As of yesterday my little sister has packed all of her bags and moved to Germany to be with her husband who is stationed there for the military. Before she left we spent almost every day together doing fun sisterly bonding things, like wine tasting, blueberry picking, movie watching, shopping, pottery painting, swimming and just soaking up all the time together we could. I can not stop thinking about how much I already miss her but I am so excited and happy for this new adventure that she is about to start. She has her whole life in front of her and I know she is going to have the time of her life. I got her first e-mail yesterday and she said Germany is beautiful and green. We both joked before she left how we imagined Germany to have little old ladies walking around in bonnets on pebble stoned streets. She told me in her e-mail that her little town has miles and miles of vineyards and little old ladies everywhere who don't wear bonnets (ha) but garden all day and ride around on their bikes. It all sounds amazing. I am on the hunt for the perfect stationary and am looking forward to handwritten letters and sending fun care packages.
Do you have anyone close to you who is deployed or lives far away from you? I would love to hear what your communication is like and what kinds of things you send to them.
21 comments:
What a sweet post. You two look so much alike! I had to laugh at the little old lady story. I probably would have thought the same thing. Our daughter spent 10 days in Austria a few years back and could not get over how green and clean everything was!
This must be hard for you both! I am super close with my sister and can't imagine living so far from her...but Germany must be such an exciting adventure! I love the idea of handwritten letters...you should make a scrapbook of all of them together when she comes back!
Olivia- I love that idea! I am going to do that :)
Hi,i love reading your blog :) my husband is in the military & we recently moved to Germany. It is a great place to live for sure and it is really green and pretty, especially this time of year...anyways I hope your sister enjoys her new European life :)
tc!
This is so sweet Linds! I bet your going to miss her like crazy!!! You guys look alot alike :) Pretty gals!
Peanut butter! I spent over a year of my life abroad in some pretty crazy places and I ALWAYS made sure to pack peanut butter. It's also pretty hard to find Mexican food anywhere but CA and Mexico, so beans, tortillas, salsa...any sort of burrito fixings are always an amazing thing for a Californian to receive in a care package, for sure.
Peanut butter! I spent over a year of my life abroad in some pretty crazy places and always made sure to pack peanut butter. It's also nearly impossible to find good Mexican food abroad, so, as a Californian, beans, tortillas, salsa, chollulah...anything burrito related always thrilled me when I found them in a care package. Also, ranch dressing. You can't find that anywhere in Europe.
My friends and I used to live on opposite sides of Canada, and we would mail this t-shirt we got together back and forth once each season along with letters, fun candies from local shops, magnets, handmade soaps, etc. Kind of like 'The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants'...haha....It was fun to get to wear the shirt a few days, it was like it kept us together when so far apart. We also like to send cards from wherever we visit...as well we play visitng 'tag'. So the its fair for travel costs!:)
I have always been the one living abroad and on receiving end of some lovely care packages. Some of my favorites- Kraft Dinner (terrible I know), mom's Whipped Shortbread, cranberry sauce and pumpkin spice!!!
I do not know what we would do without Skype. My almost 3yr old can even call grandma & grandpa on his own. I find meal times and bath times are the best for skyping with kidlets. However, I have almost dropped the iPad in the bathtub a few times.
Peanut butter! I second that!! In Europe it was hard to come by. Just wait a month and ask your sister what she misses, she'll probably have a list! :)
I'd schedule Skype dates - it's great to hear and see at the same time!
My husband is a naval aviator, and we were stationed in Japan for 3 years. Some of the best care packages were baked goods and other bits of nostalgia. There's not much you can't just order on amazon these days. I also recommend frequent Skype dates and handwritten letters. Your sister is so lucky to be able to live abroad! Also, please send a thank you to her husband for his service.
It's really important to note that this is not a deployment. Deployment is when the Service member gets sent into a war zone. A family move, where the Service member and the family move together into a non-war zone, is just a change of station.
That isn't to say it's not hard to have loved ones far away, but the use of the wrong term upset me as someone from a military family who has had family members in battle zones (actually deployed).
Hope your sister enjoys her time in Germany! We used to live there too and it was AWESOME. She has some adventures ahead of her for sure.
Anonymous- thanks for letting letting me know the correct terminology. Her husband is in fact getting deployed to Afghanistan while they are stationed in Germany so yes it will be a deployment.
Sorry to hear that :( that's extra tough, a move, and deployment at the same time. Good luck to her, I know she'll do great.
My boyfriend is a naval aviator and he's in the Persian Gulf right now. Next week is the half way point of his deployment so that's a high point! I send him some hard to find candy he loves, photos of us, & funny things that are jokes between us. I would love to send him baked goods but most of my packages take over a month to get there. He's on an aircraft carrier and we can only Skype when he's in port. We email and he calls about once a week- and we can only have about 10 minute phone calls. =( It's hard to get a line off the boat with over 5000 others trying to get a line also.
Try to take a trip to visit her and plan all the things you'll do. That's a fun thing to talk about.
Good luck! I understand what it's like to miss someone your very close to.
Hi Lindsay, I am German and live in Germany. A very close friend of mine married a man in the military and they moved to Pennsylvania about a year ago. So it's kinda the opposite here but I still can relate - it hurts having to let the ones you love move so far away :( As for your sister, I hope she'll have a great time in Germany. It's a nice place to live (depending on which area of Germany, of course, but most of it is anyways). BTW I love your blog and I make sure to check it out every couple of days, so there, you have a German fanbase :)
Holy hell, that would suck.
I have to disagree with Jessica about peanut butter, Mexican food and ranch dressing. This is Europe people and we have plenty of those foods here as well. I'm currently living in Spain but I've moved quite a bit around Europe so I know what I'm talking about. My local supermarket carries Peter Pan peanut butter. You can even choose smooth or crunchy. I'm sure your sister will let you know what she misses and it'll be great to exchange packages but unless she's very picky with food it shouldn't be a problem. Moving to another country is a great opportunity to try new food!!
Hi there, I'm a American who's been living in Paris for almost 3 years. I just wrote a blog post about this exact issue! But my top items would be ziploc bags, OPI/Essie nail polish, and Thanksgiving ingredients (brown sugar!).
http://lynncroyable.blogspot.fr/2013/07/what-to-bring-to-friendshosts-living-in.html
I just came across this post while looking around on the Internet. I'm German, but have lived in the US for a year when I was 17.
Nowadays, you get peanut butter in every bigger supermarket. Not a big deal anymore. Actually, the american things you can't find here become fewer and fewer. I disagree with the post before. Don't know for France, but in Germany you easily get brown sugar and ziploc bags. But some ingredients for cooking and baking are hard to get (good cake frosting,pumpkin spice, in general things for Thanksgiving food). And I miss some not-so-healthy stuff, like peanutbutter cups and honey mustard pretzels. So maybe that's an idea to send them.
I stay in contact via facebook with my american friedns. works quite well.
If they live near or on a US military base, they will have access to a BX/PX and a commissary and lots of American options. Wait until they figure out what they miss and cannot get and sent that to them. I'm a military spouse living in Japan for the past three years. I have some experience with this! :)
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