On Sunday, I attended the Stiftskirche here while B headed south to play lacrosse. We were both pretty sore and miserable after covering a full 32 km/20 miles Saturday evening. We ran from Tübingen to Unterjesingen, to Pfäffingen, to Poltringen, to Wurmlingen, to Rottenburg am Neckar, to Hirschau, and back here. Although I got totally exhausted, and B ended up trying to steal apples from trees to sate his hunger, it was a lovely way to get a sense of the countryside. According to all the weather reports, we are coming to the end of the summery fall weather we've been enjoying, but the beautiful weather has been bringing out people in droves. Our run through Rottenburg was complemented by the presence of medieval knights celebrating medieval week in full dress.
While my Sunday was a restful recovery day, B headed three hours away to play lacrosse with his old team. They won both their games by a substantial margin, but he hasn't stopped moaning and groaning since. Last night, he was even doing it in his sleep, until I (mostly asleep also) tearily begged him to stop so I could get some rest! We both break out in longing exclamations whenever we see a bed larger than the narrow pallet that serves us on more or less alternate nights. We've even started imagining that a full-size bed might be large enough, while back in the US, a king-size was the minimum we could handle.
This evening we headed into the Altstadt to hunt for a grater. Ever since returning from this summer's trip, my favorite meal has been som tam (green papaya salad) and tom yum (spicy sour soup with mushrooms or similar). However, green papayas are quite expensive in Europe. In Norway, we paid 11 Euros for two, while here, the going rate is 1.30 Euros for 100 grams (a large papaya is about 500g). An unorthodox solution, albeit delicious, turns out to be buying very unripe papayas at the local supermarket (YES! there is one!! Right next to the historic nuns' house!!!), which cost 1 Euro each, and using those instead. However. The kitchen, to dignify it with an undeserved name, that we are currently using, does not include a grater. The other day, I made papaya/cucumber salad with a peeler, but it took about an hour and my hand was cramping for some time afterward. So, grater needed. Did everyone but me know that graters can cost over 50 Euros easily? Of course, the Altstadt tends expensive, but that is pretty out of control. Especially when the Verkäuferinnen give you evil looks for not wanting to spend that much! We did find a cheaper one eventually, and just gorged on papaya-cucumber-lime-lemon-habanero salad. Thankfully, the Asian market is just around the corner.
Everytime we go somewhere, we decide just to walk by the new place to look at it. Even though showering in the kitchen and using the bathroom in the room that leads to the attic will be somewhat inconvenient, and we'll miss the cable TV with 42 channels that has been keeping us updated on all soccer events (hello, Mourinho!! and will Klinsi be hired?), we cannot wait to be able to shut the door on each other. Our landlady was wondering how that can be such a necessity after only six months of marriage. Perhaps the camping mattress has something to do with it?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Yesterday we furnished pretty much an entire kitchen for a total of 18 euros. This included buying a full set of Ikea pots and pans, never used, small and large plates, coffee cups, a frying set (but that seems made for pasta--easy draining!), a small marble cutting board for cheese, a wooden one for other things, and more. There is such an excellent used store here! We also hopefully found a fridge. Yes, we pretty much have to furnish a whole kitchen, although there is hope that we only have to find a fridge and not a stove as well. The stove may arrive early in the month. Our kitchen, while very stylish (stone floor!), is hardly... modern. Given that we now know that there are documents on the house our new apartment is in that go back 500 years, that is not, perhaps, difficult to explain. (Which also explains why the floor in one of the rooms tilts.) Tempting as it is to go crazy in the used store buying cute individual pieces, we need to get a sofa first so we can build things around it.
B is hoping to start playing lacrosse again soon, while I really want to be able to settle down and get to work. But while there is still so much undone, and we still take turns sleeping on the camping mattress, and space is still so tight, it´s hard. We measured our new place yesterday (some 50+ square meters, just over half the size of the old place), and took a measuring rod to the current one as well. No wonder we feel cramped! It is a beautiful total of 17 square meters (ca 180 square feet). I thought it looked rather like my high school room, where my best friend and I shared 12 square meters, but of course that did not include a kitchen area, bathroom, and shower--so no wonder there´s no room for two beds!
