It's been a little while since my last post, but as I've told many of you, it would be like this once I got to Mannheim. However I've done several exciting things since last time, and therefore it's time to share it I think, before I forget.
Last Tuesday (August 9), one of my good friends from the US arrived in Germany. Since around April, she and I had been planning a trip to Paris. Gabi will be studying in Barcelona, Spain, and we figured that since I'd already be in Europe with my summer class started, it would be a cool idea if we could get together somewhere before she did her other travelling and eventual move to Barcelona. We decided on Paris because it's about a three hour train ride from Mannheim. Well last Tuesday she arrived into Frankfurt and then took the train to meet me in Mannheim. It had been a long time since we'd last seen each other, so it was good to be able to meet up. Given that communication was quite difficult, we were impressed by how much we were able to coordinate during our short conversations.
We really did not do much between then and Friday morning. It also gave Gabi time to adjust and rest up a little. On Wednesday we decided to take a little trip to Frankfurt, where we walked around and saw some neat things. There was nothing out of the ordinary on this trip though. Probably the highlight was being able to ascend one of the higher buildings and be able to see in all directions of the city and beyond. Thursday night though, we decided to go out with some of my friends, and it ended up being a pretty good idea. The only downside, I had a test the next morning. I sucked it up and showed up to class the next morning. I had arranged with my teacher that I could take the test and then leave immediately so I could catch a morning train. Well, things changed a little since we could not get a morning a train with my test likely to still be occurring around that time, so we went for an early afternoon train. I still kept the morning train story going, and ended up leaving class as scheduled and went back to my room for a good little nap. Once awake and feeling better, we left and headed for the train station.
A comfortable three hour ride took us the 300 or so miles into the capital of France, and also considered one of the capitals of Europe. I had only been in Paris twice, both of which were flight connections on my way to Russia in previous years. In other words, those visits did not really count. I once again admired the landscape on our way there, and received a free text message that signaled our crossing of the French border. When we arrived we went to an information center, where we received a list of cheap hostels and sights to see in the city. We really did a good job of figuring things out right there on the spot, and we found a hostel in the southeatern part of the city, 51 euros for two nights. To get there we would have to take the metro, and since Gabi goes to school in the middle of Washington, DC, I was quite glad to have her skills of figuring out lines to take and what not.
When we arrived at the hostel, we checked in and relaxed for a little while. I had never actually been to a hostel, I had only heard that it is a good place for youth to stay while they travel across Europe. It was not that spacious, but it was quite nice for a 51 euros for two nights. Gabi and I would share a room the first night, but had to get separate rooms the following night since we did not have a reservation. After a short period of relaxation, we ventured out to Notre Dame, a Gothic cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and built between 1163 and 1250. On our way there we twisted and turned through the mazes of roads, and around one corner I saw for the first time a sliver of the famous Eiffel Tower. We also sat down to eat during this time, at which point the sun began to set. We passed Notre Dame on our way and decided to go see the nighttime version of the Eiffel Tower, and it was quite a beautiful site. When we got off the metro, I just looked up and admired this amazing structure. Growing up, I always saw the Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion, and everytime we went someone would tell me, "They say that the real Eiffel Tower in Paris is about twice the size of this one..." And here I was, seeing the REAL Eiffel Tower, glowing a beautiful gold into the night sky. You can see it almost from all points of the city, and because it's so tall, you will often think you're quite close to it, but in reality you're blocks and blocks and blocks away.
I turned back to see all the people and commotion going for a split second, when all of sudden i heard a gasp from the crowd. I turned around and the Tower was glittering, with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of lights flickering on and off on it. I did not know why it just starting doing this, but then I looked at my phone and it was midnight. We had unintentionally chosen the perfect time to arrive. This went on for about five to ten minutes, and then they all stopped flickering. At this point it was quite late, so Gabi and I decided to head back to our hostel. We immediately went to sleep given the tiring commute to and from the Tower, and all the walking in between.
The next morning we awoke and had our complimentary breakfast, bread and a hot drink. Today we tried to get in all the good things about Paris. We first went to The Louvre, the well known museum that holds such things as Greek and Roman statues, artifacts, and the world famous Mona Lisa. We were able to see it all, and I was quite impressed that such rules as no flash photography were often ignored. I even saw some of the museum personnel taking pictures of families and individuals who wanted it. Normally it costs about eleven euros to enter the museum, but since I study in the European Union and am under the age of 25, then I received free admission in. I was quite happy about this! After walking around for several hours and admiring all the pictures and paintings, we went to eat lunch at the museum cafe.
