BACK TO DEUTSCHLAND - A NEW CHAPTER



This new decade is already in full swing, and my life is about to be changed dramatically. I knew it was coming, but as soon as the holidays were over, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Now, a few weeks after that, my life is all packed up, goodbyes have been said, and I am on my way to the next chapter of life back in a country I know fairly well.

Mindset Matters

The whole process has been full of tough decisions, reflection, and a good few struggles here and there. It was not easy to come to the ultimate decision of deciding to agree to this expat experience, but that's where we're at now. Even after that decision was made, how I've been framing what's going on has made things a little difficult.

What do I mean by that? Well I was talking with a friend along the way and realized that with the entirety of this decision and this monumental change I'm implanting in my life, I've been looking at it through the lens of all the things I will MISS, rather than all the things I will GAIN.

It's going to be very hard for me to leave everything I've come to know, love, and enjoy in Portland and the PNW behind. Very hard. There's so much here that has gotten me through tough times, shown me some absolutely amazing times, given me a huge sense of camaraderie and friendship, and helped me grow as a person. That's why everything has been framed on what I'm going to miss. There's just so much of it!

With that, I figured I'd list out those things, non-comprehensively (as I guarantee I'll forget something that should definitely be on here) and fairly briefly so as not to turn this into a full novel, as a sort of Thank You for the incredible impact it/they have had on my life here.

I know there is a WHOLE HELLUVA lot more things I could put on this list. But that would take me years to complete and clarify, so I'll leave it a little brief at the moment. Brevity should in no way devalue the amazing impact everything has had on me. Thank you all, so much, for how you've helped me grow, learn, prosper, enjoy, and cherish all of the amazing memories, people, experiences, challenges, and everything else that has crossed my path in Portland over the last few years!!!

Germany - Round 3 - Similarities

Hard to believe, but I am going through a very analogous situation now as I have gone through on multiple other occasions. How is this similar? You asked, well here you go:

It was crazy sitting with my mom and her insanely good memory, and walking through so much of this. I've had some adventures in my time yet, and have been extremely lucky to do so much as I have. I know it ain't over yet and there's a ton more to come, but I've been blessed to see and do so much as I have been able to.

The Weeks Leading Up To It

Though the time leading up to my actual move out was busy, I was able to find some time to enjoy it all. Or I at least tried to at the suggestion of my Mom. :-)

Though it was a really quick outing, I headed out to the coast with a friend on a sunny but kinda stormy day to enjoy the Pacific for the last time in a while. It was rainy on the way out there, but as soon as we got to the coast, we got some partly cloudy skies on a cold, windy day, and were even touched by some sunshine to boot!

Wet OR26
A Rainbow towards the Coast
OR Coast and Rocks

While there, kinda near Tillamook at Cape Meares Lighthouse, we got to see a few really cool things. The first was a waterfall. Not just any waterfall, but one that was getting blown up backwards due to the high winds! We were wondering what was going on when we got to the parking lot, but hiking down the trail a bit gave us the sight. It was impressive to see just how much water was flowing backwards!

Backwards Waterfall

The next was the Octopus Tree. They had a plaque explaining that they didn't know how it came to be, but it's a tree with a whole handful or two of trunks sprouting out from a single rootball. That was a big 'ole beast. Kinda cool.

The Octopus Tree

The last wicked one was what we thought was snow at first sight. Snow, on the ocean, on a mildy cloudy/sunny day though just didn't make sense. Well, it was actually sea foam that was getting blown up from the waves a few hundred feet down! Here's a bad picture, but you can make out little specs of white foam floating around. How crazy!

The OR Coast

Again, it was just a quick jaunt out to the coast, but the fresh air, sea water, sunshine, high winds, and beautiful day made it just what the soul needed.

That week was fairly somber, knowing things were getting closer and closer to wrapping up. More work, some help from friends getting things done, some swing dancing, and starting to prep the apartment. Definitely an impending change vibe going through the air.

That Friday, I hit up my buddy Andy and we decided on going to do some whiskey tasting. Never a bad idea. I'd recently (in December) finally gotten to try some local whiskey from Westward, and was absolutely smitten. Luckily enough, their distillery and tasting room was just down in SE not a stones throw away from my place. Thirsty, we headed down.

The Westward Lineup

Unfortunately missed the tours by about an hour, but that's how it goes. Didn't matter, they still offered tastings! We both got a flight, and sipped to our heart's content. OH BOY was it all delicious. Highly recommend stopping by this place if you get the chance.

