Before the Move

In January 2011 I happily lost my job in Portland Oregon. My German wife and I talked about moving to Germany and being the adventurous soul I am we decided to do it. So now for the easy part, getting my passport. I went to the post office gave them my original birth certificate and paid my fee just like a normal person would do. About six later I received a letter asking me to complete a ''supplemental worksheet''. In truth it was ''worksheets''. I had to provide every address I ever lived at, every job I ever had, every school I ever attended, info on my family members and other interesting things like a baptism date. This was not easy and included a bit of my soul, like when I lived in a domestic violence shelter and a period of homelessness. I also included an official unopened high school transcript, because it was the only official thing I had that was older then ten years.That's what they wanted, stuff at least 10 years old.  Then I got a letter thanking me for the damn fine summary of my life. Yet, they also said that since my school records photo was obscured they needed more information! Everything had to be at least 7 years old. Not even the accountants keep stuff on file that long. I had a friend of mine photocopy my high school yearbooks and send it to me. I also included my oldest childs' birth certificate and my marriage certificate. Then the bastards finally gave me my passport. Talk about a hassle for my rightful document. During all this we packed up what belongings we were taking with us. Some things we shipped from Portland and are due to arrive in Hamburg some time in the future. We took what we believed we would need in the next eight weeks as luggage on the plane, A mere five bags. In preparation for the journey i had to drink lots of great northwest beer by the fire with my closest friends. I think saying bye and 'see you later' to people I love was the hardest thing. There is a such a sense of uncertainty in an international move. The jury is still out if this has been the right choice for this trip has been full of sacrifice and heartache, but filled with promises of a brighter and stable future.