One Year

It was one year ago today that Maddie and Skip and I got on a plane to come to Germany. Isn't it good that we can't see the future? I never would have come...and then where would I be?

Maddie wouldn't know German. I still don't really know German, but that's beside the point.

I might never had gotten back on a bicycle (am actually a little sore right now from that particular piece of equipment. I always give myself away as a tourist--not a native--when I'm on my bike. I actually have to put my feet down when I have to stop at a crosswalk. The real Germans can stay balanced even when they're not moving!)

I wouldn't know how to make some really kickin' schnitzel

Skip wouldn't have discovered that he can read Dutch or realize his dream of having season tickets to all the home BVB games in Dortmund.

We would never have known what a truly wide world of Gummi candies there are to choose from

Maddie wouldn't be able to watch Kim Possible (cartoon character) dive offe the Eiffel tower and say "I've been there!" For Maddie, saying that her friend Julia lives in Memphis is no different from telling you that her friend Hannah is from Korea. For her, it really is a small world after all.

We never would have gotten to hang out with the German relatives as much. And I gotta say, they're pretty cool.

I still would have no idea where Majorca was (an island off the coast of Spain where I've just booked us for a five-day vacation in October. Already a good deal, when I went in to book it, they were running a special and we saved even more. With flight, room and board included, it would almost cost us more money to stay home those days. okay, not quite, but it sounds good)

And I wouldn't have met some people that I can't imagine going through life and not knowing. I've heard that people who serve in the armed forces basic traning bond for life with the people with whom they survive it. I think it's kind of the same thing for an ex-pat assignment.