Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Whirlwind Tour


We just returned from a quick trip to NY, NH and MN. I had never been to New York City before and I just kept looking up at the skyscrapers. I was reminded of two movies - "The Fisherking" and "Batman". A building on Lexington reminded me of the first and all of Manhattan at night reminded me of the second movie. Here is a picture of something else we saw:


Loved going to the MoMA, Times Square, Rockefeller Center... but wait... this is supposed to be a blog about Germany. It was good to see a bit of the US before the move and a nice distraction from the stress. Even our flights on Thanksgiving Day were a breeze.

Our total immersion continues - we were invited by Bavarian friends for a pre-Thanksgiving, German-American dinner and B appreciated their Bavarian accent in high German. The hostess even made Semmelknödel in our honor. These are dumplings made with aged bread, milk, onions, eggs and contain parsley and mushrooms among other ingredients. I brought pumpkin pie.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

It's official

B (finally) received word on his work permit. He can officially work in Germany as of December 1. We are burning up some much needed vacation time visiting family in the US over Thanksgiving and sightseeing the coolest city on earth (New York) before packing everything up into brown, ugly cardboard cartons...

So I got tagged and here goes my meme (is there a circumflex or an accent missing somewhere?):

1. I'm a Saggitarius.
2. While vacationing in Mexico, I ordered a "Coco Loco" and became violently ill. The lesson I learned was not to order mixed, fruity drinks and stick to hard liquor from the bottle if any alcohol has to be consumed in tropical locations.
3. My favorite color is blue.
4. If I could come back in another life I would want to be a dolphin.
5. Haselnusstorte, Sachertorte, Erdbeertorte... you get my drift?
6. I can order number 5 in four languages.
7. I love modern, minimalist design.

I tag the following (only because I think they have not yet been tagged by others:

Ann-Ona-Moose
Germany Doesn't Suck
An American Expat in Deutschland

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Goodbyes


We said goodbye to Gracie on Saturday. She had been suffering from dementia and a lot of physical problems for most of a year, most likely caused by arteriosclerosis in the brain. She had such a sweet nature that she remained affectionate even after she stopped wanting to eat. But her condition worsened to the point where her mind was gone, her body was in pain, and it was time to let her go.

She touched a lot of lives in 15 years. She inspired at least a few people to get a dog, and our Korean neighbors chose Gracie as the American name for their new baby because the older girls were so taken with her.
Right now we are just trying to cope with losing her and it's difficult to get excited about moving to Germany.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Certificate of Conduct (the sequel)

The certificate of conduct arrived in the mail yesterday (see my first post). It was actually sent via express mail ("Eilpost"). It looks like a single green sheet of paper with a giant watermark of the German eagle. As expected, there are no entries for B (not the kind of guy with a rap sheet :-) We are quite pleased with the fast response.

The department stores in the US set up decorated Xmas trees before Halloween. Just an informal poll ... what's the best Christmas market in Germany to go to?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

1 Punkt für Mich

We've come up with a simple game to force us to speak German at home and train our ears for what's to come. It's total immersion from this point foward! Any time either one of us speaks English, a point is counted against us. The one who accumulates the most has to complete a chore as determined by the winner.

Along with the language immersion, I'm doing culinary immersion :-) Tonight, we'll have brats and sauerkraut. Ok, the American part will be a sweet potato on the side. And only because I'm eating as many sweet potatoes and pumpkin ahead of our move as I can. It's something that I don't think will be readily available over there.

Gracie's health continues to decline. She sleeps most of the day. She was awake for a little while this morning and we caught a glimpse of the "old Gracie" but it didn't last long.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Friday, October 26, 2007

Gracie

Our 15-year old miniature schnauzer Gracie is keeping us up at all hours of the night. A stroke about half a year ago has left her suffering from dementia and she paces around the bed for what seems like hours on end. B takes her out at night - during the day we're just zombies from the lack of sleep.

It's never clear when she has to go potty and she has had a lot of "accidents" lately. She is deaf and can't see too well either. Her appetite has to be stimulated with medication and she eats only a cup of puppy Eukenuba a day.

