That we have been in Germany. But it sure seems longer. Not in a bad way-but in a good way, in that it means that we have been quite busy, and the next week holds in store much of the same.
It has also re-affirmed for me that Col Gundel was right-I should have stuck with my German classes. The S.O. has begun her pursuit of finding the cheap places to shop, which truth be told there are places you can find bargains and save money compared to what the prices are on the US bases here. However, in several cases we ran up against a language barrier. The S.O. speaks or reads no German, and seems shocked that not everyone has a dynamic command of the English language. I have a working knowledge of German-but I read it better than I speak it. My six years of high school and college study have atrophied more than a little. As a result I have started with the Deutsche Welle on line interactive courses working an hour each night to help improve my comprehension. I understand the subject matter being spoken-but the speed of the conversation in the stores and the flea market( the S.O. was ecstatic when we stumbled on one in Sindelfingen) was much too fast for my fading memory. I did my best to translate for the S.O. when the folks were explaining in German where items came from and how much they wanted. So now I have a new mission-to re-master the language I studied so long ago. I remain a firm believer that you should be able to work in the language of the country you are living in. Which by the way means English in the USA.
We have begun the process of finding a second car and looking for a place to live. We were out looking at houses and apartments yesterday-and will look at more next week. I would prefer something closer to Stuttgart and the public transportation. The amount of stuff we have though will probably drive us out to the smaller villages and more affordable housing away from the city. As for the car-well the urge for a new BMW is strong, but I would really like to get a handle on what my new financial situation is before I commit to something that is going to cost me monthly payments. But they sure do look nice.
The one major obstacle will be getting the S.O. to understand that she is going to have to make some compromises. She can’t get a big old house for not so much Euro. And that with the currency fluctuations-we need to be prudent to build in a safety cushion to ensure we stay within the confines of what I am getting paid in a housing allowance.
But I would like to get the housing and car/driver’s license things behind us-so we can settle into a routine and begin to explore the country. There is a tour to Bastogne that I am probably going to sign up for in December. It is a historical tour-walking the sights of the battle that occurred in December 1944. The S.O. thinks I am crazy to get on a bus at 2AM to ride up to the Ardennes then walk 9-12km-and then ride a bus back arriving at midnight. It may be-but I think it might also be really interesting.
Getting settled into my new job has been a time consuming process-made more difficult because they are in the middle of a wholesale conversion to Windows 7 ( which shocked me a little-my previous place of employ had been on Windows 7 for almost a year). I am always amazed that when you go to someplace new, even though electrons move at the speed of light-it takes “24-48 hours before your account will be active”. And of course in today’s world, with out a computer-you are just out of it. There are also a whole string of training courses I have to take-and my bosses are wanting me to get all of that out of the way before they start tasking me. They are also being quite gracious about wanting us to get the “fed and bed” part of lives squared away first. For which I am quite grateful.
The leaves are in full color here now. It is very beautiful as we drive around. Yesterday was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed it as we drove around our new “home town”. The snows of winter will probably be here soon enough-but for now its great weather wise.
Although busy, in several ways I feel more relaxed than I have been in months. I’m not sure why-because there are a whole host of challenges that are out there to be overcome. Perhaps it comes from not having time to watch the news. ( Blessing of blessings-there is no FOX news in our hotel. Just CNN and BBC. That has a lot to do with more a more rational flow of news to us.) The S.O. is getting a kick out watching the Euro Sport channel and the figure skating championships. At least I am not having to hear the national lunacy on a daily basis. If there is one down side-it is that the S.O. is useless about learning to drive a stick shift. Our rental care is a stick-the automatic was much too expensive. So once again I am condemned to being the driver ( which means I have really not had a chance to enjoy the German beer out in town-getting fired for getting stopped for anything, right at the start of a job, is not on my list of things to do.)
More exploring is on our plate for today. Pix will follow I promise.
As for cars, I would recommend http://www.mobile.de to do some explorative searching on used cars and to get an idea of the price level. You can use the “Postleitzahl” to narrow down the search for Stuttgart and the area around.
Don’t worry. If it means a sale might be lost, they WILL speak English and quite well at that.
