house hunter”s international

In 2007 when we moved back to Portland from NYC, I spent months daydreaming about the house we would ultimately call home. At that point I was pretty tired of the teeny apartment on West 64th Street, and was ready for subway tile, dark hardwood floors and granite countertops in a space larger than 575 square feet.  We got all of those things in the house we built – but instead of feeling settled and content, my wanderlust kicked back in and I found myself dreaming of yet another adventure, even if it entailed leaving behind our beautiful home in exchange for a small flat & minimal closet space.

That being said, I don’t think we were fully prepared for what was waiting for us in the housing (apartment) market in Germany. Today we started the Maxey episode of House Hunters International, and it became quickly clear that we are not going to wrap up our search in a finely edited 30-minutes like they do on HGTV.

I’ll need to start bringing the camera to document some of these places we’re viewing – if the apartment we saw this evening is any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be an innterrresting undertaking to find a place that feels like home. I’m trying to keep an open mind, truly I am.  As most of you know, I’m a little, well, particular. But I went into this with VERY low expectations, and am hoping that at some point I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

HOWEVER, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the current tenant to pick up their dirty undies before the prospective renters come by for a look (Yes, I know the dirty undies will be gone by the time anyone new moves in, but it still ruined the whole place for me). The creaky, narrow, scary stairs were also a concern, as was the random location.

But I’m not stressed. We’ll find something, I’m sure of it. It may be smaller than we want, or configured strangely, or lack any storage or closets (as is the case with most apartments here), but as Wen keeps reminding me, home is wherever the 4 of us are. We’ll add curtains, fill it with our furniture and the laughter of our girls and a few German trinkets that we pick up along the way – and it will be home.

And IN THE MEANTIME – we have the Hotel Maximilian to call home. Please join me on a brief tour of our current flat!

View from the front door. You’ll note our kitchen to the left, and a door to the bathroom to the right. (On a related note – today I was visiting the tax guy to discuss our German taxes, and I was asking the receptionist where the bathroom is. “Bathroom?” “Ladies’ room?” “Restroom?” – lost in translation. I was getting nervous that I was going to have to pantomime peeing, but thankfully another gal walked by and said, “Toilette.” Ah, yes. Perfect. Clearly it’s time to enroll in the German classes.)

A more in-depth view of the kitchen (kuche). Exhibit A of why Mr. Maxey & I have each lost a few pounds. We have NO food in this place, which has pretty much eliminated the opportunity to snack. Not to mention we are still struggling w the whole “meal” thing, as we can’t really cook and haven’t yet figured out where to eat. True confession: my children haven’t eaten vegetables since we landed. Good Lord. For anyone looking to lose a few LBs, I highly endorse the “move-across-the-world-anxiety-teeny-kitchen-no-clue-where-to-eat diet.” Very effective.

And here is our “great room” – I do love an open floor plan with good flow! It’s the dining room and family room all in one. Today I took the car to work (we’re sharing for now) and it rained all day, so Wen spent 9 hours with 2 crazy girls in this space.

And he’s still smiling!

Up the stairs to the master bedroom (elternschlafzimmer):

And finally, the girls’ bedroom (kinderzimmer) – located downstairs off the family room.

Gute Nacht from the Maxeys! Sending much love.