Moving in - der Umzug

Recovering from the move - or rather actually moving in - apparently is taking me longer than expected.  In part this has to do with... work (my favorite excuse of choice) and being busy with figuring out how everything works out here in Canada.  So my apologies for not posting in a while and having you miss out on my fun adventures for a while.  The christmas break (thank you RRU President for the "appreciation days") will be a great time to catch up - and put more final bits and pieces together.

But...  for now... let's wind back the clock for almost 4 weeks and when I was reunited with my home (=stuff).

First thing the movers did was hand me a list with numbers.  Felt a little bit like playing bingo as they would start coming in with boxes and yelling numbers at me to cross of the list.  Lucky me - I got all the numbers right!!  Nothing missing, nothing broken - move all good!!

Just like in Berlin my Grandma's lovely piano did seem like a challenge and required calling in additional (extra strong) guys to carry it in.  It fits nicely in my living room and has since been freed of the random stuff placed on top of it.  Will have to find someone to tune it - but that'll have to wait till after the holidays....

And as predicted by my Berlin movers - the Canadians were unable to piece my buffet together.  Ah well...  Will get that sorted one of these days.

As the movers were asked to unwrap and unpack - that is what they did.  Leaving behind piles and piles of randomly mixed things: kitchen stuff and books, bathroom items and office supplies, etc.  you get the picture.  I did have fun finding random bits and pieces I had forgotten about (and I thought I had already found all the hidden treasures as I was packing up back home...)

In addition to A LOT of books and folders I also seem to have a lot of pictures and frames.  These are now all piled up in one of my rooms - but are awaiting to be put on my walls.  What to put where?  I love decorating...

Cleaning up the bedroom was my first priority, so in a way it ended up being the first (and only) room ready and organised for a while.  Great thing about big closet space: hiding piles and stuff....

Organising the kitchen was not quite so easy and remains an ongoing process.  It's not like there isn't enough storage space (rather too much almost) but getting it all where you need it the most is the harder part.

As a welcome gift my landlady (she lives downstairs) gave me a box of mandarin oranges AND a blue recycling box!  What a great way to say welcome!

When a friend asked me how my move was doing I sent this picture.  Nice, colorful stacks, right?!  That could be a new look.......  Apparently I did not make a convincing argument and was told to re-visit and go on organising.  Thanks for pushing me...  :)

So I finally put the shelves together in what will be my office (once I get a desk that is).  And started organising the folders as this before and after piece proves.

So slowly things are coming together and my home starts feeling more like my home.  It is nowhere near ready but on its way.  Part of me is happy that no one has taken me up on my invitiations to come visit - then again that would have speeded up the process immensely!!  So please, come visit!!  It's great out here.  And the guest room is actually ready!

Die erste Nacht im neuen zu Hause

Nun, ich konnte meinen Aufenthalt im Chalet verlängern - und doch hatte ich mich dazu entschlossen, die erste Nacht in der neuen Wohnung noch ganz ohne Möbel zu verbringen.  Immerhin hatte ich ja schon einige Dinge dorthin gebracht und so die Zeit noch ein bisschen genutzt alles zu reinigen und gleich früh morgens zum Zollamt zu fahren.  Da war dann alles gar kein Problem... und ich freute mich darauf, dass endlich meine Sachen den weiten Weg übers Meer von Berlin gekommen waren!

 So here is my "bed" on the floor.  After trying for about an hour to blow up the airmattress a dear friend finally gave me the hint to check for the extra hole...  I had started to doubt my intelligence at that point.  To defend myself: the instructions had not mentioned any second hole - but the box did include an extra thing to close it.  That saves me from spending the night on the floor.... (I had left the yoga mat at the chalet....)

 The bathroom was the first sort of ready put together part of the new place.  Looking sooo much better with the new shower curtain!  And some beauty goodies from the Bellingham trip - and of course the things I had at the chalet.

