Our flight from Seattle to London was fabulous in business class. It'll be so hard going back to coach class after having lay-flat beds, four course meals, European wine selection, etc. In fact, we asked the pilot if he could take another lap because we would have been more comfy watching another movie or napping on the plane than sitting in London Heathrow for 5 hours. When we finally arrived in Hamburg, we thought we had accidentally skipped a customs check point or something because it was all too easy. The guy asked how long we were staying in the country (two years and we didn't show proof of any work permits or employment letters) and he said "Okay have fun." Then we picked up our luggage, walked through a door and got in a cab. Maybe the key to it all was to arrive on a Sunday when barely anyone is working and they just wave you through.
Since arriving we've been incredibly busy with immigration and orientation logstics. Long story short, we love it here already and can't wait to show you around when you visit. Here are a couple of observations, experiences, and notes to-date:
- Consistent with Jared's comedic view on our food habits, we have been grocery shopping three times already. We're living in temporary corporate housing while we househunt and our tiny kitchen is packed. Aside from having fun looking through the new and interesting options in the grocery store...it' just plain CHEAP! For example, we bought a ball of mozzarella for €0.59, a 2008 Bordeaux for €5, a bottle of balsamic from Modena for €0.89 and the list goes on! We've cooked several meals and can't wait for our freight to arrive so we have all of our kitchen gadets.
- Amazon Prime exists here! Our first package arrived with our first 220V appliances...a hair dryer and curling iron (for Brian of course).
- We haven't been able to use the phrase "Sie haben roten Blumen!" yet but we've put our brief Rosetta Stone lessons to good use, ordering food and coffee in German quite effectively. Everyone doesn't speak English well as we were led to believe. But that's a plus in our eyes because it'll give us more opportunitites to practice our German. EY also confirmed they will be paying for language tutors for the both of us.
- We apparently forgot our bottle of melatonin and just learned that you need a prescription in Germany to buy it. We struggled through one night and opted for benadryl since. In the meantime...we're tired as hell!
We haven't yet setup local cell phones or added international plans to our US phones, so WhatsApp and email continue to be the best way to reach us (or Kelly on Facebook Messenger). We do have Skype and can call the US for free when in our apartment and on WiFi and hope to connect with you soon.
Love,
B+K