Finally here

This post will just cover the first couple of days I was in Germany. The group meet-up in Köln and orientation will be covered in the next post because it is just that awesome. :)
So here is the run-down of my trip to Germany:

Depart Buffalo: 12:16pm on 09.03.12
Arrive Newark: 13:40
Depart Newark: 17:35
Arrive München: 7:40am on 09.04.12
Take train from München train station: 1:06
Arrive Nürnberg: 2:30

So after a long trip, I went to the hostel I had booked because I hadn't heard back from the teacher who said she could rent me a room. Fortunately, my wonderful mother had emailed the teacher for me saying where I was staying and the number for the hostel. When I got to the hostel, which was only about a 10 minute walk from the main train station, the man that was checking me in said that someone had left a message for me. Turns out it was the teacher I was able to get the room from. So instead of staying in the hostel that night, I was able to go and get settled in. That night, because I hadn't bought any food yet, the teacher and some of the neighbors bbq'd German style. I was delicious. I had lamb, pork, chicken and beef and of course salad to off-set all of the meat I was consuming.

The neighbors have two adorable kids (kinder) that were outside with us. The one is 2 years old and his name is Finn and then there is a little baby, Ileas (sp?). One of the neighbor kids Marta was playing with Finn. She is 4 years old. I was excited because I could understand what the little kids were saying. So in this state of Bayern (Bavaria) they speak Bavarian which is German, but a different dialect. When I was in Berlin, they spoke mostly Hoch-Deutsch (High German) which is the common form. Different areas have different dialects and they will use words differently or in different context, almost like a whole language based on slang. That's not what it is, but it's the only way I can describe it. Anyways, after watching the children play and attempting conversation with the adults, I fell asleep at 9.

Here are the pictures of my room. It's a one room includes all type deal but it's big enough for me and room enough for people to visit.

The next day (Wednesday), it was time to trek back into the city center to find a cell phone and internet. But first, the most important thing of all, food. I walked the 5 mins to the grocery store and filled my bag with the stuff I'd need for the next few days.  After about an hour or so, I was hooked up with a brand new phone and internet surf stick. So i go home to try it out and the phone is a go and the internet worked for about an hour and then went off. I eventually gave up on making it work and went to bed.

The next day back to the Vodafone store to make them fix the internet surf stick. They were able to fix it and then I went to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to buy my ticket to go to Köln. I also picked up an application to get a monthly Bahn card, but a bank card/account was needed to apply. Added to the to-do list for the next day.

So the day before the trip to Köln for the meet-up and orientation, I was able to open the bank account without any problems and then go home and bbq German style with the teacher I'm getting the room from. I couldn't wait to meet a group of people that were going to the meet-up and then everyone else at orientation. So far, so good....

Bis bald und vielen Dank!