Relocated to Berlin: Finding Something to Do

I've mentioned this before, but my wife and I have been planning this move to Berlin for over a decade.  I got my MBA back in 2005 as part of my effort to make myself more professionally marketable in Berlin.  We sent our daughter to a German school in the United States for four years to ensure that her transition to a Berlin public school would be as seamless as possible.  But one nut that we could never quite crack while still living in the United States was finding a job in Berlin before we moved over.

This is one of those things that has always driven me absolutely nuts.  We have tons of friends who want nothing more than a quiet life in the American suburbs, when their boss calls them in one morning to tell them that they need to move to some exotic location on the other side of the world.  As I have mentioned before, we would avidly watch House Hunters International, and the "stars" more often than not had neither the desire nor the intent to live overseas, until they got a job transfer that was too good to pass up.  I see no point in jealousy, but I sure did seethe with some mysterious emotion that felt a lot like jealousy.

As for me, I have wanted to live and travel abroad for as long as I can remember.  I got my BA in International Politics because I wanted to live and work abroad.  I built up my professional skills and experience in areas that I thought would give me greater opportunities to work abroad.  I married a woman who shares my love of travel and desire to live and work abroad.  And yet, the one company that provided me the greatest opportunities for professional growth - and to which I dedicated my professional career so far - is also probably the only company in Washington, DC that neither conducted any business further abroad than Windsor, Ontario, nor ever seemed to want to.

God almighty, it was frustrating to be "housebound" to the domestic market!  But the golden handcuffs of a substantial paycheck coming from a successful business is difficult to unlock.

Until the day that I finally ripped them off.

Being a true American, I find that few things focus the mind and motivate efforts more than desperation.  I couldn't dedicate myself fully to finding new work if I was already fully occupied at my old job.  But if I am living solely on savings while trying to find work, I have a strong encouragement to find that work as quickly as possible.  And so, without any idea of how I would find a job in Berlin, I resigned from my old job.  I have skills.  I have experience.  I am ambitious.  And if I may be allowed to brag, I like to think that I am slightly less -ahem- not-so-bright than many people out there (of course, most people think that about themselves, so that probably just makes me about average).  Surely, so I convinced myself, somebody in Berlin would need what I have to offer.

And so, I have hit the ground in Berlin running.  I have been talking to everybody I can find who has any kind of entrepreneurial or business contacts.  I have been seeking out startup businesses that need an experienced manager who can help them expand into the North American market.  I have been seeking out American companies that are expanding operations in Europe, and who need experienced people who are already on the ground here.  I have been contacted about starting a European chapter of a professional association to which I belonged in the U.S.  I have been war gaming my own entrepreneurial ideas.  I have even been working pro bono on a strategy paper for a neighbor of mine who is interested in fielding a new marketing concept in the renewable energy industry.  In the meantime, I send out at least one resume a day in the hope that I can generate some interest.  If life has taught me anything, it is that the biggest opportunities are the ones you least expect, so I have tried to avoid focusing too laser-like on a single career path.  Rather, I have been advertising my skills and experience, and have invited companies to utilize those assets where they think they would be most profitable.

At this point, this job search isn't even about making money (yet).  I have a freelance work visa here in Berlin, so I can do pretty much whatever I want to do from home.  I just miss working in an office with other professionals.

I know there are jobs out there for me in Berlin.  Everybody I talk to says that there are companies here that would trip over themselves to hire me.  The trick is finding them. 

Relocated to Berlin: Signing Up for School

I will admit to not knowing much about the German public school system when we started looking for a place for my daughter to go to school.  For the past four years, my daughter had attended the Deutsche Schule just outside of Washington, DC, and this school follows German standards and curriculum.  But the Deutsche Schule is an exclusive private school that caters to the children of diplomats and Volkswagen/Audi executives, and we would be sending our daughter to a Berlin neighborhood public school.

Our minds were not set at ease when, before we left Washington, our daughter's former Kindergarten teacher warned us that we were making a horrible mistake by not sending our daughter to Berlin's private and exclusive John F. Kennedy School.  While she had never lived nor taught there herself, this teacher said she has friends who live in Berlin who tell her horror stories about Berlin public schools.

