Going to Paris? Stay here. Hotel de l'Empereur in the 7th arrondissement. This hotel, just steps from the Eiffel Tower and the heart of Paris, is dripping with Parisian charm and old world class. It's tucked away down a quite street littered with quaint cafes and heavenly smelling pâtisseries, so while a bit hard to find, it's worth the hunt. And with a view of Les Invalides right from your very own 4th story corner suite, what more could you want?
The number of days we've been living out of suitcases. So far.
...and...
26 and counting
The number of of days we've been living in a hotel in Germany.
Ugh. Thank goodness this place is so nice and close to the commissary or I'd be pulling my hair out by now. We found this AMAZING apartment downtown but can't move in until August 1st. Well worth the wait, I promise you. There is a definite end in sight and the reward is sure to be great!
Luckily, the whole house finding process was a breeze compared to what I had envisioned. Before we left the states, D and I had heard stories of how competitive it can get finding housing on the economy. I'm talking sneaky competitive. For example, this one couple I heard about had been looking for a home for over 40 days. The reason for their ridiculous delay in obtaining living quarters on the economy? Crazy, sneaky Germans. The landlord would book multiple viewings at the same exact time leaving the possible tenants all fighting one another for the apartment! They said one couple, not even having seen the entire apartment, walked right up to the landlord, shoved 5000 euros in his hand and told him there was more for him (plus rent) if he would give them the apartment! Holy moly. So, you see why I was freaking out about the house hunting. I was not at all prepared to be cutthroat and conniving. Just not our style. We'd were leaving it up to the housing office too push us in the right direction...and they were fabulous!
We went to the housing briefing and they laid all my fears to rest. They informed us they were going to be by our sides the entire way making sure we weren't going to be hassled or drained of our money with shady landlords. I liked the sound of that! The next day we had our first meeting with our housing counselor. We had to come with a list of our top three housing choices from the listings they gave us and then the counselor would book appointments with the landlord for us to see the place. I, of course, spent 3 days researching possible homes and found my absolute favorites. I was kind of freaking out the day before our first meeting because a few of my "maybe" choices disappeared from the listings overnight. With it being PCS season, apartments and houses get scooped up...sometimes right out from underneath you. Thankfully, the top three I had chosen were still available for us to view when we went into our meeting. HALLELUJAH!
It was the 4th of July when we went to our meeting (German housing office still worked because, well, you know) and I was expecting to book these go-see appointments for the next few days. No way. If you want to have the best chance to get one of these places, you go now! So, that's exactly what we did! The housing office offers to attend up to three go-sees with you, in case you don't have transportation yet or if you are unsure about meeting with your German landlord. I was totally hoping our counselor would be going with us to at least 2 of our go-sees just to ease us into the whole process, but D opened his big stupid mouth and told her we already had a car...and she said "PERFECT!" So, we were on our own to go see our potential home. Cue the freaking out. First of all, we had NO idea how to find these places we'd picked. We'd only been in the city for 10 days. So with only 2 hours till our first meeting with the first landlord, we went and bought a GPS. It's completely been our saving grace.
With GPS in hand, we drove ourselves a measly 5 mintues down the street from the hotel into downtown Wiesbaden to our potential new home. We arrived about 20 minutes earlier than we had wanted to, but ended up taking a walk around to get a feel for the neighborhood. Nice. Real nice. Finally it was go time. In my head I'm totally freaking out...D was a cool as a cucumber. I will never understand that about him, but I'm thankful he is the way he is. He completely balances out my anxious craziness. I was so nervous about dealing with a German landlord. I was counting on that housing office buffer, but now, we had to do it on our own. No looking back!
We walked up to the ginormous house...a home that houses the landlord and has two apartments above his quarters. The house was nicely gated and you must be "buzzed" in. Very cool...and safe! Right before we got to the gate, we saw a man hop out of his black Porche Cayman in a spiffy business suit. He walked right up to the gate, stuck his key in the lock, and opened the gate. BINGO! Houston, we have landlord! D and walked up and peeked around the corner of the gate (just to make sure) then made our way up to the landlord who was unlocking his own front door. We said hello, exchanged names and handshakes, and then he led the way to our future home.
