aufenthaltsangelegenheit

Coldest day yet, -7 C‘s! And so overcast it's like the post-apocalyptic Cormack McCarthy book, The Road, out there (minus the cannibals, etc).

This morning I had my aufenthaltsangelegenheit (residence proposal) meeting, and great news - I didn't get deported! To get the appointment I sent an email in Germany asking for a meeting time. A week and a half later I received the date and time in the paper mail.

Over the past few weeks, I have meticulously translated and completed each of the numerous application pages. I had my parents send over copies of my diplomas and my CPA which I was told would help (or were required, depending on who you ask) with the work permit process. I knew I wouldn’t actually get kicked out immediately but I still wanted things to go as smoothly as possible.

The Landesamt für Bürger und Ordnungsangelegenheiten is a typical government office. The appointment letter I received told me which of the three buildings and what of the 20-some waiting rooms I should sit in. After about 40 minutes I started to get nervous. I arrived right on time, what if they called me early? There wasn’t a soul around to ask for help so I could sit there until they closed without knowing what the deal was. Thankfully I was called in around 45 minutes after my scheduled time. The person I spoke with did not seem grumpy and she even replied to my Guten Morgen J

I gave her my stack of documents. She sorted through them, giving some back to me and setting some aside. As she did this, I went through my mental checklist for the 100^th time and realized I forgot both my passport AND cash for the fee. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME! I prepared so much for this and forgot these two important items? I started to feel like I was going to be sick…

Then I snapped back into it as my registration lady asked me if I had an email address. I replied that I did and she had me write it down on the back of what looked like a ripped Hello My Name Is label (it was the matte side, not the waxy side). She said she would email me if my work permit was approved. If I didn’t hear back then I could stay for three more months. “So… that’s it? Do you want me to come back?” I asked. “I will email you if you are approved,” she responded. “um, ok, danke.”

Let’s hope I get that email…

Bruxelles

Melissa and I got our weekend adventuring off to a good start with a trip to Brussels. We weren't there for very long but we got a good taste of the city and took care of everything on our list (Waffles, Pomme Frites, Beers, Mussels, Chocolate). Brussels reminds me a lot of Quebec City, or a smaller, cleaner Paris. Melissa has a serious camera so I let her do most of the picture taking. I have posted a few at the bottom but I hope to get hers to share as well.


We got in early Saturday morning and headed immediately into town. We didn't do much research in advance so we just went straight to the city center. After a quick (as if anything is ever quick) breakfast we hit the tourist spots. One of the main attractions is the Grand Place, a great big open square surrounded on all sides by impressive and historic buildings. We went wandering from there and stumbled upon Brussels' prized statue, Manneken Pis, what was created to commemorate a boy who put out a fire by peeing on it. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping (I got some really great boots) and relaxed with some pots of mussels. Because we left for the airport at 5:15 that morning, we both needed a napski, badski. Back at the hotel we enjoyed some Fresh Prince and Simpsons in English before dozing off.


For dinner, we hit up a street with shoulder-to-shoulder restaurants. Each was exactly the same as the previous, even with the same menus. They used tactics that we were familiar with from places such as E 6th St and Little Italy where someone stands outside and harasses you until you run away or come inside. We picked one that seemed to be the least obnoxious and sat down for dinner. There was a regular, prix fixe, drink, and wine menu, each to be received only upon specific request so it took us a few rounds to figure out what to order. We each got a three course prix fixe. For the first course, we both selected fondu (who wouldn't?!). Well, it turned out to be the biggest crime ever committed against cheese. Not only was it NOT the fondu we were expecting but the cheese croquettes we received were nearly inedible. Our next courses were chicken/steak au poivre, one of my french faves, followed up by a waffle!


After dinner we went to the Delirium Tremens Bar. Turned out to be a total backpacker spot but I guess that's what we were expecting. After enjoying a few local brews we called it a night. But no night is complete without a stop at the pomme frites stand! I got a big guy with the recommended sauce hoping it would top Pomme Frites on 2nd Ave. Bad news, it didn't. I prefer the copy to the classic because as Luanne stated best, "fries are just the medium to get sauce in my belly."


This morning we slept in and it was fantastic. We watched a quick episode of Who's the Boss and went out to catch brunch nearby the Congo Quarter. Lunch was interesting because the menu was in French and Dutch. I have German menu skills but we were lost with these two languages. Melissa went safe with lasagna and I took my chances with the vegetarian pasta. It turned out to be a random combo of broccoli sprouts, walnuts, and zucchini but the grated parmesan tied it all together. 


The problem with the language thing is that I'm so used to trying to speak german that this french/dutch thing is really throwing me off. Our waiter said goodbye to us in french and i responded in german! at least it's becoming a habit. At one point I was so jumbled up with whether to say Merci, Danke, or Thank You that I accidentally said gracias.


