So, this is the first of a series of mini-posts (at least, they'll be short for me...) focusing on a specific aspect of my life here in Clausthal, rather than trying to chronologically record my first impressions as they happened - since I'm so abominably far behind in my posting, this seems to make more sense.
So let's start with where I live. I have a smallish single in the Studentenwohnheim (dorms), and though I thought that roommates would be cool, I'm glad I live alone so that I can really be independent and keep my own schedule, although to a German the concept of multiple people sleeping in the same room is restricted to marriage and similar relationships, so in any case I would be guaranteed to have my own bedroom. My room is smaller than the one I had in Munich, but still bigger than my single in Joline this past year. It's technically an "Einzelappartement" - which means that I have a bathroom and kitchenette right in the room with me. And by "kitchenette" I mean two burners, a sink, and a large dorm refrigerator, which somewhat limits my cooking options (no stove = no pizza :( ). However, my advisor was gracious enough to bring me an old microwave that he had in his basement, so I am not limited (as I originally feared I would be) to making dishes in single-portion sizes. In fact, I've done quite well for myself food-wise this summer - but I'll finish telling you about my room first.
The downside to having my own kitchen and bathroom is that I'm entirely responsible for cleaning them, but really that's not too much of a hassle since I'm also the only one using them (and good practice for next year when it will be the same situation with my roommates). I went and bought a bottle of multi-purpose cleaner, a sponge, and a broom and dustpan, and that suffices for the minimal cleaning necessary.
The rest of the furniture in the room consists of a free-standing wardrobe (with no coathooks, however, so I had to scrounge up a couple of hangers for all of my dresses and sweatshirts), a desk that's really a table with a drawer in it, two cupboards that I use for my food supplies, and a low bed. The mattress is SO hard! I always complain about my bed at home being too soft, and I think the one I have at Princeton is just right, but this one here feels like sleeping on the ground, it's so stiff. It doesn't have any springs in it but is just a stuffed mattress, which may be why it is so hard. I've finally gotten used to it and can get a good night's sleep, but it took awhile (but I was certainly not paying 50 Euros for a new one, as the Studentenwerk offered...). My bedding is whatever mismatched extras we could scrounge up at the Institute, so my sheet is pink while my pillowcase and duvet cover are an ugly pattern of yellow and black circles - but again, preferable to paying 37 Euros for the Studentenwerk to provide them, or even buying them new at Marktkauf. The pillow was also scrounged, and it's an ancient and nearly lifeless goosedown monstrosity - I can fold it in quarters (because pillows in Germany are ENORMOUS and square... ??) and the filling still doesn't fluff it up. It's like sleeping on a rock - the mattress I could stand but the pillow (even supplemented with my softest pajamas and sweatpants underneath) was just too hard, and I soon caved and bought a 5-Euro throw pillow at Marktkauf to use in addition (I'm a side sleeper, so I need thick pillows), and now everything is dandy. The pillow is kind of cute, actually - it has a picture of a London telephone booth on it, and I'm a little bit sad that it can't come back to America with me (I simply don't have room for anything more than necessary, and a lot of my things are going to be staying in Germany as it is :P), but Mom would probably tell me that I have MORE than enough pillows, anyway ;)
So, food. I came from Munich with a very strange array of leftover food, some of it quite random - a bag of potatoes, a few onions, a package of Nesquick, two peanut butter jars, strawberry jam, Nutella, a couple boxes of pasta, a box of cereal, and some wurst. I ate it all - why let good food go to waste? - but it made for some very bizarre meals in the first few days of my stay in Clausthal. Fortunately there are not one but TWO grocery stores just a five-minute walk down the hill from the dorms, which makes shopping very convenient. On one of my first days here I went and did a diligent comparison between the two stores, finding that some goods were cheaper one place while others I was better off buying at the other store. One is Aldi, a Mardens type store but with mostly groceries - usually cheap, doesn't always have everything you'd want, and the selection of non-grocery items is on a sort of "surplus and salvage" basis - makes for some interesting surprises, though I haven't found anything there I simply HAD to buy yet (probably because I'm very money- and space-conscious here). Marktkauf, the other option, is more like a Walmart - a better selection and a TON of non-grocery items - everything from bike accessories to yarn to books to pots and pans to cleaning supplies. Between the two stores, I manage to keep my grocery bill to less than 20 Euros per week, and that's even with occasionally treating myself. So far I've made shepherd's pie, pasta & peas, hamburgers, wiener schnitzel & potato salad, chicken nuggets, and ravioli for my suppers. Lunch is usually a sandwich or occasionally leftovers (thank God again for that microwave!), but breakfast, of course, is my true specialty. Cereal and yogurt with musli is a quick and easy one, but I am also perfecting the art of the bacon-and-cheese omelet (I've got to survive somehow without ROMA omelets next year!) as well as experimenting with French toast and egg-in-a-hole (can you tell that I like eggs?). So far I've managed to avoid the common college traps of TV dinners or constant pasta, and this summer has definitely given me hope for my culinary survival next year.