Not quite ready to call it a night, we walked over to My Father's Place. Just having finished flights of whiskey, we were ready to change it up. We (I) ordered us some pounders, assuming this was common vernacular. The waitress looked at me confused, like I was an alien - "What's That?". I told her a 16oz. can of beer. She confirmed and walked on.

To our surprise, her interpretation of that turned out to be a couple forties. What... Not even close to the same thing. A little surprised, weirded out, and unsure of what to do, we cracked them open and started drinking. Not what we were going for, but PBR is PBR.

PBR 'Pounder'...

Hungry, there was another place we had to both check out for the first time. Le Bistro Montage was just down the street, so that's where we headed. I had no idea it was a kind of classy establishment. I thought it was a hole in the wall kinda place, but not so. Either way, I got some bacon jalapeño mac and cheese and it was bomb. Another thing I didn't know, they wrap your leftovers in tin foil into crazy creatures! How cool! I got a crab.

Leftover Crab

For those of you that had been to my apartment, you likely noticed a small statue of good 'ole Marvin the Martian. A wiley space creature, we snagged that statue on a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain in the late '90s/early 2000s. Not sure how I snagged it from the family, but I did!

Well, I've used this guy as my piggy bank for a good long while. Any time I pay with cash (a rarer and rarer occasion these days), I deposit the spare change into Marvin. The plan was to wait until it was full to the brim, empty it out, and use that cash on a trip. Well, considering the move and how I wasn't able to take coin collections with me, it was high time to empty the beast. He wasn't quite full, but around 3/4 isn't a bad time to clean house!

Marvin the Coin Jar

It took a while to empty him out, as there were some weird crevices and internal geometries that made it difficult. But I got all the coins out and separated, and ready to count.

Separated Coins

That day I still had a bunch I needed to do, so I paused there to go get some tasks completed, including getting a bunch of coin rolls to be able to count it all. In the process, I sent out the inquiry to a number of folks to guess how much cash was contained within. I got a range of guesses - I guessed $250, got $175, $225, $128.67, $200, $317.97, and the bank teller guessed $330.

Pennies, stacked
Quarters, stacked
Coins, All Rolled

Well, at the end of the day, and after four hours of counting and rolling while listening to Hardcore History, Marvin really surprised me. A grand total of $538.17!!! How crazy is that!!! A bit of a bummer though, as I didn't quite use the money for my original intentions of a cool trip. This helped pay for my new bed. But, if you warp it a little bit, it's kind of part of a cool trip? In a very roundabout way maybe?

After that week came my week of lasts and really closing up shop. I had my last swing dance class, where they surprised me with me being the center of a lindy circle as a really heart-felt goodbye. One of the nights I'd set up a happy hour at a bar for people to come by, have a beer, and hang out and chat. Well, I was truly touched by how many people showed up!!! The people in my life mean the world to me, and it meant even more how heart-felt and sincere the goodbyes, conversations, well wishes, and everything else were. Truly mean so much to me.

Lucky Lab Sendoff

That night I also had my last social swing dance in Portland. That was hard too, as I'd made such good friends with such great people at swing dancing. It was a bummer to tell them all I was headed out, but getting the chance to dance with folks one last time before going to a new city meant a lot!

Thursday Swing Sendoff

Most days that week I was only in the office about a half-day max due to all the other stuff I had to wrap-up, do, and finalize before leaving. Friday was my last day at work, and it went by pretty quick. A few emails to send off, a big meeting, and lunch with the boys sent me off on a good note. Crazy to pack up all my work stuff and clear out my desk. On to a new office in a new country.

Goodbye ATG :-D

I can't remember what night it was (no, not because I was drunk), but my friend and I decided to go out for drinks. I threw out the idea of whiskey, and she was more than game. So, back to Westward we went!!! This was just as good as the first time, with a few extra cherries on top.

It was the same dudes behind the bar serving folks, and we learned that Jordan had some kinda crazy speech impediment, where his 'ou' sounds come out as if he were Irish. Was definitely confusing at the start, but really interesting to hear!

Westward Showroom

Not sure how this came to be, but Jordan and I got to chatting a good bit about whiskey and some stuff, and at some point he walked around to a different room and gave me the insider tasting to a couple special international whiskies. What!?! First was Kavalan, a Taiwanese whiskey that had recently come onto the scene and was getting some clout. The second was a Nikka Pure Malt whiskey. Both delicious and smooth. Nummy nummy.

