Our First Week as Expats in Germany.

Yesterday marked one week since our arrival in Germany.  It doesn’t feel like that long because my body refused to function properly until the third day.  At first it was very surreal to be here in Deutschland, yet it never takes long for a new place to feel like home.  In my last post I talked about how stressful it was to pack up our things and prepare to move here.  It was amazing how all that stress dissipated once we were through the gates of Charlotte airport security.  I was putting on my shoes and I realized how much calmer I felt.  I think that was because I had done everything I could do up to that point and the rest of the trip was out of my control.  It was a huge relief.  Plus I had my adorable pet with me, who chirped at everyone he met and caused a lot of confusion (apparently there aren’t usually birds in the airport).

We were even spared the customs interrogation process once we landed.  Instead of an agent there was just a sign with information on how to notify Germany of any items that must be declared.  We happily wheeled our suitcases, absent of alcohol, tobacco, large amounts of cash, and the like, right on past.  We were greeted by a very nice driver named Uwe – I felt a bit like a celebrity.  Koopa chirped hello to him as well.

The first few days were a blur.  Mr. Meena handled the paperwork and I woke up occasionally to eat chocolate and amazing German bread.  Eventually, I joined Mr. Meena in venturing out of the hotel to have my first traumatic experience at the grocery store.  I was surprised about how challenging our first grocery trip was in our new place.  We can only buy what we can carry home since we don’t have a vehicle yet.  Of course I wouldn’t have room to store much in my mini fridge, anyway.  I had to prioritize what we needed out of the million things on my list.  I went with smoothie ingredients, stuff for spaghetti, and toilet paper.  Then there is the issue of not being able to read anything – thank goodness we don’t have any food allergies.  Using my fantastic Google Translate app for every item proved to be very time consuming and the store closes at eight (oh how I miss 24 hour convenience).  We finally headed to check out, feeling accomplished in finding our items, only to have an issue with our bananas.  Our cashier didn’t speak English and was waving our bananas at us unhappily, saying something that sounded like “vegan” to my non-German ears.  Eventually we figured out that you are supposed to weigh, or “wiegen”, your own produce and tag it before checking out.

Related: Grocery Shopping in Germany (Compared to the USA).

The next day I met another woman that didn’t speak English.  I met her in my bedroom, because she was the cleaning lady and I was still asleep at noon – in my defense that’s six in the morning American time.  That was very startling and confusing.  I’m glad I at least learned how to say “sorry” in German.

The third encounter of the past week was slightly less embarrassing.  We needed to purchase a firm pillow to alleviate the arthritis in my neck and we were helped at the store by a very kind German lady.  I was so thrilled that she could speak English that I attempted to make conversation with her.  I tried to tell her where we were living for the year and she promptly enlisted two other Germans and a map to help me figure out how to get home.

There have been many nice Germans, and quite a few that speak English.  We haven’t explored Schweinfurt much; this week has been for setting up bank accounts, getting cell phone plans, unpacking, and generally figuring out how to live here.  We managed to do our laundry, which will cost at least two euro per load.  It is eerily similar to dorm life, here.  I’ve decided to introduce you to just the tiny parts of our new home today, partially because I don’t want to overwhelm this post with photos but mostly because the cleaning lady doesn’t come again until tomorrow.  😉

Here is my tiny German kitchen.

 

 

The stove top can hold two items and has touch controls that beep at you if you accidentally set something on them.

My tiny German pantry and dish collection.

 

 

The Tupperware in the top left corner is the only thing that is mine.  Yes, I only get three plates (sigh).  Everything here is tiny.  Check out the tiny German cups.

 

 

My tiny German pots and pan collection.

 

 

I mean, I guess that’s cool because I can only put two on the stove at a time anyway.  The big pot is holding the bag of spices that I stubbornly brought with me from America.   I would trade the immersion blender for a medium mixing bowl, though.

My tiny German silverware drawer that was exactly where I thought it would be?

 

 

My tiny German trash and recycling bin.  Hilarious.

 

 

My tiny German fridge, located at the far end of the living area.

 

 

But I do get a microwave, yay!

You can see my tiny German freezer at the top of this picture…

 

 

My tiny German closet.

 

 

And last but not least, my tiny bird.

 

 

His tropical self is already getting pretty cold here; we are getting creative to keep him warm.

Next week I’ll show you more of the place.  (Update: see it here.)