Fingerprinting!!!! Fingerprinting???

You won't believe it - but we have to get fingerprinted yet again. No, not in Germany, but in the US. Since we are permanent residents, but don't live permanently in the States right now, we had applied well ahead of our move for a re-entry permit which would guarantee us the possibility to work there. I don't think I will ever do that (unless somebody REALLY wants me), but we thought that it would be nice for the kids to have this opportunity later in their lives. And since we had fought so hard to get the green card, it might be worth keeping it for a bit longer.

Well, we had not heard from the lawyer for quite some time, and now, last week, Werner got an email telling him that all was well on its way and that the fingerprinting could be scheduled. When would we be available?

Werner wrote back that - as we had told them before - we were not planning to come to Austin this year, and could we not do the fingerprinting here in Munich?

Answer: They get this question all the time, unfortunately both Consulates are using different systems, therefore the results are not compatible. If we don't come back within the year, the US might deny our request to keep the green card.

As you know I have been asking myself what happens if customs in America pulls our data. Zillions of fingerprints - which have to match the one we have to give when entering the country?

When I got fingerprinted for my job with the GTHS, I dared to ask this question and the lady looked at me as if I was from another planet and said: "We only keep these fingerprints for about four months - then they are deleted and we need the latest ones, since fingerprints change!"

Now, is there anybody out there who can explain that to me since I had lived under the assumption for 50 years that fingerprints were THE safe identification method to prove who is who -. Or are some people just paranoid?

Finding the right apartment in Munich - the end

So nothing since then - no offers, no phone calls, no emails .... until today, Wednesday, July 21, 5.30 p.m.

"Dear Mr. Lang, I am happy to suggest an apartment to you that will certainly meet your needs! A lovely roof-terrace apartment in a small skyscraper that was built in 2007. Please let me know if you are interested!" I am sure he meant: "Please let me know THAT you are interested."

Well, I am really proud to say that I did not over-react, but sat down and wrote back, telling him (with quite an amount of 'Schadenfreude' on my part) that we had signed a rental contract yesterday for an apartment that was located in the inner city of Munich, in an old building with high ceilings and was quiet and light. "All the best for your future, yours sincerely, Cornelia Lang".

I feel like I deserve a pat on my shoulders. Just like my poor Alzheimer Dad said to me the other day: "I am doing so well, sometimes I pat myself on the right shoulder, sometimes on the left shoulder, and then there are days when I can pat myself on both shoulders because I did extremely well."

Finding the right apartment in Munich, ctd.

Well, I had hoped I would not hear from him again - but there he was, the next day. He had sent a fax to Werner, saying that he might have heard that the height of the ceiling would not be a problem and when would both of us come to look at this apartment again? Werner sent back an email, telling him to stop offering objects that would not meet our profile.

That certainly would do the job, we thought - wouldn't you?

And it was quiet for a couple of days. Meanwhile I was busy with looking at other apartments that were nice, but each of them had one thing missing: too many rooms facing the street, north/south orientation, apt. on the ground-floor, bad floor-plan etc.

But before I could despair - here he was again, 'our' realtor. He called me and asked: "You do have children, don't you?" (As if I had not told him many times...). "Yes". "So a two-bedroom apt. would be too small, right?" "Right." "I am asking because I have such a wonderful two-bedroom apt....." "We need three bedrooms!!!" "And you want to live in an old building, isn't that right?" "It is." "I am asking because there is still that apartment in Untermenzing...."

AAAAAAHRRRR! (I have not heard back from him again since. Please keep your fingers crossed!)

On finding the right apartment in Munich

So, what is different from finding a home here in Germany from finding it in Austin? First of all, agents don't really care that much for their customers, since Munich is such a favorite with so many people that apartments are rented or sold anyway.

On the other hand, there DO exist realtors that try to find something for you - we have/had one of these. To start with, we have a very strict profile with regard to what we want - a 3-bedroom apartment in the inner city area in an old building, rather quiet, light and affordable. Even if that might be hard to get, it's a statement, isn't it?

So there is that one agent who kept calling Werner already in America and offering him JUST THE RIGHT THING, but we never knew where this 'right thing' was located, how big it was and how much it cost.

So when we got here, Werner asked him to call me instead of him (I wonder why??)

I received several phone calls from him, telling me about a wonderful apartment in 'Untermenzing', which is definitely not within the inner city limits. After listening to him, having told him that we really wanted something in the city, I finally gave in and decided to look at the apartment, just in order to be able to tell him that this was NOT what we were looking for.

And it was NOT what we had had in mind - plus, it took me 45 minutes one way to get there. When I told the agent all that, his only response was: "But it's quiet, and you wanted a quiet environment". It was quite useless to point out that we wanted something quiet IN THE CITY - he just would not listen. So I fled ...

Only two days later he called me again, offering me THE deal of all times: an apartment in the city! When asked if it was an old building, he told me: "No, but you wanted something in the city." I hardly managed to hang up because he kept pointing out the wonderful location.

