Of course it is difficult to get a lot of sleep the night before one leaves the country for a year. In saying that, I was only able to acquire about five hours of sleep my first night, and I did not get any on the plane to Germany (do not do that!! Sleep on the plane!!). However, once I arrived in Germany, I immediately had a conversation in German with a girl who was sitting in front of me on the plane, coming home to Germany from an internship in the States. After saying good-bye to her, I was able to grab some coffee and breakfast with two friends, Erin and Svenja, who were so very kind to wake up at 6am to pick me up from the airport! Svenja, who lives in Frankfurt, showed us around a little. After breakfast, I dragged my luggage through the Bahnhof (train station), which was silly because I guess I could have left them in the luggage lockers until I acquired my room. I got to my housing office to fill out paperwork, and afterwords, I was given the task of showing a Polish exchange student the way to our building; I mistakenly spoke German to her at first, thinking she was a German student helping me find my way to my building, but that was figured out shortly. When we arrived at our building, we were given very quickly-spoken instructions about the rooms, the paper work, and other things which I cannot remember, and I had to do my best to understand myself and translate for my newly found friend. She and I parted ways, and I moved my things into my room, not really putting anything away, though.
It was around 10:30am when I had finished these things so far, and I decided to try to set up my Internet and find out some of the hours of the buildings I needed to go to in the next couple of days. Unknown to me, I was unable to get connected to the Internet in my building, for I needed my student account information for that, which I will be getting today. So, I decided to take a trip around on the trains, for I had bought a week-long pass, allowing me to travel on any of the public transit vehicles, an unlimited amount of times for one week. I went down to the Bürgeramt (municipal office/hall) to try to acquire one of the many documents I need to prove I exist in this country, but I arrived a bit too late, for it was getting busy, and the building was closing soon, and I needed to meet up with friends for lunch. That, however, was difficult in itself. Keep in mind, I have no Internet, no cellphone, and a map to show me around. We had agreed on a place to meet, but I had forgotten exactly which part of the train stop I was supposed to wait, so I spent about thirty minutes walking around looking for my two friends. We finally found each other, after I had randomly gotten a bloody nose and had been on my feet for hours and was very hungry, so we went to eat.
After eating a quick meal on the street, we went shopping, for I needed many many things to be able to function overnight; things such as shampoo, a broom and dustbin (my floor is tile and was left dirty), wet wipes, and OH YEAH! bed sheets and a pillow (I could not bring that on the plane; not enough room). So after many stores having been searched by us, we found some fairly inexpensive bed sheets and a large pillow for me. Then the three of us went back to my Wohnheim to unpack, show them around, and get my room ready to live in. I also was able to set up my cellphone with a SIM card I bought during our shopping excursion! After we did this, it was time to eat again, and we hopped on the Straßebahn (tram) to head to a very good Döner Imbissstube (Döner snack stand) for some delicious döner and a trip to Svenja's apartment to enjoy them. Around 9:45, I headed back the way I came, surprisingly finding my way home despite being over-tired, unfamiliar with the area, and without my very helpful map. When I was home at last, it was around 10:30, and because we are not supposed to use the floor shower room between 10pm and 6am to be courteous, I just used the sink in my room to wipe away some of the sweat, and I almost immediately crashed on my newly made bed, to sleep a wonderful eight-ish hours to begin a new, and soon to be very busy day!
Thank you for reading about my first day; I know it was long, but a lot happened! It was very stressful at times and also very promising and fun in others. I got to really feel how alone one can really be in a huge city, but I also forced myself to become familiar with the public transit system and rely on directions from maps and locals, and really utilize some of my language skills, which are by no means in the best of shape; I am very rusty with a summer without German.
More posts to come!
It was around 10:30am when I had finished these things so far, and I decided to try to set up my Internet and find out some of the hours of the buildings I needed to go to in the next couple of days. Unknown to me, I was unable to get connected to the Internet in my building, for I needed my student account information for that, which I will be getting today. So, I decided to take a trip around on the trains, for I had bought a week-long pass, allowing me to travel on any of the public transit vehicles, an unlimited amount of times for one week. I went down to the Bürgeramt (municipal office/hall) to try to acquire one of the many documents I need to prove I exist in this country, but I arrived a bit too late, for it was getting busy, and the building was closing soon, and I needed to meet up with friends for lunch. That, however, was difficult in itself. Keep in mind, I have no Internet, no cellphone, and a map to show me around. We had agreed on a place to meet, but I had forgotten exactly which part of the train stop I was supposed to wait, so I spent about thirty minutes walking around looking for my two friends. We finally found each other, after I had randomly gotten a bloody nose and had been on my feet for hours and was very hungry, so we went to eat.
After eating a quick meal on the street, we went shopping, for I needed many many things to be able to function overnight; things such as shampoo, a broom and dustbin (my floor is tile and was left dirty), wet wipes, and OH YEAH! bed sheets and a pillow (I could not bring that on the plane; not enough room). So after many stores having been searched by us, we found some fairly inexpensive bed sheets and a large pillow for me. Then the three of us went back to my Wohnheim to unpack, show them around, and get my room ready to live in. I also was able to set up my cellphone with a SIM card I bought during our shopping excursion! After we did this, it was time to eat again, and we hopped on the Straßebahn (tram) to head to a very good Döner Imbissstube (Döner snack stand) for some delicious döner and a trip to Svenja's apartment to enjoy them. Around 9:45, I headed back the way I came, surprisingly finding my way home despite being over-tired, unfamiliar with the area, and without my very helpful map. When I was home at last, it was around 10:30, and because we are not supposed to use the floor shower room between 10pm and 6am to be courteous, I just used the sink in my room to wipe away some of the sweat, and I almost immediately crashed on my newly made bed, to sleep a wonderful eight-ish hours to begin a new, and soon to be very busy day!
Thank you for reading about my first day; I know it was long, but a lot happened! It was very stressful at times and also very promising and fun in others. I got to really feel how alone one can really be in a huge city, but I also forced myself to become familiar with the public transit system and rely on directions from maps and locals, and really utilize some of my language skills, which are by no means in the best of shape; I am very rusty with a summer without German.
More posts to come!
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