First day of School at JFKS Berlin, 7th, 10th and 5th grade!

 

First day of school. They are both considered high school here. Milo is nervous and excited, Lexa is nervous. Jeff is nervous. In the US, we get information overload, I think before Lexa went to high school in Fort Collins, they went through the high school multiple times, knew where they were to go etc. Here, they did not know what group they were in, they are to check their email, but have not been given their email address or password. They had orientation but didn't go through where they are supposed to enter. Each grade level enters campus in a different area, to keep them socially distanced as much as possible. Everyone is just flying by the seat of their pants. Jeff doesn't really have a curriculum map as to what he is to be teaching, he has a free hour that he is supposed to come up with an elective. I have the most confidence that he will do just fine, but the couple days leading up to and today have been stressful. Praying they all can get it all figured out soon! 

Well they made it through! The first week was stressful with emotions running high. Lexa was in boys sport and Milo was in girls sport. They got it figured out. The school is about independence and figuring things out on your own, which is great, when you have the resources to get to that point. The kids are making friends so I am very thankful about that. Jeff is getting settled in. I am very proud of everyone for how they are adjusting. I wasn't sure how it would go.

Last week before school

 We are getting settled in and learning to get around our neighborhood of Zehlendorf. We are SW of the city center. It takes about an hour to get to my cousin Gretchen's place.  We have not really explored the history of Berlin yet, but are looking forward to doing that soon. Feeling like we need a routine. Excited for school to start. The new kids have an orientation on Friday, then everyone starts on Monday the 17th, masks will be required in the passing period, but not in the classroom. I am so thankful they are going to in-person school and hopefully it continues.  There is always talk of it not going too long, but who really knows.  We have been learning new things and going to new places. We learn that in the summer brewers have a Radler which is beer and lemonade and quite refreshing. This one is  .76 and you get .25 back when you take the can back. So, beer is most definitely cheaper than water.

We worked on Jeff's classroom to clean it out. It was a bit gross, expired food from 3 years ago, dust everywhere, not sure when there was anyone in it before.....

  I'll post an after picture sometime.  I did take photos of the kids at the school since parents are not allowed on campus once school starts.

The kids think the bear is a bit creepy. 

We have played some games, lounged in the hammock at home, while waiting for deliveries, we finally got out shoes from home that have been stuck in customs! Yay

Milo had a great time at the sports camp a couple weeks ago. They sent him home with a couple photos.

It has been hot here. It is not so bad when you are just sitting, but when you are biking, you feel the humidity more than in Colorado. Not even close to how much it is in NE.  We went to Schlachetnsee, which is a 20-30 minute ride. It was nice to be in the cool water. It got super busy as the day went on. People would put their blanket right next to you, it was different than what we are used to. Usually wanting to be away from people, here, no so much. We did not move here for the same, we moved here for different, so embracing all the difference. These photos were taken prior to the crazy of people everywhere. We hung out with some new friends and it was a good time. 

Jeff had an issue with his visa, so we headed to the immigration office to get it all worked out. This trip we took a double-decker bus, which was cool, I would not want to be the bus driver!

It is BRIGHT, can you tell

Lots of cobblestone roads. They are not too fun to ride your bike on. I remember my grandpa Jim saying he felt like a sack of potatoes when he road on his Vespa. This has the same feeling I had and if your phone is in your front basket it will fly out!

Lexa and I went to breakfast and shopping. She was so excited to find her Boba tea here next to the fun Asian market! Of course, a shopping day would not be complete without at least one prom dress tried on. 

Walking around neighborhoods and seeing the different architecture is fun. This building also had someone who died during the holocaust. I am looking forward to learning more about the history here.

SO EXCITED!!! Yes, this is a trashcan. It is soooo much better than what we had. I had 3 about the size of the little food scrap one there. It was hard to get all the trash sorted in such a small space. This is fantastic. Who knew....

We went to church on Sunday and really enjoy it, it was our 3rd weekend there. From there we biked through a beautiful forest to the bier garten at Wansee. We took a different route on the way home, and it is a bike path in the middle of a large road. It was a bit crazy.  I should have taken a photo of the forest as it was a nice change. I did learn that I am not good at talking to Jeff behind me when riding, as I scraped my arm against a concrete wall. My goal is to turn around and still go straight,. I'll let you know if I improve. 

This is the park North of the school. (hard for me to know directions with no mountains!) It is interesting, it is more like an unmaintained natural area. It is nice to have a reprieve from the concrete, but it is not what we are used to when we think of a park. 

This is our community garden in the back of our house, I think I will try to take advantage of this when I can. It is taken care of by the residents here, but again, just different than we would see a yard back home. I appreciate the flowers that I recognize. The neighbor below said I can help or give any suggestions. I am excited to participate with them. I would pull weeds, but not really sure which ones those are. 

Bikes are everywhere. The biking lanes here are amazing, makes it so easy to get around and it is FLAT. I do think I probably should have thought through what bike I got instead of going for the cute color, but it is working great, despite only having 3 gears....

I am enjoying Zehlendorf, and appreciating all the differences. Trying to go with it and not get frustrated. My comfort will come in time. We have been so blessed to be connected with so many people already. God is good all the time. We have a short time here, so want to engage with people soon, as we do not have much time. Wondering what God's plan is for us here. We will wait and see. 

