I have arrived! And I've already done some important things;
- Offended the saleslady at the mattress store. Oops!
- Met a bunch of government officials in Customs, veterinary services and fellow travelers who just plain love birds. They all were a helluva lot nicer than the authorities in the USA!
- Ordered alcoholic beverages in the German language (I'll leave it to you to guess what I ordered! and I will be updating this with the answer).
- Slept on the floor, AGAIN!! OUCH!! Our mattress arrives in 4 weeks (right before Christmas, woopie!) so this is going to make for a veeery long month.
- Purchased some basic items for the bathroom (bathmat, two towels, and a bin (that's British for cute, teensy garbage can) -- and a mop to clean up after the birds). For those who care, the bathroom color scheme is blue -- mostly any color of blue, really, although green and purple are fine accent colors. The purple-blue-green spectrum will likely be "our colors" throughout the flat.
- Purchased allergy meds to replace all those expensive allergy meds that I forgot in my bathroom medicine cabinet that were supposed to get me through the first 2-3 months here.
- Purchased cactus fruits for the birds to eat at the supermarket in the shopping center below our flat. From what I can see, the food in Frankfurt is more affordable than the food in NYC, and the Germans make an effort to label "local" foods so those who wish to reward local farmers can do so by altering their spending habits. Oh, and one more thing; I am surprised at how much meat there is in what appears to be the "average German's diet."
- Eaten several meals that were heavenly beyond compare. Incidentally, there is an ice cream restaurant in this shopping center, so it is possible to eat a meal consisting entirely of ice cream, chocolate, and coffee, including the main course. The Germans make desserts that are fabulous.
- The first thing (no, seriously! immediately after we were done with Customs, had dumped everything in the flat, and reconstructed the birds' cages) that Mr GrrlScientist did was to purchase an iPhone for me, so I am playing with that. I even have my own phone number, although for the life of me, I can't remember what it is (I do remember that it has a "6" and a "0" in it somewhere, along with all the other numbers)
- I am suffering terrible jet lag. I think this is because I was getting sick before I departed NYC. I have resigned myself to the likely reality that I'll simply feel awful for the next week or so, regardless of what I do.
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A morning view of downtown Frankfurt am Main from the window of the building where I live in Frankfurt. You can also see a large passenger plane flying over the city. It is likely following the same flight path that my plane was on when I arrived on 20 November 2009.
Image: GrrlScientist, 25…
You might not know this, but I am planning to leave America and move overseas -- permanently. There are a lot of reasons I am doing this, not the least of which is the fact that I am in love with a British scientist and that, even as a child growing up in a farming community, I always took it for…
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Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
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"Ich Bin in Frankfurt am Main!"
I think the expression you're searching for is "Ich bin ein Frankfurter", no?
Hope you're having fun settling in despite those few inconveniences you mention!
4 weeks to get mattress?
Isn't there an IKEA near there?
I went to Frankfurt once, about a decade ago, when Ryanair started cheap flights from my then local airport in the UK. The museums are great and its interesting to go to the top of the EU bank headquarters but its not exactly the best place in Europe for food. Having said that its a lot better than most places in Scandinavia. I remember going to a Frankfurt pub and asking for a traditional meal and receiving what appeared to be an entire barbecued pig. The local beverage is apple wine (cider) that goes nicely with pork - although you tend to need a lot to wash down the full pig!
Welcome to Germany! Will you swap to our German ScienceBlogs now? ;)
The groceries are definitely more cheap, but restaurants are much more expensive. From my short experience of the US, groceries and going out to eat are about equally expensive.
A few years ago, my wife and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast just outside Washington DC. I usually just eat a light breakfast, but the German proprietress made it clear that was unacceptable. She had made a huge, traditional German breakfast heavy with meats and breads and she was going to be insulted if we didn't have a couple of full plates each. The fact that we were the paying customers didn't seem to matter. She was nice, and the food did look and smell delicious so we ate till she was happy. I am glad we did.
Congrats.
