First post from my apartment!

As always, it has been too long since the previous post. However, I am pleased to announce that I am officially living in my apartment in Halifaxstrasse! Address follows:

Rebecca Ludvigsen

Halifaxstr. 81

Nr. 14-41

52074 Aachen

Deutschland

Rather than do this post in chronological order, I will try to sum up by points of interest:

IKEA-I have been to IKEA twice now, and have spent a good number of Euros there! It was all worth it. That store is just great! You can buy anything for the home, all in one day, and eat there! This simplifies a LOT! This past weekend I went there with Willi, my professor. We had a lot of yummy cakes and coffee, as well as managed to find lots of things for my room, functional or purely for fun. I bought two plants, in an effort to be more German. Every German, every household, office, etc....has plants inside, in a windowsill, and/or has a garden! Even many guys. Well, I am no green thumb, but I bought an orchid and some type of "Himalaya Forest Mix." Whatever that means. The instructions were naturally in dutch, since the IKEA close by is in Holland. So, if anyone would like to give me instructions (Grandma!) about the best care for these lovely room additions, let me know!

I now have storage baskets, boxes, floor lamp, bedding, mattress, lattenrost, pillows, bath rungs, bath rug, the plants, blankets, hangers, candles, well everything you really need I guess. And everything always fits in the car! What a great concept.

Fahrrad! Yep, I bought a bike! I am no biker by any means, but here bikes are about as common as cars. In the city of Münster, about 2 hours from here, but still in NRW, the city literally has more bikes than people. They also have a multi story bike park. I hope to go there this year. However, Willi helped me buy a bike, a lock, a bell, a helmet, a basket. I am all equipped to zip around town. Now if I just learn those European road signs....

Bureaucracy....

Well, this is never ending, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I enrolled with the University (I think), payed a bunch of fees, so on and so forth. Still not sure where I fit in to this University since I am neither Bachelors or Masters student, or ERASMUS student. Most exchange students here are from the EU, the ERASMUS program, where students in the EU can study anywhere in the EU. I also now have a German CV, complete with my picture and everything, thanks to Willi.

My guest family- The Sinkens were just absolutely great to me. Even though Doris brought me and the remainder of my things to my apartment today, we both agreed that we would see each other this year! I look forward to going back. It was so nice to be a part of a family. She picked me up today, brought me back to Würselen, and I ate dinner with them. I want to host an exchange student one day. I think it such a great opportunity for both sides.

Shopping in Holland- I went to an outlet mall in Holland about an hour from here on Friday with Anne and Marietta, two doctoral students from the lab. (As well as their boyfriends). I did not buy anything, but that place is huge! Lots of expensive clothes, shoes and everything really. I have yet to master the European clothing system....That will be my next task, considering that I need winter clothes. I am already wearing my winter clothes and coats. For example, Wednesday morning the low is 30 degrees, high of 46. Yeah, and it is only October.

Food- I ate Muscles for the first time with Marietta, Anne and their boyfriends.. Apparently they are eaten here often in this area. Very good! Plus we had a homemade peach struedel and tomato soup. Germans can cook- students here know what they are doing. Their impression is that Americans cannot cook. Sadly, I think that their impression is mostly true. Not only do they mostly all cook, but they most often do it from scratch.... I also have come to LOVE pumpkin soup. Have you ever heard of such thing? I had not, however, I want to try to make it soon. I ate this, as well as Zwiebelküchen and Federweiße (only available Sep. thru Nov. when the grapes are harvested and begin the fermentation process. So sweet, bubbly and delicious!) at the house of Andre, an Erasmus student tutor who helps organize erasmus events. He can cook well! Guys and students here cook- what a novel idea.

Classes and Research- I currently have no idea what classes I should take. No one here seems to know how to help me or what to recommend. The semester starts this week, so I guess I should figure that out soon! As far as research is concerned, I gave a small talk last week to the lab group. I do not think it went well. I feel very overwhelmed and in over my head with this whole research project. I do not know what is possible to do in 10 months, and what is expected of me. I feel very ill equipped!

I also went to Köln last Sunday for a conference. Did not get to see any of the city, and the conference was really mostly boring. Oh well, I know I will go back soon. There are also plans of my Erasmus group going to Amsterdam. Sign me up!

I am drawing a blank as to what else has happened. Everyday is different for me here. I am looking forward to making some true friends, or just people to spend time with. I know that will come with time, though. Maybe if I learn to drink beer, lots of beer, this will happen :)

I think I will sign off here. I promise, one of these days I will upload pictures. Until then, I will say Tschüss!

