See you later, spätergator

26.9.16 Monday

I spent the morning perusing more WGs and answering some e-mails. I was late to class again. I hate to make it a habit, because I know punctuality is valued here, but I need to find a WG fast. I'm going to get kicked out of my dorm in 3 days and I still don't have a place to live. I'm kind of stressed out.

Also, there are more bugs that I didn't notice until now.

They're inside my ceiling light. I'm definitely not cleaning that.

In the front of the school, there is this artistic-looking monument which seems nice to have, but it blocks the view of the roundabout.

I sit through class, but I'm trying to arrange another WG meeting. Dealing with all this stuff leaves me with no time to actually sit down and study German. It's very frustrating, because I want to do well but also want to deal with all this stuff. I knew what I was getting myself into, but it's still a bit overwhelming.

Fried chicken...

...with ham inside! :O

I asked some Germans if fried chicken was popular here, and they said no. Kind of a downer, because I love fried chicken. Koreans in general love fried chicken and beer.

And speaking of Korea, I can't wait to go again! I'll be accompanying Tim while he's there. I'll do some research into what's good and what there is to see. If you know anything good, please let me know. Food, especially. My parents are against me going, because I should be focusing on German, but ayy lmao. I don't think I'm yolo'ing too hard. Maybe I can make new friends in Korea! :^)

18:04 I'm back at my dorm, with anxiety building as I wait for renters to get back to me. Luckily, the last appointment I've been waiting for which was scheduled for tomorrow moved up to today. I met Ulrich at a Chinese soup place.

This is very close to the apartment. It looks a little ghetto, but that makes it more authentic? "Imbiss" means light meal, like a cafe, but with actual food.

Taiha is very friendly. She doesn't speak much English, which is a good, because I need to practice German. I asked her for eine Speisekarte (menu), but there is none. You just go and eat whatever soup she has prepared. Nice. I'm bad with choices, anyway. It's very homely- you just eat what Mom prepared or go hungry.

But going hungry is what you aren't going to do here. I ate a bit of dinner before coming, which was a blessing and a curse. Blessing, because I ordered the small size, but curse, because the small size is still huge! 3,50€ for a large bowl of noodles and an assortment of meats and seafood! There's squid in there, but you can't see it. 4,80€ for the groß (large) size. The price is really great here. The taste is very comforting. The taste is Chinese...not like pho. On a cold day, you have some nice, hot soup, and you can live again.

Unfortunately, there was no garlic Sriracha sauce, but she had one store-bought sauce and this homemade one. It's made with garlic, black beans, oil, green onions, and some other stuff. I prefer chili sauces that aren't oil-based. She implored me to reconsider, however, so I tried it. It was unexpectedly quite spicy. Which is good, because I like a good amount of spice, but wow. I was sniffling after drinking the soup. And I drank all the soup.

My landlord is an incredibly friendly guy. Middle-aged and fluent in German, French, and English. He paid for my dinner here, too. It was small, but I appreciated it. Actually, another guy also came to view the apartment, so he came to the restaurant, too. When I finished, we three left to go take a tour of the WG.

The WG is on the top floor of a building very close to the bus stop, and the location is prime, in between university and downtown. The WG is newly renovated, still ongoing, in fact. It looks nice; the landlord has a lot of experience. It's a bit small; The apartment has 3 bedrooms (-s schalfzimmer), 1 bathroom (bad/badezimmer), 1 kitchen (-e Küche), 1 hall (-r flur). No living room (wohnzimmer) is weird for me. I value a large kitchen, because cooking and eating is a very social thing. The kitchen is small, but very modern. Everything is practically new. After seeing some very old apartments, I appreciate new equipment. Despite its smallness, it has great views! This is the first apartment I've been in that has a double balcony- balconies on both side, so you can catch the sun no matter what time it is. What a cool idea!

The tour finished and he saw us out. One of the rooms the landlord will use, and the other will be occupied by a Bavarian girl.

I sent him a text thanking him for the tour and telling him I would love to live there. Not only because the place is great in many ways, but because Ulrich is also very friendly and interesting. I think we could be great friends. And I think he thought so, too, because he said I can have the room! I was to go tomorrow to sign the contract. What luck!!! I'm truly a lucky guy.

