525,600 minutes later…

We started our journey in Munich exactly one year ago – landing January 5^th, 2012 at 12:30 pm.  There were a few uncertain moments in the beginning, and we both had our “that’s it, I’m moving back to the USA” kind of moments (we still do sometimes – just not as often).  Though after settling in, the last year has been the most fun and transformative year of our lives.  There are absolutely no regrets, except for the decision to study Spanish instead of German in high school.

For those that do (or don’t) follow our blog regularly, here is a recap of the best and worst from Weiss aus Deutschland 2012.

Top 1^st year moments in no particular order:

1. First night in our completely empty apartment except for 6 suit cases, some hand me downs from Ellen, and a dorm sized kitchen….an unexplainably weird and amazing feeling.
2. Seeing a male stripper at a public restaurant on (or for?) my birthday and Julie ‘accidently’ taking me to a strip club after my first day at work (check the previous blogs).
3. Watching, partying with, and later practicing with the Munich Caribes baseball team.
4. Cramming in with 40,000 fans to watch the greatest sporting match I have ever seen in the FC Bayern vs. Chelsea Champions League final in Munich.
5. BBQing on the Isar River, if you ignore the multitude of naked old men.
6. Traveling all of Europe.
7. Living the Bavarian way- in the mountains, in the beer garden, or attending some festival in the city.
8. Our 13 visitors from home…thank you for all the trips to Marienplatz!
9. Our ‘Pangea’ international party – 18 countries represented!

Bottom 1^st year moments in no particular order:

1. Julie’s face plant and trip to the ER for stitches.
2. Counting down the days before we can move back to the US….after our 3^rd day here (Noah).
3. Getting locked out of the apartment, spending 200 EUR, even though we had our keys!
4. Getting speeding ticket my first time driving through the city of Munich.
5. Eating a sandwich out of partially raw bread, not realizing what ‘Fertigbacken’ means – ready to bake (also Noah).
6. Train delays/misses.  Especially the 3-hour delay after my train was hit by lightning.
7. Continuing with public transport – trying to figure out where a bus/tram stop is, only to learn by watching it leave you standing in the wrong spot.
8. Wearing canvas shoes (aka sponges) through snow that one (or ten) time(s).
9. Outfitting an entire apartment, from the light fixtures to the curtains to the furniture to the kitchen.  Though not as bad as it could have been without all the help from Aunt Ellen!

Hopefully 2013 comes with more ‘Top’ moments than ‘Bottom’ – but either way, we wouldn’t change anything in 2012.  Well, maybe one: eating that raw bread.