Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Monday Tuesday

Well the past two days have been gorgeous so I didn't write last
night. I did try but my internet decided to crash.

Work has been really busy the last few days. I haven't had any
readings to do at all! I have been working on some abrasion testing as
well as some nanofocus material. So there has been lots to do. I am a
little worried what will happen tomorrow though because I was going
through the labs in progress with Carmen this afternoon and I've done
pretty much all of what I can do. So we'll see what happens I still
have nanofocus pictures to do but I set them up and leave them for a
hour. So waiting...

Yesterday was plus 30 so after work I just headed to the castle and
walked around a bit. Then came back as I had a few skype chats with
Carrie, Kim and Breagh. I'm not sure what I would do if it wasn't for
skype! It makes being half way across the world a lot easier to stay
in touch with people at home. Tonight after work I came home and
crashed for a few hours. So tonight was a lazy one for sure! I managed
to pack my bag though. After work I head to Memmingen to catch a
flight to Italy for the long weekend! Can't wait for the beach, to see
some familiar faces and to explore Italy a bit. So there won't be any
posts for the next few days. I hope then when I get back I'll have a
bit more interesting news then today as it seems being here is
becoming the normal.... Chow :)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Weekend5!

This weekend was a pretty chill one. I stayed in Heidenheim and went
to the beach festival in the village over. It was the provinces beach
volleyball championships. I went with Frank and we met Julia, Dan and
Guillaume there. It was a great day and the games got better as did
the weather as the day went on. We left about dinner time and went to
a BBQ and then to watch the Football game after. The broadcast was in
German but I do know that Barcelona won! haha Overall it was a great
day and nice just to relax, sort of.

Sunday there isn't anything open other than a few cafes. So I slept
in for the morning. For the afternoon I spent it on the castle
grounds. It was a beautiful day, I think it reached 26, so now I'm a
bit redder then I was. It's better now then when I"m in Italy this
coming weekend though I guess. I also bought my ticket this afternoon
for the train to the airport. After a lazy afternoon I met up with
Meri and had supper with her while we watched the Glee finale! So, now
that I'm back I'm off to bed. Chow

Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday!

Nothing overly exciting to report today. It was rainy, a bit chilly
and cloudy for the day. I"m sure that has something to do with it
being uneventful.

Work flew by today and I didn't have time to read again! I spent the
day finishing my samples from yesterday, microscope work and prepping
things for Monday. I was not nearly as tired as I had been on Thursday
so this helped the day go by faster as well. For lunch apparently I
wasn't moving fast enough by the time I went upstairs then into the
lab to move my samples Simon and Frank gave up looking for me and left
for lunch. I was told they had been looking for me so by the time I
realized they left I had to head out by myself. Luckily I met Andy
along the way and was going to eat with him. We however did manage to
find Simon and Frank and I told them they're impatient! haha they have
to go to lunch everyday at or close to 11:30 as possible.

It was Friday and I had a bit of overtime so I was able to leave at 3
:) I headed to the post office to send Gavan his birthday card then
went shopping. I wanted a found a new bathing suit for Italy next
week! I love the price of things here since tax is already included in
the price you see. It makes it so much easier and helps me a lot since
I"m still working on learning all my numbers! After I headed to the
grocery store. I had found a new one on my run the other night and
went to check it out. It was at least double the size of the one I
have been going to so it was nice! Still nothing like the grocery
stores at home but it's progress.

Tomorrow I'm going to a beach volleyball tournament then a BBQ with
people from work so tonight was pretty chill. Looking at some travel
plans, movie and catching up with some people.

That's all for now, Chow :)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday and today were both busy ones at work. I've barely read anything :)
It's been doing different test and learning some new ones. The one I
learned about today I"m not fully sure on yet so no point in trying to
explain it.

Yesterday after work I headed home right after work as I had a
meeting for the census. I ended up having to do it even though I'm not
a citizen. I took the information that I had to work on Tuesday to get
some help with and potentially get out of doing, no luck. Frank ended
up calling the number that was on the information for me. He talked to
the guy explaining that I don't speak German and and not from here. He
said I was to be included still but he would bring an English version.
He did bring an English copy but his English wasn't that great and the
translation wasn't either. We were able to fill it out. Well, I
pointed out answers on the English one and he filled the German one so
who knows what was really filled out. After that was done I had supper
and went for a run before Stammtisch. Last night the location was at
the Stadtgarten. I had been there before but I didn't know it was
beside the prison! I didn't even know there was a prison there until
yesterday and I've gone that way many times before. It's by the main
church of the city... It was a great time I'm getting better at
figuring out what people are saying and I can order by myself now. We
were there for quite a while. I walked home with Frank and Andy since
it was dark out. Andy lives near me and Frank was nice enough to not
make me walk the rest of the way by myself which was nice!

Today was a bit harder to stay awake at work today since I stayed
talking a lot later then I thought I had. There was lots to so I only
found myself in la la land while waiting for a test to finish running
or something of the sort. I went to lunch with Simon today as we had
to drop some parts off at a different part of the company. I think he
could tell that I was tired because he was trying to make
conversation. Normally I usually talk the whole lunch since I don't
have to be worried about work. I've apologized for talking so much
some times but they say it's good for them! hahaha if only everyone
thought that. I was dead by the time work was done so no run tonight.

I have to random little stories too.

1) People here keep asking me if I'm married and I couldn't figure out
why. Then I noticed that a lot more people wear rings on their right
hand ring fingers and not the left. Then someone asked me on the
weekend and held up their hand saying they were married. Made so much
more sense. I asked last night at Stammtisch and they said you wear
your promise rings on your left but your marriage ring on your right.
I wear my daughter's pride ring on my right hand so no I'm not
married but will keep wearing it on my right hand! haha

2) I was getting ready to leave work the other day when, who I think
are two other interns, were talking in German at the desk across from
mine. I wasn't listening until I heard them say brain fart. Then I was
looking at them, they saw me after they said it about three times. So,
I asked what??? hahah then they were embarrassed and the supervisor in
the next room said to explain themselves to me. Turns out they were
talking about a type of computer coding. Still was funny and one of
them asked if brain fart was a swear word in English! I had to laugh
then explained what it was.

Well I'm beat so off to bed. Chow :)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tuesday (I've really lost count now)

So, I lied yesterday the picture was of the newspaper in Stuttgart.
Not of the Mercedes Benz Museum. That is today's picture though. The
newspaper I found on the bench while waiting for the train. I have no
idea what any of it was really about but there was a picture of Lady
Gaga and Count Dracula on the over. I thought that was a random
combination and worth sharing.

