The Saga of the Landlady

I have been terribly remiss in getting blog posts out.  I have been kept overly busy with an issue regarding our landlady.  Unfortunately it has sucked up both my time and added enough stress to make it a bit difficult to post a bright and cheery perspective on an outing (which I probably did not have time to make anyway).

So, just to fill in anyone who doesn't already know, I thought I would share a short description of our trials and tribulations with the crazy landlady.  I think it could be amusing to those not here and living it, I can actually laugh at it in between stressing over it even now.

We have lived in the same apartment (a 4 story home at the end of a row of six; the other five are all owner occupied) since moving here in February 2009.  Our rent is paid on time, automatically, every month and we pretty much never trouble the landlady for anything.  In the first four years we were here we only asked her to sign a form once a year that the immigration office needed to renew our lease (it says we live here and how big the house is) and we did ask if we could get two cats, she agreed and signed a form for that, and we acquired Taio and Fergie:

 We have never called her for any maintenance issue, etc--handling all minor things ourselves.

Then, last summer, a construction project began on the lot directly behind us--where there had previously been a small home at the street and then a wall of an open shed along the border with our property and a large green area in front of that and all the way down past the other houses.  That wall, and the green space beyond, was a huge selling point for us renting the house, it made our backyard so cozy and private.  You can see that the cats quite enjoyed it in the photo above.

By mid September the builder had torn down the wall on the border, and left a large pile of ivy from the wall piled on our property as well as a miserable view of a trashed lot.

When the builder failed to clean up the ivy after a couple of days,  I snapped the above photo and dropped it and a note off for the landlady asking her to get it cleaned up, preferably before it killed the grass beneath.  She stopped by the next day, looked at it and said she would speak to the builder but it might be a while before it was taken care of.  

Sooo, I am sure no one reading will be surprised to learn that we still had a pile of Ivy on our lawn when actual building commenced, with 6:30 a.m. digging with a front end loader (grrrr) in January:

The 20 foot deep hole was also not blocked by a fence on the border with us (unlike on other boarders).  With this safety concern in mind, I took photos to the Rathaus and asked who was responsible and what to do, at which time I was given the builder's name and phone number and told to speak with him.  I spoke with him, and he was not polite or receptive, and I left him with a letter telling him the fence and ivy needed taken care of, and some photos, and then left a copy for the landlady.  

Two days later I had a fence and a couple of days after that the landlady and her son came and spent the day cleaning up the ivy (she did tell me to haul it off in our car--a company car, but I told her that was not possible and she did take it away herself that night, or rather hr son did).

I was feeling very victorious and enjoying my safe and clean yard:

Little did I know the nightmare was only just beginning.  Only a couple of days later the landlady arrived demanding we pay her for removing the ivy.  Initially demanding 1000 euro for this!  

A day later she was here at 8:00 on a Saturday morning telling us we had to move out immediately because we lied to her--she had opened our garage and seen we have a car.  We told her, yes, a business car in which we can not haul yard waste, etc.  She stayed and mostly yelled at us in rapid fire, heavily accented German, for about an hour.  After that, she came nearly daily, always coming directly into out yard (opening the garden gate to do so) and looking in through the windows, etc, before ringing the bell, and pushing her way into the house when I did open the door even if I told her I had no time, etc.  At various times she accused us of having guns and threatened to call the police (we said to go ahead and do so; the police would find nothing illegal) or suggested we were good friends of hers and should band together against the builder. 

About three weeks of this wore us down and eventually, thinking it would get rid of her, we agreed that she could take 350 Euro from our deposit for removing the ivy.   

This only resulted in her saying we never paid the deposit, and still coming around daily.  She even showed up and stayed up to an hour a day while my in laws were visiting.  At that point she was blaming the banks for the missing deposit and acting friendly (though overbearing) and bringing oddball gifts for everyone--all the while trying very hard to convince my in laws to rent her other home in our town (explaining that they have no desire to move to Germany seemed to make no impact).

