Was soll man belegen?

Germany, where have you been all my academic life?

A month has already snuck by, but my schedule is only now solidifying. When I was signing up for classes, the advice I normally received was, "just show up and see if you like it". Then decide. So after a week and a half of that, I pretty much have my classes picked out, but even with an additional Russian course at the language center, the schedule looks pretty bare.

But this leaves time for other things - travel, exploration, tandem language partners, food shopping. Be aware, if you do decide to buy perishables, you better use them quickly - things spoil within a few days, and the lukewarm fridges are most likely the culprit. And that travel and exploration - planning takes up half of the time. Is it cheaper if I use this airport? How much does it cost to get to X. etc. Don't forget the bus rides to and from your train station.

Use it before you lose it.

If anything my organizing skills will have a boost by the time I get back to the states. But here's the lowdown on where to shop:

For food:

Aldi if you want the cheapest source. I spent 8 € there for 8-9 packages of vegetables and other non-perishables.

ReWe or Tegut will have whatever Aldi doesn't - but go to Tegut first. Both stores are higher end, but Tegut has more "in-between" options than ReWe. Both of these stores also carry paper goods and personal care items, among kitchen utensils and groceries.

For other things:

Kik or Woolsworth.

Don't buy that 8 € spatula at Tegut when you could buy it for 1€. Especially if you're only here for a short amount of time. They also have clothes, shoes, furnishings, etc. Woolsworth even has some snacks. And I'm pretty sure the cashier is sick of seeing me - I've been there almost everyday as I slowly collect cooking equipment.

Near the Kaufmarkt stop.

Dollar stores are amazing, no matter where you are. And going to these places saves money for more important things - travel. Luckily with the semester ticket, I can get to everywhere in Hessen for free. But that's why there's Flixbus and Ryanair - if it's not free, it can be cheap.

I still have only ideas of where to go next - but with a holiday next Thursday, I'll definitely be going somewhere.

Nach der großen Stadt!

From the top of the 7-8 story mall.

My first venture into Frankfurt may be barely worth noting, except that after wandering for seven hours, I’ve still seen only a fraction of this international super city. 

Frankfurt am Main is the economic district in Germany, although it doesn’t feel too German. Near the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station), there’s a myriad of high rises and glassy new buildings, nearly hiding their historical friends. We took Kaiserstraße as far as we could - from the main shopping street to the river. It is immediately across from the station. To its left there is a winding street bundled with red blinking lights and erotic shops and sex inns. To the right is a long line of halal shops of both Turkish and Arabic descent. 

Museum of Modern Art besides the Cathedral of
St. Bartholomew (14-15 century)

Although I did hear primarily German, there was a swell of languages all along the Zeil shopping district. There were multiple story malls squished together on both sides of the road, a canyon of cobblestone in between, with bald trees, benches and restaurants dotting the middle of the walkway. This includes a Dunkin’ Donuts, where hardcore rap blasted over Easter-themed donuts, and where iced coffee was finally an option. The department store we visited into was seven stories tall, with a premium movie theater and open-air restaurant at the top.

Just walking made it easy to lose seven hours of time - there is so much to explore, even in one small corner of a city subdivided into 14 area districts. And when dinner time rolled around, there wasn’t a shortage of restaurants - although, being in the expensive intercity, the most affordable was preferred. We ended up in a western-reminiscent joint called The Meat Room. As unappetizing as that sounds, the burgers and french fries were amazing. 

Pretty sure this is the old opera house.

It was a breath of fresh air to explore outside the safe haven of Marburg. No matter how much I love the city, there’s still so much to see and do in the neighboring cities. And with the Semesterticket, the only cost for a day trip is food. I hope to go again o Frankfurt soon, maybe to visit the Opera House, but more likely to continue to explore.

“Es ist ein Wurzelkanal…”

The dentist office - clear on the other side of town, but they speak English, too.

So it’s a root canal. Gott sei Dank for German health insurance - which, I got, by the way, the same day as my internet modem. I never really needed to decide which one I wanted first. Although, unfortunately, just because I have a modem, doesn’t mean I have internet.

I have no idea why it doesn’t work. It says ‘connected’ both for WiFi and ethernet. And today I received a letter in the mail, stating that if my internet existed, it would have a limit of 10 MB. So, in the meantime, I’ve kept myself busy with grocery shopping and Arabic homework. 

Which brings me to study part of this exchange: this was my first week of classes. True, my translation class doesn’t begin until next week, but I’m already pretty psyched about the rest of my courses.

The goods.

My Arabic class, luckily is starting where I left off in the States; however, we are only covering three chapters. I need to cover the rest of the book - which as slow as this class is going to be, there shouldn’t be a problem. This also explains why they have an A4 level of Arabic, when the European Framework goes by A1 and A2, and maybe A1.2, etc. This framework, by the way, makes way more sense to me than the American structure of “beginner, intermediate, advanced”. The terms in the European Framework are not as cumbersome and the definition of each division and subdivision are clear to a point. 

This is how it compares, at least based on my experiences at UT:

A1 = beginner, 1^st two semesters at the Uni

A2 = also beginner. Second 2 semesters at the Uni

B1 - advanced classes.

