Making the Next Move: Part 2

I'm back in the U.S. In fact, I've been here for about a week and I'm still adjusting. The road from Munich to Maui has been long and stressful, but it looks like it will be worth all the effort.

This probably still feels rather sudden for you reading along, so this final blog post is all about filling you in on where I've been:

The decision

I had been struggling with my job in Munich while still only a few months in. My team was amazing and most of the other people I worked with were great, but the overall climate and company culture were not a good fit. Eventually I came to the realization that most of my like-minded colleagues had left, and I wasn't going to be able to change things on my own.

When Larry's prospects for extending his contract seemed dim late last year, it only made sense for me to give notice so he could broaden his search.* Two top options popped up, both requiring a move out of Germany, so the planning began even before the final decision was made.

*It's important to understand that giving notice in Germany means three months, not two weeks like in the U.S., so much less flexibility in timing.

Getting ready

Those of you who were around for my Hamburg blog might remember the ordeal of getting the cats ready for the move. Even though we only have one kitty to consider right now, once we had the green light on Maui we (I) had to embark on a still-arduous journey to get Aji's entry requirements met. (Thankfully Hawaii had recently shortened the wait time between each stage to only 30 days!)

We also needed to find a place to stay. Because Maui is such a tourist destination, there's not a lot of inventory for long-term renters. Even though Larry's contract wasn't up until the end of February, there was no real work left for him to do. He headed to Maui in mid-January to find a place for us, which meant I was left in Munich to finish my job and coordinate the move.

And that meant finding movers, giving notice on our apartment, canceling our Internet and utilities, de-registering from the city (yes, that's a thing, requiring paperwork and an in-person appointment) and arranging my final goodbyes. Normally just a long list of things to check off, but a bit more challenging to tackle the administrative tasks in another language.

I was highly stressed, and many things started to depend on information about when I was leaving the country. Which was dependent on when Aji could leave the country. Which was dependent on a pet travel service that was not as helpful as they'd been when we used them to travel to Germany.

The final flurry came in mid-April. Although my last official day at work was April 30, I used vacation time to leave the office on the 17th. By that time Aji and I had been in an empty apartment for a week-and-a-half. Because our landlady was going on vacation, we needed to do the apartment walk-through early, which meant moving Aji and me to a hotel for the last stretch of our stay in Munich.

We finally got confirmation for Aji's flight, so I could schedule my own flight and his health certification and my de-registration appointment and my goodbye lunches and dinners with friends.

Only 10 days out.

For reals

I'll be honest. There were many times along the way when I didn't feel like I would make it to Maui. Few things had gone as planned and I felt like I was just spinning my wheels waiting for the punch line of some cosmic joke. People kept asking if I was excited, and my usual response was, "I will be..."

Outside of a few video chats, I hadn't seen Larry in three months. Aji was an understandable bundle of nerves. So was I. I just wanted things to be done so I could have a break.

When they picked up Aji for his flight, I cried all the way back to the room. And I cried while I was doing my final prep and packing. But on the way to the airport I started to get excited, because the day was rainy and cold and soon I'd be leaving one-half of that formula behind me.

This was really happening!

Getting there

At the airport, however, more stress. My bag was just over the weight limit for the automated kiosk. As I moved toward the counters, the automated check-in system went down, which meant three employees were handling everyone who had been in line or at the check-in stations. Then I was sent to two separate counters because my bag was deemed oversized. By the time it got sorted and I made it through security there was little time to reflect, reminisce or regret. I boarded the plane.

Thankfully the 12-hour flight from Munich to LAX was uneventful. I spent some time chatting with the woman next to me, who was from Prague and visiting LA for vacation. She brought her dog with her, and I couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy as I watched her dog--easily half the size of Aji--sitting calmly in his carrier.

The 6-hour flight from LA to Maui was less peaceful, as I'd been seated in the middle of a group of about 30 pre- and teenage members of a band who were on their way home. Still, it was amusing to hear the flight attendants admonish them to remember to grab their ukeleles carefully from the overhead bins.

I took an Uber from the airport across the island to our new home in Lahaina. Even though it was night and I was exhausted, I could see the landscape was very different and I was looking forward to getting to know it better.

In the first couple of days I realized I would have to get used to certain things again. (24-hour, 7-day grocery stores! self-service OTC items at the pharmacy! big trucks! people being so open and inquisitive and helpful right from the start!)

An unwelcome parting gift

And Munich? During that first day in Lahaina, Munich was settling into my mind with a glow of nostalgia. I was already cataloging differences and thinking of pictures I'd send back in answer to requests from friends and former colleagues.

By the afternoon, however, I felt differently. What I thought had been a sudden and inexplicable flurry of mosquito bites on my face, chest and up and down both arms turned out to be bedbug bites. (Apparently you can have a reaction anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks later!)

I sent an email to the hotel, along with some pictures, so they could check the room and spare someone else the agony. After several days they responded to let me know they'd closed the room, were having it inspected, and they offered me a voucher. I was just happy they responded and were taking action!

