CH1. Life Goes On 18: Brand New in German and Hello in so Many Different Languages

Hello, Tim!

I am new in Germany! After a week of incessant grocery buying and hectic walking sessions, I have finally more or less settled down! There are so many eclectic topics I would like to put into words and tatter about my learnings and the afterthoughts, but I doubt there will be enough time to cram all events down to the details. It would be a plausible alternative to do it day by day, but I have other plans in mind. Let's just get to it.

Landing

The minute I held all my luggages in the hand and onto the land of Frankfurt, Germany, I experienced the first cultural shock. At Taiwan, I expected that there would be carts for loading all the luggages so I was not so worried about the two duffle bags, the backpack, and the large suitcase that amounted to more than forty kilograms in total.
I strolled easily to the cart holder and steered my heels to a halt and stared at the stall that locked up a whole array of the carts bizarrely. In simple German, it wrote "1 Euro", "No cash, credit cards". You get the idea. It would require a temporary payment of the credit card to have access to their luggage carts. I didn't have a credit card.
With harsh breaths and stammering steps, I advanced down the path while nudging the bags forward to the customs. I didn't know whether it was because of the fact that it was Sunday or because of the early 6:30 arrival, no one was there checking our luggages at random, which provided me some relief and saved me from the need to take apart everything and making the effort to put everything back together.
My cousin Grace was there at the exit waiting for me. She gave me a welcoming embrace and led me to the McDonald's for breakfast. The muffin was dry and bland but was enough to quench my after-flight hunger. We then dragged the bulky luggages across the terminals, trying to locate a bus that would take us all the way to Heidelberg. With all the burdens in hand, the airport seemed to be ten times the original width. When all the other possibilities to get us to the school started vanishing one by one, we had no choice but to resort to the 100 Euro Uber drive.

I looked so wind-swept.

Driving at 180 km/hr on the freeway, we were in Heidelberg in no time. The skies were a bit cloudy but the sun was punching through the crevices here and there. The plantation lining the hills along the way resembled that of Taiwan, and I was a bit melancholy already. The buildings were exotic, though. Edging near Heidelberg, we started to see some of the old-styled buildings that are neighbored by some modern but simple architectures. We pulled up in a community-like environment - this would my school for the future three years. Sometimes, I still feel how unreal this all felt. Several days ago, I was only in Taiwan, saying goodbye to my friends and family, and now I would be alone once again, after my cousin left for Taiwan again. It was just like the fist few days in England, two years ago - the same elixir that is a mixture of angst, excitement, helplessness, and determination. Whether the effect would subside or enhance, I guess we can only watch and see.

A little tour with Grace's friend living in Germany, Claudia.

Open-air markets.

The Dorm

The dorm was not even a five-minute walk from the main building of SRH Heidelberg, where we will be having our classes in the future. Before paying for the dorm, I was already informed that I will be having a room all to myself with an independent bathroom, so I thought I knew what to expect. It was immaculate, in terms of having my room look like it was not previously used. The walls were painted not only with plain white, but with grey geometric shapes on one of the corners. Lining the walls are planks painted a metal gray. What truly surprised me was that we also have a fridge all to ourselves in  a respective room! Everything looked untouched before I did, and all that gave me a welcoming presence.

Hall.

Look at that. All my friends said that it looks more like a hotel than a dorm.

You also get enough space for storing objects.

What's more, the kitchen was well-equipped with two sets of kitchen appliances, with an oven and a microwave on two aligning corners of the dining hall. The student helper told me that about half of the kitchen wares like pots and pans are for everyone to use, but we can also have our own cupboards for food and our own cooking appliances as well.
The big panel of window in my room opens two directions and it also led me to an expansive view of the surroundings, with the supporting height by the six-story location.
My dorm, Bonhoefferstraße 9, is even linked to the school library! The library is designed like a lain-down book! It is open for 24/7! If this is not the time to use excessive exclamation marks, when is?
With the 37 kg limit set by Taiwanese airports, I could only bring the rice cooker. The other electronic/non-electronic devices would have to be purchased in Germany. My cousin took me to Bismarckplatz, which is the city center, to do the shopping. Heidelberg is a compact but all-offering place, and I will be sure to write about it sometimes. Anyway, we got our hands on whatever we could think of at the time and took the very costly taxi back to the dorm. I am very lucky to have my cousin here with me. She helped me move into the dorm and provided me with all that ever needed. Gave me smiles and support and reassurances. Yes, without her, I would be nowhere near this state.

The New Environment

Our school is under the name of a big rehabilitation corporation, and they have the ability to provide students with enough comfort to settle down. It was only Sunday the day I arrived, so you wouldn't see many people walking on the leaf-carpeted pavements. There were only occasional sounds of leaves crunching that indicated that there was someone jogging pass, and you can sometimes see people endeavoring to steer their wheelchairs up the small uneven lumps on the road, even though their focuses seem to be on something else. There are also people who would chat in rapid-fire German, breaths forming fog, hands tucked deep into the pockets of their waterproof windbreakers. A crow, hidden, unseen, would let out a raw, coarse kraa that was carried over by the chilly winds that rustled the leaves. Even the cars on a nearby highway contribute their growling engines to the orchestra of random sounds. This school, SRH Heidelberg, next to the river, fifty minutes away from the city center, is a beautiful place indeed.

