Movin' on and in

30.9.16 Friday 20:04

My mattress is still extremely firm. It limits how many hours I can sleep on it. It's a good thing, because I have a lot of paperwork to do and the offices are not open 8 hours a day- I'm lucky if they're open for 4!

I've been writing this post at the library, since we have no Internet. I ate at Mensa about 6 hours ago, but I don't need dinner, yet. It was a lot of food, and for 2,85€! Granted, I need to opt for the healthier choices from now on; they serve pommes frites too often.

I need to learn how to make my own kimchi.

I need my student ID card, because after this month, I won't be able to ride the bus! That means I need my student enrollment processed a bit more quickly! I had asked the helper at the international office if she could help me rush process it earlier, but it hadn't helped. I had no choice but to go again, so I went over to the studentensekretariat. It hadn't opened, but the line was already hella long. As soon as it opened, the line split up into 3, and I chose the rightmost line. I walked in when my turn came and she had a post-it from the international office lady with my name and account # on it. Serendipity. I ask people if they think they are lucky or unlucky. I think I'm a lucky guy. Too many blessings to count. She helped me process it and I received my matriculation letter. Finally! I got my card and went to go eat.

These meals are getting pretty same-same. I'll definitely explore the other options. Eating vegetarian isn't an issue with me, as long as it's good. And I'm in a non-meat mood.

What a cool moped.

Soft bread. It's actually a bit sweet, which is weird. I guess "wholesome" and "soft" don't really go together.

This is okay, wouldn't get it again.

This is really easy to eat. I'll try something more interesting next time.

This one is aiite. I still like the alpenmilch the most.

Chocolate biscuits and milk.

1.10.16 Saturday

This yogurt was really thick and super flavorful. Definitely worth the little extra I paid for it.

My brother gifted me SPAZ 2. I'll play it when I find some time.

I spent most of the day cleaning the kitchen.

With meals at Mensa so large, I can adjust my eating habits a bit. Breakfast I'll eat fruit (apple, orange, banana), and drink some milk. Mensa is large enough to tide me over enough to snack for dinner. I'll spend more time eating if I plan on cooking or going out.

But speaking of going out, Ulrich and I went to go have some Pho. There is one Vietnamese place here, called Saigon restaurant or something. It's also very close to the WG.

Usually from the class of the restaurant, you can tell how much you're going to pay. Pho is 12€ here.

They had lycheewein on the menu, so I decided to try it. The waitress told me it was sweet, and I said that was okay. It was really, really sweet, though. Definitely interesting, but I would only want maybe 3 sips of it. Do note the generosity!

This is the biggest pile of bean sprouts I've ever been served. I ate it all, natürlich.

Pho bo. I would've preferred dac biet, but it was alright. The broth was flavorful, and it wasn't bad. Is it the best I've had, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I wouldn't say so. It was still nice to have this here.

I put 2 of these into my soup and it made the entire thing a good level of spicy. Crazy. Considering that German cuisine isn't spicy at all, this was a nice shock. These are really, really spicy, though. My mouth is watering just looking at it.

They also sell noodles to go. 

They have this ginger candy you can take at the counter, and it's delicious! Really chewy, a bit sweet, and a whole lotta ginger.

Ulrich took me around Nauwieser Viertel. There was a cafe we stopped by to get an espresso. I opted for a nougat bar instead.

They have a lot of flavors!

3,50€ each. Pretty pricey.

It makes a pretty gift!

It is really, really rich. I am glad I tried it, but, honestly, it is a bit too rich for me. Personally, I would rather just have a big bar of dark chocolate.

It's raining right now, but this place looks like it would be amazing in the summer or spring.

I started using HelloTalk again, and man, some of these posts are super sad. People talkin' bout some real ass shit.

I spent the rest of the day speaking with a language exchange partner. I like talking about peoples' dealbreakers in relationships from different cultures.

2.10.16 Sunday 7:06

I woke up early because my bed is so firm. I just could not sleep anymore even if I wanted to. It's a bit better if I sleep on my side, but my arm will go numb.

I still had some leftover 파전 mix, so I used the rest.

