Endlich eine WG!

Well I just returned earlier today from Köln, from the Fulbright orientation there. It was a long three days with lots packed in that I will describe in a moment. But first I'd like to celebrate that I finally have an apartment!!!!! I confirmed the place on Monday as I was traveling to the orientation site, and am thrilled to be moving in this coming Saturday. The apartment is about halfway between Darmstadt and Seeheim-Jugenheim, in a town called Eberstadt. I'll be living with a girl my same age or a bit older who studies music part time, plays piano for several theater groups part time, and teaches music lessons part time. Needless to say, she's busy! We clicked immediately and I found her quite easy to understand and to talk with, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. I'll be posting the address as soon as I move in this weekend! Along with pictures, of course.

So, on to the orientation. I left Monday afternoon form Mainz to head to Köln (Cologne auf Englisch). The train ride was nice and quiet until we arrived in Bonn (nostalgia kicked in) and the train conductor announced that due to a serious accident of some kind on the tracks between Bonn and Köln, all trains between the two cities were canceled immediately and were being re-routed to their final destinations. Those of us who still needed to travel on to Köln would have to get off the train in Bonn and travel the rest of the trek on the subway. Fortunately for me, I know Bonn quite well, and I know the connections to Köln quite well. Unfortunately, the subway takes quite long to reach Köln (in comparison to the 30min the train takes), and it was going to put me at the main station after the time at which I was supposed to meet the Fulbright group in order to be bussed over to our lodging. All of the materials I received over the summer from Fulbright warned that we had to be on time to the meeting point in Köln because public transportation does not reach the Haus Altenberg where we were going to be lodged, and a taxi ride there from the city center costs about 50 Euro. Eek!

As I waited in the jam-packed subway station (with all the hundreds of people whose trains were canceled) I had to call Fulbright to let them know I wouldn't make the meeting point. Fortunately the lady who answered gave me alternate directions from the Köln main station with a train that ends quite close to Haus Altenberg, making the taxi ride a much more reasonable 16 Euro. Then, while in one of many jam-packed subway cars between Bonn and Köln, I happened to be standing next to a girl holding the same Fulbright leaflet in her hand, looking up the number to call. Again on the platform in the main station (after the 1:15min long subway ride in the most cramped subway car I've ever experienced) the two of us ran into another girl with Fulbright brochure in hand, looking a bit lost. I'm also quite familiar with Köln man station, so I sheparded both girls to the correct train connection, and we were able to split the taxi and paid only 6 Euro a piece! For an unfortunate afternoon of traveling, it turned out rather well. We arrived only shortly after the bus did from the main train station with all the other Fulbright students, just in time to hear the important parts of the welcome speech.

The place we stayed, Haus Altenberg, is a Catholic organization that caters to young people in conjunction with the huge, old cathedral it was built alongside. It was quite like a youth hostel, although with very sparse furnishings. All our meals were provided - reminiscent of high school cafeteria days - and the rooms we stayed in were doubles - reminiscent of college freshman dorm days. Quite smartly we were roomed with same gender students who had assignments in neighboring cities. My roommate was also named Liz. She's form Chicago, graduated from Colorado College, and will be spending the next year in Frankfurt (am Main), only 30min away from Darmstadt. We were also divided into groups for the various sessions we attended on German school systems and the roles of Fulbright Teaching Assistants. These groups included all the other students in each Bundesland. So my group was everyone assigned to Hessen. There are about 9 of us in total, and we made a plan to meet up once a month or so for dinner in each person's town. It'll give us all a chance to travel a bit and to keep up with each other.

Most of the sessions we attended were...mostly review for me? Is that diplomatic enough? Much of it covered methods of teaching that I've spent the last two years studying in much more depth than can be offered in two days worth of class time. However, I've never taught English as a foreign language, so there were still some helpful tidbits here and there. It was certainly useful to see for the first time what kind of material German high school students actually learn. The instructor assigned to our group is a teacher from Marbug, also in Hessen, who was able to speak at length about the ins and outs of Hessen's school system (since each Bundesland legislates its own education systems).

Overall it was a good few days chock full of Fulbright info. We learned how to get in touch with the network of Fulbright Alumni here in Germany. They had great tips on traveling, and since it's run by young people who have just returned from their various years abroad, it's quite in touch with what those of us currently abroad are in need of. There's even a message board for Fulbrighters who want to travel Germany. We simply email the local chapter and say we're planning on being in such and such a place at such and such a time, and they ask around to see if any local alum are interested in hosting us or touring us around the respective cities. (My response: sweeeeeet!)

Okay, well I should wrap up. I'll be moving in this weekend to my new place, and will be sure to update from there. Love to all!