We picked up some tasty souvenirs and hit the train. I'm exhausted but it was worth it. Can't wait for the next trip! Here are some pictures from the weekend:





Tomorrow morning I have my residence permit meeting bright and early. If I don't post again soon it's because I got deported for filling out my form wrong.

I've Been in Berlin Too Long...

...so we're going to Brussels! Pommes, waffles, and Chimay for the
next 36 hours.

Bolwing Again, but with Better Results

I went bowling with the gals tonight and after I elaborately detailed how bad I was, I threw a 175. It was almost embarrassing because it probably seemed like I was just lying about being bad. oh but then the next game i threw somewhere in the 50's, which is still better than my average. Here's proof (my name in this game is LiL, as in Lil Panda):

Other highlights included random old German man giving our buddy Johanna unsolicited advice... that was actually really good - check out the increase in the last four frames for PL.

Busy week so here's some random notes

This was a long week of working. I'm finally owning some responsibilities and it's interesting to be back in the learning seat. I want to do everything the right way but there just isn't time! My co-workers are awesome and just like I've said in New York 100 times, working late isn't so bad when you're doing it next to good people. Since I don't have anything exciting to share from my week, here are a few random notes that I've been meaning to interject:

- My apartment building composts. There is a garbage bin, four recycle bins, and a compost bin. Yay! I've always wanted to compost. I wonder if they take it somewhere or they use it directly on the garden in our courtyard. I wonder if I can work in the garden? For now, I will just focus on saving my banana peels and coffee grounds.

- How I Met Your Mother is the easiest dubbed show to understand on TV. I think it's because they talk slow and the plots are simple but if everyone talked like that I think I could survive without English

- A crime was committed on the 3rd floor of Stralauer Allee 6. My yogurt, which was in a tupperware container went missing! And so did the container! but it's not like I left it there for a week, it was the afternoon after I brought it in the morning. The next day my coworker Annette was a victim of the same crime. It's time for some office detective work.

- I have yet to encounter a straw of appropriate length. So the beverages are all smaller because they don't guzzle coffee, etc, like Americans do but the straws are all over a foot long. It's actually a little rediculous

 - I have located all of my desired foods except for baby carrots (only adult) and instant oatmeal (only the slow kind). I haven't found chocolate chips for baking but I also haven't looked that hard.

- The office puts out this nice tray of apples every week. What a nice treat!

Wochenende

I took last wochenende to recover from the woche. First order of business on Saturday: Gym. I had an appointment with a trainer as a part of my new-member package and normally I would decline but since classes may not be a reliable source of exercise, I wanted to explore all options. Here's the thing about the gym... the people there don't seem so fit. At NYSC or Crunch, most of the members are younger and fairly fit, older and super fit, or somewhere in between and working their face off. While at the gym by my parents house, the clientele is a little older but still in pretty good shape or dedicated to getting there. At Homes Place? Not so much. Let's say we're judging based on the intensity of work-outs combined with body type. I don't think people take it as seriously here as they do back in the US. Also, I saw more than one barefoot person on the gym floor lifting weights and/or running. 


After spending most of the morning at the gym, I met up with Melissa for some weekending. We went to Hackescher Markt and enjoyed some glühwein and some artisan slim jims. we did some light shopping and walked around Mitte.

Saturday night, we met up with Renee and Jenny to go to a club. We were going to meet them at a cocktail bar called Green Door first then head to an American style club on Ku Damm. So the Green Door was interesting... the door was locked and you ring a doorbell so this lady who looks like Cruella Deville wil open the door. Since we didn't have a reservation (for a bar, mind you), I told her we were meeting some friends inside. She let us in but then followed us as I looked for Renee and Jenny. Although the bar was not even full, I turned around to her and said "I'll just call them, I dont see them yet" to which she kicked us out. When Renee came to get us at the door we all got yelled at some more so we went on our way. weirdsies. but Melissa and I plan to go back for sure.


The American club was just like an American club.


Sunday, we went to brunch and the flea market in Prenzlauer Berg. Brunch was at a place on Melissa's favorite Berlin street and I totally see why, it's really cute with lots of eating and drinking and shopping establishments. I don't have a favorite street yet but if I had to pick one it would be the one with the Asian grocery store.

Brunch was really tasty, we got this three-tiered platter that was impossible to eat without spilling food everywhere. I also got tea that came in an interesting contraption but I was able to use my education and street smarts together to figure out how to work it and enjoy some Chai.

The flea market was full of treasures motivated me to get a bike ASAP. As soon as it stops snowing every other day I'm going to get one and ride it all over this town.

Somewhere in the last week I booked my first trip back to New York for my pal Jessica's part-bus-birthday-party and also a Michelin Club lunch with my five favorite fine dining pals.

Office Visitor!

For last Thursday's dinner, Randi suggested we take Neil out for schnitzle. Since my last schnitzle experience at Austria was so good, I was obviously excited. We went to a different restaurant, about a half block away also called Austria but it was much smaller and less formal. The schnitzle was incrementally less-tasty, but still very tasty. Melissa and I went splitsies on the pork and the veal. The pork was my fave.