The traditional 부침개 is a round shape, but I want to get as much crispiness as I can. It's better to make smaller ones so you have more edges. Same thing with brownies. I tried really hard to try to find out how to make it crispy. After making a lot of these, I found out the oil has to be hot before it touches the food, and that means the heat needs to be high. Also, having a frying rack to cool it on is apparently important. I really wish I had my cast iron for frying food.

Life is about the small things

Luise gave this to me as a move-in gift. She's really nice. Pomegranate chocolate. I normally don't like fruit in chocolate, but this fruit flavor was not invasive at all! It goes well (das geht sehr gut).

I finished cleaning the kitchen, doing a pretty thorough job. I'm proud of me. Luise brought her entire room with her. I have no furniture save for a couple of metal folding chairs that I was cleaning, so I use those. I need a grip of stuff.

I watched Nekojiru-sou (Cat Soup). It was really weird, even for a Japanese animation. I don't really suggest it. I also watched Tokyo Godfathers. It was okay. A little touching, but there are better movies. Voice acting was pretty good.

I spent more time speaking with a language exchange partner. It's still crazy that you can meet people all over the world from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, I also used most of my data for this month over the past 2 days. Hahaha.

I've started shooting only in RAW. I used to shoot both raw and jpg, but Lightroom makes it so easy to edit pictures that I have no reason not to use it. Thanks again, Henrir.

3.10.16 Monday

Today is a holiday, the German Reunification day. What that means to me is that nothing's open.

My mom worries that I'm not eating well. Kekse aren't good for my health, but the fruit is good!

I decided to head over to school and explore it. Now that I have some more time, I could explore it a bit more leisurely. Unfortunately, my wi-fi password ran out and I didn't know that I didn't need to go to IT services to activate my new one.

8:01. Some person just left an entire pizza box with half a pizza still in it at the bus stop overnight? It's freaking cold outside, so it's probably still good. I didn't eat any.

I walked around campus and got a basic bearing. Most importantly, where the library was. I plan to use their wifi a lot. I don't know when we'll get internet in our apartment.

I was done exploring school, so I headed over to downtown. There had to be some free wifi somewhere. I found it in the city square (thank you, freifunk!). Some cafes were open, but I didn't want to spend any money, so I just sat down on a bench for an hour and had some fun.

This place opened at 12, and I wanted to try it. It's "Die Kartoffel" (The Potato).

The prices are a bit high, but this place is really popular. I decided to try the ofenkartoffel.

If there are vending machines, that means there are customers.

I knew I was paying a premium for this, but it was worth it. The ingredients were good quality, and the pfifferlingen (chanterelle) went well with this. The sauce is a creamy cheese sauce, and there are plenty of herbs. The potato itself was good, too. I'd come back here again to try one of their cast iron dishes.

I decided to splurge a little, so I tried extra dark and banana. The chocolate was indeed pretty dark, which I liked. The banana was whatever. I went to the same place as last time.

We got ads! They have barely any coupons, more of just a newsletter. Fuck this cultural appropriationnnnnnnn!!! Half joking.

Beer costs less than coke and sometimes water at restaurants.

This was pretty easy to drink, but also really boring. I wouldn't get it again.

I had a lot of salad to eat, so I made some. I really need to prepare and eat salad the same day I make it. Maybe it's because I'm buying it from Netto, but it goes bad pretty quickly.

I spent the rest of the night playing SPAZ 2. I stayed up really late. It's much better than I expected, and really humourous.

4.10.16 Tuesday
I can finally register at the Bürgeramt. I went in the morning and registered. No problem! I went to school and IT services told me that I didn't need their help- my login credentials from my matriculation were enough to get me internet. Darn! I changed my password and voila! Sweet, sweet internets. I asked the international office if I could submit student visa information through them, but they said I need to go to that office myself. Argh. I went back to downtown to make an appointment with Deutsche Bank. Ich habe einen Termine am Freitag. I passed by a Chinese buffet place, and the price was decent, so I wanted to try it!

It's on the way to the hbf (hauptbahnhof).

Pretty cheap. It's lunchtime.

They have a little fountain when you walk in.

They have an empty fish tank. You feel similarly empty inside looking at it.

