Germany is not all sunshine and roses. I'm going to take a moment and kah-bitz about a few things. Everyone is allowed to be a Negative Nancy every once and awhile.
One of the appeals of the place we rented was that it had American washer and dryer hook-ups, which is rare as you could imagine. When Josh moved in there was already an American washer and dryer in the house - they are military ones that were left in the house. Josh let them be and figured when his washer and dryer showed up we'd switch them out. The Lehman washer/dryer arrived, and Josh discovered that the hookups are American, but there is some sort of weird attachment/coupling that you need...? Obviously I know so much about setting up a washer/dryer. So we decided to just store his downstairs and use these ones... save some wear and tear. However. I hate the dryer we have. I don't even think we can call it a dyer. It's more of a de-humidifier. If you put wet clothes into the dryer, it will take at least two hours to dry. At least. I'm not even kidding. To dry a load of towels takes probably closer to three and a half. We may be saving some wear and tear on our washer/dryer, but I wonder what we're doing to our electric bill? We've taken the old fashioned approach and will hang our clothes out on collapsible clothes hangers. We mainly let them air dry before putting them in the dryer for a quick 20 minutes. It works... and I suppose I'm being green... but man is it a pain the ass. I just wish we had a dryer that worked.
One of my favorite household chores is mopping.... and I make that statement dripping with sarcasm. I hate sweeping. And mopping. And you have to sweep to be able to mop. I just generally dislike housework... but I do it because I need to. We have all tile floors, and our only way to cool the house is by opening the windows. So our floors are constantly dirty... which means an endless battle of sweeping and mopping. Two things I love.
I was on base yesterday to take my drivers test. They recently made the test open book, which was nice because it made the whole situation easier. However... I have to wonder.... The study booklet has all the information you need, followed by a practice test. Josh told me to take the practice test as it was helpful and a lot of the questions on the real test were taken from that. So I did... and discovered while I was taking the real test that not only do the questions repeat word for word from the practice test... but the practice test with the answer key is in the back of the booklet they give you to make the test open book. Soooooo.... how does anyone fail? Definitely a safe way to weed out the unqualified drivers.
While I was on base I also looked more into applying for a job... and reached a few stumbling blocks. The people at the employment office had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I said that I'd heard a hygienist was leaving... and directed me to a website saying if the job becomes available, that is where it will be posted and that is where I will have to apply. Hmm. Ok. So... talking to the dentist made it sound promising, but in real life there a lot of BS hoops. Nothing new there. The person I talked to at the employment office also suggested looking into working for a German dentist because a lot of the military dependents go off base for dental treatment. There would be a need for an English speaking hygienist. I spent the afternoon looking into it... and discovered that German hygienists don't have any sort of licensing... which means I wouldn't have to take any extra tests or anything, which is good. So. Now I suppose my next step is do get in contact with some local dentists. Resume and cover letters here I come. My frustration with my experience yesterday was after I learned all the things I'm going to have to do to attempt to get a hygiene job... was that the woman then started talking to me about applying for jobs at the commissary, BX, or the laundry mat. Yeah. This will sound horribly snobby, I realize, however... I went through 5 years of schooling - 5 years of hell - to get the job I have. I love my job. I want to work doing my job... not checking groceries, not stocking shelves. I've already had those jobs, I worked them in college. I realize she was just trying to help... but. I didn't feel encouraged by it. It seems like all the prep I did beforehand and things I looked into before coming here were for nothing. I felt like I had to go home and seriously re-evaluate and re-vamp the plan I had made for myself.
But the silver lining to all of this... is Josh. He's the reason I'm here (obviously). I'm so fortunate that he understands what is important to me, and what I need. I told him I was really worried about keeping in contact with my family/friends, and I was frustrated with his crappy laptop and our lack of reliable internet. So he bought me a new laptop so I will be able to video chat on Skype and have a reliable computer to use. We're going this weekend to get phone and reliable internet set up so I will be able to call people. I told him I was worried about driving in Germany and stressed out about trying to re-learn driving a stick shift on top of trying to navigate the roads. So we've been hunting for a car for me that is an automatic. Rare, in this area, and a bit hard to come by, but not impossible. Josh was even willing to look into driving an hour away... just to get me a car I'm comfortable driving. Since I've been here there has been some unpacking and organizing, but there has also been a fair amount of buying... needing to get things for our house to make it better, more homey... and Josh has never complained (well, not seriously) about any of it. It's like he understand how important it is to me to make it feel and look homey. Although he could care less about having a rug in the bathroom, it's important to me, so he goes along with it. I realize I'm very lucky to have someone who not only understands me, but will act upon things I need.
Another landlord update. Josh and I had to go drop by our rent to Anita (he calls her by her first name). She invited us inside the house... and I was met with one of the worst smells I have ever experienced. It was something I'm not sure I can describe... mold and mildew mixed with old, rotted food. I was trying to act normal as I was overwhelmed by the smell. Anita was talking to Josh in broken English, but I never heard a word of the conversation because I was distracted by the cat. There was a black cat laying on the floor... but it was laying on its side with it's legs in an unnatural position. When we entered the room it didn't move, and it didn't move the entire time we were there. Not even an ear flick or a whisker twitch. I began to wonder if the cat was even alive... or if it was dead. A dead cat would certainly explain the smell. I asked Josh as soon as we were out the door if he thought the cat was dead, to which he responded "There's a cat?!" Hmm. I may have to brave the smell another time just to see if the cat is still there. I also discovered that the landlady has a son, Arno. Arno is 40, works as a sheep rancher, and lives at home with his mother. You can't make this stuff up.
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