First week completed successfully! It's been a really long week, I almost don't know where to start.
The plane ride was an adventure. I decided that sleep was totally overrated and watched movies all night on the way to Frankfurt instead of sleeping. Plus side: I've now seen The King's Speech, The Social Network, and Morning Glory. Down side: I was exhausted for the entire 5 hour layover in Frankfurt and I couldn't sleep anywhere. I felt that the Frankfurt airport was cramped and uncomfortable, honestly. It's no where near as open as Detroit Metro, though there is just more in general, so I could walk around, though I ended up going through customs three or four extra times to get to different parts of the airport. Then, as it was getting close to time for my plane to board, something went wrong with the plane. So,not only did we have to wait another hour, we had to go find another gate-- luckily we didn't have to go through customs again.
So, I finally get into Bremen and meet Janina. She's super nice and speaks English very well (she spent a year and a half in the Chicago area). Though now that she's realized I'm studying German, she's switched back to speaking mostly German. I've noticed lots of German students do that when they find out Germanistik is my subject. I guess it makes sense though, since it is their native language.
It's a little hard for me to remember all I did those first two days at the university and then the next week, but here's a short list of the highlights:
✩ Registered at the University so I could get into Stut.IP (it's like SAIL) and get a Semester ticket for the bus and train
✩ Registered with the city of Oldenburg as a resident
✩ Got a letter of exemption from public heath insurance
✩ Went to the Mensa (lots)
✩ Went to IKEA to furnish my dorm (I got a really cute lamp that I need to figure out how to get home x: )
✩ bought a powder blue bike
✩ got super lost trying to take the bus to the University and ended up walking until I could figure out where I was. On the bright side, I figured out the buses (mostly) and found a GSA-like place (I think). Though I have yet the courage to go in and check it out. x:
✩ Went grocery shopping (I go grocery shopping almost every day. Cooking for only me is a little weird.)
✩ Read all the books I brought while waiting for internet access
✩ Got internet access and my Semester ticket, so now I can roam around the city without spending a fortune on bus fair
Oldenburg is a neat little city. It's interesting though, it's like a city and the country at the same time. There's a little field-like thing between my dorm and the grocery where I saw a couple of quail (I think) on the way to get breakfast. Johann-Justus-Weg is a little country road (that's a little scary to bike on in the dark), but I'm still only 10 minutes from Julius-Mosen Platz and downtown. It's really different from American suburbs, and probably my favorite thing about Germany so far.
I feel like there's more I should write, but I think I need to go make coffee and get rid of this headache I have. Maybe I'll come back later and write another post if I can think of more things to talk about.
Until then!
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