Life here is actually pretty boring most of the time

As I look back on the previous posts, I realize we have only posted about the amazing moments here, we are living in a fantasy world. While it definitely feels like that often, just as often it feels much closer to tedium than glamour. I thought I would post about what day-to-day life is really like here – not constant festivals and castles and beer (though there is a lot of beer – and I am starting to drink it!!). Also, this will be fun for me to look back on years down the road, when all I remember are our fun travels in Europe.

Precursor: Please do not take this as a pity party, or a complaining session, or read more into it than what it is. I know how lucky we are to be here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Daily life is much harder here than the US where you can drive anywhere – more time commuting, taking dogs out, shopping for essentials, all with no car – but this is the tradeoff we are taking to live in fabulous Munich.

In Phoenix I used to roll out of bed around 7:30, and eventually make my way to work – a whopping 5 minute drive. Now: I wake up at 6:30 when Noah is making his way out the door to catch his long-distance train. Before I leave to start my hour commute, I have to take the dogs out no matter the weather. Lately that means freezing cold and sometimes snow. Every morning I miss the doggy door and backyard we had in Phoenix. I run out the door after cleaning them off to wait at the bus stop.

Sometimes I am lucky, and I catch the bus right away, and make it to the train station with amazing timing to catch my S3 train. More often, I wait outside for the bus or the train, or worse, both. Around 7:45 (give or take 10 minutes) I hop on an overly crowded train and try to grab a seat as it opens up. Normally I have a seat by the 4^th stop – Hauptbahnhof – where many people get off to make their connection.

Once I arrive at Fasanenpark (the stop for Intel), I have to walk 10 minutes to my building – all outside. The photo below shows the path I take, following the others getting off the train. By about 8:30 (give or take 10 minutes, depending on the commute that day) – an hour since I left home – I am at my table - who thought I would miss my mini-cubicle???

After work I typically take the 6 o’clock train home, where luckily the timing works out that I arrive at Laim (our station) about the same time as Noah. We either stop at the grocery store to pick up food (as our refrigerator and freezer is less than half the size as it was in Phoenix, and stores are only open until 8pm, and not at all on Sundays), or head straight home. If we don’t need to stop at the store, we usually get home around 6:45.

Now it is time to make dinner, eat, clean up, shower, take the dogs out again (Noah this time), and around 8pm, we finally get to relax and try to follow German TV before our 10pm bedtime.

So yeah, it is not a movie star life during the week. And during the week I sometimes think of how I miss the easiness of living in the States. But so far those thoughts get erased when I meet Noah at the train station at the end of the day, and we make our way to our amazing little apartment, passing little grocery stores, cute houses, and bakeries along the way. And then I remember: I f***ing live in Europe!