Nie Zuspaet!

Hello....

So yes it is the beginning of my third week of work... and you have only heard of my first two days.
Well here we go on the catch ups!
Remaining of week 1.  I finally got an assignment.. or you can say an exercise to see my ability in AutoCAD and become familiar with the random DB standards for drawing and railways.  I received this on Friday, so Wednesday and Thursday, I kept filling out work contract forms and foreigner forms.  I got my Tax Card on Thursday = very important because I can't get paid without it!!!!  So I made sure I got that done.  Haha - motivation is good for me.  Friday, I went out to a Biergarten with my German friend that was an exchange student in Greenup.  Small world.  He, his girlfriend and their friends were really nice to me and talked to me slow. 
For the weekend, I explored Durmersheim.  It's not a huge city, more like a village, but by foot it seems big.  Here are some pictures from my adventure:

This is mainly for Nick.  He loves any type of renewable engery. :D

I am on a farm road.  I was trying to go to the forest, but the sign pointed me on a driveway :(

This is the Sun and start of the Planet Journey of Durmersheim.  This is so cool because the Solar System here is proportional to the actual distances.  I didn't find them all, but I will be back.

Here is Jupiter.  Saturn is 650m to the left and Mars is 550m to the right :D

I thought this was a cute little Playground.

A well in the middle of town.  Strange.  (And I didn't notice this until now, but in the left corner is a planet plaque!  I didn't even know.  Need to go back!)

Week 2:
So last week, we had a safety meeting on Tuesday and on Thursday a works council assembly (like a Union meeting).  The safety meeting was alright, although it lasted 3 hours.  I understood much of it, especially when the presenter would use hand motions.  Germans are very expressive!  Love it, makes understanding so much easier!  And they like to make lots of sounds.  Very animated.
On to the works assembly, it was quite boring to be polite.  I didn't understand a dang thing and it was long.  (5 ish hours)  We got free pretzels, but they thought that was enough for lunch!  Not for this girl.  I was disappointed to say the least!  I lived though, so I should stop complaining.

On to more important things, I have eaten and cooked some interesting things...

You can take a guess at what this could be.

I am extracting the specimen!

They were really good!  I had three of them. 

Yes I fixed this!  I was really proud, since I don't cook usually.  I fried potatoes, ham and dethawed veggies... haha.  I am such an expert!

A random tree in Durmersheim that was unique enough to have its picture taken!

Here is the branch of the weird looking tree! 

Spring has sprung in Karlsruhe (This is the city in which I work.  Has about 200,000 residents)

I was a creeper and took a picture of a random couple in the city.  They had no clue, but if you look closely you will see the guy holding her purse.  It doesn't matter where you are in the world.  Love makes you do strange things!

Last weekend (April 16-17), our house had a BBQ, but it was cold.  Not the best idea.  We don't have a grill, but over here there are one time use portable grills!  I didn't know those existed!  It didn't do the best job, but it was cool nonetheless.  I also went on a bike ride of the country side with my housemate Khalil.  Then we went to the grocery store.  That was an adventure carrying our bags with us on the bike and trying to balance.  Have I mentioned I haven't taken a bike ride in I don't know when?  Anyway, long story short, my butt was sore for two days.  It is now just feeling like normal.  I need ease my way back into it next time.

Well, this is all for now.  I hope this satisfied you and I will do my best to keep the posts more regular!
Ciao!

Ich Hatte Eine Total Verängstigt

So here is to recap my first two days of the Work Week.

Day 1: It started out pretty well; I got in the shower on time and to the S-Bahn Stop.  I arrived early and saw many friendly faces.  Everyone was nice and greeted me.  I received candy from my boss, but I read the ingredients… and they had nuts!  Oh well, I’m used to it.  Wouldn’t you like to be my roommates?  :D  I spent the day reading books about bridges… and only bridges!  Oh and I filled out many forms that I had the HR explain to me.  Filling out forms in English is one thing, but doing it in another language is sehr schwer (very hard)!  I also have an officemate (if you can say that).  He was really nice to me and was patient when I talked to him in broken German.  He has a son, so I showed him pictures of my brother.  Hopefully I wasn’t too nosy when I asked him questions, but he still likes me, so I would say no.  All in all, my first day was great.  

Here I am on my first day!

Oh and I forgot to tell you I wore the wrong shoes… I had put on 9 bandaids when I came home… it was a struggle coming back, but I made it and here is the picture of my feet!

My room until April 15th and then I move upstairs to a smaller more affordable room.

