The Birds Move to Deutschland!

So here we are again… Yet another crazy military adventure begins!… We arrived at the airport in true Hinkle fashion with no less than 6 suitcases, 5 carry-ons, 3 computers, one dog, 3 excited kids, one very stressed out father, and one surprisingly calm mother… After a relatively uneventful red-eye flight to Frankfurt Germany, during which I and Carolyn (of course) slept not one wink, we finally arrived in Deutschland at 7am their time (approx. 1am US time)… Needless to say we were exhausted and ready to hit the bed…

We were greeted at the airport with overwhelming hospitality by my Dad’s new “entourage”… From the moment we arrived I think we managed to put everyone at ease with our definite sense of humor when his Deputy Garrison Commander ( a German Civilian) greeted me (the supposed Mrs. Bird) with flowers… Rather a funny beginning to our little adventure…

Since then we’ve received five-star treatment and tours to every corner of the Stuttgart base which is actually divided into four parts (we live on Patch Barracks)… Our house was already temporarily furnished with nearly everything we’ll need… The wives even came in to give it the little touches of home including a stocked refrigerator… Our shipment won’t arrive until late August, but for now I’m just happy to hang my clothes up in a closet and put the suitcase away at last (at least until I’m uprooted yet again for my move to Oxford)…

We ventured into Stuttgart yesterday with the Chaplain’s wife to get a introduction to the S-bahn (train) and bus system… It was gorgeous and we ran across the most amazing German Fish Festival in the process… I think Carolyn, Drayton, and I are going to fit right in here… Because Germans, much like the Bird kids, know their food! Haha On Tuesday we plan to venture to Heidelberg with our personal tour guide… Should be fun!

We’re still without internet or phone at home… So for now my only saving grace is the library which I think I’m going to eventually be living in once I get a little more free-time… We’ve been so busy with tours, visitors, and dinners that we’ve hardly had time to readjust to the time-change… Dad’s “Change of Command” is tomorrow morning and everywhere we go people seem to be in a buzz about it… It’s strange to be local-celebrities, but it’s such a small post that I guess having a new Garrison Commander is a really big deal… Everybody’s very excited for tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to it settling down so I can catch up on some writing and reading…

But for now I think that’s it… Hopefully we’ll have fun pictures of Heidelberg next time! :-)

With Love from Germany… Mary