Visit at VW Autostadt Wolfsburg

We went for a trip to the Autostadt in Wolfsburg. They open at 9 am and close at 6 pm. Tickets are costly but you can spend the whole day in there. Of course you can take guided tours.  For more details check out  their website: http://www.autostadt.de/
It is definitely worth a visit. There are 8 pavilions and don't miss the ZeitHaus. The museum houses milestones of auto mobility exhibited over 5 floors and is a MUST! It's incredible to see and catapults you to previous times.

The CarTowers are 48 meters high and VW rolls their new cars over where they wait for the new owners. 600 cars fit in one tower. However on the day we visited there were just a few cars in both towers. On a discovery tour you can enter a lift and explore the towers in a glass lift. But you need to book this in advance. Check the website for this.

The whole area and architecture is very beautifully designed and in some of the pavilions you can explore stuff about cars. Only the Lamborghini seemed a waste of time to me. They presented a Lamborghini in a laser light sound show... Level Green lets you explore about sustainability.

We saw fancy cars and cool designs and had a fun day. 

Autumn Walk at Greenwich Promenade Tegel

Today it was one of the so called Golden October Days. Pretty blue sky and sun shining bright and cold. We  decided it was good weather for a walk at the Greenwich Promenade in Tegel at the Tegler See -  North of Berlin. From U-Bahn Alt Tegel it's a 5 minutes walk.

Especially in summer it's a popular destination. There is a ship landing place. The passenger ships take you to Wansee, Potsdam, Oranienburg Spandau or also into the city of Berlin. However the season for cruises is coming to an end. 

 This ship on the right is called Moby Dick. As kids we loved this ship and were always excited to see and wave to Moby Dick.

Some more impressions:

Bürgeramt Registration

Anmeldung bei der Meldebehörde:

Like I said in a previous post about Burgeramt Das Bürgeramt 
you'll need a lot of time and patience. German Amt works slowly like a snail only. If you can't make an appointment, try to go around the end or the beginning of a month. You will have to wait a bit less.

 If you want to register your residence, you need to do that within 2 weeks from moving. You need to bring the following documents:

-  proof of identity (passport)
-  application form - download "Anmeldeformular" here:
    http://www.berlin.de/buergeramt/formulare/index.php?path=/meldeangelegenheiten

-  For the first registration in Berlin you also need a "Personenstandsurkunde" 
     (a document stating your civil status, for example your birth certificate, marriage certificate)

source: wikipedia

Coping as a Re-Expatriate

Sometimes friends ask me "How is it to be back in Germany?"
Do you want the long or short version? Anyhow, here's some medium version. Basically it's not too hard to settle back in because I've grown up here in Germany and know the place. BUT sometimes it doesn't feel easy going. Lots of things have changed, I have changed ... First when we came here, we struggled with some bureaucratic stuff- and experienced typically German complicated bureaucracy- it's just awful. Anything takes time, you need to bring documents that you don't even know exist or where to get, you have to wait and wait.... the list goes on. Of course also in India things are slow but still somehow different. Especially for my now husband it's very frustrating because in South Korea things work much easier and customer friendly. He keeps telling me so.

Apart from these matters, life in Germany has changed -  I've been away for 15 years. And I don't only mean that "Schrippen" (buns are called Schrippe in Berlin) are more costly now. I somewhat feel that because of the economic situation people are more grim. People work harder, will have to work much longer. Parents often have less time for their kids. It's harder to get a job or hold your career. All these constraints have effects on people. Less smiling and less easy going, more rushing. Of course, this is a generalization and therefore leaves short the other positive examples.

Newspaper and TV report of much more violence that I've heard when I grew up. Of course, also technology has changed and banking systems are different, many more departments have become more computerized and it does take time for me to figure out how stuff works. Ok that might be a generation issue. My son has no trouble at all. Nowadays you don't find any staff at U- or S-Bahn platforms which used to be when I was young.
Sometimes I feel a bit foolish realizing that life has changed. Generally I'm happy to be in Berlin now and still think it was the right step at the right time. And Berlin is a great place too.

source: wikipedia