Die Ersten Vier Tage (The First Four Days)

Alright, so here is the breakdown:  I am studying abroad for a year in Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland.  I am going through Academic Year in Freiburg, a program that takes students from UW-Madison, Michigan State, the University of Iowa, and the University of Michigan...and yes, those were mentioned in order of importance.

Monday August 31st:  I flew from Chicago to Detroit, Detroit to Frankfurt.  Before getting on my flight to Detroit, I ran into my German teacher from this past semester, Charlie (who did the AYF program in 2004).  He is also in Freiburg as part of some research he is doing for his doctorate.  Somewhere during the flight to Frankfurt (during which I got a mere 2 hours of sleep), it became...

Tuesday September 1st:  Once we arrived and got through customs, I met up with Charlie at the baggage claim, and we made our way to the Bahnhof (train station) which is adjacent to the Frankfurt airport and there we purchased train tickets.  Finally we were on our way to Freiburg im Breisgau!  We arrived at the Bahnhof around 11 in the morning and checked in, purchased a cell phone, and then were off to the Studentensiedlung, or Stusie for short. (The "we" is Charlie and me.  I was glad to have someone who had done everything before.)  I got to my dorm-style apartment, had no idea which room was mine because it was not on my keychain, but then ran into a familiar face.  Of the two other Americans living in my building, Jared from my German class is also on my floor, and helped me finally figure out not only which room was mine, but also the German key system.  So I was finally able to drop my 4 bags after hauling them through an airport, two train stations, and one Straßenbahn (street train...tram).  I wanted to take a nap, but realized I needed an alarm clock to wake me up...which I had buried somewhere in one of my four bags.  So I took the last amount of energy I had, made my bed, put all my clothes away...and then slept for four hours.  I set my alarm for A.M. instead of P.M. and almost missed the welcome pizza party...but free pizza...my body knew to wake itself up.  So yes, my first night in Freiburg I had pizza...small, and not as tasty.  But they were free, so I even took a left over one for breakfast on...

Wednesday September 2nd:  Most Academic Year in Freiburg-ers (AYFers) went out Tuesday night...but I was ready to become acquainted with my bed.  After having pizza for my second consecutive meal, Jared and I decided to go take a look at Freiburg before our tour that afternoon.  We took the Straßenbahn into town (I am about two miles outside of it...but about 5-8 minutes on the S-bahn) and began exploring.  We eventually ran into my friend Alex from Madison and went with him to check out the AYF office.  From there, we went back to his place...Hippieville, or more formally, Vauban.  The buildings in this area used to be French barracks following WWII.  Cool, but like the most intense Madisonians...Alex wanted to live there so he could access the Black Forest more easily on his bike.  We got some döner kebabs for lunch (essentially a Turkish gyro), hit up eine Bäckerei for some dessert, and took a tour of the city.  It is surprisingly large, but there are some really pretty and quaint areas within the city.  I didn't take many pictures of the city yet...I bought a new camera and am getting past my fear it will be stolen by some Gypsies on a moped as soon as I pull it out...so I will eventually get some visuals for anyone with enough time to read this.  After activating out cell-phones...on a pay-as-you-go plan...from ALDI!, my small group and I spent the afternoon in a Biergarten, where, yes, I had my first beer.  It wasn't anything special...but then again, I don't know what special beer tastes like.  What was more memorable was my Brezel und Weißwürste.  I like German food.  After our enjoyable afternoon, Joe, Christina (MSU),  Derek, Carl (Michigan), Kristin (UW) and I went and did some shopping... I got some thumbtacks, so I can put things up in my room.  Unfortunately I need a hammer to hit them in because the wall is so thick...so my room is still very white. I also got some Müesli (generic term for German granola cereal...really good) so I would have something for breakfast on...

Thursday August 3rd:  An eventful day.  We went into the city to open bank accounts, had spaghetti for lunch–I have had more Italian food that German so far–and then attended a colloquium held by our program director George Peters, a German teacher from Michigan State.  It was titled "Life in a German Dorm, Culture Shock, Health and Liability Insurance."  It was informative, but also eye-opening.  Umm...they talked on sexual "health," promoting contraceptives and morning-after pills, and very sadly noting that abortion is legal in Germany in a "worst-case scenario."  It was a "Toto...it looks like we're not in Kansas anymore" moment.   This was the day that I first got internet.  We put down deposits for modems, and my friend Carl–who lives right above me– and I split a router so we will pay half the price.  He came over and hooked it up in my room, but we had made plans with others, so we didn't get to spend much time online.  We went to another Stusie house where my friend Paul (who actually went MUHS, but was a year below me) lives.  He and I played Sheepshead and practiced our German with his German roommate, Mischi.  He is one of my favorite Germans so far, namely because he speaks standard German pretty slowly.  Unfortunately I don't have any German roommates yet.  My floor is pretty empty, and will be until the school year starts.  The current breakdown:  10 rooms.  4 (known)occupied.  2 Americans.  1 Armenian sublettor. 1 German who is always with her boyfriend.  When she is not busy making a mess in our kitchen, she is off avoiding cleaning it up.  So I look forward to speaking with some (clean) natives. 

 I am going by Nathan here, to the Germans, because, as I learned on the plane ride when I sat next to a German, "Nate" is not common in German.  One girl asked me if my parents were very religious, because Nathan is only common for very religious families in Germany.  Probably like Ezekial in the U.S..  Speaking and (correctly) hearing German has been much more difficult than I initially anticipated, but it has only been about a week.  We AYFers have varied levels of German–some have studied in Germany before, while others, like me, have taken 4 semesters in college.  But, we start intensive classes soon, which will be very helpful to remember everything that I forgot over the summer.  Those classes begin tomorrow, which means I need some sleep.  I will tell you about the weekend on my next post.

Tschüß!