Yesterday I had my first meeting with the FedEx wives club. Well, not really a club, but just a group of wives — about 15 — who got together for brunch. It was new for me — first of all, being a wife is still really fresh, and second, hanging out on a “work day” eating pastries and drinking coffee made me feel just a wee bit guilty. Of course, brunch started at 4:30 a.m. ET, so I had plenty of working day left (if I could stay up after the montecristo, cheese, sliced meat, and pastry injection).

In the process, got lots of advice and met a ton of super ladies. Here’s what I walked away with, in no particular order:

• Germans are really good drivers — far superior to Americans or the French.
• The locals prefer structure, and much of what Germans do is in effort to preserve some type of higher order. This is not necessarily government control (well, maybe a little), but they’re wired for organization (I should fit in well … not!).
• Petty crime is an issue. Several of the families have been broken into, apparently because minor theft is not really punished or disciplined here. The polizei are much more concerned with violent crime. So as long as you don’t punch someone out while stealing their TV, you should land nowhere but comfortably on your couch in front of a new plasma after your work is done.
• That said, you can go to jail if you cause an accident by passing a car on the right whilst traveling the autobahn (they take driving seriously).
• When you ride someone’s tail on the highway, it’s called “jostling.”
• It takes up to 10 days to get a bank account set up. Can’t really do anything without one.
• Everything takes a long time here — this all goes back to process and order. Might be two months before I know whether I can even get — or need, for that matter — a work permit.
• If you claim a religion when you register with the officials, the German government could withold a 10% religious tithing. Apparently, no separation of church and state. (Actually, tourists should be pleased; this is how they maintain all their old cathedrals.)
• You can’t watch streaming American TV over the internet because of licensing in Germany. Thanks to Michelle, I now know that I can purchase a VPN token to fool my computer into thinking it’s in NYC. Sweet! A loophole for everything. Excited to get my New Girl back fo’ free.
• Private schools are super expensive — one woman paying upwards of 60 grande (not sure Euros or dollars) for her two kids in international private high school (public schools are somewhat out of the question unless you want to stick your 15-year old in full-immersion German. Probably better for the little tikes). Yikes!
• Home schooling is illegal in Germany, and once you register your kids, the German government is all over you to ensure your children are enrolled in a public or private institution.

Another thing I’ve observed is that while Germans seem to prefer order and discipline, they all wear jeans to work and appear very casual. I’ve hardly seen any business suits in an office setting.

I’m sure I’ll bore you with even more learnings as the days go on.

Thanks to my brunch buddies for all the German deets!

Now to get ready for our first day of apartment hunting.