First Impressions
Freiburg is treating me astoundingly well thus far, though the new social situation is, admittedly, throwing me for a loop. I am reminded of some wisdom from Vicki, whose theory is that introverts are more easily over-stimulated and have the propensity to shut down in, rather than become charged up by, groups of strange people. I'm now struggling relatively successfully against my shut-down mode, which is exhausting, but which would be a million times more difficult if I had to deal with communication issues. So thanks, Concordia, for teaching me German in the most painless way possible. But enough of the abstract introspection...
Some of the things I've noticed recently:
-I haven't seen any evidence of student "chumminess" so far, or it's at least not as much of a given as in the US; in the US, it seems like many college students switch into "chum" mode for four years and at least feign some sort of instant rapport, whereas here, everyone has an "Einzelzimmer" with the door closed
-my Postfach is too small to receive packages; I'm really eager to figure out what kind of Paeckchenabholssystem they've got in place here
-my laundry card looks ridiculously old-school and was probably printed in the 1970s
-somehow, no matter where I am, my room always ends up acquiring a certain smell--sort of a detergent-y, cozy, stuffed-animal, cushy fragrance--and I have no clue where it comes from, since I've frequently switched detergents, shower gels, etc.
-southern Germany = Wisconsin, was die Landschaft angeht
-Strassenbahnen are brilliant
-I desperately require random philosophizing opportunities in order not to feel like I'm losing my mind in a whirlwind of ditziness; fortunately, I've got Mine around (another Grinnellian), and one of my roommates (a law & philosophy major) is turning out to be a big help in this respect, as well
-I learned that there are more ways to check out a book at the Unibibliothek than my myopic American mind could have ever dreamed of
-I also was delighted by the most surprising display of German efficiency I've yet seen: book rollercoasters that cart around books from the stacks to the reserve room
And for the Waldsee people: the CLV world is eerily small. We have these orientation helpers called "housing tutors", and I was randomly chatting with the housing tutor in my dorm one night, only to discover that he's actually a distant cousin of Rudi, whom he's never met, but who is apparently an avid genealogist and who sends him random e-mail updates about long-lost (and long-dead) uncles, cousins, etc. The second I heard that, I knew we were talking about the same Rudi. Crazy, huh?
Some of the things I've noticed recently:
-I haven't seen any evidence of student "chumminess" so far, or it's at least not as much of a given as in the US; in the US, it seems like many college students switch into "chum" mode for four years and at least feign some sort of instant rapport, whereas here, everyone has an "Einzelzimmer" with the door closed
-my Postfach is too small to receive packages; I'm really eager to figure out what kind of Paeckchenabholssystem they've got in place here
-my laundry card looks ridiculously old-school and was probably printed in the 1970s
-somehow, no matter where I am, my room always ends up acquiring a certain smell--sort of a detergent-y, cozy, stuffed-animal, cushy fragrance--and I have no clue where it comes from, since I've frequently switched detergents, shower gels, etc.
-southern Germany = Wisconsin, was die Landschaft angeht
-Strassenbahnen are brilliant
-I desperately require random philosophizing opportunities in order not to feel like I'm losing my mind in a whirlwind of ditziness; fortunately, I've got Mine around (another Grinnellian), and one of my roommates (a law & philosophy major) is turning out to be a big help in this respect, as well
-I learned that there are more ways to check out a book at the Unibibliothek than my myopic American mind could have ever dreamed of
-I also was delighted by the most surprising display of German efficiency I've yet seen: book rollercoasters that cart around books from the stacks to the reserve room
And for the Waldsee people: the CLV world is eerily small. We have these orientation helpers called "housing tutors", and I was randomly chatting with the housing tutor in my dorm one night, only to discover that he's actually a distant cousin of Rudi, whom he's never met, but who is apparently an avid genealogist and who sends him random e-mail updates about long-lost (and long-dead) uncles, cousins, etc. The second I heard that, I knew we were talking about the same Rudi. Crazy, huh?