Is it really October already?

Hello fellow blog followers,

I really need to get better about updating more than once a week, because usually too much transpires in a week to sum it all up in one post. However, how shall I start to describe my first week in Aachen and Würeselen? With the train ride, of course!

Last Thursday, I checked out of the my room, or shoebox as we liked to call it oh so lovingly. This appointment was at 8am following our farewell evening. Needless to say, I was quite tired! I waited around that morning, because my train came at 11:30. However, I was really anxious due to the LARGE amount of stuff I had to carry. Somehow, everything did not fit back in the suitcase. I accumulated too much stuff over those past 6 weeks, and ended up carrying a HUGE AND HEAVY rolling duffel, a packed bookbag, a laptop bag, my purse, and a daypack. This is NOT an ideal way to travel alone with the train, but what was I to do? It had to get to Aachen with me, and I had to carry it. I had a fellow Fulbrighter help me with my things from the dorm to the taxi and then to the track. After that, it was up to me. I took the first train from Marburg to Gießsen. I had only 20 minutes to get my things off the train, up the stairs, over a bridge, down the stairs, through the train station, down the stairs and up again to track 12. Well, long story short, I did not make it in time. The station is under construction, and they often change the track number where your train will arrive without you knowing or hearing. Well, I guess if you know the language or the station really well, but for me. I was unlucky! So, by the time I had reached the track, I realized something had been changed, and I lugged everything back to the information desk, where they informed me that the track had been changed, and I needed to wait an hour for the next train. Anywho, after two more trains following Gießsen, I arrived in once piece in Aachen at almost 5 pm. That was a very long day, to say the least. I did not really appreciate the comments I got about how much luggage or how heavy my luggage was. A girl who has to live in a foreign country for a year needs a lot of stuff, ok? Anyways, I was at least fortunate enough to have found men to help me carry my baggage on and off the train, and occasionally up and down stairs. I almost missed the last connection in Siegen to Aaachen, bc we had only 7 minutes to find the track, go down and up the stairs and hop on the train! I got on that one just as the train left...

Enough with the travel woes! Doris picked me up with a luggage cart and a car that evening, and brought me back home. I was so tired, and was glad to just be for the evening. On Friday, I was also content to stay at h ome. I spend the entire day doing laundry because I had not done any in Marburg for a few weeks. That evening, I met with Brian (my cousin) and his roommate from ATL. They were taking a vacation in Germany and Austira, and began their trip in Aachen. Brian gave me a shopping bag full of stuff from home. Thanks Shelia, Mom and Dad for all the goodies! We went out to eat, and sat outside on one of many squares in Aachen. There was a band setting up because this past weekend Fri thru Sat they had a band festival all weekend long. Btw, the chairs outside here often have blankets or fur type rug things on them, allowing you to sit outside when it is cold! That evening, we walked around the Katschhof. This is the main event square between the Rathaus (city hall) and the Dom, the church where Charlegmagne's remains are and where more than 30 something kings were crowned. Anywho, there were lots of tents for beer and food, as well as a ferris wheel. We had a few drinks at a few places in the city with Brian, Ted, and Nicole, a friend of Brian's who lives in Germany.

On Saturday evening, I met my professor and two of his doctoral students for the first time. We went back to the same place and actually got on the ferris wheel! Cool! I could see the whole of Aachen. We also went to a Spanish Tapas bar ( I thought about you Brit!). I actually had never been to one, and it was really good! Good tapas, red wine, and some other dish and a cappachino later! We then walked to the marktplatz and sat down for a beer. There was a huge amount of people there listening to whatever band was playing at the moment. I had a lot of fun with them, and they are very friendly and nice!

On Sunday, I met Becky for the first time in the city. She is my international office mentor buddy friend. We walked around the city and had lunch. She is very helpful and friendly!

On Monday, I went to the lab for the first time. This is in the Uni Klinic, where the hospital, medical school, research labs, well, everything is located! It is just about in Holland, west of the Aachen city center. It is by far the most confusing, largest, and ugliest building I have ever been in. For you AU kids, Haley center does not even hold a candle to the massive confusion this building creates. The outside has all these pipes of all different colors. The inside has green metal walls, sometimes yellow, with kelly green carpet. Just plain ugly, confusing and depressing! Oh well. I really like the lab group, though. I went all over with the professor's secretary, Renate, trying to get all this administrative beaucracy that Germany is so well known for taken care of. She was really nice to help take me everywhere. She also lives in Würselen, and gave me a ride to the clinic. I had to go to the doctor to get my blood tested and a phsyical done to make sure I was fit and not carrying any disease! We also had to go to someother office to get my key and card, so that I have access to the lab. Well, this was unsuccessful, but I think I can get everything easier once I have enrolled with the university. I am not even sure where all we went and what was all required. All I know is that we ran around all day trying to navigate the beaucracy of Germany!

