I Forgot to Tell You

I may have mentioned this in passing, but we’re moving.  Actually, we moved.  To Germany.  Do we speak German?  Nein.  But we will.

Today is our first full day in Bielefeld, our new hometown.  I am not sure if you can consider it a full day, since we didn’t wake up until 1:00 p.m. out of sheer exhaustion from the day(s) before.

The Journey

We left Cleveland on Sunday night after spending the day cleaning and moving out of our apartment.  In our possession we had:

• 4 suitcases
• 2 backpacks
• 1 large dog kennel
• 1 curious dog
• 2 nervous people

The curious dog quickly turned anxious when he realized his kennel would be his only home for the next 12 hours.  And the 2 nervous people quickly turned furious when the airline almost didn’t let said dog onto the plane.  (Don’t worry, he made it.)

 

Our layover in Iceland was quick and painless, we verified that Sherlock made it to the new plane, and we were on our way to Germany.  I got my first ever stamp on my passport.

The Arrival

At this point, we have been without food and sleep for 12 hours, and now needed to navigate a train system with 4 pieces of luggage, a dog, and a large crate.  Let’s just say it was not easy, the conductor did not like us and we used our “stupid American” card for the month (I’m giving us more than one, because we’ll definitely need it again).

Our trains were delayed.  We were one stop away from our destination and just sitting there for an hour.

I fell asleep standing up.

 

Exhausted

When we arrived at our Airbnb, we were soaked through from sweat, dry-mouthed and fuzzy-teethed, sore in every bone in our body, and utterly exhausted.

We slept for ages.  I know, you’re supposed to wake and sleep with the current time to adjust faster, but this was a whole level of exhaustion I have never felt before.  Worse than climbing a 14-er.

But the good thing about a good night of being so exhausted you fall dead asleep is you eventually wake up.

And you wake up fully.

I am so grateful we made it.  I am so grateful we have this opportunity to live in a different country, that we were brave enough to take our stuff and go.

The chocolate makes it worth it.

Final inventory:

• 4 suitcases
• 2 backpacks
• 1 large dog kennel
• 1 confused/tired/anxious dog
• 2 exhausted/hopeful people