6 Months – New Driver’s Licenses
Ok, so today marks 6 months of living in Germany. One thing about moving (let alone living over seas) is that you have to make all those changes like making sure everyone has your new address and all that stuff. One of things you also have to do is update/get your driver’s license. Well, when you move to Germany, you have six months to get your German driver’s license or there’s a nice fine and a black spot on your record if you are caught.
The process for getting a German licenses is supposedly straight forward depending upon which state’s license you have. Luckily for us, the state that issued us our driver’s licenses had full reciprocosity with Germany which meant we didn’t have to take any of the tests (driving or written). So the process for getting a German license should be easy right – hand in your old and get your new one right? Nope. Even though we didn’t have to take a driver’s test (which we hear no Americans pass and so they have to go to driving school which costs mucho Euros), we still had to provide a lot of paperwork (like showing that we had had driver’s licenses for more than two years since our current licenses had been issued last year.) and we had to get paperwork signed at other places and return them to the Fuehrerschein Buero. Like one saying that we really did live where we said we did and that we weren’t criminals. Of course, this was also a great exercise in speaking German and using vocabulary we had never used before.
In the end, we received notification on Friday that our licenses were ready and we picked them up Monday. Whew, one day before we wouldn’t have been able to drive.
One of the cool things about German driver’s licenses (except for all the cool holograms they use to deter counterfits) is that they don’t expire. They are yours for life (unless you do something really bad while driving like not yeilding to a pedestrian crossing the road or driving in the left lane when not passing someone. Speeding tickets aren’t really a problem though)
PS – Oh, and I know my photo looks like I’m mad or out to hurt someone, but that is the official way photos are suppose to be taken for goverment documents here. They have a lot of rules here for just such things.
The Quest of the Four Challenges
Alex’s nickname in the states was sometimes “Cruise Director” as he always like to organize different activities. He hasn’t stopped here in Germany. On Saturday, we had several English speaking boys over for The Quest of the Four Challenges. With the help and creativity of his mother, Alex had organized this adventure where each of the 4 “Knights” had to complete four tasks to receive the Star of Courage.
They had to do the following:
- Build A Volcano – we used play-dough to make volcano and then used vinegar and baking soda to make it erupt
- Fly an Airplane – we used a toy airplane that is loaded on a spring and shot. Each “Knight” had to hit a target with the airplane
- Jump off a Cliff – this one had me wondering about our sanity. We rearranged our living room with a mattress in the middle, plied high with pillows and sofa cushions. Each “Knight” then jumped from the back of my big chair onto the “rocks” below.
- Climb a Mountain – this one I got suckered into leading. Oh, wait, not suckered – I had the privilage of leading this group of “Knights” up our hill. That is when I realized that I am totally out of shape as they are literally running up the hill. Alex actually came back and took my hand promising that he would help me make it. Ahh, wasn’t that sweet? One thing I did notice is that when you have a bunch of people much lower to the ground than you, they notice a lot more things. Like slugs, grasshoppers, bees, various kinds of sticks, etc.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Be sure to check out the pictures in the photo album
Determined to the end
Our apartment has no air conditioning. Now I have lived most of my life in the southern part of the US and our houses had air conditioning, our cars had air conditioning (except for my Chevy S-10 pickup that I got off my uncle but he was from Ohio – the windows still rolled down though), and some people even had portable cooling devices. Now truly, our life here does not really need air conditioning as its not real hot here like it is in North Carolina however we still like to have our windows open. That brings us to my next point – There are no screens on the windows here. Now that might not seem like much of a worry except that we keep our windows open all the time which means we have a lot of “flying” visitors.
This brings us to last night which I am sure some of you will be wondering at the end of this story why I told you this but I feel I must. Krista and I were getting ready for bed when we heard a fly buzzing around. We have learned that flys like to find your ears while you try and sleep and don’t leave you alone. So we were determined that this fly should not stay with us for a sleepover. That’s when Krista announced that she saw it. As I am about to ask her of its location, I feel this great big SMACK! on my shoulder. Yep, she missed. But the funniest thing was watching her face as she realized that she had just slapped her husband of almost 15 years. I then proceeded to ask her to get the fly swatter (while biting my lower lip).
Just as Krista was so determined to get the fly that she unwittingly reddened me, I too was so determined that when I finally got the fly swatter in hand and located the fly, I started swatting violently and repeatedly at it. However, I too missed as the fly was on my back. To give you a visual, think about medieval monks flogging themselves as pentence. That’s what I looked like.
After our outburst of laughter over this incident, we decided that the fly could live out its day in peace and we went to bed.
Boy, we sure were determined to get that fly. So determined that we didn’t realize what we were doing to each other or ourselves. Are you so determined about something that you are not seeing how it might hurt yourself or those around you? Just something to think about.