[Suggested music for reading this blog - Kevin Rudolph's "Let it Rock"]
The nesting process has begun. I wouldn't say my apartment is ready to live in yet, given the absence of essentials like a kitchen, a bed, and lights. But it is definitely at the status of a camp site with bathroom facilities -- except no fires are allowed (more on fire in a later blog). So I consider it livable. And I really just want to move into my neighborhood.
One of the events that was pivotal to my ability to move in was the arrival of my air shipment, which was delivered on Friday morning. One of the air shipment boxes contained my camping kit -- air mattress, pillow, sheets, blanket, towels and screwdrivers to help with set-up of whatever I might buy. Imagine my surprise and something not quite at the level of delight when I opened the box marked "AIR BED PARTS" on the outside. Which I assumed meant air mattress and related stuff. Um, not so much. It was literally parts for my bed which was not going by air but by sea. Which left me without the pivot of the pivotal event. I was not about to be deterred from moving into my place, though. So I headed out to Mann Mobilia that night to buy an air mattress. Apparently it's not a common item here. They didn't really understand what I was asking for and starting bringing hypoallergenic mattress covers, feather beds, and other interesting items. I also tried to find sporting goods/camping areas of stores with equally fruitless results. So I did what anyone looking for disposable furniture on the cheap would do. I went to IKEA.
Now, IKEA didn't have air mattresses either, but they did have an inexpensive mattress that is about four inches thick and was rolled up (yes, rolled) into a bag that looked like a double-wide sleeping bag. I was touching the one in the store and it seemed like it was something more than just foam and should do the trick. And then I attempted to buy a pillow, blanket, and sheets for said mattress. Pillow was fine -- it also came tightly rolled up in a bag and is a rather oblong shape. Sheets and blanket were a bit trickier because I had forgotten that blankets as I know them aren't really used here -- it's more of an issue of duvets in various thicknesses (all of which are too hot for my liking, but they are soooo comfy). So I got an inexpensive one that didn't seem too thick. Sheets are also a bit different. You have a bottom sheet and then a duvet cover but the duvet cover essentially IS your top sheet. So I got what appeared to be a sheet set which I hoped would have everything. Alas, duvet cover is sold separately. But at least I have a place to sleep now!
I did not, however, have a place to sit in my place (unless you count the toilets, bathtub surround, or the window ledges). So I checked out IKEA's finest (and cheapest) and got some sort of weird aluminum frame with fabric (Priser blue, of course) stretched taut over the frame that was kind of a rocker. Um, I still don't really have a place to sit because the last part does not fit. It's like an inch too wide and I have tried everything possible to force it in. Frustrating. So on my Saturday night trip to IKEA I bought a squarish ottoman that I think might work well as temporary seating while I'm staring at the other unfinished chair and swearing at IKEA.
Perhaps the most exciting purchase was that of a washer and dryer. I was at Media Markt (which I think I have mentioend before) which has the largest selection of kitchen appliances I have seen so far. I was wandering around the washers and dryers when a salesperson walked up to me. She was very German looking -- probably in her 50s, well dressed, and I think handsome would be an appropriate word to describe her; the very type of Germans I hope to one day hang out with. Anyway, she said hello and a stream of German that I assume must have been asking me whether I needed assistance. I hadn't thought this far ahead and essentially asked for a washing machine and dryer the same way I ask for coffee every morning, which probably wasn't spot on but it was worth a try and I might get extra credit for having tried before asking whether she spoke English. "Ich mochte eine Waschmaschine und eine Trockner. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" She said she didn't speak English and kept right on going, asking whether I wanted a combined washer and dryer or if I wanted two separate machines. So...we did the entire deal in German, including going over the features of each and scheduling delivery. She did ask an English-speaking colleague to help input my address information for delivery, but otherwise it was my first major German transaction. I was quite pleased.
While I don't feel the need to have TV service immediately, I can't imagine being at the new place without some means of playing music without the aid of headphones. There is a cool iPod dock here in the hotel room that I really like and is not like most of the ones in the US (e.g. the Bose dock, the little iHome alarm clock things, or that weird JBL O thing) and actually looks nice (versus looking like black, silver or white painted metal), so I thought I'd buy one of them. I couldn't find that model and only saw a bunch of painted metal stuff and some plastic ones, none of which seemed appropriate. So I moved on to the upper level of the store (a Best Buy-like kind of placed called Saturn, but not to be confused with the car of the same name) to check out phone sets for the landline (I ended up getting a cool pair of Siemens phones; no bribes were involved nor did I receive preferential conditions -- auditors will understand this). I heard some kids start playing around with some music played quite loudly and looked over to their area. The computer area. Hmmm.... So when they left, I checked it out.
There was an entire aisle of nothing but speakers for computers, which wasn't that interesting other than that a large share of them also had subwoofers. Apparently it's for the ultimate gaming experience, which I wouldn't know about, but a lot of them also had direct connections for MP3 players. So I got a Hercules system with some funky wavy speakers and a subwoofer with a dock for the iPod. For €59. Take that JBL and Bose! And the sound is truly amazing, even when the speakers are just perched on a bunch of boxes since there is no table (woofer is on the floor, obviously). I just can't believe I had never seen something like this before -- probably just wasn't in the market, not being a gamer and all. Rock on!
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