Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Before orientation, I’ve had two primary goals: get into “German mode” and explore the main areas of the city. Today, I’ve covered both bases.       

    

Castle (Schloss). Wanna talk about steep? The Hill has nothing on this!

Early in the morning, I left for one of the bookstores in town (there are several), to pick up an English-German dictionary. I have one at home, but it was too thick to fit into my backpack. And after trying out the Internet at the hostel, I decided to invest in a compact one, more so than the one at home, in case of internet failure.

But I was also looking for Scherbenpark by Alina Bronsky, as I couldn’t get the German version on my Nook, and I’ve considered using it for my senior project. Unfortunately they didn’t have it in, and they had to order it in. Although I’ll have to comeback tomorrow, having completed this kind of interaction completely in German was exciting.

People on a city tour.

Since I left my camera USB cable at home, I haven’t been able to upload pictures. So I ventured into the tourist information center and asked for the nearest camera/computer store. Luckily I had already ventured out in that direction, and once I entered the mini-mall on the edge of downtown, I asked for a USB cable (USB-kabel) for my Camera. I needed it to upload (hochladen) photos. He led me to one aisle, with a myriad of USB-cables, and picked one out. Still uncertain if it would work, he took me to a card-reader which was 2€ less. 

And then I resolved a housing problem. I had booked, accidentally, four, instead of five days at the Hostel. The receptionist told me on Friday to check back on Monday. This led to me booking at hotel for my last day, just in case I wasn’t able to get a room in the hostel again.

3 faucets, one room. Back to basics.

However, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't gotten attached to the hostel, so although I had a chance to spend my last night in a hotel, I opted to stay. Instead of paying 106 €, I’m paying 36 € for the same services –a private room and shower. Despite my experience as a model for the art department, a community shower without dividers was something that I never could get used to. The comings and goings of my roommates (all of whom were interesting!) didn’t bother me at all. Of course, I never saw them for too long, as they tended to stay the night and be out in the morning.

Most of my roommates have been older – a Ukrainian-German woman who was accompanying her son in his search for an apartment, a German here for a seminar about alternative medicine, a Russian who had a Fulbright teaching in Louisiana a few years ago, and a young French girl traveling with her American boyfriend.

I’ve gotten used to the lobby where I can buy tee in the evening and read. I’ve gotten used to the morning breakfast, which until I moved rooms, was right down the hall. To be honest, I’ll miss the youth hostel, but I’m excited to move into the dorm tomorrow.