So, we were going rounds, she was still showing up.  Last Saturday she came at 8:30, and even though the blinds were all still down, she rang the bell, and rang it and rang it (we decided to hide in our bedroom and not answer--feeling much like prisoners in our own home).  After laying on the buzzer fora while, she went into the backyard and banged on the windows for several minutes, before returning to the buzzer.  All in all it was 12 minutes before she gave up and went away!

What got me through that little episode was that a few days earlier, while speaking with a local friend about the situation, I had learned about the amazing and awesome Tenants' Rights group: the Heidelberg Mietverien, and i had an appointment with them coming up on Tuesday.  So now, for only 75 euro this year, and 55 thereafter, I am a member of an organization which knows my rights and will represent me with her!!!

http://www.mieterverein-heidelberg.de/informationen_in_englisch_hd.html

They even have people who can meet with you in English (or Turkish)!  I love the mietverein.  If you are German, or might ever move to Germany, remember this word and look one up if you rent--absolutely a good deal.

So, the mietverien has confirmed that the landlady cannot just show up, cannot let herself onto the property, etc.  They also agree that our bank statement from 2009 showing the deposit paid is all we need and that the landlady was required to have placed that deposit in a secure, interest bearing bank account in our name within 30 days of receiving it, etc.  They wrote her a letter advising her of all this (and that she was responsible for the ivy and should not have charged us, or left it there for months), and telling her that she has until 11 April to show proof that our deposit money and the interest it should have earned are now in the bank under our name.

This resulted in her calling (but not coming over and into the yard!) and leaving a message yesterday saying we have to move out.  Sigh.  We think she cannot force us out without grounds, but I will speak to the mietverien and see what they say--I am not speaking directly with her at all anymore.


So I guess the moral of the story is that everywhere has people who are happy to take advantage of anyone who does not know their rights--and sometimes those people are little old ladies who seem harmless on the outside. No matter what happens it helps to have the mietverien on our side--they have advised us that we have the right to withhold rent to cover the deposit if she does not produce the bank paperwork, etc.  And at least I no longer have a woman showing up in my backyard unannounced or invited.

We DO have lovely weather here in Heidelberg.  I plan to take the camera up to the castle this week and get some spring time photos to share, so get ready for a much more pleasant post soon.

--Hadley

5 things to make the transition of moving abroad easier

I have been slacking off on posting, partly because I have not been out to any new or exciting places.

I have said good bye to one of my best friends here; she has moved back to the states at the end of a 3 year ex-par contract, and in the process have been musing about some of the things that made the transition here a bit less painful for us.  I see many people who come, even on short term contracts, and don't last.  I can't blame anyone--it is difficult to adjust to so many differences; even more so if you do not have an "end date" in mind or the comradery that goes along with having a child in an International school among other families in similar situations.

There is nothing special about us, or the others who find they make it past those first couple of years and settle into enjoying a new culture (and our family is certainly  not alone!), but I do think some things help make the adjustment period easier.  Here are 5 such things that popped into my head today (in no particular order), and might be helpful to anyone who might be considering a leap over a border:

1.  Cook from scratch.  You won't find nearly as many convenience food items on the shelves in Germany as you do in the US, and what you DO find is not the same.  If your pallet is accustomed to boxed macaroni and cheese, Campbells soup and Quaker brown sugar oatmeal; well you will have that much more to miss.  Even cooking from scratch there will be basic ingredients you cannot find, but that is becoming less and less the case, and you should be able to replicate a large amount of your "back home" meals when you want to.

This is also helpful from a time and stress  perspective.  There is enough to deal with when you are a stranger in a strange land, that adding "learning to cook" to the list is really not a good idea.

2. Be comfortable driving a stick shift.  I have always preferred a standard transmission, and even special ordered my Ford Focus in the US to have one.  Once I moved to a country where 95% of the cars have stick shifts, speeds on the highway easily top 100 MPH, many streets are extremely narrow, and there are some "different" driving rules (most intersections do not have a stop sign, but you always need to look for and yield to cars coming from your right for example)--I was grateful to not be struggling with learning to shift gears while I was struggling with all the rest.

