Our new flat/ front of building, originally uploaded by Colleen Gomez.

After THREE weeks and three applications we have finally secured a lease…and here is the building.

The place is fantastic. It is a 1 bedroom, 2 room,  “attic penthouse” apartment in building built pre WW2 in the Schwabing district of Munich, a couple of blocks from the Muncher Freiheit station. The flat is HUGE, I think it’s close to 1000 sq ft., and it was the largest place we had seen. We also managed to secure parking in a duplex a block away which was another huge issue we were having with wanting to live so central. Parking is not easy to come by and it is not cheap. Very much like San Francisco.

The landlord just remodeled the place also. New kitchen, new bathroom, new floors, new everything and the location could not be better. We are within 10 minutes walking distance to the English Garden, 2 minutes to the U, and surrounded by restaurants, shops and bars. Plus, every Thursday, directly across the street from our building they hold a farmers market which is going to be perfect.

I honestly thought it would never happen. We actually got so frustrated that we began searching on our own for apartments. I found this one online before there were even any photos up, called the agent and met up with her two days later to view it while husband was at work. I thought for sure were weren’t going to get it because there have been like 20 applications for every apartment we’ve applied to so far but we got it!  And now I can finally let out a huge sigh of relief. We were getting pretty worried there. As I mentioned, we applied to three places. Two of which decided at the last moment, that they didn’t want a dog.. the other had us in the top two but chose the couple without a dog instead of us.

We are really excited to be in the heart of one of the best, if not the best, districts in Munich. In fact, the street we are on reminds me of Market Street in SF. This is the street they close down for quite a few of the big parades and celebrations… I think that we are really going to have a great “Munich” experience here.

In other news, it’s been THREE weeks since we’ve arrived. I am finally starting to feel less retarded in situations where I have to speak German, such as in restaurants or bars.. or the supermarket. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like the biggest douche on the planet every time I order a beer “ein bier bitte” but it’s getting easier to stand myself… probably because I started taking my meds again…in a VERY small dose. The second week here was really hard. Husband went to work, where he got to talk to people in English all day long, and I was ALONE: No phone, no German, short on money, unfamiliar with the city. Just plain fucking lost and wanting more than anything to go home. I couldn’t even look at a US dollar without breaking down and this is not how I imagined it would be when I got here. The loneliness and isolation were VERY real. I couldn’t stand to hear people talking without being able to understand them. I went on strike for a couple of days last week, where I flat out refused to speak any German or practice it at home and I made my husband take me to the Hilton for dinner just so that I could HEAR people speaking AMERICAN English, which I did and I was, once again, glad to be in Germany! Homesickness to the max, y’all. It came and it went.

Anyway, We start our German classes, which his company is providing for us, in a week, for 20 weeks. I am pretty excited. In regards to the language, I have learned a lot so far just from eating out and translating menu’s… and, of course, from trial and error, namely shopping in the grocery store for something specific and winding up with something I didn’t want. I taught myself to count by counting repetitions in German while working out . Because of that I was able to set up my cell phone voicemail box and know which numbers to press to check and delete messages! Yeah! I passed first grade!

Last weekend we took a stroll on over to the Deutches Museum. It was pretty cool but it’s a “tech” museum and I’d much rather tour around castles and gardens all day long once the weather gets better. If it ever gets better. Rain, sigh.

Other than that. The food here has been pretty good. We have had Indian food, Chinese food and ,of course, Bavarian food. Our favorite so far has been GOA, an Indisches Restaurant in Munich. The food was superb and so was the service. Actually, it was a busy night and we stumbled in without a reservation. In Germany, you seat yourselves, so we took a seat without noticing a little piece of paper on the table which basically said “reserved” in German. The waiter asked us if we had the reservation and we told him no, and that we were sorry, we did not know…he was super nice and told us to stay, no problem, they would work something out with the other party, if/when they came and we wound up having the most amazing dinner ever. Sehr gute.

We had an odd experience at another restaurant, also Indian. We asked if he took credit, he said no, we said that it was OK, we had cash. He said to us, ” If you do not have enough you can come pay me tomorrow”. I was like WHAT?!! You don’t even know us??!! Besides, we’d never be able to find that place the next day (we got lost which is how we found it in the first place). I was totally shocked that he didn’t care if we left without paying that night. That is another thing I’ve noticed about Germany. It’s almost like they have this “honor” system and they are very trusting of people which is so unlike how people are, for very good reasons, in America. Even at the ATM, you don’t put your PIN in until AFTER you have made the transaction, or requested money. So basically, anyone who gets a hold of your card has access to your bank balance. They can’t do anything but they can see what you’ve got, and your name is on the card… so weird.

…and have I mentioned how good the gas station wine is yet? Yeah, I can buy a bottle of excellent French wine for less than 4 euro, at a gas station, 24 hours a day. AND in a bar, beer is cheaper than ordering a coke.

Lets see, what else..

- cocktails are very expensive here, whereas beer and wine are not.
- the gap between the platform and the subway door is very large, at LEAST 6″, and there is no warning. No, I did not learn this the hard way.
- dogs are allowed in restaurants, shops, trains and in bars, even BIG dogs!!! The only places which they are not allowed are places where food is SOLD. This is because if a hungry dog enters and starts eating inventory, it could be a problem.
- people smoke too god damn much here… like fucking chimneys. It’s really GROSS.
- The water here is chalky. In the US they add fluoride to the water for teeth, here they actually add calcium to it (because calcium deficiency was common at some point).. so it leaves a white scum along the glass which is rather nasty.
- Both Husband and I have noticed that our hair has grown really fast since getting here. Mine has grown over an inch and so has his. Whatever it is didn’t work on his bald spot though.. sucks.
- We found out that the best way to find out where things are “happening” is to just follow the crowd. We did this the other night after having a few drinks at the Hilton and wound up at a “hip hop” dance club until around 3am. It was a lot of fun.
- When you purchase a single ticket on the MVG system, which includes the U, the tram, and the S, it is good for three hours, but only in ONE direction.
- Good beef is not easy to find. I made my first beef thing the other night and it was terrible. This weekend, one of our “to do’s” is to find out where to get good steaks.
- Land noodles. Yes, they exist. I know this because I ate them.
- The most common words are the best words EVER, even in English: “fahrt” , pronounced FART. “Weiner”, pronounced Veener or as I pronounce it: Weener. and then there was the label on the meat, straight up: “fleishmarkt fuck”. Ya.
- I am getting my first cut/color next Tuesday at a place called New Hair. VERY NERVOUS. Hope to God she speaks English or else this could be disastrous.

Alrighty, well I think that’s enough of an update for now. I am gonna go hit the gym and then get ready to go out and celebrate our new place. Stay tuned.

“I was so excited! Today one of the housekeepers was Jamaican and she spoke PERFECT English!”

xx