I celebrated out loud to myself and went home.

I sent out e-mails declining all other WG offers and did laundry. Doing laundry here sucks ass. There are 3 washing machines (-e waschmachine), and only 1 dryer (-r Trockner) for 3 buildings worth of people. People forget their clothes and everybody wants to wash their clothes at the same time. I've already had to move another person's clothes.

You have to write in your desired times well in advance. That's me drying my clothes at 2-3 am. -_-;

I'll look forward to not washing my clothes here. Also, it's pretty expensive, at 1€ for the waschmachine and 1€ for der Trockner.

27.9.16 Tuesday

This yogurt had chocolate shavings in it. Interesting, but really not my thing. Fruit is okay in yogurt, but chocolate (-e Schokolade) is not. 

I registered for a move-out time. 12:20.

Ah, it was fun learning German with these guys. Not shown: Sarah, Grette. This is the last full day of class.

I saw the cat on campus again! It just walks around, I think. It must be wild. It's a good looking cat (-e Katze).

I couldn't really concentrate on class, though. I wanted to get this contract signed! I went over and we waited for the waschmachine to be delivered. They had a dolley (hand truck dolley?), so it was easier than just lifting. He bought it used for only 200€, with a delivery charge of 20€. Nice. Hopefully it works well, too. It's actually the same brand and very similar to the ones I was using at the dorm. I learned that to change programs, you have to turn off the machine and then turn it on again. These machines are used to being turned on and off because power is metered quite meticulously here.

After that was done and they tested it once, we went to a nearby bar, Zing, to go over the contract. It's a charming little bar with handwritten menus. I'll take a picture of them next time I go. We ordered beers.

It's not really a place where young people go. There were a lot of older men there. Apparently the number of alcoholics who frequent your establishment is inversely proportional is to the number of young people who also like to come to your establishment.

I drank a little bit already. It's a dunkel (dark) weizen. It was pretty good!

We went over the contract. It was a standard blank template contract, and he explained everything line by line as he filled in the blanks. In total, he asked for 200€ in rent, 50€ in utilities (excluding Internet, since it wasn't there, yet). I signed and received a set of keys. Awesome. Now I'm not homeless! And I can start on the bureaucratic stuff!

I went home and worked on my presentation for class. I was to present my work with a group. There was plenty of work to do, but ayy lmao it got done.

28.9.16 Wednesday

We had our final hour and a half of class and then met up for presentations. Everyone is supposed to do a presentation depending on which project class they chose. I chose Schreibclub (writing club). I really enjoyed it, too. I drew a comic about my first day in Germany. Really, it was my second day, but ayy lmao.

Theater where everyone presented. I kind of wish I had a decent voice recorder. I really enjoyed hearing people's German.

We presented and I think people enjoyed it. Other peoples' presentations were not bad, given the time constraint we had, and the audience was in a good mood. I'll upload the comic in a separate post. I was happy to receive compliments for the presentation. I'm glad I could entertain my fellow students.

I needed to spend money on my card before I returned it, so I splurged a bit. I went to the Mensa a la carte cafe downstairs and ordered food there.

Soja nuggets. The salat was better than usual. I also had grapefruit juice, and I enjoyed it.

They were doing waffles (-e Waffel) today, so I got one for 1,20€.

It's not as good as the Schuberts one. It was okay. I probably won't get it again.

I still had 2,30ish left on my card, but I didn't have time to stand in line again. I needed to go buy ingredients for the international potluck. I don't know all the markets around here, and I haven't been to the one Asia market here.

I needed something that I could make with not very many "Korean" ingredients, so I chose 파전 (pa jeon, green onion pancake). I needed more tools, though, as well as ingredients.

I decided to stick with what I know and go to Rewe. They have a decent selection and better quality than Netto. I know they have some Asian stuff, too. I bought a lot of stuff there, like a large mixing bowl, measuring cup, silicon spatula, bread knife (cutting bread with a non-serrated knife sucks ass), etc. I wanted to buy chives (-r Schnittlauch), but they didn't have any. Green onions works fine, too.

