Ok, so today marks 6 months of living in Germany. One thing about moving (let alone living over seas) is that you have to make all those changes like making sure everyone has your new address and all that stuff. One of things you also have to do is update/get your driver’s license. Well, when you move to Germany, you have six months to get your German driver’s license or there’s a nice fine and a black spot on your record if you are caught.

The process for getting a German licenses is supposedly straight forward depending upon which state’s license you have. Luckily for us, the state that issued us our driver’s licenses had full reciprocosity with Germany which meant we didn’t have to take any of the tests (driving or written). So the process for getting a German license should be easy right - hand in your old and get your new one right? Nope. Even though we didn’t have to take a driver’s test (which we hear no Americans pass and so they have to go to driving school which costs mucho Euros), we still had to provide a lot of paperwork (like showing that we had had driver’s licenses for more than two years since our current licenses had been issued last year.) and we had to get paperwork signed at other places and return them to the Fuehrerschein Buero. Like one saying that we really did live where we said we did and that we weren’t criminals. Of course, this was also a great exercise in speaking German and using vocabulary we had never used before.

In the end, we received notification on Friday that our licenses were ready and we picked them up Monday. Whew, one day before we wouldn’t have been able to drive.

One of the cool things about German driver’s licenses (except for all the cool holograms they use to deter counterfits) is that they don’t expire. They are yours for life (unless you do something really bad while driving like not yeilding to a pedestrian crossing the road or driving in the left lane when not passing someone. Speeding tickets aren’t really a problem though)

PS - Oh, and I know my photo looks like I’m mad or out to hurt someone, but that is the official way photos are suppose to be taken for goverment documents here. They have a lot of rules here for just such things.

Alex’s nickname in the states was sometimes “Cruise Director” as he always like to organize different activities. He hasn’t stopped here in Germany. On Saturday, we had several English speaking boys over for The Quest of the Four Challenges. With the help and creativity of his mother, Alex had organized this adventure where each of the 4 “Knights” had to complete four tasks to receive the Star of Courage.

They had to do the following:

1. Build A Volcano - we used play-dough to make volcano and then used vinegar and baking soda to make it erupt
2. Fly an Airplane - we used a toy airplane that is loaded on a spring and shot. Each “Knight” had to hit a target with the airplane
3. Jump off a Cliff - this one had me wondering about our sanity. We rearranged our living room with a mattress in the middle, plied high with pillows and sofa cushions. Each “Knight” then jumped from the back of my big chair onto the “rocks” below.
4. Climb a Mountain - this one I got suckered into leading. Oh, wait, not suckered - I had the privilage of leading this group of “Knights” up our hill. That is when I realized that I am totally out of shape as they are literally running up the hill. Alex actually came back and took my hand promising that he would help me make it. Ahh, wasn’t that sweet? One thing I did notice is that when you have a bunch of people much lower to the ground than you, they notice a lot more things. Like slugs, grasshoppers, bees, various kinds of sticks, etc.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. Be sure to check out the pictures in the photo album