A few thoughts in my head lately:
* These kids are bilingual. MY kids. They did it, without any help from their single-language-speaking parents! I think we came to realize back in December that all of them (Hannah included) were able to fully understand what all of their teachers and classmates were saying to them at school. They'd input the German and either respond in English or nod their heads. In the last few weeks, though, they can fully converse and operate in German. A man stopped us on the street a few weeks ago and rattled off a question to me. I started in with my usual..."Es tut mir leid, ich spreche kein Deutche" (I'm sorry, I speak no German). But Millie chimed in, "Mom, he's asking where the park is." Since then, she is my full time translator. Without shame, I turn to her in every situation. She interprets conversations at the store, with other moms, between me and her German friends who are over for playdates. Simon, too, and equally. He's got it. He sings in German, he plays and interacts with all of his school mates in German. What really gets me is when the three of them (Hannah included) sing and talk to each other in German. Can you imagine sitting with your family and feeling like the outsider? A very proud and shocked outsider. I am so thankful, so thrilled, that they are having this experience. My hope for this time was that this language immersion would unlock the 'language pathway' in their brains and would make future language acquisition easier for them. I never dreamed they'd be so functional this soon. I am humbled.
* I am feeling so much satisfaction and contentment in building friendships with my neighbors. I remember talking with a fellow Navy wife who had been living here about a year. She told me stories about having her neighbor over for coffee and going to the market together. I was stunned and so impressed. I came here fully prepared for some serious isolation. Thought our church thing might be tricky (which it hasn't...we have found a wonderful church home), and I couldn't dream of connecting with German neighbors who spoke a different language and lived in a different culture. But, here I am, having my new friends over for dinner, watching each others' children, going for runs in the forest together. It is impossible to fully describe how completely warm and welcoming these families have been, but I would say it has been the biggest surprise of this transition. And isn't that awesome? My biggest shock is how wonderful people are!
* I am out of my comfort zone and have really loved hosting a small group bible study for our church. We have such a cool group of people who have become friends and share their lives with us once a week. I am normally a fully panic-stricken hostess and a hard-core introvert. But this has been such a fun adventure and I am learning to really embrace the essence of hospitality: people aren't here to inspect my mess, they are here to be together and grow in God's word together. We squeeze in tight, look away from the strewn legos and un-mopped floors, and laugh and learn together.
* What's not going as well as I had hoped: home schooling the kids. Oh man I'm bad at that. I need to keep the kids on some sort of curriculum of reading and math (at least) so that when we go home they can hop right back into the American system. Honestly, it just doesn't happen around here like it should. I need to rededicate time to this. Also, keeping up with friends and family on Skype/FaceTime. I honestly thought I would be awesome...make a call a day, keep it all on track, stay connected. The time difference and incessant kid-ness of life around here has derailed this dream. Perhaps next year I can get a plan together. I miss my friends!
At some point during every single day I say to myself, "Man, this is a CRAZY life." And then, what always follows is,"Yeah, I'm so lucky."
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