Here in Dusseldorf, it is often easier to take public transit than to circle forever in crazy traffic to find a place to park. Very few places have parking lots so you are usually looking for a place on the side of the road and parallel parking and I don't get along too well. Mostly what we take to get around is the U-Bahn. It is a cable car type train that runs through out most of the city and surrounding areas. There is a stop right in our neighborhood (one of the reasons we picked this house) and best of all it is a platform stop meaning you wait on a raised platform that is level with the train doors. Excellent for me as I almost always have a stroller.
But I'm not writing this to bore you with descriptions of public transportation, I want to introduce you to a few friends we made on the U-Bahn. First let me introduce you to Crazy Ferret Guy. We first met Crazy Ferret Guy at the Alta Land Strasse stop. He always wears the same old track suit, has long grizzely gray hair complete with beard and bushy eyebrows and he carries a ferret in his pocket. The first day we saw him we waited a long time for our train to arrive and it was just me and the kids and Crazy Ferret Guy. He kept circling around us getting closer and closer and at first I really wasn't sure what he had crawling around in his pocket but my mind went to my worst fear, a snake. As he got closer I could see it was a ferret which was a relief but still weird. We see him from time to time on the train and sometimes walking around as we drive the kids to school. He never really seems to have somewhere to go, he just wanders. At first he really freaked me out but then one day after seeing him I had a great shopping day (rare here) and decided that a Crazy Ferret Guy spotting means good luck!
Our next friend is Really Loud Cough Guy. We don't see him as much as we see Crazy Ferret Guy but that is ok. Really Loud Cough Guy has similar grooming techniques as Crazy Ferret Guy but he changes his clothes sometimes. Really Loud Cough Guy will get on the train with his enormous dog, really it looks more like a small bear than a dog, and he will hack and cough like he is about to die and then mercifully gets off the train usually two or three stops down the line.
Our last guy we have only seen once and I still can't decide if this sighting was really sweet or just kind of disturbing. This man looked to be about in his 70s and was sitting on one of the few two-seaters and had reserved the seat next to him with his backpack. Perched on top of his back pack was a photo of a woman. It looked like it had been taken in the 40s. It was black and white and she had really dark lipstick on her overly puckered lips and was posed like a movie star. She was probably about 20 or so in the picture and was beautiful. At this point, being the sentimental fool that I am, I started imagining their life story. I pictured them meeting while she was trying to make it in the acting business in Hollywood. They fell in love, had plans to marry and see the world together (particularly Germany cause who doesn't?) and then she was tragically run over by a bus before they could live out any of their plans. He never got over her and now many years later he is touring the world with her right beside him. Very sweet right? Well it was until he picked up the picture and started kissing it and I mean really kissing it with loud smacking sounds included. This went on for some time until we exited the train. We never saw him again. Maybe they have moved on to a more romantic place like Paris.
So there's a bit of our adventures on the U-Bahn. Not quite as interesting as people watching on Pearl Street but close!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
First Day of School
Here's pictures from Isaac and Adam's first day of school! They are attending the International School at Dusseldorf which is an English speaking private school. We have been very impressed with the way this school is run and look forward to a good school year. This is Adam's first year at school and he will be attending full day. It seems too soon to let him go but hopefully it will be for the best! Isaac is bored to tears hanging with me all day and I think school will be a welcome change for him. Isaac and Adam both did very well leaving mom and dad on the first day and I was very proud of myself for not crying until Adam was safely in his classroom!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
We Have Arrived!
Well, we actually arrived nearly three months ago but were without internet until now. Our arrival didn't go quite the way I expected to. We were supposed to be met at the airport by our "relocation specialist", taken to our apartment, taken to pick up our car and Ryan's cell phone, taken to get our money exchanged and helped with our first grocery trip.
When we got off the plane I am ashamed to say I was sobbing and had been since we touched down. I wanted nothing more than to find then next available flight back to DIA eventhough it would mean another twelve hours in-flight with our three children. Somewhere through customs I did manage to pull it together and we set off in search of our luggage and our relocation specialist. She was no where to be found be fortunately the man with a van from Ryan's new work place was there holding a little white sign that saying "Hackett Family" and between the three of us we were somehow able to get our ten bags, three children, three carseats and stroller through the Dusseldorf airport and into the van. We would be staying in an apartment for about six weeks as the house we wanted had tenents still living in it for a while. So, off to the apartment we went.
Ryan and I had not had a chance to see our apartment since it was not selected during our prior house hunting trip and we had no idea what to expect. Our relocation specialist met us on the sidewalk outside the apartment and as we started to climb the stairs I asked if there was an elevator. Stupid question. We climbed flight after flight of stairs until we were on the fifth floor! As I started to think about what a nightmare it would be to lug three kids and our groceries up these stairs we were shocked by our relocation lady telling us that she had to go! Apparently she had scheduled another appointment and would catch up with us in a few days!
