So, my neighbor/renter Matthias' friend Niehls has an iBook, and he visited yesterday and made the wireless internet here magically work on my own computer. As far as I can tell, it is stable and relatively high speed, and I should have simple, consistent access to it (although I don't want to revert to the way I was at home and become a junkie again). Things are going pretty well here. I find myself spending the most time taking care of the mundane sort of chores that just, plainly, take more time and effort here (most notable washing things). Speaking of laundry, on day three or so here Aaron had a pen explode in his pocket while sitting on my couch, and so I have labored for a long time trying to get the ink out of the cover - a white blanket. I've tried all sorts of chemicals, talked to all sorts of store staffers and acquaintances, and if I was in America I would just use bleach (I can't find liquid bleach here). Right now I am washing it for the last time in the washing machine: if I can't see significant improvement after this wash, I'll have to figure something else out. Slowly, we are all adjusting to the eating habits of Germans: for example, only one small drink during the meal, effectively. Apparently, it is exceptionally rude here to leave one hand under the table/out of sight while eating, and changing hands with your silverware isn't that acceptable either. My Stammlokal is a place called Cafe Paprica, where the KellnerInnen recognize me and now offer to bring Leitungswasser before anything else. Lots of the food places here are subsidized by the government so they will be affordable to students. Coming to Germany has definitely made me realize the extent to which English is the Langua Franca of the world today. I might end up doing my Ethnographic project on this topic, although I am also interested in smoking (it is an entirely different experience than statesside - even young Middle Schoolers smoke packs a day). My money is holding up pretty well. I started the program with $1000, or about 730 EURO; I get approximately 450 EURO for food from the program every month, and so I am hovering a little above 600 EURO at the end of every week. But of course I'm using money to pay for other things - chocolate, for example, or various cleaners to attack the Ink. Aaron and I hope to go to Scotland, maybe by train, for our free week of travel. We are still planning out when we can go, how long it'll take, and so on. We're actually thinking about taking a train to Wien then flying to Edinburgh then staying in Dundee or Glasgow. Today Matthias is having a birthday party in a few hours, and there is a Scottish folk singer I plan on seeing tonight around 20:00 within a half-hour walk from my place (Er kommt aus Schottland; die Liede kommen aus der Ostküste des Schottland).
9.9.07
Marburg in Autumn
So, my neighbor/renter Matthias' friend Niehls has an iBook, and he visited yesterday and made the wireless internet here magically work on my own computer. As far as I can tell, it is stable and relatively high speed, and I should have simple, consistent access to it (although I don't want to revert to the way I was at home and become a junkie again). Things are going pretty well here. I find myself spending the most time taking care of the mundane sort of chores that just, plainly, take more time and effort here (most notable washing things). Speaking of laundry, on day three or so here Aaron had a pen explode in his pocket while sitting on my couch, and so I have labored for a long time trying to get the ink out of the cover - a white blanket. I've tried all sorts of chemicals, talked to all sorts of store staffers and acquaintances, and if I was in America I would just use bleach (I can't find liquid bleach here). Right now I am washing it for the last time in the washing machine: if I can't see significant improvement after this wash, I'll have to figure something else out. Slowly, we are all adjusting to the eating habits of Germans: for example, only one small drink during the meal, effectively. Apparently, it is exceptionally rude here to leave one hand under the table/out of sight while eating, and changing hands with your silverware isn't that acceptable either. My Stammlokal is a place called Cafe Paprica, where the KellnerInnen recognize me and now offer to bring Leitungswasser before anything else. Lots of the food places here are subsidized by the government so they will be affordable to students. Coming to Germany has definitely made me realize the extent to which English is the Langua Franca of the world today. I might end up doing my Ethnographic project on this topic, although I am also interested in smoking (it is an entirely different experience than statesside - even young Middle Schoolers smoke packs a day). My money is holding up pretty well. I started the program with $1000, or about 730 EURO; I get approximately 450 EURO for food from the program every month, and so I am hovering a little above 600 EURO at the end of every week. But of course I'm using money to pay for other things - chocolate, for example, or various cleaners to attack the Ink. Aaron and I hope to go to Scotland, maybe by train, for our free week of travel. We are still planning out when we can go, how long it'll take, and so on. We're actually thinking about taking a train to Wien then flying to Edinburgh then staying in Dundee or Glasgow. Today Matthias is having a birthday party in a few hours, and there is a Scottish folk singer I plan on seeing tonight around 20:00 within a half-hour walk from my place (Er kommt aus Schottland; die Liede kommen aus der Ostküste des Schottland).
