Anyway, the decide there must have been some mice in the garage at one point or another as they found some droppings. Heaven forbid they work with that sort of situation, so rather than moving into the house to pack things up, they whined and cried and went home. So the next morning the JPPSO inspector came out and saw that the droppings had been cleaned up and gave the thumbs up for packing to resume. It took the movers almost 3 hours to show up...and then they worked slow as slow can be. The next day luckily the movers brought a few more packers with them, so the house was completely packed (or so I thought). The next day (yes, Friday, the day before I was flying out of Colorado) the loaders show up. They worked hard and fast and had to do some of the packing too since the packers hadn't done their job well.
By the time all this happened, I didnt have time to clean up the townhouse as planned, so the landlady got it back with somewhat a mess (not like I expected her to return the deposit anyway). So then she said Heather could go over and clean up the townhouse for me but she changed the locks almost immediately...what a wench.
So, Saturday morning at 0 dark thirty, I got up to get ready to go to the airport (well as ready as I could be). Heather was so great and got up to take me (really hard not to cry at that point...heck I had started crying saying goodbye to Luigi at the house). I got on this little puddle jumper plane that was my ride to Minneapolis. That thing was so small that I (short as I am) couldnt stand up straight other than in the very middle of the aisle on the plane.
Pictures from the Minneapolis area (from the plane)
Ok, so I made it to Minneapolis then transferred over to my flight to Baltimore. Thank goodness a bigger plane.Not a bad flight at all, really. Pictures from that part of the flight:
So, I flew into Baltimore thinking everything was going well...oops, shouldn't have been thinking. I collected all my baggage and moved my way to the AMC (military flight area). Of course no one was there, so I called the number listed and somehow my flight was not on the recorded flight list. I still had a few hours till there might be someone at the counter so I decided to go down to the USO to at least check in my bags so I didnt have to lug them around. Come to find out that the flight had been cancelled and the USO had been informed a week earlier. I took their suggestion and called a hotel close by the airport; at least I would get a good nights sleep (which I did since their bed was so comfy). The next day I headed out to the airport (Still having hours to wait for someone to be at the ticket counter for the military flight. I did (once they opened up the check-in) get checked in and sat there wondering if the flight would be cancelled yet again (there was a huge storm...loads of lightning and heavy rain)...but all of a sudden the clouds started to part and it looked like things would go right.
So after waiting six more hours it was time to board the plane. How silly of me to think that just because the storm had ended hours earlier that it wouldnt effect the flight. We were delayed due to the storm being in our flight path. After about an hour they had decided on a slight flight path change, we got extra gas and were on our way. I know now that if at all possible, any time I take a flight to the US or back, I will hope I can afford 1st class on a commercial flight (this flight was quite uncomfortable). I did however make it to Germany (only a little late too).
We got off the plane in time to be given our customs speech...you know, only so many tobacco products, no meat products, only so much alcohol, etc. Went through to show passport and orders...so disappointed, since we landed on a military base, no stamp on the passport. At any rate, so I go to get my luggage (all of it) but first went to get a cart...it took cash not credit card. I had no cash as I had given it away thinking I wouldnt need it...silly me. Luckily some nice people paid for the cart for me...thank goodness for kindness of others. I packed all my luggage on the cart, again told the customs people I had nothing to claim and was on my way, thanks to my sponsor. She is the best!
We stopped off at the school to get the secretary to start the paperwork for my pay (oops DOD didnt have me do that despite telling the secretary that they had)...got my paperwork done for my password and login for the school system, then off to lodging...oops, once again, another snaffu. Oh yeah, my sponsor is so good that she got me a flower bouquet and a snack bag...yummy stuff in it too!
Somehow lodging had the time frame of my stay wrong, plus they had me on the 4th floor of a walkup building (with all that luggage...grrrrr). So the clerk worked his magic and got me a first floor room...but it is further from the school...cool though, a place to sleep. Stopped by the tiny commissary on Kapaun and off to see what my room was like. (Not bad by the way).
I was exhausted! Despite the exhaustion, I did stay up till about 9 pm in hopes that it would take care of the jet lag...not quite, still working on that.
Tuesday, up bright and early to start my time at Vogelweh. Funny thing, when the principal introduced me she said that not only would I be doing gifted education but somehow I was also teaching 5th grade science/social studies in the afternoons...news to me. I have been trying to talk with her about it, but havent gotten a chance yet. Not a big deal, just kind of irritating that she didnt bother to tell me in advance. My classroom is kind of interesting. It is in a portable building that says DECON on the outside. The windows are normal european windows so they are interesting. What I like best is that on one side of my room the windows face these lovely trees (see them below):
Oh to add fun for the day, I got up bright and early again today...not to go to school, oh no, it was to go and take my USAREUR drivers license test (what a pain in the butt that was). Egads, it was such a traumatic thing...first all those odd signs, then their strange way of looking at who has the right of way (which isnt always quite as it may seem)...100 questions later I was done. You have to keep in mind you have to get at least an 85 to pass. I barely skimmed by with an 86. I may always strive for A's on tests but this one I was overjoyed to get an 86. So that means when I get brave enough, I can rent a car or buy one and be able to drive. I think I might let that wait just a few days more...not that brave yet! But when I do get brave (or can go someplace with someone else) I will post some pictures :)
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