So you lecture us for the time you were here in Shopping Malll USA about how we don’t have a mass transit sytem and we have to have our car(s). Now you get to a part of the world where they have the system you desire and you are on the hunt for a big house in the country( for all the junk you hauled over) and a second car so the SO can shop while you work. This is funny!!! I love it.
I loved the fact that you can only tolerate Oceania’s News and find that you can only truly relax to the news that Big Brother allows you. You simply abjure the most thriving news network for Ingsoc broadcasts.
Quoting Cy-Kick, be true to your mass transit principles and get on the people’s ride and eschew a second or even first car. You must put the state first!
Skippy,
Since you have been talking about Germany, I found an old movie in my collection set in Germany. Elvis Presley’s “GI Blues” set in Frankfurt. Talk about a different time. Seeing the troops leave the base in uniform and go out in uniform (ok, sort of glad that changed), but the whole theme of them betting if Elvis can “score” with a local woman from a club is something that you will not see on TV today. Unless it has to do something with being gay or some other progressive idea, but the thought of American GI’s having fun with the local women is a very taboo subject today.
A lot of things have changed for the better and I am glad. But I think we have gone backwards in so many ways, I am not sure if we have really made much progress. Looking back in time at a movie like this one, or watching “Pan Am” let’s me know we are really missing out on a lot of good things.
You will be able to find a lot more mass transit opportunities than you think…greater Stuttgart is well served.
The flea market in Sindelfingen was a going concern back when I was a young platoon leader in Goeppingen (long gone as a place with GIs).
Come Septemebr you can enjoy the Bad Cannstatt Fest in September…its the warm up for October Fest.
Bought my first stack stereo at the Patch Barracks Stereo Club in 1981…still use the radio and speakers in my garage.
There used to be awesome John Wayne film festivals in the basement bar of the O Club there.
Bought my first car right outside the front gate at Cars International…Volvo DL sedan….cost $9,000 cash in 1982.
Ahhh, memories.
Enjoy a Stuttgarter Hofbrau for me, bitte?
Actually we are looking at places near the S-Bahn, at my insistence. However-the S.O. is being her usual self in that she is not willing to look at certain areas because of their distance across the city-even if mass transit is available. If it were just me, I would be in Stuttgart proper down the street from a bar. PS I have been in Stuttgart over a week and not gone less than half a tank of gas thanks to public transit. So I am not hypocritical about anything.
It just shows I should have left some “baggage” at home. 🙂
See, me. They said there is mass transit in San Francisco. When you find out it’s BART and MUNI you just laugh.
But that will all change soon! How many carbon credits did that get you?
One surrenders virtually everything for that mass transit mode of transit doesn’t one?
It doesn’t really work (unless thoroughly subsidized by the Muni, the State and the Fed now does it?)
It’s “not so convenient now is it if you want what you want out of a life now is it?” Is it high speed though?
As your canadian counterpart can attest it really aint all that real now is it?
Kind of like fully socialized medicine—-but you knew that part right? ER treats everybody. But they’re the best people on earth and they won’t/can’t spend $4000/month on a drug regime for life for any and everybody. Everybody dies.
Your eyes might start to be opening a little.
Take the SO and spend a week in Oslo. Look into with your usual depth how that “socialized medicine and socialized state work”. You’d be amazed. Know how they fund that lie? Yeah, North Sea oil. What’s our nation’s approach to funding actual no shit real producing Mega Watts of our own oil and nuclear…..?
Sorry it was Halloween over here and we had time to think between the doorbell ringing from people that we’d actually like to give free handouts to.
Have you considered buying one of the radio-active Japanese cars now on the market post Tsunami? Big savings!!!!
No Curtis,
My eyes were already open. Even the houses we are looking at “out in the country” have access to the Bahnhof via regular bus service walking distance from the front door. It means I will not be totally dependent on the car. If I had my druthers we would be living much closer to Stuttgart in an apartment, near a Brauhaus and S-Bahn station.
As for Oslo-my sister lived there for over three years. I think you have some grave misperceptions on how these other countries systems work-or for that matter how our own system even works.
Good grief,
Skippy, glad to hear that you and the SO are settling in and best wishes in finding a new place to live. I actually do hope that you find some adequate car/s.
My next door neighbor died on Halloween eve and it has made me a bit darker than I like.
Curtis