Day 1 – Saturday July 9, 2011 - My feet are on the ground in Bonn, Germany

Well, I’ve landed in Frankfurt and made my way to Bonn once again.  The flight wasn’t exactly the best on this trip.  There was an unhappy child who screamed and cried.  So there wasn’t a lot of sleep for people on the plane.  On the other hand, I had a great seat which made it better.  Even in economy, I managed to get an exit row in the first row.  Lots of leg room!  Guess chatting with the airline agent upon check in paid off when she was a loyal T-Mobile customer and she found out that I worked with T-Mobile. 

Upon arrival into Seigburg/Bonn at the train station, I’m so thankful that Dosia, my new coworker who moved recently to Bonn greeted me.  She’s a lifesaver for me in just about everything!  She took me to my studio apartment that is mine for the next month.  It's furnished with the basics and an IKEA sofa that folds out to a bed.  And yes, it comes with a kitchenette, meaning small fridge, stove and sink.  Just no microwave or dishwasher.  But I think I will survive. 

Dosia took me on a small tour (via driving) to show me the basics for getting around Bonn.  Where the shuttle is located a block away to catch in the mornings for work.  The shopping area within walking distance, about 15 min away.  And where the tram stop is, which I think will get me around Bonn.  But I’ll learn more transportation on Monday at the office. 

We did a quick shopping trip at the grocery market and thank goodness Dosia was with me.  A little difficult to determine exactly what you’re purchasing.  I mean, I can guess the type of lunchmeat, it looks like ham or turkey.  So learning the language will really help for grocery shopping and when someone tells you how much money you owe.  I just hold out some money and they help me get the correct change if I don’t understand their German. 

So, once on my own, I went for a long walk around the shopping area.  I sat and had a coffee in the main area where everyone was sitting outside.  It was about 80 degrees today!  I wandered around and besides the main little shopping area of the two grocery stores and the ice cream store, everything was pretty much closed up since it was after 2PM.  Yes, everything seems to close fairly early on the weekend and most everything is closed on Sundays.  Thus, the immediate grocery store trip upon my arrival was necessary!  I bought a few small pastries at a Turkish Bakery and the man was very nice.  He let me sample a few items to see what I thought.  He also invited me back tomorrow morning, since they are open at 8AM and open all day on Sunday (unusual).  He even invited me back for a drink at 8PM tonight but I didn’t think I would manage to stay awake that long.  In fact, I’ve been napping off and on all afternoon.  I’m trying to stay awake as much as possible but snoozing between reading.  It’s finally 9:30PM and I’ve made it to the evening.  I’m really quite exhausted after the flight to Germany and being up for 2 days for the most part.  It's time for bed! 

The main differences is that I see so far are:  no microwave in the kitchen.  The bed pillow is a large square size but very flat.  No fluffy feather pillows.  I haven’t found any wifi anywhere yet, which is the biggest let down.  One girl suggested that I go into the city, which I assume is Koln.  So, without wifi, no TV and no music in the apartment, it’s REALLY quiet.  And I don’t see many people around in the apartment building area and you don’t often hear people.  It just seems unusually quiet which will take some getting use too.  I can hear the train going by every now and then and the occasional traffic on the closest main road.  I’m really going to have to adventure farther out tomorrow and figure out where all the people go.  And perhaps I will find some wifi out there some where!