Do you work here? My first day in the office.

I like to think I work for a pretty good sized company with a strong global presence. Most of its offices have people of many nationalities working in them. That's one of the reasons I love working here. My company affords its employees the opportunity to live and work abroad should they choose. As a result, internal employee transfers are a common occurrence and have been happening for decades. So when I show up on my first day of work I admit that I expect people to know I'm arriving, people to know that I'm a transfer and that things will have been handled properly by both my departing office and my new office. I think the intention was there, but my first day at work could (should) have gone a lot smoother.

I arrived on time and ready to get to work on Monday. Both my boss and my boss' boss were in meetings all day so it was up to one of my coworkers to be the point person should I need anything. She ended up being my babysitter for the day instead. I got to my desk and tried to log on to my computer, but my log on ID wasn't working so I called the IT group. They told me that my status in the system showed me as "being terminated in the Portland office. Do you work here in Germany now?"......I couldn't even answer him for a moment the question had taken me by complete surprise. Am I working in Germany now? Um, YEAH! I'm here aren't I? I have a signed contract don't I? I've moved our entire lives here and they want to know if I'm supposed to be here? I wasn't worried that my status was showing "terminated" in the system as opposed to "transferred". To be honest, I was slightly amused. As I mention earlier, global transfers happen every day. You'd think these guys would have the process down by now, but in every case I have seen one or two things get royally messed up and somehow it always gets resolved. Anyhow, I assured the IT guy that I was indeed supposed to be here and then they tell me to have HR and my new boss e-mail them to prove it basically............Ah, German bureaucracy. It's enough to make any newcomer's head spin....... So, while my coworker and I are running around the base.....(yes, my company is located in the small town of Herzogenaurach, just 15 minutes north of Nuremberg and our offices are housed in an old army base).....looking for my boss so he can send the blasted e-mail I realize my security badge doesn't work. The security guys only gave me enough permission to basically get in the front door, but no other buildings. So I can't access my Design or Marketing teams. I can't get into any building (I need access to at least 10 different areas) at all so after we find my boss my coworker then takes me to Security to get my badge fixed. By 5pm my badge still isn't working, but IT was able to get my e-mail back online. Day one may have been a bust, but I did run into some old friends from Portland who I hadn't seen in ages and the new coworker (the one who helped me maneuver my way around the red tape of Security and IT) and I formed a tight bond that I think will remain as long as I remain here.