For the entire month of April I was traveling on weekends. Wow- when I put it like that it sounds almost insane! No regrets though, all the places I saw (Greece, Munich, Prague, and Copenhagen) were worth the exhaustion! Since I have been traveling every weekend, I haven't really had to do a big grocery shopping trip. I have been eating a lot at the mensas (the German version of a dining hall) and have been surviving off of Peanut butter sandwiches with my new volkornbrot (whole wheat corn bread) obsession. This weekend I have chosen to stay in Heidelberg and re-experience the town that I live in. During April I felt like I was mostly rushing between classes (going from the Altstadt to Neuenheim in 30 minutes on public transportation has proven a bit tricky!), doing laundry, homework, and packing.
When I returned home from Copenhagen late Sunday night, I realized that for the first time in a month I would be home for more than a week straight. YAY! I can finally cook my own food and relax :) That also meant that I had to go to the grocery store...
Unfortunately, Mondays are by far my busiest days! I start at 9am in the Altstadt with Americans and War. I really have enjoyed this class so far. The professor is extremely quirky and not afraid to use his students as examples. The class is full, with about 30 students. He asked if anyone in class was American, and I of course was the only one that day. He then spent about five minutes attempting to pronounce and spell my name in front of the entire class (who knew four letters could be so difficult?!). After that, any time a question went unanswered he called on me, citing that since I am American I should know this stuff. Luckily I was able to successfully answer his questions (by some MIRACLE American history has stuck with me) and did not portray the ignorant American stereotype. After this class I MUST catch the 10:53 bus back to Neuenheim, otherwise I am late for Islamic healing. This class is a masters level class, but might so far be the least amount of work! I really enjoy comparing the traditional healing rituals to modern day mental health practices. Surprisingly, my professor (an anthropologist of healing shrines in India) is open to both accept and criticize modern scientific methods- something I have found really fascinating. After a lunch break, I head over to my favorite class of the semester: American Atheism. The professor may be the coolest and greatest professor I have ever had in my undergraduate career. He is engaging, funny, and has an extremely interesting lecture topic. After that class I run to catch the first bus I can to my German language course. My day ends at 8pm- leaving no time for grocery shopping :(
On Tuesdays I spend my day in the lab. So far I have been doing transformations, cloning (both things I have done before), and plasmid shuffling (yay! New science). Every Tuesday the entire lab eats lunch together at the mensa, which has been a really nice way to get to know all the post docs and Ph.D students. I am the only undergraduate in lab and the only native English speaker even though the only language spoken in lab (even in Germany!) is English. Funnily enough- one of the post docs is someone I recognized from UMMS! The world is always smaller than I ever thought I could imagine. I usually get out of lab around 5, making a full work day! Every Tuesday, the girls do a rotating dinner. This week, G got us all Indian food! I have been missing cuisine food SO much since coming here, but unfortunately this Indian food was quite terrible and did not satisfy my craving. Regardless- I was unable AGAIN to go to the grocery store. After Indian food we all cuddled up on her bed and watched Love Actually, and even though it was the 40th time I had seen that movie it was magical.
Wednesday (May 1st) was a holiday! Uh oh. Holidays in Germany mean NOTHING is open. Sigh... another day without groceries. On May day I decided to walk around the Neuenheim area. I found a couple of parks and beautiful houses that I didn't previously know existed! I then made my way into town and found a festival in Marktsquare! The same place that I was previously given free and delicious pretzals- I am beginning to like the square more and more :) The festival has a live band and a lot of tents, but I decided to go sit at a cafe with G and order hot chocolate outside. It was delicious! On this day I rediscovered my love of the town that I call home. Every tree was in bloom, there were colorful flowers everywhere, and the sun was shining. Heidelberg: you are fantastic! Walking along the river, listening to the sounds of birds, kayaks, children playing, and bikers changing gears will always be in my mind as Heidelberg memory triggers. This is a beautiful place- and I still cannot believe I call it home!
Thursdays are repeats of Tuesdays- all day in lab, and no desire to go anywhere but into bed after a full day on your feet!
FRIDAY! I woke up and was ready to face the day! I had ABSOLUTELY nothing to get done today except... GROCERIES! Woohoo! I even had decided to try the German way- to go to a bakery, fruit stand, vegetable stand, and cheese truck instead of my local Rewe. Newsflash: never go grocery shopping when you are in a good mood in Germany. All of my hopes for the wonderful day were shattered by the stressful fast paced environment of the grocery shopping experience. Fast talking cashiers. Not understanding of those who take a long time to make decisions. Having to throw (LITERALLY THROW) everything into your bag as fast as humanly possible. Being given annoyed and strange looks when they realize you are slow to understand their rapid German. And above all- it was more expensive than if I had just done my usual one stop shopping trip. In general, I have found adjusting to life in Heidelberg very easy and pleasant. The only German part of life (OK that is far from true... the only MAJOR German part of life) that I am still struggling with is grocery shopping. Oh well- maybe next time it will work out better!