Today was an okay day at work. I was suppose to be learning how to
work a new machine to run some different tests with Tobbie. However,
Tobbie has been very sick and I've only met him a few times since I
started work. He had been at work the last three days but didn't make
it in today. It seems that all the other ones that I know how to work
were being used, didn't need to be used today or our friendly British
repair man was still fixing. You would never guess what I got to do...
read! haha I'm almost done the Handbook of Paper and Board Making I
don't think I want to know what they'll give me next.

After lunch, which was another hot and sunny day meal eaten outside,
Frank helped me figure out what this letter about the census is. He
was a bit confused by it too and he is German! He ended up calling the
person that is coming to do the census with me. Turns out that I'm
still suppose to do it but now he knows that I speak English. He'll be
here tomorrow night to do the census but in Englsih version for me. He
asked if I lived with someone that was German... good joke as I'm
still working on catching my neighbors. After that was all figure out
we looked up some places I should travel. Then Frank told me about
this lovely ash cloud that is moving over Europe! I had no clue. I
hope that I still get to go to Italy next weekend or I will not be a
happy person.

After this I did find some test to do. Gloria had a few things for me
to do and showed me how the laser machine works. So that means I'll
also have something to do tomorrow! Each test takes about an hour to
run (most of this is waiting time but better then just waiting for
nothing) and there are 32 samples to be run. After this the day was
done at work. I headed to the post office to send a few things away.
As I was walking and looking for the post office (I just knew it was
by the train station) Frank arrived and scared me on his bike. He has
a habit of doing that lately and he thinks it's funny! Not at all but
he showed me where the post office was and I was able to send my
things to Canada. The lady at the post office seemed interested in the
fact they were going to Canada.

After getting home I made some supper then headed out for a run. I
think that if I had this place to run in always then I would go
everyday! My legs are finally not bruised as much from my lovely bike
crash that running wasn't a chore. Which is nice and this place really
is beautiful to not only run in but be in.

That's all for tonight! Tomorrow is Stammtisch so there most likely
won't be another post until Thursday. Chow :)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Start of Work Week 4!

Time is officially flying! I was at work today in the lab putting
some of my results into the computer and talking to Carmen as I did
so. There was also a repair man there fixing one of the machines.
After saying something he turns to me and says in a very British
accent are you English too? So I replied with yes! When he asked where
from and I said Canada he told me then you're not English you're
Canadian haha. I can now say that I have met a person with a notable
British accent. He hadn't been talking up until this point but in both
English and German I could pick up his accent.

That was the most exciting thing of the day I do believe. I'm still
pretty tired from the weekend. At work I did a whole bunch of
different things some where finishing them from Friday others preping
for tomorrow and a tad bit of reading. After work I picked up some
fruit and veggies before heading home to make supper. I was planning
on going for a run tonight after supper. I was watching a movie for a
bit but ended up falling asleep for 4 hours.... I woke just in time to
have my Skype date with Jen! After only one internet fail we were able
to catch up :) then I talked to Gram for a few too. Now, shower and
bed. Chow :)

Oh the picture is from the Mercedes Benz Museum.... I think that's the
one I choose at least if not it's something from the weekend!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sunday

Today we were up at a better time then Sunday so we could wander
around Stuttgart a bit more before I left. For breakfast I was very
happy to have toast and peanut butter! I don`t have a toaster at my
apartment and peanut butter is not a very common thing here.

We caught the train to downtown where it was a lot quieter today.
There is basically nothing open in Germany on Sunday`s other than a
few cafes. We went to the Living Room of Stuttgart which is a park
like area. It is surrounded by old buildings, churches, cafes and lots
of statues. We were here being tourists when the rain rolled in again
along with a giant thunder and lightening storm. We again waited this
out in a cafe. It wasn`t fully let up but we headed on a train to meet
another friend of Danielle`s. With him we went to the Mercedes Benz
Museum for the afternoon. There were crowds of people since it was the
125th anniversary. We were too late in getting there to test drive.
The line was huge and would have taken hours to get through. We were
able to go through part of the museum and the dealership though. There
were lots of the cars open to sit in which was great!

After leaving we headed to pick my things up before going back to the
main station so I could catch my train home. We didn`t realize the
time and I was very close to missing my train! Danielle and I had to
run through the station and got there one minute before it pulled
away! However, I did make it back and am heading to bed now after a
great, busy and exhausting weekend.

Weekend 4

This weekend I headed off to Stuttgart to visit Danielle. So work
wasn't all that important on Friday to tell you about. The most
notable thing was the huge dark cloud moving in at lunch time. Frank
bet me that it would rain before I left and he won but was nice enough
to drive me to the train station.

I was able to take the train to Stuttgart and switch once all by
myself :) When I arrived Danielle was there to meet me. We headed
towards her house but stopped at the grocery store on the way there.
We were making the family that she lives with a what Danielle called
"A Canadian Supper" So we made them nachos and potato skins. They had
never had nachos before. The mom was very nice and loved the dinner.
She even brought out special Italian wine for the occasion. Not sure
if nachos and potato skins are the right meal for wine but it was good
none the less.

After dinner we headed out to meet some people in downtown Stuttgart.
It was a great night we went to a few different "disco's" as they are
called here. Danielle and I had many people ask us where we were from
when they saw/heard us speaking English. A few asked if we were
Americans! Once we said we were from Canada people always seemed to
think we were more interesting. The one thing to be said about the
night is that people around here need to learn how to dance! there
were a few people who could but most looked like they were doing a bad
version of the robot! I couldn`t help but laughing many times
throughout the night. After we were done at the disco we grabbed some
pizza and some water without bubbles before heading home. The discos
are open until 5am but we didn`t stay that long!

Saturday we took the time to sleep in before heading out for a day of
wandering. After breakfast we took the Ubahn to down town. There is a
great system set up in Stuttgart for the trains. This is why when we
arrived we ran into one of the many peaceful protest (but huge) about
not building a new network. It would mean a lot of money and tearing
up parts of the city. We walked past a few differnt stations that
people were protesting at. We walked around then headed to the Sky
Beach. This is basically a top of a building that has been covered in
sand and beach chairs. It was really nice until the storm started
rolling in. When we decided to leave it was very close and by the time
we were back on street level it was pouring! So we window shopped
around a bit and went to a cafe to wait it out. At the cafe we were
sitting at a table and the people beside us started to speak English
(huge deal now that I`m here). We asked them where they were from and
turns out from Canada! Two of them were visiting the other who is here
with the Stuttgart ballet. After talking with them for a while the
storm cleared and we parted ways.

Once we were done exploring we picked a few more things at the grocery
store as we made the family spaghetti, salad and garlic bread that
night. We were planning on meeting some people from Danielle`s work
but ended up talking to Karen (host mom) for a long time and were too
tired. So we watched a movie and went to bed so we could get up
earlier on Sunday.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Wednesday and Thursday

Last night was Stammtisch (round table) so it was to late to write a
post. So I"ll hopefully be able to get it all in this one.