After dinner, we went to a bar in our neighborhood that Randi knew about. It was really nice to go out in our own area! It's been awesome to have Melissa to commute with but I miss the days of walking everywhere (and not just because I'm a crazy walker lady, because stuff was close!)

The bar did a good job and I would totally go back there. They gave us water, for free and unrequested pretty sure it was the first time either of those things happened. Here are a couple pictures. look at those random boots, what do you think they were doing there by the coat rack?

but alas, they did not give us enough water because Friday was the worst day at work ever. 


After what seemed like a 20 hour work day, I hit the 'ol U1 to go sign up for German class and the least soothing thing happened. The panhandling accordian man who is on our train almost every day was there, doing his thing. It's like he knows what car we're in.

After a stereotypical interaction where the German school told me I couldn't sign up for two non-consecutive weeks because it's just not done (But why? We just don't. Why not? We just don't...etc) I did a little exploration of the Schöneberg neighborhood. Jackpot! Asian grocery store! If I love German grocery stores at a 10, Asian grocery stores are an 11. Plus it was open until 21:00 so I could take my sweet time. I stocked up on tea, ginger candy, and other classics:

VERWIRRUNG

it means confusion. try to say it.


I don't think my speaking organs are advanced enough to pronounce this because it sounds like i have too much peanut butter in my mouth and ends in my laughing hysterically. New fave German word.

Laundry Day

Last week, the first visitor from the  New York office came to town to do some business. It was great to see a pal from 1515 Broadway. We all planned to go out to dinner and drinks on Friday but Melissa and I wanted to run home first to take care of some errands that were waiting due to our busy week. I NEEDED to do laundry because I don’t own a lot of non-gym socks. I’m not used to wearing socks everyday so I depleted my stash immediately and had been wearing airplane socks, trouser socks, you name it. When we stopped at home, I QUICKLY threw in my first load of laundry. Now, I love doing my own laundry. Never been a fan of wash-and-fold, no matter how cheap and easy it is. As usual, a couple of language related speed bumps: Frank Wollfram showed me some tablets that I had to put in the washer because the water is very hard (at first I thought he said hot…) so it seemed said tablets also had at least fabric softener but also maybe detergent. I didn’t have time to translate the whole box. In my closet, I also had two other bottles that had pictures of laundry machines on them. So I decided to put in a little of each. But not too much because I didn’t want it to overflow with bubbles! So a little of each in each compartment. Then I translated the temperature settings and selected the German equivalent of “permanent press”. I set it to go and crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t come home to a  bathroom full of wasser.

Neil’s friend recommended an Italian place that was know for it’s burgers. We all ordered a cheeseburger (insert belushi sound clip) except Neil’s came with no patty! When he tried to ask the waiter, he was confused and said “I don’t know what ‘no burger’ means” then we showed him. As Neil put it, where’s the beef? After dinner we went to a bar for a few biers and called it a night. Here are some pictures of the interior design:

 But my night was not over! I went home to dry my laundry. Luckily no water on the floor and things smelled clean. As I layed each of my socks on the drying rack I thought that I don’t really mind this process. It may take longer but think of all the energy that is saved! Nearly everything dried overnight so with proper planning laundry won’t be the hassle I thought it would be. I really like the idea of not using a dryer although when I move back I'm sure I won't be using a rack anymore.

Now you can see what it's like

You all know I have an unhealthy obsession with all things google. I just installed a translate gadget in the upper-right. Flip it to German to get a taste of my life. or flip it to swahili if you're feeling saucy

The Big Rösti

I’ve been stressing about how I’m going to get my tax card figured out. HR needs it to pay me and they gave me a document with a link to the application and told me to take it back to the buergeramt (where I got the Anmeldung). But the link doesn’t work and I can’t find any info about it anywhere on the berlin.de website. All the various expat blogs confirm that this is how I need to get it but I was having extreme difficulty finding the application. The HR person confirmed that I would just get it from the buergeramt so I decided I would just go there one morning and try to get the application there, translate it, and turn it in. I need this card! It’s my understanding that as long as your deductions are done right you don’t have to file anything for taxes (but let’s be honest, do we think the deductions are going to be done right?). Well. I spent a solid afternoon on this yesterday and discovered something interesting… Starting in 2011, Berlin will no longer be issuing tax cards, the process is to be performed electronically by one’s employer to the ministry of finance. That doesn’t sound complicated at all! Am I in the right place? Oh but Melissa mentioned this new information to HR who was not familiar with the process. This is not the last you'll be reading of the tax card situation.

Yesterday, I went to lunch at the hotel next door with Randi and Melissa. Compared to other food options in the neighborhood it’s a little pricy and it also is/is trying to be a little fance. The food was great but I think I might get a little more satisfaction from a sammy at the food stand downstairs (which I had for my 4:00 snack).