But no more complaining. In two weeks or less, we´ll be living in our charmingly inconvenient 15th or so century apartment.
B is hoping to start playing lacrosse again soon, while I really want to be able to settle down and get to work. But while there is still so much undone, and we still take turns sleeping on the camping mattress, and space is still so tight, it´s hard. We measured our new place yesterday (some 50+ square meters, just over half the size of the old place), and took a measuring rod to the current one as well. No wonder we feel cramped! It is a beautiful total of 17 square meters (ca 180 square feet). I thought it looked rather like my high school room, where my best friend and I shared 12 square meters, but of course that did not include a kitchen area, bathroom, and shower--so no wonder there´s no room for two beds!
But no more complaining. In two weeks or less, we´ll be living in our charmingly inconvenient 15th or so century apartment.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
We have the apartment. We move in October 4. Everyone who is planning to visit us: you are going to LOVE this place, and there will be plenty of room. Although not perhaps very much furniture!
Disappointing results in the Stadtlauf today, although I beat 2/3 of women and B was in the top 1/6 of men. Still, we were both hoping to run somewhat faster. It got HOT, though, and it took the first half of the first round not to be stepping on people´s feet and trying to pass all the time. We´re still trying to focus on the marathon. But in any case, all disappointment forgotten as we will 1) NOT be paying $2000 just to move in somewhere 2) NOT be staying in an apartment of 250 square feet much longer 3) NOT be dealing with brokers and other suspicious strangers 4) NOT be commuting in from Stuttgart 5) NOT be living outside the Altstadt 6) NOT be using my ENTIRE stipend JUST to pay the rent. So yay!
Disappointing results in the Stadtlauf today, although I beat 2/3 of women and B was in the top 1/6 of men. Still, we were both hoping to run somewhat faster. It got HOT, though, and it took the first half of the first round not to be stepping on people´s feet and trying to pass all the time. We´re still trying to focus on the marathon. But in any case, all disappointment forgotten as we will 1) NOT be paying $2000 just to move in somewhere 2) NOT be staying in an apartment of 250 square feet much longer 3) NOT be dealing with brokers and other suspicious strangers 4) NOT be commuting in from Stuttgart 5) NOT be living outside the Altstadt 6) NOT be using my ENTIRE stipend JUST to pay the rent. So yay!
Friday, September 14, 2007
We have a lead on an apartment! If we believed in anything superstitious, we´d be requesting lots of good karma or some crap like that, but oh what annoyance, it´s out of our control so all we can do is hope. This place is amazing. In contrast to yesterday´s very expensive one, this apartment is charmingly run-down as it is in a house that is probably several hundred years old. The place is full of beautiful old-fashioned dark wood-work and even has a gorgeous brown ceramic wood-burning stove in the kitchen. The family renting it out has not advertised it (we heard by word of mouth) and the father is a theologian/philosopher who knows Ratzinger, among others. They are Middle Eastern, so instead of setting up an appointment to view the apartment, we were invited for coffee and cake. The mother had baked the cake specially! Turns out we have lots in common and finally, ten minutes before we have to leave, we get to see the apartment upstairs, which is still being renovated but is SO PERFECT: there´s even a view of the Marktplatz. There´s plenty of space, more than we need, and again the shower is in the kitchen and the bathroom in the hall, but in a charming/cute way rather than in the unappealing un-cared-for way of the last place. Plus, the room that the bathroom is in is directly adjacent, and also contains the absolutely most stunning old stairway up to the attic. We have no idea what the rent would be, since that is one of the things that didn´t come up, but I suspect manageable, and it would be flexible in relation to our time here (i.e., not having to pretend that we´re planning to stay forever). As B said, if he had less theological backbone, he´d be tempted to say that we were meant to have this apartment. Although perhaps it is just a mirage? We both agreed that we can stick it out for two more weeks where we currently are IF and only if we have the prospect of this place on the horizon.
We´ll hear on Sunday.
