31 August 2007
First Internet Access!!
I finally have some Internet... nice to catch up on emails and facebook. Went to a couple bars last night... one as a mandatory school trip. :) Today we take a 2 hour river cruise and also tour the main FU campus. I'm slowly getting to learn the U-Bahn and S-Bahn and buses... but I feel it will still take me quite a while. Also, the food here is really cheap (Döners!) but I'm pretty much relegated to pointing only. Hopefully that will work out soon. More later.
29 August 2007
Well, the beer's getting cold in the refrigerator now. I'm here.
Loved my flight to London... delicious meal, no one in the seat next to me, good movie and a few hours of sleep. Then I spent two hours waiting in lines at Heathrow and nearly missed my flight. I had to take the transfer buses at Heathrow and stood in line for about an hour just to catch the bus out of the first terminal! Once I finally got through the security check and had 10 minutes until my flight's scheduled departure, I had the worst time figuring out where the hell my gate was! Heathrow is under construction and Gate 22 is really just not labeled.
Plus, once I was passing Gate 19, the security forces had to close off the terminal and held us from getting to our gates for about 15 minutes... lots of angry, stressed out people! Finally, after several groups of heavily armed police passed through, they started to allow certain gates through... fortunately mine! Then I still had problems finding my gate and convincing the gate agent to let me board. Fortunately she let me on along with about 7-8 people that showed up behind me. Tried to get some more sleep on that flight but that didn't really work out. Oh, and the meal service on that flight was a bacon and egg salad sandwich... my stomach wasn't feeling adventurous enough for that one!
Once I landed in Berlin, I got some cash and took a taxi to school. I met several of my classmates (many of whom are living in the same apartment building as me). I also had to do all those standard meetings with people to make sure forms are filed and photos are taken and forms are re-filed and triple-checked. Hey, this is Germany, they love forms and beuracracy here!
After I had all that taken care of, I took another cab to the apartments with some of my classmates. The cab driver was young and made fun of where we were living because it is so far from the city centers... he told us that there was really nothing to do around here and we were closer to farms outside the city than the excitement of Berlin.
After we'd all found our apartments, we met up and went to find food. We looked around the apartments and the only options are McDonald's, Burger King and a "Euro Asia Bistro" that had some very cheap prices... I'll be trying that soon! We decided to take the S-Bahn (subway) to Potsdamer Platz and find something there. We did a lot of walking, saw the Reichstag, passed through Brandenburg Gates and finally found a Döner kebab shop... delicious!
Once we were back at the apartments, we met up with some other people and went to the grocery store. I didn't get much... just sandwich stuff, fruit and a six-pack of beer. Hey, I'm in Germany--gotta do it! I also got my first experience at just how much service American grocery stores offer... I had to bag my own purchases into my own bags.. or pay 10 cents for each plastic bag. I will certainly remember to bring bags every time I go.
We went back to our apartments about 7 tonight (where I'm still working on just a few hours of sleep last night on the plane). We were supposed to meet up again at 9 for drinks but I fell asleep for a nap and didn't wake up until at 10. I figure I'll just use tonight for rest.
The apartment is really nice, especially compared to the dorms. My main gripe right now is the lack of wireless (or even wired) Internet service... Germans like to lock everything they own, including their wireless networks! Fortunately school provided sheets and the apartment came with all my plates, flatware, glasses, etc. Unfortnately, the sheets don't fit the bed (I actually have a full-size bed!) and my shower curtain is missing... so there's a trip to Ikea in the works for tomorrow.
Well, I'm here. I'll update more as I can!
Loved my flight to London... delicious meal, no one in the seat next to me, good movie and a few hours of sleep. Then I spent two hours waiting in lines at Heathrow and nearly missed my flight. I had to take the transfer buses at Heathrow and stood in line for about an hour just to catch the bus out of the first terminal! Once I finally got through the security check and had 10 minutes until my flight's scheduled departure, I had the worst time figuring out where the hell my gate was! Heathrow is under construction and Gate 22 is really just not labeled.
Plus, once I was passing Gate 19, the security forces had to close off the terminal and held us from getting to our gates for about 15 minutes... lots of angry, stressed out people! Finally, after several groups of heavily armed police passed through, they started to allow certain gates through... fortunately mine! Then I still had problems finding my gate and convincing the gate agent to let me board. Fortunately she let me on along with about 7-8 people that showed up behind me. Tried to get some more sleep on that flight but that didn't really work out. Oh, and the meal service on that flight was a bacon and egg salad sandwich... my stomach wasn't feeling adventurous enough for that one!
Once I landed in Berlin, I got some cash and took a taxi to school. I met several of my classmates (many of whom are living in the same apartment building as me). I also had to do all those standard meetings with people to make sure forms are filed and photos are taken and forms are re-filed and triple-checked. Hey, this is Germany, they love forms and beuracracy here!
After I had all that taken care of, I took another cab to the apartments with some of my classmates. The cab driver was young and made fun of where we were living because it is so far from the city centers... he told us that there was really nothing to do around here and we were closer to farms outside the city than the excitement of Berlin.
After we'd all found our apartments, we met up and went to find food. We looked around the apartments and the only options are McDonald's, Burger King and a "Euro Asia Bistro" that had some very cheap prices... I'll be trying that soon! We decided to take the S-Bahn (subway) to Potsdamer Platz and find something there. We did a lot of walking, saw the Reichstag, passed through Brandenburg Gates and finally found a Döner kebab shop... delicious!
Once we were back at the apartments, we met up with some other people and went to the grocery store. I didn't get much... just sandwich stuff, fruit and a six-pack of beer. Hey, I'm in Germany--gotta do it! I also got my first experience at just how much service American grocery stores offer... I had to bag my own purchases into my own bags.. or pay 10 cents for each plastic bag. I will certainly remember to bring bags every time I go.
We went back to our apartments about 7 tonight (where I'm still working on just a few hours of sleep last night on the plane). We were supposed to meet up again at 9 for drinks but I fell asleep for a nap and didn't wake up until at 10. I figure I'll just use tonight for rest.
The apartment is really nice, especially compared to the dorms. My main gripe right now is the lack of wireless (or even wired) Internet service... Germans like to lock everything they own, including their wireless networks! Fortunately school provided sheets and the apartment came with all my plates, flatware, glasses, etc. Unfortnately, the sheets don't fit the bed (I actually have a full-size bed!) and my shower curtain is missing... so there's a trip to Ikea in the works for tomorrow.
Well, I'm here. I'll update more as I can!
28 August 2007
Flying to Berlin Today!
So I've spent several days couch surfing here in DC and am about to pack my bags up once again for my flight to BERLIN! I'm leaving at about 7 tonight and will be in Berlin at 11:40 tomorrow morning. I think I'm all ready to go... I guess I'll find out once I get there, huh?
23 August 2007
Journey's started... I'm in DC now
I flew from Nashville to DC today... US Airways lost one of my bags but they said I should have it within 24 hours. I'm staying in DC for a few days before leaving for Berlin on Tuesday.
In Berlin, I'll be staying in a studio apartment about 20 minutes from the Freie Universität Berlin's FU-BEST program campus. The program is designed just for study abroad students and all the classes are in English... :) I'm taking a couple classes on German history, one on Berlin architecture and a German language class. That's about all I know right now and I'll update once I get to Berlin!
In Berlin, I'll be staying in a studio apartment about 20 minutes from the Freie Universität Berlin's FU-BEST program campus. The program is designed just for study abroad students and all the classes are in English... :) I'm taking a couple classes on German history, one on Berlin architecture and a German language class. That's about all I know right now and I'll update once I get to Berlin!
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