3rd week....

Well, it's my third week here...and I still love it :) Work is going well (although I'm a little tired of online classes right now...can't wait to get back to REAL work). I have one major thing to do this weekend...find a place to live. I in-processed with a lot of soldiers that were coming back from deployment, so we're all looking for a place to live at the same time (which means apts are going FAST). The newspaper should put out all the new posts tomorrow, so I'm going to try and check some of those out (hopefully they speak a little english). I could also go through an agency/realtor, but that requires a little more money. They usually want 2 months for themselves, plus there's the usual 2 months rent for security deposit (equals 4 months of rent that I have to come up with...my LQA doesn't cover security deposit OR an fees for a broker). Soooo....we'll see what happens. I just know I'm tired of living out of a hotel. Plus, I'm probably going stateside at the end of Sept for 3 weeks (trainings and a conference), so I DEFINITELY need to have something in place before I leave. While I'm gone the transportation office can deliver my stuff, so when I get back I can unpack and settle in (yippee!!!). Alright, it's time for bed, so I'll try and write more later. Good night!

Some pics

I'm still trying to figure out how to put a slideshow on here, so in the meantime, here's a few pics. Hope y'all like them!

Okay, try this link for some more pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29860485@N03/show/. Let me know if it works :)

There's a first time for everything....

Today was a pretty nice day :) The weather was beautiful (sunny, slight breeze, warm temp), so I went with Terri and her husband (Terri was for MWR) to a restaurant's opening in a neighboring village (the restaurant wants to be a sponsor for MWR, so we went to check it out). The food and beer were good and everything was going great....until I got stung by a bee on my leg :( I've never been stung by ANYTHING before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but in the end it wasn't a big deal and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking around the village. There is a cave at the top of one of the hills there, so we went up to see it, but it was unusally packed (b/c of the restaurant opening). We sampled some local schnapps and then headed back to Bamberg. Christian (Terri's husband) wanted to take a different route home, so we went for a scenic drive on the way home. All in all, I would say it was a pretty nice day :)

1st day in Germany

Okay, I think I'm in love...with Germany! Everything here is so green and open and everyone is really nice. The temperature is great and there seems to be just the right amount of breeze in the air (nothing too hard, but just enough to keep the air flowing). The food is absolutely AMAZING (I think I had one of the best dinners I've had in awhile tonight at a beergarden) and the beer is definitely worth spending money on. There was a little gathering tonight with all the trainers, trainees, some other MWR people, and some of the previous Management Trainees (we're going to buddy w/ some of them, so that should be pretty cool). After the dinner we walked around Heidelburg taking in some of the sights, sounds, and smells (and burning off a little of the chocolate mousse we ate :) ). The environment is unlike anything I've experienced in the U.S. and I'm ready to get to Bamberg and start training/learning and traveling. Alright, the jet lag has definitely caught up with me, so I'm off to bed. Good night!

First Training Day

Today was the first day of training, and I'm already worn out! We sat and listened to all our benefit options and then had to fill out a bunch of paperwork, which isn't that bad, unless you have to get up really early like we did. There were definitely a few times when some of us were having trouble keeping our eyes open :) I finally met my trainer, Juergen, and I think I'm going to enjoy working with him. He's very nice and seems to know a TON about MWR and the people in it, so it should be a true pleasure to work with him and learn from him. There are 10 trainees in the program and everyone seems to be nice. There are 5 of us that are staying state-side and 5 of us that will be going to Germany. I've made friends with a few and I think we're going to go into DC to do some tourist things this weekend (the Smithsonian, some of the national monuments, etc.), so we should have a good time. Alright, I'm tired, so this is the end of this post. Good night!

3 more days....

Ahhhhh....only 3 more days! I'm soooooo ready, but there's still so much left to do! Okay, I just have to remember....breathe, breathe, breathe. I'm ready for this next step in my life and it has been absolutely wonderful to visit with my family and friends these past two weeks. I truly hope some of them will come to Germany and visit me and checkout any other places that I may travel to. This is going to be AWESOME!!!!

Only 8 more days.....

Only 8 more days in Texas....which is both fabulous and frightening. Fabulous because I finally get to live overseas and start learning new languages. Frightening because I have to start all over again (new friends, new apartment, etc....). Should be interesting :)