Lockdown Purgatory

Upon our arrival in Germany, we were sentenced to lockdown purgatory. At first it was light, but with the rise in cases and the winter holidays approaching, lockdown turned hard. The light lockdown allowed small gatherings in homes and we could enter stores. Under the stricter guidelines, only essential businesses like supermarkets were open. For other goods, we could order items for pick-up or takeout, but couldn't return anything (like the lighting fixtures now collecting dust in our closet).

Our first three weeks in Germany were subject to a tiny temporary apartment, with a mildew bathroom and no place to relax, besides the paper-thin twin sized mattresses. I finished The Crown and tried to fall asleep to the sounds of people conversing loudly in the parking lot outside our window, often until the sun rose.

We did have the keys to our new apartment, that echoed with the void of a place unlived. The penthouse, with the fresh sheetrock scent, had been vacant while we waited in America for our work visas. We had so much to set up (internet, electricity, radio tax, etc.), that we were possibly a little too hasty in our need to leave the mildew apartment and transition to our rental. The new apartment lacked a kitchen, lighting fixtures and bathroom mirrors, not to mention furniture. Apparently, in the part of Germany we are residing, it is common to move with or install a new kitchen.

After work, we would travel to IKEA, and test the strength of our relationship, compromising on our differences in style, to fill our new home with a couch and bed. Our good friend sent us an InstaPot as a housewarming gift, where we boiled canned soup and rice on the floor, for about a month. Yes, we were roughing it.

Around that time, our air-shipment arrived with a small amount of goods. The quality of life vastly improved with the addition of a folding table, camping chairs, cooking utensils and Payden's beloved taxidermy duckling. Upgrade! We continued to work from home, using cardboard boxes and suitcases as desks. Occasionally, we would take the train in to the office and bike the last 2 kilometers. The apocalyptic feel of the office sometimes made it a bit unbearable if you were alone all day, viewing calendars marked March 2020.

Due to the pandemic, like many people across the world, we spent Christmas with just each other. With the allotted time off, we decided to travel to Switzerland for the holidays rather than attempt to dwell in a kitchenless accommodation. I will write about the Swiss adventures some other day, but we were grateful to actually eat in a restaurant and cook on countertops (what a novel idea). Once we returned from our winter escapade, we scraped by for another kitchenless week and finally received a massive IKEA delivery.

The much anticipated drop-off was not taken to the fifth floor, as promised, but rather the lobby. The delivery person ranted to me about the broken elevator and how there wasn't enough time allocated for them to do more, so they filled our lobby and fled. Payden and I carried our entire kitchen up five flights of stairs, as our morning exercise. Luckily, the kitchen installation technicians arrived to help with the fridge and oven, because our height inequity made the awkwardly shaped items a bit difficult to carry. Two days later, we had a functioning kitchen with temporary countertops, which is a whole different rant I shall avoid, in an attempt to keep you captivated. Having lived in outdated rentals throughout my entire adulthood, an oven that maintains a constant temperature was and is, a dream come true.

In early February, our sea shipment arrived with our American mattress and desks! The elevator was broken but the delivery team was amazing, they finished carrying everything up all the flights of stairs before lunchtime. It took Payden and I two weeks to unbox and assemble furniture, but in these unprecedented times, the distraction was welcome. So here we are, almost six months into our two year expat experience. We have a nearly complete kitchen, a weekly Settlers of Catan tournament with a new friend, have biked around nearby cities and can functionally navigate a German supermarket. This was not the experience we anticipated but we are hopeful that as the country progresses vaccinations, we can experience more of the culture.