I think the best way to say this is to come right out and say it.
We are moving to Germany.
I'll let the shock wear off. You probably have a ton of questions and I'll try to answer most of them. Well, maybe. I'm not exactly a mind reader, so you probably have questions that I don't answer. I digress though. For the past few months, Aaron has been working on some new projects at work. Part of the engineering for one of these projects is being done in Frankfurt and he is being transferred to help support it. The assignment is set for 14 - 18 months, as of right now, but seeing as how this whole process has already been delayed for three months, much to our frustration, I think it's going to be longer. As of right now, we are thinking we will be living in Mannheim, but that could still change.
Both of us are nervous-excited about this new opportunity. As long as we've been together, we've always said that if the opportunity arose to live abroad for a short(ish) period of time, we would do it. When Aaron started working for BASF (which is headquartered in Germany), we knew that it was a remote possibility. His trip to Germany this past winter was a prelude to the idea that he would at least be doing heavy travel between the two countries. But, as his work on the project has increased, it became clear that a relocation was imminent. So here we are, getting ready to sell the first home we've shared together, pack up our lives, and move half way across the world. Now is not the ideal time to pick up and move, but we both know that there will never be a better time to take advantage of an opportunity like this (and really, these types of opportunities don't come along very often, if at all). There are so many logistics that we have to wade through that our heads are spinning, but luckily, there is a whole team of people to help us before, during and after this whole thing.
Plus, we get to learn German! As of right now, I can ask for a glass of wine (Ich mochte bitte ein glas Wein), ask if you speak English (Sprechen sie Englisch?), and say I love you (Ich liebe dich), much to Aaron's chagrin. You know, the important things. In all honesty though, I'm really excited about it - I've always wanted to be multilingual. The one difficulty I'm going to have is not consume solely the five main German food groups - beer, wine, bread (in any form), wurst, and schnitzel. I managed to not gain the freshman 15 in college, lets hope I can avoid the German 20.
We started this blog as a way to document not only the trouble we get into on a regular basis, but also chronicle our new adventures in a foreign country. We will still be diving and documenting that, but we will also be writing about what its like being American expats in Germany. Please feel free to subscribe or check back often. Right now, the goal is two posts or so each week. Some weeks when we've been especially busy, there may be more, other weeks when we've been especially lazy, there may be less.
Even though were both nervous, we've found that the things of which you are most afraid are often the most worthwhile. The fact that we will be able to drink all the German beer (or in my case, wine) we want doesn't hurt either.
Prost!
To a new adventure!
