Sunday, May 1, 2011

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 :)

2 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see pictures. Play safe, learn things and have fun. Most of all...have fun.

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  2. Thanks Mr. B there are lots more on Facebook and I know there will be more to come :)

    ReplyDelete