Again we ventured out to the Eiffel Tower to see its majesty during the day. The plan was to go up, but unfortunately the line was miles long. I hope to go up it someday. From here we went to Champs-Elysees, a very prominent, if not the most prominent avenue in Paris. Lined with shops and restaraunts, it was filled with thousands of people from all over the world.
All this walking and touring had made us tired, so we decided to go back to our hostel. The rooms are always closed between eleven and four, so we had to put our luggage in a luggage room while we were out. Upon returning we also had to get our new keys for our new rooms. I would be sharing mine with a stranger, but he ended up being a pretty nice guy.
We relaxed for about an hour and then went out on the town for dinner and a little more walking. I got a tasty lasagna along with a special Italian beer. We walked around for a little while afterwards and evenutally headed back to our hostel. We went out to a bar with a few temporary friends and then crashed shortly after. My roomate was quite the snorer, talking, teeth grinder, and moaner. Therefore it was quite hard to go back to sleep when he woke me up at about five in the morning. Gabi would knock on the door around 915, and we had breakfast, and then decided what we wanted to do. Since I had not made a train reservation to return to Mannheim, we set out to do this, and I ended up getting a fairly immediate departure. We sat and talked for a while, and then we gave each other a big hug and went our separate ways. She will be travelling through France and Italy in the weeks to come before going to Barcelona.
The so called three hours did not happen on this trip back. About an hour from Strasbourg, our train started having electrical problems (due to an accident involving a train ahead of us), and we had to stop on the side of the track for almost two hours. Because of this I missed my connection and had to arrange new trains to get home. I had a long and lonely two hours to wait here. I ventured out and decided to get some food, at which point it started raining. And then it started pouring. Here I was, soaked and standing by my lonesome self without an umbrella, deciding what I wanted to do now. You can picture this moment from the set of a movie when a nasty breakup has just occured and the not guilty one is standing there about to sob in the pouring rain, while the other walks back somewhere. Yes, it was a fairly dismal moment, and without Gabi's company, as well as her skills of knowing how to get places...
I decided to walk back to the station where I sat and just messed around on my iPod for a while. The next train was the so called "S-Bahn". It is more like a tram on a railroad track. Although it was a short thirty minute ride, I did not forget to observe like I always do. The most interesting part was when we crossed a strait of some type. This strait seemed to go on for a while, and I kind of started to think that maybe this was the border between the two countries. So I looked and observed: On one side, the French flag waved valiantly, and then began to disappear as the train kept moving. When we arrived on the otherside, there facing the other side of the strait, as if claiming dominance over the other, waved the German flag. This was indeed the border between the two countries. It was interesting how little there was to signal it. Only the observant like myself would have noticed that the strait was named in French on one side, and then German on the other, along with their respective flags. The stations were also of German nature now, along with directions and what not.
It was in a way like seeing a familiar language, as if I was arriving back in the US. The word "Fahrkarten" (tickets) made so much more sense to me than the French "billets." If there were problems from here on out, I could now sufficiently explain them to personnel. Like I've said earlier, it's like I'm beginning to make a transition to the German language. It used to be only English, but now if I see German on any sign, then it almost gives me as much comfort as seeing English.
We arrived at Offenburg, where I had about a twenty minute wait. It was not bad though, however, when the train came, I had nowhere to sit, since the reservation that I had on my missed train no longer existed. (The S-Bahn did not require a reservation). So I stood in between cars for about two hours, anxiously waiting to get off. In Karlsruhe, a guy stepped onto the train, with a crowd of friends on the platform saying goodbye and blowing kisses along with the Russian language. I soon found out that he was born in Saint Petersburg and was no living in New York. He had moved to the US at age ten, and he and I talked for a while, and this eased the lengthy, uncomfortable trip. He was returning back home to New York after a 13 month stay in Karlsruhe. I hung with him at the platform in Mannheim until his train came, and the we said goodbye and I was racing towards my apartment.
