Our friends the Bennetts arrived at our house (AKA the "pond house" as named by O) on Wednesday evening. They had been on tour in Scotland and London for the previous week and planned this 5 day stop-over before they returned to the UK to travel in Wales. We are all, especially A and R, glad to see our good friends and have a chance for lengthy conversations in our native tongue and to show them a part of our life here.
The big question, whenever you have visitors, where ever you are, is where to take them. There are things you take for granted or are unsure if visitors new to the area would like to see. Do they just want to relax or should you make the most of every moment since they have come this far. Luneburg is a very nice town and has several historic sights that survived the WWII bombings. The town feels very German and makes a nice walking tour. That covers about a day. Hamburg covers another day (which is where they are today) but is rather limited in things to do with kids in tow. We also want to see something new to us - or worth seeing a second time.
We decided to take them to a small town, Celle, where we had been before but had missed the Folk Museum and all the shops had been closed on Sunday on that first trip. It seemed a good place to take kids and was a short enough train ride (30+ minutes) to make a quick day trip. We even allowed the girls to skip school to spend time with their friends!
Since it was a short trip, we decided we had enough time to finish up some laundry at the laundromat in the morning. I had also had O scheduled for childcare in the morning and wanted to keep that routine. So, it was after 12:00 when we were finally ready to head out the door. Soon, what started out to be an easy day and simple trip to Celle became much, much more complicated.
First, I realized too late that the Bennetts had purchased the wrong tickets. Without getting too complicated (although it is) they had purchased tickets which allowed them unlimited travel within the "Greater Hamburg Area" of which Luneburg is a part, but Celle is not. In finding this out at the train station after much frantic button-pushing at the self-serve kiosk and a wait at the Travel Center, we missed the train we had intended to take. We had to wait another hour and purchase new tickets for the Bennetts. The train we missed was a direct 33 minutes to Celle, the next train would take over an hour plus a transfer!
The other complication (that we had to deal with in their coming from the airport last Wednesday) was that the regional train company, Metronom, has been on strike this week. This has happened a few times since we have lived here and only once had it caused any problems. It is a rather odd form of "strike" because SOME of the trains are running, and some are not. And it seems that you cannot know until that very day (or even hour) which ones are running and which ones are not. AND you have to be in the trainstation where that particular train is departing to know if it is cancelled. So, even though we had acquired the round trip tickets to Celle, we had to wait until we arrived in Celle to know which train to take back.
I felt extremely bad that I had not A.) planned the day a little better so we would have known about the train schedule before we showed up at the station and B.) had a better understanding of the train system so that the Bennetts wouldn't have wasted money on a ticket they couldn't use (other than in Luneburg). Up until today, all of our family travel planning had been delegated such that Tom made the transportation arrangements and scoped out the destination, while I took care of the packing and provisions. The day turned out to be full of learning "opportunities" and brought me up to speed (almost) with what Tom had been learning over the last few months.
Still, we felt the day was not lost and had hopes that the rest would go smoothly. As soon as we arrived in Celle, we headed to the Travel Center to find out which train we needed to take for our return trip. It turned out we had two choices, neither of which the agent at the Luneburg station offered - those were both cancelled. The first option was to turn around and take the train that left in the next 17 minutes and the second was to take the one that left at 9:06pm - a one hour train with transfer. Did I mention we had all the kids with us and that the last bus leaving the Luneburg station for our house was at 8:37?
Well, we had come that far and were determined to press on. So, we headed into the fickle weather and the town of Celle. We arrived at the Folk Museum first, even though we had only 45 minutes left by this time before closing, and were delighted to find that our luck had changed since the museum was offering free admission that day. Lucky also because it was somewhat a disappointment. The description of the museum had said that docents in period costume would be there to demonstrate, but there were none that we could see and absolutely none of the displays or guides were in English. There were some interesting interiors of historic households and barns, but we had to make our own interpretations. Interestingly, on our family's previous visit to Celle, we found the same to be true for the Castle across the road. Did they not think that people outside Germany might like to learn something of their history (there was not French, Spanish, or Italian either).
