January 1, 2006
Well, I have been quite remiss in writing this last month or so. I’ll try to recap the highlights of our time here since the last entry. I did just finish today a draft of the first installment of Juggling Kenai, my writing about life with Kenai. Once Chris finishes editing the draft, we’ll send it off for binding and then send copies to friends and family. If you want a copy, soft or hard, let us know. In any case,….
When I last wrote, I believe we were excited about getting a fence for the dogs. The fence was finally completed in mid-November, but unfortunately it only covered half of the yard, and Fargo quickly determined that by jumping up on the garden wall, he was on easy street. Strider followed him once, and we were stuck looking for two dogs somewhere in our neighbors yards. In the States, this is an easy proposition, but here, it is not. I’m not sure why. The yards are a lot less open, I think. And that is a good thing, because the dogs were locked into the maze of the many fences surround the block so they couldn’t get too far. Another morning, at 5:30 am I found myself chasing Fargo by watching the neighbor’s motion detector lights go off. When I finally found him, the gate was locked and I had to climb over into their garden and grab him out. So, basically, 1700 Euro into the situation and we had a fence that may stop poop, but certainly didn’t stop wandering. The handy folks we are, we headed off to the local Home Depot, called OBI here. We had a lot of ideas, but basically no idea what we were looking for. That is, until I saw the fencing. The exact same fencing we had installed. There was an old fence around the yard, it was just too short, but it even used the same poles as the lovely 1700 Euro fence (did I tell you how much that was in $$$ - no wonder their economy is so poor). So, long story short, we bought the fencing and after some wrangling, with 1.5 hours of our time and under 33 Euro, we had installed the same fencing to almost the entire rest of the yard. You note: I said almost the whole yard. Yup, we thought it was good enough. But, Fargo quickly figured out that he could walk over the remaining fence if he came at it from the right angle. So, once again, we were off to OBI. This time in the snow. Another 28 Euro, and we’ve got more fencing than we could ever use. The yard is now entirely fenced, and there isn’t much option for digging out (the ole Strider favourite), so we’re in good shape. We hope.
Let’s talk more about that 1700 Euro. I think talking about it incessantly is a yoga breathing way of handling the situation. 1700 Euro for about 100 m of chain link fencing. Yes, they put in the poles. Ok, we didn’t put in the poles. But come on, 1700 Euro – that’s over $2000. Let’s put it all in perspective. After finishing over 100 m of fencing by ourselves in well under 2 hours, granted without installing the poles, I decided to translate the bill finally. We were charged 150 Euro for concrete. Are they insane? Concrete costs about $2 a bag. For 10 poles, you got maybe $10 worth of concrete. 150 Euro?!! They charged about 500 Euro for the materials. Ok, think this through. We installed over 100 m of fenced for what, 60 Euro. They installed about 10 poles. The poles were something like 12 Euro. Let’s call it 20 Euro. How can you possibly get to 500 Euro for material. So, I’m pretty pissed off about the costs. I have no idea whether this was the charge they’d make to a German, or whether it was a special American pricing. Again, if this is their normal pricing, no wonder their economy is in the pooper. Breath, Renée, breath.
But, wait, there is more. American citizens are eligible for tax free services in Germany. So, when we first go the quote, I let the landlord know, assuming that the cost included taxes. When I got the bill, I sent off the tax forms and requested a new bill. They returned a bill for over 1900 Euro, with a net payment due of 1700 Euro. And they didn’t return the tax form that we are responsible for maintaining. At least I’ve discovered who’s services not to use in the future. Breath, Renée, breath.
Let’s see, what else. It has snowed here a number of times, and I finally decided to purchase snow tires for my bike. I put them on today and took them out for a ride in the warm (40 degree) weather. The tires have metal screws in them like studs, I guess. They slow you down a bit. I found all kinds of terrain during my ride: dry asphalt, snow, slush, ice, mud, and mixes of all of the above. I drove slow. In slush or untouched snow, you’re in trouble. The bike slides and you really need to concentrate on staying upright. The ride was a test of mental agility like I’ve not had before. So, let’s see if I can actually get to work on Wednesday.
