Backup
Basically making backup, syncing disks and saving what's on ESO's discs, in case my access really ends with the year.
Also retrieving papers to complete my bibliographic archive (aka having PDF for all the entries in my bibtex, so that I can get rid of the hardcopies of the papers).
"Broke" my back. As usual, lumbar distention, probably due to the removal. It's got worse the last few days, don't know why ... but it hurts.
Labels: life
Another week ... last part of the delayed saga
So! Last part of the delayed. The rest will be posted more or less in real time.
Monday started with Fernanda going to her group meeting at work, even without the contract. The boss had been absent for personal reasons also.
On the end of the previous week I've been to the equivalent of a "day care pool" from the city government. Actually, after visiting a couple of kinder gardens Matheus could go we found out that, for the city kinder gardens the waiting list is of about 1-1.5 years. Considering that german women have 8 weeks of maternity leave (they can also spend the next 2 years at home, partially paid by the government) a couple has to sign up for a KG about one year before actually getting pregnant. Then they complain that the countries population is getting old and all the economic implications of that. You just CAN'T HAVE A KID HERE!
Back to the pool. The option is Tagesmutter, as we had in Goettingen. And looking for one must be done thru the government since I myself require certification for that. Good. On monday I visited them at the proper place and time, got the name of a hand full and started calling. Not many options actually.
On tuesday we visited one that we liked it. She actually was raised in Uruguay and also lived in Brazil, so communication was much easier, even in german. We thought over night and called here today to say we're in. So Matheus starts on Jan 4th. Paying is another issue :-) There's governmental help for that, we just have to set the paperwork for that. Next monday.
Got to the social service, got a huge form that I need to translate and fill ... and tried to contact the city hall again ... no contact.
BTW, on monday we woke up with some 15-20 cm of snow at the door. For my surprise, the street and the sidewalks still had snow at 11:00 AM!! Even in Goettingen they would have been already clean! Even the avenue had snow on it yet! More complaining about the city hehehehehe
Tuesday, we decided to go to the city hall and see what's up. The provisional visas would end the 27th (sunday) and this is a short week. Got there, waited, got to talk to the nice guy there, who looks at the computer screen and say "you're both researchers, so you have to go to our section of 'students and researchers', not here with me", called someone and turned to me saying "it's gonna be quick there".
They have a special section for us, but no one told me that, actually I think the TUM's personnel department should have told us that. BTW, when I say TUM's personnel department I mean the TUM's hospital personnel department. No extrapolations here.
We went to the other section, got there and another nice guy starts asking all the papers again. All that the other wanted and had processed, this one wanted again. Gotta say, people at the foreigns department of the city hall have been EXTREMELY nice to us!!!! When he noticed I was not getting 100% of what he was saying, he switched to english :-))
At the end he tells me "you gotta bring one picture each, this declaration filled and signed, proof of health insurance until Dec 2010 and come back tomorrow at 10:00 AM, only one of you, no need for both and kid".
Health insurance is one of those loops, as I could see. You need it to get the residence permit, that is needed to have the work permit, that is needed to have the contract signed, that is needed to have the health insurance :-) We are with a provisional insurance for visitors, but Mawista is nice (if you ever need a short science visitor health insurance use Mawista - cheap, easy and simple). They extended our insurance until the end of the year and sent it right away to my e-mail, so I could print it when I got home. And we can cancel anytime.
Things seemed to be working. I needed to be downtown at 10:00 AM and in the west part of the city before 12:00 PM to get the contract for the Tagesmutter ... this was solved by phone and I'll get it on monday.
Got to my meeting at the city hall, gave documents, papers, pictures ... and then the person I was dealing with gets to me and says "what about your passport", and I point to my portuguese ID that he had in hand and say "I'm portuguese ... and brazilian" ... then the mess starts ... they always have problems with multiple citizenships. I understand, those laws are too complicated and too new!
Asked me to wait outside, went somewhere to gather information, after some 10-15 minutes he comes back with the "problem solved face". Then the forms started ... not many, but enough for me, Fernanda and Matheus. Remember when I said it was too easy for the first week? No forms, all digital ... well they got to me :-) Well, not so hard too, at 11:00 I was given things to pay and explanations.
