WHAT I MISS AND DON'T MISS
We are making progress on our plans to move back to the U.S.  People always ask what I will miss about Germany, ...  answer - A LOT.  I also miss things from the U.S. and there are things for both that I will not miss.  Here is my lists so far.

What I miss from the U.S.

Family and Friends Warm California weather in the winter Mexican Food & good Pizza bike riding all year chocolate chips crushed pineapple in the can luxury of a car when you need it graham crackers canned pumpkin clothes dryer DWTS

What I will miss from Germany

Friends in and outside of church and church free time for me The beautiful seasons The lakes in our back yard The view from our apartment Bike riding/ great bike bike paths fresh bread local stores in walking distance trams and trains fresh wild blackberries you pick yourself Ice Cream"Eis" and Gelato shops all the farm land and vineyards the thermal roller blinds on all the windows seeing new places and other countries

What I don't miss in the U.S.

working

Los Angeles traffic

What I will not miss from Germany

so many people smoking

so much litter

trying to learn German

so much graffiti/tagging

German TV

Smoking - choke, gag, yuk
Germany is way behind the health education on smoking.   EVERYBODY here seems to smoke.  At least everyone over about the age of 14.  It is such a shame, to have to breath second hand smoke while outside walking down a sidewalk.  It hangs in the air and since there are so many people who smoke you see the cig butts all over the sidewalks and you just can't get away from it.  I asked a couple of the guys that went with us to the Fair about why it is so popular still and the reply was basically "young people think it is cool".  But once they start they get addicted and can't stop.  There doesn't seem to be any anti-smoking ads or education going on either.  At least smoking is not allowed in most public buildings, that is a good thing.  While on the tram I notice how many middle age people have that rough voice and hacking cough I would think is from smoking.

Observations
Since we live on the 11th floor of the apartment building I notice that there are quite a few of the lower buildings have green living roofs.   I'm in the office here in Mannheim on the 5th floor and see that there are many lower office buildings that also have green living roofs.

I like seeing how the culture here embraces bike riding everywhere.  Most of the roads accommodate bikes with a bike lane and there are places to lock bikes probably in front of most buildings.   I'm looking forward to our bikes arriving with our shipment around the end of November.  There are bike paths all over around our apartments and the small lakes near by and it will be a lot of fun for me to explore these.

TRASH and taggers
We have noticed there are a LOT of places where the walkways and area have a ton of trash.  It seems at least around this area it is thrown on the ground by teenagers.  They have parties by the tram at night and leave bottles, cups, eating trash everywhere.  On the walkways down to the lake it will be fairly clean one day after the gardeners are there the the next it has a bunch of trash.  There are many trash cans along the park walkways but it seems these people who are littering just don't care.  This area is also right next to the schools.  I think I'll try to remember to bring a trash bag with me on my walks.    There is also a LOT of paint taggers on buildings and walls.  The school grounds and buildings are also defaced with paint and bad words.  I would bet this is all from a handful of crummy people rather than all of them.

The FLIGHT
Our flight from LAX to Frankfurt went as best as I suspect it could.  We had help at LAX with our kitties and luggage and it was so nice to have our friends there also.  We had some concerns as we checked in because our 2 carry on bags where over the weight limit so we had to check them.  I had my computer in my carry on along with reading material so I took that out and let them check the bag.  I had to buy a tote bag to carry my laptop onto the plane so I would not lose it or drop it.  We had 3 large suitcases containing the things we thought we would need most until our shipment arrives probably by the end of November.  We had Patch and Muffin in a medium cargo carrier.  They were so scared.  Muffin was shaking visibly in the carrier.  What surprised me the most was the TSA guys saying I had to take the two cats out of the cage and HOLD them while they searched the cage.  I had visions of them squirming loose and running through LAX never to be found again.  But it worked OK.  Lindee held Muffin in a baby blanket that I had brought and I held Patch tightly while sitting on the floor.  I had the carrier set it up with a little food, water, water bottle, and a small kitty litter tray.  Next time I'll not put in the litter tray or water bottle in the carrier because the water bottle fell off and got the litter all wet and the litter got everywhere.  The cats where in the carrier for about 20 hours and came out pretty good on the other end.