Mission 'Relocation' accomplished - Projekt 'Umzug' abgeschlossen

Source/Quelle: Kurpfalzarchiv

The mission: Execute relocation from the Black Forest into the Rhine-Neckar region, find new tenant for an early release out of the current rental agreement while looking for new accommodation in the target region, organize the move and all accessory administration.

As per today we are all set and settled and all dealings with authorities, legalities and official paperwork are finally done. YAY!

We are looking forward to exploring a fairly new to us environment: the region is Kurpfalz, the forest is Odenwald, and the beer is Woinemer. And bonus: the local tongue is so much more intelligible. Cheers!

Der Auftrag: Durchführung eines Umzugs vom Schwarzwald in die Rhein-Neckar-Region, Suche eines Nachmieters zur Verkürzung der Kündigungsfrist sowie Anmieten einer neuen Wohnung in der Zielregion, Organisation der gesamten damit verbundenen Aktionen und Administration.

Alles erledigt, wir sind eingezogen und Neubürger, und alle Behördengänge und sonstige Verwaltungsdinge sind erledigt. Hurra!

Jetzt freuen wir uns schon darauf, diese Gegend besser kennenzulernen. Die Region ist Kurpfalz, der Wald ist Odenwald und das Bier ist Woinemer. Es kommt noch besser: Wir verstehen den regionalen Dialekt hier so viel besser. Prost!

Beer tasting / Bierprobe

Homesickness vs. Reverse Culture Shock

Germans live to work!

Most Germans live a very pre-programmed life: It starts with school, then education in form of an apprenticeship and/or a study. And the rest of work life one will work endless hours to build a career, build a house, pay taxes, save into the retirement plan, and think of all the things one wants to do after one will be retired. This was pretty much us.

Canadians (and most other people not German) work to live!

At one point we asked ourselves, is this it? Are we going to continue slaving away until we can’t no more? We wanted something new, exciting, exhilarating. So, that’s why we left for Canada. We built up a new life, and it worked well. Living abroad for us meant dealing in a foreign language in our everyday life. We learned something new every day, it was challenging but in a good way and full of enriching experiences. And Canada was good to us. Not only were we successful professionally, but we also managed to make wonderful new friends and felt integrated into society. And we lived greatly! All was going well. So, why change this perfectly good life? 

Homesick!

Eight years is a long time. For Sonja Canada was home, the mountain view and the ocean breeze alone would simply make her feel glad to be alive. But Roland was feeling increasingly discontent. Frustration was sneaking up upon the homesickness affected. Suddenly he increasingly started noticing negative things happening around (the annoying neighbour, the traffic, the weather... the list became endless). He became unable to appreciate and enjoy the beauty anymore, and ended up making a mountain out of every molehill. He felt lonely and alienated, and started suffering from depressions. It was contagious, and also began affecting our relationship. Hence, the only cure for homesickness was actually returning home to Germany.

A Stranger at Home

The irony of it is, that while Roland was instantly happy to be home again, Sonja had started feeling disengaged, irritated and depressed for a long while until finally realization, re-adjustment and adaptation kicked in. (well, she’s actually still working on it...)

In the first months of our return we both felt out of place. We reconnected with friends and family but everything previously familiar seemed to feel different, not because they had changed, but our experiences had changed us more than we thought. We had gone through a roller coaster of feelings. Similar to the process of grieving we went through sadness of leaving Canada, to anger over the friggin’ German bureaucracy, to acceptance through the familiar faces around, and having a regular work life again.

As a repatriate one has to be prepared that friends and family might not care much about how you feel upon your return. Some of them might not even have overcome why you left the country and your safe jobs in the first place. They will just be glad to have you back in their unchanged reality.

Naturally, we sought other traveling folks who we could relate to (the internet is the perfect tool for such). It is however not always beneficial to exchange experiences with other repatriates as it might fuel unwanted Fernweh (the yen to travel), or Wanderlust as the English speaking world puts it. But talking to people who will likely understand provides an helpful outlet. 

Culture without the shock

Exploring the local culture, architecture and history certainly helps a lot. Well, there is this, and there is our motorcycling and scootering, too. The roads are great and the Black Forest offers a pretty scenery, plus is geographically a perfect spot to re-visit some of our most favourite countries such as France, or Italy, and discover some new territory in Eastern Europe. We have also made plans to rediscover the four corners of our native country. Germany has a coast, too, you know. 

We are going to make the most out of it, that is until the travel bug bites again, and if hard enough, might catapult us in a completely different world again. It’s not over. Not for a long time! Life is good!