Yesterday started off slow because it seemed everyone had some sort of
meeting in the morning. This meant that there wasn't anything for me
to do because what I was suppose to be doing you need two people for.
So I read some more I'm not sure what will happen once I"m done this
last book.

I left before lunch so that I could go pick up my passport. I finally
was able to have it back! I took them the last paper they needed payed
my residence fee ( odd I know) and had it in my possession again. I
know have a residence permit and a working permit for Germany. I think
it would be horrible to have to do this in Canada. Even if you are
just moving from one city to the next with in Germany you need to
check in and register with the city/town. Once I had this finished I
grabbed some fresh strawberries from the Wednesday noon market and
some lunch on my way back.

For the afternoon Simon said he had some things for me to do. He told
me that he would come get me when he was ready to start but that
wasn't until 3:30 (filled with more reading and correcting more
papers). I was so happy to be doing something but then that changed
when it took us two hours. I didn't leave until almost 5:30.

For the evening I had some supper then went to Stammtisch. Stammtisch
only reminded me of how quickly I need to learn German. They were
really good about trying to have some English conversations but like
people at work now too they tend to switch back to German because it's
easier. I'm building my vocabulary slowly but surely. I walked with
Julia and Dan until I met up with Frank and Andy. I ended up talking
with them for a while by the castle before heading the rest of the way
home. When I got home there were actual people outside my building!
Amazing I know. Turns out that they just moved in this week and are
here for four weeks doing a course but it's nice to know people are
actually here. So after all that it was late and I was tired.

Today was a slightly better day at work but the being tired didn't
help. I had some extractions to do and Carmen showed me how a new
spectrum machine worked. I had to read for only a bit this afternoon
while I waited for my extraction to finish. I went to lunch normally
as Frank and Simon put it. Another new person joined us I think he's
an intern but working on that and I didn't catch his name. The last
few days there have been a few new people in the department but are
definitely not all interns. I'll get to the bottom of this eventually.

It was another gorgeous hot day so after work I walked to the train
station to buy my ticket for the weekend. I'm going to visit Danielle
another UNBer for the weekend. I picked up some cereal on the way home
too and enjoyed the walk home. I put on another load of laundry but
didn't realize that I put my running clothes in. I was planning on
going running while my clothes were washing. That didn't happen. I was
able to get another skype call in tonight though :) saw my new
neighbors again and pack my bag for the weekend. I'm going now to
hopefully collect my dry clothes then head to bed. So most likely
until Sunday, Chow!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Day 21

So let's go with wow I've been here three weeks already! That just
blows my mind. Today the weather was a bit warmer not very much sun
but at least there wasn't any rain!

Work was good for the morning I was in the lab doing a bunch of
different things. I was also helping them with more English words. One
that none of them can grab onto is width. I'm not sure why but it
seems to get them. I am getting very good at playing fill in the blank
with conversations that is for sure. I think I really need them to
speak more German though because if I keep this rate of learning up
I'll be able to get by maybe by the time summer is over.

As the day got closer to lunch I was helping Simon with a few things.
It was almost lunch time so he said we would do the next thing after
lunch. I was apparently confused to what he meant because he said go
to lunch Frank is going too and be back here at 12. What he really
meant was to go to eat at 12.... we ended up going at 11:30 because of
the mix up. It was a semi good thing because there was barely a line
to wait for food. I pointed this out to make my misunderstanding seem
a bit better! haha

I ate lunch quickly because I wanted to go pick up my passport from
the town hall. After first going to the wrong room I was able to make
it to the right place. The bad thing was that she said I couldn't have
my passport yet. The lady I was talking to today could barely speak
English and had to pull a translator up to tell me why. Turns out that
they did not get all my health insurance papers so I can't have my
passport back yet. Tomorrow I plan on taking all the papers I have to
them and see if what they want is there. I really need my passport
back as I'm flying to Italy in 2 weeks!

For the afternoon I ran out of things to do. I was able to finally
figure out what my postal address is though with Simon's help. I was
trying to fill out a form for the train pass I bought but didn't know
how. With some help of the slow internet we figured it out. There was
nothing for me to do then so Simon said he would come get me once he
was done what he was doing and then we could work on something else.
He never came. So I spent most of the afternoon reading. I did help
another inter, Guillaume ( I think that's how you spell it), correct
his paper. He is from France doing his masters internship here at
Voith but needed to write his paper in English. We went through it
once and he is going to bring it back once he's made some changes. It
wasn't too bad just a few sentance structure and words that didn't
mean the same thing.

After work I went to the train station to hand in my completed form :)
after I looked up priced for a weekend trip to Stuttgart this weekend.
Once I had that figured out I headed to the grocery store to pick up
some juice and pasta sauce for supper. Walked around a bit came home
made supper showered and am now writing this. I'm still a little sore
from the bike crash on Friday so I'm going to wait another day before
going for another run. Tomorrow night I'm meeting with some of the
other interns for a BBQ so if I don't get a blog in that is why. Chow

Monday, May 16, 2011

Day 20 (I think at least)

Today was the start of work week 3 which is crazy! I was a little
sad when I left for work today because it was only 6 degrees out. The
rain held off for the day but I'm beginning to think the weather from
home it headed this way. Today was another fast one at work. I
literally spent all day working on my project. I had to take picture
of all the different samples that I have tested using the microscope
and it's software. I thought I had finished just after lunch but I
then learned I needed to make different measurements on them all. So
this took up the rest of the day. It wasn't too bad because I was in
the lab where Carmen and Simon work so I was able to talk to them on
and off. At one point Carmen asked me what a klutz was. I had called
myself this on Friday and she had been trying to figure it out over
the weekend I guess. I explained and she told me that the german word
for this is schusselig. Frank and I went to lunch today since Simon
had something else to do today. Lunch was interesting looking and the
signs were not all in English today they usually are. So I opted for
the vegetarian and pasts dish to be on the safe side. Turns out that
the main course had been pork and a stuffing type thing covered in
gravy. We chatted about the weekend and what plans are for the 3 long
weekends in June.

After work I headed to the town hall to pick up my passport. When I
got there though it turns out it is closed on Monday's. I will get it
this week! I asked the lady working the front desk when the office
would be open tomorrow. She knew what I was asking but it took her a
while to figure out the right times in English. So hopefully I can get
it tomorrow. I then just walked around town a bit before coming home
to have supper. After supper (and currently still working on it) I
attempted to do some laundry. The washer took an hour and I'm going on
two hours of my things being in the dryer. Hopefully they'll be done
soon since my bedsheets are in there! It was an ordeal to figure the
laundry out since none of the signs are in English and I couldn't get
any of the coins to work in the machine. I found someone in my
building as they were leaving and asked how they work. Turns out you
need to buy tokens at the hospital and can buy them Sunday mornings
from 7-10 am. So inconvenient. So once my laundry is done and I've
showered I'm off to bed, night. :)

Oh the picture for today is my favorite spot to sit in the castle
grounds. It's not right off the path and has it's own stairs up to the
seat. I love it because it is tucked away and has an amazing view of
the city.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Weekend number 3

The blog site was under repair on Friday and the weekend was a busy
one so this post will cover all of those days.

