Our 10th-standard group on WhatsApp suddenly became active, got in touch with some old friends, and reminded me of my blog. I was like Jake Peralta from B99: "Oh My God, I forgot about that." So I thought I should resurrect my blog, just like our group. Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 4 years since I wrote anything in this blog. And, man, so many things have changed in my life within this period. For example, was on bed rest, had a major surgery and moved to a different country, etc. Even if nobody reads this, I can always come back to it, like a journal.
So, let me skip some of the things and start the resurrection of my blog with a post about CBE to DE, landing in Germany. Yes, in case you haven't noticed, I have been in Germany now with my family for more than a year.
The Journey Begins: After getting a job offer and installing Duolingo and applying for a visa and finally receiving it (that's a different story) and numerous shopping, packing and repacking and weighing the bags multiple times, we finally started from CBE on 23rd Dec 2024. The flight was Air India, before that tragedy, so I booked without any fear. CBE to BOM (Mumbai). The security check and our bag check-in went smoothly, so the weight was perfect. This was the first time we were travelling with a stroller, thanks to my friend who gifted it. It was so useful not just for our kid but also to carry the luggage and now even for grocery shopping here. We gave the stroller at the gate and were told we could collect it once we landed. But after landing, someone said to check the belt instead. We were confused, went back and forth, and it took a long time before we finally got it and rushed to catch our connection to Frankfurt. The gate wasn't near, and when we reached it, it looked like we were the last to board, and we literally ran and got into the plane. It was so big and not so crowded as well.
The Fever: Once we were settled and had some lunch provided, our kid started to take a nap, and we both decided to watch a movie on the plane, for the first time 😀 And, we almost completed 50% of the movie, and our kid was still napping, which felt odd. Then we realised she was running a fever, she had a runny nose in the morning when we started, and it looked like it had turned into a fever. And, we panicked because we bought all the medicines to last for a year and safely kept everything in the checked-in bag and nothing in our hand luggage. We asked the air hostess, and thankfully, they had fever medicine for the kid. We kept checking her after giving her the medicine, and it was a long flight as well. I was thinking how she would feel after reaching Germany in peak winter, should I make her wear all the layers because of the weather or shouldn't, since she's already feeling hot. I even started thinking, why did I decide to move to Germany? What am I going to do now?
The Layers Battle: The medicine did work, and her fever came down. On the positive side, she was too tired, which actually helped us keep her calm on the long flight. And, the next problem, which continues even now, started once we were about to land, begging her to put on layers, a jacket and shoes. Everyone had already started leaving, and we were trying to convince her how cold it would be outside, and we finally managed to make her wear everything and finally landed in DE. Again, we waited for the stroller, but this time there were a few more families with kids with us, so we knew this was the right place.
We Have Landed: After getting the stroller, we were just focused on finding the lift to get to immigration. We didn't even get to see the airport properly; we were too exhausted and too focused on just getting through the next step. But somewhere between the stroller and the lift, it quietly hit us that we had landed in a new country to start a new life. The airport, the people, the signage, everything was different. Daunting is the right word. We went through immigration clearance, and I was nervous for no reason, checking our passports and boarding passes every 10 seconds. It was so crowded, but luckily, everyone with a stroller went to a different line, which was shorter, and we got it cleared without any issues. We were officially permitted to enter DE.
The Frankfurt Chaos: Now on to the baggage claim, we had too many bags, duh, we were trying to set up a new home, so I tried to get a luggage cart, but I didn't have any change, and also the forex travel card didn't work either. Decided to tie all the bags together, I had belts and hooks, thanks to the same friend who gave the stroller, 4 big checked-in bags, 2 more trolley bags, plus the 3 carry-ons we had with us, and drag them along with the stroller; it was so difficult. It was already cold, and we were tired, and on top of it, to drag all these, I can still remember my wife was already cursing me for landing here. And, to make it worse, she tripped and had a fall. Our arrival in this new country couldn't have started worse than this.
The McDonald's Mission: We had enough time before our train to our city, where we would be staying. We were trying to find a place to eat something, and we saw a McDonald's board on the floor below. We were looking for a lift, and the mistake we made was asking someone for directions. He asked us to go in the opposite direction from where we headed, and we couldn't find a lift at all. Then, we finally came to the same place where we asked him, and this time we just went a few more steps, and the lift was there. We wish we hadn't asked him, we would have got the lift so soon.
The First Meal in DE: And, our first meal in DE was a plant-based burger and fries; the burger was the worst thing I have ever tasted. And, one of my friends was coming to help us load the stuff into a train, since I wasn't supposed to lift heavy stuff yet. And, my friend finally came after taking so many connections, and then we went to the station. Oh boy, that's where we really felt the actual cold; it was too much for someone from India, even with all the layers and everything. And, the train came on time, it was almost midnight, and we boarded and got into our seats. And, thanks to my friend who helped with the bags and headed back home at midnight, taking so many connections again despite having a baby shower ceremony the very next day. Nanbenda.
The Cold and the first ICE Train: Inside the train, we had booked 3 seats, and it was a cabin, and we filled it with our bags and slept. And, kept an alarm for 3AM to get down in our city and also to call another friend, whom I was going to meet for the first time. Since I got this job, he and his family have been constantly in touch with us throughout our preparation. We were so lucky to have someone who speaks Tamil in our city. And, he reached our platform right on time to help with the bags and took us in a taxi to his home around 4AM in peak winter. We will never forget this in our life and we couldn't thank him enough as well. And, that's how we landed on a Christmas Eve of Dec 2024 in Germany.
And, that's the CBE to DE journey and will continue the DE stories, I hope. Our stories about the first day, the first week and the first year to follow.