When I returned home from Copenhagen late Sunday night, I realized that for the first time in a month I would be home for more than a week straight. YAY! I can finally cook my own food and relax :) That also meant that I had to go to the grocery store...
Unfortunately, Mondays are by far my busiest days! I start at 9am in the Altstadt with Americans and War. I really have enjoyed this class so far. The professor is extremely quirky and not afraid to use his students as examples. The class is full, with about 30 students. He asked if anyone in class was American, and I of course was the only one that day. He then spent about five minutes attempting to pronounce and spell my name in front of the entire class (who knew four letters could be so difficult?!). After that, any time a question went unanswered he called on me, citing that since I am American I should know this stuff. Luckily I was able to successfully answer his questions (by some MIRACLE American history has stuck with me) and did not portray the ignorant American stereotype. After this class I MUST catch the 10:53 bus back to Neuenheim, otherwise I am late for Islamic healing. This class is a masters level class, but might so far be the least amount of work! I really enjoy comparing the traditional healing rituals to modern day mental health practices. Surprisingly, my professor (an anthropologist of healing shrines in India) is open to both accept and criticize modern scientific methods- something I have found really fascinating. After a lunch break, I head over to my favorite class of the semester: American Atheism. The professor may be the coolest and greatest professor I have ever had in my undergraduate career. He is engaging, funny, and has an extremely interesting lecture topic. After that class I run to catch the first bus I can to my German language course. My day ends at 8pm- leaving no time for grocery shopping :(
On Tuesdays I spend my day in the lab. So far I have been doing transformations, cloning (both things I have done before), and plasmid shuffling (yay! New science). Every Tuesday the entire lab eats lunch together at the mensa, which has been a really nice way to get to know all the post docs and Ph.D students. I am the only undergraduate in lab and the only native English speaker even though the only language spoken in lab (even in Germany!) is English. Funnily enough- one of the post docs is someone I recognized from UMMS! The world is always smaller than I ever thought I could imagine. I usually get out of lab around 5, making a full work day! Every Tuesday, the girls do a rotating dinner. This week, G got us all Indian food! I have been missing cuisine food SO much since coming here, but unfortunately this Indian food was quite terrible and did not satisfy my craving. Regardless- I was unable AGAIN to go to the grocery store. After Indian food we all cuddled up on her bed and watched Love Actually, and even though it was the 40th time I had seen that movie it was magical.
Wednesday (May 1st) was a holiday! Uh oh. Holidays in Germany mean NOTHING is open. Sigh... another day without groceries. On May day I decided to walk around the Neuenheim area. I found a couple of parks and beautiful houses that I didn't previously know existed! I then made my way into town and found a festival in Marktsquare! The same place that I was previously given free and delicious pretzals- I am beginning to like the square more and more :) The festival has a live band and a lot of tents, but I decided to go sit at a cafe with G and order hot chocolate outside. It was delicious! On this day I rediscovered my love of the town that I call home. Every tree was in bloom, there were colorful flowers everywhere, and the sun was shining. Heidelberg: you are fantastic! Walking along the river, listening to the sounds of birds, kayaks, children playing, and bikers changing gears will always be in my mind as Heidelberg memory triggers. This is a beautiful place- and I still cannot believe I call it home!
Thursdays are repeats of Tuesdays- all day in lab, and no desire to go anywhere but into bed after a full day on your feet!
FRIDAY! I woke up and was ready to face the day! I had ABSOLUTELY nothing to get done today except... GROCERIES! Woohoo! I even had decided to try the German way- to go to a bakery, fruit stand, vegetable stand, and cheese truck instead of my local Rewe. Newsflash: never go grocery shopping when you are in a good mood in Germany. All of my hopes for the wonderful day were shattered by the stressful fast paced environment of the grocery shopping experience. Fast talking cashiers. Not understanding of those who take a long time to make decisions. Having to throw (LITERALLY THROW) everything into your bag as fast as humanly possible. Being given annoyed and strange looks when they realize you are slow to understand their rapid German. And above all- it was more expensive than if I had just done my usual one stop shopping trip. In general, I have found adjusting to life in Heidelberg very easy and pleasant. The only German part of life (OK that is far from true... the only MAJOR German part of life) that I am still struggling with is grocery shopping. Oh well- maybe next time it will work out better!
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