This week is Berlin Fashion Week and there’s a tent up somewhere in this city. I’m about as fashionable as a cardboard box and I don’t mean in that hipster sort of way where a cardboard box is soo hot right now. Randi and her friends were planning to go to a kick-off type party and Melissa and I tagged along. 

First we grabbed a beer from the office to take with us on the train. It was not a necessary measure but I’ve been seeing this going on everywhere and thought we should participate at least once.

So that party was pretty dang entertaining. It was just at this bar by Alexanderplatz however the crowd was really unique. Most of the girls looked like one of the many stages of Bowie or a Lady Gaga video or maybe both. There are no words to describe this people watching. So there was that part of the bar. There was also this back room with a piano and a French cabaret singer. I took some pictures but none of them do the place justice so here’s a picture of the ceiling.

Melissa and I went to McDonalds on our way home. And THEY HAVE A BURGER THAT HAS HASHBROWNS AND BACON. IT IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN. For the burger without a bite missing, please visit McDonalds Website

PS Check out this new cube decor I got from Neil all the way from the big city:

Retractions, Corrections, and Apologies

It has been called to my attention that I misstated my high bowling score in the post on 16.1.2011 16.1.2011


I scored a 145. not 14. yes, it's true.

IKEA

Melissa and I went to Ikea last night because although she has closets she doesn’t have any dressers and my situation is very similar. Plus Ikea is always entertaining. There is a location in Berlin so it only took us about 25 minutes to get there by S-bahn. I got everything I needed including some metric measuring cups and a 240cm x 220cm comforter. It was hard to resist the siren of low priced chachtkees but I’m still holding strong in my attempt to own less stuff. It wasn’t all business, I did stray from my shopping list and pick up a brownie pan (although my gas oven needs to be manually ignited with a lighter which makes me wonder how the temp is gauged for control purposes but I’ll deal with that later). After a long evening of home shopping, we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the Ikea cafeteria. I got meatballs because isn’t that the main attraction? Melissa got schnitzel. Look, the meatballs are exactly the same!

ackk I'm so far behind

...although not much has happened I feel stress from this backlog so I'm going to hammer out the goings-on promptly.

 Friday I went to a place in the neighborhood for spätzle and the place was really randomly decorated like a tiki bar but was a german place. The food I had was really great and maybe because I haven't had spätzle here yet so i have nothing to compare it to but yummm i'm dreaming about it right now.


Saturday morning I went to the gym for a class. For some reason I figured the language difference wouldn’t apply in this situation. Luckily it was small and the instructor switched off between the two languages although I can see in a large group setting how it could be challenging. I will have to learn the vocab for fitness classes because I don't think I will always get such special treatment.

Melissa arrived from New York on Saturday morning! I'm so excited to show her what I've learned about our neighborhood and explore more with her. We went to lunch and walked around the hood for hours.  We took a nap then met up with Randi for dinner and drinks. We went to this tasty dumpling place where one of the highlights was duck with chocolate sauce (served in an endive. I love me some endive so i took a bit out of it but it seems like it was under-ripe and more bitter than I'm used to). Next, we went to the bar that plays american sports. It's a hostel bar called Belushi's that I've encountered in other cities. The venue was not great but I was excited to see some AFC playoffs! We had some tasty hefewiezens

Sunday, Melissa and I went to brunch in our neighborhood. The restaurant had a buffet option which attracted me due to my obscene appetite. I wish I would have taken a photo of the buffet because it seemed like we were at someone’s potluck dinner. The various dishes were all very random and there wasn’t a common theme of type or ethnicity (e.g. hard boiled eggs, grape leaves, pesto pasta, potatoes and wurst, corn chowder, etc.). The food wasn’t bad but I think I would have rather had an omlet.

I went back to the gym to join and got into an in-depth conversation with the sales guy about whether I was American or not. I have variations on this encounter regularly because for some reason, strangers are very curious about my background however this is my first in the international city of Berlin:

SG: Where are you from?

NP: New York City

SG: No, originally

NP: I’m from Minnesota! (I beamed)

SG: No, where are you FROM?

NP: (ok, I know where this is going, I get it all the time.) OH ok, my father was born in India

SG: so you’re half American

NP: No, I’m fully American, I have lived there my whole life minus two weeks

SG: But your father is Indian so you are also Indian

NP: No, he was born there. He is also an American. Indian is our ethnicity, not our nationality.

SG: Oh I understand. So I am Turkish ethnicity and German nationality?

NP: Exactly. Genau.

Was this exchange necessary? No. Was it annoying? Probably. but I just couldn’t help myself. America is a melting pot of ethnicities and that doesn’t make anyone less American! (poor sales guy picked the wrong person to ask that question).

Sunday night was fantastic! One of Renee’s pals invited myself plus guests to the Berlin Philharmonie to see his conductor friend who is doing a short series of concerts with a small ensemble. I absolutely loved the music, it was so interesting and the performance was very entertaining. Also, the venue is very unique as the stage is fully surrounded by the audience with a very geometric feel. Our seats were front and center. I took a couple of pictures and later learned that it was against the rules. Sorry, didn’t mean to break the rules but since I already took them might as well post!

