Ende der Box-Manie

Ladies and Gentleman, the boxes have left the building!!! (*cue George Michael's "Freedom")

It only took me five trips with my tiny rental car to the Werkstoffhof Kofferaumservice (http://www.fes-frankfurt.de/buerger/service/kofferraumservice) to get rid of them all. The upside is that I clocked new records on my Fitbit going up and down my steps with all the boxes. The downside is that I'm pretty sure I looked like an extra from Samford & Son tooling around town with my ride packed to the ceiling with boxes and styrofoam.

Boxes in ze schlafzimmer!

Boxes in ze gastezimmer!

Boxes and boxes boxes, oh my!!!

Come to find out that the boxmania was completely unnecessary. My landlady stopped me yesterday as I was putting the final load in the trunk and told me that she asked around and that the delivery men were supposed to remove and take the boxes with them. She told me that they took advantage of me being non-German and had a few choice words to say about their laziness. I was instructed to come and get her the next time I have a delivery involving cardboard, and she will set them straight.

This morning I dropped off the final load (as the Werkstofhof is open for the incredibly convenient hours of 07:00 - 12:00 *eye roll*). Each time I have visited, the rules are somehow different. Sometimes the boxes go in one bin, and it is fine to throw the sytrofoam in too. Other times, they have to be separated. Today, I encountered a self-styled box-master who insisted upon me separating them by size and that I empty all the plastic bags and put everything in different, specially-marked bins. One of the other people dropping off boxes turned to me and said (in German) that garbage is the main hobby of the German people. I needed no translation, and I heartily agree.

The blog has been a bit quiet lately due to various travels and dealing with boxes. It's funny that cardboard should have consumed so much of my life. I'm happy to report that my apartment no longer looks like a homeless encampment and that as soon as my couch and spare bed arrive, it will be complete. I still need to hang pictures and such, but I'm in no rush for that. It is strange how much joy I have in my box-free rooms and how much pleasure I took in beating the system.

Tomorrow I head off on a much-needed holiday. Ten days by the sea in Turkey. I can't wait. Also fun is that the resort is German-owned and so I think I'll get a chance to continue practicing my burgeoning language skills. I feel like a kid again, as each day I add a new word or words to my vocabulary - and it is exciting! Last night I had a work dinner at a restaurant called "Altes Zollhaus" and I figured out - all on my own - that it meant "Old Tollhouse". Turns out the restaurant is in a building that in the medieval times used to be the tax collection house for those entering the city boundaries of Frankfurt. I was also able to figure out about 80% of the menu, although my choices were somewhat constrained by my understanding that the dish was "Chicken Something Something potatoes Something baked something and vegetables something" or "Something something style pasta with something sauce and something something green." But I'm getting there!

Tonight I'm taking some visiting colleagues from the U.S. out into central Frankfurt. This should be interesting, as their requests consist of "beer", "hot dogs" and "pork knuckle." Given that this is Germany, these should not be hard to find - and I will most likely be able to find all three in one place.