Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Deutsch Bag Is In.

Here I am, a bumbling American caught red handed in German country.  I'm thrilled to be here.  I'll do my best to recount my experiences as best my keystrokes will allow, please enjoy.

And now. Without further adieu. The traveling accounts of your favorite Deutsch Bag!

Today I flew through Dublin but didn't get to check out the country.  I did get a good peak at the picturesque mountains in the distance with swarms of fog and rolling clouds in-between as I stepped off my Aer Lingus flight.  I'm definitely going back to Ireland to check out the cliffs of mohr (google it).  All I need is a cheap ticket, hopefully I'll have more to follow on this goal. 

The immigration procedures took so long I only had three free hours to get some currency exchanged and hang out around the airport.  I did have a breakfast sandwich unlike anything I've ever had before. Delicious.  It came with a chili dipping sauce with a sweetened kick. So good. I wish I had one now.

Ireland, at least the airport in Ireland, was full of characters with killer accents and pale skin.  The Irish speak english, but when you couple the accent with their own catch phrases, it feels like a foreign language.  Foreign, but nothing like having a one-way conversation in German.

Which leads me to Hamburg.

Hamburg was a shock.  Who would've thought everything would be in German? I now realize I should have grabbed a Hamburg informational book while in the states because they're all in German out here.  Also, the translator books are rooted in German but extend to Russian, Spanish, and Japanese.  I haven't found a decent German to English book. 

I've only been here for fourteen hours so I'm not discouraged in the least.  My contact for the apartment had to run to Berlin for the day so we're meeting up in five hours to lock down the apartment.  

This left me stranded for the day. Since I didn't know where a hostel was, or a decent translation book to figure out what the signs meant, I went with simple english and extravagant hand motions.  I looked like Mussolini in the middle of a rousing speech as I tried to speak with policemen and taxi cab drivers.

"HOTEL. AIRPORT. HOTEL BY AIRPORT. TAKE ME." Was my most popular conversation of the afternoon.  After a few failed attempts and frustrated cab drivers, I finally got a taxi to take me to the Marriot Courtyard.  Then I found out it's 200 Euro for a night. Yes, the jaw hit the floor.  Since I didn't want to pay 300+ dollars for a nights stay, I asked for a better place for students.

"KOCKS house for you sir. Kocks house is exactly what you need." said the beaming concierge.  

Kocks house? Really?  Fine.  So I limped across the parking lot with my oversized hockey bag loaded with everything I own to discover the Kocks house.  

A kind woman with red hair and a cherry face greeted me in-between fanning her face with a make-shift fan made from informational pamphlets on Hamburg.  After 20 minutes of speaking broken bits of German and spurts of English, we negotiated my stay.  I got a double room for 64 Euros, the price you normally get for a single. Since it was basically one-fourth of what the other place cost, I was thrilled. 

My jet lag is putting me in a state of tired restlessness.  It's now 5:21AM. I g-chatted with Paige at 4pm and have been sleeping on and off ever since. I plan to get up and go for a jog in a straight direction for twenty minutes and come back to get my body out of this narcoleptic slump.  

At 5pm, I'm meeting up with Mr Joe Poeschl, my future roomie, and Mr Hans something something, my future landlord.  I'm pumped. I can't wait to see the place and actually have a place to stay and unpack my stuff! 
It's only been 24 hours since I had a full conversation with anyone but I am already longing to speak in full proper English with Joe.  My heart truly goes out to everyone who comes to America and has to learn English.  It would be brutal. 

Time for a cat nap, then a run.   I hope this first blogging wasn't to info-heavy. I'll hit my stride sooner or later. Don't give up.  Plus, the pictures will help my stories out once I find my cable to download them from my camera.

If you're reading this. Thank you.

I love you all. Except you, you know who you are.

-Matt Grim

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I like this blog idea. Keep it coming Adolf.

The Count said...

I'm judging you for using blogger instead of the other obvious choice. Or Wordpress even!

For shame. For shame. It's like I taught you nothing.

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