The grass is greener ...

I love this quote!  The grass certainly is greener where you water it.This frame of mind has helped our family since we relocated from the UK to Germany in 2008.  Only a year or so before our actual departure, we had bought a new home (well new to us!) and we were enjoying making a house a home. We both had jobs we enjoyed and the children were settled in school and we all had good friends. Life was good! We had anticipated we would live in the UK forEVER!

Then we found ourselves facing a new challenge in our lives.  My husband's employer was consolidating two European areas and the main office would be in Frankfurt.  We thought and prayed over the decisions we were facing. My main worry was the children's education. It's strange how your outlook can change so quickly. Initially, our oldest and most cautious of all of us, wouldn't discuss the matter until we knew we were definitely going.  Our second son and I were getting really excited and ready to start a new adventure.  Within months of getting an inclination we could be moving, we found ourselves boarding a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany ... HOME, to start a new chapter in our lives.  It all happened SO fast!!

We arrived on a Friday and starting the following Monday morning, our children were catapulted into starting their new school routine with an early start of 5.45am.  I recall the blue Taxibus pulling up outside of our temporary accommodation and watching my boys get into this taxi with a complete stranger and knowing nothing of the language other than Hallo!! My stomach was doing summersaults!! The days really felt long for me at first and I missed the older children so much.  Our youngest was almost 2 at the time ... My husband's place of work had changed and he was covering a larger area, but he was familiar with most of the people and the work already, so it was a breeze a comfortable transition for him! hahaha

Robertson Family,
Hessen Park

Despite these long days for our children, usually returning home at 6.30pm, I cannot recall one of our older three boys, aged 14, 12 & 10 at the time, complaining.  They took it all in their stride! Their attitude towards this transition was such a blessing to us all! We made new friends and got used to the new culture ... well actually there are some things we are still trying to get used to! ;)  On the whole, it is a great blessing for all of us.  Is it challenge free? No, of course not.  But it's how we face and work through the challenges that makes all of the difference! My main challenge is still the language.  I must sound like google translate half of the time, but I am sure it is improving all of the time ... cough cough! In my next few posts I will share some of our experiences & culture shocks of our transition with you! Some I have found really funny and others heart wrenching.  Just like the lawn at home needs constant watering and nourishment not to dry out or get ruined by unwanted weeds and moss - and so it is with our lives and  challenges we face ... it takes effort and constant 'watering' to make it a Happy Life!