Dave Germany: 5-8 (first weekend)

I certainly slept hard on Thursday night.  And my body responded with not being hungry for breakfast or lunch (maybe a little hungover :) ).  But on Friday I continued to look for housing and setup my first visit for that evening.  I also met with Paul (my boss), and he wanted to help with my lack of adidas shoes to wear at work.  So he surprised me with a pair of adidas Boost shoes!  Alright! My first perk of the job.

Friday closed in the office, and I headed to see my first apartment.  It was in a new part of town, so I wandered a bit, but found the place.  It was a nice adidas couple from India, and it was a nice apartment.  But it was my first visit, so I said 'thank you', and walked back home.  It was spitting rain, but I saw a rainbow!  I felt good, the week was over, and I was ready to punch out.

When I get back, I looked in my kitchen, and I was out of food.  So I grabbed my pack, and finally headed to the grocery store.  By the time I got there it was 815pm...and the parking lots were empty...and sure enough, the stores closed at 8pm.  #%@!  Sigh, gotta find some dinner.  I wanted take out & minimal interaction with people, and wouldn't you know it, the only thing I could find, was a pizza shop.  HA!  When I went to order, I figured I should just guarantee myself food, so I got the XL size again.  And again, I walked back with a massive cardboard box.  I made it back, shut the door, and finally relaxed.  I didn't set an alarm, and just let me body sleep.

First thing Saturday, I headed to the grocery store.  Three were 3 right near each other, so I did lap through each, before determining which was best for what I needed.  I headed into a discount grocery called Lidl & embarked on my next adventure, reading German labels!  Then it was the checkout counter...after ringing up my stuff, the lady spoke jibberish, but I saw the amount on the readout, so I just handed her money.  Oh man, so many language interactions!  I walked out with the essentials, food, bathroom items, and of course, some beer!  It was only 0.39 for 0.5 liters, I couldn't resist.

After that, I saw that it was the last day for the Bergkirchweih beer fest in Erlangen, and I hadn't gotten the chance to get a souvenir, nor see the 'non-beer' part of the festival.  So I kept true to my opportunist self, and hopped a bus to Erlangen.  I wandered around the city a bit, finding a nice park in the city center, before heading to the fest.  Man, it was packed!  But I found a small souvenir mug & a patch.  Also, the personal time and wandering around was nice.

On Sunday, I had a couple more firsts.  I completed my first loads of laundry (without causing any problems) and also cooked for the first time.  I even went for an exploratory run around town, and found the Puma downtown building.  Life was starting to feel normal again!  I turned on the TV to see what was on, and of course, it all was in German.  I found soccer on a channel & hit mute.  The next time I looked up, there were fans & security on the field, and a burning flare thrown by a spectator.  HA, some real European soccer craziness!

On Monday, I saw my 2nd apartment in Herzo, but it was too expensive.  And more email replies kept coming back saying "the apartment is rented".  I talked to a young engineer in the office, and his advice was "if you find a place, you should jump on it.  Housing here is scarce, so if you wait, it'll disappear".  And sure enough, he was right.  I spoke with Nadine for advice, and we agreed that the place on Friday was good enough, so go ahead and take it.  But when I contacted the guy, he said it had been taken since Friday.  Hmm, not good.  

I was starting to feel a pinch, especially since I needed to move out of my current apartment by next Sunday.  2 weeks should be enough time to find a place, but days just kept flying by, and I didn't have any options!  Argh, again!

I also learned that Thursday was a local Holiday & lots of people take off Friday and leave town to make it a 4 day weekend.  So basically with only Tuesday & Wednesday ahead of me, I needed some luck.  Or just some place to pop up in my price range in the next 48 hrs.

Free pair of adidas shoes

33 cents for a 0.5 L

MS BBQ sauce in Herzo

Park Buildings in Erlangen

Park in Erlangen 2

A fountain probably older than America

Daytime fun at the beer fest

Packed with People

Beer tent in the daytime

Sunday Run.... Puma in Herzo

Dave Germany: 4 (1st beer fest...Bergkirchweih Erlangen)

Day 4 started off much 'simplier' than the previous three days (thank god!).  The adidas cafeteria offers breakfast and lunch, so I started eating those meals there to simplify things.  Dinner was usually a hodge-podge of things not resembling a meal, but tonight would be different!

I rolled into the office, and started my next daunting task of finding an apartment.  After visiting Erlangen and seeing its distance from work, I decided Herzo was where I would want to live.  So I first scoured the adidas bulletin board and sent out emails.  Then with the help of 'google webpage translate', I tackled the websites wg-desucht, immobilentscout, and quoka.  After sending out 15-20 emails throughout the day, I felt great and now was just waiting on replies.

