Warum isst der Mensch?

I've done an inadequate job of keeping my blog up to date the past week, and I"m really going to have to bite the bullet now and write everything out....my dear readers, I hope you find the patience and the time to read a slightly longer post!  I wouldmuch rather write on a regular basis than a lump sum per week, but I have been pretty occupied by this whole living and studying in Germany thing.  

First and foremost, I have now been in Germany for more than a month, and I'm not really sure where the time went.  As I look back, I can see the progression of my German experience from arriving the first day with no luggage and losing my camera, having no dishes or pots, being overwhelmed by the surrounding presence of German culture, and not having food.  I've slowly added things on to my livelihood here....plates and bowls, silverware,  eating habits, friends, cleaning supplies....and now I'm finally starting to find myself pretty comfortable here.  Each day is kind of a mini adventure, as is each conversation auf Deutsch.  Especially conversations auf Deutsch...man, sometimes it feels like each sentence is trying to push a boulder up a hill.  I have had a few comical run ins where I've butchered a simple phrases.  Zum Beispiel (i.e.), when Bryan was here we sat down at a table in front of a restaurant to figure out his cell phone, and a server came out to see if we wanted anything to eat.  I meant to tell him that we were just sitting there and that we didn't want food.  Instead I told him, "Wir sitzen nicht hier," which is "we're not sitting here." Hmmm....go Jon, use the Force.    At any rate, it's getting much better, but the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!  And it's so easy to get caught up with the other Amis (Americans), who tend to just speak english, or at least are not native German speakers.    

So last week was one of the most significant weeks since I've arrived in the Vaterland...it marked the end of my introductory course (Einfuehrungskurs) and my registration on the university.  I was definitely feeling a bit of stress, and fortunately mums was able to give me a few pearls wisdom to help take things in perspective (who knew that my parents would still know things that I don't know....I tell you, they're full of surprises ; )). Anyways, my mom told me not to worry about it too much and just take simple courses, considering the only thing I'm here to do is acquire German credit.  I'm not used to having so much flexibility to my course selection (I just registered for next semester at Ripon and just went down the list of chemistry classes).    

There's a lot of options available as international students as far as taking courses while we're here....there's courses on the Auslandsamt (international center), and then University Courses, but then there's a scad of types of university classes.  We could sign up online for the Auslandsamt courses, but for anything on the university, we had to write the professor teaches the class and request entrance.  It supposed to be a pretty sealed deal; we have special privileges as international students.  Alas, complications arose early in the registration process, and I thought that I was not going to be able to make it through with my sanity.  My Einfuehrungskurs Professor had recommended that I take these two classes on the auslandsamt, and I was able to register for one, but I was put on the wait list for another...and things came to a screetching halt in my head as I tried to figure out a plan for a semester while being on a wait list....I spent a lot of time turning it over in my head and trying to figure out what kind of courses I wanted to take and arrange them all together.

The big dilemma was that I wanted to get involved with the chemistry department here, and I had emailed a professor regarding working in a lab on monday, and then again on tuesday or wednesday about taking a class of his....and he didn't get back to me at all....it's important stuff!  I needed to work my schedule around working in the lab...so finally on friday, I bit the bullet, and I traveled to the land of chemistry (The Kekule Institute for Organic Chemistry.  BAMF) in order to personally confront the man who held the keys to my destiny.  W

The adventure begins.  I awoke relatively early friday morning, dressed, ate, and embarked out on the bus to find the chem department.  It was a 20 minute bus ride from my dorm complex, and when I finally arrived at my last bus stop, I realized I had made a potentially fatal mistake....I just new what bus stop to go to, not where to go afterwards.  Hmmm.  Well played Jon, well played.  I walked back and forth down the street a couple times, and then finally decided to pick a direction and just walk till I hit another street and see if I recognized it.  And what do you know, it worked.  The whole time I was trying not to talk myself out of backing out and taking the path of least resistance....I was so intimidated about just showing up and trying to communicate to an important person in a language that I'm not entirely comfortable with.  