Great weekend, can’t wait to get into the week again. I think I’ll be more involved at work and have some explorations planned with my new neighbor.

Falling Short of the American Stereotype

With the exception of the one time I magically bowled a 14 with Naman (I have SCOURED my archives and the social networks but I think the photographic evidence is gone with the Nexus although I did tweet about it on Star Wars Day, if I ever sent you a picture of that glorious night please send it to me so I can post) I am not a good bowler. The finance team went out bowling on Thursday and I performed as usual. Good times, though! I love the team. Everyone is so friendly and has welcomed me as part of the gang right away. Even the folks that don’t think their English is very good still make an effort to have conversations (but I think everyone’s is pretty good). This makes me want to learn German even more! How fun would it be to join in the conversations in German. I am starting to learn enough words that I can guess what the subject of conversation is but no clue what is being said. Anyway we enjoyed pizzas and fries and lots of rounds of bowling (and beers!) In the New York office, we commonly refer to each other by our system user IDs - for example, I am PANDAN. They do the same here! We bowled under our USER IDs, I know it’s so nerdy but I love it. Some are more difficult to pronounce than others (MATZCJ).


After the bowling alley we went out for absacke which is the word for the last drink of the night. We went to a bar called Pony! Just like my favorite New York bar! Fun place, not the same, but it brought back memories of American Craft Ales. I split a taxi home with Sebastian who explained that instead of using North and South they use Right and Left to explain directions. I was/am completely confused by this and I think it requires and even further understanding of where you are instead of just a general sense of direction. I will have to learn I guess.

Boxes are Here

Boxes are collapsed, busted open, dirty, and overall haggard but they are here.

Table Tennis Taught Me German

One of the cool things in the Berlin office at StralauerAllee 6 is the ping pong table. Yesterday at lunch I told the team about the contests and GOTY that we did in New York. I think there may be
some interest for etage drei (3^rd floor) but we’ll see. Our table took a little break to play some pong, turns out I’m terrible but still good times. We did the scoring in German so I could learn and practice the numbers.

When I got home, I had a note from FedEx… They tried to deliver my boxes and I needed to reschedule the delivery. Assuming the number would link me with a German robot, I tried to call but figured I’d have to do it again at work when I could get some help. To my surprise, it was the phone number of the delivery truck driver. He spoke about three words of English and you all know my German but he remembered me when I explained my street and I had three big boxes (Drei grosse! Drei grosse!). I requested him to come back tomorrow at 8 (acht vormittags) but I knew that probably wouldn’t be acceptable. He suggested dreizehn which I remembered from the table tennis game! After repeating dreizehn to each other a few times I think we scheduled a delivery for today at 1:00PM. I felt as if I had accomplished more in this German language transaction than that with the shop-keep. We will find out today if it was a successful conversation. Yaaayy boxes of stuff, see you soon!

The Fax Machine is the Most Complicated Part of Germany

Part of the process to get customs to release my fedex boxes of sweaters and shoes, I needed to complete a statement in German that I am not selling the stuff in the boxes and send copy of my boarding pass (?). These instructions were emailed to me however I was required to fax them back, a pdf email would not suffice. This all went down on Monday so I asked Randi to help me. We tried and tried and kept getting the message fehlgeschlagen. Then Marc joined in to help. It took the three of us nearly 20 minutes and repeated attempts until we finally got a sendebericht that said “O K”

As you may know, Germany has government regulated health insurance. What this really means here is that it is compulsory for every person to have insurance. The public health insurance plans have detailed coverage and are operated by numerous companies in association with the government program. Last week, I selected from 60+ carriers one that I thought would best suit my needs. How did I do that since all of the websites are in German? I copied Randi’s. I submitted an online application and later received a packet in the mail. In german, obviously. The packet included pages and pages of tables and descriptions, probably of the coverage and rules, that I couldn’t remotely understand. As I embarked on translating each page as to be fully informed before making a selection I decided to see if there was an easier way. I picked up the phone and caller Hehr Böhme, my insurance representative. He told me (in English!) all I had to do was sign and fax the forms since there are no elections to make. What an easy job he must have. Well, Hehr Böhme, you must not realize how difficult it is for a capable, college educated, certified public accountant, certified information systems auditor, and not to mention New York City 2010 Pizza Race Winner to send a fax. I warned Hehr Böhme of my disability and requested that he call me if he didn’t get it. After a mere three fehlgeschlagens it went through! I got a phone call from my pal that I am now insured. I can and will eat all the questionable street-meat that I desire.

Only Funny Because No One was Hurt

I thought yesterday was going to be a wacky one since I was going to open a bank account. I envisioned line after line, papers and stamps and seals, all in German, of course. Unfortunately/fortunately it went nothing like that. I arrived at the Deutsche bank by my apartment to be informed that the English speaking rep was occupied for the rest of the evening. Sure that this was a sign of bureaucracy to follow, I looked up the next closest branch on my phone and hopped back on the u-bahn. Ten minutes before closing time a friendly, English speaking, representative opened an account for me and had me out of there by 6.

