Logistics

My biggest concern a few months ago was what to send in the crate vs what to take in a suitcase.  I thought I would share what I did take or what I didn't take and then when I get to Germany I can update whether it was a good decision or not.  Hopefully this will help some of the ex-pats coming after me.  Keep in mind my tour is for 15 months.  I also had a big goal of not needing to go shopping immediately when I landed.  I didn't know what was going to happen when we landed and the last thing I wanted was a nervous feeling that I just HAD to go shopping right away.

Crate
Pillows
Towels
Clothes
Hangars
A few pics from home
A photo album with some old pics and room for new pics
Tons of tampons (us women are particular about those things =)   )
Shoes
One of my colleagues packed a blow up mattress in his crate and I thought that was a great idea
A super soft snuggle blanket for watching TV on the couch

Keep in mind one of the requirements is that everything in the crate has to have been used for 6 months (take the tags off of everything).  I assume they use an X-ray scanner or something and don't want tags on items getting accidentally scanned.  Just a guess.

Suitcase
Prescriptions (I went to the doc and told her my situation and loaded up)
Shampoo/Conditioner
Razors
Toothpaste/extra toothbrushes
Soaps   (I went to Sams and loaded up on toiletries)
Big bottle of Tylenol - IMPORTANT!!!  Tylenol is very expensive here
Some OTC sleeping pills
Qtips
Clothes
Jackets
Shopping bags

You could probably not bring a bunch of toiletries like I did, but (again) I didn't want to feel stressed about HAVING to go shopping as soon as I landed.  Your mind is already in a whirl and you will be exhausted on the first day.

Zip lock bags (something I read on the internet to take, I feel kinda silly about it, but we'll see) UPDATE: Whoever put this on the internet was missing some brain cells and apparently so was I for believing it.

Some little personal things that remind me of friends in the US
Back up hard drive for my mac
Camera/Camcorder (I went and bought a 16g memory card for my camera)


Communication with the US
Some of us going in my group are going to rely heavily on Skype for communication with the US.  For $60 I got a phone number for a year.  This is a local Tn number so my family and friends call a local number and then I can either answer on my laptop/iPad and I can have it forwarded to my German cell phone.  For $30/yr I also have unlimited phone calls to the US through Skype.

TV
One of my colleagues suggested Slingbox.  For about $200, I will leave it in the US connected to my Directv box.  When I am in Germany, I can access my US TV through the internet and even change the channel.  (Keep in mind if you have other family at home watching the same TV, you will be changing their channel as well.)  I'll let you know how well this works when I get over there.  My colleague said it works great in his house.

UPDATE:  Get a Slingbox!!!!!!!!!!!  Leave it with a friends TV service if you are canceling your service before you leave.  I have Directv back home and a friend took over my contract while I am gone.  Make sure to set it up with your laptop there in the states if you can.  Its a little harder to do once the laptop is in Germany.  (Still possible though because I had to do it that way.)

Euros
Don't wait until the last minute to get your Euros unless you want to get them at the airport and get robbed on the exchange rate.  I ordered my Euros online through my bank.  It took a day or two for them to be delivered to the bank and then I had to show up and show ID to get them.

Your exchange rate at the airport will be ~0.10 euros less than if you do it through your bank in advance.

I should have put more of my bigger jackets in the crate.   I am worried about being overweight with my suitcase that has all of the toiletries (those suckers are heavy).  All in all, I am checking two suitcases and I will have a carry-on and a backpack on the plane.

Tuesday will be here soon!!  I need to get back to packing!

UPDATE:  I should have packed a laundry basket in my crate to hold all of my dirty clothes.  They only cost about 6-7 Euro here so you can wager the difference on bringing one or buying one.  Also, consider bringing a small speaker set for an iPod to play your music around the apartment.  They do play American music here on the radios, but having some music around the apartment would be nice (IMO).  Also, snow boots, ski pants, etc need to go in the crate.  I got my ski pants on sale for $15 at Academy before I left.  I'm still shopping around for snow boots.  When I went to the Alps, they were "on sale" for ~$100 Euro.  No thanks.  Not when they are $10 at Walmart.

Under Armor stuff is the shiznit and well worth the price.  Pack well for wintertime.  February was quite miserable.

Maybe some post-it notes to label or translate things until you get comfortable.  For instance, for a washing machine you may think you can remember everything when you are being told, but after a week you might be struggling to remember.  Especially if you have to do a load of delicates or something different.  Just a thought.

Bring a full lightweight rain suit.  Jacket and pants.  Especially if you will be living in Burghausen and biking to work.