3 weeks!

Hello again,

This week has been very productive. As well as getting a contract, I've also *almost* got a visa (just have to pick it up on Tuesday), and I've *almost* enrolled in university (just need to take my visa to the university on Tuesday), AND! I've found somewhere to live and have moved in!

The flat is a big old house in a really nice part of Potsdam. It's 30 seconds walk from an old palace called Schloss Cecilienhof (the G8 summit was held here last year). It's not the prettiest flat, so it reminds me a bit of my Dunedin days, but the people are really cool. 

I was a little worried that they were all vegetarian yesterday because there was no meat in the fridge and lots of vegetarian cook books around, but it turns out that the girl who's room I've moved into was a vegan, but all the others are completely "normal". They've loaned me furniture and bedding and stuff till I get that all sorted. AND! they all speak really good English, and are keen to help me learn German.

Had some chestnuts roasted on an open fire last night! A friend of one of the flatmates has a yearly chestnut night and it was really nice. I'm so amazed by how friendly all these Germans are! I'm not seeing the stereotype at all. I'm going to the "prettiest climbing wall in Brandenburg" with the friends today, and they even loaned me a bike to get there!

Oh, I almost forgot the most exciting thing! My new flatmates casually mentioned yesterday that they were going tramping next weekend and would I like to come. It later emerged that we were going to the Czech Republic for this! They have a big campervan/bus thing so we're just gunna hop in that and drive to another country! Should be an awesome adventure, I'll make sure I take photos (you have to guess which part of this post these photos correspond to).

Thanks for reading again, tune in next weekend (at the latest) for the next exciting installment.

I have a contract!

Yea, today the powers that be decided I could have a contract that ensures I get paid at some point. Although it was in German, I did get a (n informal) translation which sounded very reasonable. Now getting a visa should be childs play (although the one place in Germany where the employees don't speak English is, you guessed it, the foreigners office...).

The latest observation of how Germany is subtly different to New Zealand: They have an uncany ability to place light switches EXACTLY where you would expect them.

Thanks for reading, I'll do another proper post in the weekend.

Week 2 (good title, yea?)

Well my second week in Germany is nearly over so it's time for another update for both my loyal readers.

The highlight of this week has probably been... beaureacracy! Maybe that should be beaureacrazy (ha!). I don't want to bore you with the details, but let's just say that there are about a dozen different people spread across 3-4 organisations that all want to get the right paperwork in the right order, and then they are meant to pass it on to the next right person in the right order. Not as seemless as I was lead to believe it was meant to be in Germany! They've changed their mind 3 times already about who is going to actually employ me, too. But I'm making progress, I should be able to sort everything out next week. I did manage to open a bank account with very little drama - thank God the banker could speak English!

The search for somewhere to live is going good, I've found one place that would do, but I'm going to keep looking for a bit to see what else there is out there, I've got a few more to have a squiz at this weekend, but I don't think I'll be homeless when I get kicked out of the guesthouse.

In other news, I went for a half-day of "sailing" on the Havel. There was not a huge amount of wind, though. I'm told that the wind in Potsdam starts work at about 10, takes lunch from 11 to 2 and knocks off by 4. I think it may have called in sick this day. The boat was a beautiful 40 year old, mahogony 8m day sailer. The trip was very scenic, and I was amazed how many little castles/ruins/old buildings you could see.

I have managed to get into Potsdam and properly explore the city. It's got a really nice atmosphere, with no cars allowed in the middle of town, so there are heaps of little food stalls and souvenir shops covering the streets. There are also McDonalds (where McChickens come with sweet chilli sauce, not mayonaise) and Subways (where they earnestly recomend the best sauce match to your sandwich) and all those kind of shops. Whereas Berlin is full of foreign tourists, Potsdam is full of German tourists which must mean it's good, eh.

Hope you find this vaguely interesting - let me know what you want to hear about, and let me know what's up back home!!! My cell phone over here is +49 175 4419568 (it'll only cost you 30c if you're on prepay, 20c on a plan).

Almost a week!

So it's almost been a week already. All the shops are shut on Sundays, so I'll take the chance to finally get the ball rolling on this blog.

The flight here was actually quite painless. Going via the States meant that I could take more luggage, but it also meant I had to survive LAX airport. I thought I did, but apparently I forgot to hand in my departure card. This means the CIA/FBI/whoever thinks I'm still in the States! I am a little worried about this, but what's the worst they can do?

I met my Supervisor at the airport in Berlin. He's really nice and has been very helpful. I stayed with his family the first night, and of course they are all really nice too. Now I'm staying in the guesthouse attached to the Max-Planck Institutes in the Golm "Sciencepark". It's nice enough, but it is kind of at the arse end of nowhere - not even a pub within walking distance! They're gunna kick me out in 2 weeks so I have to find somewhere else to live by then. I'm thinking living in Berlin might be a good choice - there are more options in there than in Potsdam, might be a little cheaper too. Watch this space though, I'm going to have a look at a few places next week.

I haven't really seen much of Potsdam itself. I'm kind of worried that if I wander too far from the main train station I'll get hopelessly lost and never find my way home. I went into Berlin yesterday to have look around and meet up with a friend (of a friend) from NZ. It's definitely a very cool city. Everywhere you look there's another museum, another ancient building, and a information board about the world-changing historical event happened there. We had a look at Potsdamer Platz - they were holding the annual firefighter challenge there (!?), the Berliner Dom - very impressive royal cathedral, and the Brandenburg gate. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to google them if you want pictures! Oh and of course tried some authentic German weissbier.

I think I'm settling in OK to this crazy culture. Although it's the big things I noticed first - everyone speaking German, driving on the right, etc - it's the little things that add up to make everything very strange. Pillows are big and square and floppy, windows open in and take up most of the wall, meat comes in wierd plastic pottle things, there are cobbled streets, and there are 5 different bins for recycling.

Anyway, thanks for reading this blog. I intend to get out and explore Potsdam properly, continue the search for a flat, and open a bank account, so tune in next week for these exciting updates! Let me know what's up with you back home!