Flowers and Food

Most of you know my happy place is in my gardens. I enjoy watering it, weeding, watching new things come up, moving things around, really all of it.  I am finding my own garden here. I have no idea if it will winter or not, but love looking at it and watching the bees enjoy it. Lexa and I rode to a local nursery and I was delighted!

I got a clematis in my favorite color, to hopefully block out the car dealership next door. 

 I thought I had purchased a grass, but now we are thinking it is a red hot poker, which is one of Jeff's favorites. 

How fun is this?!?! A bike basket full of flowers. YAY!!!

Ho

And here they are, planted and lovely.

I am sure you are seeing a common theme here, food.  I do like the meat and cheese for breakfast with a fresh baguette. I make this as a snack often for lunch, and everyone likes it.

 Going to the cafe's has been fun too. It is hard to figure out what you will get but we do have a good time checking them out.

Inside our apartment, Jeff is officially a teacher at JFKS Berlin and Bikes

I realized I never posted any photos of our apartment inside with some furniture together. We are slow to fill it up, which is very nice. I love the space it is open and bright and airy, so incredibly thankful.

OUR BEDROOM

                                        ONE BATHROOM, WE ARE GETTING USED TO.

HALLWAY TO OUR FRONT DOOR, FROM OUR BEDROOM

LOOKING FROM OUR BEDROOM, THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM TO THE BALCONY

    

                            DINGING ROOM AREA

REST OF DINING ROOM AREA, DOOR TO LEFT GOES THROUGH HALLWAY INTO KITCHEN ,DOOR ON RIGHT GOES TO MILO'S ROOM

LOOKING BACK INTO LIVING ROOM FROM DINING ROOM

MILO'S ROOM

I didn't take a photo of Lexa's Room, but it is on the other side of Milo's room.  She is making it her own, including clothes all over the floor. I will add a photo  a different day.  It is strange not to have things on the walls just yet, as we had so much of my Mom's artwork at home, you take those things for granted that you see everyday on your walls.  Probably because it has been hanging there so long, you don't stop to enjoy it as much as when you hung it up.  Anyhow, we are being selective on what we bring in as we do not want to accumulate a bunch of stuff. Since we will not be able to have American visitors, we don't need to worry about extra places to sleep at this point.  Hopefully soon!

We did get our hammock in the mail..... Our other boxes are still stuck in customs, with shoes, beads and books. Who knows how long this will be. In the mean time we will enjoy all the things we have here. 

Jeff has signed is official contract to be a 5th grade teacher at JFKS Berlin! Yay

I got to be there as we were also doing all the paperwork for visas, residence permits, insurance etc.  We continue orientation for all those paperwork things this week. Then next week he will be prepping for school and gets kids on the 17th of August. 

We having been walking a lot, may have mentioned that before, it has been fun. One day we walked over 9 miles. The bikes speeding by on their designated areas, looked pretty nice. We have now all gotten bikes and are loving it. I need to take more photos. Lexa and I went for color and style, probably should have thought through, gears, back brakes, etc, but we didn't so....

I also learned that sometimes the bike has too much in it and will tip over. Causing lots of frustration and then some laughter as I stood outside the store recognizing my shopping needs to change here. My plan is to put my bag in my SMALL cart, not the big cart, and what fits in my bag is all I bring home. If I need to make a second trip it is not far away, and what else do I really have to do.  

I still had to put the paper towels on top and I had a backpack filled with wine, water and apfelschorle (sparkling apple juice) TOO MUCH! I ended up walking my bike home as I was afraid if I tried to get on I would tip over. There were 2 six packs of Raddlers at the bottom of my bag. (they are half beer half lemonade, popular summer drink here)

Speaking of shopping, it is different, as I have no idea what things are. I am holding my phone with the google translate app up all the time. Our friend had her birthday this past weekend, so I attempted a vanilla buttercream cake as that is her favorite. It didn't turn out too bad for a first try. 

This is funny. I was looking for baking soda, as I brought baking powder from home, but not soda. Found out the difference is that the American baking power is dual action and the baking powder here is single, so you need to double it. Not that I am a baker, but good to know. Anyhow, our friend said they had baking soda and they would leave some out for me.  As Lexa tells the story, "we ride our bikes up to the apartment, and I am thinking they will have a bag with the box of soda, but no, my mom digs inside the plant hanging on the front area, and pulls out a small plastic bag of white powder, and turns around to get on her bike" Needless to say it did look a bit suspect. It wasn't baking soda at all it was baking powder too, so I had to figure out what baking soda was here.

  

 BAKING SODA

Lexa and I went on a bike ride and found a market that happens every Saturday super close to our place. I had taken a short video but it is no attaching.  This is the flower store right by the market. There was live music, fresh pasta, fresh fish, dried fruits, refillable soap and lotion, food trucks, and a few art vendors. 

I didn't bring any of my coffee mugs from home, as I just didn't have enough room, so have been using an IKEA mug which just isn't the same as a handmade mug. (Thank you Liz for making several of mine for me) We found a potter and I got this and it makes me happy to drink out of it in the morning. It is the little things!