I'm quite tired from the last week, this post really doesn't do justice of explaining everything that Gabi and I did during our time together. But an important note, Gabi is a very talented photographer, and with her permission I will be posting some of her pictures that she took with her camera, since I lazily forgot mine. (It was another last second packing thing...). As we all know, a photo is certainly worth a thousand words. You will think that some of the pictures have come from a travel magazine or something of the sort, but I can assure you the scenes you will see are exactly what I saw and how I saw them. I will try and post them here and on facebook once she has gotten settled and has had time to tweak them to her liking and post them. Until then, I hope all is well back at home. I can happily say that I'm beginning to feel like a true traveller having been to three major European cities now. These are experiences and sights that I will never forget. Take care everyone!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
sommerakademie beginnt
Today was a different day in the life of this trip. In recent posts I have written about trips to unfamiliar places, things I've never seen. Well today I write about something all too familiar to me, class. As the title suggests, today was the beginning of the Summer Academy, an intensive German language course through the entire month of August, paying special attention to speaking and grammar. Yesterday, like I said, we took a placement test so that the faculty could put us in the best classes best fit for our needs. This morning, all 250 or so of us sat in our seats and waited for our names to be called. From there, we as a class (maybe about 10-15 per class) walked together to the castle and to our specific rooms. (Yes, here in Mannheim the school is referred to by all people as "the castle." Reminiscent of the Harry Potter days to me, but without robes)
I was put into class nine, an intermediate level course, just to my liking. I thought it would be a fairly good class, until my teacher started speaking German. Now most German classes I have ever taken usually begin with a good ol' fashioned "hello" or something in German, but this woman would just not stop. Thus, I began to realize that my class would in fact not be being taught in English, something that came as a huge surprise to me. Being speaking intensive, I was for the first time afraid of using my German, something that bothered me very much. However, as the time went on, the German language became easier to me. I understood the teacher very well and could communicate with my fellow classmates. At one point, it was like I was thinking in German, which is a strange concept to think about, but nevertheless I think it is something that the Academy is trying to impress upon all of us here. Our class began around 9, ending at 1030. A thirty minute break followed, with another intensive hour and a half following it. Three hours of German was quite the load, given that my last two German classes have been online. As I walked out, I found some of my friends, and we began our walk back to Deutsche Bank, where all of us needed to take care of some of our account businesses. I managed to capture this photo on the way out.
This picture does not do it justice, as both wings spread out in either direction another 200 feet or so (I might be exaggerating just a little, but I'm not sure to tell you the truth.
The reason I needed to visit Deutsche Bank was because I still owed some money to the University, called a "semester contribution." I could not enroll nor complete the subsequent tasks without fulfilling this requirement. I used my German to communicate with the woman helping me, and it went almost perfectly. From here I walked back to the International Office to show them the proof of the transaction (it took almost twenty minutes to get to the bank, and another twenty to get back). Once proven, I officially enrolled into the University for the fall semester. I will receive my student card, as well as pay for my semester pass. This will also be shown on my card. It provides me with unlimited tram, bus, and train use for one semester. (The train will only be valid in a 60 mile circumference in all directions of the city). After all of this I gathered my things and met with a friend. We realized we were both going to the same location, a twenty five minute walk to the Govermental Center where we would have to obtain our residences permits for the city and then meet with the foreign office for the country of Germany. (two different tasks) Unfortunately upon arrival we saw that it was closed, and will be open tomorrow. It is often recommended to students that they put the date on the permit application of the day that they will be going to the center, or else the center will think that you've lived in the city a few days without authorization. As I left the International Office, I decided to write the date on my application. When I saw it was closed, I realized I may have put myself into a little bit of a pickle. This will be an interesting conversation with the authorities...On the way back I bought my own internet cord so that I could have internet without having to borrow someone else's cords.
After this I went back to my room for a little bit. I did some things for class (yes I do have homework), and began thinking of which excursions I wanted to go on as a part of the Summer Academy program. It wasn't very long before I contacted one of my friends on Facebook and arranged a dinner meeting with them in the city. I caught the tram, which stopped by their dorm as well, and they hopped on and joined me on our ride to the castle, from which point we would walk to our destination. We walked to a meeting point in the city, where my two other friends met one of their friends, and we all walked across the street to an interesting Italian restaurant. Their way of doing business is interesting. upon arrival, they give you a card that you must keep with you at all times. There are different stations that you can go to inside. After ordering something at each station, you must scan your card into some sort of a machine that puts the balance on your card. At the end of our meal (delicious pasta), we presented our cards to the cashier, at which point she scanned our cards and the amount came up. I think this was very smart because it kept a waitor or waitress from forgetting something or putting something accidently that you didn't get. It was a very organized matter, something that the Germans are known for. I was quite impressed. The restaurant was called Vapiano, and apparently it is quite popular here and in some places on the US, but I had never heard of it prior to this.
My friends' friend left us when we were finished, but the other three of us went to Mömax, a store where you can buy such things as pillows, carpets, lamps, and any other thing a lonely apartment room would need. Since my other two friends don't speak German, it was my job to help them with the workers, as well as tell them how much their purchases amounted to. In both cases the cashiers did not want to give out too many coins, so they asked if they had additional euro coins with them to make the change easier. I was able to translate this for them as well. It really feels good to have a slight grasp of the German language to help me in such situations.
