Two weeks down, fifty two to go?

Friday was my two-week anniversary of being in Pb. I've been having a pretty good time here, really. The language course is going well - though I should be studying for that instead of writing on here. I've made some new friends, and have seen M's old sharehouse from when he lived here. A couple of people have suggested Language Tandems so that they can practice English with me and I can practice German, which will be useful once they get started. So, life is slowly sorting itself out.

Last Friday was the Eurobiz pub crawl and we went to four pubs. I had a really good time, mostly chatted to K and C, who are both really lovely people. So it was good to have a night like that. Sunday was the walk to Schloss Neuhaus; the guy from Eurobiz who was leading it didn't really know the way, and half way there, everyone stopped for a drink at some cafe on the way. The weather was closing in and I didn't want a drink, so I kept walking with some Korean girls. We found the castle a bit uninteresting; apparently the gardens are great, but seeing as the weather was still wintery, everything was dead and brown. So we agreed that we'd do the walk again in Summer, so that it would be nicer. I was pleased to catch the bus back to the city because I didn't feel like walking any more, and we went to BackFactory for a snack. Yum!

On Monday I signed my lease after the language class, and then went back to T's flat to wait for him to help me to move. We couldn't find a mattress for the bed frame that I'd gotten from the previous tennant, so I ended up buying a new, larger bedframe and mattress for less than it would have cost for the non-standard size mattress. Rolling with the punches... breathe in, breathe out, and get the fuck on with life.

So Monday was my first night here. I was sleeping on the sofa bed for the first few days... it was fine, but I'd have resented it had I been even a centimetre taller. Tuesday night I was invited by F to go over to her and T's flat for a few drinks before going out. We didn't end up going out until after midnight, by which time I was really tired, so I just did the courtesy visit at Markandu and bailed. Felt like an idiot because I was talking to K and I was so tired that I had nothing to say and was really boring. F and her friends went to Cube, and I'd be keen to go back there sometime - the music was much better.

Thursday afternoon I went to the city and did some shopping; bought a lot of cute things for my room. Of prime importance (and expense) was a lambs wool blanket from a Scandinavian design shop. It's mostly red, with pink and green subtly woven through. I absolutely love it. It was a choice between that one and a white one with red crosses on it, but the white showed too much dust and too much colour through it, so this one won. I have no regrets! I also bought some red tulips, some little bird figures, ceramic rabbits, and some thick square glass bowls and plates with red around the rim. Very good looking, of course! My room feels much more at home, so it was money well-spent.

Thursday night I went out to see C's housemate play at a cute cafe here. The guy is a jazz pianist, so I figured it would be pretty cool. Turned out to be even cooler than I'd anticipated; the poor guy fell off his bike earlier in the day and had injured his hand, so had organised a band to play some songs with him, because he wasn't able to do the solo stuff. So while I felt really bad for him, it ended up being something I really enjoyed. There were a whole bunch of exchange people but an absence of seats, so I was sitting with C and some friends of his. I met T, who M had told me about in past, and who turns out to be the awesome person that I'd been told about, so that was cool.

I talked to some nice people, including one good looking gentleman who asked for my number. I gave it to him but am yet to hear from him. Either way, it was good to talk to someone who appeared to have more similar interests to me than any of the exchange students do. Not to say I have anything against them; I'd just rather make friends based on similar interests rather than on Tuesday night student drinking. So afterwards everyone went out for Doner Kebabs and then to Markandu - the place was dead and I was tired, so I bailed pretty quickly. Still didn't get home until past 2am, which seems to be the norm for when I go out. Time just passes quickly.

Friday was something of a lazy day. I met F for lunch at the Mensa, and then had a coffee afterwards. I went to pick up some things I'd left at the flat, and ran into T. He agreed to help me out at the bank, so we went there and got my address changed and got some stuff for internet banking sorted. I'm still waiting for the SMS to tell me how to log on, but I suppose I can't hurry the German bureaucracy... Either way, hopefully my next transfer of money will be in the account by Tuesday, so that I can open the restricted-withdrawl account and get my visa. Otherwise that will have to wait for a few more days. T seemed a bit surprised that I went out to lunch with F, but seeing as how she messaged me while he was still asleep, I don't think he should have reacted like that. Bad luck.

I ran into K at the Netto when I was shopping for some food for dinner, and he said we should hang out on Monday, so I agreed. It was one of those conversations where you don't really say much, just kinda agree with what the other person is suggesting. Why am I such a void of personality when I'm tired?! I think he might have invited C too, but that's still up in the air, so we'll see what happens. Either way, J invited me to lunch at the Mensa on Monday too, so it's not like I won't eat well that day! (I gave J some money for lunch when she didn't have enough, so I think she'll probably return the favour.)

Friday night I met a bunch of exchange people at the Rathaus and we all caught the bus to C's house for a party. I had a good time, mostly just talked to C and T. I always stick to the familiar people, but I suppose there's a reason why - they're the most interesting, and I know we have some common ground. T told me about a bbq they have on Good Friday in order to drink beer and eat meat to spite the Catholic traditions, and said I should come along. I'd be keen to go back there; nice people, a room full of musical equipment, and a garden. And cats!!! ;)

Everyone walked into the city to go out late at night, and I talked to Ch for a while. He's a strange guy; I always feel slightly offended at some point in the conversation, but I know he means well. Either way, we discussed the way people look, and he was kind enough to give me a 10 out of 10, and said I'd made an impression on people already. That was a bit bewildering for me; I've never really considered myself to be that attractive, and I figured that I've just been getting so much interest from guys because I'm from somewhere else. Either way, I've definitely gotten more attention here than I ever would at home, which is the kind of self-esteem boost necessary when you move to a new country. I'm not protesting.

Yesterday I got up early, after perhaps 5 hours sleep, to be awake in case the delivery guys came with my bed. As it happens, they didn't arrive until early afternoon, so my lack of sleep was in vain. Still, better to be safe than sorry. I couldn't assemble the bed because I don't have a drill; I asked C if he had one and he brought over some proper screwdrivers but they still weren't enough to get the screws in. But it was sweet of him to try to help out. He suggested that I come to hang out with some exchange people, but I was too tired and was feeling really quiet, so I declined in favour of an early night. I slept on the mattress on the floor and was pretty comfortable, but am still stepping over pieces of bed frame on the floor. Must borrow a drill from somewhere.

My room smells like laundry liquid because I did my washing this morning, and I've got so much laundry that I hung it in here instead of in the hall. Also, it's a cold day, so I have the heater on in here, which means it's warmer in my room than in the rest of the flat. Had lunch of some great rolls that I got from the Netto - you can always get nice rolls here. I conjugated some verbs, and now I'd better get back to the German study. I think things are really going to speed up when my course starts properly. So, more studying and less drinking, here I come.