Arrived Alive

Hello All!

I made it to Stuttgart and it only took about 15 hours!

My plane ride from Ottawa to Montreal took 27 minutes and I slept most of the way
considering I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before. After a 2 hour wait at
the Montreal airport I hopped on to the plane headed to Stuttgart. I sat beside
an electical engineer who just graduated from Ottawa University....what are the
chances of that? we were served an ok dinner and then breakfast at 12 at night
(Ottawa time). I tried to sleep but I just couldn't get comfortable. There was
a surprising amount of leg room but I just couldn't find a place to rest my
head......maybe it was nerves that kept me awake since it was just starting to
sink in that I was going to be living in Germany for the next 3 months.

We arrived in Franfurt at 6:00 am local time. Going through customs was a breeze,
they just stamped my passport and sent me through without a word spoken. After I
collected my luggage I headed for the train station. I had no problems finding the
station in the humongous airport. I got my eurail pass validated and then got onto
the train. I did have some difficulty with my 30 kg bad and my duffel bag. I was
able to balance the duffel bag ontop of the big bag with wheels however the narrow
corridors in the trains were a bit of a problem. The train staff helped me an so
did other random passerbys. I, with a little help, was able to get my bags on and
off the train 4 times. I made it to Stuttgart in 1 hour and 15 minutes even though
I had to tranfer trains in Mannheim.

At the Stuttgart main station I tried to phone Tosca, my supervisor at the
Fraunhofer Institute. I exchanged a 5¤ bill for change and then attempted to use
a payphone. I wasn't sure how many numbers to dial but after getting the wrong
number and a couple error messages I asked an elderly man if he knew which numbers
to dial. He wasn't of much help and he didn't even speak German very well.
So I tried calling Tosca's work number and on my second try and made it through.
We decided on a meeting place and told eachother what colours we were wearing
since we had never actually met before. She arrived in half an hour and then to
my surprise we got on the subway.......I don't know why but I thought for
sure she would have a car. It was much easier carrying the bags with her but at
our stop I had to drag the 30 kg bag up 50 stairs. We then walked 10 minutes from
the subway stop to the dormitory on the University campus. Tosca had already got
my key so we went right in.......I was releived that we had finally made it,
carrying the bags had made me even more tired than I was before. When we entered
the building I looked up and saw another set of stairs staring back at me. Tosca
and I were able to drag my bags up the 3 flights of stairs and I finally got a
look at my new home.

My room is very clean and tidy........but I don't think it will stay that way for
long ;) There is a bed, book shelf, cupboard, desk, chair, window and glass door
leading out to a communal balcony. It is a bright room looking over a courtyard.
There is also a large shared kitchen, one complete bathroom, and another bathroom
with only a sink and shower. One of my roomates is from Mongolia but she will be
moving out by the end of the week. The other is from India and the third roomate
I have yet to meet.

After freshening up Tosca came back for me and showed me where the Fraunhofer
Institute is. We went for lunch with her collegues and I had asparagus and potatoes.
The spergel (asparagus) were a pale yellow but tasted the same as their green
counterparts. They were covered in hollondais sauce and the plate was so big I
couldn't even finish it all.

After lunch I was shown around a bit more and Tosca gave me some more info on what
I have to do with concerns to my living arrangements, setting up a bank accout,
etc. Also since Tosca will be away hiking in the Swiss alps next week, she let me
know what to do next week. Monday I will have the day to myself to set up my bank
account, talk to the head of the dormitory, and fill out and drop off the
appropriate forms to let the German officials know that I will be living here for
3 months.  On tuesday I can come in to work and get a little more info from one
of Tosca's collegues on what experiments are taking place here. On wednesday I
might go to check out a waste water treatment plant pilot project in Hiedelberg.
On thursday I am told most people are taking it off so I don't have to work and on
Friday it is a holiday....so I guess I get a 4 day weekend next week.....I still
have to figure out what I'm going to do.

At 4:00 pm yesterday I went back to my dorm and did some unpacking. I was soooooo
tired since I'd been up for over 24 hours so I went to bed at 6:30 and slept until
7:30 this morning. I feel very rested now so I can spend my weekend exploring
Stuttgart.

Talk to you later,

Stephanie