The streets here are quite organized as well. The city is divided into blocks. The main blocks are listed as letters, beginning with A and ending with K. The different streets inside these blocks are in number format. For instance, the International Office is located at "L1." We had to walked to "K7" to get to the immigration office. With this, I've had no problem all week navigating to different places, and tonight was no different. It was beneficial to the other two, who needed a little more guidance.
We arrived at our tram stop and rode back together until the other two had to get off at their stop. When I got out I decided to get a quick picture of the outside of my dorn. The closeup is my specific building, the fuller view is a different one, but almost to what mine looks like.
Now I rest in my room. Tonight I will probably be attending a party at the bar that is located in my complex. I will be attending with a few friends. It has been a long day, but I feel like I have accomplished a lot. And with that, I will head out. Hope all is well back at home, and as always, much love to the USA from Germany!
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| Me in front of my new University |
The reason I needed to visit Deutsche Bank was because I still owed some money to the University, called a "semester contribution." I could not enroll nor complete the subsequent tasks without fulfilling this requirement. I used my German to communicate with the woman helping me, and it went almost perfectly. From here I walked back to the International Office to show them the proof of the transaction (it took almost twenty minutes to get to the bank, and another twenty to get back). Once proven, I officially enrolled into the University for the fall semester. I will receive my student card, as well as pay for my semester pass. This will also be shown on my card. It provides me with unlimited tram, bus, and train use for one semester. (The train will only be valid in a 60 mile circumference in all directions of the city). After all of this I gathered my things and met with a friend. We realized we were both going to the same location, a twenty five minute walk to the Govermental Center where we would have to obtain our residences permits for the city and then meet with the foreign office for the country of Germany. (two different tasks) Unfortunately upon arrival we saw that it was closed, and will be open tomorrow. It is often recommended to students that they put the date on the permit application of the day that they will be going to the center, or else the center will think that you've lived in the city a few days without authorization. As I left the International Office, I decided to write the date on my application. When I saw it was closed, I realized I may have put myself into a little bit of a pickle. This will be an interesting conversation with the authorities...On the way back I bought my own internet cord so that I could have internet without having to borrow someone else's cords.
After this I went back to my room for a little bit. I did some things for class (yes I do have homework), and began thinking of which excursions I wanted to go on as a part of the Summer Academy program. It wasn't very long before I contacted one of my friends on Facebook and arranged a dinner meeting with them in the city. I caught the tram, which stopped by their dorm as well, and they hopped on and joined me on our ride to the castle, from which point we would walk to our destination. We walked to a meeting point in the city, where my two other friends met one of their friends, and we all walked across the street to an interesting Italian restaurant. Their way of doing business is interesting. upon arrival, they give you a card that you must keep with you at all times. There are different stations that you can go to inside. After ordering something at each station, you must scan your card into some sort of a machine that puts the balance on your card. At the end of our meal (delicious pasta), we presented our cards to the cashier, at which point she scanned our cards and the amount came up. I think this was very smart because it kept a waitor or waitress from forgetting something or putting something accidently that you didn't get. It was a very organized matter, something that the Germans are known for. I was quite impressed. The restaurant was called Vapiano, and apparently it is quite popular here and in some places on the US, but I had never heard of it prior to this.
My friends' friend left us when we were finished, but the other three of us went to Mömax, a store where you can buy such things as pillows, carpets, lamps, and any other thing a lonely apartment room would need. Since my other two friends don't speak German, it was my job to help them with the workers, as well as tell them how much their purchases amounted to. In both cases the cashiers did not want to give out too many coins, so they asked if they had additional euro coins with them to make the change easier. I was able to translate this for them as well. It really feels good to have a slight grasp of the German language to help me in such situations.
The streets here are quite organized as well. The city is divided into blocks. The main blocks are listed as letters, beginning with A and ending with K. The different streets inside these blocks are in number format. For instance, the International Office is located at "L1." We had to walked to "K7" to get to the immigration office. With this, I've had no problem all week navigating to different places, and tonight was no different. It was beneficial to the other two, who needed a little more guidance.
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| A tiny square in between blocks |
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| Block "N1", a good place for a quick picture |
We arrived at our tram stop and rode back together until the other two had to get off at their stop. When I got out I decided to get a quick picture of the outside of my dorn. The closeup is my specific building, the fuller view is a different one, but almost to what mine looks like.