At the same time, we had no desire to send our daughter to some private American enclave on the other side of the city.  The whole purpose of our move was to at least try to "go native."  We were tired of long commutes to and from school.  We were tired of our daughter not having any neighborhood friends because she went to a different school from everybody else.  We were determined to go the neighborhood public school route.  If it really turned out to be a disaster, we could always transfer our daughter to JFK or some other private school at some point in the future.

Fortunately, as with public schools around the world, much of whether a school is good or bad depends on the engagement of the parents in the educational process.  In Berlin, all schools receive the same amount of funding per student, regardless of neighborhood or school district.  But some schools are extremely successful, while others fail, because the parents take an active part in supporting the teachers and school administration while pushing their own children to take advantage of their educational opportunities.  Our daughter's school is one of these places where parental involvement has bred success.

Admittedly, it was something of a surprise to visit the school for the first time.  While it would look familiar to anybody who ever attended a Midwestern Catholic parochial school - as both my wife and I have at some point in our lives - with ancient red brick walls, heavily worn stone staircases, and Spartan looking decor, it was a far cry from our daughter's former digs.  Her "new" school was built between 1873 and 1877, making it one of the oldest remaining elementary school buildings in Berlin (although it was renovated in 2006).  Unlike the bucolic suburban splendor of her previous school, her new school has no green space to speak of - although the classes do make regular trips to some spectacular local parks if the kids need to run around more than the sandy school playground allows.

Perhaps the most stark reminder that our daughter is not going to a suburban private school in the United States any more comes from the lyrics of her new school's official school song.  I clearly remember my own school's official song waxing poetic about the waving school colors.  Our daughter's new school's song reminisces over how the children used to have to "stand firm" for the Kaiser, about how they would have to learn how to dodge falling bombs to get to school, and about how they tasted freedom for the first time - just 24 years ago - when the Wall fell.

Despite the stark differences, our daughter loves her new school.  She has teachers who challenge her.  She has friends from all over the world with whom she can visit regularly after school.  Her new school is even in the process of building a brand new gymnasium which is scheduled to open in the fall.  As parents, my wife and I could not be happier.

Relocating to Berlin: Packing for The Great Migration

I would like to start by apologizing to my dozens (handful?  couple?) of readers for not posting in such a long time.  On July 23 (just over a month ago), my family and I packed up the house, locked the door, drove to the airport, and left the world that we knew behind.  It has taken us this long to get Internet.

Now that we are here in Berlin, and are more or less established, I will make a flurry of posts to describe the moving experience, and to try to bring everybody up to date on what all has been going on for the past month.  I may occasionally have to refer to my notes, as they have been action packed days.

Way back on July 9, the movers came.  On July 10, they came again.  Over those two days, everything that we were keeping, but that we thought we could live without for the next 4-6 weeks, was wrapped up and crammed into a shipping container.  A word to the wise: unless you move internationally on a regular basis or are in the military, if you think you know what you can live without for 4-6 weeks, you are wrong.

Granted, my wife, daughter, and I were each limited to one suitcase and one carry-on bag, so our choices of what to ship and what to carry would probably have been about the same.  But we quickly realized what we find important in our day to day lives.

First:  Bedding.  We were selling our old master bedroom set and a futon with our old house, so we all could sleep at least moderately comfortably until the day we left our house.  But pillows and blankets take up a lot of space, so they had to be shipped.  Let me just say, no matter how warm it is or how much you think you can live without a pillow, if a pillow and blanket are what you are used to sleeping with, not having them is misery. 

Second:  Pots and pans.  Anybody who has ever met me can tell immediately that I like to eat out in restaurants.  Anybody who has ever been to Berlin can tell you that the city is full of excellent and cheap(!!!!) restaurants.  But eating at restaurants three meals a day for four weeks gets really old really fast.  My wife and I became experts in finding foods that could be prepared at home with little more than a paper plate and a plastic spoon.  Frozen pizzas are excellent.  Cold cereal is another good option.  After a week, my wife bought a slow cooker (all of our American appliances had to stay behind), so we had lots of soups with very roughly cut (broken, torn, pulled apart) vegetables and little seasoning beyond salt.

