Week One Under Our Belts

Our first week seems to have flown by. We are not nearly settled or into a new routine, but we are starting to get there. We know how to get to a few grocery stores, we can get the kids to and from school. We bought most of the boys school supplies - that was much more complicated than in the US.

Movie Park 

On Monday, Labor Day in the US, we were invited to go to a local theme park outside of Münster called Movie Park. You can see the web site for it at http://www.movieparkgermany.de.

Some of Russell's colleagues at Uni Münster were going as a group to celebrate the birthday of the former chair of the department. They thought we may be interested in going, especially Preston and Paton.

We were all going to carpool there, and halfway into our walk we realized we had left the camera behind. Hopefully we will get a few pictures from the other people in the group. One of the other professors brought along his 10 year old son who is just beginning to learn English.  They all knew just enough to confuse each other, nevertheless, with gestures and sticking to basic words, all three boys had a great time.

The theme of the park was American Movies and Americana. The different sections of the park were divided into areas with names like Nickland, Santa Monica Pier and HollyWood Street Set. Nickland was the area for children, even so the feel was not quite there. We went to a stunt show called "Crazy Action Stunt Show" that was based on an action film movie set. It really was pretty impressive. The premise was the audience was watching a film set where the director explained how certain stunts were done. The "actress" was a diva in a tight, shiny and red dress. The hero was a cocky police detective persona. There was even a lovable buffoon named Frau Passaufinsky (Mrs. "Look-out!"-ski)  They had motorcycle ramp tricks, car chases, men falling from windows and exciting car chases. 

Now that the excitement is slowing down a bit, the differences of living in Germany are slowly creeping forward. Or Maybe WE are the ones who are different. We must look different because we are stared at wherever we go!

So far, here a few of that we have noticed.

1. No woman uses a hand bag here. Every man, woman and child carries either a satchel or a back pack.

2. Every woman and many men and children wear scarves, even though it is supposedly still summer.

3. Bed covers and pillows are different. I like it because if Russell rolls over there is no blast of cold air infiltrating gap between us. They also fold the blankets differently. In the picture it looks like pygmies would sleep under those covers, but they are folded in half.

4. Toilets have a two flush system. One button is for if you just have to pee. It uses a small gush of water while a second, larger button allows for more (ahem) substantial flushes.

5. It is never to cold or rainy for ice cream (Eis).

6. Riding bicycles is the main form of transportation here. The statistic we were told is that there are 2.5 bikes per person. Everyone has their bike for going around town, another nice one for touring and a third for a back up.  There are bike racks EVERYWHERE and they are all full!

You are more likely to be run over by a bike than a car. Pass Auf! (watch out!) The bike riders and pedestrians share a divided sidewalk. The red side is dedicated to bikers and the grey side is only for pedestrians. All bike riders are required to have a bell on their bikes to warn walkers if they stray into the red zone. There are posted signs (you can see the blue sign on the right side of the top picture) to remind everyone of where they are allowed to be. If you get in someone's way, it is your own fault!

7. High school (Gymnasium Paulinum) begins at 5th grade. The class meets together in the morning and changes subjects together as an entire group. Paton's third grade class stays in the same room for the whole day - the resource teachers visit the classroom rather than having the students go to a special room for art (Kunst), music (Musik), etc. Also, both Preston and Paton have Religion as a school subject.

Germans seem to place a little more emphasis on art than in the U.S. Paton's class also gets to use water colors and oil pastels in art (Kunst).

We were not expecting Paton to have to bring a pair of slippers to school. When they arrive in the morning, the kids take off their school and put on their slippers, apparently only the teachers are allowed to wear shoes inside the classroom.

Here are the boys in front of their new schools.

8. Neither of the boys eat lunch at school. Around ten o'clock (zehn Uhr), the children have a Pausenbrot, a bread break. They all bring a little snack such as a small sandwich or a brioche or a brotchen (a bun that can be sweet, savory or plain). Both boys will be home by 1:15 (dreizehen Uhr funfzehn), so they can eat lunch at home.
9. At the grocery store, you are expected to place your purchased items back inside the basket and then bag them yourself at a nearby, designated counter.
10. Speaking of the grocery store, you are also expected to weigh your fruits and vegetables yourself. After you weigh them on the provided scale, a little sticker comes out. If you forget, they will grumble a little and have to weigh it at the register. Luckily, I can still rely on the "I am not from around here deer in headlight look" whenever I need to. Ich bin eine Ausländeren.

Till next week - Bis Nächste Woche!