Woke up this morning at 7.55am to realise that the Stuttgart trip was being cancelled at the last minute, and Charmaine was apologising when she heard that I woke up so early on a Sunday. Actually I am quite happy that the trip was cancelled, so that I could do what I badly needed to do which is to mop my room and clear up all the trash that has been accumulating.
While I was moping the floor, with my hands and a piece of cloth, it struck upon me that 2.5 months have past, which means I will have 3.5 more months before I return. I compared the pictures of my room today and on the 1st February when I first moved in. I remembered it was empty except for the furniture, and the walls had nothing on it.
Rows of beer bottles waiting to get refund for the glass bottle. I was thinking, will I continue to mop the floor when I return? Will I continue to do my own laundry when I return? Will I have to bother to check the temperature every day? Will I continue to cook my own meals when I return? Will I wash my own plates and dishes after eating? Will I bother to spend a few hours at the supermarket every week to shop for cheap groceries? Will I continue to drink beer every night? Will I have to observe the bus and tram timings before stepping out of the house?
Some great findings this week
I think this week is great because of two great findings especially. Firstly I got myself a bicycle, not that I bought a bicycle but with the help of Stan and Zhirui whom I must thank a lot, we assembled a bicycle from three different bicycles which were spoilt. They were left lying in the cellar downstairs unlocked and that took us like 1.5hours to dismantle the parts and reassemble. It was quite exciting to do so because we were behaving like thieves with all the tools and noise while trying to be discrete at night. Moreover there were signs pasted on the walls of the cellar informing that 5-10 bicycles were stolen during the last month and that residents should be careful. Stan got something out of it too. A cool bicycle frame that was left behind. But the best thing is, now I can ride a bicycle to school like all Germans, especially when I miss the bus in the morning because the bus driver left 1 or 2 minutes earlier than the stipulated time!
The second cool thing that I found this afternoon at the backyard was a mattress. It was presumably left there by someone, but I was quite surprised because the mattress was still in a good condition and it did not stink or have any stains on it. Moreover its exactly the mattress that all of us staying in this hostel sleep on in our rooms. With much zest I lugged the whole thing up into my room and turned on the heater to warm the mattress since it was a little damp due to the drizzle when I found it. Its a great find because 1 month later Shujuan's friend is gonna crash over at my place, and 2 months later Ying and Py are coming as well. And talking about that, we are going on a Europe trip together. 5 countries, 9 places, 12 days. Looking forward to that, but it also means that my days in Germany are limited and I'll have to return home.
"Turning" German
After dinner with the Singaporeans at Palms, as we were walking home, I was telling the two gals, if there is a place in Germany which is "not so international as Frankfurt", "not so expensive as Munich", "where the bus and trams are not so incomprehensive in terms of frequency at night and during weekends as Mannheim", "where there exists no Ausländerfeindlichkeit like in East Germany", I would want to live there and not come back. When I went home, I thought about what I said, and I think that actually Mannheim is not a bad place to live in after all. The cost of living is not as high as other German cities, and the transport tariff system here is wide. Till now I have not come across any other Verkehrsbund (transport association) in Germany that has a bigger tariff coverage as the VRN, which is the association that operates in Mannheim.
And when they asked me what's Ausländerfeindlichkeit, I stumbled because for a moment the English equivalent slipped out of my mind! I was quite surprised because this is not the first time it happened. It happened like twice this week already. I remember Herr Chan saying that there will be a stage during the process of learning German or being left in a German speaking environment that you will find that your English standard has dropped while your German standard has improved but not perfect. Its like "half way" of both languages. You start with nothing in German and get to something, and you start with English as your native language and then you find that you get a mental block sometimes.
Maybe the head of the international office at Mannheim was correct when she told us during her first meeting with the exchange students that we'll cry two time during our stay here. The first time is when we just arrive because the city is so ugly and we just want to pack our bags and leave. The second time is when we really have to return home. I did not cry the first time but I am quite certain that I will the second time. I was talking to Navy on the bus just now and she also said that she does not want to return to Hongkong too, where reality will bite all over again. Probably that's also why a lot of exchange students are scrambling to sign up for internships in Germany. I'd very much like to as well, there are a lot of internship offers in Germany but unfortunately I have to return to Singapore. There are unfinished businesses there. But I am quite sure I will leave Germany with unfinished businesses as well. 3.5 months is still quite a long way but the day will come.
3 comments:
Bist Du sicher? Mannheim? Ich mag die Schweiz. Wenn ich die Chance hätte, um zu ziehen, werde ich in die Schweiz zuwandern, egal welcher Gross- oder Kleinstadt. Die Luft dort ist besser, man kann in den Supermarkt am Bahnhof dort gehen am Sonntag und das öffentliche Verkehr ist auf jeden Fall zuverlässiger als das in Deutschand.
Are you sure? Mannheim? I like Switzerland. If I had the chance to move, I will migrate to Switzerland, whether to a big or small city. The air there is better, one can go to the supermarket in a train station on Sundays and the public transport is definitely more reliable than Germany's.
ja also ich war noch nie in der Schweiz, vielleicht wenn ich da bin, würde ich sagen dass die Schweiz viel besser als Mannheim ist. Aber Mannheim ist nicht so schelcht finde, im Gegensatz zu anderen deutschen Städten, in den das Lebenshaltungskosten höher ist. Aber vielleicht wenn ich länger in Mannheim bleibe, werden die Nachteile von Mannheim zum Vorschein kommen.
also ich würde Dir dann vorschlagen, dass Du dich irgendwann einmal vor deiner Abfahrt in der Schweiz aufhalten solltest. oder noch besser, wenn Du die Gelegenheit schaffst, für eine oder zwei wochen eine der ETHs/Unis zu besuchen, und mit den studierenten ein bisschen zu plaudern. Während meines bisherigen 3-monatigen Aufenthalts hier in Freiburg kommen einige Unterschiede oder besser ausgedrückt - unähnlichkeiten stark vor. also nicht nur im Bereich der öffentlichen Dienste, sondern auch von der Mentalität her. es ist aber für dich zu erwägen, ob sie ehe positiv oder negativ sind.
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