military spouse or ex-pat?

Hey,
We're doing well and celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday. We spent Thursday to Saturday exploring Cologne, which is famous for its cathedral. At the time of its completion it was the tallest structure in the world, says the pamphlet. Clare says, "Get me out of this old church!" I guess a [loud] phobia of large buildings isn't that uncommon, although it can be a little embarassing for the parents. We met a true ex-pat in Cologne, a model and singer, who had lived there for about a year and a half and was going to buy a Feb. ticket back to the states as soon as she got back to her apartment. She didn't keep US dollars in her purse for when she went on base for shopping and lunch. If she were dying for peanuts or anything with peanuts, she was just out of luck (very expensive when you can find them). There weren't movie theaters there full of mainstream US movies catering to the military population, because Cologne doesn't have a US military population. No military spouses club to find instant book groups, play groups for the kids, shopping and touring excursion buddies. She missed home in a way that I probably won't. She also got an immersion that I probably won't get, even though I rarely go on base and have only attended three spouse club events. Knowing that it's there if I want it is powerful stuff. And the reason I rarely go on base is that I hate shopping and Patrick likes to take Clare. They are grocery shopping there now for the things I don't buy in the village. Anyway, my point is that there won't be that many startling ex-pat revelations from me because I'm not a true ex-pat.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
- Julia