On Tuesday, more beaucracy to be tackled! However, I had Becky to help me, thank goodness! We went to Deutsche bank and had my address changed, went to the city office to register my new address, and went to the office of the university where you sign your rent contract. You have to register in Germany with every city you live in! This requires time, patience, a smile, a passport, and a rent contract! I also went to the WG to meet with Arnie, who just moved out of my room. We had to draw up some unoffical contract that we both signed. This contract listed what things that he owned that he was leaving in the room for me. I am now officially responsible next year to get rid of them. Silly, but whatever. I am using a broken but repaired bed frame from Alex, and the shades, curtains, pantry shelf, tv, tv cart, desk chair, and carpet from Arnie. Not bad, I would say. I also went to the Lindt factory with Becky. Lecker! You can find all kinds of Lindt chocolate in this warehouse store for super cheap. Either it is misprinted or a mess up and really cheap, or they have new flavors to test. You would not believe the flavors they mix with chocolate. YUM! Also went across the street to Leibniz, which makes snacks, cookies, etc. They are based in Hannover, but have an outlet store here. Yum, as well! I came back that day with lots of chocolate and cookies.

On Wednesday, I went back to the lab. I tried to collect journal articles concerning the lab's main research interest. I did not really get very far, but at least I started. I also got internet on my computer. SO great! The entire group, aoubt 12 people, all use Apple! This is excellent, and I fit right in. Everything works, and my internet only required me typing in a password to the airport. This was like heaven, compared to my last internet experiences in Marburg and so on. I also saw the room where they keep on the research mice in the Uni Klinic. We had to wear so much protective wear, I looked like I was going in to surgery! Footies over your shoes, hair net, mask, gloves, and a coat that ties around from the back. I think my research will be with mice. Later, I ate in the Mensa with the lab students, and then rode back to Würselen with Renate because I have not gotten my semester bus ticket yet. Without this, traveling with the bus costs a fortune. That afternoon, Doris and I waited in line at the ASEAG office, the Aachen bus transportation office, for a monthly bus ticket for me. Normally this costs 70 Euro, but I had received a coupon for a free ticket from the city office welcoming me as a new resident. I guess the coupon book is one good perk of registering with the city!However, this old, fat man stood behind us the whole time and did not give us any personal breathing space. It was so disgusting, and made us want to scream. My personal space was definitely compromised, and I felt slighly closterphobic from this man. Plus, he kept playing with his dentures and poking them in and out of place. eww!!

Today, I met Becky again and we went to the apt complex to meet with the Hausmeister. I showed him my rent contract and he gave me my keys and explained the WG rules and such. I now have an APT, and address, keys, and my name on my mailbox! yay! Becky and I also went to a store, sort of like a campus book store, where I bought some notebooks and folders to organize my things. A little culture note: Binders here are either 2 or 4 rings, without any pockets. We also went to Deutshe Bank to ask for a folder to keep all my bank statements. In Germany, there is a law (there are lots of laws here) that says the bank must send your account statement. You are supposed to print it at the cash maschines or online every 6 weeks. Otherwise they have to send it to you in the mail, and charge you a fee each time. Therefore, you have to collect these statements and store them away. Komisch.

Well, I also just remembered that on Sunday the national elections happened. Angela Merkl will remain the Kanzlerin. However, CDU and FDP will form the Schwarz-Gelb coalition. This is a big deal, because FDP has never had such presence in the Parliament before. There will probably been a red red green coalition between die Link, Grüne, and SPD. SPD is a really big party here, but did not have good results in this election. Well, I could talk a lot more about the politcal system here, but this post is getting too long and probably too boring for most of you.

Tomorrow I am going to Holland to shop at IKEA! Hopefully I will come back with everything I need. I will write later on how different the beds are here. Honestly, I have decided that Americans always do things different than the Germans and Europeans in general. No matter what subject you can think of, somehow there will be a different way of doing it. Why did everything get to be so different in the US?

I willl upload pictures once I have internet on my computer in my computer. Currently I have to use the family computer. Speaking of my guest family, they are all so helpful and nice! I am really glad I did this homestay program.

Bis später,
RL

PS I can now say I have been in Germany for 8 weeks. CRAZY!