So, now I have a permanent residence permit in Germany. I don't really need it, being portuguese, but Fernanda and Matheus do, and for them to have it, I must have it too. So now we have permanent residence permit in Germany with no restrictions whatsoever. Matheus has to come back in 5 years to renew it (don't ask me why). So, the instruction was "you go, pay and they will give you all there, merry Xmas". Then I asked, "what about the work permit?" and the reply was "for this you have to go to the Work Department" ... ooooooohhhhh crap!! We needed it today, so that Fernanda can sign the contract on the first working day of january (yep a month late ... no comments).
Fernanda was at home and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it for here ... so comes the "emergency call" while I was waiting for the papers to be issued ... "get Matheus and so to the Goethestrasse station, as soon as possible, I'll meet you there, we need to be at the Work Department before 12:30 PM", chaos, ... got the papers, got to this station, they arrived, we managed to get to the person we needed 12:25 PM.
Explained the situation, the person there tells that researchers don't need "work permits". Then we comment that the university was asking for it he researched his folders, some stuff on the computer, and printed the law that says that :-) Then I asked what would she need to do if she wanted to work with something else. He looked at Fernanda's brand new residence permit and said "nothing, here it has no restrictions, so she can work with whatever she wants without any special permit, this dashed part is canceling and need for work permits". Problem solved!
So excess of pressure was unnecessary, but we didn't know that before. TUM contacted, paperwork processing, documents handed, contract will be signed on Jan 4th.
And yesterday I've got a message from the train company that Matheus bag was found and is being sent via post to us! This is also good news!!!
So! That's all folks! The saga is not over, but will be reported more often hehehehehehe
Tomorrow is Xmas eve, so merry Xmas to all possible readers. No new before monday! :-)
Labels: life
Another week in Munich
So! That week would start with phone installation. I'm being very pessimistic with all, so I can only get good surprises :-)))
The phone installation happened on monday at 9:30 (we'd need to stay home waiting for them, the whole day, if necessary). Despite the phone cord that has to cross half the flat, all perfect! Internet!!!
Forgot to mention in the previous post. Tethering is when you're mobile connects to the internet, creates a hotspot that allows you to connect your laptop to it, as a normal WiFi net. The only point is that O2 limits to 200 MB our 3G data transfer. After that it all goes GPRS (much, much slower).
So, this week, waiting for pay slips that ESO very kindly sent to me, since my own set was in some box (thanks a lot, Lone), to go back to the Work Department.
In the mean while got news that the protocols arrived from Goettingen BUT (there's always a but) needed to be scanned, since in Munich it's all digital already. Call back on friday!
Now let's complain a bit about the city :-)
When you come to a city like Munich you realize how life is simpler in a smaller town like Goettingen. It's all far! You need subway for anything! In Goettingen I only started using buses to protect Matheus from the cold! Garbage. Germans recycle everything, what is great. Recycling only works if it's simple and people don't waste time with it. In Goettingen, "packing" garbage was picked up on the street once every two weeks. Here, you have to take it to a "collection island", like glass. Munich is the only city in Germany that doesn't have a collection at home of this kind of garbage, as far as I found out, even Freising (the city beside) has this service. Not surprising no one cares about recycling here.
The city also doesn't care about kids! First weekend here we went to the "Christmas Market", so that Matheus could play a bit on roundabouts and other carnival toys ... turns out ... no carnival on the large and famous "Christmas MarketS" in Munich. Business people don't have kids, or send them to Disneyworld when they feel like playing!
Managed to go to the Work Department and officially found out that I would not receive the unemployment insurance. At the end I've got the paper that allows me to receive the social money, since we don't have jobs yet (Fernanda still don't have the contract).
Tried to contact the city hall to know about the scanning and permits and no reply. Now 3 weeks gone.
At this point I was already feeling bad, Matheus also had a cold. During the weekend we got better and Fernanda got very ill, with fever and so on ...
The previous weekend we had our first visitor! Miguel came to help me with some heavy furniture and of course a fondue.
About work (yes I try). Trying to read and write comments about the papers on UCDs we're working on (sorry guys, I'm trying) and finished the first round of models checking ... now the second and hard part comes.
Labels: hcg_ucd, hi-z morph, life
The week with the trip to Goettingen
Like in Friends, episodes were named "The One With blah blah blah", or simply "TOW blah blah blah". Now here it's "the week with" ...
So! Trip to Goettingen! For the first time traveling alone with Matheus. We've got to Goettingen, all under control, until I realized that Matheus' bag was left on the train, with toys, dippers, bottles, some documents, ... everything. Well, I just went down ...
