So, I’ve completed the first 3 weeks of my year-long stay in Germany. Right now what I’m missing most is my washer and dryer.

So… the instructions on the washing machine are in German, of course. I need to sign up for a class. Using Google Translate, although a useful tool – especially with the photo translate option, doesn’t help much. The posted English instructions are incomplete…but my clothes are clean. The dryer, on the other hand is not drying my clothes consistently. First week, no problem. Second week, not dry at all. I was reprimanded for hanging my clothes around the apartment. I wasn’t expecting the apartment to be cleaned that day. I’ve downloaded an English language manual for the dryer, so I’m hoping I have better luck today.

At home, in the US, we call the part of the machine that collects the lint and other stuff a “lint trap”. The manual refers to this as a “fluff filter”, appropriately so. It also has a container that collects the liquid pulled from the wet clothing, which begs the question, What happens to the water in the machines at home? The settings are a bit confusing, even in English: Cupboard Dry, Cupboard Dry Extra, Iron Dry. There’s a troubleshooting guide that suggests if the clothes don’t feel dry it may be that they are just hot and therefore feel wet; and, the suggestion is made to lay them out until they cool off. Nah. Wet is wet.

I can’t complain about my space here. I’ve got a small, cozy apartment in a hotel, with a comfortable bed. I’m sleeping better than I did at home, except for one night. The bed is quite comfortable. My refrigerator doesn’t work so well. It either freezes everything or what’s in the freezer thaws. I was told, by my employer, not to ask the landlord for anything, so I’ve opted not to use the freezer in order to keep the refrigerated stuff usable. I’ve bought some shelf-packaged food that can be heated in the microwave. Breakfast is served in the hotel dining room…bacon and eggs every day. Nice rolls. Fresh fruit. I’m eating lunch with the kids at the day care center where I work the first part of the day. The food is passable. They even had quinoa one day. I have two electric burners but haven’t been brave enough to try them yet. An electric kettle boils the water for my tea.

I was dealing with the scratchy towels here, but decided to treat myself to a nice bath sheet, towel and washcloth. It’s the simple things. They came out of the dryer damp, but after cooling, they seem dry. Maybe there’s something to those instructions after all.

Well…the clothes are indeed dry; however, my slacks are wrinkled. I have no iron and ironing board, so I’ve hung them in the shower, trying to steam the wrinkles out. We’ll see. I may need to try that “Iron Dry” setting next week.