My last week in Marburg

Hello all,

As I write this blog post today, many of you seem to be waterlogged and flooded in Atlanta. This is unreal! I hope you either enjoyed your day at home or were able to work from home. It sounds like one for the history books, though I would rather be here on the huge hill/mountainous terrain in Marburg high and dry. ;)

Since my last post, much has transpired. The main topic of the week/past week: A SUCCESSFUL APARTMENT SEARCH! After deciding that I really did not want to live in a all-in-one single apartment that would cost about 40% of of my stipend (if not more) without contact with others or a basic oven or microwave, I was sought out by a student looking to fill any empty room in his WG. A WG stands for Wohnheimgemeinshaft. It is a very common form of student/young adult living here for the 18 to 30 crowd. Essentially, each person has their own bedroom, but shares a kitchen and bathroom with 1,2,3 or more people. This is a great setup, and often times you end up renting an already furnished room. It really pays to know people here and get connected right off the bat. My host mom had suggested that I call the local representative for Experiment in International Living. This is the organization that is in charge of the host family program. I spoke with him last weekend, and he agreed to see what he could find out from Studentenwerk, which is essentially at every univerisity for the purpose of student housing. I got a call last Wednesday from a guy who had talked to Till (the representaive), and he waslooking to fill a room in his WG. They have 3 guys and 1 girl, but need a new roommate once a guy moves out at the end of the month.

I visited this past weekend. A nice less-than-24 hour-trip to Aachen was very worth it! I met the guys, Alex and Julio, but the girl, Annika, was on vacation in Spain. Julio came from Brazil to Aachen to study econ in 2005, and Alex is from Germany and studies Mechanical Engineering. Annika studies Medicine. And if you are wondering, it is totally normal for apartments to be co-ed here. It is actually more normal than finding an all-female apartment. My room is 15 m2, with a desk, a clothes cabinet, and a bookshelf. I have to buy a bed and matress. The kitchen is fully stocked, and I am free to use all appliances, kitchen utensils, etc. This is great! It has an oven! AND a dishwasher...this is quite the luxury! It also has two bathrooms and two fridges. I also get a pantry/storage closet. The complex is in walking distance from my lab and the science buildings. It is also just a bide ride away from Holland. People go to Holland on Sunday to go shopping when all the stores are closed in Germany. Ikea is also just 20 min by car in Holland, which I hope my guest mom will take me to look for furniture!

I spoke German and English with Julio and Alex, and it was great knowing that I will be able to continue to better my language skills living with students. I can move in Oct. 1, and plan to slowly move in since I will stay with my host family until Oct. 9.

After my short and sweet weekend in Aachen/Würselen (train ride Friday night and Saturday night), I went on the field trip with the Fulright group on Sunday. We took a charter bus about 2.5 hours to one of the old East-West checkpoints. There is a border museum there. They still have some of the original fence and towers set up from the GDR. Our tour guide was excellent. He lived in West Berlin during the separation. It was fascinating and saddening to learn more about the border patrol and all the attempted escapes, as well as what the GDR did to keep its people contained in the GDR. The entire system of that government is entirely impossible to understand and imagine. I actually saw a Trabi car drive by while we were there.

This week, things are coming to an end. We have our farewell dinner Wednesday night, and I leave Marburg for good on Thursday. I cannot believe I have been here for 6 weeks already! (As of today)

Something of interest from last week: We did our radio program live! It was a success, and I talked about Auburn and how important sports, namely football is. Uni Sports are a foreign concept to the Germans. I played "War Eagle" on the radio! Yep, representing the Auburn Family all the way in Germany!

I will update more later.
Bis dann,
Rebecca

My dorm!

These 3 pictures were taken the first afternoon in Marburg.

All of my belongings for the year!

My lovely bed, the first day I arrived.

A view from my "shoebox"

A few pics from the past 5 weeks

A window view from Jan's house

The room I slept in

My first night's sleep in Germany :)

Another window view- The Germans really do their gardens right here, and also have large windows without blinds or panes that allow lots of light in and allow you to feel like you are in the garden!

Recognize this door, Lilburn Ludvigsens?

I wanted to upload several more pictures, but the site wouldn't let me. So, I will post a new post with more pictures.

Oops

So, if any of you tried to mail me anything using the address I posted a while ago....I don't think it will get here! It is too late to receive anything now, as I am leaving next Thursday on Sept 24. In any case, the dorm number AND the street number is 5, and apparently I thought it would be good enough to write 5 just once somewhere...

