Our New Normal

It’s like slowly coming out of hibernation.

In the past month and a half, things have been up and down. School has been stressful and hard. I dropped one of my elective courses, and will have to take it next April. While my professors and classmates have been understanding of my limitations, having Herbert at home full time, there is only so much that can be done when students are expected to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours and lectures aren’t recorded.

But I managed to complete two final presentations, and I have the entire month of May off. It’s bittersweet, since my dad was supposed to visit during this time, but I’m grateful for the break from school. Fingers crossed that by June, when classes start again, kindergarten will be open again.

Speaking of, Herbert asks almost every day when kindergarten will be open. He misses his friends and teachers so much. The schools are slowly reopening, and 6-year-olds who will be starting school in the fall will return to kindergarten soon. But no word on younger children yet.

After most places being closed for a month, many shops were able to reopen on April 22 – including the library and the store where Will works. There are limits to how many people may be in a store at a time, and wearing a mask in shops and buses is mandatory. Oh, and if you’re curious, yeast and specialty flour are basically the only things we can’t find at the grocery store.

William has been working just 3 days a week since the beginning of April, which was actually very helpful during the weeks I had to intensively listen to lectures and prepare presentations. Hopefully he will be able to pick up more hours soon.

Thankfully, parks and trails and bike paths have never closed. We go outside whenever the weather is decent. Herbert learned to ride a big bike with pedals! Playgrounds just opened up this weekend, and Herbert is playground hopping with Dad today.

Additionally, church services are starting up again and this weekend we are now allowed to meet with one other household. Previously, people could not meet with more than 1 person outside of their household. We scheduled a play date for tomorrow straight away!

As restrictions slowly lift, Germany is keeping a close eye on how things progress. Currently, it’s looking alright, and we really hope it stays that way as we approach the new normal. Germany has less than 20,000 active cases (John Hopkins University), and our county (which includes a Berlin bedroom community) has only reported 14 new cases in the past week (Robert-Koch-Institut).