Welcome to Jena!

**This is a late post!  But it's finally here!  I unfortunately lost my phone and a lot of my initial pictures of Jena, but I'll take some new ones and add them to my next post!**

It’s hard to describe the myriad emotions that have been plaguing me for the past week.  I haven’t written an entry in a while, partially because I’ve been going insane thinking about the DSH test (the test required to get into a Masters program here) and also because I was just confused and lost.  Really.  I was actually totally and completely lost.  No map.  No internet.  Recipe for disaster, no?  Especially for the first few days here in Jena.

When I arrived in Jena late last Friday afternoon (20.09), a young woman from the International Office came to take me to my room in the FSU-Jena guesthouse.  We trekked to the bus and took it three stops to Carl-Zeiss-Werk.  Then, we had the pleasure of lugging my bags up a hill to the guesthouse.  This has been one of many instances, where I strongly wished I had a car.  Don’t get me wrong!  I love walking, and I really enjoy the exercise, but I had a lot of shit with me.  It’s not shit to me.  It’s my life for the next year.  I like my stuff.  But my stuff is heavy.  I tried repacking all my crap to make it easier to manage.  My attempt was not particularly successful.

Once I got to the room (with balcony! Yay!  And no oven! Noooo!), I unpacked and walked back out to the main road towards the Netto (local grocery store) to get some supplies for dinner and the weekend.  For about 16 Euros, I brought as many fruit and veggies as I could fit in my day pack and two extra cloth bags.  Lettuce, red bell peppers, tomatoes, apples, bananas, and more.  It was a glorious moment.  Most importantly I bought eggs.

I then walked home and proceeded to make the most delicious and victorious omelet I have ever had.  It was a great triumph after a month of living out of a suitcase and on food from the Mensa.

A view of Jena from the area around where I live (although I did not take it).  Time to explore it all!

I slept in on Saturday and woke to the reality that I had no internet and had no idea how to get it.  After slogging into the city center (a solid 30-40 minute walk depending on the speed you walk it), I found a mall called the Goethe Galerie.  I get it, Jena.  Goethe was here.  That’s cool, but you don’t need to name everything after him or Friedrich Schiller.  In the mall, I failed brilliantly in my attempt to understand and buy a reasonable internet contract.  It turns out that most internet contracts here last for 2 years.  Sorry, I’m not sorry, Germany.  I am NOT paying for a year of internet in Germany when I won’t be here.  That doesn’t make sense.  After this epic failure, I limped home and collapsed on my bed.  It’s surprising how much cobblestone streets can stress your feet and knees!  Now my knees won’t let me forget…

Sunday found me trying to buck up my courage to go to church.  In my eventful journey through Jena on Saturday, I discovered a church I thought I might like to visit.  Friedliche Kristliche Gemeinde…or something similar (Now I know it is the “Evangelische Freikirchliche Gemeinde“).  I walked down early, in valiant effort to be German punctual rather than American late.  As the service started, everyone greeted me.  A nice German man sat next to me and proceeded to explain the development of the congregation and ask me about my work in Jena.  It was very nice to meet someone who was so willing to open up!  After the constant warnings about how “stand-offish” Germans can be, I was glad to find a nice church full of nice Christians, just like I could find at home.  Seems very stereotypical small-town Christian perhaps, but what can I say?  The first few days here were lonely.  I was so proud of myself for mustering the courage to brave an entirely new experience all by myself my second full day in a new city in a foreign country.

The next series of days are a blur of walking around Jena without a map and only a basic idea of what I needed to do to be a legal resident, but what I remember most clearly are some annoying details of German bureaucracy.  In particular, there are two very important offices that foreigners need to visit at one time or another.  One, the Ausländerbehörde, is the office for extending your visa as a foreigner in Germany.  Fun fact: this is not where you go to register your address.

My feelings about German bureaucracy.  Love the state, hate the paperwork.

That office, the second important one for foreigners, is the Stadtbüro.  That is where you go to register your address.  I did not know this when I came to Jena, which resulted in me wandering all over the city, hoping on and off buses and streetcars known as Strassenbahns.  More like STRESSFULbahn.  I picked the right bus and got off at Damaschkeweg.  I then hoped on a Strassenbahn towards the Ausländerbehörde, which is located inconveniently across the city from where I stay.  The Strassenbahn then appeared to make a huge loop and reverse directions back towards the city center.  So I hopped onto another Strassenbahn and rode it for 30 minutes as I prayed for my stop to appear.  I later figured out that the Strassenbahn line I was riding had a strange loopy path that hit the stops in the middle of the route about a bajillion times.  Don’t ask why.  I don’t know.  I just don’t know.  After my ordeal, I found the Ausländerbehörde and was told I was in the wrong spot.  Back to the Stressenbahn!! Sigh.  I did eventually get registered by a very nice German woman and got myself safely home.

Okay, I wasn't crying, but I WAS definitely desperate.  I just needed a map!

Next few days included a number of visits to the International Office at FSU-Jena to beg for advice, help, and a map and lots of studying for the DSH test.  The DSH test is a test of a foreign student’s ability to read, understand, write, and speak German.  There are three levels of achievement (DSH-1, DSH-2, and DSH-3).  DSH-3 is the highest level, but you only need to earn a DSH-2 in order to study an university in Germany.  I (as I am wont to do) stressed out over it like crazy.  Between the looming test and lack of internet, I pretty much just wanted to crawl into a corner and sleep the week away if possible.

However, I survived.  Somehow. Barely.  I think.  Am I a zombie?  How do you say zombie in German?  Is that important?  Maybe I could wave my hands around and grunt.  Would that work?  I’m pretty sure that’s how most of my German conversations sound here anyway.  If they knew what I was talking about, would they scream and run?  Or what?  Interesting fact: apparently Germany gamers do not appreciate the Nazi zombies you can kill in some American zombie/horror video games…mostly because their versions never have the Nazis so they don’t get to shoot them, too.  Funky.

But, I digress.

I took the DSH test on Thursday (26.09.13), bought and consumed celebratory currywurst, and went home to pick holes in everything I had written on the test.  Friday was the oral examination.  Not like a dentist appointment either.  Although I think they could easily compare in the amount of nerves I have before either.  I talked (poorly) with two German instructors for twenty minutes about a short scientific article, and they determined my German speaking level from there.

 

Nom.  This was not the Currywurst I ate, but it's a good representation!
The small plastic fork is an integral part of the experience.

Somehow I scrapped by with a DSH-3 on all portions of the test.  Whoosh…they don’t have to kick me out now.

I celebrated with my lab mates that afternoon and evening.  We went to the Ratskeller, a small restaurant attached to the Rathaus (city hall), to celebrate the successful completion some research various temporary members of the lab had done and to celebrate my arrival to the group.  I had some delicious handmade bratwurst with AMAZING sauerkraut and delicious mashed potatoes.  Never had victory tasted so wonderfully German.  I then was given a tour of various bars in the city, introduced to the Thuringia specialty “Pfiffi,” or Pfifferling, a shot of peppermint Schnapps, and the German equivalent of a margarita.  Obviously, my week ended on a much more encouraging note than on which it started.