Well I have to say that completing a transfer to a foreign country in less than three months, while carrying the load for an absentee CO is a bit of an accomplishment, if I don’t say so myself.My journey started interesting, at the MSP airport, trying to check the girls into luggage (see picture above of Bella with the kennels). It turns out that for having talked to United three times about my travel, they never told me that they kennels were required to have holes on all fours sides (the backs didn’t have holes) because it was an international flight. Fortunately work was close by and DC1 was able to run over a cordless drill and a 1/2” bit to the terminal and I put 10 holes into each kennel. One boy standing in line commented that I was willing to do most anything for my cats, I told I was moving to Germany and wanted to take them with me.
We took off to the west, then north up 35W and the the Mississippi. It was nice to see the view of the construction project. I also have to note that Target was strategic when they built their new store at 66th and Cedar, the store’s roof is all white with a bit red bull’s eye on top.
I got to Chicago, headed straight to the gate, got my boarding pass and it was time to board. After they had closed the doors the captain got on the PA and apologized that the dinner service wouldn’t be what it should be because of a strike in Germany, so the workers wouldn’t be there to unload the stuff. The guy sitting next to me (a German) opinionated that the strike was ridiculous as the workers had been offered a 7% raise. He also warned me that I probably wouldn’t have my connecting flight from Frankfurt to Stuttgart.
He was an interesting fellow, I wish I knew German, because he went off on the purser when they tried serving him the meager meal that they did have onboard. I didn’t sleep very well, in part because he screamed in his sleep, no kidding. I mostly listened to podcasts on the iPod.
When we arrived in Frankfurt, I was expecting that I would have to do a paperwork drill arriving with the cats, plus take my bags through customs. Nope, all I had to do was to go through passport control, then I had 2.5 hours to kill waiting for the next flight as the bags and cats were checked straight through.
I did spend 3.15 euro on a 0.5L bottle of water and 2.5 on a paper. Prices here are ridiculous. Finally, I made the hop to Stuttgart, the girl sitting next to me was from Belgium, but she had spent 5 weeks on vacation in Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska. I made a comment that those aren’t normal vacation spots... She really liked the US compared to Europe, prices are more reasonable, you get refills on beverages, people say hello on the street.
I was met at the airport by my sponsor, we had a few hours to kill until my hotel room was available, so we started the check-in process. They register everyone’s ID card in their system, then anytime you enter one of the bases (there are 4 or 5 small bases) they scan your card to make sure you are kosher. I got some VAT forms to use to avoid payment of the Value Added Tax, went to the post office (my address is: CMR 489, Box 727, APO, AE 09751) and a few other miscellaneous items.
I finally settled into the hotel, it’s pretty nice, a big development area of three hotels, restaurants, a couple theaters (they have Blue Man Group and Wicked showing now, Momma Mia will be coming soon). It’s pretty nice, there should be a picture below from out my window of the MercedesBenz headquarters.
That’s about it for now, internet is costing about $20 for an hour, so I will probably limit my time until I get my government account and can sign on with that.