Kavalan Whiskey

Moving Out and Wrapping Up

These last couple of weeks have been pretty intense. As I mentioned before, it's all been tinged with a melancholy mindset, but there's been a lot to do, take care of, prepare, pack, finalize, organize, and who knows what else...

Make Me Sleep

Stupidly enough, I decided three days before everything got packed up was a good time to go buy a new bed. Didn't realize how involved and subjective that decision was, but was having some back problems and figured a 10 year old mattress might be adding to it.

Stopped by a couple bed stores, and after getting my sleep posture analyzed, picked one and went with it. Joni at BedMart was super helpful and understanding of my lack of decision making skills, but pointed me in all the right directions and was all taken care of!

Next day delivery, followed by the second day box spring swap, I had myself a new bed and was ready to use it. But, only got two nights on it before the next thing happened.

Pack Me Up

Every other time I've moved in life, it's been a known process, with ample forewarning, allowing myself enough time and focus to pack all of my crap up in a deliberate, decisive manner with plenty of time to spare and a full awareness of the entire process. Well, that got curb-stomped before it could even begin.

By moving across the world through Daimler, there are a ton of processes and a whole guidebook for how it plays out. One aspect of that is the shipment of the person's goods. I was allotted a couple of different options within the process, and after a bit of deciding, ended up on the 20ft shipping container option to pack up all of my stuff and send it over to Germany in 4-8 (actually 6-10) weeks' time.

THAT involved a crew of movers coming to my house to take care of it. Leading up to it, I was informed that I could not pack any boxes on my own without the movers' supervision due to liability reasons. That right there threw out my whole groove before it could even start. But, two days after the bed showed up, I welcomed three folks into my abode at 8am to have them do all the boxing, wrapping, and packing for me.

My Life in Boxes

Needless to say it was an unordinary experience for me, one so used to being proactive and doing it all myself. I gave them a walkthrough of the place, pointed out what to take/pack and what not to take/pack, and then they just set right off for it all.

A Wall of Boxes
The Big Red Chair Ready to Move

I really couldn't do anything. Well, there were two things I made sure I packed myself - My Bikes, the only two High Value items in the whole shipment (see where my priorities in life lie...) - but there was so much chaos at the start that I didn't have room to do anything. I just kinda sat there and watched them work.

My Bikes - Packed

Super efficient, organized, and quick, they had my entire apartment boxed up and in the truck within 5 hours. That was weird. Half the time I didn't even have time to realize all that had been changed and taken out. I just blinked and it was all already on its way to Europe. By the time I realized it, they'd left and I was left with just my residual stuff for the next few weeks on the floor, a sofa, and a mattress. Pure insanity.

Down to the Couch and Basics
My Move-Over Stuff

Clean Me Up

The next step in that process was then to fully clean the apartment and get all my crap out of there. Thanks to a buddy I was able to get rid of the sofa to a good home, I got rid of the mattress, and only had to pack up all of my stuff.

One other reason why my mom is the absolute best Mom in the World, she came over and made extremely light work of the place as I worked on getting packed. She wizarded through the kitchen and spit-shined the bathroom before I even realized it. She's absolutely amazing! At Everything!!!

That night after her help, we ferried all of my stuff over to her house. I then headed back to the apartment to do the final vacuum. I did a couple passes over the carpets and systematically got the floors clean. Eventually I backed myself into the entrance way and it was done. I was a little shell-shocked.

An Empty Living Room
An Empty Kitchen

Finished, I unplugged the vacuum and just plopped down on the floor. Two and a half years at this place. That's a long time, the longest I've lived somewhere since high school. Now that's a weird feeling. So many memories, dinner parties, bike wrench days, naps on the big red chair, little projects here and there, people over to watch sports or play games or hang out, postcards on my cork board (that was a huge tear-jerker taking those down), and so much more, all in my little humble apartment.

839 NE Hancock - Empty

Thank you to all of those who were able to experience my life there! It was truly a great little apartment, close to everything but tucked away on a nice-ish street.

All vacuumed up, that next morning I handed over the keys and that was that. My Hancock St. apartment is now my former apartment. How crazy.

Departure / Leaving / Abandonment

One of the things that is making this whole experience as hard as it has been is the (likely mis-placed) feeling that I am leaving people. That I'm abandoning the people important and close to me in life. It sucks.

Among the many goodbyes I've heard things like, "Why are you leaving us?", "Why are you abandoning us?", "We hope you never forget us!". I know most, if not all, of that was at least partly sarcastic, meant in jest, and just a conversion of a sad point in time into a bit of humor.

