Woah, buddy! No more caffeine for Claire!!

I finally just now changed the time settings on this blog. So NOW, it'll show you all at what time I'm really posting my comments. Spaß! :D Oh wait, just checked it out, and it changed the times on ALL my posts. So on the posts I made while still at home need to be reduced by five hours.

Woot.

So, I just finished writing this whole post. I'm sorry in advance, for its long duration and boring content. I can't remember if the stories are in chronological order, but they're probably not. So just read, and enjoy if you can. :D

Man! I SO wish we had internet up in our room in the hostel!! I keep thinking of things to do or places to look up. But noooooo, we have to be on the first floor in order to receive interwebs. I really should get myself out of bed early, as in, when my alarm goes off. That's what happened today! I was actually eating breakfast when my alarm went off! This way, I can get myself over to the CDC where there is free (albeit slow) internet, and surf to my little hearts content. Or until class starts, whichever comes first. It might not help things, but it would put my mind at ease to continue sending emails to potential apartment-mates until I get one. I at least have a place to stay for the whole month of April if I don’t have a permanent place to sleep; Nathan Hershey’s friend Steffi is letting me shack up with her on her couch for an entire month! That is very very generous, methinks. Wonderous ways in which the Lord works, mealsothinks. :D And this is a new development: I have three (count 'em) appointments to tour apartments tomorrow!!!! (hang with me, this is a kinda roundabout story) Bridget and I went to the Hauptbahnhof. First, we made sure I was able to withdraw monies. (thank the Lord that I was. At first, the machine gave me a scare when it wouldn’t let me withdraw 500 euro, but then it let me withdraw 100, and again 200. Phew!) Then I bought a train ticket to Fürth at the counter, and I spoke only German! Win! :D This time I actually greeting the man before asking for a train ticket, so I helped that make it a more smooth and pleasant exchange. While I was waiting for a counter to open up, I got a call from a real live Deutschen!! (earlier in the day, Wukie recommended that I create a personal “seeking a Wohnung” add on wg-gesucht.de and so I did.) It was so intense (the call was) and it snuck up on me! I’m pleased to say that I did well :) Though I kept saying “angenehm,” which turns out to be “pleased to meet you.” ugh. :-\ Though she seemed very friendly. The Wohnung ist unmobliert, aber sie war sehr nett, und die Wohnort ist GANZ ausgezeichnet!! :D I hope she likes me enough to offer it to me. It’s only about two or three blocks away from Siemens. :D :D But anyways, after buying our train tickets (Bridget needs to travel to Karlsrühe on Saturday), we went to Starbucks. At 8:30 PM. Where I proceeded to have two cups of coffee over the next three hours. It kept me up past 2 AM. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

It’s strange being here, living with people other than Mel, Emily, Grace, and Christie. I’ve never gone so long without a hug lol. Or simple contact, for that matter. Besides the handshake I gave the cultural training lady Wednesday after class (it was decent enough to please a German, so I win!!), and the times I’ve pulled people out of the way of bike riders on the sidewalks. (Zeigler and Knapke) Speaking of Zeigler and speaking of bicycles, (I’ll speak of bikes first), bikes have their own special half of the sidewalk!! It’s like the streets are sometimes three times the size of the streets in Cincinnati, since the sidewalks are twice as wide, and the directions of traffic are separated by the U-Bahn tracks and in some spots, add on another 40 feet to account for the actual U-Bahn Haltestelle (stopping place). The Germans are brilliant, I tell ya. I really wish Cincinnati had the same public transportation Köln does. And bringing the convo back to Zeigler, about eight of us were trying to go to Heumarkt for dinner Wed night, and one of us didn’t get the memo, and tried to get off the subway at the mainstation, then got back on cuz we yelled at him. Then he tried to get off at the next stop, and was gone before we could yell at him again, so seven of us were trying to find out where in the world he went, as well as coordinate our travels with yet another buddy. So we were calling (because we now all have our cell phones! gern.) and texting and waiting, so I was distracted, and when we finally heard from our missing compatriate, I was trying to keep tabs on everybody, and I blindly walked forward, shouting “Where’s Zeigler?!” and he, standing IMMEDIATELY to my right, throws up his arms and keeps them widespread as though to say “Whaaat!! Am I not a person, too!?” I can’t believe I didn’t see him. Kinda like looking for your keys when they’re in your hand, or using your own phone to call your phone to try to find it.

The motion sensor light switch in the shower room is very very stupid.

Tuesday night marked the first braid with the new haircut! WIN!

Yesterday for our cultural experience, we took a tour of Köln, and then afterwards we took a short brewery tour. We visited three breweries, and at each we all had one glass of the Kölsch. We went first to Päffgen brewery. All the breweries we went to were also restaurants, and we just went into the restaurant/bar part and drank the Kölsch while we struggled to understand the tour guide. You must understand, we’d been on a regular, cultural and architectural tour for four hours, so even before we had the beer to distract us from the German being spoken, our eyes were already glazing over from slight exhaustion due to walking everywhere and standing everywhere and at the same time try to decipher what the woman was saying (in a foreign language) about the history of Köln. After Päffgen brewery, we went up the street to Pfaffen brewery, which was started by the brother of the guy who started Päffgen. Although, since he started a different brewery and made beer with different ingredients, his beer is not technically a “Kölsch,” since apparently the ingredients he wanted to use were “wrong.” Whatevs. Then we went to Scion brewery. Their glasses were very pretty, and they were also the first Kölsch glasses which had a depiction of the Kölner Dom on it. So of course I bought one for a souvineer. :D The traditional way to have a Kölsch is in a 0.2 liter glass. Very cute. They are this big because they don’t add any carbonation to the beer when serving it. They pour it straight from the barrel into the glass. The slim, straight form of the glass causes a very thick head of foam to form, which serves as an insulation for the fizziness in the beer, and helps keep it somewhat carbonated for a longer time than if the beer were in a regular mug or whatever. Also, our guide said one should finish the beer within 2-4 minutes, for best taste and carbonation.

But now, I'm headed to Nürnberg to find a nice German who will let me live with them. Wish me luck!

Liebe Grüße,

Clur