It's Thursday night- I've been back in Germany since Sunday morning but this is the first time since I deplaned that I've had a moment to myself. The flight took off about two hours late, but we made up time and were able to land by 10:30ish in the morning in Frankfurt. My individual screen didn't work but I had a window sleep and was mentally and emotionally exhausted so I fell asleep right after they took away the dinner plates and woke up with a breakfast tray in front of me. I think that's the most I've ever slept on a trans-Atlantic flight!
Deplaned, went through passport control, collected my hundred pounds of baggage, and found Katherine waiting for me on the other side! After excitement from both parties we collected our stuff and comically made our way to the Frankfurt train terminal. We bought our Bahn cards and bought our tickets to Koeln (Cologne) ignoring all the Germans staring at us because we were so loud and had so much luggage that it was obnoxious. I allowed myself to be an obnoxious American for one day.
Got off the train in Koeln and were greeted by a beautifu bright blue sky, the Koelner Dom, and a breezy 75 degrees. Found our hostel, used the internets with our Apple products, and took some power naps. David found us a little later, and luckily we had a room for the three of us so we could just leave all our stuff everywhere. Ventured out into the city in search of food and beer and what better first meal back in Germany than Doener and Koelsch?! Delicious.
Explored some more- I've been to Koeln twice before so I wasn't feeling too adventurous. We found the river though and it was just the most beautiful evening so we sat at a Biergarten in a little Platz and just all talked about Fulbright, about Germany, about BC, about our expectations and whatnot over a solid few beers. It was kind of nice not having any smartphones that actually worked because we weren't distracted by anything else- it was a great first night back in Germany!
Back to the hostel, Katherine and I hit the sack very fast, and then up in the morning, checked out and what not. More comics with us moving our luggage everywhere. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for our last "American" iced coffee before we really immersed ourselves in Germany. Let me just say that DD caffeine level is VERY different in Germany than it is in the US. Katherine and I both drink quite a lot of coffee and we were OFF THE WALLS after these iced coffees. Like actually uncomfortable. And it lasted until that night- absolutely ridiculous. Went to our favorite ExtraBlatt for a nice lunch and chat, and then joined the other 138 ETAs at the train station to get on the bus to Altenberg where our orientation was being held.
Everyone was just tired and hot and frazzled on the bus, but we arrived in Altenberg, and were actually staying at a monastery! That's why my internet was so shotty all week though... It reminded me very much of a BC retreat at Dover, except at night they opened up a bar where we all drank too much to deal with mental exhaustion from the day's work. It's not that we were doing so much work during the day- learning about what our roles in the classroom were as English teaching assistants and learning how to plan and teach lessons, but there was just an information overload that everyone was just really stressed. Soooo much needs to be done now that we're all in our cities, but just gotta take it one step at a time!
Also, there was added stress with there being so many of us, and all of us all over Germany that it was hard to remember everyone I had met. I ended up forming some friendships with people around Muenster, as well as some other in Hamburg and some in Berlin. I'm an honorary member of the Berlin group anyways since I was in their small group for all the group work anyways!
I'm not going to go on and on about orientation- it was a nice initiation into the program, but it made me forget I was in Germany since it was 90% in English and we were literally isolated in this tiny town and actually locked in the monastery at night when the gates closed. I like the people I met though. It was interesting to be around such a big group with such different backgrounds because I've been at BC for four years where everyone looks, acts, and dresses the same- it was almost like culture shock being around so many people that didn't look preppy and BC and were more socially awkward. More like real life I guess...?!
Up bright and early this morning, pounding down three cups of coffee. Said goodbye to new friends, and caught the train with four others to Muenster. The others were in Hamburg but had to switch in my city so I went with them, and they were able to help me my luggage, thank the Lord. Got to Muenster around noon, put my luggage in a locker at the train station, and went out to explore the city a bit. My flatmate, Karim, didn't get off work until 4:30 and I had no key, so I had time to kill. My welcome to Muenster was COLD and grey. Like...REALLY cold. Already time for scarves and pants UGH. But that's German weather for you.
Got my dinky pay-as-you-go phone- stupid iPhone 4 not having a sim card BOO. Explored the city a bit just on my own, letting myself get lost and such. It's much bigger than Heidelberg, but of course it's still Germany, so it's still got a very similar feel, the same shops, and of course like 3863298 beautiful churches. I'm excited to get to know the city though- I just have to avoid comparing everything to Heidelberg, which I'm realizing is very much a fairy tale town. Katherine and I are going to try to go visit at the end of the month.
After exploring, I retrieved my luggage and took a cab to my apartment. After months of emailing, met my flatmate, Karim. He is super nice and friendly- doesn't speak very much English at all, which is actually really good for me because it will force me to speak German. I've taken six years of German, majored in it, studied abroad in the country, and have somehow gotten out of really speaking it past elementary things. And I'm now realizing just how terrible my speaking is! But this will be good for. Karim's originally from Casablanca, so his mother-tongue is actually French, which I've been attempting to learn for the past year or so but keep getting lazy, so hopefully he can teach me some French as well...and then I can get by in France when I go visit Mollie!
The apartment is really nice. It's a good price and it's not more than a 15-minute walk from my school (although I need to go find a bike soon...Muenster is the bike capital of Germany) and it's in a cute and quiet area but not far at all from downtown, and my room is HUGE. Like, GIANT. Bigger than my room in Gabelli at BC. And I've got a double bed and a couch that could fit two people, which will be a welcome change from people having to sleep on the floor when they visited me in Heidelberg.
But that's everything! A long post, but obviously had a lot to say! My anxiety about coming here is gone- it'll of course be a rough couple weeks as I get situated here, but I'm looking on the whole situation with excitement overall. Pictures aren't on my computer yet, but I'll hopefully post some soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment