Lis and Tyler in Germany

(Do you know that song? We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you? You can come too, too, too. We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo.) What have we been up to the last 11 days? It’s been awhile since our last post, and it seems there should be something to report. We’ve been settling into life here, getting into a routine, and thinking about traveling. Hopefully the thinking will soon become doing. We’re anxious to get out and see some other countries.

A few tidbits from our daily life in Steinbach:

1. The other morning I got up to go to work and the town was covered in snow (and the seasons here are the same as the Northwest). I was running late and didn’t take the time to take a picture, but I should have.

2. Tyler and I went on our “daily” walk (and by daily I mean that we mean to do it daily, not that we actually do it daily) the other day and ended up at our local cafe (4-5 tables in a room off the corner store). We’ve walked past it many, many times and it’s never been open (their 12-2:30 lunch break (which is dumb to begin with, right? It’s a CAFE. Don’t they think their patrons might enjoy eating lunch there during lunchtime?) usually goes well past 3:00), so when we saw it actually open, we decided we needed to check it out. It was filled with smoke and old, retired men. It was clear these men were regulars, and that we were not. Armed with our dictionary, we took a table by the window, grabbed a menu and ordered some food. I know the word “fleisch”, which means meat, and I steer clear of it, as I am not interested in getting bunny fleisch, pig parts, blood, penis or spinal cord…any of which might be hidden in a wurst or a schnitzel.  Plus, when meat is referred to as “fleisch,” which is so similar to the word “flesh,” I just can’t seem to find the appeal.

3. We’ve both driven on the autoban, and lived to tell the tale.

4. We can drive to the grocery store, return the recyclable bottles to get the deposit back, use a euro to release a shopping cart (you have to put in a euro coin to use the shopping cart, and when you return it, you get your money back. We should do this. Every cart gets put back.), find the food we need, order buns at the bakery, check out and bag our groceries. Now, this may sound simple, but I assure you it is not. The first time we did the bottle return, the person working at the bank near the return station had to come show us how to use it. The first time we bought groceries, we paid for them and then went to bag them and realized they don’t provide bags. Tyler still has to order the buns because I’m too scared to try the German.

5. We went into Kaiserslautern on a Sunday, when everything is closed, and enjoyed sitting out at a cafe for a couple of hours. The weather was great, the beer was cheap and the people watching was fantastic.

6. And today, we took the kids to the zoo. My favorites were the flamingos and the monkeys. Oh, and the camel. We saw the coolest, oldest camel who looked very Egyptian. We had a great time, until it started snowing.