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| My specific building, Haus 6. My window would be to the left of the left most window on the highest floor. |
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| Haus 5 across from mine. Almost a duplicate of my Haus 6. |
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| Mein Zimmer My room The sink rests to the left of the large cabinet on the left side. |
-for more pictures, visit my profile on facebook-
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Bunnik, Netherlands/Mannheim, Germany
Given all the commotion of changing locations and what not, it has been very difficult to be able to have a time to sit down and reflect on what I have done. I have much to tell now, although some of the minor details will need to be left out so that I can fit everything in. With great confusion also comes the inability to take pictures, which is what happened over the course of these last couple of days. I will work on capturing images of the school, as well as pictures of the general scene in this vibrant city of Mannheim.
Since I last wrote (the morning of July 30), a new month has rolled in, and locations for me have changed. But I will start with what has happened since that morning.....
After I posted my last blog, Fabian and I returned to his tennis club to play a couple sets. Tim would be working today from 10:00-17:00 at his tennis store. We played for almost two hours, completing five sets. It was ugly for me, out of those five sets, I probably only won three or four games. But being able to be out in the cool, Dutch air and play some tennis was very relaxing in and of itself. I wish I could play in weather like that everyday. The rest of Saturday was very relaxed. We didn't go anywhere, or do much. We were not only relaxing from our days travelling, but we were preparing for the night to come. We watched a soccer match on tv, and then prepared for our next activity.
We went to Brother's night club, a famous club known throughout much of Holland. One of Tim's friends, Jegor, would join us for this. He is originally from Russia, but has lived in the Netherlands for quite some time. It would be the four of us, Tim, myself, Jegor, and Fabian. Together we walked the twenty or so minutes to the club, where people were already gathering. It wasn't until about midnight or one a.m. that people really started showing up. In this club, there is one main hallway. Branching from this hallway are about five or so different rooms. Each room had its own bar, DJ, and music. There was a beach themed room, a hip-hop room, and a Dutch music room. We spent most of our time in between the hip-hop and the beach themes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened here, but I was able to observe the differences between interactions of teens in clubs in the Netherlands and the US. In the US of course, people grind to hip-hop, where as in the Netherlands, its more of a relaxed, "head bobbing" scene. I actually preferred this since it was more laid back.
Around three a.m. or so we proceeded back to Tim's house. It had been a great night, but we were all tired. Jegor would part ways with us at Tim's house. He is quite a funny guy, and i'm glad he was able to enjoy the night with us. Sleep would come easily for me that night, as there was no specific time we had to be awake in the morning.
Tim would once again leave us Sunday morning for a tennis match, but I used this time just to relax. We only had one thing on our agenda today. When Tim returned, we had a light lunch, and then proceeded to the soccer fields located five minutes from Tim's house by foot. We began playing one on one on a mini field, but after that became tiring, we moved to a bigger field that had a real goal. The field was more of a clay makeup, which was unlike anything I had ever seen. We all took turns going in goal and taking shots on goal. After a while we decided to have penalty shootout competitions between each other (so three in all). How fitting it would be for me to come out on top of the two brothers on my last day. Previously I had struggled in my tennis matches, but I was finally able to succeed in something else. We departed the tennis courts and went home for an interesting dinner. We had bread and dipped into a fondue sauce of some type, along with fruit and a salad. Monday morning would be an early one, so we decided to take it easy the rest of the night. I used this time to pack up my belongings...
I woke up monday morning at six a.m. I took a shower, had a light breakfast, and set out into the cool Dutch air, headed for the train station. I was Germany bound today, something that took a while for me to grasp. Tim would ride with me to Utecht Centraal, and walked me to my train. It was a few minutes late, and Tim had a short time to make his train back to Bunnik. I was here that we departed ways once again. I will forever be thankful for his time and energy in showing me his beautiful country. They are memories that can never be taken away from me, and I was quite sad to leave the Netherlands.
When the train arrived I was on my own, two bags on my back, and two large bags next to me. Finding a seat was a complete disaster. I sat in one seat, and the woman on the other side proceeded to tell me in Dutch that I needed a reservation for that seat. This went on at least three times. You have to keep in mind that I was navigating two bigs suitcases down a very narrow aisle, and this was embarassing and frustrating at the same time. Finally I was able to find an open seat. One of my bags was able to fit in the overhead compartment, but the other one had to go to a special area for large bags. The closest one was seven cars down, I was quite nervous that something was going to be taken or that I was going to forget something. As the train started moving, I just relaxed and began listening to some music. It would be about a four and a half hour ride to Mannheim, so I tried to make myself comfortable. We moved fast, moving 130 mph at some points. I eagerly looked out my window at the sights: the meadows, cows, and fields as for as the eye could see. There was no border signaling our entrance into Germany, so all I could do was observe for myself the signs on buildings and the license plates of the cars. Gradually the sights began to change, and thus the language on the train began to transition as well. More and more people began to speak the language that I've tried for so many years to establish as my second. In the US, I would have been excited to hear it and try to communicate. But here, here was different. This was their country, their language, and it was normal to them. I looked out the window and saw for the first time the German language written in its own country, a simple "Achtung" written next to the tracks. I had finally arrived in country that I've yearned to visit for years. The idea of this, along with the scenery, was just very beautiful to me.