But there is a clear part of me that takes it to heart. I never want to be the one to abandon, leave, desert, or forget the many amazing people in my life. I have so much and have done so much mainly due to the many AMAZING people that have walked into my world and supported me along the way. There's no way I'd be here today on my own, without all of your support.

But again, that little seed of, "are they being honest?", "do they really feel like I'm abandoning them?" really hurts to realize. Others have assured me that that's not the case (thankfully), and I know that's not the case.

However, just to reassure myself and everyone out there:

Don't forget that. You're an important part of my life, and that's not changing any time soon!!!

My Trip to Germany

Overall, it was a sad sendoff in Portland. I was bummed to leave my Mommy. She means the world to me. Going from 20mins away to a full day's travel is a hard change. Really difficult.

The day before, I was able to spend the majority of it with her and it was fantastic. I had to repack my bags (my allowance was two bags at 70lbs max, and after initially weighing one at 100lbs, I managed to get both bags down to exactly the maximum allowable weight), which took a little while, but she hung out and chatted with me while I did the re-packing in front of the fireplace. Relaxing and nice to be with her!

After that, we got the chance to skype with the whole family! My sister and her family up north, and my little sister out in DC all made it on the line and we had a chaotic chat as a group, seeing the little munchkins with too much energy steal the show. Gonna miss my family a ton...

A Family Sendoff

Initially Mommy and I thought about going out to eat and go bowling! But I was in a very weird melancholy, unsure mood, and after that chat I ended up passing out face down on the floor in front of the fire place. Mommy being the great mom she is, ended up making some meatloaf and we just hung out eating, drinking some wine I'd gotten in New Zealand (the best way to polish that off!), and sitting by the fire chatting. It was seriously perfect :-)

Me, Mom, and a Fire
Rippon, NZ Wine Send-Off

Ever the sweet tooth, she had the great idea of ice cream. How could we turn that down? So we jumped in Marvin and headed down to Salt & Straw for a little sweet-tooth send-off. Great music, great ice cream, and a great time. It couldn't have been better! Stopped by Fred Meyer for some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for some german friends on the way home, then off to bed for an early rise.

Sidenote - goodbye Marvin. It's been almost five years since I brought you into my life, and after around 40,000 miles of adventures, road trips, drives all over town, and everything else, I gotta thank you for being the fantastic car you are.

Marvin, Parked.

The next morning was early, and not easy. Got showered and got my bags in the car to head to the airport. As per usual, my Mommy and I had a teary-eyed goodbye at the airport. It's hard to say goodbye to your mom, and this time was one of the hardest. We got a quick picture together and then walked over to security. As soon as I saw the stanchions for the line I busted into tears. It was really happening. I'm really leaving..........

It's Really Real Now

It took a while, a few long hugs, and some extra motivation, but I got through security and headed to the lounge to regroup and sit around until my flight. Had some food, read my journal a bit (dusted it off the shelf recently), and soon enough it was time to jet.

Got in the plane, sat down, and pulled out my journal. Crazily enough, I didn't watch a thing on the TV, but rather journaled (both read and wrote) the entirety of the flight. This whole situation and the people involved have impacted me in many immeasurable ways, and I had to document it. My memory sucks, and I don't want to forget the many amazing things that have transpired recently.

Well, the flight to Chicago went pretty quickly. No sweat. Got in and I was in a great mood. Walking through the airport, saw a giant dinosaur statue, a bunch of graffiti in the form of Chicago bears stuff, and got to chat with the family the whole way through. Things were looking and feeling good. Some real positivity as the adventure began!

Poorly Dressed Dino
Captain going Up
Groovy Walkway

Walking through the airport towards my gate, I headed to the lounge, and got settled. The food spread was pretty great, and to boot, they had some Nikka Coffee Grain Whiskey. Hot damn! Got all that stuff and then started working on this blog, writing it up and stuff, along with a little more journaling. Good stuff.

Lounge Whiskey and Grub

Once again, next flight was up. I headed from the lounge to the gate and was a little worried - no one was there. Did I just miss my flight?!?! No. Thankfully, they were just super early on boarding and such. But I walked in and got my seat, and had a really arrogant space-hog next to me. The United setup is a little weird, but it worked out.

This flight, once again, no TV or movies. I don't think I've ever done that on a long-haul before. But go me! Kept working on this post, and tried to get some sleep. That wasn't too successful, so kept working on this and played a good bit of backgammon to pass the time.

Landed in Frankfurt, and first little hiccup - my SIM card no longer worked. It plugged into my phone just fine, but it wasn't being read correctly. Welp, add that to the to-do list once I landed and got settled into Karlsruhe.

