I've always maintained that German weather was just as crazy as the people that live here. I continue to be right in this matter. Over the weekend and yesterday wasn't too bad. Mostly sunny with some clouds and no rain until today. The high for today was 10 degrees (C) (50F). Windy and rainy. I'm not quite prepared for this. By the way, it's only the middle of September. This my dears, is normal apparently. Thankfully, my Mother loves me enough to have sent me here with plenty of warm clothes, albeit not quite warm enough. Nor was I prepared for the rain. I'm in the process of looking for a trench coat which seems to be quite popular and practical here. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I don't wear extremely fancy clothing and I often shop off of the clearance rack because,well thats just the way it is. However, as I've gotten older and graduated, etc I've become familiar with some nicer lines of clothing and spending a little bit more is okay. With this in mind, I went into a store (and I'm not kidding) called Lust for Life (Lust in German is hard to define, something along the lines of, does it please you...etc). Anyway, this is apparently an uppity store which specializes in some more of the designer brands. Fair enough. I'm looking for a trench coat because I'm freezing in just my sweater and I'm tired of being wet. I figure, a trench coat would cost me around 100-150 Euros like it would back in the States. Nothing too fancy, just a tie around the middle, water proof, etc. Lo and behold I came across this amazing trench coat that I was prepared to drop a reasonable amount on because I will CLEARLY be getting a lot of use out of it.
The price tag read: 399,00 Euros. That's $554
Are you kidding me?
I almost died. I mean seriously, who can afford that stuff? I learned later on that Lust for Life carries only the designer stuff, etc. So, I'm going to take it down a notch. Live like a pauper I shall.
After I leave here I'm going to go shopping among the common folk for a coat and scarf and all that one needs to not catch pneumonia here. I've been drinking a lot of coffee which is going to bankrupt me. I'm sitting in the Starbucks (convenience + internet as it is I think five feet from my office) and I just paid EUR 3,50 for a tall mocha. That's the same as the states, but different currency so its really $4.50. Ridiculous.
First day of class went ok. I only have three students right now and more to come on the 1 of October. These students really have no knowledge of English or have very, very basic knowledge. Its hard to find people who've never been exposed to English because of the advent of globalization, etc. The first 30 minutes I was trying to get a feel for them, deciding on what to talk about, etc. I finally broke them down and the class ended on a good note. Tonight I have a private lesson and training. Woot.
Today I looked at two apartments. The first one was small, a bit far from the central part of the town and the tenant now is a smoker. Perhaps what bothered me the most was that the bed, came out of the closet and was tres small. No sir. Not really feeling that, plus it was managed by this Frau who I think was rather picky. The second one was on a much busier street, closer to the central and was much bigger. Came with this cool kitchen and table, a gigantic bathroom (hint-no shower, just a tub) and a large bedroom. Fully furnished. With all costs around EUR400. So not too bad, and she'll let me stay for say, three months. Then I could get a bigger place, etc. I have an appointment tomorrow to see another flat. This one is supposed to be realllllllly close, so thats exciting. Aachen is beginning to scare me because there is so much that I don't know about it. When I went to Dresden to study, I knew the basics to the city. No Beyond Borders friends here to help me get settled. Anyway, I hope to be in a new place, soon. I'm leaving the Frau's house tonight and moving into a "Guest House" or a hotel much closer to work. I can't keep going back to the suburbs like I have been.
And of course, now the sun is shining.
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