Parting is such sweet sorrow.

There are certainly many things that we are going to miss about Germany and our life here. We love it here, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. But that is for another post. This post is a list of all the things I am looking forward to when moving back to the states, including some things that I just don't like about living here. My dear husband will not necessarily agree with all of this list since he is entirely enamored with Germany so much so that he overlooks the things that he might agree with on this list.

1. I can not wait to have good fast reliable internet service! I want my cable modem! It not only effects the use of the internet, but also our Vonage phone which goes in and out during any given conversation. Which leads me to the next thing on my list.

2. Talking to my family on the phone when I want, not just in the afternoon when they are awake. Aah, being able to wake up in the morning and call my mother without having to wait until 4pm when she is awake will be so nice.

3. Yes, another technology issue...phones. It costs you an arm and a leg to talk on the phone here. Every phone costs money by the minute. The only way you can talk for free is if you answer a call. Plus, no one answers their phones, and no Americans know how to check their messages because the directions are in German. AND the cell phones drop calls all the time. I want my Verizon back!

4. And I can't believe this is so low on the list, but I really miss big, no HUGE, fountain drinks with ICE! A large drink at McDonald's here is the same as a regular sized drink in the states, and yes, with no ice.

5. Variety! This is a very inclusive category. I am talking about variety in restaurants. Here your choices are Snitzle with seven million different sauces or a seven million different sausages with a side of fries or spatzle. There are a few more common dishes than that, but you get the gist. It just gets old, at least to me. Brian could eat it everyday forever. I am also talking about in stores, grocery and other kinds. I love American cereal aisles! German stores do not have the variety that the US stores have. I am so excited about Target and Olive Garden and On the Border.

6. Blending in! I stick out like a sore thumb here. Between the language (which I still stink at pronouncing) and the three children that I bring out in public, and all our American gear I can forget about fitting in despite the blond hair and blue eyes.

7. Familiarity. They just do this different here. Different isn't bad, but it isn't comfortable either.

8. Normal sized parking spaces. Now that we are selling the van, I look at it and see all the parking spots that I actually didn't fit into. They are written on it in the form of scratches and chipping paint like a scrapbook telling stories of how a minivan isn't actually mini and will not fit into the parking spots meant for a Smart Car.

9. Polite silence. Germans do not hold back. They say what they think and they have definite opinions on everything. I can not tell you how many people have told me that two kids are enough or that Obama is the greatest or that German health-care is better than American health-care. Smile and nod. Most Americans don't come right out and tell you that you should have only had two kids when your third child is sitting right there cute as anything God every made.

Wow, I'll have to do the antithesis post tomorrow to get out this taste I left in your mouth for Germany. Really I have many more things that I love about it. Part of it is just me mentally preparing myself to leave.