Today was a Good Day
Today was good, maybe because i didn't go to work. I met with Susanne, the relocation agent, instead. Let me preface everything with what a tremendous job the relocation service does. Immediatel after my infor trip, I though it was pretty easy; look around at some apartments, walk throu Ikea, etc. What this lady really does, every week, is the stuff that people absolutely hate dealing with every 5 - 10 years. She takes care of the residency and work permits, which I got today. She registers with phone, electricity, harasses the new landlord, signs up for internet, negotiates with the car dealer, find doctors, schools, whatever. All those tedious tasks that you as a citizen hate to do but find relatively easy, she takes care of. Appreciation is duly served.
I got the keys to my apartment today and discussed, with Susanne present, the few remaing details of the apartment. I bought a bed, or at least tried to. BW-Bank did not send my EC card PIN and it wouldn't work at Ikea so Susanne paid for it for me. I got a German cell phone which, by the way, is the latest and greatest Razr for a dollar and the monthly service is cheaper than my U.S. plan. Americans are getting screwed by the telecom companies.
Around 5:00pm, I got back to the hotel and went down to the bar for a beer. About my hotel: It is a Holiday Inn at 150 euros a night. Not the Berlin Hilton, but not exactly a cheap dive either. Anyway, at the bar to my right was a slightly older German business man having a preliminary meeting with his call girl. To my left was some German guy who was so drunk he felt compelled to dance (with his pen during the Visa signing) to the Madonna song playing. The bartender had no idea what made me laugh after they all left.