Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hump Day







Just in from dinner at a little French restaurant near post with Marlene and John (who else?). Today was rainy but not too cool. Tomorrow is going to be 80!! :) I had to buy a big umbrella the other day.. I haven't had an umbrella for over 3 years!

I posted pix of the house I will be renting on my flickr site : (http://www.flickr.com/photos/susieclaire/). I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately..I didn't even take many of Gavin and Katie when I was in VA. Much of what we have been doing is working, eating, looking for apartments, getting cellphones, etc. Haven't done much sightseeing yet. More pictures will come soon!!

John (my coworker who is my new best bud) found a sweet apartment in the city which is super for me. :) Now "we" have a big house right outside of town and a nice apartment in town. We are joking that we will put each other's names on our mailboxes. It's a good thing that he can cook because now my nice kitchen won't go to waste!

Jack is enjoying the dog park near the hotel. He is getting along nicely with all of the dogs, which of course I love. He will have a fenced in yard when we move in the house later this month. It is small, but fenced in, which is nice.

My students are learning the routine more and more each day. I am limited on supplies right now due to funding, but I will be able to put in an order on Friday for many things. I can't wait for my teaching materials to get here from Hawaii. I feel like I am not doing my job very well considering my limitations in that area.
I am having to practice some major patience...

Keep in touch when you can and thanks for taking the time to keep up with me...

Susie :)

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Easy Like Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning and I am enjoying some down time. I went with John and Marlene (my new friends) all around downtown Stuttgart yesterday looking at apartments. I am hoping I made the right decision to rent a house right outside of town (it's 9 miles from my school) after seeing some pretty incredible apartments right in the city yesterday. Actually, I met a immobilien (real estate agent) at a party last night and when he asked where I'll be living I had to stop him mid-sentence when he responded. It seems everyone thinks my little town is soooo far away. It's 9 miles!! Anyway, we went to my house and took pictures yesterday also. I will post them later today.

School is interesting. Everyone is super nice and my kids are super cute of course, but there is no funding until the end of september and i have been instructed not to communicate with the only other preschool teacher in the area. I was really frustrated Tuesday afternoon and poor mom got a tearful phone call about it. I am letting it go basically but I will say that it is hard!! I have a nice assistant (she was just subbing last week and we talked her into taking the position full time!) named Michelle who has 4 kids who attend our school (it's elementary and middle school). I think that will work out well.

I have tons of things to buy for my new house. I don't have a bed for starters. And I have to buy approximately 10 light fixtures. Thankfully there is an IKEA closeby. German houses typically don't have kitchens built in (you bring your own), but mine does. It is super modern and nice. As far as the light fixtures, apparently they are a very personal choice, so landlords have their tenants provide their own. Thankfully I can use a VAT form (a form that allows me to get 18 percent off.. we don't have to pay German taxes while we are here...) for most items (even a car!). Speaking of cars, mine will be here in late October most likely. Right now I am sharing a rental car with John and Marlene. We are together all of the time anyway, so it is saving us money.

Better get up and take Jack out. I look forward to having a yard when I move into my house later this month!!!

Peace,

:) Susie