I’m here!
I arrived on the morning on April 1st around 8:15am local time. I waited in line for customs for about half an hour, got my bag, and met my friend, Joe, outside the gate. I've known Joe for 12 years, and it was nice to see a familiar face in a strange country. Joe lives in Wiesbaden, which is right across the river from me. We immediately left Frankfurt and headed for Mainz. Unfortunately for us, I forgot to get a map and Joe didn’t have a GPS, so we spent the better part of an hour looking for my dorm. I knew the name of the street and that it was near the train station, but that’s all. Joe has spent some time in Mainz so he was familiar enough with the area for us to remain not lost, but also not quite familiar enough to keep us from finding our destination. I had scheduled to check in to my room at 10:30am, and we showed up at 10:15am. A German student named Christof met me at the door and showed me to my room. He explained some things as we went and answered some questions for me. He even showed me the bar (BAR!) located in the basement of my dorm, where I can buy a beer for 1 euro. How crazy is that! Once we were in my room, we looked around a bit. I have a single room with a kitchenette area (sink, mini fridge and hot plate) and a bathroom. It’s small, but I don’t think I would need much more space considering I don’t have many things here. The bathroom is less than ideal, but that's probably the American in me. The shower is about three square feet. When the shower curtain decides to hate me, it comes inward and shrinks my three square feet into one. I have a radiator in my bedroom and also in my bathroom. Germans don't have air conditioning, only heat. There are no fans, either. My windows actually open, however. They can swing open or slant in. I even have blinds that are outside, which seems strange to me. The carpet feels slightly like sandpaper. If I walk around without socks, my feet begin to feel rubbed raw. Christof was quite funny, and he kept us laughing. At one point he informed me that it is my “destiny” to speak English with everyone else, as the Germans would love to speak English with a native speaker.
I arrived on the morning on April 1st around 8:15am local time. I waited in line for customs for about half an hour, got my bag, and met my friend, Joe, outside the gate. I've known Joe for 12 years, and it was nice to see a familiar face in a strange country. Joe lives in Wiesbaden, which is right across the river from me. We immediately left Frankfurt and headed for Mainz. Unfortunately for us, I forgot to get a map and Joe didn’t have a GPS, so we spent the better part of an hour looking for my dorm. I knew the name of the street and that it was near the train station, but that’s all. Joe has spent some time in Mainz so he was familiar enough with the area for us to remain not lost, but also not quite familiar enough to keep us from finding our destination. I had scheduled to check in to my room at 10:30am, and we showed up at 10:15am. A German student named Christof met me at the door and showed me to my room. He explained some things as we went and answered some questions for me. He even showed me the bar (BAR!) located in the basement of my dorm, where I can buy a beer for 1 euro. How crazy is that! Once we were in my room, we looked around a bit. I have a single room with a kitchenette area (sink, mini fridge and hot plate) and a bathroom. It’s small, but I don’t think I would need much more space considering I don’t have many things here. The bathroom is less than ideal, but that's probably the American in me. The shower is about three square feet. When the shower curtain decides to hate me, it comes inward and shrinks my three square feet into one. I have a radiator in my bedroom and also in my bathroom. Germans don't have air conditioning, only heat. There are no fans, either. My windows actually open, however. They can swing open or slant in. I even have blinds that are outside, which seems strange to me. The carpet feels slightly like sandpaper. If I walk around without socks, my feet begin to feel rubbed raw. Christof was quite funny, and he kept us laughing. At one point he informed me that it is my “destiny” to speak English with everyone else, as the Germans would love to speak English with a native speaker.
Although I ordered a starter pack (complete with a pillow,
blanket, sheet, towels, dishes, silverware, pots and pans), I was missing some
essentials like toilet paper, food, and a shower curtain. Since Joe had taken
the day off to collect me from the airport, he also took me shopping for what I
needed. We had to go to FOUR stores to find a shower curtain! We tried two
stores on post, as well as two German stores. The store that actually had a
shower curtain was a Hornbach (like Hope Depot). Joe and I also went to lunch at
one of his favorite beer gardens, and I had schnitzel. It was quite
delicious.
Upon my arrival, I had
been informed that I wouldn't be able to get internet until the
next day, which was not ideal. The first night in a foreign country and I was completely cut off from the world! (Talk about a first world problem). Being completely isolated on the first night was a bit lonely.
Since I needed to find internet to check on my activities for today and get in touch with home, we went in search for a Starbucks. Joe also wanted to show me around Wiesbaden, so we drove over there to where he knew there was a Starbucks. It was a
20 minute drive and I napped most of the way. We walked around a more historic district that felt so European
in every way. Cobble stone streets, sidewalk cafes, small shops, you name it. We finally located a Starbucks and I was able to get some wifi.
After this, we drove back to Mainz. I was unsure how long my
walk to campus would be, so I wanted to walk it to become familiar and gauge how much time I would need to allow to walk to campus. It turns out that I have approximately a 30 minute walk, or about a mile and a half, stopping frequently at cross walks.
Once I got back to my room around 7:30pm, I finally unpacked, ate some Cheez Its, and passed out at 9pm.
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