We Made It...

Hey all. So I started to write this huge long blog about our trip over here but then thought about it and figured no one really cares about the long, stupid plane rides or the fact that we almost got lost in the Chicago airport so I thought I'd just skip to the part when we got here.

We Arrived in Nuremberg on Wednesday afternoon. It was rainy but still very warm compared to Utah, which is nice. Daniel Auras (the elders quorum pres. of the ward in Erlangen) picked us up from the airport (and has been our guide to Germany so far) and took us straight to Ikea to buy bedding for our apartment. Even Ikea is different here! Not by much but there is more variety in the foods they serve in the food court and everything is written in German.

Then he drove us to our apartment. Its tiny. I haven't taken pictures yet but I guess its a typical apartment here for just two people. Being here makes me realized how spoiled and wasteful Americans really are; with our huge cars, people drive literally everywhere even if your destination is within five minutes walking distance, kitchen appliances are huge, no one recycles, toilets and washing machines use way too much water, and everyone has a clothes dryer! Here: everyone either walks or rides a bike, almost all the cars are compact/fuel efficient, none of the apartments/houses have AC, everywhere we go there are dumpsters for paper (yellow) plastic (blue) food waste (green) and everything else (black), clothing dryers are a new thing in German (very few people have them), and the washing machine we have in our apartment is about half the size of the one my parents have. I'm learning that I can, indeed, use my own legs to take me somewhere, even if its across town. The bishop from the ward gave us a few bikes to use while we're here because he and his wife now have three kids and their trailer that hooks onto the back of one of the bikes can only hold two kids. So that was really nice. I'm not saying that Americans are bad and totally wasteful, I am grateful to have a car to take me places and a nice big apartment/house to sprawl out in, but I am learning to be more conscious of the things around me and rely more on myself than the luxuries of life.

Anyway, Erlangen is a beautiful city. Its so fun to see the old buildings and history behind everything. On our second day here we went exploring. There is a mall called Erlangen Arcada right near where we live and lots of shops down the main street. We went wondering down the main street past a lot of bakeries, chocolate shops, book stores, cafes, and clothing stores. There is a small market by a huge old university building where they sell vegetables, plants, and cheese. On Thursday we went to the "berg" or the beer festival a lot of people call it. We tried our first German bratwurst and even bought a stein (don't worry though... we filled it with orange Fanta). The later it got at the berg, the more drunk and loud people became andwe started seeing people dancing on tables (a band was playing 'YMCA' and it was hilarious seeing all these drunk Germans dancing on tables and singing along). So far we've also had lunch with Daniels brother as his house and breakfast with the bishop and his family this morning.

Everyone here has been so nice to us and its really been comforting to know that we have people looking out for us here. Today was a rough day for me. I've been really home sick, feeling like no one understands what I'm going through; being pregnant for the first time and always tired from all the walking and riding a bike, not knowing the language and being in a completely new city/country, and being away from my family and my Buster. But in the middle of a break down and feeling completely alone, the missionaries stopped by to introduce themselves. They were both from Utah (one of them was even from Highland, where I'm originally from) and they just talked with us and gave us a short spiritual message. Its amazing to me how God works; at my lowest point, missionaries come and let us know we're not alone here.

Jordan has also been a huge support to me. I'm glad he's here or else I don't know what I would do. Coming here has helped me learn that all I really need is my husband, the gospel, and food to eat and everything will be ok.

Tonight we've made plans to go to Nuremberg with Daniel, Mark (the bishop), and an America friend of theirs to see Prince of Persia in English. It should be a lot of fun. Tomorrow we'll take the bus to church and I'm really excited to go and meet some new friends; I guess there are a lot of wifes that don't have much to do during the day except watch kids at home so I hope I can make friends with some of them and be able to have people to hang out with instead of being a lone all day, everyday.

I know this will be a really good, once in a lifetime experience for me so I'm trying not to get too down and homesick. I know things will get better (its only the first week) and I really am grateful to be here. Now I think I'll go get some gelato (amazing by the way... WAY better than gelato in the states) and try to get used to everything here!