We rode through mountain tunnels, we topped the "dipsy-doodles" of the terrain, and we cleared narrow rail passages lined on both sides with nothing but endless views. We rode through the Rheinland, reaching speeds of almost 160 mph. Along the way I saw the sights of Cologne, a commercial center and city port on the Rhine river. I caught a glimpse of a soccer stadium in Mönchengladbach, the stadium in which the USA women defeated the French only a month earlier. I saw Frankfurt, the fifth largest city in Germany. And finally, I heard a voice in German signaling ten minutes until our arrival in Mannheim, the city in which I would be studying...
A change of thought overcame me at this moment. I had to grab my bags and then once again travel seven cars down to my other one. It was a nightmare, but I managed to get it done. At this point I met a friend, David, who was also studying in Mannheim, and slowly and slowly more students began emerging. We exited the station, and bustling city stood before us. I was now offically in Germany, I though. It was a ten minute walk to the international office, where I got some information and learned that I had a lot of tasks that needed to be done. I met several new friends in the office, and together we walked around the city to find where certain things were (places where we needed to complete requirements). I began using my German on the street, asking where things were. I was quite happy with how much I could understand and communicate.
That was all we did that afternoon. A helper (helfer, as they called themselves) drove me and my friends to where we were living. Three of us lived in the same area, which was nice. We arrived and carried my heavy bags all the way up the steps, discovering that I was in the wrong building. With sweat dripping off my face, I once again picked up my bags and descended the steps to find my building. I managed to find it, climb the steps (it took a long time) and I finally opened my flat door and then my room door. My room is quite spacious, with a bed, two dressers, and a desk. A sink rests in the corner.
I did not stay here for long, as I had to once again go into the city to do a little more exploration. The school is literally a castle, it is huge, like a giant fortress. Photos will not do justice to this, but I guess this is all I can do for now.
At four p.m., an optional tour departed. It was called a pub crawl, although we only went to two pubs. I joined my new friends, and we met new ones along the way. We all began having a lot of fun at the second bar, but of course by that time we had had enough to drink to cause this. I did not go over the top though, as well as my friends. A few of them, including our helpers, did consume a lot of alcohol, but they were still in an ok state, although it was quite funny to me and my friends. (These helpers will be with us throughout our month of the summer academy.) From our second bar we went to a club, which basically resembled a large frat party on an American campus. We all had our drinks and toasted in German, "Prost!" We toasted to our time together in this country, and that we would be happy and have much fortune while here. And then, we danced the night away. It was three a.m. when I returned to my place via taxi, but the night had been so much fun. I did not have any linens or anything, so it was quite and interesting night's sleep to say the least.
My alarm went off at eight a.m. this morning. As you might figure, I was quite upset when this happened. Because the room echoes, it made the alarm even louder. My neck was sore from sleeping in a weird angle, I was kind of cold because of having no blanket, and my skinned itched from having been on the rough surface of the couch/bed. But nevertheless I got up, took a shower, and caught the tram to school. We were to take a placement test in a building near the University. There were two different tests, an easy and a difficult. I opted for the difficult one, along with my friend next to me. When we took one look at it, we immediately asked for an easy one. It was still fairly difficult unfortunately. Afterwards, my friends and I walked to Deutsche Bank, where I was finally able to open an account. This account would be necessary for my next task, which would be to obtain my health insurance. Tomorrow I will make my first transaction into with my account. This will enable me to fully enroll in the school, obtain my student card, and then purchase my semester transit pass. This will go on my card, and I will be able to ride trams and busses without paying, finally!
As you can imagine, the time and travel has really tired me. There was another optional tour tonight, but I decided to unpack and nap instead. It took me a while to find dinner, but I was able to find a cafe next to my apartment complex. The food was fairly cheap as well, which was very nice. Now I sit here at my computerm having just skyped Katie and Johnson back in Shelby. I just pulled a compartment from underneath my bed, and there sat the linens that I could have so much used last night. A little more observation could have gone a long way. German voices yell in the streets next to my complex, along with the strengthing and fading sounds of cars as they come and go. I am looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight, however I will be waking up at 7:45 tomorrow to catch the tram to the university, where I will have my first class. The tough part is over, and now I can sit back and enjoy the tough, yet exciting semester that is on its way. Until next time, a good night/day, and best wishes to the USA from Germany!