Sonja & Roland - December 2013

Cancelling a Costco Amex Card

Roland: ... is actually not as easy as it sounds! It was really about time to cancel our Costco membership as it does cost quite a buck every year which may be ok when you regularly buy there, but does not make that much sense when you live in a country where they do not have a Costco (as unbelievable as that may sound to our North American readers).

So step 1 would be to cancel the Amex card that is associated with our account. The obvious first idea was to call the customer service number that is printed in microscopic letters on the back of the card. As expected I was connected to a computer voice that asked me for my card number and password. Once I had done that it gave me the choice to access any possible information regarding my account, but it did not give me an option to talk to a live operator. So I checked the net for alternative numbers, found a few of them, tried them all, and ended up with the same result as the first time. Then I lied to the computer stating that I did not have my credit card available (although I did not want to report it as stolen) planning on being connected to a human being, but no... it asked for my name, date of birth and social security number to access my account and give me the usual information once again.

A bit frustrated I called a GERMAN Amex number I found on the net. I was connected to the usual computer voice (obviously in German this time) that actually offered my one more choice: hit # for operator! The operator was Ines, a very nice Lady, who could not help me with my inquiry, but who connected me to the American branch of Amex, where I talked to Jonah, who could not help me either, but who connected me to the Canadian branch of Amex, where I talked to Virginia, who could not help me (other than changing our address on the account), but who connected me to Frank, who had our account closed within a minute.

And by the way, I was told to just hit the # key after calling the service number on my card to speak to an operator. Could they not have the computer tell you that when you call?! Anyway, the account is closed now, next step is to close the Costco membership. This time I will use email!

In the Claws of German Bureaucracy... a Happy Ending?!

It was about time to get our license plates replaced for our Audi and Sonja's Vespa Alonzo (changing the address always means changing plates in Germany, except if you stay in the same city), so we opened another chapter in our book of horrors through German Road Traffic License Departments. Or so we thought...

In fact it turned out that in the Ortenau District you can prepare everything using the Internet. First you are able to reserve a plate. Then you provide all necessary information in a website template. And finally they even allow you to book appointments to finalize the process at the department. 

We chose a 4:30 pm date which is pretty much the last one of the day and arrived just in time for our appointment (We were actually slightly early, but had to figure out the correct way of getting the old plates off our Audi). 

We were immediately asked to a twin desk where two friendly and competent ladies took care of our needs. Within minutes the procedure had been finalized, we paid our fees, had some new licence plates made in a nearby facility, had all paper work finished and were done! Pinch us! We can't believe it.

A big thanks to the Offenburg Licence Department for rebuilding some trust into German bureaucracy! There is hope!

We yet have to get Roland's Vespa Bella through TÜV. But that's another department and another story to be told...

Delivery Day!

A sunny Thursday morning at 8AM. The moving truck with trailer arrived right on time. We asked the team of two (likely Eastern European from the accent) gentlemen when the rest of the crew would arrive, and they replied: For this little load it's just the two of us!

Remembering that we had a crew of six in Canada preparing the move (Note: We had already packed up and boxed about 2/3 of the stuff ourselves.) we wondered how those two guys would make that happen within a day.

The Harley had been traveling all packed up and sitting on a custom skid on the truck, while all our other goods including the Vespa were on the trailer still tucked away in the same container in which it had been shipped overseas. 

The motorcycle got unpacked while still in the truck, while the scooter crate was put on the lifting ramp and and unwrapped on ground level.

While we rode the two-wheelers out of the way (The motors fired up immediately!!!) the crew started bringing in the furniture.

At one point we had to literally force the movers to stop for a break. Roland offered to grab some coffee from the nearby bakery (There is no Starbucks around for about 60 km...), and made them breakfast, but those guys didn't idle for long, and continued to 'fly in' boxes, totes and other bits and pieces without further ado.

At 3PM the men were done, the furniture unwrapped and mounted at location, and boxes neatly piled up in an empty corner where they would wait for us to be unpacked.

There was some minor transport related damage on a few items despite the extensive wrapping, but it was to be expected after this long journey. However, we are happy to report that most things have arrived at final destination unscathed. For those who need/want/have to move back to Germany we can confirm that despite some lack in professionalism on the admin side (communication and scheduling issues) we were over all very satisfied with the services of our provider.

Update: As of Saturday 1PM everything is unpacked, cleaned and put into place.

In the Claws of German Bureaucracy (Part 2)

Source: www.mickx-media.de

Roland: 11 weeks after our first encounter with the drivers registry in Leverkusen and over 8 weeks after we finally were allowed to apply for German Driver's licenses we thought it would be about time that we would actually RECEIVE our licenses. So last week on Tuesday I gave them a call to get an update on the status.

