Guten Tag from Munich!

We’ve been Munich residents for a little over a month now, which seems so crazy!

It seems like just yesterday we were waking up in Chicago, excited to board our flight to Munich. The flight from O’Hare to Munich was direct and about 8.5 hours. Our flight was smooth, and the in flight television had some episodes of The Office. I watched three episodes and then slept the rest of the flight.

We planned an evening flight to Europe, that way we could sleep on the plane, land and have a full day ahead. Which we did! Pat’s company assigned us a relocation agent, so we met at the airport, collected our luggage, and she took us to our temporary business apartment. We dropped our bags off and headed directly to Oktoberfest! One of my friends from college currently lives in Munich and invited us to join her and friends at their table in the Hacker Festzelt tent. It was a great way to immerse ourselves in the local culture right off the bat. We had an amazing time and I wrote a whole post about our Oktoberfest experience here. We can’t wait for next year!

Until we found our own place, we stayed in the business apartments. The relocation agent set up all of our apartment viewings and went with us, I do not know what we would have done without her! Apartments are in very high demand in Munich, so it was wonderful to have someone with us who knew the system. We’re very happy in our new place and it feels like home!

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the move, so I thought I would answer them here.

Why are you moving?

Pat’s company offered him the opportunity to gain some international experience and it didn’t take us long to think about it and say YES! Before they approached him with this offer, we had been planning a two week (at most) Europe trip for fall of 2017. I studied abroad in Rome for three months and couldn’t wait to bring Pat to some of my favorite places, but every time I thought about planning a week long trip, I felt a little sad that we would only be there for such a short time.

We thought life is short; rather than daydream with thoughts of far-off adventure, why not make Germany our home for two years and experience some of this world? We absolutely loved our life in Nashville, but we value this incredible opportunity for both professional and personal growth. Yes, we cherish where we are from and love our families. But we also recognize that we wouldn’t get the same growth and adventure by staying comfortable.

How long will you be there?

Two years! We’ll be returning October 2019.

Do you speak German?

No! But we’re hoping to learn! We started Rosetta Stone before we left Nashville and are enrolling in German school here in Munich. However, most people here speak English, so it’s easy to get by with the basics. I’ve also found this podcast to be super helpful.

Will you visit home?

Yes, Pat’s company pays for us both to come back once a year so we will be back in the US at least twice in the next two years. 🙂 In the mean time, we thought a blog would be a great way to stay in touch with everyone. You can read more about that here.

Are you bringing Lola?

DUH. The business apartments were not dog friendly so we could not bring her with us on our initial flight here. She is currently being spoiled with her cousin Rudy at my parents’ house and I am a little worried they will not want to give her back 🙂 We will bring her back to Germany with us when we are in the US this spring.