Answering Questions

Kira and Nisrene were kind enough to send me a list of questions to answer and that's what really got me started on taking notes to eventually start this blog. Here are a few of the questions and answers:

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1. What does your dorm look like?
My hostel looks like an older brick building. It's not too interesting. It has really cool grounds, though. A large field, a place for campers to park, lots of trees and paths, and it's right next to the Rhine, so I can always look out and see the river flowing by. The inside has been renovated fairly recently so it's somewhat modern.

2. Have you drank a lot of beer?
Yes. For lunch sometimes, but mostly with dinner or at the clubs. It's pretty good. I still don't like beer for its taste but I like it here a lot more than what I've had in the US. Each area in Germany has local beers that they brew and everyone drinks so here in Köln the beer is called Kölsh. They like to mix it with either Coke or Sprite. You can find Coke products Everywhere here. I've had Orange Fanta at some point every day.

3. Have you stumbled into your room at 3 am?
Stumbled? No, though I have walked to my room that late three or four days of the last 7. I got a full night's sleep for the first time last night. But it's been so much fun that I don't mind.

4. Did you forget any socks?
Nope, I have plenty of socks. I bought a new pair of German everyday shoes, but that was part of the plan. They're nice. I like German style shoes better than shoes from the US. But shoes and clothes are actually a lot more expensive over here. Future ICP students, be warned.

5. How much is your internet?
Internet here at the Hostel is free, but very unreliable. It goes out every half hour sometimes and sometimes every 5 minutes. Normally it's about $1 per hour at different places. You even have to pay at Starbucks. When I move into my apartment it should only be €5 per month.

6. What kind of food have you eaten?
I've eaten all kinds of food. The Germans have bread with everything. They have very good bread, too. Sandwiches are the easiest thing to get from "fast food" shops along the street. Sandwich and bread stands all over the place. Döners are also common. It's kind of like a Turkish Gyro. There are lots of Turks in Germany (I think about 2.5 million live in Germany). I ate at McDonald's one day; it was close to the same as the US, except no free refills. I am surprised by how few Wursts and Brats there are and how little Sauerkraut. Not so important up in this more-northern part of Germany, apparently. I had Japanese food, as you know. It was good. I have enjoyed all the food I've had so far except a cold, breaded, tuna schnitzel that I ordered by accident. I did not like it. Ordering food is still my biggest weakness here. Too many nouns that I just don't know.

7. Have you seen any interesting animals?
As for animals, I've seen tons of sheep on the green areas near the Rhine. Lots of people walk around with dogs. They take them on the trains with them and walk around without leashes a lot. A few people from my group saw a llama yesterday. There's some sort of fair or circus coming to town and the llama was being walked around to advertise it. A girl staying all the hostel showed me her Guinea Pigs; I only bring them up because I love the German word for them: Meerschweinchen, which means "little pigs of the sea." That name makes them cuter, I think. I like some of the birds I've seen. There's a really pretty bird with a white chest and blue markings on it that I see around the hostel all the time. It's decent sized, too. It's my favorite animal here, so far. [Some parrots escaped from the Zoo down the street after I wrote this. They stayed in the trees next to the hostel. They were a welcome addition to the local wildlife, too.]

8. What kind of interesting architecture have you seen?
What kind of interesting architecture? I'm in Europe! All kinds of architecture. The gothic Kölner Dom cathedral is my favorite so far. Construction started in 1248 and they worked for 300 years, took 300 years off, and finished it after 50 more years of work. It's gorgeous. I went up to the top today. 509 steps up is a lot to walk. Great view from there. Not many skyscrapers even though I'm in a metro with millions of people. That surprised me. The old city area has lots of pretty and old European buildings that I like. Düsseldorf, where I went yesterday, was more modern and had some cool architecture in its media harbor (Mediahaffen). I like it all.

9. Do you plan on traveling to any other European countries? How much will it cost?
I'm definitely going to be traveling all over Europe. I'll wait to go too far till I get settled in and know my local area. But it's $30 for a 5-person group ticket to go to Netherlands (ONLY $5 per person!), $30 for one person to fly to London, etc. etc. So yeah, I'll be going all over Europe. Probably hitting up Paris for Easter as my first out-of-country experience.

10. Where?
Around Germany and a lot of other European countries. France (Paris, Versailles), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona), Netherlands, Sweden, Austria (Salzburg, Vienna), Switzerland, Italy (Vatican City, Rome, Milano, Venice, Florence, Naples), Greece, England, Ireland, Czech Republic (Prague), Lichtenstein, Turkey. Those are the ones I can think of right now that I'd like to visit. I'm keeping the list small for now ;-)

11. What have you used for transportation?
So far, I've pretty much just used Trains and Subways to get around. I have an unlimited bus pass too, but not used it. One night a new friend drove me home in her car, so I had the German car driving experience, but there was no Autobahn driving yet, so I'll have to wait to comment on that.

12. Are you going to answer all of these?
Yes :-)
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Thanks Kira and Nisrene!

Japan in Europe

Hi to all the Japanese ICP students that are reading this! I took a train to and went through the Japanese Quarter of Düsseldorf today. It actually felt like I was in Japan. Most of the shops and people on the street were Japanese. I couldn't read anything :-) I went into one of the restaurants for a Japanese dinner and I tried a few things, but I can't tell you what because it was only in German and Japanese on the menu and I only know a few nouns in German for food... my main meal had Udon and Chicken and that's all I could discern :-) It was really good. [I found out a few days later that Düsseldorf has the largest Japanese population of any city in Europe.]

It finally struck me today that I'm in Europe. It was evident from how much Düsseldorf mixes old Europe and modern everything, too. US and Europe are quite similar but next to our large shopping centers we don't have 400 year old houses lining the streets and hundreds of people outside being served at a bar that their great great great grandfathers drank at. It's such a cool thing to see!

Arrived!

March 22
I'm in Germany!
Arrived in Frankfurt, bought a BahnCard 50 (all train travel = 50% off) and took a train to Cologne. A two week language course will take place in Cologne. I'll also practice my speaking with a whole bunch of native speakers for the first time. I'm excited!
We'll see how it goes!

First Posting

I'm finally starting my blog about Germany. I'm in Deutschland now but am still waiting for internet in my room, so updates may be sparse, but they'll come with time. Thanks for reading!

TJ