Let me tell you about the apartment...

It seemed so simple…look at a few apartments, narrow the choice down to a few, and then select one by placing a contract on it. Nothing could have been further from the truth. OK, so it is apparently a tight housing market, but nothing prepared us for the searching we would need to do just to find place to live. All that said, we are settling into our new apartment, with each day being a new learning experience. Furniture has arrived and the unloading of boxes continues. Home sweet home with a slight Asian twist.

We live in a lovely area of Duesseldorf known as Oberkassel. A quaint tram is about a 10 minute walk from the apartment and does travel quite a few places in the city. We are literally across the street from the Rhine river, and this is perfect for running, biking, or walking. Nothing more picturesque than running along the Rhine…yes, I have taken full advantage of this stress reducing perk. Our neighborhood is very lovely, and it is a charming place to live. We do have grocery stores, post office, dry cleaners, banks, apothecary shops (i.e. pharmacy for you US folks) all within a 10-15 minute walk. Bottom line: if you don’t like to walk, you are in trouble. There is also a GREAT Mexican food restaurant in our neighborhood…funny how the radar just honed in on that so soon.

The apartment itself is a 2-bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment with a large living room as well as a kitchen/dining area. Both sides of the apartment have very nice sized balconies so that extends the living areas quite nicely. We currently do not have these areas as functional living spaces, but that is the project for early summer. We are on the 1st floor, which is above the ground level, so we are really on the 2nd floor, if that makes sense. This apartment has fairly nice sized kitchen cabinets, built-in bookcases in the living room, and a walk-in closet that we created to house our clothing. Suffice to say, though, storage space in German apartments is at a premium

For those of you who have not received emails reliving the startling truth about apartments in Germany…laugh along with me:

1) We waited 2 weeks for phone and DSL...the technology and PC/router/modem configurations are different from anything we ever saw in the US, Korea, and Taiwan (of course they are). Apparently, three phone lines run out of one telephone outlet, but every time we attempted to dial any one of the three phones, all the telephones rang. We subsequently learned through the painful "trial and error" method of overseas living that the phones, modems, and fax machines all have to be programmed so that the right phone number rings on the correct piece of equipment. That includes programming your modem/router with your internet provider’s IP address, your user name, and password. Six weeks later and we have mostly figured out the phones, voicemail, and call waiting features, albeit in German. Ah…German engineering….:)

2) Laundry day takes on a whole new meaning….After being informed we had "cellar space” to put in our own separate washer and dryer units, we discovered that was not the case. Apparently, there is one communal washer and one dryer for the entire apartment to use. On top of that, apparently no laundry can be done in the “communal washing” area on Sundays or holidays because the machines are too loud. Now, it was not lost on Buddy that the laundry unit is right next to the boiler that pops so loudly when it comes on that folks in Texas could hear it.

So, we decided to opt for the “combination washer/dryer unit” (one unit) to be installed in our kitchen. The installation was not a simple process: Step 1: Polish contractor guy rips out a kitchen cabinet so that the unit could be installed. Step 2: Second guy delivers the machine. Step 3: Third guy comes to the apartment to adjust factory settings. Step 4: (you will notice, the unit is still not operational) Fourth guy arrives at the apartment to hook up the plumbing and hoses.

Ever used a combo washer/dryer? I know Mike, Matt, as well as the Krauses can relate. The unit can wash 6 kilos (10 pounds) in one load (little tiny area). Takes 1.5 hours to do one load. Then, the dryer can only dry 3 kilos at one time. Dryer time - 1.5 to 2 hours a load. Now, what good is it to be able to wash 6 kilos but then only be able to dry 3 kilos? One load of laundry: 3 hours. We are told it is due to “energy-saving” features that while the load takes longer to complete, it is more energy-efficient. To which I quip…"it is not more efficient for my energy". Go figure….

3) In Germany, kitchens are not typically included in the apartment. When I say “kitchen”, I mean sink, cabinets, stove, oven, countertops, cooktop, etc….it is basically an empty shell of a room. Light fixtures, bathroom mirrors, medicine cabinets are all extras that one purchases for the apartment. The one blessing about the apartment we did rent is that the kitchen was already installed, thereby saving us the hassle of putting in kitchen.

Well, if that hasn’t bored you, come back to read more…I’ll be trying to give you a flavor of life in Germany over the next few weeks, and hopefully my tales can turn to travel rather than housekeeping woes.