Monday, June 3, 2013

Clear! (Culture) Shock Training

This morning began the first official day of my program in Stuttgart. However, instead of meeting with my project advisor, I got to meet all the other international students and do important student things. Such as learn names, come up with long lists of stereotypes, find the mensa, and fill out mass amounts of paperwork.

Despite it's initial boring sounding nature, I actually found myself enjoying the morning. It was also really nice to get to know a few people at least. (The dorm remains fairly ghost-townish) Upon the conclusion of our Intercultural Training, we do what any International student would do when first arriving: shopping.

woohoo. (I am not interested in shopping, no matter how necessary. I make small exceptions for things like book stores (especially used books) and eletronics... well I am a EECS major after all).
Luckily, one of the first places we went was a Media Markt in search of internet.

Until I got here I wasn't totally aware of how convenient it was to get internet around MIT. I mean, I knew it was easier than most places, but still, I expected at least something in the dorms. Instead, I found out that because Germans have superstitions about wifi cooking their brain (doesn't apply to phones somehow..) there is no wifi in the dorms. On top of that, to get ethernet connectivity you need to have a rental agreement. To have a rental agreement you need to be a registered student, and to be a registered student, you need to have a german bank account, proof of some large amount of funds and german health care.

Yea... so that wasn't really going to happen. Luckily there are these inventions called (creatively) internet sticks. Which are sticks that give you internet. Supposedly. German is hard. Technical German is technically really hard. Despite this, I have purchased what I believe to be a magic stick that gives me internet (comes free with 7 days, and then I have to buy some monthly cards). If I understand it all, I get up to <insert small GB here> at <insert good data rate here> for <insert price here> and then unlimited at 64KB/s. I'm not entirely sure what you can do at 64KB/s but maybe I'm naive.

Unfortunately something was being wonky in the store and none of the cards (that go in the magic sticks) got activated. So no full internet access yet. (Hopefully by tomorrow. I'll think good thoughts toward it as I sleep)

After the Media Markt, we visit the conveniently next-door grocery store. Which you have to pay to use a cart at. But we're young and students and cheap, so we don't. Which means by the time you figure out that Monday is grocery day, and the checkout line is really, really long, you are praying to every lucky star that you don't drop anything and make a giant mess.

The good thing about the grocery store is that the conveyer belt is fairly long, so you have time before the checker begins to scan everything to get your bags out. This is a necessary step for success, as if you don't, then you will be all confused as to why people are glaring at you for holding up the line, while you try to bag everything after you pay.

Having successfully navigated public transit (unlike one unlucky fellow student, who took the S Bahn the wrong way around and got treated to 45 min of nice German countryside) we arrive back in the dorms in time to decide to go out again, but this time back to downtown to find some dinner. Breaking out our varying levels of German skills (from practically fluent, to no German at all) we conquer finding, ordering and paying for food. (For some of us, this was quite the accomplishment)

Although we ended up choosing to eat pasta instead of a more 'traditonally german' type of meal on our first night out, it was a good introduction to the city's center. It was also probably the last time any of us will have free time. It was good while it lasted, right?

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