where to begin...

So long between posts, which isn't really that unusual for me, but the reason is.  We have moved and are getting stuff setup.  We signed the lease contract on an apartment today, and picked up some temporary mobile numbers (email me and I'll send them on).  We also have a bank account setup.  For all the bureaucracy, it is actually a hell of a lot faster than it took to get the same things done in London.  IIRC, it took me about a month to get bank accounts setup in London, despite our building being right in front of the bank.  So we filled out the forms, and cards and codes have been arriving for days now!   Whatever about the efficiency, it has also been frustrating.  Not knowing the language is turning out to be a real pain in the arse.  More so than I had expected, or anticipated.  I can get along because I'm married to someone who speaks the language, but can someone tell me how the hell do immigrants without a compatible language manage to do this???
So, as and from today, we have somewhere to live!  It is cheaper than we were paying in London, for something cleaner and far more modern.  Damn, when I think about it, it is a lot nicer than that place in Richmond for 1200 quid we looked at last year, and far bigger too.  Its in a place called Daglfing, in a complex built in the 80's (I think).  I'll get some images online as soon as I can, though I won't really have access to my stuff until mid November, which is when we move in.  Its still six to eight weeks until we can move in, but I guess that's a good thing too.  Our landlords want to put down new parquet flooring in a couple of the rooms, and it'll need cleaning up from the previous tenants.  Its large though; 70m2 with a balcony.  That's about 210 square feet for all the English out there.  (UPDATED : 70m2 is actually 753 square feet.  Thanks Scally, I was half asleep at the tine.!)  It has a spare room for guests / PC etc, a garage and a huge basement storage area.  The view from the balcony is of the central grassy area, and out the back windows all you can see are trees.  I'm too tired to finish this now, so I'll post it and update tomorrow...