We are facing a moral and ethical dilemma - will she survive the trip to Germany? The vet told us about a month ago, when she stopped eating, that it was time to let go. Because of the medication she has been eating and maintaining her weight and she can walk but she is weak and lacks balance. Is maintaining her appetite giving her any quality of life? How do we and when is it time to "let go"?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Delays

Yesterday, we received an e-mail from the lawyers who are handling the work permit application informing us that it would take an additional 3 weeks for it to go through. Turns out since B is working in both Bavaria and Hessen he needs to apply in both states and the application process can't happen simultaneoulsy.

I'm selling my iron and lamps on Friday and my car on Saturday. So I'll be sitting in the dark in wrinkled clothes with no transportation. Hmmm...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Lost in Translations

Marriage certificate, drivers license, birth certificate - just some of the things we had translated into German and approved at the embassy yesterday. Additional things needing translation include a letter from the car insurance confirming our good record and a letter from our landlord about being good renters.

A bit of panic on the Titanic yesterday, when B received an e-mail from the health insurance company. The German was too legalese and we interpreted what is said to mean that we had to go with private insurance as opposed to the statuatory insurance but a call to the representative in Germany cleared it all up. The insurer was just checking to make sure we would not be double-insured. Only 10% of Germans are covered by private insurance - it's very costly - and it would not have fit into our budget.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007

It's Electrifying!

We tried out our new multi-system TV today (works with PAL and NTSC) and it looks great. Not sure about the adapter they sent - it looks like it would fit a square socket not a rounded one in Germany.

We're also sending some things to my brothers and some to B's brothers to keep in storage - lamps, video tapes, electric tools. We're able to take the rechargeable drill as it works with one of the small transformers we ordered online.

B ordered transformers in just about every size. He got a 2000 watt transformer - not sure what we are going to run on it.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Be Good

We are waiting for B to receive his permit to work in Germany. Friday was my last day at work and we'll have about 3-4 weeks to organize the move. The checklist of things to do is a mile long. The pile of papers we have to submit and file for either work, visa or residence permits is growing bigger and bigger.

B's place of employment in Germany requires for him to submit a certificate of conduct, a "Lohnsteuerkarte" (a form that tells the employer your tax category) and some insurance info before he starts. All good and well, except the certificate of conduct needs to be from Germany and he's never lived there before. And we have to pay a 13 Euro fee to the German equivalent of the justice department...

We cannot pay the fee in person because we are still in the US. Paying 13 Euros by check was not an option for us because it takes too long to clear and we were afraid the certificate would get lost int he mail just as we move over there. Our move is complicated by the fact that B has to spend two months in Munich before we settle down in the Bad Homburg area.

So I call Germany to find out what our options are. After listening to the German automatic voice response system , making my selections and a bit of a run around , I finally get connected to a human. I ask her if we can send a 20 Euro bill. Sending cash is risky, a friendly elderly woman tells me. It may delay the processing of the request because they would have to reimburse us 7 Euros. Without a German bank account, this would be complicated. 'What about a wire transfer?' I ask.

She connects me with the "Geldstelle" - their accounting department. A woman answered curtly, asked for my birth date and connected me back with the elderly lady. To make a long story short, she suggests that I pay in dollars at the current exchange rate with a check, after calling the "Geldstelle" woman and calling me back. Back to square one.

A couple of days pass and we decide to wire the 13 Euros to Germany. We needed a receipt to go along with the request. B contacts our local bank, who can't make heads or tails from the bank account numbers, routing numbers, SWIFT and IBAN numbers on the form we had downloaded. We need a street address for the bank in Germany that the 13 Euros are to be wired to. We check on the internet for the bank branch in Germany mentioned on the form - it does not exist.

Because of the time difference, I call the "Geldstelle" again the next morning. The curt lady is nice to me today. She says, the branch in Bonn closed - it's now in Cologne and she gives me the address. I ask, which wire transfer number to use - SWIFT or IBAN? She doesn't know. I find out at work from our accounting department, that the SWIFT number is the one to use for international wire transfers - cost to wire: $38.

Finally, armed with a bank address in Germany and a wire transfer number, and after what surely amounted to more than 13 Euros in phone calls to Germany, B heads to the bank and has the money transfered. We also filed for his American certificate of conduct - just in case.