Some Random Thoughts and Pictures

We've officially been here more than a week now. It's gone by really fast, but as they say, time flies when you're having fun. I thought it would take me a while to get into the groove of things before I started to have fun, but that hasn't been the case. The trains are really easy to navigate which has allowed me to get out each day and discover something new. I think it has also helped that I spent a year and half in Denmark, which not surprisingly is a lot like Germany, so the whole culture-shock thing hasn't really happened. Most people also speak English quite well and are very helpful.

The weather has also been perfect...low 70s since our arrival. Just right.

I also have a new friend. Her name is Sabrina and she's from Canada. She is married to a guy doing the same program as Pat. Sabrina and her husband, Adam, live in our apartment complex. She is super nice and easy to get along with. It's been nice to have someone else with which to figure things out. She is also a bargain hunter, so we shop and think in a similar manner. She actually lived in San Jose for a time while Adam was working in the San Jose office. She was a little disappointed with our apartments here after being put up at Santana Row. I would be too.

Speaking of apartments...let me tell you about ours. It's much larger than I imagined. We've got quite a bit of closet space and Cooper has his own big room. There are lots of great big windows. The windows swing all the way open and there are no screens or balconies or anything else to keep people or children from falling out if they get too close. If Cooper was a little older this would freak me out. There is someone else in the program that has a 3-year old girl and he is a little worried.

We live on the fourth floor. Thankfully there is an elevator, but unfortunately you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to it. I guess one good about the pink stroller is that it's light enough that I just pick it up with Cooper in the seat and walk up the stairs to the elevator. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do when we get our bigger, heavier stroller.

We don't have any pans in the apartment. We have four small pots. We have an oven, but no baking sheet or pan to put in it. I've decided I'm going to buy a large non-stick pan and a baking sheet. I'm not sure I'll survive four whole months without them. Sabrina and Adam made stir-fry the other day and they had to do each part (veggies, chicken, rice) in a separate pot because none of them was big enough to hold everything. Pat and I went to Ikea on Friday to get some of these home-goods since Pat had the day off for Labor Day. Does anything look strange about this picture?
The parking lot is empty. It was totally closed! On Labor Day! It was a definite reminder that I was not in the U.S. anymore.

A few last things about our apartments...the shower pressure is great! And the water heats up almost instantly. And the tap water tastes great. I've been so proud of myself for drinking tap since I've been here.

I like the location of our apartment. We've got three different grocery stores within a block (I love grocery stores!). We have two different underground lines just minutes away. One of them goes to the zoo and aquarium. We've got a grassy area out in front of our apartment. It's nice to go out there and hang out in the shade.

It's a total bonus that there are a lot of dogs and kids that walk through. Cooper loves dogs and kids. Whenever he sees a dog he says, "Dah (dog)! Dah! Arf, arf, arf!" It is so cute!


Wow, this post is getting really long. I better wrap it up before people stop reading. ;)

This is where Pat works. It's kind of the downtown/central area, called Potsdamer Plats.
Here is a better view of the building.
There is lots of shopping and cool buildings and such.

These buildings are not really buildings yet. They're just images covering up the scaffolding. They're made to look like what the buildings are supposed to look like after completion. What a cool idea, huh? So much better than looking at construction.
Well, I better run. It's getting late and I'm tired, but I want to look up places to visit before I go to bed. Hope everyone is doing well.