If every week is a brand new canvas to paint on, the one for this week is going to be messy. So many new names written in so many different fonts, so many footprints trekked, and so many sketches of buildings and activities would be seen. You put this paint onto the walls of the Gallery of Past Weeks, and you would be struck speechless by this painted picture; not because it is of masterpiece-material that draws gasps of astonishment, but simply because it was tucked in with so many elements you won't know where to start with.
Well, I would start from the centre of the painting cloth, where new people were encountered and more eclectic activities were done.
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| And of course, the Christmas stores are in full swing. |
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| The decorations are so cute! But expensive. |
New Friends
The official courses haven't even started yet, but I could already feel the clash between different friend zones. During the orientation week, I got to meet my new classmates for the next couple of years. From the grouping list, I already figured out that I would be the only Chinese-speaking student in the entire class. When I rationalised this, I put this aside, reasoning that I would have more chance to speak in English and German.
What I didn't anticipate was the fact that twenty out of seventeen students are practically German locals. True, most of them are a half German, half Italian, Persian, American, etc. but most of them have lived in Germany for all of their lives, and it intimidated me a little. To my relief, though, they have been very cool with me and are incredibly friendly. More on them later.
But there are another group of people whom I met before my classmates. They all enjoy the same atmosphere of Bonhoefferstraße 9, Floor 6. We've been living behind the well-secured doors for almost two weeks now, and I have come to get myself acquainted with those who come to the kitchen very often. The majority of this floor consists of Indians who are here to study IT, engineering, or business administration. One of my neighbours, Abhidha, (I would still have to check about the spelling) is also from India, and she cooks every of her meals. Mostly it would be something with curry, and I was surprised to find some of their ingredients overlapping with the beans we use in Taiwan for desserts. In Taiwan, we literally call them green beans, but in their view, it is but a variation of dal, a type of beans. She has a very kind and gentle nature, and from several occasions I could feel that she is a very compassionate person. She is also strictly vegetarian, meaning that she would not eat any sort of meats or anything that is a source of life, like eggs. Needless to say, this took a quite a long time figure out something I could make to let her have a taste, hence the tomato-milk noodles I made last week.
Another guy is Yazdan, who is also from India. We got along together quite well, but sometimes I feel like he can be a bit too demanding. It's not exactly a bad thing, actually, given that he isn't really a bad person by heart, and sometimes he also helps me, so I think we're fine.
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| From left to right would be Hashmi, Johannes, Yazdan, and me. |
Zvitlana is from Ukraine, She has a sweet look, and seems like a positive, upbeat person. Therefore, the dominant language we converse in would be German, which is a thing that I would have to sufficiently utilise, as she is only here for her Erasmus program, granting her a mere three months of stay for her Music Therapy courses.
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| This cake has a story. Svitlana wanted to make something for everyone to enjoy despite our having vegetarian and dairy-product-allergic person on the floor, so we made (under her instructions) a chocolate and nectarine cake. It didn't turn out so well for the first time, and Svitlana was a bit upset about it, but the others encouraged her to put it back into the oven once again just to see how it would turn out. It was not so presentable, but it was the taste and the thoughts behind the dishes that really mattered. The others were crazy over the cake, and I hoped that knowledge had raised her spirits at least for a bit. |
The virtual big parent would be Johannes, a tall, handsome guy who is a German native but treats everyone here like his family. He's pushing through his Master's thesis, but he still interacts with all those who use the kitchen. He's very close to two other Indian guys, who also cook such delicious curry you would never believe that they only had six months of cooking experience.
All of us would cook, either in silence or making casual conversations. I like this underlying efficiency in the kitchen hours, given that some have dinner at around six (like me) while some would not even start the preparation of the ingredients before eight or even ten in the evening. I was once afraid that it would be like a thousand beasts' roaring in the kitchen, but it turned out to be much better.
In classes I have these cool college students that would (perhaps) bring me to a world of the contemporary college kids, one I never got the nerves to try out; while in the dorms behind the heavy glass doors I have a more family-like feeling, one more tranquil and home-reminiscent.
Yesterday, I made a brusque decision to make some egg pudding (or steamed egg) for dinner. It was not a difficult dish to make, but people like Johannes and Svitlana and Yazdan tried it and it somehow grasped their interest, presumably by the flavour and the texture you get when you steam-heat a mixture of water and egg. It is the proudest state I had been in the week. Still, I won't be recreating any similar dish in a while because this only can be enjoyed to the best state when it is eaten every once in a while.
