First Impressions

We arrived in Hamburg a tired and disheveled mess as you could probably guess from the previous post. Two of Aaron's coworkers were nice enough to meet us at the airport upon arrival to help transport our stuff to the flat knowing it wouldn't all fit in a single cab there. They even brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Calvin a stuffed teddy bear! It was such a nice warm welcome and was a wonderful first impression of his coworkers and the thoughtfulness that they conveyed. So let's get into it.

The Weather: This was not a great first impression as we left Atlanta with the temperatures in the 80's and full sunshine. We were not expecting to get off the plane with temps in the 50's. It was gloomy and overcast and matched my mood well. The entire first week we were in Hamburg was very cold and rainy. I had read the weather was very much like Seattle's so expected the rain but we were not at all prepared for those cold temperatures. What we quickly noticed was people were out and about rain or shine. Parents take their children to the parks in the rain! As long as it isn't a torrential downpour, you go outside. This was so different from our experience in the states. In Germany, they have a saying that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. This is true as every child has a full rain suit and boots at the playground because they are all sand and when its wet that is disastrous on clothing. Another thing we will need to purchase for Calvin. For the time being we just let him get sandy and messy and he still loves it.

The Parks: These things are intense. One look at some of these parks and my anxiety immediately spikes. They all look so dangerous to me! This is clearly conditioning I have received spending my entire life in the US. I am starting to see we have learned to fear everything. There are very small children climbing tall wooden and metal structures with no railings or safety features. This will be something that will take us a long time to get used to and it will be hard to let Cal try some of these things on his own but the parents here seem to be very much hands off. It is very important for the children to be able to learn and grow to be independent which is pretty cool but also scary for me. Letting go is hard and all I want to do is protect him from getting hurt. Another thing we noticed is there are so many parks and almost all of them have at least one playground on them. They are seriously everywhere here which is really convenient when out and about with Cal. There is always somewhere to stop, let him play and get out some of his energy. We look forward to incorporating this into our daily lives as it is typical of the locals to bring their kids here at least once a day, rain or shine.

The Transportation: We moved to Germany with the hopes we would not need to purchase a car. We have heard the public transportation is great and figured that renting a car for weekend trips, etc. would be fine. Our temporary living situation happens to be located right in front of a bus stop. This has pro's and cons as it is busy around here with people but it is so nice to walk outside and hop on a bus. The bus's are nice, clean and extremely efficient. They have their own lanes in high traffic areas which is awesome because they essentially can bypass rush hour traffic. There is also a public transportation app "HVV". This incorporates your ticket to the bus, trains and even ferry's if your route requires one. It is extremely easy to navigate and so far we love the freedom of being able to get anywhere in the city fairly quickly. Calvin is obsessed with bus's, trains, cars and construction vehicles. Since we arrived he has been on multiple buses and trains and it is always fun to watch his excitement. Also, dogs are allowed on these too so Rosie has joined us on numerous trips out. I can't wait to be able to explore more of the city and take some of the high speed trains around Germany and Europe. Other than using public transportation another main way everyone gets around is biking. This is a bit scary to me given that most US cities tend to be rather unfriendly to bikers. Both Chicago and Atlanta did not do a good job of giving bikers plenty of leeway to ride through the cities without fear of getting hit. At least compared to European standards, they were still pretty dangerous for the bikers themselves. Everyone here bikes to a from the grocery store, to cafe's and to take their children to and from school. They have these cargo bikes with large compartments in the front that the kids can sit and be strapped in. It's adorable and extremely convenient. We will definitely be purchasing one of these as well as another bike so that we can go on family outings a bit more easily.

The People: So not everyone does actually speak English here although some will try and tell you everyone knows it. At least in our experience, many people do not seem so keen on speaking it when asked. We have managed to get by so far ordering coffees and food at restaurants although translating menu's on google can be frustrating. We are learning quickly that we need to learn at least some of the language in order to ease our every day interactions and thankfully we start lessons next week. One of the most glaring things I noticed quickly upon arrival is German people are hot. The men and women dress nicely everywhere they go, there is no athleisure here. Everyone is thin and in shape and just beautiful. This probably has to do with how active everyone is. As I mentioned, they walk and bike EVERYWHERE. This applies to both men and women and it is just fascinating. Aaron and I are going to need to step up our game in the fashion department which is daunting coming off of 2020 and being almost entirely remote. Comfy clothing has become my entire wardrobe. You will not see anyone in workout clothes unless they are working out, or coming to/from a class or the gym. Luckily, I am not stranger to retail therapy and think we are long overdue. For the most part everyone has been kind to us except for a much older lady with a walker that Aaron tried to help off a bus at a stop....we are pretty sure she was scolding him in German to let go and not touch her. It was one of the best and most hilarious moments to date. Oh one other thing we have noticed is the children are all extremely well behaved and we have yet to see or hear another child cry or throw a tantrum! I am dying to find out their secrets or perhaps its just that Germans are a very serious and stoic bunch most of the time out in public unless letting loose with their friends. We aren't so lucky with Calvin as he has his moments but I am hopeful that some of this behavior will rub off on him once he is put into a daycare/school here from his fellow classmates so fingers crossed!

The City: The city itself is absolutely gorgeous. There are pockets or hubs of restaurants and nightlife, different neighborhoods that all have their own character. I love walking down a narrow city street and looking up at the old buildings with the cool ornate balconies that just scream we are in Europe. There are bakeries everywhere here, literally multiple bakeries on every major street and some are really really good. There are also wonderful cafe's and coffee shops all over the place. The canals run rampant throughout the city so waterways are everywhere and people are stand up paddle boarding throughout. Going down to the Elbe River is another experience where you can see huge vessels transporting cargo- shoutout to my husband because that is the whole reason we are here. There is Lake Alster, a huge lake in the middle that the city seems to revolve around. The architecture and housing here is just stunning and its still so green. You see pathways everywhere for running, walking and biking. The neighborhoods are bursting with these beautiful huge flowers. It is like a fairy tale sometimes. I know Winter will be here before I know it and my perspective may change given the cold and gloom to come but for now I am in love!

I feel like there is more that I am missing as far as first impressions go but wanted to get this all down before all of my opinions change. I am aware that everything is new and exciting right now and there will come a time where it is not. For now we are choosing to embrace the changes and all the new experiences. Now, onto looking for our permanent home for the next 2 years!

-Katy