With my free evening, I went to check out the two closest gyms to my apartment, which I also thought would be entertaining. First I went to American Fitness (i.e. NYSC) and next to Homes Place (i.e. Equinox). The only shocker? You have to pay for towels! Like I'm going to use my t-shirt or something. Just add it to the price of the membership and leave me out of it. The towels aren’t as bad as the other Berlin gym McFit (yeah, it's really called that) where you have to pay to shower but there's definitely no Kiehl's in the locker room. The two gyms I saw are both ok, one is much more expensive than the other but is also much nicer. I'm going to have to try them out before I make my decision and luckily Esteban from the office has been extremely helpful in setting it all up for me.

Next to Homes Place is Aldi. Since my grandma loves Aldi, I thought I should check it out in her honor. As the Marshall's of grocery stores they carry Trader Joe's snacks and also liquor. I bought goldbären and a bottle of wine.

I met Randi in Mitte for dinner and she shared stories of her move experience. I don’t have much to complain about but we agreed that a little more hand-holding would have been nice for the both of us. When we came out of the restaurant, a lady riding down the street fell off her bike as she approached us. Now, this lady was down the street but we walked over to help her up and see if she was ok. She yelled at us and as I picked up and envelope that had fallen out of her basket she said it was very important and returned it to its unsecure location. OK I understand that this description may not be interesting to you, the reader, but it was really weird and also quite funny.

Austria

Randi recommended an Austrian place in my neighborhood. She warned that the schnitzel was big so don’t worry about ordering anything else. I walked there after work and found a nice little pocket of restaurants. The place, appropriately named Austria, was dark with a warm cabin feel… benches, candles, and antlers on the wall. The host spoke to me immediately in English and seated me with an English menu at a very exclusive table.

All I ordered was pork schnitzel (is chicken just an American thing?) and beer. When it came out… holy moly! I mean, I know it’s pounded thin but this was giant:

Underneath the two huge pieces were hiding some potatoes and it came with a lovely Gurkensalat on the side. I wasn’t scared. Well, I should have been because that slab of breaded meat got the best of me. I only finished half! How embarrassing. Just as bad as when I was blindsided by a peanut butter and jelly at the GOTY eating contest.

Although my failure was disappointing, the food was fantastic and I can’t wait for the next discovery!

PS I ate the other half for breakfast this morning…

anmeldung and anmeldebestätigung

Another beautiful day in Berlin! It was 3 today but the sun was shining and the ice was melting (only to freeze again tonight and provide a new layer of danger). I was nervous for my Anmeldung meeting but excited to be on the books and move forward with this tedious process.

I missed the boat on some work stuff that I was supposed to do last week so I spent the morning trying to figure it out without full system access. We wrapped it up just in time for me to run out for my meeting. The administrative building, Bürgeramt, was not as scary as I thought it would be. Television monitors displayed what number they were on and what room you needed to go to when you were called. I was number 697608 and they were on 694428… whhhattt? Luckily they were going out of order and I only had to wait about 20 minutes. When directed to 4 Platz, I knocked on the door thinking it was a private office where I would be harshly interrogated. When no one answered I opened and saw that it was another room with four desks, each seeing a different set of applicants. Luckily I have experience with awkwardness so I didn’t feel too bad about standing outside like a moron. Frau Gleiche reviewed my application and documents for 10 minutes without saying a word while I admired the kitty posters on the wall… then she stamped it and handed it back to me. Not a word of German necessary. Woop! My coworker Randi who went through the process said they gave her a hard time but she had a HR person with her. I’m glad Frau Gleiche treated me good and stamped my anmeldebestätigung!

Esteban, the super friendly, super helpful, guy who works downstairs is helping me figure out how and which gym to join. After all these pommes and pizzas (check out this one I had for dinner last night) I am going to need it. On that note, there was some awesome chilli for lunch today, the first thing I’ve eaten with some pizzazz and it came just in time.

Sonntag

Apparently, even though i've been checking the FedEx status every day online and it says it's on track for delivery, it's not. I got a googlevoice-mail (thank you googlevoice!!) that the boxes were stuck in customs and they've been trying to contact me. The German FedEx branch is a pay by the minute number (Miss Cleo?) so I called the US number, also because I wanted to speak to someone in English. They explained that the boxes would be sent back to my now abandoned apartment in New York on MONDAY! UGGGG why was there no indication on the package tracking? Why was I not informed through my FedEx account, that you made me set up, and I log into every day? If there were forms to fill out, why did I not receive them when I made the shipment? "I do apologize, ma'am". I need to complete some German customs forms, pay some fees etc and get them faxed to them first thing on Monday before they send my cardigans back on the boat. I even called the Miss Cleo German line to confirm I'd be sending the forms but they don't operate on the weekend. So I'm waiting to receive the forms via email, I've called a couple times to follow up, so has my ma, and they say it takes up to 48 hours to receive them...

