Moving In

Our transition from vacationing in Paris to moving into our apartment began at 3:30 AM…ugh(!)…on Friday, August 1. We had a 6:30 AM flight out of Paris Orly on CrazyJet (our new name for EasyJet) and the shuttle we were using was picking us up at 4:30…ouch! The trip to the airport and the flight to Berlin were uneventful. We got to our apartment at 10:30 and were unceremoniously given keys to our new home. It’s always fun opening the door to an apartment, condo, hotel room that you are renting…running from room to room…and this was no different. Owen was so excited to have arrived, within 45 minutes he had completely moved into his room, made is bed with the Disney blanket and pillow he got at Disney Paris, tucked Hold-You-Me (his stuffed dog) into bed, and lined up his shoes. Incredible! Was this the same boy who left Corvallis? Interesting, Lily was in a slightly different frame of mind. The reality of moving in to our home where we would spend the next year was quickly sinking in. She was excited but low level anxiety was also creeping in. It was time to start nesting. But first, we needed food and a nap. So, by 2:00, three of us (Tom, Gina and Owen) were asleep and dripping in sweat – 90F outside (with humidity) and our apartment has a solarium. Thank goodness a wicked thunderstorm cooled everything off making living possible once again. Unfortunately, within 12 hours of our arrival, we had our first sickness. Owen spiked a 101.5° fever. It was a tiny bit unnerving not knowing how to get ahold of anyone should we need a doctor. Even if we did, how would we call them with no phone or internet access. Good thing the illness burned through fast and furious and Owen was almost 100% within 24 hours.

Saturday we had three objectives: find internet access, get a map of the city, and go to IKEA. For the first, Tom sat in the park across from the pension we first stayed in and was lucky enough to catch a little bandwidth from the pension’s wireless router. We have come to realize just how dependent we are on the internet – it is our tool for searching the city, finding transportation, talking to friends and businesses via Skype. Without it, we feel really isolated. Getting access for our apartment will be a top priority this week. Getting the map was relatively easy, we went to the main Haupftbahnhauf and found a tourist information shop. For the IKEA shopping, we took the S-Bahn. When we got off the S-Bahn we saw a sign pointing us in the direction of IKEA…kind of like Disneyland. Gina said, “just follow the ant trail” and that it was…people wandering to and from IKEA…about a 0.5 mile walk from the S-Bahn. We dined and shopped in the big blue cavern, and came away packed like gypsies. In the late evening, Gina and I went south on the U-Bahn three stops (while the kids stayed home) and ventured into a very pleasant beer garden. We sat in the late evening under a buckeye tree sipping Pilsners and Weizen and talking beer, family, and travel. It was a very pleasant and satisfying way to cap off our first day as Berliners. We are really here. Then reality hit in that we were late in getting home and Gina began worrying about the kids. They were fine, although getting impatient for us to return. Gina said Lily will pay us back when she is a teenager hanging out at night and modeling our behavior on tardiness.