fertig - finished

the cable, phone, and utilities are all set up. the cars are completely registered again. we have new cell phones. the movers have come and brought all our stuff from berlin - and everything is put away in its place. we are finally completely here again. we are finished moving back to the states.

i am relieved to be done and i'm kind of sad about it.

the other night dan and i talked to his sister and brother-in-law on the phone. they are looking at an expat assignment in london for a year. we fielded questions about what worked and what didn't. what to expect, what to ask for, and what the company will or will not provide that could be a deal breaker. it was an interesting reflection exercise for dan and i - what did we need from the company? what could they have said no to that would have made us stay home. i think the simple answer was this: we weren't going to take a huge financial loss on this adventure, but there wasn't a lot that would have kept us from going. the car, the parking spot, and furnished apartment were nice, but i would have done it without those things, especially knowing now what i do about berlin. if they asked us to do it again i wouldn't hesitate, or wrangle with HR over moving details.

alas, there is nothing on the horizon. now we'll have to go visit becca and paul in london and live vicariously through them.