We´ll hear on Sunday.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
So I knew there was a reason we moved to Tübingen. Admittedly, since we've been here, we've found it difficult to remember what it was. But now it is clear: the Umbrian-Provencal market opened in the Altstadt today. HEAVEN!! Perhaps the highlight was the pasta with truffle sauce (4 EUR), but also the pecorino with grape must, or with truffles, or the horse milk cheese that we bought (at least that's what it seemed to say! It's really good), or the pickled salted lemons from Provence, or the panforte, the amazing bread with walnuts and olives, the unfiltered tasty olive oil, or I know not what. An orgy of eating has reconciled us somewhat to the difficulties of existence (more banking problems, for instance).
The market fills up the entire old city with people from all over the region. While local restaurants take advantage of the massive crowds of people as well, there are plenty of salespeople who speak only French or only Italian. Indeed, the cheese guy asked B if he was really Italian? Which, not so much, but cool. We also stocked up on baby artichokes for only 3.50 EUR per kilo, which we will clean and deepfry tomorrow. We're both running pretty much daily, which leaves B starving all the time, and the fridge here is only half-size, so we do a lot of shopping.
We also saw the most gorgeous apartment ever today. Yes, it's the one with the $2000 fee, and there's pretty much no way we can make it work, but what if we can't find anything else? The apartment is much larger than we had realized, with a separate bedroom, sun on all sides (it's the highest floor), an absolutely amazing kitchen--indeed, the whole place was renovated in April, but the guy who has it now is a commuter and was hardly ever here, so he couldn't justify keeping the place. I don't know if we could get it even if we could somehow borrow the money from somewhere, but it is simply the nicest place I have ever seen to live--nothing over-the-top fancy, just so simple and perfect. And since we've finally found the bike path that follows the Neckar, running would be literally at our feet.
We're both getting a bit nervous about the Stadtlauf on Sunday. Not that I have any intention of racing, due both to my general slowness as well as the fact that we are in the middle of the hardest weeks of marathon training, but it turns out to be such a big deal that it's going to be hard not to get carried away. It's the highlight of the market weekend, all the stores will be open, world champions and Olympic medalists are running, and every newspaper and TV show in the local region is talking about it. Hopefully we'll manage to focus on the fun, cheer each other on (B is running with the fast runners, me half an hour earlier with the slowies), and not injure ourselves. After all, the marathon is the real goal this fall.
The market fills up the entire old city with people from all over the region. While local restaurants take advantage of the massive crowds of people as well, there are plenty of salespeople who speak only French or only Italian. Indeed, the cheese guy asked B if he was really Italian? Which, not so much, but cool. We also stocked up on baby artichokes for only 3.50 EUR per kilo, which we will clean and deepfry tomorrow. We're both running pretty much daily, which leaves B starving all the time, and the fridge here is only half-size, so we do a lot of shopping.
We also saw the most gorgeous apartment ever today. Yes, it's the one with the $2000 fee, and there's pretty much no way we can make it work, but what if we can't find anything else? The apartment is much larger than we had realized, with a separate bedroom, sun on all sides (it's the highest floor), an absolutely amazing kitchen--indeed, the whole place was renovated in April, but the guy who has it now is a commuter and was hardly ever here, so he couldn't justify keeping the place. I don't know if we could get it even if we could somehow borrow the money from somewhere, but it is simply the nicest place I have ever seen to live--nothing over-the-top fancy, just so simple and perfect. And since we've finally found the bike path that follows the Neckar, running would be literally at our feet.
We're both getting a bit nervous about the Stadtlauf on Sunday. Not that I have any intention of racing, due both to my general slowness as well as the fact that we are in the middle of the hardest weeks of marathon training, but it turns out to be such a big deal that it's going to be hard not to get carried away. It's the highlight of the market weekend, all the stores will be open, world champions and Olympic medalists are running, and every newspaper and TV show in the local region is talking about it. Hopefully we'll manage to focus on the fun, cheer each other on (B is running with the fast runners, me half an hour earlier with the slowies), and not injure ourselves. After all, the marathon is the real goal this fall.
Yesterday we headed off to Stuttgart with my German class for an excursion. Since we've been in Tübingen for all of 10 days, we were itching to move around some more. Kidding! But Stuttgart was great.
