This has probably been the best and worst week for me since I've been in Germany. Bad news first; I still haven't got paid. Most of the other people I know finally received their stipends on Thursday or Friday, but I'm still waiting with my fingers crossed, hoping that Monday will be my lucky day.
On the positive side, I've met a lot of people. I am lucky to have a super friendly house-mate who goes the the Fachhochschule, and she's introduced me to a few people, who have in turn introduced me to a few more people. Last Saturday I had drinks with my house-mate and some of her schoolmates, and then Thursday I was invited by one of the schoolmates to meet some more people, one of whom has invited me to enjoy a "typisches badisches Mittagsessen" tomorrow. Then last night I was invited to an international party, where I had an eargasm hearing all the Spanish :). I really miss hearing and speaking Spanish, so it's exciting to be around people I can practice with. So, overall, I think if I weigh the good with the bad, the good comes out victorious....but I still want my money!!
Something that I've had to get used to is grocery shopping here. Back home, I used to drive to Wal-mart on a Sunday afternoon, buy everything I needed for 2-4 weeks, and put it all in my trunk. Here, I don't have a car, there is no Wal-mart, everything is closed on Sundays, and I typically can only shop enough for 1-2 weeks. So, I usually ride my bike to the Edeka and buy a bagful of groceries. When I'm checking out, I have to be fast enough to get everything in my bag so the people behind me don't get impatient. When the total comes out to $16.23, I try to get as close to exact change as possible, because if I don't, the cashier will ask, "Don't you have three cents". I always politely smile and say, "Nein", but I would usually prefer saying, "If I had three cents, don't you think I would have given it to you so you don't waste my time and your breath asking for it?". I then have to tuck my bag into the basket on the back of my bike in a way that it will hopefully not fall out. There have been a few times that I've had to stop on the journey home because a loaf of bread fell out the top of my bag, or I have to rearrange because I can't sit properly on my seat.
On the whole, I'm feeling more at home everyday. Especially since I have been meeting more people, and have been able to find things to take up my time. But there are definitely times when I would love to experience some of my normalcy....like going to Wal-mart on a Sunday afternoon.
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