I'm back...

I had great intentions when this blog was created of updating friends and family,  as well as internet trolls and voyers,  on my travels and adventures.  I successfully blogged for about 3 months of what would become a 3 year chapter in my life. I suppose at about the 3 month mark it stopped being a trip for me and started being my life. I got busy, my social life kicked into full swing, I was working more, traveling more, spending more time drinking wine and having coffee with friends. Blogging just fell by the wayside. You guys missed a lot in my life as I missed much in yours. I forgot to blog about some really important people and places. I did some extensive traveling throughout Europe of course, but more importantly I found out a lot about myself and grew a great deal.

Blogging served a great role for me at the beginning. It kept me from having to tell the same story over and over to different friends and family. I could just direct everyone to my blog for details of my latest adventure. In hindsight, I wish I was able to keep it up. You see, I hate the phone. Making phone calls for me is like taking a trip to the dentist, I just really do not want to. If I can minimize that in my life, I will. And I have (maybe too much). My aversion to phone calls and the fact that I moved myself 5,000 miles away has really estranged me from friends and family back home. Actually, I haven't even had a phone for the last year. Though a bit frustrating at times, it's been very liberating.

So now I'm back in the US. My employment contract ended and I moved home. I have no car, no phone, I'm staying with mom and dad, my life is slowly arriving by mail (18 boxes are en route).  I'm in my hometown where I know very few people (read: I know a lot of people but more in the way that I get their updates on Facebook though I have not had an actual conversation with them in quite some time). I'm just temporarily here though. I'm home for a few months then moving to Japan (don't act so shocked, you knew I was bound to do something crazy). I'm in a transitional phase. 

So that's my life in a nutshell right now. I've decided to blog a little while I have the time. I'm constantly thinking "I should blog that" so now I guess I will.

A Journey to Narnia, er... Munich!

Yesterday morning I woke up early and walked down the hall to go check the community information board to find out when and were church services would be held. As I was staring at the board, Renee, a new friend of mine, walked passed. She said she would be going to the 11:00am protestant service at the Army Chapel. I invited myself along.

Renee was getting a ride to church with her friend, Jennifer, and I was able to join them! The service was nice - it was non-denominational but it might as well have been Methodist (it was very similar). They close every service at the Army chapel with a benediction sung to the tune of Edelweiss from "The Sound of Music". Um, yeah - I think I may have found my place on the first shot!

After church there is a free meal - this week it was Subway sandwiches! At lunch I learned that Renee and Jennifer were going to be driving to Munich to go see a movie at the English language cinema. They had reserved tickets so, I couldn't go. I decided I wanted to just ride along with them and that I would explore Munich while they were in the movie. Two other girls, Vandi & Jenna, went with us as well. When we got to Munich, Jennifer and I went to park the car while the others went in to pick up the movie tickets. They ended up getting one for me too so I went to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie in 3D. I haven't seen the first two Narnia films so it was a bit confusing, but it was enjoyable none the less.

I enjoyed seeing all of the commercials/previews before the movie.  Many of them are the same as they are in the US but with German actors. For Example, the Windows commercial for their "Cloud" software/functionality where there is a family trying to take a picture and they can't get it right. Then, the mother says "To the cloud" and goes and edits the picture. Yeah, they had the same thing, same set, everything accept the family is more European looking and they speak German.

After the movie, we walked about half a mile to a Medieval Christmas Market. Bavaria (southern Germany) is famous for its Christmas Markets. They are outdoors and have lots of little stalls where merchants set up shops with gift items, food, crafts, and Gluhwein. Gluhwein, or Mulled Wine, is basically hot wine. I tried it - it was really sweet and not very good, in my opinion. Some people love it, others not so much. It's as traditional as hot chocolate here though - a winter must! This Medieval market was very interesting. Merchants were selling bows and arrows, instruments from the middle ages, lots of leather goods and furs... you know, medieval stuff.  Christmas markets are usually "modern" and sell hats & scarves, ornaments, artwork, jewelry and other normal things. It was a very interesting experience at the Medieval market - it was packed with people and we got to see a fire spitting contest and a mini parade with Medieval street dancers.  After about an hour at the market, we headed back to Garmisch via the autobahn.

See the Images below of us at the The Propylaea gate in Munich and then at the Medieval Christmas Market. It was dark so you can't see much but I tried to capture it!

Bavaria Bound

I'm moving and this time it's going to require more than a Uhaul to get my things and I to our new destination.  I've taken a job through the Department of Defense and will be moving to Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany for 13 months to work at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.  Edelweiss is a US government owned and operated R&R facility for active and retired military and their families. It is about an hour South of Munich near the German border with Austria and Switzerland in the Alps. By all accounts, it's beautiful. I'm not sure what I'll be doing just yet, I'll know more when I arrive, but I'm excited for this adventure and for the doors this will hopefully open. 

I will be leaving from Birmingham on December 12th. Before that happens I have a lot of packing to do, some shopping (let's face it, I'm from Alabama - I'm not prepared for "real" winter!), visiting/goodbyes with friends, Thanksgiving, a Birthday, makeshift/early Christmas and who knows what else. I guess I also need to work on acquiring some followers for this little blog!