Just a hey

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT, I LOVE READING THEM, AND KNOWING WHO IS CHECKING IN HELPS ME KEEP CONNECTED WITH MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS THAT I MISS SO MUCH.

Well today I thought I would just write a letter to all. I am coming up on my first full month in Germany and so far I am happy here. Yesterday I got my Usarer license so I am now legal to drive anywhere. I had to go to a class and learn the German signs and driving laws. It is ALOT different to drive over here. First of all there are no yellow lines so I always feel like I turn onto one way streets. (yes I drove by myself to base and home yesterday) The second hard one to get use to is that if the intersection is unmarked it is always right before left. That is even if you are going straight if there is someone coming from the right turning in front of you they have the right of way. Bikes and animal drawn carriages and scooters also have the right of way. They have these priority road signs that super cede anyone or any law and that is a bit scary when someone coming around a corner just keeps right on going in front of you instead of yielding. All of the signs are different and certain colors mean something different too. Blue is must do red is caution and so on. I am also getting use to the language slowly. I don't speak it well but I always try first then just point if I can't get it. The hardest day I had so far was when Cody cut his shin open on an escalator and we felt he needed stitches. Of coarse the post clinic was closed so we had to go to the Klinicum (hospital) and NO ONE spoke English not even the info desk lady. Thank god Greg was with me and he speaks a little and understands alot because I was about in tears before we even found the emergency room. Then we had a LONG wait for them to find an English speaking doctor. I was scared and frustrated by the time we left feeling kinda helpless and upset that I couldn't even get medical help for my son. I am going to find a little pocket dictionary to carry from now on. at least 95% of the time when I ask if they speak English they say no. Greg says it is that they don't want to try but I guess I cant blame them this is their country after all, so I am trying to learn more and more. I love where we live and love walking to the bakeri and shopping for all the fresh foods. Their meat over here taste alot different because they don't use preservatives. My sister Sarah and Dave and Jen would love the wines and beers. They are yummy but not to great for the waistline. I am shopping now for a bike I can ride just about anywhere and am excited to do that alot. I will also get a new car next year. They have the coolest looking cars. Everything looks like it was squashed flat and short. I love this Subaru 4X4 that is boxy and tall but looks like it was in a car crusher. I want one, the cars over here are cheaper and I don't have to pay sales tax so that is the way to go for us.
The weather here is cooling down now it is 60s during the day and 40s at night. I love this "sweatshirt weather" so much and love being outside. Please feel free to ask any questions if ya have any and keep checking back. The kids are in school now so I have alot more time to myself and am enjoying learning more about my new home. Friday I am going shopping for furniture with a girl I met thru Greg. Soon I am going to Chech Republic with some girls for their outlets and European decor and clothes. They have this coach outlet (stacey) where this girl got one for 18 euro (about 21 dollars) and they have an Asian market where you walk thru and haggle prices for stuff. Make up your shopping lists ladies!!!! LOL
That's all for now
Choos!
Jenny
ps we are buying a TOM TOM so I can get unlost. We borrowed the neighbors and I loved it.

Sandkerwa Fest

Cody and Dad Will and Josh at the joust

This Fest we went to on Sunday is a sand fest. It is a celebration of the birth of the church that was built on sand, and oddly enough one of the biggest drinking fests in Bamberg. We loved the food, the beer, the sweets and they had a boat jousting contest the kids loved. On the way to the joust the contestants came in with a parade and a marching band.
Original Bldg Church

Convent Rose Garden

These pictures are of one of the oldest Catholic Churches in the world. During the war Bamberg was one of the cities that was untouched by the bombings because of the important religious history. It is the only place north of Italy that a pope is interred. It is also reported to have one of the nails that was used to crucify Christ. The other building next to it is one of the original buildings when the city was built. Sitting above this church on the hill overlooking it is a Convent with a popular rose garden.

One of the Walking Trails

We stumbled upon these domesticated deer on one of our walking trails. As we came up the trail the buck just out right ran down to us. The boys fed them some apples and we took some pictures.

An Update

Hallo,

I am glad so many people are checking out our website. I love doing it. We had an uneventful week here alot of rain off and on. This weekend we are hanging around Bamberg and going downtown. We may even do some bowling on base. We have some shopping to do for school. Just for those of you who asked the time difference is 6 hours ahead here. Makes it hard to keep in touch with yall but I will try to do the best I can. We now have a home phone but I cant find the letter with the number on it so as soon as I do I will post it for you all to have in the event of an emergency. That is about all for now
Love to everyone
Jen
BTW we are learning alot of German but I cant spell any of it yet so I cant practice on you all. but a popular farewell is pronounced Choos!

Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle

View from the Bridge- All of us in the castle courtyard - The boys under the castle

The Queens Castle from the walkway to the Kings Castle-View from Marienbrucke Bridge

The Queens Castle Coat of Arms

Neuschwanstein The castle in the Alps

Our first sight of the castle!!!

ON OUR WAY!! We took the autobahn down towards Austria and Munich and the following pictures were taken on the road the first few are of the Austrian Alps then we turned and followed the Barvarian Alps to our destination. Our first trip in Germany was to Neuschwanstein. A famous castle in the Alps of King Ludwig the second. He taxed the kingdom outrageously to build this and other castles, which some say lead to his and his wifes mysterious deaths.

Another Castle/Church and the Bakeri

This is an old Church/Castle overlooking Bamberg. On the day we went here we stopped at my first German bakery or Bakeri. We all ordered something different and of coarse I got the big hunk of carbs. It was so delicious, if the kids wanted any they had to ask for it in German and thank us. This weekend we are taking our first big sight seeing trip. Check back in a few days for more pictures.
Love to All
Jen

Our House

Hello All

These are the pics of our new house from the outside. The last picture is of the wine cellars that I spoke of in the last post. They are all along the walking trails. Some of them have tables outside them for the owners to sit and drink at. I knocked but Frodo didn't answer......

Our First Trip to Bamberg/ Second Day Here

Hello All,

Well we arrived safe and sound but it wasnt easy. We had alot of delays but the flights were generally smooth. My super romantic husband greeted me with a minister and asked me to marry him again this time in Germany. Ok everyone 1,2,3, AHHHH. We had an audience in the airport who thought it was cute and even took pictures. The pictures above are some pictures of the town where the base is. Bamberg is beautiful and we lucked out that there was a fest going on (which happens about every weekend) The church that is on here was built in 1600, it took my breath away. Tomorrow I will take some more pics of my street and the outside of my house for you all. So far I love it and can't wait to see more!! The walking trails are everywhere and the village of Erlau where our house is, is so neat. All along the trails that we walk are these little buried wine cellars just cut into the side of the hill with a door. Outside each one is a picnic table where the owners just sit outside them and drink. I will get some pics of those tonight on our walk cause I think they are neat. Hope you enjoy!!
Love
Jen
PS we have hedgehogs in our yard and merecats too!

A Few More Family Reunion Shots

Bonfire on the Beach --------- Captn' Tate ---------------- Remembering Dad

Our New Address and Cell Phone

Hello Everyone,

Below is our new address and Greg's cell phone. As soon as we get a home phone I will re-post it here also....
The address below is an APO address on base. It is easier to mail things to us here and cheaper also. The one thing you have to know is that it takes a few weeks to arrive, It is better and not that much more to send it priority, and you can only mail us packages from the USPS. Fedex and UPS do NOT deliver to APO addresses.
As far as the phone number goes it is a cell phone and Greg will have it at work alot so please only call if it is an emergency until we get our house phone. I would like to suggest to all of our friends and family to get good at checking your email. We want to keep in touch with you all but with overseas calling being pricey I think email is the better way. And of coarse thru our blog. We will also have Skype on our computers, this allows telephone and video calls thru the computer. If you have a microphone and/or a computer video device we can see and hear a phone call. Both Greg and I are on MSN instant messenger under our email addresses so for anyone who has that you can check to see if we are online and talk to us thru that too.
Please Everyone keep in touch and We Love you ALL!

Greg Anderson
16th SB
CMR 459 10003
APO AE 09139-0003

0114915157994064 Cell phone (this includes the county code just dial it as it is written)
icowgirlup2655@hotmail.com
icowboyup6800@hotmail.com

For those of you who are just checking us out here, on the first few entries in June there are links to the base we are stationed near and a great photo gallery website of pictures of where we will be living and all of Germany.

IM LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.....

For those of you who I have not personally contacted this is just to let you all know that 7 pm Friday the 10th we will be leaving to join Greg in Germany. We actually get a layover in PARIS! It is surreal to me that I will be in Paris, France Saturday morning. I will miss you all very dearly but I am so excited to begin this adventure of a lifetime. Our door is always welcome to all and I will be thinking of you all often. Please keep checking our blog and we will keep updating as we get on with our new life. Saturday upon arrival I will post an update to let everyone know that we have arrived safely and what our new address and phone number is.
Take Care and We Love You !!!

Jenny and Boys

Thanks For checking in....