The Lady on the phone was very nice, but regretted telling me that the License Department was closed for two days due to being understaffed! So she asked me to try again on Thursday...

Imagine my surprise when I called again on Thursday, not only did I get somebody on the phone after only three rings, but that person was also able to find out within a few minutes that our licenses were indeed there! I could not believe my ears! We anyway had planned a weekend in Leverkusen, so we decided that I would take a day of vacation and we would pick up our licenses on Monday morning.

We arrived at the registry at 8:40 and were right away greeted by a sign saying "today only online appointments!". We did not have such, but we decided to try our luck anyway. When we entered the waiting area we found out that no appointment was necessary for picking up licenses (in fact someone had just "forgotten" to take off the sign from last week), but that we would have to stand in line in front of room 14 and we would be called in. Well, the problem was that the line was quite long already and nobody showed up to call anybody in for a long time.

Shortly after nine the door of room 14 opened, a guy came out and asked "Is there anybody who wants to pick up a driver's license?". Like a perfectly rehearsed choir the whole line answered "Yes that's why we are standing here!" The guy looked a little bit confused, and after a few seconds of reflecting on the situation he said "OK, the first one can come in!".

A few minutes nothing happened, then the door of room 15(!) opened, and a Lady came out asking "Is there anybody who want to pick up a driver's license?" Crowd: "Yes that's why we are standing here!" a startled expression, then "OK, the next one, please come in".

This game repeated a few times (variation: "Are REALLY all of you waiting for their license?"), and then we were finally asked in. The Lady explained to us that she actually is semi-retired already, but was asked to help out due to the staff shortage. So we gave her our Canadian licenses, and she went looking for our German ones. Of course, she found mine, but did not have such luck with Sonja's. She asked here colleague, but he could not help her either. Then she decided to check the other offices and finally came back with Sonja's license. Hallelujah!!!!

At around 10 AM we finally took possession of our German Driver's licenses, and now we are allowed to drive or ride vehicles of the classes AM, A1, A2, A, B, C1, BE, C1E, CE and L. This translates roughly into anything from a 25cc Moped over a Tractor to a 7.5 ton semi trailer...

As long as we ride
Readin' the road
Doesn't even matter
Where we're gonna go
And we'll all be doin' fine
As long as we ride

From Spock's Beard: As Long As We Ride

Another Milestone

As per 1st of August we will have a new home. We opted for a condo (what else...), but this time in a low rise building. Hence, not much of a view. Well, it has a garden view, that's something, and the lease also includes our own patch of garden to manage.

We already consider to pour concrete over and paint it green and put up a car bike port instead... But in Germany, it is not very likely to get permission or this. So, we will have to rent a slot in a nearby parkade, as this particular patch is already taken by our neighbour.

As soon as we have the keys in hand renovations will ensue, meaning we hire a painter, and meanwhile go shopping for furniture...

Nearby stork spotting.

The Die has been cast!

Roland recently accepted a job offer in the Black Forest, hence Saturday we packed in our stuff, and moved once again; this time from the sister in law's attic into a furnished holiday apartment, a temporary set up generously provided by his new employer.

The flat will be at our disposal for the next couple of months or so, and paid for until we found our own living space, which might be a bit of a challenge as our demands are quite specific and (modern) housing is limited in the area.

The current flat is not really catering to our way of life (except for the view) but the interior is pretty much everything we don't want...

Max. headroom 1,80m. Roland is going to hit his head many times, we already started a count list.

 

If you have a small room, dark wood on the ceiling certainly won't make it look bigger.

These are likely the most hideous tiles we've ever seen, well at least the plumbing works.

We should not look the gift horse in its mouth. After all, it is tidy, clean, functional and paid for, and it has a decent view, so we decided to enjoy our first breakfast in our new 'home'.

 View from the balcony

While traveling south this year's summer was at its worse. Torrential rains prevented us from bringing along Alonzo this time, the orange Vespa. Sonja was not amused, and will have to wait for another 'milk run' to pick up the scooter.

When we arrived in the area even the local art / statues were sporting umbrellas.

 

But finally the clouds had drained themselves and we were awarded with a beautiful sunset.

Sunday offered brilliant blue skies, and after a good nights sleep we set up the apartment (unpacked that is) and went out for a walk.

 Under the apple tree...

 We can't get lost!

 Angus beef cattle in the Black Forest?

 A view on our new hometown.

Not too bad after all.

In the Claws of German Bureaucracy (Part 1)

Photo: pisch-music.de

Roland: Eight years ago, when we came to Canada, one of our first tasks was to exchange our German driver's licence into a Canadian one. Back then this took us approximately one hour to get a temporary licence, and a few days later we had our plastic cards in the mail.

