Christina before Germany
On May 14, 2002, I stepped off a plane at Berlin’s Tegel airport to find out that Air France had missrouted 3 out of 4 of my bags. And that’s how my life in Germany began.
Christina after Germany
JUST KIDDING!
(kinda)
In the beginning, we lived in a two room 60qm apartment on Muthesiusstrasse in Berlin-Steglitz. I barely spoke any German, and the Schloßstraße shop employees liked to pretend that they didn’t understand the little that I could speak. I had a long commute to work in Berlin-Wedding, and was attending German evening classes three nights a week at the Goethe Institut near Hackescher Markt. After a long summer of searching, during which my belongings stayed in storage, we finally found our dream place, a three room palace near the Berliner Ensemble.
While it stayed warm, I bicycled to work, then bicycled over to Hackescher Markt to continue my evening German courses, something my boss thought was completely insane (the bicycling on Friedrichstrasse, not the courses). After six months, my colleagues said my time was up and after that, there was very little English chit chat at work. It was tough (really tough), but it worked and I went from nothing to speaking German pretty well in less than a year (it also helped that I got every cold, flu and stomach ailment possible that first year and none of my former East German doctors spoke English).
I gained the Expat 20 that first year (20 pounds, that is), and kept gaining that Expat 20 over again the next few years. It’s now five years later and I’ve found my place in Germany. Before Oliver came along, I even managed to lose one of those Expat years.
Rainer says I am different. I am Germanizing. I don’t complain nearly as much (although there are still days when I can talk his ear off), and I seem to finally have the hang of how most things work here. By golly, I’m so comfortable with the medical system now that I was finally willing to get pregnant.
Christina today @ 30 weeks
Rainer asked me what I wanted to do today. I answered, “Let’s go to Austria!” Unfortunately, he had to work, otherwise I thought it would have been great to celebrate five years by leaving the country, maybe we’ll just go to that French restaurant Heza recommended instead. 
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
awww. look at you a proudly pregnant mum at her fifth german anniversary. what could be better than that! *hugs you*
Strike a pose!
Exciting times! Congratulations!!! If only my German would improve that quickly!
i can only admire you. i am a year and a half behind you and didn’t have to struggle as much with the language. congrats on 5 years and best wishes for the upcoming big day.
@rita: *hugs back!*
@maria: It’s hard not to improve if there’s almost no one to speak English to you!
@ann: Thanks, Ann. So were you already fluent when you came over then?
After my husband complained so much about living over there, I am still amazed that there are Americans living there for years.
You can be proud of yourself of having accomplished so much. I couldn’t imagine going to live in a country where I don’t speak the language. That takes a lot of courage.
Sweet pictures! (Well, except for Kevin) And congratulations on making it through 5 years. I know it’s not always easy. My husband also sometimes tells me I’ve become “Germanized”, but he doesn’t usually mean it as a complement.
It’ll be 17 years this July since I stepped off the plane. Oooog.
You look great! Losing your luggage was certaintly a rough start to say the least. You seem to be surviving, and dare I say, even enjoying becoming “German”.
You’ve definitely got that glow….You look beautiful:+)
@bek: Aww shucks, now I’m *blushing*
@christina: Wow, 17 years! I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to stick it out for that long
@andrea: Thanks Andrea, not sure if I’m *enjoying* my Germanization, though! Eh okay, maybe just a little bit!
@schokolade madchen: Now you guys are embarassing me!
As a newbie just one year in, it’s good to see that after five you didn’t immediately trash all things German. I also want to know how you went about losing one of your expat years? My first year saw me pile on (ick, I flinch even typing it 38 lbs). If could lose even a quarter of a year, I’d be a happy camper!
Hi Christina.
Looks like we have some things in common besides the mouse. I have/had an Oliver, too, and he was born after I was five years here.
Oops, almost forgot, the Expat 20 too. But for me it was like the Expat 50. Ouch.
@eurotrippen: I wish I had some weight loss secret, but alas, I don’t. I just seemed to lose weight instead of gain it last year. I did join a dog walking group about the same time, so I was taking longer walks than I normally did. And I switched to Bio-products cause I wanted to get pregnant.
@lisa: That’s so cool, I love the name Oliver (clearly!). And it wasn’t just 20 total for me, it was (I hate saying this) 20 per year for 4 years. Ack.
I went to the same Institute in Wedding when I lived in Berlin. I lived not far away in Moabit so walked there daily. Berlin and Potsdam are truly wonderful places.
No, actually not the same institute, a little confused, but it was in Wedding anyway. :p
@beaman: I think I know which institute you mean. I love Berlin and Potsdam. They really are great cities.