Sunday, August 24, 2008
Roommates and Flat
I was successful in finding a flat before I started work. I moved in yesterday. It is pretty amazing and in a great neighborhood. It really worked out well for me. I live with a women named Amina. She is originally from Liechtenstein and studied in Austria. She is an artist and does her work in a studio in the apartment. She has a gallery in Vienna and that is where her boyfriend lives. So, she is traveling there quite often. She is very friendly and has really tried to make me feel at home. It has only been one day, but so far so good.
Last night we attended a birthday party for an artist friend of hers and that was quite an experience for me. Considering I don't know how to speak German it was hard to start up conversations. People did try and talk to me though and everyone I encountered spoke English. Everyone was extremely friendly too. It helps when you know someone in the group. :)
This morning I was sleeping soundly in my bed until 9:55 when the church bells from across the street went off for 5 minutes. That is the one bad thing about where I live, it has an amazing view but the bells are so loud. I had to put my pillow over my head just to block the sound and it really didn't do that great of a job. Oh well I knew it couldn't be completely perfect.
I start my job tomorrow. We have teacher meetings and trainings all week. We are also given some time to put our rooms together. I am just glad I have an apartment and I don't have to worry about that.
I hope everyone has a great week!!!
PS you probably wonder why I put roommates in the title, its because I live with 2 cats and a dog. They are all my roommates too.
Last night we attended a birthday party for an artist friend of hers and that was quite an experience for me. Considering I don't know how to speak German it was hard to start up conversations. People did try and talk to me though and everyone I encountered spoke English. Everyone was extremely friendly too. It helps when you know someone in the group. :)
This morning I was sleeping soundly in my bed until 9:55 when the church bells from across the street went off for 5 minutes. That is the one bad thing about where I live, it has an amazing view but the bells are so loud. I had to put my pillow over my head just to block the sound and it really didn't do that great of a job. Oh well I knew it couldn't be completely perfect.
I start my job tomorrow. We have teacher meetings and trainings all week. We are also given some time to put our rooms together. I am just glad I have an apartment and I don't have to worry about that.
I hope everyone has a great week!!!
PS you probably wonder why I put roommates in the title, its because I live with 2 cats and a dog. They are all my roommates too.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Germany Week 1
Well I know it has only been 3 days since I arrived in Berlin, but it feels like it was at least a week. I have been so busy trying to get settled. I found an apartment. I get to move in Saturday, so that would be tomorrow. My roommate is a 28 year old artist from Austria. She seems really cool and she has 2 cats. This makes me so happy and it makes me feel more at home. The apartment also has a shower (which is not that common for Europe) and a washing machine with a dryer. There is also a great view. When I move in I will take pictures and post them.
Today was the first day I was able to ride around and really look at some cool things here in Berlin. I didn't go inside anything yet, but I really want to. I did take some cool pictures and posted a slideshow. It wasn't very sunny today so the pictures arn't that great, but I figured you would enjoy them.
So far everything has been really good. The woman I am staying with right now has been super helpful and really great. She took me to a meet up last night for English speaking people that live in the city. It was a lot of fun and I met so many people. Most of the english speaking people here are from the UK. But I love British accents so I'm for it.
I saw my first McDonalds today and yes I stopped and had a Happy Meal. It was quite delicious too. I'm sure I won't eat it a lot, but it was nice to have something familiar.
Well I hope everything is going well in KC. I miss you all.
Today was the first day I was able to ride around and really look at some cool things here in Berlin. I didn't go inside anything yet, but I really want to. I did take some cool pictures and posted a slideshow. It wasn't very sunny today so the pictures arn't that great, but I figured you would enjoy them.
So far everything has been really good. The woman I am staying with right now has been super helpful and really great. She took me to a meet up last night for English speaking people that live in the city. It was a lot of fun and I met so many people. Most of the english speaking people here are from the UK. But I love British accents so I'm for it.
I saw my first McDonalds today and yes I stopped and had a Happy Meal. It was quite delicious too. I'm sure I won't eat it a lot, but it was nice to have something familiar.