It was fun to see the town lively this time around, however. The shops were still open for another hour, the pedestrian market area was busy, we saw/heard the town carrillon, and the kids delighted in water fountains at nearly every block. We had a quick but hearty dinner of fish and chips and a fun conversation with one of the servers there. We strolled to a French Park with lovely allees and a fun playground for the kids to be themselves before we headed back to the train station. The rain even managed to hold off until the end, and even then was very light
The first train was on time for the 30 minute ride to the transfer point, Ueltzen. In the town of Ueltzen, the train platforms were mostly empty and the station (and the rest of the town) closed for the night. This was the turn-around point for the train we were taking so, the train that was arriving 10 minutes before our departure would reverse directions back towards Hamburg (and Luneburg). The time for the train's arrival passed with no train and then the marquee posted the time for our train's departure. Then we noticed that the marquee also had a flashing message. Between Anne and R, we determined it either said the train was leaving from this point or had "fallen out". Seeking out one of the few people standing around, it was confirmed that the train was cancelled, due to the strike. He assured us, however, that the next train, an Intercity (not on strike) rather than regional, was coming at 11:20pm! He also said that they were honoring the tickets for the regional trains. At least we weren't stranded for the night, but there we were, outside the train station on a cold and rainy night with five children well beyond their bedtimes.
The kids (and adults) behaved remarkably well considering the late hour after a long and trying day. We hung out under the train station in the tunnel leading to the various platforms where it was a bit warmer out of the elements. We were not the only ones waiting, but seemed to have the only children. A very kind man, concerned that we were having to spend the night with the children under the station, offered us water and food. In the end, the train was on time, took only 30 minutes to arrive in Luneburg, and we easily hired two taxi's to drive us all home about 12 hours after we started our "short trip".
I hope all goes much better with the members of our crew who headed to Hamburg today. Last report is that all went smoothly with the morning plans!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Great Intentions and Expectations
Its 4:30 in the morning, the day after solstice. The sun is up and the birds have been singing for over an hour. I know about when they started singing because I woke up then, checked the clock, and then stuck in my trusty earplugs. I woke after only another hour because I was having fitful dreams about arranging to meet friends at the train station. I decided that this was as good a time as any to get up and update my much-neglected blog, as well as have what could be the last quiet reflective time I will get for the next several weeks.
Today marks the beginning of the end, so to speak. Not in a negative sense, but in that we have reached a summit of our adventure and from this point it is going to be a fast, fun ride back to the Ohio Valley. We have less than 6 weeks left, which I notice is about where I left off in my blog - about six weeks after we arrived in Luneburg. In these six weeks we are having three sets of visitors, back-to-back: our friends, the Bennetts (a family of four whose two kids are the same age and good friends of A&R) for five days, a couple from Narvik, Norway (good friends we met back in our pre-children days in Indiana) for two nights, and my mother and "baby" brother for two weeks. Then, the same day the last guests depart, we depart for two weeks of travel in the UK. We return to Luneburg with just four days of scurried packing before we head back home.
So, as I sit here, poised on summit I have been reflecting on what we/I have done, didn't do, and still hope or plan to do during our time here.
I had imagined, as I frantically packed during the weeks leading up to our departure for Germany, that once I had shed myself of the obligations of my life in the US, when we were down to bare minimum possessions and basic needs, that I would have the space and time for simple persuits, all those things that, in my eveyday life I yearned to have the time to do. I brought along my baking books and various craft kits and unfinshed projects. I imagined blissful days with O making playdough and sugar cookies, exploratory walks through German neighborhoods, and interacting with local kids and moms at the playground. O would develop a German vocabulary, while I would improve mine. During naps I would persue my own interests, including writing captivating blogs for the folks back home. This was going to be different from the sabbatical in Washington state in which I languished, bored and lonely most of the time, unsure what to do with myself during the hours when both Tom and the girls had structured, purposeful activities and work and school.
However, once the initial rush and excitement of the settling-in period was over, I found myself feeling isolated and often depressed during the long days on my own with a toddler and neither time to myself nor time to talk uninterrupted with a fellow adult. Playgrounds have been empty of children during the daytime or the language barrier has been prohibitive of making new friends and I have not found many accessible mother/child play programs. There was no naptime to myself, as the girls were usually home before O went down and I was "on" right up until the last one went to bed at 10pm, after which I collapsed into bed myself. On the last several weekends, we have done a lot of touring and traveling, which means we are all together, all the time, sometimes in intense situations.