We started off in the Haus der Geschichte for Baden-Württemberg. Normally, such history museums are pretty standard: start off with early or pre-history, then have some random historical exhibits, followed by some lousy art which no one really wanted to put in a real museum. But this one is a pretty different story. Shall we just say that this Bundesland is LOADED, and so has spent more money on their museum (which opened in 2003) than any other region I've ever seen?! At the entrance, there's a fabulous map of the region that lights up as you step on it, allowing you to highlight the areas of interest to you as you jump around on the map. The tour through the museum then continues with Napoleon (alliances), poverty post-Napoleon, emigration to the US (numbers in the millions!) in the early and mid-19th century, Württemberg soldiers in the Civil War, consolidation into one country in 1871 (although for some reason that seemed pretty downplayed...), World War I, post-WWII devastation and rebuilding, and so on. The exhibits were excellent--for instance, in the section on the 1848 revolution, the floor tiles are actually loose to give the visitor a feeling of uncertainty! On the final floor there was a series of thematic exhibits showing immigration to BW, how BW despite its lack of natural resources has used inventiveness to get ahead (long exhibit on companies no one has ever heard of, but I'm sure they're making tons of money!), and so on. Most interesting to us was a section on BW thinkers. Lots of Ernst Bloch, including a first edition of Prinzip der Hoffnung. Fascinating stuff belonging to Jaspers, including the letter removing him from his teaching position (sending him into Ruhestand) because he was married to a Jew. Not coincidentally, I think, displayed right next to Heidegger's things. His letter accepting the rectorship of Freiburg. A first edition of the speech he gave when he accepted the position--the one where he famously says that a university must find its own identity and essence in order to adequately support the Nazi state. The letter where he resigns his position the next year. A heil Hitler signature. And, most interestingly, the academic garments he continued to wear at formal functions, signifying his position in the philosophy department, even long after he was removed from teaching after the war. There were also some of Gadamer's belongings, as well as a picture of him and Heidegger together at some elite seminar in Heidelberg. So a little candy shop for philosophy/theology types!
Next we headed out to find some Schwäbisches food. Having filled up on cheese, cream, and white flour (for vegetarians, Schwäbisches Essen is kind of monotonous!), we headed to the Stiftskirche, which was renovated in 2003. Although there has been some kind of church there since at least about 1170, there's little left of the original structure. (Among other things, almost the entire church was bombed during WWII, when 80% of Stuttgart was destroyed as it was an industrial center. A very interesting speech by Helmut Thielicke, the famous German theologian, is on display, where he talks about how much the church has meant to the community and reflects on what God may be trying to teach by allowing the church to be destroyed.) The current structure is stunningly elegant and well-proportioned, one of the most successful mixes of the traditional and modern that I've seen. The cool stone structure is traditional, but the stained-glass windows are (except in the front) kept in gray-green-blue tones to emphasize the starkness of their portrayals of the biblical figures, including a fantastic resurrection/ascention/Christ triumphant. The ceiling is decorated with steel-colored metal kind of stars: difficult to describe, but very effective. The gray pews and organ complete the effect. Absolutely a demonstration of the fact that Protestant churches can be as aesthetically effective and meaningful as any other kind.
Then we headed back to the Staatsgalerie. We had wanted as usual to peruse the collection of older art, but it is currently closed to the public as that section of the building is being restored. The new section, the postmodern building by the English architect James Stirling, was impressive enough on its own, however. The museum has the single most complete collection of Max Beckmann that I have ever seen, including a fabulous juxtaposition of his Auferstehung (resurrection) of 1909 with one from 1916. Most fascinating was perhaps Joseph Beuys' Crucifixion (see this link for an image), where Christ is represented (or absented) by a hanging needle. There were too many other treasures to mention, and by the time we got there we were tired enough that it was clear we will have to return repeatedly to give the collection our full attention.
Our final stop was the Mercedes-Benz museum near the Stuttgart soccer stadium. It is certainly a massive advertising success. Seven plus stories of Mercedes mythology. You are met at the entrance by sharp-suited executive-looking types who have clipboards with information about the day's groups. The free audio guide automatically picks up on your entrance into a new room, and starts describing the collection. The cars are absolutely the shiniest, most gorgeous things you have ever seen, but it gets a bit overloaded after a while. I mean, this is advertising! I can only get so excited... especially when the historical-contextual exhibits make sure to mention that the factories were damaged during WWII, but make no mention whatsoever about why that might be the case. (The fact that the company was designing and producing tanks, for instance. And of course Hitler's cars are not included in the gallery of famous people's cars, although Arnie's is, along with the Papamobile.) But whatever. You even get to keep the fancy lanyard that your audio guide hangs from, so all in all I'd call it successful advertising!
