It's an entirely different thing to realize that you are about to move to a country where you know noone and don't speak the language. Don't get me wrong, we were excited, and recognized the opportunity that was being handed to us. We just also started to understand what an adjustment we would have to make. And so the adventure began.
After a hectic 4 weeks of arranging for movers, packing and quick visits home to see family and friends, we were off to the Father Land. We arrived in the wee hours of Friday, November 1st, which happened to be a German holiday. A shuttle picked us up from the airport in Frankfurt and dropped us off at our new home in a suburb of Heidelberg called Wieblingen. Michael's German skills were tested right away, since the shuttle service spoke no English. (Luckily he took 6 years of German in school and lived for a summer in Nurnberg, Germany where he worked as a paid intern for Dativ). They weren't aware that there was a Frau Briles (Mrs. Briles, to you non-German speakers) and I was afraid for a moment they were going to leave me at the airport! Of course they didn't, and soon we were on our way. Thus ensued our first experience with the Autobahn.
There appear to be two kinds of drivers on the Autobahn - really really slow and really really fast. Our driver belonged to the latter category. He was a very good driver, however. So good that he could adjust the radio and talk on his "Handy" (cellphone) all while driving 160 Km/hour. It was an eye-opening experience. We got to our destination safe and sound at around 6 a.m., ready to drop into bed.
I'm not sure what we were expecting out of our corporate apartment, but it certainly wasn't what we got. The apartment was quite old and outdated, and dirty to boot. The wallpaper was ripped, there was mold on the bathroom walls and shower curtain, rust in the toilet, hairs on the bedding, which was old and stained, the rugs were filthy, there were crumbs, stains and dried on food in the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and the floors had obviously not been swept or mopped. Ick! But, as it was a German holiday, noone was in the office and we couldn't do anything about it until Monday. We just put extra sheets over the bed and went to sleep, trying not to think about it. Michael and I joked to each other that not only had Heidelberg escaped the war unscathed, but so had the interior of our new apartment!
Once we had slept off our jetlag, the culture shock set in. We were in a strange place with noone to talk to - not even the salesclerks at the stores! Not that it would have mattered. The stores were hardly open that first weekend. They were closed Friday for the holiday, and then they all closed at 4 p.m. on Saturday (they always do in Germany), then weren't open at all on Sunday (once again, they never are open on Sundays). This wasn't such a big deal with most stores, but none of the grocery stores are open either. They all close at 8 p.m. on weeknights, then at 4 p.m on Saturday, and don't reopen until Monday. One thing I really miss is the concept of a 24-7 supermarket!
Things got better once the workweek started. We met with HR at SAP and showed them digital photos of our apartment. They immediately moved us into temporary housing for a month while they renovated and cleaned our apartment. Well, renovated at least. They did do a fantastic job repainting, replacing furniture, bedding and rugs. I finally had to give up on the cleaning part though and do it myself. The whole process was like pulling teeth - we had to deal with a third-party contractor SAP uses for relocations, and they dragged their feet and rarely followed through. Thankfully, that ordeal is behind us now, and we are back in our permanent apartment. I will let the photographs speak for themselves as to the changes that were made. |
