I've officially spent two days in Bamberg and have yet to express any of my thoughts. Despite the cold and dreary month of March for Germany, I see that Bamberg is a fairytale sort of historic town...I can safely say that it is the perfect fit for me to study abroad.
Although I arrived timely and in one piece from the train ride into Bamberg, I probably wasn't the most graceful. Here I am, two huge suitcases in hand, awaiting the ICE train. As if it wasn't hard enough to pull the luggage up myself onto the train, it was even more difficult to place them in an open spot. Thanfully the germans have already proven to be very friendly. Going up a flight of steps to catch a connecting train in Wuerzburg is another story but the friendliness of strangers persisted. They must have disregarded the American flag on my back and Tom Petty's song "American Girl" playing around me from an indistinguishable source. ;-) Only joking of course.
When reaching Bamberg after the two hour tour through the country side I called my Tandem Partner (a voluntary program to assist foreign exchange students), Carolin, who was able to come meet me at the trainstation. Thankfully! Once again it reminded me how much I was fulfilling the American stereotype when she arrived because we had to drag my two huge suitcases and backpack through the streets of the town. Since I wasn't able to get my appartment that evening, Carolin took me in like a lost puppy by feeding me and giving me a place to sleep. The next day she also assisted me and my broken jet-lagged German in opening a bank account at Sparkasse and obtain a new German phone! (Way nicer than my beatup, war-torn, and well tailgated red Razr endearingly referred to as "Big Red". Through all of this, Carolin was so accomidating that I didn't even know how to express my gratitude well enough. I felt as if I was an inconvience or rather a big, wet, dirty puppy. To make up for it, hopefully she'll enjoy the "Don't Mess With Texas" shotglass I gave to her upon my arrival.
In any event, the next morning Carolin took me in her small car that was hardly able to fit all my American glory (suitcases) to the Akademisches Auslandsamt (Foreign Student Office)...finally the ball began to roll and I was then able to go to my student appt-Pestheim.
Pestheim isn't considered the nicest of student dorms in Bamberg but it is certainly clean, sufficient, and the shower is really warm and powerful. Seems great to me! I've already tried to make it home by buying some cheap candles, frames, and a soft yellow blanket. Through some direction and advice over coffee from a fellow Gamecock that studied abroad last semester, I've been able to get to know a little bit of the bus system and find my way through the charming Innerstadt of Bamberg. Today I finally filled my room with some food too! Apples, oragnes, tomatoes, lachs, some white cheese, Broetchen, and of course a bottle of red WINE and MILKA (german/austrian chocolate)! Although, oops, I still don't have a wine opener. But for the most part not many people are here because it's a holiday. No worries though, during the next two weeks I'll just be aquainting myself with the city and getting some required stuff out of the way.
When reaching Bamberg after the two hour tour through the country side I called my Tandem Partner (a voluntary program to assist foreign exchange students), Carolin, who was able to come meet me at the trainstation. Thankfully! Once again it reminded me how much I was fulfilling the American stereotype when she arrived because we had to drag my two huge suitcases and backpack through the streets of the town. Since I wasn't able to get my appartment that evening, Carolin took me in like a lost puppy by feeding me and giving me a place to sleep. The next day she also assisted me and my broken jet-lagged German in opening a bank account at Sparkasse and obtain a new German phone! (Way nicer than my beatup, war-torn, and well tailgated red Razr endearingly referred to as "Big Red". Through all of this, Carolin was so accomidating that I didn't even know how to express my gratitude well enough. I felt as if I was an inconvience or rather a big, wet, dirty puppy. To make up for it, hopefully she'll enjoy the "Don't Mess With Texas" shotglass I gave to her upon my arrival.
In any event, the next morning Carolin took me in her small car that was hardly able to fit all my American glory (suitcases) to the Akademisches Auslandsamt (Foreign Student Office)...finally the ball began to roll and I was then able to go to my student appt-Pestheim.
Pestheim isn't considered the nicest of student dorms in Bamberg but it is certainly clean, sufficient, and the shower is really warm and powerful. Seems great to me! I've already tried to make it home by buying some cheap candles, frames, and a soft yellow blanket. Through some direction and advice over coffee from a fellow Gamecock that studied abroad last semester, I've been able to get to know a little bit of the bus system and find my way through the charming Innerstadt of Bamberg. Today I finally filled my room with some food too! Apples, oragnes, tomatoes, lachs, some white cheese, Broetchen, and of course a bottle of red WINE and MILKA (german/austrian chocolate)! Although, oops, I still don't have a wine opener. But for the most part not many people are here because it's a holiday. No worries though, during the next two weeks I'll just be aquainting myself with the city and getting some required stuff out of the way.
As for tonight, Carolin was kind enough to invite me along so we'll see where that goes...
Leb' wohl,
Katherine
Stinky, you're place is so cute! I wish I could be there with you! We would drink wine, play with each other's hair and we could talk about being single and being married. Eat some kuchen for me!
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