We started off in the Haus der Geschichte for Baden-Württemberg. Normally, such history museums are pretty standard: start off with early or pre-history, then have some random historical exhibits, followed by some lousy art which no one really wanted to put in a real museum. But this one is a pretty different story. Shall we just say that this Bundesland is LOADED, and so has spent more money on their museum (which opened in 2003) than any other region I've ever seen?! At the entrance, there's a fabulous map of the region that lights up as you step on it, allowing you to highlight the areas of interest to you as you jump around on the map. The tour through the museum then continues with Napoleon (alliances), poverty post-Napoleon, emigration to the US (numbers in the millions!) in the early and mid-19th century, Württemberg soldiers in the Civil War, consolidation into one country in 1871 (although for some reason that seemed pretty downplayed...), World War I, post-WWII devastation and rebuilding, and so on. The exhibits were excellent--for instance, in the section on the 1848 revolution, the floor tiles are actually loose to give the visitor a feeling of uncertainty! On the final floor there was a series of thematic exhibits showing immigration to BW, how BW despite its lack of natural resources has used inventiveness to get ahead (long exhibit on companies no one has ever heard of, but I'm sure they're making tons of money!), and so on. Most interesting to us was a section on BW thinkers. Lots of Ernst Bloch, including a first edition of Prinzip der Hoffnung. Fascinating stuff belonging to Jaspers, including the letter removing him from his teaching position (sending him into Ruhestand) because he was married to a Jew. Not coincidentally, I think, displayed right next to Heidegger's things. His letter accepting the rectorship of Freiburg. A first edition of the speech he gave when he accepted the position--the one where he famously says that a university must find its own identity and essence in order to adequately support the Nazi state. The letter where he resigns his position the next year. A heil Hitler signature. And, most interestingly, the academic garments he continued to wear at formal functions, signifying his position in the philosophy department, even long after he was removed from teaching after the war. There were also some of Gadamer's belongings, as well as a picture of him and Heidegger together at some elite seminar in Heidelberg. So a little candy shop for philosophy/theology types!
Next we headed out to find some Schwäbisches food. Having filled up on cheese, cream, and white flour (for vegetarians, Schwäbisches Essen is kind of monotonous!), we headed to the Stiftskirche, which was renovated in 2003. Although there has been some kind of church there since at least about 1170, there's little left of the original structure. (Among other things, almost the entire church was bombed during WWII, when 80% of Stuttgart was destroyed as it was an industrial center. A very interesting speech by Helmut Thielicke, the famous German theologian, is on display, where he talks about how much the church has meant to the community and reflects on what God may be trying to teach by allowing the church to be destroyed.) The current structure is stunningly elegant and well-proportioned, one of the most successful mixes of the traditional and modern that I've seen. The cool stone structure is traditional, but the stained-glass windows are (except in the front) kept in gray-green-blue tones to emphasize the starkness of their portrayals of the biblical figures, including a fantastic resurrection/ascention/Christ triumphant. The ceiling is decorated with steel-colored metal kind of stars: difficult to describe, but very effective. The gray pews and organ complete the effect. Absolutely a demonstration of the fact that Protestant churches can be as aesthetically effective and meaningful as any other kind.
Then we headed back to the Staatsgalerie. We had wanted as usual to peruse the collection of older art, but it is currently closed to the public as that section of the building is being restored. The new section, the postmodern building by the English architect James Stirling, was impressive enough on its own, however. The museum has the single most complete collection of Max Beckmann that I have ever seen, including a fabulous juxtaposition of his Auferstehung (resurrection) of 1909 with one from 1916. Most fascinating was perhaps Joseph Beuys' Crucifixion (see this link for an image), where Christ is represented (or absented) by a hanging needle. There were too many other treasures to mention, and by the time we got there we were tired enough that it was clear we will have to return repeatedly to give the collection our full attention.