So I find the building, approach and enter at the main doors and immediately witnessed what appeared to be massive rennovations of the ground floor.  A little voice inside my head said, "See, they're rennovating, no one's here, go home."  But no, I read the wall board indicating where the offices of the professors were,  and headed to the elevator.  The door was closing when I got there, and I did what I would do with any other elevator:  I put my hand on the door to stop it and continued to walk through....which apparently doesn't work with elevators here, because the door kept closing, which resulted in me gracelessly running into the door then the wall, as the door finally closed without granting me entrance.  Fortunately, there was someone inside, and she pressed the "door open" button and let me in.  Even after watching me get totally owned by an elevator door, we rode in the elevator in typical German fashion....no words, not looking at each other, and departing with a polite "Tschuss."

I leave the elevator and enter a very utilitarian looking hallway with white walls and broad blue stripes....and doors.  Lots of doors, with no distinct markings.  Great.  I looked around for a while, and finally ran into someone who was kind enough to take me to the office of Herr Professor Doctor Luetzen....which turned out to be one of the doors I had already passed.  I knocked on the door and was greeted by the Herr Doktor, who I recognized from pictures.  He welcomed me in English, and asked me to sit down in a room adjacent as he finished a meeting.  It turns out that this other room was the office of another professor, who comes, looks at me with a quizzical expression, and asks me if I'm there to see him.  I explained I was waiting for Dr. Luetzen, and he sat down started making phonecalls.  So I'm sitting awkwardly across the desk from this professor, and then someone comes in to have a meeting with him...I look at the professor and ask if I should leave, but he just relocated me to the corner.  Sweet. 

The whole time alarms are going off in my head, and there was the voice continuing to try and convince me to bail out and go home....but finally Prof. Luetzen finished his meeting and brought me back to his office.  And everything went really well....he was really excited to have me there, was more than willing to have me not only take his class but work in his lab as well.   He was very friendly, and I left the Chemistry building feeling pretty good about life in Germany.  I had to meet with the advisor of our program to discuss classes, and she told me that I didn't have to worry about taking classes on the Auslandsamt, which removed my fears about being on the wait list.  So in the end, everything fell into place, and I'm really thankful for it.

I ate lunch on Friday with one of the few German friends that I've made so far.  It was a really good experience for a plethora of reasons.  For one, we had potatoe pancakes at the Mensa (cafeteria), which are no where near as good as what we make at home, but it was a good meal that reminded me of my roots.  Mmm food.  The company was really good though, and it really made me feel a sense of fulfillment about being in Germany....it's kind of hard to explain entirely, but being in a foreign country and trying to speak a foreign language, but only having Amis as friends make the experience seem  kind of unreal.  It was really cool to be able to talk about the differences and similarities about stuff in our respective countries (education was a major topic), and for that matter, it was good to converse in German with a native speaker.  It makes having studied the language for 7 years some worthwhile....

After being kicked out of the mensa because they were closing, we went for a walk to the Botanische Garten (the botanical garden), which I had not yet seen.  Let me tell you, it was amazing.  I wish I had pictures of it, but that will come with time and better weather (it's still constantly rainy here).  It's just this beautiful garden tucked into the city, and it has a fantastic assortment of flora, both outside and then inside the greenhouse.  I'm really excited about being able to go there this summer.  

So thanks for a great afternoon Des, it really made me feel good about being in Bonn!

All right, I'm going to wrap up this puppy up here, and start a new post about my more recent and exciting adventures with Belgium, the Russian Circus, and all you can eat schnitzel...

P.S.:  I want to really thank everyone for all of the comments and emails that I've received.  It's really cool to know that my blog is being read and enjoyed.  It means a lot!  Keep the peace.

A beautiful Bonn sunset as seen from the outside staircase on the 15th floor of my dorm ; )

  Yours truly and some of the crew from the International Club at our final dinner.  Thanks for a great month of orientation!