I'm going to wander the empty Sunday streets, much like I did last week but now with an idea of where I'm going and a MUCH better outlook. This week started out a little lonely but it turned out to be a great start of my next ten months. Here it is, today's surprise that you've all been waiting for:

Note: somewhere between the store and my apartment I lost the gurke, it was absent from this wonderful lunch

"Berlin is a Tough Nut to Crack"

Saturday was amazing out, a balmy 9 degrees! First, I picked up my amazon.de package that had been delivered to the store downstairs so I could start using my new Brita. Turns out the store is smaller than a NYC apartment and has no backroom. I got nervous that when/if FedEx comes with my boxes this poor lady is going to have to sign for them. I tried to explain to her that she should refuse if they ask to do that and she kept saying a commonly heard word, gnow. I'm sure it will all work out.

I got googlevoice working on my phone so I'm available for texting! US folks can use my 646 number to send texts that I will receive on my telephone. I love me some technology!

I spent the day shopping at Kurfürstendamm but I resisted the desire to buy due to my recent purge of excess possessions. I did pick up a pair of flat boots which is very uncharacteristic of my. I've been fighting this one for years but unless I want to wear my snowboots everywhere I needed an alternative to Napoleon Dynamite.

One of the more complicated transactions of the day involved making a return (I found an alarm clock in my closet). I had to see four different people, each who completed and gave me a different form. The 5th gave me back my money. I think one lady tried to ask me why I was returning it but since she didn't know English I was allowed the transaction, no questions asked. 

So here's some exciting news... I found a really great grocery store! Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place but this one was amazing and had so many of my faves. I easily spent and hour there browsing the shelves. Highlights of my purchases - Gooseberries, lunchmeat, my preferred Trader Joe's wine Casillero del Diablo, Chips and Salsa, and a special treat that I will reveal in my next post.

I went to Renee's for a party to be followed by some possible clubbing. I met some really interesting folks and had great conversation. I even meet another Minnesotan! Small WORLD it is, I'm sure the connection wouldn't have been made if we both didn't have so much MN pride. We didn't end up going clubbing which was fine because then my clothes didn't get all smokey smelling and we got to continue the good conversations. People have such love-hate relationships with Berlin. There's the aspect that many people here don't work and they just hang out and while that's fun, as a working person it is annoying that people pride themselves on their unemployment. There's also the aspect that much of the city is not native to Berlin or even Germany or they are but they still live in their old customs. It's great to chat with the Americans but conversation with German natives adds a new point of view which is part of why I wanted to come here in the first place.


PS I learned what genau (gnow) means - exactly! It's like bueno in spanish. gut zu wissen...

amazon.de

I ordered a hair straightener from amazon.de on Wednesday and sent it with the free shipping option. Today, my buzzer rang (which was exciting all in its own) and it was my package. Amazon.de is my favorite! Too bad it's not in English and they don’t have the same selection as amazon.com because rations are low and I’m on my last granola bar and the hot tamales are long gone.

Today for lunch I had a veggie wrap and it was really tasty with good vegetables although it randomly had peanut butter in it. It also had sweet chili sauce so maybe it was an attempt at peanut sauce but I promise it was peanut butter. Still good though and I’m considering another for my 4PM if they have any left.

The initial plan tonight was to go out to dinner and then home to catch up with everyone I’ve been too busy to respond to this week but then my desk neighbor, Antje, invited me to go ice skating with her and another coworker, Stefan, at the building next to our office. Good thing I wore socks today! Stefan brought us some treats for the night... They were roadie bottles called Flic Flac which resembled Lychee flavored liquor.


The rink is on the roof of the nHow Hotel. The hotel is music themed with unique decorations and also the rink is pink! They had these little penguins to help if you dont know how to skate and we also enjoyed some some mulled wine, or Glühwein as they call it here.

   

On my way home I stopped at a currywurst place recommended by Antje and Stefan. I still stand by my assessment made to Jessica that currywurst is a chopped up hot dog with ketchup on it. But it was tasty nonetheless and so were the frites.

My first week at work is over and so far so good. Granted, I’ve barely done any work but I am excited to come back on Monday and also I think my New York friend Randi will be at work so I’m looking forward to that too. One interesting thing to note is that I have poured myself a coffee probably 6 or 7 times and I’ve MADE the industrial sized pot of coffee about 4. Maybe I need to work on my beverage consumption timing or this is my initiation. Next time I go to the US I’ll bring back some delicious Irving Farms or Caribou and see how they like it.

