Neun Monate
Grüße! Greetings! It's been just over 9 months since I arrived in Hamburg, and it's been a whirlwind adventure adjusting to a new country, city, culture, and language. As I reported in my last post, I now have legal residence for the next three years, and last week I received my German Führerschein (Driver's License). The only thing left on the way to becoming fully German is citizenship, but that's several years down the road. One of the adjustments we've had to make is getting used to all the religious holidays here in Germany, which is quite different from the US, where religious holidays are not legal observances (other than Christmas). In addition to Easter and Christmas, we have Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day (the commemoration of Christ's ascension), Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost), and Reformation Day. These are all public holidays in Germany, in addition to the secular holidays - New Year's, May...