Friday
Well Friday the 13th had at me this year. I was up early and ready to
go to work and was planning on picking up my passport on the way. None
of this happened the way it should. I was leaving for work on my bike
when things started to go wrong. I usually don't ride my bike down the
driveway but I did this day. Which was a bad thing but a good in one
way. The brakes broke on me as I was going down the drive way so I had
two options cars or trees. I took the trees. The bike went flying I
was able to grab the tree and avoid too much damage. I'm okay just a
few bruises and cuts. Nothing big so no worries at home. This made me
late for work but they understood why. I showed up just in time for
breakfast, we had white Bavarian sausages and bread. It was pretty
good! There was also non-alcoholic wheat beer that was from Bavaria
too for breakfast. Apparently it is considered food not a drink. I
didn't really like it but at least I can say I tried it. I was really
busy at work just working on my project so the day flew by. I didn't
end up getting my passport back because it turns out that the town
hall closes at noon on Friday's.

After work I went home to change ( it was 28 and sunny) and get the
bike so I could take it back to Meri. I took it back and ended up
staying there for a while. I grabbed supper then went to meet Emily,
Erin and Colin at the train station. Once they were here we dropped
their gear off at my place. They weren't expecting the hill I live on
but we made it up with all of their belongings. After we headed back
down the hill to grab some drinks and catch up. The first place we
went to was packed! We waited almost 15 minutes for a table/drink and
didn't get one so we headed to the next place. It was really great
little pub so we stayed there the rest of the night. When we were
leaving we wanted food. Our waiter attempted and even drew a map to
McDonald's on the other side of town since he knew that would be open.
We set off for this no fully knowing where we were going. We were
talking about it and some guys heard us as we passed another pub. So
we asked them for more directions but they said it was going to be
another 2 km! Then we asked if there was anything closer and he
replied with yeah, 10 seconds and pointed across the street to a
Turkish place. So that's where we went and it was pretty good! Erin
and Colin had donairs (doner here) and Emily and I shared a pizza.
With full bellies we headed home and went to bed for the night. On our
way home we did run into a few pirates from the pirate convention that
is at the Best Western near where I live. We were never able to figure
out the pirate event but saw lots of them during the weekend.

Saturday

Once everyone was awake and showered we decided to head to the market
for breakfast. It was great we had fresh fruit and baked goods. Food
is pretty cheap here so it was a great meal. After the market we
headed to the cheese cake place for cheese cake because we had passed
it and it was too good looking (and tasting) to not have. After a bit
of wandering and stopping in some stores we went to meet Jenn at the
train station. Once she was with us we headed to this great asian food
place for lunch. It was delicious. For the afternoon we did some trip
planning for the rest of the summer. We're headed off to the southern
tip of Italy on the sea the first weekend of June! We got a sweet deal
and a beach weekend is going to be lots of fun. I was also able to get
my train tickets to Venice to meet Ruth and Don the second weekend if
June. I have a lot to look forward to :) Once trip planning was
complete we got ready and headed downtown again for supper and the
music festival. The restaurant had closed their kitchen because of the
festival and were having a BBQ instead. So this is what we had for
supper more German sausage. For the night we bounced around town to
the different places where bands were playing. There were 30 bands and
I think we saw about 10. The night was great we met a few people and
had some fun (we definitely stood out with all our English). By the
end of the night we were beat and were off to sleep in no time!

Sunday
Today was a lot colder and rainy but it was a lazy day. The group
headed home at different times through out the day too. Other than
walking them to the station and a short walk through the castle my day
wasn't all too exciting. It was nice to just relax and catch up with a
few people over skype and facebook. With that I'm off to bed soon
since work week 3 starts early tomorrow!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Day 16

Well I must start off with telling you that my good weather streak
ran out. I'm sure those of you will feel better knowing that I woke up
to pouring rain today! I was up early to go to work since I had left
early yesterday. As soon as I noticed the rain had somewhat died down
I headed to work. I was in luck because it let up just long enough for
me to get to work (thank you!). Simon and Frank were impressed when I
showed up dry to work. They had both driven their cars today. I
however did see a new way to bike and not get as wet. When I was
almost to work I passed a man on a bike also holding an umbrella so he
wouldn't get wet. That's a new one!

Today I was in the lab literally almost all day. None the less the
day flew by. I had a few extractions left to do. I've almost got the
lab caught up on extractions, for now that is. Each one takes three
hours to do and you can only do two at a time. While waiting for the
extraction I was able to start my project finally. Gloria showed me
how to prep my samples then left me to it. I have 32 different types
of materials that I need to test and need to have two samples of each
one to test. These took up almost all of the day to prepare and
tomorrow I get to start testing them. My day at work doesn't sound
that interesting but it wasn't too bad at all and flew by.

For lunch we almost made it to the canteen without the rain but it
started when we were about half way there. Lunch was the normal
conversation other than Simon asking if I had checked my facebook
lately. See Simon says he doesn't like facebook. Anyway, he had heard
on the news the night before that some peoples facebook accounts had
been hacked in Germany and wanted to see if my was okay. Seems to be
to me so we're all good. It would most likely be those people that
don't set up an security on their information or have accessible
computers. Who knows.

After work I was pretty hungry so I headed home right away. I did
however take another new route home. I think I discover a new one
every day! After eating I headed out to wander around some more. This
time it had a purpose. I wanted to make sure I knew the right way to
the train station for sure and how long it takes to get there. Emily
Colin and Erin arrive tomorrow and Jenn on Saturday morning for the
weekend so I need to make sure I"m there to meet them! On my way back
I cut through the castle grounds. What did I discover? Well it looks
like a circus tent. I'm not sure why so I'm going to have to
investigate. Maybe it's just the royal courts entertainment for the
weekend! haha I'm off to bed now. Hopefully Heidenheim is ready for a
weekend full of Canadians :)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Day 15

Well I'll start off with my normal it was gorgeous and sunny here
yet again today. It was a bit muggy though but not nearly as it gets
back home.