Now, a week out, the worst of the swelling and itching has subsided. Aji has not shown any signs of being bitten and I don't appear to have had any hitchhikers (although I treated my clothes and bag just in case). Which is giving me the peace of mind (and comfort!) to now really explore my new home.

A new start

Spending nearly four years living in Germany was a life-changing experience. I visited places I'd never have gone, met people I probably would never have met, seen and experienced things I would have otherwise not known.

But I truly believe that no matter where you are, every day is an opportunity for an adventure or a deeper appreciation of where you are. Greet someone you don't know, take a different route to work or home, slow down and look around at all the things you take for granted that a temporary traveler might find new and exciting!

And with that thought, I guess that's about it. Auf Wiedersehen, Tschüss, Ciao. No matter how you say it, it means turning the page on one very special life chapter. Thank you for your questions and comments and companionship on this two-year trip in Munich.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next--Aloha!

p.s. Although I don't know if/when I will do a blog about life on Maui, you'll know first here or by following me on Twitter.

p.p.s. Pictures of our mostly-empty ohana. Updates to follow in this Flickr album when our stuff arrives in June!

Making the Next Move: Part 1

This is part one of the two-part finale for this blog, and it comes with a partial wrap-up as well as a reveal.

First, to the wrap-up. It’s been an incredible two years recounting my adventures in southern Germany and its surroundings. 

Way back in my six-months-in-Munich post I gave numbers on my trips outside of Munich. Since then, I’ve visited another 12 German cities (plus 2 repeats) and 4 new countries (plus 5 repeats, although in all cases except Vienna it was to new destinations within the country). 

Most of these trips I highlighted in previous blog posts; a few I've included in the photos you'll see later on. But before I get into too much reminiscing, the reveal:

So in the spirit of continued alliteration, maybe my next blog should be From Munich to Maui or Mahalo, Maui! Or…maybe I’ll get there and see what awaits. J

Knowing we had planned to eventually move someplace warmer doesn’t making the leaving any easier, particularly since the thought had been to extend our European living experience to Spain or Portugal.

I know what you're thinking. Whining about moving to Hawaii? Really??

No, not really. It's just there are so many little things that have slowly become part of my everyday that I’ll miss. 

• The sight of men in Lederhosen and women in Dirndl or men in business suits and women in stilettos cruising along on their bikes.

• The sound of metal shutters rolling open in the mornings on many apartment windows. 

• The inconvenience of stores being closed on Sundays and holidays but the convenience of prices including taxes and fees.

• The strange paradox of a country so focused on being green but using so much paper. 

• The other paradox of the intense protection of privacy and the extreme lack of personal space in crowds or on public transportation.

At the Little American Oktoberfest with the MIWC.
I dubbed my look "Bavarican."

I feel like I've had so much time here but not nearly enough...

Tollwood is a famous summer
and winter arts festival.
Definitely the groovier side
of Munich on display.

Sometimes you walk around and
happen to look up and see oddities

And sometimes you're walking
around and happen to look
up and see awesomeness

I will definitely miss the ads here.
This one talks about finding the
right job for everyone.

Opening the truck from the back? Inefficient!
Beer delivery is about maximizing resources.

The best way to emerge from a pedestrian tunnel: in the presence of random beautiful street art

Saw one of my favorite bands--Three Days Grace--
in a hall in the artisans village area

Yup, just another Fasching Week with a guy
on the tram in a giraffe costume

Much of the usual crew from Munich Toytown Ultimate

One of my favorite sights. These sweepers
clean the streets but are small enough to
travel along the sidewalks and clean them
as well. Ingenious.

Here's me at one of my TWO trips
to Oktoberfest in 2018

No, not fake cars or a model building.
Just a huge statue of a man walking in Munich.

Nothing beats a nice hike in the Alps

December 2018 destination
Christmas market: Tallinn, Estonia

Here is the yummy lunch I was having in Tallinn
just before I realized my wallet was missing.
Thankfully found it at the help desk for the
city wall I'd climbed earlier in the day.

Another contender for favorite German city: Meersburg. It's on the Bodensee/Lake Constance.
There's a cute old town, cool castle and view across the lake to Switzerland.

Channeling Grace Jones
meets Minnie Mouse
during our second
Copa Prescadisco
tourney
October 2018

In addition to exploring Meersburg,
we visited the botanical garden
island of Mainau, in the middle
of Bodensee

Participated in my first protest since college.
Demonstrating in Munich against US policy
separating immigrant children from their parents.
Small world indeed.

Three-and-a-half years in Germany
and I'm still baffled
by things they choose
to put on pizza...

I went to London for the first time in August 2018.
Did all the touristy things despite the blistering heat. 

But this was the reason for my visit to
London--to see the new Frida Kahlo
exhibit. Amazing!!

Everything's about following rules and keeping things
orderly--except waiting in line and parking!

The second half of my visit to Kassel--to the Museum of
Sepulchral Culture--was equally wondrous.
But a different kind of grim. ;)

The first half of my visit to Kassel
was the wonder of the Grimm museum

Cranes everywhere. For everything.
Construction. Car towing. Trash and recycling bin emptying.

