Any time you move somewhere new, there are signs to yourself that you’re “settling in”, things like:

• No longer needing the GPS every time you drive somewhere…
• Walking into the grocery store and knowing where to go to get the couple things you quickly need…
• Being recognized by people working at stores you frequent…

For us, another huge step was when our household goods finally arrived (2+ months after we did).

Well, another couple milestones happened today…

First, it was a gorgeous day, probably the best weather we’ve seen since arriving 01-Dec-2011, so I decided to scrub-down the old, filthy, rusted charcoal grill that the last tenant left in our back yard; the image of finally being able to grill, in my own back yard, has been a fantasy for me for some time, and I was eager to get it started!

By the time Marianne arrived home from work, I had the coals nearly ready for the brats to hit the grill. We poured a couple ice-cold biers into our chilled glasses and walked out the back door. Our American neighbors were outside in their back yard, building a swing set for their kids, so we finally had a chance to chit-chat with them a little; it was nice.

And as they went inside to prep for their dinner, the neighbors on our other side (Germans, this time) came out, so we had a chance to speak with her as well, auf Deutsch! :-)

But my really big news for the day was something that has been building since before we left New York: I officially have a job! Thanks to having worked at Time, Inc., and having been on a project that connected me to someone that knew someone that works for a company that just happens to be located less than 20-minutes from where we now live, and thanks to a very welcoming, cordial, and helpful staff at that company, I will start working full-time at Netbiscuits on Montag Morgen. It’s a huge relief…

Though I have been working on a couple freelance projects since we arrived, and I knew this was “in the works” (while I applied for and got my German Tax ID, registered myself with the Kaiserslautern City Hall, and applied for my required German Health Insurance), until you “have a job”, you somehow just don’t feel… here. Sad, I suppose, but that’s the facts, Jack.

And I have to admit that I am a little nervous about the new gig (Will they like me? Will I like them? Will I grasp what they’re doing? Will my fledgling German be compatible with their partial English?), but I’m also quite excited to be starting at a new place, with new people, in a new place, on new projects!

So anyway, here I am, nearly “all growed-up” and ready for the real world! Wish me luck, hopefully I won’t need it, but it could never hurt, you know?

Tschüss,
Atg

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