Surviving Week One

Alex and I finally arrived to Germany on September 2, a Sunday, after a long summer of preparation and a quick panic attack the day before departure! Packing was certainly rough, but we were both under weight restrictions at the Newark International Airport. Both of our families met up at Peter Pank’s Diner in Sayerville for a quick breakfast, and then journeyed on to the airport. After hanging out at the cheesy airport shops, we finally had to say our goodbyes to our families. I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible in efforts not to cry. So I hugged and kissed my parents, brother, and Alex’s family, told them I loved them, and fought back some serious tears. As we waited on line to get through security, our families waited and waved until we couldn’t see each other anymore.

I realized that our adventure had just begun… I had also just taken a Xanax, so maybe that had a little something to do with my sudden surge excitement. Of course, this excitement was coupled with fear of the unknown… nothing the Xanax wouldn’t take care of for the time being. Alex and I sat at the appropriate gate and anxiously waited for our 4:30pm departure.

We sat for what seemed like hours when we heard a last call for “Brady” and “Firsichbaum” on the loud speaker. They changed the gate and we had no idea! We hurried over to the right gate and boarded without an issue. Potential crisis number one averted.

The two of us sat on the plane and surprisingly found our eight hour flight to be delightful. We played half a game of scrabble, drank free alcohol, and ate two delicious meals. We were starting the next 10 months off right, I’d say.

We slept for about an hour and a half before we landed in Düsseldorf where we went through customs and collected our baggage. Everything around us was German. The voices, the signs, the food. There were even dogs running around me without a leash. This girl was not in Jersey anymore.

Then, we made our first German investment for the year… we bought Bahn50 cards. These cards would give us 50% off all of our train tickets in Germany. Since this would be our main source of transportation of the year, it seemed like a wise purchase. Goodbye terrible drives and Jersey Shore traffic. Can’t say I’ll miss you. Then, we took a train from the Dusseldorf train station to Osnabrück, and from there to Melle. Even though Deutche Bahn is so much more efficient and cleaner than NJ Transit, the culture shock started to set in. Alex and I had to move from every seat we sat in because they were reserved, so as I sat in between the train cars with my massive suitcase that I accidentally rolled into five victims, I felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t even apologize to these people because all I knew was English. Was this real life?

Silke was supposed to pick us up, but we didn’t have a working cell phone, and we couldn’t figure out the payphones to save our lives. Asking someone was simply out of the question. The only thing left to do was get from A to B the old fashioned way. Walking. It’s a good thing Alex downloaded a map of Germany to the only working part of his phone, because that’s how we found our flat. After ¾ of a mile rolling our luggage on cobblestone road in the heat, we arrived at the Meyers… EXHAUSTED!

Alex introduced us to the Meyers, and they brought us upstairs to our new home. It was the first time I ever heard him speak in German to someone, and it was really impressive. Frau Meyer called Silke, and she and Katja arrived nearly 20 minutes later. We hadn’t had a second alone at this point, so after Silke made me want to rip my own ears off with her ongoing babble, Katja finally suggested we nap and we’d meet up three hours later for dinner.

Three hours went by entirely too fast for people who were jet lagged and had barely slept. Silke, Katja, and Rudolf, another work colleague who had also lived at the Meyer’s, brought us to a fancy pizza place. I ate a vegetarian pizza with a knife and fork. What kind of country allows its people to eat pizza with anything but their hands? That made me uncomfortable. I also had a glass of water, which I learned is actually more expensive to order at a restaurant than a beer, go figure! Our three new German friends then showed us around Melle and treated us for ice cream. I probably seemed like a zombie all night, but first impressions aren’t everything.

Alex and I woke up at 4am, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Jet lag is a mysterious thing, and I’ll never quite understand it because I really could have used this new found energy earlier. In order to burn some fuel, we decided to become more acquainted with the town and walk around. Nobody was outside and it seemed eerie, but it was nice to have a good look at our new stomping grounds. It was a stereotypical German town with triangular-roofed houses and picturesque hills. I was missing home, even though my state is the armpit of America. I will just have to get used to it though.

Monday: We woke up and met Silke at the school at 11:45am. She took us shopping at Edeka, the food store by the school. She is supposed to be our mentor, along with Katja, so we’re trying to take our German social cues from them. Then, we had lunch with our leaders back at the school cafeteria among some of our future students. Nobody talked to us, but I think they knew who we were.

