Settling In

         So, I've been in Germany for exactly one week, and I'm slowly getting used to it. I love my apartment- it's clean and quiet, and I have one great roommate so far and another who will arrive next week. I just started an intensive German course, called Winterakademie. It's, well, intense, but I'm learning so much! There are about 15 people in my class, and all of us have studied German for at least a few semesters. There are students from all over the world! In my small class alone there are people from Norway, Georgia, America, Peru, Mexico, Malaysia, Italy, Bolivia, Brazil, and China. The more I learn, the easier it becomes to approach German people and talk to them, so I'm really glad that this is the first class that I'm taking! I've been walking around the city a lot- I live very close to the University and to the Hauptbahnhof, the train station, and there are a lot of shops and restaurants within walking distance. I also managed to open a bank account and get a cell phone this week- it wasn't easy! :p At the end of this post I will list my mailing address and my cell phone number.
          There is a coffee shop less than a block away from my apartment, and it has become my favorite place to go and relax. The first few days that I was here, I had no internet, so I would go to the coffee shop once or twice a day! I've tried several restaurants so far. The first thing that I tried at a restaurant is a turkish sandwich called a Döner Kebab- it's so delicious! There is a large Turkish population throughout Germany, and many of them run restaurants that serve the Kebabs. In Mannheim, there is a district of the city that is called a, "Little Istanbul" because so many Turkish people live there. Here is a picture of a D
öner Kebab:

 I've also found an excellent pizza place, and a great restaurant called Cafe Vienna- it has a great college atmosphere, and amazing, inexpensive pasta dishes! I've also been to a couple of pubs and bars. On Monday, I went to a bar called Stars- all of the cocktails were named after famous movie stars, it was very interesting! I met lots of Norwegian students there as well as a few German students. 
         The weather so far has been pretty cold, and it has rained frequently, but it hasn't kept me indoors! I'm hoping that it will snow soon, I'm jealous of everyone at home who has been enjoying it! The people in the city walk down the streets in all kinds of weather- I see so many couples walking strollers down the street, even on rainy days. Many people use the buses and trams in the city, or just ride bikes or walk. One morning, I saw tons of children, even young ones, riding the trams to school in the morning- I don't think that they have school buses here. I've seen a lot of mothers and fathers riding bikes in the streets with their children biking behind them. Also, in almost every store, if you don't bring a bag with you, you have to buy one to hold your purchases. And you have to put your items into bags yourself. For these reasons, and also because most people have to walk or take public transportation, most purchases are small. :P I'm hoping to find a book store that sells books in English, and I'd also like to find and buy some DVD's that are in English- I miss it! Even in the movie theater, American films are played in German. I found a movie theater and saw that the posters for the American movies had titles in German- I was so surprised that I had to take a picture:

Anyways, I have many more pictures that I will put into a slide show that you can find on my blog home page! I hope that you enjoy them. I miss you all so much. I hope that you're having a safe, happy time! I'll add my skype username to the contact info. that I put at the end of my post- I would love to talk! :) 


Tchluss!


Bekah


Skype Username: chicaitaliana89
Email: rlbray@uncg.edu
German Cellphone Number: 01731353943 (this is without the country code- if you make an international call you will need it! Germany's is +49)
German Address: Rebekah Bray
                             L2, 2-4 Zi. 41
                             68161 Mannheim, Germany