We haven’t done any trips since November, but we are looking forward to doing a snow trip this winter. I am thinking of buying us snow shoes so we can head over to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) and do some snow hiking. The LL Bean catalog makes it seem so cool! We’ve done a few volksmarches, including one yesterday in the neighboring town. It’s so fascinating to watch these folks all wandering down the path with their walking stick and their funky hat, most often covered in little pins.
The Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkts) have been the highlight of the last month. We hit four of them: Warmbronn, Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg, and Stuttgart. The warmth of the atmosphere is almost undescribable. Everyone has their own favourites, but I found Stuttgart to be the most compelling, in spite of the overwhelming crowds. The little booths were all decorated individually, often with animated Christmas scenes. The narrow aisles in all the markets, were filled with people sipping warm glühwein. Like the fall beer fests, the Christmas markets are a center of social gathering here in Germany. One that I’m eager to share with our friends and family.
Speaking of Weihnachts (Christmas), we joined the German celebrations through Kenai’s school. On the 5th of December, Kenai cleaned a pair of his tennis shoes and set them outside the front door. The next morning they were filled with candy, nuts, and small toys by St. Nikolaus. Later that night, the 6th of December, we celebrated St. Nikolaus day at Kenai’s school with songs and a visit from St. Nick himself. Kenai opened his Christmas gifts over a series of several days. Originally, I thought to have him open for the 12 days of Christmas, but eventually changed it to allow for a few gifts a day.
Kenai is doing very well. He seems to be making a lot more friends in Kindergarten, and we are hesitant to move him to American school next year. If everything is going smoothly this summer, we’ll keep him in the German school and track for schooling while we are here. As long as he can read when we leave, and he’s already making a lot of progress in that direction, we’re happy to keep him out of the American school system for a few years. Chris is teaching him to read at night, using a program from the University of Oregon.
I hope that everyone had good holidays. We wish you the best in the New Year, and invite you to join us here in Stuttgart for vacation, or to join us on one of our adventures in Europe. This spring we will hit Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. This summer, hiking in Switzerland. Next summer, we’ll likely hit Scandanavia for a few weeks.
Well, I have been quite remiss in writing this last month or so. I’ll try to recap the highlights of our time here since the last entry. I did just finish today a draft of the first installment of Juggling Kenai, my writing about life with Kenai. Once Chris finishes editing the draft, we’ll send it off for binding and then send copies to friends and family. If you want a copy, soft or hard, let us know. In any case,….
When I last wrote, I believe we were excited about getting a fence for the dogs. The fence was finally completed in mid-November, but unfortunately it only covered half of the yard, and Fargo quickly determined that by jumping up on the garden wall, he was on easy street. Strider followed him once, and we were stuck looking for two dogs somewhere in our neighbors yards. In the States, this is an easy proposition, but here, it is not. I’m not sure why. The yards are a lot less open, I think. And that is a good thing, because the dogs were locked into the maze of the many fences surround the block so they couldn’t get too far. Another morning, at 5:30 am I found myself chasing Fargo by watching the neighbor’s motion detector lights go off. When I finally found him, the gate was locked and I had to climb over into their garden and grab him out. So, basically, 1700 Euro into the situation and we had a fence that may stop poop, but certainly didn’t stop wandering. The handy folks we are, we headed off to the local Home Depot, called OBI here. We had a lot of ideas, but basically no idea what we were looking for. That is, until I saw the fencing. The exact same fencing we had installed. There was an old fence around the yard, it was just too short, but it even used the same poles as the lovely 1700 Euro fence (did I tell you how much that was in $$$ - no wonder their economy is so poor). So, long story short, we bought the fencing and after some wrangling, with 1.5 hours of our time and under 33 Euro, we had installed the same fencing to almost the entire rest of the yard. You note: I said almost the whole yard. Yup, we thought it was good enough. But, Fargo quickly figured out that he could walk over the remaining fence if he came at it from the right angle. So, once again, we were off to OBI. This time in the snow. Another 28 Euro, and we’ve got more fencing than we could ever use. The yard is now entirely fenced, and there isn’t much option for digging out (the ole Strider favourite), so we’re in good shape. We hope.
