The Past Three Days

I'm in Germany! Woo.

So here's how it went. I said many times that the only thing I was worried about was the first two days because I knew they were going to be beyond hectic. I was right. 

I flew from Atlanta to Charlotte Sunday morning. I got to the airport way too early, breezed through security and sat around doing nothing until my flight at 11. The quick flight to Charlotte was rough, to put it mildly. I was glad of my long layover before the flight to Munich because frankly it was nice to keep my feet on the ground for a bit. Then I had the long flight to Munich which was very smooth overall. Huge plane, 10 seats across with two aisles. The bathrooms were down these stairs which I had not encountered before and which I thought was pretty neat. I watched Tangled twice (it was a long flight) as well as Megamind. I slept for a little bit but I couldn't really get to sleep for any long amount of time. I had another fairly long layover in the Munich airport. It was really very empty, at least over where I was. Very few people around. Then I got on the plane and knew why. My plane to Paderborn could not have held more than 25 people. Frankly my first impression was a school bus with wings. It was so small that we had to take a little bus over to the plane which we boarded from the outside thanks to the fold-up stairs on the plane door and I'm pretty sure the bus was bigger. I had a window seat next to a business man who was clearly trying very hard to memorize some presentation. It was only a fifty minute flight, shorter than the one from ATL to Charlotte, but unlike the US Air flight I still got a drink and a snack. The only way I can describe this thing is to say it reminded me of a chocolate-covered twinkie. Too sweet for my taste, but way better than a bag of nuts. 

Arriving in Paderborn was very simple. It's a small airport, and before most of the people on our flight had even finished riding the escalator to baggage claim, the (only) carousel had started delivering our luggage. Mine was thankfully near the beginning so I only had to spend a few minutes worrying about all the many ways in which my suitcase might become lost. I had already had my passport stamped in munich, but I had never done the "customs" thing. I was beginning to wonder if they did it at all here, when a uniformed man stopped me and asked where I was from. "Atlanta?" "Ja, oo-ess-ahh?" "Ja (accompanied here by vigorous head nodding)" "OK, yoo haf anyting yoo bring vit yoo? like giffs oo pakages fyer frends?" "uh, nein" "OK, gut". And he walked away. Apparently that was customs, and I apparently passed. Yay. 

Christian, a member of the group, met me at the airport. There weren't many people waiting for our plane (gee wonder why) so he was pretty easy to spot. Then we headed to his car and off to the university where we met up with Steffi (pronounced Shteffi). From there we all went to the apartment. It's Beautiful. I swear it is nicer (and larger) than any place I've lived on campus. I'm on the fifth floor (labelled 4 because it's Europe), I have my own bathroom, and everything is clean. I have sheets, a pillow, a comforter, an extra blanket, and a full set of towels. I successfully timed the walk this morning and it takes me about 3 minutes to get to campus and then maybe 7 or 8 minutes to complete the walk across campus to the chemistry building (clear on the other side of campus of course). 

Yesterday we took care of some of the business-y things of living in a foreign country. Steffi took me to the registration building and then the bank. In Germany, everyone, even German citizens, have to register with the government whenever they move in or out of a town. So I'm now an officially registered Paderbornerin, with a new shiny bag that says so. It had a lot of junk in it that I'm sure would be useful information if I could read German, but the bag itself will make a good shopping bag. Note: stores in Germany do not provide bags, so bring your own! The bank was also a major stop. To receive my scholarship I must have a German bank account so they can deposit the money. This can be an issue because many banks won't open an account for you for such a short term. We may have *implied* that I was going to be in country for *slightly* longer than is actually true, but the bank woman had the dates in front of her and didn't say a word. So I'm getting a free student checking account, bare bones, no frills. I do have to wait though because the branches don't set up the account; they have to send it to the headquarters. I will eventually get a confirmation, a formal contract type-thing, and then a debit card. I'm glad this bank worked out because this is the one that has atm's on campus. Super convenient. Eventually when I get my money I will pay back Mrs. Brebeck from the international student office who paid my first rent. 

Let's see what else have I done... Oh, yes, I've been to the grocery and got a small amount of food. I've eaten a doner (sort of sandwich made out of pita-like bread with meat). I can't think of much else at the moment. I'll write more about the group and the lab later. This post is already way too long. Feel free to ask questions in the comments though. 

PS: we also clearly took care of my internet and I met up with David but again this post is too long so I'll tell you later.