The rest of the day was meeting more people, getting office supplies, and reading Intro paperwork.  As the day closed, the group going to the beer fest assembled.  We walked out a bus stop at the back of the adidas facility, and caught a different bus line into the city.  The bus ended up again at the 'Erlangen busbahnhof', and then we followed the crowd.

We were headed to the Erlangen Berchkirchweih, the largest outdoor beer fest in Europe!  Along the way, the group stopped for a quick 'steak in a wrap' and then headed for the beer and music.  It was great!  We all got a 1 Liter stein of bier (Prost!), found a standing table, then just soaked it in.  Beers, benches, songs, schnitzel, wurst, laugenbrezel, dirndls and lederhosen everywhere.  And I was meeting new adidas people from all over the world!

As the sun began to set, we moved locations to be closer to the bands.  We got a 2nd Liter of kellerbierand everyone was certainly having a good time.  We even heard some Eine, Zwei, g'suffa!  And naturally after 2 Ls of beer, one has to go to the bathroom.  But so do lots of other people.  Yet it cost 0.50 Euro to use the provided facilities.  So I followed suit with many other locals, and used the natural outdoor facilities.  It only took 72 hours into my German adventure to get tipsy at a beerfest and relieve myself behind a tree, ha.

It was getting late, so our group headed back to buses.  As we went down the streets, it was with a big, happy group of German speaking.  I was numb from the evening, and was able to forget about the current pressures surrounding me.  I made it back to my apartment before midnight and plopped into bed.  

The past 80 hours had been a series of intense events.  Saying goodbyes, being in a new country with a new language, 1st day at work, seeing Pharrell, an introduction PPT, getting registrations and visas, getting tipsy at a beer fest.  I was ready for the weekend.

Walking to the beer fest

Dinner!

My first 1 liter bier at a beer fest

Panoram at my first beer fest

Steins down the table

Beer #2

Gingerbread cookies

Look at the huge pretzel hanging in the background

Ferris Wheel at night

Dave Germany: 3 (German immersion)

So Day 3 started on a full nights sleep!  I felt re-energized, since I had spoken to Nadine and family & nailed Day 1 at work, and I would need the energy.

Now it is important to keep in mind that while Germany has a 'study abroad' feel for me, I did not enter Deutschland with 3 years of German language classes.  Nor do I have a host family.  Nor did I come here with a group to tackle daily tasks.  It was just me & Germany, and a couple days of Rosetta Stone.

Up first, was heading to the Herzo Rathaus to register as a city resident.  I would need this official registration in order to apply for my temporary visa.  The office was only open daily from 8-12, so I headed there early.  I found the housing office okay, and the lady that I worked with knew English.  So after 10 minutes, I had my registration, and was on my way.

Up second, was getting passport photos for my visa.  There was a shop I was told to go to in the market square, so I headed right in.  Unfortunately this lady did not speak English, but luckily there were passport photos in the display case, so I pointed at those, and I was good to go.

Up third would have been the bank in Herzo, but remember that it was under renovation.  So I need to head to Erlangen to open a bank account, as well as get my temporary visa registration.

So following the map from Paul (adidas), I went to the bus station, and waited for the next Erlangen bus.  It rolled up, and I fell back from the crowd to see what others were doing & to listen what others were saying.  I learned that it would be 3.30 Euro to the "Erlangen Busbahnhof".  So I stepped up, spoke my best, the driver said some jibberish back, and he gave my ticket & change.  Success!  As the bus moved forward, I found a seat, then immediately started looking outside, trying to learn what was near to me as I finally wasn't walking to get around.

Up next, head to the Erlangen Ausländeramt (foreigners office).  I followed my map to the entrance, then marched up 4 flights of stairs.  I walked into a room of other non-Germans.  There were many other languages being spoken, none of which were English. There were no seats, and after walking around the room for a couple minutes, I realized you had to take a number (like the deli).

Even though I hadn't exerted myself, my breath was heavy.  My adrenaline was pumping as I was about to head into the Visa office.  When my number came up, I headed in, and the lady was friendly.  Surprisingly, she didn't know English very well, but I handed her all of my documents, while she handed me a form to fill out.  Using my Google Translate app, I slowed worked through the form.  The lady reviewed it, we struggled through some Q&A, then I had my temp visa.

