Well, we’re here now – have been for right at 2 weeks now – and we’re finally settled in, so I thought I’d catch everyone up. Obviously, the last 15 days have been pretty crazy, starting with the the 7 of our 8 checked pieces of luggage *not* making it on the plane from Louisville to Atlanta. Thankfully the 8th item was Molly in her crate, and from our view out the plane window, we were able to see her loaded up the ramp before take off. We did our best to relax the rest of the flight over, knowing that even if our luggage wasn’t in Dusseldorf when we arrived, that at least we had the clothes in our carry-on and we had Molly.
Our flight landed just after 6am (Dusseldorf time) on Monday morning
and we were due to meet our relocation agent at our hotel by 7:45. We
took some comfort in the fact that at least one logistical problem had
been solved – how we were going to get 7 bags, a dog crate, and
ourselves to the hotel from the airport. As it was, we had a cramped
but quick taxi ride to the hotel. Once there, we scarcely had time to
freshen up and walk Molly before Yasmin, our relocation agent, showed
up to take us to our apartment. By 9:30am, we were at our apartment
and the truck carrying the shipping container for our over-the-water
shipment had arrived. Clothes, furniture, kitchenware, and other items
all had to be unpacked. We it not for a lack of shower curtain and a
few other items, we’d have slept in our apartment that night. We
returned to Molly at the hotel late that night and collapsed in bed.
Tuesday morning we continued unpacking and set out to do some
shopping for immediate needs. The most frustrating item of all ended
up being a shower curtain rod (a Duschvorhangshalter, if you’re
wondering, which we finally had to purchase at IKEA, which is about
20km outside of the city center. In the process, we ended up on the
wrong bus, which tooks us nearly half an hours ride the wrong way out
into the countryside, found our way back, bought the rod, swung by the
hotel to check out, and managed to leave the stupid rod in the back of
the taxi cab on the ride back to our apartment. Doh! A quick call to
the cab company and a 5 Euro tip had the rod back at our doorstep. In
time for us to finish unpacking a few boxes and get ready for bed.
Laura got up Wednesday morning and headed to work, while I stayed
home to take care of more unpacking and shopping for more household
items. Our air shipment also arrived Wednesday and all the items we’d
packed were finally here. Getting our bikes has been very helpful.
Between the super efficient U-Bahn (subway), S-Bahn (trolley), and bus
lines, we were able to get nearly anywhere already, but the bikes make
getting to and from stations and carrying loads of groceries much
easier.
I (erik) was supposed to start work on Monday, but the company does
not yet have my work permit in hand from the city office, so I have to
wait until it arrives (it still hasn’t a week later – hopefully this
Wednesday). I was able to meet and join my new co-workers for a 3 hour
department meeting last Monday afternoon that concluded with a very
nice dinner. I look forward to getting to work this week, as hanging
around the apartment, fending for myself at lunchtime, and running
little errands to keep myself busy has already gotten boring.
We attempted to attend church this past Sunday for Easter (and saw an Easter bunny that will definitely not be delivering any eggs
at the train station, but were unaware that the church we had picked
would be combining their 11am english-international service with their
10am German service… and starting at 10am. So we arrived just in
time to meet another American family that had made the same mistake,
meet the pastor and some of the staff, and head across the street for a
nice Easter brunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was a cold, but
beautiful Easter Sunday, so we bundled up and headed out to the park
near our apartment with Molly. (see pictures in the gallery )
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