 This is the view from my kitchen to the neighbors yard and their...  chickens...  so far they dont seem to make tooo much noise, or maybe they are just far away enough.  No rooster in sight...  phew!

Waiting for the truck to arrive...  waiting...  waiting....

Quick weekend trip to Bellingham

When Erin invited me to come out to Bellingham (as real Canadians do...)  for a power shopping experience I had no idea what I got myself into...  Not only did Erin (and her family) provide me with an amazing place to stay and lots of yummy food and wine - she also spent all day Saturday driving me around to the best bargain places and advised me in my shopping decisions.  I got plenty of necessary and not quite so necessary things to replace what I couldnt take with me from Europe and to get me ready for my new place!

 First, getting in line for the ferry.  The meaning of living on an island is slowly sinking in on me...  everytime you want to leave basically means: take a ferry or a flight.  Which just means some extra time and planning.  And in winter...  not a lot of the ferries run on a regular schedule, which makes it less fun.

 But - once I got to Erin's place, the proximity of Lake Whatcom and the overall beauty of Bellingham along with the welcoming family made more than up for the trip (which really isnt that bad at all).

 Here are Rusty and Freya - the dogs in the family - too cute!  Both of them!

 Erin also made sure to show me some of Bellinghams most beautiful sides - and not just the shopping highlights...  So I for sure will have to come back in summer to explore more of the beauty and shorelines and Washington sites.

 On the ride back the wind picked up and it got increasingly stormy...  Luckily I left rather early (also taking into account the border and an interessting experience I had on the way over with the friendly people working there) - cause the later ferries actually did get cancelled because of the wind.  You can imagine why when you see the following picture...

 And of course I cannot show you all the things I picked up in Bellingham which range from an induction plate, toaster, lamp, toothbrush - to...  my most fun new possession: the Roomba.  Thank you Erin, for taking me into it!  It is a vacuum  cleaner which does all the work while you are out of the house!  Works amazingly (even better once I have cleared up my fllor space) and it soo much fun to watch manoeuver around all corners and bits and pieces and different floors...

Once again, thanks Erin for having me and taking me around all the great places and the fun conversations we had - see you again soon!!!

Finally - I found a place to live!

Okay, I am a little behind with keeping you all up-to-date on my adventures...  soo...  I will slowly catch up on everything that has happened.  First, in the early days of November I finally found a place I liked enough to want to live in.  It's a little bit of a different neighborhood than I originally wanted.  But it is walking distance to downtown and walking distance to the water - and just a nice quiet neighborhood.  Work is about 15min drive away - and in summer I could even take the Gallopping Goose trail to ride my bike...  well, we will see about that.  In any case, it's a nice place - and I have my guest rooms too!!  So please, come visit!!

Picking up the keys...

 The living room comes with a real fireplace!  So cool!!

 The kitchen is a tad old fashioned - but it does have a dishwasher and everything you need...

 My two extra bedrooms.  One a pretty green, the other an interessting shade of brown...

 Just like the bathroom.

 And the amazing master bedroom - such a pretty room!

 Still empty it is not quite home yet...

Oh and there is an outside porch too - BBQ parties are on!  :)

Herbst

Mit am schönsten hier ist einfach die Landschaft.  Die Mischung aus Wäldern und Wege und Meer macht einfach jede Menge Spaß!  Und rund um den Campus und mein Häuschen im Wald gibt es unzählige Wege, auf denen es vor allem jetzt im Herbst jede Menge zu entdecken gibt!
Und da muss man schon jede Regenpause und Sonnenstrahl nutzen, um einfach mal die Wälder und Gärten zu genießen...

 Der Japanische Garten auf dem Campus - mit Bäumen, die vor über 100 Jahren aus Japan importiert wurden....

 Das ist der morgendliche Blick beim Frühstück....

 Morgens auf dem Weg zur Arbeit...

 Abends auf dem Weg zurück...

 Das alte Eingangstor..

Herbst ist einfach eine farbenfrohe Angelegenheit!!  Bin mal gespannt, wie das so weitergeht...