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| This was my meal for the whole day. |
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The egg pudding that astonished the people. |
A Visit from Uncle Nic
Ich wurde von meine Cousine Grace informiert, dass Onkel Nic, der ein sehr enger Freund meiner Cousine ist, mich am Dienstag besuchen wurde. Er wollte mir seine Freunde, die auch in Deutschland leben, vorstellen.
Am Dienstag nach dem Kurs habe ich mich vorbereitet, um die geeignete Kleidung anzuziehen. Onkel Nic ist mit seinen zwei Freunden im Auto erschienen. Der Autofahrer heißt Stefan und seine Frau heißt Mimi. Onkel Nic, mit seiner Größe, hat mich begrüßt und alle Leute sind ins Auto gestiegen.
Im Auto hat Stefan erzählt, dass er Onkel Nic in Taiwan getroffen hat. Seitdem sind die beiden Freunde geworden. Mimi arbeitet bei dem Deutsche-Amerikanisches Institut mit dem Kindergarten.
Das Auto ist nach rechts abgebogen und wir sind durch den Tunnel gefahren. Als wir die Spitze des Hügels erreichten stiegen wir aus dem Auto aus. Es gab ein Restaurant, das mit einem Bauernhof verbunden wird.
Stefan sagte, dass er schon mit drei Jahren im Restaurant war. Ich habe ein Steak mit Kräuterbutter bestellt und es hat mir so gut geschmeckt. Das Fleisch war sehr weich und hatte einen tiefen Geschmack.
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| Stefan, Mimi, und ich. |
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| Steak mit Kräuterbutter. |
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| Stefan hat dies Jogurteis empfohlen, und ich habe es nächstes Tag besucht. Gut geschmeckt! |
Nach dem Abendessen sind wir in die Altstadt (Stadtzentrum) gefahren. Wir haben ein Cafe gefunden und haben Platz genommen. Ich habe ihnen etwas über mein Studium erzählt (auf English) und sie haben mich zurück gefahren.
Das war ein toller Abend und in der Zukunft werde ich Mimi und Stefan in einem kleinen Dorf in der Nähe von Mannheim besuchen!
The Bar, the Party, and The Half Drunk
Now, let's switch temporarily back to English, because I have some brand new experience to talk about. Grab a bench or something. Or not. This is not supposed to be a long story.
We were long informed that, as students of SRH Heidelberg, we will be having a kick-off party on Thursday evening, and I was half-obligated by my classmates, half compelled to go for that. (Here's to brand new experiences.) But what really went wrong (wrong would be too strong a word here; let's try the words "slightly disconcerting") was an hour or two before that. Through some activities, my classmates won a 200-Euro voucher to a bar called Deer, and they prompted the whole class to join them at the bar before the party really started.
I went on the premise that this is some extension of class-event, and when I was there people were already well into the nth round of a wide assortment of alcoholic drinks. I shared a sip or two of the very lemon-y mojito with another Indian guy. The fruity scent of the lemon diminished the taste of alcohol (Mom from the future told me "mixed drinks can really rack up your brain") but I swore that I felt my heart pace pick up and my body heating up several minutes after taking the little sips. The others were playing a game of flipping cigarette cartons with drinking alcohol set as punishment. I excused that I am actually quite perceptible a bit allergic to alcohol so I passed that game. It was soon time to leave for the party. At around eleven thirty at night, the whole gang decided to rummage through the supermarket for more strong drinks. They brought out another bottle that had fruits drawn across the transparent bottle that contained a murky white liquid. They passed the bottle on, and when it came to me, I took a rather big sip. The alcohol taste was also not distinct (like the mojito) but this time I knew this was some drink with a much higher alcohol percentage. They told me that it was liquor of some sort, I knew I was in quite some trouble.
You know, looking back, I was less and less sure that I had a crystal-clear vision of the night. All I could be sure with was that I could still walk in straight lines; the memories, albeit rather blurred on the edges, was still clear enough to talk about some details; I even remembered thinking about how I should be sharing this experience on blog. I wore the wind breaker-raincoat hybrid into the dance pool and was still quite unwilling to dance, knowing that it would be of utter awkwardness if I did so. But then I saw that all of my new friends were simply enjoying themselves instead of glancing furtively at the others who knew exactly how to dance (I did see a few) I let myself relax a bit and started saying a bit to the music. Please do take note that that night there was the first time I have ever been to a party of this sort, with the bright blinking lights, the thrumming music that took a while to get used to, and friends dancing in a circle.
