ZURÜCK NACH DEUTSCHLAND
Auf geht's
Honestly, it was a little crazy being back at Dulles. The last time I was there I was geeking out with all my other CBYXers as we got through security, sat around the terminal, then flew off to an amazing year in Germany.
This time was a little bit different. I had some problems checking in because I only had a one way ticket (something to do with EU entry requirements...) but everyone was super nice and patient. To top it off, they surprisingly waived the baggage fees and the people at the ticket counter were overall very helpful and pleasant (Oscar, I hope you do get to travel around, the world is a cool place with tons to explore). But, true to American form, getting through the TSA was hell on earth. Who'da thunk, right?
I had my last meal in America before moving to Germany just like the first time that happened, at Chipotle. As always, it was delicious, and was definitely the right way to send myself off to my next adventure.
Burrito bowl'd up and ready to go, Iceland Air gave me quite an awesome and warm first impression of Iceland. First off, the flight was practically empty, so I got a whole row to myself. BAUS. The plane was small, but well equipped with nice and comfy seats, a nice entertainment thing with free wifi onboard, and really nice blankets for everyone.
The music they were playing before takeoff was soothing and smooth, we all got a fresh bottle of pure Icelandic glacial water (which was absolutely delicious).
The Iceland air magazine had an article on the growing craft beer industry in the country (the oldest microbrewery there has now 12 employees, equivalent to 10% of that towns workforce)
and the pictures and videos they had in the magazine and on the screen were just breathtaking. Now I want to take a month and have an epic adventure driving all over the place and seeing all of the nature that Iceland has to offer. I mean wow, it seems like such a breathtaking place… shit, even their safety video was awesome!
Because of all of this and more, imma go right ahead and lump Iceland in with the rest of Scandanavia. They seem to be doing shit right in life. The airport was like a beautiful mall, security was like a total breeze, free wifi (on the planes too), they put the northern lights inside the aircraft, and it all just seemed like a great place to be. I hella gotta come back and explore it here.
The second flight went just about as well as the first one, meaning I slept almost the entire way. I woke up as we were flying over a slightly cloudy Germany, but wouldn't you know it, the one break in the clouds was right over my old city of Köln. Oh boy, am I glad to be back.
That was the end of the fun for a while though, because the brunt of German (in)efficiency, poor planning, and DB Verspätungen slapped me smack across the jaw and said Willkommen Zurück.
First off, only one of my three bags rolled off the baggage carousel. I was a lotta bit bewildered and dreading having to come back or wait a few days for the other two to arrive. Thankfully, and somewhat idiotically, they were just taken somewhere else once they got off the plane. A short 30 minute wait for them to find where they were and get them to me was the somewhat minor inconvenience of that. The major inconvenience was I spent a total of two hours at the airport after landing.
Because I was delayed, and for some reason there is no walkway from the baggage claim to the train station, I had to wait 20 minutes for the shuttle that goes in a counter clockwise loop around the airport to take me to the train station. Let's put it this way, if I was starting at the 5 o'clock spot, it took me to the 6 o'clock spot, but counterclockwise. So poorly planned and designed. All in all, I left two hours later than I expected. Welcome back, right?
To top it off, I had some problems with my O2 account, Charles Schwab was being annoying about my debit card when I tried to take out some money, and there was a 20 minute delay on the good 'ole trustworthy ICE. Despite all of this I somehow made it to Karlsruhe.
After a nice discussion with my friendly Russian cab driver auf Deutsch, I got to Sixt to pick up my rental car. Well, I would've, but dumb me forgot to call in and tell them my arrival was delayed by a day, so they canceled my reservation. Just my luck. Well, I got super lucky with this one, because there was a car there, it wasn't cleaned or ready or anything, but the nice guy there let me rent it on my original contract. Thank. Goodness.
Car keys in hand, luggage in the trunk, I made my way over to Kandel to move into my temporary apartment. Turned out to be quite the nice place!
To make everything right in the world, I went and grabbed some killer Döner for dinner and went to Aldi to stock up on food. Good to have everything back in order.
Anmeldung und Burokratie
The reason I had to move to Kandel (small dorf) first before I could move to Karlsruhe (big-ish city) was something to do with the pre-processing of my visa application. Due to the refugee crisis, Karlsruhe wouldn't pre-process my visa, but the Landeskreis (county) next to it would. The first full day I was here I spent with someone from Daimler's relocation service going to a couple appointments to get registered in Kandel, and then get my work permit in Germersheim.
