Halfway to what? We are halfway through our tour here! My current exit date is May 2024. It has gone by ridiculously fast. It feels like we just got here (most of the time).
The last 18 months have been a rollercoaster! We have all struggled at some point in our new roles; Matt as a student, me in my new job, and the kids at their new schools. The kids have especially had a hard time with the new curriculum and keeping up with school. It takes all four of us a ton of time but we are so proud of how hard they are working! We are just really hoping it starts getting a little easier sometime soon!
Thinking back on our 18 months here are some things we love and “don’t like” about being here:
We love:
1. Travel! We’ve been too a lot of places so far and we learn a lot everywhere we go. More importantly, we get to carve out a lot of time for quality, family time together.
2. Driving on the autobahn. Even places that are far away don’t take so long to get to.
3. Recycling! I recycled before but I LOVE how almost everything gets re-used here.
4. The schools. They are definitely a personal challenge for us, but we love that they are getting a demanding curriculum and are held accountable for their work. There are also so many clubs and the schools push them to be involved on multiple levels, and to be a part of the school community. When you struggle, which we have, there are SO MANY free resources for families. The schools have provided so much to try and help us get acclimated.
5. All the fests! It’s hard to have a quiet weekend at home because there is always a town or village celebrating something: cows, wine, pumpkins, cabbage, you name it. Germans love an excuse to get together and drink bier.
We “don’t like:”
1. Being away from family and friends. It sucks missing out of the big events like weddings, and it’s worse missing out on the day-to-day fun.
2. Traffic Cameras on the Autobahn. They are everywhere, ready to catch you speeding or following another car too closely. We are tired of the tickets and I have developed a sense of paranoia about seeing bright flashes while I drive. Please make it stop!
3. Paper everything. If you hate paper straws, try takeaway wooden forks and knives. Terrible.
4. Laundry. It takes forever to wash and dry clothes. Also nothing comes out white. All of our socks are now a dingy blue-gray color. Sometimes we go to a laundromat that rips apart our stuff and costs a ton of money. We usually return back to The U.S. with suitcases full of dirty clothes for washing, American style.
5. Cold Water in Bathrooms. Why is this a thing? Ice cold water that turns your fingers blue is all you get in public bathrooms. Then a hand dryer that is actually just a slow fan.
* While we’re talking about bathrooms, paying for bathrooms deserves an honorable mention. All public bathrooms cost about €.50. No change given! I get it that it goes towards keeping bathrooms cleaned and stocked but a lot of the time, they still aren’t cleaned and stocked. Now, bathroom prices are going up to €1 on the autobahn, these bathrooms better be spotless!
Anyways back to our regular life, which was pretty quiet this week.
Monday, we got back to Stuttgart in time to go to go Trick-or-Trunking. Brooklyn didn’t want to dress up this year, so Ryan was our only Trick or Treater. He looked so good though and got so many salutes 😂
The rest of the week was super quiet. Work has been super busy and Matt’s been busy with school. We stayed home this weekend and got caught up on things around the house and errand running.
Saturday, we took the kids to the huge Decathlon outlet. They are both in a ski club this year and renting would be really difficult so the big Christmas gifts are ski gear. The store is so big, we were there for sooooo long. So long, that we actually stopped and had a meal in the restaurant in the store. We got everything we needed though and then some.
After our marathon shop at Decathlon, we raced over to the commissary as we heard peanut butter was finally back in stock after three months of being out. Praise be!
Saturday night, we had dinner with some friends and then some Gluwein at the Christmas Hut that is now up.
Next weekend is Veterans Day, and another long weekend for all of us, so we are heading to Dresden!
Gilcrests Abroad 
I agree with all of you likes and dislikes. The first time we went thru a speed camera it scared me because I thought an electric transformer had exploded. We were returning from Denmark where our son was married. For some reason it is very difficult for an American soldier to marry a German girl so most of them go to Denmark to get married.
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