Moving After so many years....

Our biggest adventure ever!  Cross Atlantic move to Erlangen, Germany, Franconia Region, State of Bavaria from Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA!

We have already been here for 10 months!  Wow, time sure flies and we have had quite a rollercoaster ride here in Erlangen, Germany.  Life has been unpredictable at times but also interesting especially since we had to deal with the Corona virus pandemic since February of this year.  

We packed up our numerous boxes and belongings last summer and arrived in Germany on July 8th of 2019. Marc started his new job in Nurnberg at Schaeffler Company in November of 2018, so we were living apart for almost 8 months.  It was one of the most difficult times of my life while managing the teenagers and our dog Momo.  Momo was definitely not the problem!  The teens were definitely also stressed and trying to see if they could test my nerves while Marc was in Germany.  It was a lonely and difficult process to go through and I hope not too many parents have to go through this experience. 

The hardest part was parenting together while we were in different time zones.  Also mz daughter got sick and needed treatment and therapy right away so it definitely affected our moving timeline.  I was planning to stay one year longer with my son to let him graduate high school in Wisconsin. He had one year left and it would be cheaper and easiest, without worrying about international school expenses and repeating another year of school due to the IB curriculum.  However, after a stressful and last minute change due to mz daughter's condition, we decided we had to move to Germany sooner rather than later and be together as a family unit.

The first two months in the summer were pretty exciting and fun.  The kids did not have school yet and we explored local places, stores and different areas.  We also visited up north in Hamburg area to attend a family event and drove on the congested and crazy autobahn.  German autobahns are interesting!
We also had Nicolas' friend visit us from Wisconsin and explored Munich and other places around here.

In October my parents came to visit us and my dad celebrated his 80th here!  I also traveled to Venice, Florence and Prague with them and it was amazing.  It was our first time visiting these beautiful cities and how fun, dynamic and exciting they were!  We are so happy we got to visit these places before Corona times.  
My brother was also here a few times on his way to Abu Dhabi for work and it was nice for me to see my family.  

The culture shock and home sickness started around late November after my parents returned to the States.  I was gradually becoming negative, sad and depressed about living in Germany and only saw the negative and reserved ways of German society. I would ask Marc, why don't they smile here?  Why don't they say hello?  Why do they look so grumpy?
What is wrong with Germans?  
It sure was a challenging time and we were not very happy as a family.  The teens were also complaining about their school and how much they missed their American school, and their friends and everything about the States.
I argued with Marc that we made the wrong decision to move and I was constantly complaning about our life here.  It sure was an unhappy period, for at least one month or so.  

Then I started meeting some parents at the international school, and met some moms for coffee.  I joined the PTO and volunteered for few things and connected with 4 or 5 women.  I also joined the International Womens' Group in Nuremberg and attended a holiday dinner party in December.  That felt really good and I met a Korean woman MiSook, who lived here for more than 30 years!  She gave me a ride and now we are good friends!  
I also joined a small group of Korean women who meet once a week at a community center.  My sweet young neighborh Etty, introduced me to this group.  Sadly, Etty had a dificult time adjusting to Germany so she left to Australia with her German/Indonesian husband and two year old son.

Also, our family got lucky and we have some fabulous and friendly Indian neighbors!  The three Indian families were my life saver, especially the women!  They invited me for coffee, fed us homemade Indian food, and became my support group when I was sad or needed to talk!
I can't thank them enough for supporing me during my homesick days!




Here are some of the past months happenings since our move last summer.  On Facebook I posted photos and updates about our family's life since we left Milwaukee in July.  In June 2019, we had lots of farewells and sad goodbyes with our neighbors, friends in Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.  We also had visits from my parents and brother's family in Colorado.  After living in Wisconsin for 19 years and growing up in the States since the age of 12, I had mixed and sad emotions for sure.  I will always call America my home and it will be my most comfortable country and culture.  But it was also something my husband and I wanted to try, to live in Europe and see how it is and possibly think about our future in Europe.  Let's see how it will go!  




June 2019

I don’t have everyone’s pictures but so happy to have these wonderful memories when we are in Germany and will be missing our home for the past 18 years....#willmissgoodfriends #ilovewisconson #home
#thankyoucommunity

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219094697980275&set=pcb.10219094715860722&type=3&theater