Larry takes a moment to ponder on one of the
black beaches of Tenerife--
our vacation spot in January 2018

Tenerife wasn't all beaches and cruises, however. We hiked
down the Masca valley from this village to the ocean.
And hiking down was reportedly only slightly easier
than hiking up!

I'm looking forward to warm weather,
but I'll miss the easy
bundle-up-and-stay-indoors excuses

   
                                                    

I will definitely miss the "experiences" that pop up, 

like this Schäfflertanz that's only performed every seven years!

It's always the people that make the place.
I'm sad to be leaving behind a couple of good friends.

When things were tough at work for a while I started writing a quote or inspirational saying each day
on the whiteboard in our office. I'm particularly proud of this one--it just popped into my head one morning.

So what's left? Next time I'll talk about prepping for the transition from the "land of laptops and Lederhosen" to the land of luaus and leis...

Bucket List: The Boundless Beauty of Budapest

The first thing I saw when I got off the bus in the inner city.

In recent posts I've talked about going further afield for bucket-list trips to the Black Forest and Prague.

Budapest has also been sitting on my bucket list for a while, but more as a place I felt I should see rather than a top-of-the-charts destination.

Well, that's certainly changed.

Debating a trip to Istanbul or Budapest recently over the long Easter weekend, Budapest won out for budget and security concerns. I could not be happier that it did!

Looking across the river from Pest into Buda
at Matthias Church and the fisherman's bastion

On Saturday I had an early-morning flight and then took the express bus from the airport to the center of the city. Although my guest house was just a five-minute walk from the stop, check-in wasn't until the afternoon, so I'd already booked myself on a free walking tour that morning.

It was the best walking tour of that type I've ever taken in terms of getting a deeper history of the city and relating things like architecture to the socio-political events of different eras.

The shoes on the Danube is a memorial to 3000+
people executed on the riverbank during
WWII. They were forced to remove their shoes
and face the water before being shot with arrows
so their bodies would fall into the river
and be washed away.

Even though I had visited Estonia (albeit only for the Christmas market and some light sightseeing) and Prague, I felt the imprint of the communist legacy more acutely in Budapest, probably due to the tour guide's very frank stories about the darker side of Hungarians and their history.

This a memorial in front of the Parliament building.
In October 1956 students gathered on the square here
waiting for politicians to address their concerns about
communism. Instead, the students were slaughtered
by snipers, sparking eventual armed revolt within the city,
which was also brutally repressed.

View from my early-evening ride
on the Budapest Eye. That's St. Stephen
in the background, the city's
largest Catholic church
and named for the country's founder.

Our tour wandered through part of Pest and then across the Danube into Buda, where we climbed up the castle hill and ended on the fisherman's bastion. While wandering through a nearby Easter market, I had a lunch of Budapest's most popular street food, then briefly checked into my room and ducked out again to do some shopping before taking a ride on the Budapest Eye, enjoying a nice dinner and resting my weary feet for the night.

Looking across the Danube from Buda into Pest

The main foyer of the
Hungarian National Museum
looks more like a cathedral

Easter morning was all about random exploring. I wandered in the area near the Parliament building, headed to the Hungarian National Museum to see their permanent exhibit on the country's history, and hit a couple more stores before grabbing lunch and resting up for my next planned activity.

That was an Urban and Street Art tour through the Jewish quarter. Although not as richly detailed in history as my tour the previous day, it was a fabulous glimpse into making the run-down and abandoned into something beautiful. And it culminated in a drink with some of my fellow tour-mates in one of the city's famous ruin bars.

There are two art groups working in Budapest
to cover exposed walls from war damage
and bring a vibrancy to these areas

Part of the inner courtyard of the Fogas ruin bar.
Tried my first palinka, which has an
extremely high alcohol content and
is, as one tour guide described,
like drinking flavored nail polish remover.

From the bar I wandered a bit more on my own, thinking about what I learned, what I was seeing around me, and comparing Budapest to other places I've visited.

Particularly in relation to Prague--which at one point was part of a shared kingdom with Hungary--Budapest seemed to have retained more of the "bohemian" vibe over the centuries.

I was genuinely sad at the thought of leaving on Monday morning. There was so much more of the city I wanted to explore. My trips in the past have usually focused on seeing as much as I can of a place under the assumption that there are so many other places in the world to see that I probably wouldn't come back.

Yet Budapest was one of the rare places where I could understand the desire to re-visit time and time again. There were so many more museums and attractions to explore. Different quarters of the city to see. And, like in Hamburg, different seasons to experience changes on and around the river.

So, as I let Larry know, I'd be happy to make Budapest home for a while should the opportunity arise in the future! 😄

Lángos, street food traditionally consisting of 
fried dough with garlic, sour cream and cheese on top

Dinner on Saturday night was at the oldest
restaurant in Pest, and of course I ordered the
goulash. It was divine!

Words to live by! And I did, in fact, come back later when
the market was open and try one of the chimney cakes
dusted in sugar and cinnamon.

Speaking of the future and new opportunities, stay tuned for my next (and final) post for this blog...