The apartment was everything I hoped it would be...and more. The listing hadn't done it justice! The place is beautiful. Now, I don't want to give away too much because I plan to post photos later...but this place has a super spacious master bedroom, crown moulding that is incredibly ornate and must be over 100 years old, and 2 balconies. TWO! I basically melted into the beautiful hardwood floors at the thought of getting to live here. What's even better? The landlord is fabulous. He was incredibly welcoming...so much so that he took us to his apartment, showed us around, and allowed us to meet his kids and wife! They are the cutest little German family! He told us he only ever rents to Americans. At first, I thought, uh oh...why's that? Because we're gullible, because we exude and image that we tend not to use our money wisely, because we're easier to "take for a ride?" Nope. Because we're nicer. Because we aren't demanding to the point of lunacy. Because when Americans leave, he feels like they've lost part of the family. Seriously! He said all of those things. If I wasn't sold on that place before, that conversation solidified our decision.
I don't know what I was so worried about. The landlord spoke English pretty well and was absolutely charming. He even asked D if he liked football because he loves to go play at the park. D chimed in "Of course!" Then we both realized he meant European football...also known as soccer for us Americans. D's never played a game of soccer in his life, that I know of. This could eventually get interesting! :) Anywho, the next day we went back to the housing office and signed the lease on the apartment downtown! Did I mention it is downtown? Yeah, it's a 10 minute walk from the Opera house, dozens of restaurants and shops, and 3 minutes from the park. SCORE! Just call us city mice!
The girl that is living there now (who is also a military renter...as is the guy in the 3rd floor apartment) leaves the end of this month, then the apartment is ours! I promise, as soon as I get those keys in my hand, you'll see pictures! We're beyond excited! Until then...
{I refuse to unpack and put things in drawers. Partly because I'm so sick of packing things and partly because we have no hangers. They are on a boat in the middle of nowhere and I'm NOT buying more!}
{The "pantry." Please excuse the Spaghetti-O's.}
{Home sweet hotel room}
{The "kitchen." Go ahead. It's ok to laugh. We do.}
...here's to 14 more days of hotel living! Kill me now.
I was positive the culture shock would set in immediately as we hopped off the plane in Ramstein. It's typical, and rightly so, to feel completely overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of entering a foreign country you've never visited. I didn't get any of that right off the bat. I'm half sure it's because we flew into a military installation instead of a commercial airport. Still, I didn't feel the nervous pit in my stomach that I had been so used to when entering uncharted territory. When D and I made our first mini-trip to Virginia during our Senior spring break to scope out our future home, I was flooded with feeling of insecurity and doubt about my soon-to-be surroundings. All I wanted to do was curl up under the covers in the hotel room and never come out. The city wasn't at all what I had expected or hoped for and stepping foot (for the first time) on an Air Force base was almost too much for me. I felt as if everyone was staring at us, as if they knew we were new to the whole military lifestyle. All the nameless buildings overwhelmed me and the sight of men in uniform was unsettling. In hindsight, it's stupid, really, but at the time it all seemed so...foreign.
That is far from the feeling I got here. The whole military part of it didn't phase me. I've already lived 3 years as a MilSpouse and now military things are second nature to me, so that didn't factor into my expectations. Like a crazy person, the instant that I didn't feel the impending culture shock I'd been expecting, I immediately tried to fabricate an uncomfortable feeling in my mind, as if to compensate for my lack of shock. It seemed absolutely unusual for me not to feel even a twinge of discomfort. I searched the caverns of my brain to try and remember what I previously had been so cynical about regarding our stay in a new country. I drew a blank. I still felt...normal. Comfortable. Peaceful. All of those irrational thoughts and preconceived notions of what I would feel as we left the airport terminal had dismissed themselves.
How about that. I had somehow managed to worry myself normal, if that concept is even possible. I remember briefly thinking that as soon as we left confines of base, the culture shock would then decide to slap me across the face. So, I held my breath.
D and I made our way, with our combined 300 lbs of luggage and carry-on's, to our lovely sponsors car. We all exchanged pleasantries and expressed our excitement for the new adventure ahead. D's sponsor is really great. Well, both of his sponsors are. He's been lucky enough to have two men from his gaining squadron team up to help get us around town and acclimated to our new life here in Germany. Lord knows we need all the help we can get! For the sake of anonymity, I will refer to these PCS saviors as Sponsor 1 and Sponsor 2, and to lessen the confusion in my stories.
