And the President of Germany, too!

The title will make more sense later. But before you read on, I think this is going to be a long one, so grab your popcorn and your soda before you start reading.....
It was a busy weekend. On Saturday, we all had breakfast outside. Then, I picked raspberries in the garden (yep, still promising those pictures...). It reminded me of when I was a kid and we lived in Pleasant Ridge. We had a raspberry bush in our backyard and I remember eating berries right off the bush (yum!). Saturday night (between the two football games) we went to a wine fest in one of the local towns. I tried a couple different types of wine and found a really tasty one that I enjoyed. There were two bands, one playing salsa music and the other playing American oldies. It wasn't crowded when we got there, but there were people everywhere by the time we left. One thing I find really interesting here is that everything we go to/do seems to have such a mix of people, in terms of age.
Sunday, we went to church. I really enjoyed it. No one earns any money from the church, but some of the men take turns leading and speaking. The guy who spoke on Sunday spoke really clearly and I understood his talk and really appreciated what he had to say. Again, I thought it was neat, because while it isn't a big church, there were people of all ages there.
That afternoon, we went to a street festival. It was fun, but so hot that we really didn't stay that long.
So, on to today.

[ok, so I didn't finish this post yesterday. It was late and I was tired. And the cat was playing in the waterbowl, which is super annoying. So I turned off the computer and went to bed. So now it's Tuesday....]

It takes me a long time to get to work here. And on Mondays, it's especially bad. So we left extra early, at 7. I drove about an hour - because of the traffic, not because of the distance - to a train station and took the train from there to a stop down the street from the Bosch plant (supposedly, it's closer than the parking lot...but I don't yet know where the parking lot is!). That takes about twelve minutes. Then I walk for about 5 minutes or so and there I am. I was therefore about a half hour early, but that was fine.
And then I had a short talk with my new boss, whom I like very much. He thinks it's better if we speak in German right off the bat and then when I don't understand, I just have to say so. It's good, but soooo tiring. I have to concentrate so hard. Think about how it is when somebody mumbles or talks really low...you might understand, but you have to really listen to them all the time. That's how it is for me. And then sometimes I just have to say "Huh?" (Of course, I say it in a much more polite manner than that, but you know what I mean.) Then they showed me my desk (there were really lovely flowers there for me) and the computer guy was already there setting up my computer. I have a laptop, but with a monitor and keyboard.
Janina (the assistant in our department) showed me the bathroom, the coffee maker, and the drink machines....what are they called???? You know, when you put in money and it gives you a chilled beverage??? Can't think of it at the moment. But anyway, now I know where the important things are! ;)
Then I worked on the computer for a while - accepting meetings, reading some emails. Then we went to lunch. And on our way to lunch, what did we see? A helicopter landing right at our little plant (of 12,000 workers). And who's was it? Why the president of Germany, of course. That's how they welcome all new associates on their first day....Kidding, of course. But really, the president of Germany was there on my first day. (The story is here: Bosch. I don't know why it's not in English, but you can look at the pictures anyway...and maybe they'll put the English text up soon....)

[Okay, now it's Wednesday and I'm still working on the same posting! I promise to try to finish it today!!]

The cafeteria at Bosch is quite large. They have typical German food, except for this week when they're doing sort of an International theme in honor of the World Cup soccer games. As we were coming out from lunch, the president was driving away and our chairmen were all standing around, so I got a good look at quite a few of them, which is a rare occurence.

After work, I went to the apartment and signed the rental contract. So it's official, I'll be living on Burgherrenstrasse in Feuerbach for the next two years and 11 months. Feel free to stop by any time. ;)

Because work is so far from "home," I didn't get back until 8! So I was pretty tired!!! And I think that was pretty much my Monday. (Finally!)