Today was another fairly fast day at work. When I arrived this
morning I had my own work to do. I set up extractions for the first
bit (told this is my job for a while). After they were all set up I
had three hours to kill. So I learned how to use the infrared scope to
collect data on all the extraction samples that I have been
helping/taking all week. This was cool as it takes a tiny sample and
generates a graph that tell you the components of the compound. This
is the hard part and is left to someone else to do but there were a
few sample of known substances that I could compare to. Before I knew
it it was lunch time. Sadly there were no spots left outside so we had
to eat inside. Canteen today had line ups like it was chicken burger
day at school but it was better because there was lasagna and that is
what everyone was after. Frank and I waited in the line for this but
Simon said he was too hungry and headed to the other line for some of
the other choices. Our wait was worthwhile :) Most of lunch was silent
as the food was great other than to quiz me on some German words.
Frank did ask me if I was in the sun though since I looked red
today... I was only in the sun for about an hour yesterday. So I'm not
sure but it was so nice of him to point it out!

For the afternoon I didn't have as much to do. I helped Carmen with a
few things. I did talk to my supervisor for a while. I initially was
asking about a day that I could have off to go to Italy for (she said
yes) but then we got to talking about the best places to go. We looked
at the calender and she pointed some different long weekends and what
places she thought would be good when. She likes most of the places
that I'm interested in going to and is going to bring me some travel
guides next week! This reminds me of a random fact is that everyone
drinks carbonated water here. There is a water cooler in the vending
machine room on ground floor. However the options are different then
those at home. You can have clear water, half bubbly or full bubbly.
I'm pretty much the only one that drinks the normal they all say the
carbonated tastes cleaner.... just taste like pop with no flavor to me.

I left work a bit early today because I needed to pick up my bank card
from the bank. It was another one of those the other person doesn't
know great English times. The girl I was with last time was in a
meeting so the one I had today tried her best. I got my card and pin
but she wasn't able to explain this crazy box thing I now have so I
can have online banking. Apparently I put my card in and hold it up to
the screen when I want to log in or use it. I'll let you know how that
ones goes. After I picked up my ticket for the festival this weekend
then just biked around for a bit. After supper I spent most of the
time looking up travel plans/deals for the rest of summer! After my
skype call I'm waiting for I'm off to bed as I need to be into work
earlier than normal tomorrow. Chow :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Day 14

It's hard to believe that I've been here for two weeks already. It
may be because of this or not but today flew by! I was a bit tired
getting up this morning since I stayed up later than I should have but
I finally got a skype call in with the little ginge. None the less I
was up and on the bike to work on time. Carmen was waiting for me
because it was my last day in training for the extractions. So with
her watching I set three of them up and left them for three hours to
do their thing. While I waited I finished preparing the sample for
Simon that I had started the day before. Then before I knew it it was
time for lunch.

Lunch was another great day eating outside in the sunshine. I'm sure
those of you at home are sick of me and my sunshine but hey I love it!
We spent most of the conversation testing my German and talking about
places I should travel and places they want to travel too.

For the afternoon I took off my extractions for the morning and put
two new ones on. While these were running I did some other test to the
morning samples. Then as I waited a bit more I ran some tensile test
with Simon but we didn't get the results we were looking for so we
will have more to do tomorrow. After taking the afternoon samples off
(all by myself) and finishing their test the day was done.

After work I headed downtown to stop into the information center. I
was in luck today because I got there before they closed. I was able
to get a brochure about the upcoming music night here this weekend. It
gave a list of the bands (there's 30) the genre they play and what
location. There was also a map on the back pin pointing the locations.
A few of the others are planning on coming for the weekend and going
to the music festival so I'm sure we can figure it out and have a good
time. After picking up a few things I forgot yesterday I headed home
to make some supper. Once again I headed out for a run after in this
beautiful city! I'm convincing myself I can go for a run everyday that
it isn't raining. Hopefully I stick to that.... wish me luck and for
now I'm off to bed. Chow :)

Monday, May 9, 2011

Day 13

Well let's start with a reminder to self first run uphill first not down....

Today was the beginning of work week 2! I rode my borrowed bike to
work again making it down the hill without crashing but less then a
block from work my chain fell off. I left it like that until the end
of the day though walking the rest of the way. I was suppose to start
my project today but the repair guy was in that lab fixing some
equipment. So surprise surprise I read for about an hour and a half
this morning. Then Carmen came and said she had some things for me to
do if I wanted so I jumped at that. I spent the morning running some
test in the vacuum distillation and other such equipment in the lab
(I'm not suppose to tell people exactly what I do so you'll have to so
with these sad explanations). These took up the rest of my morning
then I was off to lunch with Simon and Frank. It was another beautiful
day of sun and 24 degree weather so there were not many seats left
outside to eat. We found a table with one other man at it that Simon
knew. The two of them rambled off in German so Frank had to deal with
my English. I apologized fir speaking to fast and too much sometimes
but he said not to because it's good for him. I laughed at this it
seems to be a common thing in my office is people are saying they will
have much better English by the time I leave. Glad I can help :)

Alex wasn't here, he's on vacation for 3 weeks, but we still stopped
for ice cream on the way back to work. Did I mention that my company
has it's own ice cream place.... well it does! For the afternoon I
finished my things in the lab and then helped Simon for the rest of
the afternoon. The afternoon flew by! I'm almost done prepping the
samples so I can run some tensile test with Simon tomorrow.

After work I went to put more money on my internet stick. I felt bad
for the poor lady working cash because she knew no English at all. So,
with the use of my fingers and select German words we were able to get
my internet credit up! My German is slowly but surely growing thank
goodness. After I stopped to pick up a few things from the grocery
store I really needed some pepper and cheese! I also finally found
where the eggs and juice are in this place. It's the tiniest place
ever and is jammed pack so I'm sure I'll find something new every time
I stop in. I came back to the apartment had supper then convinced
myself to go for a run. Going back to my first statement I decided it
would be a good idea to run downhill first. Not a good idea at all. I
ran through the town then back up the steps to the castle and around
there for a bit. Did I mention I'm in love with this place? Well it's
growing on me quickly! With that I'm off to bed so I can have another
day tomorrow, nighty night :)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Day 12

Sundays are pretty quiet around here. There is barely anything open
other than for a few cafe or restaurants. So for the morning I caught
up on some Gossip Girl since my internet was finally strong enough to
watch some TV online. For the afternoon I just walked around the city.
It was another warm today, I think the high was 24 or 25, which was
great! I walked some different paths and to a different part of the
city. I was out for a few hours before I headed in because I knew if I
stayed out an longer I was going to burn. I came back and made some
supper. Pasta and vegetables :)

For the evening just a few skype calls and some Glee!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Day 11

