Monday was a funny day. We had a lot on our to-do list: go to town hall to register the dog, make a vet appointment, go to the bank, figure out recycling. We were worried we wouldn’t get everything done because it all felt overwhelming and confusing.
It took about two hours to do everything on the list, so we worried for nothing.
Recycling wasn’t that hard, mostly because our friends had already warned us about what categories we needed to separate our stuff into. We had our six cans of stuff ready to go, and we only made one mistake: some kinds of plastic have to go into a special bag which we don’t have and don’t know where to find. A mystery for another day.
Anything that can’t be recycled has to be thrown away, but trash isn’t free. You have to buy stickers for your trash and they won’t take it without the sticker. Stickers cost about $2.50 for each bag, which is half the size of a normal US kitchen trash bag.
Shout out to the cashier at Migros who spoke English and hooked us up with the sticker sheet when we clearly had no idea what we were doing.
I also made a vet appointment for Coach! I emailed the vet in German (I was *very* proud of myself for being able to do this) asking to set up a registration appointment. I got an email back pretty quickly and ….
So then I reached out to the actual vet, set an appointment, and breathed a sigh of relief.
At the town hall, I used my German again! I told them that we needed to register our dog, and we needed a sticker for recycling (not the trash sticker. There are recycling stickers and they’re different). After much sign language and google translating and drawing recycling symbols on envelopes, we got our point across.
Then when we were all done, she spoke in perfect English to tell me that my German was very good. That’s the kind of patronizing encouragement I need for the next 3 years.
I obviously cannot be satisfied, because the first few days I was complaining that everyone was switching to English and I’d never learn any German this way. But after that exchange, I was annoyed that she made me practice my German instead of switching to English.
This is one of those problems that I’m willing to own as a Me Problem and laugh at myself about.
On Tuesday we got our IKEA patio furniture and our air shipment. We also got a visit from our landlord, because that’s something people do here. They just … get visits from their landlord. He’s a very nice guy, and he lives nearby. He also seemed pretty sympathetic when Coach started barking at him. He said she must be tired from her long journey. This was very important since he had asked in advance if she barks a lot and we had responded with “define a lot?”
The air shipment delivery was WONDERFUL! We had put our important electronics, some dog toys, the dog bed, and our blankets/towels/curtains in the air shipment. The rest of our stuff won’t arrive until mid-August at the earliest.
It’s really nice to have more of our stuff, and Coach has been carrying her stuffed toys around nonstop since they arrived.
We also got our patio furniture, which was 99% assembled by Derrick while I worked. We spent 3 years at our last apartment without ever getting patio furniture and were determined not to make that mistake again.
I still can’t get over how much this place looks like a fairy tale.
That’s probably because fairy tales are mostly from this part of Europe (although in their original German they do not have happy endings). But still, it’s gorgeous.
Derrick goes back to work tomorrow, and I start my new and improved two-days-a-week schedule next week. I’m really looking forward to settling into our routine and having more time to explore.
Catherine Tries Her Best 