Oh Germany, how you amaze, er, I mean, confuse me.

   So, Tyler and I went to IKEA this past weekend to buy some more furniture and stuff for our place. I love IKEA so much. Words cannot truly express how much I love this store. Moving on,  surprisingly IKEA is generally cheaper here than in the states, even with the exchange rate. Weird huh? Not that either of us minded of course.
   Once we got all our furniture on to the carts, we went up to the cashier, she rang everything up and then said the total. Tyler hands her a credit card and she's like, I can't accept this, only bank cards. So he tries a debit card...she's like no, that's the same. And Tyler was like, well, then we can't pay. How embarrassing. Then she's like, well, there's an ATM around the corner. We move everything to the side and I stand with it while he gets cash, which took awhile. Ugh. Then we can finally pay. See, lots of stores in Germany don't take visa/mastercard credit or debit cards, they only take bank cards (which is some German thing) and cash. I mean, we figured it out, but man, do people just pay cash at IKEA!? It was the weirdest thing. After that we waited in the transportation line to get these things shipped. They're coming Thursday wooo. Needless to say, we were at Ikea almost 4 hours, which normally I wouldn't mind, but we were in lines for a decent portion. Ah well. At least we got our stuff! :)
   Now, I totally understand the no debut card thing. I know ours are made differently than ones in Europe, but no credit cards? I mean, H&M and most restaurants even take credit cards. What's the deal IKEA? Maybe Germans just don't over spend? ha. Who knows. Anyway, I'm excited that our apartment is finally coming together and starting to look and feel like home. We're going to some other stores this weekend to get rugs and more decorative items. I can't wait! I love decorating. After we get everything up I'll start taking pictures of our place, and then we can finally have people over!
   Next week I have my SNAPS (----------- Newcomer Awareness Program for Spouses) class. It's the whole week and we go over stuff like what base has to offer, employment opportunities, how to take the bus, where things are located in our city, and the final day we have a day trip to some nearby city. Not sure which city yet, but I hear it's fun. I'm actually looking forward to this class, my only wish is that it's not to boring. haha. I also wish I could've done the one in January, but alas, it was full before I found out about these. Also, I would've still been in Rome for the first two days of it. I will be sure to let you guys know how it goes! Hopefully it will be fun and I'll learn a lot.
   And finally, I'll leave you with this...this is the longest I've ever kept writing somewhere. I'm being serious, and I'm glad I'm actually physically writing stuff down. Usually I just "write" in my head. I know, I know, I sound crazy, but it's true. I always "write" stuff in my head. Whether it be stories, my life, a blog/diary type entry...it usually all goes in my head and nowhere tangible. I tried to keep a diary in middle school, that lasted like a month. Then I found it a few months later and tried again, ha. I had a Xanga in high school. Again, didn't update it or did those stupid quizzes. Then, I tried to write while Tyler was deployed. Failed at that as well. I really wish I would've been better at writing while he was deployed. I think that could've really helped someone in the future. Oh well. Maybe I'll try and recall those memories. We'll see.
  Thus, I digress. Have a good day everyone :)