Despite that, got in and headed to the lounge to hang out for a bit. Got some more food, jumped on WiFi to say hi to all the lovely folks in my life, and got some rest. Was feeling pretty good, spirits were high, and I was almost to Stuttgart to get ready to hit the ground running.

Oh the Brezels
So Many Baked Goods

From the lounge walked over to my gate and sat down for a bit. But soon enough we got our tickets scanned and headed down to the bus to get us to the plane. Or so we thought...

It's a common and unfortunate practice in Germany that airlines are too cheap to actually use the gates that are built into the airport, but rather park their planes out on the tarmac and make everyone jump out onto a bus to get to the plane. I say this frustrated after the fact due to the experience, but even in a neutral, objective state of mind, the extra layer of logistics seems superfluous and unnecessary.

Well. We boarded the bus and assumed all was well. It wasn't. Not sure what happened, but we as a flight eventually pegged it on the bus driver not getting his morning cuppa joe. Well the guy drove us over to a different terminal, as if this was an inter-terminal shuttle. Not the case. We all got off the bus and walked in the building, and were all eventually like, "Uhhhh, what the fuck?".

A Bus Fiasco

As luck would have it, there were two off-duty Lufthansa employees, who immediately got frantic and sprang into action. Unfortunately one lady started to have a really strong panic attack, but a couple folks jumped into action to support her and calm her down. I tried talking to folks to see what the deal was, but it was mob mentality through it all. Weirdly enough, I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation!

The group tried to stay together, but a few people splintered off here and there. Eventually, it seemed like there was an idea coming together. One of the Lufthansa ladies was running here and there trying to get things going. And wouldn't you know it, she got the police involved.

One cop shuttled us all down the escalators nearby, and we all thought he'd arrange a special bus or something to get us to the plane. Eventually four more cops showed up, listened to people's stories like we were eyewitnesses to a crime, and then two of them left to go do I don't know what.

Four Dutch Cops and a Shitty Bus Driver

Long story short, a different cop came down and started talking, and then we heard on the intercom, "Passengers for the flight to Stuttgart, please proceed to go gate A19". ALL of this hullabaloo, and all we needed to do was go back through the terminal, this time through a different gate. German Chaos at its finest!

Now knowing what needed to be done, we all started marching along. Nooooo sweat. Until not. Because of the location that driver dropped us off, getting back to A19 meant we had to go through customs once more (easy), but ALSO back through a security checkpoint. Fuck.

When I'd landed there, I stopped by duty free and got a couple bottles of Japanese whiskey. Awesome! I thought... Security doesn't give a shit that your bus driver was an idiot, and that you'd already paid for these inside security, or any of that crap.

I was already going to have a shit time going through security, with two laptops, camera batteries, and god knows what else in my packed-to-the-brim bags. But add on a couple of full (unopened) bottles of liquids? Hell would reign down before I got through with them.

The first guy ushering me through was helpful, right up until he saw the bottles. He froze in his tracks and said no way, ain't happening, I'm not going any further. Then I tried to explain the situation, how I'd already bought them inside of security, had the receipt, it was duty free, yada yada yada. Didn't care.

Another guy came over and stated the same facts. I was starting to get pretty incensed, as I was likely now going to miss my now delayed flight. But there was no way in hell I was just going to throw away these things I'd literally just purchased.

My frustration was building (I'm not proud of it), and I had to shake the guys hand to let him know my anger wasn't directed at him. But he gave me two options. Either chuck the bottles, or go back to ticketing and check the bag. In a rush, hoping I could still make the flight, I frantically packed my bags (with EVERYONE watching with glaring eyes as I cursed the world) and hurried over to ticketing.

Once there, things calmed down. The lady at the counter was super calm and helpful, recognized that I was a victim of the Stuttgart flight, and was very kind and thorough. She checked my bag through to Stuttgart with no problem and no fuss, told me I could now be calm and ok, and I was.

No more in a rush mood. But my laughter and ease going through the bus situation got totally flipped upside down once the security situation came into play. Now that that was taken care of, I was pretty somber. Looking back on it, I'm pretty let down at how I acted in that.

There was no way in hell they were going to bend the rules for me. I should have recognized that before even going in. Granted, in terms of the situation and what happened, I don't think I was in the wrong. The only reason I got into that situation was because of the bus driving mishap. But that point aside, I know I could and definitely should have acted with more decorum and poise. That's on me. My first big fuckup of the new adventure.