Here is the correct address:

Geschwister Scholl Strasse 5

Jung Stilling Haus #5

Zimmer-Nr 204

35309 Marburg

Deutschland

Anywho, I am back in Marburg tonight. The trip from Aachen, or really, Würselen seemed to take forever. We left the house at 3. I got back to the dorm at 9...

It takes car, train and bus to get from one place to the other. Oh well, I am here safe! Looking forward to returning next Thursday!

See ya,

RL

Aachen, and a much needed update from the past 2 weeks!

I have not updated in so long, so it is about time! (This post will be in reverse chronological order as I think back to the last few weeks!) I am currently in Aachen. I traveled here this weekend because we had Thursday afternoon and Friday free. I took a taxi with lots of luggage to the train station, took the train to Gießen (the next stop on the way to Frankfurt) and then changed trains in Gießen. This was quite the task with so much luggage and very little time in between. The train going to Aachen was originally suppossed to be at track 1, but it was actually at track 12! I freaked out for a second when I saw that my train was not at track 1, and that I only had 15 mintues to find the new track and lug all my luggage there. However, I found the correct one and took the next train to Aachen. (For a while I was worried if I had gotten on the right train!) This endeavor took about 5 hours, from the time I was picked up by the taxi to the time I arrived at the main train station in Aachen. My guess family picked me up and brought me to their house. We only speak German, but switch to English only sometimes if I do not understand. They have two daughters in high school. I like living here, and they are very helpful and nice.

Today (Friday) my guest family mom (Doris) helped me look for apartments. She also drove me around Aachen and Würselen (where they live, directly outside of Aachen). I like it here! Much more going on than Marburg. I had an appointment to meet with a student who currently lives in the single apartment I have reserved. It is a little expensive because it is in the city center. It has a small kitchenettte on one wall in the same room as the bed! It has no oven, microwave or dishwasher, and a tiny refrigerator. We looked for other apartments with no luck today. Either all apartments have been rented bc the semester is about to begin, or the people I tried to call did not answer the phones because often times businesses close early on Friday. However, I was in Holland today for about 2 minutes! During the drive through the city, Doris took me over the border to Holland, and Belgium was just down the street- literally! I plan on exploring more when I acutally live here.

What else has happened in the past two weeks? Not a whole lot this past week. We worked on our Radio program script in class. I allso went to a SPD rally or speech on Tuesday. The election is at the end of the month, and SPD has a very strong precence in Marburg. It was interesting to experience.

I also went over to Sophia's on Monday. We talked about Nordrhein-Westfalen, because I had to talk about the Bundesland in culture class. Aachen is located in NRW, and everyone has to do a project on their Bundesland. I learned a lot of interesting things, and we drank Chai tea that she had bought at the Middle Ages fair a few weeks ago.

Last Saturday was the first AU football game of the season! We won! I was not personally there, but I wore my AU sweatshirt in support. Yep, it is fall here. I am wearing clothes that I normally wear in November! HAHA. Instead of football, I watched Fussball! The German ntl team vs South Africa game was on, and Germany won. Next year, the world cup is in S. Africa. so all the games leading up to this are very important. I was at Sophia's house, and we made typical German food for a fussball game. We made Frikadellen, Pototoe salad, and some type of appetizer. Frikadellen are similar to hambugers. They have ground pork and beef, with onions, spices, something like bread crumbs to hold it together, and egg. I mixed it all with my hands, and Sophia asked me to taste it to see whether the spices were good! This was raw meat! Apparently it is okay to eat raw pork or beef here. She says it is good on bread. I was really surprised, but I did taste it, and it was good! She also made Potato salad with mayo from scratch! The appetizers we made were grape tomatoes, blackbread, and gouda on a toothpick- the colors of the german flag!

On Sunday, I took part in a german cooking class. There were 9 of us from the group, while the others took a tour of the local castle. This was from 4 to 11, and we made lots of yummy food! I also got a copy of all the recipes. They are old, from the insturctor's grandmother! We made an appetizer, a soup, a main course, and a dessert. With every course we had a different wine. Every wine and dish we made came from Germany. Even all of the ingredients were made or grown in Germany. When I am back at home, I will write more about the dishes when I have the recipe book in front of me. Grandma, maybe we can make some of these when I come back!

I actually cannot remember now what I did the week before! I will have to think on it, as I am getting tired here typing.

Hope all is well in the US. I know today was 911. It is crazy to think that it has been 8 years already. I found CNN in English on the TV today, and they were showing the memorial service. I couldn't watch it very long, and I am not even from NY and do not know anyone that was personally affected by 911. Nevertheless, it still seems to have a big impact on everyone of us.

Got to go eat Abendbrot!

See ya,
RL