Up next, find the bank.  I walked for about 20 minutes, then found "HypoVereinsbank".  The bank teller directed to me to lady who knew English, and we marched through opening an account.  Every form was in German, but the lady helped explain every step of the way.  After we successfully opened an account, the last item was to deposit my bank check from Australia, that I had converted from AUSD to Euros.  Sure enough the check was okay.  But then she told me I wouldn't be able to access the funds for 3 weeks!  @!#%!  So my plan for 'relocation money' was squashed by the German banking system.  Argh!  I had no other choice, so I said okay, then walked over to an ATM and pulled out more money from my US account.

On the walk back to the bus station, I grabbed lunch at a local bakery.  After sounding like an American trying to speak German, I had a sandwich and my first pretzel!  The food was comforting in a way that very little had been so far.  I then caught the same bus back to Herzo at where it dropped me off, and then caught the adidas shuttle to work.

I organized all my paperwork from the day, then began my first searching into apartment housing.  I first checked the adidas online bulletin board, and sent a couple emails.  I had officially started looking for housing!  (Shouldn't take long, right?).  As the day closed, Paul came by my desk to see how my day went, then told me the Engineering group would be heading to a Beer Fest in Erlangen tomorrow.  Of course I accepted the invite!

I caught the adidas shuttle back into town, walked home, and felt exhausted again.  Not knowing the native language reduces your communication to pointing, hand gestures, and frustration. I had survived Day 3, but it was a very stressful day.  Day 4 would be back in the office, but 100% focused on finding housing.  I've done that numerous times, how hard can that be?

Even the Herzo buses are sporty

Herzobuses!!!

Frankenbus schedule

Outside foreigners office

Lunch Bakery

Lunch!

Walking through Erlangen... street vendor bike shop

Tired, but alive

Dave Germany: 2 (1st day at adidas)

So I did wake up on Day 2, but I was wide awake at 2am, and still 7 hrs until I needed to be to work.  Jet lag was in full effect.  I needed to try and fall asleep, so I started reading the only book I had brought.  3 hrs later, I was finally sleepy, and had actually started to enjoy the book!

I awoke to my 730am alarm like a grizzly bear.  But it was a new day!  I showered, got dressed, and was greeted with 2 more slices of pizza.  Hey, I wasn't starving, so it was great!

I walked to the adidas downtown facility, Adi-Dassler-Platz, (the old HQ) and as instructed, caught the 9am shuttle headed towards adidas World of Sports (the new HQ).  We drove out of the medieval city (Herzo is over 1000 years ago!), past the Puma HQ, and finally arrived at adidas.  Whoa!  I was here.  Like a google, apple, Nike, or IBM...this was adidas World HQ  (what's neat is the adidas campus is old WW2 Base built by the USA in Herzo...and adidas has repurposed some of the buildings).

I walked past the several flagpoles with adidas, reebok, and taylor made flags flying...and into the main doors.  As you would expect, sports everywhere, a giant TV board...the whole 9 yards.  I told the desk I was here and Paul met me with a smile (I forgot to mention he's Canadian!).  We went right in to get my picture taken and my ID card made.

He then took me to the cafeteria, called Stripes, and we had a great 90 minute meet'n greet.  He had papers with what to do for HR things, maps of how to get there, a debrief on the office...adidas seemed "on top of it".  Then Paul said we have a Team Engineering meeting with our Portland, USA office at 5pm today, and he'd like for me to put together a short introduction presentation.  (Hey, I've only been in Germany for 18 hrs, of course I'd already like my first work assignment)

We then headed towards Engineering, which is located in the "Laces Building".  And on the walk over, he told me that Pharrell Williams is on campus today, giving a speech about his new shoes at 2pm.  WHAT?!  That is awesome.  

We then walked into Laces (opened just in 2011) and you instantly knew this is what all the corporate buzzwords mean.  Collaboration, creativity, disruptive technology.  5 stories, high ceilings, greenery.    Then onto the "Future Engineering Office".  And then it was the carousel of introductions.

Paul then showed my desk & laptop.  We logged in and I finally had an internet connection!  I let the world know I was alive!  (even though it was 5am EST).  It made me feel great to finally reach out.  But I realized I needed to have internet for when I got home, so at lunchtime, I caught the company shuttle back into town to hunt for a mobile service plan. 

After looking at signs and tables all in German for different carriers, I walked up to guy at the counter (who knew little English) and got his recommendation for cell service.  I walked home for lunch (2 more slices of pizza!), caught the shuttle to World of Sports again, and made it back in time for Pharrell.

