The concept of the university cafeteria (or mensa as it is known here) is not foreign to those of us from the states. Big plates of food served en masse to students. I'm not sure if Germany does it better, but they certainly do it cheaper. Lemme explain...
So this week we've had lots of orientation stuff for the university. Tuesday we finally met most of the other international students. There's a large contingent from Eastern Europe, which has been really interesting for me. My knowledge of Eastern Europe is embarrassingly minute and I really want to use this opportunity to learn as much about all the countries ending in -ia as I can. So far I've studied the map a bit so I can give more than just a blank stare when someone tells me where they're from. My geography is only a bit better than my directional sense, which is not saying too much.
The rest of the week involved a scavenger hunt in the city (second place, thank you very much), a German test that thankfully subsequently placed me in the right level (I'm movin' on up baby woo hoo), and a karaoke welcome party wherein I excitedly performed "Country Roads." It still amuses me that almost all of the songs Germans listen to are American. And makes me feel at home. I love that anytime I go to a store, club, or bar here I am reminded of home.
I also made a trip to the Erfurt Ikea this week to buy some much-needed pillows. Germans are fond of sleeping with one large and extremely soft pillow, but I am not. So to Ikea I went. The one here is exactly like the one I went to in Los Angeles, just with signs and price tags in German. I had some schwieregkeiten navigating the huge store, and my confusion was only exacerbated by my halfway comprehension of the language. What is the German word for pillow case? But now I have the proper lumbar support.
So...this mensa. Bomb.com. Why? It's freaking cheap! In Scotland I benefitted from subsidized meals at the Parliament and here I'm reaping the benefits again (thank you European taxpayers). Most plates are about 2€ and they're BIG. There's usually about 5 choices a day, and so far the meals I've had have been tasty. Alot of German specialties to try. This non-picky eater is quite content. I've taken to hovering around and staring at other people's plates before making my selection - maybe a good way to meet Germans?
Also public service announcement: I've only recently added the sausage count here, but this week I've decided to self-impose a moratorium on my sausage consumption. You know what they say about too much of a delicious thing...
One thing that's sorta funny about Erfurt is that it's small enough so that there's usually only one big party a night. And EVERYONE goes. I always see people I know, even though I've only been here for two weeks. It's like I'm back in good ole Baton Rouge.
This weekend...possibly a day trip to Weimar. Next week courses start and then I'll be trekking to Norway to chase me some northern lights :)
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