Two steps forward, one step back: Part 2 of 3

The step back

Having started the process of applying for an apartment, it occurred to us that we should check in with our moving company and find out what the ETA on our stuff was.  So, I sent out a chipper letter to our move coordinator (the one who mailed me wrong and said we were going to India) explaining that we were in the process of finding a place to live and asking how far things had progressed on their end.  Her response was, er, shocking.

She was glad we were getting settled, but she wondered why I had never responded to either of her email messages: one on April 21 and one on the 23.  Our credit card had been denied and none of our items could be moved until the bill was settled!!!  Also she was going on maternity leave and passing us off to yet another move coordinator.  Um, WHAT?

First off, I checked my mail.  No letters from her were in there or in my junk folder.  Second, our Visa is tied to our main bank account, which had plenty of money to cover the bill.  I was boggled, David was, er, loudly annoyed.  Honestly, I was more than a little annoyed, too, but there really wasn't time to holler, we needed to get this resolved.

Long story short, apparently our Visa had a built in daily limit that the bill to the movers exceeded.  I guess we had never tried to charge that much on it before?  We had to make a few phone calls, but eventually we got our bank to clear things up on our end.  The local Santa Clarita branch manager went the extra mile and got everything cleared to go during business hours on Friday.  I notified our move coordinator, who sweetly told me that it was late in Germany and I should go to bed.  She would deal with things on Monday.  Eye-Roll.

She also (as I requested) sent me estimates on how long it would take to get our stuff.  I hope to heck she was padding them because if her numbers are right we are not going to get things in the 5-6 weeks that we were quoted originally.  It will take a full 2 months!  No one ever figured out how the email never made it to me.  Nor was any mention made of why she didn't try to contact David or my mom, both of whom were listed as alternate contacts.  Not meaning to be catty (well, maybe a little), but I hope Jessica is a better mom than she is a move coordinator!

The silver lining, I guess, is that we actually weren't bringing that much!  Furniture-wise, there are really only the three beds to worry about.  Otherwise it is just all personal items, clothes, computers, toys, kitchenware and books.  It will be inconvenient to be without them for that long, but, really, we had planned to replace so many things that once we do, the inconvenience will be greatly diminished.  I may have to invest in some cheap cooking pans and we may need to borrow a few more items from David's co-workers. But I think we will make it work, knock wood.  Cause, really, isn't that what this whole trip is all about?


Next up- Another step forward and David Speaks!

Two steps forward, one step back: Part 1 of 3

First, one of the steps forward:

We went house hunting!  First we searched ads and newspapers.  Honestly, there are *very* few 3 bedroom apartments (or houses) in this area.  There are even fewer in our price range.  We wanted to find a place somewhere in the general area of Offenburg/Kehl as David's work will be moving from Kehl to Offenburg (next city down) in October.  But, as we looked, we found ourselves considering places further and further afield.  One otherwise promising duplex fell through because it had a hefty finders fee for the agent (3 month's rent!) and it had very poor internet.  We might have been able to stomach the fee with pain, but the internet deficit was a deal-breaker!

Luckily, though, David's incredibly helpful co-worker Sanja was on the case.  She had volunteered to call places for us as her German is infinitely better than ours (so, by the way, is her Croation, French, her Spanish, and possibly even her English!  What can I say, the lady is impressive!)  Sanja found a 3 bedroom apartment in Offenburg.  It is at the northern edge, nearest Kehl, a little too close to the railroad, but surrounded by farmlands.  The place had been occupied until recently by the owners of the building who, apparently, *really* liked their bathrooms!  Check out this tub:

Jets, bubbles, rotating head rests.  Even a heated towel rack!

And these sinks:

Note the toilet in the bathroom.  Unusual, here, but convenient!

And then there is the shower.  It has radio, multiple jets, and even a steam setting!

Also a shower seat and an overhead rain shower.

The guest toilet is also fun:

These folks clearly liked modern fixtures.

The apartment itself is small compared to what we are accustomed- 97 sq. meters, or about 1050 sq ft.  But it has a large enough livingroom that leads out onto a functional balcony:

Would need rugs for that floor!

The piece de resistance for us, though is that it comes with a fully installed kitchen!!!  Most of the apartments in Germany are completely barren.  And I mean completely.  No appliances, certainly, but also no counters, no cabinets, and no sink!  You are expected to bring your own or contract Ikea or similar to make one for you at considerable extra cost.  This place has everything- even a dishwasher and a small dining/cooking counter at one end!  Sadly, the fridge is Europe-sized, but we were still duly impressed.

