None of these topics are particularly related to each other, but none of them really deserve their own post either. So bear with me.
Laundry is something of a milestone when traveling. Lots of people travel, especially domestically. Being away from home is really not that alien a concept. Most people at some point in their life will have to pack a suitcase or duffel bag or whatever and spend at least a few days somewhere besides home. That's the world we live in. Vacation probably accounts for most travel, be at during the holidays or simply some time off. However there's a difference between traveling and going someplace on vacation. That difference is laundry. If you're not gone long enough to need to do laundry, you're not really traveling. You're just visiting. Laundry anywhere but home can be tricky, but in a foreign country it takes on an extra challenge.
When I was in a home-stay in France, I had to ask my host-mom about when I could do laundry, and how to use the washer, and where is the non-existent dryer, etc. David is staying in a hotel, which means he has two options: laundry in his sink or laundry at the possible laundromat somewhere by the train station (he chose the first). I suppose if you are not on a student budget you would probably be in a hotel with laundry service but I digress. For me, this meant going to the office at the designated laundry-token-selling time to get laundry tokens from the nuns. They were very nice, but they don't speak english. We sort of gestured back and forth for a bit, and finally I got what I wanted (3 tokens) and they got what they wanted (euros). They also wanted information. I could tell I was going to be the topic of discussion that night at dinner at the convent. All they could really get from me though is Studentin, Chemie, Studentin, USA, Atlanta, Ja. I have no idea if I answered the questions they asked, but I answered. Of course, that still left me with the problem of how do I use the machines...
The laundry room is in the basement and has about 6 washers and 4 dryers. I swear, I thought my mom's washer/dryer set had a lot of options. No. These things are old and crickety and they put hers to shame on the options count. I have no idea what I chose; I just went with what appeared to be the most popular settings . For all I know I chose everything wrong, but it worked. My clothes are clean. The dryer took forever (almost 2 hours straight), but I didn't have to pay for it so I don't care. I used the free sample of Spee laundry detergent I got, and I approve. I did not dry my jeans because that's iffy at home let alone with a dryer I don't know, so I hung them to dry in my closet.
Internet. Oh the internet. Nothing is ever as simple as it appears to be. You know how I said I bought a month's worth of internet? I was wrong. I bought the starter set which comes with 10 euros worth of internet time. Which of course I've already gone through because it was set to the daily rate. Oops. So I went back yesterday and bought 15 euros worth (with the help of a very nice british woman) and have set it to the monthly rate.
People talk about jet lag and being up at all the wrong hours and not being hungry at the right times. BS. I got over all that after like a day and a half. The thing that kills me is the climate. It is not only much cooler here, it is also much much dryer. I know, I know, I'm from the South. I'm used to ridiculous amounts of humidity; I'm not a good judge. I'm not kidding, this is comparable to when I've been on vacation (we didn't have to do laundry) in the Rockies. I'm using chapstick like there's no tomorrow and I think I'm actually getting the doctor's recommended daily water intake for once in my life. Maybe as it gets more towards summer it'll get better?
Yeah our dryer takes ages too. I have no idea why. It also doesn't show you how long it has left so i end up going down at least three or four times to check.
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