Arriving in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
I’ve made it.
Seven days ago I was packing up my life so I could spend a year working in Germany. I fit all my belongings into three bags: two large duffel bags and a traveller’s backpack. Among the lot were shoes, cotton swabs, lotion, scarves, hats, clothes and of course books. Although I only brought about 15 books, I plan on swapping them out for others when my boyfriend comes to visit.
So I guess the main questions to answer are: how am I doing? Or rather, what am I doing? I came to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the dark about a few things, like what my job would be or what resources would be available to us while we were here. Let’s start from the beginning:
Plane Ride
To get from Portland, Oregon to Munich, Germany I took a United flight from PDX to Chicago O’Hare, and then a connecting flight to Munich. The first flight was 100% full, which made for a fun ride. The first flight was okay, other than the fact that I sat next to a man who weighed about 300 pounds and smelled quite terrible. After that flight I had to rush to make it to my next flight, which was also 100% full. And I was in a row of 5 seats…smack dab in the middle. From what I’ve learned in the past of this particular seat, there is really no way to get up and stretch your legs, no way to go to the bathroom, and no way to even move more than three inches without pissing off your neighbor. What I learned is definitely true! During the 9.5 hour flight, I was able to go to the bathroom once when everyone on my left was awake and able to move to let me by, and sleeping on my part did not happen. By the end of the flight I was starting to feel really sick, so I was just praying it would be over soon. The ride finally ended and after going through passport control, I went to retrieve my bags…and there were only two. The two bags that I had packed my shoes, makeup, general hygiene stuff, electronics, and one change of clothes in were in my hands. The large backpack with all my clothes and socks and underwear was nowhere to be found. Usually I would remain calm, but I have heard horror stories in the past of people losing their luggage and not getting it for several weeks. I had a change of clothes, but no change of underwear! I had to have clean underwear! At that point I didn’t know where I could buy it, when I would get a chance to buy some, when I was getting my luggage back (if I got it back), or any information whatsoever that would calm my nerves. So I went to the lost luggage office and put in my claim, and trudged through customs to meet up with the resident managers and drive the 1.5 hours to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The Newbies
The group that came in on September 13th ended up being 11 people: 10 girls and 1 boy. There’s Claire, Courtney, Laura, Macara, Me, Kelly, Annie, Paige, Parker, Lara and the lonely Colin. Parker and Macara (Mac) are from Seattle, but the rest are from the eastern side of the states. All of them are really nice and it’s been fun getting to know them. The first night we all went out to Peaches, a dance club/restaurant/cocktail bar. I guess every Tuesday they have a special where $1 = 1 euro, so they sell $1 shots and cheap beer. But luckily it was Monday: half-price pizza night! We all got individual pizzas that reminded me of Italy: huge, thin crust, delicious. I got the pizza margherita and a weissbier. The pizza (half-price) was 2,75 euros, but I only had half of the pizza and saved the rest for dinner the next night. Talk about a cheap meal! All the newbies hit it off pretty well the first night, despite the jet lag we were ALL experiencing.
My roomie and Our Room
Each person has a roommate unless they work weird shifts, like a bartender or a warehouse worker. A lot of our group knew each other and had already picked out roommates, so a girl named Laura and I decided to room together. Laura is from Virginia, went to Virginia Tech and majored in Hospitality. Turns out we have a lot in common: we’re both pescetarians, both have boyfriends (everyone else except for Colin was single), both love to cook and bake and both want to open a bakery! She even wants to open a vegan bakery…awesome! She is really nice and very laid-back, and didn’t even freak out when I busted her converter on the third day. Hopefully I can replace the fuse and it will work, but if not I offered to buy her a new one to which she replied, “we’ll figure it out - no worries!” I’m going to enjoy living with her very much. (Update: fuse bought. Converter fixed. Phew.)
The dorms that we are all living in are pretty big. The ceilings are high, there are several wings to each floor and the best thing: there is a gym literally 6 rooms down from ours! I’ve used it twice already, and am so happy. There are laundry rooms and kitchens too, where you cook all your meals. Everyone is responsible for buying their own cookware. I bought mine at the PX, but I’ll explain that later. Down in the basement there is a computer room, a room to hang out, a movie room with a huge TV and a Wii room. HR also has offices in the dorms, and the resident manager Jay works and lives at the dorms. For being an old Nazi hospital (rumors), it’s pretty nice.