Since I last wrote (the morning of July 30), a new month has rolled in, and locations for me have changed. But I will start with what has happened since that morning.....
After I posted my last blog, Fabian and I returned to his tennis club to play a couple sets. Tim would be working today from 10:00-17:00 at his tennis store. We played for almost two hours, completing five sets. It was ugly for me, out of those five sets, I probably only won three or four games. But being able to be out in the cool, Dutch air and play some tennis was very relaxing in and of itself. I wish I could play in weather like that everyday. The rest of Saturday was very relaxed. We didn't go anywhere, or do much. We were not only relaxing from our days travelling, but we were preparing for the night to come. We watched a soccer match on tv, and then prepared for our next activity.
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| The courts where Fabian and I played |
We went to Brother's night club, a famous club known throughout much of Holland. One of Tim's friends, Jegor, would join us for this. He is originally from Russia, but has lived in the Netherlands for quite some time. It would be the four of us, Tim, myself, Jegor, and Fabian. Together we walked the twenty or so minutes to the club, where people were already gathering. It wasn't until about midnight or one a.m. that people really started showing up. In this club, there is one main hallway. Branching from this hallway are about five or so different rooms. Each room had its own bar, DJ, and music. There was a beach themed room, a hip-hop room, and a Dutch music room. We spent most of our time in between the hip-hop and the beach themes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened here, but I was able to observe the differences between interactions of teens in clubs in the Netherlands and the US. In the US of course, people grind to hip-hop, where as in the Netherlands, its more of a relaxed, "head bobbing" scene. I actually preferred this since it was more laid back.
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| Paul, Tim, Jegor, and Fabian before leaving for the nightclub |
Around three a.m. or so we proceeded back to Tim's house. It had been a great night, but we were all tired. Jegor would part ways with us at Tim's house. He is quite a funny guy, and i'm glad he was able to enjoy the night with us. Sleep would come easily for me that night, as there was no specific time we had to be awake in the morning.
Tim would once again leave us Sunday morning for a tennis match, but I used this time just to relax. We only had one thing on our agenda today. When Tim returned, we had a light lunch, and then proceeded to the soccer fields located five minutes from Tim's house by foot. We began playing one on one on a mini field, but after that became tiring, we moved to a bigger field that had a real goal. The field was more of a clay makeup, which was unlike anything I had ever seen. We all took turns going in goal and taking shots on goal. After a while we decided to have penalty shootout competitions between each other (so three in all). How fitting it would be for me to come out on top of the two brothers on my last day. Previously I had struggled in my tennis matches, but I was finally able to succeed in something else. We departed the tennis courts and went home for an interesting dinner. We had bread and dipped into a fondue sauce of some type, along with fruit and a salad. Monday morning would be an early one, so we decided to take it easy the rest of the night. I used this time to pack up my belongings...
I woke up monday morning at six a.m. I took a shower, had a light breakfast, and set out into the cool Dutch air, headed for the train station. I was Germany bound today, something that took a while for me to grasp. Tim would ride with me to Utecht Centraal, and walked me to my train. It was a few minutes late, and Tim had a short time to make his train back to Bunnik. I was here that we departed ways once again. I will forever be thankful for his time and energy in showing me his beautiful country. They are memories that can never be taken away from me, and I was quite sad to leave the Netherlands.
When the train arrived I was on my own, two bags on my back, and two large bags next to me. Finding a seat was a complete disaster. I sat in one seat, and the woman on the other side proceeded to tell me in Dutch that I needed a reservation for that seat. This went on at least three times. You have to keep in mind that I was navigating two bigs suitcases down a very narrow aisle, and this was embarassing and frustrating at the same time. Finally I was able to find an open seat. One of my bags was able to fit in the overhead compartment, but the other one had to go to a special area for large bags. The closest one was seven cars down, I was quite nervous that something was going to be taken or that I was going to forget something. As the train started moving, I just relaxed and began listening to some music. It would be about a four and a half hour ride to Mannheim, so I tried to make myself comfortable. We moved fast, moving 130 mph at some points. I eagerly looked out my window at the sights: the meadows, cows, and fields as for as the eye could see. There was no border signaling our entrance into Germany, so all I could do was observe for myself the signs on buildings and the license plates of the cars. Gradually the sights began to change, and thus the language on the train began to transition as well. More and more people began to speak the language that I've tried for so many years to establish as my second. In the US, I would have been excited to hear it and try to communicate. But here, here was different. This was their country, their language, and it was normal to them. I looked out the window and saw for the first time the German language written in its own country, a simple "Achtung" written next to the tracks. I had finally arrived in country that I've yearned to visit for years. The idea of this, along with the scenery, was just very beautiful to me.
