Weekend

I've been out of an internet connection since we moved to the new house so no posts until now. Here's what we've been up to this weekend.

Friday
We woke up super early to go to the new house. We were supposed to be there at 8 am because the phone guy was supposed to come connect our phone line between 8 and 11:30 a.m. We sat around most of the day on the floor, and helped Gerrit play with some of the toys we had shipped air freight. He seemed to enjoy himself, mostly because it was something different for him. The phone guy never showed so we called and were told that he'd come sometime before 1pm. One o'clock came and went with no sign of any phone technician. Gerard went to work for some meetings and Gerrit and I were confined to the house waiting. At 3pm I got a call from the company claiming that the technician said he would be arriving. At 4:30 another call to let me know that they couldn't get a hold of the technician and that they would try again on Monday to see what happened. He explained that their company had sub-contracted to another company, who sub-contracted it to an individual contractor. Hmm... bizarre. No phone connection also meant no DSL connection. ARGH!! At least our appliances arrived - fridge, washer, and dryer. For an extra 35 euro, the owner delivered, hooked up, and even somewhat explained (as best he could in German) how to use the washer and dryer. YEAH!!! Progress.
I also met the neighbors and their dog- another female. Niki and the neighbor's dog bark incessantly at each other. Their tails are wagging so I think they would be okay if they were able to get to know each other outside their respective yards. We'll see if we can set that up at some point. The neighbors only speak German so for now, communication is quite difficult. Hopefully, if I take classes and get even a little German things will improve on that front.

Saturday
New fridge means we can finally buy more milk. Gerard dropped me off at the Real while he went to Media Markt to buy a microwave, toaster, and coffee maker. At Real, l filled two shopping carts (major excess by European standards)- one of basic food items to start our kitchen (including 10 liter cartons of milk), and one of basic kitchen, laundry, bathroom, and cleaning supplies. More shopping after lunch to get a few more items from OBI and IKEA. Tonight is the start of Oktoberfest (lasting for two weeks) so we saw a ton of people in lederhosen. We met up with one of Gerard's colleagues, his wife, and their two boys for dinner at a beer garden in Garching. Perhaps we'll be able to actually go into Munich sometime in the next two weeks and experience the REAL OKTOBERFEST. Gerrit went down early and we spent the evening watching movies on the DVD player. An eventful but less exciting day.

Playing at the park near the beer garden.

Incidentally, German house means "German toilet." You know, the ones you've heard about with the little shelf so you can examine your waste before you flush it. Very bizarre, but right up my alley. It's difficult to imagine without a picture. I thought about taking a photo of a Baby Ruth candy bar in the toilet but didn't have time to go to the store. Instead, you get one of Gerrit's toys to demonstrate this toilet feature.
Sunday
We awoke to find a note stating that the phone guy came by at 10:30 Saturday but no one was home. Right.... because that wasn't our scheduled time. Sigh! We're now at Francoise's cleaning up the place before she gets home tomorrow, so for now I am able to post this entry. Later this afternoon we meet up with the midwife and I 'll be sure to let you know how that goes when I get a chance. :-)

Camped out in our living room.

Breakfast at our kid-sized table (borrowed from our land lady)

YEAH... Toast!!!