3 Reasons I’m Thinking This May Take a While
I’d been bursting at the seams with the thought of sharing the latest updates of our kitchen rebuild with you. The 36 workable square feet of space looked like they were going to work without a hitch. Or at least that’s what we thought. There’s just one tinsy tiny problem:
We’re not in the United States anymore. It’s kinda Greek to me.
Dilemma One
For us, the hardest thing about living in a new country isn’t the language, the laws, or the food. It’s figuring out where to get the things we need just to function day to day. Where do you shop for lumber in a new country? How about a decent table saw or file? Heck, exactly which brands are decent?
In the US, if I needed a bucket of wood putty, I knew exactly where to go. I generally knew where to find it in the store. And I also knew exactly what my preferred wood putty container Iooked like. You could probably say the same about any product you buy from yogurt and plastic bins to a ream of paper.
Here, I didn’t know where to go for any of that. I didn’t even know if they used wood putty. A task that would have taken ten minutes in the US suddenly began taking an ENTIRE DAY in Germany. It was very frustrating to pause at the end of the day and think about what we’d accomplished. There have been so many days when all we can ever say is: I bought the little ___ we needed.
Dilemma Two
It isn’t like the US where everyone either
- has a huge pickup, SUV, or trailer
- knows of somebody who does. (Remember, gas costs around $9/gallon here. Trucks aren’t very efficient.)
A lot of people get around without cars here, and the people who do drive cars have really small ones. No minivans, SUVs, big Subarus. So then we had to figure out: how could we get lumber and tools home once we find a store? I have only seen one pickup in Europe, though I have seen plenty of these parked and stuffed with material at the lumberyard:
With the huge sheets of wood that we’re bringing home, we actually had to rent a big moving van like a U-Haul. I never thought I’d be saying that.
Dilemma Three
We’re young. We’re the computer generation. And the likelihood of us turning on the chop saw at 9:00 at night is a whole lot more likely than 9:00 in the morning. Except we can’t.
Germany has strict laws about when you’re allowed to make unnecessary noise. Unnecessary noise includes: vacuming, mowing your lawn, listening to loud music, and running your dishwasher in apartment complexes. It’s kind of like college dorms except that everyone actually follows the rules. They aren’t afraid to knock on your door to remind you of the rules, either.
So we are allowed to run power tools from 9:00 to 1:00, then 3:00 to 5:00 six days a week. We have 36 hours a week to organize all the drilling and hammering that we need to do. The good thing is that everyone else also has 36 hours to bang around, too. If I want to watch a movie at night, I can without having to pause for loud noises – you know, assuming I will have a home to relax in one day.
Results?
So after several weeks of work, all I have to show you is this one little picture of Martin getting ready to test fit cabinet number one.
(Photographs from jmlyn23 and Making This Home.)
October 27th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
How exciting moving somewhere new all the time..and now Germany…I loved going through your blog..I so have the travel bug right now..I am driving myself nuts trying to plan an adventure for my family. I am so happy you stopped by my blog..looking forward to reading more of your adventures in a new country.. :)
October 27th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
I can relate to your frustrations. I felt very much the same way when I immigrated from Germany
to the US 18 years ago. It’ll all come in time. I’m very much americanized now but still miss some things
from Germany. Especially during the Winter my favorite was going to the Christmas Markets.
I’ve heard they are much more commercialized now but if you can you should visit a few of them.
I’ll keep following your journey and feed my occassional homesickness with your blog.
Good luck and have a wonderful day,
Tam
October 28th, 2008 at 5:23 am
That’s amazing about all of the noise restrictions – who would’ve thought? And it is also very interesting about no trucks, although with the price of gas, I can see why. Can’t wait to see it all coming together. :)
October 28th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Wow, I had no idea of the noise restrictions pertaining to vacuuming, mowing, and power tools. And I’ve never even thought about the frustrations of having to locate and choose tools/supplies. The lack of trucks did cross my mind though. :)
Too funny about the above comment regarding the Christmas markets. I didn’t see the comment until after I sent you my email. lol
October 28th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind comments. Do stop by again soon.
Reading this post really opened my eyes on how different day-to-day life is overseas. I’ve done summer travel to Europe but had only perspective from staying in hotels.
October 28th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
We just remodeled our kitchen this summer. We completely gutted our current kitchen & replaced everything in about 1 week. I was just trying to imagine how long it would have taken had we been under the time constraints you are. Wow! Good Luck.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I am just so not surprised that Germany has such strict noise laws…is that a bad thing that I’m not surprised? Not sure…anyway…best of luck with your renovation. My husband and I have had that bug too, but it’s disappeared since the birth of our daughter two months ago today! I must say, I look forward to more projects in the coming years though! Looking forward to checking your blog and seeing you it’s moving ahead!
October 29th, 2008 at 9:09 am
It’s so nice to hear something good about the USA. :) Even if it is that we all drive gas guzzling cars. ;) I would be totally lost without my all-purpose stores. The noise laws really surprise me, but when living in close proximity, it is probably a necessity.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:00 am
Wow, I never really thought about those issues. It will take you a bit longer, but I bet the end result will be great! I love looking at/reading about renovations!!
November 1st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Yeah we totally broke the rules the other day and mowed the lawn on a Sunday…*gasp*!!!! Luckily most of our neighbors are American….so I don’t think any of them would turn us in to the authorities :)
November 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I had to come and see how the kitchen remodel was going. Boy we really do take for granted the luxuries over here. We have a Lowe’s a mile down the road and a pickup truck to put it in. And has is $9.00 a gallon? Have mercy girl! I’m not sure whether to pray for a truck or a relocation program for you guys lol. Hang in there and I’ll be checking in on your progress.
Hugs.
Kim