Our final stop was the Mercedes-Benz museum near the Stuttgart soccer stadium. It is certainly a massive advertising success. Seven plus stories of Mercedes mythology. You are met at the entrance by sharp-suited executive-looking types who have clipboards with information about the day's groups. The free audio guide automatically picks up on your entrance into a new room, and starts describing the collection. The cars are absolutely the shiniest, most gorgeous things you have ever seen, but it gets a bit overloaded after a while. I mean, this is advertising! I can only get so excited... especially when the historical-contextual exhibits make sure to mention that the factories were damaged during WWII, but make no mention whatsoever about why that might be the case. (The fact that the company was designing and producing tanks, for instance. And of course Hitler's cars are not included in the gallery of famous people's cars, although Arnie's is, along with the Papamobile.) But whatever. You even get to keep the fancy lanyard that your audio guide hangs from, so all in all I'd call it successful advertising!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
So I got sent home from German class today. When the teacher tells you that you might as well go home because there´s no point in staying, things are bad indeed. But we´re feeling slightly more optimistic on the apartment front. The place with the bathroom in the hallway (down a flight of stairs, as it turns out) was not too inviting: large, perfectly located, but really run-down and requiring a LOT of work to become habitable. We have appointments to see three more places this week, including the perfect apartment and one that may even be furnished! At the same time, we´re considering whether it might not make more sense just to move to Stuttgart (I would commute), since even downtown there prices seem to be hundreds of Euros less per month. Plus it would be easier for B to find work.
In other words, living on top of each other in a tiny place with little income and few prospects, we´re just where we ought to be on our six-month anniversary. We´ve amused ourselves by writing endings to this story if it were in a book (B would start drinking, I´d get bitter) but since this is only a temporary situation such endings seem a bit over-dramatized.
In other words, living on top of each other in a tiny place with little income and few prospects, we´re just where we ought to be on our six-month anniversary. We´ve amused ourselves by writing endings to this story if it were in a book (B would start drinking, I´d get bitter) but since this is only a temporary situation such endings seem a bit over-dramatized.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Today we got health insurance for me so that B can be co-insured until he gets a job. Then he might have to get insured on his own, although I'm not entirely sure how they would/could check on this. It will double the price. Oh well. At least they charge afterwards (so the first payment won't be until mid-November) and the insurance doesn't start until October 1. The woman at the Krankenkasse was kind enough not to write this on the proof of insurance that she gave us for B to show for his work permit.
I think we're starting to figure out how to deal with all the paperwork here. Today I made copies of everything I could think of, brought them to the post office where I had to prove my identity to get a bank account, to the Krankenkasse for the health insurance, and printed out even more stuff from various bank accounts to take to the Amt (office) on Monday when we will hopefully get B's work permit. Everywhere we've gone, people are very pleased when we have multiple copies of our marriage license, my Zulassungsbescheid (admission to the university), our registration with the city, and so on. Everything has to be documented. B called a vocational school that was looking for a teacher today, and they simply wouldn't accept his qualifications (the Yale degree and so on) unless they had been vetted by the state office here first. And so it goes.
After going to the Krankenkasse, we set off on a hunt for the used bicycle store. I got an adorable old-fashioned brown city bike, while B picked up a road bike. Mine came fully equipped with the legally required lights and with a basket for groceries, but of course B is much more interested in speed so he will have to buy a light to be legal. But the prices were great--40 EUR for mine and 75 for his. We rode the bikes to the running paths on the hill, or part of the way. I'm going to need some training before I can get up there with only 3 gears. B had picked up some delicious food at the market today--salmon, arugula, tomatoes, raspberries, cheese--so we had a lovely dinner just now and are feeling a bit more content with life.
We went to another expensive rental agency today to see if they had anything for us. I have no idea what these agencies do, because this one just gave us two addresses and phone numbers and then if you make a contract, which you do with the owner of the apartment anyway, you come back and pay them over a thousand dollars for what exactly? Turns out one of the two apartments the agency gave us was gone already--maybe the other one too? It's making it more tempting to go for the PERFECT apartment which we know will be available to see on Monday, but what if we can't get it? Plus, the agency fee on that one is UNBELIEVABLE, over two thousand dollars. I don't know how married people do it here. Obviously, it's easier if you're single, because you can rent a room in a shared apartment, of which there are plenty. But for us, that's not really an option, and not only because we're married. I can't take living with other people after living on my own for eight years. Even here, where our apartment is separate from the other rooms on this floor, we've been invaded by fruit flies because the Mitbewohner (other tenants) leave food out in the kitchen for days without cleaning it up. Pretty disgusting!