As I said, when I arrived at the party I already had the most alcoholic drinks I had ever had in my life (which was close to 100m.l. but it's not a safe number when liquor was involved, though), and when the other friends at the party saw me, they laughed and told me that my pupils were dilating incredibly, meaning that I should be totally drunk. I tried to argue that I only had a little, so there should have been no way to see how drunk I was to start with but was only met with more giggles and exasperated shakes of their heads. I noticed the tone when they talked to me as well as I registered the tone of my protests: their manner of talking to me was like the one I used to berate the Drunk William for being, well, drunk; and the tone of my protests sounded like what William would say to protest. This was the main reason I was not certain whether I really was drunk or not.
The deafening song went on, and just when I felt myself succumbing into the rhythms, thinking that this should not be something I am capable of handling, that alcohol and club music is making me numb and ignorant to anything else, a familiar song came on, a song of Ed Sheeran's. The whole dance hall walloped and cheered. I joined in. I sang loudly when moving every body part I was able to command. In the back of my head, I remembered- chastising myself for taking the first sip just because I was prompted - It was just how drug abuse started among peers, from what I understand about it. The wave of abash and shame kicked in just now, but not when I ignored them while I was in the very packed dance floor.
Yazdan told me that it was about time to leave for the dorm at around twelve in the midnight, and it didn't make much sense to me at the time because I was there not for only twenty minutes or so, so I bargained that we leave at 12:30, and we did. The funny thing was when I was about to leave, Emma, the Hungarian girl from my course was very concerned about me since she was convinced that I was completely drunk at the moment and even demanded that I write her a text when I get home. She is a really sweet person.
That night also proved to me that I don't have a strong resolute as I initially thought I do, but it was both hilarious and nice to know that it was a shot glass of alcohol that punched the consciousness into me. I am now actually reading a book about drug abuse, but it would take me much longer to finish it given that there are still so many things I can do in my free time.
The Visit to IKEA, Mannheim
Je me suis réveillé à sept heure, et le moment que je me sois levé, l'homme indien a frappé à ma porte. Ça m'ennuyait.
Quand même, aujourd'hui est en jour où je serais très occupé, et il y a tant de chose à faire. On doit commencer par mon blog.
Dernier Vendredi, j'ai pris le bus pour aller à Mannheim, parce que je voulais acheter quelque chose à IKEA. Bien sûr qu'il y a des choses là-bas dont je pourrais trouver ici, mais IKEA est toujours connu pour ses prix bas et sa bonne qualité.
Mais IKEA est tellement loin d'Heidelberg! J'ai passé plus q'une heure et demi à prendre des bus, et puis j'étais à pied pendent une autre vingt minutes et enfin j'ai vu la grosse icône d'IKEA.
L'IKEA en Allemagne n'est pas si different que lesquels à Taïwan avec des petites maisons à l'exposition, et tous les chose ne sont pas trop cher.
En fait, en étant là, j'avais un objectif, et ça c'était acheter une penderie pour faire mes lessives secs. Je l'ai payé et j'ai rencontré une autre, plus grande question. Puisque je n'ai pas une propre voiture (ni le permit de conduire), je devais trouver un moyen de l'emporter retour à la maison. Et en fait, Je ne pouvais que l'emporter dans les bus que j'ai pris plus tôt dans la journée. Dans le bus j'ai rencontré une femme un peu vieille. J'ai essayé de bavarder avec la femme en allemand parce que ça c'est l'objectif d'être en Allemagne: parler la langue locale. Elle était étonnée que je me suis approché de lui, mais elle m'a dit que c'était une bonne surprise.
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| C'est parfait pour moi! |
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| Dans le bus. |
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| Et très pratique! |
Ça prenait une autre deux heures, et je suis enfin retourné. Le vendredi dernier était vraiment si simple, mais si spéciale.
