Dial-A-Bike

This concept, I have to admit, is not new to me. I saw it before we left Munich. Nonetheless, at that time I was also very impressed with it - and the feeling has certainly not diminished over time. So I snapped a photo for you all to take a look - check out "Dial A Bike," offered to you by the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail). Very easy concept - if you run across one of these bikes, you can simply dial the number on the bike, get some kind of password code, which you then enter on the bike, then it's yours for a rental fee. I guess you can leave them almost anywhere and there must be some sort of GPS tracker on them so DB can figure out where they are after you sign out...

Pretty cool. Also really nice are the foldable bikes I see everywhere. They're super light and you can carry them by a handle with you fairly easily. No photo available, but if I see one soon, i'll show you.

Herzlich Wilkommen!

Ok...here we go. New Blog Number 1 (ignore the one before this, I'm trying to change my profile pic and it's not working....annoying.) It's 8 pm and there's a nice little rain shower outside that reminds me a bit of Singapore. But not much. Because the rain shower here is a polite little sprinkle. A few dew drops gracefully falling from the sky that are gently blanketing the road and the trees with a glistening shimmer. Nothing really like the roaring slam and slap of the air-borne waves of rain we have come to know in the last two years.

But...there is something to be said for polite rain as well, as well as nice warm (not sweltering) summer nights in Europe, where a stroll down the street to the corner grocery store does not require a cold shower when you get back and a change of clothes. :-)

Today was a success, at least a small one. And right now, this week, I'm grateful for successes in what I think will be a challenging adjustment period, despite our worldly experiences. Specifically, we had planned the entire morning for battle with the KVR (Kreisverwaltungsreferat -check out the photo of the waiting room...nice and sterile), where we assumed we would maybe need to lose face, in the fight for my 1) permit to live in Germany, and 2) (more important), work permit. We had to wait for about 35 minutes to get into the first office, but everything went smoothly. There were no issues with registering ourselves as residents of Munich. Office number 2 was the scary one, though. But the man in there said right away: "Ah, ja, ich kenne den Fall. Kein Problem." Which made my jaw drop - "Oh, yes, of course, I know your case. No Problem." I quickly asked him, "so what kind of visa will I get now?" The answer: "A permanent one." "And the work permit?" "Also permanent." Which means...no fight necessary. No more beuracracy. All done with the paperwork. Nice Big Relief.

So now the focus is on the apartment and we have two appointments set up already for really lovely places. And more to be made. Our service is apartment is the best we've ever had (of the three we've experienced thus far), and is in a great location.

But we do notice subtle differences. Things that remind us that the two years in Singapore were not just a dream.
1) People are TALL here. Really tall. I'm used to being one of the tall people. No more.
2) The light outside is different. Maybe it's because of the darker green leaves, no more brilliant emeralds. The reflections are different.
3) What the Germans think is "Tropenfeuchtigkeit" - literally - tropical humidity - is a joke. (Radio announcer said this.)
4) People around here really LOOK at you when you walk by. No surreptitious glances and then a quick staring at the ground. They STARE here. They watch you walk by. And trust me, we weren't wearing anything funny.

Munich will take some getting used to. But I made it to the farmer's market today. Got some lovely tasty tomatos and some handfuls of bitter forest salad herbs. And fresh chantarelle mushrooms.