My travel was long, but otherwise uneventful. I actually had about sixteen hours of travel time if you include the driving to DC and the waiting in airports. Phil and I went to the Harrisonburg farmer's market on Saturday for breakfast and coffee (and to say goodbye to all my friends) and left around noon, then drove to Reagan National in DC. That drive was easy and there wasn't much traffic, so I got there early and had to wait for my 3:15 flight. I and several others from the group were on the same flight to Philly, where we then waited some more and met up with one more girl from our program. From Philly we flew to Munich, and that flight left at 6:30 pm. I hoped to sleep on the plane, but I couldn't. I think I might have slept in a window seat (and it was an airbus where only a quarter of the seats are on a window!). With nothing to lean my head against, I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. But my neighbors on the plane (although not my colleagues from the program) were extremely nice. I had a couple of good midnight conversations with some other insomniacs who were tired of watching movies and got some good advice about traveling within Germany. And I watched The King's Speech and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, both of which I've been wanting to see. Once I got here, though, all I could think about was food, a shower, and sleep. I also couldn't eat much on the planes, and what I did eat didn't agree with me very well.
However, when I got here I discovered that I will actually have a job at the program this summer (besides singing): I am the costume mistress for our program! And for this service, I will be receiving a small (but much needed!) financial honorarium. Furthermore, because I will be keeping most of the costumes in my hotel room, I was assigned the largest single room in the hotel. It's probably about 10x10 (feet)--about the same size as my bedroom growing up. I have my own little bathroom, a large (for here--and frankly, for me too) closet, and my own little kitchenette in my room with two burners, a hotpot, and a sink. The director of the program also (oh so thoughtfully!) stocked all the rooms with a few food items before we arrived: bread, fruit, milk, sugar, tea, jelly, and some candy. I was so happy to see an orange (which I quickly ate, sitting on the floor, still wearing the grime of sixteen hours of travel). It took me a few minutes to figure out how to turn on the shower, but the water pressure was good, and the hot water was very hot and didn't run out. Oh what a relief that was! After some rest time, the entire group went out to dinner to meet and greet one another and our local student "mentors." (I tried the local Freiberg brew, a very dark and strong beer!) Erik and Eike, our mentors, are students at the University of Freiburg who volunteer to help international students get settled into Germany. They have been guiding us around the town, helping us get local cell phones and passport pictures for our university ID's and other such errands. They are both lovely people, and it's nice to have official local friends. I am hoping soon to be able to speak enough German that I can make more friends without forcing them to speak English in order to communicate with me!
The only thing that went wrong was my computer and internet set up. I'd like to blame it on Dr Torculus, my evil nemesis, but I'm pretty sure it was my own fault--unless he's even more skilled and surreptitious than I give him credit for. We were told there were ethernet connections in the rooms, so I brought a cable, but couldn't find the hook up. Before going to dinner, I plugged in my t-mobile phone (which I thought I might use with a German sim card) and my computer through an adapter, a converter box, and an American surge protector extension cord. One problem: the computer charger has its own converter already and only needs to go through an adapter. I did NOT know that. So the computer wasn't charging. When I returned and realized my computer battery was still low, I thought perhaps it needed MORE power. So I flipped the switch on the converter box from "low" to "high".
Oops. With a subtle popping noise and an even subtler puff of smoke, the lights in the room went out. "Scheisse!" I said (doesn't everyone prefer to curse in German?). In the darkness, I felt my way across the room to the bathroom, and searched (by feel) for the bathroom light inside the bathroom. Ihoped that, since I had clearly blown a fuse, the bathroom light, being on the other side of the room, would be on a different connection. I have some experience with old houses and electric overloads. After about five minutes of running my hands around on the bathroom wall, I remembered that the switch is outside that door, on the bedroom wall beside the bathroom. I found it and (whew!) it still worked. I knew my family would be worried about me, so for a few more minutes I continued searching in the darkness (using the dim blue light on my travel alarm clock as a flashlight) for the ethernet connection. Finally I conceded defeat.
This morning, it took our group's unofficial tech help about five minutes (in the daylight) to find my ethernet connection. (Several people told me they found it behind their desk. Mine was behind the head of my bed, right next to my desk. I did actually see that plug last night and wonder whether it was the one I was looking for, but in the dark I couldn't tell what it was. I didn't want to put the ethernet cable in the wrong kind of plug and risk breaking something else!) The tech guy, Ian, also told me that I didn't need any kind of converter for my computer (which by this time had shut itself down). "Really?" I asked dubiously. I was also afraid of frying my computer. "The AC adapter is the converter," he assured me, "it's now mine is plugged in now."
So I plugged my computer into the German outlet with only the plug adapter, and lo and behold--it began to charge! It was so dead that it still took a few more minutes before it would power up. Then, just like the other students told me, with the ethernet cable plugged in, I only had to open my web browser to use the internet. Ah, technology, how do I love thee...let me count the ways. I only wish I were more knowledgeable.
Later this afternoon, the owner of the hotel fixed my fuse, so tonight I have lights AND internet. Maybe next time I'll ask the tech guy before flipping any unknown switches, or pushing the red button labeled "Don't push this unless you really, really mean it".
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