Finally, Internet access...

So now I can post a real update since I just got Internet access in my room. The Germany keyboard at the IES center was too hard to use for long periods of time (and I haven't had much free time in which to use it anyway). I'll start this update at the beginning...it might get a little long!

The flight to Frankfurt was very average. I was disappointed that there were no individual TV screens in the seat back for a 12-hour flight, but that's United for you. There were a lot of other people in SFO who were clearly studying abroad, but most of them were doing a different program. There was one girl on my flight who is in my program, but we didn't meet until we got here. I got my baggage and everything right away and had no problems at passport control, but finding the Fernbahnhof for my train was ridiculously hard. It entailed asking twice at the info booths (in English), going up several escalators, and walking across a bridge with my two heavy bags. I eventually found it, but the train was about an hour late. This was not very fun since it was FREEZING on the platform, but the good part was that multiple Germans asked me for information about the train in German. I mostly answered with some variation of a polite Ich weiß nicht - es tut mir leid, but at least I could do that much. The train finally arrived, and I managed to heave my bags on without taking too long (although I heard at least one huff from some guy behind me).

Since it's been snowing a lot this winter, the trip to Freiburg mostly passed through snow-covered fields under a grey sky. It wasn't really very exciting. I got to the station and saw that yet another escalator was broken. Some German woman very kindly grabbed an end of my bag for me, preventing me from slowing down the entire herd of people. I met another IES kid at the top of the stairs and we took a cab to the center together, although I can only remember it as the cab ride from hell. First, the driver had NO idea where to go, and asking for directions from two other cabbies apparently didn't help. Then he kept insisting that it was on this one street, and that the street name we gave him didn't exist. After borrowing a map from some random guy, he eventually figured out that the street did in fact exist, but then he refused to drop us off on the correct side since it would "take too long to go around". We ended up crossing a snow-covered divider in the center of the street before turning to each other in utter disbelief on the steps of the center, over half an hour later for a supposedly five-minute drive. So much for German efficiency...

The IES center is really nice. It moved to a new building this past year and has an old-fashioned exterior with a nice modern inside. This is where we met the other students. Apparently, a ton of them recognized me from the train station, but I didn't remember them. Everyone seemed really friendly, and some of the people I've gotten to know so far are pretty cool. We got our pictures taken for our residence permits right after arrival. Most of us either looked like zombies or serial killers after so much travel, but it was good to get all that arrival stuff taken care of.

I got to my dorm shortly after that. I live on the 3rd floor (which is like the 4th floor in the U.S.) on Engelberger Straße and there is no elevator. I literally had to stop for a breather on every landing when I dragged my bag up there. Here is my flat:




My room is the first open door on the right, and it is HUGE. Once I get a new picture when everything is neat, I'll post it. The shared bathroom is at the end of the hall on the right and the kitchen is to the left out of view.

I think I have five flatmates, although I can't be sure of the exact number because they're never around at the same time. They're all guys and four of them are German. One is an American who did the same IES program that I'm in several years ago, but he prefers to only speak German here. He's the nicest one so far, and we've had several conversations in German. Johannes, one of the Germans, is nice but shy. I decided to be brave and speak to him in German and he seemed delighted. Plus, I addressed him with the formal Sie and he responded with the informal/friendly du. This is a good sign. I guess I can try this with the others, although they seem to fit the hostile German stereotype more so than Johannes. They've been nice when we've said hello, but they're not really that friendly. We'll see how my effort goes. I've been trying to speak as much German as possible since I've been here. My best effort was at Saturn, which is where I got a German SIM card for my phone. I said, "Ich habe ein amerikanisches Handy. Wird das funktionert?" The cashier responded in rapidfire German, so I must not have been too terrible. Otherwise, it's mostly been Hallo, danke schön, entschuldigung, etc plus the conversations with my flatmates. Most people in the program don't speak German yet, so I don't really anticipate being able to practice with them for a while.

My time so far has mostly been spent at the IES Center or around town with different groups. My dorm area in particular has been hanging out a lot. It helps that we have a cheap student bar right next to our buildings! We've done a lot of orientation information sessions with everyone, which are pretty boring, but they're useful. Yesterday, we got split into groups and were given a neighborhood to explore. My group went to Wiehre, which is a slightly boring residential neighborhood. It's a wealthy area, though, and we got to see a lot of nice architecture. We also ate at a Döner shop. A Döner Kebab is a Turkish pita with meat, veggies, and yogurt sauce inside. It's by far the most popular fast food in Germany, it's cheap, and it's pretty good. Here's mine:



We had a good time on the tour overall. The rest of Freiburg is a bit more interesting than Wiehre, though. It's a university town with lots of shopping, places to eat, etc. It's also a green city, and I believe it's the only one in Germany with a Green Party mayor. Vauban, where some IES students live, was written up in the NY Times for being the most extremely green section of Freiburg. It's car-free, most places have solar panels, etc. German recycling in particular is something to behold. There are SO many different categories of recycling, and it practically takes a Ph.D to figure out what goes where. It takes a lot of effort, but it's no doubt a good way to go.

I think the Bächle are one of the best things about Freiburg. They're little gutters with clean water that run through the streets in the downtown area. They've been there since the Middle Ages to carry water and to provide cooling air to the city. They're not running right now since they froze in the winter, but you get the idea:



They say that if you accidentally step in one, you'll marry a Freiburger!

I'll post a few more pictures of downtown Freiburg at the end of the post. I don't have too many yet since the weather has been so bad.

Other news...some of the classes will start next week, although they don't officially start until we return from Berlin and Prague on our first field trip. In the meantime, we were supposed to go to the Black Forest, but the weather has once again postponed things. Some of us are going to go to a hot spring instead, which is apparently a very German thing to do in cold weather. It's 10 Euros for four hours, which really isn't that bad considering that the transportation will be free with my monthly pass. I'll let you know how that goes.

Now that I've given an exhaustive run-down of what's happened so far, I'll sign out. I'm meeting some friends to go grocery shopping. Pretty soon, I'll post some observations about life here and how it's different than life in the U.S. We were in the grocery store for a few minutes last night, and I anticipate our longer trip today to tell me about the process of buying food here. Bis dann!

Downtown Freiburg with the Bächle....I love the lanterns overhead.

The famous Münster. Unlike the rest of Freiburg, it survived the war since the Allies needed it as a landmark from the air. The rest of the city has been rebuilt so it looks exactly the same as it did before.

This is the farmer's market at the base of the Münster. I might be splurging on produce there since I can get bread and other food so cheaply.


(By the way, I have no idea why some of the post is highlighted weirdly...whatever.)