It was a really seamless process. For the registration, we were in and out in 20 minutes with no problem. Then in Germersheim, for my work permit, it was just as quick. We were able to bypass everyone in line (had an appointment) and it was also a quick in-and-out thing. While we were in this appointment, the topic of conversation somehow got to the comparison or level of Freedom of Speech in America vs. in Germany. Obviously the refugee crisis has been quite the issue over here, so it had something to do with how people in America feel more free to voice their opinion (especially the more extreme views), where as in Germany, people are a little more timid in doing so. Kinda interesting.
Work, so it Begins
I only worked two days during this first week, and they went pretty ok. I still don't have anything to do (my boss was gone for most of those two days), but I got a nice and fairly awkward introduction to the group and the rest of the building from one of my new coworkers. I spent a lot of time going through old emails and getting some smaller stuff squared away.
Monday I should be meeting with my boss for a good amount of time and hopefully deciding or getting a good idea of what I'll be working on while I'm there. Then on Tuesday he said he's gonna take me to Stuttgart for a workshop. It's been a slow build, but I'm hoping I get to dive right in to something cool!
Stuttgart, Not Too Far Away
Twice in the first week I've been here I drove over to Stuttgart for some stuff. The first time was the first day I was in town. One of the managers in my department back in Portland was in town for a workshop. So I drove over and met up with him and a coworker, who was meeting up with a former intern, and we had dinner at a local place. I got some Maultaschen and they were delicious.
But the more fun trip to Stuttgart was for the first part of the weekend. And it was pretty awesome. I drove over a little bit after work on Friday to try and mitigate some of the traffic, and then met up with Marco, Martin, Jan, and Daniel. I drove over to Marco's to drop my stuff off, and then we hit up the grocery store to get some stuff to make pizza.
From there, we headed over to Martin's swanky apartment. Him and Jan were playing some Street Fighter, so we cracked some beers and joined in on the fun. Eventually Daniel showed up, and after a while were able to chow down on some delicious home made pizzas.
Later on, we went out to this wicked cool bar. It was in the inner courtyard of a building, and the door/whole place was pretty nondescript. But we went in and downstairs, and were confronted with this awesome place. There were nothing but empty whiskey bottles and boxes shelved on the walls, and they didn't have chairs, but rather awesome leather couches and stuff everywhere. It turned out to be a bit pricey, but it was pretty damn awesome.
That next morning, me and Marco did it all right. We went back to the grocery store to get stuff, and then we went ahead and made a damn good American style breakfast. I was raving the night before about how we Americans are the only ones that do breakfast really well. So I put my money where my mouth is, and it seemed like I hit the nail on the head. Marco and his roommate said they dug it pretty good. It put a nice smile on my face bringing the awesomeness of great food to other people, as it always does!
But after breakfast, we just chilled around and watched some Brooklyn Nine Nine. That is a hilariously awesome show. Eventually, I jumped back in Reggie (the name of my rental car, he's not that great) and made my way back to Karlsruhe.
Frisbee für Immer
My original plan was to drive back from Stuttgart and go directly to the frisbee practice with the team in Karlsruhe. Well, I got into Karlsruhe, checked again when and where the practice was, and saw it was indoor. I only brought my cleats. An hour later after driving home, I had my shoes and was ready to play. I was originally toying with the idea of not going, but damn I'm glad I did.
As with everywhere else I've been, frisbee was a godsend. It was great to finally have a disc in hand again, and to at least get acquainted with some of the frisbee people here. As with everywhere else, the people were absolutely great and welcoming. We had a nice little practice and scrimmage, and I got some nice blood blisters on my feet for forgetting I need to wear multiple socks. But, as I said, it was awesome to get out on the court, and I hope that this is just a start of a great time playing frisbee in Karlsruhe!
All Caught Up
With this, I am finally caught up on all of this stuff! I've taken this lazy Sunday and am getting some shit done. I'm writing this now at my kitchen table and planning on making some spaghetti for dinner here in just a bit. I've got my first full week of work starting tomorrow, and I'm intrigued to see what developments make their way across my desk.
Cheers to all you lovely people out there! I hope you're having as great of a weekend as I am, and I wish you all the best!!!
Original Publish Date: January 31st, 2016