It's a drive-through for people on foot. Walk-through?

I don't I'm going to eat McDonalds here.

I got home and took a short rest. Mistake. I should've done meal prep now instead of later. I knew it was a mistake and I still did it. Long story short, I was half an hour late to the potluck. I missed out on the group picture and taking pictures of everyone's food before they started. Ah, that's the price I pay for being TOO SLOW! I was glad that people enjoyed my food, though. I messed up a lot, but people were nice to me and said it was good.

It meant a lot to me that people complimented my cooking and actually ate it. "Cooking is about the heart!" - Kiriko Gobanchou from Iron Wok Jan. I made a good amount and it was all gone by the end of the night. I wanted to make something that everyone could enjoy, and it was even vegetarian. I need more practice trying to make it very crispy. I don't like eating soggy 부침개. I'll practice more. I'm really sorry I couldn't offer people kimchi. I need to learn how to make it here. I could try pickling other stuff, too. That would be fun.

We got a free drink! I chose this "Mixery". "Beer + Cola + X". I wouldn't get it again.

People's cooking was good! I was impressed that so many people cooked, even though they don't have cookware or their favorite ingredients. I need to learn how to make tabbouleh.

There were only knives left, so we ate with knives. It was easier than I thought, because the knife (-s Messer) had a bit of a corner (-e Ecke) where you could scoop food with.

The party marked the official end of the Deutschkurs. People were tearing up. I was happy that they made strong connections and enjoyed their time here enough to feel sad about leaving. I don't think I was at that point, but I also wasn't going anywhere, either.

I believe the absence of friendship is its true test. I want to provide value to the people who are important to me. Whether they also want to or not is up to them. I see enough people come and go that I know now that your real friends will meet you later in life, no matter what. Sometimes, the best way to respect friendship is to thank them, move on, and make new ones. I know that while this is goodbye, it's not the end. Friendship is something you work on over a lifetime. I want to visit Matteo in Verona, Italy. I would love to see Mie in Shizuoka. If I'm in Kyoto, I'd like to have a meal with Eri. If Miki isn't busy, I want to hang out with her in Jena. I'd enjoy having a drink and talking more about philosophy with David in Ukraine. And you know what? I might do just that.

After the party, however, everyone went into clean mode. I cleaned the hell out of my room. I didn't have household gloves, so I used the all purpose cleaner (-r Allzweckreiniger), Mr. Clean (Miester Proper lel) and paper towels. I slept at 4 AM.

My company for the night was gratuitous trance music and this wasp that flew in. It was very attracted to the lights, and didn't mind me. When I went to sleep, I couldn't reliably kill it, and was too tired to expend any more effort, so I turned off the lights and fully covered myself with my blankets. I don't want to be stung :/

29.9.16 Thursday

I woke up around 7:30. I left for my first trip to drop stuff off at my new place. I left and came back. Mie, Ayuka, Miki, Miyu, Manasu, Sayaka, and Aoi were on their way out.

Hiroko and I saw them off. Some teared up. Ah, it's okay. Another new, exciting life is awaiting them.

I made another trip to my apartment. I came back and checked out. I was done with Waldhaus. I'm thankful to be out, but I'll miss it in a way. Actually, I'll pass by it literally every day on the school, so maybe I won't miss it. I'll have a lot of fun at my new place so I can't miss it.

Someone was selling cheap stuff, so I got a cheap spatula, small trash bin, and power strip.

Also there was this hilarious sign. I'm so glad I was able to see this before I left.

Tengen Toppen KEKken Lagaan

My room is finally clean.

Honestly, I didn't have to clean it well. I could've just screwed the 50€, but that's not very nice. I had to clean it on principle. I can't just accept the hand I'm dealt. At least, not when I have the clear power to change it. I had to clean it on principle. Also, not to make it a race thing, but I also didn't want this to dirty the Korean/American reputation.

I don't intend to talk smack, but I would hate for other peoples' first impressions of Germany to be dirty dorms. I took the hit, in that sense. I hope the next person deserves it! My efforts won't be wasted!

12:36 I'm fully moved out. I got to my new WG (-e wohngemeinschaft) and started cleaning...again.