Go to the Senckenberg-Museum, it's not too big, but it has a lot of mounts, also of birds. And there is a mummified Hadrosaur. And fossils of critters which drowned in the Messel lake near Darmstadt, where Ida was found.
What wonderful experiences you are going to have...including the memories of sleeping on the floor for weeks. Just don't keep insulting saleclerks.
Never underestimate the comfort of modern air mattresses. Our queen-sized camping mattress does honorable double duty as a guest mattress. Since the thing works fine for me at 120 kg it should work for most folks.
Now, I wouldn't guess as to the availability in Europe, but it was cheap ($30) here.
Glad you and the birds arrived safely. I guess it'll be a while before your belongings catch up, but the main travails are over.
How are the birds coping with jet-lag? I presume they have the same problem synchronising their body clocks with the outside world.
For point 7 don't forget that most (the only reason I do not say all is that you are in a big city) shops are closed on Sunday.
congrats on making it official! i told you that time would fly, and now it's time to rest and recuperate...
i'm trying to visit sometime next year (by winning that contest in amsterdam!). by the time i'm in the neighbourhood, you should be completely embedded in the local culture and custom...
i envy you ginormously :)
Way to go, G/S!
Hey! I just peeked over here to see if you'd arrived yet. Welcome to the east side of the pond! I was bummed to see that Frankfurt is a piece down the road; I thought it was only a couple of hours south of the border, but it looks like it's just shy of a 9-hour trip from my house. Nonetheless, I'd be happy if you felt like coming up, or visa-versa.
I second the air mattress recommendation. They're probably cheaper in Germany than they are here -- look for a store called Jysk and see if they have a sale on them.
Email me your Iphone number when you find it. I have a calling card and can make calls very cheap, though you pay to receive calls... anyway, email me.
Herzlich willkommen!
Congrats on getting to Frankfurt safely! I was wondering if everything had gone smoothly when you reached customs since the parrot procedures seemed to be very complicated on this end. Enjoy your time in Germany. I agree with the suggestions about an air mattress (or even a Thermarest-type mattress pad). They're not the most comfortable things, but they are a substantial improvement over a hard floor.
The nice thing about an iPhone is you won't have to worry about the blog if wifi isn't working.
Yay, I'm glad you finally made it! As for the jet lag, just go out in the sun as much as possible (I'm assuming there is sun, though that may or may not be true). Also, I like your choice of colors for the flat - any kind of blue is good :)
"Eine bier bitte!" The one phrase my Dad says was the most important when he was in the Army stationed in Germany.
You did it! Yay!!! Your nightmare is over. Go forward and enjoy your new life. I am so jealous. Maybe, someday, if we ever get a chance to visit Germany, my wife and I would love to meet you two.
Take care and enjoy this new, happy phase of your life, you truly deserve it.
Guten Tag
I'm glad you've made it!
I am so relieved that you and the parrots are officially new German residents! You deserve every good experience possible in this world, and with your Knight Named Bob, you are off to the best kind of start.
It is especially wonderful to read about you eating properly, instead of the starvation you endured in NYC. Soon you will have good medical care, too.
I look forward to pictures and stories about your parrots.
Well done! Or, in psittacine, 'Squarrk!'
To an american science scibling in germany, welcome from Cologne, the city with the green parrots. (Just one hour away by train ;-)
Some people obviously were fed up with their pets and just released them into the city. And strangely enough, we have established now a veritable colony of green parrots around the university and they seem to get along just fine. However, should you manage to come to Cologne, you would need to rephrase that order for a cold alcoholic beverage. It's "Bitte, ein Kölsch" ;-)
Glad to hear you and your parrots made it safely over!
Wie war die reise?
The American authorities have a long history of being assholes. I'm an American, and have always had more trouble at US borders than anywhere else, including Eastern European borders during the Cold War. They are positively Soviet in their petty officiousness.
I trust you will drink a bier for all of us stay-at-homes. best wishes, rb
HURRAH!
Congratulations on reaching your new home.