Altstadtfest in Amberg

A little over a week ago, Nick and I embarked on our first day trip (albeit a short one) to Amberg, Germany for their Altstadtfest. Altstadt, in German, means "old town". I'm not sure what that had to do with the fest (everything was in German) but I'm assuming they were just celebrating the old history of the town of Amberg. Either way, it was a fun outing and experience.

Amberg is about 25 minutes from our town of Vilseck and the fest was located in the downtown area of town. I was so enamored with the quintessential cobblestone streets that people talk about when traveling in Europe. Call me weird but I've always dreamed of going to Europe and walking on those cobblestone streets so I was quite happy that I got to experience that for the first time. There were lots of vendors selling all types of German food that I have no idea how to pronounce but I'm assuming it was mostly pork related. I wasn't brave enough to try anything yet, except beer, because I'm a bit picky and I like to know what's in my food. Plus, I'm not a huge pork fan. Not the ideal situation, living in a country whose main food group is pork, right? Oh well...I'll learn to adjust over time.

Nick and I did buy a huge beer and decided to share it because it was too big for me to drink alone. I think it was a hefeweizen but don't quote me. Either way, it was delicious! And the best part was that we got to keep the stein. While drinking our beer, we roamed the streets and listened to a few bands play. The bands were singing in German so again, I had no clue what they were singing, but it was fun to bounce along to the sounds of the many accordions.

Overall, it was a really fun experience. It was my first time exploring off base and really immersing myself in German culture. Everywhere you walked, you could hear so many conversations in German and it was so interesting to interact with the community for the first time. I felt so foreign! Despite the language barrier, I'm so excited to experience more fest's like that one in the future. In fact, our base is holding a German-American Volksfest this weekend so be sure to follow me so you can read about my experience at that fest as well.

Hello from Germany!- Part II

So after a good nights rest, it was time to wake up and get ready for our long drive to Vilseck. Nick picked me up from the hotel in Ramstein and our dog, Kratos, was so excited to see him. He may have been more excited than when Nick came home from deployment! He was jumping, crying and kissing him. We were finally all together at last.

The drive to Vilseck was very scenic. There were lots of trees all along the autobahn and incredible views of the countryside. Once we arrived on base, we went straight to our hotel. We ordered some take out and I got to use euro for the first time. I was so happy to have finally made it.

Although I had a rough start on my journey here, I couldn't be more grateful and happy that I'm finally in Germany. I've been here almost a week and I'm really enjoying it so far. We've been cooped up in a hotel room for most of it but we've been able to explore the base a bit and we were even able to go to a local fest last weekend in Amberg, which was awesome. Also, today we got the keys to our new house we will be living in. It's an old house (roughly 30 years old) and I'm not the biggest fan of the living room carpet but it's quaint and will work for us. I'm hoping I can meet some of my neighbors and make some friends too. The hard part of being a military spouse is moving every few years and having to start all over again. New friends, new job, new environment. But we also were given such an amazing opportunity to live in Europe for a few years, so I can't complain about that!

Tonight is the last night in our hotel room and I don't know when we will have internet installed at our new house (possibly 10 days or more) so it may be a while until I'm able to write another post. But don't worry, I've got a few posts planned for later, such as the fest we went to in Amberg last weekend and a post about our new house. I may have to use the wi-fi from Starbucks on post if I get desperate! Hopefully we will get internet soon, though.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

-Kelly

Hello from Germany!- Part I

Warning: This is a long post so it will be split into two posts.

Hi everyone! Well, my dog and I made it safely to Germany! And boy was it stressful! I never ever want to travel alone with my dog overseas again. I'll explain below what happened but overall, I'm just so happy we are finally here and that the traveling is over with.

PART I: DAY OF THE FLIGHT

My husband's friend was nice enough to give me a ride to airport the day of my flight. We dropped my dog off at United cargo (which broke my heart because my dog was crying!) and then I was dropped off at check-in. Everything went smoothly on my flight from Seattle to Chicago and from Chicago to Baltimore. I made sure I asked the flight attendants to let me know when my dog was on the plane and they did, which I was thankful for.

View of Lake Michigan from the plane, flying into Chicago

When I arrived in Baltimore, I picked up my bags and my dog from baggage claim. I had never been so happy to see my dog! I had to find a man with a large cart to help me load all my bags because little ol' me couldn't do it all by myself. We went to the AMC terminal and the man had to take the cart back to baggage claim, so I was left with no cart for my stuff. I'm not going to go into ALL the detail about what happened but basically it was really hard to handle my dog and all the luggage I had by myself. The regular luggage carts at the airport couldn't fit my dog and my bags so I tried loading two luggage carts and maneuvering them myself which proved to be quite difficult. I won't lie...there was some crying that went on and some soldiers took pity on me and helped me out a bit but it was really hard. I really needed an extra hand to help me out.

