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!