26.7.2011 Our new life in Weimar

As we got closer to Weimar I knew we needed a plan on how we were going to get all of our stuff off the train. Our two large hiking backpacks and stroller were in one section and the rest were all over the place. As we got closer I moved all of our bags to the section the conductor told us we couldn’t have them and Heather got the kids ready. I left the stroller where it was and was going to get that off first, and then run to the other door and start pulling off the other bags. When the train pulled into the station we jumped into action and fortunately Barbara and Susan (the school’s director and one of the school’s principals) were there to help us. We got all the bags off and then were able to breathe and give proper greetings. Barbara later told us that she had purposely positioned herself in front of the lady on the platform who gives the green light for the train to leave the station because Barbara had witnessed a train in Switzerland pull out with two children on the train and the parents standing dumbfounded on the platform. They also told us that we won the prize for the bringing the most bags. Although in our defense we were the only family of 4 and we didn’t ship anything.

This is where we live. Notice all the scaffolding. It is a remodel in process.

There is our entrance. No, not the big door to the left. The little door to the right of center.

To get us to our new home we had to take two trips to the cars. It was a strange feeling leaving Heather and the kids standing on the platform as I took some of the bags. We finally got all the bags into the cars and had to travel about 50 meters to our new home. Our place was an old hotel that is currently being converted into an apartment complex. However, we don’t need to go into detail about this because you can read about it in one of our earlier posts. http://scott-heather-overby.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-made-itand-now-have-internet.html But let me tell you a little bit more about it. Our first reaction was “Wow it’s perfect.” And it is, for a temporary place. It is too small to stay long term, but it is a place to land. It is a little hard when one of the painters needs to paint the door in the middle of the day or change the doorknob. A few times when coming or going, they are doing remodeling work, and the guys will help carry the stroller up the stairs. One of the things we don’t like is having to move the chariot stroller up or down three flights of stairs. We’d like our next place to be a little closer the the ground floor. One of the things you’ll notice in the picures is that there is no door to Stanley and Holly’s room. It is just an opening. They have a door on order, but they don’t know when the carpenter will get it in. Something that has been great here, is how helpful they’ve been. They actually hired a specialist to come out to try to figure out our internet issue. Embarrassingly enough, the problem was that password code has a period at the end and we didn’t even notice it. Fortunately, neither did the manager when he tried to help Heather with it. But they’ve been gracious in removing an extra bed and bringing in a wardrobe to the children’s room on the day after we arrived. We also had them remove the TV, and the owner thought it was funny that the Americans didn’t want a TV. She thought all Americans watch TV. The apartment managers have answered questions, and have repeatedly told us to let them know if we need anything. What we will give you now is a little tour through pictures and video. Enjoy. Keep reading to hear more about our first couple days...

The entryway into the kids room. Notice, no door.

This is the kids room. Heather took this picture standing in the back corner.

There is now a dresser where Heather is standing here and the bed closest to her is gone.

This is our room. These are two separate beds next to each other.

Apparently you can buy something that connects the two mattresses

so there isn't a chasm between them.

There's the bathroom, you can see how small our room is here.

Here's inside the bathroom. Notice the sprayer but no shower curtain. That's common in Europe. You have bathtubs or showers. Not 2 in 1.

Here is our kitchen. Pretty basic.

That evening, after we got all of our stuff up to the room, Barbara and Susan took us out to get something to eat and shop for groceries. We also got to meet one of the other new teachers, Tim. At the restaurant, the food was delicious and our kids were wired! They just wanted to run and run and run and yell and yell and yell. You can’t blame them after spending the last 18 hours traveling! Fortunately, Barbara and Susan were very understanding and would hold Holly and listen to the many things Stanley wanted to share. It was really nice to have that time and definitely essential to get some food for breakfast the next day, although for the kid’s sleep schedules we should have gotten the kids to bed earlier.

We walk a lot here. Lots of green space which is nice.

We also use our stroller a lot. Sometimes the kids fall asleep in it.

The nice thing about keeping the kids up, is that they slept in until almost 10 the next day. However, I received a phone call soon after we woke up that I needed to be at the school to start getting paperwork done. The first thing on the list was insurance. In Germany you are required to have insurance. There is the national healthcare system, but you need something else above that. The person I met with was from the insurance company that the school goes through, although if you absolutely insist you can go through whomever you want. The actual health care is great. For the national system you pay 10 Euros once every 3 calendar months and that covers all appointments during that time (doctor, dentist, optometrist, etc). The extra insurance plan that we got will also pay you for doing checkups. You collect stamps, and those stamps can be cashed in at the end of certain time period. The goal is to get people into checkups so there are less major issues later on.

A sweet moment as the kids play together in their room.

Anyways, the process for getting a visa is very specific. First insurance, then register your address with the city, then get a bank account, then you can get the visa. The school has hired a gal, Ana, whose job is to help all of us new teachers and to be our interpreter. So she is scheduling appointments, running from one place to another and getting all of this figured out. Pretty much everyone in the city office doesn’t speak English. So Wednesday was insurance, Thursday was registering our address, and Friday I was on my own for the bank account. Fortunately the gentleman I worked with there spoke English. During those first few days we were also trying to figure things out like bus schedules, the layout of the town, where to buy groceries, what else do we need for our apartment, and how to do life with no appliances (we have two hot plates and a mini fridge.. It has been a crazy week, but God has been gracious and getting us through each day. There are more stories to share, but I’ll save those for another post.

Click here for a Video Tour of our Apartment