The flight went well pretty well. It was a two story plane and there had to be a couple hundred people on my flight. When we landed in Germany, I was able to get my bags and my dog had to be inspected by a vet before he was released to me. My dog was so excited to see me when I let him out of this kennel. He was so excited...that he peed on me. Yes, HE PEED ON ME! Oh man, I was SO upset! And it wasn't just a little pee. He soaked my jeans. On top of having a stressful time doing this by myself, now I had urine all over myself. Again, I cried. Everyone else had their spouses with them helping them out and I was the only one struggling to do this myself. Some people just stared at me while I was trying to load my dog and the luggage by myself, but there was one lady who helped me load my luggage on the cart and I was grateful for her help.

Across the street from the Ramstein flight terminal is the Ramstein Inn. Nick had reserved a room for me so I could spend the night and it was supposed to be a pet room. But when I checked in, they told me it wasn't a pet room and there were no pet rooms available, therefore no room for me. I felt like my day was just getting worse but after some begging and prayers, they were able to find me a room. Ahh, finally I was able to relax. It was hot and I smelled like urine so I was glad to be able to take a shower and lay down.

Part II to be continued...

It's really happening

As I sit in my hotel room, the anxiety is really starting to kick in. In a few short hours, I'll be on my way to the airport to start my new adventure abroad. I can't believe this is really happening. I'm excited yet nervous. I've dreamed of going to Europe since I was a child but the thought of having my dog down in cargo just kills me inside. Maybe I sound dramatic and I'm overthinking it all (tons of people fly their dogs on planes, right?!) but he really means the world to me and my husband. He is a little furry child to us. Can you imagine putting a child in cargo? Ok, ok, I know it's not exactly the same but he is a family member and the thought of him being alone down there makes me so sad. And not only being alone, but what if something terrible happens (he gets sick, he escapes or they forget to load him on the plane?). To top it all off we have to take THREE planes to get to our final destination. I can only imagine how stressed he will be but sadly, my only option is to fly him cargo. I will be so relieved when we finally land in Germany but until then, will you pray for us? Or if you're not the praying type, at least send good thoughts/vibes our way. I'm really going to need it. Like I've mentioned before, I've got bad anxiety and this moving overseas process (by myself!) doesn't make it any better.

Ok, well I guess I'll quit my whining and get a little rest before our long journey. Once I get to Germany and find some wi-fi, I'll update you all. Thanks for reading!

-Kelly

PCS Binder

Hello everyone! I hope all my American friends had a great holiday weekend celebrating the 4th of July. My weekend was pretty low key, as I am preparing for my move to Germany NEXT WEEK! I cannot believe that I am moving overseas so soon. There is still a lot to do around here: preparing the house for the move out inspection, vet appointment for our dog, packing, etc. This week is going to fly by!

One item I've been working on for the last month or so is a PCS binder. It's a binder full of all the important documents that you will need to travel with. Items such as orders and amendments, pets vaccination records, power of attorney, passports, etc are a few items that are important to have with you. In addition, you should also carry your birth certificate, marriage certificate and social security card.

I bought dividers for my binder and also page protectors to store all the important documents. My binder has a section for:

ORDERS

POWER OF ATTORNEY

IMPORTANT DOCS (BIRTH, MARRIAGE CETIFICATE/SS CARD)

TRAVEL INFORMATION/FLIGHT INFO

DOG INFORMATION (HEALTH CERTIFICATE, VACCINATION RECORDS)

CAR INFO (REGISTRATION, INSURANCE, COPY OF SHIPMENT PAPERWORK)

HOUSEHOLD GOODS INFO

MISCELLANEOUS (FOR RANDOM PAPERS)

I also bought a pencil pouch (like the ones you used to store your pens and pencils in school) that holds my passport and other random items I may need.

Your binder may vary depending on your situation. If you have children, it would be important to carry documents for them. Or if anyone in your family is in the EFMP program, you would want to carry those documents as well. If you google "PCS Binder", there will be some sites that will pop up that can give you more ideas as well.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. Leave any questions or comments in the comments section below. Now I'm off to bed so I can wake up early and finish my never ending list of things to do! 

See ya later!

-Kelly