Third:  Office machines.  From the moment that we landed in Berlin, everybody has been requesting that we e-mail scans of documents; passports, registration permits, residency documents, insurance statements, bank account statements, etc. ad nauseum.  The problem was, we had no Internet, no scanner, no printer, and the one laptop that we brought with us only had some files that we needed on the hard drive.  Everybody who provided us with services needed payment via bank transfer (that is the primary way that everybody gets paid in Germany).  But without Internet access we couldn't get onto our bank's website.  If we took the laptop to an Internet cafe, we would also need to bring all of our written PIN numbers, passwords, and security question answers (to understand why, you need to experience German online banking first-hand) with us, which we decided was far too insecure on an open network.  If we went into our bank in person, the account ATMs are only in German, and few of the tellers speak enough English to help us.  The mobile application that we accessed using our iPhones is worse than useless.  And God help you if you try to call your personal banker on the telephone (yeah, we've got one of those).  I'm still on hold for a question I had three weeks ago!

As it turns out, it only took about one month for all of our things to arrive at our new apartment in Berlin.  Our first night with blankets and pillows was the best night's sleep I have had in years.  Just the simple act of cooking pasta is a joy.  As for the office machines. . . well, that took a little longer.  But I'll talk about that later.

Relocating to Berlin: House Hunting

Hello, and welcome to our House Hunt in Berlin.  My wife and I had one week in Berlin to look for a place to live after our relocation at the end of July.  We had a list of priorities:

1)  Walking distance to our daughter's school in Prenzlauer Berg;
2)  Three bedrooms (Master bedroom, bedroom for our daughter, and a spare bedroom/home office);
3)  Balcony, deck, or other outdoor space;
4)  Fitted kitchen;
5)  At least two bathrooms;
6)  Pet friendly.

And our budget was capped at €2,500/month utilities included, although the lower the better. 

The Choices:

House 1:  "Leafy Luxury"
Our first stop was to a building on a quiet tree-lined cobble-stoned side street in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood.  From the street, the building is beautiful and fresh looking.  As an interior building, we have to be buzzed through the street facing building into an interior courtyard, where we then walk to the building where the apartment is located, where we are buzzed in again.  The apartment is on the 5th story of a 5-story building, has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, two large balconies, and a roof deck with a spectacular view of downtown Berlin.  The building was originally constructed in 1897, but was completely renovated and refurbished in 2007.  The fitted kitchen is small but modern.  The bedrooms and balconies are spacious.  But the ultimate moment in visiting this apartment is the walk up the private stairway to the private roof deck.  This massive outdoor area has breathtaking views of downtown Berlin, including my personal favorite part of the Berlin skyline: the Fernsehturm.

House 1 is two blocks from our daughter's school, and has two wine shops, half a dozen restaurants, and a grocery store within steps of our front door.  Other great features of House 1 are an elevator, bright skylights, air conditioning (!!!!!), and underground parking.  As we will not have a car, we have the option of sub-leasing this parking space to help to mitigate the rent.  The trick is that the current occupants have a lease that extends through August 31, over one month after we arrive in Berlin.

Size:  1,654 sq. ft.
Price:  €2,228/month all-inclusive


House 2:  "Gated Glamor"

Our second stop was to a very unique "English Townhouse" development in the space left by the former turn of the previous century Schneider Brewery.  This small gated community, built in 2007, consists of a number of loft-style apartments and three-level townhouses.  House 2 was one of these townhouses, and consists of three bedrooms on the top two levels, including a beautiful but cramped master bedroom that includes a fireplace, steam shower for two (or more), and massive bathtub.  Behind the house is a small but pretty yard with grass and a tiny fish pond.  On top of the house - up a terrifying exterior spiral staircase - is a roof deck that has an even more spectacular view than that at House 1.  With heated floors, air conditioning, pre-wired surround sound, centrally controlled lighting, and a fitted kitchen with premium appliances, House 2 is a luxurious dream home in a central Berlin area.

House 2 is also two blocks from our daughter's school, although she would have to cross busy Greifswalder Straße to get there.  The development has a private playground and a water fountain in which the many kids in the neighborhood can play.  However, the development is somewhat controversial in that it is a gated community consisting primarily of expatriates that is both physically and socially segregated from the surrounding neighborhood.  The house also has both garage and on-street parking, which we can use for overflow storage.  The trick is that the owner - who currently lives in Munich - will be returning to Berlin in 2016, so this would be a 3 year lease at the most.

