Be careful what you wish for

Our holiday season got off to a seemingly rough start with a RIF - reduction in force - at Paul’s job. Seven percent of the company - half of Paul’s team including Paul - were on the chopping block.  I was totally surprised as Germany does not have a hire and fire culture like the US.

I’d fantasized about Paul being on “garden leave” but between jobs - maybe over the summer? While two weeks is the standard notice time in the US, in Germany it is three months. If an employee is leaving to a non-competing business sometimes said person will work those last three months. However, if going to work for a competitor this three months is “garden leave”. AKA you get paid for three months without going into the office. It turns out actually garden leave around the holidays is also a good time.

Paul knew a RIF was a possibility. As such, he started working on permanent residence paperwork with our relocation company to get a visa that wouldn’t be tied to employment. I was on the “citizenship or bust” wagon but that process will take at least two years, so we likely needed a stopgap. 

As (bad) luck would have it, Paul got laid off two weeks before the permanent residence appointment at the foreigners department. While it is not unheard of to get a permanent residence card while not employed, it isn’t a great way to convince a country to let you stay. 

Lots of fancy footwork later, our relocation company managed to help us get an EU permanent residence permit. This is a step-up from German permanent residence in that now we can live anywhere in the EU. Freedom of movement was one of top reasons we were looking at citizenship. With the EU permanent residence permit we have that flexibility sooner than we thought possible. Which brings me to Innsbruck… 

Innsbruck on paper looks like the perfect place - small university town with six mountains a ski bus away. Also, an international public school just opened. The biggest hang-up - it’s in Austria.

Crosby has the biggest aversion to change. As luck would have it, his birthday is coming up and he requested a ski trip. He wanted to bring a friend but that is pushing the limits of how we do birthdays. I convinced him to go with just me.

I was having all sorts of trouble threading the needle with ski school, hotel, train accessibility, etc. The train to Innsbruck from Berlin is 6.5 hours with one connection in Munich. Arriving into a cute town with mountains all around is magical.

We walked to our hotel, left the bags, and head to get ski rentals.

While walking to the hotel Cros spotted a roof top bar. He declared a fear of heights but was distracted by his love of fancy. 

The snow was good enough for government, as was Crosby’s ski school.

We even got an Apfel Strudel for lunch because…Austria.

Emoji face.

We did a couple more runs before the lifts closed for the day. Cut to Crosby totally wilting. When we got to our room he had the chills. He didn’t eat dinner. At 7:05 he was sawing logs.

Crosby had a hacking cough when we got here. Illogically I thought that meant that he couldn’t get any other illness. False. Somehow he managed to get a stomach bug. So, the next day I returned the rentals, gave away our ski tickets to some very happy people, and enjoyed a quiet hotel room recovery day. 

Appropriate shirt for the day.

Cros was super bummed to miss a day of skiing. TBD if we sneak in another Spring trip as a bit of a make-up.

We already have a plan to see Innsbruck in summer with Paul’s parents. We’ll be staying in the same hotel I stayed in with my family for Christmas 1988.

I remember calling it the “Growly Bear”. Grauër Bär isn't too far off. 

The thought of moving is horrifying. If we claim to build our life around relationships, it feels crazy to just move somewhere where we don’t know a soul. But the allure of living in a friendly city with family fun built in, especially as the teen years quickly approach, is very enticing. 

While fumbling with Crosby’s and my rental gear on the bus, a friendly dad offered to walk me to the rental shop. He was riding the bus into town with his oldest 20 year-old son. He happened to also have three kids. I asked if he had any tips for the teenage years. He laughed and said, “well it’s nice to live in a community where my kids can do competative sports.”

My New Year’s resolution, like most years, is to get more sleep. Thinking about a move just makes me want to do this.

As such, a move to Innsbruck is not in our immediate plans. Paul’s got a new job to sort out. I need to help Hugo transition to school. And as we’ve seen our life in the last couple months, everything is totally going according to plan.