Cooking implements, naturally, are not something I have a great supply of - after all, I don't want to go out and buy a bunch of pots and pans that I'm just going to have to leave behind after 8 weeks. I collected in Munich (by asking the other group members and "borrowing" from the well-stocked communal kitchens) a spoon, knife, fork, and plate, and was planning to make do with a technically "disposable" bowl that I had gotten from an ice-cream parlor. When I arrived in Clausthal I was shown to my delight the cupboard filled with various utensils and commodities which was dedicated to the international interns, and picked up a saucepan, frying pan, spatula, ceramic bowl, sand glass. With these minimal elements I sometimes have to be creative in my cooking, but in general they suffice (makes me think about what I really NEED to bring to Spelman versus what would be "nice to have/come in handy every once in a while"...) and don't clutter up my cupboard. It does, however, mean that I have to wash my dishes after just about every meal - simply because I have to use the same dishes for the next one. Generally I'm pretty good about this, but if you can keep a secret, there have definitely been a couple of nights where the bowl from supper soaked in the sink and didn't get washed until breakfast the next morning. This is one thing my future roommates were very adamant about in our discussions in the spring, that dishes *always* and *immediately* be washed and put away, so I'm trying to practice here (at home we just rinse the dishes and use them again during the day, and only wash everything at night, so it's not necessarily a habit of mine).
Overall, I am very content with my room, which is good because I spend most of my time here when I'm not at the Institute. The semester is now (finally) over and I'm fairly sure the students have gone home for the summer, because I don't see as many in the hallways, but I never saw very many and didn't ever meet any of my neighbors - the only people my age I interact with here are the other interns. This has its downsides, principally that most of the other interns don't speak German, so we talk in English and I don't get to practice my German as much as I was hoping. I have actually noticed a slight decline in my proficiency, especially because after about two weeks I got tired of reviewing vocabulary every night and have more or less let that habit slide (I know, I know, bad student Erin :( ). Everything I could need is here - bed, kitchen, and bathroom. The laundry is in the basement, but you have to pay for it here (like in normal places) so I try to go as long as possible in between loads - I can almost stretch it 3 weeks if I wash a few pairs of underwear in the sink ;) I'm so stingy I refuse even to pay for use of the dryer (it's 1 Euro per load and the washers are 1.50!!) so instead I go find a drying rack in one of the common rooms and sneak it back to my room so my clothes can dry on it, then return it. Most of the students, I've observed, take the drying racks (which are communal, as far as I can tell) and hang their clothes on them in the common rooms or out in the hallways, so I don't feel bad moving one to my room for a few days at a time to use it.
I also have a mailbox at the dorm, but it is usually very sadly empty. I've gotten one letter so far, and it made me REALLY happy - so I'm giving you all my address right here so you have no excuse :P Mail takes about a week to get from the States to Germany, so you all still have two weeks if you want to send me something - go!
Erin Mills
Leibnizstraße 20, Zimmer 82
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Germany
The dorm is at the top of a hill, with the institute halfway down and the grocery stores at the bottom. There is a cobbled path that leads directly down the hill, but the road winds back and forth (Germans are REALLY big into pedestrian shortcut paths - they're way more official than they are in the States :D). Overall, it is a very nice arrangement. The country around is very nice, too - but I'll tell you about all that in another post, another day. Until then, keep smiling!!
And send me stuff!! Postcards/letters are always welcome!! (Or, if you're lazy, you can just send me an email. That works too :D).
No comments:
Post a Comment