Well I hope everything is going well in KC. I miss you all.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Arrival
So I don't want to discourage anyone from coming to visit but the flights were not my favorite part of the day. From the time I got to the airport in KC to the time I landed in Berlin I was traveling for 17 hours. That is a long day of traveling. To make matters worse I was sitting in front of a screaming child on the flight from KC to DC. The child would not keep his seat belt on during the landing and his mom had no control. It was so bad the flight attendent yelled over the intercom at him. I laughed a little. I later heard her tell her co-workers she is not a witch. It was amusing, but the kid was annoying. Luckily this did not happen on my 8 hour flight. :)
The 8hr flight was as good as it could be. I slept for a total of 1 hour and watched a couple of movies. They give you a meal and a snack. It wasn't too bad except I could not get comfortable enough to sleep. The one time I really did fall asleep the captain came over the intercom and announced that we needed to put our seatbelts on because there might be some terbulence. This woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep. Bastard!!
When I arrive at the place I am staying, I realized I would have to lug all my luggage up 3 flights of stairs. Now that may not seem bad but when you have 3 bags that weigh almost 150lbs (all together) that is awful. And there is no airconditioning, with means I was sweating very badly. And this place is just temporary so that means I will have to lug it all back down. Oh well, it builds character.
I was finally about to get another 2 hours of sleep during the afternoon. But it wasn't a whole lot. Hopefully my body will adjust. I also went and looked at an apartment this evening. The people were very friendly and the room was nice. It has a good view too. In some photos I will post you will see a tall tower with round bulb in the middle that is what I would see out of this window. I look at two more places tomorrow, so we will see what happens.
Well it is getting late here and I am exausted. Keep your eyes out for more. I did get to walk around a little today and I will post a few pics of what I saw. It isn't much, but give me time I will be here for a while.
I miss you all and I hope all is well at home.
Note: For some reason spell check isn't working, if I spelled something wrong I am sorry
The 8hr flight was as good as it could be. I slept for a total of 1 hour and watched a couple of movies. They give you a meal and a snack. It wasn't too bad except I could not get comfortable enough to sleep. The one time I really did fall asleep the captain came over the intercom and announced that we needed to put our seatbelts on because there might be some terbulence. This woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep. Bastard!!
When I arrive at the place I am staying, I realized I would have to lug all my luggage up 3 flights of stairs. Now that may not seem bad but when you have 3 bags that weigh almost 150lbs (all together) that is awful. And there is no airconditioning, with means I was sweating very badly. And this place is just temporary so that means I will have to lug it all back down. Oh well, it builds character.
I was finally about to get another 2 hours of sleep during the afternoon. But it wasn't a whole lot. Hopefully my body will adjust. I also went and looked at an apartment this evening. The people were very friendly and the room was nice. It has a good view too. In some photos I will post you will see a tall tower with round bulb in the middle that is what I would see out of this window. I look at two more places tomorrow, so we will see what happens.
Well it is getting late here and I am exausted. Keep your eyes out for more. I did get to walk around a little today and I will post a few pics of what I saw. It isn't much, but give me time I will be here for a while.
I miss you all and I hope all is well at home.
Note: For some reason spell check isn't working, if I spelled something wrong I am sorry
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Good-bye and Thanks
It is now less then 24 hours before I leave for Germany. It has been a busy, stressful and exciting summer. I have been able to spend lots of time with friends and family and I really appreciate it. It has been such a great summer. Thank you to all that were a part of it.
I am very anxious about leaving. I have so many emotions going on right now it is so weird. We cleaned my house out today and it seemed very weird to leave an empty house. It was hard, but it's all about new beginnings at this point.
I really don't know what else to say, except I will miss everyone and I am so thankful for everything that everyone has done for me. I will keep in touch and I will be updating this blog often.
I am very anxious about leaving. I have so many emotions going on right now it is so weird. We cleaned my house out today and it seemed very weird to leave an empty house. It was hard, but it's all about new beginnings at this point.
I really don't know what else to say, except I will miss everyone and I am so thankful for everything that everyone has done for me. I will keep in touch and I will be updating this blog often.
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