Friday, December 31, 2010

So I'm Moving to Germany

Here's a quick summary of how it all went down...

I've been wanting to move abroad forever and all my pals at work know it. In a shining example of looking out for me, Karen, the Controller, and my friends in ZFININTL threw my name out to fill a maternity opening in Berlin. There would already be two other gals from the MTV NYC office in Berlin which made the deal even better. Things started to get real around Thanksgiving but they weren't finalized until much later. The plan was MTV would help me find a furnished place to live, some German lessons, and I'd have a work device to serve as my telephone. That's pretty much all anyone needs, right?

So I packed up my cardigans and heels and got ready to fly over. I sold all my "furniture" on the internet and gave everything else away on freecycle (great website for those with waste-guilt). My roommate knew someone to take my place at the apartment - RIP, 253 Elizabeth - and that's pretty much all it took to tie up my loose ends. I shipped three boxes of clothes and other random junk through fedex and brought the rest in my suitcases. Let it be known that I don't trust fedex to get the boxes to my apartment, the pickup operation was very haphazard.

The weeks leading up the the move were fun but a little crazy. I said all my goodbyes, gave A LOT of hugs, and finished all my PONY beers to become an All-American before my departure (I made it! Proof). My last night in the city was New Year's Eve...which worked out great because I hate planning parties. Happy New Year! Time to start my study abroad...


Forward By Maxwell Anthony Page

In 1960, a group of four musicians traveled to Germany with the hopes of being a huge success. But rather than posh hotels, the fellows found themselves sleeping behind the screen of a movie theater. During one performance, the stage upon which they were playing collapsed and the drummer’s instruments were lost in the wreckage. Instead of playing to throngs, the crowds were tiny. In sum, these shaggy-haired boys undoubtedly learned plenty during their unsuccessful endeavor. However, any fortune they found in Europe’s most populous country paled in comparison to the successes that followed their first hit single in the United States in 1962, “Love Me Do.”

And not entirely unlike The Beatles, our dear friend Nina Panda begins an adventure in Germany. While her profession and goals are completely dissimilar from those of the Fab Four, she will undoubtedly learn plenty, just as the band did. And like The Beatles, Nina will entertain us all through this 10in11. She will no doubt provide us her thoughts on German culture, her work experience, and her personal life. As with many personal blogs, there may be periods of high activity, and trenches of low activity. However, the thoughts she chooses to share with her friends and family will be the best vicarious traveling one could hope for.

The Beatles did not release their German recording until the late 1970s; thanks to this blog, we won’t have to wait until the late 2020s to hear about Nina’s adventures. Best of luck, Nina.

-Max Page, 3 January, 2010, St. Paul, MN

Max and Nina at the start of shorter trip