arrival

After a day of travel with two delayed flights I finally arrived in Stuttgart. From there I hopped on a bus into Tuebingen to check into the youth hostel. On the bus I met another Californian that was doing the same program. Together we found the youth hostel and met some more Californians. That night, as well as the next two nights, we went out around the town to bars and other attractions. I like how one can walk around town with a beer in hand. It appears to be the norm.

Last night in Tuebingen Erik and I branched off from the group and found random Germans to socialize with. Throughout the night we went to three bars and hung out with three separate groups of Germans. We tried to the best of our abilities to only speak German and it seemed to work out. Also, Erik speaks Spanish, so when we didn't want the Germans to know what we were talking about conversed in Spanish. As the night next on we were mixing three languages together all over the place. Finally, after going to the Neckar River, we retired around 4 in the morning.

This morning after a long night out drinking good German beer with my new friend Erik we were awaken by a pounding on our door. In our room there were two bunk beds with Jonny, Ted, Erik, and me. Apparently were were supposed to wake up at 7:30 for breakfast and be out of the hostel by 9:30 to walk to the university to fill out a pile of paperwork. Well, the four of us slept through two alarms and the knocking on the door occurred at 9:30. Oops.

With Olympian speed we packed our bags and headed out for the school, the four of us and a second Eric who has been in Germany for the past year doing the same program as us. He led us to our destination, but of course, we had to hydrate. The cool thing about the hostel is that they sell beer. Beer in hand and stomach, we journeyed to the school and arrived at 10:30. Oh, how we gave worry to many people that morning.

Piles of paperwork and a lost pair of sunglasses later the whole lot of us 67 Californians shuffled onto a bus bound for Horb. Once there, we were herded into a room where all of the host families were waiting to meet us. It was an epic stand off. Germans on one side of the room and us on the other, staring at each other in anticipation. I was one of the last to leave the building with my host parents, Wolfgang and Erika Klumpp. A very nice couple indeed.

Communication is a task that takes a lot of mental energy out here, but my German is improving everyday. I will write again soon.