A place to dwell.

The neighborhood we wanted to live in is where we are going, Linden. Half a block from the strip, one block from a park, short walk to the garden. Seems idyllic for an urban German home. We came into the place through a long time friend of the wife. I think there are a couple things an American should know about German apartments. The first being, the second floor is really the third. As in Germans call the first floor 'parterre', it's french. It means 'ground level', OK? So that means, stairs. More stairs in 6 months than the average American sees in their life time. I have finally gotten an opponent for my beer gut. The other thing is that Germans usually carry their kitchens with them when they move. So there could very well be no sink, counter, stove, fridge or in the very least a dishwasher. The clothes washer is usually in the kitchen too, but you need your own. I have not seen a dryer here, they use these things called 'clothes lines'.  One other important thing to know is that when they say three 'rooms'. It means excluding the kitchen and bathroom there are three rooms not three bedrooms. Get it? Also expect stairs, and no elevator.
My wife got her old job back at the health food store she worked at when she met me. This was also a super great bonus on top of the apartment, in one day. Now I have to find a job without knowing German. There are a few places where English is the only language spoken, mostly English pubs. I am sure I have ran bigger joints but I would even wash dishes to get my ass in the door. Not to worry about me learning German, I have to go to 600 hours of instruction. Plus 200 hours of culture class. That is 6 months for 5-6 hours a day. If i can not learn to express complex ideas by then, I am not as smart as I think.
Car free livin'! I like to ride a bike, the kind with pedals. I lived without a car in Seattle, Portland and now Hannover. I like it, a lot. Cars are not the apex of human achievement. Yet, I digress. I really want one of the cool trailers I have seen. They look like a cargo trailer for a bike. I would like a black one please. I have day dreamed of getting wood from the urban forest and hauling it by bike to the garden for our firepit. It could happen. I finally walked through some of the urban forest. It was a good cool walk on a sunny day. We ended our forest walk at one of the coolest playgrounds, ever. I think I have finally been to one that can challenge, kamalani, at lydgate on Kaua'i. I am very excited to go back soon.

Hannover!

OK so I got a good feel for my new home. It is my wifeypoos' hometown and it is beautiful. At first I saw busy streets, a dirty red light district, and a seemingly unfriendly street that should become the center of my street life, according to the love of my life. Then I saw the tree covered paths full of happy families and quiet neighborhoods. I meet friends of wife who have known her before her first breaths. I quickly learned to love my new home, like in a day. Perhaps it was the highly decorated ladies I meet on a walk. They looked like drag queens from afar, yet up close their white paint obviously concealed real ladies. Perhaps it was when they asked to marry me that I finally felt at home. (I said yes!) The graffiti is awesome here. Seems to be a flurry of wheat pasting right now. Not much in the way of installations so, I am inspired to make great new guerrilla art with a new friend I have met. Already planning some fun things. Keep you posted! Well perhaps it was when there was a food fight on a bridge between to 'hoods that I decided this town was cooler than I first thought. I left Portland, which is the coolest (debatable) town in the States, so I need fun things to do dammit!
I have found some things here pretty interesting, like how cheap organic food is. Really, how inexpensive everything is. Really good beer is a euro a bottle, pot is cheaper, and baby stuff is more affordable. Rent is, after Hawai'i, laughably cheap. That's right, Europe has a better cost to standard of living ratio. All taxes are included. Food and books at 7%, other goods at 19%. Even with a 19% tax stuff, like good bikes, is still cheaper than the states. Suck it, free market nazis.
I also joined a garden group. There are these gardens dating from ww2. individuals rent them for like 40 euros a month. the size is bigger than the average american yard. It is like a neighborhood of little hobbit cabins and gardens. I am excited to get my hands dirty and malama me some aina. I am even more excited to learn the strange heirloom varieties here. Not to mention being able to get timber from Europe's largest urban forest for my firepit. bbq on sundays!