Since I don't work on the weekends I got to sleep in today. It was
another beautiful day when I woke up (it was up to 25 today). Once
getting showered, breakfast ect. the plan was to head down to the
market and find out more about the music festival that is here next
weekend. Well that didn't happen. As I was leaving the apartment I
noticed a lot of people and cars around (I live at the top of the hill
and other than the castle and hospital traffic this wasn't normal) so
I knew something was up. I waited until I ran into some younger people
to ask because they are the ones generally with better English. Once I
found a small group the first two didn't have great English but the
other two did. I asked what was going on and got a stunned look then
"the football game!" haha should have guessed that one. They said I
should go so I figured I might as well. They then were wondering how I
didn't know English and were here so I said I was from Canada and was
here at Voith. Everyone seems to connect Canada with Niagara falls
here for some reason. I was a little worried to what I got myself into
because the closer we got to the stadium the larger the group got and
the cheers and chants got louder too. Not to mention the increasing
amounts of police fully decked in combat gear, shields, sticks,
helmets the whole works.I managed to get into the stadium but it
looked more like a pen with all the fencing and such to prevent the
crowds from causing too much trouble.... yeah that's it. The game was
crazy the crowds were cheering and chanting non stop. I had no clue
what they were saying but it was fun non the less. Everyone was so
hyped about the game and the team. I laughed though when the mascot
came out it was a giant teddy bear of all things! The game was good
not the best soccer or should I say football but they're not bad for
their devision I'm told (they're devision 3). It was 0-0 until half
way through second half when we scored this only made the crowd get
louder. When it was 1-1 they were not happy to tell you anything about
that but when we got a second goal they were literally jumping all
over the place. This was the final score and the celebrations were
continuing I'm sure for hours afterwards.

I managed to get out in one piece and headed home to grab some food
before finally heading down town. It was busy but I'm sure that's
because it was Saturday. I wanted to go to find out about the music
festival at the tourist place but they had closed before I got there.
I'll have to go one day after work this week. While down there grabbed
some supper and window shopped my way around. The sun was out so I
went up to the castle and just chilled there for a while. That was my
day the most interesting yet I think so enjoy :)

Friday, May 6, 2011

Day 10
Today was another better day at work (hope this keeps up). Today in
the morning our department had a birthday breakfast for Simon one of
the people in the department. Tradition is that who ever has a
birthday brings breakfast for everyone to share ( I thought it should
be the other way around). There was lots to eat. I had to ask what
some things were because the packaging was weird. Then there was what
looked like a pile of raw meat and people were putting it on their
rolls. So I asked and got a reply of "raw meat, onions and spices" so
i said I would pass on that one! They were all speaking German for the
whole hour of breakfast so I just nodded and smiled a bit. I was able
to pick up a few words here and there. I spent the morning with my
supervisor doing safety orientation. Frank, Alex and I went to lunch
and were able to eat outside because it was gorgeous out today! Our
conversation however was all about snow in Canada. They can't believe
how much snow we get.

For the afternoon I got my assignment for the next three weeks! I'm
going to be setting up an experiment to test fabric properties so
should be cool. Then I'll be working on a design project! and going
out to some different plants :) things are picking up (yay) I also had
and email from the German professor who set up my internship today.
Apparently he's been trying to get a hold of me at the company but the
people he's been calling have yet to be in when he called. So I
emailed him back saying I was alive and things were going great.

I didn't make it to visit Emily for the weekend so I'm going to stay
here. There is a market on Saturday mornings I want to check out and I
want to find out more about the music festival that is here next week.
So for now cheers :)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Day 9
It?s hard to believe that I have almost finished the first week of
work already. I still have to wait until tomorrow to decide what I am
doing for the weekend. If I can get out of work early enough I'll go
visit Emily for the weekend if not ? well not sure what the plan will
be.

Today was a good day at work. I got to do a bunch of test in the lab
myself this morning. One of the lab technicians showed me what to do
and then I was set. Once I was finished with all the samples I had I
then learned how to do a type of extraction. The labs they have in my
office building are really nice and new. The equipment is awesome and
well it overall is a sweet place to be working in.
Alex and Frank came to get me to go to lunch just after this. My card
still doesn?t let me into the gate of the other section of the
company. So to get in one of them swipes me through and then calls the
security to buzz them through since they can speak German haha. Lunch
was great today because we got to eat outside. The weather here has
been really good which is sweet. On our walk back the boys explained
some different traditions and such to me. One that I forgot to mention
the other day was May 1st. On this day men/boys fill the tree outside
of their ?loves? house with ribbons. It use to be that the tree was
then put in the chimney but they don?t do that anymore. However the
ribbons do stay in the tree for the rest of the month and then the
man/boy who put them up has to take them down. Apparently there are
lots of other things that happen this day. There was a marching band
that went through the town(missed this sadly) people go around
drinking beer all day and in some places (they told me mainly Berlin)
people throw rocks at the police. I only saw the ribbons and I am
perfectly fine with that!

After work I finally went to go get some groceries and a pot since my
apartment has no dishes. Down side was the pot cost more than all the
food I got. For 7 euro I picked up cereal, milk, yogurt, pasta,
tomatoes, tortellini and some peppers! So with this I was able to cook
some actual food (now that our kitchen is slightly cleaner). After
supper I headed out for a run and well that is something I am going to
have to work on?. Outside is a lot different than a tredmill since
there is hills and turns thrown in there. It was just getting dark by
the time I got back so shower, movie and unpacking my suitcases
finally. Meri called to invite me out for a bit with them but it was
almost ten and I didn?t want to walk back downtown by myself in the
dark even though this place is pretty lit up at night. So until
tomorrow good night :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Day 8

It's getting late so not much for now. Today was much more
interesting at work I did some more reading but it was more
interesting and spent the afternoon in the lab doing tensile testing.
Finally figured out who the other intern's name is, Frank, and met my
supervisor for a bit. I'm doing orientation (finally!) with her
tomorrow. After work I met up with the other interns for free supper
(I know it was sweet) and discounted drinks. Then went to Meri's place
with a few of them for the rest of the night since the football game
was on (this is where I figured out Frank's name since he was there)
Then borrowed a bike to take home since it was dark and no one else
live up here... so until tomorrow. Night!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Day 7

I can't believe I've been gone a week already! At this rate the
summer is going to go way too fast. Today was a little better at work
I went in earlier so that I wouldn't be left alone today at the end.
When I got there my ID let me into the building today which was a good
start but it wouldn't let me into the lab. So I had to wait at my desk
for Alex to come there. I waited about an hour in this time I almost
memorized my confidentiality agreement and the safety regulations of
the company.... Once Alex came up I was able to get into the lab where
I spent most of the morning there. I spent time with two different
people. The first was in the lab where they were testing the
composition of know and unknown substances. So the machine that i was
watching them use and they were explaining in there best English is
one that I don't know in English and am not sure how to spell in
German (sorry). Essentially it would take the sample heat it very
quickly to a high temperature which cracks the molecules apart. The
data from this is then sent to a computer where with practice and
knowledge about the program you can identify all the different
molecular components of the substance. Pretty cool!