In-Processing
In-processing was, for lack of a better term, quite a process. Because we are at code Bravo (and have been ever since 9/11) and because we were Americans living abroad, there was a LOT of paperwork and security measures to go through. Our social security numbers are stamped on almost everything, so that makes me a little uneasy. Hopefully Uschi (our HR person) doesn’t lose anything! During in-processing we were given a tour of the hotel, told all the rules, filled out a shit ton of paperwork, opened a bank account, got an ID card, got a mailbox, filled out more paperwork and waited a lot. The longest processes were opening a bank account and getting an ID card. My paperwork was messed up and they labeled me as a ‘contractor’ so my ID card has a stripe on it that no one else has…so not only did I wait 3 hours to get the ID card but I now have to go back and do it all over again. Sheesh. After we finally got all that done, we were allowed to go to the shopping area: the PX and the Commissary. At the PX they sell pretty much anything K-Mart would sell, like kitchen appliances, makeup, electronics, clothes, bikes, camping gear, etc. Everything is very fairly priced and I was able to pick up a converter for my electronics, a pot for cooking and a bunch of little stuff that I needed. The Commissary is a grocery store and had anything and everything you would find in the States - but cheaper. The only things that we are rationed on at the Commissary are coffee, tabacco and alcohol. The rest is fair game, and dang it’s cheap! I don’t plan on shopping there a lot because I would love to learn how to cook German food, but when peanut butter is like $2.29 and a bag of chips are $2.16...sheesh it’s hard to pass up. In the States a bag of chips are at least $3.00 now. I bought cereal, stuff to make PB&J and some tofu and brown rice. I figure I’ll wait until we get paid to worry about food.
The Job
I found out what I would be doing in the hotel on my third day in Garmisch. There are three restaurants in the hotel: Zuggy’s, which is a burger joint and bar; Pullman Place, which is an “upscale” restaurant, and Market Station, which is a buffet restaurant that is open 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. Guess where I’m working? Market Station, but of course. I received the job title of “waiter” which basically means I fill food on the line and scrape dishes. I don’t even get the satisfaction of washing the dishes…I simply bring the cart of dishes to the back and scrape the food off (luckily its composted). I’d say the job isn’t as tough as the people that I’m working with, but that’s for another post. HOWEVER, I have talked to the restaurants manager Fred Foley and the executive chef Howard about kitchen positions that are opening up, so hopefully in the next two weeks I’ll know more about my chances of getting a job cooking or baking.
There are a lot more things to talk about, but I think for now this is a good introduction to my new life in Germany. I love Europe, and I already love Germany more than France (shhhhh, don’t tell the Frenchies) because the Germans seem more laid-back AND aren’t stick skinny…so I fit in a lot more. Hehe. I’ll be back to update soon, I promise!
Seven days ago I was packing up my life so I could spend a year working in Germany. I fit all my belongings into three bags: two large duffel bags and a traveller’s backpack. Among the lot were shoes, cotton swabs, lotion, scarves, hats, clothes and of course books. Although I only brought about 15 books, I plan on swapping them out for others when my boyfriend comes to visit.
So I guess the main questions to answer are: how am I doing? Or rather, what am I doing? I came to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the dark about a few things, like what my job would be or what resources would be available to us while we were here. Let’s start from the beginning:
Plane Ride
To get from Portland, Oregon to Munich, Germany I took a United flight from PDX to Chicago O’Hare, and then a connecting flight to Munich. The first flight was 100% full, which made for a fun ride. The first flight was okay, other than the fact that I sat next to a man who weighed about 300 pounds and smelled quite terrible. After that flight I had to rush to make it to my next flight, which was also 100% full. And I was in a row of 5 seats…smack dab in the middle. From what I’ve learned in the past of this particular seat, there is really no way to get up and stretch your legs, no way to go to the bathroom, and no way to even move more than three inches without pissing off your neighbor. What I learned is definitely true! During the 9.5 hour flight, I was able to go to the bathroom once when everyone on my left was awake and able to move to let me by, and sleeping on my part did not happen. By the end of the flight I was starting to feel really sick, so I was just praying it would be over soon. The ride finally ended and after going through passport control, I went to retrieve my bags…and there were only two. The two bags that I had packed my shoes, makeup, general hygiene stuff, electronics, and one change of clothes in were in my hands. The large backpack with all my clothes and socks and underwear was nowhere to be found. Usually I would remain calm, but I have heard horror stories in the past of people losing their luggage and not getting it for several weeks. I had a change of clothes, but no change of underwear! I had to have clean underwear! At that point I didn’t know where I could buy it, when I would get a chance to buy some, when I was getting my luggage back (if I got it back), or any information whatsoever that would calm my nerves. So I went to the lost luggage office and put in my claim, and trudged through customs to meet up with the resident managers and drive the 1.5 hours to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The Newbies
The group that came in on September 13th ended up being 11 people: 10 girls and 1 boy. There’s Claire, Courtney, Laura, Macara, Me, Kelly, Annie, Paige, Parker, Lara and the lonely Colin. Parker and Macara (Mac) are from Seattle, but the rest are from the eastern side of the states. All of them are really nice and it’s been fun getting to know them. The first night we all went out to Peaches, a dance club/restaurant/cocktail bar. I guess every Tuesday they have a special where $1 = 1 euro, so they sell $1 shots and cheap beer. But luckily it was Monday: half-price pizza night! We all got individual pizzas that reminded me of Italy: huge, thin crust, delicious. I got the pizza margherita and a weissbier. The pizza (half-price) was 2,75 euros, but I only had half of the pizza and saved the rest for dinner the next night. Talk about a cheap meal! All the newbies hit it off pretty well the first night, despite the jet lag we were ALL experiencing.