Day 2:  It started with going to the Durmersheim city hall to register.  I met this lady that was fierce.  She asked me if I came directly from the States and I wrongly stated no.  (I should have just said yes… but how was I to know.)  I said I lived in Koeln for two weeks in a youth hostel.  She gave me a stern look and asked if I had registered there.  I said no as in why would I.  This was the WRONG answer!  She acted as if I had committed a felony and I had messed up.  I tried to explain to her that I just lived in a youth hostel and I didn’t know where I was going to live until a week ago, but she wouldn’t have it.  In the back of my mind I remembered the GIZ lady, Gaby, saying if you have any problems call me immediately, so I did.  Unfortunately, she was not there, however I talked to a nice man that directed me to another lady and that is when I started to explain what was going on.  The stern lady refusing to register me motioned to give her the phone so she could talk plainly instead of it taking me hours to fix the mess.  Then started the friendly chat between the two women, like they had known each other for years!  (I guess that is how it is when you speak the same language… well I should add.)  So they laughed and were good ole pals and then they hung up.  The woman went to her computer and started filling out my paper work.  Whew!!!!!  Never felt so relieved in my life.  So I have my registration… which was the goal.  Now on to other forms.  At least I’m chopping down the list!

After that, work was good and I read more about bridges and filled out forms… maybe the real work will come this week.  Other than that, nothing too exciting happened.  Until next time.

Ich Muss Alles Probieren!

I am now sitting in my new apartment room in Dumerscheim, a suburb or smaller city close to Karlsruhe Germany.  It is very nice here.  The houses are surrounded by nature and birds chirp and sing always it seems.   

My first room is very nice and big.  I will live here until April 15 and then move to my more permanent residence upstairs.  Upstairs will be smaller, but have a great view.  I’m excited about living in Durmersheim.  It seems to be a nice little town, where one can walk the streets and say hello to your neighbors daily.  

No internet as of yet.  I need to borrow or buy a cable for the landline.  And I tried to start a load of laundry, but the washer is very confusing, so I must wait on my landlords to return so I can ask them how to use it!  Everything is new and foreign to me.  It’s so weird.  I know this is just a regular town and people live like this all the time, but being in a foreign land is interesting and not for the faint at heart or impatient!  :D

I need to wander about the town in which I will be living.  I must know where to get food and where the stores are.  I need to know my way around in this foreign realm.  It should be exciting… here I go.

(As you can see, I finally received internet!  Yay awesome roommates :D )

Fast Kein Frei Internet Macht Schwer Bloggen

Hello Friends and Family,

I am back.  Sorry for the lapse in communication.  I am doing just fine.  Exploiting Starbucks for the free internet, but yet again I buy something everytime, so I think they win on this one. 
I have finished half of my class in Koeln.  Only one more week left.  Yesterday I took a trip to Karlsruhe, where I will be living.  I met my friend Benny and we went apartment viewing.  It was an interesting day.  We got to a rocky start.  So this searching for apartments is a new adventure for me, living in the dorms my college life.  When communicating with the first apartment tenant, I failed to get their phone number and last name... making finding the exact apartment interesting to say the least.  I had the exact address, which is the one thing that helped us significantly.  I finally viewed that apartment thanks to a person leaving it and knowing the tenant.  So that one turned out okay.  That apartment was nice; it's downtown and just a short walk to work.  It would be with two girls.  The girl I met talked really fast, so I had trouble understanding her, but the place was nice and the location is ideal. 
Going to the second apartment was a total disaster.  I got a message back from this place asking if noon worked, so I replied and said was, but got nothing back.  I guess they didn't get it in time, but we went searching for it anyway.  I figured they got it and were going to send more information.  Did I mention I only had the street name and postal code?  Haha!  So Benny and I walked up and down the street, but it was a no success.  By this time I was frustrated with myself for not getting all the info.  Oh well, we headed to the third place.
The third place I had a phone number, exact address and confirmation of the meeting... this was going to be a winner (and it was).  We arrived and met the landlords, which were really nice.  They talked slow for me and showed me the whole place.  The building I viewed had two apartments with three and four roommates.  The location is outside of town and I would need to hop on a train daily, but it's much better than coming from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe and back everyday where DB offered me an apartment.  So, I wouldn't mind living outside of the city.  The room would be furnished!  SCORE :D  It's also cheaper than the downtown apt clearly.  We will see Wednesday where I will live for 6 months.  Exciting stuff. 

Well folks, I will log off here and go and view the city of Koeln while I am here.  I'll upload pictures of it next time.
Tschuess!

Zuviel Kaffee

I am way too excited to do work, so I decided to blog about my day.  I just finished my second cup of coffee and I am feeling a slight headache.  2nd cup - not such a good idea.  I am working on my last lab report and can't stop thinking of my interview on Friday and possibly landing a job!  Who would have thought that I would be getting a job?  I better stop blogging about it, so it's not jinxed.  BUT... I have two companies interested in me as of now.  When I get a job, I will stop putting you in suspense and just tell ya, but in the mean time... 
Let's toast to this quarter finally winding down and the prospect of a job for the spring and summer!

Einer Schönen Anfang

So, here is the start of my blog.  I'm so very excited to begin the spring quarter of my fourth year.  Bring on Deustchland!  I had a bit of trouble naming my blog, but I think "No pain, no gain" fits me and this experience in which I am about to embark.  This is my last week of classes and the beginning of figuring out what to pack and what I can leave behind.  Stay tuned for more exciting posts.  This is to be continued...