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The crossing

Meißen, 28th of August

We've had farewell picnics and meals and the mixed feelings of sadness and excitement are becoming overwhelming. We now just want to leave ... but hey, there are those 75 boxes delivered on Wednesday and the removal company is collecting them on Monday! We're going part load. The German Education Authority say they're paying removal costs but I have quickly learnt that it's bound by a thousand rules which will make that pledge either void or take a century to be finalised, so we're doing it "cheaply".

The departure

Our neighbours have been waiting all morning for our departure, but as I pack more and more stuff in the car, it looks like they're in for a long wait. Finally at 2pm I squeeze in the last odd shoe. Heaven knows where the other one is, it will undoubtedly materialise when the whole content of the boot collapses as soon as I open it! We set off under a sea of waving Union Jacks to collect the children from their grandparents. Actually, will they fit into the car?

Ãœberfahrt, Einfahrt, Ausfahrt, crossing, entry, exit

This is it, we are in Germany! The journey included a 10-hour drive in blistering sunshine in a car so packed that we could hardly move and with two children in constant need of entertainment, one of whom is regularly car sick! Fortunately, there's plenty to keep everyone amused on the motorway, from the myriad of giant wind-powered generators which Imogène mistakes for the home of the Teletubbies and the road signs which all seem to be indicating a Fahrt, which actually means "drive"! Not to mention the Bum Bum ice-cream at the service station. The children think Germany is hysterically funny!

³§³¦³ó±ôü²õ²õ±ð±ôü²ú±ð°ù²µ²¹²ú±ð±è°ù´Ç³Ù´Ç°ì´Ç±ô±ô, handing over of keys and inventory

As we cross the old East German border and see the abandoned watch towers, I am reminded of their sinister significance and a rather less funny history.We finally arrive in the evening and my Scottish colleague Iain is waiting for us with our keys, acting out the ³§³¦³ó±ôü²õ²õ±ð±ôü²ú±ð°ù²µ²¹²ú±ð±è°ù´Ç³Ù´Ç°ì´Ç±ô±ô, which is a document defining the formal handing over of the keys of the house. We laughed but we're soon to find out that those Ãœ²ú±ð°ù²µ²¹²ú±ð±è°ù´Ç³Ù´Ç°ì´Ç±ô±ô±ð, "handing over documents" are definitely no laughing matter in Germany!

A dark and empty place

If anyone plans to move and rent a house in Germany, take plenty of spare lights and adaptors. As we are stepping into our dark house, we discover that only live wires hang from the ceiling ... and the electric torch and the candles are somewhere in the car. Fortunately Iain lends us a couple of lamps and finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That's until someone drills through an electric wire three days later!Everyone is completely exhausted, so we're off to bed, feeling a little disorientated in these foreign surroundings and semi-obscurity! Gute Nacht! Schlaft gut, Kinder. Good night. Sleep well, children.

Sent by: Frederic

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