My First Post in Germany/ My Mailing Address

So I have arrived in Munich, Barely. As you know I had a flight from Boston to Iceland to Copenhagen to Munich. I was supposed to have a 40 minute connection between Iceland and Copenhagen, however, we left about 20 Minutes late and I only had 20 Minutes from the time I got off the plane and onto the plane bound for Germany. Thankfully though, my flight was departing from a gate about 100 feet away so I made it with plenty of time to spare. I then arrived in Munich and realized that I had to drag my 2 50 pound checked baggages and laptop case and 20 pound carry on through the streets of Munich, up and down escalators, on trains, on the subway, etc. That was very tiring but I finally arrived at the JYM office and was given my key and a mad and some info and stuff (all told in German of course, which I understood little of because I was so culture shocked)

I then dragged my stuff with a group of other JYMers back through the streets of Munich, again up and down escalators and on multiple subways to get to our apartments. When I first arrived to my dorm I was super sketched out. The hallways are full of graffiti and it just gives a weird vibe. But you meet the people here and they are all nice so you soon have a better feeling about the building. I entered my room and frantically searched for Internet but they were all password protected. I bought a package of stuff (pots, pans, silverwear, etc) from someone who did the program last year and I knew that my package included a router so I decided that I would go with some people to retrieve our stuff that was in a storage unit. This was a terrible idea.

We were the first ones to get to the unit and the unit is about 10 by 10 and 20 feet tall. So we open this thing and its like an episode of Hoarders Burried Alive. The stuff was just stacked to the ceiling in no organized fashion and of course our stuff was all at the back. I also got a ton of stuff from this package (including a TV and toaster oven and microwave) so it ultimately took me 4 trips by bus back and forth from the storage unit to get all my stuff. I have to say that getting this stuff from the storage unit was totally miserable and I don't think I even want to sell my stuff to someone doing the program next year because I don't want to have to deal with hauling it all back.

Anyways, that was the storage misery. Yesterday I spent more time frantically searching for internet. I was lucky enough to get off the subway at Marienplatz which is a tourist trap/picturesque Germany and they actually had free wifi there! So tuesday and Wednesday I spent a lot of time there just on facebook messenger and Imessage. Marienplatz is the square that has a lot of nice shopping places (such as 600 euro Hugo Boss suits) but is most famous for this building, shown here at night and day.

So I would just sit there and use internet until my Ipod died. Its a really nice area. I also figured out how to withdraw money from the ATM for minimal fees. So that was good.

Last night we were given a tour of the apartment complex that I live in called Studentenstadt Freimann and the tour ended at the restaurant that is on the roof of my apartment (the 20th floor). The restaurant was called Manhattan and I ate a fish Lasagna which was delicious and had a white wine. I got those things because they were the cheapest and it was the special so it cost me 5.5 Euros total. So cool! That rooftop dinner last night was the first full meal I had since I arrived in Munich tuesday morning because I had been so stressed out about getting settled so I didn't have an appetite. But it was also pretty awesome being able to see the whole of Munich at night from the roof like that. I also forgot to say that on Tuesday, I think, we went to the Biergarten in the English Garden by my dorm. The garden was cool but I didn't get any food because I wasn't hungry at all. We also walked down Leopold Strasse which must be pretty rich because I saw a ton of exotic cars, so that was cool.

As for this morning, we met at the JYM office (about a half hour subway ride) for some breakfast consisting of bread, salami, cheese, banana, yogurt, OJ, and some other stuff. It was good and I ate a lot. We then had some info sessions concerning Academics, health insurance, and some other stuff. 

The academic info sessions was good. We have to take 5 classes, one of which will be the German language class. In Germany they don't have class on Fridays at all so I am super excited about that. My language class will meet 2 times a week for I think an hour and a half each time. All the other classes I am looking at meet once a week for 2.5 hours which is super awesome because it will give me a lot of free time to do homework and cook and all that. 

The health insurance info session was really helpful. Starting October 1st I will be completely covered by German health insurance which is a super good system. Basically all doctors are free, most prescriptions are 5 Euros, an Ambulance ride costs 10 Euros and a life flight helicopter flight costs a whole 20 Euros. You can get massages and acupuncture on German health insurance as well. Good Deal!

We then went to one of the several university cafeterias where I had this meal.

That is pork with onion and some good sauce with some grapes, cauliflower, and french fries. I was really kicking myself for getting the fries even before I had paid for it because they are not healthy. To top it off I didn't even eat them because everything else was so filling. This meal cost me 4 euros 20 so I think that I will just have a good big lunch here for cheap and then have a light dinner to try to save money. 

After Lunch we had more info sessions on academics. I am excited because one course is called Munich and Nationalsocialism (aka Nazis) and we explore Munich looking at the history of the rise of the Nazi party and then eventually go visit Dachau, so I will definitely be taking that course. The courses will also fill a lot of my Bates requirements I think. 

After the info session I went to the storage unit and got my last things out of there. I also went to the store and bought 20 hangers, a huge thing of dish soap, some hand soap, and a giant sponge all for 4 Euros, so I was happy with that price. Tomorrow I need to go buy more hangers though since I like to hang all my clothes. 

I came back and went to the internet place for the apartment complex that is only open on Thursdays from 7-7:30. There were a ton of people there but I gave themteh 1 time 20 Euro fee that it costs to be able to use a internet router here. It was worth it. So thats how I got internet in my room. I also spent a lot of time organizing my room but it still needs work. I will take a video of my room when it looks somewhat nice so you can all see what my living quarters is like. 

Going to bed now. I have to be on the subway at 6:45 tomorrow morning to go apply for my residency permit. More posts to come. 

P.S. my mailing address for those interested is to be written like this:

Jacob Bergeron

C/O Junior Year in Munich

Richard Wagner Strasse 27

80333 Munich, Germany

That can be for both letters and packages so do not worry.

P.P.S. Tomorrow is my 20th Birthday!