Then I did not hear anything from him for about two weeks - but he had not forgotten about us. He called, told me about his next find and that we would love it - for sure! Before I agreed to look at it, I asked for the address - it was the same apartment he had offered me two weeks ago! And it is located next to the "Mittlerer Ring", a city highway, rather noisy.

Anyway, I met him, looked at it and was immediately sure that I did not like it that much (although, admittedly, the ceilings were quite high. But the closeness to this highway was annoying, something which he kept ignoring, instead he pointed out the greenery:" Don't you feel like living in a park?" A said no, since two trees next to a supermarket don't really make a park, do they?

Finally I got rather obvious: "If you keep showing us objects that do not fit the profile we have given you, don't be disappointed if we don't want them." His answer: "But it's in the city!" So I turned round and left - and thought I had got rid of him for good!

Moving here

Moving here has really just begun - despite of the fact that we have been back for over a month now. Let's not talk about the suitcases that wait to be packed again as soon as we have found our permanent apartment.

I'd rather talk about the container that is sitting in Bremerhaven right now, waiting to get through customs. If you thought that our stories concerning immigration in the US were hilarious, read this: To start with, the container arrived about a week before it was supposed to arrive - usually people look forward to that - not us, really, especially now that we are still looking for the ideal permanent place! However, there must have been some strong winds blowing eastwards - in any case, the container is already here. So I got an email last week from the moving company, that they need a confirmation that we are registered in Munich and another confirmation from the US employer, stating how long Werner had been working for UT. If we could not prove that we had been gone for more than a year, we would have to pay taxes for that container - I don't know how logical that sounds to you - it doesn't to me?

Anyway, we passed on all these letters, in order to get another email that customs is wondering why we have been registered in Munich since June 1, officially applying for this registration in mid May, but Werner's contract with UT does not end before July 16? I did write an email back, explaining details and telling the moving company what I thought of German customs...

The next day - still being quite pleased with myself for having been so outspoken - the lady from the moving company told me that she completely agreed, but she could not pass on such a letter because she did not think that it would help our case if customs read that I thought they were being rather silly.

Well, Werner wrote a letter 'that he declared under penalty of perjury that the following was true...' We have not heard back from them since.

It seems that there are free countries anywhere ;-)

By the way, the topic of 'containers' seems to follow us right now - we saw 'Don Giovanni' in the opera last Saturday, and the stage setting consisted of several containers stacked on top of and next to each other - if putting our container into storage is too expensive, we have a new place for it now!

What strikes me here

As I posted on FB yesterday - there are FAR more people smoking here in Germany than in the States. After I had got off the plane on June 4 and waited for Werner, I was immediately surrounded by cigarette smoke. And this impression has continued.

Then, nobody says 'excuse me' when he/she crosses your path or almost bumps into you, or tries to pass. Instead, some people give you this really annoyed look. Then recycling bins are everywhere and if people eat out, they stay longer than only some minutes in the restaurant. Even if they only have a coffee, they take some time to sit down and relax, watch people passing by or read a newspaper. And finally, it's much harder to find an apartment in Germany than in Austin - that's for sure!

Let's move... again - Andrea's reaction

So, what was our daughter's reaction then? Well, we expected her to break down and cry - and we had said that it now was her turn to hate the idea of moving - there years before Stefan had been in praying competitions with his sister about (not) going to the US. And she did start to cry - not because she was opposed to the idea of moving back to Munich, but because her boyfriend was American.

In an effort to be liberal we offered her the possibility to finish her High School year in Austin - but it was only the next day that I told her that this would not happen: we had done the maths and it would cost us a fortune to have her stay. Plus, if anything happened to her, I would not be able to hop on a subway and be there within the hour.

So we started thinking: Dylan was about to graduate from High School, he was the most flexible from all of us, and why would he not think of coming to Germany? So we had dinner together (the first of many to come) and talked things over and - yes, Dylan really wanted to come.

Well, we had come to Austin as a family of four, now we would come back with an additional child... and here we go - he is here, taking language classes, trying to say his first sentences in German and making plans for (many) more returns.

What an adventure - what we had started, our kids continue....

Let's move... again - Stefan's reaction

Well, my professional situation together with a very tempting offer for Werner made us start talking about moving back to Munich. There were quite some sleepless nights, considerations, pros and cons, but finally Munich won - we prepared our move back. The count-down started in February when we told our kids. We had thought that Stefan would be highly delighted, but he was hesitant - and the next day he talked to me on our way to school: "I just wanted to make sure that I understand you correctly", he started and I quickly realized that he would give me one of his flowery speeches. "Well, three years ago you uprooted me from a place where I had grown my roots and where I felt safe. Then you took me to Austin where you threw me on barren earth - and there I had to grow my roots again... and I did, as you know. Now you are uprooting me again, how many more times will that happen?"

While I am looking for a suitable apartment here in Munich, this conversation comes to my mind and I try to make sure that we all can feel safe and well-rooted. Looking at our kids I don't think it will be a problem, though. Plus, Stefan has immediately found his roots with his second family and his very best friend Vali!