Adventures of NaDave: 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?