3. Be independent from family.  This is a big one.  It seems that most of the people I see throwing in the towel early, returning unhappy with their experience, miss their extended families.  If you are accustomed to being able to "go home" for every major holiday, and international move will be awfully hard on you.  Even more so if you are used to living near enough to family that you all get together for birthday or other events every month or so, or that you always know you can call on them to help out if you become seriously injured or ill, etc.

 Once you are on another continent, well you are pretty much totally on your own.  Flights over are expensive, and need some lead time. Flights during school holiday are even pricier, and there is a good chance your children's school schedules will not align with their cousins'.  You really need to be okay with contact being primarily via email and skype and phone calls and with missing out on get together, or even mailed gifts for holiday (postage is pricey).

4, Walk.  Walk a lot.  What feels like a short trip on foot to me now, is often exhausting to visiting Americans.  If you plan on going to Europe, plan on walking often and far and using public transit for many things (which means more walking).  While you are at it, if you plan on moving to Germany, or pretty much anywhere north of here, bike.  The one form of transit that I think Germans love more than their cars is their bikes.  These are awfully useful and there are also dozens of lovely paths to enjoy just for fun on any nice weather day--don't miss out on this.

5. Get over your modesty.  If not being given a paper gown to cover up with at the doctor's office, or walking into a spa to find that no one is wearing anything and you are not allowed to either, is going to really upset you, this is probably not somewhere you want to be.  Same goes for seeing full frontal nudity (of either gender) on TV or newspapers (prominently displayed at McDonald's), etc.  While many of our ideas of modesty made it across the Atlantic, they seem to stop at the English Channel.


I do think we will get out adventuring this weekend--so hopefully there will be some photos to enjoy soon.

--Hadley

Triberg Falls

On Rosen Montag, while much of our area was out at their own parades, Hank, Jan, Marika and I headed down to the little Black Forest tourist town of Triberg to enjoy the scenery of the tallest waterfalls in Germany.  The falls are right in town and the town is very cute even though it is also very much a tourist area.  Jan said it reminded her of a German version of Estes Park--and she really hit the nail on the head with that description.

This is an area best described in photos--so enjoy the view!

--Hadley

Heidelberg Facshing's Parade, 2014

One of the great things about Germany is that there always seems to be an awesome festival going on.  Last week was one of my favourites: Faschings (also known as Carnival).

The biggest parades and festivals in the area are in Cologne (THE big one) and Mainz and are held on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday).  Many smaller towns have their parades any time in the weekend before, or even two weekends before.  But my heart belongs to the Heidelberg Parade, which is always on Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday--think Mardi Gras timing) and always starts at 14:11.

Heidelberg's parade is just the right size.  Big enough to feel really special but small enough to never feel overwhelming or dangerous (I have no qualms about the kids being downtown for it, with or without me).

This year we were blessed with amazingly warm and sunny weather.  My in laws, Hank and Jan were visiting and got to see their first Fashcings Parade too--it is fun to take someone new.

We have a pattern, we take one of the last trams downtown (they are all shut down by 13:00 to clear the route), walk down to the Pizza Hut to sit and have some desserts and drinks (and stay warm most years) and head out for a spot around 15:00 (it takes a while for the parade to wind its way down).  Bismarkplatz is always very crowded, but we have never had an issue get a "front row" space further into the route.

This year we were amused by a group of students from Mexico who were waiting just across from us.  They would whistle and cheer and hold up signs that said "10" every time a pretty girl walked past.  It was all in a fun and silly way, not at all mean spirited or over the top.  I thought I had a photo of them, but I am failing to find it.  Dang!