Let’s talk more about that 1700 Euro. I think talking about it incessantly is a yoga breathing way of handling the situation. 1700 Euro for about 100 m of chain link fencing. Yes, they put in the poles. Ok, we didn’t put in the poles. But come on, 1700 Euro – that’s over $2000. Let’s put it all in perspective. After finishing over 100 m of fencing by ourselves in well under 2 hours, granted without installing the poles, I decided to translate the bill finally. We were charged 150 Euro for concrete. Are they insane? Concrete costs about $2 a bag. For 10 poles, you got maybe $10 worth of concrete. 150 Euro?!! They charged about 500 Euro for the materials. Ok, think this through. We installed over 100 m of fenced for what, 60 Euro. They installed about 10 poles. The poles were something like 12 Euro. Let’s call it 20 Euro. How can you possibly get to 500 Euro for material. So, I’m pretty pissed off about the costs. I have no idea whether this was the charge they’d make to a German, or whether it was a special American pricing. Again, if this is their normal pricing, no wonder their economy is in the pooper. Breath, Renée, breath.
But, wait, there is more. American citizens are eligible for tax free services in Germany. So, when we first go the quote, I let the landlord know, assuming that the cost included taxes. When I got the bill, I sent off the tax forms and requested a new bill. They returned a bill for over 1900 Euro, with a net payment due of 1700 Euro. And they didn’t return the tax form that we are responsible for maintaining. At least I’ve discovered who’s services not to use in the future. Breath, Renée, breath.
Let’s see, what else. It has snowed here a number of times, and I finally decided to purchase snow tires for my bike. I put them on today and took them out for a ride in the warm (40 degree) weather. The tires have metal screws in them like studs, I guess. They slow you down a bit. I found all kinds of terrain during my ride: dry asphalt, snow, slush, ice, mud, and mixes of all of the above. I drove slow. In slush or untouched snow, you’re in trouble. The bike slides and you really need to concentrate on staying upright. The ride was a test of mental agility like I’ve not had before. So, let’s see if I can actually get to work on Wednesday.
We haven’t done any trips since November, but we are looking forward to doing a snow trip this winter. I am thinking of buying us snow shoes so we can head over to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) and do some snow hiking. The LL Bean catalog makes it seem so cool! We’ve done a few volksmarches, including one yesterday in the neighboring town. It’s so fascinating to watch these folks all wandering down the path with their walking stick and their funky hat, most often covered in little pins.
The Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkts) have been the highlight of the last month. We hit four of them: Warmbronn, Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg, and Stuttgart. The warmth of the atmosphere is almost undescribable. Everyone has their own favourites, but I found Stuttgart to be the most compelling, in spite of the overwhelming crowds. The little booths were all decorated individually, often with animated Christmas scenes. The narrow aisles in all the markets, were filled with people sipping warm glühwein. Like the fall beer fests, the Christmas markets are a center of social gathering here in Germany. One that I’m eager to share with our friends and family.
Speaking of Weihnachts (Christmas), we joined the German celebrations through Kenai’s school. On the 5th of December, Kenai cleaned a pair of his tennis shoes and set them outside the front door. The next morning they were filled with candy, nuts, and small toys by St. Nikolaus. Later that night, the 6th of December, we celebrated St. Nikolaus day at Kenai’s school with songs and a visit from St. Nick himself. Kenai opened his Christmas gifts over a series of several days. Originally, I thought to have him open for the 12 days of Christmas, but eventually changed it to allow for a few gifts a day.
Kenai is doing very well. He seems to be making a lot more friends in Kindergarten, and we are hesitant to move him to American school next year. If everything is going smoothly this summer, we’ll keep him in the German school and track for schooling while we are here. As long as he can read when we leave, and he’s already making a lot of progress in that direction, we’re happy to keep him out of the American school system for a few years. Chris is teaching him to read at night, using a program from the University of Oregon.
I hope that everyone had good holidays. We wish you the best in the New Year, and invite you to join us here in Stuttgart for vacation, or to join us on one of our adventures in Europe. This spring we will hit Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. This summer, hiking in Switzerland. Next summer, we’ll likely hit Scandanavia for a few weeks.
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