But, now slated for the next next flight out to Stuttgart (they were even able to pull my other bags from the original plane), I was successfully through security and off to wait at the gate. Still somber, I threw on some music, played some backgammon, and kinda just wanted to kill time.

747 At The Gate
A380 At The Gate

Eventually it was boarding time. This time, the bus actually took us to the plane. What a surprise! I got in, sat down, and realized that I was not the window seat, despite automatically reverting to my desired spot. Felt like a dick, and tried to offer to switch with the guy that I assumed was supposed to have it, but he was very kind about it.

In fact, me and Faisal ended up talking the entire flight. He's an electrical engineer for Saudi Aramco, and we had a good conversation. It was a little weird to hear how pro-trump he was, and how that seemed to be a common sentiment among Saudi's from his statements, but that's how it was. He seemed like a very intelligent, and knowledgeable person, so it was cool to hear from someone from a world I'd never interacted with.

He talked a lot about Saudi Aramco, and even gave me a little history lesson of how oil was discovered in his country. The Brits were offered first crack at it, but turned it down due to cost. So the Americans paid the entrance fee and found black gold. Faisal also threw in a pretty heavy recruiting pitch for Aramco. Don't think I'll ever take him up on it, but it was interesting to hear his spiel.

Quickly enough we were landed and deboarding in Stuttgart. Through an actual gate too, which was kinda surprising. A little wait at the carousel, and all of my bags had successfully made it across the world. Hot damn!

Rental car time. I rolled over to the bench at Sixt and was ready to go, but they weren't. Because I didn't notify them of my flight delay (that's on me. Gah.), they'd given my car to someone else. Normally it'd be an easy swap to find another one. But two things were working against me. One, there was a convention in town right next to the airport, so almost all cars were gone. And two, my rental was for a month, and apparently they have different terms for longer term rentals. Long story short, no other car available.

I threw out the idea that I could rent a car for a quick one way to get me to Karlsruhe, and then start the original rental from over there. Cool, and they were able to set that up. Now I had to find a rental car from Stuttgart Airport to the airport near Karlsruhe, which was a little out of the way over there.

Walked over to Hertz to see what they had - cheapest option was 270€. Nope. Europcar was even worse, at 320€ for just that quick trip. I didn't realize it, but Uber is now a thing in Germany. I tried to register to see what they had, but because my SIM card wasn't working, I couldn't set up an account.

A bit defeated, and resigned to my fate, I walked back to the Sixt desk and asked if we could revert to the original setup, and I'd just have to wait until a car came in. They were cool with that, and now it was time to wait.

I went and found a bench, plopped down, and just waited. I tried to nap, but it was a bit uncomfortable, read the news, played some backgammon, and just waited. Jet lag was kinda hitting me, so I napped again and seemed to be out for a while.

At some point, the lady from Sixt came and woke me up. Apparently she'd already emailed me that the car was ready, but one of her coworkers told her I was just napping on a bench. How kind of them! They had a car ready for me, and soon enough I was on my way!

Easy getting out of Stuttgart, then it started dumping rain over the hills before Karlsruhe. I always remember this stretch, regardless of where I'm driving in the rain, because at parts along the A8 between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, there are sections of asphalt that, despite it raining buckets, the surface appears to be dry. I don't know what characteristically about this pavement makes it happen, but the drainage properties it has are extremely astounding!

Didn't even need Google Maps to get me to Karlsruhe. Crazy that I could do that on my own in a place I'm now going to be living at. Headed to O2 to see if they could figure out my phone. No dice, I think it's just a defective SIM card. Wanted to keep my existing number, so I'd have to order a new one. Just a little setback.

Found my hotel, checked in, and felt really relaxed. Started unpacking and got organized, which was a nice feeling. It's not my permanent living situation, but it's a room to myself with a bed. What more could I ask for.

All My Bags Made It

Still tired, I dropped down for a nap. I was very diligent though to set a clear timer for 20min. Didn't want to fall asleep and wake up to realize it was 1am. The timer went off, and I'd prevented such a situation from happening. Go me!

After waking up, I went to work on the housing search. There were a few more interesting options put up as available recently, so I forwarded that to my relocation person. After hearing back from her, and realizing she still hadn't heard much after inquiring at all of these places, I put together a quick snapshot of who I am, hoping that would entice someone to actually reply.

Was still pretty tired, and it was getting a little late, but knew I needed to stay up for a bit longer. With that, I motivated myself to get up and about and go for a walk. Cruised around town, up briefly to the main drag, then walked all the way down to the train station. There's always activity there.

