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.