Monday morning, first thing I marched down to the city public offices to register myself. The cities in Germany sounds much more autonomous compared to cities in the US. It is interesting to me that I need to register with the city of Stuttgart and not with Baden-Wurttenburg or the National Government.
Anyway, the process was very simple. To talk to a city service person, you push a button and take a number. When your number is called, you go up to the counter lit up beside your number. There is a lot of stamping of documents and making copies in Germany, but at least its relatively transparent and straightforward. And everyone I dealt with was nice. Despite knowing nothing about what I needed to do apart from coming with an address and a passport, I was able to get the document I needed.
Afterwards, I took the bus to my new office. I knew coming in that 42 and 44 both worked and I had a map, so I just hopped on. I stumbled in the starting block though, trying to stammer out "Heisenhofstrasse" but the driver patiently let me try a few times before asking me for a basic fare. I just need to remember "ein zonen, bitte" (one zone). It was nice to ride the bus through the city, to get a feel from the street level of what is going on.
I actually had a lot of hesitation going in. I needed to stop by and fill out some paperwork, but I was also coming in wearing my sneakers and jeans. At least I had a button down shirt on. I began to wonder if I should just bail and put on something nice to come in the next day.
Actually, I could have, since I'd been instructed to come in sometime monday or tuesday.
The bus dropped me near the office, which is close to the top of one of the hills which ring the city. It's almost entirely houses with an odd private business mixed in. It's going to be slim pickings (if any) for lunchtime. Which could be good for my body and my wallet if I have to make my own lunch every day. I found the office, ringed with a tall wooden clad wall. I steeled my nerves and rang the buzzer.
The gate buzzed open and then another, and I was inside the office. It was a light and airy kind of space, minimal, sleek, modern, monochrome. There was a guy standing at the desk with a receptionist. They looked at me expectantly. "Guten tag," I managed, "I'm Alec, Alec Perkins."
"Ah! Welcome!" the gentleman answered brightly. He was Jochen, who had been handling all of the paperwork for me. He was a very nice guy and we chatted over the different documents for the office.
Afterwards, I was grabbed by Leo, the Argentine architect who pulled me in to a conference room and started explaining a project for a competition they were doing. Two engineers arrived, and the conference room quickly filled up. Leo had grabbed me a black notebook, so I took notes quietly and basically stood in the back of the room scribbling occasional notes, mostly words in German that my ears picked up but I didn't really understand. I tried, in other words, not to look like a total uncomprehending idiot while the discussion proceeded in German.
One of the other office architects motioned me out of the meeting and I joined him and a small group apparently for lunch. He was a very nice architect named Luis, a spaniard, and we found that it was easiest and most pleasant to simply converse in Spanish as we walked out into a light rain. Jochen drove, Luis got shotgun, and the rest of us junior staff- four of us, jammed into the back seat for the ride to lunch at the cafeteria of Deutsche Bank, where the office has special dining privileges.
Anyway, the process was very simple. To talk to a city service person, you push a button and take a number. When your number is called, you go up to the counter lit up beside your number. There is a lot of stamping of documents and making copies in Germany, but at least its relatively transparent and straightforward. And everyone I dealt with was nice. Despite knowing nothing about what I needed to do apart from coming with an address and a passport, I was able to get the document I needed.
Afterwards, I took the bus to my new office. I knew coming in that 42 and 44 both worked and I had a map, so I just hopped on. I stumbled in the starting block though, trying to stammer out "Heisenhofstrasse" but the driver patiently let me try a few times before asking me for a basic fare. I just need to remember "ein zonen, bitte" (one zone). It was nice to ride the bus through the city, to get a feel from the street level of what is going on.
I actually had a lot of hesitation going in. I needed to stop by and fill out some paperwork, but I was also coming in wearing my sneakers and jeans. At least I had a button down shirt on. I began to wonder if I should just bail and put on something nice to come in the next day.
Actually, I could have, since I'd been instructed to come in sometime monday or tuesday.
The bus dropped me near the office, which is close to the top of one of the hills which ring the city. It's almost entirely houses with an odd private business mixed in. It's going to be slim pickings (if any) for lunchtime. Which could be good for my body and my wallet if I have to make my own lunch every day. I found the office, ringed with a tall wooden clad wall. I steeled my nerves and rang the buzzer.
The gate buzzed open and then another, and I was inside the office. It was a light and airy kind of space, minimal, sleek, modern, monochrome. There was a guy standing at the desk with a receptionist. They looked at me expectantly. "Guten tag," I managed, "I'm Alec, Alec Perkins."
"Ah! Welcome!" the gentleman answered brightly. He was Jochen, who had been handling all of the paperwork for me. He was a very nice guy and we chatted over the different documents for the office.
Afterwards, I was grabbed by Leo, the Argentine architect who pulled me in to a conference room and started explaining a project for a competition they were doing. Two engineers arrived, and the conference room quickly filled up. Leo had grabbed me a black notebook, so I took notes quietly and basically stood in the back of the room scribbling occasional notes, mostly words in German that my ears picked up but I didn't really understand. I tried, in other words, not to look like a total uncomprehending idiot while the discussion proceeded in German.
One of the other office architects motioned me out of the meeting and I joined him and a small group apparently for lunch. He was a very nice architect named Luis, a spaniard, and we found that it was easiest and most pleasant to simply converse in Spanish as we walked out into a light rain. Jochen drove, Luis got shotgun, and the rest of us junior staff- four of us, jammed into the back seat for the ride to lunch at the cafeteria of Deutsche Bank, where the office has special dining privileges.
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