The First Week+ in München

Ahh it really is great to be back in Germany. And München has so far lived up to the hype of being the most liveable city in the world. The first week was a lot of work and a bunch of information thrown at us all at once but now I feel like I am beginning to settle in. When I landed in München and got through customs and such, my friend Allyson was there to pick me up. We went straight to the Studentenstadt where we would be living this semester. At first I was in a bit of shock to be back in Germany again. I was really excited but for some reason nerves were crawling around in my stomach. I guess all of the anticipation was just coming to a head after I got off the plane.

Well, the first week was busy to say the least. But to start it off, my friend from AU and I walked through the Englischer Garten. It is one of the largest urban parks in the world, and it was beautiful. The park extends from our dorms all the way to Marienplazt, where the Rathaus is. We walked along the Isar River, eating some apples, enjoying the great weather (all of the other days have been either cold and cloudy or cold and rainy/snowy). It was packed with tours around different parts of the city and the Studentenstadt. The first of the tours was led by the program advisor, Hans-Peter Söder (a great guy), who brought us through the "downtown" area around the famous Rathaus. He took us into small markets, the Viktualienmarkt, which is an open pedestrian-only area that has lots of stalls, and lots of random places. The next day we went through the process of obtaining a permit to live in München (Anmeldung auf Deutsch) and filled out lots of paperwork for a variety of things. We learned about how to pick out classes and apply. In the early part of the week we went on a tour of the StuStadt by a student at the Uni. We all didn't understand much of what he said with a thick Bayrisch accent and lots of local slang. I guess I did learn a bit better about the services in our little town. The big news of the first few days I was in München was American University making the NCAA Tournament! I listened to the game with my friend from AU and we were both amazed this was the year we finally did it.

Over the weekend my friend Pete from high school came to visit with a friend from his school (they were traveling through Europe after a program in the Middle East). They came on the day of the big St. Patty's Day Parade and Celebration, which incidentely came on the day before the real St. Patty's Day for some reason. Anyway, it was a great time, complete with Irish bands and dance troupes. Odeonsplatz was packed with people and beer tents. We met some Germans there and went with them to an Irish pub later on. It was quite the day. They stayed for a few days so we went out a few times for dinner and hung out a bit. It was nice having company the first week or so, even though it was a bit stressful. I had not seen him for a while so it was great to see him again, especially in München. Earlier this week we went on a tour of the University and saw the Weiße Rose Memorial Museum inside the main building of the University. It was incredible to think that we were in the same building where one of the biggest student uprisings against the Nazi regime took place. Other than all of the homework and projects over this past week, we also had a night tour of München that was great. Our guide, Michael, told us of the history of München as a small village and then the boom it saw when salt was found in large quantities. We saw the residence of Ludwig I and a few churches along the way but it was mainly about the hip clubs and bars around the area. He showed us lots of great, cheap restaurants and other neat places. One place was a bar that only was lit by red light and had rows of fans running on the far wall. I guess it was used as a public bathing place in the old days. Haha. He also brought us to one of the most expensive hotels in München and we went to the rooftop which gave us a great view of the city by night. Well, this Easter weekend a friend and I tried to find some of the places on the tour and we were not too successful. The roads are all so similar and really confusing to navigate. Oh well, it was an adventure at least and we ended up having a good night after all. The rest of the weekend was a bunch of relaxing, seeing the AU NCAA tournament game and going to the Zoo (where we thought there was a big easter egg hunt but it turned out to be inside a small hut).

So the first week has been great so far! There have been a lot of adjustments, such as buying groceries and cooking (in China I didn't need to do any of this), getting to know the people in my program, and settling into the Studentenstadt. My German is improving every day and I'm confident I will be ready for when classes start.