5th journal entry

May 16

The last several days have been busy. I’ve been trying to stay out of the apartment as much as possible. On Wednesday, I went bowling with the North American, Aussie, and Kiwi exchange students. One of the girls, Chrystina from New Jersey, is doing an internship at a solar energy company. It was nice to talk with her about these issues. After we finished bowling, I went with one of the Canadian girls to the Strand Bar by the river. It’s supposed to look like a beach and it was quite nice and relaxing. I met another American, Kelsa. She has a German boyfriend and she’s been back and forth quite a bit. She’s going to school in Vermont and now she’s on exchange here. We ended up walking home together and discovered that we both like sushi. There’s a sushi place near the apartment I’m going to move into and I think we’re going there next week. Kelsa is also vegetarian, so that’s nice. On Thursday, I went to German class and then I did some work. I also went to the international office with Janina to complain about my residence. Of course, Verena at the international office can’t do anything about Seezeit, the horrible company that manages the residences. I didn’t want to burden her with our complaints, but it was at least nice to tell someone. Today (Monday), I’m going to Seezeit to give my 1 months’ notice. I may say something to them, but I hope it doesn’t come out too bluntly.

On Thursday afternoon, we were invited to Stephanie’s office to celebrate the publishing of a book she helped edit. She made lots of food, all of which was vegetarian! We had some nice bulghur with tomatoes and olives, stirfried lentils with onions and some nice spices, Greek salad, and champagne. Stephanie said that she often travels to the old East Germany for research and they have some nice champagne. I had a little bit and everyone was asking me to have some more, but I really can’t drink too much at lunchtime. Apparently, this is common in Germany. After lunch, I did some more work and then I went to meet Anna, who is friends with my German teacher. She wants to improve her English and she’s going to help me with my German. She seems nice and we’re going to meet again this week. I’m going to try reading a German newspaper article and we’ll see how it goes.

On Friday, I worked in Irina’s office. Irina and I were talking about Jews and she told me that she never met any Jews in Kyrgystan. It was never really an issue. I think certain towns in Germany are like that too. Irina told me that she’s going to church and there’s a woman at the church who had to leave her husband because he beat her. She has 3 kids, who are all with her. The woman stayed at a women’s shelter and the shelter was supposed to find her a permanent place, but they didn’t. They did find her a hotel room, but she’s had to pay for the hotel. I was really impressed with Irina because she has really stood up for this woman; she called the mayor’s office to complain. Most people would probably stand idly by and not do anything. On Friday, the mayor called back and said that they had found the woman an apartment. The woman is going to see it today. This is at least a step forward. On Friday night, I went to see some live jazz with Bler and her friends. The music was pretty good and we stayed out a bit late.

On Saturday, I hung out here in the morning and made a nice spinach and cheese omelette and some fried potatoes. I’m trying to eat all my food because I’ll be away for much of this week. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I’ll be in a town a couple of hours from here. The international office is holding an orientation for German students going to Canada and Verena said that I could come and talk about York. It’s a nice opportunity to meet some more people, I think, and travel. On Friday, I’m going to Munich for the weekend. Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, I went downtown with Eva and her friends Sarah and Hannah. Funnily enough, Sarah also has a sister named Miriam (my sister’s name is Sarah). They were both really nice. We went to have ice cream and we were sitting outside. Unfortunately, it started raining and we went to another cafe. Hannah and Sarah were both tired and wanted coffee. We stayed there for a bit and then went to the English bookstore. It was quite nice, but a bit expensive. Hannah is actually living in Freiburg and I’ll be there in 2 weeks, most likely. She said that I could stay with her, which is very generous. She gave me her phone number and email. It’ll be nice to see her again.

On Saturday evening, I went to the home of Berthold, who is the couchsurfing moderator in Konstanz. His friend Antony from London is visiting. Antony is quite a character; he’s worked as a therapist and he taught meditation in prisons. He was, in turn, sarcastic, blunt, friendly, and interesting. He said that I was quite mature for my age and well read; I’m not sure if the latter is true. Anyway, Berthold and I went to the jazz festival afterward. The opening was at the Munster, which is the largest church here. It’s quite beautiful inside and Berthold said it was about 800 years old. The opening had a high school choir and orchestra and I really enjoyed it. They seemed very professional. The jazz festival took place in many bars, restaurants, and hotels in Konstanz. We went to the Bürgersaal (citizen’s hall) to see a jazz choir; a hotel to see a jazz group, and a wine bar to see a swing/dixie group. The swing group was definitely my favourite. They were called the Jailhouse Jazzmen. There was a banjo player, a drummer, a saxophonist, a trumpet player, and the banjo player also played guitar. I really enjoyed it. After seeing them, I was ready to go home. I was going to take the busy because it was raining and I only had a light sweater, but we arrived at the bus stop and the last bus had already gone. Berthold immediately offered to drive me home, which was very kind.

Yesterday, it was raining on and off all day. I stayed home mostly and did work. In the morning, I ordered my Bahncard, which gets you a 25% discount on trains. I booked my ticket to Frankfurt and I’ll be going there in a few weeks. I’ve confirmed that I’ll meet some Greenpeace volunteers there. I’m going to their meeting as well. I’ve heard back from volunteers in Stuttgart, Freiburg, Berlin, Darmstadt (near Frankfurt), and Cologne. Cologne is supposed to have a big gay scene - I’m curious to see it. I was hoping to interview someone in Munich next weekend, but it’ll also be nice to just go and hang out. I’ve confirmed a couchsurfing host and I’ve arranged a rideshare there. It’s supposed to be a nice city.