“Unsere Heizung ist Kaputt!” and I’m Becoming my Mother

Today I woke up and something about my house seemed…cold. Not just the-its raining constantly and I haven’t seen the sun in 3 months because it’s Northern Germany- cold. The -our heat system is definitely broken- cold. As I was sitting on the couch this afternoon, writing blog posts and such, it only seemed to be getting colder. I chalked it up to being February in Northern Germany and shrugged it off. Eventually, however, the cold reached uncomfortable proportions and soon I was wrapped up like a burrito, wearing a turtle neck sweater, and simultaneously drinking two cups of tea.

Our two days of sunshine didn’t last and it’s raining again. Why am I even surprised? 

Our empty wood-stove, never used this winter 😦 

With no clear explanation of why it was so cold, I thought maybe I was simply dying. I wasn’t left wondering for very long, however. My hostdad soon came in and reluctantly announced that our heating system was broken.

The culprit! The famous German radiators my brother is oddly obsessed with. (He’s an electrical engineer-it makes sense)

I remember when this happened before to my family in Pennsylvania. Those days consisted of a lot of blankets, tea, soup, and waiting. Well, my host parents had a better idea. A fire! I’ve been waiting for this occasion since I’ve come to Germany! My favorite thing about winters is Pennsylvania is that our main heat source is our beautiful wood stove, which for the months between october and April, becomes the center of our household. I have many fond memories of chopping wood, hauling wood, and making fires. Even more of my memories are sitting around the fire with my family and drinking tea, opening Christmas presents, or simply just talking. My cats often lay behind the stove, as it is the warmest place in the house. 

The house being new to them as well as me, my host parents had never made a fire here before. This was an adventure for all of us. They quickly cleaned it, my host mom getting soot all over her hands, and a fire was attempted. And failed. Being basically born in a snow bank, I volunteered to utilize my fire making skills. (They set up the wood and I created the fire).

I crumpled up some paper towels and voila! Fire!

I called upon my inner Pennsylvanian and hauled in some firewood from the shed as well.

Luckily, the repair men said it could be fixed in two days. The heating system hasn’t had maintenance in 10 years so I consider that a win.

Molly was curious of what the hell we were doing. She’s a concerned dog

Now I’m sitting by our fire, writing this blog, and drinking tea. It was this moment I looked at myself- sitting by the fire, under a blanket, tea in hand, on my laptop, no urge to ever go outside again- that made me think to myself, “I’m becoming my mother!”

This is not a bad thing. In my opinion, sitting by the fire with tea and nothing of importance to do is as perfect as life gets.

Oh, by the way, we also have no hot shower for two days. Wish me luck.

Until next time,

Abby