SONNTAG - 30.MÄRZ

Time to play catch-up on my blog. Well, at a glance, here's my week: MON: moving in, TUES: German class + orientation, WED: German class + Dusseldorf tour, THURS: German class + Museum, FRI: German class + travel to Bonn, SAT: travel to Dusseldorf + back to Bonn, SUN: explore Bonn + back to Cologne. Basically I've been riding trains a lot then walking around cities a lot lately. Living in youth hostels has been interesting. The main idea is to eat as much free breakfast as possible so that you only have to eat 1 and a half times later. Believe it or not I'm already starting to get sick of eating Brotchen with meat and cheese. But I've nonetheless felt compelled to recharge my batteries each morning with whatever I can get.

So last Monday, I arrived in Cologne at night. I knew the hostel was across from the train station, but it was dark and there was a big scary road crossing my path. I started meandering around with my luggage asking if anyone knew where it was and of course no one knew. I wandered in and out of the train station looking at maps and trying to find street signs (which are non-existent in Germany). Oh, and did I mention that it was snowing? Big, wet, fat flakes quickly piling beneath my feet and sticking to my bags. I think I was walking for 30-40 minutes when I found a hotel, whose attendant directed me the right way.

Tuesday, we had a guide from the InWent adjency (they help international students get set-up in other countries) pick us up in the morning and take us to our German class. Our professor is really laid-back and wierd like most German professors. The class was pretty interesting; we learned a lot of practical things in terms of speaking, and we were constantly being called out on our bad habits. Afterwards was the InWent orientation, which went over all the paper work we have to do. It was way too long and boring. Then, we went to a bar for a few rounds of the local brew: Kölsch.

Wednesday, the German class started feeling more tedious and unnecessary. All of us just wanted to explore the city and get some of our personal business taken care of, like buying a cell phone, BahnCard, finding Internet, etc. But after class, our tour guide whisked us away to Dusseldorf, which is a 30 minute train ride up along the Rhine. This city is great! The other students in my class were jealeous of me because this is where I'm living for 6 months. The city isn't nearly as big as Cologne but everything is very accessible and clustered together with a great variety of old/new architecture, expensive/cheap stores/restaurants/bars and amazing plazas on the Rhine river. People of all sorts of varieties and cultures are everywhere, the air is crisp, and the energy is like in a big city. We first went to a university north of town and we were taken on an all-German tour of the campus, which was very boring and difficult to understand. We did a lot of smiling and nodding. Then we went to a restaurant and tasted the local flavors of Dusseldorf. I had some tasty wurst und brot (sausage and bread) with their local brew: Alt bier. Now there's one thing I have to point out, which the Germans have made very clear to me since I've been here. There exists a serious rivalry between Cologne and Dusseldorf, whether it's about food, beer, soccer, or whatever, one claims to be better than the other. This is especially true with the beer. Kölsch is only for Cologne and Alt bier is only for Dusseldorf. I personally like Alt bier a lot better because it's darker and has more flavor, so it's a good thing I'm living there rather than Cologne. Another thing that I learned, is that no one is afraid to approach you and start talking to you. There was this student from Sweden who came up to my table and just sat down and started talking to us. He studied civil engineering, which was really cool, because the other guys at my table were also in civil engineering. He spoke perfect English and could even talk like an engineer in English.

Thursday, people became even more annoyed about going class because we were starting to learn how to get around and wanted to explore more. I was in a bad mood because I needed to print a contract for my apartment but the printer was down at the language school and I had no other way to print. Then I tried to go to the bank to open an account but they were closed between 1-2 which was the only free hour I had. And we found out that we needed to pay 52 Euro for the tours and train tickets, which we were not forwarned about. Then our tour of Cologne scheduled for that afternoon was cancelled for some reason and we had an option of climbing up the stairs of "der Dom" (the giant gothic church/castle in the center of Cologne) or going to the modern art museum. Everyone wanted to go to der Dom, so I naturally wanted to go to the museum, and that's exactly what I did along with two other guys. They had a large collection, featuring pop art from the USA and the paintings of Piet Mondrian, which were very impressive. I think that's pretty much all I did that evening. I was tired.

Friday, we didn't take our class seriously at all. We practiced "small talk" in German and turned it into a silly joke. Most of the students are shy when they have to stand in front of the class especially when trying to act casual. But the professor doesn't seem to mind because he tells us that he likes our American antics. Anway, Friday night was free from scheduled activities, so a bunch of us took a train to Bonn and booked hostels for the weekend. The nice thing about Bonn is that the U-Bahn ticket for Cologne also works for Bonn because they are so close together. We explored downtown a little bit but it was cold and we didn't know where anything was. Our hostel was up in the foresty hills in a very nice area. We had some really tasty Italian food and it was under 10 Euro!

Saturday, I got up early because I agreed to meet a coleauge from the place I will be doing my internship. I took a train back to Dusseldorf and met her at the train station. She and another person from the office came and took me around the city. They even bought me lunch! They also showed me where I will be living and working so that I know how to get there when I move in. The office was being painted at the time so everything was covered in plastic, but the view was amazing! My apartment is on a university campus and there are many international students who live there. We got to meet a few students wandering around and they were all very friendly and willing to talk. Afterwards I met up with some of my classmates who were staying there and we sat outside of a place called "zum Schlüssel", which is a well-known brewery in Dusseldorf. After a few rounds of Alt bier, we had the most sought over food in the world by college students: the Döner. It's basically a Gyro but with a thicker, tastier bread that seems to have been perfected in Germany. It's very sought after because it's only 3 Euros and it fills you up. After a little while I had to head back to the train station because I had my room reserved in Bonn. So it was another one hour train ride back, but on the way I was talking to a student who goes to the university in Cologne, and she offered to show me around the city! I've never met so many friendly people in one day!

Sunday is the day I actually got to walk around Bonn during the day. I took some pictures of Beethoven's birthplace, city hall, churches, and the grand Poppelsdorfer Allee (much like the Washington Mall but with more stuff). The weather wasn't very good, however, so I took the train back to Cologne where I am now in an internet cafe that is actually free! Now I'm ready to start the second and last week of my German course. Bis Bald!