The decor is nice and looks a bit upscale.

No free water here T______T water cost me 2,80€ here. BUT! take a look at that - bamboo schnaps! I'll try that next time. 

They have a lot of katsu stuff, but I was overall impressed. It's above average. They have a wide variety, including duck!

Definitely do not eat sushi here. It was maybe the worst sushi I've ever had in my life. Lol. The hot and sour soup was a bit...different? texture-wise, but the taste was there. Maybe the ingredients were cut too large? I felt like I was eating it rather than drinking it.

They also serve a thai-style curry here. I was surprised how good it was. For a buffet, I mean.

The sesame ball filled with mung bean and the fried dough ball were amazing. They were freshly fried, and that's when they're at their best! The fruit cocktail was nice, too. It's obviously from a can, but I like lychee and papaya.

The meal felt really personal, because there were not that many customers there, yet, and because I thought it was a real mom-and-pop shop. I like going to those.

You can buy earplugs for 1€! What a cool idea!

I bought one later. Maybe I'm not good at putting them in my ears, but they didn't block a lot of sound for me. If you somehow lose the container, you can also put them in a kinder egg.

At the library, I downloaded a grip of stuff to keep me busy offline.

I came home later and made an awful dinner. Sometimes things don't always turn out like I think they will. That's okay. I didn't get sick.

5.10.16 Mittwoch (wtf, how come wednesday doesn't have "tag" in it?)

It's finally sunny enough for me to try to wash some stuff. We don't have a trockner (dryer), so everything needs to be hang dried.

Instead of doing anything productive, I finished SPAZ 2. I didn't expect the humour to be so good in this game. I laughed so many times from the dialogue. There were plenty of ways to play this game, but it was also challenging enough that I died a lot of times from overestimating my ship's abilities. Thanks, Jaime. I enjoyed it.

6.10.16 Donnerstag

In the morning, I went to the Ausländerbehörde to make an appointment for my student visa. I wasn't sure if I was going to have everything ready by the time of my appointment, but I could just make another appointment. I got there at 11:50 and they helped me right away. I was glad, because they close at 12:00! The woman made a copy of my passport, matriculation letter, and bürgeramt registration and told me to wait for a letter in the mail. Okay. I left. Since I was in SJM (Sankt-Johannes-Markt), I decided to finally look around for my new suitcase. I'll need one in December when I visit Korea with Tim.

FYI you don't have to press any buttons for the street crossings. They're for blind people. I was practically fondling these things for a while until someone told me that. I had no idea there weren't any sensors on this thing. They do make a rhythmic beeping? noise if they detect you and vibrate loudly when it's okay to walk.

You only have one chance to get on this bus. Ahahaha.

I got distracted by clothes on my way to Kaufhof. I tried on a lot of winter jackets before I settled on a nice down jacket. I'm learning about how to layer properly, because you get really cold if you don't. I haven't had to layer bottomwear, yet. Jeans are so great.

This is kind of morbid.

M'suitcase *tips luggage*

This looks like a cool display already! Kaufhof is expensive, but really nice!

Cat display :3

I love this pattern, but there were no hand towels in this size. I'm a sucker for the colors I like.

I passed by a bakery whose bread looked so amazing, I couldn't pass by without going in. I knew I would regret it if I didn't buy something or three.

I forgot where exactly this is, was too excited for bread. Definitely worth going into.

Bread

More bread

Pastries :3

More pastries! They had even more behind me, but I wasn't interested in those.

The ladies helping out customers were very nice! I bought some and left. I was feeling a bit peckish and wanted to try the döner place that was recommended to me.

On the way I saw a Tunisian food truck and decided to give him some business.

The most special thing on the menu looked like this Merguez wrap. The ingredients were fresh, the sausage was a bit spicy, and the sauce was good. It seemed a bit steep at 5€, though.

This is right next to Rathaus, and I couldn't wait to try it.

Variety is the spice of life, and I want a spicy life! I ordered the Arian-teller, which is 9€. It's a lot of food. I kind of regretted eating that wrap from earlier. Everything was so good that I finished it all. Not shown is a very good flavored rice under the döner. Falafel, babaganouj (I think), and 3 different sauces - this was great. A lot of people who ate here ordered pasta, which seemed weird to me. Did they do pasta that well? I'll try it later.