OOOOOO!  Ahhhhhhh!

The place also has a laundry room.  Now, this is not like a laundry room in the states with big coin-operated washers and dryers.  This is a room in the basement with a number of water hook-ups and electricity outlets.  You purchase your own washer and/or dryer and set it up in your designated spot attached to a meter that tells the landlord how much water/energy you used.  There is also space in the room to set up portable clothes lines.  We only saw one dryer in the room, but there were, I think, 3 active clotheslines on the day we visited.  The basement area also has storage for the unit, and even a bicycle room to store your bikes!  There are garages outside for the cars.

The capper was that the building gets 16 times better internet speeds than the house we are in currently!  I wouldn't say we were in love, but we definitely liked the place.

We asked Sanja to start the process of helping us apply for it.  This involves more here than in the US.  We have to get attestation from David's employer that we can afford the place, for instance.  We have no idea if we will get it.  But even if we have to look some more, I definitely count this as a step forward because the process has definitely begun!



Next up, A step back

A few Photos from around the Village of Auenheim

We should have some more interesting stories to relay quite soon.  Progress is being made, but it is always slower than desired. In the mean time, here are some photos of things that caught my eye around the little village where we are currently living.  This is Auenheim- which is sort of a bedroom village to a small town next to a big city located along a small river that runs into a big river.

A local gasthaus with a decorated tree on the top- is this common?

The bottom part

Their menu

About 2 houses down from the gasthaus

Apparently been there a while, the placard claims 1773?

Google translate fails with the rest, though:

I respect your halls the same as the rain Waller
the mending of the roofs and that you envy me already
  Müllen but you suffer dak God is my helper

 

As best I can read it should you care to take a stab at it:

Ich achte dein haller gleich wie das Regenwaller
das von den Dachern flickt und ob Sie mich schon neiden
 so müllen Sie doch leiden dak Gott mein helfer ist

People around here are serious about laying away wood for the winter!

Is this person laying away coal for the winter?

House under construction.  Very different than CA.  Are the bricks some sort of ins

ulation?

House on the edge of Auenheim.  Made to look like a log cabin... with solar?  Lincoln would have been amazed!

What is next to the log cabin

I KNEW there had to be a bakery somewhere in the neighborhood!

Poor flat gnome!

These little red beetles LOVE the tree by the church.

A back door on the church. 

Progress and Survival

Several people have asked me recently if we "like" it here.  The answer is that I am really not sure!  There are definitely things I like as well as frustrations.  But, most of our energies are still being spent just engaging in activities like Trying To Get Food, Trying To Communicate, Trying To Do Laundry, Trying To Get Anywhere, and, for David, of course Work.  In other words, we are basically in Survival Mode.  Since we are still in temporary housing without a car it is very difficult to know what our actual lifestyle here will be like.  Still, I can tell you there are some things that I really like and a few that I am less fond of:

Blast Shields Down

• LIKE- German Houses: They are both charming and practical.  Everyone seems to have pleasant gardens.  The architecture appeals to me far more than the faux adobe that litters the CA landscape.  There are big flat light switches located in intelligent places (in the doorway AND near the couch or bed).  The use of doors and radiators makes heating the house reasonable.  And, everyone has these nifty built-in blast shields that you lower at night to keep out the light or provide you with privacy.
• LIKE- Bakeries: They are the Starbucks of Germany, only, you know...not.  You can't walk 2 blocks without hitting one, they are open when other stores are closed.  And, they have breads and pastries!  What isn't to love?
• DISLIKE- Store hours:  Most stores are closed Sundays.  Many stores are closed at lunch.  Most stores are closed after work hours.  As David notes, How the Heck are you supposed to shop if you actually have a job?
• DISLIKE- Tiny Refrigerators: When combined with the above mentioned limited store hours these make it very difficult to keep a well-stocked kitchen.
• DISLIKE- German toilet paper: Ouch!  'Nuff said...
• LIKE- 85 Gazillian kinds of ham and other pork products!  Who knew there were so many ways to cure a swine?
• DISLIKE- Lack of other kinds of meats.  Beef is particularly hard to find, chicken and turkey are often available- but not always.  Haven't braved the fish, yet, but that may be a good option.

Going Native- our lunch of fruit, a pretzel and cheese

Catching Up

So, what have we been up to since last I wrote?  As stated before, most of our efforts are still going to survival.

