Arrival

So I've arrived in Konstanz safe and sound (and very sleepy)! The flight was horrendous due to everything from turbulence to drunk people, but it eventually ended and I arrived in Zurich, where Yasemin from the Welcome Center was waiting with a cab to pick me up.

On the hour long ride from Zurich Airport to Konstanz, I got a glimpse of riverside Konstanz--it's gorgeous. My first thought was that it looks like Epcot. I can't wait to go back and take some pictures! It was also incredibly strange to cross the border of a country and not see any police or even have to stop.

So when Yasemin and I arrived, we found that my building is up a hill and my apartment is a 5th floor walkup. So we lugged my suitcases up 5 flights of stairs and now I am in my adorable teeny tiny yellow apartment, complete with kitchenette, balcony (with an amazing view), and itty bitty bathroom. I'll post pictures soon once I decorate a bit--even after my shopping excursion this afternoon I could not find tape. Is adhesive an American thing or something?

So then I had to head up to the university for some meetings about my residence permit and stuff like that. The staff at the welcome center were SO nice, and showed me all around the student center and cafeteria. One person they introduced me to even told me about a French-German conference that is going on this weekend, partially about issues with Turkey/Muslim immigration--I may go to some of the lectures that are in French. Walking around the university is weird because I literally don't understand anything anyone is saying. I hope that changes, it's a strange feeling. After all these meetings I feel as if I am processing a TON of information on a very jet-lagged brain. I've been awake for 26-27 hours straight by now.

After I left the university I had to go get some basics, so I headed to a shopping mall. Trying to navigate the overwhelmingly large grocery store was difficult. It's hard to find things when you can't read the aisle tags. I need to go back tomorrow when it's not 5:00. My kitchenette has a fridge, stovetop, and sink, but no microwave or oven, so I'll be limited to things I can make on the stove. I survived my shopping trip, managed to find some dinner, and am planning to go to bed soonish even though it's still light out--I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow's challenges include some more extensive food/kitchen supply shopping (my kitchen has no supplies at all so a visit to the euro store for a pot and a pan and a plate will be necessary...) and some homework...can't wait til May 12th when I can finish Rutgers' finals and completely enjoy Germany!

Things I learned today:

-they have cigarette vending machines in Germany

-excuse me: entschuldigung (can't quite wrap my tongue around that one yet)