Whirlwind of a Monday! We met the HR crew of SoundCloud and a new couple from Philadelphia, Brendan and Julie. Brendan was hired at SC at the same time as Benjamin. He is a guitarist, and Julia is a ceramic artist. They both went to art school in Chicago! Small, small world. Together with 2 of the HR crew, Theresa and Francis, (from Bavaria and New Zealand respectively) we jostled around the city and got paper work stuff done.
We can now officially work in Germany, and we are fully insured. While acupuncture is not covered (damn!), physical therapy, dermatology, and all the other doc stuff is. I’m not sure if there will be long waits, as in some other countries with socialized medicine, but I am confident that we can get recommendations from friends and B’s coworkers, and it will be fine.
After the morning running around, we were treated to lunch at an Asian tapas restaurant. I know I am talking about food a lot, but everything is so good here. The German government has strict rules about food, so freshness/organic or ‘bio’ is a source of national pride. We had chicken satay, a coconut curry dish with veggies and chicken, crispy rolls, and spring veggie rolls. Very fresh! After lunch, Julie helped me navigate the tram map to go home. For this I was so grateful as my hip was feeling tired, and I had a bit of brain drain from all the running around and meeting new people. She and I found the M12 and got on. I paid too much for the ticket (borrowed a euro from Julie too), but we made it home. Julie got off at my stop, and then she and I went out for coffees. I owe her for this too. She is great, and it was really nice to talk to someone about how this process was a feat indeed. We could laugh and relate to one another. Oh, and they have a kitty! They have a silver tabby tom cat named Neko. I want to officially be the cat auntie/kitty sitter for them.
A note about Francis and Theresa. We could listen to Francis talk all day! He has a deep voice with a soothing tone and a beautiful accent. He’s also like 7 feet tall and funny as hell. B and I were both charmed. Theresa is an absolute sweetheart, and we are now convinced, after meeting her, Gary, and the Bavarian pub owner from the Two Swans pub in Amsterdam, that everyone from Bavaria is nice. This region will definitely be one of our weekend trips. Also, in the office, I briefly met Jess, from Ireland. These lovely accents are going to make me daydream all day long!
Some local politicos that I learned…Apparently, just like in the U.S., with its “Yankee Go Home” and the North with its ” All Southerners are lazy” mentality, people from North Germany (Berliners) feel somewhat negatively toward people from South Germany (Bavaria). There is a mind-set here that folks from the South have money and are buying up all the good housing in the North.
So here’s my language dilemma. According to Christoph, B’s musician friend who cooked us dinner on Sunday, I sound like a Bavarian when I try to speak German. B sounds like a Berliner with his pronunciation. Surprise surprise, that as a ‘half Floridian,’ I would sound Southern. I sound this way because I roll my R’s. Again, surprise, surprise due to Spanish being familiar for me. B can do the back of the throat/ hacking sound, and I can’t. Christoph advised me to stick to English (hell no), and Theresa said to flaunt the rolling of the R’s and sound Bavarian. To this I say, hell yes!
Anyway, after coffee I went home to meet my landlord’s father and learn how to use the washing machine. This was an awesome experience as well. Just like Irina’s mom, her father hugged me. It was so sweet. I learned the step-by- step of the machine, and then I asked about the lock. Irina’s papa showed me the trick to the lock, and I think I have it. I have always been key-challenged, particularly for old buildings, so I need to be patient.
And I’ll end here…as patience is a good thing to remember.
