It has been a while since my last post on here and even now I am posting because Michelle made a deal with me that if I don't blog then I don't get to watch football. And since I will do everything in my power to watch the Browns play decently enough to keep me interested but ultimately find a way to lose, I am here blogging. Albeit with the fast talking, high-pitched, mother-daughter, witty(ish) banter of Gilmore Girls in the background (thanks Michelle).
I am happy to announce that just over two months after packing things away in suitcases, we have finally completely emptied everything from out suitcases. It's been quite the ordeal but I think it has ultimately made us more thankful to have an actual home again. Speaking of, the rest of our furniture, etc arrived on Friday and Michelle and I have spent this weekend unpacking and organizing. Surprisingly, we already have things pretty well set up, and tonight are hosting some friends to watch the Browns-Ravens game. It's sad that the only reason I get to watch the Browns in primetime is due to a 6 hour time difference. Sorry that's my last Browns related comment.
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| Our family room as it currently stands! Complete with Gilmore Girls on the TV. |
This past thursday I turned 29 and thus began my 30th anniversary tour around the sun. My 29th year was easily one of the most eventful years of my life and I thought about sitting here and listing everything out but some of it might cause me to break down in tears from underlying homesickness or bust out in laughter from so many good memories. To celebrate my birthday, Michelle and I made our first visit into Frankfurt, which to our surprse, was only 30ish min away. We had a great dinner at what looked to be an old train depot and walked around the neighborhood a little bit before getting a Snickers McFlurry at the train station.
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Early this month Jason went to his first fussbol game to see Mainz 05, the neighboring city's professional team. Funny enough, their colors are very similar to those of Ohio State so Jason's already set with his fan gear. There was quite a few differences from American professional sports. First of all, the fan like to sing. They sang anything from the usual, like "hey hey hey, goodbye" (they sang it at a weird time though...) to Lady Gaga "Bad Romance". It was also weird to be at a sporting event completely devoid of hiphop music. There was a lot of traditional German music playing, which was kind of funny. The fans also have coordinated moves for almost every cheer. It was also cool to see how they treat opposing fans. They had a completely separate, fenced off entrance for the Nuremburg fans and the majority of them had to sit in a fenced off section of the stadium, where they promptly started a small fire during the game. One other interesting difference of European professional sports games: whistling, not booing. All in all it was a lot of fun and I think I will definitely go back and watch more, if only just to watch the fans. Mainz won, by the way, which made it an even better first experience.
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This last week we tackled one of the biggest challenges so far: European healthcare. Jason's cold has not shaken since we stepped foot on this side of the ocean and we were finally able to get him to a doctor yesterday! A 3 mile walk but who's counting?
Anyyyyyyways, we discovered that Jason has actually been suffering from bronchitis. It's almost unbelievable, considering the amount of things he's been doing and the activity that he's been participating in, but we are praising God for a diagnoses and easily-acquired antibiotics from the local Apotheke. We did have the experience of German physicians and their complete disregard for modesty. We walked into the doctor's office, told him Jason's symptoms, he asked Jason to strip from the waste up and take deep breaths. The doctor listened to Jason's lungs, then sat down at the desk and began typing notes of what he heard. Jason only assumed the exam was over and redressed, but had he stayed shirtless for the remained of the appointment nobody would have batted an eye- probably.
We are just so thankful that God has been sustaining Jason while he's undergone all these life changes with an infection weakening his body. Also for antibiotics, herbal remedies (also prescribed to Jason for the next 10days), and finding a (broken) English-speaking doctor's office near our home which was very welcoming/understanding of our inability to communicate well.
