Adventures in the Ausländerbehörde -- Part 1

As part of moving to Germany Valentin and I first had to go register with the local authorities here in Berlin.  We took care of this when we first got there and are officially residents of Berlin.  The next step was to go to the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office) to apply for my residence card.  I had heard horror stories from many of my ex-pat friends here so we got up early this morning with the baby and headed over to the Ausländerbehörde to be in line early.
The office opens at 10 on Thursdays, we arrived at about 8am, but we were still not the first in line.  What a nuthouse!  We were about 4th in line for our door (the line for students was already much longer).  Alani fell asleep on the way there so I kept walking her around while Valentin stood in line holding our spot in the freezing cold.  It was a good thing he did.  As the line grew people would all of a sudden just show up first or second in the line, even though there were twenty other people that got there before them. 
Also, to add color to the situation, there was a complete nut job wondering around the place.  She was telling everyone her life story and pushed her way to the front of the line.  While I was in the snack-bar around the corner feeding Alani she also came in there and kept telling the lady that she wanted 3 espressos.  The cashier pointed repeatedly to the self-service bar and tried to explain to her to get it herself.  The crazy-lady then began to take all the chocolate bars of the rack and put them in her purse while telling the cashier "Ich mache Schokolade" which translates to "I make chocolate".  Finally, a good Samaritan in the shop paid for her chocolate and got her espressos.  It certainly did add interest to an otherwise tedious process.
Once the doors finally opened at 10 it was a mad dash in to figure out where to go.  I took the elevator upstairs with the stroller while Valentin sprinted up the stairs.  On a sign it said we had to go to Z6, however this did not exist upstairs.  I found C 3.6 (or something like that) with a sign that said "last names H-Z here."  So I hopped in that line and waited for Valentin who asked someone working there where we should be.  This person was extremely rude and told him to look at the signs.  He explained that even though German is his first language he could not make any sense of the signs.  Annoying!  Turned out I was in the right place, despite the confusing signs.  I'm not sure how I would have managed without him though, what a lifesaver in all that confusion!
Finally we were told to go, one applicant (plus family) at a time, into a small room where a very nice and helpful lady made sure we had everything we needed.  After checking through our paperwork we had to run downstairs and make copies of our passports and some other information and bring it back to her. 
We now have an appointment for the interview and processing on November 1 at 7:30am.  A letter confirming this should come in the mail this week.  Hopefully this will go smoothly now that we know where to go.

Water Water Water

Now that we have been here for a few weeks I am hoping that I will be able to make a more dedicated effort to blog about everything that is going on.  I said that I would write about the new experiences here, even the small day to day stuff that is different, so I will start with that today.  It is nothing terribly exciting, but I do hope you will enjoy.
Extremely hard water.  So hard that I cannot believe there is enough liquid components in the water to actually make it through pipes to come out in our sinks, showers, and toilets.  I cannot even explain adequately how annoying this is to me.  Hard water is definitely not good for your skin, but that can be helped with lotions.  Cleaning the dishes, the floor, the shower, etc. is another story.

I used to see the JetDry commercials and laugh at them thinking the spotty dishes coming out of the dishwasher were a huge exaggeration.  I take it back.  The water here leaves spots on everything!  And the German equivalent of JetDry does nothing.  The glasses still generally come out looking dirtier than they went in.  If you leave tap water sitting around in a cup overnight a white powder will settle in the bottom of the glass! 

I knew from past visits that Germans never drink tap water (I have seen many Americans confuse waiters at restaurants trying to explain that they want to have water from the tap) and now I completely understand.  At home the only tap water we drink is from the water cooker for tea or coffee.  We have had our electric kettle less than a month and there is already build up on the bottom! (see photo) 

Any suggestions on how to deal with this problem would be appreciated!

