturer on migration and politics. The questions are very interesting and thought provoking. While I don't consider myself to be an expat, maybe you do and wouldn't mind helping her out. The survey is here.

Uncle Sam

This is completely random, but I just can't stop thinking about it. In America we all have an Uncle Sam. Sometimes he's pushy and demanding. It doesn't really feel like he cares about his family. You do what he says mostly without question. He definitely has too much say in my life. He always wants to borrow money. Sometimes he repays a bit, but mostly he just wants more. (I always pay Uncle Sam without complaints) Once he even surprised us all, he gave us more than we expected. Yep, that's right. Uncle Sam is the good ole USA. It's a nickname for our government.

Being government employees sometimes we don't get to chose where we work or live. Okay, only once in the last 10 years did we almost get a choice. Plans were changed at the last minute. Because of this I have had the joy of explaining the nonsensical to my kids. How do you tell them 'we just have to move' or 'no, honey, we can't go back to our house in Georgia for a few more years'. They will just keep asking questions. Lately I've just told them 'Because Uncle Sam says so'. Thankfully they are small enough that this is a good enough explanation.

Do other governments have something like this? What is it called? What would Germans have? An Uber BergerMeister? Do other nations have a national identity like this? Surely they must, no? Please tell me!!

Wordless Wednesdays: London

Oh no!

I'm on home confinement. Another day of this I think that I will go crazy. My little guy sounds like a toad. He has a cough for like the last couple days. He's been surviving on lots of Triamenic and being attached to Mom. While I love the little guy, let me out!!