Surprises!

Seeing the bedding in our apartment was the first surprise! When we first walked into our bedroom, we were speechless as we stood at the foot of the bed looking at the huge square pillows, the twin beds pushed together, no top sheet, only two single sized duvets, and wondered what do we do with that? As we soon saw, most all of the beds and bedding in the European hotels are the same...just takes a little getting used to! On a hot night, it is sure nice to sleep under a sheet!

Taking a drink of water (Wasser..."Vasser") and finding it carbonated (or "bitter lemon" water which means exactly that)! Yikes! No, it isn't even close to 7UP. You either order water "mit gas" or "still." Even though tap water is good enough to drink (which the missionaries are happy with), Europeans only drink bottled water. When we order water at a restaurant, it comes in a glass bottle, some are quite decorative. The 3/4 liter bottle of water we ordered in Zurich, turned out to be pretty darn expensive (9.80 Swiss Francs)!!!

Finding piles of discarded cupboards, counters, sinks, tables, chairs, ovens, ranges, and refrigerators, etc. dumped on the ground along side the streets! The apartments must be totally emptied out to the bare white cement walls because landlords don't want to be held responsible for non-functioning equipment in the apartments. So when people move to another apartment, they either take these things with them, or they dump them. Each week a truck comes to clean it all up.

I feel like I'm living in Legoland (apartments and hotels) because everything within the four bare walls of the rooms are "snap in," including door casings, small stairways, sinks, and closets. Rather than being built-in, they are snap-in.

It is no surprise that almost every meal in Germany comes with potatoes: sometimes boiled with parsley or fried (rarely baked). However, I didn't expect to see French fries everywhere!! They are included with even the best of meals in almost every restaurant! I haven't eaten this many potatoes in the last 10-15 years!!!

Following the GPS on back roads on our way to see the windmills in Kinderdijk, Netherlands, we turned a corner to the right and we immediately saw that the Rysers' car was already on a ferry!

We feared for our very lives as we tried to cross the street in Leiden, Netherlands because of the hundreds (no, thousands) of bikes!!! The right of way goes to the bicycles, not the pedestrians! Mountains of bikes were parked on the sidewalks outside of the stores. Cars? No room for them!

Ken realized that he has played his last basketball game! Once a week some of the Elders get together to play basketball. During the first few weeks we were here Ken joined them and injured his knee.  It still bothers him a lot especially when going down stairs and walking a lot, both of which we need to do a lot. When we were in Spain, he sneaked in a quick consultation with the mission president, Pres./Dr. Scott Jackson, who said it wasn't the meniscus but he probably should get an X-ray, which he hasn't done yet.

Oh, the woes of inexperienced travelers! We had just arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a young female hotel employee helped us upstairs with our bags. Ken pulled out a handful of unfamiliar British coins, chose the largest one and presented it to her for a tip. She was so surprised that she laughed a little and told him that it wasn't necessary, kindly telling him that it was a 2 pence!

Something quite confusing in every location is tipping! We've gotten the word that in most places it isn't expected, or that it has been included in the price, but Ken has been so ingrained with the US expectation of tipping, that he is constantly offering.

The blue tile bathroom floor in the Best Western Hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden was heated!!

Elder/Dr & Sister Greenwood met Tom Williams from Orem, the father of our daughter-in-law, Danielle, as they were traveling through France by train! Seeing that their missionary badges were written in German rather than French, Tom asked them why their badges weren't written in French. They told him they were serving in the Frankfurt, Germany Area Office, at which time he asked if they knew us. A surprise meeting!

Sometimes we are warned by the car GPS that "you are over the speed limit" as we wait at a stop light! It has led us astray many times, but the worst was literally ending up in a big field!

As we were waiting for our evening meal in a hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland, a man noticed our missionary badges and began a conversation. We discovered him to be Clayton Partridge Stevens, from SLC, a relative of several of my Harston relatives from Cowley, Wyoming! His cousins (on their mother's side), Bill Harston & Ruth Harston Brown are also my cousins (on their father's side). He is also a cousin of my Uncle Garner Harston's wife, Jane (his mother, Luana Partridge, is her first cousin). How amazing to make this connection clear across the world (because of our wearing missionary badges) in Scotland!

Arriving home from our trip to Spain and realizing that Ken's wallet had been "lightened" by 300 Euros at the airport!