This is cute.

Custard danish yummmmmmmmmmmmmm. I love danishes, even the ones from Costco. The filling wasn't too sweet, and the bread was plain enough to complement it. The filling was also thick and generous. I would definitely get this again.

Holy crap more custard breads! :OOOO

LOOK at how much custard there is. They said it's vanilla, but it's a custard. The outside is as crispy as it looks, with cinnamon and sugar. The filling is similar to previous, which is delicious. Look how it holds its shape! It's thick and satisfying. A++++++++

An amazingly large cream puff. This is just too much.

I did not expect maraschino cherries inside! That was a pleasant surprise. You can also get a good idea of exactly how much cream is in this thing. It isn't gross cream either- it's not too strongly flavoured. But it's still a lot of cream.

I'm already really full from eating all this food, but I need to eat this bread while it's fresh. It'll only get worse. I bought half a loaf of sauer brot, but I was disappointed. I've definitely made better sourdough than this.

I bought the biggest suitcase I could find. I was actually looking at a smaller one, but a sales associate helped me find this one. It cost a pretty penny (209€), but the quality is much better than the other ones on sale. I want a hard shell suitcase and good wheels.

Down jacket 129€. It's really nice, has inside pockets on both sides, and it has dual pockets in the front (you can put your hands in on the side, but there's a normal pocket over your hands).

They even had this small thing telling you there were down feathers inside. It really does make a big difference.

I bought some lighter hoodies to layer with. Sweaters are generally better to layer with, since zippers can get in the way, but I prefer the flexibility of zipper hoodies.

When I was in high school, one of my teachers was talking about shoe shopping. She only bought expensive shoes. One of my classmates asked my teacher what I was thinking, "Why?" And she said that if she wears cheap shoes, she feels cheap. After buying some expensive wear, I have to agree with her. When I wear something I look and feel good in, I feel like a million dollars. Paying a fraction of that is worth it.

Luise also made a comment about the weather. "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." I want to like that statement, but when my hands and face are freezing, 却下！I make sure to dress really warmly when I go out. My poor californian body isn't used to this, hahaha.

I went back to the library to enjoy some more internet.

7.10.16 Freitag

My bank appointment was today. I got there slightly late, 5 minutes, but they just opened, so they were getting ready, too. I still felt awful.

I had some water and the nice lady helped me open a student account. Everything went smoothly.

Cleaning

I had plenty of time, so I decided to explore the library. I'd only been to the common area and wanted to see everything.

There's a cafe upstairs before you enter the library.

It's kind of hard to see, but it says "Starbooks". Why not "Saarbucks" or something?

Snack food, not a real meal.

I explored everywhere and found a cool book! I'm really curious to the origins of how certain foods were created. People eschew food history in favor of "bigger" historical events, but food means a lot to me! I asked a librarian to help me check this out, because I had no idea how to check out books. I had to sign up to check out books and was able to check it out.

Here's a sight I don't see too often- empty library shelves. This is underground, and there are plenty of desks down here, too, so you can study where it's super quiet.

Oh man this layout messed me up lol. I'm using alt codes to enter umlauts.

If you are working on a thesis, you can request to reserve one of these special rooms. You need to talk to your adviser if you want one of these. Cool. The conference rooms for group work are different, and normal students can reserve those without authorization.

There are 2 levels to the common area. Plenty of desks to do whatever. 

There are lockers for your bags and jackets, activated by your student ID card. I got yelled at by the librarian for having my backpack with me. She was telling me off in German, but I understood "großen tasche". Even for water, they only want clear containers. Pretty strict.

Potatoes are packed with vitamins, so I'm happy to eat them.

In the evening, I was invited to Elisa's WG for a party.

Leider this wein was pretty bad.

She had prepared a lot of charcuterie! I enjoyed it. Elisa also made pasta.

The party was really fun. I got to meet a lot of new people as well as some sprachkurs ones and enjoy drinking with them. The atmosphere was very relaxed and everyone was in a good mood. They want to meet up again, and I'm looking forward to going!