Written: August 31, 2007
Well, I still have absolutely no Internet because I haven’t been able to talk to the guy who does the Internet. He just simply hasn’t been around. It’s beginning to become really really frustrating.
Last night I was at the city fair. It was pretty fun, although I got really tired since we didn’t leave until about 2:30 am and I still haven’t really adjusted to the time change. Nina, Kayla and I met up with Nina’s roommates and a bunch of their friends and went to the fair together. We basically walked around the streets and drank beer (which is legal here). They were playing really loud music throughout the streets downtown. We then went to a club/bar for a while before we went home. Tonight we’re going back (it goes until tomorrow night). I don’t plan on being there that long though.
Today we went shopping again. We went to an electronics store to get phones. They had some good deals on pre-paid phones, but we decided to check the actual O2 (the phone company; like Verizon) store to see what they had. Kayla got one there, but I saw a really good deal on one I wanted at the other store, so later we went back. Unfortunately, I may not be able to buy one there because I need a German ID to buy one to register it (their phones are registered with the government). Kayla was able to use her American driver’s license because we were at the actual O2 store instead of just a retailer. I might be able to get away with using my passport and the signed and stamped sheet I got at the town hall yesterday, but I don’t know yet. We’re going to try again tomorrow. If I can’t, I guess I’ll just go to the O2 store and get one. That is also really frustrating.
Before we went back to the retail store (after the O2 store), we did some other shopping. I bought 2 pairs of jeans and a sweater. We went in and out of a lot of other stores too. Kayla bought a lot. I also had to go to the ATM and get some more cash out for school-related fees on Monday and to buy a bike from my advisor (who has cheap used bikes for sale for incoming exchange students).
So that’s been my day so far. Like I said, we’re going to the fair again tonight. I actually have to catch the bus to go downtown in about 9 minutes. Hopefully I’ll have Internet soon so you won’t be too bogged down at once with several days worth of entries, but that will all depend on whether or not the guy I have to talk to (who is also a student that lives here) is in.
I’m back from the fair a lot earlier than I expected to be, so I’ve decided to write here again. It’s now 12:30 at night. Anyway, Nina, Kayla and I all met up at the fair and we walked around throughout the entire downtown area looking at the different places. At one point I got hungry, so I stopped and got a bratwurst (much better than the American imitations, I might add). Then we came back. There weren’t any buses going back to my dorms because it was too late and they had stopped running, so Nina and Kayla said they would walk back to my room with me since they had to go that way anyway (they rode their bikes there). Nina’s apartment is on the way to my dorms only a few blocks down and Kayla’s dorm is a long ways away, but in my direction. Unfortunately, we found that Kayla’s bike had a flat tire, so she was going to have to walk anyway. That would have taken at least an hour and a half if not 2 hours to walk back to her place from downtown, so we locked Kayla’s bike up at the university library and Nina went and got her car and drove Kayla back. We would do something about it tomorrow, but we have to talk to our advisor (the guy who sold it to Kayla) and he won’t be back in until Monday.
Either way, tomorrow us 3 are getting together again at around 3:15 and going back downtown to get a phone for me and so Kayla can get a hairdryer. Then we’ll pretty much be done shopping. Before then, hopefully I’ll be able to finally talk to the guy about getting my Internet connection setup. If not, I’ll probably go to an Internet café (of which I found several downtown), post these entries and check (and reply to) some e-mail.
