canine immigration

After all the worry about having the correct paperwork for taking the dog to Germany, it turned out to be a non-issue: no one asked to see it. The entire process was so smooth, there was no process. I just took the dog on the airplane. I had paid Continental airlines $125 in advance, but no one checked. Checking in with Lufthansa, I declared the dog. The representative asked whether I had paid the fee. I answered that I had paid Continental but expected I would need to pay Lufthansa too. Instead she said, oh, having paid Continental should be good enough. At night over the Atlantic I let the dog out of her carrier and she snuggled on my lap. Arriving at Frankfurt, where I was prepared to present the veterinary paperwork to the customs officers, and where the dog's RFID microchip might be checked to verify her identity—there were no customs officers. We just walked into Germany, no questions asked.

Finally, we had a domestic hop on Lufthansa, from Frankfurt to Hannover. I handed the paperwork to a customs officers there (probably unnecessary, since it was a domestic flight), and he seemed quite amused by the novelty of it, and used it as a training lesson for two of his junior colleagues, explaining what to look for on the form. He seemed positively titillated that the form was in German ("Es ist auf Deutsch--das is wunderbar!!").

The only annoying part of the process was having to go through security again when re-entering the Houston airport after visiting the outdoor 'pet relief area'.

arrival

Our second day in Germany. Our supervisors at the AEI arranged a hotel for us for our first days, and then an apartment for the remainder of the year (we move in tomorrow!), and also met us at the airport--the hospitality is novel and greatly appreciated.

Today was the usual boring first day at any new place of work--signing contracts, getting keys, visiting the IT people to get computer accounts, etc.

My office-mate is a guy named Tobias who is significantly taller than me.

Apparently it was a bit difficult for them to find a dog-friendly apartment for us, and the consequence is that our apartment is on the 5th floor. Somehow the stairs here are more of a work-out than you would expect!

The dog has been quite well-behaved, and it is amusing watching her cope with jet lag just like us humans. Walks are much more exciting for her here since the streets are full of pedestrians and bicyclists--quite unlike suburban Baton Rouge.

In the coming days we have to brave the German bureaucracy, registering as new residents, getting various forms of insurance, etc. One exciting thing is that we are already scheduling our first work-related travel, to Cardiff (Wales) for a workshop in December.