Stressed Out

May 3, 2012

Today was a bit of a stressful one. I managed to get the bus with no problems, and work was fine, but getting a student bus pass in Germany is not simple, at all. We left work a bit early in order to get to the place that sells the passes before it closes and it was still open when we got there. I stood there not understanding a word being said, but it turns out they need proof of enrollment as a student from a school in Germany, and the money has to be wired to them, you can't pay by Visa or even cash. I bought a week long pass to get me through the next week, or so I thought, it says it is valid from May 7th, to the 14th, so it looks like I'll be paying again tomorrow. My supervisor offered to wire the money and I could just give him the cash, since I don't have a German bank account yet, not sure when I'll find the time to get one of those. Knowing I need proof of enrollment, I went straight to the university when I got back to Schwenningen, know that everyone was likely done for the day. I actually lucked out and caught the two people who work in the international office just as they were about to leave. They explained where to get the information I needed, and that I have to register with city hall and the department of aliens, since I am apparently an alien in Germany. It reminds me of Men in Black haha. And with the terrible hours they have, I'll likely have to get time off from work to go there, but if I don't do it, I, or the company, could get in trouble apparently, since you can only work here for 3 months with just a passport and visa, to work for longer you need a residency permit. I didn't think this would all be so difficult a couple of weeks ago. 

I managed to find a grocery store with eggs, although the eggs here are different than in Canada, so it'll be interesting to see how they taste just by themselves. I've been starving most of the time I've been here, so hopefully now that I have some snack/junk food I'll be able to eat more, although I tried to use the oven and it didn't heat up. I gave up and ate gouda and gebraten, which is some sort of salami. I also tried to do laundry, but apparently you need special tokens, hopefully I'll be able to get some of those tomorrow. Looking forward to the weekend although I think I'm going to stick around here for this one.

Also, I didn't expect to write so much for these posts, I think they'll get shorter once I get settled into a routine, and I'm hoping that'll happen sooner than later...