Ettlinger Strasse at Night
Ettlinger Tor Roundabout

I was hungry, so I did the most typical thing I knew to do. At the station, I grabbed a döner and a beer, then sat and people watched as everyone was coming and going in their daily lives. There's always something going on in the train station, and it was cool to watch everyone. The döner was ok, the beer was cold, and life seemed to be just fine.

The First Döner Back

Satiated, I headed back to my hotel, putzed around for a bit, then headed to bed. I was officially in Germany now.

Crazily enough, I got a full 10 hours of sleep! Not sure how, but at least for the first night, jet lag seemed like it just skipped over me!

Alone on Another Adventure

One thing that has made this such an emotional and difficult change and step has been something that has been consistent throughout all of the last ones. I have such a loving family and friend group. I don't know what I'd do without them.

But when it comes to times in the moment, I don't have anyone I go through things with. I'm so used to this, and am quite the adventurer because and despite of this. Over the last years I've been so fortunate to be able to see and do sooooooo many things! Through a lot of them, just like this one, it's been a bit of a bummer to not have someone to confide in, share them with, and go through these big things with.

This new adventure is no different. Yes, again, I've got countless people I can share my experiences, troubles, thoughts, feelings, and everything else with. But as I'm sure you all know, it's a wholly different experience having someone go through those exact same experiences, troubles, thoughts, and feelings with you, rather than just hearing about it second hand.

Well, this big new adventure is no different. At times it's been stronger and more pronounced than others, but I've been yearning for someone to go through this adventure with. I don't have one though, so that's a bummer. I could go into a whole monologue about this and related topics, but I won't.

Looking Ahead

This is really a big step for me. I don't think I've fully grasped just how big, but I imagine that'll either come with time, or be completely lost on me as I dive in and start trying to establish myself. Either way, as T.I.P. would say, "Big Shit Poppin' ".

Good, Bad, Different

One thing that has CONTINUALLY stuck with me from our year in CBYX was the program's tag-line (self-selected):

"It's not Good, it's not Bad, it's just Different."

This has been such a prevalent, relevant, and continuous phrase I've tried to maintain in the forefront of my life. Some days, months, years are better than others. Sometimes I get too focused in and selfish about what I think I know is right or demand. That's wrong.

This phrase is meant to keep me (and all of us!) on a more level ground, a more open-minded playing field. Yes, you know what you know, that's your history/background/world. No sweat about that, embrace it. But when you run into something, don't immediately jerk into a bipolar classification of something. The good stuff, go for it, celebrate it! The bad stuff, take it in stride.

Regardless of what crosses your path, see it in an objective light, how it's a different mindset, different way of doing things, different language, different culture, different social understanding, different rules of the road (literal and figurative), different everything that could go into that situation. The world isn't out there to dump on you or praise you, it's just putting you through some different strides to expose you to what's out there.

I need to make sure I continually embrace this. Although I've lived in Germany before, this is still a foreign country, not my homeland, and there's going to be plenty of experiences that cause me to ebb and flow. Gotta maintain that even keel I keep trying to develop, and realize life is life, just take it all in stride, learn from what you can, grow wherever possible, and enjoy the ride :-)

That said, and I haven't decided on this (chime in if you'd like!) - how often I'll do the GBD's. I could add in the little things I notice along the way in Germany each time I write, or maybe I'll hold off until the point I leave the country down the road (years off). I'll think about it, but either way, I'll be keeping this up!

Starting Off - Housing

Thankfully I don't have an insanely fast start when I land, but it ain't too cush and relaxing either. Due to the circumstances, I've got to hit the ground running and find an apartment as soon as possible. My trip over in December wasn't successful on that front, so I've got really about a month to find my new home. Thankfully I've got accommodations in that time between, but the sooner, the better.

I want to make sure I am a bit choosy, but not choosy to the point I have to make a snap decision at the end of the month. If I'm going to be living somewhere, I want it to be comfy and enjoyable, have at least some of the amenities I want, and be a place I can welcome friends and family from all over town and all over the world to! I've got a few apartment viewings planned, but here's to a successful search in a reasonable timeframe!

Wheels

Next up on the big, immediate needs list is a car. I've also got a rental car for the first month. But after that, it's on me to have wheels. Daimler offers a lease plan through Mercedes, but I'm leaning towards not doing that. Why? Why on earth would I not want a schnazzy Mercedes???