Germans literally buy cases of water at the store.  You can either get "spudel wasser", this is water with bubbles like seltzer, or "natural wasser".  We go through a lot of water bottles in a week.  You also do not throw these bottles away, that is a huge waste of money and resources.  Instead you save all of your plastic bottles and when you go to the grocery store you take them with you and deposit them into a machine that then prints out a receipt for you to take to the cashier and get your money back.  While I find this system good for the earth and your wallet, it really is a pain to remember to drag all the bottles back to the store each week.  Sadly I have forgotten this last week so I have a giant bag to take care of today.  

October 12, 2010—East Side Gallery

When we decided to move to Berlin, and that I would be staying at home for awhile with Alani, one of my goals was to get to know the famous sites of Berlin.  Today I made a first step towards that;  Alani and I had an amazing morning walking down to the East Side Gallery.  From what I have read this is the largest out-door gallery in the world.  The paintings were done by artists from all over the world to memorialize the end of the wall.  There is also a theme of the wish for world peace throughout the wall.  It was really amazing to admire the work of all of the artists.  Since the wall is outdoors it was also a great hike for us, we walked the 4 km there plus the distance of the wall, but took the train back.  After viewing all of the paintings it was very difficult to choose a favorite, so I have posted a few that I found interesting below.  There are also some cameos from Alani, she really loved looking at all of the bright colors and the people there taking pictures of the wall.  There are also a couple pictures of old East German cars, I think Alani's stroller is sturdier.  Overall, it was a great morning. 

Reunification Day--a couple days later...

We walked down to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reunification Day celebration this weekend.  It was the 20 year celebration (21 since the wall fell, the actual reunification happened a year later).  We went in the morning, before the big crowds.  It was great to see all of the stuff that had been set up for the celebration.  Coca-cola was the big sponsor; funny since in the US the big sponsor is usually a beer company.  Valentin explained to me that the beer is mostly brewed by smaller breweries here and people are loyal to their beer.  There were a couple of beer sponsors, but their signs were way smaller than coke.

The best was all of the food stands.  There were a large number of sausage stands; several that promised 1/2 meter sausages on an open baguette.  It was way to early to try, but there was also a stand that slathered roasted garlic on bread, my kind of place.  There were also a variety of beer and cocktail stands; some people were allready enjoying those at 10 in the morning.

I love that you can actually use port-a-potties in Germany.  They charge you a few cents to use, however it is totally worth it.  After you use the toilet it self-cleans and attendants are constantly checking the facilities throughout the day.  Nothing beats their logo though of people doing the 'peepee dance'.

It was a really beautiful fall day so we also ventured into the Teir Garden (like Central park of Berlin, but much larger).  There we fed Alani and took a time out from walking.  It was a really great day and lots of fun to see Germans celebrating their history.

Finally

Our furniture finally arrived on Wednesday!!  It has been a very long month not having our own bed and all of our things.  It was especially becoming apparent that we needed our things as Alani's Pack'n'Play changing table was starting to bend from her weight and using it every day.  It was also nice to make a home-cooked meal Thursday night.  It still doesn't really feel like home here yet, but at least it is a bit more comfortable. 

I have been starting to get out in the city with Alani to check things out.  We have had to buy a few things since pretty much everything with a plug had to be left behind.  It has been interesting trying to buy things in a different language and with new brands.  I have been doing a lot of price comparison and just buying the item in the middle of the range. 

I also attended my first mommy/baby class in Berlin.  It is specifically for English speaking parents which was great!  Most of the moms were British, except me, a Canadian, and an Australian.  It was interesting that we have the same songs, but all knew different words.  For example in Ring Around the Rosie I grew ups saying "...ashes, ashes..." and the British mums say "...hushes, hushes...".  They were also all shocked that we only have six to eight weeks maternity leave in the States and that we don’t get paid time off for childcare.  They also thought it was hilarious that I worked up until a couple weeks before my due date.  Apparently they kick you out the door here about eight weeks before your due date.  I really didn’t know what to do with two weeks, not sure if I would have enjoyed being told to leave with eight weeks to go.  Anyway, I’m going again this week to the class so hopefully we’ll start to really get to know some people here.

