Unfettered

Last week I accomplished two major milestones, the purchase of a bicycle to increase my exploration radius and my registration with the local town hall.  One of my colleagues who is a native German recommended  ebay-kleinanzeigen  as the most reliable craigslist alternative. I'd been keeping an eye on the bikes available  over the weekend and on Monday I plucked up the courage to reach out to one of the sellers. He responded promptly so I set off across town to give it a test drive. This was also my first time riding the subway which was uneventful aside from the first ticket machine not taking my money. The seller was about my height which was a positive sign as to the provenance of the bike. I was only able to give it a short test drive since the spokes on the back wheel were shot but he ended up giving me a discount so I took the bike back on the subway. I dropped it off at one of the local bike shops  which are thankfully allowed to stay open during the lockdown and by Tuesday

 It's been nearly two weeks since I arrived so why not start off with a little reflection. The first week here was more of a mental challenge than I expected. Not being able to leave the apartment combined with suddenly living by myself caused me plenty of second guessing. Was moving to a city where I know essentially nobody a good idea? Will I be able to meet people? Should I have picked a more suburban apartment closer to the larger parks? Luckily weekends include video calls with my family and games with the Marengo Boys both of which help immensely with mental resilience. This past week I was better able focus at work and start enjoying the experience of exploring the city. I'm still settling on my weekday routine since my morning meetings have all become evening meetings. My lunchtime walk has become a morning walk and grocery investigation since that's really all that is open. By the time lockdown lets up I expect I'll have visited every grocery store in a mile ra

 Woo Hoo!! I did not catch Covid on my trip so I'm allowed to leave the apartment.  Yesterday I walked up to the Deutsches Museum where they commandeered a courtyard for Covid tests. The tests are free for Munich residents and a coworker who also recently relocated told me he had no problem getting a free test with just his passport. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for me. The first person I talked to said I needed a resident permit. I said I needed the covid test to get a resident permit, a bit of a catch 22. I tried showing him the Wohnungsgeberbestaetigung (Landlord confirmation of rental) but he said that was handwritten so it wouldn't count.  I really didn't want to pay €120 for something that should be free or ride out another 5 days of isolation, so I tried to plead my case. The guy suggested I try talking to one of the other reception people since maybe they wouldn't be such sticklers. I went back to the front of the tent and was directed to a different c

Well I made it! I've spent the week working and trying to get over jet lag so apologies for the delayed post. The flight, immigration, customs, and the taxi ride to my apartment all went smoothly. This had the side effect of making me an hour early for my key exchange appointment so I sat outside and watched people go by. It's a busy intersection so plenty to watch. I couldn't wander far though since I had my pile of luggage to keep an eye on.  Though the flight was uneventful I did have a unique experience on landing as we pulled up and circled around due to unfavorable wind conditions. In must have been based on instrument readings since the approach didn't feel out of the ordinary. The upside of this was circling around and getting a better view of the city.  I spoke too soon in my previous post about the pandemic flying experience. Though the domestic terminal felt like a normal quiet flying day the international terminal was a ghost town. The central concourse felt