There was a sea of people, and Pharrell spoke for an hour.  It was awesome, but as I stood there, I looked around, and I noticed, all the people around me were all legit.  They were from all around the world, and all here to develop the stuff for tomorrow.  I had a brief thought of "do I belong here?"...which was quickly followed with "I better nail my presentation in 2 hrs"

I sat down at my desk, and the adrenaline kicked in.  I started cranking out my first work assignment (even the keyboard was in German!).  Then Paul made an announcement to the office "Pharrell wants a tour of the Engineering office, so he'll be here about 4pm."  And sure enough, around 430pm, I was about 10 feet from Pharrell, and we even made eye contact a few times!  So cool!  After him and his entourage left, it was time for our Engineering meeting.

There were about 20 people in our room and 10 people 'skyping' from the Portland office.  When my time came, I realized all my PhD training, were for moments like this.  The presentation went great, and people were engaged.  I answered a few questions, then finally relaxed.  When the meeting ended, my first day at adidas was over!  I got a ride home from an engineer in the office, and had survived.

I rushed in the door, and got ready to finally talk to Nadine & my family!  When I heard their voices and saw their faces, my smile went from ear to ear.  We chatted for hours.  Once again, it was the final pieces of pizza for dinner.  But I was finally happy.

I turned my focus to tomorrow, I would need to march around Herzo to complete HR items, and then catch a bus into Erlangen to register for my visa.  I had nailed Day 2, but Day 3 would be another set of new challenges.

Main entrance to adidas HQ

adidas HQ

Laces building (where engineering is)

Pharrell giving his speech

German Keyboard 1

German Keyboard 2

Dave Germany: 1 (it was a long day)

So after mentally acknowledging how great it was to make it to my apartment in one piece, there were still things to do before 'calling it a day'.  I shed my stinky travel clothes and took a warm shower.  I then unpacked a few important items, and refreshingly changed into clean clothes.

I then wanted to let Nadine & my family know I had arrived safely!  Paul (my boss) had showed me the wireless router in the living room, and he even turned on the power switch.  (Spoiler alert...I failed to actually check that I could log on).  Paul said "there's no code to get on, it should be public and then you can change it to the password you want".  So I got my laptop out, and sure enough, I needed a p-word.  Argh!  I looked high and low, under and over, and no paperwork with a p-word to be found.  And since it was a Holiday, the cable company wouldn't be open.  Plus, I didn't have a phone anyway.

After I searched the apartment, I started to become unexpectedly short and irritated.  I began to realize that I NEEDED to chat with Nadine & family, more than I originally thought my body was telling me they wanted to hear from me.  I was becoming emotionally drained, and just needed to hear a voice or see a face, or just share my thoughts with somebody!  The silence of the apartment started to feel unwarming, compared to the solace it had provided only minutes ago.

Well I also needed to get cash & get food before places closed.  I knew I was spaced-out from traveling and maybe I could figure out the wireless when I got back.  So I headed towards the bank that Paul had showed me near my apartment.  When I stepped outside, it was raining, so the streets were pretty empty.  So no locals to ask for help.  And I didn't have an umbrella or rain coat.

When I got to the bank, it was closed for renovation.  Well shucks.  But there's gotta be another bank in town, but what the heck is 'bank' in German?  Well after 30-45 minutes of wandering around (and I do mean wandering...no cell phone with GPS)  I started to feel defeated, and also got really hungry.  The only business open was a pizza shop, so I decided to walk in, hope they spoke english, and see if they could point me to an ATM (and let me order food).  It was a success (with broken english)!  I ordered a '#19 Vulcano' in the largest possible size, and then walked in the direction they pointed for the ATM.  Again success!  I finally had cash, and food was on the way.  I went back to the small pizza shop, sat down, starred out the window, and quietly celebrated the most recent small victory.

I walked back to my apartment with a poster-sized pizza, and chowed down.  It was deliciously greasy.  With a full stomach at about 6pm, I unpacked a few more items, and then went to plug in a power strip & a wall-plug adapter to charge my things.  POOF!  I had blown a fuse.  %#$@!!  It never happened in Australia with the voltage difference, but sure enough, the first time in Germany.  And worse, it was the room with internet and TV.  So now I was guaranteed no contact with anybody.

I began to get tired, but needed to stay up to fight jet lag.  Reading would put me to sleep, so instead I opened up my laptop, and started looking at pictures from Australia & Home.  It brightened my day, but also made miss everyone even more.  It really started to set in that I was here in a small town in Germany, on my own, without the normal comforts of a phone, tv, internet, car, etc.

And I also realized that my physical and emotional reserves were incredibly low.  Too much had happened too quickly.  All in the past 24 hours, all in the past 14 days.