This is the point where my mind goes blank. I think sometimes our brains shut off as a kind of favor to us. Saving us from things like committing murder and spending the rest of my life in a German prison.
Somehow we got her to send a co-worker to come pick Ryan up (our man with a van had disappeared) and take him to work so he could pick up his car, lap top and cell phone. While he was gone I had a chance to take a closer look around the apartment. It was a pretty nice place and quite spacious for 2bdrm'er until I noticed that not only had it not been cleaned before we came, it had not been cleaned for a while! There were stains in the toilets the likes of which I haven't seen since I had the misfortune of using the toilet in Ryan's college apartment (no fault to you Ryan, we know it was all Kurt). Memory again blanks out after this and doesn't reappear until a few days later.
It was not an ideal start to our new lives in Germany but we got through it and I hear there is all kinds of new research in the field of memory removal (thank you bookclub). In all honesty we have been amazed by the beauty of this city. Dusseldorf gets a lot of rain and there is green everywhere. The kids and I loved taking walks though the parks near our apartment. We have met some nice people and the language in coming, at a snail's pace but it is coming! We feel blessed to be here and think in the end it will be a good experience for the whole family. Getting settled in our house and starting the process of making it a home has made a big difference. I miss home. I've been homesick before at college but being here were ALL that is familiar to me is gone and I don't understand what anyone is saying is a different kind of homesick.
My family watched the movie 8 Seconds a lot when we were younger and we would often use the phrase, "Cowboy up" if something was tough. Then one day a few years back I saw a truck with a bumpersticker that said "Cowboy up or go sit in the truck". Well, I don't want to go sit in the truck so I suppose I'll just have to keep plowing through. I don't even think I could even find a truck to sit in if I wanted to.....
When we got off the plane I am ashamed to say I was sobbing and had been since we touched down. I wanted nothing more than to find then next available flight back to DIA eventhough it would mean another twelve hours in-flight with our three children. Somewhere through customs I did manage to pull it together and we set off in search of our luggage and our relocation specialist. She was no where to be found be fortunately the man with a van from Ryan's new work place was there holding a little white sign that saying "Hackett Family" and between the three of us we were somehow able to get our ten bags, three children, three carseats and stroller through the Dusseldorf airport and into the van. We would be staying in an apartment for about six weeks as the house we wanted had tenents still living in it for a while. So, off to the apartment we went.
Ryan and I had not had a chance to see our apartment since it was not selected during our prior house hunting trip and we had no idea what to expect. Our relocation specialist met us on the sidewalk outside the apartment and as we started to climb the stairs I asked if there was an elevator. Stupid question. We climbed flight after flight of stairs until we were on the fifth floor! As I started to think about what a nightmare it would be to lug three kids and our groceries up these stairs we were shocked by our relocation lady telling us that she had to go! Apparently she had scheduled another appointment and would catch up with us in a few days!
This is the point where my mind goes blank. I think sometimes our brains shut off as a kind of favor to us. Saving us from things like committing murder and spending the rest of my life in a German prison.
Somehow we got her to send a co-worker to come pick Ryan up (our man with a van had disappeared) and take him to work so he could pick up his car, lap top and cell phone. While he was gone I had a chance to take a closer look around the apartment. It was a pretty nice place and quite spacious for 2bdrm'er until I noticed that not only had it not been cleaned before we came, it had not been cleaned for a while! There were stains in the toilets the likes of which I haven't seen since I had the misfortune of using the toilet in Ryan's college apartment (no fault to you Ryan, we know it was all Kurt). Memory again blanks out after this and doesn't reappear until a few days later.
It was not an ideal start to our new lives in Germany but we got through it and I hear there is all kinds of new research in the field of memory removal (thank you bookclub). In all honesty we have been amazed by the beauty of this city. Dusseldorf gets a lot of rain and there is green everywhere. The kids and I loved taking walks though the parks near our apartment. We have met some nice people and the language in coming, at a snail's pace but it is coming! We feel blessed to be here and think in the end it will be a good experience for the whole family. Getting settled in our house and starting the process of making it a home has made a big difference. I miss home. I've been homesick before at college but being here were ALL that is familiar to me is gone and I don't understand what anyone is saying is a different kind of homesick.
My family watched the movie 8 Seconds a lot when we were younger and we would often use the phrase, "Cowboy up" if something was tough. Then one day a few years back I saw a truck with a bumpersticker that said "Cowboy up or go sit in the truck". Well, I don't want to go sit in the truck so I suppose I'll just have to keep plowing through. I don't even think I could even find a truck to sit in if I wanted to.....
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