At least I don't have to go to German class until Tuesday!
I think we're starting to figure out how to deal with all the paperwork here. Today I made copies of everything I could think of, brought them to the post office where I had to prove my identity to get a bank account, to the Krankenkasse for the health insurance, and printed out even more stuff from various bank accounts to take to the Amt (office) on Monday when we will hopefully get B's work permit. Everywhere we've gone, people are very pleased when we have multiple copies of our marriage license, my Zulassungsbescheid (admission to the university), our registration with the city, and so on. Everything has to be documented. B called a vocational school that was looking for a teacher today, and they simply wouldn't accept his qualifications (the Yale degree and so on) unless they had been vetted by the state office here first. And so it goes.
After going to the Krankenkasse, we set off on a hunt for the used bicycle store. I got an adorable old-fashioned brown city bike, while B picked up a road bike. Mine came fully equipped with the legally required lights and with a basket for groceries, but of course B is much more interested in speed so he will have to buy a light to be legal. But the prices were great--40 EUR for mine and 75 for his. We rode the bikes to the running paths on the hill, or part of the way. I'm going to need some training before I can get up there with only 3 gears. B had picked up some delicious food at the market today--salmon, arugula, tomatoes, raspberries, cheese--so we had a lovely dinner just now and are feeling a bit more content with life.
We went to another expensive rental agency today to see if they had anything for us. I have no idea what these agencies do, because this one just gave us two addresses and phone numbers and then if you make a contract, which you do with the owner of the apartment anyway, you come back and pay them over a thousand dollars for what exactly? Turns out one of the two apartments the agency gave us was gone already--maybe the other one too? It's making it more tempting to go for the PERFECT apartment which we know will be available to see on Monday, but what if we can't get it? Plus, the agency fee on that one is UNBELIEVABLE, over two thousand dollars. I don't know how married people do it here. Obviously, it's easier if you're single, because you can rent a room in a shared apartment, of which there are plenty. But for us, that's not really an option, and not only because we're married. I can't take living with other people after living on my own for eight years. Even here, where our apartment is separate from the other rooms on this floor, we've been invaded by fruit flies because the Mitbewohner (other tenants) leave food out in the kitchen for days without cleaning it up. Pretty disgusting!
At least I don't have to go to German class until Tuesday!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
So today I had my first full day of German classes. And, well, this isn't really going to work. The woman organizing my exchange program had promised to put me in a different class and, apparently, promptly forgotten about it. I was placed in the highest of three levels, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean much. Today? We repeated the Plusquamperfektum (we had done), a tense that I learned when I was (I'm not exaggerating) 12 years old. Then we did Futur I and II (will do, will have done)--unfortunately, I seemed to be the only one again who had learned Futur II before. Then we were given a list of irregular verbs to practice. Need I repeat that we were all memorizing those on the train as we commuted to school in junior high, and (even had I wanted) I have never been able to forget them? So it looks like I'll just attend the parts of the class where we might possibly do something I haven't already done a million times, and work on some theological/philosophical writing practice in the afternoons. The other kids (they seem so young!!) who are taking the class are college-age, and not really that focused on learning anyway, so that's even more frustrating to me when I have so much I really need to do and am wasting time in this class.
So I've sent an e-mail to find out if the shower-in-kitchen apartment is still available. I don't know if we could handle that, though. Also, it sounds like there are effectively two bedrooms but no living room--depending on the layout, that might be unpleasant. Another apartment came up today--I'm practically sitting on the phone hoping to hear back from the guy--which would be cheap and well located, but very much still on the small side. Given how difficult it has been living on top of each other even for the few days we've been here, we might not be able to handle a little closet-sized place!