I went shopping for food. There's a Netto close by!

Blood orange "fruit whey"? It had pulp. Fett = Fat. Rememory that for die milch.

Smarties!

No, they're not candy. It's M&Ms. I bought this just for the picture, because I don't really like M&Ms. I mean, I ate them, but they're not my first, second, or third choice. Peanut m&ms are better. I can't just give them away to kids. Then I'm the bad guy.

KEKS(e)!! If you don't know why this amuses me, don't worry about it.

Yes, I could've looked for "TOP" so I could have some literal top kekse, but I didn't. I just grabbed 4 out of the bag. They're not bad. They taste exactly how they look. A bit chocolatey, with extra chocolate bits for a pretty decent flavor. They are thinner than they look and crispy.

Chocolate chestnut wafer.

Cute packaging!

Pretty decent wafer. At first it's just a chocolate wafer, but the chestnut kicks in as you begin to chew the chopped bits. Like a delayed release chestnut flavor that mixes in with the shockolade und waffel. Yum!

Do kaffee drinkers really want to eat something that's coffee-flavored while they drink coffee? I would just eat these with milch.

All of these go great with milch. And I was really in a milch mood. MOOd. Hahaha. I like milk, okay? I bought 4 different kinds. Milk is cheap (bellig), fresh (frisch), and delicious (lecker)!

This has a bit of body, a real pleasure to drink. I could easily drink this in one sitting.

This one not as good, a bit thinner. I need to start learning brands.

This is my mixing bowl I bought yesterday. It's a fantastic bowl. it is slightly elevated on the bottom, It has a lip that's easy to handle, textured grip, a pouring thingy, and you can even measure with it. Plus, the plastic feels good. Good cookware excites me.

Ulrich came later and found out I didn't have a mattress or sleeping bag to sleep on. He couldn't let that happen, so he took me to go buy one. There's a store called Metro here, which is like a European Costco, except you can only get a membership if you are a business owner. Ulrich owns his own business, so we went in. Metro is great! Amazing! Prices are great and they have soooo many things! The biggest single store I've been in so far. I wanted to look at everything, but we were here on an agenda.

On the way up the escalator, they stuff products in between the railings that you can pick up. It's literally buying on impulse! Wow!

Fur "For her".
I thought it was clever.

This car is ancient. Apparently it was one of those cars that you had to wait 14 years for because Communism. The time where a used car cost as much as a new one, because nobody had one. The gas tank is under the hood, and he mixes something in with it after filling up.

They used to sell mattresses at Metro, but they don't anymore, so we went to Ikea. I was pretty tired, so I took a nap in the car. When we got to Ikea, we went straight to mattresses. The bed frames were okay, but I decided just a mattress was alright for now. I chose a firm one- better for my back.

I don't remember the Ikea in America having these toppings for hot dogs. I didn't get one, but now I want one to try these pickles and fried onions out. Instead, I bought some brot.

"Crispbread". True to its name, it is crispy and the sour cream goes very well with it! I liked it.

Garlic grinder. I wanted to see if it worked. I can use it for ginger, too. Inb4 I should've just gotten a food processor.

Ulrich prepared a nice move-in meal for me while I cleaned my room. Red pesto spaghetti, salat w/ vinaigrette, and wine.

I'm really glad I signed up for the Deutschkurs. I love meeting new people, and it was a great way to get introduced to Germany and Saarbrücken in particular. Now I'm settling in and becoming more comfortable after a month. I can't imagine starting my master's without this time to get used to things. And German, too. I have a good introduction to start self-study. There was so much to cover in the course that there was no time for repetition. I'll study hard and at least get to conversational level by these next 2 years.

Hahaha, I think I came here for computer science...I'll have to start on that. I'm more interested to code something fun for android first.

I can't wait to use these next 2 years learning a whole bunch of different things. It's kind of weird that I have this set amount of time here, because I'll eventually head back, meet people I know, and see how they've grown in that time. I could get used to breaks to learn like this. I'll find some way to generate passive income to make it possible. My dream is to always be learning; my dream occupation would be a permanent student. Free to study whatever I want to and no financial pressure.