I have also been just walking around the neighborhood trying to learn my way around and work on my German.  The picture at the top is Alani in front of a statue of Sleeping Beauty, I found it appropriate.  Learning the neighborhood is fun, the German is slow.  I seriously wish people would just speak slowly and clearly.  I have discovered on German soaps they really do, I just don’t know the story lines so I’m a bit lost about who everyone is and why they are so upset.  Game shows are also great since they write the question and answer choices out on the bottom of the screen (like Millionaire).  Hopefully watching TV will help me learn to keep up with what is going on around me, it gets a bit frustrating trying to understand everyone.

Going back a couple weeks...

With all the confusion of moving I haven't had time to make regular posts so I'm doing so catching up now.  Below are two posts I wrote when we got to Germany, but didn't have a chance to get online.

September 15, 2010 – Farewell NYC

It was a crazy last couple weeks in Brooklyn.  Our furniture left on September 2 so we have been living on air-mattresses since then.  Valentin and I cannot thank our wonderful neighbors enough for helping us out these last couple weeks.  Liz, Lino, Phil, and Hayley have made it possible to really enjoy camping out Brooklyn style. 

We were able to do fun things around the city and in Brooklyn; we even made it up to Conneticut for the Labor Day weekend.  Last night Liz and Lino also had us over for a wonderful farewell with yummy Brooklyn pizza.  I have to admit I will miss the giant cheesy slices from The Famous  House of Calzones.  We also said good-bye to our car and its new owner, our wonderful friend Caroline. 

Today has just been a mess of fitting the final things into suitcases and clearing the rest of the junk out of our place.  Lizzie and I made it out for mani/pedi’s in the morning, what a wonderful treat!  Valentin even brought us smoothies (yum, Nectar) while we were at the nail place.  Then in the afternoon Liz came by and helped some more with the packing and later when Luca woke up he came over and played with his new favorite toy, Schnuckel’s crate.  I don’t think he ever had more fun in our apartment than when it was completely empty!

Farewell to NYC and all of our wonderful friends here.  We will miss you all so much and hope that you will come to Berlin to visit us. 

September 16, 2010 – We arrive in Frankfurt

Today we arrived in Frankfurt after a long seven hour flight out of JFK.   Valentin and Alani were both able to get some much needed rest on the way, wish I could say the same.  I did get a couple hours but not the whole flight.  Harder to fly with a baby, I miss the good old days when I could knock myself out with some wine and NyQuil. 

The flight went great.  We had to check Schnuckel in as luggage so I was completely nervous the entire time for her.  She seems to have fared well though and was back to her normal curious friendly self as soon as we took her out of the crate at the airport.  As soon as we got in the van with all of our suitcases (8 + Schnuckel’s crate + the stroller) baby and doggy were both asleep for the entire ride to Valentin’s parents house.  We are now going to enjoy a few days here before we get everything loaded up in the rental van again and drive to Berlin.  Road trip German style!

Introduction

I decided to start this blog as a way to share with my friends and family back in the States all of the new things that we are doing as we move from NYC to Berlin.  I am hoping it will motivate me to get out and explore my new city so I have something to write about.  It will include observations about the changes with living in a different country, as well my experiences with being a new mom.  Hopefully as I learn more about living in Germany and being a mom I will have some interesting, or at least entertaining, things to share. 

Why Berlin?       

Many people have asked Valentin and I why we have decided to move to Germany.  The most important reason is Alani.  As we are growing our little family it has become apparent that continuing in NYC was just not the best thing for us.  We also have talked for many years about moving to Germany, and we just kept putting it off for one reason or another.  It feels like now is the time to do it.  However, this was a very hard decision to make; we have wonderful friends in NYC that we are already missing very much. 

OK, so we decided to move to Germany, but why Berlin?  We chose Berlin because of its reputation as a very international city.  After living in a huge colorful city like NYC we thought the transition to a small German city might be a culture shock for all of us.   Hopefully, as we get moved in to our new apartment and start getting to know the city this will prove to be true.  I am looking forward to exploring the former communist city and all of the historical sites and museums it has to offer.