We rode through mountain tunnels, we topped the "dipsy-doodles" of the terrain, and we cleared narrow rail passages lined on both sides with nothing but endless views. We rode through the Rheinland, reaching speeds of almost 160 mph. Along the way I saw the sights of Cologne, a commercial center and city port on the Rhine river. I caught a glimpse of a soccer stadium in Mönchengladbach, the stadium in which the USA women defeated the French only a month earlier. I saw Frankfurt, the fifth largest city in Germany. And finally, I heard a voice in German signaling ten minutes until our arrival in Mannheim, the city in which I would be studying...
A change of thought overcame me at this moment. I had to grab my bags and then once again travel seven cars down to my other one. It was a nightmare, but I managed to get it done. At this point I met a friend, David, who was also studying in Mannheim, and slowly and slowly more students began emerging. We exited the station, and bustling city stood before us. I was now offically in Germany, I though. It was a ten minute walk to the international office, where I got some information and learned that I had a lot of tasks that needed to be done. I met several new friends in the office, and together we walked around the city to find where certain things were (places where we needed to complete requirements). I began using my German on the street, asking where things were. I was quite happy with how much I could understand and communicate.
That was all we did that afternoon. A helper (helfer, as they called themselves) drove me and my friends to where we were living. Three of us lived in the same area, which was nice. We arrived and carried my heavy bags all the way up the steps, discovering that I was in the wrong building. With sweat dripping off my face, I once again picked up my bags and descended the steps to find my building. I managed to find it, climb the steps (it took a long time) and I finally opened my flat door and then my room door. My room is quite spacious, with a bed, two dressers, and a desk. A sink rests in the corner.
I did not stay here for long, as I had to once again go into the city to do a little more exploration. The school is literally a castle, it is huge, like a giant fortress. Photos will not do justice to this, but I guess this is all I can do for now.
At four p.m., an optional tour departed. It was called a pub crawl, although we only went to two pubs. I joined my new friends, and we met new ones along the way. We all began having a lot of fun at the second bar, but of course by that time we had had enough to drink to cause this. I did not go over the top though, as well as my friends. A few of them, including our helpers, did consume a lot of alcohol, but they were still in an ok state, although it was quite funny to me and my friends. (These helpers will be with us throughout our month of the summer academy.) From our second bar we went to a club, which basically resembled a large frat party on an American campus. We all had our drinks and toasted in German, "Prost!" We toasted to our time together in this country, and that we would be happy and have much fortune while here. And then, we danced the night away. It was three a.m. when I returned to my place via taxi, but the night had been so much fun. I did not have any linens or anything, so it was quite and interesting night's sleep to say the least.
My alarm went off at eight a.m. this morning. As you might figure, I was quite upset when this happened. Because the room echoes, it made the alarm even louder. My neck was sore from sleeping in a weird angle, I was kind of cold because of having no blanket, and my skinned itched from having been on the rough surface of the couch/bed. But nevertheless I got up, took a shower, and caught the tram to school. We were to take a placement test in a building near the University. There were two different tests, an easy and a difficult. I opted for the difficult one, along with my friend next to me. When we took one look at it, we immediately asked for an easy one. It was still fairly difficult unfortunately. Afterwards, my friends and I walked to Deutsche Bank, where I was finally able to open an account. This account would be necessary for my next task, which would be to obtain my health insurance. Tomorrow I will make my first transaction into with my account. This will enable me to fully enroll in the school, obtain my student card, and then purchase my semester transit pass. This will go on my card, and I will be able to ride trams and busses without paying, finally!
As you can imagine, the time and travel has really tired me. There was another optional tour tonight, but I decided to unpack and nap instead. It took me a while to find dinner, but I was able to find a cafe next to my apartment complex. The food was fairly cheap as well, which was very nice. Now I sit here at my computerm having just skyped Katie and Johnson back in Shelby. I just pulled a compartment from underneath my bed, and there sat the linens that I could have so much used last night. A little more observation could have gone a long way. German voices yell in the streets next to my complex, along with the strengthing and fading sounds of cars as they come and go. I am looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight, however I will be waking up at 7:45 tomorrow to catch the tram to the university, where I will have my first class. The tough part is over, and now I can sit back and enjoy the tough, yet exciting semester that is on its way. Until next time, a good night/day, and best wishes to the USA from Germany!
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