My roomie and Our Room
Each person has a roommate unless they work weird shifts, like a bartender or a warehouse worker. A lot of our group knew each other and had already picked out roommates, so a girl named Laura and I decided to room together. Laura is from Virginia, went to Virginia Tech and majored in Hospitality. Turns out we have a lot in common: we’re both pescetarians, both have boyfriends (everyone else except for Colin was single), both love to cook and bake and both want to open a bakery! She even wants to open a vegan bakery…awesome! She is really nice and very laid-back, and didn’t even freak out when I busted her converter on the third day. Hopefully I can replace the fuse and it will work, but if not I offered to buy her a new one to which she replied, “we’ll figure it out - no worries!” I’m going to enjoy living with her very much. (Update: fuse bought. Converter fixed. Phew.)
The dorms that we are all living in are pretty big. The ceilings are high, there are several wings to each floor and the best thing: there is a gym literally 6 rooms down from ours! I’ve used it twice already, and am so happy. There are laundry rooms and kitchens too, where you cook all your meals. Everyone is responsible for buying their own cookware. I bought mine at the PX, but I’ll explain that later. Down in the basement there is a computer room, a room to hang out, a movie room with a huge TV and a Wii room. HR also has offices in the dorms, and the resident manager Jay works and lives at the dorms. For being an old Nazi hospital (rumors), it’s pretty nice.
In-Processing
In-processing was, for lack of a better term, quite a process. Because we are at code Bravo (and have been ever since 9/11) and because we were Americans living abroad, there was a LOT of paperwork and security measures to go through. Our social security numbers are stamped on almost everything, so that makes me a little uneasy. Hopefully Uschi (our HR person) doesn’t lose anything! During in-processing we were given a tour of the hotel, told all the rules, filled out a shit ton of paperwork, opened a bank account, got an ID card, got a mailbox, filled out more paperwork and waited a lot. The longest processes were opening a bank account and getting an ID card. My paperwork was messed up and they labeled me as a ‘contractor’ so my ID card has a stripe on it that no one else has…so not only did I wait 3 hours to get the ID card but I now have to go back and do it all over again. Sheesh. After we finally got all that done, we were allowed to go to the shopping area: the PX and the Commissary. At the PX they sell pretty much anything K-Mart would sell, like kitchen appliances, makeup, electronics, clothes, bikes, camping gear, etc. Everything is very fairly priced and I was able to pick up a converter for my electronics, a pot for cooking and a bunch of little stuff that I needed. The Commissary is a grocery store and had anything and everything you would find in the States - but cheaper. The only things that we are rationed on at the Commissary are coffee, tabacco and alcohol. The rest is fair game, and dang it’s cheap! I don’t plan on shopping there a lot because I would love to learn how to cook German food, but when peanut butter is like $2.29 and a bag of chips are $2.16...sheesh it’s hard to pass up. In the States a bag of chips are at least $3.00 now. I bought cereal, stuff to make PB&J and some tofu and brown rice. I figure I’ll wait until we get paid to worry about food.
The Job
I found out what I would be doing in the hotel on my third day in Garmisch. There are three restaurants in the hotel: Zuggy’s, which is a burger joint and bar; Pullman Place, which is an “upscale” restaurant, and Market Station, which is a buffet restaurant that is open 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. Guess where I’m working? Market Station, but of course. I received the job title of “waiter” which basically means I fill food on the line and scrape dishes. I don’t even get the satisfaction of washing the dishes…I simply bring the cart of dishes to the back and scrape the food off (luckily its composted). I’d say the job isn’t as tough as the people that I’m working with, but that’s for another post. HOWEVER, I have talked to the restaurants manager Fred Foley and the executive chef Howard about kitchen positions that are opening up, so hopefully in the next two weeks I’ll know more about my chances of getting a job cooking or baking.
There are a lot more things to talk about, but I think for now this is a good introduction to my new life in Germany. I love Europe, and I already love Germany more than France (shhhhh, don’t tell the Frenchies) because the Germans seem more laid-back AND aren’t stick skinny…so I fit in a lot more. Hehe. I’ll be back to update soon, I promise!
-Kyrie