Today was a little more productive than the weekend. Gustav went back to the Kindergarten and Pauline went to daycare. I got to sleep in a little bit while Esther took the kids to school and then stopped by her office. But "sleeping in" here still means being dressed and ready to go before 9:30 am. After we had breakfast, Esther and I drove into Frechen to open a bank account for me and to get my Fahrkarte, or bus pass. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that it allows me to take whatever train or bus that I need to get from here to Cologne, which is basically the only place I need to go while I'm here.
Esther also bought me a picture frame for my picture of Tweek and a candle holder with scented candles for my room to make it a little more like home. The room is still pretty stark, but it's a start, and Esther wants to help me decorate it which is pretty cool.
This afternoon I got to see where Gustav and Pauline go during the day. Gustav's Kindergarten is so cool, and Maria, the woman who runs Pauline's day care, is a really sweet woman. The kids really like her, which is always a good thing.
After we put the kids to bed, Esther and I watched a little bit of news (only a few words of which I fully understood) and made fig marmalade. It's more like a jam, really, but in Geman the word Marmelade is used universally for fruit preserves. Anyway, it tasted like Christmas and it was delicious. Esther is going to type up the receipe for me tomorrow so that I can bring it home with me.

I made it!

So I arrived in Germany on Friday afternoon, and everything's been a little crazy since then. The kids and I are all way to excited, and the family just got back from a 3 week vacation, so it's taking some time for everything to normalize. But I finally got my internet setup, so now I can start posting my pictures and keeping everyone updated on what's going on over here.

On Saturday morning, Olaf and Esther went to Ikea to buy me a new bed. (They love Ikea over here!) There was already a futon for me to sleep on in my room and it was pretty comfortable, but they thought that it was too big and wanted to give me more space. They also gave me a TV, a satellite receiver, a radio, and a lounge chair. My room is awesome!

So far Gustav and Pauline seem to like me pretty well. Although there are of course times when they don't want anyone but Mom, they're otherwise comfortable with coming to me when they get hurt, or when they want to be picked up, or when they want to sit in my lap. They're too cute. Things might be a little difficult for a while though, because Olaf and Esther want me to only speak to the kids in English, and they don't understand a word I'm saying. So no matter how many times I say "Gustav, don't hit your sister," all he hears is "Gustav, ..." Pauline seems to be picking up on a few things, though. In particular I think she understands when I say "your head" or "are you hurt?" But considering that she's 2, and therefore she's always hitting her head and everything hurts, that makes sense.


Yesterday I got to meet Grandpa and Amelie, the dog. She's so sweet, and very well behaved. But I've been told that she likes to display her dominance, so I have to watch out for dogs, joggers, and anyone sitting/laying on the ground. That sounds pretty bad, but she's actually a really good, well trained dog and I don't think there should be any problems if I pay attention.

Oh, and it's been raining, or at least overcast, the whole time I've been here. So far I'm absolutely loving this! We'll see how long it lasts, considering that tomorrow I really start working :)