I went to my first German meeting today! I went with Karin and Angela to learn more about the StudentPlus part of the Reutlingen University website and to meet the people who take care of that part of the site.
The entire meeting was in German. It was great to be a part of this setting here in Germany! I also got to meet one of the higher-ups of the university. Understanding how this portion of the work world works in a foreign country will definitely come in handy when I get back home and find a job.
About 1/2 hour after the meeting began, I was allowed to go back to the office, as the discussion did not really pertain to me. Less than a half hour later, Angela came to the office to get me to come back - apparently Gus wanted to explain how the site has changed since last semester and it was "only going to take 10 minutes."
Over an hour and a half later, we finished the meeting and I was mentally exhausted. I was doing really well with keeping up with the German being spoken around me. Then, my brain felt like it was slowly shutting down because I had to constantly translate everything in my head. The meeting was great for me to be at because I was able to see how the German meeting situation worked, but it was also great because it was like a listening exercise for me.
My two hour break was spent napping, eating, and figuring out the bedding problem - RIO received the wrong order from the company we usually order the bedding that we sell to the students.
Once I was back in the office, I continued my shift. Today was another busier-than-normal day. Now that there are more students on campus, we are having more office traffic. There was a student who came into the office who will be working for the university, and Herr Veit requested that I help him with his paperwork for the Reutlingen University HR office. It was paperwork I had done recently, so I remembered what most everything was.
Around 3:30, I met Tobias to set up the Wurm Saal for the German Filmabend, or movie night.
Once that was done, I decided to stop by the Volksbank to use my new debit card for the first time! Unfortunately, that did not work out so well for me. I put the card in and, after putting in my pin and requesting 20 Euros, was told that something was wrong with my card and it was not return it to me. I had to go in and talk to someone and found out, after waiting for about a half hour, that there was a problem with the machine and it was not going to be returned to me today. In fact, they closed the bank early because of a problem with their computers that I, apparently, discovered. Sigh.
Everything was fine, though. I got 20 Euros from my account from the man who helped me and headed to Edeka and Pennymarkt. My fridge was nearly empty, and the trip was really necessary.
I made a brat for dinner, and also grilled some onions and yellow peppers. As I was walking back to my room with my dinner, I saw Professor Thorston waiting outside for me to let him into the Wurm Saal! I was really confused as to why he was there about an hour before the movie was supposed to start, but I let him in and helped him set up.
As we were setting up, I mentioned I was going to go eat my dinner, when students began to walk in. I looked at my clock and realized it was way later than I thought. The movie was supposed to start in 10 minutes! I ran to grab my brat, and proceeded to watch the movie with about 15 other international students.
The movie was great! Well, what I saw so far was great. Thorston paused the movie every few minutes to explain what was going on. He asked if I could translate for the students who did not speak very good German, and we made a pretty good team! I enjoyed translating what I knew for the students around me. There were some things that I think a few students knew better than me, but that is okay. :)
The movie (titled "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex") was taking forever with a German and English explanation every few minutes. The Wurm Saal was also getting extremely cold and I was huddled under my jacket! We watched about an hour and a half of the movie, and then Thorston stopped the film and explained that we had finished the first half of the movie and that he was going to let us go home, as it was freezing and we still had about an hour left. I'm going to have to figure out where to watch the rest of this movie sometime, because it was really good! It was about Germany in the late '60's and early '70's and the students' revolution.
Tammi had invited me to hang out in the basement that night, and I went to enjoy their company. I met the new guy from Sheffield, named Peri, and he seemed nice.
I really wish that I could turn the heat on in my room on nights like this! It was freezing.
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