The second lab was more paper processing material testing. While here
Alex and the other intern (pretty sure he's an intern but I don't
remember his name) came to get me to go to lunch. We again ate at the
canteen which was just as busy if not more so than yesterday. This is
probably because it was raining today so everyone was staying inside
with their lunches. The boys were asking me all about hockey, skiing
and Canadian cars at lunch today but I had to explain what sledding
was to them!

For the afternoon I spent reading piles on piles of articles,
journals, reports and magazines all related to paper or non woven
fabrics. For any of you ChE 2525 folks I read a whole magazine that
was about PET. I'm sure it could have been useful for the class as it
was about what countries were making developments, new patents that
had come out (some at voith) and different uses and advantages of it.
That magazine wasn't the only thing that related to school there was
confidence intervals (stats), integrals (all those math courses)
polyamides (chem/organic) and viscosity of fluids (fluids) and stress
strain diagrams (materials) to mention just a few. Turns out we really
are learning useful things that are being applied out there! haha who
knew.

That pretty much sums up my day because when I left work it was
raining again. With the rain it brings out giant snails everywhere!
(today's picture) I had to watch where I was walking to make sure I
didn't step on any. With the rain I watched a movie and had dinner.
The whole time it was raining my internet wasn't working so thankfully
it was tonight to get in a skype call.

Everything seems to be in a craze at home with Osama being killed, a
Conservative majority and NDP opposition and oh what's new school
wanting more money from me! haha got to love being a student.... all
for now I'll let you know how free food on the first Wednesday of each
month for interns goes to some local restaurant. that's what they told
me at least so I'm not turning down this potential offer. Wish me luck
and that's all for today :)

Monday, May 2, 2011

First day of work (Day 6)

Today was my first day of work. I woke up early to make sure I
wouldn't be late since that would not be a good first impression! haha
I was to go directly to my department since I had orientation on
Thursday (in English) today it was in German. So I did just that but
when I got there my ID didn't work to let me in. There was another
person going in just ahead of me though so I tailgated in. I told the
receptionist who I was and who I was looking for. This was only after
I realized she was talking to me! I really need to learn some
German... She called my supervisor and told me to take a seat. People
either realized I was new or looked foreign because they all stared at
me as they went up and down the staircase/elevator I was by.

My supervisor came down introduced herself then led me up to my work
area. I have a desk with another intern just outside her office. As
she showed me this she told me she was just back from holiday and had
a big meeting this Wednesday so she wouldn't be able to do anything
with me until Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. Not what I was
expecting but she dished me off to Alex and another intern that were
working in the lab. Alex works with her in the lab. So after a few
awkward moments Alex said that for now I could just watch him do some
things in the lab. As I and the other intern were doing this he was
trying to explain the paper making process to me in English but was
having a hard time with the translations. I helped him through them
then he remembered he had some videos that I could watch instead. So
this is what I did I watched 4 short ones that explained the basics.
Then filled out some papers until lunch.

Alex took me to the "canteen" that is on the company grounds for
lunch. It's more like a meal hall it is really large and there was a
tonne of people there! I found out that there are almost 5000 people
that work at this one site so it explained the mass amount of people
in the canteen. To get food you need to load up your card with money
which worked for me even though I can't get into the labs, buildings
or gates. They must know I like food or something. So we grabbed some
food which I must say is a million times better than what is at
school! We swiped our cards to pay and headed outside to eat. Our
lunch time conversation mainly consisted of making fun of American's
and their beer. As well as comparing food, traditions ect. Then we
finished Alex showed me the ice cream shop that was on the grounds too
:) I think that ice cream is a bit different than home too but not
really sure how to explain the difference.

Once lunch was over and we were back in the office I was to watch more
videos for the afternoon. By this time I had been given my password
and login to the company system. I was able to login once I realized
the server cord had to be plugged into my computer! Then the program
didn't want to work on my computer and Alex had disappeared. I tried
searching th computer but that was taking forever and I was almost
falling asleep waiting for it to find it when Alex finally came back.
He then took me to the lab set me up on a computer there and that was
the rest of my day watching him to tests in the lab and watching these
videos.

Once work was over, or as Alex said until tomorrow, I headed to town
to grab some food for dinner/breakfast and headed home. I cooked some
dinner since I was too late about getting the email about the intern
running club.... and tried to catch my neighbors (still haven't seen
them other then some yelling above me Saturday night and some yummy
smelling food that was in the oven Sunday). With no luck I'm calling
it a night once I have a few skype calls I'm waiting for :)

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Day 4 and 5 (weekend!)

Today (Saturday) was a gorgeous day here in Heidenhiem. I wasn't sure
how warm it was until I left because I couldn't find a website with
the weather conditions on it. So I dressed for any weather and headed
out for more adventuring around noon time. I had made plans with
another Canadian intern to meet for a late lunch so I had some time to
kill. I decided to take a path way that I had found the night before
and I'm glad I did! It ended taking me right into the main street down
towns and was much quicker than the way I had been walking. I also
found that there is a Saturday market in front of the town hall or
"Rathaus" but it was just packing up when I got there. I'm excited
about it and will have to check it out soon.

Everyone was out and about down town and one thing I've learned for
sure is that everyone is always dressed up here. The girls are always
wearing heels to which I'm not sure if I can get into in these cobble
stone streets (not to mention the hill I live on). Another thing that
is good about the heels is I'm definitely not a "tall" person here!
There are a lot of girls and guys who are way taller than what is
common at home and more of them too haha.

I met with Meri (another intern) around 2 for a late lunch and we
decided to head to a place that generally serves traditional German
food. It was great I let Meri do the ordering but she explained what
everything was. We ordered some beer to go with lunch (always order
your drink first), beer is one of the cheapest things you can order
it's cheaper than pop and juice. When the waiter brought our drinks
over they gave me another pointer before we cheered and drank. "You
must always look the other people in the eye when you cheers" why
might you ask? well if you do not it will give you seven years of bad
sex...luck? no sex. haha I died laughing at this because apparently
waiters and even adults stick to this and warn people about it all the
time. The food was great and it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy
some real food.

When we were done we walked around a bit seeing different important
places like the post office. Then we headed to Meri's flat for hot
chocolate and brownies and to meet her roommates as well.After saying
goodbye I headed back up the hill.

Once dropping my stuff off I decided to take a walk around the castle
grounds again before it got dark. It was starting to storm so I
grabbed my jacket and braved the chances. I found some more trail to
try later and found that there is a giant fencing tournament here this
weekend. It's not any tournament but one of the worlds largest! Who
knew, but it does explain the groups walking around in different
country track suits the last few days. It started to thunder and
lightening so I headed in for the night just in time before the rain
hit.


