Arrival
So, unlike all of the other times I've headed abroad, getting over here to Germany was quick and painless, no layovers required. It was a direct flight from Charlotte-Douglas into Frankfurt, but, due to thunderstorms threatening the airport, we were 2 hours late leaving Charlotte. Not a problem, though, as I had no layovers to deal with, so I could arrive in Frankfurt whenever I wanted.
Once we landed, I made my way to immigration, expecting to be asked a few questions. When I went through Switzerland two summers ago, I had a rather extended line of questioning... why I was there, where I was going in Germany, how long I was going to be there, what I would do once I was done in Germany, etc... and the officer on arrival in Iceland at least asked how long I intended to be there both times. Not a word this time, though: the officer took my passport, scanned it, typed some information into a computer, stamped it, and gave it back to me without a single word spoken. Seemed rather strange, but, hey, every country's different with that. After that, I went down, grabbed my bag, walked out through customs, and made my way to the nearest shop to purchase an Orange Fanta.
Shortly thereafter, I hopped on a train into Mannheim and, by noon, I had purchased groceries and was settled into my flat. It's a rather cozy place: it has everything I need, there's rather easy access to public transport, and the area is very quiet. Apparently, the story behind this is that my landlord's daughters moved out and he had a spare room available, so that's what I'm renting from him. That's also why all the utilities are included, as is the use of his garden for relaxing. The interesting thing about the garden is that there are a lot of odd plants: grapevines, raspberry bushes, an apple tree, and a few other things I wouldn't expect in a garden. In all, though, I'd say it's rather nice.
Work
A week after arriving, it was time to get to work. I'm at BASF through the end of September, and it's been a rather interesting time so far. The first day consisted of all the formalities required with employment, and they're not entirely over yet: in just over a week, I'll need to go to the Ausländerbehörde to officially apply for my residence permit. Since what I'm doing isn't legally work, I'm fine for now, but I'll be here in Germany for more than 90 days, so I need that extra permit.
So far, though, at work, I have learned/confirmed the following things:
1.) Microcalorimetry, which is what I'm doing, is very twitchy and takes a long time to run an experiment. Since the measurements are being taken on very small samples (microlitres), one has to run experiments for long amounts of time to ensure that the measured heat comes from the sample being studied rather than the machine or any physical disturbances.
2.) Germans, in general, take mealtimes seriously. Lunch is about an hour, and there is at least one coffee break during the day.
3.) Germans also take vacation-time seriously. They will use all the vacation time allocated to them.
4.) Germans are very friendly.
Life in General
It's true, Germany is an expensive place to live in, and it's not just for tourists. It takes a bit of getting used to with the cost of living and how much things cost, but there are definitely ways to make sure that one's getting their money's worth.
1.) Food: Fresh vegetables, fruits, and pasta (even tortellini) are not particularly expensive, unless they're the more exotic kinds or are imported from outside the EU. Meat, however, can be rather costly, especially fresh meats. Bread is rarely expensive, and bakeries can be found almost everywhere (bread is a ubiquitous part of the German diet). Prices are slightly higher than in the US, but, if you time it right, specials can make things much more affordable.
2.) Drinks: A stereotype of Germans is that they like beer. This is very obvious: beer is plentiful, widely available, and cheap. It's not as cheap as water, but some varieties come rather close. Soft drinks, however, are rather costly (going price is about €1.25-€1.65 for a 1.5 litre-bottle of Fanta, not counting deposit). And the drinks are smaller at restaurants: a large drink at a German McDonald's, for example, is 0.5 litres (16.9 ounces), while a standard drink at a US McDonald's is 22 ounces (650 ml). It does take a bit to get used to.
Wine and spirits aren't expensive (as compared to the UK), but they aren't as cheap as beer.
3.) Tobacco Vending Machines: They're plentiful. Germans, however, normally sell cigarettes in packs of 19 for about €5 a pack (about the same price as in Wisconsin, thereabouts). And a lot of people smoke here.
There are cigarette vending machines. However, they're normally locked, and you have to scan an ID card or driver's license to unlock them. (The smoking age here is 18, so the ID cards will unlock the machine because they have encoded the person's age.) Also usable are certain types of prepaid cards with chips that have age information encoded: those can also unlock the machines.
4.) Transportation: Germans seem to have attachments to their cars, but driving is expensive (€1.55 per litre for gasoline, or around US$8.45 a gallon). To compensate, though, a lot of Germans ride bicycles or use public transportation, and the latter is especially noticeable in cities. However, it's not cheap (€5-ish for a day ticket in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen), but it's definitely cheaper than driving if you're by yourself. For long distances, the trains are excellent (but also not cheap!), particularly the ICE trains.
And that's about all from here. I hope to post a bit more regularly, especially with my trip to France coming up soon...
