Four Winter Tyres, Two Trips to Ikea and One New Apartment

Jam packed peugeot

too small for that roller coaster Noah



Scary giant swings in the back and scary Aunty Sue in the front!



 The last three weeks have been very up and down for us.  I was unofficially offered a position at the school, so we looked for an apartment, then there were a few problems with the job, but we found an apartment anyway, and said we’d take it, then I was told they couldn’t offer me the original position but could give me only 10 hours!  So we let the apartment go as it was all too uncertain, and then I got a phone call to say I did have the job and received an official offer in writing! Thankfully the landlady had held the apartment for us and we’re glad she did.  It’s a lovely place, with a huge balcony overlooking fields and the mountains, plenty of space, top floor under the roof so wooden beams and slanting ceilings just as we like it!  The only thing wrong is it’s unfurnished.  So it’s been a mad rush scouting around for furniture and a spur of the moment trip to IKEA in Germany for Maciek, on a public holiday here in Austria, just so we would have the minimum requirement of beds to sleep in! It was just over an hour drive to get there, and he returned just before tea time with a car full of flat packed furniture, and if he hadn’t have done it we’d never have had time to get all the things we needed before moving in.  It was only a rush because our move in date coincided with a planned trip back to Soest to collect our winter tyres which have been stored in Sue and Frank’s cellar since we bought the car, and have to be on the car by the 1^st November by law. It was a long and stressful day of driving to get there, lots of traffic on the roads due to the public holidays and we arrived at 10pm, two hours later than expected.   It was lovely seeing Sue and Frank and Curly again, at our ‘home in Europe’!  It brought us back to that first week away when it was all so knew and exciting.  We were spoiled again with lovely food and wine and comfortable lodgings!  We collected a few household items as it’s cheaper in Germany,  and finally some snow suits for the kids, and then enjoyed a relaxing day on Sunday with coffee and massive amounts of cake in the afternoon!  Unfortunately we couldn’t stay for the Soest Fair which has been running annually for 700 years!  Maciek had to get back for work.  Perhaps next year.  It’s amazing how they can fit all those rides and stalls into such small medieval streets and squares. 

So close to the church

We left Soest on Monday morning at 9.30am with another planned stop at IKEA in Munich (for 3 hours – unplanned - it was mentally busy!!) to collect some more essentials and finally arrived home at 8pm!  Driving the last hour on pitch black country roads with a great big flat pack box reaching from the boot, between the kids and coming to rest just before the gear stick was pretty crazy and left us laughing, shaking our heads and asking ourselves for the hundredth time ‘what the heck are we doing???’



Do you feel lucky, punk?



The job at the school starts in December, and the title of the position is ‘Kindergarten assistant/Native speaker’.  Sounds a bit tribal.  Not sure if they’re expecting me to turn up topless with 20 gold rings around my neck and ear lobes that swing against my shoulders!!  I’ll let you know, but not sure I’ll be posting any pics on that one!