Feb. 1, 2006
It's a sunny afternoon in Erlangen. Kathy and I took a walk through the woods on the way from our apartment to our new flat. We've been in our apartment for a month now, and will stay there for another month while we get our flat ready. Our flat comes with nothing in the kitchen; no appliances, no cupboards, no sink, no light fixtures. We spent yesterday (Saturday) browsing the home-furnishing stores for kitchens. Today all the stores are closed, so we're taking it easy in the internet cafe. This coming week we hope that our furniture will arrive from the US, and that we can get moved into our flat. Oh, did I mention that the flat comes with no closets? I'm told all of this is normal in Germany. I believe it because there is a huge market for wardrobes. And IKEA does a great business with the 3-D kitchen designing program available on their website.
My co-workers are really nice. Although they speak English very well and would like to practice, they speak German with me so that I can improve. Kathy and I will start taking evening classes too. I spend most of my days in training classes and working on the move. I've been to some concerts, which have been great. They are making a big deal of Mozart's 250th birthday.
That's all for now. Kathy's letter to her family follows.
Richard
The keyboards are different over here. Y and Z are switched, so I have trouble tzping mz name! Pardon the tzpos!
Our internet connexn is supposed to start Feb.1 in our new apartment, but we aren't living there yet. I have to write from the internet cafe all the time. Meanwhile our furniture is due to arrive in the country on Jan. 31, and at our new place on Feb. 5.
We just came back from a walk in the woods near our new apartment (flat). We (will) live on the border of a nature preserve. It's a sizable place on the Southeastern edge of Erlangen. There are well-worn trails all throughout the woods, where people bike, walk, and do "Nordic Walking", or walking with two poles for extra aerobic exercise. The senior citizens are very active, esp. compared to the general activity level in the States. Most of the people you see outside walking in the fields and woods outside of town in the sunny weather are seniors, many of them well-dressed. There are also joggers, and families with kids and dogs, and dads out with tiny babies the strollers. The babies are really cute, bundled up in their buntings with only their faces showing.
The birds I've seen are limited to the small chickadee and sparrow types, and the common blackbird and pigeon types. I've heard there are cardinals here. I really miss their songs outside our windows at the house in the States.
While we were at our new flat, we made some measurements in the kitchen for the future "Traumküche", or Dream kitchen. Formica is the word when you put together a cheap kitchen over here, as it is in the states. Dishwashers sometimes cost extra in a kitchen package, but you can always add them to the cost of the kitchen. I think it's quite a racket, because everyone I've talked to agrees they can't live without one. We're planning a 5-year kitchen, in other words, one we won't be attached to at the end of 5 years. Such bottom end packages can cost around €2, 500.00 delivered and installed. That's $3000.00)
Even so, it's hard to resist the shiny Whirlpool appliances and attractive birch or maple veneers at IKEA, esp. when they provide free software pre-loaded with all their appliances and cabinet modules and finishes. (Red countertops (?!) with birch cabinets.) You can plan the whole kitchen, accounting for windows and doors and radiators. And then you can go to the store and see everything you need to put it together (20 min. away, in a town north of Nuremberg). In this case, the "red" countertops turned out to be a 1970's kind of orange -- not going there. And it only costs around $3500 for the cabinets & appliances alone. That kind of kitchen would require the help of a friend in order to have "free" delivery and installation. Peter Burwitz, a colleague and friend of Richard's from his first German sojourn, is willing to help. HE has moved and installed his IKEA kitchen 3 times in the past 12 years!
Hope all are well there!
Kathy.
My co-workers are really nice. Although they speak English very well and would like to practice, they speak German with me so that I can improve. Kathy and I will start taking evening classes too. I spend most of my days in training classes and working on the move. I've been to some concerts, which have been great. They are making a big deal of Mozart's 250th birthday.
That's all for now. Kathy's letter to her family follows.
Richard
The keyboards are different over here. Y and Z are switched, so I have trouble tzping mz name! Pardon the tzpos!
Our internet connexn is supposed to start Feb.1 in our new apartment, but we aren't living there yet. I have to write from the internet cafe all the time. Meanwhile our furniture is due to arrive in the country on Jan. 31, and at our new place on Feb. 5.
We just came back from a walk in the woods near our new apartment (flat). We (will) live on the border of a nature preserve. It's a sizable place on the Southeastern edge of Erlangen. There are well-worn trails all throughout the woods, where people bike, walk, and do "Nordic Walking", or walking with two poles for extra aerobic exercise. The senior citizens are very active, esp. compared to the general activity level in the States. Most of the people you see outside walking in the fields and woods outside of town in the sunny weather are seniors, many of them well-dressed. There are also joggers, and families with kids and dogs, and dads out with tiny babies the strollers. The babies are really cute, bundled up in their buntings with only their faces showing.
The birds I've seen are limited to the small chickadee and sparrow types, and the common blackbird and pigeon types. I've heard there are cardinals here. I really miss their songs outside our windows at the house in the States.
While we were at our new flat, we made some measurements in the kitchen for the future "Traumküche", or Dream kitchen. Formica is the word when you put together a cheap kitchen over here, as it is in the states. Dishwashers sometimes cost extra in a kitchen package, but you can always add them to the cost of the kitchen. I think it's quite a racket, because everyone I've talked to agrees they can't live without one. We're planning a 5-year kitchen, in other words, one we won't be attached to at the end of 5 years. Such bottom end packages can cost around €2, 500.00 delivered and installed. That's $3000.00)
Even so, it's hard to resist the shiny Whirlpool appliances and attractive birch or maple veneers at IKEA, esp. when they provide free software pre-loaded with all their appliances and cabinet modules and finishes. (Red countertops (?!) with birch cabinets.) You can plan the whole kitchen, accounting for windows and doors and radiators. And then you can go to the store and see everything you need to put it together (20 min. away, in a town north of Nuremberg). In this case, the "red" countertops turned out to be a 1970's kind of orange -- not going there. And it only costs around $3500 for the cabinets & appliances alone. That kind of kitchen would require the help of a friend in order to have "free" delivery and installation. Peter Burwitz, a colleague and friend of Richard's from his first German sojourn, is willing to help. HE has moved and installed his IKEA kitchen 3 times in the past 12 years!
Hope all are well there!
Kathy.
posted by Richard Trewin | 8:15 AM
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