After we were all loaded up in the car, Sponsor 1 drove us around a very small part of the base to find a Shoppette so D and I could get drinks and a snack to enjoy on the hour long ride to our base and new city of residence. Ramstein seems nice, from what little we saw. I definitely want to make our way down there one day to check out their ginormous BX/KMCC mall. I have a feeling it will be my "go-to" place whenever I miss America too much. Really, anything on base will. As we made our way off base, I instantly noticed how green Germany is. Lots of trees creating dense canopy's overhead. It wasn't eerie, but it was as if we'd entered straight into a forest in the foothills of some mountain. Coming from an area plagued with beige and tan buildings around every turn to a complete natural landscape was refreshing. As we made our way down the road, the scenery only flourished. There were miles and miles of grassy hills with tiny structures that resembled castle towers plucked into the sides of them. It was almost ethereal, the rows upon rows of lush, green vineyards blanketing the countryside. I was in the midst of daydreaming about all the fabulous wine tastings D and I were sure to enjoy here when suddenly, I heard a WHOOOOSH! and felt the car shift a bit. I quickly turned my head to the left and caught a glimpse of a red BMW as it zoomed down the road ahead. I thought to myself, "Holy crap, are we on the Autobahn?!" As if the first car wasn't evidence enough of my revelation, a white hatchback VW simultaneously careened by at lightening speed! Yep, we're on the Autobahn literally 15 minutes after we'd entered the country. As if he had read my mind (or maybe he had seen the dazed look on my face), Sponsor 1 chimed in, "So yeah, we're on the Autobahn now...hold on to your keesters!"
After the inital shock wore off, it was really, really cool being a passenger riding on the Autobahn. Although our driver was conservative with his speed and didn't go any faster than 150 km/h (about 93 mph), it was still faster than any car I had ever ridden in. I also never expected my first German experience to be the Autobahn! It was a pleasant surprise. D and I giggled every time a car flew by and marveled in the rear view at a fast approaching Mercedes. If you're not careful, cars can come up on you in the blink of an eye. That's why one of the first rules of Autobahn driving is that you coast in the right and only pass on the left. Plain and simple. I expect I shall be more of a coaster than a passer. But only time will tell. :)
This is a video of some guys going 178 km/h (110 mph) and getting passed by another car on the Autobahn. Check out how fast this car comes up on them...and then how fast he's gone! It's seriously like that. Bananas!
As exhilarating as our ride on the Autobahn was, D and I were both ready to have a hot meal, check in to our hotel and get some sleep. At this point, we were dragging and looking rough, for a lack of a better word. Sponsor 1 exited the Autobahn and we entered into Wiesbaden, our new city. From what we could see at the time, it looked quite like any other city. Building and businesses, traffic lights and pedestrians...not at all what I expected to see. I had painted a mental picture of a small town clad with cobblestone streets; lined with the kitschy brown, timber framed cottages with window boxes bursting with colorful flowers. Not so much, or at least not where we will be living. I know for a fact that these little picturesque towns exist because they were dotted along the path of the Autobahn. I can't wait to explore these little hamlets!
Ok, so that was the last of the photos that aren't mine. Here starts my photos of Germany, firsthand.
{City of Wiesbaden...taken from the Commissary. This photo doesn't do the view justice.}
At about 9pm Germany time (total travel time to final destination approximately 32 hours), we finally arrived at our hotel or TLF for all you MilSpouses. We checked in and then dropped our bags off in our extended stay studio (a room with 1 queen bed, a 2 burner stove, mini-fridge, microwave convection oven thingy, TV, bathroom, and a desk. Not too shabby seeing as the construction of this new hotel was just completed back in March. After scoping out our temporary digs, we met Sponsor 1 at the bowling alley across the street for a cheeseburger dinner and a run down of the next days events. He might as well have been speaking German to us because I was so exhausted that I barely heard anything he said...I'm not even 100% sure how I ate my burger. We slugged back to our room, fumbled with how the heck to flush our toilet for what seemed like hours, and then passed out cold. We had to be up at 6am to be ready to be picked up at 7am to start part of D's in-processing. That was the worst wake up of our lives. It was like trying to wake the dead...who wanted to just keep dying again. We spent Friday in a fog. To be honest with you, I can't recall anything that we did last Friday except for driving to D's new squadron and eating at the chow hall (the only reason I remember that was because the salad I ate was scrumptious...my body was CRAVING veggies). The rest is a blur due to our semi-comatose state. Jet lag is ridiculous. Supposedly it can last for a week or more, depending on how well your body can adapt. We're still fighting it. Although it's getting easier, I'm not sure I like living in the future (compared to NC time...we're in the future, kind of).
{Our very modern TLF! Looks alot like something IKEA would come up with, doesn't it?}
Saturday was the first day we really got to experience life in Germany. Has the culture shock finally burrowed its way into my mind?
