Week 1: We made it!
Bham to Bavaria!
We’re finally here! After a year of anticipation, planning, and working out MANY logistics, we’ve arrived in Munich and are settling in. If you didn’t already know, we are here because Annie is pursuing a fellowship through the Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) at LMU. There are 10 international fellows, including developmental psychologists, philosophers, and a primatologist, all of whom study norms. Jake will continue to work for Amissa remotely and the girls are attending the International Bilingual School of Munich.
Travel day:
The saving grace of the travel day was the girl’s ride-on suitcases, which they pretend are horses (named Marine and Sauce- where do they get these ideas?).
We bought blow up travel beds for the flight, which was successful for Hadley but not so much for Eden. The flight was HOT, so Eden stripped down to her underwear (sorry German flight attendants). Despite the sleep deprivation, the girls were very cooperative and mellow.
We spent the first three nights in an AirBnb near Sendlinger Tor, only one U-bahn stop from Marienplatz (city center). Other than the central location and the fact that it had four beds, there wasn’t a lot else going for it. The girls, however, loved the proximity to the bakery and their decadent breakfasts of chocolate croissants and fruit. We were very antsy for Wednesday to come so that we could move into our apartment. Part of the adventure: We brought the girls’ bikes with us in a giant bike box that Jake had to take on the U-bahn. We got MANY looks.
First Two Days:
When I visited in December, I bought the girls presents from a fabulous toystore (“Kunst und Spiel” —Art and Play) and they’ve been anxious to visit. So, naturally, this was our first stop on Day 1. We told them they could each pick out one toy for being such great travelers and of course they chose ridiculously expensive stuffed animals. Germany is the toy capital of the world, but still they chose.... stuffies. While Jake and the girl shopped, I walked over to the CAS office and had a wonderful lunch with other fellows and CAS administrators.
We spent the afternoon in the Marienplatz shopping for Eden’s school supplies, which was surprisingly fun. She doesn’t need school supplies in Bellingham so this was a totally new experience. We realized the girls had never been in a department store. They have never seen so many toys in one place (and honestly, neither have I). Playmobil is EVERYWHERE. Even the small drugstores have a bigger selection than anywhere I’ve seen in the US.
On Tuesday afternoon we went to the Deutsches Museum, a HUGE (the biggest in the world!) science and technology museum right on the Isar river. The girls were jet-lagged and not interested in anything but the children's exhibit so we'll have to go back some other time.
We finished up the museum visit with their first gelato of the trip. It was a hit!
School
Both girls are attending the International Bilingual School of Munich. We visited for an hour on Tuesday and the girls did a “settling in” day on Wednesday. It’s a german norm for kindergarten (preschool) children to have a series of short “settling in” days before they start full time. I get the sense that german kindergartens are much more likely to send children home or call parents in the case of fussy children. We’re hopeful that since Eden will actually be dropping Hadley off in the mornings instead of us, Hadley might not have any tears at the beginning of the school day (which she has about 50% of the time at home).
The school is small, cozy and welcoming. Everyone speaks English, though most of the kids have a German “muttersprache.” Both girls have a native English and native German speaker in their classrooms, and it seems most everyone is bilingual.
The school just finished a “Politeness Week” in which there was a school-wide competition for which classroom was the most polite. How very German. The first grade won and their reward— eating a formal meal with the Head of School in a restaurant. These uber-polite first graders each greeted Eden individually and told her they were happy to have her in their class. One little girl said, “I’m so glad you’re here- now I won’t be the only girl in the English-focused reading group!” Eden, in true fashion, didn’t do a lot of smiling, but I’m sure she will warm up very quickly. Despite being a little shy with adults, she is very social with other children and makes friends easily. By Friday she reported having made several friends and really liking her teachers.
Hadley’s class is mixed age group, including kids who are turning 6 (they don’t start Grade 1 until after their 6th birthday). We haven’t heard a ton about how she’s doing, but she looks happy in the pictures and said she has some friends. They are taking her peanut allergy VERY seriously, which is thoughtful, but also kind of a pain since they won’t let her eat school lunch yet and she wasn’t allowed to eat a cake on Thursday for one of the other kids’ birthdays.
The girls get picked up and dropped off right in front of our apartment each day. The “bus” drivers (more of a van) don’t speak English, but we’re making it work! Hadley apparently told one of the older girls who rides her bus, “you gotta speak english to me!”
I was given a bike for commuting, which is faster than taking public transit (once I figure out how to get through the Englischer garten!). Munich is SO bike friendly. There are protected biking lanes next to walking lanes instead of in the street with cars, which feels much safer to me. My office is in Schwabing close to the university on a beautiful street near many cafes and shops.
Home
We are living in the northern part of Bogenhausen, directly east of the Englisher Garten. It’s a modern neighborhood without the classic European style architecture, but it’s so convenient to public transit and very family friendly. Within a 2 min walking radius of our apartment, there are at least 5 “kinder spielplatz”, which are tiny playgrounds (sidenote: there are SO many playgrounds here). There are winding paths all through the neighborhood that the girls have been riding their bikes on. I love that there are SO many things in walking distance- grocery store, farmers market, library, stores, restaurants and most importantly- many “Backereis.”
We learned that the biggest farmer’s market outside of Vitualienmarkt (which is permanent) happens every Thursday right in our neighborhood center. Jake and I tried our first currywurst and bought some (very expensive) salmon so the girls could have some familiar food.
The apartment itself is very pretty, modern, and BIG for european standards. The girls were disappointed that the bunkbeds were gone (two single beds instead), but I’m secretly glad. I can only imagine the things Hadley would do to annoy Eden from the bottom bunk. Sleeping in the same room has been an adjustment. We set ground rules about when it was ok to talk to the other sister and guess who did NOT follow a single one of those? The other sister, with tears in her eyes, said “She’s not following ANY of the rules.” At least said rule-breaker is easy to bribe. The second night went much better and the girls finally slept through the night (for which they each received a small chocolate bunny, sigh).
The weather has been gorgeous the past few days! Just like in Bellingham on those early spring days, it seemed like the entire city was out and about. We went to the biergarten at the Chinesischer Turm and enjoyed some radlers and soft pretzels. There’s a little carousel built in 1913 that the girls loved before they faced the Lord of the Flies playground situation.
Cultural Observations
Deposits: Germans seem to love their deposits. There have been deposits on our plastic coffee cups, water and beer bottles from the store, and grocery carts. We did not have any coins with us at the grocery store , but an older american couple came to the rescue and donated a euro.
“Liebesgeschichten geschrieben” (Love stories) in the grocery store : I went into the store and grabbed a pink basket and got stopped by an employee who asked (in german first) whether I knew what it was for. I said “shopping when you only need a few things?” and he laughed and explained that it was for people who are single looking to meet others at the grocery store. I quickly put it back and grabbed the red basket- appropriate for us old married ladies!
Prices: Despite rent being very expensive (Munich is the most expensive city in Germany), groceries and cafe food are CHEAP. A big carton of organic blueberries and a carton of eggs were each under 2 euros (hooray!). You can also get a very decent sandwich from a bakery for under 4 euro.
German omas: We’ve had several older german ladies show a LOT of interest in the girls. We even had a woman try to mediate a fight between Eden and Hadley over a ride-on horse— as she only spoke German, it wasn’t successful. I get the sense that the older generation plays a big role in childrearing.
Vielen Dank for reading and please keep us updated about all YOUR adventures at home!