Breaking Rule Nummer Eins

Little bit of trivia from one of my German books:

How should you demonstrate your efficiency at work?
a. Always leave on time.
b. Always work late.
c. Work late in an emergency

Guesses? Great news---the answer is a! In other words, Tim, get your cute little tushie out of the office. I’m currently waiting for him in the parking lot after work since we are sharing our rental car. Oh, did I mention that we’re driving a Mercedes as our “hired car.” Nice. Very, very nice.
The last two days we finally had to break neighbor Laurie’s Rule #1. You may not know these rules by heart as Tim and I do, so here’s a quick refresher.

1. Always stay with your buddy.
2. Use your party manners.
(and for good measure) 3. Don’t show your underpants to anyone.

The time has come for my buddy to leave me and go off to work. Honestly, I had been dreading this all weekend. Not sure I was ready to function in this new country with nary a language skill. I should have had a little foresight and weaned myself off of the social interaction, but the last few weeks before the move were a race to spend every waking moment with friends and family. I think I may have forgotten what it feels like to be alone. Isolation is probably the thing that scares me the most here. BUT, I’m glad to say that I’m doing just fine. Well, most of that is because I really haven’t been alone that much. (Not quite sure if that’s good or bad, but I’m so grateful!) Yesterday (Monday) Claudia took me to the DEZ (pronounce Deets) which stands for the Donau Einkaufen Zentrum—auf English, the Danube Shopping Center—aka the Mall. No time for shopping, just getting signed up for Internet. I’m so glad that Claudia was there. I can only imagine the mess I would have gotten myself into without her.

Today I was prepared to spend the day by myself. I got up, took Tim to work so that I could have the car, went for a nice long run (and when I say run, I mean mostly walk after my weeks of sitting on my can before we left) and a quick German lesson. I was walking out the door to go into Regensburg to wander around when our Dutch friend Heidi called. Heidi’s husband Maarten works at CAT with Tim and we met her during our house hunting trip. She is exactly what I needed today. She is warm and outgoing, not to mention she’s fluent in both German and English. So instead of spending the day by myself, I went shopping with Heidi and her mom.

That reminds me. My mother-in-law gave me the most perfect book for my birthday. Can’t remember the exact title, but it’s something like “A Guide for Spouses Abroad: How not to Lose Your Identity.” In it, one of the first comments they make is that wives abroad tend to either eat too much, eat too little, drink to much or shop excessively. Wonder if I can knock out all four of them!