PS I forgot to mention that yesterday I saw “rats” on the subway tracks and they were so little and sprightly they were almost cute and also a cockroach could take one down in one gulp

PPS here’s the photo of the coffee shop in the Möckernbrücke u-bahn stop, as promised. See, it’s shady not at all

Crossing My T's and Dotting My Lower Case J's

I spent nearly the entire day at work yesterday sorting through the paperwork and documents needed to get all my permits and such (as well as most of today). It’s possible that I’m over-preparing but since all of the forms and websites are in German it’s an intricate process of google translating. The last thing I want is to go to one of these government offices and get scolded in German for having the wrong stuff. I wish I had visio on this computer because my requirements would be best shown in flowchart form. Please see the diagram below for an overview of the process on getting my life together:

(click to enlarge)

Even though the U-bahn (subway) is underground, there is still cell phone reception. Not sure if there are enhancers or what but I’ve got a full signal at all times - I almost don’t want to get used to this! Anyway, I was late to meet Renee for the Big Lebowski watching party because I confused Rudow and Ruthaus. I didn’t let her know I was late nor did I catch her call because I was in underground mode…whoops! The party was good times. Let’s be honest, watching that movie alone is fun. but with others and white Russians is even better. We went to her friend’s apartment who had a projector for the movie. I met some fun people and I hope to enjoy movies and/or beverages with them again. I sat next to a native German who had seen the movie before in Deutsche. Since the villains in the movie are German we asked him what he thought… he told us in the dubbed version they are Italian. Ha! He also shared with us a story of when he went to East Berlin as a child. He said that in order to obtain the visa, his family had to attend a two hour class on the politics of EB. It was really fascinating talking to him about a historical event that I only know from the movie Goodbye, Lenin (and school).

Tonight, I learned that Germany doesn’t believe in personal liability so if you don’t have lights in your stairwell or ice on your walkway and someone falls and gets hurt they can’t sue you. Which explains the ice and lack of lights…I also learned that the train doesn’t run all night but don’t worry I didn’t learn that the hard way. 

The 4 O'Clock Lunch

So far, all the food I’ve had here has been tasty. Some great soups (suppe) at the food stand and every sandwich has had the best cheese. But what I’m having problems with is portions. Compared with my American peers of similar age, size, etc. I demonstrate a larger appetite. Compared to these folks I’m like a hungry hungry hippo! To get started, I’ve been trying to fit-in and eat an itty bitty sandwich for lunch and not snack at my desk all day. I think three days is enough because Thursday I started the 4:00 lunch.

The food stand is still open and still has sandwiches! So I’m gonna eat one. Yeah, I could eat a bigger lunch but this takes the fun of lunchtime x 2 everyday!

I'll Stick with the Sheep

I'm on a train that has been stopped for about 15 minutes. Lots of announcements have been made and people seem disgruntled but not interested in translating. If there are still people here it must be running, right?
A lady is going from car to car, hoarse and out of breath from screaming as loud as possible. Man, I wish I knew German!

I'm from the Same Place as the Walshes

What a fun day today! The sun came out for the first time since I've been here. I used my new alarm to wake up on time and enjoy some toast. When I got to work I finished up my favorite rollforward which made me feel like I was back in the grove of solving fixed asset mysteries on Fixed Asset Blvd with Cate Konzet.

After a morning of serious working, I went down to grab lunch with my coworkers. At first I felt like a dope because as usual I had no idea what they were serving and I couldn't participate in conversation. Then they remembered me and we all chatted in English for the rest of lunch and even teased our coworker for driving to work instead of walking 10 minutes (which is what I would do to anyone, German or American). They taught me some good words to know and I think it was fun for all. I soon as I got a chance to mention Minnesota someone said, "Oh thats where Brandon from 90210 is from!" Ya'll know I can't go a day without bringing up The Great State so I had to lay the groundwork early.

I saw the HR gal this afternoon to go over the forms and the meetings I need to get all my work and living permits. It's very complicated, everything is in German and I don't even think she was sure about some of the requirements. Wish me luck...

Next I got my "chip" which is like our company ID but with no picture and it has a discount at the food stand in the lobby. When i got back to my desk I got my phone.... yyyaaaaayyyyy! Here's the funny part: since they were out of blackberries, I had to get an iPhone. Which is sort of ironic I guess considering my Android love but I am definitely not complaining. While the IT folks were at my desk I got busted for installing Chrome but I pleaded with them that I needed it to translate full pages. Going back to IE from Chrome is like going to an iPhone from an Android. (No offense intended, all in good jest.)

Next, I had a meeting with the New York gang to talk Transponders like old times! man it felt good to be a productive member of a team today!

I met up with a friend of a friend, Renee, for dinner tonight which was quite a highlight. She had so much good advice. We even talked about bikes. Also great to be out with a fun gal! I'm looking forward to hanging out with her more...at a Big Lebowski party tomorrow. too good to be true!

Tons went down today. I'm looking forward to another great day tomorrow. Now that I've gotten the fundamentals down I can focus on the fun stuff like learning German and travelling the Continent and joining a bank and a gym.

What do I miss the most? Still salad.

What am I most excited about? Work and also this Falafal place that Renee showed me. nom nom nom