Contacted immediately the info-desk, that called someone, that would call the train and make people locate, "capture" and send the bag back in Hannover, something that could take about 1-2 hours. Well I waited and heard that the bag was not located, even though I gave them the exact sit and car I left it ... they would keep looking and contact me, after filling several forms. Well ...
Gave the flat back, saw some friends, Matheus had a lot of fun at Silke's, sad goodbye, back home.
More unpacking in the house and calling the train company daily. Filling contract and forms for several things. A little discussion with the landlady about humidity and changing the heating knobs. All settled.
Time to look for my unemployment insurance. Miguel, who's chilean, tried it and could not get it for the end of his PhD thesis because his visa didn't allowed him to work on anything but his PhD, so he didn't qualify to the implicit "job searching" of receiving the unemployment insurance. On the other hand he would not receive what he paid unnecessarily and compulsorily for this insurance. I would have the same problem as Brazilian, now, as portuguese, I don't need a visa, so I qualify! Informed myself with friends and internet and the minimal condition is having payed 12 months of unemployment insurance in the last 36 months . I had payed 13.5 months, great. The time at ESO doesn't contribute to that and the last unemployed months either ... specially because I was not sure we'd stay in Germany and I'd become portuguese, and both were mandatory conditions for this unemployment insurance.
Well, turns out the rules changed in 2005, before I started contributing, and now it's 12 months of unemployment insurance in the last 24 months. In this case I have only 1.5 months paid so ... no unemployment insurance for me ... but I still needed to take the pay slips there so that they were 100% sure I couldn't have it.
Also called for the residence permit, in advance, to know if it was all "running properly". Turns out the protocols haven't arrived from Goettingen yet. I would have to call in the following wednesday. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
The surprising thing, was ARCOR. Now VODAFONE. I forgot to mention that they contacted me in the last week in Goettingen and I sent the forms by fax, so I was expecting internet and phone in January (4-6 weeks). We were being saved by the mobiles and tethering. Arcor set the instalation for the next monday (Dec 14th). Amazing, 2 weeks. Let's see.
Labels: life
In Munich
So! In Munich!
New flat, chaos, all in boxes, heating failing and the only internet connection was thru the new mobile phones (that really saved the day and the next days). Why internet connection? Yep, when you have a situation like that you see dependent of it we are.
For example, our way through the german bureaucracy (it's easier than most of the countries) starts with registering yourself as inhabitant of the city you live. Where would you do that? In a city like Goettingen, you go to the town hall/city hall. Here it depends on where you live. Also "how to get there?" All this info is in the internet and we failed to foreseen that need. Thanks Miguel again.
We did the registration (anmeldung), but that was all on the first day, since most of the public service in the country is opened to the public only in the morning, and the residence permit was to be dealt in the other side of the city. Great.
Now fix the heating. Long story short. After calling several people, an expert came and solved the problem. At least to the point of "having a heating", but the knobs were too old so tuning was not really possible.
Next day, residence/work permit. In Goettingen I always had them together and preceded by lots of forms. We've got to the place, got a number waited LONG and got a very nice person that did everything without a single form and very easily. All digital! It ended with "I need your protocol to come from Goettingen, it is transfered with the registration you did yesterday, when it arrives you will receive a card with residence and work permit". THAT EASY. We just needed to call in 2 weeks to be sure it was ready and I didn't need anything anymore since I'm portuguese now and Fernanda and Matheus would have it all because of that.
There was still a problem. Fernanda needed the work permit this same day (Dec, 1st) to sign the contract and start working. Of course we knew that this wouldn't be the case, but 2 weeks was too long, so we needed some receipt that would work. The very nice person at this department just said that the university could call him and he would explain it all. We called the personnel department immediately and heard something like "is not the policy of the TUM to call people, he can call us if he wants" ... WOOOOOOOOOOOW Incompetent and prepotent!!! Long story sort again, waited a lot to talk back to the guy, who agreed to call them the next day and explain.
Without that, no contract ... so waiting.
Arranging the house, getting used to the new and way smaller place.
And YES, I'm all complains about the city (at least yet). Now I understand people that came to Germany and did not liked it. I really like living in Germany! They came to Munich, not to Germany.
All arranged to give the flat in Goettingen back. Me and Matheus would go to Goettingen on monday morning, we'd stay at Silke's (former Tagesmutter from Matheus, now our great friend) and come back on tuesday. And I would be able to see some people in Goettingen I couldn't before leaving.
Labels: life