I couldn't fight it anymore, it was 8pm and sleep was setting in, no matter what.  I thought it was late enough for me to sleep through the whole night.  So I layed down in bed, and it felt great.  My eyes closed, Day 1 was over.  Tomorrow I would wake up and officially become an adidas employee!

The little pizza shop

Dinner!

Apartment Bedroom

Apartment Bathroom

Apartment Kitchen

That darn wireless!

Wall hanging in my apartment

Apartment TV Room

Dave Germany: -12 to half-way thru Day 1 (a long one)

So the adventure(s) in 2015 continues!  When we last all came together...NaDave was on the verge of leaving Melbourne, Australia.  

Well the good news is that each of us arrived safely & successfully into Michigan & Mississippi.  The sad news is that we said 'goodbye' at LAX airport for the next 4-5 months.  Without a doubt it was tough, but since when are the things that are 'worth it' in life ever easy.

Dave was welcomed with huge hugs & tears in Grand Rapids (GR) by his parents.  After a couple days of errands, the three of us headed up to 'the cottage' to escape it all for a few days.  The weather was great, the fishing was good, and the time spent together was soothing on my soul.  It was an amazing time and, of course, went by too fast (except getting stuck out on the lake with a dead boat!).  We headed back to GR to prepare for my departure, but also had time for a family bike ride & a 'glory days' day trip into downtown GR.  After a final day of packing & learning about all the Nike things I own (but couldn't bring!), it was time to take on life's next adventure.  The drive to Chicago airport on Sunday was pleasant, but full of nerves and emotions.  It was a tear-filled goodbye to my parents, and in the words of Forrest Gump "and just like that, Dave was gone".

The next 24 hours were surreal.  In many ways.  I had just said to goodbye to my girl, then goodbye to my parents, packed my life into 2 suitcases (again), was hopping on a plane, to go live in Germany, to go work at adidas (little me from Grandville...work at world renowned adidas?), and do it alone.  Was I...Scared? yup.  Nervous? oh yeah.  Excited? of course.  Confident? for brief moments.  Prepared? if not now, then never.  Before getting onto my Swiss Air flight, I said one last 'goodbye from America' to Nadine, then started my next journey.

When I walked back out of the plane 8 hours later, I was in Zurich Switzerland.  I had 2 hours until my connection to Nuremberg, so I walked around & explored the airport.  But after an hour, I just decided to sit.  I needed to collect myself.  Everything seemed to be happening faster than I was comfortable.  Also, I was about to meet my boss for the first time (he picked me up from the airport), and I realized the real 'adidas experience' was about to begin.  As my thoughts swirled, the hour quickly passed, and I boarded the plane for Nuremberg.

While the flight was only 45 minutes, I think I slept 42 of those.  I wanted to take in all the new experiences, but my body was exhausted.  I had the whole row to myself, and as I was looked around, I kept being in disbelief that I was gonna be an employee at adidas HQ in 24 hrs!  (For some reason, this experience was having a different feeling than Australia.  AUS felt like a post-PhD celebration, whereas this was feeling serious, like the start of my 6 month job interview.)

After landing in Nuremberg, I grabbed my bags, took a deep breath to collect myself from the jet lag, then walked out to meet Paul.  Surprisingly, Paul was taller than me, but greeted me with a smile, and off we went.  We drove out of Nuremberg and into Herzogenaurach.  Monday May 25 was a Holiday for Herzo, so the streets were empty.  We drove up to a local apartment, my temporary housing for the next two weeks.    (adidas Engineering rents a flat b/c it is cheaper than getting hotels every time a PhD student comes to do a research or an intern comes into town).

Paul walked me up to the 2nd floor of HirtenbuckstraBe 7, and showed me around.  The accommodations were cozy, but great.  Paul checked if I need anything, then said 'see you tomorrow around 9am at the reception desk' and was on his way.  The door shut, the silence began to echo, and a sense of relief came over me.  It was 3pm and I had completed the first leg of my journey.  I had all my luggage.  All my flights were on time.   There was nothing awkward with my boss.  I felt tired, but healthy.

I decided to take a seat, but then remembered that I needed to get food before the few open restaurants closed at 6pm.  I wanted to just punch out, but rather, it was time to begin living in Germany.

Dave boated a 90 incher at the cottage 

Glory Days for Ed & Deb

The Germany pre-packing mess

Leaving Grandville for Chicago flight

My SwissAir plane in Chicago

Flying to Germany over West Michigan

Zurich Airport

Coming in for a landing in Nuremburg, Germany

Hirten-what...street my apartment is on

My apartment in Herzogenaurach