Three Days in Überlingen

A German breakfast of muesli and yogurt, bread and cheese, and tea, started my first weekend in Überlingen. I used this solitary free time to explore the town and cram on my German studies. I discovered a few places to take my out of town guests too.

The first day, I walked through town and discovered a hostel that promoted bed and bike. (Hey! that was my idea!) This was the day that I set up a bank account and purchased a bike of my own.

My bike on the Bodensee on teh waterfront in Übelingen. In town you have to walk your bike because there are so many people. But outside of town you can ride it too.

The second day I went out to explore a bit further then Überlingen. I had planned to take the ferry over to Konstance but it only runs from Überlingen during the week (in the winter). Luckily I discovered that there are great bike trails along the Bodensee that are very well sign posted and it was the perfect day to explore them. You can see that while the lake was fogged in there was blue sky above!

My traveling companion



A Grün roof! (This picture is for Jason and the rest of the Greenworks crew)

I rode to Meersburg and then found that the ferry there ran every 15 minutes 24 hours a day to the city of Konstance. So, though it was a bit late in the day, I took the ferry across the lake, just so I could see the other side. I didn’t have time to explore Konstance so I just took the ferry back, determined to make such a trip again on another weekend.

The ride back to Überlingen was just as lovely. I am determined to attend a mass in the big pink Church on the hill. I have heard that the acoustics are amazing and that there are also many concerts held there throughout the year.

Meersburg


The Big Pink Church on the hill:

Another restroom.

On the third day, Sunday, I started to go a little crazy. I mean three days with only not so friendly restaurant servers to talk to! Luckily I was able to speak with Philipp and Christina on this day. It was so good to have an English conversation where I could actually express the complexity of the thoughts in my head instead of being limited to pointing at a roll in the bakery and saying “ja, ein mas bitte”. In case you don’t speak Spanish or German, this is “yes one more please”. Except that “mas”, which means “more” in Spanish means “two pint glass of beer” in German. Or so I have been told.

Sunday there was also a festival of some sort in town with many carts and booths set up. All of the stores were open as well with special sale items available. I tried a Quark ball at one stand that was very tasty. A Quark ball is a thick yogurt dough that is deep fried and rolled in sugar. Yum!

Oh, and I forgot to mention. Sunday the mountains were out.

Sunday was also the day before I started work. So there was of course that apprehension which precedes one's first day at anything new and significant. But, after three days of solitude, I was desperate for human interaction that it was absolutely wonderful to start work again!

The Atalier

On my first day in town I visited the office to meet people and to see how long it would take to walk to work. About 35 minutes. The office was easy to find and the people friendly and helpful. Laura, an American working for the office, gave me her old cell phone so that I could make local calls. Its on a pay by the minute plan. That phone got me through a very quiet first weekend in town.

At about 10:00 the office meets in the kitchen for coffee and about 15 minutes of social conversation. It's a lovely little tradition that seems to keep spirits up throughout the day. It helps that there is also the same kind of break at 4:00.

Yes, they ride their bikes!

Morgen Überlingen

My first View of Überlingen from the kitchen window. Probably just after sunrise. I was still jet lagged.


From my front door.


A view of the outside of my apartment. The ground floor is basically farm work rooms. I would say barn but the real barn is at the back of the main house. Notice the red flowers in the window box at my front door.



The Moserhöf Garden.


My first view of the Bodensee in downtown Überlingen.


This duck made me feel right at home.

And the classic winter view of the lake, all fogged in.

A fountain on the waterfront.

My German Farm House

I arrived in Überlingen after dark. My first impressions of the Moserhöf were limited to the smells of the farm and the sound of a language that I still don't understand, being spoken in an even thicker accent then I had heard before. Gerhard was able to translate for Frau Moser and me.

I now understand how the German garbage and recycling system works:

• One bucket for "biomail" or food scraps
• One bucket for plastics and really every thing recyclable besides paper
• One bucket for everything unrecyclable or "restmeil"
• One bucket or just a pile for paper

I also understand that there are towels and bedding and extra blankets. I learned where the light switches are and that if I had a small child there is crib that it could sleep in. The other thing Gerhard was able to explain to me was that there was no washing machine.

Ja, no laundry.

Lisa, a Portlander working in the office since last winter, had warned me that I would need to find an apartment with laundry options because Überlingen has no laundromat in town. There is one in the town over, but really not an ideal situation to be in. Well, of course I agreed with her. I would like to have a washing machine. A dryer I knew was unlikely but at least a washing machine. The thing is, I had the help of a coworker, Jeff, to find this place and he had lived here for a time before and not only that but I understood that another coworker lived in a flat here as well, so I just assumed that the laundry was possible.