It reinforced what I have gradually grown to learn about myself. I NEED time to myself as much a I need good food: to recharge my batteries and regain perspective. This is the definition of an introvert! However, having a history of mild depression, I also need to not have so much time to myself that I begin to ruminate on negative feelings until they become over-exaggerated in my mind. Ironically, my hours with a toddler offered both constant companionship (no time to myself) and isolation (plenty of time to ruminate). I have a hard time asking for what I need, so it was a long while before I finally made some changes to restore the balance.
Fortunately, over the last few weeks, I have finally found some balance. We found a childcare center on campus where I have taken O a couple of times a week for a few hours. How I wish we has discovered this from the beginning. Even just those few hours allow me adult time and needed perspective. Tom also took the kids on his own for most of the afternoon on a Saturday and we finally went on an actual date!
I am feeling more myself, now. There are still a lot of things that I had hoped to accomplish while I was here, but if I don't, I know that we did do a lot of traveling and all of us learned more about ourselves and coped with the challenge of living in a strange land among strangers. I have hopes that I can fill in the blanks on my blog where I left readers hanging, especially before I leave Germany and the impressions and perspective fade into memory. Perhaps I need to wake up more with the birds...now and then.
Today marks the beginning of the end, so to speak. Not in a negative sense, but in that we have reached a summit of our adventure and from this point it is going to be a fast, fun ride back to the Ohio Valley. We have less than 6 weeks left, which I notice is about where I left off in my blog - about six weeks after we arrived in Luneburg. In these six weeks we are having three sets of visitors, back-to-back: our friends, the Bennetts (a family of four whose two kids are the same age and good friends of A&R) for five days, a couple from Narvik, Norway (good friends we met back in our pre-children days in Indiana) for two nights, and my mother and "baby" brother for two weeks. Then, the same day the last guests depart, we depart for two weeks of travel in the UK. We return to Luneburg with just four days of scurried packing before we head back home.
So, as I sit here, poised on summit I have been reflecting on what we/I have done, didn't do, and still hope or plan to do during our time here.
I had imagined, as I frantically packed during the weeks leading up to our departure for Germany, that once I had shed myself of the obligations of my life in the US, when we were down to bare minimum possessions and basic needs, that I would have the space and time for simple persuits, all those things that, in my eveyday life I yearned to have the time to do. I brought along my baking books and various craft kits and unfinshed projects. I imagined blissful days with O making playdough and sugar cookies, exploratory walks through German neighborhoods, and interacting with local kids and moms at the playground. O would develop a German vocabulary, while I would improve mine. During naps I would persue my own interests, including writing captivating blogs for the folks back home. This was going to be different from the sabbatical in Washington state in which I languished, bored and lonely most of the time, unsure what to do with myself during the hours when both Tom and the girls had structured, purposeful activities and work and school.
However, once the initial rush and excitement of the settling-in period was over, I found myself feeling isolated and often depressed during the long days on my own with a toddler and neither time to myself nor time to talk uninterrupted with a fellow adult. Playgrounds have been empty of children during the daytime or the language barrier has been prohibitive of making new friends and I have not found many accessible mother/child play programs. There was no naptime to myself, as the girls were usually home before O went down and I was "on" right up until the last one went to bed at 10pm, after which I collapsed into bed myself. On the last several weekends, we have done a lot of touring and traveling, which means we are all together, all the time, sometimes in intense situations.
It reinforced what I have gradually grown to learn about myself. I NEED time to myself as much a I need good food: to recharge my batteries and regain perspective. This is the definition of an introvert! However, having a history of mild depression, I also need to not have so much time to myself that I begin to ruminate on negative feelings until they become over-exaggerated in my mind. Ironically, my hours with a toddler offered both constant companionship (no time to myself) and isolation (plenty of time to ruminate). I have a hard time asking for what I need, so it was a long while before I finally made some changes to restore the balance.
Fortunately, over the last few weeks, I have finally found some balance. We found a childcare center on campus where I have taken O a couple of times a week for a few hours. How I wish we has discovered this from the beginning. Even just those few hours allow me adult time and needed perspective. Tom also took the kids on his own for most of the afternoon on a Saturday and we finally went on an actual date!
I am feeling more myself, now. There are still a lot of things that I had hoped to accomplish while I was here, but if I don't, I know that we did do a lot of traveling and all of us learned more about ourselves and coped with the challenge of living in a strange land among strangers. I have hopes that I can fill in the blanks on my blog where I left readers hanging, especially before I leave Germany and the impressions and perspective fade into memory. Perhaps I need to wake up more with the birds...now and then.
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