Katja then took us to O2 to get our phone and internet plans situated. That took forever and a day, but Alex and I were able to call our parents and began going online that night. Since the last few days were clearly stressful, we felt justified in drinking our new German beer and exploring the depths of Melle. The two of us quickly grasped how strong German beer is after the first half liter, but that only seemed to encourage a few more rounds. Later, we stumbled to a park nearby our house with our beer because Germany does not have an open container law! Something I can definitely get used to! Maybe it was the liquid courage, but I felt more determined to conquer this school year. I fell in love with our town that night.

On the way back, we snagged a mattress a few houses down from us that somebody left out for the garbage. We figured that our future guests would need a place to sleep when they would all come visit us. Carrying it upstairs to our apartment was a challenge, but we succeeded. How could this year be anything but great?

Tuesday: Well, after the night we had, it’s not too surprising that we overslept our meeting with Silke and the Headmaster, Herr Woll, by hours. Instead of going to the school since we missed our time slot and we weren’t even getting paid at this point, we saw the Meyer’s garden, had a beer, and Herr Meyer drove us around parts of Melle. We even saw the mini golf course right by our school.

Silke was upset, but we arranged to meet her for lunch the next day. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach for not showing up, but we weren’t even required to be at the school. We just arrived to this country two days ago! Regardless, we were determined to make things right the next day.

Wednesday: We met with Silke for lunch and agreed to meet with the headmaster the next day. We went shopping for more food, as usual since our refrigerator would really only suffice in Barbie’s dream house. Another trip to O2 with Katja was also necessary because we were having phone issues. That guy was not happy to see us again… the people of Melle were not used to foreigners, but their small town would have to make room for two Americans.

Thursday: Our meeting with the headmaster went really well. He accepted our apology without thinking twice, seemingly, and he said we’d figure something out for my job. The man doesn’t speak a lick of English, and my German is nonexistent, so Silke and Katja served as translators for the two of us during our entire conversation. Then, Astrid, the head of the English department, took us to sign some papers at Town Hall for proof of residence.

When official business was taken care of, the two of us sat in on different classes at the school. I was with Silke and her 12^th year students. They were really interested in me and I had a nice time watching their lesson. I just introduced myself and mostly observed for the rest of the class, but it was fun to see what my new job was going to be like. It was my first time being on my own though, so this new feeling started to fester in my stomach. It wasn’t exactly excitement or fear… all I knew was that I didn’t know what to expect from this year. I know I’ll make this work for me, though. Even if I have no idea what is going on, I’ll figure it out. This would make me a strong woman. Besides, I have my own personal translator living with me. What more do I need?

After my moment of realization, Alex and I went food shopping, yet again.

Friday: We thought it was going to be a boring day since Silke wouldn’t be breathing down our necks, but the Meyers ended up driving us around and we saw wild boars and my first castle! The baby boars were absolutely adorable, and they walked right up to us. They’re Germany’s equivalent to deer, only they don’t run away at the drop of a stick. I’ve never seen wild boars before, and I thought they were the most adorable creatures… and then Herr Meyer said we’d be eating them at the Christmas Market. Lovely. I made a mental note of that so I wouldn’t be eating the cutest animals in Germany.

Saturday: Alex and I explored Osnabrück today, which is about a 10 minute train ride away and has a younger atmosphere to it in comparison to our family oriented town. It has way more bars, restaurants, and popular stores to shop at. While we were walking around, we found a palace and had lunch in the garden with all of the college kids since it’s now a University. I can’t even imagine what an American student would do to go to school in a palace… We then saw a several cathedrals that were absolutely breathtaking. We even got to experience culture night, which included singing, dancing, and beer, naturally. A woman even performed a song by Adelle! We learned that Germans love songs in English way more than in German. I even heard “Call Me Maybe” in one of the stores today. There are some things from home I guess I can’t escape.

Today has been really relaxing for us. Our head are spinning from this surreal week, so we were in need of an easygoing day. We both bought postcards to send home, so that’s on my to-do list. Nobody in my family or circle of friends has done anything like this, so I feel really courageous and want to touch base with everyone. The next few weeks are going to be busy with our new jobs and going to Alex’s Fulbright conference, so I’m definitely taking advantage of the peace and quiet.