Doh, my previous comment should have said “completely UNrelated”, not “completely related”. I think it is past my bedtime.

I just got around to reading some more of your blog. It’s excellent. I laughed at so many experiences similar to ours, including the FAQ (people asked me if we would have a baby here too…disappointingly for them, I opted for grad school instead…although the story is not all written yet so we will see). You handled your critic very gracefully as well. I probably would have just fed him/her by writing snarky retorts, to no good end…especially since your posts were so balanced as to make his/her comments almost completely related to anything that was actually said.

As an aside, I love the name Theodore – congratulations and good luck.

Bonjour from the land of fromage! I am thinking of you Blythe as today will certainly go down in history! Congrats and best wishes, Mommy! We love YOU and we love your blog, we’ve just been too lame to post a comment… sorry I missed de-lurking week, been in a sleepless in La Cadiere stupor since the arrival of my little bundle of joy Sending lots of love, light, and cozy wishes for a good nights rest to you 3! xoxo kc and co.
p.s. glad you opted against Beckham it better suits a domestic pet.

I’m sorry you’ve had to endure some jerks. It sure takes a lot of guts to anonymously criticize someone you don’t even know. I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard so far. I’ve only had a couple of ambiguously snarky anonymous comments. *knocks on wood*

The first time that I moved to Germany, I had a job, which made living here much easier. I met my husband, we both got transferred to NYC for five years and he was recently transferred back. As I didn’t want to return to the job I had had, we decided I would stay at home.

I had no idea how different the experience would be and how difficult the adjustment. I found myself homesick and, clutching at straws, looked for people who might be going through something similar. I was really happy to stumble upon your blog!

I never post on blogs, being too introverted for my own good, but was touched that you have to endure critics. This is your experience and, unless somebody has left their family and friends, career and country, it’s really hard to relate. Having an outlet to express the difficulties is one way to better adapt to them in your actual life.

I wish you all the best with your baby — that will be our next step, too!

Hi Blythe,

Hang in there. Germany is hard to live in at times. I still get frustrated that I miss out on various things because my German isn’t good enough. What has really helped me is that I made a really great German friend who coaches me along and keeps me informed of things. Just this morning she showed me how to use a machine in our German bank that I was unaware of. . .AND we have been here 18 months!

Have a good weekend!!!!!! Enjoy the quiet while you can! Your life is about to become really exciting & LOUD!

Anne
Erlangen

I comment here on occasion, and figured I would here, in the spirit of de-lurking week, say “hi” and wish you all the best for the arrival of your baby.

If you have to focus your “Germany-positive” engery somewhere, do it in real life, with the neighbors and store clerks. Everyone needs somewhere to whinge and it’s probably best to do that online, in a quasi-community of people going through the same thing. At least that’s my personal philosophy.

Thanks for writing – and I adore your header image. (My spell-checker is somehow stuck in German, so you’ll also see no spelling criticism from me.)