Well, cost, first and foremost. They're not cheap. Second, I always have the impression that they're not very good cars. High cost of ownership, tons of maintenance, not great fuel mileage, not my thing. I'm a functional guy, and those aren't very functional. Lastly, they're too much of a status symbol in my eyes. I don't consider myself to be a flashy or showy person, and those reek of 'look at me, give me attention, I'm cool'. Screw that noise. That ain't me.

Instead, I'm looking to still treat myself a little bit. It was a sad day to say goodbye to Marvin (maybe forever... :'-( ), but the newest car I've ever driven is a 2000, so I might find something a little newer. On the docket is a RAV4. Something relatively outdoorsy, kinda compact, and still has a few of the creature comforts I'd like. We'll see how that search plays out. But expect to see me riding dirty in some shiny new wheels here soon!

Work

My first day of work is not until February 5th, about a week after I actually land. That's kinda nice, but also a sort of legal requirement. In order to officially be a resident in Karlsruhe, I need to register my living address/situation (hotel to start) with the local authorities. And I'll have to do that again once I move into an apartment. Then, after that, I need to get my visa / work-permit registered. I think that's a one-before-the-other situation, and that appointment is not planned until Feb 4th.

Until I get my work-permit registered, I am legally not allowed to do any work in the country. I'll still check emails and such, but I cannot technically go into the office. Kinda weird, and a little overly strict, but gotta follow the rules. Welcome back to Germany...

Once I actually start up work, it's probably going to get really busy really quick. I've got a decent idea of my role and planned responsibilities, but in the world of testing, nothing usually goes to plan. So there's some very high likelihood of some big tasks to come pretty quickly off the bat, as well as some curveballs to come down the pipeline to spice things up. Oh well. Take it all as it comes and do my best at whatever is on my plate.

(Re)Integration

Other than that, I gotta find my groove in town! Thinking about it, I think I'm going to focus my life on a few things - Mountain Biking, Swing Dancing, and Frisbee. We'll see how things shake out with all three of them (bummer I have to wait a few weeks on the biking...), but those are what I plan on pursuing for fun in my daily life.

Mountain biking is going to be an interesting one. That was honestly a big point that was in the camp of things that would have prevented me from taking this opportunity. Karlsruhe is a wonderfully bikeable city, but nearby there is not the kind of nature I've become so used to in the Greater Portland / NW Oregon / SW Washington / Greater Pacific Northwest wonderland.

That's not to say there aren't great, amazing trails all within close proximity to Karlsruhe! That's part of the adventure! I'm going to have to hit the trail sending it and exploring the area with whatever trails my two wheels of fury are ready to attack. I'm looking forward to the exploration bit here, and hope to meet some like-minded folks I can shred with!

Swing Dancing is going to be a fun one. Thankfully there's a dance studio I can (hopefully) continue taking classes at. I feel like I've got a good base, and have learned a good bunch, but as soon as I hit the dance floor my brain goes mush and I only have the confidence to try a small subset of the moves I've learned. That will come with time and experience, but everyone I've talked to says Germany has a pretty vibrant swing dancing scene. I'm stoked to check it out!

Thankfully, from my last period of life in Karlsruhe, I've still got a ton of friends in town and in the country that I made through playing frisbee all throughout Germany. How cool is that!? Frisbee has kinda transitioned out of my life, but with such a fun community and group of people in Karlsruhe, I've got a strong feeling it will slowly make its way back into my life. Probably not to the level it was last time, but it has been such a consistent and enjoyable part of my life, and I look forward to dipping my toes back into it!

On top of that, I'm looking forward to reconnecting to all of the amazing people I know in Germany and Europe! I've already got a potential visitor coming the first week of March, my fantastic old roommate Lutz! Then, a trip up to Köln (my old stomping grounds) for a frisbee birthday party to reconnect with a ton of folks. At some point I'll need to get back up to Hamburg to my old landlady's house on Wendlohstrasse for another delightful meal or two on the patio watching Herr Mielke take care of the lawn. And who knows what else will come up! So many people that have impacted my life all over, and I really look forward to reconnecting with all of them!

Now, the thing I'm probably most excited for, but haven't really had the time or headspace to contemplate it - TRAVELING. Back in Europe, everything is so close and accessible, I've got a long and growing list of all the places I want to see, adventures I want to experience, nature I want to behold, and many things to do in the European wonderland. I am more than open to suggestions too! If you've got any ideas of things I should get out and do, please let me know!!! I'll happily provide a report back too, if you're looking to live vicariously through me!!!



Original Publish Date: January 30th, 2020