Unpacking into Nothingness

We finally received the rest of our household goods (i.e. the couch, plates, etc.) last week. Not only do they deliver it up the flights of stairs, but they unpack it, and take the boxes out. Sounds easy, huh? German apartments, along with no kitchen as I mentioned earlier, also do not come with closets or anything. So you're unpacking, but into nothing. This calls for creativity, which is where all previous yarn stashing and hiding comes in handy. The living room is down. Bedroom? Well, I think everyone who ever rented this place slept in this room because the floors are incredibly warped. I didn't notice this until I tried to put up a floor lamp and the thing was leaning horribly, making me think the movers had broken it. Our dresser? Two legs don't even touch the floor. Should be interesting when we put the tv inside.

Speaking of TV's...none of them work. Yes, there is a thing here called PAL, which is not your friend. TV's from the US use some other system, so as soon as you're on the verge of going insane from not getting any Hardball with Chris Matthews (and don't feel like hanging out all night at the internet cafe shouting at the computer....like those other Americans, I mean), you plug in your TV and the thing goes crazy. The inspector comes out, and thru charades (because neither of you knows how to speak the other's language) you find out that bringing all of your TV's was useless because in Germany they use PAL and you don't have it.

But this is no big deal, because most of my time is still spent translating the recycling bins outside of our building. I have now figured out that I have been putting in cardboard in the plastic bin, mistaking kein for klein (don't for small). So I have been sticking my cardboard in the yellow bin all this time. It's no wonder they haven't taken the bin off to jail (this does happen).

So let me get back to figuring out where to hide the rest of our stuff. If you have any ideas on how to create storage, let me know. Otherwise, don't be surprised if you come by and sit down on the couch and find it stuffed with yarn. I have to put that stuff somewhere.