It turns out that the other coworker had not asked about the laundry before moving and had only been living there for three weeks. I am wondering if Jeff only stayed in the Moserhöf for a short time too.

This is really the only unexpected situation that I have found at the Moserhöf. What was expected was that there would be no Internet or phone available.

I can hear my Mom, Auntie Fran, and probably Auntie Kath and Auntie Karen and a few others even asking, "HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO YOUR LAUNDRY"!?

So I had better answer them. By hand of course. Well, no not completely, but I actually brought some laundry detergent for washing some smaller items by hand if I needed to. And a colleague offered to do some laundry for me this week. So I will make it for another two weeks. By then I hope to make a trip to a friend's house or another town. I will be sure it is a friend or a town with a washing machine. Finally I am moving from the apartment before I come home for Christmas. The apartment that is available then has a washing machine. So, not to worry. But I know you will any way.

Even though it doesn't have laundry facilities there are many other things that the Moserhöf does have:


A Wohnzimmer




A Gästebett in the Whonzimmer




a Schlafzimmer with a crib and wardrobe

Informational signs about in the Badzimmer about how it is best to sit while you pee "Please! sit..."






and a kitchen or Küche

So this is what I knew about Überlingen in my first few hours there. I was tired so I went to bed hoping that in the morning Überlingen would also be able to tell me who my new president elect was going to be. Luckily The cable television had CNN in English!

I woke up at 3:00 again and almost fell back to sleep until I remembered that it was early evening in the states. I lept out of bed and turned CNN on. For 2 hours I waited for the final predictions, shocked that they waited until the polls actually closed on the west coast and at the same time as every one I knew in the states, I learned that Obama was our President Elect.

And so I find that I am the most proud that I have ever been to be an American. Guess I should have become an expat a while ago.

Überlingen or Bust

Well, I have been in Überlingen for one week, it has been quite an adventure getting here and getting settled and I am still not fluent in Deutsch.

First there was the 6 hour train ride from Dortmond to Ulm and then the 1 and a half hour ride from Ulm to Uberlingen. The view from the train was lovely so let's begin there.

I didn't start counting the castles right away but I saw at least 8 as the train ran along the Rhine River.

I only saw one garbage dump though.

Did I mention that it was a long train ride? By the time I arrived in Überlingen I felt jet lagged all over again. It was after dark so I didn't even get to see this cute little German town that I had been promised. I was however greeted by Gerhart (one of 3 bosses) at the train station. He was able to help me and my 50 kilos of luggage (in two different bags!) to the Moserhöf.

So my biggest fear for moving to Germany had passed. Some passengers did laugh at me as I maneuvered my way through the narrow aisles of the train with two rolling suitcases a back pack and my GreenWorks messenger bag. But, no bag was left behind at any transfer point never to be found again and no train left with me left behind while my bags rode away. With the help of a few kind German rail passengers and my own sheer determination I lugged all of the worldly possessions, that I could fit into 4 bags, across the German countryside and safely to Überlingen on Bodensee.

Whew!

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Ich habe rote Blumen and I just can't hide it.

The first song I heard playing on the radio in Germany was "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!"





I have been staying with my dear friend Christina in Dortmund for three days now. On the first day I was so relieved to discover that I was still excited to be in Germany. I mentioned this to Christina far too many times.

On Sunday we decided to drive to the nearby town of Münster. The guide book said that Münster is famous for its broke (sp?) architecture and many special bike paths.



The guide book was right.



The bike boulevards were lovely with few conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists.





A new boulevard addition near the castle or Schloss looked a little different.






The castle gardens were used by the university for research and learning but were also very beautiful. (By the way I am already speaking my English with a German accent and sentence structure so this post sounds really funny to me as write it.)




This house had the tropical plants stored for winter.




Here a little bridge, about a foot and a half wide crossed the water feature.




This is the restroom building. (GreenWorks, I took this one for you!)




And here are some pictures from around the rest of town:


(Hals means throat and this street was like a little alley.)






(Oh and Aunt Kathy, I almost forgot to mention, Grandma Marge says "Hi".)


Today Christina and I visited some banks and phone companies so that she could help me ask some of the more complicated questions about services and what pieces of information I will need to be able to sign up. We also called my landlord, Frau Moser, to let her know when I would arrive. She said she would have everything ready that I could just fall into bed and go to sleep. Aunty Fran, I think this means that they will provide sheets, so you don't have to worry!

I spoke with my new office and they sounded very friendly. Tomorrow I will travel to Überlingen and Gerhard (one of my bosses) will meet me at the train station.

I will update as soon as I can with pictures of my German farm house, my new office, and Überlingen.

Tschüss!



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