And here are several photos from this year's parade (all that white stuff; it's confetti!):

As you can see, we were having lots of fun watching this giant party stream by:

and were still pretty happy as we headed back to the trams after it passed us by:

Faschings is definitely one of those events that I highly recommend you try to see at least once in a lifetime--worth a spot on the bucket list for sure.

--Hadley

Dinner at the Schlachthof, Stuttgart

After the Mercedes Museum, we had worked up quite an appetite. With visitors, we wanted a to have a "traditional" German meal, so we headed over the oh so kitschy but actually pretty darn good Schlachthof.

This is a restaurant that is attached to the German Pig Museum (Schweine Museum Stuttgart) and has a variety of Schnizles, Spatzle, Wursts, etc--all the typical things tourist are looking for, with prices in the 10 to 15 Euro range.

There is a lot of silly Kitsch related to pigs, so I thought it was worth a blog post with photos, enjoy.

--Hadley

The Mercedes Museum, Stuttgart Germany

So yesterday Dave, Rio and I took my in-laws down to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.  You may recall that our trip to the Porsche Museum in the same city was quite disappointing.  This was absolutely NOT the case at the Mercedes museum, which was extremely well done.

Here's the group in front of the museum, as well as a photo of the Mercedes Headquarters next door.

The entry fee was reasonable: 8 Euros for adults, kids under 15 free and students or seniors 4 Euro.

After buying a ticket and getting your (included) audio guide, you board the elevator, designed to look like a time capsule:

As you rise to the top floor, you are taken "back in time" to the very dawn of the automobile; back to a time when this was the main form of transport (other than one's own feet):

In 1886, Carl Benz created what is considered to be the first automobile: The Benz Patent Motorwagon.  It was first shown to the public right down the road from us, in Mannheim, Germany.

As Benz perfected his motor, he experimented with its use in many other items:

The fire engine below was horse drawn, but the engine pumped water at a rate that replaces 32 men!

Eight short year later the Benz Velo became the first mass produced automobile:

This one, which could take two passengers, followed shortly thereafter:

How ODD to have the passengers face the driver, blocking his view!

It didn't take long for that design flaw to be noticed and rectified by this back to back model:

There were several other early Benz models in the gallery.  At the end of the gallery, visitors spiral down a ramp to the next gallery one level below. All along the outer wall of the ramp are historical photos and small descriptions of important events throughout the world as well as in automotive history.  It was very well done, and was a nice way to connect the museum's history with larger world events.

In the second gallery, we see the dawn of the Mercedes era, when the newly founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft named a new vehicle after board member'S daughter Mercedes Jellinek (Daimler and Benz merged in 1926).  Here is Mercedes at age 11:

This is the oldest surviving vehicle to bear the Mercedes name:

The galleries continue moving through history, as you descend, 

It was extra cool that the last stop on this historical journey was one with electric cars, since we have this awesome little car on loan to us this weekend (Dave's company makes some of the parts and needs them tested under real world conditions--so they let employees use the prototype on weekend; an awesome win win situation if I ever heard of one!):

The final level of the main museum is a tribute to Mercedes race cars:

Off to the side of all the mid level spiral floors are special galleries with various themes.  You can head into each and then back onto the main spiral as you go down, or take the historical tour first, return to the top and then go through just these galleries, which are connected to one another with stairways.  

The Gallery of Voyages highlights the Mercedes buses.  I really like the colorful 1960s era Argentinian bus:

There is a Gallery of Helpers featuring work vehicles like ambulances, and a very roomy trash truck:

The Celebrity Gallery includes Princess Di's red Mercedes and the Popemobil:

The lower levels of the museum also contain a simulator (priced reasonably at 4 Euro for a 4 minute test of various Mercedes race cars, but be warned the line moves very slowly), a cafeteria, a gift shop and a hands on area for kids:

All in all, we had an excellent day at the museum (and a nice dinner afterwards too; I will try to blog about that soon as well).  If you ever find yourself in Stuttgart with a little time on your hands, this museum is well worth a visit.

--Hadley