It is cold here. Very cold. I'm trying not to complain after spending a summer being hot! But we've turned the heat on in the apartment! Already! Why did I leave my favorite wool coat in Norway, thinking I wouldn't need it for months? Of course, last week temps were in the high 20s/low 30s C, so maybe this won't last either. On a lighter note, I have a Handy (cellphone) now, and B's old number turns out still to work, so anyone who wants to give us a call and/or donate money to the decent-apartment fund, please get in touch!
So I've sent an e-mail to find out if the shower-in-kitchen apartment is still available. I don't know if we could handle that, though. Also, it sounds like there are effectively two bedrooms but no living room--depending on the layout, that might be unpleasant. Another apartment came up today--I'm practically sitting on the phone hoping to hear back from the guy--which would be cheap and well located, but very much still on the small side. Given how difficult it has been living on top of each other even for the few days we've been here, we might not be able to handle a little closet-sized place!
It is cold here. Very cold. I'm trying not to complain after spending a summer being hot! But we've turned the heat on in the apartment! Already! Why did I leave my favorite wool coat in Norway, thinking I wouldn't need it for months? Of course, last week temps were in the high 20s/low 30s C, so maybe this won't last either. On a lighter note, I have a Handy (cellphone) now, and B's old number turns out still to work, so anyone who wants to give us a call and/or donate money to the decent-apartment fund, please get in touch!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
We arrived in Tübingen on Monday, tired after lugging about 60 kilos each of luggage on the plane and then on three different trains. The train we had to run for in the rain? Not a good time. This town is even cuter than I remembered, but it is not going to be easy to find a place to stay. We've been trying to get in touch with a company that is renting out an apartment that looks very ideal for us, but despite having left a message and stopped by, no one has gotten back to us. Very strange. Another apartment has an ideal location, but according to the ad, the shower is in the kitchen and the W/C in the stairwell! Should we call, or not? Votes? (Note: even with these fairly major disadvantages, the rent is still almost $900!! For a 5-600 square foot apartment, half the size of my former apartment.)
We're currently living in a 25 square meter (generously measured) apartment that we rented from an Israeli Arab med student. It is small. Very small. Our stuff is everywhere. The kitchen is a half-sized fridge with two burners and no stove. But we were lucky to get it. The location is right on the edge of the Altstadt (old town), so it is convenient for everything we want.
It is going to be a hassle to get B his work permit here, although we should manage it in the end. As it turns out, because he doesn't have a job yet, I have to prove that I can support him--bank account printouts, proof of my income, etc. But the moment he has work, he has a permit to work, if you know what I mean. Even though I have health insurance, I might have to buy it again here just to get him covered at the student rate--another $75 per month that we don't particularly want to spend! So I'm hoping he gets a job, any job, ASAP, because it's going to be tight if not.
We're currently living in a 25 square meter (generously measured) apartment that we rented from an Israeli Arab med student. It is small. Very small. Our stuff is everywhere. The kitchen is a half-sized fridge with two burners and no stove. But we were lucky to get it. The location is right on the edge of the Altstadt (old town), so it is convenient for everything we want.
It is going to be a hassle to get B his work permit here, although we should manage it in the end. As it turns out, because he doesn't have a job yet, I have to prove that I can support him--bank account printouts, proof of my income, etc. But the moment he has work, he has a permit to work, if you know what I mean. Even though I have health insurance, I might have to buy it again here just to get him covered at the student rate--another $75 per month that we don't particularly want to spend! So I'm hoping he gets a job, any job, ASAP, because it's going to be tight if not.
Here is a row of adorable fairy tale houses that sit on the northern bank of the Neckar. The northern bank of the Neckar marks the southern threshold of the Altstadt -- the area which we are combing for affordable housing. Inside the frame where the midground tree hits the background roofs (way to the left) you'll find the outlines of the Evangelische Stift which was once home to students the likes of Hegel, Holderlin, Schelling and Kepler. Students in Theology still live there. It's most charmingly located. 
Boats on the Neckar
This is Am Markt -- the historic center of the city and the heart of the Altstadt. The Rathaus is on the left. The other buildings contain quaint cafes, restuarants, businesses, and apartments.
To the left is the Stiftskirche. These are typical cute buildings in the Altstadt.
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