Pushing My German

Ach so, ich bin seit einem Monat in Deutschland geblieben. Du darfst fragen, warum ich plötzlich auf Deutsch schreibe. Ich habe gedacht, dass nun nur ich meinen Blog lese, kann ich denn ein bisschen etwas in anderen Sprachen auch schreiben. Damit kann ich gleichzeitig mein Englisch, Deutsch, Französisch und Chinesisch schreiben zu üben. Das wird für mich natürlich schwerer zu schreiben, aber wie, was meine Lehrerin Villy mir erzählt hat, "Übung macht den Meister." Ich muss viel schreiben, danach kann ich endlich mein Deutsch weitermachen.
Es gibt etwas in Deutschland, was ich in Taiwan nicht machen kann, und es ist mit Fremden oder Kunden Deutsch zu sprechen. Das erstes Mal, als meine Cousine und ich den Bus vom Bismarckplatz nehmen mochten, wissen wir gar nicht, wo wir auf den Bus warten sollen. Ich habe eine Fremde, denen Jacke beige war, angerufen. Ich habe ihr gesagt, dass wir nach der besonderen Bushaltestelle suchten. Mit ihrer Finger hat sie gezeigt und hat "irgendwo" geantwortet. Sie hat etwas auch gesagt, aber es ist für mich zu schwer zu verstehen. Wir haben die genaue Richtung nicht bekommen, aber ich war trotzdem froh, weil ich wirklich weiß, wie Deutsch gesprochen wird.
Es gab auch eines Mal, als wir in McDonald waren. Ich habe einen Burger mit Cola bestellen, aber ich habe die Cola nicht bekommen. Ich ging zur Kasse und habe nach der Cola, die fehlte, gefragt. Er hat verstanden (Ich war so stolz, trotzdem der Satz gar nicht schwierig war) und hat mir die Cola mit einem kleinen Lächeln gegeben.

Heidelberger Bücherei.

Gebrachte Bücher hier sind ganz billig.

Am Morgen Spazieren gehen,

Wunderschön.

Gestern bin ich mit meinem indischen Freund zum Zentrum gegangen. Er wollte eine dicke Jacke gegen den Winter kaufen. Ich habe einem Kunde auf Deutsch gefragt, aber er hat nur auf Englisch geantwortet. Ich war denn ein bisschen überrascht, dass er kein Deutsch sprechen wollte. Ich muss mehr üben und mit mehre Leute Deutsch sprechen.

The Weather

Alors c'est le temps pour le français! Je sais que je suis en Allemagne maintenant, mais je ne veux pas oublier ma puissance de parler en français. Heidelberg est pas si loin de la France. Avec le billet que j'ai acheté pour tout le semestre, je pourrais aller au bordure de la France dans une heure et demi. Dans le futur, si j'ai le temps, j'irai absolument en France, à Strasbourg et les autre bons lieux.
Il y a une fille qui vient de Morocco et sa langue maternelle et le français. Elle habite au le même étage que moi et nous sommes dans le même cours aussi. En vendredi, je l'ai rencontré devant l'ascenseur. Je voulais lui parler en français, mais quand elle m'a offert un biscuit, je ne pouvais que répondre avec un petit "merci". Elle a ajouté qu'elle allait prendre le tram pour aller quelque lieu, et j'aurais du lui parler n'importe quoi, mais rien n'est sort de ma voix. Je ne savais pas ce qu'il s'est passé. Je pense que c'est parce que j'ai vu tant de chose en allemand, et ça c'est un peu difficile pour moi de changer la langue si vite. Mais je vais garder mes connaissances avec cette belle langue.

Le ciel était un peu bizarre ce jour-là.

Mon ami Yazdan.

Le tour bleu de SRH Holdings; la vue tout-là haut est tellement incroyable.

Je te présent: Heidelberg.

Early End
雖然我還要好多的事情想要寫進來，像是我在這邊遇到的朋友，和媽媽還要家人朋友通話的時候發生的事情，還有在這邊帶著一台平板、十一個人一起在校園裡晃悠晃悠的參加時髦的大地遊戲，但是明天就是國際週的開始了，到時候整天都要參與學校的行程．我不知道未來我到底能夠留下多少時間來煮菜或是和朋友交流，我甚至沒辦法確定這種多語言的洲際能夠持續多久．但是我會盡量持續完成這份我維持了三年以上的工作．雖然我很少能狗把我所有想寫下來的東西逐字逐句地打在這個紫底的背景上，有時我也會刻意的遺漏一些我其實不想分享的細節，天真的認為我能夠自己記著，到最後忘記了什麼也不清楚；有時感到迷惘，斥責著自己為什麼總是不懂的要使自己的用字更生動多樣化，卻怎麼都幾不出來個更貼切的用字，但是我知道，如果沒有這個部落格，我會失去很多目標．最後我像要放上幾張我這幾天自己煮的早午晚餐作為紀念，希望以後還能夠享受這種恬靜卻忙碌的時光．第一次在自己的部落格留下這麼多我的母語的文字，怎麼看都覺得很不習慣．用字遣詞也離切時切地有來大的距離，但是反正這個部落格是屬於我的，隨便別人怎麼說．

累到放棄介紹了；最後三張是今天的三頓餐

怕再變瘦會去會被罵到崩潰，暴飲暴食了一整天

下午跟四位小姐聊天

大地遊戲任務之一

Sincerely,
Hugo

p.s. I really am having a battle that just broke out inside my head. One side exclaimed that I should give more time into writing about the amazing people I have encountered throughout the hyperactive, droning week, and all the bore-some, undesired details that filter through productive days, but the countervailing party petitioned that it should be time to sleep already, as I am, in fact, supposed to accompany Yazdan to the city registration early and be there before the office hours commence. They also reasoned that I would have the whole day passed with tasks that would drain all my attention in no time and even after that I will have to go to the discounter in the peripherals for more groceries like meat and potatoes.
And the latter league of contestants prevail.