Size:   1,518 sq. ft.
Price:  €2,450/month all-inclusive


House 3:  "Gritty Greifswalder"
Our third stop was a work in progress.  By this point, we were used to the transitional nature of Prenzlauer Berg, where old bullet-scarred, leaky, working-class tenements are being renovated to become luxury flats for Berlin's new entrepreneurial class.  But when we walked up to House 3 on the still fairly rough looking Greifswalder Straße, we felt more than a little underwhelmed.  The building is covered from top to bottom in scaffolding and tarpaulins, while legions of tradesmen are everywhere hammering, plastering, painting, and sanding.  With considerable caution, we picked our way through the construction debris, up the dusty stairs in an interior building, toward the 3rd story apartment in a 6-story building.  What we saw when we finally opened the door was jaw-dropping.  This former industrial "altbau" (old construction) building has been converted into beautiful flats.  High ceilings, beautifully restored original hardwood floors, and vaulted windows are matched with an ultra-modern kitchen, sunny balconies, and three spacious bedrooms.

House 3 is just around the corner from our daughter's school, and while it is on busy Greifswalder Straße, she would not have to cross it to get to school.  Construction on the front building and the common areas is expected to continue until the end of 2013, during which time rent would be reduced by 20% to compensate for the dust and inconvenience.  Unlike House 1, House 3 is available almost immediately (following some final painting touch-ups).  Unlike House 2, House 3 has an open ended lease term.  While House 3 is the smallest of the three options, it is also by far the least expensive.

Size:  1,393 sq. ft.
Price:  €1,596/month all-inclusive, not including temporary 20% reduction


The Decision:

As is customary in the House Hunt, one choice of the three has to be eliminated.  Despite its appeal on paper, my wife and I looked at each other and immediately crossed House 2 off of our list.  The rooms seemed small or poorly laid out.  The master bathroom and the master bedroom were combined into one big room - although the toilet was mercifully placed in its own room.  The climb to the roof deck was terrifying, even when sober.  However, what really disqualified House 2 was the fact that it is in a gated community.  The whole purpose of our move to Berlin is to live like Berliners and to be a part of the urban community.  We could never feel that way if there is a gate separating us from our new neighbors.

The choice between Houses 1 and 3 was slightly more difficult, but only slightly.  House 1 is on a beautiful quiet street, has a stunning view, has loads of outdoor space, and has large well laid out rooms.  House 3 is spacious, is well laid out, and is significantly less expensive.  But House 3 is also on a very busy street without much personality, and as a mid-story apartment, it has no view to speak of.  Perhaps just as important to consider, House 3 is available immediately upon our arrival in Berlin, while House 1 is potentially not available until over a month after we arrive.  However, while I could settle for House 3, House 1 is everything that I always wanted when moving to Berlin.


The Aftermath:

My wife and I applied for both House 1 and House 3 in order to ensure that we got at least one of our choices, but we told our relocation agent that House 1 was our first choice.  After providing extensive proof of income and financial history, House 1 agreed verbally to our offer to sign a lease.  A week after reaching this verbal agreement, we are still waiting to sign the official lease.  We are assured that this delay is primarily due to it being summer vacation time in Berlin - a time when forward progress on any business slows to a crawl, if it doesn't come to a complete stop.  In the end, it turns out that the timing of our move may not be as big an issue as we had first feared.  The current tenants of House 1 already have a lease on their new residence, and they want to get out as soon as possible so that they do not have to pay rent for two homes.  If they had their choice, we could move in now.  The question is whether the landlord will let us move in early, as it is traditional for the outgoing tenant to re-paint and repair any damage to walls or appliances they caused, and the landlord may want to ensure that the apartment doesn't degrade too much if that work isn't done in-between tenants.

As far as I am concerned, the game is over but for the shouting.  Our furniture was moved out of our Washington, DC house yesterday, and is on its way to House 1 to arrive on August 3, whether we are there or not to receive it.  As with many things in this relocation, we cope with issues as they arise.  But at least we have made the most difficult and consequential choice of this relocation process so far.  That feels pretty good!