We have *almost* managed to get our bank account set up and usable.  It takes longer than you might expect!  Thursday the kids and I went into town to go shopping and meet David for lunch and a trip to the bank.  Unfortunately, the bank, like many shops, is closed during the lunch hour!  So, David's lunch went longer than anticipated.  But, after waiting for the best English speaker at the branch to arrive, we did manage to get me added to the account.  Friday we finally got David's ATM cards (one for checking, one for savings!) in the mail, and the passwords and TAN numbers (extra security) for online banking.  But, we need to wait a few more days to get his ATM passwords. I think he opened the account 2 weeks ago, now! After his stuff arrives,  my ATM cards should appear and eventually my ATM passwords.  Wheee!

Of course, the next step is to get money into it from our US account.  We tried calling for an international wire transfer today, but the customer service rep said we couldn't do it over the phone and would have to come into a branch.  Not really an option at this point!  Our branch had told us that we *could* do it before we left, so not sure what happened.  The customer service rep told us we could write a check to ourselves and access money that way.  David will go to the Deutsche Bank tomorrow and see what solution we can come up with.  We really need access to the money if we are going to buy a car or rent an apartment/house!

Friday was a particularly frustrating day.  We awoke in the morning to discover that the internet was down and a couple of rooms had no power.  What we didn't realize at the time was that the Fridge was on the powerless circuit- as were the phones.  Oof.  Being in a foreign country without access to the internet or phones while your hubby is away can bring your sense of isolation into perspective. 

The landlord was out and his wife didn't know how to fix this issue.  I looked for a circuit breaker box, but couldn't find one.  David headed off to work early for a meeting, and the kids and I were essentially stuck.  Also, the forecast was for rain, so I didn't want to take everyone out to town and get caught in a downpour!  My plan had been to kick back at home, and it seemed that was what we were to do regardless.

This was especially poor timing for the outage as there were some problems with the rats back in the States and I was busy trying to track down options.  But, with the internet down, that was not possible.  So, we settled in a little uncomfortably, and kicked back.  I started the day by keeping up my international cultural credentials and watched the British Royal Wedding in German.  Germans, it seems, have an annoying habit of dubbing everything instead of using subtitles.  The exception would be celebrity endorsements- wouldn't want to dub George Clooney or Cindy Crawford when they were hawking product!  Heidi Klum, of course, needs no dubbing and sells a wide variety of things.  In any case, I found it sort of distracting to hear the future King of England give his vows to his beloved Kate with the voice of an elderly German man, but otherwise it was a lovely diversionary spectacle-
                      -for me.  The kids couldn't have cared less.

The neighborhood

The nicest part of the day was that after the wedding we went out for a walk around the neighborhood and did some exploring.  We found a German phone booth:

The local swimming pool:

Don't wear the wrong trunks!

A couple of local pubs, a dog groomer, 2 schools, and some agricultural fields tucked away:

That is another thing I LIKE about Germany- lots of open spaces and greenery.

In any case, long day short, David was an hour late from work, but knowing the bus schedules I wasn't too worried.  Still.  No phone.  No internet.  No way to contact him.  Once he got home David tracked down the landlord's wife and she called him and he talked her through finding and using the circuit breaker (in the cellar!  Duh!  Should have looked there, but I am a CA girl- "cellar" isn't in my housing vocab, yet).  After the net was up, I logged in and found out that the crisis with the rats was at least temporarily under control (knock wood! Go Tabitha!  Go Ratsos!).  And, a quick inventory of the fridge found that really all we lost with the prolonged outage was some of David's milk and a pork tenderloin.  Alls Well that Ends Well!

Saturday we went into town as a family and did more food shopping.  We tried to figure out the bus passes, but failed.  Then we came home for another walk.  David and I searched used auto ads for much of the afternoon.  Then, after I managed a dinner of Teriyaki Turkey Supremes, Broccoli, & Bread (I was so proud to get a balanced meal cooked with just the items at hand),  I fell asleep right after the kids.  Still haven't adjusted, I guess.  But, I have lost a kilo or so!

DS Wanted to go out and romp in one of the thundershowers

DD "See, Mom, I can be picturesque sometimes" (Note: I never doubted it!)

Today I have spent mostly writing this up for your viewing pleasure :-)  Oh- Also today, we tried a local (in Auenheim) pizza joint.  Not bad!  Decent price and, notice, Open on Sunday!  Woohoo!  "Pizzeria Bella Italia" for the win!

Post Script: Having given it further thought, we have decided that the "blast shields" shown at the top of the page would likely be a fairly effective tool in staving off the zombie apocalypse.  I envision headlines like "Europe Stops Zombie Invasion with common household Shutters".  What do you think?