Well, the exam has been taken. I use passive voice to distance myself from the whole experience. While I answered nearly every section, there are two sub-questions that I know I messed up and one full problem that I feel very uncertain of. I still have very high hopes for passing. However, I don't have high hopes for a good grade, even if the grade won't be reflected in my official CMU transcript.
After the exam, I made my way to the Registration Office. After a half hour wait, my number was called, I told the lady I wanted to give my notice, presented my passport and residence permit, and signed the form she printed out. She put a little sticker on my permit saying that I had no primary address in Germany anymore, and that was that.
I spent the rest of the day splitting myself between packing and making last minute adjustments to my travel plans to Amsterdam. The fact that I couldn't pack everything up due to needing my sheets still really ground my gears, but oh well.
Today, I got up bright and early to finish what I started. With everything crammed into a backpack, a purse, or one of two suitcases, I moved on to the kitchen. I am actually quite proud of myself with my food budgeting. All I had left over after was milk, cream cheese, basic pantry staples, and a sandwich that I took for the train. I laid it all out for the others on my floor, along with all the 1, 2, and 5 cent coins I had accumulated. They added up to ~3.50 Euros, which is simply not enough to go to the bank and convert them into larger coins.
About 30 Minutes before my check-out time, I remembered that I needed my bank's Swift Number and IBAN (International Bank Account Number) to get my 400 Euro housing deposit back. Now, these are numbers that allow a bank to receive money. Banks love receiving money. Thus, you'd expect they'd make these codes easy to find. Nope. I desperately googled how to uncover these numbers. My banks didn't say outright. The internet just kept telling me the partial Swift code (the same as BIC Number) and claimed that my bank statements would list the IBAN. They do not. I finally found a pdf with Chase's information, although the Swift code still lacked the final numbers specifying which branch I use.I scrawled these numbers onto the form my landlord handed me. I intend to request the official information from Chase and email the Studentenwerk with it and hope they find this arrangement acceptable.
After signing the form, I clunked my luggage down the stairs and out the door for the last time. I had decided to take a train from Aachen West station, a fairly short walk from my apartment building, to Düsseldorf and then take an ICE (Intercity-Express) straight to Amsterdam Central. The first leg of the journey occurred without incident. I had an e-reader loaded with Douglas Adams to keep me occupied. On the second leg of the journey, the train was completely packed. I could find no open seats, so I squeezed into a standing area in the concessions car. It had standing height tables and padded ledges against the walls to half sit on / half lean against. I ended up in the corner with my backpack on my lap, my weight supported by an arm on the table and a butt-cheek on the ledge, and my bags in the vacant space beneath me. This was...an interesting way to travel. An hour into it, I pulled my peanut butter sandwich out, but it had become more of a peanut-butter-bread-ball. Filling nevertheless.
I took great pleasure in getting off the train. I had one more public-transit trip to make, a 5 minute jog from the main station to Amsterdam Sloterdijk. I got a single-use ticket at the only ticket station I could find and hopped on a train that claimed to be going in that general direction. Fortunately for me, it was in fact going in that direction. I got off, asked which exit to take, and was at my hostel in no time. Asking for directions in English felt very peculiar. I've gotten so used to assuming all social interactions with strangers should be in German, gotten used to formulating how to phrase my request as properly as possible and pushing through that irrational fear of them hearing my accent. Speaking in English and knowing that it's the other person operating in a second language is like walking up shallow steps when you're used to steep ones. They take less effort, but the ascent feels a bit absurd.
My hostel, Meininger, was just 50 meters from the station. Just outside the entrance is some seating and a few fussball tables. Inside, I encountered a clean and classy-cool lobby with a fridge of Ben&Jerry's and a bar/restaurant area to one side. The woman at the counter spoke exceptional English (unsurprisingly given the international clientele). She gave me a key-card which also controls the room electricity, a map of Amsterdam, and broke one of the 50 Euro bills the bank had given me. My room is an all female, 6 bed dorm. It has a sink, a small room with a shower, and a separate room with a toilet, which I imagine will facilitate smooth morning grooming between roommates. The beds are arranged somewhat oddly. There are two singles pushed right next to each other, a nightstand, wall outlet, and reading lamp on either side. Then against the room's long wall there are two sets of bunk-beds with moderately difficult to descend ladders. In the wall beside the top beds are little boxes that not only serve as nightstands but also have integrated nightlights and outlets. I do wonder why there aren't three sets of bunk beds...I guess I'll chalk it up to variety.
My temporary roommates are all native English speakers thus-far. Three moved in together, and I'd have pegged them for disturbingly stereotypical US party girls until they revealed they were from Canada. The similarity between US and Canadian accents never ceases to amaze and confound me. They are, however, definitely party girls in that they intend to hit the clubs and the coffee-houses. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't imagine our Amsterdam experiences will overlap much. The last girl I've met is from Australia (would have guessed Britain. I'm striking out on accents today.) As she's moving out tomorrow, all I'm likely to learn of her is the music she likes to pack to (Hip-hop), and that she's doing two masters at once at two different universities.
Tomorrow I'll try to get in on a free tour, hang out at a well-known market, and sample the local cuisine.
No comments:
Post a Comment