The name of this city is actually Konstanz, but the accent in southern Germany makes normal s's into sh's and makes extra use of back-of-the-throat noises. Which makes the natives here very difficult to understand. Day by day, I am learning more German. It is impressive how good some of the other international students here are at Deutsch, but I am also grateful to have a leg up on other students who came here not knowing a lick of German. In smaller cities like this one, people are less inclined to speak English to you (as opposed to bigger cities like Berlin or Munich), which is nice for those of us who want to improve our speaking skills. Most people here still do know at least a little bit of English, if not fluent in it. This makes it easier for a person to ask a shopkeeper or other passerby the correct way to say/right German word to use in a sentence/question.
There are ten WPI students here, spread between three or four different living residences, suite style dorms connected to HTWG. In total, however, there are 70ish international students studying here this semester. I didn't anticipate this many other students to meet, but throughout the past few days of orientation and going to meetings, eating out, and taking care of general German living expenses, we have met some pretty cool students from other parts of the world. It is interesting to see life here on the exchange student side of things. For example, moving into an already inhabited flat with a half full refrigerator and kitchen full of supplies, both of which feel awkward to invade, but convenient to not have to start from square one if I want to cook my own meals.
This first week here I have spent acquainting myself to the city and culture as well as setting up general living needs before classes start tomorrow (i.e., grocery shopping, buying a SIM card, activating a Deutsch bank account, figuring out class schedule, buying a bike!).
To keep things interesting, here is a list of some of the most striking differences here, or things I wish I'd known to not look like a complete idiot foreigner:
- at grocery store checkout, don't bag your items until you've paid or else the clerk will give you the German death stare. Checkout goes lightning speed.
- I guess Germans don't like to go to the gym much because there are about two normal looking gyms in this entire city. Sad :'/ Guess I should also never take for granted the extent of access I have to WPI's facilities (#laundry)
- it is illegal to ride your bike under the influence
- it is illegal to ride your bike at night without a light
- most Germans would think it is very weird to say Hello to a passerby on the street, let alone even smile. I've gotten 90% cold looks but I'm not giving up
- you will get ZERO weird looks, however, if you need to buy toilet paper and are carrying it down the street, bagless, by it's built-in handle
- I have nine total hours of class per week, and only six until April 9th. Monday to Wednesday. Let that sink in
- things to play on! everywhere! trampolines, outdoor "gyms" (if you can call it that), ziplines, ping pong tables, BMX bike parks, slides...
Things that are not new: the city is clean, beautiful, and Germans love meat and beer.
p.s. The gallery has lots more photos and also for some reason the Random section is not cooperating but I am working on it.