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| Mais bien sûr j'ai essayé leur specialité. |
Thingstätte for Étage 6
好了，終於來到最後一段了。在開始之前，我回去讀了我上個禮拜寫的中文段落，覺得那根本就是英文翻譯過來的文字。對此我感到非常不解，但也只能期望再繼續寫下去能夠改善這個狀況了。
原本昨天早上我計劃好要把部落格當場寫完，利用剩下的時間出去走走。外面的太陽很大，卻不會像台灣的那種濕熱那麼難忍受，不出去散個步也太可惜了。
不過到了一點半左右，我收到Johannes傳來的訊息。他問有沒有人要跟他出去健行。打聽之後發先他想去的地方就是我原本就想去的哲學家之道 (Philosphenweg)，而我當然二話不說的打包準備出門。
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| 老橋。 |
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| 延著山林小徑慢慢的向上走（Svitlana 的頭髮裡插著一根羽毛） |
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| 超尷尬站姿。 |
約定的時間一到，要出遊的朋友們陸續出現在共用的廚房裡。Johannes告訴我們，沿著路徑向上走會走到一個叫做Thingstätte的地方，是個像是圓形劇場 (Amphitheater)的建築。七個人一起出發，以市中心為出發點，一步一步的往上爬著。陽光透著不同的樹葉植被間灑在我們向上的途徑，讓人不禁讚嘆這個美麗的週日下午。山林間的小徑有不少分歧，一路上看到了許多小孩以及長者來來回回的穿梭。小孩撿著樹枝，或當成寶劍揮舞，或拿去翻攪路邊水坑；大人呢，則尋覓的落在地上的栗子。腳邊都是栗子多刺的外殼，Johannes 邊走邊跟我討論栗子在烹調中的運用方法。感覺得出來，他真的很喜歡做菜。行進隊伍的後面，Ram 還有 Hashmi很賣力地幫大家拍照；來自烏克蘭的Svitlana牽著來自印度的Abhidha的手，定定的往上爬著坡。他們的語言不完全通，有一句沒一句，有點雞同鴨講的，卻神奇地讓對話繼續下去。再更後面姍姍跟上的是Yazdan - 他背了一個厚重的書包，走起來當然比較困難。
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| 能夠在這種天氣出來太好了 |
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| 這是Ram. |
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| Das ist Heidelberg. |
又過了二、三十分鐘，我們終於來到了圓形劇場。Johannes剛關心完稍稍落後的Yazdan(我都跟我朋友們介紹他是本樓層的大家長) 上前來跟我解釋這個劇場原本是拿來作為二戰期間希特勒用來說服年輕人加入他們陣營的集會場所。環顧整個「劇場」，五、六十層的路天台階看其來很壯觀，台階上零星的人各自佔據了自己的區塊，有人聊天、有小朋友奔跑、還有人談著烏克麗麗，讓我不禁想像有人利用這舞台表演話劇的情景。
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| 遠處的山是法國邊界附近的一座山 |
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| 拍照 |
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| 真的是很要好的朋友們 |
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| 右邊的是Abhidha |
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| 到頂了！ |
回到了宿舍，大家都很滿意這次的小旅行。開學前能夠這樣子大家出遊，真是太好了。認真來講，如果我自己一個人出發，也是有可能來到同樣的終點，但是體驗一定會完全不同。
Bread Halwa for an End
I have to call it a day at here, this moment. I still have yet covered the trip to Mannheim (which was supposed to be in French) or the hiking we just did as a group (which would be in Chinese) but I am pretty sure that it would be a nice time to sleep at this point. I opened the door of my room, hearing small commotions in the kitchen and I went to check it out. It was Johannes, Ram, and Hasmi. Ram was cooking something at the stove (and it was wrong for me to presume that it should be curry), and when I got her it was about done. I saw the contents inside the pan, several sugar glazing, half-transparent blocks that are floating in the syrup, several bags of toast was sitting next to the stove and it got me curious. Just to prove my speculations, I asked them if those blocks were actually toast. Yes.
I quickly grabbed my fork from my room and, out of the blue, grabbed two pairs of chopsticks. I jokingly asked them if they wanted to try eating those with chopsticks, which they didn't pay much attention to. The toast was brilliant. It was dead-sweet, but it kind of dipped all the way into your heart. Way too much sugar, way too much addictive.
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| Extra: I made an video call during the Taiwanese national holiday, and the girls were at Angela's playing video games. |
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| There were Sherry, Candy, Cathy, and Amy. |
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| No one ever looks nice in FaceTime. |
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| Except for the kids though. |
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| Trink Geld. |
Tomorrow my class will start at two in the afternoon, and it would be around eight when I get back from the classes (I will have French tomorrow, and I am so excited about it) but for now I will have to go to bed, for grocery shopping and laundry doing and dinner preparation awaits me in the morning. I'll find time tomorrow to make up for the two parts.
Until then, Tim.
Sincerely,
Hugo
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