Day 5

Today (Sunday) was a rainy day so for the morning I just stayed in and
attempted to learn some more German ( I was suppose to start this in
March...). I then grabbed my rain coat and headed down town in the
afternoon to meet up with Meri again. We decided to got to a Thai
place for dinner which was interesting. I was super hungry and looking
forward to Thai food. Then it came to ordering Meri thought I should
start practicing and order for my self once she explained different
options to me. It was a challenge and I tried not laughing at myself.
In the end I managed to order a giant spring roll (homemade and super
yummy) and a red curry chicken dish with some sparkling apple juice.
Trust me that's not what what I said sounded like and I know it was
pretty far off of the German words too. Oh well I'll get it in time.
The place was great and obviously really popular there was even a mob
of Russian fencers there too.

Once stuffing ourselves with food we had the rest packaged up to go
(most places apparently frown at you wanting to pack things up here
but this place was okay since they have take out too). We then went
back to Meri's flat for a bit (it's right on the main street so it's
close to everything which is great)

Today wans't the most filled but I do know a few things I haven't
mentioned. I've had a few encounters with odd people I was sitting on
a bench down town and a mad approached me and kept saying something
about coffee and pointing to the cafe I was beside. I just shook my
head no and he left. Then when I was with the lady from work we were
outside town hall talking when a little girl (about 10 I would say)
asked her what language I was speaking! haha Also I've figure out that
most people smoke of all ages (not a big fan of this). And like every
town it has it's charachters here it seems to be the four hobo looking
people that sit outside of the bank/town hall area drinking beer I've
seen them almost every day.

Tomorrow is my first day of work (eekk) so this is all for now, enjoy :)

Day 3

Today I was all by myself all day so I had some interesting encounters
throughout the day. I woke up early because I had to go to the bank
for my appointment. So I got ready and grabbed some food to eat on my
way down town. Hoping today that I wouldn't seem to be so obviously
foreign. At the bank the girl I had helping me was younger and had
great English. We got my account set up and online access to so I
wouldn't have to worry about the communication issue as much. The only
down side is that I have to wait for 10 days until I have access to my
account and card. I'm slowly learning that everything takes forever to
do here and that they're so slow. Once we were done she was even nice
enough to point me in the direction of a grocery store "supermarket"
and pointed out a good bakery along the way.

Now knowing where these places where I headed out to explore some
more. I found where the train station was again (very important!)
another grocery store and a place I can buy a bike from. I bought some
food and a duvet cover for the not so nice blanket that came with my
apartment. For the rest of the morning I stayed on the main pedestrian
street (no cars can go up or down) and attempted to order lunch. I
figured a hamburger was a safe bet from one of the many cafe along the
street. But the guy working there claimed to speak no English. I said
hamburger and he said something similar to that and then started
asking what topping I wanted. I just nodded to everything figuring I
could take off whatever I didn't like. A nice man beside me realized
that I had no clue what the guy was saying and translated for me turns
out he was asking about ketchup and onions! I thanked him and was able
to get my lunch. Turns out hamburgers are 2 dollars or to euros in
different countries and that ketchup over here taste a little weird. I
have also figured out that the price you see is the price you pay
here! So much easier Canada should really take a few pointers in this
department.

I headed to my apartment for the afternoon to rearrange furniture and
clean. My apartment is much more livable now and cleaner. Now only if
the shower I share could be fixed to actually let some water out and
the kitchen be cleaned I would be all set....

After supper I headed out to walk around the castle grounds again. It
was starting to storm so I did not stay out long. but I did find some
great pathways that I think led to town to check out the next day. On
my way back I passed the Congress center which turns out to be hosting
a fencing tournament this weekend. It's not any fencing tournament but
one of the worlds largest.... who knew!

After checking in on the computer I found I had a few emails and such
but one was from another Canadian intern! She's from Victoria and had
decided to stay an extra two month rather then leave this week like
the other's had. This was perfect so she asked me to meet up the next
day which I gladly accepted :)

Day 1and 2

I arrived in Munich, Germany yesterday after a full day of traveling.
We flew from home into Philadelphia where we had a 4 hour layover.
The airport there is the largest one I?ve ever been to, we had to take
a bus from one terminal to the next or it could have been up to an
hour?s walk is my guess! We had a few hours to kill so we ventured
around to discover that it was National Pretzel appreciation day, of
course we took part. The other three arrived a few minutes before our
next flight. So we boarded and were Germany bound :)

Once arriving I said goodbye to the other three who were continuing on
to Stuttgart and went to meet my friend from Germany at the gate. I
was so glad to see her or else I?m sure I would have got lost. We
bought our train tickets and we were on our way. We grabbed lunch at
our first station switch and at the second waited for a bit since we
had missed our third train. From the train we took a taxi to the
hospital where I was to pick up my keys (sketchy sounding I know) the
lady didn?t speak English it seemed so I signed the paper and left
with the keys a little confused. They told us directions to the right
apartment but we ended up on a fire brigade trail covered in giant
snails before we got it right.

After dropping my luggage off we headed down town because I needed to
get and internet stick (my place doesn?t have it) and a cell phone or
a ?handy? as they?re called here. I also learned that all internet
connections have to be locked in Germany so no possibility for free
wireless. Once again I was so glad to have someone with me because
the first day no one seemed to want or could speak English. I was able
to get the internet stick and a sim card for my handy which was only
0.10 ?! Apparently that should last me a few months, why is it so
expensive at home?
After finding some food and heading back to the apartment my friend?s
mom came to pick her up and I was left to fend for myself. It was
almost dark by now so I set up my internet and let people from home
know I had made it here safely before calling it a night.

Day 2

I woke up the next morning and attempted to shower. See my apartment
is not too bad in my room itself but I have to share a kitchen and
shower with the floor and they?re not the best. After cleaning things
a bit and managing a shower I dressed and headed downtown. My first
stop was into the company that I?m interning at for the summer. With
my map in tow I figured out my way to the right gate. The company is
huge and takes up a good section of the city so there are many
different gates. Once finding the right one I met up with the lady I
had been corresponding with since my job offer. Here people are always
generally called by their last names so for a girl you say Frau
?insert last name?. She was a great help explaining different items I
needed to know. She said it was great that I had arrived a few days
early since on Monday the orientation would have been in German for
the other students arriving. I?m pretty sure she said that there are
30 coming! She then came with me to the town hall so I could register
as a resident. ( in Germany if you stay any length of time you have to
register with the town/city you?re living in) with this they took my
passport for two week so they can make my resident card, which sucks.
I had my passport pictures taken once again for this as well which is
always SO much fun. Once done at town hall we went to the bank to set
up a bank account for me here for my pay check to be deposited in. I
ended up making an appointment for the next day so I could talk to
someone in English.

I was then left to myself for the rest of the day. I wandered around
exploring and figuring out where important places are located. This
place is beautiful so I don?t think the summer should be too bad at
all :)