Yesterday we went to the local department of motor vehicles to exchange our Canadian licences back into German ones. After a short waiting time we were asked to the desk of an officer who looked astonishingly similar to the Gentleman above (the late comedian Diether Krebs in his role as 'Martin'). 

When we told the officer our request he said that he could not just give us a German driver's licence; he would first have to ask the department at our last German address whether our German driver's licences have been sent back from Canadian authorities. If so we would get our old licences back, if not we would have to issue a notice of loss for our licences. Only then he could start the process of replacing them.

Naively (and spoiled by the excellent public service in Canada) we expected that he would pick up the phone and call the other department or at least would send them an email with a search request for our old licences, but instead he opened a Word document, manually entered the address of the other department, printed that thing, crossed a few paragraphs, put it into an envelope and told us to call him again in three weeks(!!!) to check on the results.

When I said that I would need a new driver's licence anyway as I had added a Motorcycle licence in Canada he explained to me that he would need an official translation of my Canadian licence first (look at the guy in the picture: does he look like he speaks English?). When I asked if my (official!) International Driver's Licence would suffice he just laughed and said 'No!'. 

Then he took out a little red book with the official procedures for exchanging international driver's licences, checked for British Columbia and stated that he cannot exchange my Motorcycle licence (a licence 6 in BC), because his list would not include a licence 6. This surprised us as we had checked this on the internet before, and it clearly said that licence 6 can be exchanged, so we kindly asked him if he was sure that he has the latest version of the red book (which would be the August 2012 version). 

He thought for a moment, said "well, there was a new one", checked another drawer, and within a moment came up with another (obviously never used) red book, looked it up again and agreed "yes, this one says it is possible"...

The other thing we noted was his mumbling and bad grammar. We can only imagine how irritated a new immigrant with limited language skills must feel when encountering such a role model of German bureau-crazy.

To be continued...

Going, Going, Gone

Sonja: Two thirds of the staff in the company I worked for is either dieting, lactose intolerant or gluten sensitive, hence my ex-colleagues put a lot of thought in providing me with a delicious edible gift which served me as dinner. I am going to miss those guys and gals. They were the best team I ever had the pleasure to work with.

The last morning has arrived.

 Everything packed up and ready to go.

At the airport. 
 Good bye, Canada!

I'm closin' the book
On the pages and the text
And I don't really care
What happens next.
I'm just going, I'm going, I'm gone.
(Source)

Meanwhile Upstairs...

Sonja: While I was busy supervising the motorcycle transport, Roland was in the last leg of wrapping up things. We had already packed 25 boxes ourselves, and only left the fragile stuff to be packed by the movers.

A team of four turned up upstairs at the agreed time, boxed the 'leftovers' with utmost care, and wrapped up our furniture in several layers of bubble-wrap.

They had their own system of handwritten paperwork (in our computerized world we honestly somewhat expected scanners and handhelds), but Roland recorded everything electronically. Aren't we German after all?

The whole pack & wrap took longer than anticipated, so we were quite happy that we had already done our share of boxing the day before. Everything is packed up now, and tomorrow our stuff will be picked up and shipped.

We even received an approximate arrival date (although this does not mean too much yet as we will have to store our goods for a while anyway, until we have a final destination in Germany).

Downstairs: Getting the Bikes moved!

Sonja: Today the bikes got picked up for crating. The Sportster will get shipped in a metal box the moving company procured from a local Harley Davidson dealer, while the Vespa will be protected by a wooden custom crate.

With combined muscle power two men and myself pushed the motorcycle on to the road, since it got no insurance left. I noticed that the gentlemen in charge were no motorcycle experts. The concept of using the levers for breaking or pulling the clutch to get it into first gear to prevent the bike from moving seemed fairly new to them...

The Sportster merely fit on the lifting ramp, and again I had to make sure that the guy in front used the hand brake to prevent the bike from rolling further.

While maneuvering the Harley into a better position the battery cover came apart, and one of the rubber thingies that hold it in place got lost in the process...

Quite skeptical I watched their efforts to strap the Sportster to the wall of the truck. I was tempted to jump into the back of the vehicle and do it myself.

Next in line was the Vespa. I almost lost it when they tried lifting the scooter by its accessories, and got quite verbal about it.

I explained that the accessories are not made for heavy duty and that they should please apply appropriate care when handling those babies. I can only hope that the bikes will arrive unscathed at the warehouse and that the craters will do a good job of wrapping up the two-wheelers for the upcoming ocean transport.