Miles to Kilometers

In the spirit of the New Year I thought it might be fun to take a look back at all of the IMPORTANT life lessons that I had the privilege of learning in 2011!  These tasks that may seam trivial to you have made all the difference in my life as a European adventurer. 

Over the past year in Germany I have learned.....

- How to change windshield wipers!  Let's face it growing up in NM the only time that you even realize your windshield wipers might not be quite up to par is when you accidentally press the wiper lever instead of the blinker and black pieces of rubber fall all over your windshield (as a result of drying out in the heat).  Here however, I don't think I have ever gone more than a few days without trusting my life to these little pieces genius while driving to or from work. 

- How to park in tiny spaces...on the first try!  Even though we don't drive big cars (by American standards) finding parking spaces that fit our standards (and by standards here I mean enough room to get out of the car once it is in the space) are very few and far between.  When we first got here it quickly became a challenge between Nate and I to see who could park their car with the fewest amount of "adjustments."  You can always tell who the new Americans in town are by how many time they have to back out of a space before they get right!

- How to start a fire!  Lets just remember that there is no central heating here, and although we do have heaters in every room, it is much cheaper to heat the house by fire.  That being said originally I though this task would be easy- stick some sticks in the wood stove- add some matches- and PRESTO.  Well....not so much.  It took a few lessons and several tries to get it right but I can now say that I can light a fire well enough to heat our 2 story house ALL BY MY SELF :)

- How to talk with my hands!  Learning German has proved MUCH harder than originally planned, therefore learning the art of pointing and praying has become essential.

- How to cook in a TINY oven!  I know I have mentioned this several times, but considering I still don't know what all of the buttons mean I am very proud of myself for having "mastered" the art of the not so easy bake oven.  Over this past year I have successfully, Cooked a 12lb turkey,  turned out dozens of Christmas cookies, glazed 2 hams and all the fixings, and endless amounts of weekday menus, all on ONE little pan. 

- How to recycle...for real.  Now don't get me wrong, growing up we always separated our cardboard, glass, and aluminum, and took them to the recycling center a few times a year like most upstanding American citizens.  It wasn't until we moved here that I learned what recycling REALLY means.

- How to convert Miles to Kilometers, Fahrenheit to Celsius, Dollars to Euros, and Gallons to Liters!  I guess my teachers really weren't pulling my leg when they ensured that metric conversions were something that I would need to know in order to be able to function as an adult :)

I still can't believe that we have almost lived here a whole year!  Although time is flying by and we have really enjoyed all of the opportunities this wonderful experience has awarded us, and I know these next two years are going to fly by even faster- I still can't wait to be back home in the good old USA.

Here's to a wonderful year full of new and exciting adventure!  Happy 2012 everyone!