Where in the World?

Hello! We are back by popular demand. Well, I did get two requests to update the blog (even if one was from my parents) so I guess that's as popular as we'll get. Yes, the last blog entry was back in January as we were preparing to fly back from Asia to the US, marking more or less the end our world travels. My excuse for not writing in so many months? I was waiting until we figured out what we were going to do. The answer? We're still not quite sure.


As for an update, we traveled back to the US - first to NY where we visted friends and family, and then to Florida. Actually, Matthias' parents met us in NY and we drove down to Florida, stopping in Maryland (to visit family and take a quick look at DC); Savannah, Georgia; and the Kennedy Space Center. We then spent quite a while in Florida with my parents, while we tried to figure out what to do next.

Long story short - we decided in the end to move to Germany, where Matthias could get a job and I could work on learning German and getting EU residency. We landed in Steinfeld, a town in Northwestern Germany not too far from the

Dutch border. Our immediate plans are to save some money, learn German (so I can work, too), and come up with a new plan! Matthias' job isn't great, but it seems like a decent way to get back into the job market here. And, perhaps more importantly, we now have health insurance, which we can continue (at a pathetically reasonable cost - that is to most Americans) no matter what happens with the job. We were also able to find a nice, furnished apartment here, quite close to Matthias' work. The photo is of Matthias on our lovely terrace - we're looking forward to some fun BBQing this summer. Unfortunately, though, I can't find a formal German language class that starts before September, but with internet access, I've been able to take some online courses and download some really good audio lessons. Oh, and of course there are oodles of bike trails around here - yippee!



So, now that we're not really traveling anymore, I wasn't sure whether or how to keep up the blog. But I've decided to share some of my impressions about living in Germany. Things are a bit different here - take, for example, a typical resume. It is common for Germans to put their photo on it. And not only that....they include information such as date of birth, nationality and marital status! Can you imagine how that would go over in the US, where you're not even allowed to ask if someone's married, not to mention how old they are!? Of course, that's not to say that we don't get information about someone from, say, their names (e.g., Ping Xio, or Luis Vasquez) or their graduation dates (c'mon, I know everyone has looked at this...) but it's just a bit more overt here. I think just about everything is, but I'll save that for a later entry.

Possible upcoming topics:

• TV tax - yes, a tax on every TV you own - my parents would go broke!
• Recycling - you need a degree just to figure it out!
• Health insurance - I'll let you know how it is once I go to the doctor
• Gas prices - you think you have something to complain about!!??

Well, that's all for now. Except here's our new contact information:

Matthias and Judy Rose
Weuert 15
49439 Steinfeld
Deutschland



+49 175 322 1243



So, for any of our friends who are now planning to get married in California - there's no excuse for not sending an invitation (anyway, I've had the same email address for 20 years!) Till next time.