C1/C2 is considered fluency. If you want another idea of how this works, the Russian book for the beginner class here covers both A1 and A2. Мост 1 and its accompanying workbook, are together more compact, less expensive, and  more flexible than the textbooks I’ve looked at in the US.

Lecture hall in the Center for Near Eastern Languages

And for those of you who are already bored, a class taught in English might be of interest. Mondays I’m learning about the Caucasus region in a seminar styled class, meaning I’ll have to give a presentation at some point. It’s a term frequently thrown around on the news, but never explained. For the record, we’re covering areas in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Dagestan, Chechnya: from southern Russia (think Sochi) towards northern Turkey and Iran. Instead of glaring into the political side, it’ll be geared towards looking at the local perspective. 

And if you’re interested in what it’s like to be at a Germany university, it’s completely relaxed. Except for Arabic, I have my other courses once a week. So far I haven’t had to buy books, each class is about 75 minutes long except my German language course, which runs 3 hours. Even in Arabic, we’ll have no exams or quizzes until the final. Homework is a bare minimum. Weekends begin on Thursday after 10 am. 

„Die Nacht wird Hell”

Translation: "The Night will be light (beer)." 

There are only two hopes I have when I wake up: that the health insurance card comes in the mail, and that the internet modem magically appears in the room when I’m out eating at the cafeteria. 

For the past three weeks I’ve had a searing toothache whenever I eat or drink cold or hot foods. A week before I left for Germany, I had a crown put in, and although I followed all the instructions, I have a feeling it fell out. 

The lack of internet I can deal with. I practice my languages, I write, I go out, I play games. I explore. 

And during this time, completely alert without my headphones, I’ve realized the extent of German beer-culture.  You can walk around outside with beer. You can drink it by the river mid day. You can choose your restaurant based on what beer they serve. There’s a Chinese biergarten, a Greek biergarten. Cheesy replicas of ancient statues and all; and I might even visit the Greek biergarten. I’m curious as to how good their 10 € moussaka is. But, obviously, that should be saved for a special occasion. However, it only opens in the evening - a bit spooky, considering it lies besides a graveyard. I guess it’s something for the ghosts to do.

Irodion: The Greek Biergarten. But how Greek is it?

There are other food-related items I’ve noticed, besides the abundance of coffee and bread shops. Surprisingly, the orange juice here is incredibly underrated. I’ve been craving the clean, orange taste it since I left the youth hostel. It’s honestly the best orange juice I’ve had. 

Organic food, too, is sometimes cheaper than the synthetic. It’s true that the organic peanut butter looks a bit like misty facial cream, but on a budget, it’ll work. The meat, however, is incredibly expensive. And I feel like half of the meat is schweinefleisch. 

And of course, even the student cafeteria is much better than at my institution. Sometimes I can get a meal for less than 2 €. Still, the downstairs cafeteria, which is similar to a cafe, is brimming with bread and meat items. So this morning, when I was telling myself to get the pasta salad, I still went for the schnitzel. 

And so it’s lucky for me, that I’m in Germany with a bad tooth. Although I have to reject a lot of hot or spicy foods right now, there’s plenty of bread to fill the void. 

Wenn du keinen Modem hast….

It'd say it's a step up from the community dorm I've been in.

Ever since I moved into the student dorm, I haven’t had internet. Not even through an ethernet cable. This week I might get lucky. As for last weekend, I’m sure many of you know that stores in Germany close on Sunday. What is there to do, without internet?

A lot - for a newcomer, anyway. Although orientation was last week, there are a to of gaps in my knowledge of what’s going on. As I live away from the main city in a suburb, there was no point going into the main city on Sunday. Instead, I went to the Kaufmarkt, where I partnered up with another Austauschstudentin to buy groceries. 

The entire parking lot of the Tegut megastore was packed. A small fair had settled right next to the busy highway, with three rides thematically painted (Australian, Aladdin and pirates?) and a few food booths. 

At least there's beautiful mornings at 7:00am

We skipped the festivities in search for a sit down restaurant after walking down and throughout the store. Like most restaurants here, there wasn’t a German one in sight. There’s a plethora of “ethnic” restaurants, and there was a Chinese buffet right around the corner.  There’s Greek, Indian, Turkish, “African”, Chinese, sushi bars - you name it, it’s probably in the small town of Marburg. 

Productive? More so then when I’m fruitlessly scouring for classes. Several of the classes I had intended to take here in Germany are either full or have been cancelled. Others require prerequisites, books that must be read before the first day of class - which is next Monday. Some classes I can’t even sign up for, and the common adage is to “just show up”. So, I figure I’ll go to six classes or so and decide on the spot.

And if you’re interested in the dorm itself - it’s a step up from the youth hostel. One shower per flower, one bathroom with three toilets, and a kitchen. Rooms, however, are private with a sink and small bed. It’s about 20-40 minutes from town by bus, 5 minutes by car. Voices and footsteps bleed through the walls. But the room itself is spacious, and besides my lack of internet, it’s pleasant enough. The roads of the town roll around and intersect at steep inclines, although the town itself borders the river Lahn as well.

The Mensa and Studentenhaus

This week will not be an empty one. I’ve already learned how to use the scanners in the library, for example. But there’s still a lot to do before the semester starts.

Update: The outlets for chargers and such are in the ceiling of the cafeteria. I should have brought an extension. But it kind of makes sense -there's a lack of clutter.